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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/942-0.txt b/942-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dac0322 --- /dev/null +++ b/942-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8589 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Green Mansions, by W. H. Hudson + +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: Green Mansions + A Romance of the Tropical Forest + +Author: W. H. Hudson + +Posting Date: July 26, 2008 [EBook #942] +Release Date: June, 1997 +Last Updated: October 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREEN MANSIONS *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean + + + + + +GREEN MANSIONS + +A Romance of the Tropical Forest + +by W. H. Hudson + + + + +FOREWORD + +I take up pen for this foreword with the fear of one who knows that he +cannot do justice to his subject, and the trembling of one who would +not, for a good deal, set down words unpleasing to the eye of him who +wrote Green Mansions, The Purple Land, and all those other books which +have meant so much to me. For of all living authors--now that Tolstoi +has gone I could least dispense with W. H. Hudson. Why do I love his +writing so? I think because he is, of living writers that I read, the +rarest spirit, and has the clearest gift of conveying to me the nature +of that spirit. Writers are to their readers little new worlds to be +explored; and each traveller in the realms of literature must needs have +a favourite hunting-ground, which, in his good will--or perhaps merely +in his egoism--he would wish others to share with him. + +The great and abiding misfortunes of most of us writers are twofold: We +are, as worlds, rather common tramping-ground for our readers, +rather tame territory; and as guides and dragomans thereto we are too +superficial, lacking clear intimacy of expression; in fact--like guide +or dragoman--we cannot let folk into the real secrets, or show them the +spirit, of the land. + +Now, Hudson, whether in a pure romance like this Green Mansions, or in +that romantic piece of realism The Purple Land, or in books like Idle +Days in Patagonia, Afoot in England, The Land’s End, Adventures +among Birds, A Shepherd’s Life, and all his other nomadic records of +communings with men, birds, beasts, and Nature, has a supreme gift of +disclosing not only the thing he sees but the spirit of his vision. +Without apparent effort he takes you with him into a rare, free, natural +world, and always you are refreshed, stimulated, enlarged, by going +there. + +He is of course a distinguished naturalist, probably the most acute, +broad-minded, and understanding observer of Nature living. And this, in +an age of specialism, which loves to put men into pigeonholes and label +them, has been a misfortune to the reading public, who seeing the label +Naturalist, pass on, and take down the nearest novel. Hudson has indeed +the gifts and knowledge of a Naturalist, but that is a mere fraction of +his value and interest. A really great writer such as this is no more to +be circumscribed by a single word than America by the part of it called +New York. The expert knowledge which Hudson has of Nature gives to all +his work backbone and surety of fibre, and to his sense of beauty an +intimate actuality. But his real eminence and extraordinary attraction +lie in his spirit and philosophy. We feel from his writings that he +is nearer to Nature than other men, and yet more truly civilized. The +competitive, towny culture, the queer up-to-date commercial knowingness +with which we are so busy coating ourselves simply will not stick to +him. A passage in his Hampshire Days describes him better than I +can: “The blue sky, the brown soil beneath, the grass, the trees, the +animals, the wind, and rain, and stars are never strange to me; for I am +in and of and am one with them; and my flesh and the soil are one, and +the heat in my blood and in the sunshine are one, and the winds and the +tempests and my passions are one. I feel the ‘strangeness’ only with +regard to my fellow men, especially in towns, where they exist in +conditions unnatural to me, but congenial to them.... In such moments we +sometimes feel a kinship with, and are strangely drawn to, the dead, +who were not as these; the long, long dead, the men who knew not life in +towns, and felt no strangeness in sun and wind and rain.” This unspoiled +unity with Nature pervades all his writings; they are remote from the +fret and dust and pettiness of town life; they are large, direct, free. +It is not quite simplicity, for the mind of this writer is subtle and +fastidious, sensitive to each motion of natural and human life; but his +sensitiveness is somehow different from, almost inimical to, that of us +others, who sit indoors and dip our pens in shades of feeling. Hudson’s +fancy is akin to the flight of the birds that are his special loves--it +never seems to have entered a house, but since birth to have been +roaming the air, in rain and sun, or visiting the trees and the grass. +I not only disbelieve utterly, but intensely dislike, the doctrine of +metempsychosis, which, if I understand it aright, seems the negation of +the creative impulse, an apotheosis of staleness--nothing quite new in +the world, never anything quite new--not even the soul of a baby; and +so I am not prepared to entertain the whim that a bird was one of his +remote incarnations; still, in sweep of wing, quickness of eye, and +natural sweet strength of song he is not unlike a super-bird--which is +a horrid image. And that reminds me: This, after all, is a foreword to +Green Mansions--the romance of the bird-girl Rima--a story actual yet +fantastic, which immortalizes, I think, as passionate a love of all +beautiful things as ever was in the heart of man. Somewhere Hudson says: +“The sense of the beautiful is God’s best gift to the human soul.” So +it is: and to pass that gift on to others, in such measure as herein +is expressed, must surely have been happiness to him who wrote Green +Mansions. In form and spirit the book is unique, a simple romantic +narrative transmuted by sheer glow of beauty into a prose poem. Without +ever departing from its quality of a tale, it symbolizes the yearning +of the human soul for the attainment of perfect love and beauty in this +life--that impossible perfection which we must all learn to see fall +from its high tree and be consumed in the flames, as was Rima the +bird-girl, but whose fine white ashes we gather that they may be mingled +at last with our own, when we too have been refined by the fire of +death’s resignation. The book is soaked through and through with a +strange beauty. I will not go on singing its praises, or trying to make +it understood, because I have other words to say of its author. + +Do we realize how far our town life and culture have got away from +things that really matter; how instead of making civilization our +handmaid to freedom we have set her heel on our necks, and under it bite +dust all the time? Hudson, whether he knows it or not, is now the chief +standard-bearer of another faith. Thus he spake in The Purple Land: “Ah, +yes, we are all vainly seeking after happiness in the wrong way. It +was with us once and ours, but we despised it, for it was only the old +common happiness which Nature gives to all her children, and we went +away from it in search of another grander kind of happiness which some +dreamer--Bacon or another--assured us we should find. We had only to +conquer Nature, find out her secrets, make her our obedient slave, then +the Earth would be Eden, and every man Adam and every woman Eve. We are +still marching bravely on, conquering Nature, but how weary and sad +we are getting! The old joy in life and gaiety of heart have vanished, +though we do sometimes pause for a few moments in our long forced march +to watch the labours of some pale mechanician, seeking after perpetual +motion, and indulge in a little, dry, cackling laugh at his expense.” + And again: “For here the religion that languishes in crowded cities or +steals shamefaced to hide itself in dim churches flourishes greatly, +filling the soul with a solemn joy. Face to face with Nature on the vast +hills at eventide, who does not feel himself near to the Unseen? + + “Out of his heart God shall not pass + His image stamped is on every grass.” + +All Hudson’s books breathe this spirit of revolt against our new +enslavement by towns and machinery, and are true oases in an age so +dreadfully resigned to the “pale mechanician.” + +But Hudson is not, as Tolstoi was, a conscious prophet; his spirit is +freer, more willful, whimsical--almost perverse--and far more steeped in +love of beauty. If you called him a prophet he would stamp his foot +at you--as he will at me if he reads these words; but his voice is +prophetic, for all that, crying in a wilderness, out of which, at the +call, will spring up roses here and there, and the sweet-smelling grass. +I would that every man, woman, and child in England were made to read +him; and I would that you in America would take him to heart. He is a +tonic, a deep refreshing drink, with a strange and wonderful flavour; he +is a mine of new interests, and ways of thought instinctively right. As +a simple narrator he is well-nigh unsurpassed; as a stylist he has +few, if any, living equals. And in all his work there is an indefinable +freedom from any thought of after-benefit--even from the desire that we +should read him. He puts down what he sees and feels, out of sheer love +of the thing seen, and the emotion felt; the smell of the lamp has not +touched a single page that he ever wrote. That alone is a marvel to us +who know that to write well, even to write clearly, is a wound business, +long to learn, hard to learn, and no gift of the angels. Style should +not obtrude between a writer and his reader; it should be servant, not +master. To use words so true and simple that they oppose no obstacle +to the flow of thought and feeling from mind to mind, and yet by +juxtaposition of word-sounds set up in the recipient continuing emotion +or gratification--this is the essence of style; and Hudson’s writing has +pre-eminently this double quality. From almost any page of his books an +example might be taken. Here is one no better than a thousand others, a +description of two little girls on a beach: “They were dressed in black +frocks and scarlet blouses, which set off their beautiful small dark +faces; their eyes sparkled like black diamonds, and their loose hair +was a wonder to see, a black mist or cloud about their heads and necks +composed of threads fine as gossamer, blacker than jet and shining like +spun glass--hair that looked as if no comb or brush could ever tame its +beautiful wildness. And in spirit they were what they seemed: such a +wild, joyous, frolicsome spirit, with such grace and fleetness, one +does not look for in human beings, but only in birds or in some small +bird-like volatile mammal--a squirrel or a spider-monkey of the tropical +forest, or the chinchilla of the desolate mountain slopes; the swiftest, +wildest, loveliest, most airy, and most vocal of small beauties.” Or +this, as the quintessence of a sly remark: “After that Mantel got on to +his horse and rode away. It was black and rainy, but he had never needed +moon or lantern to find what he sought by night, whether his own +house, or a fat cow--also his own, perhaps.” So one might go on quoting +felicity for ever from this writer. He seems to touch every string with +fresh and uninked fingers; and the secret of his power lies, I suspect, +in the fact that his words: “Life being more than all else to me. . .” + are so utterly true. + +I do not descant on his love for simple folk and simple things, his +championship of the weak, and the revolt against the cagings and +cruelties of life, whether to men or birds or beasts, that springs out +of him as if against his will; because, having spoken of him as one with +a vital philosophy or faith, I don’t wish to draw red herrings across +the main trail of his worth to the world. His work is a vision of +natural beauty and of human life as it might be, quickened and sweetened +by the sun and the wind and the rain, and by fellowship with all the +other forms of life--the truest vision now being given to us, who are +more in want of it than any generation has ever been. A very great +writer; and--to my thinking--the most valuable our age possesses. + +JOHN GALSWORTHY + +September 1915 Manaton: Devon + + + + +GREEN MANSIONS + + + + +PROLOGUE + +It is a cause of very great regret to me that this task has taken so +much longer a time than I had expected for its completion. It is +now many months--over a year, in fact--since I wrote to Georgetown +announcing my intention of publishing, IN A VERY FEW MONTHS, the whole +truth about Mr. Abel. Hardly less could have been looked for from his +nearest friend, and I had hoped that the discussion in the newspapers +would have ceased, at all events, until the appearance of the promised +book. It has not been so; and at this distance from Guiana I was not +aware of how much conjectural matter was being printed week by week in +the local press, some of which must have been painful reading to Mr. +Abel’s friends. A darkened chamber, the existence of which had never +been suspected in that familiar house in Main Street, furnished +only with an ebony stand on which stood a cinerary urn, its surface +ornamented with flower and leaf and thorn, and winding through it all +the figure of a serpent; an inscription, too, of seven short words which +no one could understand or rightly interpret; and finally the disposal +of the mysterious ashes--that was all there was relating to an untold +chapter in a man’s life for imagination to work on. Let us hope that +now, at last, the romance-weaving will come to an end. It was, however, +but natural that the keenest curiosity should have been excited; not +only because of that peculiar and indescribable charm of the man, which +all recognized and which won all hearts, but also because of that hidden +chapter--that sojourn in the desert, about which he preserved silence. +It was felt in a vague way by his intimates that he had met with unusual +experiences which had profoundly affected him and changed the course of +his life. To me alone was the truth known, and I must now tell, briefly +as possible, how my great friendship and close intimacy with him came +about. + +When, in 1887, I arrived in Georgetown to take up an appointment in a +public office, I found Mr. Abel an old resident there, a man of means +and a favourite in society. Yet he was an alien, a Venezuelan, one +of that turbulent people on our border whom the colonists have always +looked on as their natural enemies. The story told to me was that about +twelve years before that time he had arrived at Georgetown from some +remote district in the interior; that he had journeyed alone on foot +across half the continent to the coast, and had first appeared among +them, a young stranger, penniless, in rags, wasted almost to a skeleton +by fever and misery of all kinds, his face blackened by long exposure +to sun and wind. Friendless, with but little English, it was a hard +struggle for him to live; but he managed somehow, and eventually letters +from Caracas informed him that a considerable property of which he had +been deprived was once more his own, and he was also invited to return +to his country to take his part in the government of the Republic. But +Mr. Abel, though young, had already outlived political passions and +aspirations, and, apparently, even the love of his country; at all +events, he elected to stay where he was--his enemies, he would say +smilingly, were his best friends--and one of the first uses he made of +his fortune was to buy that house in Main Street which was afterwards +like a home to me. + +I must state here that my friend’s full name was Abel Guevez de +Argensola, but in his early days in Georgetown he was called by his +Christian name only, and later he wished to be known simply as “Mr. +Abel.” + +I had no sooner made his acquaintance than I ceased to wonder at the +esteem and even affection with which he, a Venezuelan, was regarded in +this British colony. All knew and liked him, and the reason of it was +the personal charm of the man, his kindly disposition, his manner with +women, which pleased them and excited no man’s jealousy--not even +the old hot-tempered planter’s, with a very young and pretty and +light-headed wife--his love of little children, of all wild creatures, +of nature, and of whatsoever was furthest removed from the common +material interests and concerns of a purely commercial community. +The things which excited other men--politics, sport, and the price of +crystals--were outside of his thoughts; and when men had done with +them for a season, when like the tempest they had “blown their fill” in +office and club-room and house and wanted a change, it was a relief to +turn to Mr. Abel and get him to discourse of his world--the world of +nature and of the spirit. + +It was, all felt, a good thing to have a Mr. Abel in Georgetown. That +it was indeed good for me I quickly discovered. I had certainly +not expected to meet in such a place with any person to share my +tastes--that love of poetry which has been the chief passion and delight +of my life; but such a one I had found in Mr. Abel. It surprised me +that he, suckled on the literature of Spain, and a reader of only ten or +twelve years of English literature, possessed a knowledge of our modern +poetry as intimate as my own, and a love of it equally great. This +feeling brought us together and made us two--the nervous olive-skinned +Hispano-American of the tropics and the phlegmatic blue-eyed Saxon of +the cold north--one in spirit and more than brothers. Many were the +daylight hours we spent together and “tired the sun with talking”; many, +past counting, the precious evenings in that restful house of his where +I was an almost daily guest. I had not looked for such happiness; nor, +he often said, had he. A result of this intimacy was that the vague idea +concerning his hidden past, that some unusual experience had profoundly +affected him and perhaps changed the whole course of his life, did not +diminish, but, on the contrary, became accentuated, and was often in +my mind. The change in him was almost painful to witness whenever our +wandering talk touched on the subject of the aborigines, and of the +knowledge he had acquired of their character and languages when +living or travelling among them; all that made his conversation most +engaging--the lively, curious mind, the wit, the gaiety of spirit +tinged with a tender melancholy--appeared to fade out of it; even the +expression of his face would change, becoming hard and set, and he would +deal you out facts in a dry mechanical way as if reading them in a book. +It grieved me to note this, but I dropped no hint of such a feeling, and +would never have spoken about it but for a quarrel which came at last to +make the one brief solitary break in that close friendship of years. +I got into a bad state of health, and Abel was not only much concerned +about it, but annoyed, as if I had not treated him well by being ill, +and he would even say that I could get well if I wished to. I did not +take this seriously, but one morning, when calling to see me at the +office, he attacked me in a way that made me downright angry with him. +He told me that indolence and the use of stimulants was the cause of +my bad health. He spoke in a mocking way, with a presence of not quite +meaning it, but the feeling could not be wholly disguised. Stung by his +reproaches, I blurted out that he had no right to talk to me, even +in fun, in such a way. Yes, he said, getting serious, he had the best +right--that of our friendship. He would be no true friend if he kept his +peace about such a matter. Then, in my haste, I retorted that to me the +friendship between us did not seem so perfect and complete as it did to +him. One condition of friendship is that the partners in it should be +known to each other. He had had my whole life and mind open to him, to +read it as in a book. HIS life was a closed and clasped volume to me. + +His face darkened, and after a few moments’ silent reflection he got up +and left me with a cold good-bye, and without that hand-grasp which had +been customary between us. + +After his departure I had the feeling that a great loss, a great +calamity, had befallen me, but I was still smarting at his too candid +criticism, all the more because in my heart I acknowledged its truth. +And that night, lying awake, I repented of the cruel retort I had made, +and resolved to ask his forgiveness and leave it to him to determine +the question of our future relations. But he was beforehand with me, and +with the morning came a letter begging my forgiveness and asking me to +go that evening to dine with him. + +We were alone, and during dinner and afterwards, when we sat smoking and +sipping black coffee in the veranda, we were unusually quiet, even to +gravity, which caused the two white-clad servants that waited on us--the +brown-faced subtle-eyed old Hindu butler and an almost blue-black young +Guiana Negro--to direct many furtive glances at their master’s face. +They were accustomed to see him in a more genial mood when he had a +friend to dine. To me the change in his manner was not surprising: from +the moment of seeing him I had divined that he had determined to open +the shut and clasped volume of which I had spoken--that the time had now +come for him to speak. + + + +CHAPTER I + +Now that we are cool, he said, and regret that we hurt each other, I am +not sorry that it happened. I deserved your reproach: a hundred times +I have wished to tell you the whole story of my travels and adventures +among the savages, and one of the reasons which prevented me was the +fear that it would have an unfortunate effect on our friendship. That +was precious, and I desired above everything to keep it. But I must +think no more about that now. I must think only of how I am to tell you +my story. I will begin at a time when I was twenty-three. It was early +in life to be in the thick of politics, and in trouble to the extent of +having to fly my country to save my liberty, perhaps my life. + +Every nation, someone remarks, has the government it deserves, and +Venezuela certainly has the one it deserves and that suits it best. We +call it a republic, not only because it is not one, but also because a +thing must have a name; and to have a good name, or a fine name, is +very convenient--especially when you want to borrow money. If the +Venezuelans, thinly distributed over an area of half a million square +miles, mostly illiterate peasants, half-breeds, and indigenes, were +educated, intelligent men, zealous only for the public weal, it would +be possible for them to have a real republic. They have instead +a government by cliques, tempered by revolution; and a very good +government it is, in harmony with the physical conditions of the country +and the national temperament. Now, it happens that the educated men, +representing your higher classes, are so few that there are not many +persons unconnected by ties of blood or marriage with prominent members +of the political groups to which they belong. By this you will see how +easy and almost inevitable it is that we should become accustomed to +look on conspiracy and revolt against the regnant party--the men of +another clique--as only in the natural order of things. In the event +of failure such outbreaks are punished, but they are not regarded as +immoral. On the contrary, men of the highest intelligence and virtue +among us are seen taking a leading part in these adventures. Whether +such a condition of things is intrinsically wrong or not, or would be +wrong in some circumstances and is not wrong, because inevitable, in +others, I cannot pretend to decide; and all this tiresome profusion +is only to enable you to understand how I--a young man of unblemished +character, not a soldier by profession, not ambitious of political +distinction, wealthy for that country, popular in society, a lover of +social pleasures, of books, of nature actuated, as I believed, by the +highest motives, allowed myself to be drawn very readily by friends and +relations into a conspiracy to overthrow the government of the moment, +with the object of replacing it by more worthy men--ourselves, to wit. + +Our adventure failed because the authorities got wind of the affair +and matters were precipitated. Our leaders at the moment happened to be +scattered over the country--some were abroad; and a few hotheaded men +of the party, who were in Caracas just then and probably feared arrest, +struck a rash blow: the President was attacked in the street and +wounded. But the attackers were seized, and some of them shot on the +following day. When the news reached me I was at a distance from the +capital, staying with a friend on an estate he owned on the River +Quebrada Honda, in the State of Guarico, some fifteen to twenty miles +from the town of Zaraza. My friend, an officer in the army, was a leader +in the conspiracy; and as I was the only son of a man who had been +greatly hated by the Minister of War, it became necessary for us both +to fly for our lives. In the circumstances we could not look to be +pardoned, even on the score of youth. + +Our first decision was to escape to the sea-coast; but as the risk of a +journey to La Guayra, or any other port of embarkation on the north +side of the country, seemed too great, we made our way in a contrary +direction to the Orinoco, and downstream to Angostura. Now, when we had +reached this comparatively safe breathing-place--safe, at all events, +for the moment--I changed my mind about leaving or attempting to leave +the country. Since boyhood I had taken a very peculiar interest in that +vast and almost unexplored territory we possess south of the Orinoco, +with its countless unmapped rivers and trackless forests; and in +its savage inhabitants, with their ancient customs and character, +unadulterated by contact with Europeans. To visit this primitive +wilderness had been a cherished dream; and I had to some extent even +prepared myself for such an adventure by mastering more than one of the +Indian dialects of the northern states of Venezuela. And now, finding +myself on the south side of our great river, with unlimited time at +my disposal, I determined to gratify this wish. My companion took his +departure towards the coast, while I set about making preparations and +hunting up information from those who had travelled in the interior to +trade with the savages. I decided eventually to go back upstream and +penetrate to the interior in the western part of Guayana, and the +Amazonian territory bordering on Colombia and Brazil, and to return to +Angostura in about six months’ time. I had no fear of being arrested +in the semi-independent and in most part savage region, as the Guayana +authorities concerned themselves little enough about the political +upheavals at Caracas. + +The first five or six months I spent in Guayana, after leaving the city +of refuge, were eventful enough to satisfy a moderately adventurous +spirit. A complaisant government employee at Angostura had provided +me with a passport, in which it was set down (for few to read) that my +object in visiting the interior was to collect information concerning +the native tribes, the vegetable products of the country, and other +knowledge which would be of advantage to the Republic; and the +authorities were requested to afford me protection and assist me in my +pursuits. I ascended the Orinoco, making occasional expeditions to the +small Christian settlements in the neighbourhood of the right bank, also +to the Indian villages; and travelling in this way, seeing and learning +much, in about three months I reached the River Metal. During this +period I amused myself by keeping a journal, a record of personal +adventures, impressions of the country and people, both semi-civilized +and savage; and as my journal grew, I began to think that on my return +at some future time to Caracas, it might prove useful and interesting to +the public, and also procure me fame; which thought proved pleasurable +and a great incentive, so that I began to observe things more narrowly +and to study expression. But the book was not to be. + +From the mouth of the Meta I journeyed on, intending to visit the +settlement of Atahapo, where the great River Guaviare, with other +rivers, empties itself into the Orinoco. But I was not destined to reach +it, for at the small settlement of Manapuri I fell ill of a low fever; +and here ended the first half-year of my wanderings, about which no more +need be told. + +A more miserable place than Manapuri for a man to be ill of a low fever +in could not well be imagined. The settlement, composed of mean hovels, +with a few large structures of mud, or plastered wattle, thatched +with palm leaves, was surrounded by water, marsh, and forest, the +breeding-place of myriads of croaking frogs and of clouds of mosquitoes; +even to one in perfect health existence in such a place would have +been a burden. The inhabitants mustered about eighty or ninety, mostly +Indians of that degenerate class frequently to be met with in small +trading outposts. The savages of Guayana are great drinkers, but not +drunkards in our sense, since their fermented liquors contain so +little alcohol that inordinate quantities must be swallowed to produce +intoxication; in the settlements they prefer the white man’s more potent +poisons, with the result that in a small place like Manapuri one can see +enacted, as on a stage, the last act in the great American tragedy. To +be succeeded, doubtless, by other and possibly greater tragedies. My +thoughts at that period of suffering were pessimistic in the extreme. +Sometimes, when the almost continuous rain held up for half a day, I +would manage to creep out a short distance; but I was almost past making +any exertion, scarcely caring to live, and taking absolutely no interest +in the news from Caracas, which reached me at long intervals. At the end +of two months, feeling a slight improvement in my health, and with it a +returning interest in life and its affairs, it occurred to me to get +out my diary and write a brief account of my sojourn at Manapuri. I had +placed it for safety in a small deal box, lent to me for the purpose +by a Venezuelan trader, an old resident at the settlement, by name +Pantaleon--called by all Don Panta--one who openly kept half a dozen +Indian wives in his house, and was noted for his dishonesty and greed, +but who had proved himself a good friend to me. The box was in a corner +of the wretched palm-thatched hovel I inhabited; but on taking it out I +discovered that for several weeks the rain had been dripping on it, and +that the manuscript was reduced to a sodden pulp. I flung it upon the +floor with a curse and threw myself back on my bed with a groan. + +In that desponding state I was found by my friend Panta, who was +constant in his visits at all hours; and when in answer to his anxious +inquiries I pointed to the pulpy mass on the mud floor, he turned it +over with his foot, and then, bursting into a loud laugh, kicked it out, +remarking that he had mistaken the object for some unknown reptile that +had crawled in out of the rain. He affected to be astonished that I +should regret its loss. It was all a true narrative, he exclaimed; if +I wished to write a book for the stay-at-homes to read, I could easily +invent a thousand lies far more entertaining than any real experiences. +He had come to me, he said, to propose something. He had lived twenty +years at that place, and had got accustomed to the climate, but it would +not do for me to remain any longer if I wished to live. I must go away +at once to a different country--to the mountains, where it was open and +dry. “And if you want quinine when you are there,” he concluded, “smell +the wind when it blows from the south-west, and you will inhale it into +your system, fresh from the forest.” When I remarked despondingly that +in my condition it would be impossible to quit Manapuri, he went on to +say that a small party of Indians was now in the settlement; that they +had come, not only to trade, but to visit one of their own tribe, who +was his wife, purchased some years ago from her father. “And the money +she cost me I have never regretted to this day,” said he, “for she is a +good wife not jealous,” he added, with a curse on all the others. These +Indians came all the way from the Queneveta mountains, and were of the +Maquiritari tribe. He, Panta, and, better still, his good wife would +interest them on my behalf, and for a suitable reward they would take me +by slow, easy stages to their own country, where I would be treated well +and recover my health. + +This proposal, after I had considered it well, produced so good an +effect on me that I not only gave a glad consent, but, on the following +day, I was able to get about and begin the preparations for my journey +with some spirit. + +In about eight days I bade good-bye to my generous friend Panta, whom I +regarded, after having seen much of him, as a kind of savage beast that +had sprung on me, not to rend, but to rescue from death; for we +know that even cruel savage brutes and evil men have at times sweet, +beneficent impulses, during which they act in a way contrary to their +natures, like passive agents of some higher power. It was a continual +pain to travel in my weak condition, and the patience of my Indians +was severely taxed; but they did not forsake me; and at last the entire +distance, which I conjectured to be about sixty-five leagues, was +accomplished; and at the end I was actually stronger and better in +every way than at the start. From this time my progress towards complete +recovery was rapid. The air, with or without any medicinal virtue blown +from the cinchona trees in the far-off Andean forest, was tonic; and +when I took my walks on the hillside above the Indian village, or later +when able to climb to the summits, the world as seen from those +wild Queneveta mountains had a largeness and varied glory of scenery +peculiarly refreshing and delightful to the soul. + +With the Maquiritari tribe I passed some weeks, and the sweet sensations +of returning health made me happy for a time; but such sensations seldom +outlast convalescence. I was no sooner well again than I began to feel +a restless spirit stirring in me. The monotony of savage life in this +place became intolerable. After my long listless period the reaction had +come, and I wished only for action, adventure--no matter how dangerous; +and for new scenes, new faces, new dialects. In the end I conceived the +idea of going on to the Casiquiare river, where I would find a few small +settlements, and perhaps obtain help from the authorities there which +would enable me to reach the Rio Negro. For it was now in my mind to +follow that river to the Amazons, and so down to Para and the Atlantic +coast. + +Leaving the Queneveta range, I started with two of the Indians as guides +and travelling companions; but their journey ended only half-way to the +river I wished to reach; and they left me with some friendly savages +living on the Chunapay, a tributary of the Cunucumana, which flows to +the Orinoco. Here I had no choice but to wait until an opportunity of +attaching myself to some party of travelling Indians going south-west +should arrive; for by this time I had expended the whole of my small +capital in ornaments and calico brought from Manapuri, so that I could +no longer purchase any man’s service. And perhaps it will be as well +to state at this point just what I possessed. For some time I had worn +nothing but sandals to protect my feet; my garments consisted of a +single suit, and one flannel shirt, which I washed frequently, going +shirtless while it was drying. Fortunately I had an excellent blue cloth +cloak, durable and handsome, given to me by a friend at Angostura, whose +prophecy on presenting it, that it would outlast ME, very nearly came +true. It served as a covering by night, and to keep a man warm and +comfortable when travelling in cold and wet weather no better garment +was ever made. I had a revolver and metal cartridge-box in my broad +leather belt, also a good hunting-knife with strong buckhorn handle and +a heavy blade about nine inches long. In the pocket of my cloak I had a +pretty silver tinder-box, and a match-box--to be mentioned again in this +narrative--and one or two other trifling objects; these I was determined +to keep until they could be kept no longer. + +During the tedious interval of waiting on the Chunapay I was told a +flattering tale by the village Indians, which eventually caused me +to abandon the proposed journey to the Rio Negro. These Indians wore +necklets, like nearly all the Guayana savages; but one, I observed, +possessed a necklet unlike that of the others, which greatly aroused my +curiosity. It was made of thirteen gold plates, irregular in form, about +as broad as a man’s thumb-nail, and linked together with fibres. I was +allowed to examine it, and had no doubt that the pieces were of pure +gold, beaten flat by the savages. When questioned about it, they said +it was originally obtained from the Indians of Parahuari, and Parahuari, +they further said, was a mountainous country west of the Orinoco. Every +man and woman in that place, they assured me, had such a necklet. This +report inflamed my mind to such a degree that I could not rest by night +or day for dreaming golden dreams, and considering how to get to that +rich district, unknown to civilized men. The Indians gravely shook their +heads when I tried to persuade them to take me. They were far enough +from the Orinoco, and Parahuari was ten, perhaps fifteen, days’ journey +further on--a country unknown to them, where they had no relations. + +In spite of difficulties and delays, however, and not without pain and +some perilous adventures, I succeeded at last in reaching the upper +Orinoco, and, eventually, in crossing to the other side. With my life +in my hand I struggled on westward through an unknown difficult country, +from Indian village to village, where at any moment I might have been +murdered with impunity for the sake of my few belongings. It is hard for +me to speak a good word for the Guayana savages; but I must now say this +of them, that they not only did me no harm when I was at their mercy +during this long journey, but they gave me shelter in their villages, +and fed me when I was hungry, and helped me on my way when I could make +no return. You must not, however, run away with the idea that there is +any sweetness in their disposition, any humane or benevolent instincts +such as are found among the civilized nations: far from it. I regard +them now, and, fortunately for me, I regarded them then, when, as I have +said, I was at their mercy, as beasts of prey, plus a cunning or low +kind of intelligence vastly greater than that of the brute; and, for +only morality, that respect for the rights of other members of the same +family, or tribe, without which even the rudest communities cannot hold +together. How, then, could I do this thing, and dwell and travel freely, +without receiving harm, among tribes that have no peace with and no +kindly feelings towards the stranger, in a district where the white +man is rarely or never seen? Because I knew them so well. Without that +knowledge, always available, and an extreme facility in acquiring new +dialects, which had increased by practice until it was almost like +intuition, I should have fared badly after leaving the Maquiritari +tribe. As it was, I had two or three very narrow escapes. + +To return from this digression. I looked at last on the famous Parahuari +mountains, which, I was greatly surprised to find, were after all +nothing but hills, and not very high ones. This, however, did not +impress me. The very fact that Parahuari possessed no imposing feature +in its scenery seemed rather to prove that it must be rich in gold: how +else could its name and the fame of its treasures be familiar to people +dwelling so far away as the Cunucumana? + +But there was no gold. I searched through the whole range, which was +about seven leagues long, and visited the villages, where I talked much +with the Indians, interrogating them, and they had no necklets of +gold, nor gold in any form; nor had they ever heard of its presence in +Parahuari or in any other place known to them. + +The very last village where I spoke on the subject of my quest, albeit +now without hope, was about a league from the western extremity of the +range, in the midst of a high broken country of forest and savannah and +many swift streams; near one of these, called the Curicay, the village +stood, among low scattered trees--a large building, in which all the +people, numbering eighteen, passed most of their time when not hunting, +with two smaller buildings attached to it. The head, or chief, Runi by +name, was about fifty years old, a taciturn, finely formed, and somewhat +dignified savage, who was either of a sullen disposition or not well +pleased at the intrusion of a white man. And for a time I made no +attempt to conciliate him. What profit was there in it at all? Even +that light mask, which I had worn so long and with such good effect, +incommoded me now: I would cast it aside and be myself--silent and +sullen as my barbarous host. If any malignant purpose was taking form +in his mind, let it, and let him do his worst; for when failure first +stares a man in the face, it has so dark and repellent a look that not +anything that can be added can make him more miserable; nor has he any +apprehension. For weeks I had been searching with eager, feverish +eyes in every village, in every rocky crevice, in every noisy mountain +streamlet, for the glittering yellow dust I had travelled so far to +find. And now all my beautiful dreams--all the pleasure and power to +be--had vanished like a mere mirage on the savannah at noon. + +It was a day of despair which I spent in this place, sitting all day +indoors, for it was raining hard, immersed in my own gloomy thoughts, +pretending to doze in my seat, and out of the narrow slits of my +half-closed eyes seeing the others, also sitting or moving about, like +shadows or people in a dream; and I cared nothing about them, and wished +not to seem friendly, even for the sake of the food they might offer me +by and by. + +Towards evening the rain ceased; and rising up I went out a short +distance to the neighbouring stream, where I sat on a stone and, casting +off my sandals, laved my bruised feet in the cool running water. The +western half of the sky was blue again with that tender lucid blue +seen after rain, but the leaves still glittered with water, and the wet +trunks looked almost black under the green foliage. The rare loveliness +of the scene touched and lightened my heart. Away back in the east +the hills of Parahuari, with the level sun full on them, loomed with a +strange glory against the grey rainy clouds drawing off on that side, +and their new mystic beauty almost made me forget how these same hills +had wearied, and hurt, and mocked me. On that side, also to the north +and south, there was open forest, but to the west a different prospect +met the eye. Beyond the stream and the strip of verdure that fringed it, +and the few scattered dwarf trees growing near its banks, spread a brown +savannah sloping upwards to a long, low, rocky ridge, beyond which rose +a great solitary hill, or rather mountain, conical in form, and clothed +in forest almost to the summit. This was the mountain Ytaioa, the chief +landmark in that district. As the sun went down over the ridge, beyond +the savannah, the whole western sky changed to a delicate rose colour +that had the appearance of rose-coloured smoke blown there by some far +off-wind, and left suspended--a thin, brilliant veil showing through it +the distant sky beyond, blue and ethereal. Flocks of birds, a kind of +troupial, were flying past me overhead, flock succeeding flock, on their +way to their roosting-place, uttering as they flew a clear, bell-like +chirp; and there was something ethereal too in those drops of melodious +sound, which fell into my heart like raindrops falling into a pool to +mix their fresh heavenly water with the water of earth. + +Doubtless into the turbid tarn of my heart some sacred drops had +fallen--from the passing birds, from that crimson disk which had now +dropped below the horizon, the darkening hills, the rose and blue of +infinite heaven, from the whole visible circle; and I felt purified +and had a strange sense and apprehension of a secret innocence and +spirituality in nature--a prescience of some bourn, incalculably distant +perhaps, to which we are all moving; of a time when the heavenly rain +shall have washed us clean from all spot and blemish. This unexpected +peace which I had found now seemed to me of infinitely greater value +than that yellow metal I had missed finding, with all its possibilities. +My wish now was to rest for a season at this spot, so remote and lovely +and peaceful, where I had experienced such unusual feelings and such a +blessed disillusionment. + +This was the end of my second period in Guayana: the first had been +filled with that dream of a book to win me fame in my country, perhaps +even in Europe; the second, from the time of leaving the Queneveta +mountains, with the dream of boundless wealth--the old dream of gold +in this region that has drawn so many minds since the days of Francisco +Pizarro. But to remain I must propitiate Runi, sitting silent with +gloomy brows over there indoors; and he did not appear to me like one +that might be won with words, however flattering. It was clear to +me that the time had come to part with my one remaining valuable +trinket--the tinder-box of chased silver. + +I returned to the house and, going in, seated myself on a log by the +fire, just opposite to my grim host, who was smoking and appeared not +to have moved since I left him. I made myself a cigarette, then drew out +the tinder-box, with its flint and steel attached to it by means of +two small silver chains. His eyes brightened a little as they curiously +watched my movements, and he pointed without speaking to the glowing +coals of fire at my feet. I shook my head, and striking the steel, sent +out a brilliant spray of sparks, then blew on the tinder and lit my +cigarette. + +This done, instead of returning the box to my pocket I passed the chain +through the buttonhole of my cloak and let it dangle on my breast as +an ornament. When the cigarette was smoked, I cleared my throat in the +orthodox manner and fixed my eyes on Runi, who, on his part, made a +slight movement to indicate that he was ready to listen to what I had to +say. + +My speech was long, lasting at least half an hour, delivered in +a profound silence; it was chiefly occupied with an account of my +wanderings in Guayana; and being little more than a catalogue of names +of all the places I had visited, and the tribes and chief or head men +with whom I had come in contact, I was able to speak continuously, and +so to hide my ignorance of a dialect which was still new to me. +The Guayana savage judges a man for his staying powers. To stand as +motionless as a bronze statue for one or two hours watching for a +bird; to sit or lie still for half a day; to endure pain, not seldom +self-inflicted, without wincing; and when delivering a speech to pour +it out in a copious stream, without pausing to take breath or hesitating +over a word--to be able to do all this is to prove yourself a man, an +equal, one to be respected and even made a friend of. What I really +wished to say to him was put in a few words at the conclusion of my +well-nigh meaningless oration. Everywhere, I said, I had been the +Indian’s friend, and I wished to be his friend, to live with him at +Parahuari, even as I had lived with other chiefs and heads of villages +and families; to be looked on by him, as these others had looked on me, +not as a stranger or a white man, but as a friend, a brother, an Indian. + +I ceased speaking, and there was a slight murmurous sound in the room, +as of wind long pent up in many lungs suddenly exhaled; while Runi, +still unmoved, emitted a low grunt. Then I rose, and detaching the +silver ornament from my cloak, presented it to him. He accepted it; not +very graciously, as a stranger to these people might have imagined; but +I was satisfied, feeling sure that I had made a favourable impression. +After a little he handed the box to the person sitting next to him, who +examined it and passed it on to a third, and in this way it went round +and came back once more to Runi. Then he called for a drink. There +happened to be a store of casserie in the house; probably the women had +been busy for some days past in making it, little thinking that it was +destined to be prematurely consumed. A large jarful was produced; Runi +politely quaffed the first cup; I followed; then the others; and the +women drank also, a woman taking about one cupful to a man’s three. +Runi and I, however, drank the most, for we had our positions as the two +principal personages there to maintain. Tongues were loosened now; for +the alcohol, small as the quantity contained in this mild liquor is, had +begun to tell on our brains. I had not their pottle-shaped stomach, made +to hold unlimited quantities of meat and drink; but I was determined on +this most important occasion not to deserve my host’s contempt--to be +compared, perhaps, to the small bird that delicately picks up six drops +of water in its bill and is satisfied. I would measure my strength +against his, and if necessary drink myself into a state of +insensibility. + +At last I was scarcely able to stand on my legs. But even the seasoned +old savage was affected by this time. In vino veritas, said the +ancients; and the principle holds good where there is no vinum, but only +mild casserie. Runi now informed me that he had once known a white man, +that he was a bad man, which had caused him to say that all white men +were bad; even as David, still more sweepingly, had proclaimed that all +men were liars. Now he found that it was not so, that I was a good man. +His friendliness increased with intoxication. He presented me with a +curious little tinder-box, made from the conical tail of an armadillo, +hollowed out, and provided with a wooden stopper--this to be used in +place of the box I had deprived myself of. He also furnished me with a +grass hammock, and had it hung up there and then, so that I could lie +down when inclined. There was nothing he would not do for me. And at +last, when many more cups had been emptied, and a third or fourth jar +brought out, he began to unburthen his heart of its dark and dangerous +secrets. He shed tears--for the “man without a tear” dwells not in the +woods of Guayana: tears for those who had been treacherously slain long +years ago; for his father, who had been killed by Tripica, the father +of Managa, who was still above ground. But let him and all his people +beware of Runi. He had spilt their blood before, he had fed the fox and +vulture with their flesh, and would never rest while Managa lived with +his people at Uritay--the five hills of Uritay, which were two days’ +journey from Parahuari. While thus talking of his old enemy he lashed +himself into a kind of frenzy, smiting his chest and gnashing his teeth; +and finally seizing a spear, he buried its point deep into the clay +floor, only to wrench it out and strike it into the earth again and +again, to show how he would serve Managa, and any one of Managa’s people +he might meet with--man, woman, or child. Then he staggered out from the +door to flourish his spear; and looking to the north-west, he shouted +aloud to Managa to come and slay his people and burn down his house, as +he had so often threatened to do. + +“Let him come! Let Managa come!” I cried, staggering out after him. “I +am your friend, your brother; I have no spear and no arrows, but I have +this--this!” And here I drew out and flourished my revolver. “Where is +Managa?” I continued. “Where are the hills of Uritay?” He pointed to +a star low down in the south-west. “Then,” I shouted, “let this bullet +find Managa, sitting by the fire among his people, and let him fall and +pour out his blood on the ground!” And with that I discharged my pistol +in the direction he had pointed to. A scream of terror burst out from +the women and children, while Runi at my side, in an access of fierce +delight and admiration, turned and embraced me. It was the first and +last embrace I ever suffered from a naked male savage, and although +this did not seem a time for fastidious feelings, to be hugged to his +sweltering body was an unpleasant experience. + +More cups of casserie followed this outburst; and at last, unable to +keep it up any longer, I staggered to my hammock; but being unable to +get into it, Runi, overflowing with kindness, came to my assistance, +whereupon we fell and rolled together on the floor. Finally I was raised +by the others and tumbled into my swinging bed, and fell at once into a +deep, dreamless sleep, from which I did not awake until after sunrise on +the following morning. + + + +CHAPTER II + +It is fortunate that casserie is manufactured by an extremely slow, +laborious process, since the women, who are the drink-makers, in the +first place have to reduce the material (cassava bread) to a pulp by +means of their own molars, after which it is watered down and put away +in troughs to ferment. Great is the diligence of these willing slaves; +but, work how they will, they can only satisfy their lords’ love of +a big drink at long intervals. Such a function as that at which I had +assisted is therefore the result of much patient mastication and silent +fermentation--the delicate flower of a plant that has been a long time +growing. + +Having now established myself as one of the family, at the cost of some +disagreeable sensations and a pang or two of self-disgust, I resolved +to let nothing further trouble me at Parahuari, but to live the +easy, careless life of the idle man, joining in hunting and fishing +expeditions when in the mood; at other times enjoying existence in my +own way, apart from my fellows, conversing with wild nature in that +solitary place. Besides Runi, there were, in our little community, two +oldish men, his cousins I believe, who had wives and grown-up +children. Another family consisted of Piake, Runi’s nephew, his brother +Kua-ko--about whom there will be much to say--and a sister Oalava. Piake +had a wife and two children; Kua-ko was unmarried and about nineteen or +twenty years old; Oalava was the youngest of the three. Last of all, +who should perhaps have been first, was Runi’s mother, called Cla-cla, +probably in imitation of the cry of some bird, for in these latitudes a +person is rarely, perhaps never, called by his or her real name, which +is a secret jealously preserved, even from near relations. I believe +that Cla-cla herself was the only living being who knew the name her +parents had bestowed on her at birth. She was a very old woman, spare +in figure, brown as old sun-baked leather, her face written over with +innumerable wrinkles, and her long coarse hair perfectly white; yet she +was exceedingly active, and seemed to do more work than any other woman +in the community; more than that, when the day’s toil was over and +nothing remained for the others to do, then Cla-cla’s night work would +begin; and this was to talk all the others, or at all events all the +men, to sleep. She was like a self-regulating machine, and punctually +every evening, when the door was closed, and the night fire made up, and +every man in his hammock, she would set herself going, telling the most +interminable stories, until the last listener was fast asleep; later +in the night, if any man woke with a snort or grunt, off she would go +again, taking up the thread of the tale where she had dropped it. + +Old Cla-cla amused me very much, by night and day, and I seldom tired of +watching her owlish countenance as she sat by the fire, never allowing +it to sink low for want of fuel; always studying the pot when it was on +to simmer, and at the same time attending to the movements of the others +about her, ready at a moment’s notice to give assistance or to dart out +on a stray chicken or refractory child. + +So much did she amuse me, although without intending it, that I +thought it would be only fair, in my turn, to do something for her +entertainment. I was engaged one day in shaping a wooden foil with my +knife, whistling and singing snatches of old melodies at my work, +when all at once I caught sight of the ancient dame looking greatly +delighted, chuckling internally, nodding her head, and keeping time +with her hands. Evidently she was able to appreciate a style of music +superior to that of the aboriginals, and forthwith I abandoned my foils +for the time and set about the manufacture of a guitar, which cost +me much labour and brought out more ingenuity than I had ever thought +myself capable of. To reduce the wood to the right thinness, then to +bend and fasten it with wooden pegs and with gums, to add the arm, +frets, keys, and finally the catgut strings--those of another kind being +out of the question--kept me busy for some days. When completed it was +a rude instrument, scarcely tunable; nevertheless when I smote the +strings, playing lively music, or accompanied myself in singing, I found +that it was a great success, and so was as much pleased with my own +performance as if I had had the most perfect guitar ever made in old +Spain. I also skipped about the floor, strum-strumming at the same time, +instructing them in the most lively dances of the whites, in which the +feet must be as nimble as the player’s fingers. It is true that these +exhibitions were always witnessed by the adults with a profound gravity, +which would have disheartened a stranger to their ways. They were a set +of hollow bronze statues that looked at me, but I knew that the living +animals inside of them were tickled at my singing, strumming, and +pirouetting. Cla-cla was, however, an exception, and encouraged me not +infrequently by emitting a sound, half cackle and half screech, by +way of laughter; for she had come to her second childhood, or, at all +events, had dropped the stolid mask which the young Guayana savage, in +imitation of his elders, adjusts to his face at about the age of twelve, +to wear it thereafter all his life long, or only to drop it occasionally +when very drunk. The youngsters also openly manifested their pleasure, +although, as a rule, they try to restrain their feelings in the presence +of grown-up people, and with them I became a great favourite. + +By and by I returned to my foil-making, and gave them fencing lessons, +and sometimes invited two or three of the biggest boys to attack me +simultaneously, just to show how easily I could disarm and kill them. +This practice excited some interest in Kua-ko, who had a little more of +curiosity and geniality and less of the put-on dignity of the others, +and with him I became most intimate. Fencing with Kua-ko was highly +amusing: no sooner was he in position, foil in hand, than all my +instructions were thrown to the winds, and he would charge and attack me +in his own barbarous manner, with the result that I would send his foil +spinning a dozen yards away, while he, struck motionless, would gaze +after it in open-mouthed astonishment. + +Three weeks had passed by not unpleasantly when, one morning, I took +it into my head to walk by myself across that somewhat sterile savannah +west of the village and stream, which ended, as I have said, in a long, +low, stony ridge. From the village there was nothing to attract the +eye in that direction; but I wished to get a better view of that great +solitary hill or mountain of Ytaioa, and of the cloud-like summits +beyond it in the distance. From the stream the ground rose in a gradual +slope, and the highest part of the ridge for which I made was about +two miles from the starting-point--a parched brown plain, with nothing +growing on it but scattered tussocks of sere hair-like grass. + +When I reached the top and could see the country beyond, I was agreeably +disappointed at the discovery that the sterile ground extended only +about a mile and a quarter on the further side, and was succeeded by a +forest--a very inviting patch of woodland covering five or six square +miles, occupying a kind of oblong basin, extending from the foot of +Ytaioa on the north to a low range of rocky hills on the south. From the +wooded basin long narrow strips of forest ran out in various directions +like the arms of an octopus, one pair embracing the slopes of Ytaioa, +another much broader belt extending along a valley which cut through the +ridge of hills on the south side at right angles and was lost to sight +beyond; far away in the west and south and north distant mountains +appeared, not in regular ranges, but in groups or singly, or looking +like blue banked-up clouds on the horizon. + +Glad at having discovered the existence of this forest so near home, and +wondering why my Indian friends had never taken me to it nor ever went +out on that side, I set forth with a light heart to explore it for +myself, regretting only that I was without a proper weapon for procuring +game. The walk from the ridge over the savannah was easy, as the barren, +stony ground sloped downwards the whole way. The outer part of the wood +on my side was very open, composed in most part of dwarf trees that grow +on stony soil, and scattered thorny bushes bearing a yellow pea-shaped +blossom. Presently I came to thicker wood, where the trees were much +taller and in greater variety; and after this came another sterile +strip, like that on the edge of the wood where stone cropped out from +the ground and nothing grew except the yellow-flowered thorn bushes. +Passing this sterile ribbon, which seemed to extend to a considerable +distance north and south, and was fifty to a hundred yards wide, the +forest again became dense and the trees large, with much undergrowth in +places obstructing the view and making progress difficult. + +I spent several hours in this wild paradise, which was so much more +delightful than the extensive gloomier forests I had so often penetrated +in Guayana; for here, if the trees did not attain to such majestic +proportions, the variety of vegetable forms was even greater; as far +as I went it was nowhere dark under the trees, and the number of lovely +parasites everywhere illustrated the kindly influence of light and air. +Even where the trees were largest the sunshine penetrated, subdued by +the foliage to exquisite greenish-golden tints, filling the wide lower +spaces with tender half-lights, and faint blue-and-gray shadows. Lying +on my back and gazing up, I felt reluctant to rise and renew my ramble. +For what a roof was that above my head! Roof I call it, just as the +poets in their poverty sometimes describe the infinite ethereal sky by +that word; but it was no more roof-like and hindering to the soaring +spirit than the higher clouds that float in changing forms and tints, +and like the foliage chasten the intolerable noonday beams. How far +above me seemed that leafy cloudland into which I gazed! Nature, we +know, first taught the architect to produce by long colonnades the +illusion of distance; but the light-excluding roof prevents him from +getting the same effect above. Here Nature is unapproachable with her +green, airy canopy, a sun-impregnated cloud--cloud above cloud; and +though the highest may be unreached by the eye, the beams yet filter +through, illuming the wide spaces beneath--chamber succeeded by chamber, +each with its own special lights and shadows. Far above me, but not +nearly so far as it seemed, the tender gloom of one such chamber or +space is traversed now by a golden shaft of light falling through some +break in the upper foliage, giving a strange glory to everything it +touches--projecting leaves, and beard-like tuft of moss, and snaky +bush-rope. And in the most open part of that most open space, suspended +on nothing to the eye, the shaft reveals a tangle of shining silver +threads--the web of some large tree-spider. These seemingly distant yet +distinctly visible threads serve to remind me that the human artist is +only able to get his horizontal distance by a monotonous reduplication +of pillar and arch, placed at regular intervals, and that the least +departure from this order would destroy the effect. But Nature produces +her effects at random, and seems only to increase the beautiful illusion +by that infinite variety of decoration in which she revels, binding tree +to tree in a tangle of anaconda-like lianas, and dwindling down from +these huge cables to airy webs and hair-like fibres that vibrate to the +wind of the passing insect’s wing. + +Thus in idleness, with such thoughts for company, I spent my time, glad +that no human being, savage or civilized, was with me. It was better to +be alone to listen to the monkeys that chattered without offending; to +watch them occupied with the unserious business of their lives. With +that luxuriant tropical nature, its green clouds and illusive aerial +spaces, full of mystery, they harmonized well in language, appearance, +and motions--mountebank angels, living their fantastic lives far above +earth in a half-way heaven of their own. + +I saw more monkeys on that morning than I usually saw in the course of +a week’s rambling. And other animals were seen; I particularly remember +two accouries I startled, that after rushing away a few yards stopped +and stood peering back at me as if not knowing whether to regard me as +friend or enemy. Birds, too, were strangely abundant; and altogether +this struck me as being the richest hunting-ground I had seen, and it +astonished me to think that the Indians of the village did not appear to +visit it. + +On my return in the afternoon I gave an enthusiastic account of my day’s +ramble, speaking not of the things that had moved my soul, but only of +those which move the Guayana Indian’s soul--the animal food he craves, +and which, one would imagine, Nature would prefer him to do without, so +hard he finds it to wrest a sufficiency from her. To my surprise they +shook their heads and looked troubled at what I said; and finally my +host informed me that the wood I had been in was a dangerous place; that +if they went there to hunt, a great injury would be done to them; and he +finished by advising me not to visit it again. + +I began to understand from their looks and the old man’s vague words +that their fear of the wood was superstitious. If dangerous creatures +had existed there--tigers, or camoodis, or solitary murderous +savages--they would have said so; but when I pressed them with questions +they could only repeat that “something bad” existed in the place, that +animals were abundant there because no Indian who valued his life dared +venture into it. I replied that unless they gave me some more definite +information I should certainly go again and put myself in the way of the +danger they feared. + +My reckless courage, as they considered it, surprised them; but they had +already begun to find out that their superstitions had no effect on me, +that I listened to them as to stories invented to amuse a child, and for +the moment they made no further attempt to dissuade me. + +Next day I returned to the forest of evil report, which had now a +new and even greater charm--the fascination of the unknown and the +mysterious; still, the warning I had received made me distrustful and +cautious at first, for I could not help thinking about it. When we +consider how much of their life is passed in the woods, which become +as familiar to them as the streets of our native town to us, it seems +almost incredible that these savages have a superstitious fear of all +forests, fearing them as much, even in the bright light of day, as a +nervous child with memory filled with ghost-stories fears a dark room. +But, like the child in the dark room, they fear the forest only when +alone in it, and for this reason always hunt in couples or parties. +What, then, prevented them from visiting this particular wood, which +offered so tempting a harvest? The question troubled me not a little; at +the same time I was ashamed of the feeling, and fought against it; and +in the end I made my way to the same sequestered spot where I had rested +so long on my previous visit. + +In this place I witnessed a new thing and had a strange experience. +Sitting on the ground in the shade of a large tree, I began to hear a +confused noise as of a coming tempest of wind mixed with shrill calls +and cries. Nearer and nearer it came, and at last a multitude of birds +of many kinds, but mostly small, appeared in sight swarming through the +trees, some running on the trunks and larger branches, others flitting +through the foliage, and many keeping on the wing, now hovering and +now darting this way or that. They were all busily searching for and +pursuing the insects, moving on at the same time, and in a very few +minutes they had finished examining the trees near me and were gone; but +not satisfied with what I had witnessed, I jumped up and rushed after +the flock to keep it in sight. All my caution and all recollection of +what the Indians had said was now forgot, so great was my interest in +this bird-army; but as they moved on without pause, they quickly left me +behind, and presently my career was stopped by an impenetrable tangle of +bushes, vines, and roots of large trees extending like huge cables +along the ground. In the midst of this leafy labyrinth I sat down on a +projecting root to cool my blood before attempting to make my way back +to my former position. After that tempest of motion and confused noises +the silence of the forest seemed very profound; but before I had +been resting many moments it was broken by a low strain of exquisite +bird-melody, wonderfully pure and expressive, unlike any musical sound I +had ever heard before. It seemed to issue from a thick cluster of broad +leaves of a creeper only a few yards from where I sat. With my eyes +fixed on this green hiding-place I waited with suspended breath for its +repetition, wondering whether any civilized being had ever listened to +such a strain before. Surely not, I thought, else the fame of so divine +a melody would long ago have been noised abroad. I thought of the +rialejo, the celebrated organbird or flute-bird, and of the various ways +in which hearers are affected by it. To some its warbling is like the +sound of a beautiful mysterious instrument, while to others it seems +like the singing of a blithe-hearted child with a highly melodious +voice. I had often heard and listened with delight to the singing of the +rialejo in the Guayana forests, but this song, or musical phrase, was +utterly unlike it in character. It was pure, more expressive, softer--so +low that at a distance of forty yards I could hardly have heard it. +But its greatest charm was its resemblance to the human voice--a voice +purified and brightened to something almost angelic. Imagine, then, my +impatience as I sat there straining my sense, my deep disappointment +when it was not repeated! I rose at length very reluctantly and slowly +began making my way back; but when I had progressed about thirty yards, +again the sweet voice sounded just behind me, and turning quickly, I +stood still and waited. The same voice, but not the same song--not +the same phrase; the notes were different, more varied and rapidly +enunciated, as if the singer had been more excited. The blood rushed to +my heart as I listened; my nerves tingled with a strange new delight, +the rapture produced by such music heightened by a sense of mystery. +Before many moments I heard it again, not rapid now, but a soft +warbling, lower than at first, infinitely sweet and tender, sinking to +lisping sounds that soon ceased to be audible; the whole having lasted +as long as it would take me to repeat a sentence of a dozen words. This +seemed the singer’s farewell to me, for I waited and listened in vain to +hear it repeated; and after getting back to the starting-point I sat for +upwards of an hour, still hoping to hear it once more! + +The weltering sun at length compelled me to quit the wood, but not +before I had resolved to return the next morning and seek for the spot +where I had met with so enchanting an experience. After crossing the +sterile belt I have mentioned within the wood, and just before I came to +the open outer edge where the stunted trees and bushes die away on the +border of the savannah, what was my delight and astonishment at hearing +the mysterious melody once more! It seemed to issue from a clump of +bushes close by; but by this time I had come to the conclusion +that there was a ventriloquism in this woodland voice which made it +impossible for me to determine its exact direction. Of one thing I was, +however, now quite convinced, and that was that the singer had been +following me all the time. Again and again as I stood there listening it +sounded, now so faint and apparently far off as to be scarcely audible; +then all at once it would ring out bright and clear within a few yards +of me, as if the shy little thing had suddenly grown bold; but, far or +near, the vocalist remained invisible, and at length the tantalizing +melody ceased altogether. + + + +CHAPTER III + +I was not disappointed on my next visit to the forest, nor on several +succeeding visits; and this seemed to show that if I was right in +believing that these strange, melodious utterances proceeded from one +individual, then the bird or being, although still refusing to show +itself, was always on the watch for my appearance and followed me +wherever I went. This thought only served to increase my curiosity; I +was constantly pondering over the subject, and at last concluded that it +would be best to induce one of the Indians to go with me to the wood on +the chance of his being able to explain the mystery. + +One of the treasures I had managed to preserve in my sojourn with these +children of nature, who were always anxious to become possessors of my +belongings, was a small prettily fashioned metal match-box, opening +with a spring. Remembering that Kua-ko, among others, had looked at this +trifle with covetous eyes--the covetous way in which they all looked at +it had given it a fictitious value in my own--I tried to bribe him with +the offer of it to accompany me to my favourite haunt. The brave young +hunter refused again and again; but on each occasion he offered to +perform some other service or to give me something in exchange for the +box. At last I told him that I would give it to the first person who +should accompany me, and fearing that someone would be found valiant +enough to win the prize, he at length plucked up a spirit, and on the +next day, seeing me going out for a walk, he all at once offered to go +with me. He cunningly tried to get the box before starting--his cunning, +poor youth, was not very deep! I told him that the forest we were about +to visit abounded with plants and birds unlike any I had seen elsewhere, +that I wished to learn their names and everything about them, and +that when I had got the required information the box would be his--not +sooner. Finally we started, he, as usual, armed with his zabatana, with +which, I imagined, he would procure more game than usually fell to his +little poisoned arrows. When we reached the wood I could see that he was +ill at ease: nothing would persuade him to go into the deeper parts; +and even where it was very open and light he was constantly gazing +into bushes and shadowy places, as if expecting to see some frightful +creature lying in wait for him. This behaviour might have had a +disquieting effect on me had I not been thoroughly convinced that his +fears were purely superstitious and that there could be no dangerous +animal in a spot I was accustomed to walk in every day. My plan was +to ramble about with an unconcerned air, occasionally pointing out an +uncommon tree or shrub or vine, or calling his attention to a distant +bird-cry and asking the bird’s name, in the hope that the mysterious +voice would make itself heard and that he would be able to give me some +explanation of it. But for upwards of two hours we moved about, hearing +nothing except the usual bird voices, and during all that time he never +stirred a yard from my side nor made an attempt to capture anything. At +length we sat down under a tree, in an open spot close to the border of +the wood. He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed more troubled in +his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continually roving about, while he +listened intently to every sound. The sounds were not few, owing to the +abundance of animal and especially of bird life in this favoured spot. +I began to question my companion as to some of the cries we heard. There +were notes and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the cock--parrot +screams and yelping of toucans, the distant wailing calls of maam and +duraquara; and shrill laughter-like notes of the large tree-climber as +it passed from tree to tree; the quick whistle of cotingas; and strange +throbbing and thrilling sounds, as of pygmies beating on metallic drums, +of the skulking pitta-thrushes; and with these mingled other notes +less well known. One came from the treetops, where it was perpetually +wandering amid the foliage a low note, repeated at intervals of a few +seconds, so thin and mournful and full of mystery that I half expected +to hear that it proceeded from the restless ghost of some dead bird. +But no; he only said it was uttered by a “little bird”--too little +presumably to have a name. From the foliage of a neighbouring tree came +a few tinkling chirps, as of a small mandolin, two or three strings of +which had been carelessly struck by the player. He said that it came +from a small green frog that lived in trees; and in this way my rude +Indian--vexed perhaps at being asked such trivial questions--brushed +away the pretty fantasies my mind had woven in the woodland solitude. +For I often listened to this tinkling music, and it had suggested the +idea that the place was frequented by a tribe of fairy-like troubadour +monkeys, and that if I could only be quick-sighted enough I might one +day be able to detect the minstrel sitting, in a green tunic perhaps, +cross-legged on some high, swaying bough, carelessly touching his +mandolin, suspended from his neck by a yellow ribbon. + +By and by a bird came with low, swift flight, its great tail spread open +fan-wise, and perched itself on an exposed bough not thirty yards from +us. It was all of a chestnut-red colour, long-bodied, in size like a big +pigeon. Its actions showed that its curiosity had been greatly excited, +for it jerked from side to side, eyeing us first with one eye, then the +other, while its long tail rose and fell in a measured way. + +“Look, Kua-ko,” I said in a whisper, “there is a bird for you to kill.” + +But he only shook his head, still watchful. + +“Give me the blow-pipe, then,” I said, with a laugh, putting out my hand +to take it. But he refused to let me take it, knowing that it would only +be an arrow wasted if I attempted to shoot anything. + +As I persisted in telling him to kill the bird, he at last bent his lips +near me and said in a half-whisper, as if fearful of being overheard: “I +can kill nothing here. If I shot at the bird, the daughter of the Didi +would catch the dart in her hand and throw it back and hit me here,” + touching his breast just over his heart. + +I laughed again, saying to myself, with some amusement, that Kua-ko was +not such a bad companion after all--that he was not without imagination. +But in spite of my laughter his words roused my interest and suggested +the idea that the voice I was curious about had been heard by the +Indians and was as great a mystery to them as to me; since, not being +like that of any creature known to them, it would be attributed by their +superstitious minds to one of the numerous demons or semi-human monsters +inhabiting every forest, stream, and mountain; and fear of it would +drive them from the wood. In this case, judging from my companion’s +words, they had varied the form of the superstition somewhat, inventing +a daughter of a water-spirit to be afraid of. My thought was that if +their keen, practiced eyes had never been able to see this flitting +woodland creature with a musical soul, it was not likely that I would +succeed in my quest. + +I began to question him, but he now appeared less inclined to talk and +more frightened than ever, and each time I attempted to speak he imposed +silence, with a quick gesture of alarm, while he continued to stare +about him with dilated eyes. All at once he sprang to his feet as +if overcome with terror and started running at full speed. His fear +infected me, and, springing up, I followed as fast as I could, but he +was far ahead of me, running for dear life; and before I had gone forty +yards my feet were caught in a creeper trailing along the surface, and I +measured my length on the ground. The sudden, violent shock almost took +away my senses for a moment, but when I jumped up and stared round to +see no unspeakable monster--Curupita or other--rushing on to slay and +devour me there and then, I began to feel ashamed of my cowardice; and +in the end I turned and walked back to the spot I had just quitted and +sat down once more. I even tried to hum a tune, just to prove to myself +that I had completely recovered from the panic caught from the miserable +Indian; but it is never possible in such cases to get back one’s +serenity immediately, and a vague suspicion continued to trouble me for +a time. After sitting there for half an hour or so, listening to distant +bird-sounds, I began to recover my old confidence, and even to feel +inclined to penetrate further into the wood. All at once, making me +almost jump, so sudden it was, so much nearer and louder than I had +ever heard it before, the mysterious melody began. Unmistakably it was +uttered by the same being heard on former occasions; but today it was +different in character. The utterance was far more rapid, with fewer +silent intervals, and it had none of the usual tenderness in it, nor +ever once sunk to that low, whisper-like talking which had seemed to me +as if the spirit of the wind had breathed its low sighs in syllables +and speech. Now it was not only loud, rapid, and continuous, but, while +still musical, there was an incisiveness in it, a sharp ring as of +resentment, which made it strike painfully on the sense. + +The impression of an intelligent unhuman being addressing me in anger +took so firm a hold on my mind that the old fear returned, and, rising, +I began to walk rapidly away, intending to escape from the wood. The +voice continued violently rating me, as it seemed to my mind, moving +with me, which caused me to accelerate my steps; and very soon I would +have broken into a run, when its character began to change again. There +were pauses now, intervals of silence, long or short, and after each one +the voice came to my ear with a more subdued and dulcet sound--more of +that melting, flute-like quality it had possessed at other times; and +this softness of tone, coupled with the talking-like form of utterance, +gave me the idea of a being no longer incensed, addressing me now in a +peaceable spirit, reasoning away my unworthy tremors, and imploring me +to remain with it in the wood. Strange as this voice without a body was, +and always productive of a slightly uncomfortable feeling on account of +its mystery, it seemed impossible to doubt that it came to me now in +a spirit of pure friendliness; and when I had recovered my composure I +found a new delight in listening to it--all the greater because of the +fear so lately experienced, and of its seeming intelligence. For the +third time I reseated myself on the same spot, and at intervals the +voice talked to me there for some time and, to my fancy, expressed +satisfaction and pleasure at my presence. But later, without losing its +friendly tone, it changed again. It seemed to move away and to be thrown +back from a considerable distance; and, at long intervals, it would +approach me again with a new sound, which I began to interpret as of +command, or entreaty. Was it, I asked myself, inviting me to follow? And +if I obeyed, to what delightful discoveries or frightful dangers might +it lead? My curiosity together with the belief that the being--I called +it being, not bird, now--was friendly to me, overcame all timidity, and +I rose and walked at random towards the interior of the wood. Very soon +I had no doubt left that the being had desired me to follow; for there +was now a new note of gladness in its voice, and it continued near me +as I walked, at intervals approaching me so closely as to set me staring +into the surrounding shadowy places like poor scared Kua-ko. + +On this occasion, too, I began to have a new fancy, for fancy or +illusion I was determined to regard it, that some swift-footed being was +treading the ground near me; that I occasionally caught the faint rustle +of a light footstep, and detected a motion in leaves and fronds and +thread-like stems of creepers hanging near the surface, as if some +passing body had touched and made them tremble; and once or twice that +I even had a glimpse of a grey, misty object moving at no great distance +in the deeper shadows. + +Led by this wandering tricksy being, I came to a spot where the trees +were very large and the damp dark ground almost free from undergrowth; +and here the voice ceased to be heard. After patiently waiting and +listening for some time, I began to look about me with a slight feeling +of apprehension. It was still about two hours before sunset; only +in this place the shade of the vast trees made a perpetual twilight: +moreover, it was strangely silent here, the few bird-cries that reached +me coming from a long distance. I had flattered myself that the voice +had become to some extent intelligible to me: its outburst of anger +caused no doubt by my cowardly flight after the Indian; then its +recovered friendliness, which had induced me to return; and finally its +desire to be followed. Now that it had led me to this place of shadow +and profound silence and had ceased to speak and to lead, I could not +help thinking that this was my goal, that I had been brought to this +spot with a purpose, that in this wild and solitary retreat some +tremendous adventure was about to befall me. + +As the silence continued unbroken, there was time to dwell on this +thought. I gazed before me and listened intently, scarcely breathing, +until the suspense became painful--too painful at last, and I turned and +took a step with the idea of going back to the border of the wood, when +close by, clear as a silver bell, sounded the voice once more, but only +for a moment--two or three syllables in response to my movement, then it +was silent again. + +Once more I was standing still, as if in obedience to a command, in the +same state of suspense; and whether the change was real or only imagined +I know not, but the silence every minute grew more profound and the +gloom deeper. Imaginary terrors began to assail me. Ancient fables of +men allured by beautiful forms and melodious voices to destruction all +at once acquired a fearful significance. I recalled some of the Indian +beliefs, especially that of the mis-shapen, man-devouring monster who is +said to beguile his victims into the dark forest by mimicking the human +voice--the voice sometimes of a woman in distress--or by singing some +strange and beautiful melody. I grew almost afraid to look round lest I +should catch sight of him stealing towards me on his huge feet with toes +pointing backwards, his mouth snarling horribly to display his great +green fangs. It was distressing to have such fancies in this wild, +solitary spot--hateful to feel their power over me when I knew that they +were nothing but fancies and creations of the savage mind. But if these +supernatural beings had no existence, there were other monsters, only +too real, in these woods which it would be dreadful to encounter alone +and unarmed, since against such adversaries a revolver would be as +ineffectual as a popgun. Some huge camoodi, able to crush my bones like +brittle twigs in its constricting coils, might lurk in these shadows, +and approach me stealthily, unseen in its dark colour on the dark +ground. Or some jaguar or black tiger might steal towards me, masked by +a bush or tree-trunk, to spring upon me unawares. Or, worse still, +this way might suddenly come a pack of those swift-footed, unspeakably +terrible hunting-leopards, from which every living thing in the forest +flies with shrieks of consternation or else falls paralysed in their +path to be instantly torn to pieces and devoured. + +A slight rustling sound in the foliage above me made me start and +cast up my eyes. High up, where a pale gleam of tempered sunlight fell +through the leaves, a grotesque human-like face, black as ebony and +adorned with a great red beard, appeared staring down upon me. In +another moment it was gone. It was only a large araguato, or howling +monkey, but I was so unnerved that I could not get rid of the idea that +it was something more than a monkey. Once more I moved, and again, the +instant I moved my foot, clear, and keen, and imperative, sounded the +voice! It was no longer possible to doubt its meaning. It commanded me +to stand still--to wait--to watch--to listen! Had it cried “Listen! Do +not move!” I could not have understood it better. Trying as the suspense +was, I now felt powerless to escape. Something very terrible, I felt +convinced, was about to happen, either to destroy or to release me from +the spell that held me. + +And while I stood thus rooted to the ground, the sweat standing in large +drops on my forehead, all at once close to me sounded a cry, fine and +clear at first, and rising at the end to a shriek so loud, piercing, and +unearthly in character that the blood seemed to freeze in my veins, +and a despairing cry to heaven escaped my lips; then, before that long +shriek expired, a mighty chorus of thunderous voices burst forth around +me; and in this awful tempest of sound I trembled like a leaf; and the +leaves on the trees were agitated as if by a high wind, and the earth +itself seemed to shake beneath my feet. Indescribably horrible were my +sensations at that moment; I was deafened, and would possibly have been +maddened had I not, as by a miracle, chanced to see a large araguato +on a branch overhead, roaring with open mouth and inflated throat and +chest. + +It was simply a concert of howling monkeys that had so terrified me! But +my extreme fear was not strange in the circumstances; since everything +that had led up to the display--the gloom and silence, the period of +suspense, and my heated imagination--had raised my mind to the highest +degree of excitement and expectancy. I had rightly conjectured, no +doubt, that my unseen guide had led me to that spot for a purpose; +and the purpose had been to set me in the midst of a congregation of +araguatos to enable me for the first time fully to appreciate their +unparalleled vocal powers. I had always heard them at a distance; here +they were gathered in scores, possibly hundreds--the whole araguato +population of the forest, I should think--close to me; and it may give +some faint conception of the tremendous power and awful character of +the sound thus produced by their combined voices when I say that this +animal--miscalled “howler” in English--would outroar the mightiest lion +that ever woke the echoes of an African wilderness. + +This roaring concert, which lasted three or four minutes, having ended, +I lingered a few minutes longer on the spot, and not hearing the voice +again, went back to the edge of the wood, and then started on my way +back to the village. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Perhaps I was not capable of thinking quite coherently on what had just +happened until I was once more fairly outside of the forest shadows--out +in that clear open daylight, where things seem what they are, and +imagination, like a juggler detected and laughed at, hastily takes +itself out of the way. As I walked homewards I paused midway on the +barren ridge to gaze back on the scene I had left, and then the recent +adventure began to take a semi-ludicrous aspect in my mind. All that +circumstance of preparation, that mysterious prelude to something +unheard of, unimaginable, surpassing all fables ancient and modern, and +all tragedies--to end at last in a concert of howling monkeys! Certainly +the concert was very grand--indeed, one of the most astounding in +nature---but still--I sat down on a stone and laughed freely. + +The sun was sinking behind the forest, its broad red disk still showing +through the topmost leaves, and the higher part of the foliage was of +a luminous green, like green flame, throwing off flakes of quivering, +fiery light, but lower down the trees were in profound shadow. + +I felt very light-hearted while I gazed on this scene, for how pleasant +it was just now to think of the strange experience I had passed +through--to think that I had come safely out of it, that no human +eye had witnessed my weakness, and that the mystery existed still to +fascinate me! For, ludicrous as the denouement now looked, the cause of +all, the voice itself, was a thing to marvel at more than ever. That it +proceeded from an intelligent being I was firmly convinced; and although +too materialistic in my way of thinking to admit for a moment that it +was a supernatural being, I still felt that there was something more +than I had at first imagined in Kua-ko’s speech about a daughter of the +Didi. That the Indians knew a great deal about the mysterious voice, and +had held it in great fear, seemed evident. But they were savages, with +ways that were not mine; and however friendly they might be towards one +of a superior race, there was always in their relations with him a +low cunning, prompted partly by suspicion, underlying their words and +actions. For the white man to put himself mentally on their level is +not more impossible than for these aborigines to be perfectly open, as +children are, towards the white. Whatever subject the stranger within +their gates exhibits an interest in, that they will be reticent about; +and their reticence, which conceals itself under easily invented lies +or an affected stupidity, invariably increases with his desire for +information. It was plain to them that some very unusual interest took +me to the wood; consequently I could not expect that they would tell +me anything they might know to enlighten me about the matter; and I +concluded that Kua-ko’s words about the daughter of the Didi, and what +she would do if he blew an arrow at a bird, had accidentally escaped +him in a moment of excitement. Nothing, therefore, was to be gained +by questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them how much +the subject attracted me. And I had nothing to fear; my independent +investigations had made this much clear to me; the voice might proceed +from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of wild fantastic +humours, but nothing worse. It was friendly to me, I felt sure; at the +same time it might not be friendly towards the Indians; for, on that +day, it had made itself heard only after my companion had taken flight; +and it had then seemed incensed against me, possibly because the savage +had been in my company. + +That was the result of my reflections on the day’s events when I +returned to my entertainer’s roof and sat down among my friends to +refresh myself with stewed fowl and fish from the household pot, into +which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture to dip my fingers. + +Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think--certainly not +reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me, probably +surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid temper. I laughed +at the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he dropped his head down again. +After a minute or two I took the metal match-box and tossed it on to +his breast. He clutched it and, starting up, stared at me in the utmost +astonishment. He could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had +failed to carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to +the loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up the +box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid look; while all +the others gathered about him, each trying to get the box into his own +hands to admire it again, notwithstanding that they had all seen it a +dozen times before. But it was Kua-ko’s now and not the stranger’s, and +therefore more nearly their own than formerly, and must look different, +more beautiful, with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful +enamelled cock on the lid--figured in Paris probably, but just like a +cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of killing and +eating than we do our purring pussies and lemon-coloured canaries--must +now look more strikingly valiant and cock-like than ever, with its +crimson comb and wattles, burnished red hackles, and dark green arching +tail-plumes. But Kua-ko, while willing enough to have it admired and +praised, would not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously that +it was not theirs for them to handle, but his--Kua-ko’s--for all time; +that he had won it by accompanying me--valorous man that he was!--to +that evil wood into which they--timid, inferior creatures that they +were!--would never have ventured to set foot. I am not translating his +words, but that was what he gave them to understand pretty plainly, to +my great amusement. + +After the excitement was over, Runi, who had maintained a dignified +calm, made some roundabout remarks, apparently with the object of +eliciting an account of what I had seen and heard in the forest of +evil fame. I replied carelessly that I had seen a great many birds and +monkeys--monkeys so tame that I might have procured one if I had had +a blow-pipe, in spite of my never having practiced shooting with that +weapon. + +It interested them to hear about the abundance and tameness of the +monkeys, although it was scarcely news; but how tame they must have been +when I, the stranger not to the manner born--not naked, brown-skinned, +lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an owl in his movements--had yet been able +to look closely at them! Runi only remarked, apropos of what I had told +him, that they could not go there to hunt; then he asked me if I feared +nothing. + +“Nothing,” I replied carelessly. “The things you fear hurt not the white +man and are no more than this to me,” saying which I took up a little +white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with my breath. “And against +other enemies I have this,” I added, touching my revolver. A brave +speech, just after that araguato episode; but I did not make it without +blushing--mentally. + +He shook his head, and said it was a poor weapon against some enemies; +also--truly enough--that it would procure no birds and monkeys for the +stew-pot. + +Next morning my friend Kua-ko, taking his zabatana, invited me to go out +with him, and I consented with some misgivings, thinking he had overcome +his superstitious fears and, inflamed by my account of the abundance +of game in the forest, intended going there with me. The previous day’s +experience had made me think that it would be better in the future to +go there alone. But I was giving the poor youth more credit than he +deserved: it was far from his intention to face the terrible unknown +again. We went in a different direction, and tramped for hours through +woods where birds were scarce and only of the smaller kinds. Then my +guide surprised me a second time by offering to teach me to use the +zabatana. This, then, was to be my reward for giving him the box! I +readily consented, and with the long weapon, awkward to carry, in my +hand, and imitating the noiseless movements and cautious, watchful +manner of my companion, I tried to imagine myself a simple Guayana +savage, with no knowledge of that artificial social state to which I had +been born, dependent on my skill and little roll of poison-darts for +a livelihood. By an effort of the will I emptied myself of my life +experience and knowledge--or as much of it as possible--and thought +only of the generations of my dead imaginary progenitors, who had ranged +these woods back to the dim forgotten years before Columbus; and if the +pleasure I had in the fancy was childish, it made the day pass quickly +enough. Kua-ko was constantly at my elbow to assist and give advice; and +many an arrow I blew from the long tube, and hit no bird. Heaven knows +what I hit, for the arrows flew away on their wide and wild career to +be seen no more, except a few which my keen-eyed comrade marked to their +destination and managed to recover. The result of our day’s hunting was +a couple of birds, which Kua-ko, not I, shot, and a small opossum his +sharp eyes detected high up a tree lying coiled up on an old nest, over +the side of which the animal had incautiously allowed his snaky tail +to dangle. The number of darts I wasted must have been a rather serious +loss to him, but he did not seem troubled at it, and made no remark. + +Next day, to my surprise, he volunteered to give me a second lesson, and +we went out again. On this occasion he had provided himself with a +large bundle of darts, but--wise man!--they were not poisoned, and it +therefore mattered little whether they were wasted or not. I believe +that on this day I made some little progress; at all events, my teacher +remarked that before long I would be able to hit a bird. This made me +smile and answer that if he could place me within twenty yards of a bird +not smaller than a small man I might manage to touch it with an arrow. + +This speech had a very unexpected and remarkable effect. He stopped +short in his walk, stared at me wildly, then grinned, and finally burst +into a roar of laughter, which was no bad imitation of the howling +monkey’s performance, and smote his naked thighs with tremendous energy. +At length recovering himself, he asked whether a small woman was not +the same as a small man, and being answered in the affirmative, went off +into a second extravagant roar of laughter. + +Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he continued in this mood, I +began making any number of feeble jokes--feeble, but quite as good as +the one which had provoked such outrageous merriment--for it amused +me to see him acting in this unusual way. But they all failed of their +effect--there was no hitting the bull’s-eye a second time; he would only +stare vacantly at me, then grunt like a peccary--not appreciatively--and +walk on. Still, at intervals he would go back to what I had said about +hitting a very big bird, and roar again, as if this wonderful joke was +not easily exhausted. + +Again on the third day we were out together practicing at the +birds--frightening if not killing them; but before noon, finding that it +was his intention to go to a distant spot where he expected to meet +with larger game, I left him and returned to the village. The blow-pipe +practice had lost its novelty, and I did not care to go on all day +and every day with it; more than that, I was anxious after so long an +interval to pay a visit to my wood, as I began to call it, in the hope +of hearing that mysterious melody which I had grown to love and to miss +when even a single day passed without it. + + + +CHAPTER V + +After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of pleasing +anticipations, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in! +What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness it possessed above +all forests, because of that mystery that drew me to it! And it was +mine, truly and absolutely--as much mine as any portion of earth’s +surface could belong to any man--mine with all its products: the +precious woods and fruits and fragrant gums that would never be +trafficked away; its wild animals that man would never persecute; nor +would any jealous savage dispute my ownership or pretend that it was +part of his hunting-ground. As I crossed the savannah I played with this +fancy; but when I reached the ridgy eminence, to look down once more on +my new domain, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced to +my heart and was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to rush to +my eyes. And caring not in that solitude to disguise my feelings from +myself, and from the wide heaven that looked down and saw me--for this +is the sweetest thing that solitude has for us, that we are free in it, +and no convention holds us--I dropped on my knees and kissed the stony +ground, then casting up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being for +the gift of that wild forest, those green mansions where I had found so +great a happiness! + +Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long after +noon; but no melodious voice gave me familiar and expected welcome; nor +did my invisible companion make itself heard at all on that day, or, at +all events, not in its usual bird-like warbling language. But on this +day I met with a curious little adventure and heard something very +extraordinary, very mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in my +mind with the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles. + +It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and finding +myself in a rather open part of the wood, near its border, where the +breeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a large +branch, which was half broken, but still remained attached to the trunk +of the tree, while resting its terminal twigs on the ground. Just before +me, where I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad, +round, polished leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectly +horizontal position of the upper leaves made them look like a collection +of small platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. Through +the leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a slender dead +stem protruded, and from a twig at its summit depended a broken spider’s +web. A minute dead leaf had become attached to one of the loose threads +and threw its small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves below; +and as it trembled and swayed in the current of air, the black spot +trembled with it or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and was +seldom at rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the small +dancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I noticed a +small spider, with a flat body and short legs, creep cautiously out on +to the upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred with velvet +black first drew my attention to it, for it was beautiful to the eye; +and presently I discovered that this was no web-spinning, sedentary +spider, but a wandering hunter, that captured its prey, like a cat, by +stealing on it concealed and making a rush or spring at the last. The +moving shadow had attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken +for a fly running about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to leaf. +Now began a series of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider’s part, with +the object of circumventing the imaginary fly, which seemed specially +designed to meet this special case; for certainly no insect had ever +before behaved in quite so erratic a manner. Each time the shadow flew +past, the spider ran swiftly in the same direction, hiding itself under +the leaves, always trying to get near without alarming its prey; and +then the shadow would go round and round in a small circle, and some new +strategic move on the part of the hunter would be called forth. I became +deeply interested in this curious scene; I began to wish that the shadow +would remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to give the hunter a +chance. And at last I had my wish: the shadow was almost motionless, and +the spider moving towards it, yet seeming not to move, and as it +crept closer I fancied that I could almost see the little striped body +quivering with excitement. Then came the final scene: swift and straight +as an arrow the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, then +wiggled round and round, evidently trying to take hold of his prey with +fangs and claws; and finding nothing under him, he raised the fore +part of his body vertically, as if to stare about him in search of the +delusive fly; but the action may have simply expressed astonishment. At +this moment I was just on the point of giving free and loud vent to the +laughter which I had been holding in when, just behind me, as if from +some person who had been watching the scene over my shoulder and was as +much amused as myself at its termination, sounded a clear trill of merry +laughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but no living creature +was there. The mass of loose foliage I stared into was agitated, as if +from a body having just pushed through it. In a moment the leaves and +fronds were motionless again; still, I could not be sure that a slight +gust of wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced that I had +heard close to me a real human laugh, or sound of some living creature +that exactly simulated a laugh, that I carefully searched the ground +about me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing, +and going back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated for +a considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on the +mystery of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to wonder +whether I, like the spider that chased the shadow, had been deluded, and +had seemed to hear a sound that was not a sound. + +On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or three +hours’ ramble, during which I heard nothing, thinking it useless to +haunt the known spots any longer, I turned southwards and penetrated +into a denser part of the forest, where the undergrowth made progress +difficult. I was not afraid of losing myself; the sun above and my sense +of direction, which was always good, would enable me to return to the +starting-point. + +In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on for over half an +hour, finding it no easy matter to make my way without constantly +deviating to this side or that from the course I wished to keep, when I +came to a much more open spot. The trees were smaller and scantier here, +owing to the rocky nature of the ground, which sloped rather rapidly +down; but it was moist and overgrown with mosses, ferns, creepers, and +low shrubs, all of the liveliest green. I could not see many yards ahead +owing to the bushes and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to hear +a low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or thirty +yards further, I made out to be the gurgling of running water; and at +the same moment I made the discovery that my throat was parched and my +palms tingling with heat. I hurried on, promising myself a cool draught, +when all at once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the water, I +caught yet another sound--a low, warbling note, or succession of +notes, which might have been emitted by a bird. But it startled me +nevertheless--bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so much to +me--and pausing, I listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally, +treading with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysterious +vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a quantity of +feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, I saw that just +beyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in the sunlight +from above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was in this open +space, about twenty yards from me, although the water was still hidden +from sight. Something else was there, which I did see; instantly my +cautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision, +scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it away. + +It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among the ferns +and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled +behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held +extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched +on a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing +with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to +her hand; and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently +hopped up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting +its wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of dropping +on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to see her +distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that she was small, +not above four feet six or seven inches in height, in figure slim, with +delicately shaped little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her +only garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees, +of a whitish-gray colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material. +Her hair was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed +wavy or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it +appeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of her +skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, near to me as +she actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in the figure which made +it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed the +prevailing colour. This tint I presently attributed to the effect of +the sunlight falling on her through the green foliage; for once, for a +moment, she raised herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, and +then a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the arm +at that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just +where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of iridescent +colour. + +I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the bird, +with a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in sudden alarm; +at the same moment she turned and saw me through the light leafy screen. +But although catching sight of me thus suddenly, she did not exhibit +alarm like the bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised look +in them, remained immovably fixed on my face. And then slowly, +imperceptibly--for I did not notice the actual movement, so gradual and +smooth it was, like the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its +form and place, yet to the eye seems not to have moved--she rose to her +knees, to her feet, retired, and with face still towards me, and eyes +fixed on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away into +the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise spot where she +had been a moment before--the feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, and +stems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an aquatic plant, and slim, +drooping fern fronds, and they were motionless and seemed not to have +been touched by something passing through them. She had gone, yet I +continued still, bent almost double, gazing fixedly at the spot where +I had last seen her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed by +sensations which were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid was +the image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually before +my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a dream, an +illusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in this gross +world; and at the same time I knew that she had been there--that +imagination was powerless to conjure up a form so exquisite. + +With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I remained for +some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiar +melodious sound. For I was now convinced that in this wild solitary girl +I had at length discovered the mysterious warbler that so often followed +me in the wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a +drink from the stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the +forest and went home. + +Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful anticipations, +and had no sooner got well among the trees than a soft, warbling sound +reached my ears; it was like that heard on the previous day just before +catching sight of the girl among the ferns. So soon! thought I, elated, +and with cautious steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again +to catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to +doubt that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on +a rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near and +distinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour later, in +another place, the same mysterious note sounded near me. During my +remaining time in the forest I was served many times in the same way, +and still nothing was seen, nor was there any change in the voice. + +Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, feeling very +keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the cause of the elusive +creature’s behaviour was that she had been piqued at my discovery of her +in one of her most secret hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and +that it had pleased her to pay me out in this manner. + +On the next day there was no change; she was there again, evidently +following me, but always invisible, and varied not from that one mocking +note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her a second +time. In the end I was vexed, and resolved to be even with her by not +visiting the wood for some time. A display of indifference on my part +would, I hoped, result in making her less coy in the future. + +Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two others +to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening fruit on a +cashew tree would attract a large number of birds. The fruit, however, +proved still green, so that we gathered none and killed few birds. +Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by and by, falling +behind our companions, he complimented me on my good shooting, although, +as usual, I had only wasted the arrows I had blown. + +“Soon you will be able to hit,” he said; “hit a bird as big as a small +woman”; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old joke. At last, +growing confidential, he said that I would soon possess a zabatana of my +own, with arrows in plenty. He was going to make the arrows himself, +and his uncle Otawinki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. I +treated it all as a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he meant it. + +Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil fame, and +when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, very much to my +surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade me to go, +where before I had been earnestly recommended not to go, until, finding +that I would not, he took me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he +returned to the same subject: he could not understand why I would not go +to that wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid. + +“No, not afraid,” I replied; “but I know the place well, and am getting +tired of it.” I had seen everything in it--birds and beasts--and had +heard all its strange noises. + +“Yes, heard,” he said, nodding his head knowingly; “but you have seen +nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet.” + +I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything strange +the wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I went on to +describe her appearance, and finished by asking if he thought a white +man was frightened at the sight of a young girl. + +What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, growing +still more confidential and generous than on the previous day, he said +that I would soon be a most important personage among them, and greatly +distinguish myself. He did not like it when I laughed at all this, and +went on with great seriousness to speak of the unmade blowpipe that +would be mine--speaking of it as if it had been something very great, +equal to the gift of a large tract of land, or the governorship of a +province, north of the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke of something else +more wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore, +and this was that young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid of +about sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather lean and dirty; not +ugly, nor yet prepossessing. And this copper-coloured little drab of the +wilderness he proposed to bestow in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him, +I managed to control my muscles and asked him what authority he--a +young nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife +for himself--could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand way? +He replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would give his +consent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations; and last, +and LEAST, according to the matrimonial customs of these latitudes, +Oalava herself would be ready to bestow her person--queyou, worn +figleaf-wise, necklace of accouri teeth, and all--on so worthy a suitor +as myself. Finally, to make the prospect still more inviting, he added +that it would not be necessary for me to subject myself to any voluntary +tortures to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the purgatorial +state of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I said, and, +with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of torture he +would recommend. For me--so valorous a person--“no torture,” he answered +magnanimously. But he--Kua-ko--had made up his mind as to the form of +torture he meant to inflict some day on his own person. He would prepare +a large sack and into it put fire-ants--“As many as that!” he exclaimed +triumphantly, stooping and filling his two hands with loose sand. He +would put them in the sack, and then get into it himself naked, and +tie it tightly round his neck, so as to show to all spectators that +the hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his flesh could be +endured without a groan and with an unmoved countenance. The poor youth +had not an original mind, since this was one of the commonest forms +of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But the sudden wonderful +animation with which he spoke of it, the fiendish joy that illumined his +usually stolid countenance, sent a sudden disgust and horror through me. +But what a strange inverted kind of fiendishness is this, which delights +at the anticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not on an enemy! +And towards others these savages are mild and peaceable! No, I could not +believe in their mildness; that was only on the surface, when nothing +occurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. I could have laughed at +the whole matter, but the exulting look on my companion’s face had made +me sick of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more about it. + +But he would talk still--this fellow whose words, as a rule, I had to +take out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on the same +subject, he said that not one person in the village would expect to +see me torture myself; that after what I would do for them all--after +delivering them from a great evil--nothing further would be expected of +me. + +I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear plain +that in everything he had said he had been leading up to some very +important matter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake to +suppose that my savage was offering me a blow-pipe and a marketable +virgin sister from purely disinterested motives. + +In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my being able +eventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with an arrow. Out of +it all came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious girl I had +seen in the wood was not of a size to suit me as a target when I had got +my hand in with a little more practice. That was the great work I was +asked to do for them--that shy, mysterious girl with the melodious +wild-bird voice was the evil being I was asked to slay with poisoned +arrows! This was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to become +more and more familiar with her haunts and habits, to overcome all +shyness and suspicion in her; and at the proper moment, when it would be +impossible to miss my mark, to plant the fatal arrow! The disgust he had +inspired in me before, when gloating over anticipated tortures, was a +weak and transient feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him in +a sudden transport of rage, and in a moment would have shattered on his +head the blow-pipe I was carrying in my hand, but his astonished look as +he turned to face me made me pause and prevented me from committing +so fatal an indiscretion. I could only grind my teeth and struggle to +overcome an almost overpowering hatred and wrath. Finally I flung the +tube down and bade him take it, telling him that I would not touch it +again if he offered me all the sisters of all the savages in Guayana for +wives. + +He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence suggested +that it would be best to conceal as far as possible the violent +animosity I had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat scornfully +if he believed that I should ever be able to hit anything--bird or human +being--with an arrow. “No,” I almost shouted, so as to give vent to my +feelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, “this is the white man’s +weapon; but he kills men with it--men who attempt to kill or injure +him--but neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder innocent +young girls treacherously.” After that we went on in silence for some +time; at length he said that the being I had seen in the wood and was +not afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a daughter of the Didi, an +evil being; and that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood they +could not go there to hunt, and even in other woods they constantly went +in fear of meeting her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on +in silence; and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw off +my clothes and plunged into the water to cool my anger before going in +to the others. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Thinking about the forest girl while lying awake that night, I came to +the conclusion that I had made it sufficiently plain to her how little +her capricious behaviour had been relished, and had therefore no need +to punish myself more by keeping any longer out of my beloved green +mansions. Accordingly, next day, after the heavy rain that fell during +the morning hours had ceased, I set forth about noon to visit the wood. +Overhead the sky was clear again; but there was no motion in the heavy +sultry atmosphere, while dark blue masses of banked-up clouds on the +western horizon threatened a fresh downpour later in the day. My mind +was, however, now too greatly excited at the prospect of a possible +encounter with the forest nymph to allow me to pay any heed to these +ominous signs. + +I had passed through the first strip of wood and was in the succeeding +stony sterile space when a gleam of brilliant colour close by on the +ground caught my sight. It was a snake lying on the bare earth; had I +kept on without noticing it, I should most probably have trodden upon +or dangerously near it. Viewing it closely, I found that it was a coral +snake, famed as much for its beauty and singularity as for its deadly +character. It was about three feet long, and very slim; its ground +colour a brilliant vermilion, with broad jet-black rings at equal +distances round its body, each black ring or band divided by a narrow +yellow strip in the middle. The symmetrical pattern and vividly +contrasted colours would have given it the appearance of an artificial +snake made by some fanciful artist, but for the gleam of life in its +bright coils. Its fixed eyes, too, were living gems, and from the point +of its dangerous arrowy head the glistening tongue flickered ceaselessly +as I stood a few yards away regarding it. + +“I admire you greatly, Sir Serpent,” I said, or thought, “but it is +dangerous, say the military authorities, to leave an enemy or possible +enemy in the rear; the person who does such a thing must be either a bad +strategist or a genius, and I am neither.” + +Retreating a few paces, I found and picked up a stone about as big as +a man’s hand and hurled it at the dangerous-looking head with the +intention of crushing it; but the stone hit upon the rocky ground a +little on one side of the mark and, being soft, flew into a hundred +small fragments. This roused the creature’s anger, and in a moment with +raised head he was gliding swiftly towards me. Again I retreated, not +so slowly on this occasion; and finding another stone, I raised and +was about to launch it when a sharp, ringing cry issued from the bushes +growing near, and, quickly following the sound, forth stepped the forest +girl; no longer elusive and shy, vaguely seen in the shadowy wood, but +boldly challenging attention, exposed to the full power of the meridian +sun, which made her appear luminous and rich in colour beyond example. +Seeing her thus, all those emotions of fear and abhorrence invariably +excited in us by the sight of an active venomous serpent in our path +vanished instantly from my mind: I could now only feel astonishment +and admiration at the brilliant being as she advanced with swift, easy, +undulating motion towards me; or rather towards the serpent, which was +now between us, moving more and more slowly as she came nearer. The +cause of this sudden wonderful boldness, so unlike her former habit, was +unmistakable. She had been watching my approach from some hiding-place +among the bushes, ready no doubt to lead me a dance through the wood +with her mocking voice, as on previous occasions, when my attack on the +serpent caused that outburst of wrath. The torrent of ringing and to +me inarticulate sounds in that unknown tongue, her rapid gestures, and, +above all, her wide-open sparkling eyes and face aflame with colour made +it impossible to mistake the nature of her feeling. + +In casting about for some term or figure of speech in which to describe +the impression produced on me at that moment, I think of waspish, and, +better still, avispada--literally the same word in Spanish, not having +precisely the same meaning nor ever applied contemptuously--only to +reject both after a moment’s reflection. Yet I go back to the image of +an irritated wasp as perhaps offering the best illustration; of some +large tropical wasp advancing angrily towards me, as I have witnessed a +hundred times, not exactly flying, but moving rapidly, half running and +half flying, over the ground, with loud and angry buzz, the glistening +wings open and agitated; beautiful beyond most animated creatures in +its sharp but graceful lines, polished surface, and varied brilliant +colouring, and that wrathfulness that fits it so well and seems to give +it additional lustre. + +Wonder-struck at the sight of her strange beauty and passion, I forgot +the advancing snake until she came to a stop at about five yards from +me; then to my horror I saw that it was beside her naked feet. Although +no longer advancing, the head was still raised high as if to strike; +but presently the spirit of anger appeared to die out of it; the lifted +head, oscillating a little from side to side, sunk down lower and lower +to rest finally on the girl’s bare instep; and lying there motionless, +the deadly thing had the appearance of a gaily coloured silken garter +just dropped from her leg. It was plain to see that she had no fear of +it, that she was one of those exceptional persons, to be found, it is +said, in all countries, who possess some magnetic quality which has a +soothing effect on even the most venomous and irritable reptiles. + +Following the direction of my eyes, she too glanced down, but did not +move her foot; then she made her voice heard again, still loud and +sharp, but the anger was not now so pronounced. + +“Do not fear, I shall not harm it,” I said in the Indian tongue. + +She took no notice of my speech and continued speaking with increasing +resentment. + +I shook my head, replying that her language was unknown to me. Then by +means of signs I tried to make her understand that the creature was safe +from further molestation. She pointed indignantly at the stone in my +hand, which I had forgotten all about. At once I threw it from me, and +instantly there was a change; the resentment had vanished, and a tender +radiance lit her face like a smile. + +I advanced a little nearer, addressing her once more in the Indian +tongue; but my speech was evidently unintelligible to her, as she stood +now glancing at the snake lying at her feet, now at me. Again I had +recourse to signs and gestures; pointing to the snake, then to the stone +I had cast away, I endeavoured to convey to her that in the future I +would for her sake be a friend to all venomous reptiles, and that I +wished her to have the same kindly feelings towards me as towards these +creatures. Whether or not she understood me, she showed no disposition +to go into hiding again, and continued silently regarding me with a look +that seemed to express pleasure at finding herself at last thus suddenly +brought face to face with me. Flattered at this, I gradually drew nearer +until at the last I was standing at her side, gazing down with the +utmost delight into that face which so greatly surpassed in loveliness +all human faces I had ever seen or imagined. + +And yet to you, my friend, it probably will not seem that she was +so beautiful, since I have, alas! only the words we all use to paint +commoner, coarser things, and no means to represent all the exquisite +details, all the delicate lights, and shades, and swift changes of +colour and expression. Moreover, is it not a fact that the strange or +unheard of can never appear beautiful in a mere description, because +that which is most novel in it attracts too much attention and is given +undue prominence in the picture, and we miss that which would have taken +away the effect of strangeness--the perfect balance of the parts and +harmony of the whole? For instance, the blue eyes of the northerner +would, when first described to the black-eyed inhabitants of warm +regions, seem unbeautiful and a monstrosity, because they would vividly +see with the mental vision that unheard-of blueness, but not in the +same vivid way the accompanying flesh and hair tints with which it +harmonizes. + +Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint it in words than of +the feeling its original inspired in me when, looking closely for the +first time on that rare loveliness, trembling with delight, I mentally +cried: “Oh, why has Nature, maker of so many types and of innumerable +individuals of each, given to the world but one being like this?” + +Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind before I dismissed it +as utterly incredible. No, this exquisite being was without doubt one +of a distinct race which had existed in this little-known corner of the +continent for thousands of generations, albeit now perhaps reduced to a +small and dwindling remnant. + +Her figure and features were singularly delicate, but it was her colour +that struck me most, which indeed made her differ from all other human +beings. The colour of the skin would be almost impossible to describe, +so greatly did it vary with every change of mood--and the moods were +many and transient--and with the angle on which the sunlight touched it, +and the degree of light. + +Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a somewhat dim white +or pale grey; near in the strong sunshine it was not white, but +alabastrian, semi-pellucid, showing an underlying rose colour; and +at any point where the rays fell direct this colour was bright and +luminous, as we see in our fingers when held before a strong firelight. +But that part of her skin that remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer +white, and the underlying colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim +blue. With the skin the colour of the eyes harmonized perfectly. At +first, when lit with anger, they had appeared flame-like; now the iris +was of a peculiar soft or dim and tender red, a shade sometimes seen +in flowers. But only when looked closely at could this delicate hue be +discerned, the pupils being large, as in some grey eyes, and the long, +dark, shading lashes at a short distance made the whole eye appear dark. +Think not, then, of the red flower, exposed to the light and sun in +conjunction with the vivid green of the foliage; think only of such +a hue in the half-hidden iris, brilliant and moist with the eye’s +moisture, deep with the eye’s depth, glorified by the outward look of +a bright, beautiful soul. Most variable of all in colour was the hair, +this being due to its extreme fineness and glossiness, and to its +elasticity, which made it lie fleecy and loose on head, shoulders, and +back; a cloud with a brightness on its surface made by the freer outer +hairs, a fit setting and crown for a countenance of such rare changeful +loveliness. In the shade, viewed closely, the general colour appeared a +slate, deepening in places to purple; but even in the shade the nimbus +of free flossy hairs half veiled the darker tints with a downy pallor; +and at a distance of a few yards it gave the whole hair a vague, misty +appearance. In the sunlight the colour varied more, looking now dark, +sometimes intensely black, now of a light uncertain hue, with a play of +iridescent colour on the loose surface, as we see on the glossed plumage +of some birds; and at a short distance, with the sun shining full on her +head, it sometimes looked white as a noonday cloud. So changeful was it +and ethereal in appearance with its cloud colours that all other human +hair, even of the most beautiful golden shades, pale or red, seemed +heavy and dull and dead-looking by comparison. + +But more than form and colour and that enchanting variability was the +look of intelligence, which at the same time seemed complementary to and +one with the all-seeing, all-hearing alertness appearing in her face; +the alertness one remarks in a wild creature, even when in repose and +fearing nothing; but seldom in man, never perhaps in intellectual or +studious man. She was a wild, solitary girl of the woods, and did not +understand the language of the country in which I had addressed her. +What inner or mind life could such a one have more than that of any wild +animal existing in the same conditions? Yet looking at her face it +was not possible to doubt its intelligence. This union in her of two +opposite qualities, which, with us, cannot or do not exist together, +although so novel, yet struck me as the girl’s principal charm. Why had +Nature not done this before--why in all others does the brightness of +the mind dim that beautiful physical brightness which the wild animals +have? But enough for me that that which no man had ever looked for or +hoped to find existed here; that through that unfamiliar lustre of the +wild life shone the spiritualizing light of mind that made us kin. + +These thoughts passed swiftly through my brain as I stood feasting my +sight on her bright, piquant face; while she on her part gazed back +into my eyes, not only with fearless curiosity, but with a look of +recognition and pleasure at the encounter so unmistakably friendly that, +encouraged by it, I took her arm in my hand, moving at the same time a +little nearer to her. At that moment a swift, startled expression came +into her eyes; she glanced down and up again into my face; her lips +trembled and slightly parted as she murmured some sorrowful sounds in a +tone so low as to be only just audible. + +Thinking she had become alarmed and was on the point of escaping out of +my hands, and fearing, above all things, to lose sight of her again so +soon, I slipped my arm around her slender body to detain her, moving +one foot at the same time to balance myself; and at that moment I felt +a slight blow and a sharp burning sensation shoot into my leg, so sudden +and intense that I dropped my arm, at the same time uttering a cry of +pain, and recoiled one or two paces from her. But she stirred not when +I released her; her eyes followed my movements; then she glanced down at +her feet. I followed her look, and figure to yourself my horror when I +saw there the serpent I had so completely forgotten, and which even that +sting of sharp pain had not brought back to remembrance! There it lay, +a coil of its own thrown round one of her ankles, and its head, raised +nearly a foot high, swaying slowly from side to side, while the swift +forked tongue flickered continuously. Then--only then--I knew what had +happened, and at the same time I understood the reason of that sudden +look of alarm in her face, the murmuring sounds she had uttered, and the +downward startled glance. Her fears had been solely for my safety, and +she had warned me! Too late! too late! In moving I had trodden on or +touched the serpent with my foot, and it had bitten me just above the +ankle. In a few moments I began to realize the horror of my position. +“Must I die! must I die! Oh, my God, is there nothing that can save me?” + I cried in my heart. + +She was still standing motionless in the same place: her eyes wandered +back from me to the snake; gradually its swaying head was lowered again, +and the coil unwound from her ankle; then it began to move away, slowly +at first, and with the head a little raised, then faster, and in the end +it glided out of sight. Gone!--but it had left its venom in my blood--O +cursed reptile! + +Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned to her face, now +strangely clouded with trouble; her eyes dropped before mine, while the +palms of her hands were pressed together, and the fingers clasped and +unclasped alternately. How different she seemed now; the brilliant face +grown so pallid and vague-looking! But not only because this tragic end +to our meeting had pierced her with pain: that cloud in the west had +grown up and now covered half the sky with vast lurid masses of vapour, +blotting out the sun, and a great gloom had fallen on the earth. + +That sudden twilight and a long roll of approaching thunder, +reverberating from the hills, increased my anguish and desperation. +Death at that moment looked unutterably terrible. The remembrance of all +that made life dear pierced me to the core--all that nature was to me, +all the pleasures of sense and intellect, the hopes I had cherished--all +was revealed to me as by a flash of lightning. Bitterest of all was the +thought that I must now bid everlasting farewell to this beautiful being +I had found in the solitude--this lustrous daughter of the Didi--just +when I had won her from her shyness--that I must go away into the cursed +blackness of death and never know the mystery of her life! It was +that which utterly unnerved me, and made my legs tremble under me, and +brought great drops of sweat to my forehead, until I thought that the +venom was already doing its swift, fatal work in my veins. + +With uncertain steps I moved to a stone a yard or two away and sat down +upon it. As I did so the hope came to me that this girl, so intimate +with nature, might know of some antidote to save me. Touching my leg, +and using other signs, I addressed her again in the Indian language. + +“The snake has bitten me,” I said. “What shall I do? Is there no leaf, +no root you know that would save me from death? Help me! help me!” I +cried in despair. + +My signs she probably understood if not my words, but she made no reply; +and still she remained standing motionless, twisting and untwisting her +fingers, and regarding me with a look of ineffable grief and compassion. + +Alas! It was vain to appeal to her: she knew what had happened, and what +the result would most likely be, and pitied, but was powerless to help +me. Then it occurred to me that if I could reach the Indian village +before the venom overpowered me something might be done to save me. Oh, +why had I tarried so long, losing so many precious minutes! Large drops +of rain were falling now, and the gloom was deeper, and the thunder +almost continuous. With a cry of anguish I started to my feet and +was about to rush away towards the village when a dazzling flash of +lightning made me pause for a moment. When it vanished I turned a last +look on the girl, and her face was deathly pale, and her hair looked +blacker than night; and as she looked she stretched out her arms towards +me and uttered a low, wailing cry. “Good-bye for ever!” I murmured, and +turning once more from her, rushed away like one crazed into the wood. +But in my confusion I had probably taken the wrong direction, for +instead of coming out in a few minutes into the open border of the +forest, and on to the savannah, I found myself every moment getting +deeper among the trees. I stood still, perplexed, but could not shake +off the conviction that I had started in the right direction. Eventually +I resolved to keep on for a hundred yards or so and then, if no opening +appeared, to turn back and retrace my steps. But this was no easy +matter. I soon became entangled in a dense undergrowth, which so +confused me that at last I confessed despairingly to myself that for +the first time in this wood I was hopelessly lost. And in what terrible +circumstances! At intervals a flash of lightning would throw a vivid +blue glare down into the interior of the wood and only serve to show +that I had lost myself in a place where even at noon in cloudless +weather progress would be most difficult; and now the light would only +last a moment, to be followed by thick gloom; and I could only tear +blindly on, bruising and lacerating my flesh at every step, falling +again and again, only to struggle up and on again, now high above the +surface, climbing over prostrate trees and branches, now plunged to my +middle in a pool or torrent of water. + +Hopeless--utterly hopeless seemed all my mad efforts; and at each pause, +when I would stand exhausted, gasping for breath, my throbbing heart +almost suffocating me, a dull, continuous, teasing pain in my bitten leg +served to remind me that I had but a little time left to exist--that by +delaying at first I had allowed my only chance of salvation to slip by. + +How long a time I spent fighting my way through this dense black wood I +know not; perhaps two or three hours, only to me the hours seemed like +years of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I found that I was free +of the close undergrowth and walking on level ground; but it was darker +here darker than the darkest night; and at length, when the lightning +came and flared down through the dense roof of foliage overhead, I +discovered that I was in a spot that had a strange look, where the trees +were very large and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to impede +progress beneath them. Here, recovering breath, I began to run, and +after a while found that I had left the large trees behind me, and was +now in a more open place, with small trees and bushes; and this made me +hope for a while that I had at last reached the border of the forest. +But the hope proved vain; once more I had to force my way through dense +undergrowth, and finally emerged on to a slope where it was open, and +I could once more see for some distance around me by such light as +came through the thick pall of clouds. Trudging on to the summit of +the slope, I saw that there was open savannah country beyond, and for a +moment rejoiced that I had got free from the forest. A few steps more, +and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, a precipice not less than +fifty feet deep. I had never seen that bank before, and therefore knew +that I could not be on the right side of the forest. But now my only +hope was to get completely away from the trees and then to look for the +village, and I began following the bank in search of a descent. No break +occurred, and presently I was stopped by a dense thicket of bushes. I +was about to retrace my steps when I noticed that a tall slender tree +growing at the foot of the precipice, its green top not more than +a couple of yards below my feet, seemed to offer a means of escape. +Nerving myself with the thought that if I got crushed by the fall I +should probably escape a lingering and far more painful death, I dropped +into the cloud of foliage beneath me and clutched desperately at the +twigs as I fell. For a moment I felt myself sustained; but branch after +branch gave way beneath my weight, and then I only remember, very dimly, +a swift flight through the air before losing consciousness. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +With the return of consciousness, I at first had a vague impression that +I was lying somewhere, injured, and incapable of motion; that it was +night, and necessary for me to keep my eyes fast shut to prevent them +from being blinded by almost continuous vivid flashes of lightning. +Injured, and sore all over, but warm and dry--surely dry; nor was it +lightning that dazzled, but firelight. I began to notice things little +by little. The fire was burning on a clay floor a few feet from where I +was lying. Before it, on a log of wood, sat or crouched a human figure. +An old man, with chin on breast and hands clasped before his drawn-up +knees; only a small portion of his forehead and nose visible to me. An +Indian I took him to be, from his coarse, lank, grey hair and dark brown +skin. I was in a large hut, falling at the sides to within two feet of +the floor; but there were no hammocks in it, nor bows and spears, and +no skins, not even under me, for I was lying on straw mats. I could hear +the storm still raging outside; the rush and splash of rain, and, at +intervals, the distant growl of thunder. There was wind, too; I listened +to it sobbing in the trees, and occasionally a puff found its way in, +and blew up the white ashes at the old man’s feet, and shook the yellow +flames like a flag. I remembered now how the storm began, the wild girl, +the snake-bite, my violent efforts to find a way out of the woods, and, +finally, that leap from the bank where recollection ended. That I had +not been killed by the venomous tooth, nor the subsequent fearful fall, +seemed like a miracle to me. And in that wild, solitary place, lying +insensible, in that awful storm and darkness, I had been found by a +fellow creature--a savage, doubtless, but a good Samaritan all the +same--who had rescued me from death! I was bruised all over and did not +attempt to move, fearing the pain it would give me; and I had a racking +headache; but these seemed trifling discomforts after such adventures +and such perils. I felt that I had recovered or was recovering from +that venomous bite; that I would live and not die--live to return to my +country; and the thought filled my heart to overflowing, and tears of +gratitude and happiness rose to my eyes. + +At such times a man experiences benevolent feelings, and would willingly +bestow some of that overplus of happiness on his fellows to lighten +other hearts; and this old man before me, who was probably the +instrument of my salvation, began greatly to excite my interest and +compassion. For he seemed so poor in his old age and rags, so solitary +and dejected as he sat there with knees drawn up, his great, brown, bare +feet looking almost black by contrast with the white wood-ashes about +them! What could I do for him? What could I say to cheer his spirits +in that Indian language, which has few or no words to express kindly +feelings? Unable to think of anything better to say, I at length +suddenly cried aloud: “Smoke, old man! Why do you not smoke? It is good +to smoke.” + +He gave a mighty start and, turning, fixed his eyes on me. Then I saw +that he was not a pure Indian, for although as brown as old leather, +he wore a beard and moustache. A curious face had this old man, which +looked as if youth and age had made it a battling-ground. His forehead +was smooth except for two parallel lines in the middle running its +entire length, dividing it in zones; his arched eyebrows were black as +ink, and his small black eyes were bright and cunning, like the eyes of +some wild carnivorous animal. In this part of his face youth had held +its own, especially in the eyes, which looked young and lively. +But lower down age had conquered, scribbling his skin all over with +wrinkles, while moustache and beard were white as thistledown. “Aha, the +dead man is alive again!” he exclaimed, with a chuckling laugh. This +in the Indian tongue; then in Spanish he added: “But speak to me in the +language you know best, senor; for if you are not a Venezuelan call me +an owl.” + +“And you, old man?” said I. + +“Ah, I was right! Why sir what I am is plainly written on my face. +Surely you do not take me for a pagan! I might be a black man from +Africa, or an Englishman, but an Indian--that, no! But a minute ago you +had the goodness to invite me to smoke. How, sir, can a poor man smoke +who is without tobacco?” + +“Without tobacco--in Guayana!” + +“Can you believe it? But, sir, do not blame me; if the beast that +came one night and destroyed my plants when ripe for cutting had taken +pumpkins and sweet potatoes instead, it would have been better for him, +if curses have any effect. And the plant grows slowly, sir--it is not an +evil weed to come to maturity in a single day. And as for other leaves +in the forest, I smoke them, yes; but there is no comfort to the lungs +in such smoke.” + +“My tobacco-pouch was full,” I said. “You will find it in my coat, if I +did not lose it.” + +“The saints forbid!” he exclaimed. “Grandchild--Rima, have you got a +tobacco-pouch with the other things? Give it to me.” + +Then I first noticed that another person was in the hut, a slim young +girl, who had been seated against the wall on the other side of the +fire, partially hid by the shadows. She had my leather belt, with +the revolver in its case, and my hunting-knife attached, and the few +articles I had had in my pockets, on her lap. Taking up the pouch, she +handed it to him, and he clutched it with a strange eagerness. + +“I will give it back presently, Rima,” he said. “Let me first smoke a +cigarette--and then another.” + +It seemed probable from this that the good old man had already been +casting covetous eyes on my property, and that his granddaughter had +taken care of it for me. But how the silent, demure girl had kept it +from him was a puzzle, so intensely did he seem now to enjoy it, drawing +the smoke vigorously into his lungs and, after keeping it ten or fifteen +seconds there, letting it fly out again from mouth and nose in blue jets +and clouds. His face softened visibly, he became more and more genial +and loquacious, and asked me how I came to be in that solitary place. I +told him that I was staying with the Indian Runi, his neighbour. + +“But, senor,” he said, “if it is not an impertinence, how is it that a +young man of so distinguished an appearance as yourself, a Venezuelan, +should be residing with these children of the devil?” + +“You love not your neighbours, then?” + +“I know them, sir--how should I love them?” He was rolling up his second +or third cigarette by this time, and I could not help noticing that he +took a great deal more tobacco than he required in his fingers, and +that the surplus on each occasion was conveyed to some secret receptacle +among his rags. “Love them, sir! They are infidels, and therefore the +good Christian must only hate them. They are thieves--they will steal +from you before your very face, so devoid are they of all shame. And +also murderers; gladly would they burn this poor thatch above my head, +and kill me and my poor grandchild, who shares this solitary life with +me, if they had the courage. But they are all arrant cowards, and fear +to approach me--fear even to come into this wood. You would laugh to +hear what they are afraid of--a child would laugh to hear it!” + +“What do they fear?” I said, for his words had excited my interest in a +great degree. + +“Why, sir, would you believe it? They fear this child--my granddaughter, +seated there before you. A poor innocent girl of seventeen summers, a +Christian who knows her Catechism, and would not harm the smallest thing +that God has made--no, not a fly, which is not regarded on account of +its smallness. Why, sir, it is due to her tender heart that you are +safely sheltered here, instead of being left out of doors in this +tempestuous night.” + +“To her--to this girl?” I returned in astonishment. “Explain, old man, +for I do not know how I was saved.” + +“Today, senor, through your own heedlessness you were bitten by a +venomous snake.” + +“Yes, that is true, although I do not know how it came to your +knowledge. But why am I not a dead man, then--have you done something to +save me from the effects of the poison?” + +“Nothing. What could I do so long after you were bitten? When a man is +bitten by a snake in a solitary place he is in God’s hands. He will live +or die as God wills. There is nothing to be done. But surely, sir, you +remember that my poor grandchild was with you in the wood when the snake +bit you?” + +“A girl was there--a strange girl I have seen and heard before when I +have walked in the forest. But not this girl--surely not this girl!” + +“No other,” said he, carefully rolling up another cigarette. + +“It is not possible!” I returned. + +“Ill would you have fared, sir, had she not been there. For after being +bitten, you rushed away into the thickest part of the wood, and went +about in a circle like a demented person for Heaven knows how long. But +she never left you; she was always close to you--you might have touched +her with your hand. And at last some good angel who was watching you, +in order to stop your career, made you mad altogether and caused you to +jump over a precipice and lose your senses. And you were no sooner on +the ground than she was with you--ask me not how she got down! And when +she had propped you up against the bank, she came for me. Fortunately +the spot where you had fallen is near--not five hundred yards from the +door. And I, on my part, was willing to assist her in saving you; for I +knew it was no Indian that had fallen, since she loves not that breed, +and they come not here. It was not an easy task, for you weigh, senor; +but between us we brought you in.” + +While he spoke, the girl continued sitting in the same listless attitude +as when I first observed her, with eyes cast down and hands folded in +her lap. Recalling that brilliant being in the wood that had protected +the serpent from me and calmed its rage, I found it hard to believe his +words, and still felt a little incredulous. + +“Rima--that is your name, is it not?” I said. “Will you come here and +stand before me, and let me look closely at you?” + +“Si, senor.” she meekly answered; and removing the things from her lap, +she stood up; then, passing behind the old man, came and stood before +me, her eyes still bent on the ground--a picture of humility. + +She had the figure of the forest girl, but wore now a scanty faded +cotton garment, while the loose cloud of hair was confined in two plaits +and hung down her back. The face also showed the same delicate lines, +but of the brilliant animation and variable colour and expression there +appeared no trace. Gazing at her countenance as she stood there silent, +shy, and spiritless before me, the image of her brighter self came +vividly to my mind and I could not recover from the astonishment I felt +at such a contrast. + +Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial dance +among the flowers--a living prismatic gem that changes its colour with +every change of position--how in turning it catches the sunshine on its +burnished neck and gorges plumes--green and gold and flame-coloured, the +beams changing to visible flakes as they fall, dissolving into nothing, +to be succeeded by others and yet others? In its exquisite form, +its changeful splendour, its swift motions and intervals of aerial +suspension, it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to +mock all description. And have you seen this same fairy-like creature +suddenly perch itself on a twig, in the shade, its misty wings and +fan-like tail folded, the iridescent glory vanished, looking like some +common dull-plumaged little bird sitting listless in a cage? Just so +great was the difference in the girl as I had seen her in the forest and +as she now appeared under the smoky roof in the firelight. + +After watching her for some moments, I spoke: “Rima, there must be a +good deal of strength in that frame of yours, which looks so delicate; +will you raise me up a little?” + +She went down on one knee and, placing her arms round me, assisted me to +a sitting posture. + +“Thank you, Rima--oh, misery!” I groaned. “Is there a bone left unbroken +in my poor body?” + +“Nothing broken,” cried the old man, clouds of smoke flying out with his +words. “I have examined you well--legs, arms, ribs. For this is how +it was, senor. A thorny bush into which you fell saved you from being +flattened on the stony ground. But you are bruised, sir, black with +bruises; and there are more scratches of thorns on your skin than +letters on a written page.” + +“A long thorn might have entered my brain,” I said, “from the way it +pains. Feel my forehead, Rima; is it very hot and dry?” + +She did as I asked, touching me lightly with her little cool hand. “No, +senor, not hot, but warm and moist,” she said. + +“Thank Heaven for that!” I said. “Poor girl! And you followed me through +the wood in all that terrible storm! Ah, if I could lift my bruised arm +I would take your hand to kiss it in gratitude for so great a service. I +owe you my life, sweet Rima--what shall I do to repay so great a debt?” + +The old man chuckled as if amused, but the girl lifted not her eyes nor +spoke. + +“Tell me, sweet child,” I said, “for I cannot realize it yet; was +it really you that saved the serpent’s life when I would have killed +it--did you stand by me in the wood with the serpent lying at your +feet?” + +“Yes, senor,” came her gentle answer. + +“And it was you I saw in the wood one day, lying on the ground playing +with a small bird?” + +“Yes, senor.” + +“And it was you that followed me so often among the trees, calling to +me, yet always hiding so that I could never see you?” + +“Yes, senor.” + +“Oh, this is wonderful!” I exclaimed; whereat the old man chuckled +again. + +“But tell me this, my sweet girl,” I continued. “You never addressed me +in Spanish; what strange musical language was it you spoke to me in?” + +She shot a timid glance at my face and looked troubled at the question, +but made no reply. + +“Senor,” said the old man, “that is a question which you must excuse my +child from answering. Not, sir, from want of will, for she is docile and +obedient, though I say it, but there is no answer beyond what I can tell +you. And this is, sir, that all creatures, whether man or bird, have the +voice that God has given them; and in some the voice is musical and in +others not so.” + +“Very well, old man,” said I to myself; “there let the matter rest for +the present. But if I am destined to live and not die, I shall not long +remain satisfied with your too simple explanation.” + +“Rima,” I said, “you must be fatigued; it is thoughtless of me to keep +you standing here so long.” + +Her face brightened a little, and bending down, she replied in a low +voice: “I am not fatigued, sir. Let me get you something to eat now.” + +She moved quickly away to the fire, and presently returned with an +earthenware dish of roasted pumpkin and sweet potatoes and, kneeling at +my side, fed me deftly with a small wooden spoon. I did not feel grieved +at the absence of meat and the stinging condiments the Indians love, nor +did I even remark that there was no salt in the vegetables, so much +was I taken up with watching her beautiful delicate face while she +ministered to me. The exquisite fragrance of her breath was more to me +than the most delicious viands could have been; and it was a delight +each time she raised the spoon to my mouth to catch a momentary glimpse +of her eyes, which now looked dark as wine when we lift the glass to see +the ruby gleam of light within the purple. But she never for a moment +laid aside the silent, meek, constrained manner; and when I remembered +her bursting out in her brilliant wrath on me, pouring forth that +torrent of stinging invective in her mysterious language, I was lost +in wonder and admiration at the change in her, and at her double +personality. Having satisfied my wants, she moved quietly away +and, raising a straw mat, disappeared behind it into her own +sleeping-apartment, which was divided off by a partition from the room I +was in. + +The old man’s sleeping-place was a wooden cot or stand on the opposite +side of the room, but he was in no hurry to sleep, and after Rima had +left us, put a fresh log on the blaze and lit another cigarette. Heaven +knows how many he had smoked by this time. He became very talkative and +called to his side his two dogs, which I had not noticed in the room +before, for me to see. It amused me to hear their names--Susio and +Goloso: Dirty and Greedy. They were surly-looking brutes, with rough +yellow hair, and did not win my heart, but according to his account they +possessed all the usual canine virtues; and he was still holding forth +on the subject when I fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +When morning came I was too stiff and sore to move, and not until the +following day was I able to creep out to sit in the shade of the trees. +My old host, whose name was Nuflo, went off with his dogs, leaving +the girl to attend to my wants. Two or three times during the day she +appeared to serve me with food and drink, but she continued silent and +constrained in manner as on the first evening of seeing her in the hut. + +Late in the afternoon old Nuflo returned, but did not say where he had +been; and shortly afterwards Rima reappeared, demure as usual, in her +faded cotton dress, her cloud of hair confined in two long plaits. +My curiosity was more excited than ever, and I resolved to get to +the bottom of the mystery of her life. The girl had not shown herself +responsive, but now that Nuflo was back I was treated to as much talk as +I cared to hear. He talked of many things, only omitting those which +I desired to hear about; but his pet subject appeared to be the +divine government of the world--“God’s politics”--and its manifest +imperfections, or, in other words, the manifold abuses which from time +to time had been allowed to creep into it. The old man was pious, but +like many of his class in my country, he permitted himself to indulge in +very free criticisms of the powers above, from the King of Heaven down +to the smallest saint whose name figures in the calendar. + +“These things, senor,” he said, “are not properly managed. Consider my +position. Here am I compelled for my sins to inhabit this wilderness +with my poor granddaughter--” + +“She is not your granddaughter!” I suddenly interrupted, thinking to +surprise him into an admission. + +But he took his time to answer. “Senor, we are never sure of anything in +this world. Not absolutely sure. Thus, it may come to pass that you will +one day marry, and that your wife will in due time present you with +a son--one that will inherit your fortune and transmit your name +to posterity. And yet, sir, in this world, you will never know to a +certainty that he is your son.” + +“Proceed with what you were saying,” I returned, with some dignity. + +“Here we are,” he continued, “compelled to inhabit this land and do not +meet with proper protection from the infidel. Now, sir, this is a crying +evil, and it is only becoming in one who has the true faith, and is a +loyal subject of the All-Powerful, to point out with due humility that +He is growing very remiss in His affairs, and is losing a good deal of +His prestige. And what, senor, is at the bottom of it? Favoritism. We +know that the Supreme cannot Himself be everywhere, attending to each +little trick-track that arises in the world--matters altogether beneath +His notice; and that He must, like the President of Venezuela or the +Emperor of Brazil, appoint men--angels if you like--to conduct His +affairs and watch over each district. And it is manifest that for this +country of Guayana the proper person has not been appointed. Every +evil is done and there is no remedy, and the Christian has no more +consideration shown him than the infidel. Now, senor, in a town near the +Orinoco I once saw on a church the archangel Michael, made of stone, and +twice as tall as a man, with one foot on a monster shaped like a cayman, +but with bat’s wings, and a head and neck like a serpent. Into this +monster he was thrusting his spear. That is the kind of person that +should be sent to rule these latitudes--a person of firmness and +resolution, with strength in his wrist. And yet it is probable that this +very man--this St. Michael--is hanging about the palace, twirling his +thumbs, waiting for an appointment, while other weaker men, and--Heaven +forgive me for saying it--not above a bribe, perhaps, are sent out to +rule over this province.” + +On this string he would harp by the hour; it was a lofty subject on +which he had pondered much in his solitary life, and he was glad of an +opportunity of ventilating his grievance and expounding his views. At +first it was a pure pleasure to hear Spanish again, and the old man, +albeit ignorant of letters, spoke well; but this, I may say, is a common +thing in our country, where the peasant’s quickness of intelligence and +poetic feeling often compensate for want of instruction. His views also +amused me, although they were not novel. But after a while I grew tired +of listening, yet I listened still, agreeing with him, and leading him +on to let him have his fill of talk, always hoping that he would come at +last to speak of personal matters and give me an account of his history +and of Rima’s origin. But the hope proved vain; not a word to enlighten +me would he drop, however cunningly I tempted him. + +“So be it,” thought I; “but if you are cunning, old man, I shall be +cunning too--and patient; for all things come to him who waits.” + +He was in no hurry to get rid of me. On the contrary, he more than +hinted that I would be safer under his roof than with the Indians, at +the same time apologizing for not giving me meat to eat. + +“But why do you not have meat? Never have I seen animals so abundant and +tame as in this wood.” Before he could reply Rima, with a jug of water +from the spring in her hand, came in; glancing at me, he lifted his +finger to signify that such a subject must not be discussed in her +presence; but as soon as she quitted the room he returned to it. + +“Senor,” he said, “have you forgotten your adventure with the snake? +Know, then, that my grandchild would not live with me for one day longer +if I were to lift my hand against any living creature. For us, senor, +every day is fast-day--only without the fish. We have maize, pumpkin, +cassava, potatoes, and these suffice. And even of these cultivated +fruits of the earth she eats but little in the house, preferring certain +wild berries and gums, which are more to her taste, and which she picks +here and there in her rambles in the wood. And I, sir, loving her as I +do, whatever my inclination may be, shed no blood and eat no flesh.” + +I looked at him with an incredulous smile. + +“And your dogs, old man?” + +“My dogs? Sir, they would not pause or turn aside if a coatimundi +crossed their path--an animal with a strong odour. As a man is, so is +his dog. Have you not seen dogs eating grass, sir, even in Venezuela, +where these sentiments do not prevail? And when there is no meat--when +meat is forbidden--these sagacious animals accustom themselves to a +vegetable diet.” + +I could not very well tell the old man that he was lying to me--that +would have been bad policy--and so I passed it off. “I have no doubt +that you are right,” I said. “I have heard that there are dogs in China +that eat no meat, but are themselves eaten by their owners after being +fattened on rice. I should not care to dine on one of your animals, old +man.” + +He looked at them critically and replied: “Certainly they are lean.” + +“I was thinking less of their leanness than of their smell,” I returned. +“Their odour when they approach me is not flowery, but resembles that +of other dogs which feed on flesh, and have offended my too sensitive +nostrils even in the drawing-rooms of Caracas. It is not like the +fragrance of cattle when they return from the pasture.” + +“Every animal,” he replied, “gives out that odour which is peculiar to +its kind”; an incontrovertible fact which left me nothing to say. + +When I had sufficiently recovered the suppleness of my limbs to walk +with ease, I went for a ramble in the wood, in the hope that Rima would +accompany me, and that out among the trees she would cast aside that +artificial constraint and shyness which was her manner in the house. + +It fell out just as I had expected; she accompanied me in the sense of +being always near me, or within earshot, and her manner was now free and +unconstrained as I could wish; but little or nothing was gained by the +change. She was once more the tantalizing, elusive, mysterious creature +I had first known through her wandering, melodious voice. The only +difference was that the musical, inarticulate sounds were now less often +heard, and that she was no longer afraid to show herself to me. This for +a short time was enough to make me happy, since no lovelier being was +ever looked upon, nor one whose loveliness was less likely to lose its +charm through being often seen. + +But to keep her near me or always in sight was, I found, impossible: she +would be free as the wind, free as the butterfly, going and coming at +her wayward will, and losing herself from sight a dozen times every +hour. To induce her to walk soberly at my side or sit down and enter +into conversation with me seemed about as impracticable as to tame +the fiery-hearted little humming-bird that flashes into sight, remains +suspended motionless for a few seconds before your face, then, quick as +lightning, vanishes again. + +At length, feeling convinced that she was most happy when she had me out +following her in the wood, that in spite of her bird-like wildness she +had a tender, human heart, which was easily moved, I determined to try +to draw her closer by means of a little innocent stratagem. Going out in +the morning, after calling her several times to no purpose, I began to +assume a downcast manner, as if suffering pain or depressed with grief; +and at last, finding a convenient exposed root under a tree, on a spot +where the ground was dry and strewn with loose yellow sand, I sat down +and refused to go any further. For she always wanted to lead me on and +on, and whenever I paused she would return to show herself, or to chide +or encourage me in her mysterious language. All her pretty little arts +were now practiced in vain: with cheek resting on my hand, I still sat. + +So my eyes fixed on that patch of yellow sand at my feet, watching how +the small particles glinted like diamond dust when the sunlight touched +them. A full hour passed in this way, during which I encouraged myself +by saying mentally: “This is a contest between us, and the most patient +and the strongest of will, which should be the man, must conquer. And if +I win on this occasion, it will be easier for me in the future--easier +to discover those things which I am resolved to know, and the girl must +reveal to me, since the old man has proved impracticable.” + +Meanwhile she came and went and came again; and at last, finding that I +was not to be moved, she approached and stood near me. Her face, when I +glanced at it, had a somewhat troubled look--both troubled and curious. + +“Come here, Rima,” I said, “and stay with me for a little while--I +cannot follow you now.” + +She took one or two hesitating steps, then stood still again; and at +length, slowly and reluctantly, advanced to within a yard of me. Then +I rose from my seat on the root, so as to catch her face better, and +placed my hand against the rough bark of the tree. + +“Rima,” I said, speaking in a low, caressing tone, “will you stay with +me here a little while and talk to me, not in your language, but in +mine, so that I may understand? Will you listen when I speak to you, and +answer me?” + +Her lips moved, but made no sound. She seemed strangely disquieted, and +shook back her loose hair, and with her small toes moved the sparkling +sand at her feet, and once or twice her eyes glanced shyly at my face. + +“Rima, you have not answered me,” I persisted. “Will you not say yes?” + +“Yes.” + +“Where does your grandfather spend his day when he goes out with his +dogs?” + +She shook her head slightly, but would not speak. + +“Have you no mother, Rima? Do you remember your mother?” + +“My mother! My mother!” she exclaimed in a low voice, but with a sudden, +wonderful animation. Bending a little nearer, she continued: “Oh, she is +dead! Her body is in the earth and turned to dust. Like that,” and she +moved the loose sand with her foot. “Her soul is up there, where the +stars and the angels are, grandfather says. But what is that to me? I +am here--am I not? I talk to her just the same. Everything I see I point +out, and tell her everything. In the daytime--in the woods, when we are +together. And at night when I lie down I cross my arms on my breast--so, +and say: ‘Mother, mother, now you are in my arms; let us go to sleep +together.’ Sometimes I say: ‘Oh, why will you never answer me when I +speak and speak?’ Mother--mother--mother!” + +At the end her voice suddenly rose to a mournful cry, then sunk, and at +the last repetition of the word died to a low whisper. + +“Ah, poor Rima! she is dead and cannot speak to you--cannot hear you! +Talk to me, Rima; I am living and can answer.” + +But now the cloud, which had suddenly lifted from her heart, letting me +see for a moment into its mysterious depths--its fancies so childlike +and feelings so intense--had fallen again; and my words brought no +response, except a return of that troubled look to her face. + +“Silent still?” I said. “Talk to me, then, of your mother, Rima. Do you +know that you will see her again some day?” + +“Yes, when I die. That is what the priest said.” + +“The priest?” + +“Yes, at Voa--do you know? Mother died there when I was small--it is so +far away! And there are thirteen houses by the side of the river--just +here; and on this side--trees, trees.” + +This was important, I thought, and would lead to the very knowledge I +wished for; so I pressed her to tell me more about the settlement she +had named, and of which I had never heard. + +“Everything have I told you,” she returned, surprised that I did not +know that she had exhausted the subject in those half-dozen words she +had spoken. + +Obliged to shift my ground, I said at a venture: “Tell me, what do +you ask of the Virgin Mother when you kneel before her picture? Your +grandfather told me that you had a picture in your little room.” + +“You know!” flashed out her answer, with something like resentment. + +“It is all there in there,” waving her hand towards the hut. “Out here +in the wood it is all gone--like this,” and stooping quickly, she raised +a little yellow sand on her palm, then let it run away through her +fingers. + +Thus she illustrated how all the matters she had been taught slipped +from her mind when she was out of doors, out of sight of the picture. +After an interval she added: “Only mother is here--always with me.” + +“Ah, poor Rima!” I said; “alone without a mother, and only your old +grandfather! He is old--what will you do when he dies and flies away to +the starry country where your mother is?” + +She looked inquiringly at me, then made answer in a low voice: “You are +here.” + +“But when I go away?” + +She was silent; and not wishing to dwell on a subject that seemed to +pain her, I continued: “Yes, I am here now, but you will not stay with +me and talk freely! Will it always be the same if I remain with you? +Why are you always so silent in the house, so cold with your old +grandfather? So different--so full of life, like a bird, when you are +alone in the woods? Rima, speak to me! Am I no more to you than your old +grandfather? Do you not like me to talk to you?” + +She appeared strangely disturbed at my words. “Oh, you are not like +him,” she suddenly replied. “Sitting all day on a log by the fire--all +day, all day; Goloso and Susio lying beside him--sleep, sleep. Oh, when +I saw you in the wood I followed you, and talked and talked; still no +answer. Why will you not come when I call? To me!” Then, mocking my +voice: “Rima, Rima! Come here! Do this! Say that! Rima! Rima! It is +nothing, nothing--it is not you,” pointing to my mouth, and then, as if +fearing that her meaning had not been made clear, suddenly touching my +lips with her finger. “Why do you not answer me?--speak to me--speak to +me, like this!” And turning a little more towards me, and glancing at me +with eyes that had all at once changed, losing their clouded expression +for one of exquisite tenderness, from her lips came a succession of +those mysterious sounds which had first attracted me to her, swift +and low and bird-like, yet with something so much higher and more +soul-penetrating than any bird-music. Ah, what feeling and fancies, what +quaint turns of expression, unfamiliar to my mind, were contained in +those sweet, wasted symbols! I could never know--never come to her +when she called, or respond to her spirit. To me they would always +be inarticulate sounds, affecting me like a tender spiritual music--a +language without words, suggesting more than words to the soul. + +The mysterious speech died down to a lisping sound, like the faint note +of some small bird falling from a cloud of foliage on the topmost bough +of a tree; and at the same time that new light passed from her eyes, and +she half averted her face in a disappointed way. + +“Rima,” I said at length, a new thought coming to my aid, “it is true +that I am not here,” touching my lips as she had done, “and that +my words are nothing. But look into my eyes, and you will see me +there--all, all that is in my heart.” + +“Oh, I know what I should see there!” she returned quickly. + +“What would you see--tell me?” + +“There is a little black ball in the middle of your eye; I should see +myself in it no bigger than that,” and she marked off about an eighth of +her little fingernail. “There is a pool in the wood, and I look down and +see myself there. That is better. Just as large as I am--not small +and black like a small, small fly.” And after saying this a little +disdainfully, she moved away from my side and out into the sunshine; and +then, half turning towards me, and glancing first at my face and then +upwards, she raised her hand to call my attention to something there. + +Far up, high as the tops of the tallest trees, a great blue-winged +butterfly was passing across the open space with loitering flight. In a +few moments it was gone over the trees; then she turned once more to +me with a little rippling sound of laughter--the first I had heard from +her, and called: “Come, come!” + +I was glad enough to go with her then; and for the next two hours we +rambled together in the wood; that is, together in her way, for though +always near she contrived to keep out of my sight most of the time. She +was evidently now in a gay, frolicsome temper; again and again, when I +looked closely into some wide-spreading bush, or peered behind a tree, +when her calling voice had sounded, her rippling laughter would come to +me from some other spot. At length, somewhere about the centre of the +wood, she led me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, +covering with its shade a large space of ground entirely free from +undergrowth. At this spot she all at once vanished from my side; and +after listening and watching some time in vain, I sat down beside the +giant trunk to wait for her. Very soon I heard a low, warbling sound +which seemed quite near. + +“Rima! Rima!” I called, and instantly my call was repeated like an echo. +Again and again I called, and still the words flew back to me, and I +could not decide whether it was an echo or not. Then I gave up calling; +and presently the low, warbling sound was repeated, and I knew that Rima +was somewhere near me. + +“Rima, where are you?” I called. + +“Rima, where are you?” came the answer. + +“You are behind the tree.” + +“You are behind the tree.” + +“I shall catch you, Rima.” And this time, instead of repeating my words, +she answered: “Oh no.” + +I jumped up and ran round the tree, feeling sure that I should find her. +It was about thirty-five or forty feet in circumference; and after going +round two or three times, I turned and ran the other way, but failing to +catch a glimpse of her I at last sat down again. + +“Rima, Rima!” sounded the mocking voice as soon as I had sat down. +“Where are you, Rima? I shall catch you, Rima! Have you caught Rima?” + +“No, I have not caught her. There is no Rima now. She has faded away +like a rainbow--like a drop of dew in the sun. I have lost her; I shall +go to sleep.” And stretching myself out at full length under the tree, +I remained quiet for two or three minutes. Then a slight rustling +sound was heard, and I looked eagerly round for her. But the sound +was overhead and caused by a great avalanche of leaves which began to +descend on me from that vast leafy canopy above. + +“Ah, little spider-monkey--little green tree-snake--you are there!” + But there was no seeing her in that immense aerial palace hung with dim +drapery of green and copper-coloured leaves. But how had she got there? +Up the stupendous trunk even a monkey could not have climbed, and there +were no lianas dropping to earth from the wide horizontal branches that +I could see; but by and by, looking further away, I perceived that on +one side the longest lower branches reached and mingled with the shorter +boughs of the neighbouring trees. While gazing up I heard her low, +rippling laugh, and then caught sight of her as she ran along an exposed +horizontal branch, erect on her feet; and my heart stood still with +terror, for she was fifty to sixty feet above the ground. In another +moment she vanished from sight in a cloud of foliage, and I saw no more +of her for about ten minutes, when all at once she appeared at my side +once more, having come round the trunk of the mora. Her face had a +bright, pleased expression, and showed no trace of fatigue or agitation. + +I caught her hand in mine. It was a delicate, shapely little hand, soft +as velvet, and warm--a real human hand; only now when I held it did she +seem altogether like a human being and not a mocking spirit of the wood, +a daughter of the Didi. + +“Do you like me to hold your hand, Rima?” + +“Yes,” she replied, with indifference. + +“Is it I?” + +“Yes.” This time as if it was small satisfaction to make acquaintance +with this purely physical part of me. + +Having her so close gave me an opportunity of examining that light +sheeny garment she wore always in the woods. It felt soft and satiny to +the touch, and there was no seam nor hem in it that I could see, but it +was all in one piece, like the cocoon of the caterpillar. While I was +feeling it on her shoulder and looking narrowly at it, she glanced at me +with a mocking laugh in her eyes. + +“Is it silk?” I asked. Then, as she remained silent, I continued: “Where +did you get this dress, Rima? Did you make it yourself? Tell me.” + +She answered not in words, but in response to my question a new look +came into her face; no longer restless and full of change in her +expression, she was now as immovable as an alabaster statue; not a +silken hair on her head trembled; her eyes were wide open, gazing +fixedly before her; and when I looked into them they seemed to see and +yet not to see me. They were like the clear, brilliant eyes of a bird, +which reflect as in a miraculous mirror all the visible world but do not +return our look and seem to see us merely as one of the thousand small +details that make up the whole picture. Suddenly she darted out her +hand like a flash, making me start at the unexpected motion, and quickly +withdrawing it, held up a finger before me. From its tip a minute +gossamer spider, about twice the bigness of a pin’s head, appeared +suspended from a fine, scarcely visible line three or four inches long. + +“Look!” she exclaimed, with a bright glance at my face. + +The small spider she had captured, anxious to be free, was falling, +falling earthward, but could not reach the surface. Leaning her shoulder +a little forward, she placed the finger-tip against it, but lightly, +scarcely touching, and moving continuously, with a motion rapid as that +of a fluttering moth’s wing; while the spider, still paying out his +line, remained suspended, rising and falling slightly at nearly the same +distance from the ground. After a few moments she cried: “Drop down, +little spider.” Her finger’s motion ceased, and the minute captive fell, +to lose itself on the shaded ground. + +“Do you not see?” she said to me, pointing to her shoulder. Just where +the finger-tip had touched the garment a round shining spot appeared, +looking like a silver coin on the cloth; but on touching it with my +finger it seemed part of the original fabric, only whiter and more shiny +on the grey ground, on account of the freshness of the web of which it +had just been made. + +And so all this curious and pretty performance, which seemed instinctive +in its spontaneous quickness and dexterity, was merely intended to show +me how she made her garments out of the fine floating lines of small +gossamer spiders! + +Before I could express my surprise and admiration she cried again, with +startling suddenness: “Look!” + +A minute shadowy form darted by, appearing like a dim line traced across +the deep glossy more foliage, then on the lighter green foliage further +away. She waved her hand in imitation of its swift, curving flight; +then, dropping it, exclaimed: “Gone--oh, little thing!” + +“What was it?” I asked, for it might have been a bird, a bird-like moth, +or a bee. + +“Did you not see? And you asked me to look into your eyes!” + +“Ah, little squirrel Sakawinki, you remind me of that!” I said, passing +my arm round her waist and drawing her a little closer. “Look into my +eyes now and see if I am blind, and if there is nothing in them except +an image of Rima like a small, small fly.” + +She shook her head and laughed a little mockingly, but made no effort to +escape from my arm. + +“Would you like me always to do what you wish, Rima--to follow you in +the woods when you say ‘Come’--to chase you round the tree to catch you, +and lie down for you to throw leaves on me, and to be glad when you are +glad?” + +“Oh, yes.” + +“Then let us make a compact. I shall do everything to please you, and +you must promise to do everything to please me.” + +“Tell me.” + +“Little things, Rima--none so hard as chasing you round a tree. Only to +have you stand or sit by me and talk will make me happy. And to begin +you must call me by my name--Abel.” + +“Is that your name? Oh, not your real name! Abel, Abel--what is that? It +says nothing. I have called you by so many names--twenty, thirty--and no +answer.” + +“Have you? But, dearest girl, every person has a name, one name he is +called by. Your name, for instance, is Rima, is it not?” + +“Rima! only Rima--to you? In the morning, in the evening... now in this +place and in a little while where know I? ... in the night when you wake +and it is dark, dark, and you see me all the same. Only Rima--oh, how +strange!” + +“What else, sweet girl? Your grandfather Nuflo calls you Rima.” + +“Nuflo?” She spoke as if putting a question to herself. “Is that an +old man with two dogs that lives somewhere in the wood?” And then, with +sudden petulance: “And you ask me to talk to you!” + +“Oh, Rima, what can I say to you? Listen--” + +“No, no,” she exclaimed, quickly turning and putting her fingers on my +mouth to stop my speech, while a sudden merry look shone in her eyes. +“You shall listen when I speak, and do all I say. And tell me what to +do to please you with your eyes--let me look in your eyes that are not +blind.” + +She turned her face more towards me and with head a little thrown back +and inclined to one side, gazing now full into my eyes as I had wished +her to do. After a few moments she glanced away to the distant trees. +But I could see into those divine orbs, and knew that she was +not looking at any particular object. All the ever-varying +expressions--inquisitive, petulant, troubled, shy, frolicsome had now +vanished from the still face, and the look was inward and full of a +strange, exquisite light, as if some new happiness or hope had touched +her spirit. + +Sinking my voice to a whisper, I said: “Tell me what you have seen in my +eyes, Rima?” + +She murmured in reply something melodious and inarticulate, then glanced +at my face in a questioning way; but only for a moment, then her sweet +eyes were again veiled under those drooping lashes. + +“Listen, Rima,” I said. “Was that a humming-bird we saw a little while +ago? You are like that, now dark, a shadow in the shadow, seen for +an instant, and then--gone, oh, little thing! And now in the sunshine +standing still, how beautiful!--a thousand times more beautiful than +the humming-bird. Listen, Rima, you are like all beautiful things in the +wood--flower, and bird, and butterfly, and green leaf, and frond, and +little silky-haired monkey high up in the trees. When I look at you I +see them all--all and more, a thousand times, for I see Rima herself. +And when I listen to Rima’s voice, talking in a language I cannot +understand, I hear the wind whispering in the leaves, the gurgling +running water, the bee among the flowers, the organ-bird singing far, +far away in the shadows of the trees. I hear them all, and more, for +I hear Rima. Do you understand me now? Is it I speaking to you--have I +answered you--have I come to you?” + +She glanced at me again, her lips trembling, her eyes now clouded with +some secret trouble. “Yes,” she replied in a whisper, and then: “No, it +is not you,” and after a moment, doubtfully: “Is it you?” + +But she did not wait to be answered: in a moment she was gone round the +more; nor would she return again for all my calling. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +That afternoon with Rima in the forest under the mora tree had proved so +delightful that I was eager for more rambles and talks with her, but the +variable little witch had a great surprise in store for me. All her wild +natural gaiety had unaccountably gone out of her: when I walked in +the shade she was there, but no longer as the blithe, fantastic being, +bright as an angel, innocent and affectionate as a child, tricksy as a +monkey, that had played at hide-and-seek with me. She was now my shy, +silent attendant, only occasionally visible, and appearing then like +the mysterious maid I had found reclining among the ferns who had melted +away mist-like from sight as I gazed. When I called she would not now +answer as formerly, but in response would appear in sight as if to +assure me that I had not been forsaken; and after a few moments her grey +shadowy form would once more vanish among the trees. The hope that as +her confidence increased and she grew accustomed to talk with me she +would be brought to reveal the story of her life had to be abandoned, at +all events for the present. I must, after all, get my information from +Nuflo, or rest in ignorance. The old man was out for the greater part +of each day with his dogs, and from these expeditions he brought back +nothing that I could see but a few nuts and fruits, some thin bark for +his cigarettes, and an occasional handful of haima gum to perfume the +hut of an evening. After I had wasted three days in vainly trying to +overcome the girl’s now inexplicable shyness, I resolved to give for +a while my undivided attention to her grandfather to discover, if +possible, where he went and how he spent his time. + +My new game of hide-and-seek with Nuflo instead of with Rima began +on the following morning. He was cunning; so was I. Going out and +concealing myself among the bushes, I began to watch the hut. That I +could elude Rima’s keener eyes I doubted; but that did not trouble me. +She was not in harmony with the old man, and would do nothing to defeat +my plan. I had not been long in my hiding-place before he came out, +followed by his two dogs, and going to some distance from the door, +he sat down on a log. For some minutes he smoked, then rose, and after +looking cautiously round slipped away among the trees. I saw that he was +going off in the direction of the low range of rocky hills south of the +forest. I knew that the forest did not extend far in that direction, and +thinking that I should be able to catch a sight of him on its borders, +I left the bushes and ran through the trees as fast as I could to get +ahead of him. Coming to where the wood was very open, I found that a +barren plain beyond it, a quarter of a mile wide, separated it from the +range of hills; thinking that the old man might cross this open space, +I climbed into a tree to watch. After some time he appeared, walking +rapidly among the trees, the dogs at his heels, but not going towards +the open plain; he had, it seemed, after arriving at the edge of the +wood, changed his direction and was going west, still keeping in the +shelter of the trees. When he had been gone about five minutes, I +dropped to the ground and started in pursuit; once more I caught sight +of him through the trees, and I kept him in sight for about twenty +minutes longer; then he came to a broad strip of dense wood which +extended into and through the range of hills, and here I quickly lost +him. Hoping still to overtake him, I pushed on, but after struggling +through the underwood for some distance, and finding the forest growing +more difficult as I progressed, I at last gave him up. Turning eastward, +I got out of the wood to find myself at the foot of a steep rough hill, +one of the range which the wooded valley cut through at right angles. It +struck me that it would be a good plan to climb the hill to get a view +of the forest belt in which I had lost the old man; and after walking a +short distance I found a spot which allowed of an ascent. The summit of +the hill was about three hundred feet above the surrounding level and +did not take me long to reach; it commanded a fair view, and I now saw +that the belt of wood beneath me extended right through the range, and +on the south side opened out into an extensive forest. “If that is your +destination,” thought I, “old fox, your secrets are safe from me.” + +It was still early in the day, and a slight breeze tempered the air and +made it cool and pleasant on the hilltop after my exertions. My scramble +through the wood had fatigued me somewhat, and resolving to spend some +hours on that spot, I looked round for a comfortable resting-place. I +soon found a shady spot on the west side of an upright block of stone +where I could recline at ease on a bed of lichen. Here, with shoulders +resting against the rock, I sat thinking of Rima, alone in her wood +today, with just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts which made me hope +that she would miss me as much as I missed her; and in the end I fell +asleep. + +When I woke, it was past noon, and the sun was shining directly on me. +Standing up to gaze once more on the prospect, I noticed a small wreath +of white smoke issuing from a spot about the middle of the forest belt +beneath me, and I instantly divined that Nuflo had made a fire at that +place, and I resolved to surprise him in his retreat. When I got down +to the base of the hill the smoke could no longer be seen, but I had +studied the spot well from above, and had singled out a large clump of +trees on the edge of the belt as a starting-point; and after a search of +half an hour I succeeded in finding the old man’s hiding-place. First I +saw smoke again through an opening in the trees, then a small rude hut +of sticks and palm leaves. Approaching cautiously, I peered through a +crack and discovered old Nuflo engaged in smoking some meat over a fire, +and at the same time grilling some bones on the coals. He had captured +a coatimundi, an animal somewhat larger than a tame tom-cat, with a long +snout and long ringed tail; one of the dogs was gnawing at the animal’s +head, and the tail and the feet were also lying on the floor, among +the old bones and rubbish that littered it. Stealing round, I suddenly +presented myself at the opening to his den, when the dogs rose up with a +growl and Nuflo instantly leaped to his feet, knife in hand. + +“Aha, old man,” I cried, with a laugh, “I have found you at one of your +vegetarian repasts; and your grass-eating dogs as well!” + +He was disconcerted and suspicious, but when I explained that I had seen +a smoke while on the hills, where I had gone to search for a curious +blue flower which grew in such places, and had made my way to it to +discover the cause, he recovered confidence and invited me to join him +at his dinner of roast meat. + +I was hungry by this time and not sorry to get animal food once more; +nevertheless, I ate this meat with some disgust, as it had a rank taste +and smell, and it was also unpleasant to have those evil-looking dogs +savagely gnawing at the animal’s head and feet at the same time. + +“You see,” said the old hypocrite, wiping the grease from his moustache, +“this is what I am compelled to do in order to avoid giving offence. My +granddaughter is a strange being, sir, as you have perhaps observed--” + +“That reminds me,” I interrupted, “that I wish you to relate her history +to me. She is, as you say, strange, and has speech and faculties unlike +ours, which shows that she comes of a different race.” + +“No, no, her faculties are not different from ours. They are sharper, +that is all. It pleases the All-Powerful to give more to some than to +others. Not all the fingers on the hand are alike. You will find a man +who will take up a guitar and make it speak, while I--” + +“All that I understand,” I broke in again. “But her origin, her +history--that is what I wish to hear.” + +“And that, sir, is precisely what I am about to relate. Poor child, +she was left on my hands by her sainted mother--my daughter, sir--who +perished young. Now, her birthplace, where she was taught letters and +the Catechism by the priest, was in an unhealthy situation. It was +hot and wet--always wet--a place suited to frogs rather than to human +beings. At length, thinking that it would suit the child better--for she +was pale and weakly--to live in a drier atmosphere among mountains, I +brought her to this district. For this, senor, and for all I have done +for her, I look for no reward here, but to that place where my daughter +has got her foot; not, sir, on the threshold, as you might think, but +well inside. For, after all, it is to the authorities above, in spite of +some blots which we see in their administration, that we must look for +justice. Frankly, sir, this is the whole story of my granddaughter’s +origin.” + +“Ah, yes,” I returned, “your story explains why she can call a wild bird +to her hand, and touch a venomous serpent with her bare foot and receive +no harm.” + +“Doubtless you are right,” said the old dissembler. “Living alone in the +wood, she had only God’s creatures to play and make friends with; and +wild animals, I have heard it said, know those who are friendly towards +them.” + +“You treat her friends badly,” said I, kicking the long tail of the +coatimundi away with my foot, and regretting that I had joined in his +repast. + +“Senor, you must consider that we are only what Heaven made us. When all +this was formed,” he continued, opening his arms wide to indicate the +entire creation, “the Person who concerned Himself with this matter gave +seeds and fruitless and nectar of flowers for the sustentation of His +small birds. But we have not their delicate appetites. The more robust +stomach which he gave to man cries out for meat. Do you understand? But +of all this, friend, not one word to Rima!” + +I laughed scornfully. “Do you think me such a child, old man, as to +believe that Rima, that little sprite, does not know that you are an +eater of flesh? Rima, who is everywhere in the wood, seeing all things, +even if I lift my hand against a serpent, she herself unseen.” + +“But, sir, if you will pardon my presumption, you are saying too much. +She does not come here, and therefore cannot see that I eat meat. In all +that wood where she flourishes and sings, where she is in her house and +garden, and mistress of the creatures, even of the small butterfly with +painted wings, there, sir, I hunt no animal. Nor will my dogs chase any +animal there. That is what I meant when I said that if an animal should +stumble against their legs, they would lift up their noses and pass on +without seeing it. For in that wood there is one law, the law that Rima +imposes, and outside of it a different law.” + +“I am glad that you have told me this,” I replied. “The thought that +Rima might be near, and, unseen herself, look in upon us feeding with +the dogs and, like dogs, on flesh, was one which greatly troubled my +mind.” + +He glanced at me in his usual quick, cunning way. + +“Ah, senor, you have that feeling too--after so short a time with us! +Consider, then, what it must be for me, unable to nourish myself on gums +and fruitlets, and that little sweetness made by wasps out of flowers, +when I am compelled to go far away and eat secretly to avoid giving +offence.” + +It was hard, no doubt, but I did not pity him; secretly I could only +feel anger against him for refusing to enlighten me, while making such +a presence of openness; and I also felt disgusted with myself for having +joined him in his rank repast. But dissimulation was necessary, and so, +after conversing a little more on indifferent topics, and thanking him +for his hospitality, I left him alone to go on with his smoky task. + +On my way back to the lodge, fearing that some taint of Nuflo’s +evil-smelling den and dinner might still cling to me, I turned aside to +where a streamlet in the wood widened and formed a deep pool, to take +a plunge in the water. After drying myself in the air, and thoroughly +ventilating my garments by shaking and beating them, I found an open, +shady spot in the wood and threw myself on the grass to wait for evening +before returning to the house. By that time the sweet, warm air would +have purified me. Besides, I did not consider that I had sufficiently +punished Rima for her treatment of me. She would be anxious for my +safety, perhaps even looking for me everywhere in the wood. It was not +much to make her suffer one day after she had made me miserable for +three; and perhaps when she discovered that I could exist without her +society she would begin to treat me less capriciously. + +So ran my thoughts as I rested on the warm ground, gazing up into the +foliage, green as young grass in the lower, shady parts, and above +luminous with the bright sunlight, and full of the murmuring sounds of +insect life. My every action, word, thought, had my feeling for Rima +as a motive. Why, I began to ask myself, was Rima so much to me? It was +easy to answer that question: Because nothing so exquisite had ever been +created. All the separate and fragmentary beauty and melody and +graceful motion found scattered throughout nature were concentrated and +harmoniously combined in her. How various, how luminous, how divine she +was! A being for the mind to marvel at, to admire continually, finding +some new grace and charm every hour, every moment, to add to the old. +And there was, besides, the fascinating mystery surrounding her origin +to arouse and keep my interest in her continually active. + +That was the easy answer I returned to the question I had asked myself. +But I knew that there was another answer--a reason more powerful than +the first. And I could no longer thrust it back, or hide its shining +face with the dull, leaden mask of mere intellectual curiosity. BECAUSE +I LOVED HER; loved her as I had never loved before, never could love +any other being, with a passion which had caught something of her +own brilliance and intensity, making a former passion look dim and +commonplace in comparison--a feeling known to everyone, something old +and worn out, a weariness even to think of. + +From these reflections I was roused by the plaintive three-syllable call +of an evening bird--a nightjar common in these woods; and was surprised +to find that the sun had set, and the woods already shadowed with the +twilight. I started up and began hurriedly walking homewards, thinking +of Rima, and was consumed with impatience to see her; and as I drew near +to the house, walking along a narrow path which I knew, I suddenly met +her face to face. Doubtless she had heard my approach, and instead of +shrinking out of the path and allowing me to pass on without seeing her, +as she would have done on the previous day, she had sprung forward to +meet me. I was struck with wonder at the change in her as she came with +a swift, easy motion, like a flying bird, her hands outstretched as if +to clasp mine, her lips parted in a radiant, welcoming smile, her eyes +sparkling with joy. + +I started forward to meet her, but had no sooner touched her hands than +her countenance changed, and she shrunk back trembling, as if the touch +had chilled her warm blood; and moving some feet away, she stood with +downcast eyes, pale and sorrowful as she had seemed yesterday. In vain I +implored her to tell me the cause of this change and of the trouble she +evidently felt; her lips trembled as if with speech, but she made no +reply, and only shrunk further away when I attempted to approach her; +and at length, moving aside from the path, she was lost to sight in the +dusky leafage. + +I went on alone, and sat outside for some time, until old Nuflo returned +from his hunting; and only after he had gone in and had made the fire +burn up did Rima make her appearance, silent and constrained as ever. + + + +CHAPTER X + +On the following day Rima continued in the same inexplicable humour; and +feeling my defeat keenly, I determined once more to try the effect of +absence on her, and to remain away on this occasion for a longer period. +Like old Nuflo, I was secret in going forth next morning, waiting until +the girl was out of the way, then slipping off among the bushes into +the deeper wood; and finally quitting its shelter, I set out across the +savannah towards my old quarters. Great was my surprise on arriving +at the village to find no person there. At first I imagined that my +disappearance in the forest of evil fame had caused them to abandon +their home in a panic; but on looking round I concluded that my friends +had only gone on one of their periodical visits to some neighbouring +village. For when these Indians visit their neighbours they do it in a +very thorough manner; they all go, taking with them their entire stock +of provisions, their cooking utensils, weapons, hammocks, and even +their pet animals. Fortunately in this case they had not taken quite +everything; my hammock was there, also one small pot, some cassava +bread, purple potatoes, and a few ears of maize. I concluded that these +had been left for me in the event of my return; also that they had not +been gone very many hours, since a log of wood buried under the ashes +of the hearth was still alight. Now, as their absences from home usually +last many days, it was plain that I would have the big naked barn-like +house to myself for as long as I thought proper to remain, with little +food to eat; but the prospect did not disturb me, and I resolved to +amuse myself with music. In vain I hunted for my guitar; the Indians +had taken it to delight their friends by twanging its strings. At odd +moments during the last day or two I had been composing a simple melody +in my brain, fitting it to ancient words; and now, without an instrument +to assist me, I began softly singing to myself: + + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes. + +After music I made up the fire and parched an ear of maize for my +dinner, and while laboriously crunching the dry hard grain I thanked +Heaven for having bestowed on me such good molars. Finally I slung my +hammock in its old corner, and placing myself in it in my favourite +oblique position, my hands clasped behind my head, one knee cocked up, +the other leg dangling down, I resigned myself to idle thought. I felt +very happy. How strange, thought I, with a little self-flattery, that +I, accustomed to the agreeable society of intelligent men and charming +women, and of books, should find such perfect contentment here! But I +congratulated myself too soon. The profound silence began at length to +oppress me. It was not like the forest, where one has wild birds for +company, where their cries, albeit inarticulate, have a meaning and give +a charm to solitude. Even the sight and whispered sounds of green leaves +and rushes trembling in the wind have for us something of intelligence +and sympathy; but I could not commune with mud walls and an earthen pot. +Feeling my loneliness too acutely, I began to regret that I had left +Rima, then to feel remorse at the secrecy I had practiced. Even now +while I inclined idly in my hammock, she would be roaming the forest in +search of me, listening for my footsteps, fearing perhaps that I had +met with some accident where there was no person to succour me. It was +painful to think of her in this way, of the pain I had doubtless given +her by stealing off without a word of warning. Springing to the floor, I +flung out of the house and went down to the stream. It was better there, +for now the greatest heat of the day was over, and the weltering sun +began to look large and red and rayless through the afternoon haze. + +I seated myself on a stone within a yard or two of the limpid water; and +now the sight of nature and the warm, vital air and sunshine infected +my spirit and made it possible for me to face the position calmly, +even hopefully. The position was this: for some days the idea had been +present in my mind, and was now fixed there, that this desert was to +be my permanent home. The thought of going back to Caracas, that little +Paris in America, with its Old World vices, its idle political passions, +its empty round of gaieties, was unendurable. I was changed, and this +change--so great, so complete--was proof that the old artificial life +had not been and could not be the real one, in harmony with my deeper +and truer nature. I deceived myself, you will say, as I have often +myself said. I had and I had not. It is too long a question to +discuss here; but just then I felt that I had quitted the hot, tainted +atmosphere of the ballroom, that the morning air of heaven refreshed and +elevated me and was sweet to breathe. Friends and relations I had who +were dear to me; but I could forget them, even as I could forget the +splendid dreams which had been mine. And the woman I had loved, and +who perhaps loved me in return--I could forget her too. A daughter of +civilization and of that artificial life, she could never experience +such feelings as these and return to nature as I was doing. For women, +though within narrow limits more plastic than men, are yet without that +larger adaptiveness which can take us back to the sources of life, which +they have left eternally behind. Better, far better for both of us that +she should wait through the long, slow months, growing sick at heart +with hope deferred; that, seeing me no more, she should weep my loss, +and be healed at last by time, and find love and happiness again in the +old way, in the old place. + +And while I thus sat thinking, sadly enough, but not despondingly, of +past and present and future, all at once on the warm, still air came +the resonant, far-reaching KLING-KLANG of the campanero from some leafy +summit half a league away. KLING-KLANG fell the sound again, and +often again, at intervals, affecting me strangely at that moment, so +bell-like, so like the great wide-travelling sounds associated in our +minds with Christian worship. And yet so unlike. A bell, yet not made of +gross metal dug out of earth, but of an ethereal, sublimer material +that floats impalpable and invisible in space--a vital bell suspended on +nothing, giving out sounds in harmony with the vastness of blue heaven, +the unsullied purity of nature, the glory of the sun, and conveying a +mystic, a higher message to the soul than the sounds that surge from +tower and belfry. + +O mystic bell-bird of the heavenly race of the swallow and dove, the +quetzal and the nightingale! When the brutish savage and the brutish +white man that slay thee, one for food, the other for the benefit of +science, shall have passed away, live still, live to tell thy message to +the blameless spiritualized race that shall come after us to possess the +earth, not for a thousand years, but for ever; for how much shall thy +voice be our clarified successors when even to my dull, unpurged soul +thou canst speak such high things and bring it a sense of an impersonal, +all-compromising One who is in me and I in Him, flesh of His flesh and +soul of His soul. + +The sounds ceased, but I was still in that exalted mood and, like a +person in a trance, staring fixedly before me into the open wood of +scattered dwarf trees on the other side of the stream, when suddenly on +the field of vision appeared a grotesque human figure moving towards me. +I started violently, astonished and a little alarmed, but in a very +few moments I recognized the ancient Cla-cla, coming home with a large +bundle of dry sticks on her shoulders, bent almost double under the +burden, and still ignorant of my presence. Slowly she came down to the +stream, then cautiously made her way over the line of stepping-stones +by which it was crossed; and only when within ten yards did the old +creature catch sight of me sitting silent and motionless in her path. +With a sharp cry of amazement and terror she straightened herself up, +the bundle of sticks dropping to the ground, and turned to run from +me. That, at all events, seemed her intention, for her body was thrown +forward, and her head and arms working like those of a person going at +full speed, but her legs seemed paralysed and her feet remained planted +on the same spot. I burst out laughing; whereat she twisted her neck +until her wrinkled, brown old face appeared over her shoulder staring at +me. This made me laugh again, whereupon she straightened herself up once +more and turned round to have a good look at me. + +“Come, Cla-cla,” I cried; “can you not see that I am a living man and no +spirit? I thought no one had remained behind to keep me company and give +me food. Why are you not with the others?” + +“Ah, why!” she returned tragically. And then deliberately turning +from me and assuming a most unladylike attitude, she slapped herself +vigorously on the small of the back, exclaiming: “Because of my pain +here!” + +As she continued in that position with her back towards me for some +time, I laughed once more and begged her to explain. + +Slowly she turned round and advanced cautiously towards me, staring at +me all the time. Finally, still eyeing me suspiciously, she related that +the others had all gone on a visit to a distant village, she starting +with them; that after going some distance a pain had attacked her in her +hind quarters, so sudden and acute that it had instantly brought her to +a full stop; and to illustrate how full the stop was she allowed herself +to go down, very unnecessarily, with a flop to the ground. But she no +sooner touched the ground than up she started to her feet again, with +an alarmed look on her owlish face, as if she had sat down on a +stinging-nettle. + +“We thought you were dead,” she remarked, still thinking that I might be +a ghost after all. + +“No, still alive,” I said. “And so because you came to the ground with +your pain, they left you behind! Well, never mind, Cla-cla, we are two +now and must try to be happy together.” + +By this time she had recovered from her fear and began to feel highly +pleased at my return, only lamenting that she had no meat to give +me. She was anxious to hear my adventures, and the reason of my long +absence. I had no wish to gratify her curiosity, with the truth at all +events, knowing very well that with regard to the daughter of the Didi +her feelings were as purely savage and malignant as those of Kua-ko. But +it was necessary to say something, and, fortifying myself with the good +old Spanish notion that lies told to the heathen are not recorded, I +related that a venomous serpent had bitten me; after which a terrible +thunderstorm had surprised me in the forest, and night coming on +prevented my escape from it; then, next day, remembering that he who is +bitten by a serpent dies, and not wishing to distress my friends with +the sight of my dissolution, I elected to remain, sitting there in the +wood, amusing myself by singing songs and smoking cigarettes; and after +several days and nights had gone by, finding that I was not going to die +after all, and beginning to feel hungry, I got up and came back. + +Old Cla-cla looked very serious, shaking and nodding her head a great +deal, muttering to herself; finally she gave it as her opinion that +nothing ever would or could kill me; but whether my story had been +believed or not she only knew. + +I spent an amusing evening with my old savage hostess. She had thrown +off her ailments and, pleased at having a companion in her dreary +solitude, she was good-tempered and talkative, and much more inclined to +laugh than when the others were present, when she was on her dignity. + +We sat by the fire, cooking such food as we had, and talked and smoked; +then I sang her songs in Spanish with that melody of my own-- + + Muy mas clara que la luna; + +and she rewarded me by emitting a barbarous chant in a shrill, screechy +voice; and finally, starting up, I danced for her benefit polka, +mazurka, and valse, whistling and singing to my motions. + +More than once during the evening she tried to introduce serious +subjects, telling me that I must always live with them, learn to shoot +the birds and catch the fishes, and have a wife; and then she would +speak of her granddaughter Oalava, whose virtues it was proper to +mention, but whose physical charms needed no description since they had +never been concealed. Each time she got on this topic I cut her short, +vowing that if I ever married she only should be my wife. She informed +me that she was old and past her fruitful period; that not much longer +would she make cassava bread, and blow the fire to a flame with her +wheezy old bellows, and talk the men to sleep at night. But I stuck to +it that she was young and beautiful, that our descendants would be more +numerous than the birds in the forest. I went out to some bushes close +by, where I had noticed a passion plant in bloom, and gathering a few +splendid scarlet blossoms with their stems and leaves, I brought them in +and wove them into a garland for the old dame’s head; then I pulled her +up, in spite of screams and struggles, and waltzed her wildly to the +other end of the room and back again to her seat beside the fire. And +as she sat there, panting and grinning with laughter, I knelt before her +and, with suitable passionate gestures, declaimed again the old delicate +lines sung by Mena before Columbus sailed the seas: + + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes + tan gentil, que no vecistes + ni tavistes + competedora ninguna + Desdi ninez en la cuna + cobrastes fama, beldad, con tanta graciosidad, + que vos doto la fortuna. + +Thinking of another all the time! O poor old Cla-cla, knowing not what +the jingle meant nor the secret of my wild happiness, now when I recall +you sitting there, your old grey owlish head crowned with scarlet +passion flowers, flushed with firelight, against the background of +smoke-blackened walls and rafters, how the old undying sorrow comes back +to me! + +Thus our evening was spent, merrily enough; then we made up the fire +with hard wood that would last all night, and went to our hammocks, but +wakeful still. The old dame, glad and proud to be on duty once more, +religiously went to work to talk me to sleep; but although I called out +at intervals to encourage her to go on, I did not attempt to follow the +ancient tales she told, which she had imbibed in childhood from other +white-headed grandmothers long, long turned to dust. My own brain was +busy thinking, thinking, thinking now of the woman I had once loved, far +away in Venezuela, waiting and weeping and sick with hope deferred; +now of Rima, wakeful and listening to the mysterious nightsounds of the +forest--listening, listening for my returning footsteps. + +Next morning I began to waver in my resolution to remain absent from +Rima for some days; and before evening my passion, which I had now +ceased to struggle against, coupled with the thought that I had acted +unkindly in leaving her, that she would be a prey to anxiety, overcame +me, and I was ready to return. The old woman, who had been suspiciously +watching my movements, rushed out after me as I left the house, crying +out that a storm was brewing, that it was too late to go far, and +night would be full of danger. I waved my hand in good-bye, laughingly +reminding her that I was proof against all perils. Little she cared what +evil might befall me, I thought; but she loved not to be alone; even for +her, low down as she was intellectually, the solitary earthen pot had +no “mind stuff” in it, and could not be sent to sleep at night with the +legends of long ago. + +By the time I reached the ridge, I had discovered that she had +prophesied truly, for now an ominous change had come over nature. A dull +grey vapour had overspread the entire western half of the heavens; +down, beyond the forest, the sky looked black as ink, and behind this +blackness the sun had vanished. It was too late to go back now; I had +been too long absent from Rima, and could only hope to reach Nuflo’s +lodge, wet or dry, before night closed round me in the forest. + +For some moments I stood still on the ridge, struck by the somewhat +weird aspect of the shadowed scene before me--the long strip of dull +uniform green, with here and there a slender palm lifting its feathery +crown above the other trees, standing motionless, in strange relief +against the advancing blackness. Then I set out once more at a run, +taking advantage of the downward slope to get well on my way before the +tempest should burst. As I approached the wood, there came a flash of +lightning, pale, but covering the whole visible sky, followed after a +long interval by a distant roll of thunder, which lasted several seconds +and ended with a succession of deep throbs. It was as if Nature herself, +in supreme anguish and abandonment, had cast herself prone on the earth, +and her great heart had throbbed audibly, shaking the world with its +beats. No more thunder followed, but the rain was coming down heavily +now in huge drops that fell straight through the gloomy, windless air. +In half a minute I was drenched to the skin; but for a short time +the rain seemed an advantage, as the brightness of the falling water +lessened the gloom, turning the air from dark to lighter grey. This +subdued rain-light did not last long: I had not been twenty minutes +in the wood before a second and greater darkness fell on the earth, +accompanied by an even more copious downpour of water. The sun had +evidently gone down, and the whole sky was now covered with one thick +cloud. Becoming more nervous as the gloom increased, I bent my steps +more to the south, so as to keep near the border and more open part of +the wood. Probably I had already grown confused before deviating and +turned the wrong way, for instead of finding the forest easier, it +grew closer and more difficult as I advanced. Before many minutes the +darkness so increased that I could no longer distinguish objects more +than five feet from my eyes. Groping blindly along, I became entangled +in a dense undergrowth, and after struggling and stumbling along for +some distance in vain endeavours to get through it, I came to a stand +at last in sheer despair. All sense of direction was now lost: I was +entombed in thick blackness--blackness of night and cloud and rain and +of dripping foliage and network of branches bound with bush ropes and +creepers in a wild tangle. I had struggled into a hollow, or hole, as +it were, in the midst of that mass of vegetation, where I could stand +upright and turn round and round without touching anything; but when I +put out my hands they came into contact with vines and bushes. To move +from that spot seemed folly; yet how dreadful to remain there standing +on the sodden earth, chilled with rain, in that awful blackness in which +the only luminous thing one could look to see would be the eyes, shining +with their own internal light, of some savage beast of prey! Yet the +danger, the intense physical discomfort, and the anguish of looking +forward to a whole night spent in that situation stung my heart less +than the thought of Rima’s anxiety and of the pain I had carelessly +given by secretly leaving her. + +It was then, with that pang in my heart, that I was startled by hearing, +close by, one of her own low, warbled expressions. There could be no +mistake; if the forest had been full of the sounds of animal life +and songs of melodious birds, her voice would have been instantly +distinguished from all others. How mysterious, how infinitely tender it +sounded in that awful blackness!--so musical and exquisitely modulated, +so sorrowful, yet piercing my heart with a sudden, unutterable joy. + +“Rima! Rima!” I cried. “Speak again. Is it you? Come to me here.” + +Again that low, warbling sound, or series of sounds, seemingly from +a distance of a few yards. I was not disturbed at her not replying in +Spanish: she had always spoken it somewhat reluctantly, and only when +at my side; but when calling to me from some distance she would return +instinctively to her own mysterious language, and call to me as bird +calls to bird. I knew that she was inviting me to follow her, but I +refused to move. + +“Rima,” I cried again, “come to me here, for I know not where to step, +and cannot move until you are at my side and I can feel your hand.” + +There came no response, and after some moments, becoming alarmed, I +called to her again. + +Then close by me, in a low, trembling voice, she returned: “I am here.” + +I put out my hand and touched something soft and wet; it was her breast, +and moving my hand higher up, I felt her hair, hanging now and streaming +with water. She was trembling, and I thought the rain had chilled her. + +“Rima--poor child! How wet you are! How strange to meet you in such a +place! Tell me, dear Rima, how did you find me?” + +“I was waiting--watching--all day. I saw you coming across the savannah, +and followed at a distance through the wood.” + +“And I had treated you so unkindly! Ah, my guardian angel, my light in +the darkness, how I hate myself for giving you pain! Tell me, sweet, did +you wish me to come back and live with you again?” She made no reply. +Then, running my fingers down her arm, I took her hand in mine. It was +hot, like the hand of one in a fever. I raised it to my lips and then +attempted to draw her to me, but she slipped down and out of my arms to +my feet. I felt her there, on her knees, with head bowed low. Stooping +and putting my arm round her body, I drew her up and held her against my +breast, and felt her heart throbbing wildly. With many endearing words I +begged her to speak to me; but her only reply was: “Come--come,” as she +slipped again out of my arms and, holding my hand in hers, guided me +through the bushes. + +Before long we came to an open path or glade, where the darkness was not +profound; and releasing my hand, she began walking rapidly before me, +always keeping at such a distance as just enabled me to distinguish her +grey, shadowy figure, and with frequent doublings to follow the natural +paths and openings which she knew so well. In this way we kept on nearly +to the end, without exchanging a word, and hearing no sound except the +continuous rush of rain, which to our accustomed ears had ceased to +have the effect of sound, and the various gurgling noises of innumerable +runners. All at once, as we came to a more open place, a strip of bright +firelight appeared before us, shining from the half-open door of Nuflo’s +lodge. She turned round as much as to say: “Now you know where you are,” + then hurried on, leaving me to follow as best I could. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +There was a welcome change in the weather when I rose early next +morning; the sky was without cloud and had that purity in its colour +and look of infinite distance seen only when the atmosphere is free from +vapour. The sun had not yet risen, but old Nuflo was already among the +ashes, on his hands and knees, blowing the embers he had uncovered to a +flame. Then Rima appeared only to pass through the room with quick light +tread to go out of the door without a word or even a glance at my face. +The old man, after watching at the door for a few minutes, turned +and began eagerly questioning me about my adventures on the previous +evening. In reply I related to him how the girl had found me in the +forest lost and unable to extricate myself from the tangled undergrowth. + +He rubbed his hands on his knees and chuckled. “Happy for you, senor,” + he said, “that my granddaughter regards you with such friendly eyes, +otherwise you might have perished before morning. Once she was at your +side, no light, whether of sun or moon or lantern, was needed, nor that +small instrument which is said to guide a man aright in the desert, even +in the darkest night--let him that can believe such a thing!” + +“Yes, happy for me,” I returned. “I am filled with remorse that it was +all through my fault that the poor child was exposed to such weather.” + +“O senor,” he cried airily, “let not that distress you! Rain and wind +and hot suns, from which we seek shelter, do not harm her. She takes no +cold, and no fever, with or without ague.” + +After some further conversation I left him to steal away unobserved on +his own account, and set out for a ramble in the hope of encountering +Rima and winning her to talk to me. + +My quest did not succeed: not a glimpse of her delicate shadowy form did +I catch among the trees; and not one note from her melodious lips came +to gladden me. At noon I returned to the house, where I found food +placed ready for me, and knew that she had come there during my absence +and had not been forgetful of my wants. “Shall I thank you for this?” I +said. “I ask you for heavenly nectar for the sustentation of the higher +winged nature in me, and you give me a boiled sweet potato, toasted +strips of sun-dried pumpkins, and a handful of parched maize! Rima! +Rima! my woodland fairy, my sweet saviour, why do you yet fear me? Is it +that love struggles in you with repugnance? Can you discern with clear +spiritual eyes the grosser elements in me, and hate them; or has some +false imagination made me appear all dark and evil, but too late for +your peace, after the sweet sickness of love has infected you?” + +But she was not there to answer me, and so after a time I went forth +again and seated myself listlessly on the root of an old tree not +far from the house. I had sat there a full hour when all at once Rima +appeared at my side. Bending forward, she touched my hand, but without +glancing at my face; “Come with me,” she said, and turning, moved +swiftly towards the northern extremity of the forest. She seemed to +take it for granted that I would follow, never casting a look behind nor +pausing in her rapid walk; but I was only too glad to obey and, starting +up, was quickly after her. She led me by easy ways, familiar to her, +with many doublings to escape the undergrowth, never speaking or pausing +until we came out from the thick forest, and I found myself for the +first time at the foot of the great hill or mountain Ytaioa. Glancing +back for a few moments, she waved a hand towards the summit, and then +at once began the ascent. Here too it seemed all familiar ground to her. +From below, the sides had presented an exceedingly rugged appearance--a +wild confusion of huge jagged rocks, mixed with a tangled vegetation +of trees, bushes, and vines; but following her in all her doublings, it +became easy enough, although it fatigued me greatly owing to our rapid +pace. The hill was conical, but I found that it had a flat top--an +oblong or pear-shaped area, almost level, of a soft, crumbly sandstone, +with a few blocks and boulders of a harder stone scattered about--and no +vegetation, except the grey mountain lichen and a few sere-looking dwarf +shrubs. + +Here Rima, at a distance of a few yards from me, remained standing still +for some minutes, as if to give me time to recover my breath; and I was +right glad to sit down on a stone to rest. Finally she walked slowly +to the centre of the level area, which was about two acres in extent; +rising, I followed her and, climbing on to a huge block of stone, began +gazing at the wide prospect spread out before me. The day was windless +and bright, with only a few white clouds floating at a great height +above and casting travelling shadows over that wild, broken country, +where forest, marsh, and savannah were only distinguishable by their +different colours, like the greys and greens and yellows on a map. At +a great distance the circle of the horizon was broken here and there by +mountains, but the hills in our neighbourhood were all beneath our feet. + +After gazing all round for some minutes, I jumped down from my stand +and, leaning against the stone, stood watching the girl, waiting for her +to speak. I felt convinced that she had something of the very highest +importance (to herself) to communicate, and that only the pressing +need of a confidant, not Nuflo, had overcome her shyness of me; and I +determined to let her take her own time to say it in her own way. For a +while she continued silent, her face averted, but her little movements +and the way she clasped and unclasped her fingers showed that she was +anxious and her mind working. Suddenly, half turning to me, she began +speaking eagerly and rapidly. + +“Do you see,” she said, waving her hand to indicate the whole circuit of +earth, “how large it is? Look!” pointing now to mountains in the west. +“Those are the Vahanas--one, two, three--the highest--I can tell you +their names--Vahana-Chara, Chumi, Aranoa. Do you see that water? It is +a river, called Guaypero. From the hills it comes down, Inaruna is their +name, and you can see them there in the south--far, far.” And in this +way she went on pointing out and naming all the mountains and rivers +within sight. Then she suddenly dropped her hands to her sides and +continued: “That is all. Because we can see no further. But the world is +larger than that! Other mountains, other rivers. Have I not told you of +Voa, on the River Voa, where I was born, where mother died, where the +priest taught me, years, years ago? All that you cannot see, it is so +far away--so far.” + +I did not laugh at her simplicity, nor did I smile or feel any +inclination to smile. On the contrary, I only experienced a sympathy so +keen that it was like pain while watching her clouded face, so changeful +in its expression, yet in all changes so wistful. I could not yet form +any idea as to what she wished to communicate or to discover, but seeing +that she paused for a reply, I answered: “The world is so large, Rima, +that we can only see a very small portion of it from any one spot. Look +at this,” and with a stick I had used to aid me in my ascent I traced +a circle six or seven inches in circumference on the soft stone, and in +its centre placed a small pebble. “This represents the mountain we +are standing on,” I continued, touching the pebble; “and this +line encircling it encloses all of the earth we can see from the +mountain-top. Do you understand?--the line I have traced is the blue +line of the horizon beyond which we cannot see. And outside of this +little circle is all the flat top of Ytaioa representing the world. +Consider, then, how small a portion of the world we can see from this +spot!” + +“And do you know it all?” she returned excitedly. “All the world?” + waving her hand to indicate the little stone plain. “All the mountains, +and rivers, and forests--all the people in the world?” + +“That would be impossible, Rima; consider how large it is.” + +“That does not matter. Come, let us go together--we two and +grandfather--and see all the world; all the mountains and forests, and +know all the people.” + +“You do not know what you are saying, Rima. You might as well say: +‘Come, let us go to the sun and find out everything in it.’” + +“It is you who do not know what you are saying,” she retorted, with +brightening eyes which for a moment glanced full into mine. “We have no +wings like birds to fly to the sun. Am I not able to walk on the earth, +and run? Can I not swim? Can I not climb every mountain?” + +“No, you cannot. You imagine that all the earth is like this little +portion you see. But it is not all the same. There are great rivers +which you cannot cross by swimming; mountains you cannot climb; forests +you cannot penetrate--dark, and inhabited by dangerous beasts, and so +vast that all this space your eyes look on is a mere speck of earth in +comparison.” + +She listened excitedly. “Oh, do you know all that?” she cried, with a +strangely brightening look; and then half turning from me, she added, +with sudden petulance: “Yet only a minute ago you knew nothing of the +world--because it is so large! Is anything to be gained by speaking to +one who says such contrary things?” + +I explained that I had not contradicted myself, that she had not rightly +interpreted my words. I knew, I said, something about the principal +features of the different countries of the world, as, for instance, the +largest mountain ranges, and rivers, and the cities. Also something, +but very little, about the tribes of savage men. She heard me with +impatience, which made me speak rapidly, in very general terms; and to +simplify the matter I made the world stand for the continent we were +in. It seemed idle to go beyond that, and her eagerness would not have +allowed it. + +“Tell me all you know,” she said the moment I ceased speaking. “What is +there--and there--and there?” pointing in various directions. “Rivers +and forests--they are nothing to me. The villages, the tribes, the +people everywhere; tell me, for I must know it all.” + +“It would take long to tell, Rima.” + +“Because you are so slow. Look how high the sun is! Speak, speak! What +is there?” pointing to the north. + +“All that country,” I said, waving my hands from east to west, “is +Guayana; and so large is it that you could go in this direction, or in +this, travelling for months, without seeing the end of Guayana. Still +it would be Guayana; rivers, rivers, rivers, with forests between, +and other forests and rivers beyond. And savage people, nations +and tribes--Guahibo, Aguaricoto, Ayano, Maco, Piaroa, Quiriquiripo, +Tuparito--shall I name a hundred more? It would be useless, Rima; they +are all savages, and live widely scattered in the forests, hunting with +bow and arrow and the zabatana. Consider, then, how large Guayana is!” + +“Guayana--Guayana! Do I not know all this is Guayana? But beyond, and +beyond, and beyond? Is there no end to Guayana?” + +“Yes; there northwards it ends at the Orinoco, a mighty river, coming +from mighty mountains, compared with which Ytaioa is like a stone on the +ground on which we have sat down to rest. You must know that guayana is +only a portion, a half, of our country, Venezuela. Look,” I continued, +putting my hand round my shoulder to touch the middle of my back, “there +is a groove running down my spine dividing my body into equal parts. +Thus does the great Orinoco divide Venezuela, and on one side of it is +all Guayana; and on the other side the countries or provinces of Cumana, +Maturm, Barcelona, Bolivar, Guarico, Apure, and many others.” I then +gave a rapid description of the northern half of the country, with its +vast llanos covered with herds in one part, its plantations of coffee, +rice, and sugar-cane in another, and its chief towns; last of all +Caracas, the gay and opulent little Paris in America. + +This seemed to weary her; but the moment I ceased speaking, and before +I could well moisten my dry lips, she demanded to know what came after +Caracas--after all Venezuela. + +“The ocean--water, water, water,” I replied. + +“There are no people there--in the water; only fishes,” she remarked; +then suddenly continued: “Why are you silent--is Venezuela, then, all +the world?” + +The task I had set myself to perform seemed only at its commencement +yet. Thinking how to proceed with it, my eyes roved over the level area +we were standing on, and it struck me that this little irregular plain, +broad at one end and almost pointed at the other, roughly resembled the +South American continent in its form. + +“Look, Rima,” I began, “here we are on this small pebble--Ytaioa; and +this line round it shuts us in--we cannot see beyond. Now let us imagine +that we can see beyond--that we can see the whole flat mountaintop; and +that, you know, is the whole world. Now listen while I tell you of all +the countries, and principal mountains, and rivers, and cities of the +world.” + +The plan I had now fixed on involved a great deal of walking about and +some hard work in moving and setting up stones and tracing boundary +and other lines; but it gave me pleasure, for Rima was close by all +the time, following me from place to place, listening to all I said in +silence but with keen interest. At the broad end of the level summit I +marked out Venezuela, showing by means of a long line how the Orinoco +divided it, and also marking several of the greater streams flowing +into it. I also marked the sites of Caracas and other large towns +with stones; and rejoiced that we are not like the Europeans, great +city-builders, for the stones proved heavy to lift. Then followed +Colombia and Ecuador on the west; and, successively, Bolivia, Peru, +Chile, ending at last in the south with Patagonia, a cold arid land, +bleak and desolate. I marked the littoral cities as we progressed +on that side, where earth ends and the Pacific Ocean begins, and +infinitude. + +Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration, I described the Cordilleras to +her--that world-long, stupendous chain; its sea of Titicaca, and wintry, +desolate Paramo, where lie the ruins of Tiahuanaco, older than Thebes. +I mentioned its principal cities--those small inflamed or festering +pimples that attract much attention from appearing on such a body. +Quito, called--not in irony, but by its own people--the Splendid and +the Magnificent; so high above the earth as to appear but a little way +removed from heaven--“de Quito al cielo,” as the saying is. But of its +sublime history, its kings and conquerors, Haymar Capac the Mighty, +and Huascar, and Atahualpa the Unhappy, not one word. Many words--how +inadequate!--of the summits, white with everlasting snows, above +it--above this navel of the world, above the earth, the ocean, the +darkening tempest, the condor’s flight. Flame-breathing Cotopaxi, +whose wrathful mutterings are audible two hundred leagues away, and +Chimborazo, Antisana, Sarata, Illimani, Aconcagua--names of mountains +that affect us like the names of gods, implacable Pachacamac and +Viracocha, whose everlasting granite thrones they are. At the last I +showed her Cuzco, the city of the sun, and the highest dwelling-place of +men on earth. + +I was carried away by so sublime a theme; and remembering that I had no +critical hearer, I gave free reins to fancy, forgetting for the moment +that some undiscovered thought or feeling had prompted her questions. +And while I spoke of the mountains, she hung on my words, following me +closely in my walk, her countenance brilliant, her frame quivering with +excitement. + +There yet remained to be described all that unimaginable space east of +the Andes; the rivers--what rivers!--the green plains that are like +the sea--the illimitable waste of water where there is no land--and the +forest region. The very thought of the Amazonian forest made my spirit +droop. If I could have snatched her up and placed her on the dome of +Chimborazo she would have looked on an area of ten thousand square miles +of earth, so vast is the horizon at that elevation. And possibly her +imagination would have been able to clothe it all with an unbroken +forest. Yet how small a portion this would be of the stupendous +whole--of a forest region equal in extent to the whole of Europe! All +loveliness, all grace, all majesty are there; but we cannot see, cannot +conceive--come away! From this vast stage, to be occupied in the distant +future by millions and myriads of beings, like us of upright form, the +nations that will be born when all the existing dominant races on the +globe and the civilizations they represent have perished as utterly as +those who sculptured the stones of old Tiahuanaco--from this theatre +of palms prepared for a drama unlike any which the Immortals have yet +witnessed--I hurried away; and then slowly conducted her along the +Atlantic coast, listening to the thunder of its great waves, and pausing +at intervals to survey some maritime city. + +Never probably since old Father Noah divided the earth among his +sons had so grand a geographical discourse been delivered; and having +finished, I sat down, exhausted with my efforts, and mopped my brow, but +glad that my huge task was over, and satisfied that I had convinced her +of the futility of her wish to see the world for herself. + +Her excitement had passed away by now. She was standing a little apart +from me, her eyes cast down and thoughtful. At length she approached me +and said, waving her hand all round: “What is beyond the mountains over +there, beyond the cities on that side--beyond the world?” + +“Water, only water. Did I not tell you?” I returned stoutly; for I had, +of course, sunk the Isthmus of Panama beneath the sea. + + +“Water! All round?” she persisted. + +“Yes.” + +“Water, and no beyond? Only water--always water?” + +I could no longer adhere to so gross a lie. She was too intelligent, and +I loved her too much. Standing up, I pointed to distant mountains and +isolated peaks. + +“Look at those peaks,” I said. “It is like that with the world--this +world we are standing on. Beyond that great water that flows all round +the world, but far away, so far that it would take months in a big boat +to reach them, there are islands, some small, others as large as this +world. But, Rima, they are so far away, so impossible to reach, that it +is useless to speak or to think of them. They are to us like the sun and +moon and stars, to which we cannot fly. And now sit down and rest by my +side, for you know everything.” + +She glanced at me with troubled eyes. + +“Nothing do I know--nothing have you told me. Did I not say that +mountains and rivers and forests are nothing? Tell me about all the +people in the world. Look! there is Cuzco over there, a city like no +other in the world--did you not tell me so? Of the people nothing. Are +they also different from all others in the world?” + +“I will tell you that if you will first answer me one question, Rima.” + +She drew a little nearer, curious to hear, but was silent. + +“Promise that you will answer me,” I persisted, and as she continued +silent, I added: “Shall I not ask you, then?” + +“Say,” she murmured. + +“Why do you wish to know about the people of Cuzco?” + +She flashed a look at me, then averted her face. For some moments she +stood hesitating; then, coming closer, touched me on the shoulder and +said softly: “Turn away, do not look at me.” + +I obeyed, and bending so close that I felt her warm breath on my neck, +she whispered: “Are the people in Cuzco like me? Would they understand +me--the things you cannot understand? Do you know?” + +Her tremulous voice betrayed her agitation, and her words, I imagined, +revealed the motive of her action in bringing me to the summit of +Ytaioa, and of her desire to visit and know all the various peoples +inhabiting the world. She had begun to realize, after knowing me, her +isolation and unlikeness to others, and at the same time to dream that +all human beings might not be unlike her and unable to understand her +mysterious speech and to enter into her thoughts and feelings. + +“I can answer that question, Rima,” I said. “Ah, no, poor child, there +are none there like you--not one, not one. Of all there--priests, +soldiers, merchants, workmen, white, black, red, and mixed; men and +women, old and young, rich and poor, ugly and beautiful--not one would +understand the sweet language you speak.” + +She said nothing, and glancing round, I discovered that she was walking +away, her fingers clasped before her, her eyes cast down, and looking +profoundly dejected. Jumping up, I hurried after her. “Listen!” I said, +coming to her side. “Do you know that there are others in the world like +you who would understand your speech?” + +“Oh, do I not! Yes--mother told me. I was young when you died, but, O +mother, why did you not tell me more?” + +“But where?” + +“Oh, do you not think that I would go to them if I knew--that I would +ask?” + +“Does Nuflo know?” + +She shook her head, walking dejectedly along. + +“But have you asked him?” I persisted. + +“Have I not! Not once--not a hundred times.” + +Suddenly she paused. “Look,” she said, “now we are standing in Guayana +again. And over there in Brazil, and up there towards the Cordilleras, +it is unknown. And there are people there. Come, let us go and seek for +my mother’s people in that place. With grandfather, but not the dogs; +they would frighten the animals and betray us by barking to cruel men +who would slay us with poisoned arrows.” + +“O Rima, can you not understand? It is too far. And your grandfather, +poor old man, would die of weariness and hunger and old age in some +strange forest.” + +“Would he die--old grandfather? Then we could cover him up with palm +leaves in the forest and leave him. It would not be grandfather; only +his body that must turn to dust. He would be away--away where the stars +are. We should not die, but go on, and on, and on.” + +To continue the discussion seemed hopeless. I was silent, thinking of +what I had heard--that there were others like her somewhere in that vast +green world, so much of it imperfectly known, so many districts never +yet explored by white men. True, it was strange that no report of such a +race had reached the ears of any traveller; yet here was Rima herself at +my side, a living proof that such a race did exist. Nuflo probably knew +more than he would say; I had failed, as we have seen, to win the secret +from him by fair means, and could not have recourse to foul--the rack +and thumbscrew--to wring it from him. To the Indians she was only +an object of superstitious fear--a daughter of the Didi--and to them +nothing of her origin was known. And she, poor girl, had only a vague +remembrance of a few words heard in childhood from her mother, and +probably not rightly understood. + +While these thoughts had been passing through my mind, Rima had been +standing silent by, waiting, perhaps, for an answer to her last words. +Then stooping, she picked up a small pebble and tossed it three or four +yards away. + +“Do you see where it fell?” she cried, turning towards me. “That is on +the border of Guayana--is it not? Let us go there first.” + +“Rima, how you distress me! We cannot go there. It is all a savage +wilderness, almost unknown to men--a blank on the map--” + +“The map?--speak no word that I do not understand.” + +In a very few words I explained my meaning; even fewer would have +sufficed, so quick was her apprehension. + +“If it is a blank,” she returned quickly, “then you know of nothing +to stop us--no river we cannot swim, and no great mountains like those +where Quito is.” + +“But I happen to know, Rima, for it has been related to me by old +Indians, that of all places that is the most difficult of access. There +is a river there, and although it is not on the map, it would prove +more impassable to us than the mighty Orinoco and Amazon. It has vast +malarious swamps on its borders, overgrown with dense forest, teeming +with savage and venomous animals, so that even the Indians dare not +venture near it. And even before the river is reached, there is a range +of precipitous mountains called by the same name--just there where your +pebble fell--the mountains of Riolama--” + +Hardly had the name fallen from my lips before a change swift as +lightning came over her countenance; all doubt, anxiety, petulance, +hope, and despondence, and these in ever-varying degrees, chasing each +other like shadows, had vanished, and she was instinct and burning with +some new powerful emotion which had flashed into her soul. + +“Riolama! Riolama!” she repeated so rapidly and in a tone so sharp that +it tingled in the brain. “That is the place I am seeking! There was +my mother found--there are her people and mine! Therefore was I called +Riolama--that is my name!” + +“Rima!” I returned, astonished at her words. + +“No, no, no--Riolama. When I was a child, and the priest baptized me, he +named me Riolama--the place where my mother was found. But it was long +to say, and they called me Rima.” + +Suddenly she became still and then cried in a ringing voice: + +“And he knew it all along--that old man--he knew that Riolama was +near--only there where the pebble fell--that we could go there!” + +While speaking she turned towards her home, pointing with raised hand. +Her whole appearance now reminded me of that first meeting with her +when the serpent bit me; the soft red of her irides shone like fire, her +delicate skin seemed to glow with an intense rose colour, and her frame +trembled with her agitation, so that her loose cloud of hair was in +motion as if blown through by the wind. + +“Traitor! Traitor!” she cried, still looking homewards and using quick, +passionate gestures. “It was all known to you, and you deceived me all +these years; even to me, Rima, you lied with your lips! Oh, horrible! +Was there ever such a scandal known in Guayana? Come, follow me, let us +go at once to Riolama.” And without so much as casting a glance behind +to see whether I followed or no, she hurried away, and in a couple of +minutes disappeared from sight over the edge of the flat summit. “Rima! +Rima! Come back and listen to me! Oh, you are mad! Come back! Come +back!” + +But she would not return or pause and listen; and looking after her, +I saw her bounding down the rocky slope like some wild, agile creature +possessed of padded hoofs and an infallible instinct; and before many +minutes she vanished from sight among crabs and trees lower down. + +“Nuflo, old man,” said I, looking out towards his lodge, “are there no +shooting pains in those old bones of yours to warn you in time of the +tempest about to burst on your head?” + +Then I sat down to think. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +To follow impetuous, bird-like Rima in her descent of the hill would +have been impossible, nor had I any desire to be a witness of old +Nuflo’s discomfiture at the finish. It was better to leave them to +settle their quarrel themselves, while I occupied myself in turning +over these fresh facts in my mind to find out how they fitted into the +speculative structure I had been building during the last two or three +weeks. But it soon struck me that it was getting late, that the sun +would be gone in a couple of hours; and at once I began the descent. +It was not accomplished without some bruises and a good many scratches. +After a cold draught, obtained by putting my lips to a black rock from +which the water was trickling, I set out on my walk home, keeping +near the western border of the forest for fear of losing myself. I had +covered about half the distance from the foot of the hill to Nuflo’s +lodge when the sun went down. Away on my left the evening uproar of the +howling monkeys burst out, and after three or four minutes ceased; the +after silence was pierced at intervals by screams of birds going to +roost among the trees in the distance, and by many minor sounds close +at hand, of small bird, frog, and insect. The western sky was now like +amber-coloured flame, and against that immeasurably distant luminous +background the near branches and clustered foliage looked black; but on +my left hand the vegetation still appeared of a uniform dusky green. In +a little while night would drown all colour, and there would be no light +but that of the wandering lantern-fly, always unwelcome to the belated +walker in a lonely place, since, like the ignis fatuus, it is confusing +to the sight and sense of direction. + +With increasing anxiety I hastened on, when all at once a low growl +issuing from the bushes some yards ahead of me brought me to a stop. In +a moment the dogs, Susio and Goloso, rushed out from some hiding place +furiously barking; but they quickly recognized me and slunk back again. +Relieved from fear, I walked on for a short distance; then it struck +me that the old man must be about somewhere, as the dogs scarcely ever +stirred from his side. Turning back, I went to the spot where they +had appeared to me; and there, after a while, I caught sight of a dim, +yellow form as one of the brutes rose up to look at me. He had been +lying on the ground by the side of a wide-spreading bush, dead and +dry, but overgrown by a creeping plant which had completely covered +its broad, flat top like a piece of tapestry thrown over a table, its +slender terminal stems and leaves hanging over the edge like a deep +fringe. But the fringe did not reach to the ground and under the bush, +in its dark interior. I caught sight of the other dog; and after gazing +in for some time, I also discovered a black, recumbent form, which I +took to be Nuflo. + +“What are you doing there, old man?” I cried. “Where is Rima--have you +not seen her? Come out.” + +Then he stirred himself, slowly creeping out on all fours; and finally, +getting free of the dead twigs and leaves, he stood up and faced me. He +had a strange, wild look, his white beard all disordered, moss and dead +leaves clinging to it, his eyes staring like an owl’s, while his mouth +opened and shut, the teeth striking together audibly, like an angry +peccary’s. After silently glaring at me in this mad way for some +moments, he burst out: “Cursed be the day when I first saw you, man of +Caracas! Cursed be the serpent that bit you and had not sufficient power +in its venom to kill! Ha! you come from Ytaioa, where you talked +with Rima? And you have now returned to the tiger’s den to mock that +dangerous animal with the loss of its whelp. Fool, if you did not wish +the dogs to feed on your flesh, it would have been better if you had +taken your evening walk in some other direction.” + +These raging words did not have the effect of alarming me in the least, +nor even of astonishing me very much, albeit up till now the old man had +always shown himself suave and respectful. His attack did not seem quite +spontaneous. In spite of the wildness of his manner and the violence +of his speech, he appeared to be acting a part which he had rehearsed +beforehand. I was only angry, and stepping forward, I dealt him a very +sharp rap with my knuckles on his chest. “Moderate your language, old +man,” I said; “remember that you are addressing a superior.” + +“What do you say to me?” he screamed in a shrill, broken voice, +accompanying his words with emphatic gestures. “Do you think you are on +the pavement of Caracas? Here are no police to protect you--here we are +alone in the desert where names and titles are nothing, standing man to +man.” + +“An old man to a young one,” I returned. “And in virtue of my youth I am +your superior. Do you wish me to take you by the throat and shake your +insolence out of you?” + +“What, do you threaten me with violence?” he exclaimed, throwing himself +into a hostile attitude. “You, the man I saved, and sheltered, and fed, +and treated like a son! Destroyer of my peace, have you not injured me +enough? You have stolen my grandchild’s heart from me; with a thousand +inventions you have driven her mad! My child, my angel, Rima, my +saviour! With your lying tongue you have changed her into a demon to +persecute me! And you are not satisfied, but must finish your evil work +by inflicting blows on my worn body! All, all is lost to me! Take my +life if you wish it, for now it is worth nothing and I desire not to +keep it!” And here he threw himself on his knees and, tearing open his +old, ragged mantle, presented his naked breast to me. “Shoot! Shoot!” he +screeched. “And if you have no weapon take my knife and plunge it into +this sad heart, and let me die!” And drawing his knife from its sheath, +he flung it down at my feet. + +All this performance only served to increase my anger and contempt; but +before I could make any reply I caught sight of a shadowy object at some +distance moving towards us--something grey and formless, gliding swift +and noiseless, like some great low-flying owl among the trees. It was +Rima, and hardly had I seen her before she was with us, facing old +Nuflo, her whole frame quivering with passion, her wide-open eyes +appearing luminous in that dim light. + +“You are here!” she cried in that quick, ringing tone that was almost +painful to the sense. “You thought to escape me! To hide yourself from +my eyes in the wood! Miserable! Do you not know that I have need of +you--that I have not finished with you yet? Do you, then, wish to be +scourged to Riolama with thorny twigs--to be dragged thither by the +beard?” + +He had been staring open-mouthed at her, still on his knees, and holding +his mantle open with his skinny hands. “Rima! Rima! have mercy on me!” + he cried out piteously. “I cannot go to Riolama, it is so far--so far. +And I am old and should meet my death. Oh, Rima, child of the woman I +saved from death, have you no compassion? I shall die, I shall die!” + +“Shall you die? Not until you have shown me the way to Riolama. And when +I have seen Riolama with my eyes, then you may die, and I shall be glad +at your death; and the children and the grandchildren and cousins and +friends of all the animals you have slain and fed on shall know that you +are dead and be glad at your death. For you have deceived me with lies +all these years even me--and are not fit to live! Come now to Riolama; +rise instantly, I command you!” + +Instead of rising he suddenly put out his hand and snatched up the knife +from the ground. “Do you then wish me to die?” he cried. “Shall you be +glad at my death? Behold, then I shall slay myself before your eyes. By +my own hand, Rima, I am now about to perish, striking the knife into my +heart!” + +While speaking he waved the knife in a tragic manner over his head, but +I made no movement; I was convinced that he had no intention of taking +his own life--that he was still acting. Rima, incapable of understanding +such a thing, took it differently. + +“Oh, you are going to kill yourself.” she cried. “Oh, wicked man, wait +until you know what will happen to you after death. All shall now be +told to my mother. Hear my words, then kill yourself.” + +She also now dropped on to her knees and, lifting her clasped hands +and fixing her resentful sparkling eyes on the dim blue patch of heaven +visible beyond the treetops, began to speak rapidly in clear, vibrating +tones. She was praying to her mother in heaven; and while Nuflo listened +absorbed, his mouth open, his eyes fixed on her, the hand that clutched +the knife dropped to his side. I also heard with the greatest wonder and +admiration. For she had been shy and reticent with me, and now, as +if oblivious of my presence, she was telling aloud the secrets of her +inmost heart. + +“O mother, mother, listen to me, to Rima, your beloved child!” + she began. “All these years I have been wickedly deceived by +grandfather--Nuflo--the old man that found you. Often have I spoken to +him of Riolama, where you once were, and your people are, and he denied +all knowledge of such a place. Sometimes he said that it was at an +immense distance, in a great wilderness full of serpents larger than the +trunks of great trees, and of evil spirits and savage men, slayers of +all strangers. At other times he affirmed that no such place existed; +that it was a tale told by the Indians; such false things did he say to +me--to Rima, your child. O mother, can you believe such wickedness? + +“Then a stranger, a white man from Venezuela, came into our woods: this +is the man that was bitten by a serpent, and his name is Abel; only I do +not call him by that name, but by other names which I have told you. But +perhaps you did not listen, or did not hear, for I spoke softly and not +as now, on my knees, solemnly. For I must tell you, O mother, that +after you died the priest at Voa told me repeatedly that when I prayed, +whether to you or to any of the saints, or to the Mother of Heaven, I +must speak as he had taught me if I wished to be heard and understood. +And that was most strange, since you had taught me differently; but you +were living then, at Voa, and now that you are in heaven, perhaps you +know better. Therefore listen to me now, O mother, and let nothing I say +escape you. + +“When this white man had been for some days with us, a strange thing +happened to me, which made me different, so that I was no longer Rima, +although Rima still--so strange was this thing; and I often went to the +pool to look at myself and see the change in me, but nothing different +could I see. In the first place it came from his eyes passing into mine, +and filling me just as the lightning fills a cloud at sunset: afterwards +it was no longer from his eyes only, but it came into me whenever I saw +him, even at a distance, when I heard his voice, and most of all when he +touched me with his hand. When he is out of my sight I cannot rest until +I see him again; and when I see him, then I am glad, yet in such fear +and trouble that I hide myself from him. O mother, it could not be told; +for once when he caught me in his arms and compelled me to speak of it, +he did not understand; yet there was need to tell it; then it came to me +that only to our people could it be told, for they would understand, and +reply to me, and tell me what to do in such a case. + +“And now, O mother, this is what happened next. I went to grandfather +and first begged and then commanded him to take me to Riolama; but he +would not obey, nor give attention to what I said, but whenever I spoke +to him of it he rose up and hurried from me; and when I followed he +flung back a confused and angry reply, saying in the same breath that it +was so long since he had been to Riolama that he had forgotten where it +was, and that no such place existed. And which of his words were true +and which false I knew not; so that it would have been better if he had +returned no answer at all; and there was no help to be got from him. And +having thus failed, and there being no other person to speak to except +this stranger, I determined to go to him, and in his company seek +through the whole world for my people. This will surprise you, O mother, +because of that fear which came on me in his presence, causing me +to hide from his sight; but my wish was so great that for a time it +overcame my fear; so that I went to him as he sat alone in the wood, sad +because he could not see me, and spoke to him, and led him to the summit +of Ytaioa to show me all the countries of the world from the summit. And +you must also know that I tremble in his presence, not because I fear +him as I fear Indians and cruel men; for he has no evil in him, and is +beautiful to look at, and his words are gentle, and his desire is to be +always with me, so that he differs from all other men I have seen, just +as I differ from all women, except from you only, O sweet mother. + +“On the mountain-top he marked out and named all the countries of the +world, the great mountains, the rivers, the plains, the forests, the +cities; and told me also of the peoples, whites and savages, but of our +people nothing. And beyond where the world ends there is water, water, +water. And when he spoke of that unknown part on the borders of Guayana, +on the side of the Cordilleras, he named the mountains of Riolama, and +in that way I first found out where my people are. I then left him on +Ytaioa, he refusing to follow me, and ran to grandfather and taxed him +with his falsehoods; and he, finding I knew all, escaped from me into +the woods, where I have now found him once more, talking with the +stranger. And now, O mother, seeing himself caught and unable to escape +a second time, he has taken up a knife to kill himself, so as not to +take me to Riolama; and he is only waiting until I finish speaking +to you, for I wish him to know what will happen to him after death. +Therefore, O mother, listen well and do what I tell you. When he has +killed himself, and has come into that place where you are, see that he +does not escape the punishment he merits. Watch well for his coming, for +he is full of cunning and deceit, and will endeavor to hide himself from +your eyes. When you have recognized him--an old man, brown as an Indian, +with a white beard--point him out to the angels, and say: ‘This is +Nuflo, the bad man that lied to Rima.’ Let them take him and singe his +wings with fire, so that he may not escape by flying; and afterwards +thrust him into some dark cavern under a mountain, and place a great +stone that a hundred men could not remove over its mouth, and leave him +there alone and in the dark for ever!” + +Having ended, she rose quickly from her knees, and at the same moment +Nuflo, dropping the knife, cast himself prostrate at her feet. + +“Rima--my child, my child, not that!” he cried out in a voice that was +broken with terror. He tried to take hold of her feet with his hands, +but she shrank from him with aversion; still he kept on crawling after +her like a disabled lizard, abjectly imploring her to forgive him, +reminding her that he had saved from death the woman whose enmity had +now been enlisted against him, and declaring that he would do anything +she commanded him, and gladly perish in her service. + +It was a pitiable sight, and moving quickly to her side I touched her on +the shoulder and asked her to forgive him. + +The response came quickly enough. Turning to him once more, she said: “I +forgive you, grandfather. And now get up and take me to Riolama.” + +He rose, but only to his knees. “But you have not told her!” he said, +recovering his natural voice, although still anxious, and jerking a +thumb over his shoulder. “Consider, my child, that I am old and shall +doubtless perish on the way. What would become of my soul in such +a case? For now you have told her everything, and it will not be +forgotten.” + +She regarded him in silence for a few moments; then, moving a little +way apart, dropped on to her knees again, and with raised hands and +eyes fixed on the blue space above, already sprinkled with stars, prayed +again. + +“O mother, listen to me, for I have something fresh to say to you. +Grandfather has not killed himself, but has asked my forgiveness and has +promised to obey me. O mother, I have forgiven him, and he will now take +me to Riolama, to our people. Therefore, O mother, if he dies on the +way to Riolama let nothing be done against him, but remember only that +I forgave him at the last; and when he comes into that place where +you are, let him be well received, for that is the wish of Rima, your +child.” + +As soon as this second petition was ended she was up again and engaged +in an animated discussion with him, urging him to take her without +further delay to Riolama; while he, now recovered from his fear, urged +that so important an undertaking required a great deal of thought and +preparation; that the journey would occupy about twenty days, and unless +he set out well provided with food he would starve before accomplishing +half the distance, and his death would leave her worse off than before. +He concluded by affirming that he could not start in less time than +seven or eight days. + +For a while I listened with keen interest to this dispute, and at +length interposed once more on the old man’s side. The poor girl in her +petition had unwittingly revealed to me the power I possessed, and it +was a pleasing experience to exercise it. Touching her shoulder again, I +assured her that seven or eight days was only a reasonable time in which +to prepare for so long a journey. She instantly yielded, and after +one glance at my face, she moved swiftly away into the darker shadows, +leaving me alone with the old man. + +As we returned together through the now profoundly dark wood, I +explained to him how the subject of Riolama had first come up during my +conversation with Rima, and he then apologized for the violent language +he had used to me. This personal question disposed of, he spoke of the +pilgrimage before him, and informed me in confidence that he intended +preparing a quantity of smoke-dried meat and packing it in a bag, with +a layer of cassava bread, dried pumpkin slips, and such innocent trifles +to conceal it from Rima’s keen sight and delicate nostrils. Finally he +made a long rambling statement which, I vainly imagined, was intended to +lead up to an account of Rima’s origin, with something about her people +at Riolama; but it led to nothing except an expression of opinion that +the girl was afflicted with a maggot in the brain, but that as she had +interest with the powers above, especially with her mother, who was +now a very important person among the celestials, it was good policy to +submit to her wishes. Turning to me, doubtless to wink (only I missed +the sign owing to the darkness), he added that it was a fine thing to +have a friend at court. With a little gratulatory chuckle he went on to +say that for others it was necessary to obey all the ordinances of the +Church, to contribute to its support, hear mass, confess from time to +time, and receive absolution; consequently those who went out into the +wilderness, where there were no churches and no priests to absolve them, +did so at the risk of losing their souls. But with him it was different: +he expected in the end to escape the fires of purgatory and go directly +in all his uncleanness to heaven--a thing, he remarked, which happened +to very few; and he, Nuflo, was no saint, and had first become a dweller +in the desert, as a very young man, in order to escape the penalty of +his misdeeds. + +I could not resist the temptation of remarking here that to an +unregenerate man the celestial country might turn out a somewhat +uncongenial place for a residence. He replied airily that he had +considered the point and had no fear about the future; that he was old, +and from all he had observed of the methods of government followed by +those who ruled over earthly affairs from the sky, he had formed a +clear idea of that place, and believed that even among so many glorified +beings he would be able to meet with those who would prove companionable +enough and would think no worse of him on account of his little +blemishes. + +How he had first got this idea into his brain about Rima’s ability to +make things smooth for him after death I cannot say; probably it was the +effect of the girl’s powerful personality and vivid faith acting on an +ignorant and extremely superstitious mind. While she was making +that petition to her mother in heaven, it did not seem in the least +ridiculous to me: I had felt no inclination to smile, even when hearing +all that about the old man’s wings being singed to prevent his escape +by flying. Her rapt look; the intense conviction that vibrated in her +ringing, passionate tones; the brilliant scorn with which she, a hater +of bloodshed, one so tender towards all living things, even the meanest, +bade him kill himself, and only hear first how her vengeance would +pursue his deceitful soul into other worlds; the clearness with which +she had related the facts of the case, disclosing the inmost secrets +of her heart--all this had had a strange, convincing effect on me. +Listening to her I was no longer the enlightened, the creedless man. She +herself was so near to the supernatural that it seemed brought near me; +indefinable feelings, which had been latent in me, stirred into life, +and following the direction of her divine, lustrous eyes, fixed on the +blue sky above, I seemed to see there another being like herself, a Rima +glorified, leaning her pale, spiritual face to catch the winged words +uttered by her child on earth. And even now, while hearing the old man’s +talk, showing as it did a mind darkened with such gross delusions, I +was not yet altogether free from the strange effect of that prayer. +Doubtless it was a delusion; her mother was not really there above +listening to the girl’s voice. Still, in some mysterious way, Rima had +become to me, even as to superstitious old Nuflo, a being apart and +sacred, and this feeling seemed to mix with my passion, to purify and +exalt it and make it infinitely sweet and precious. + +After we had been silent for some time, I said: “Old man, the result of +the grand discussion you have had with Rima is that you have agreed to +take her to Riolama, but about my accompanying you not one word has been +spoken by either of you.” + +He stopped short to stare at me, and although it was too dark to see +his face, I felt his astonishment. “Senor!” he exclaimed, “we cannot +go without you. Have you not heard my granddaughter’s words--that it is +only because of you that she is about to undertake this crazy journey? +If you are not with us in this thing, then, senor, here we must remain. +But what will Rima say to that?” + +“Very well, I will go, but only on one condition.” + +“What is it?” he asked, with a sudden change of tone, which warned me +that he was becoming cautious again. + +“That you tell me the whole story of Rima’s origin, and how you came to +be now living with her in this solitary place, and who these people are +she wishes to visit at Riolama.” + +“Ah, senor, it is a long story, and sad. But you shall hear it all. +You must hear it, senor, since you are now one of us; and when I am no +longer here to protect her, then she will be yours. And although you +will never be able to do more than old Nuflo for her, perhaps she will +be better pleased; and you, senor, better able to exist innocently by +her side, without eating flesh, since you will always have that rare +flower to delight you. But the story would take long to tell. You shall +hear it all as we journey to Riolama. What else will there be to talk +about when we are walking that long distance, and when we sit at night +by the fire?” + +“No, no, old man, I am not to be put off in that way. I must hear it +before I start.” + +But he was determined to reserve the narrative until the journey, and +after some further argument I yielded the point. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +That evening by the fire old Nuflo, lately so miserable, now happy in +his delusions, was more than usually gay and loquacious. He was like +a child who by timely submission has escaped a threatened severe +punishment. But his lightness of heart was exceeded by mine; and, with +the exception of one other yet to come, that evening now shines in +memory as the happiest my life has known. For Rima’s sweet secret was +known to me; and her very ignorance of the meaning of the feeling she +experienced, which caused her to fly from me as from an enemy, only +served to make the thought of it more purely delightful. + +On this occasion she did not steal away like a timid mouse to her own +apartment, as her custom was, but remained to give that one evening +a special grace, seated well away from the fire in that same shadowy +corner where I had first seen her indoors, when I had marvelled at her +altered appearance. From that corner she could see my face, with the +firelight full upon it, she herself in shadow, her eyes veiled by their +drooping lashes. Sitting there, the vivid consciousness of my happiness +was like draughts of strong, delicious wine, and its effect was like +wine, imparting such freedom to fancy, such fluency, that again and +again old Nuflo applauded, crying out that I was a poet, and begging +me to put it all into rhyme. I could not do that to please him, never +having acquired the art of improvisation--that idle trick of making +words jingle which men of Nuflo’s class in my country so greatly admire; +yet it seemed to me on that evening that my feelings could be adequately +expressed only in that sublimated language used by the finest minds in +their inspired moments; and, accordingly, I fell to reciting. But not +from any modern, nor from the poets of the last century, nor even from +the greater seventeenth century. I kept to the more ancient romances +and ballads, the sweet old verse that, whether glad or sorrowful, seems +always natural and spontaneous as the song of a bird, and so simple that +even a child can understand it. + +It was late that night before all the romances I remembered or cared +to recite were exhausted, and not until then did Rima come out of her +shaded corner and steal silently away to her sleeping-place. + +Although I had resolved to go with them, and had set Nuflo’s mind at +rest on the point, I was bent on getting the request from Rima’s own +lips; and the next morning the opportunity of seeing her alone presented +itself, after old Nuflo had sneaked off with his dogs. From the moment +of his departure I kept a close watch on the house, as one watches a +bush in which a bird one wishes to see has concealed itself, and out of +which it may dart at any moment and escape unseen. + +At length she came forth, and seeing me in the way, would have slipped +back into hiding; for, in spite of her boldness on the previous day, she +now seemed shyer than ever when I spoke to her. + +“Rima,” I said, “do you remember where we first talked together under a +tree one morning, when you spoke of your mother, telling me that she was +dead?” + +“Yes.” + +“I am going now to that spot to wait for you. I must speak to you again +in that place about this journey to Riolama.” As she kept silent, I +added: “Will you promise to come to me there?” + +She shook her head, turning half away. + +“Have you forgotten our compact, Rima?” + +“No,” she returned; and then, suddenly coming near, spoke in a low tone: +“I will go there to please you, and you must also do as I tell you.” + +“What do you wish, Rima?” + +She came nearer still. “Listen! You must not look into my eyes, you must +not touch me with your hands.” + +“Sweet Rima, I must hold your hand when I speak with you.” + +“No, no, no,” she murmured, shrinking from me; and finding that it must +be as she wished, I reluctantly agreed. + +Before I had waited long, she appeared at the trysting-place, and stood +before me, as on a former occasion, on that same spot of clean yellow +sand, clasping and unclasping her fingers, troubled in mind even then. +Only now her trouble was different and greater, making her shyer and +more reticent. + +“Rima, your grandfather is going to take you to Riolama. Do you wish me +to go with you?” + +“Oh, do you not know that?” she returned, with a swift glance at my +face. + +“How should I know?” + +Her eyes wandered away restlessly. “On Ytaioa you told me a hundred +things which I did not know,” she replied in a vague way, wishing, +perhaps, to imply that with so great a knowledge of geography it was +strange I did not know everything, even her most secret thoughts. + +“Tell me, why must you go to Riolama?” + +“You have heard. To speak to my people.” + +“What will you say to them? Tell me.” + +“What you do not understand. How tell you?” + +“I understand you when you speak in Spanish.” + +“Oh, that is not speaking.” + +“Last night you spoke to your mother in Spanish. Did you not tell her +everything?” + +“Oh no--not then. When I tell her everything I speak in another way, in +a low voice--not on my knees and praying. At night, and in the woods, +and when I am alone I tell her. But perhaps she does not hear me; she is +not here, but up there--so far! She never answers, but when I speak to +my people they will answer me.” + +Then she turned away as if there was nothing more to be said. + +“Is this all I am to hear from you, Rima--these few words?” I exclaimed. +“So much did you say to your grandfather, so much to your dead mother, +but to me you say so little!” + +She turned again, and with eyes cast down replied: + +“He deceived me--I had to tell him that, and then to pray to mother. +But to you that do not understand, what can I say? Only that you are not +like him and all those that I knew at Voa. It is so different--and the +same. You are you, and I am I; why is it--do you know?” + +“No; yes--I know, but cannot tell you. And if you find your people, what +will you do--leave me to go to them? Must I go all the way to Riolama +only to lose you?” + +“Where I am, there you must be.” + +“Why?” + +“Do I not see it there?” she returned, with a quick gesture to indicate +that it appeared in my face. + +“Your sight is keen, Rima--keen as a bird’s. Mine is not so keen. Let me +look once more into those beautiful wild eyes, then perhaps I shall see +in them as much as you see in mine.” + +“Oh no, no, not that!” she murmured in distress, drawing away from me; +then with a sudden flash of brilliant colour cried: + +“Have you forgotten the compact--the promise you made me?” + +Her words made me ashamed, and I could not reply. But the shame was +as nothing in strength compared to the impulse I felt to clasp her +beautiful body in my arms and cover her face with kisses. Sick with +desire, I turned away and, sitting on a root of the tree, covered my +face with my hands. + +She came nearer: I could see her shadow through my fingers; then her +face and wistful, compassionate eyes. + +“Forgive me, dear Rima,” I said, dropping my hands again. “I have tried +so hard to please you in everything! Touch my face with your hand--only +that, and I will go to Riolama with you, and obey you in all things.” + +For a while she hesitated, then stepped quickly aside so that I could +not see her; but I knew that she had not left me, that she was standing +just behind me. And after waiting a moment longer I felt her fingers +touching my skin, softly, trembling over my cheek as if a soft-winged +moth had fluttered against it; then the slight aerial touch was gone, +and she, too, moth-like, had vanished from my side. + +Left alone in the wood, I was not happy. That fluttering, flattering +touch of her finger-tips had been to me like spoken language, and more +eloquent than language, yet the sweet assurance it conveyed had not +given perfect satisfaction; and when I asked myself why the gladness of +the previous evening had forsaken me--why I was infected with this +new sadness when everything promised well for me, I found that it was +because my passion had greatly increased during the last few hours; even +during sleep it had been growing, and could no longer be fed by merely +dwelling in thought on the charms, moral and physical, of its object, +and by dreams of future fruition. + +I concluded that it would be best for Rima’s sake as well as my own to +spend a few of the days before setting out on our journey with my Indian +friends, who would be troubled at my long absence; and, accordingly, +next morning I bade good-bye to the old man, promising to return in +three or four days, and then started without seeing Rima, who had +quitted the house before her usual time. After getting free of the +woods, on casting back my eyes I caught sight of the girl standing under +an isolated tree watching me with that vague, misty, greenish appearance +she so frequently had when seen in the light shade at a short distance. + +“Rima!” I cried, hurrying back to speak to her, but when I reached the +spot she had vanished; and after waiting some time, seeing and hearing +nothing to indicate that she was near me, I resumed my walk, half +thinking that my imagination had deceived me. + +I found my Indian friends home again, and was not surprised to observe a +distinct change in their manner towards me. I had expected as much; +and considering that they must have known very well where and in whose +company I had been spending my time, it was not strange. Coming across +the savannah that morning I had first begun to think seriously of the +risk I was running. But this thought only served to prepare me for a new +condition of things; for now to go back and appear before Rima, and thus +prove myself to be a person not only capable of forgetting a promise +occasionally, but also of a weak, vacillating mind, was not to be +thought of for a moment. + +I was received--not welcomed--quietly enough; not a question, not +a word, concerning my long absence fell from anyone; it was as if a +stranger had appeared among them, one about whom they knew nothing +and consequently regarded with suspicion, if not actual hostility. I +affected not to notice the change, and dipped my hand uninvited in the +pot to satisfy my hunger, and smoked and dozed away the sultry hours in +my hammock. Then I got my guitar and spent the rest of the day over it, +tuning it, touching the strings so softly with my finger-tips that to a +person four yards off the sound must have seemed like the murmur or +buzz of an insect’s wings; and to this scarcely audible accompaniment I +murmured in an equally low tone a new song. + +In the evening, when all were gathered under the roof and I had eaten +again, I took up the instrument once more, furtively watched by all +those half-closed animal eyes, and swept the strings loudly, and sang +aloud. I sang an old simple Spanish melody, to which I had put words +in their own language--a language with no words not in everyday use, +in which it is so difficult to express feelings out of and above the +common. What I had been constructing and practicing all the afternoon +sotto voce was a kind of ballad, an extremely simple tale of a poor +Indian living alone with his young family in a season of dearth; how +day after day he ranged the voiceless woods, to return each evening with +nothing but a few withered sour berries in his hand, to find his lean, +large-eyed wife still nursing the fire that cooked nothing, and his +children crying for food, showing their bones more plainly through +their skins every day; and how, without anything miraculous, anything +wonderful, happening, that barrenness passed from earth, and the garden +once more yielded them pumpkin and maize, and manioc, the wild fruits +ripened, and the birds returned, filling the forest with their cries; +and so their long hunger was satisfied, and the children grew sleek, +and played and laughed in the sunshine; and the wife, no longer brooding +over the empty pot, wove a hammock of silk grass, decorated with +blue-and-scarlet feathers of the macaw; and in that new hammock the +Indian rested long from his labours, smoking endless cigars. + +When I at last concluded with a loud note of joy, a long, involuntary +suspiration in the darkening room told me that I had been listened to +with profound interest; and, although no word was spoken, though I was +still a stranger and under a cloud, it was plain that the experiment had +succeeded, and that for the present the danger was averted. + +I went to my hammock and slept, but without undressing. Next morning +I missed my revolver and found that the holster containing it had been +detached from the belt. My knife had not been taken, possibly because it +was under me in the hammock while I slept. In answer to my inquiries I +was informed that Runi had BORROWED my weapon to take it with him to the +forest, where he had gone to hunt, and that he would return it to me +in the evening. I affected to take it in good part, although feeling +secretly ill at ease. Later in the day I came to the conclusion that +Runi had had it in his mind to murder me, that I had softened him by +singing that Indian story, and that by taking possession of the revolver +he showed that he now only meant to keep me a prisoner. Subsequent +events confirmed me in this suspicion. On his return he explained that +he had gone out to seek for game in the woods; and, going without +a companion, he had taken my revolver to preserve him from +dangers--meaning those of a supernatural kind; and that he had had the +misfortune to drop it among the bushes while in pursuit of some animal. +I answered hotly that he had not treated me like a friend; that if he +had asked me for the weapon it would have been lent to him; that as +he had taken it without permission he must pay me for it. After some +pondering he said that when he took it I was sleeping soundly; also, +that it would not be lost; he would take me to the place where he had +dropped it, when we could search together for it. + +He was in appearance more friendly towards me now, even asking me to +repeat my last evening’s song, and so we had that performance all over +again to everybody’s satisfaction. But when morning came he was not +inclined to go to the woods: there was food enough in the house, and the +pistol would not be hurt by lying where it had fallen a day longer. Next +day the same excuse; still I disguised my impatience and suspicion of +him and waited, singing the ballad for the third time that evening. Then +I was conducted to a wood about a league and a half away and we hunted +for the lost pistol among the bushes, I with little hope of finding it, +while he attended to the bird voices and frequently asked me to stand or +lie still when a chance of something offered. + +The result of that wasted day was a determination on my part to escape +from Runi as soon as possible, although at the risk of making a deadly +enemy of him and of being compelled to go on that long journey to +Riolama with no better weapon than a hunting-knife. I had noticed, while +appearing not to do so, that outside of the house I was followed or +watched by one or other of the Indians, so that great circumspection +was needed. On the following day I attacked my host once more about the +revolver, telling him with well-acted indignation that if not found +it must be paid for. I went so far as to give a list of the articles I +should require, including a bow and arrows, zabatana, two spears, and +other things which I need not specify, to set me up for life as a wild +man in the woods of Guayana. I was going to add a wife, but as I had +already been offered one it did not appear to be necessary. He seemed a +little taken aback at the value I set upon my weapon, and promised to go +and look for it again. Then I begged that Kua-ko, in whose sharpness of +sight I had great faith, might accompany us. He consented, and named +the next day but one for the expedition. Very well, thought I, tomorrow +their suspicion will be less, and my opportunity will come; then taking +up my rude instrument, I gave them an old Spanish song: + + Desde aquel doloroso momento; + +but this kind of music had lost its charm for them, and I was asked to +give them the ballad they understood so well, in which their interest +seemed to increase with every repetition. In spite of anxiety it amused +me to see old Cla-cla regarding me fixedly with owlish eyes and lips +moving. My tale had no wonderful things in it, like hers of the olden +time, which she told only to send her hearers to sleep. Perhaps she had +discovered by now that it was the strange honey of melody which made the +coarse, common cassava bread of everyday life in my story so pleasant to +the palate. I was quite prepared to receive a proposal to give her music +and singing lessons, and to bequeath a guitar to her in my last will and +testament. For, in spite of her hoary hair and million wrinkles, she, +more than any other savage I had met with, seemed to have taken a +draught from Ponce de Leon’s undiscovered fountain of eternal youth. +Poor old witch! + +The following day was the sixth of my absence from Rima, and one of +intense anxiety to me, a feeling which I endeavoured to hide by playing +with the children, fighting our old comic stick fights, and by strumming +noisily on the guitar. In the afternoon, when it was hottest, and all +the men who happened to be indoors were lying in their hammocks, I asked +Kua-ko to go with me to the stream to bathe. He refused--I had counted +on that--and earnestly advised me not to bathe in the pool I was +accustomed to, as some little caribe fishes had made their appearance +there and would be sure to attack me. I laughed at his idle tale and, +taking up my cloak, swung out of the door, whistling a lively air. +He knew that I always threw my cloak over my head and shoulders as a +protection from the sun and stinging flies when coming out of the water, +and so his suspicion was not aroused, and I was not followed. The +pool was about ten minutes’ walk from the house; I arrived at it with +palpitating heart, and going round to its end, where the stream was +shallow, sat down to rest for a few moments and take a few sips of cool +water dipped up in my palm. Presently I rose, crossed the stream, and +began running, keeping among the low trees near the bank until a +dry gully, which extended for some distance across the savannah, was +reached. By following its course the distance to be covered would be +considerably increased, but the shorter way would have exposed me to +sight and made it more dangerous. I had put forth too much speed at +first, and in a short time my exertions, and the hot sun, together with +my intense excitement, overcame me. I dared not hope that my flight +had not been observed; I imagined that the Indians, unencumbered by any +heavy weight, were already close behind me, and ready to launch +their deadly spears at my back. With a sob of rage and despair I fell +prostrate on my face in the dry bed of the stream, and for two or three +minutes remained thus exhausted and unmanned, my heart throbbing so +violently that my whole frame was shaken. If my enemies had come on me +then disposed to kill me, I could not have lifted a hand in defence of +my life. But minutes passed and they came not. I rose and went on, at a +fast walk now, and when the sheltering streamed ended, I stooped among +the sere dwarfed shrubs scattered about here and there on its southern +side; and now creeping and now running, with an occasional pause to +rest and look back, I at last reached the dividing ridge at its southern +extremity. The rest of the way was over comparatively easy ground, +inclining downwards; and with that glad green forest now full in sight, +and hope growing stronger every minute in my breast, my knees ceased to +tremble, and I ran on again, scarcely pausing until I had touched and +lost myself in the welcome shadows. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Ah, that return to the forest where Rima dwelt, after so anxious day, +when the declining sun shone hotly still, and the green woodland shadows +were so grateful! The coolness, the sense of security, allayed the fever +and excitement I had suffered on the open savannah; I walked leisurely, +pausing often to listen to some bird voice or to admire some rare +insect or parasitic flower shining star-like in the shade. There was a +strangely delightful sensation in me. I likened myself to a child that, +startled at something it had seen while out playing in the sun, flies +to its mother to feel her caressing hand on its cheek and forget its +tremors. And describing what I felt in that way, I was a little ashamed +and laughed at myself; nevertheless the feeling was very sweet. At that +moment Mother and Nature seemed one and the same thing. As I kept to the +more open part of the wood, on its southernmost border, the red flame +of the sinking sun was seen at intervals through the deep humid green +of the higher foliage. How every object it touched took from it a new +wonderful glory! At one spot, high up where the foliage was scanty, and +slender bush ropes and moss depended like broken cordage from a dead +limb--just there, bathing itself in that glory-giving light, I noticed +a fluttering bird, and stood still to watch its antics. Now it would +cling, head downwards, to the slender twigs, wings and tail open; then, +righting itself, it would flit from waving line to line, dropping lower +and lower; and anon soar upwards a distance of twenty feet and alight to +recommence the flitting and swaying and dropping towards the earth. It +was one of those birds that have a polished plumage, and as it moved +this way and that, flirting its feathers, they caught the beams and +shone at moments like glass or burnished metal. Suddenly another bird of +the same kind dropped down to it as if from the sky, straight and swift +as a falling stone; and the first bird sprang up to meet the comer, and +after rapidly wheeling round each other for a moment, they fled away in +company, screaming shrilly through the wood, and were instantly lost to +sight, while their jubilant cries came back fainter and fainter at each +repetition. + +I envied them not their wings: at that moment earth did not seem fixed +and solid beneath me, nor I bound by gravity to it. The faint, floating +clouds, the blue infinite heaven itself, seemed not more ethereal and +free than I, or the ground I walked on. The low, stony hills on my right +hand, of which I caught occasional glimpses through the trees, looking +now blue and delicate in the level rays, were no more than the billowy +projections on the moving cloud of earth: the trees of unnumbered +kinds--great more, cecropia, and greenheart, bush and fern and suspended +lianas, and tall palms balancing their feathery foliage on slender +stems--all was but a fantastic mist embroidery covering the surface of +that floating cloud on which my feet were set, and which floated with me +near the sun. + +The red evening flame had vanished from the summits of the trees, the +sun was setting, the woods in shadow, when I got to the end of my walk. +I did not approach the house on the side of the door, yet by some means +those within became aware of my presence, for out they came in a great +hurry, Rima leading the way, Nuflo behind her, waving his arms and +shouting. But as I drew near, the girl dropped behind and stood +motionless regarding me, her face pallid and showing strong excitement. +I could scarcely remove my eyes from her eloquent countenance: I seemed +to read in it relief and gladness mingled with surprise and something +like vexation. She was piqued perhaps that I had taken her by surprise, +that after much watching for me in the wood I had come through it +undetected when she was indoors. + +“Happy the eyes that see you!” shouted the old man, laughing +boisterously. + +“Happy are mine that look on Rima again,” I answered. “I have been long +absent.” + +“Long--you may say so,” returned Nuflo. “We had given you up. We +said that, alarmed at the thought of the journey to Riolama, you had +abandoned us.” + +“WE said!” exclaimed Rima, her pallid face suddenly flushing. “I spoke +differently.” + +“Yes, I know--I know!” he said airily, waving his hand. “You said that +he was in danger, that he was kept against his will from coming. He is +present now--let him speak.” + +“She was right,” I said. “Ah, Nuflo, old man, you have lived long, and +got much experience, but not insight--not that inner vision that sees +further than the eyes.” + +“No, not that--I know what you mean,” he answered. Then, tossing his +hand towards the sky, he added: “The knowledge you speak of comes from +there.” + +The girl had been listening with keen interest, glancing from one to the +other. “What!” she spoke suddenly, as if unable to keep silence, “do you +think, grandfather, that SHE tells me--when there is danger--when the +rain will cease--when the wind will blow--everything? Do I not ask and +listen, lying awake at night? She is always silent, like the stars.” + +Then, pointing to me with her finger, she finished: + +“HE knows so many things! Who tells them to HIM?” + +“But distinguish, Rima. You do not distinguish the great from the +little,” he answered loftily. “WE know a thousand things, but they are +things that any man with a forehead can learn. The knowledge that comes +from the blue is not like that--it is more important and miraculous. Is +it not so, senor?” he ended, appealing to me. + +“Is it, then, left for me to decide?” said I, addressing the girl. + +But though her face was towards me, she refused to meet my look and was +silent. Silent, but not satisfied: she doubted still, and had perhaps +caught something in my tone that strengthened her doubt. + +Old Nuflo understood the expression. “Look at me, Rima,” he said, +drawing himself up. “I am old, and he is young--do I not know best? I +have spoken and have decided it.” + +Still that unconvinced expression, and her face turned expectant to me. + +“Am I to decide?” I repeated. + +“Who, then?” she said at last, her voice scarcely more than a murmur; +yet there was reproach in the tone, as if she had made a long speech and +I had tyrannously driven her to it. + +“Thus, then, I decide,” said I. “To each of us, as to every kind of +animal, even to small birds and insects, and to every kind of plant, +there is given something peculiar--a fragrance, a melody, a special +instinct, an art, a knowledge, which no other has. And to Rima has been +given this quickness of mind and power to divine distant things; it is +hers, just as swiftness and grace and changeful, brilliant colour are +the hummingbird’s; therefore she need not that anyone dwelling in the +blue should instruct her.” + +The old man frowned and shook his head; while she, after one swift, shy +glance at my face, and with something like a smile flitting over her +delicate lips, turned and re-entered the house. + +I felt convinced from that parting look that she had understood me, that +my words had in some sort given her relief; for, strong as was her faith +in the supernatural, she appeared as ready to escape from it, when a way +of escape offered, as from the limp cotton gown and constrained manner +worn in the house. The religion and cotton dress were evidently remains +of her early training at the settlement of Voa. + +Old Nuflo, strange to say, had proved better than his word. Instead of +inventing new causes for delay, as I had imagined would be the case, +he now informed me that his preparations for the journey were all but +complete, that he had only waited for my return to set out. + +Rima soon left us in her customary way, and then, talking by the fire, +I gave an account of my detention by the Indians and of the loss of my +revolver, which I thought very serious. + +“You seem to think little of it,” I said, observing that he took it very +coolly. “Yet I know not how I shall defend myself in case of an attack.” + +“I have no fear of an attack,” he answered. “It seems to me the same +thing whether you have a revolver or many revolvers and carbines and +swords, or no revolver--no weapon at all. And for a very simple reason. +While Rima is with us, so long as we are on her business, we are +protected from above. The angels, senor, will watch over us by day and +night. What need of weapons, then, except to procure food?” + +“Why should not the angels provide us with food also?” said I. + +“No, no, that is a different thing,” he returned. “That is a small and +low thing, a necessity common to all creatures, which all know how to +meet. You would not expect an angel to drive away a cloud of mosquitoes, +or to remove a bush-tick from your person. No, sir, you may talk of +natural gifts, and try to make Rima believe that she is what she is, and +knows what she knows, because, like a humming-bird or some plants with +a peculiar fragrance, she has been made so. It is wrong, senor, and, +pardon me for saying it, it ill becomes you to put such fables into her +head.” + +I answered, with a smile: “She herself seems to doubt what you believe.” + +“But, senor, what can you expect from an ignorant girl like Rima? She +knows nothing, or very little, and will not listen to reason. If she +would only remain quietly indoors, with her hair braided, and pray and +read her Catechism, instead of running about after flowers and birds and +butterflies and such unsubstantial things, it would be better for both +of us.” + +“In what way, old man?” + +“Why, it is plain that if she would cultivate the acquaintance of the +people that surround her--I mean those that come to her from her sainted +mother--and are ready to do her bidding in everything, she could make +it more safe for us in this place. For example, there is Runi and his +people; why should they remain living so near us as to be a constant +danger when a pestilence of small-pox or some other fever might easily +be sent to kill them off?” + +“And have you ever suggested such a thing to your grandchild?” + +He looked surprised and grieved at the question. “Yes, many times, +senor,” he said. “I should have been a poor Christian had I not +mentioned it. But when I speak of it she gives me a look and is gone, +and I see no more of her all day, and when I see her she refuses even to +answer me--so perverse, so foolish is she in her ignorance; for, as you +can see for yourself, she has no more sense or concern about what is +most important than some little painted fly that flits about all day +long without any object.” + + + +CHAPTER XV + +The next day we were early at work. Nuflo had already gathered, dried, +and conveyed to a place of concealment the greater portion of his garden +produce. He was determined to leave nothing to be taken by any wandering +party of savages that might call at the house during our absence. He had +no fear of a visit from his neighbours; they would not know, he said, +that he and Rima were out of the wood. A few large earthen pots, filled +with shelled maize, beans, and sun-dried strips of pumpkin, still +remained to be disposed of. Taking up one of these vessels and asking +me to follow with another, he started off through the wood. We went a +distance of five or six hundred yards, then made our way down a very +steep incline, close to the border of the forest on the western side. +Arrived at the bottom, we followed the bank a little further, and I then +found myself once more at the foot of the precipice over which I had +desperately thrown myself on the stormy evening after the snake had +bitten me. Nuflo, stealing silently and softly before me through the +bushes, had observed a caution and secrecy in approaching this spot +resembling that of a wise old hen when she visits her hidden nest to lay +an egg. And here was his nest, his most secret treasure-house, which he +had probably not revealed even to me without a sharp inward conflict, +notwithstanding that our fates were now linked together. The lower +portion of the bank was of rock; and in it, about ten or twelve feet +above the ground, but easily reached from below, there was a natural +cavity large enough to contain all his portable property. Here, besides +the food-stuff, he had already stored a quantity of dried tobacco leaf, +his rude weapons, cooking utensils, ropes, mats, and other objects. Two +or three more journeys were made for the remaining pots, after which +we adjusted a slab of sandstone to the opening, which was fortunately +narrow, plastered up the crevices with clay, and covered them over with +moss to hide all traces of our work. + +Towards evening, after we had refreshed ourselves with a long siesta, +Nuflo brought out from some other hiding-place two sacks; one weighing +about twenty pounds and containing smoke-dried meat, also grease and gum +for lighting-purposes, and a few other small objects. This was his load; +the other sack, which was smaller and contained parched corn and raw +beans, was for me to carry. + +The old man, cautious in all his movements, always acting as if +surrounded by invisible spies, delayed setting out until an hour after +dark. Then, skirting the forest on its west side, we left Ytaioa on our +right hand, and after travelling over rough, difficult ground, with only +the stars to light us, we saw the waning moon rise not long before dawn. +Our course had been a north-easterly one at first; now it was due east, +with broad, dry savannahs and patches of open forest as far as we could +see before us. It was weary walking on that first night, and weary +waiting on the first day when we sat in the shade during the long, hot +hours, persecuted by small stinging flies; but the days and nights that +succeeded were far worse, when the weather became bad with intense heat +and frequent heavy falls of rain. The one compensation I had looked for, +which would have outweighed all the extreme discomforts we suffered, +was denied me. Rima was no more to me or with me now than she had been +during those wild days in her native woods, when every bush and bole and +tangled creeper or fern frond had joined in a conspiracy to keep her +out of my sight. It is true that at intervals in the daytime she was +visible, sometimes within speaking distance, so that I could address +a few words to her, but there was no companionship, and we were fellow +travellers only like birds flying independently in the same direction, +not so widely separated but that they can occasionally hear and see each +other. The pilgrim in the desert is sometimes attended by a bird, and +the bird, with its freer motions, will often leave him a league behind +and seem lost to him, but only to return and show its form again; for +it has never lost sight nor recollection of the traveller toiling slowly +over the surface. Rima kept us company in some such wild erratic way as +that. A word, a sign from Nuflo was enough for her to know the direction +to take--the distant forest or still more distant mountain near which we +should have to pass. She would hasten on and be lost to our sight, and +when there was a forest in the way she would explore it, resting in the +shade and finding her own food; but invariably she was before us at each +resting- or camping-place. + +Indian villages were seen during the journey, but only to be avoided; +and in like manner, if we caught sight of Indians travelling or camping +at a distance, we would alter our course, or conceal ourselves to escape +observation. Only on one occasion, two days after setting out, were we +compelled to speak with strangers. We were going round a hill, and all +at once came face to face with three persons travelling in an opposite +direction--two men and a woman, and, by a strange fatality, Rima at that +moment happened to be with us. We stood for some time talking to these +people, who were evidently surprised at our appearance, and wished +to learn who we were; but Nuflo, who spoke their language like one of +themselves, was too cunning to give any true answer. They, on their +side, told us that they had been to visit a relative at Chani, the name +of a river three days ahead of us, and were now returning to their own +village at Baila-baila, two days beyond Parahuari. After parting from +them Nuflo was much troubled in his mind for the rest of that day. These +people, he said, would probably rest at some Parahuari village, +where they would be sure to give a description of us, and so it might +eventually come to the knowledge of our unneighbourly neighbour Runi +that we had left Ytaioa. + +Other incidents of our long and wearisome journey need not be related. +Sitting under some shady tree during the sultry hours, with Rima only +too far out of earshot, or by the nightly fire, the old man told me +little by little and with much digression, chiefly on sacred subjects, +the strange story of the girl’s origin. + +About seventeen years back--Nuflo had no sure method to compute time +by--when he was already verging on old age, he was one of a company +of nine men, living a kind of roving life in the very part of Guayana +through which we were now travelling; the others, much younger than +himself, were all equally offenders against the laws of Venezuela, +and fugitives from justice. Nuflo was the leader of this gang, for it +happened that he had passed a great portion of his life outside the pale +of civilization, and could talk the Indian language, and knew this part +of Guayana intimately. But according to his own account he was not in +harmony with them. They were bold, desperate men, whose evil appetites +had so far only been whetted by the crimes they had committed; while he, +with passions worn out, recalling his many bad acts, and with a vivid +conviction of the truth of all he had been taught in early life--for +Nuflo was nothing if not religious--was now grown timid and desirous +only of making his peace with Heaven. This difference of disposition +made him morose and quarrelsome with his companions; and they would, he +said, have murdered him without remorse if he had not been so useful to +them. Their favourite plan was to hang about the neighbourhood of some +small isolated settlement, keeping a watch on it, and, when most of the +male inhabitants were absent, to swoop down on it and work their will. +Now, shortly after one of these raids it happened that a woman they had +carried off, becoming a burden to them, was flung into a river to the +alligators; but when being dragged down to the waterside she cast up +her eyes, and in a loud voice cried to God to execute vengeance on +her murderers. Nuflo affirmed that he took no part in this black deed; +nevertheless, the woman’s dying appeal to Heaven preyed on his mind; +he feared that it might have won a hearing, and the “person” eventually +commissioned to execute vengeance--after the usual days, of course might +act on the principle of the old proverb: Tell me whom you are with, and +I will tell you what you are--and punish the innocent (himself to +wit) along with the guilty. But while thus anxious about his spiritual +interests, he was not yet prepared to break with his companions. He +thought it best to temporize, and succeeded in persuading them that it +would be unsafe to attack another Christian settlement for some time to +come; that in the interval they might find some pleasure, if no great +credit, by turning their attention to the Indians. The infidels, he +said, were God’s natural enemies and fair game to the Christian. To +make a long story short, Nuflo’s Christian band, after some successful +adventures, met with a reverse which reduced their number from nine +to five. Flying from their enemies, they sought safety at Riolama, an +uninhabited place, where they found it possible to exist for some weeks +on game, which was abundant, and wild fruits. + +One day at noon, while ascending a mountain at the southern extremity +of the Riolama range in order to get a view of the country beyond the +summit, Nuflo and his companions discovered a cave; and finding it +dry, without animal occupants, and with a level floor, they at once +determined to make it their dwelling-place for a season. Wood for firing +and water were to be had close by; they were also well provided with +smoked flesh of a tapir they had slaughtered a day or two before, so +that they could afford to rest for a time in so comfortable a shelter. +At a short distance from the cave they made a fire on the rock to toast +some slices of meat for their dinner; and while thus engaged all at once +one of the men uttered a cry of astonishment, and casting up his eyes +Nuflo beheld, standing near and regarding them with surprise and fear +in-her wide-open eyes, a woman of a most wonderful appearance. The one +slight garment she had on was silky and white as the snow on the summit +of some great mountain, but of the snow when the sinking sun touches and +gives it some delicate changing colour which is like fire. Her dark +hair was like a cloud from which her face looked out, and her head was +surrounded by an aureole like that of a saint in a picture, only more +beautiful. For, said Nuflo, a picture is a picture, and the other was +a reality, which is finer. Seeing her he fell on his knees and crossed +himself; and all the time her eyes, full of amazement and shining with +such a strange splendour that he could not meet them, were fixed on him +and not on the others; and he felt that she had come to save his soul, +in danger of perdition owing to his companionship with men who were at +war with God and wholly bad. + +But at this moment his comrades, recovering from their astonishment, +sprang to their feet, and the heavenly woman vanished. Just behind where +she had stood, and not twelve yards from them, there was a huge chasm in +the mountain, its jagged precipitous sides clothed with thorny bushes; +the men now cried out that she had made her escape that way, and down +after her they rushed, pell-mell. + +Nuflo cried out after them that they had seen a saint and that some +horrible thing would befall them if they allowed any evil thought to +enter their hearts; but they scoffed at his words, and were soon far +down out of hearing, while he, trembling with fear, remained praying +to the woman that had appeared to them and had looked with such strange +eyes at him, not to punish him for the sins of the others. + +Before long the men returned, disappointed and sullen, for they had +failed in their search for the woman; and perhaps Nuflo’s warning words +had made them give up the chase too soon. At all events, they seemed ill +at ease, and made up their minds to abandon the cave; in a short time +they left the place to camp that night at a considerable distance from +the mountain. But they were not satisfied: they had now recovered from +their fear, but not from the excitement of an evil passion; and finally, +after comparing notes, they came to the conclusion that they had missed +a great prize through Nuflo’s cowardice; and when he reproved them they +blasphemed all the saints in the calendar and even threatened him with +violence. Fearing to remain longer in the company of such godless men, +he only waited until they slept, then rose up cautiously, helped himself +to most of the provisions, and made his escape, devoutly hoping that +after losing their guide they would all speedily perish. + +Finding himself alone now and master of his own actions, Nuflo was in +terrible distress, for while his heart was in the utmost fear, it yet +urged him imperiously to go back to the mountain, to seek again for that +sacred being who had appeared to him and had been driven away by his +brutal companions. If he obeyed that inner voice, he would be saved; +if he resisted it, then there would be no hope for him, and along +with those who had cast the woman to the alligators he would be lost +eternally. Finally, on the following day, he went back, although not +without fear and trembling, and sat down on a stone just where he had +sat toasting his tapir meat on the previous day. But he waited in vain, +and at length that voice within him, which he had so far obeyed, began +urging him to descend into the valley-like chasm down which the woman +had escaped from his comrades, and to seek for her there. Accordingly +he rose and began cautiously and slowly climbing down over the broken +jagged rocks and through a dense mass of thorny bushes and creepers. At +the bottom of the chasm a clear, swift stream of water rushed with foam +and noise along its rocky bed; but before reaching it, and when it was +still twenty yards lower down, he was startled by hearing a low +moan among the bushes, and looking about for the cause, he found the +wonderful woman--his saviour, as he expressed it. She was not now +standing nor able to stand, but half reclining among the rough stones, +one foot, which she had sprained in that headlong flight down the ragged +slope, wedged immovably between the rocks; and in this painful position +she had remained a prisoner since noon on the previous day. She now +gazed on her visitor in silent consternation; while he, casting himself +prostrate on the ground, implored her forgiveness and begged to know +her will. But she made no reply; and at length, finding that she was +powerless to move, he concluded that, though a saint and one of the +beings that men worship, she was also flesh and liable to accidents +while sojourning on earth; and perhaps, he thought, that accident which +had befallen her had been specially designed by the powers above to +prove him. With great labour, and not without causing her much pain, he +succeeded in extricating her from her position; and then finding that +the injured foot was half crushed and blue and swollen, he took her +up in his arms and carried her to the stream. There, making a cup of a +broad green leaf, he offered her water, which she drank eagerly; and +he also laved her injured foot in the cold stream and bandaged it with +fresh aquatic leaves; finally he made her a soft bed of moss and dry +grass and placed her on it. That night he spent keeping watch over +her, at intervals applying fresh wet leaves to her foot as the old ones +became dry and wilted from the heat of the inflammation. + +The effect of all he did was that the terror with which she regarded him +gradually wore off; and next day, when she seemed to be recovering her +strength, he proposed by signs to remove her to the cave higher up, +where she would be sheltered in case of rain. She appeared to understand +him, and allowed herself to be taken up in his arms and carried with +much labour to the top of the chasm. In the cave he made her a second +couch, and tended her assiduously. He made a fire on the floor and kept +it burning night and day, and supplied her with water to drink and fresh +leaves for her foot. There was little more that he could do. From the +choicest and fattest bits of toasted tapir flesh he offered her she +turned away with disgust. A little cassava bread soaked in water she +would take, but seemed not to like it. After a time, fearing that she +would starve, he took to hunting after wild fruits, edible bulbs and +gums, and on these small things she subsisted during the whole time of +their sojourn together in the desert. + +The woman, although lamed for life, was now so far recovered as to be +able to limp about without assistance, and she spent a portion of each +day out among the rocks and trees on the mountains. Nuflo at first +feared that she would now leave him, but before long he became convinced +that she had no such intentions. And yet she was profoundly unhappy. +He was accustomed to see her seated on a rock, as if brooding over some +secret grief, her head bowed, and great tears falling from half-closed +eyes. + +From the first he had conceived the idea that she was in the way of +becoming a mother at no distant date--an idea which seemed to accord +badly with the suppositions as to the nature of this heavenly being +he was privileged to minister to and so win salvation; but he was now +convinced of its truth, and he imagined that in her condition he had +discovered the cause of that sorrow and anxiety which preyed continually +on her. By means of that dumb language of signs which enabled them to +converse together a little, he made it known to her that at a great +distance from the mountains there existed a place where there were +beings like herself, women, and mothers of children, who would comfort +and tenderly care for her. When she had understood, she seemed pleased +and willing to accompany him to that distant place; and so it came to +pass that they left their rocky shelter and the mountains of Riolama far +behind. But for several days, as they slowly journeyed over the plain, +she would pause at intervals in her limping walk to gaze back on those +blue summits, shedding abundant tears. + +Fortunately the village Voa, on the river of the same name, which was +the nearest Christian settlement to Riolama, whither his course was +directed, was well known to him; he had lived there in former years, +and, what was of great advantage, the inhabitants were ignorant of +his worst crimes, or, to put it in his own subtle way, of the crimes +committed by the men he had acted with. Great was the astonishment and +curiosity of the people of Voa when, after many weeks’ travelling, Nuflo +arrived at last with his companion. But he was not going to tell the +truth, nor even the least particle of the truth, to a gaping crowd of +inferior persons. For these, ingenious lies; only to the priest he told +the whole story, dwelling minutely on all he had done to rescue and +protect her; all of which was approved by the holy man, whose first act +was to baptize the woman for fear that she was not a Christian. Let it +be said to Nuflo’s credit that he objected to this ceremony, arguing +that she could not be a saint, with an aureole in token of her +sainthood, yet stand in need of being baptized by a priest. A priest--he +added, with a little chuckle of malicious pleasure--who was often seen +drunk, who cheated at cards, and was sometimes suspected of putting +poison on his fighting-cock’s spur to make sure of the victory! +Doubtless the priest had his faults; but he was not without humanity, +and for the whole seven years of that unhappy stranger’s sojourn at Voa +he did everything in his power to make her existence tolerable. Some +weeks after arriving she gave birth to a female child, and then the +priest insisted on naming it Riolama, in order, he said, to keep in +remembrance the strange story of the mother’s discovery at that place. + +Rima’s mother could not be taught to speak either Spanish or Indian; and +when she found that the mysterious and melodious sounds that fell from +her own lips were understood by none, she ceased to utter them, and +thereafter preserved an unbroken silence among the people she lived +with. But from the presence of others she shrank, as if in disgust or +fear, excepting only Nuflo and the priest, whose kindly intentions she +appeared to understand and appreciate. So far her life in the village +was silent and sorrowful. With her child it was different; and every day +that was not wet, taking the little thing by the hand, she would limp +painfully out into the forest, and there, sitting on the ground, the two +would commune with each other by the hour in their wonderful language. + +At length she began to grow perceptibly paler and feebler week by week, +day by day, until she could no longer go out into the wood, but sat or +reclined, panting for breath in the dull hot room, waiting for death +to release her. At the same time little Rima, who had always appeared +frail, as if from sympathy, now began to fade and look more shadowy, +so that it was expected she would not long survive her parent. To the +mother death came slowly, but at last it seemed so near that Nuflo and +the priest were together at her side waiting to see the end. It was then +that little Rima, who had learnt from infancy to speak in Spanish, rose +from the couch where her mother had been whispering to her, and began +with some difficulty to express what was in the dying woman’s mind. Her +child, she had said, could not continue to live in that hot wet place, +but if taken away to a distance where there were mountains and a cooler +air she would survive and grow strong again. + +Hearing this, old Nuflo declared that the child should not perish; that +he himself would take her away to Parahuari, a distant place where there +were mountains and dry plains and open woods; that he would watch over +her and care for her there as he had cared for her mother at Riolama. + +When the substance of this speech had been made known by Rima to the +dying woman, she suddenly rose up from her couch, which she had not +risen from for many days, and stood erect on the floor, her wasted face +shining with joy. Then Nuflo knew that God’s angels had come for her, +and put out his arms to save her from falling; and even while he held +her that sudden glory went out from her face, now of a dead white like +burnt-out ashes; and murmuring something soft and melodious, her spirit +passed away. + +Once more Nuflo became a wanderer, now with the fragile-looking little +Rima for companion, the sacred child who had inherited the position +of his intercessor from a sacred mother. The priest, who had probably +become infected with Nuflo’s superstitions, did not allow them to leave +Voa empty-handed, but gave the old man as much calico as would serve +to buy hospitality and whatsoever he might require from the Indians for +many a day to come. + +At Parahuari, where they arrived safely at last, they lived for some +little time at one of the villages. But the child had an instinctive +aversion to all savages, or possibly the feeling was derived from her +mother, for it had shown itself early at Voa, where she had refused to +learn their language; and this eventually led Nuflo to go away and live +apart from them, in the forest by Ytaioa, where he made himself a +house and garden. The Indians, however, continued friendly with him and +visited him with frequency. But when Rima grew up, developing into that +mysterious woodland girl I found her, they became suspicious, and in +the end regarded her with dangerously hostile feeling. She, poor child, +detested them because they were incessantly at war with the wild animals +she loved, her companions; and having no fear of them, for she did not +know that they had it in their minds to turn their little poisonous +arrows against herself, she was constantly in the woods frustrating +them; and the animals, in league with her, seemed to understand her +note of warning and hid themselves or took to flight at the approach of +danger. At length their hatred and fear grew to such a degree that they +determined to make away with her, and one day, having matured a plan, +they went to the wood and spread themselves two and two about it. The +couples did not keep together, but moved about or remained concealed at +a distance of forty or fifty yards apart, lest she should be missed. +Two of the savages, armed with blow-pipes, were near the border of the +forest on the side nearest to the village, and one of them, observing a +motion in the foliage of a tree, ran swiftly and cautiously towards it +to try and catch a glimpse of the enemy. And he did see her no doubt, as +she was there watching both him and his companions, and blew an arrow at +her, but even while in the act of blowing it he was himself struck by +a dart that buried itself deep in his flesh just over the heart. He +ran some distance with the fatal barbed point in his flesh and met his +comrade, who had mistaken him for the girl and shot him. The wounded man +threw himself down to die, and dying related that he had fired at the +girl sitting up in a tree and that she had caught the arrow in her hand +only to hurl it instantly back with such force and precision that it +pierced his flesh just over the heart. He had seen it all with his own +eyes, and his friend who had accidentally slain him believed his story +and repeated it to the others. Rima had seen one Indian shoot the other, +and when she told her grandfather he explained to her that it was an +accident, but he guessed why the arrow had been fired. + +From that day the Indians hunted no more in the wood; and at length one +day Nuflo, meeting an Indian who did not know him and with whom he had +some talk, heard the strange story of the arrow, and that the mysterious +girl who could not be shot was the offspring of an old man and a Didi +who had become enamoured of him; that, growing tired of her consort, the +Didi had returned to her river, leaving her half-human child to play her +malicious pranks in the wood. + +This, then, was Nuflo’s story, told not in Nuflo’s manner, which was +infinitely prolix; and think not that it failed to move me--that I +failed to bless him for what he had done, in spite of his selfish +motives. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +We were eighteen days travelling to Riolama, on the last two making +little progress, on account of continuous rain, which made us miserable +beyond description. Fortunately the dogs had found, and Nuflo had +succeeded in killing, a great ant-eater, so that we were well supplied +with excellent, strength-giving flesh. We were among the Riolama +mountains at last, and Rima kept with us, apparently expecting great +things. I expected nothing, for reasons to be stated by and by. My +belief was that the only important thing that could happen to us would +be starvation. + +The afternoon of the last day was spent in skirting the foot of a very +long mountain, crowned at its southern extremity with a huge, rocky mass +resembling the head of a stone sphinx above its long, couchant body, and +at its highest part about a thousand feet above the surrounding level. +It was late in the day, raining fast again, yet the old man still toiled +on, contrary to his usual practice, which was to spend the last daylight +hours in gathering firewood and in constructing a shelter. At length, +when we were nearly under the peak, he began to ascend. The rise in this +place was gentle, and the vegetation, chiefly composed of dwarf thorn +trees rooted in the clefts of the rock, scarcely impeded our progress; +yet Nuflo moved obliquely, as if he found the ascent difficult, pausing +frequently to take breath and look round him. Then we came to a deep, +ravine-like cleft in the side of the mountain, which became deeper and +narrower above us, but below it broadened out to a valley; its steep +sides as we looked down were clothed with dense, thorny vegetation, and +from the bottom rose to our ears the dull sound of a hidden torrent. +Along the border of this ravine Nuflo began toiling upwards, and finally +brought us out upon a stony plateau on the mountain-side. Here he paused +and, turning and regarding us with a look as of satisfied malice in his +eyes, remarked that we were at our journey’s end, and he trusted the +sight of that barren mountain-side would compensate us for all the +discomforts we had suffered during the last eighteen days. + +I heard him with indifference. I had already recognized the place from +his own exact description of it, and I now saw all that I had looked to +see--a big, barren hill. But Rima, what had she expected that her face +wore that blank look of surprise and pain? “Is this the place where +mother appeared to you?” she suddenly cried. “The very place--this! +This!” Then she added: “The cave where you tended her--where is it?” + +“Over there,” he said, pointing across the plateau, which was partially +overgrown with dwarf trees and bushes, and ended at a wall of rock, +almost vertical and about forty feet high. + +Going to this precipice, we saw no cave until Nuflo had cut away two or +three tangled bushes, revealing an opening behind, about half as high +and twice as wide as the door of an ordinary dwelling-house. + +The next thing was to make a torch, and aided by its light we groped our +way in and explored the interior. The cave, we found, was about fifty +feet long, narrowing to a mere hole at the extremity; but the anterior +portion formed an oblong chamber, very lofty, with a dry floor. Leaving +our torch burning, we set to work cutting bushes to supply ourselves +with wood enough to last us all night. Nuflo, poor old man, loved a big +fire dearly; a big fire and fat meat to eat (the ranker its flavour, the +better he liked it) were to him the greatest blessings that man could +wish for. In me also the prospect of a cheerful blaze put a new heart, +and I worked with a will in the rain, which increased in the end to a +blinding downpour. + +By the time I dragged my last load in, Nuflo had got his fire well +alight, and was heaping on wood in a most lavish way. “No fear of +burning our house down tonight,” he remarked, with a chuckle--the first +sound of that description he had emitted for a long time. + +After we had satisfied our hunger, and had smoked one or two cigarettes, +the unaccustomed warmth, and dryness, and the firelight affected us with +drowsiness, and I had probably been nodding for some time; but starting +at last and opening my eyes, I missed Rima. The old man appeared to be +asleep, although still in a sitting posture close to the fire. I rose +and hurried out, drawing my cloak close around me to protect me from the +rain; but what was my surprise on emerging from the cave to feel a dry, +bracing wind in my face and to see the desert spread out for leagues +before me in the brilliant white light of a full moon! The rain had +apparently long ceased, and only a few thin white clouds appeared moving +swiftly over the wide blue expanse of heaven. It was a welcome change, +but the shock of surprise and pleasure was instantly succeeded by +the maddening fear that Rima was lost to me. She was nowhere in sight +beneath, and running to the end of the little plateau to get free of +the thorn trees, I turned my eyes towards the summit, and there, at some +distance above me, caught sight of her standing motionless and gazing +upwards. I quickly made my way to her side, calling to her as I +approached; but she only half turned to cast a look at me and did not +reply. + +“Rima,” I said, “why have you come here? Are you actually thinking of +climbing the mountain at this hour of the night?” “Yes--why not?” she +returned, moving one or two steps from me. + +“Rima--sweet Rima, will you listen to me?” + +“Now? Oh, no--why do you ask that? Did I not listen to you in the wood +before we started, and you also promised to do what I wished? See, the +rain is over and the moon shines brightly. Why should I wait? Perhaps +from the summit I shall see my people’s country. Are we not near it +now?” + +“Oh, Rima, what do you expect to see? Listen--you must listen, for I +know best. From that summit you would see nothing but a vast dim desert, +mountain and forest, mountain and forest, where you might wander for +years, or until you perished of hunger or fever, or were slain by some +beast of prey or by savage men; but oh, Rima, never, never, never would +you find your people, for they exist not. You have seen the false water +of the mirage on the savannah, when the sun shines bright and hot; and +if one were to follow it one would at last fall down and perish, +with never a cool drop to moisten one’s parched lips. And your hope, +Rima--this hope to find your people which has brought you all the way to +Riolama--is a mirage, a delusion, which will lead to destruction if you +will not abandon it.” + +She turned to face me with flashing eyes. “You know best!” she +exclaimed. “You know best and tell me that! Never until this moment have +you spoken falsely. Oh, why have you said such things to me--named after +this place, Riolama? Am I also like that false water you speak of--no +divine Rima, no sweet Rima? My mother, had she no mother, no mother’s +mother? I remember her, at Voa, before she died, and this hand seems +real--like yours; you have asked to hold it. But it is not he that +speaks to me--not one that showed me the whole world on Ytaioa. Ah, you +have wrapped yourself in a stolen cloak, only you have left your old +grey beard behind! Go back to the cave and look for it, and leave me to +seek my people alone!” + +Once more, as on that day in the forest when she prevented me from +killing the serpent, and as on the occasion of her meeting with Nuflo +after we had been together on Ytaioa, she appeared transformed and +instinct with intense resentment--a beautiful human wasp, and every word +a sting. + +“Rima,” I cried, “you are cruelly unjust to say such words to me. If you +know that I have never deceived you before, give me a little credit now. +You are no delusion--no mirage, but Rima, like no other being on earth. +So perfectly truthful and pure I cannot be, but rather than mislead you +with falsehoods I would drop down and die on this rock, and lose you and +the sweet light that shines on us for ever.” + +As she listened to my words, spoken with passion, she grew pale and +clasped her hands. “What have I said? What have I said?” She spoke in a +low voice charged with pain, and all at once she came nearer, and with +a low, sobbing cry sank down at my feet, uttering, as on the occasion of +finding me lost at night in the forest near her home, tender, sorrowful +expressions in her own mysterious language. But before I could take her +in my arms she rose again quickly to her feet and moved away a little +space from me. + +“Oh no, no, it cannot be that you know best!” she began again. “But +I know that you have never sought to deceive me. And now, because I +falsely accused you, I cannot go there without you”--pointing to the +summit--“but must stand still and listen to all you have to say.” + +“You know, Rima, that your grandfather has now told me your history--how +he found your mother at this place, and took her to Voa, where you were +born; but of your mother’s people he knows nothing, and therefore he can +now take you no further.” + +“Ah, you think that! He says that now; but he deceived me all these +years, and if he lied to me in the past, can he not still lie, affirming +that he knows nothing of my people, even as he affirmed that he knew not +Riolama?” + +“He tells lies and he tells truth, Rima, and one can be distinguished +from the other. He spoke truthfully at last, and brought us to this +place, beyond which he cannot lead you.” + +“You are right; I must go alone.” + +“Not so, Rima, for where you go, there we must go; only you will lead +and we follow, believing only that our quest will end in disappointment, +if not in death.” + +“Believe that and yet follow! Oh no! Why did he consent to lead me so +far for nothing?” + +“Do you forget that you compelled him? You know what he believes; and he +is old and looks with fear at death, remembering his evil deeds, and is +convinced that only through your intercession and your mother’s he can +escape from perdition. Consider, Rima, he could not refuse, to make you +more angry and so deprive himself of his only hope.” + +My words seemed to trouble her, but very soon she spoke again with +renewed animation. “If my people exist, why must it be disappointment +and perhaps death? He does not know; but she came to him here--did she +not? The others are not here, but perhaps not far off. Come, let us go +to the summit together to see from it the desert beneath us--mountain +and forest, mountain and forest. Somewhere there! You said that I had +knowledge of distant things. And shall I not know which mountain--which +forest?” + +“Alas! no, Rima; there is a limit to your far-seeing; and even if that +faculty were as great as you imagine, it would avail you nothing, for +there is no mountain, no forest, in whose shadow your people dwell.” + +For a while she was silent, but her eyes and clasping fingers were +restless and showed her agitation. She seemed to be searching in the +depths of her mind for some argument to oppose to my assertions. Then +in a low, almost despondent voice, with something of reproach in it, she +said: “Have we come so far to go back again? You were not Nuflo to need +my intercession, yet you came too.” + +“Where you are, there I must be--you have said it yourself. Besides, +when we started I had some hope of finding your people. Now I know +better, having heard Nuflo’s story. Now I know that your hope is a vain +one.” + +“Why? Why? Was she not found here--mother? Where, then, are the others?” + +“Yes, she was found here, alone. You must remember all the things +she spoke to you before she died. Did she ever speak to you of her +people--speak of them as if they existed, and would be glad to receive +you among them some day?” + +“No. Why did she not speak of that? Do you know--can you tell me?” + +“I can guess the reason, Rima. It is very sad--so sad that it is hard to +tell it. When Nuflo tended her in the cave and was ready to worship +her and do everything she wished, and conversed with her by signs, she +showed no wish to return to her people. And when he offered her, in a +way she understood, to take her to a distant place, where she would be +among strange beings, among others like Nuflo, she readily consented, +and painfully performed that long journey to Voa. Would you, Rima, have +acted thus--would you have gone so far away from your beloved people, +never to return, never to hear of them or speak to them again? Oh no, +you could not; nor would she if her people had been in existence. But +she knew that she had survived them, that some great calamity had +fallen upon and destroyed them. They were few in number, perhaps, and +surrounded on every side by hostile tribes, and had no weapons, and made +no war. They had been preserved because they inhabited a place apart, +some deep valley perhaps, guarded on all sides by lofty mountains and +impenetrable forests and marshes; but at last the cruel savages broke +into this retreat and hunted them down, destroying all except a few +fugitives, who escaped singly like your mother, and fled away to hide in +some distant solitude.” + +The anxious expression on her face deepened as she listened to one of +anguish and despair; and then, almost before I concluded, she suddenly +lifted her hands to her head, uttering a low, sobbing cry, and would +have fallen on the rock had I not caught her quickly in my arms. Once +more in my arms--against my breast, her proper place! But now all that +bright life seemed gone out of her; her head fell on my shoulder, and +there was no motion in her except at intervals a slight shudder in her +frame accompanied by a low, gasping sob. In a little while the sobs +ceased, the eyes were closed, the face still and deathly white, and with +a terrible anxiety in my heart I carried her down to the cave. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +As I re-entered the cave with my burden Nuflo sat up and stared at me +with a frightened look in his eyes. Throwing my cloak down, I placed the +girl on it and briefly related what had happened. + +He drew near to examine her; then placed his hand on her heart. +“Dead!--she is dead!” he exclaimed. + +My own anxiety changed to an irrational anger at his words. “Old fool! +She has only fainted,” I returned. “Get me some water, quick.” + +But the water failed to restore her, and my anxiety deepened as I gazed +on that white, still face. Oh, why had I told her that sad tragedy I had +imagined with so little preparation? Alas! I had succeeded too well in +my purpose, killing her vain hope and her at the same moment. + +The old man, still bending over her, spoke again. “No, I will not +believe that she is dead yet; but, sir, if not dead, then she is dying.” + +I could have struck him down for his words. “She will die in my arms, +then,” I exclaimed, thrusting him roughly aside, and lifting her up with +the cloak beneath her. + +And while I held her thus, her head resting on my arm, and gazed with +unutterable anguish into her strangely white face, insanely praying to +Heaven to restore her to me, Nuflo fell on his knees before her, and +with bowed head, and hands clasped in supplication, began to speak. + +“Rima! Grandchild!” he prayed, his quivering voice betraying his +agitation. “Do not die just yet: you must not die--not wholly die--until +you have heard what I have to say to you. I do not ask you to answer +in words--you are past that, and I am not unreasonable. Only, when I +finish, make some sign--a sigh, a movement of the eyelid, a twitch of +the lips, even in the small corners of the mouth; nothing more than +that, just to show that you have heard, and I shall be satisfied. +Remember all the years that I have been your protector, and this long +journey that I have taken on your account; also all that I did for +your sainted mother before she died at Voa, to become one of the most +important of those who surround the Queen of Heaven, and who, when they +wish for any favour, have only to say half a word to get it. And do not +cast in oblivion that at the last I obeyed your wish and brought you +safely to Riolama. It is true that in some small things I deceived you; +but that must not weigh with you, because it is a small matter and not +worthy of mention when you consider the claims I have on you. In your +hands, Rima, I leave everything, relying on the promise you made me, and +on my services. Only one word of caution remains to be added. Do not let +the magnificence of the place you are now about to enter, the new sights +and colours, and the noise of shouting, and musical instruments and +blowing of trumpets, put these things out of your head. Nor must you +begin to think meanly of yourself and be abashed when you find yourself +surrounded by saints and angels; for you are not less than they, +although it may not seem so at first when you see them in their bright +clothes, which, they say, shine like the sun. I cannot ask you to tie +a string round your finger; I can only trust to your memory, which was +always good, even about the smallest things; and when you are asked, as +no doubt you will be, to express a wish, remember before everything to +speak of your grandfather, and his claims on you, also on your angelic +mother, to whom you will present my humble remembrances.” + +During this petition, which in other circumstances would have moved me +to laughter but now only irritated me, a subtle change seemed to come +to the apparently lifeless girl to make me hope. The small hand in mine +felt not so icy cold, and though no faintest colour had come to the +face, its pallor had lost something of its deathly waxen appearance; and +now the compressed lips had relaxed a little and seemed ready to part. +I laid my finger-tips on her heart and felt, or imagined that I felt, +a faint fluttering; and at last I became convinced that her heart was +really beating. + +I turned my eyes on the old man, still bending forward, intently +watching for the sign he had asked her to make. My anger and disgust +at his gross earthy egoism had vanished. “Let us thank God, old man,” + I said, the tears of joy half choking my utterance. “She lives--she is +recovering from her fit.” + +He drew back, and on his knees, with bowed head, murmured a prayer of +thanks to Heaven. + +Together we continued watching her face for half an hour longer, I +still holding her in my arms, which could never grow weary of that sweet +burden, waiting for other, surer signs of returning life; and she seemed +now like one that had fallen into a profound, death-like sleep which +must end in death. Yet when I remembered her face as it had looked an +hour ago, I was confirmed in the belief that the progress to recovery, +so strangely slow, was yet sure. So slow, so gradual was this passing +from death to life that we had hardly ceased to fear when we noticed +that the lips were parted, or almost parted, that they were no longer +white, and that under her pale, transparent skin a faint, bluish-rosy +colour was now visible. And at length, seeing that all danger was past +and recovery so slow, old Nuflo withdrew once more to the fireside and, +stretching himself out on the sandy floor, soon fell into a deep sleep. + +If he had not been lying there before me in the strong light of the +glowing embers and dancing flames, I could not have felt more alone with +Rima--alone amid those remote mountains, in that secret cavern, with +lights and shadows dancing on its grey vault. In that profound silence +and solitude the mysterious loveliness of the still face I continued +to gaze on, its appearance of life without consciousness, produced a +strange feeling in me, hard, perhaps impossible, to describe. + +Once, when clambering among the rough rocks, overgrown with forest, +among the Queneveta mountains, I came on a single white flower which was +new to me, which I have never seen since. After I had looked long at it, +and passed on, the image of that perfect flower remained so persistently +in my mind that on the following day I went again, in the hope of seeing +it still untouched by decay. There was no change; and on this occasion +I spent a much longer time looking at it, admiring the marvellous +beauty of its form, which seemed so greatly to exceed that of all +other flowers. It had thick petals, and at first gave me the idea of an +artificial flower, cut by a divinely inspired artist from some unknown +precious stone, of the size of a large orange and whiter than milk, and +yet, in spite of its opacity, with a crystalline lustre on the surface. +Next day I went again, scarcely hoping to find it still unwithered; it +was fresh as if only just opened; and after that I went often, sometimes +at intervals of several days, and still no faintest sign of any change, +the clear, exquisite lines still undimmed, the purity and lustre as +I had first seen it. Why, I often asked, does not this mystic forest +flower fade and perish like others? That first impression of its +artificial appearance had soon left me; it was, indeed, a flower, and, +like other flowers, had life and growth, only with that transcendent +beauty it had a different kind of life. Unconscious, but higher; perhaps +immortal. Thus it would continue to bloom when I had looked my last +on it; wind and rain and sunlight would never stain, never tinge, its +sacred purity; the savage Indian, though he sees little to admire in a +flower, yet seeing this one would veil his face and turn back; even +the browsing beast crashing his way through the forest, struck with +its strange glory, would swerve aside and pass on without harming it. +Afterwards I heard from some Indians to whom I described it that +the flower I had discovered was called Hata; also that they had a +superstition concerning it--a strange belief. They said that only one +Hata flower existed in the world; that it bloomed in one spot for the +space of a moon; that on the disappearance of the moon in the sky the +Hata disappeared from its place, only to reappear blooming in some +other spot, sometimes in some distant forest. And they also said that +whosoever discovered the Hata flower in the forest would overcome all +his enemies and obtain all his desires, and finally outlive other men +by many years. But, as I have said, all this I heard afterwards, and my +half-superstitious feeling for the flower had grown up independently +in my own mind. A feeling like that was in me while I gazed on the face +that had no motion, no consciousness in it, and yet had life, a life of +so high a kind as to match with its pure, surpassing loveliness. I could +almost believe that, like the forest flower, in this state and aspect it +would endure for ever; endure and perhaps give of its own immortality to +everything around it--to me, holding her in my arms and gazing fixedly +on the pale face framed in its cloud of dark, silken hair; to the +leaping flames that threw changing lights on the dim stony wall of +rock; to old Nuflo and his two yellow dogs stretched out on the floor in +eternal, unawakening sleep. + +This feeling took such firm possession of my mind that it kept me for +a time as motionless as the form I held in my arms. I was only released +from its power by noting still further changes in the face I watched, +a more distinct advance towards conscious life. The faint colour, +which had scarcely been more than a suspicion of colour, had deepened +perceptibly; the lids were lifted so as to show a gleam of the crystal +orbs beneath; the lips, too, were slightly parted. + +And, at last, bending lower down to feel her breath, the beauty and +sweetness of those lips could no longer be resisted, and I touched them +with mine. Having once tasted their sweetness and fragrance, it was +impossible to keep from touching them again and again. She was not +conscious--how could she be and not shrink from my caress? Yet there +was a suspicion in my mind, and drawing back I gazed into her face once +more. A strange new radiance had overspread it. Or was this only an +illusive colour thrown on her skin by the red firelight? I shaded her +face with my open hand, and saw that her pallor had really gone, that +the rosy flame on her cheeks was part of her life. Her lustrous eyes, +half open, were gazing into mine. Oh, surely consciousness had returned +to her! Had she been sensible of those stolen kisses? Would she now +shrink from another caress? Trembling, I bent down and touched her lips +again, lightly, but lingeringly, and then again, and when I drew back +and looked at her face the rosy flame was brighter, and the eyes, +more open still, were looking into mine. And gazing with those open, +conscious eyes, it seemed to me that at last, at last, the shadow that +had rested between us had vanished, that we were united in perfect love +and confidence, and that speech was superfluous. And when I spoke, it +was not without doubt and hesitation: our bliss in those silent moments +had been so complete, what could speaking do but make it less! + +“My love, my life, my sweet Rima, I know that you will understand me +now as you did not before, on that dark night--do you remember it, +Rima?--when I held you clasped to my breast in the wood. How it pierced +my heart with pain to speak plainly to you as I did on the mountain +tonight--to kill the hope that had sustained and brought you so far from +home! But now that anguish is over; the shadow has gone out of those +beautiful eyes that are looking at me. It is because loving me, knowing +now what love is, knowing, too, how much I love you, that you no longer +need to speak to any other living being of such things? To tell it, to +show it, to me is now enough--is it not so, Rima? How strange it seemed, +at first, when you shrank in fear from me! But, afterwards, when you +prayed aloud to your mother, opening all the secrets of your heart, I +understood it. In that lonely, isolated life in the wood you had heard +nothing of love, of its power over the heart, its infinite sweetness; +when it came to you at last it was a new, inexplicable thing, and filled +you with misgivings and tumultuous thoughts, so that you feared it and +hid yourself from its cause. Such tremors would be felt if it had always +been night, with no light except that of the stars and the pale moon, as +we saw it a little while ago on the mountain; and, at last, day dawned, +and a strange, unheard-of rose and purple flame kindled in the eastern +sky, foretelling the coming sun. It would seem beautiful beyond anything +that night had shown to you, yet you would tremble and your heart beat +fast at that strange sight; you would wish to fly to those who might be +able to tell you its meaning, and whether the sweet things it prophesied +would ever really come. That is why you wished to find your people, and +came to Riolama to seek them; and when you knew--when I cruelly told +you--that they would never be found, then you imagined that that strange +feeling in your heart must remain a secret for ever, and you could +not endure the thought of your loneliness. If you had not fainted so +quickly, then I should have told you what I must tell you now. They are +lost, Rima--your people--but I am with you, and know what you feel, even +if you have no words to tell it. But what need of words? It shines in +your eyes, it burns like a flame in your face; I can feel it in your +hands. Do you not also see it in my face--all that I feel for you, the +love that makes me happy? For this is love, Rima, the flower and the +melody of life, the sweetest thing, the sweet miracle that makes our two +souls one.” + +Still resting in my arms, as if glad to rest there, still gazing into +my face, it was clear to me that she understood my every word. And then, +with no trace of doubt or fear left, I stooped again, until my lips were +on hers; and when I drew back once more, hardly knowing which bliss was +greatest--kissing her delicate mouth or gazing into her face--she all at +once put her arms about my neck and drew herself up until she sat on my +knee. + +“Abel--shall I call you Abel now--and always?” she spoke, still with +her arms round my neck. “Ah, why did you let me come to Riolama? I would +come! I made him come--old grandfather, sleeping there: he does not +count, but you--you! After you had heard my story, and knew that it was +all for nothing! And all I wished to know was there--in you. Oh, how +sweet it is! But a little while ago, what pain! When I stood on the +mountain when you talked to me, and I knew that you knew best, and tried +and tried not to know. At last I could try no more; they were all dead +like mother; I had chased the false water on the savannah. ‘Oh, let me +die too,’ I said, for I could not bear the pain. And afterwards, here in +the cave, I was like one asleep, and when I woke I did not really wake. +It was like morning with the light teasing me to open my eyes and look +at it. Not yet, dear light; a little while longer, it is so sweet to lie +still. But it would not leave me, and stayed teasing me still, like a +small shining green fly; until, because it teased me so, I opened my +lids just a little. It was not morning, but the firelight, and I was in +your arms, not in my little bed. Your eyes looking, looking into mine. +But I could see yours better. I remembered everything then, how you once +asked me to look into your eyes. I remembered so many things--oh, so +many!” + +“How many things did you remember, Rima?” + +“Listen, Abel, do you ever lie on the dry moss and look straight up into +a tree and count a thousand leaves?” + +“No, sweetest, that could not be done, it is so many to count. Do you +know how many a thousand are?” + +“Oh, do I not! When a humming-bird flies close to my face and stops +still in the air, humming like a bee, and then is gone, in that short +time I can count a hundred small round bright feathers on its throat. +That is only a hundred; a thousand are more, ten times. Looking up I +count a thousand leaves; then stop counting, because there are thousands +more behind the first, and thousands more, crowded together so that I +cannot count them. Lying in your arms, looking up into your face, it was +like that; I could not count the things I remembered. In the wood, when +you were there, and before; and long, long ago at Voa, when I was a +child with mother.” + +“Tell me some of the things you remembered, Rima.” + +“Yes, one--only one now. When I was a child at Voa mother was very +lame--you know that. Whenever we went out, away from the houses, into +the forest, walking slowly, slowly, she would sit under a tree while I +ran about playing. And every time I came back to her I would find her so +pale, so sad, crying--crying. That was when I would hide and come softly +back so that she would not hear me coming. ‘Oh, mother, why are you +crying? Does your lame foot hurt you?’ And one day she took me in her +arms and told me truly why she cried.” + +She ceased speaking, but looked at me with a strange new light coming +into her eyes. + +“Why did she cry, my love?” + +“Oh, Abel, can you understand--now--at last!” And putting her lips +close to my ear, she began to murmur soft, melodious sounds that told +me nothing. Then drawing back her head, she looked again at me, her eyes +glistening with tears, her lips half parted with a smile, tender and +wistful. + +Ah, poor child! in spite of all that had been said, all that had +happened, she had returned to the old delusion that I must understand +her speech. I could only return her look, sorrowfully and in silence. + +Her face became clouded with disappointment, then she spoke again with +something of pleading in her tone. “Look, we are not now apart, I hiding +in the wood, you seeking, but together, saying the same things. In +your language--yours and now mine. But before you came I knew nothing, +nothing, for there was only grandfather to talk to. A few words each +day, the same words. If yours is mine, mine must be yours. Oh, do you +not know that mine is better?” + +“Yes, better; but alas! Rima, I can never hope to understand your sweet +speech, much less to speak it. The bird that only chirps and twitters +can never sing like the organ-bird.” + +Crying, she hid her face against my neck, murmuring sadly between her +sobs: “Never--never!” + +How strange it seemed, in that moment of joy, such a passion of tears, +such despondent words! + +For some minutes I preserved a sorrowful silence, realizing for the +first time, so far as it was possible to realize such a thing, what my +inability to understand her secret language meant to her--that finer +language in which alone her swift thoughts and vivid emotions could be +expressed. Easily and well as she seemed able to declare herself in my +tongue, I could well imagine that to her it would seem like the merest +stammering. As she had said to me once when I asked her to speak in +Spanish, “That is not speaking.” And so long as she could not commune +with me in that better language, which reflected her mind, there would +not be that perfect union of soul she so passionately desired. + +By and by, as she grew calmer, I sought to say something that would be +consoling to both of us. “Sweetest Rima,” I spoke, “it is so sad that +I can never hope to talk with you in your way; but a greater love than +this that is ours we could never feel, and love will make us happy, +unutterably happy, in spite of that one sadness. And perhaps, after a +while, you will be able to say all you wish in my language, which is +also yours, as you said some time ago. When we are back again in the +beloved wood, and talk once more under that tree where we first talked, +and under the old mora, where you hid yourself and threw down leaves +on me, and where you caught the little spider to show me how you made +yourself a dress, you shall speak to me in your own sweet tongue, and +then try to say the same things in mine.... And in the end, perhaps, you +will find that it is not so impossible as you think.” + +She looked at me, smiling again through her tears, and shook her head a +little. + +“Remember what I have heard, that before your mother died you were able +to tell Nuflo and the priest what her wish was. Can you not, in the same +way, tell me why she cried?” + +“I can tell you, but it will not be telling you.” + +“I understand. You can tell the bare facts. I can imagine something +more, and the rest I must lose. Tell me, Rima.” + +Her face became troubled; she glanced away and let her eyes wander round +the dim, firelit cavern; then they returned to mine once more. + +“Look,” she said, “grandfather lying asleep by the fire. So far away +from us--oh, so far! But if we were to go out from the cave, and on and +on to the great mountains where the city of the sun is, and stood there +at last in the midst of great crowds of people, all looking at us, +talking to us, it would be just the same. They would be like the trees +and rocks and animals--so far! Not with us nor we with them. But we are +everywhere alone together, apart--we two. It is love; I know it now, but +I did not know it before because I had forgotten what she told me. Do +you think I can tell you what she said when I asked her why she cried? +Oh no! Only this, she and another were like one, always, apart from +the others. Then something came--something came! O Abel, was that the +something you told me about on the mountain? And the other was lost for +ever, and she was alone in the forests and mountains of the world. Oh, +why do we cry for what is lost? Why do we not quickly forget it and feel +glad again? Now only do I know what you felt, O sweet mother, when you +sat still and cried, while I ran about and played and laughed! O poor +mother! Oh, what pain!” And hiding her face against my neck, she sobbed +once more. + +To my eyes also love and sympathy brought the tears; but in a little +while the fond, comforting words I spoke and my caresses recalled her +from that sad past to the present; then, lying back as at first, +her head resting on my folded cloak, her body partly supported by my +encircling arm and partly by the rock we were leaning against, +her half-closed eyes turned to mine expressed a tender assured +happiness--the chastened gladness of sunshine after rain; a soft +delicious languor that was partly passionate with the passion +etherealized. + +“Tell me, Rima,” I said, bending down to her, “in all those troubled +days with me in the woods had you no happy moments? Did not something in +your heart tell you that it was sweet to love, even before you knew what +love meant?” + +“Yes; and once--O Abel, do you remember that night, after returning from +Ytaioa, when you sat so late talking by the fire--I in the shadow, never +stirring, listening, listening; you by the fire with the light on your +face, saying so many strange things? I was happy then--oh, how happy! It +was black night and raining, and I a plant growing in the dark, feeling +the sweet raindrops falling, falling on my leaves. Oh, it will be +morning by and by and the sun will shine on my wet leaves; and that +made me glad till I trembled with happiness. Then suddenly the lightning +would come, so bright, and I would tremble with fear, and wish that +it would be dark again. That was when you looked at me sitting in the +shadow, and I could not take my eyes away quickly and could not meet +yours, so that I trembled with fear.” + +“And now there is no fear--no shadow; now you are perfectly happy?” + +“Oh, so happy! If the way back to the wood was longer, ten times, and +if the great mountains, white with snow on their tops, were between, and +the great dark forest, and rivers wider than Orinoco, still I would go +alone without fear, because you would come after me, to join me in the +wood, to be with me at last and always.” + +“But I should not let you go alone, Rima--your lonely days are over +now.” + +She opened her eyes wider and looked earnestly into my face. “I must go +back alone, Abel,” she said. “Before day comes I must leave you. Rest +here, with grandfather, for a few days and nights, then follow me.” + +I heard her with astonishment. “It must not be, Rima,” I cried. “What, +let you leave me--now you are mine--to go all that distance, through all +that wild country where you might lose yourself and perish alone? Oh, do +not think of it!” + +She listened, regarding me with some slight trouble in her eyes, but +smiling a little at the same time. Her small hand moved up my arm and +caressed my cheek; then she drew my face down to hers until our lips +met. But when I looked at her eyes again, I saw that she had not +consented to my wish. “Do I not know all the way now,” she spoke, “all +the mountains, rivers, forests--how should I lose myself? And I must +return quickly, not step by step, walking--resting, resting--walking, +stopping to cook and eat, stopping to gather firewood, to make a +shelter--so many things! Oh, I shall be back in half the time; and I +have so much to do.” + +“What can you have to do, love?--everything can be done when we are in +the wood together.” + +A bright smile with a touch of mockery in it flitted over her face as +she replied: “Oh, must I tell you that there are things you cannot do? +Look, Abel,” and she touched the slight garment she wore, thinner now +than at first, and dulled by long exposure to sun and wind and rain. + +I could not command her, and seemed powerless to persuade her; but I had +not done yet, and proceeded to use every argument I could find to bring +her round to my view; and when I finished she put her arms around my +neck and drew herself up once more. “O Abel, how happy I shall be!” she +said, taking no notice of all I had said. “Think of me alone, days and +days, in the wood, waiting for you, working all the time; saying: ‘Come +quickly, Abel; come slow, Abel. O Abel, how long you are! Oh, do not +come until my work is finished!’ And when it is finished and you arrive +you shall find me, but not at once. First you will seek for me in the +house, then in the wood, calling: ‘Rima! Rima!’ And she will be there, +listening, hid in the trees, wishing to be in your arms, wishing for +your lips--oh, so glad, yet fearing to show herself. Do you know why? +He told you--did he not?--that when he first saw her she was standing +before him all in white--a dress that was like snow on the mountain-tops +when the sun is setting and gives it rose and purple colour. I shall +be like that, hidden among the trees, saying: ‘Am I different--not like +Rima? Will he know me--will he love me just the same?’ Oh, do I not +know that you will be glad, and love me, and call me beautiful? Listen! +Listen!” she suddenly exclaimed, lifting her face. + +Among the bushes not far from the cave’s mouth a small bird had broken +out in song, a clear, tender melody soon taken up by other birds further +away. + +“It will soon be morning,” she said, and then clasped her arms about me +once more and held me in a long, passionate embrace; then slipping away +from my arms and with one swift glance at the sleeping old man, passed +out of the cave. + +For a few moments I remained sitting, not yet realizing that she had +left me, so suddenly and swiftly had she passed from my arms and my +sight; then, recovering my faculties, I started up and rushed out in +hopes of overtaking her. + +It was not yet dawn, but there was still some light from the full +moon, now somewhere behind the mountains. Running to the verge of the +bushgrown plateau, I explored the rocky slope beneath without seeing her +form, and then called: “Rima! Rima!” + +A soft, warbling sound, uttered by no bird, came up from the shadowy +bushes far below; and in that direction I ran on; then pausing, called +again. The sweet sound was repeated once more, but much lower down now, +and so faintly that I scarcely heard it. And when I went on further +and called again and again, there was no reply, and I knew that she had +indeed gone on that long journey alone. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +When Nuflo at length opened his eyes he found me sitting alone and +despondent by the fire, just returned from my vain chase. I had been +caught in a heavy mist on the mountain-side, and was wet through as well +as weighed down by fatigue and drowsiness, consequent upon the previous +day’s laborious march and my night-long vigil; yet I dared not think of +rest. She had gone from me, and I could not have prevented it; yet the +thought that I had allowed her to slip out of my arms, to go away alone +on that long, perilous journey, was as intolerable as if I had consented +to it. + +Nuflo was at first startled to hear of her sudden departure; but he +laughed at my fears, affirming that after having once been over the +ground she could not lose herself; that she would be in no danger from +the Indians, as she would invariably see them at a distance and avoid +them, and that wild beasts, serpents, and other evil creatures would do +her no harm. The small amount of food she required to sustain life could +be found anywhere; furthermore, her journey would not be interrupted +by bad weather, since rain and heat had no effect on her. In the end he +seemed pleased that she had left us, saying that with Rima in the wood +the house and cultivated patch and hidden provisions and implements +would be safe, for no Indian would venture to come where she was. His +confidence reassured me, and casting myself down on the sandy floor of +the cave, I fell into a deep slumber, which lasted until evening; then +I only woke to share a meal with the old man, and sleep again until the +following day. + +Nuflo was not ready to start yet; he was enamoured of the unaccustomed +comforts of a dry sleeping-place and a fire blown about by no wind and +into which fell no hissing raindrops. Not for two days more would he +consent to set out on the return journey, and if he could have persuaded +me our stay at Riolama would have lasted a week. + +We had fine weather at starting; but before long it clouded, and then +for upwards of a fortnight we had it wet and stormy, which so hindered +us that it took us twenty-three days to accomplish the return journey, +whereas the journey out had only taken eighteen. The adventures we +met with and the pains we suffered during this long march need not be +related. The rain made us miserable, but we suffered more from hunger +than from any other cause, and on more than one occasion were reduced to +the verge of starvation. Twice we were driven to beg for food at Indian +villages, and as we had nothing to give in exchange for it, we got +very little. It is possible to buy hospitality from the savage without +fish-hooks, nails, and calico; but on this occasion I found myself +without that impalpable medium of exchange which had been so great +a help to me on my first journey to Parahuari. Now I was weak and +miserable and without cunning. It is true that we could have exchanged +the two dogs for cassava bread and corn, but we should then have been +worse off than ever. And in the end the dogs saved us by an occasional +capture--an armadillo surprised in the open and seized before it could +bury itself in the soil, or an iguana, opossum, or labba, traced by +means of their keen sense of smell to its hiding-place. Then Nuflo would +rejoice and feast, rewarding them with the skin, bones, and entrails. +But at length one of the dogs fell lame, and Nuflo, who was very hungry, +made its lameness an excuse for dispatching it, which he did apparently +without compunction, notwithstanding that the poor brute had served +him well in its way. He cut up and smoke-dried the flesh, and the +intolerable pangs of hunger compelled me to share the loathsome food +with him. We were not only indecent, it seemed to me, but cannibals to +feed on the faithful servant that had been our butcher. “But what does +it matter?” I argued with myself. “All flesh, clean and unclean, should +be, and is, equally abhorrent to me, and killing animals a kind of +murder. But now I find myself constrained to do this evil thing that +good may come. Only to live I take it now--this hateful strength-giver +that will enable me to reach Rima, and the purer, better life that is to +be.” + +During all that time, when we toiled onwards league after league in +silence, or sat silent by the nightly fire, I thought of many things; +but the past, with which I had definitely broken, was little in my mind. +Rima was still the source and centre of all my thoughts; from her they +rose, and to her returned. Thinking, hoping, dreaming, sustained me in +those dark days and nights of pain and privation. Imagination was the +bread that gave me strength, the wine that exhilarated. What sustained +old Nuflo’s mind I know not. Probably it was like a chrysalis, dormant, +independent of sustenance; the bright-winged image to be called at some +future time to life by a great shouting of angelic hosts and noises of +musical instruments slept secure, coffined in that dull, gross nature. + +The old beloved wood once more! Never did his native village in some +mountain valley seem more beautiful to the Switzer, returning, war-worn, +from long voluntary exile, than did that blue cloud on the horizon--the +forest where Rima dwelt, my bride, my beautiful--and towering over +it the dark cone of Ytaioa, now seem to my hungry eyes! How near at +last--how near! And yet the two or three intervening leagues to be +traversed so slowly, step by step--how vast the distance seemed! Even at +far Riolama, when I set out on my return, I scarcely seemed so far from +my love. This maddening impatience told on my strength, which was small, +and hindered me. I could not run nor even walk fast; old Nuflo, slow, +and sober, with no flame consuming his heart, was more than my equal in +the end, and to keep up with him was all I could do. At the finish he +became silent and cautious, first entering the belt of trees leading +away through the low range of hills at the southern extremity of the +wood. For a mile or upwards we trudged on in the shade; then I began +to recognize familiar ground, the old trees under which I had walked +or sat, and knew that a hundred yards further on there would be a first +glimpse of the palm-leaf thatch. Then all weakness forsook me; with a +low cry of passionate longing and joy I rushed on ahead; but I strained +my eyes in vain for a sight of that sweet shelter; no patch of pale +yellow colour appeared amidst the universal verdure of bushes, creepers, +and trees--trees beyond trees, trees towering above trees. + +For some moments I could not realize it. No, I had surely made a +mistake, the house had not stood on that spot; it would appear in sight +a little further on. I took a few uncertain steps onwards, and then +again stood still, my brain reeling, my heart swelling nigh to bursting +with anguish. I was still standing motionless, with hand pressed to my +breast, when Nuflo overtook me. “Where is it--the house?” I stammered, +pointing with my hand. All his stolidity seemed gone now; he was +trembling too, his lips silently moving. At length he spoke: “They +have come--the children of hell have been here, and have destroyed +everything!” + +“Rima! What has become of Rima?” I cried; but without replying he walked +on, and I followed. + +The house, we soon found, had been burnt down. Not a stick remained. +Where it had stood a heap of black ashes covered the ground--nothing +more. But on looking round we could discover no sign of human beings +having recently visited the spot. A rank growth of grass and herbage now +covered the once clear space surrounding the site of the dwelling, and +the ash-heap looked as if it had been lying there for a month at least. +As to what had become of Rima the old man could say no word. He sat down +on the ground overwhelmed at the calamity: Runi’s people had been there, +he could not doubt it, and they would come again, and he could only look +for death at their hands. The thought that Rima had perished, that she +was lost, was unendurable. It could not be! No doubt the Indians tract +come and destroyed the house during our absence; but she had returned, +and they had gone away again to come no more. She would be somewhere in +the forest, perhaps not far off, impatiently waiting our return. The old +man stared at me while I spoke; he appeared to be in a kind of stupor, +and made no reply: and at last, leaving him still sitting on the ground, +I went into the wood to look for Rima. + +As I walked there, occasionally stopping to peer into some shadowy glade +or opening, and to listen, I was tempted again and again to call the +name of her I sought aloud; and still the fear that by so doing I might +bring some hidden danger on myself, perhaps on her, made me silent. A +strange melancholy rested on the forest, a quietude seldom broken by a +distant bird’s cry. How, I asked myself, should I ever find her in that +wide forest while I moved about in that silent, cautious way? My only +hope was that she would find me. It occurred to me that the most likely +place to seek her would be some of the old haunts known to us both, +where we had talked together. I thought first of the mora tree, where +she had hidden herself from me, and thither I directed my steps. About +this tree, and within its shade, I lingered for upwards of an hour; and, +finally, casting my eyes up into the great dim cloud of green and purple +leaves, I softly called: “Rima, Rima, if you have seen me, and have +concealed yourself from me in your hiding-place, in mercy answer me--in +mercy come down to me now!” But Rima answered not, nor threw down +any red glowing leaves to mock me: only the wind, high up, whispered +something low and sorrowful in the foliage; and turning, I wandered away +at random into the deeper shadows. + +By and by I was startled by the long, piercing cry of a wildfowl, +sounding strangely loud in the silence; and no sooner was the air still +again than it struck me that no bird had uttered that cry. The Indian +is a good mimic of animal voices, but practice had made me able to +distinguish the true from the false bird-note. For a minute or so I +stood still, at a loss what to do, then moved on again with greater +caution, scarcely breathing, straining my sight to pierce the shadowy +depths. All at once I gave a great start, for directly before me, on the +projecting root in the deeper shade of a tree, sat a dark, motionless +human form. I stood still, watching it for some time, not yet knowing +that it had seen me, when all doubts were put to flight by the form +rising and deliberately advancing--a naked Indian with a zabatana in +his hand. As he came up out of the deeper shade I recognized Piake, the +surly elder brother of my friend Kua-ko. + +It was a great shock to meet him in the wood, but I had no time to +reflect just then. I only remembered that I had deeply offended him and +his people, that they probably looked on me as an enemy, and would +think little of taking my life. It was too late to attempt to escape by +flight; I was spent with my long journey and the many privations I had +suffered, while he stood there in his full strength with a deadly weapon +in his hand. + +Nothing was left but to put a bold face on, greet him in a friendly way, +and invent some plausible story to account for my action in secretly +leaving the village. + +He was now standing still, silently regarding me, and glancing round +I saw that he was not alone: at a distance of about forty yards on my +right hand two other dusky forms appeared watching me from the deep +shade. + +“Piake!” I cried, advancing three or four steps. + +“You have returned,” he answered, but without moving. “Where from?” + +“Riolama.” + +He shook his head, then asked where it was. + +“Twenty days towards the setting sun,” I said. As he remained silent I +added: “I heard that I could find gold in the mountains there. An old +man told me, and we went to look for gold.” + +“What did you find?” + +“Nothing.” + +“Ah!” + +And so our conversation appeared to be at an end. But after a few +moments my intense desire to discover whether the savages knew aught of +Rima or not made me hazard a question. + +“Do you live here in the forest now?” I asked. + +He shook his head, and after a while said: “We come to kill animals.” + +“You are like me now,” I returned quickly; “you fear nothing.” + +He looked distrustfully at me, then came a little nearer and said: “You +are very brave. I should not have gone twenty days’ journey with no +weapons and only an old man for companion. What weapons did you have?” + +I saw that he feared me and wished to make sure that I had it not in +my power to do him some injury. “No weapon except my knife,” I replied, +with assumed carelessness. With that I raised my cloak so as to let him +see for himself, turning my body round before him. “Have you found my +pistol?” I added. + +He shook his head; but he appeared less suspicious now and came close up +to me. “How do you get food? Where are you going?” he asked. + +I answered boldly: “Food! I am nearly starving. I am going to the +village to see if the women have got any meat in the pot, and to tell +Runi all I have done since I left him.” + +He looked at me keenly, a little surprised at my confidence perhaps, +then said that he was also going back and would accompany me One of the +other men now advanced, blow-pipe in hand, to join us, and, leaving the +wood, we started to walk across the savannah. + +It was hateful to have to recross that savannah again, to leave the +woodland shadows where I had hoped to find Rima; but I was powerless: +I was a prisoner once more, the lost captive recovered and not yet +pardoned, probably never to be pardoned. Only by means of my own cunning +could I be saved, and Nuflo, poor old man, must take his chance. + +Again and again as we tramped over the barren ground, and when we +climbed the ridge, I was compelled to stand still to recover breath, +explaining to Piake that I had been travelling day and night, with no +meat during the last three days, so that I was exhausted. This was +an exaggeration, but it was necessary to account in some way for the +faintness I experienced during our walk, caused less by fatigue and want +of food than by anguish of mind. + +At intervals I talked to him, asking after all the other members of the +community by name. At last, thinking only of Rima, I asked him if any +other person or persons besides his people came to the wood now or lived +there. + +He said no. “Once,” I said, “there was a daughter of the Didi, a girl +you all feared: is she there now?” + +He looked at me with suspicion and then shook his head. I dared not +press him with more questions; but after an interval he said plainly: +“She is not there now.” + +And I was forced to believe him; for had Rima been in the wood +they would not have been there. She was not there, this much I had +discovered. Had she, then, lost her way, or perished on that long +journey from Riolama? Or had she returned only to fall into the hands +of her cruel enemies? My heart was heavy in me; but if these devils in +human shape knew more than they had told me, I must, I said, hide my +anxiety and wait patiently to find it out, should they spare my +life. And if they spared me and had not spared that other sacred life +interwoven with mine, the time would come when they would find, too +late, that they had taken to their bosom a worse devil than themselves. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +My arrival at the village created some excitement; but I was plainly no +longer regarded as a friend or one of the family. Runi was absent, and +I looked forward to his return with no little apprehension; he would +doubtless decide my fate. Kua-ko was also away. The others sat or stood +about the great room, staring at me in silence. I took no notice, but +merely asked for food, then for my hammock, which I hung up in the old +place, and lying down I fell into a doze. Runi made his appearance at +dusk. I rose and greeted him, but he spoke no word and, until he went to +his hammock, sat in sullen silence, ignoring my presence. + +On the following day the crisis came. We were once more gathered in the +room--all but Kua-ko and another of the men, who had not yet returned +from some expedition--and for the space of half an hour not a word +was spoken by anyone. Something was expected; even the children were +strangely still, and whenever one of the pet birds strayed in at the +open door, uttering a little plaintive note, it was chased out again, +but without a sound. At length Runi straightened himself on his seat and +fixed his eyes on me; then cleared his throat and began a long harangue, +delivered in the loud, monotonous singsong which I knew so well and +which meant that the occasion was an important one. And as is usual +in such efforts, the same thought and expressions were used again and +again, and yet again, with dull, angry insistence. The orator of Guayana +to be impressive must be long, however little he may have to say. +Strange as it may seem, I listened critically to him, not without a +feeling of scorn at his lower intelligence. But I was easier in my mind +now. From the very fact of his addressing such a speech to me I was +convinced that he wished not to take my life, and would not do so if I +could clear myself of the suspicion of treachery. + +I was a white man, he said, they were Indians; nevertheless they had +treated me well. They had fed me and sheltered me. They had done a +great deal for me: they had taught me the use of the zabatana, and had +promised to make one for me, asking for nothing in return. They had also +promised me a wife. How had I treated them? I had deserted them, going +away secretly to a distance, leaving them in doubt as to my intentions. +How could they tell why I had gone, and where? They had an enemy. Managa +was his name; he and his people hated them; I knew that he wished them +evil; I knew where to find him, for they had told me. That was what they +thought when I suddenly left them. Now I returned to them, saying that +I had been to Riolama. He knew where Riolama was, although he had never +been there: it was so far. Why did I go to Riolama? It was a bad place. +There were Indians there, a few; but they were not good Indians like +those of Parahuari, and would kill a white man. HAD I gone there? Why +had I gone there? + +He finished at last, and it was my turn to speak, but he had given me +plenty of time, and my reply was ready. “I have heard you,” I said. +“Your words are good words. They are the words of a friend. ‘I am the +white man’s friend,’ you say; ‘is he my friend? He went away secretly, +saying no word; why did he go without speaking to his friend who had +treated him well? Has he been to my enemy Managa? Perhaps he is a friend +of my enemy? Where has he been?’ I must now answer these things, saying +true words to my friend. You are an Indian, I am a white man. You do not +know all the white man’s thoughts. These are the things I wish to tell +you. In the white man’s country are two kinds of men. There are the rich +men, who have all that a man can desire--houses made of stone, full of +fine things, fine clothes, fine weapons, fine ornaments; and they have +horses, cattle, sheep, dogs--everything they desire. Because they have +gold, for with gold the white man buys everything. The other kind +of white men are the poor, who have no gold and cannot buy or have +anything: they must work hard for the rich man for the little food he +gives them, and a rag to cover their nakedness; and if he gives them +shelter they have it; if not they must lie down in the rain out of +doors. In my own country, a hundred days from here, I was the son of a +great chief, who had much gold, and when he died it was all mine, and I +was rich. But I had an enemy, one worse than Managa, for he was rich and +had many people. And in a war his people overcame mine, and he took my +gold, and all I possessed, making me poor. The Indian kills his enemy, +but the white man takes his gold, and that is worse than death. Then I +said: ‘I have been a rich man and now I am poor, and must work like a +dog for some rich man, for the sake of the little food he will throw me +at the end of each day. No, I cannot do it! I will go away and live with +the Indians, so that those who have seen me a rich man shall never see +me working like a dog for a master, and cry out and mock at me. For the +Indians are not like white men: they have no gold; they are not rich +and poor; all are alike. One roof covers them from the rain and sun. +All have weapons which they make; all kill birds in the forest and catch +fish in the rivers; and the women cook the meat and all eat from one +pot. And with the Indians I will be an Indian, and hunt in the forest +and eat with them and drink with them.’ Then I left my country and came +here, and lived with you, Runi, and was well treated. And now, why did +I go away? This I have now to tell you. After I had been here a certain +time I went over there to the forest. You wished me not to go, because +of an evil thing, a daughter of the Didi, that lived there; but I feared +nothing and went. There I met an old man, who talked to me in the white +man’s language. He had travelled and seen much, and told me one strange +thing. On a mountain at Riolama he told me that he had seen a great lump +of gold, as much as a man could carry. And when I heard this I said: +‘With the gold I could return to my country, and buy weapons for myself +and all my people and go to war with my enemy and deprive him of all his +possessions and serve him as he served me.’ I asked the old man to take +me to Riolama; and when he had consented I went away from here without +saying a word, so as not to be prevented. It is far to Riolama, and I +had no weapons; but I feared nothing. I said: ‘If I must fight I must +fight, and if I must be killed I must be killed.’ But when I got to +Riolama I found no gold. There was only a yellow stone which the old +man had mistaken for gold. It was yellow, like gold, but it would buy +nothing. Therefore I came back to Parahuari again, to my friend; and if +he is angry with me still because I went away without informing him, let +him say: ‘Go and seek elsewhere for a new friend, for I am your friend +no longer.’” + +I concluded thus boldly because I did not wish him to know that I had +suspected him of harbouring any sinister designs, or that I looked +on our quarrel as a very serious one. When I had finished speaking he +emitted a sound which expressed neither approval nor disapproval, but +only the fact that he had heard me. But I was satisfied. His expression +had undergone a favourable change; it was less grim. After a while +he remarked, with a peculiar twitching of the mouth which might have +developed into a smile: “The white man will do much to get gold. You +walked twenty days to see a yellow stone that would buy nothing.” It was +fortunate that he took this view of the case, which was flattering to +his Indian nature, and perhaps touched his sense of the ludicrous. At +all events, he said nothing to discredit my story, to which they had all +listened with profound interest. + +From that time it seemed to be tacitly agreed to let bygones be bygones; +and I could see that as the dangerous feeling that had threatened my +life diminished, the old pleasure they had once found in my company +returned. But my feelings towards them did not change, nor could they +while that black and terrible suspicion concerning Rima was in my heart. +I talked again freely with them, as if there had been no break in the +old friendly relations. If they watched me furtively whenever I went +out of doors, I affected not to see it. I set to work to repair my rude +guitar, which had been broken in my absence, and studied to show them +a cheerful countenance. But when alone, or in my hammock, hidden from +their eyes, free to look into my own heart, then I was conscious that +something new and strange had come into my life; that a new nature, +black and implacable, had taken the place of the old. And sometimes +it was hard to conceal this fury that burnt in me; sometimes I felt an +impulse to spring like a tiger on one of the Indians, to hold him fast +by the throat until the secret I wished to learn was forced from his +lips, then to dash his brains out against the stone. But they were many, +and there was no choice but to be cautious and patient if I wished to +outwit them with a cunning superior to their own. + +Three days after my arrival at the village, Kua-ko returned with his +companion. I greeted him with affected warmth, but was really pleased +that he was back, believing that if the Indians knew anything of Rima he +among them all would be most likely to tell it. + +Kua-ko appeared to have brought some important news, which he discussed +with Runi and the others; and on the following day I noticed that +preparations for an expedition were in progress. Spears and bows and +arrows were got ready, but not blow-pipes, and I knew by this that the +expedition would not be a hunting one. Having discovered so much, also +that only four men were going out, I called Kua-ko aside and begged him +to let me go with them. He seemed pleased at the proposal, and at once +repeated it to Runi, who considered for a little and then consented. + +By and by he said, touching his bow: “You cannot fight with our weapons; +what will you do if we meet an enemy?” + +I smiled and returned that I would not run away. All I wished to show +him was that his enemies were my enemies, that I was ready to fight for +my friend. + +He was pleased at my words, and said no more and gave me no weapons. +Next morning, however, when we set out before daylight, I made the +discovery that he was carrying my revolver fastened to his waist. He +had concealed it carefully under the one simple garment he wore, but it +bulged slightly, and so the secret was betrayed. I had never believed +that he had lost it, and I was convinced that he took it now with the +object of putting it into my hands at the last moment in case of meeting +with an enemy. + +From the village we travelled in a north-westerly direction, and before +noon camped in a grove of dwarf trees, where we remained until the sun +was low, then continued our walk through a rather barren country. At +night we camped again beside a small stream, only a few inches deep, +and after a meal of smoked meat and parched maize prepared to sleep till +dawn on the next day. + +Sitting by the fire I resolved to make a first attempt to discover from +Kua-ko anything concerning Rima which might be known to him. Instead +of lying down when the others did, I remained seated, my guardian also +sitting--no doubt waiting for me to lie down first. Presently I moved +nearer to him and began a conversation in a low voice, anxious not to +rouse the attention of the other men. + +“Once you said that Oalava would be given to me for a wife,” I began. +“Some day I shall want a wife.” + +He nodded approval, and remarked sententiously that the desire to +possess a wife was common to all men. + +“What has been left to me?” I said despondingly and spreading out my +hands. “My pistol gone, and did I not give Runi the tinder-box, and the +little box with a cock painted on it to you? I had no return--not even +the blow-pipe. How, then, can I get me a wife?” + +He, like the others--dull-witted savage that he was--had come to the +belief that I was incapable of the cunning and duplicity they practiced. +I could not see a green parrot sitting silent and motionless amidst the +green foliage as they could; I had not their preternatural keenness of +sight; and, in like manner, to deceive with lies and false seeming was +their faculty and not mine. He fell readily into the trap. My return to +practical subjects pleased him. He bade me hope that Oalava might yet be +mine in spite of my poverty. It was not always necessary to have things +to get a wife: to be able to maintain her was enough; some day I would +be like one of themselves, able to kill animals and catch fish. Besides, +did not Runi wish to keep me with them for other reasons? But he could +not keep me wifeless. I could do much: I could sing and make music; I +was brave and feared nothing; I could teach the children to fight. + +He did not say, however, that I could teach anything to one of his years +and attainments. + +I protested that he gave me too much praise, that they were just as +brave. Did they not show a courage equal to mine by going every day to +hunt in that wood which was inhabited by the daughter of the Didi? + +I came to this subject with fear and trembling, but he took it quietly. +He shook his head, and then all at once began to tell me how they first +came to go there to hunt. He said that a few days after I had secretly +disappeared, two men and a woman, returning home from a distant place +where they had been on a visit to a relation, stopped at the village. +These travellers related that two days’ journey from Ytaioa they had +met three persons travelling in an opposite direction: an old man with +a white beard, followed by two yellow dogs, a young man in a big cloak, +and a strange-looking girl. Thus it came to be known that I had left the +wood with the old man and the daughter of the Didi. It was great news to +them, for they did not believe that we had any intention of returning, +and at once they began to hunt in the wood, and went there every day, +killing birds, monkeys, and other animals in numbers. + +His words had begun to excite me greatly, but I studied to appear calm +and only slightly interested, so as to draw him on to say more. + +“Then we returned,” I said at last. “But only two of us, and not +together. I left the old man on the road, and SHE left us in Riolama. +She went away from us into the mountains--who knows whither!” + +“But she came back!” he returned, with a gleam of devilish satisfaction +in his eyes that made the blood run cold in my veins. + +It was hard to dissemble still, to tempt him to say something that +would madden me! “No, no,” I answered, after considering his words. “She +feared to return; she went away to hide herself in the great mountains +beyond Riolama. She could not come back.” + +“But she came back!” he persisted, with that triumphant gleam in his +eyes once more. Under my cloak my hand had clutched my knife-handle, but +I strove hard against the fierce, almost maddening impulse to pluck it +out and bury it, quick as lightning, in his accursed throat. + +He continued: “Seven days before you returned we saw her in the wood. We +were always expecting, watching, always afraid; and when hunting we were +three and four together. On that day I and three others saw her. It was +in an open place, where the trees are big and wide apart. We started +up and chased her when she ran from us, but feared to shoot. And in one +moment she climbed up into a small tree, then, like a monkey, passed +from its highest branches into a big tree. We could not see her there, +but she was there in the big tree, for there was no other tree near--no +way of escape. Three of us sat down to watch, and the other went back +to the village. He was long gone; we were just going to leave the tree, +fearing that she would do us some injury, when he came back, and with +him all the others, men, women, and children. They brought axes and +knives. Then Runi said: ‘Let no one shoot an arrow into the tree +thinking to hit her, for the arrow would be caught in her hand and +thrown back at him. We must burn her in the tree; there is no way to +kill her except by fire.’ Then we went round and round looking up, but +could see nothing; and someone said: ‘She has escaped, flying like a +bird from the tree’; but Runi answered that fire would show. So we cut +down the small tree and lopped the branches off and heaped them round +the big trunk. Then, at a distance, we cut down ten more small trees, +and afterwards, further away, ten more, and then others, and piled them +all round, tree after tree, until the pile reached as far from the trunk +as that,” and here he pointed to a bush forty to fifty yards from where +we sat. + +The feeling with which I had listened to this recital had become +intolerable. The sweat ran from me in streams; I shivered like a person +in a fit of ague, and clenched my teeth together to prevent them from +rattling. “I must drink,” I said, cutting him short and rising to my +feet. He also rose, but did not follow me, when, with uncertain steps, I +made my way to the waterside, which was ten or twelve yards away. Lying +prostrate on my chest, I took a long draught of clear cold water, and +held my face for a few moments in the current. It sent a chill through +me, drying my wet skin, and bracing me for the concluding part of the +hideous narrative. Slowly I stepped back to the fireside and sat down +again, while he resumed his old place at my side. + +“You burnt the tree down,” I said. “Finish telling me now and let me +sleep--my eyes are heavy.” + +“Yes. While the men cut and brought trees, the women and children +gathered dry stuff in the forest and brought it in their arms and piled +it round. Then they set fire to it on all sides, laughing and shouting: +‘Burn, burn, daughter of the Didi!’ At length all the lower branches of +the big tree were on fire, and the trunk was on fire, but above it was +still green, and we could see nothing. But the flames went up higher and +higher with a great noise; and at last from the top of the tree, out +of the green leaves, came a great cry, like the cry of a bird: ‘Abel! +Abel!’ and then looking we saw something fall; through leaves and smoke +and flame it fell like a great white bird killed with an arrow and +falling to the earth, and fell into the flames beneath. And it was the +daughter of the Didi, and she was burnt to ashes like a moth in the +flames of a fire, and no one has ever heard or seen her since.” + +It was well for me that he spoke rapidly, and finished quickly. +Even before he had quite concluded I drew my cloak round my face and +stretched myself out. And I suppose that he at once followed my example, +but I had grown blind and deaf to outward things just then. My heart no +longer throbbed violently; it fluttered and seemed to grow feebler and +feebler in its action: I remember that there was a dull, rushing sound +in my ears, that I gasped for breath, that my life seemed ebbing away. +After these horrible sensations had passed, I remained quiet for about +half an hour; and during this time the picture of that last act in the +hateful tragedy grew more and more distinct and vivid in my mind, until +I seemed to be actually gazing on it, until my ears were filled with the +hissing and crackling of the fire, the exultant shouts of the savages, +and above all the last piercing cry of “Abel! Abel!” from the cloud of +burning foliage. I could not endure it longer, and rose at last to my +feet. I glanced at Kua-ko lying two or three yards away, and he, like +the others, was, or appeared to be, in a deep sleep; he was lying on +his back, and his dark firelit face looked as still and unconscious as +a face of stone. Now was my chance to escape--if to escape was my wish. +Yes; for I now possessed the coveted knowledge, and nothing more was to +be gained by keeping with my deadly enemies. And now, most fortunately +for me, they had brought me far on the road to that place of the five +hills where Managa lived--Managa, whose name had been often in my +mind since my return to Parahuari. Glancing away from Kua-ko’s still +stone-like face. I caught sight of that pale solitary star which Runi +had pointed out to me low down in the north-western sky when I had asked +him where his enemy lived. In that direction we had been travelling +since leaving the village; surely if I walked all night, by tomorrow I +could reach Managa’s hunting-ground, and be safe and think over what I +had heard and on what I had to do. + +I moved softly away a few steps, then thinking that it would be well to +take a spear in my hand, I turned back, and was surprised and startled +to notice that Kua-ko had moved in the interval. He had turned over on +his side, and his face was now towards me. His eyes appeared closed, but +he might be only feigning sleep, and I dared not go back to pick up the +spear. After a moment’s hesitation I moved on again, and after a second +glance back and seeing that he did not stir, I waded cautiously across +the stream, walked softly twenty or thirty yards, and then began to run. +At intervals I paused to listen for a moment; and presently I heard a +pattering sound as of footsteps coming swiftly after me. I instantly +concluded that Kua-ko had been awake all the time watching my movements, +and that he was now following me. I now put forth my whole speed, and +while thus running could distinguish no sound. That he would miss me, +for it was very dark, although with a starry sky above, was my only +hope; for with no weapon except my knife my chances would be small +indeed should he overtake me. Besides, he had no doubt roused the others +before starting, and they would be close behind. There were no bushes +in that place to hide myself in and let them pass me; and presently, to +make matters worse, the character of the soil changed, and I was running +over level clayey ground, so white with a salt efflorescence that a +dark object moving on it would show conspicuously at a distance. Here +I paused to look back and listen, when distinctly came the sound of +footsteps, and the next moment I made out the vague form of an Indian +advancing at a rapid rate of speed and with his uplifted spear in his +hand. In the brief pause I had made he had advanced almost to within +hurling distance of me, and turning, I sped on again, throwing off my +cloak to ease my flight. The next time I looked back he was still in +sight, but not so near; he had stopped to pick up my cloak, which would +be his now, and this had given me a slight advantage. I fled on, and had +continued running for a distance perhaps of fifty yards when an object +rushed past me, tearing through the flesh of my left arm close to the +shoulder on its way; and not knowing that I was not badly wounded nor +how near my pursuer might be, I turned in desperation to meet him, +and saw him not above twenty-five yards away, running towards me with +something bright in his hand. It was Kua-ko, and after wounding me with +his spear he was about to finish me with his knife. O fortunate young +savage, after such a victory, and with that noble blue cloth cloak for +trophy and covering, what fame and happiness will be yours! A change +swift as lightning had come over me, a sudden exultation. I was wounded, +but my right hand was sound and clutched a knife as good as his, and +we were on an equality. I waited for him calmly. All weakness, grief, +despair had vanished, all feelings except a terrible raging desire to +spill his accursed blood; and my brain was clear and my nerves like +steel, and I remembered with something like laughter our old amusing +encounters with rapiers of wood. Ah, that was only making believe and +childish play; this was reality. Could any white man, deprived of his +treacherous, far-killing weapon, meet the resolute savage, face to face +and foot to foot, and equal him with the old primitive weapons? Poor +youth, this delusion will cost you dear! It was scarcely an equal +contest when he hurled himself against me, with only his savage strength +and courage to match my skill; in a few moments he was lying at my +feet, pouring out his life blood on that white thirsty plain. From his +prostrate form I turned, the wet, red knife in my hand, to meet the +others, still thinking that they were on the track and close at hand. +Why had he stooped to pick up the cloak if they were not following--if +he had not been afraid of losing it? I turned only to receive their +spears, to die with my face to them; nor was the thought of death +terrible to me; I could die calmly now after killing my first assailant. +But had I indeed killed him? I asked, hearing a sound like a groan +escape from his lips. Quickly stooping, I once more drove my weapon to +the hilt in his prostrate form, and when he exhaled a deep sigh, and his +frame quivered, and the blood spurted afresh, I experienced a feeling +of savage joy. And still no sound of hurrying footsteps came to my +listening ears and no vague forms appeared in the darkness. I concluded +that he had either left them sleeping or that they had not followed in +the right direction. Taking up the cloak, I was about to walk on, when +I noticed the spear he had thrown at me lying where it had fallen some +yards away, and picking that up also, I went on once more, still keeping +the guiding star before me. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +That good fight had been to me like a draught of wine, and made me for +a while oblivious of my loss and of the pain from my wound. But the glow +and feeling of exultation did not last: the lacerated flesh smarted; I +was weak from loss of blood, and oppressed with sensations of fatigue. +If my foes had appeared on the scene they would have made an easy +conquest of me; but they came not, and I continued to walk on, slowly +and painfully, pausing often to rest. + +At last, recovering somewhat from my faint condition, and losing all +fear of being overtaken, my sorrow revived in full force, and thought +returned to madden me. + +Alas! this bright being, like no other in its divine brightness, so long +in the making, now no more than a dead leaf, a little dust, lost and +forgotten for ever--oh, pitiless! Oh, cruel! + +But I knew it all before--this law of nature and of necessity, against +which all revolt is idle: often had the remembrance of it filled me with +ineffable melancholy; only now it seemed cruel beyond all cruelty. + +Not nature the instrument, not the keen sword that cuts into the +bleeding tissues, but the hand that wields it--the unseen unknown +something, or person, that manifests itself in the horrible workings of +nature. + +“Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that +moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the +stars, that you cried not to him? To me was your cry; but your poor, +frail fellow creature was not there to save, or, failing that, to cast +himself into the flames and perish with you, hating God.” + +Thus, in my insufferable pain, I spoke aloud; alone in that solitary +place, a bleeding fugitive in the dark night, looking up at the stars +I cursed the Author of my being and called on Him to take back the +abhorred gift of life. + +Yet, according to my philosophy, how vain it was! All my bitterness and +hatred and defiance were as empty, as ineffectual, as utterly futile, +as are the supplications of the meek worshipper, and no more than the +whisper of a leaf, the light whirr of an insect’s wing. Whether I loved +Him who was over all, as when I thanked Him on my knees for guiding +me to where I had heard so sweet and mysterious a melody, or hated and +defied Him as now, it all came from Him--love and hate, good and evil. + +But I know--I knew then--that in one thing my philosophy was false, that +it was not the whole truth; that though my cries did not touch nor come +near Him they would yet hurt me; and, just as a prisoner maddened at +his unjust fate beats against the stone walls of his cell until he falls +back bruised and bleeding to the floor, so did I wilfully bruise my own +soul, and knew that those wounds I gave myself would not heal. + +Of that night, the beginning of the blackest period of my life, I shall +say no more; and over subsequent events I shall pass quickly. + +Morning found me at a distance of many miles from the scene of my duel +with the Indian, in a broken, hilly country, varied with savannah and +open forest. I was well-nigh spent with my long march, and felt that +unless food was obtained before many hours my situation would be indeed +desperate. With labour I managed to climb to the summit of a hill about +three hundred feet high in order to survey the surrounding country, and +found that it was one of a group of five, and conjectured that these +were the five hills of Uritay and that I was in the neighbourhood of +Managa’s village. Coming down I proceeded to the next hill, which was +higher; and before reaching it came to a stream in a narrow valley +dividing the hills, and proceeding along its banks in search of a +crossing-place, I came full in sight of the settlement sought for. As I +approached, people were seen moving hurriedly about; and by the time I +arrived, walking slowly and painfully, seven or eight men were standing +before the village’ some with spears in their hands, the women and +children behind them, all staring curiously at me. Drawing near I cried +out in a somewhat feeble voice that I was seeking for Managa; whereupon +a gray-haired man stepped forth, spear in hand, and replied that he was +Managa, and demanded to know why I sought him. I told him a part of my +story--enough to show that I had a deadly feud with Runi, that I had +escaped from him after killing one of his people. + +I was taken in and supplied with food; my wound was examined and +dressed; and then I was permitted to lie down and sleep, while Managa, +with half a dozen of his people, hurriedly started to visit the scene of +my fight with Kua-ko, not only to verify my story, but partly with the +hope of meeting Runi. I did not see him again until the next morning, +when he informed me that he had found the spot where I had been +overtaken, that the dead man had been discovered by the others and +carried back towards Parahuari. He had followed the trace for some +distance, and he was satisfied that Runi had come thus far in the first +place only with the intention of spying on him. + +My arrival, and the strange tidings I had brought, had thrown the +village into a great commotion; it was evident that from that time +Managa lived in constant apprehension of a sudden attack from his old +enemy. This gave me great satisfaction; it was my study to keep the +feeling alive, and, more than that, to drop continual hints of his +enemy’s secret murderous purpose, until he was wrought up to a kind of +frenzy of mingled fear and rage. And being of a suspicious and somewhat +truculent temper, he one day all at once turned on me as the immediate +cause of his miserable state, suspecting perhaps that I only wished +to make an instrument of him. But I was strangely bold and careless of +danger then, and only mocked at his rage, telling him proudly that I +feared him not; that Runi, his mortal enemy and mine, feared not him but +me; that Runi knew perfectly well where I had taken refuge and would not +venture to make his meditated attack while I remained in his village, +but would wait for my departure. “Kill me, Managa,” I cried, smiting my +chest as I stood facing him. “Kill me, and the result will be that he +will come upon you unawares and murder you all, as he has resolved to do +sooner or later.” + +After that speech he glared at me in silence, then flung down the spear +he had snatched up in his sudden rage and stalked out of the house and +into the wood; but before long he was back again, seated in his old +place, brooding on my words with a face black as night. + +It is painful to recall that secret dark chapter of my life--that +period of moral insanity. But I wish not to be a hypocrite, conscious or +unconscious, to delude myself or another with this plea of insanity. My +mind was very clear just then; past and present were clear to me; the +future clearest of all: I could measure the extent of my action and +speculate on its future effect, and my sense of right or wrong--of +individual responsibility--was more vivid than at any other period of my +life. Can I even say that I was blinded by passion? Driven, perhaps, but +certainly not blinded. For no reaction, or submission, had followed on +that furious revolt against the unknown being, personal or not, that is +behind nature, in whose existence I believed. I was still in revolt: I +would hate Him, and show my hatred by being like Him, as He appears to +us reflected in that mirror of Nature. Had He given me good gifts--the +sense of right and wrong and sweet humanity? The beautiful sacred flower +He had caused to grow in me I would crush ruthlessly; its beauty and +fragrance and grace would be dead for ever; there was nothing evil, +nothing cruel and contrary to my nature, that I would not be guilty of, +glorying in my guilt. This was not the temper of a few days: I remained +for close upon two months at Managa’s village, never repenting nor +desisting in my efforts to induce the Indians to join me in that most +barbarous adventure on which my heart was set. + +I succeeded in the end; it would have been strange if I had not. The +horrible details need not be given. Managa did not wait for his enemy, +but fell on him unexpectedly, an hour after nightfall in his own +village. If I had really been insane during those two months, if some +cloud had been on me, some demoniacal force dragging me on, the cloud +and insanity vanished and the constraint was over in one moment, when +that hellish enterprise was completed. It was the sight of an old woman, +lying where she had been struck down, the fire of the blazing house +lighting her wide-open glassy eyes and white hair dabbled in blood, +which suddenly, as by a miracle, wrought this change in my brain. For +they were all dead at last, old and young, all who had lighted the fire +round that great green tree in which Rima had taken refuge, who had +danced round the blaze, shouting: “Burn! burn!” + +At the moment my glance fell on that prostrate form I paused and stood +still, trembling like a person struck with a sudden pang in the heart, +who thinks that his last moment has come to him unawares. After a +while I slunk away out of the great circle of firelight into the thick +darkness beyond. Instinctively I turned towards the forests across the +savannah--my forest again; and fled away from the noise and the sight +of flames, never pausing until I found myself within the black shadow +of the trees. Into the deeper blackness of the interior I dared not +venture; on the border I paused to ask myself what I did there alone in +the night-time. Sitting down, I covered my face with my hands as if to +hide it more effectually than it could be hidden by night and the forest +shadows. What horrible thing, what calamity that frightened my soul to +think of, had fallen on me? The revulsion of feeling, the unspeakable +horror, the remorse, was more than I could bear. I started up with a cry +of anguish, and would have slain myself to escape at that moment; but +Nature is not always and utterly cruel, and on this occasion she came to +my aid. Consciousness forsook me, and I lived not again until the light +of early morning was in the east; then found myself lying on the wet +herbage--wet with rain that had lately fallen. My physical misery was +now so great that it prevented me from dwelling on the scenes witnessed +on the previous evening. Nature was again merciful in this. I only +remembered that it was necessary to hide myself, in case the Indians +should be still in the neighbourhood and pay the wood a visit. Slowly +and painfully I crept away into the forest, and there sat for several +hours, scarcely thinking at all, in a half-stupefied condition. At noon +the sun shone out and dried the wood. I felt no hunger, only a +vague sense of bodily misery, and with it the fear that if I left my +hiding-place I might meet some human creature face to face. This fear +prevented me from stirring until the twilight came, when I crept forth +and made my way to the border of the forest, to spend the night there. +Whether sleep visited me during the dark hours or not I cannot say: +day and night my condition seemed the same; I experienced only a dull +sensation of utter misery which seemed in spirit and flesh alike, +an inability to think clearly, or for more than a few moments +consecutively, about anything. Scenes in which I had been principal +actor came and went, as in a dream when the will slumbers: now with +devilish ingenuity and persistence I was working on Managa’s mind; now +standing motionless in the forest listening for that sweet, mysterious +melody; now staring aghast at old Cla-cla’s wide-open glassy eyes and +white hair dabbled in blood; then suddenly, in the cave at Riolama, I +was fondly watching the slow return of life and colour to Rima’s still +face. + +When morning came again, I felt so weak that a vague fear of sinking +down and dying of hunger at last roused me and sent me forth in quest +of food. I moved slowly and my eyes were dim to see, but I knew so well +where to seek for small morsels--small edible roots and leaf-stalks, +berries, and drops of congealed gum--that it would have been strange in +that rich forest if I had not been able to discover something to stay my +famine. It was little, but it sufficed for the day. Once more Nature was +merciful to me; for that diligent seeking among the concealing leaves +left no interval for thought; every chance morsel gave a momentary +pleasure, and as I prolonged my search my steps grew firmer, the dimness +passed from my eyes. I was more forgetful of self, more eager, and like +a wild animal with no thought or feeling beyond its immediate wants. +Fatigued at the end, I fell asleep as soon as darkness brought my busy +rambles to a close, and did not wake until another morning dawned. + +My hunger was extreme now. The wailing notes of a pair of small birds, +persistently flitting round me, or perched with gaping bills and +wings trembling with agitation, served to remind me that it was now +breeding-time; also that Rima had taught me to find a small bird’s nest. +She found them only to delight her eyes with the sight; but they would +be food for me; the crystal and yellow fluid in the gem-like, white +or blue or red-speckled shells would help to keep me alive. All day I +hunted, listening to every note and cry, watching the motions of every +winged thing, and found, besides gums and fruits, over a score of nests +containing eggs, mostly of small birds, and although the labour was +great and the scratches many, I was well satisfied with the result. + +A few days later I found a supply of Haima gum, and eagerly began +picking it from the tree; not that it could be used, but the thought of +the brilliant light it gave was so strong in my mind that mechanically I +gathered it all. The possession of this gum, when night closed round +me again, produced in me an intense longing for artificial light and +warmth. The darkness was harder than ever to endure. I envied the +fireflies their natural lights, and ran about in the dusk to capture a +few and hold them in the hollow of my two hands, for the sake of their +cold, fitful flashes. On the following day I wasted two or three hours +trying to get fire in the primitive method with dry wood, but failed, +and lost much time, and suffered more than ever from hunger in +consequence. Yet there was fire in everything; even when I struck at +hard wood with my knife, sparks were emitted. If I could only arrest +those wonderful heat- and light-giving sparks! And all at once, as if I +had just lighted upon some new, wonderful truth, it occurred to me that +with my steel hunting-knife and a piece of flint fire could be obtained. +Immediately I set about preparing tinder with dry moss, rotten wood, and +wild cotton; and in a short time I had the wished fire, and heaped wood +dry and green on it to make it large. I nursed it well, and spent the +night beside it; and it also served to roast some huge white grubs which +I had found in the rotten wood of a prostrate trunk. The sight of these +great grubs had formerly disgusted me; but they tasted good to me now, +and stayed my hunger, and that was all I looked for in my wild forest +food. + +For a long time an undefined feeling prevented me from going near the +site of Nuflo’s burnt lodge. I went there at last; and the first thing I +did was to go all round the fatal spot, cautiously peering into the +rank herbage, as if I feared a lurking serpent; and at length, at some +distance from the blackened heap, I discovered a human skeleton, and +knew it to be Nuflo’s. In his day he had been a great armadillo-hunter, +and these quaint carrion-eaters had no doubt revenged themselves by +devouring his flesh when they found him dead--killed by the savages. + +Having once returned to this spot of many memories, I could not quit it +again; while my wild woodland life lasted, here must I have my lair, and +being here I could not leave that mournful skeleton above ground. With +labour I excavated a pit to bury it, careful not to cut or injure a +broad-leafed creeper that had begun to spread itself over the spot; and +after refilling the hole I drew the long, trailing stems over the mound. + +“Sleep well, old man,” said I, when my work was done; and these few +words, implying neither censure nor praise, was all the burial service +that old Nuflo had from me. + +I then visited the spot where the old man, assisted by me, had concealed +his provisions before starting for Riolama, and was pleased to find that +it had not been discovered by the Indians. Besides the store of tobacco +leaf, maize, pumpkin, potatoes, and cassava bread, and the cooking +utensils, I found among other things a chopper--a great acquisition, +since with it I would be able to cut down small palms and bamboos to +make myself a hut. + +The possession of a supply of food left me time for many things: time +in the first place to make my own conditions; doubtless after them +there would be further progression on the old lines--luxuries added to +necessaries; a healthful, fruitful life of thought and action combined; +and at last a peaceful, contemplative old age. + +I cleared away ashes and rubbish, and marked out the very spot where +Rima’s separate bower had been for my habitation, which I intended to +make small. In five days it was finished; then, after lighting a fire, +I stretched myself out in my dry bed of moss and leaves with a feeling +that was almost triumphant. Let the rain now fall in torrents, putting +out the firefly’s lamp; let the wind and thunder roar their loudest, and +the lightnings smite the earth with intolerable light, frightening the +poor monkeys in their wet, leafy habitations, little would I heed it +all on my dry bed, under my dry, palm-leaf thatch, with glorious fire to +keep me company and protect me from my ancient enemy, Darkness. + +From that first sleep under shelter I woke refreshed, and was not driven +by the cruel spur of hunger into the wet forest. The wished time had +come of rest from labour, of leisure for thought. Resting here, just +where she had rested, night by night clasping a visionary mother in her +arms, whispering tenderest words in a visionary ear, I too now clasped +her in my arms--a visionary Rima. How different the nights had seemed +when I was without shelter, before I had rediscovered fire! How had I +endured it? That strange ghostly gloom of the woods at night-time full +of innumerable strange shapes; still and dark, yet with something seen +at times moving amidst them, dark and vague and strange also--an owl, +perhaps, or bat, or great winged moth, or nightjar. Nor had I any choice +then but to listen to the night-sounds of the forest; and they were +various as the day-sounds, and for every day-sound, from the faintest +lisping and softest trill to the deep boomings and piercing cries, there +was an analogue; always with something mysterious, unreal in its tone, +something proper to the night. They were ghostly sounds, uttered by the +ghosts of dead animals; they were a hundred different things by +turns, but always with a meaning in them, which I vainly strove to +catch--something to be interpreted only by a sleeping faculty in us, +lightly sleeping, and now, now on the very point of awaking! + +Now the gloom and the mystery were shut out; now I had that which stood +in the place of pleasure to me, and was more than pleasure. It was a +mournful rapture to lie awake now, wishing not for sleep and oblivion, +hating the thought of daylight that would come at last to drown +and scare away my vision. To be with Rima again--my lost Rima +recovered--mine, mine at last! No longer the old vexing doubt now--“You +are you, and I am I--why is it?”--the question asked when our souls were +near together, like two raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly +nearer, ever nearer: for now they had touched and were not two, but one +inseparable drop, crystallized beyond change, not to be disintegrated by +time, nor shattered by death’s blow, nor resolved by any alchemy. + +I had other company besides this unfailing vision and the bright dancing +fire that talked to me in its fantastic fire language. It was my custom +to secure the door well on retiring; grief had perhaps chilled my blood, +for I suffered less from heat than from cold at this period, and the +fire seemed grateful all night long; I was also anxious to exclude all +small winged and creeping night-wanderers. But to exclude them entirely +proved impossible: through a dozen invisible chinks they would find +their way to me; also some entered by day to lie concealed until after +nightfall. A monstrous hairy hermit spider found an asylum in a dusky +corner of the hut, under the thatch, and day after day he was there, +all day long, sitting close and motionless; but at dark he invariably +disappeared--who knows on what murderous errand! His hue was a deep +dead-leaf yellow, with a black and grey pattern, borrowed from some wild +cat; and so large was he that his great outspread hairy legs, radiating +from the flat disk of his body, would have covered a man’s open hand. +It was easy to see him in my small interior; often in the night-time my +eyes would stray to his corner, never to encounter that strange hairy +figure; but daylight failed not to bring him. He troubled me; but now, +for Rima’s sake, I could slay no living thing except from motives of +hunger. I had it in my mind to injure him--to strike off one of his +legs, which would not be missed much, as they were many--so as to make +him go away and return no more to so inhospitable a place. But courage +failed me. He might come stealthily back at night to plunge his long, +crooked farces into my throat, poisoning my blood with fever and +delirium and black death. So I left him alone, and glanced furtively and +fearfully at him, hoping that he had not divined any thoughts; thus +we lived on unsocially together. More companionable, but still in an +uncomfortable way, were the large crawling, running insects--crickets, +beetles, and others. They were shapely and black and polished, and +ran about here and there on the floor, just like intelligent little +horseless carriages; then they would pause with their immovable eyes +fixed on me, seeing or in some mysterious way divining my presence; +their pliant horns waving up and down, like delicate instruments used to +test the air. Centipedes and millipedes in dozens came too, and were not +welcome. I feared not their venom, but it was a weariness to see them; +for they seemed no living things, but the vertebrae of snakes and eels +and long slim fishes, dead and desiccated, made to move mechanically +over walls and floor by means of some jugglery of nature. I grew skilful +at picking them up with a pair of pliant green twigs, to thrust them +into the outer darkness. + +One night a moth fluttered in and alighted on my hand as I sat by the +fire, causing me to hold my breath as I gazed on it. Its fore-wings +were pale grey, with shadings dark and light written all over in +finest characters with some twilight mystery or legend; but the round +under-wings were clear amber-yellow, veined like a leaf with red and +purple veins; a thing of such exquisite chaste beauty that the sight of +it gave me a sudden shock of pleasure. Very soon it flew up, circling +about, and finally lighted on the palm-leaf thatch directly over the +fire. The heat, I thought, would soon drive it from the spot; and, +rising, I opened the door, so that it might find its way out again +into its own cool, dark, flowery world. And standing by the open door I +turned and addressed it: “O night-wanderer of the pale, beautiful wings, +go forth, and should you by chance meet her somewhere in the shadowy +depths, revisiting her old haunts, be my messenger--” Thus much had I +spoken when the frail thing loosened its hold to fall without a flutter, +straight and swift, into the white blaze beneath. I sprang forward with +a shriek and stood staring into the fire, my whole frame trembling with +a sudden terrible emotion. Even thus had Rima fallen--fallen from the +great height--into the flames that instantly consumed her beautiful +flesh and bright spirit! O cruel Nature! + +A moth that perished in the flame; an indistinct faint sound; a dream +in the night; the semblance of a shadowy form moving mist-like in the +twilight gloom of the forest, would suddenly bring back a vivid memory, +the old anguish, to break for a while the calm of that period. It was +calm then after the storm. Nevertheless, my health deteriorated. I ate +little and slept little and grew thin and weak. When I looked down +on the dark, glassy forest pool, where Rima would look no more to see +herself so much better than in the small mirror of her lover’s pupil, it +showed me a gaunt, ragged man with a tangled mass of black hair +falling over his shoulders, the bones of his face showing through the +dead-looking, sun-parched skin, the sunken eyes with a gleam in them +that was like insanity. + +To see this reflection had a strangely disturbing effect on me. A +torturing voice would whisper in my ear: “Yes, you are evidently going +mad. By and by you will rush howling through the forest, only to drop +down at last and die; and no person will ever find and bury your bones. +Old Nuflo was more fortunate in that he perished first.” + +“A lying voice!” I retorted in sudden anger. “My faculties were never +keener than now. Not a fruit can ripen but I find it. If a small bird +darts by with a feather or straw in its bill I mark its flight, and +it will be a lucky bird if I do not find its nest in the end. Could a +savage born in the forest do more? He would starve where I find food!” + +“Ay, yes, there is nothing wonderful in that,” answered the voice. “The +stranger from a cold country suffers less from the heat, when days +are hottest, than the Indian who knows no other climate. But mark the +result! The stranger dies, while the Indian, sweating and gasping for +breath, survives. In like manner the low-minded savage, cut off from all +human fellowship, keeps his faculties to the end, while your finer brain +proves your ruin.” + +I cut from a tree a score of long, blunt thorns, tough and black as +whalebone, and drove them through a strip of wood in which I had burnt a +row of holes to receive them, and made myself a comb, and combed out my +long, tangled hair to improve my appearance. + +“It is not the tangled condition of your hair,” persisted the voice, +“but your eyes, so wild and strange in their expression, that show the +approach of madness. Make your locks as smooth as you like, and add a +garland of those scarlet, star-shaped blossoms hanging from the bush +behind you--crown yourself as you crowned old Cla-cla--but the crazed +look will remain just the same.” + +And being no longer able to reply, rage and desperation drove me to an +act which only seemed to prove that the hateful voice had prophesied +truly. Taking up a stone, I hurled it down on the water to shatter the +image I saw there, as if it had been no faithful reflection of myself, +but a travesty, cunningly made of enamelled clay or some other material, +and put there by some malicious enemy to mock me. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Many days had passed since the hut was made--how many may not be known, +since I notched no stick and knotted no cord--yet never in my rambles in +the wood had I seen that desolate ash-heap where the fire had done its +work. Nor had I looked for it. On the contrary, my wish was never to see +it, and the fear of coming accidentally upon it made me keep to the old +familiar paths. But at length, one night, without thinking of Rima’s +fearful end, it all at once occurred to me that the hated savage whose +blood I had shed on the white savannah might have only been practicing +his natural deceit when he told me that most pitiful story. If that were +so--if he had been prepared with a fictitious account of her death to +meet my questions--then Rima might still exist: lost, perhaps, wandering +in some distant place, exposed to perils day and night, and unable to +find her way back, but living still! Living! her heart on fire with +the hope of reunion with me, cautiously threading her way through the +undergrowth of immeasurable forests; spying out the distant villages +and hiding herself from the sight of all men, as she knew so well how +to hide; studying the outlines of distant mountains, to recognize some +familiar landmark at last, and so find her way back to the old wood once +more! Even now, while I sat there idly musing, she might be somewhere +in the wood--somewhere near me; but after so long an absence full of +apprehension, waiting in concealment for what tomorrow’s light might +show. + +I started up and replenished the fire with trembling hands, then set the +door open to let the welcoming stream out into the wood. But Rima had +done more; going out into the black forest in the pitiless storm, she +had found and led me home. Could I do less! I was quickly out in the +shadows of the wood. Surely it was more than a mere hope that made my +heart beat so wildly! How could a sensation so strangely sudden, so +irresistible in its power, possess me unless she were living and near? +Can it be, can it be that we shall meet again? To look again into your +divine eyes--to hold you again in my arms at last! I so changed--so +different! But the old love remains; and of all that has happened +in your absence I shall tell you nothing--not one word; all shall be +forgotten now--sufferings, madness, crime, remorse! Nothing shall +ever vex you again--not Nuflo, who vexed you every day; for he is dead +now--murdered, only I shall not say that--and I have decently buried his +poor old sinful bones. We alone together in the wood--OUR wood now! The +sweet old days again; for I know that you would not have it different, +nor would I. + +Thus I talked to myself, mad with the thoughts of the joy that would +soon be mine; and at intervals I stood still and made the forest echo +with my calls. “Rima! Rima!” I called again and again, and waited for +some response; and heard only the familiar night-sounds--voices of +insect and bird and tinkling tree-frog, and a low murmur in the topmost +foliage, moved by some light breath of wind unfelt below. I was drenched +with dew, bruised and bleeding from falls in the dark, and from rocks +and thorns and rough branches, but had felt nothing; gradually the +excitement burnt itself out; I was hoarse with shouting and ready to +drop down with fatigue, and hope was dead: and at length I crept back to +my hut, to cast myself on my grass bed and sink into a dull, miserable, +desponding stupor. + +But on the following morning I was out once more, determined to search +the forest well; since, if no evidence of the great fire Kua-ko had +described to me existed, it would still be possible to believe that +he had lied to me, and that Rima lived. I searched all day and found +nothing; but the area was large, and to search it thoroughly would +require several days. + +On the third day I discovered the fatal spot, and knew that never again +would I behold Rima in the flesh, that my last hope had indeed been +a vain one. There could be no mistake: just such an open place as the +Indian had pictured to me was here, with giant trees standing apart; +while one tree stood killed and blackened by fire, surrounded by a huge +heap, sixty or seventy yards across, of prostrate charred tree-trunks +and ashes. Here and there slender plants had sprung up through the +ashes, and the omnipresent small-leaved creepers were beginning to throw +their pale green embroidery over the blackened trunks. I looked long at +the vast funeral tree that had a buttressed girth of not less than fifty +feet, and rose straight as a ship’s mast, with its top about a hundred +and fifty feet from the earth. What a distance to fall, through burning +leaves and smoke, like a white bird shot dead with a poisoned arrow, +swift and straight into that sea of flame below! How cruel imagination +was to turn that desolate ash-heap, in spite of feathery foliage and +embroidery of creepers, into roaring leaping flames again--to bring +those dead savages back, men, women, and children--even the little ones +I had played with--to set them yelling around me: “Burn! burn!” Oh, no, +this damnable spot must not be her last resting-place! If the fire +had not utterly consumed her, bones as well as sweet tender flesh, +shrivelling her like a frail white-winged moth into the finest white +ashes, mixed inseparably with the ashes of stems and leaves innumerable, +then whatever remained of her must be conveyed elsewhere to be with me, +to mingle with my ashes at last. + +Having resolved to sift and examine the entire heap, I at once set about +my task. If she had climbed into the central highest branch, and had +fallen straight, then she would have dropped into the flames not far +from the roots; and so to begin I made a path to the trunk, and when +darkness overtook me I had worked all round the tree, in a width of +three to four yards, without discovering any remains. At noon on the +following day I found the skeleton, or, at all events, the larger bones, +rendered so fragile by the fierce heat they had been subjected to, that +they fell to pieces when handled. But I was careful--how careful!--to +save these last sacred relics, all that was now left of Rima!--kissing +each white fragment as I lifted it, and gathering them all in my old +frayed cloak, spread out to receive them. And when I had recovered them +all, even to the smallest, I took my treasure home. + +Another storm had shaken my soul, and had been succeeded by a second +calm, which was more complete and promised to be more enduring than the +first. But it was no lethargic calm; my brain was more active than ever; +and by and by it found a work for my hands to do, of such a character +as to distinguish me from all other forest hermits, fugitives from their +fellows, in that savage land. The calcined bones I had rescued were kept +in one of the big, rudely shaped, half-burnt earthen jars which Nuflo +had used for storing grain and other food-stuff. It was of a wood-ash +colour; and after I had given up my search for the peculiar fine clay he +had used in its manufacture--for it had been in my mind to make a more +shapely funeral urn myself--I set to work to ornament its surface. A +portion of each day was given to this artistic labour; and when the +surface was covered with a pattern of thorny stems, and a trailing +creeper with curving leaf and twining tendril, and pendent bud and +blossom, I gave it colour. Purples and black only were used, obtained +from the juices of some deeply coloured berries; and when a tint, or +shade, or line failed to satisfy me I erased it, to do it again; and +this so often that I never completed my work. I might, in the proudly +modest spirit of the old sculptors, have inscribed on the vase the +words: Abel was doing this. For was not my ideal beautiful like theirs, +and the best that my art could do only an imperfect copy--a rude sketch? +A serpent was represented wound round the lower portion of the jar, +dull-hued, with a chain of irregular black spots or blotches extending +along its body; and if any person had curiously examined these spots he +would have discovered that every other one was a rudely shaped letter, +and that the letters, by being properly divided, made the following +words: + +Sin vos y siu dios y mi. + +Words that to some might seem wild, even insane in their extravagance, +sung by some ancient forgotten poet; or possibly the motto of some +love-sick knight-errant, whose passion was consumed to ashes long +centuries ago. But not wild nor insane to me, dwelling alone on a vast +stony plain in everlasting twilight, where there was no motion, nor any +sound; but all things, even trees, ferns, and grasses, were stone. +And in that place I had sat for many a thousand years, drawn up and +motionless, with stony fingers clasped round my legs, and forehead +resting on my knees; and there would I sit, unmoving, immovable, for +many a thousand years to come--I, no longer I, in a universe where she +was not, and God was not. + +The days went by, and to others grouped themselves into weeks and +months; to me they were only days--not Saturday, Sunday, Monday, but +nameless. They were so many and their sum so great that all my previous +life, all the years I had existed before this solitary time, now looked +like a small island immeasurably far away, scarcely discernible, in the +midst of that endless desolate waste of nameless days. + +My stock of provisions had been so long consumed that I had forgotten +the flavour of pulse and maize and pumpkins and purple and sweet +potatoes. For Nuflo’s cultivated patch had been destroyed by the +savages--not a stem, not a root had they left: and I, like the sorrowful +man that broods on his sorrow and the artist who thinks only of his art, +had been improvident and had consumed the seed without putting a portion +into the ground. Only wild food, and too little of that, found with +much seeking and got with many hurts. Birds screamed at and scolded me; +branches bruised and thorns scratched me; and still worse were the angry +clouds of waspish things no bigger than flies. Buzz--buzz! Sting--sting! +A serpent’s tooth has failed to kill me; little do I care for your small +drops of fiery venom so that I get at the spoil--grubs and honey. My +white bread and purple wine! Once my soul hungered after knowledge; I +took delight in fine thoughts finely expressed; I sought them carefully +in printed books: now only this vile bodily hunger, this eager seeking +for grubs and honey, and ignoble war with little things! + +A bad hunter I proved after larger game. Bird and beast despised my +snares, which took me so many waking hours at night to invent, so many +daylight hours to make. Once, seeing a troop of monkeys high up in the +tall trees, I followed and watched them for a long time, thinking how +royally I should feast if by some strange unheard-of accident one +were to fall disabled to the ground and be at my mercy. But nothing +impossible happened, and I had no meat. What meat did I ever have except +an occasional fledgling, killed in its cradle, or a lizard, or small +tree-frog detected, in spite of its green colour, among the foliage? I +would roast the little green minstrel on the coals. Why not? Why should +he live to tinkle on his mandolin and clash his airy cymbals with no +appreciative ear to listen? Once I had a different and strange kind of +meat; but the starved stomach is not squeamish. I found a serpent coiled +up in my way in a small glade, and arming myself with a long stick, +I roused him from his siesta and slew him without mercy. Rima was not +there to pluck the rage from my heart and save his evil life. No coral +snake this, with slim, tapering body, ringed like a wasp with brilliant +colour; but thick and blunt, with lurid scales, blotched with black; +also a broad, flat, murderous head, with stony, ice-like, whity-blue +eyes, cold enough to freeze a victim’s blood in its veins and make it +sit still, like some wide-eyed creature carved in stone, waiting for +the sharp, inevitable stroke--so swift at last, so long in coming. “O +abominable flat head, with icy-cold, humanlike, fiend-like eyes, I shall +cut you off and throw you away!” And away I flung it, far enough in +all conscience: yet I walked home troubled with a fancy that somewhere, +somewhere down on the black, wet soil where it had fallen, through all +that dense, thorny tangle and millions of screening leaves, the white, +lidless, living eyes were following me still, and would always be +following me in all my goings and comings and windings about in the +forest. And what wonder? For were we not alone together in this dreadful +solitude, I and the serpent, eaters of the dust, singled out and +cursed above all cattle? HE would not have bitten me, and I--faithless +cannibal!--had murdered him. That cursed fancy would live on, worming +itself into every crevice of my mind; the severed head would grow and +grow in the night-time to something monstrous at last, the hellish +white lidless eyes increasing to the size of two full moons. “Murderer! +murderer!” they would say; “first a murderer of your own fellow +creatures--that was a small crime; but God, our enemy, had made them +in His image, and He cursed you; and we two were together, alone and +apart--you and I, murderer! you and I, murderer!” + +I tried to escape the tyrannous fancy by thinking of other things and by +making light of it. “The starved, bloodless brain,” I said, “has strange +thoughts.” I fell to studying the dark, thick, blunt body in my hands; +I noticed that the livid, rudely blotched, scaly surface showed in some +lights a lovely play of prismatic colours. And growing poetical, I said: +“When the wild west wind broke up the rainbow on the flying grey cloud +and scattered it over the earth, a fragment doubtless fell on this +reptile to give it that tender celestial tint. For thus it is Nature +loves all her children, and gives to each some beauty, little or much; +only to me, her hated stepchild, she gives no beauty, no grace. But +stay, am I not wronging her? Did not Rima, beautiful above all things, +love me well? said she not that I was beautiful?” + +“Ah, yes, that was long ago,” spoke the voice that mocked me by the pool +when I combed out my tangled hair. “Long ago, when the soul that looked +from your eyes was not the accursed thing it is now. Now Rima would +start at the sight of them; now she would fly in terror from their +insane expression.” + +“O spiteful voice, must you spoil even such appetite as I have for this +fork-tongued spotty food? You by day and Rima by night--what shall I +do--what shall I do?” + +For it had now come to this, that the end of each day brought not sleep +and dreams, but waking visions. Night by night, from my dry grass bed I +beheld Nuflo sitting in his old doubled-up posture, his big brown feet +close to the white ashes--sitting silent and miserable. I pitied him; I +owed him hospitality; but it seemed intolerable that he should be there. +It was better to shut my eyes; for then Rima’s arms would be round my +neck; the silky mist of her hair against my face, her flowery breath +mixing with my breath. What a luminous face was hers! Even with +closeshut eyes I could see it vividly, the translucent skin showing the +radiant rose beneath, the lustrous eyes, spiritual and passionate, dark +as purple wine under their dark lashes. Then my eyes would open wide. No +Rima in my arms! But over there, a little way back from the fire, just +beyond where old Nuflo had sat brooding a few minutes ago, Rima would +be standing, still and pale and unspeakably sad. Why does she come to me +from the outside darkness to stand there talking to me, yet never once +lifting her mournful eyes to mine? “Do not believe it, Abel; no, that +was only a phantom of your brain, the What-I-was that you remember so +well. For do you not see that when I come she fades away and is nothing? +Not that--do not ask it. I know that I once refused to look into your +eyes, and afterwards, in the cave at Riolama, I looked long and was +happy--unspeakably happy! But now--oh, you do not know what you ask; you +do not know the sorrow that has come into mine; that if you once beheld +it, for very sorrow you would die. And you must live. But I will wait +patiently, and we shall be together in the end, and see each other +without disguise. Nothing shall divide us. Only wish not for it soon; +think not that death will ease your pain, and seek it not. Austerities? +Good works? Prayers? They are not seen; they are not heard, they are +less-than nothing, and there is no intercession. I did not know it then, +but you knew it. Your life was your own; you are not saved nor judged! +acquit yourself--undo that which you have done, which Heaven cannot +undo--and Heaven will say no word nor will I. You cannot, Abel, you +cannot. That which you have done is done, and yours must be the penalty +and the sorrow--yours and mine--yours and mine--yours and mine.” + +This, too, was a phantom, a Rima of the mind, one of the shapes the +ever-changing black vapours of remorse and insanity would take; and +all her mournful sentences were woven out of my own brain. I was not +so crazed as not to know it; only a phantom, an illusion, yet more real +than reality--real as my crime and vain remorse and death to come. It +was, indeed, Rima returned to tell me that I that loved her had been +more cruel to her than her cruellest enemies; for they had but tortured +and destroyed her body with fire, while I had cast this shadow on +her soul--this sorrow transcending all sorrows, darker than death, +immitigable, eternal. + +If I could only have faded gradually, painlessly, growing feebler in +body and dimmer in my senses each day, to sink at last into sleep! But +it could not be. Still the fever in my brain, the mocking voice by day, +the phantoms by night; and at last I became convinced that unless I +quitted the forest before long, death would come to me in some terrible +shape. But in the feeble condition I was now in, and without any +provisions, to escape from the neighbourhood of Parahuari was +impossible, seeing that it was necessary at starting to avoid the +villages where the Indians were of the same tribe as Runi, who would +recognize me as the white man who was once his guest and afterwards his +implacable enemy. I must wait, and in spite of a weakened body and a +mind diseased, struggle still to wrest a scanty subsistence from wild +nature. + +One day I discovered an old prostrate tree, buried under a thick growth +of creeper and fern, the wood of which was nearly or quite rotten, as +I proved by thrusting my knife to the heft in it. No doubt it would +contain grubs--those huge, white wood-borers which now formed an +important item in my diet. On the following day I returned to the spot +with a chopper and a bundle of wedges to split the trunk up, but had +scarcely commenced operations when an animal, startled at my blows, +rushed or rather wriggled from its hiding-place under the dead wood at +a distance of a few yards from me. It was a robust, round-headed, +short-legged creature, about as big as a good-sized cat, and clothed +in a thick, greenish-brown fur. The ground all about was covered with +creepers, binding the ferns, bushes, and old dead branches together; and +in this confused tangle the animal scrambled and tore with a great show +of energy, but really made very little progress; and all at once it +flashed into my mind that it was a sloth--a common animal, but rarely +seen on the ground--with no tree near to take refuge in. The shock of +joy this discovery produced was great enough to unnerve me, and for some +moments I stood trembling, hardly able to breathe; then recovering I +hastened after it, and stunned it with a blow from my chopper on its +round head. + +“Poor sloth!” I said as I stood over it. “Poor old lazy-bones! Did Rima +ever find you fast asleep in a tree, hugging a branch as if you loved +it, and with her little hand pat your round, human-like head; and laugh +mockingly at the astonishment in your drowsy, waking eyes; and scold +you tenderly for wearing your nails so long, and for being so ugly? +Lazybones, your death is revenged! Oh, to be out of this wood--away from +this sacred place--to be anywhere where killing is not murder!” + +Then it came into my mind that I was now in possession of the supply of +food which would enable me to quit the wood. A noble capture! As much to +me as if a stray, migratory mule had rambled into the wood and found me, +and I him. Now I would be my own mule, patient, and long-suffering, and +far-going, with naked feet hardened to hoofs, and a pack of provender on +my back to make me independent of the dry, bitter grass on the sunburnt +savannahs. + +Part of that night and the next morning was spent in curing the flesh +over a smoky fire of green wood and in manufacturing a rough sack to +store it in, for I had resolved to set out on my journey. How safely to +convey Rima’s treasured ashes was a subject of much thought and anxiety. +The clay vessel on which I had expended so much loving, sorrowful labour +had to be left, being too large and heavy to carry; eventually I put the +fragments into a light sack; and in order to avert suspicion from the +people I would meet on the way, above the ashes I packed a layer of +roots and bulbs. These I would say contained medicinal properties, +known to the white doctors, to whom I would sell them on my arrival at +a Christian settlement, and with the money buy myself clothes to start +life afresh. + +On the morrow I would bid a last farewell to that forest of many +memories. And my journey would be eastwards, over a wild savage land of +mountains, rivers, and forests, where every dozen miles would be like a +hundred of Europe; but a land inhabited by tribes not unfriendly to the +stranger. And perhaps it would be my good fortune to meet with Indians +travelling east who would know the easiest routes; and from time to time +some compassionate voyager would let me share his wood-skin, and many +leagues would be got over without weariness, until some great river, +flowing through British or Dutch Guiana, would be reached; and so on, +and on, by slow or swift stages, with little to eat perhaps, with much +labour and pain, in hot sun and in storm, to the Atlantic at last, and +towns inhabited by Christian men. + +In the evening of that day, after completing my preparations, I supped +on the remaining portions of the sloth, not suitable for preservation, +roasting bits of fat on the coals and boiling the head and bones into a +broth; and after swallowing the liquid I crunched the bones and sucked +the marrow, feeding like some hungry carnivorous animal. + +Glancing at the fragments scattered on the floor, I remembered old +Nuflo, and how I had surprised him at his feast of rank coatimundi in +his secret retreat. “Nuflo, old neighbour,” said I, “how quiet you are +under your green coverlet, spangled just now with yellow flowers! It +is no sham sleep, old man, I know. If any suspicion of these curious +doings, this feast of flesh on a spot once sacred, could flit like a +small moth into your mouldy hollow skull you would soon thrust out your +old nose to sniff the savour of roasting fat once more.” + +There was in me at that moment an inclination to laughter; it came +to nothing, but affected me strangely, like an impulse I had not +experienced since boyhood--familiar, yet novel. After the good-night to +my neighbour, I tumbled into my straw and slept soundly, animal-like. No +fancies and phantoms that night: the lidless, white, implacable eyes +of the serpent’s severed head were turned to dust at last; no sudden +dream-glare lighted up old Cla-cla’s wrinkled dead face and white, +blood-dabbled locks; old Nuflo stayed beneath his green coverlet; nor +did my mournful spirit-bride come to me to make my heart faint at the +thought of immortality. + +But when morning dawned again, it was bitter to rise up and go away for +ever from that spot where I had often talked with Rima--the true and +the visionary. The sky was cloudless and the forest wet as if rain had +fallen; it was only a heavy dew, and it made the foliage look pale and +hoary in the early light. And the light grew, and a whispering wind +sprung as I walked through the wood; and the fast-evaporating moisture +was like a bloom on the feathery fronds and grass and rank herbage; but +on the higher foliage it was like a faint iridescent mist--a glory above +the trees. The everlasting beauty and freshness of nature was over all +again, as I had so often seen it with joy and adoration before grief and +dreadful passions had dimmed my vision. And now as I walked, murmuring +my last farewell, my eyes grew dim again with the tears that gathered to +them. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Before that well-nigh hopeless journey to the coast was half over I +became ill--so ill that anyone who had looked on me might well have +imagined that I had come to the end of my pilgrimage. That was what I +feared. For days I remained sunk in the deepest despondence; then, in a +happy moment, I remembered how, after being bitten by the serpent, when +death had seemed near and inevitable, I had madly rushed away through +the forest in search of help, and wandered lost for hours in the storm +and darkness, and in the end escaped death, probably by means of these +frantic exertions. The recollection served to inspire me with a new +desperate courage. Bidding good-bye to the Indian village where the +fever had smitten me, I set out once more on that apparently hopeless +adventure. Hopeless, indeed, it seemed to one in my weak condition. My +legs trembled under me when I walked, while hot sun and pelting rain +were like flame and stinging ice to my morbidly sensitive skin. + +For many days my sufferings were excessive, so that I often wished +myself back in that milder purgatory of the forest, from which I had +been so anxious to escape. When I try to retrace my route on the map, +there occurs a break here--a space on the chart where names of rivers +and mountains call up no image to my mind, although, in a few +cases, they were names I seem to have heard in a troubled dream. The +impressions of nature received during that sick period are blurred, or +else so coloured and exaggerated by perpetual torturing anxiety, mixed +with half-delirious night-fancies, that I can only think of that country +as an earthly inferno, where I fought against every imaginable obstacle, +alternately sweating and freezing, toiling as no man ever toiled before. +Hot and cold, cold and hot, and no medium. Crystal waters; green shadows +under coverture of broad, moist leaves; and night with dewy fanning +winds--these chilled but did not refresh me; a region in which there was +no sweet and pleasant thing; where even the ita palm and mountain glory +and airy epiphyte starring the woodland twilight with pendent blossoms +had lost all grace and beauty; where all brilliant colours in earth and +heaven were like the unmitigated sun that blinded my sight and burnt my +brain. Doubtless I met with help from the natives, otherwise I do not +see how I could have continued my journey; yet in my dim mental picture +of that period I see myself incessantly dogged by hostile savages. They +flit like ghosts through the dark forest; they surround me and cut off +all retreat, until I burst through them, escaping out of their very +hands, to fly over some wide, naked savannah, hearing their shrill, +pursuing yells behind me, and feeling the sting of their poisoned arrows +in my flesh. + +This I set down to the workings of remorse in a disordered mind and to +clouds of venomous insects perpetually shrilling in my ears and stabbing +me with their small, fiery needles. + +Not only was I pursued by phantom savages and pierced by phantom arrows, +but the creations of the Indian imagination had now become as real to +me as anything in nature. I was persecuted by that superhuman man-eating +monster supposed to be the guardian of the forest. In dark, silent +places he is lying in wait for me: hearing my slow, uncertain footsteps +he starts up suddenly in my path, outyelling the bearded aguaratos in +the trees; and I stand paralysed, my blood curdled in my veins. His +huge, hairy arms are round me; his foul, hot breath is on my skin; he +will tear my liver out with his great green teeth to satisfy his raging +hunger. Ah, no, he cannot harm me! For every ravening beast, every +cold-blooded, venomous thing, and even the frightful Curupita, half +brute and half devil, that shared the forest with her, loved and +worshipped Rima, and that mournful burden I carried, her ashes, was a +talisman to save me. He has left me, the semi-human monster, uttering +such wild, lamentable cries as he hurries away into the deeper, darker +woods that horror changes to grief, and I, too, lament Rima for +the first time: a memory of all the mystic, unimaginable grace and +loveliness and joy that had vanished smites on my heart with such +sudden, intense pain that I cast myself prone on the earth and weep +tears that are like drops of blood. + +Where in the rude savage heart of Guiana was this region where the +natural obstacles and pain and hunger and thirst and everlasting +weariness were terrible enough without the imaginary monsters and +legions of phantoms that peopled it, I cannot say. Nor can I conjecture +how far I strayed north or south from my course. I only know that +marshes that were like Sloughs of Despond, and barren and wet savannahs, +were crossed; and forests that seemed infinite in extent and never to +be got through; and scores of rivers that boiled round the sharp rocks, +threatening to submerge or dash in pieces the frail bark canoe--black +and frightful to look on as rivers in hell; and nameless mountain after +mountain to be toiled round or toiled over. I may have seen Roraima +during that mentally clouded period. I vaguely remember a far-extending +gigantic wall of stone that seemed to bar all further progress--a rocky +precipice rising to a stupendous height, seen by moonlight, with a huge +sinuous rope of white mist suspended from its summit; as if the guardian +camoodi of the mountain had been a league-long spectral serpent which +was now dropping its coils from the mighty stone table to frighten away +the rash intruder. + +That spectral moonlight camoodi was one of many serpent fancies that +troubled me. There was another, surpassing them all, which attended +me many days. When the sun grew hot overhead and the way was over open +savannah country, I would see something moving on the ground at my side +and always keeping abreast of me. A small snake, one or two feet long. +No, not a small snake, but a sinuous mark in the pattern on a huge +serpent’s head, five or six yards long, always moving deliberately at +my side. If a cloud came over the sun, or a fresh breeze sprang up, +gradually the outline of that awful head would fade and the well-defined +pattern would resolve itself into the motlings on the earth. But if the +sun grew more and more hot and dazzling as the day progressed, then the +tremendous ophidian head would become increasingly real to my sight, +with glistening scales and symmetrical markings; and I would walk +carefully not to stumble against or touch it; and when I cast my eyes +behind me I could see no end to its great coils extending across the +savannah. Even looking back from the summit of a high hill I could +see it stretching leagues and leagues away through forests and rivers, +across wide plains, valleys and mountains, to lose itself at last in the +infinite blue distance. + +How or when this monster left me--washed away by cold rains perhaps--I +do not know. Probably it only transformed itself into some new shape, +its long coils perhaps changing into those endless processions and +multitudes of pale-faced people I seem to remember having encountered. +In my devious wanderings I must have reached the shores of the +undiscovered great White Lake, and passed through the long shining +streets of Manoa, the mysterious city in the wilderness. I see myself +there, the wide thoroughfare filled from end to end with people gaily +dressed as if for some high festival, all drawing aside to let the +wretched pilgrim pass, staring at his fever- and famine-wasted figure, +in its strange rags, with its strange burden. + +A new Ahasuerus, cursed by inexpiable crime, yet sustained by a great +purpose. + +But Ahasuerus prayed ever for death to come to him and ran to meet +it, while I fought against it with all my little strength. Only at +intervals, when the shadows seemed to lift and give me relief, would +I pray to Death to spare me yet a little longer; but when the shadows +darkened again and hope seemed almost quenched in utter gloom, then I +would curse it and defy its power. Through it all I clung to the belief +that my will would conquer, that it would enable me to keep off the +great enemy from my worn and suffering body until the wished goal was +reached; then only would I cease to fight and let death have its way. +There would have been comfort in this belief had it not been for that +fevered imagination which corrupted everything that touched me and gave +it some new hateful character. For soon enough this conviction that the +will would triumph grew to something monstrous, a parent of monstrous +fancies. Worst of all, when I felt no actual pain, but only unutterable +weariness of body and soul, when feet and legs were numb so that I knew +not whether I trod on dry hot rock or in slime, was the fancy that I was +already dead, so far as the body was concerned--had perhaps been dead +for days--that only the unconquerable will survived to compel the dead +flesh to do its work. + +Whether it really was will--more potent than the bark of barks and wiser +than the physicians--or merely the vis medicatrix with which nature +helps our weakness even when the will is suspended, that saved me +I cannot say; but it is certain that I gradually recovered health, +physical and mental, and finally reached the coast comparatively well, +although my mind was still in a gloomy, desponding state when I first +walked the streets of Georgetown, in rags, half-starved and penniless. + +But even when well, long after the discovery that my flesh was not only +alive, but that it was of an exceedingly tough quality, the idea born +during the darkest period of my pilgrimage, that die I must, persisted +in my mind. I had lived through that which would have killed most +men--lived only to accomplish the one remaining purpose of my life. Now +it was accomplished; the sacred ashes brought so far, with such infinite +labour, through so many and such great perils, were safe and would mix +with mine at last. There was nothing more in life to make me love it or +keep me prisoner in its weary chains. This prospect of near death +faded in time; love of life returned, and the earth had recovered its +everlasting freshness and beauty; only that feeling about Rima’s ashes +did not fade or change, and is as strong now as it was then. Say that it +is morbid--call it superstition if you like; but there it is, the most +powerful motive I have known, always in all things to be taken into +account--a philosophy of life to be made to fit it. Or take it as a +symbol, since that may come to be one with the thing symbolized. In +those darkest days in the forest I had her as a visitor--a Rima of the +mind, whose words when she spoke reflected my despair. Yet even then I +was not entirely without hope. Heaven itself, she said, could not undo +that which I had done; and she also said that if I forgave myself, +Heaven would say no word, nor would she. That is my philosophy still: +prayers, austerities, good works--they avail nothing, and there is no +intercession, and outside of the soul there is no forgiveness in heaven +or earth for sin. Nevertheless there is a way, which every soul can find +out for itself--even the most rebellious, the most darkened with crime +and tormented by remorse. In that way I have walked; and, self-forgiven +and self-absolved, I know that if she were to return once more and +appear to me--even here where her ashes are--I know that her divine eyes +would no longer refuse to look into mine, since the sorrow which seemed +eternal and would have slain me to see would not now be in them. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Green Mansions, by W. H. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/942-0.zip b/942-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5297820 --- /dev/null +++ b/942-0.zip diff --git a/942-h.zip b/942-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fdfb790 --- /dev/null +++ b/942-h.zip diff --git a/942-h/942-h.htm b/942-h/942-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51a4105 --- /dev/null +++ b/942-h/942-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9585 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Green Mansions, by W. H. Hudson + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Green Mansions, by W. H. Hudson + +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: Green Mansions + A Romance of the Tropical Forest + +Author: W. H. Hudson + +Release Date: July 26, 2008 [EBook #942] +Last Updated: October 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREEN MANSIONS *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + GREEN MANSIONS + </h1> + <h2> + A Romance of the Tropical Forest + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by W. H. Hudson + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FORE"> FOREWORD </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>GREEN MANSIONS</b> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PROL"> PROLOGUE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_FORE" id="link2H_FORE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + FOREWORD + </h2> + <p> + I take up pen for this foreword with the fear of one who knows that he + cannot do justice to his subject, and the trembling of one who would not, + for a good deal, set down words unpleasing to the eye of him who wrote + Green Mansions, The Purple Land, and all those other books which have + meant so much to me. For of all living authors—now that Tolstoi has + gone I could least dispense with W. H. Hudson. Why do I love his writing + so? I think because he is, of living writers that I read, the rarest + spirit, and has the clearest gift of conveying to me the nature of that + spirit. Writers are to their readers little new worlds to be explored; and + each traveller in the realms of literature must needs have a favourite + hunting-ground, which, in his good will—or perhaps merely in his + egoism—he would wish others to share with him. + </p> + <p> + The great and abiding misfortunes of most of us writers are twofold: We + are, as worlds, rather common tramping-ground for our readers, rather tame + territory; and as guides and dragomans thereto we are too superficial, + lacking clear intimacy of expression; in fact—like guide or dragoman—we + cannot let folk into the real secrets, or show them the spirit, of the + land. + </p> + <p> + Now, Hudson, whether in a pure romance like this Green Mansions, or in + that romantic piece of realism The Purple Land, or in books like Idle Days + in Patagonia, Afoot in England, The Land’s End, Adventures among Birds, A + Shepherd’s Life, and all his other nomadic records of communings with men, + birds, beasts, and Nature, has a supreme gift of disclosing not only the + thing he sees but the spirit of his vision. Without apparent effort he + takes you with him into a rare, free, natural world, and always you are + refreshed, stimulated, enlarged, by going there. + </p> + <p> + He is of course a distinguished naturalist, probably the most acute, + broad-minded, and understanding observer of Nature living. And this, in an + age of specialism, which loves to put men into pigeonholes and label them, + has been a misfortune to the reading public, who seeing the label + Naturalist, pass on, and take down the nearest novel. Hudson has indeed + the gifts and knowledge of a Naturalist, but that is a mere fraction of + his value and interest. A really great writer such as this is no more to + be circumscribed by a single word than America by the part of it called + New York. The expert knowledge which Hudson has of Nature gives to all his + work backbone and surety of fibre, and to his sense of beauty an intimate + actuality. But his real eminence and extraordinary attraction lie in his + spirit and philosophy. We feel from his writings that he is nearer to + Nature than other men, and yet more truly civilized. The competitive, + towny culture, the queer up-to-date commercial knowingness with which we + are so busy coating ourselves simply will not stick to him. A passage in + his Hampshire Days describes him better than I can: “The blue sky, the + brown soil beneath, the grass, the trees, the animals, the wind, and rain, + and stars are never strange to me; for I am in and of and am one with + them; and my flesh and the soil are one, and the heat in my blood and in + the sunshine are one, and the winds and the tempests and my passions are + one. I feel the ‘strangeness’ only with regard to my fellow men, + especially in towns, where they exist in conditions unnatural to me, but + congenial to them.... In such moments we sometimes feel a kinship with, + and are strangely drawn to, the dead, who were not as these; the long, + long dead, the men who knew not life in towns, and felt no strangeness in + sun and wind and rain.” This unspoiled unity with Nature pervades all his + writings; they are remote from the fret and dust and pettiness of town + life; they are large, direct, free. It is not quite simplicity, for the + mind of this writer is subtle and fastidious, sensitive to each motion of + natural and human life; but his sensitiveness is somehow different from, + almost inimical to, that of us others, who sit indoors and dip our pens in + shades of feeling. Hudson’s fancy is akin to the flight of the birds that + are his special loves—it never seems to have entered a house, but + since birth to have been roaming the air, in rain and sun, or visiting the + trees and the grass. I not only disbelieve utterly, but intensely dislike, + the doctrine of metempsychosis, which, if I understand it aright, seems + the negation of the creative impulse, an apotheosis of staleness—nothing + quite new in the world, never anything quite new—not even the soul + of a baby; and so I am not prepared to entertain the whim that a bird was + one of his remote incarnations; still, in sweep of wing, quickness of eye, + and natural sweet strength of song he is not unlike a super-bird—which + is a horrid image. And that reminds me: This, after all, is a foreword to + Green Mansions—the romance of the bird-girl Rima—a story + actual yet fantastic, which immortalizes, I think, as passionate a love of + all beautiful things as ever was in the heart of man. Somewhere Hudson + says: “The sense of the beautiful is God’s best gift to the human soul.” + So it is: and to pass that gift on to others, in such measure as herein is + expressed, must surely have been happiness to him who wrote Green + Mansions. In form and spirit the book is unique, a simple romantic + narrative transmuted by sheer glow of beauty into a prose poem. Without + ever departing from its quality of a tale, it symbolizes the yearning of + the human soul for the attainment of perfect love and beauty in this life—that + impossible perfection which we must all learn to see fall from its high + tree and be consumed in the flames, as was Rima the bird-girl, but whose + fine white ashes we gather that they may be mingled at last with our own, + when we too have been refined by the fire of death’s resignation. The book + is soaked through and through with a strange beauty. I will not go on + singing its praises, or trying to make it understood, because I have other + words to say of its author. + </p> + <p> + Do we realize how far our town life and culture have got away from things + that really matter; how instead of making civilization our handmaid to + freedom we have set her heel on our necks, and under it bite dust all the + time? Hudson, whether he knows it or not, is now the chief standard-bearer + of another faith. Thus he spake in The Purple Land: “Ah, yes, we are all + vainly seeking after happiness in the wrong way. It was with us once and + ours, but we despised it, for it was only the old common happiness which + Nature gives to all her children, and we went away from it in search of + another grander kind of happiness which some dreamer—Bacon or + another—assured us we should find. We had only to conquer Nature, + find out her secrets, make her our obedient slave, then the Earth would be + Eden, and every man Adam and every woman Eve. We are still marching + bravely on, conquering Nature, but how weary and sad we are getting! The + old joy in life and gaiety of heart have vanished, though we do sometimes + pause for a few moments in our long forced march to watch the labours of + some pale mechanician, seeking after perpetual motion, and indulge in a + little, dry, cackling laugh at his expense.” And again: “For here the + religion that languishes in crowded cities or steals shamefaced to hide + itself in dim churches flourishes greatly, filling the soul with a solemn + joy. Face to face with Nature on the vast hills at eventide, who does not + feel himself near to the Unseen? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Out of his heart God shall not pass + His image stamped is on every grass.” + </pre> + <p> + All Hudson’s books breathe this spirit of revolt against our new + enslavement by towns and machinery, and are true oases in an age so + dreadfully resigned to the “pale mechanician.” + </p> + <p> + But Hudson is not, as Tolstoi was, a conscious prophet; his spirit is + freer, more willful, whimsical—almost perverse—and far more + steeped in love of beauty. If you called him a prophet he would stamp his + foot at you—as he will at me if he reads these words; but his voice + is prophetic, for all that, crying in a wilderness, out of which, at the + call, will spring up roses here and there, and the sweet-smelling grass. I + would that every man, woman, and child in England were made to read him; + and I would that you in America would take him to heart. He is a tonic, a + deep refreshing drink, with a strange and wonderful flavour; he is a mine + of new interests, and ways of thought instinctively right. As a simple + narrator he is well-nigh unsurpassed; as a stylist he has few, if any, + living equals. And in all his work there is an indefinable freedom from + any thought of after-benefit—even from the desire that we should + read him. He puts down what he sees and feels, out of sheer love of the + thing seen, and the emotion felt; the smell of the lamp has not touched a + single page that he ever wrote. That alone is a marvel to us who know that + to write well, even to write clearly, is a wound business, long to learn, + hard to learn, and no gift of the angels. Style should not obtrude between + a writer and his reader; it should be servant, not master. To use words so + true and simple that they oppose no obstacle to the flow of thought and + feeling from mind to mind, and yet by juxtaposition of word-sounds set up + in the recipient continuing emotion or gratification—this is the + essence of style; and Hudson’s writing has pre-eminently this double + quality. From almost any page of his books an example might be taken. Here + is one no better than a thousand others, a description of two little girls + on a beach: “They were dressed in black frocks and scarlet blouses, which + set off their beautiful small dark faces; their eyes sparkled like black + diamonds, and their loose hair was a wonder to see, a black mist or cloud + about their heads and necks composed of threads fine as gossamer, blacker + than jet and shining like spun glass—hair that looked as if no comb + or brush could ever tame its beautiful wildness. And in spirit they were + what they seemed: such a wild, joyous, frolicsome spirit, with such grace + and fleetness, one does not look for in human beings, but only in birds or + in some small bird-like volatile mammal—a squirrel or a + spider-monkey of the tropical forest, or the chinchilla of the desolate + mountain slopes; the swiftest, wildest, loveliest, most airy, and most + vocal of small beauties.” Or this, as the quintessence of a sly remark: + “After that Mantel got on to his horse and rode away. It was black and + rainy, but he had never needed moon or lantern to find what he sought by + night, whether his own house, or a fat cow—also his own, perhaps.” + So one might go on quoting felicity for ever from this writer. He seems to + touch every string with fresh and uninked fingers; and the secret of his + power lies, I suspect, in the fact that his words: “Life being more than + all else to me. . .” are so utterly true. + </p> + <p> + I do not descant on his love for simple folk and simple things, his + championship of the weak, and the revolt against the cagings and cruelties + of life, whether to men or birds or beasts, that springs out of him as if + against his will; because, having spoken of him as one with a vital + philosophy or faith, I don’t wish to draw red herrings across the main + trail of his worth to the world. His work is a vision of natural beauty + and of human life as it might be, quickened and sweetened by the sun and + the wind and the rain, and by fellowship with all the other forms of life—the + truest vision now being given to us, who are more in want of it than any + generation has ever been. A very great writer; and—to my thinking—the + most valuable our age possesses. + </p> + <p> + JOHN GALSWORTHY + </p> + <p> + September 1915 Manaton: Devon + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + GREEN MANSIONS + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PROL" id="link2H_PROL"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PROLOGUE + </h2> + <p> + It is a cause of very great regret to me that this task has taken so much + longer a time than I had expected for its completion. It is now many + months—over a year, in fact—since I wrote to Georgetown + announcing my intention of publishing, IN A VERY FEW MONTHS, the whole + truth about Mr. Abel. Hardly less could have been looked for from his + nearest friend, and I had hoped that the discussion in the newspapers + would have ceased, at all events, until the appearance of the promised + book. It has not been so; and at this distance from Guiana I was not aware + of how much conjectural matter was being printed week by week in the local + press, some of which must have been painful reading to Mr. Abel’s friends. + A darkened chamber, the existence of which had never been suspected in + that familiar house in Main Street, furnished only with an ebony stand on + which stood a cinerary urn, its surface ornamented with flower and leaf + and thorn, and winding through it all the figure of a serpent; an + inscription, too, of seven short words which no one could understand or + rightly interpret; and finally the disposal of the mysterious ashes—that + was all there was relating to an untold chapter in a man’s life for + imagination to work on. Let us hope that now, at last, the romance-weaving + will come to an end. It was, however, but natural that the keenest + curiosity should have been excited; not only because of that peculiar and + indescribable charm of the man, which all recognized and which won all + hearts, but also because of that hidden chapter—that sojourn in the + desert, about which he preserved silence. It was felt in a vague way by + his intimates that he had met with unusual experiences which had + profoundly affected him and changed the course of his life. To me alone + was the truth known, and I must now tell, briefly as possible, how my + great friendship and close intimacy with him came about. + </p> + <p> + When, in 1887, I arrived in Georgetown to take up an appointment in a + public office, I found Mr. Abel an old resident there, a man of means and + a favourite in society. Yet he was an alien, a Venezuelan, one of that + turbulent people on our border whom the colonists have always looked on as + their natural enemies. The story told to me was that about twelve years + before that time he had arrived at Georgetown from some remote district in + the interior; that he had journeyed alone on foot across half the + continent to the coast, and had first appeared among them, a young + stranger, penniless, in rags, wasted almost to a skeleton by fever and + misery of all kinds, his face blackened by long exposure to sun and wind. + Friendless, with but little English, it was a hard struggle for him to + live; but he managed somehow, and eventually letters from Caracas informed + him that a considerable property of which he had been deprived was once + more his own, and he was also invited to return to his country to take his + part in the government of the Republic. But Mr. Abel, though young, had + already outlived political passions and aspirations, and, apparently, even + the love of his country; at all events, he elected to stay where he was—his + enemies, he would say smilingly, were his best friends—and one of + the first uses he made of his fortune was to buy that house in Main Street + which was afterwards like a home to me. + </p> + <p> + I must state here that my friend’s full name was Abel Guevez de Argensola, + but in his early days in Georgetown he was called by his Christian name + only, and later he wished to be known simply as “Mr. Abel.” + </p> + <p> + I had no sooner made his acquaintance than I ceased to wonder at the + esteem and even affection with which he, a Venezuelan, was regarded in + this British colony. All knew and liked him, and the reason of it was the + personal charm of the man, his kindly disposition, his manner with women, + which pleased them and excited no man’s jealousy—not even the old + hot-tempered planter’s, with a very young and pretty and light-headed wife—his + love of little children, of all wild creatures, of nature, and of + whatsoever was furthest removed from the common material interests and + concerns of a purely commercial community. The things which excited other + men—politics, sport, and the price of crystals—were outside of + his thoughts; and when men had done with them for a season, when like the + tempest they had “blown their fill” in office and club-room and house and + wanted a change, it was a relief to turn to Mr. Abel and get him to + discourse of his world—the world of nature and of the spirit. + </p> + <p> + It was, all felt, a good thing to have a Mr. Abel in Georgetown. That it + was indeed good for me I quickly discovered. I had certainly not expected + to meet in such a place with any person to share my tastes—that love + of poetry which has been the chief passion and delight of my life; but + such a one I had found in Mr. Abel. It surprised me that he, suckled on + the literature of Spain, and a reader of only ten or twelve years of + English literature, possessed a knowledge of our modern poetry as intimate + as my own, and a love of it equally great. This feeling brought us + together and made us two—the nervous olive-skinned Hispano-American + of the tropics and the phlegmatic blue-eyed Saxon of the cold north—one + in spirit and more than brothers. Many were the daylight hours we spent + together and “tired the sun with talking”; many, past counting, the + precious evenings in that restful house of his where I was an almost daily + guest. I had not looked for such happiness; nor, he often said, had he. A + result of this intimacy was that the vague idea concerning his hidden + past, that some unusual experience had profoundly affected him and perhaps + changed the whole course of his life, did not diminish, but, on the + contrary, became accentuated, and was often in my mind. The change in him + was almost painful to witness whenever our wandering talk touched on the + subject of the aborigines, and of the knowledge he had acquired of their + character and languages when living or travelling among them; all that + made his conversation most engaging—the lively, curious mind, the + wit, the gaiety of spirit tinged with a tender melancholy—appeared + to fade out of it; even the expression of his face would change, becoming + hard and set, and he would deal you out facts in a dry mechanical way as + if reading them in a book. It grieved me to note this, but I dropped no + hint of such a feeling, and would never have spoken about it but for a + quarrel which came at last to make the one brief solitary break in that + close friendship of years. I got into a bad state of health, and Abel was + not only much concerned about it, but annoyed, as if I had not treated him + well by being ill, and he would even say that I could get well if I wished + to. I did not take this seriously, but one morning, when calling to see me + at the office, he attacked me in a way that made me downright angry with + him. He told me that indolence and the use of stimulants was the cause of + my bad health. He spoke in a mocking way, with a presence of not quite + meaning it, but the feeling could not be wholly disguised. Stung by his + reproaches, I blurted out that he had no right to talk to me, even in fun, + in such a way. Yes, he said, getting serious, he had the best right—that + of our friendship. He would be no true friend if he kept his peace about + such a matter. Then, in my haste, I retorted that to me the friendship + between us did not seem so perfect and complete as it did to him. One + condition of friendship is that the partners in it should be known to each + other. He had had my whole life and mind open to him, to read it as in a + book. HIS life was a closed and clasped volume to me. + </p> + <p> + His face darkened, and after a few moments’ silent reflection he got up + and left me with a cold good-bye, and without that hand-grasp which had + been customary between us. + </p> + <p> + After his departure I had the feeling that a great loss, a great calamity, + had befallen me, but I was still smarting at his too candid criticism, all + the more because in my heart I acknowledged its truth. And that night, + lying awake, I repented of the cruel retort I had made, and resolved to + ask his forgiveness and leave it to him to determine the question of our + future relations. But he was beforehand with me, and with the morning came + a letter begging my forgiveness and asking me to go that evening to dine + with him. + </p> + <p> + We were alone, and during dinner and afterwards, when we sat smoking and + sipping black coffee in the veranda, we were unusually quiet, even to + gravity, which caused the two white-clad servants that waited on us—the + brown-faced subtle-eyed old Hindu butler and an almost blue-black young + Guiana Negro—to direct many furtive glances at their master’s face. + They were accustomed to see him in a more genial mood when he had a friend + to dine. To me the change in his manner was not surprising: from the + moment of seeing him I had divined that he had determined to open the shut + and clasped volume of which I had spoken—that the time had now come + for him to speak. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + Now that we are cool, he said, and regret that we hurt each other, I am + not sorry that it happened. I deserved your reproach: a hundred times I + have wished to tell you the whole story of my travels and adventures among + the savages, and one of the reasons which prevented me was the fear that + it would have an unfortunate effect on our friendship. That was precious, + and I desired above everything to keep it. But I must think no more about + that now. I must think only of how I am to tell you my story. I will begin + at a time when I was twenty-three. It was early in life to be in the thick + of politics, and in trouble to the extent of having to fly my country to + save my liberty, perhaps my life. + </p> + <p> + Every nation, someone remarks, has the government it deserves, and + Venezuela certainly has the one it deserves and that suits it best. We + call it a republic, not only because it is not one, but also because a + thing must have a name; and to have a good name, or a fine name, is very + convenient—especially when you want to borrow money. If the + Venezuelans, thinly distributed over an area of half a million square + miles, mostly illiterate peasants, half-breeds, and indigenes, were + educated, intelligent men, zealous only for the public weal, it would be + possible for them to have a real republic. They have instead a government + by cliques, tempered by revolution; and a very good government it is, in + harmony with the physical conditions of the country and the national + temperament. Now, it happens that the educated men, representing your + higher classes, are so few that there are not many persons unconnected by + ties of blood or marriage with prominent members of the political groups + to which they belong. By this you will see how easy and almost inevitable + it is that we should become accustomed to look on conspiracy and revolt + against the regnant party—the men of another clique—as only in + the natural order of things. In the event of failure such outbreaks are + punished, but they are not regarded as immoral. On the contrary, men of + the highest intelligence and virtue among us are seen taking a leading + part in these adventures. Whether such a condition of things is + intrinsically wrong or not, or would be wrong in some circumstances and is + not wrong, because inevitable, in others, I cannot pretend to decide; and + all this tiresome profusion is only to enable you to understand how I—a + young man of unblemished character, not a soldier by profession, not + ambitious of political distinction, wealthy for that country, popular in + society, a lover of social pleasures, of books, of nature actuated, as I + believed, by the highest motives, allowed myself to be drawn very readily + by friends and relations into a conspiracy to overthrow the government of + the moment, with the object of replacing it by more worthy men— ourselves, + to wit. + </p> + <p> + Our adventure failed because the authorities got wind of the affair and + matters were precipitated. Our leaders at the moment happened to be + scattered over the country—some were abroad; and a few hotheaded men + of the party, who were in Caracas just then and probably feared arrest, + struck a rash blow: the President was attacked in the street and wounded. + But the attackers were seized, and some of them shot on the following day. + When the news reached me I was at a distance from the capital, staying + with a friend on an estate he owned on the River Quebrada Honda, in the + State of Guarico, some fifteen to twenty miles from the town of Zaraza. My + friend, an officer in the army, was a leader in the conspiracy; and as I + was the only son of a man who had been greatly hated by the Minister of + War, it became necessary for us both to fly for our lives. In the + circumstances we could not look to be pardoned, even on the score of + youth. + </p> + <p> + Our first decision was to escape to the sea-coast; but as the risk of a + journey to La Guayra, or any other port of embarkation on the north side + of the country, seemed too great, we made our way in a contrary direction + to the Orinoco, and downstream to Angostura. Now, when we had reached this + comparatively safe breathing-place—safe, at all events, for the + moment—I changed my mind about leaving or attempting to leave the + country. Since boyhood I had taken a very peculiar interest in that vast + and almost unexplored territory we possess south of the Orinoco, with its + countless unmapped rivers and trackless forests; and in its savage + inhabitants, with their ancient customs and character, unadulterated by + contact with Europeans. To visit this primitive wilderness had been a + cherished dream; and I had to some extent even prepared myself for such an + adventure by mastering more than one of the Indian dialects of the + northern states of Venezuela. And now, finding myself on the south side of + our great river, with unlimited time at my disposal, I determined to + gratify this wish. My companion took his departure towards the coast, + while I set about making preparations and hunting up information from + those who had travelled in the interior to trade with the savages. I + decided eventually to go back upstream and penetrate to the interior in + the western part of Guayana, and the Amazonian territory bordering on + Colombia and Brazil, and to return to Angostura in about six months’ time. + I had no fear of being arrested in the semi-independent and in most part + savage region, as the Guayana authorities concerned themselves little + enough about the political upheavals at Caracas. + </p> + <p> + The first five or six months I spent in Guayana, after leaving the city of + refuge, were eventful enough to satisfy a moderately adventurous spirit. A + complaisant government employee at Angostura had provided me with a + passport, in which it was set down (for few to read) that my object in + visiting the interior was to collect information concerning the native + tribes, the vegetable products of the country, and other knowledge which + would be of advantage to the Republic; and the authorities were requested + to afford me protection and assist me in my pursuits. I ascended the + Orinoco, making occasional expeditions to the small Christian settlements + in the neighbourhood of the right bank, also to the Indian villages; and + travelling in this way, seeing and learning much, in about three months I + reached the River Metal. During this period I amused myself by keeping a + journal, a record of personal adventures, impressions of the country and + people, both semi-civilized and savage; and as my journal grew, I began to + think that on my return at some future time to Caracas, it might prove + useful and interesting to the public, and also procure me fame; which + thought proved pleasurable and a great incentive, so that I began to + observe things more narrowly and to study expression. But the book was not + to be. + </p> + <p> + From the mouth of the Meta I journeyed on, intending to visit the + settlement of Atahapo, where the great River Guaviare, with other rivers, + empties itself into the Orinoco. But I was not destined to reach it, for + at the small settlement of Manapuri I fell ill of a low fever; and here + ended the first half-year of my wanderings, about which no more need be + told. + </p> + <p> + A more miserable place than Manapuri for a man to be ill of a low fever in + could not well be imagined. The settlement, composed of mean hovels, with + a few large structures of mud, or plastered wattle, thatched with palm + leaves, was surrounded by water, marsh, and forest, the breeding-place of + myriads of croaking frogs and of clouds of mosquitoes; even to one in + perfect health existence in such a place would have been a burden. The + inhabitants mustered about eighty or ninety, mostly Indians of that + degenerate class frequently to be met with in small trading outposts. The + savages of Guayana are great drinkers, but not drunkards in our sense, + since their fermented liquors contain so little alcohol that inordinate + quantities must be swallowed to produce intoxication; in the settlements + they prefer the white man’s more potent poisons, with the result that in a + small place like Manapuri one can see enacted, as on a stage, the last act + in the great American tragedy. To be succeeded, doubtless, by other and + possibly greater tragedies. My thoughts at that period of suffering were + pessimistic in the extreme. Sometimes, when the almost continuous rain + held up for half a day, I would manage to creep out a short distance; but + I was almost past making any exertion, scarcely caring to live, and taking + absolutely no interest in the news from Caracas, which reached me at long + intervals. At the end of two months, feeling a slight improvement in my + health, and with it a returning interest in life and its affairs, it + occurred to me to get out my diary and write a brief account of my sojourn + at Manapuri. I had placed it for safety in a small deal box, lent to me + for the purpose by a Venezuelan trader, an old resident at the settlement, + by name Pantaleon—called by all Don Panta—one who openly kept + half a dozen Indian wives in his house, and was noted for his dishonesty + and greed, but who had proved himself a good friend to me. The box was in + a corner of the wretched palm-thatched hovel I inhabited; but on taking it + out I discovered that for several weeks the rain had been dripping on it, + and that the manuscript was reduced to a sodden pulp. I flung it upon the + floor with a curse and threw myself back on my bed with a groan. + </p> + <p> + In that desponding state I was found by my friend Panta, who was constant + in his visits at all hours; and when in answer to his anxious inquiries I + pointed to the pulpy mass on the mud floor, he turned it over with his + foot, and then, bursting into a loud laugh, kicked it out, remarking that + he had mistaken the object for some unknown reptile that had crawled in + out of the rain. He affected to be astonished that I should regret its + loss. It was all a true narrative, he exclaimed; if I wished to write a + book for the stay-at-homes to read, I could easily invent a thousand lies + far more entertaining than any real experiences. He had come to me, he + said, to propose something. He had lived twenty years at that place, and + had got accustomed to the climate, but it would not do for me to remain + any longer if I wished to live. I must go away at once to a different + country—to the mountains, where it was open and dry. “And if you + want quinine when you are there,” he concluded, “smell the wind when it + blows from the south-west, and you will inhale it into your system, fresh + from the forest.” When I remarked despondingly that in my condition it + would be impossible to quit Manapuri, he went on to say that a small party + of Indians was now in the settlement; that they had come, not only to + trade, but to visit one of their own tribe, who was his wife, purchased + some years ago from her father. “And the money she cost me I have never + regretted to this day,” said he, “for she is a good wife not jealous,” he + added, with a curse on all the others. These Indians came all the way from + the Queneveta mountains, and were of the Maquiritari tribe. He, Panta, + and, better still, his good wife would interest them on my behalf, and for + a suitable reward they would take me by slow, easy stages to their own + country, where I would be treated well and recover my health. + </p> + <p> + This proposal, after I had considered it well, produced so good an effect + on me that I not only gave a glad consent, but, on the following day, I + was able to get about and begin the preparations for my journey with some + spirit. + </p> + <p> + In about eight days I bade good-bye to my generous friend Panta, whom I + regarded, after having seen much of him, as a kind of savage beast that + had sprung on me, not to rend, but to rescue from death; for we know that + even cruel savage brutes and evil men have at times sweet, beneficent + impulses, during which they act in a way contrary to their natures, like + passive agents of some higher power. It was a continual pain to travel in + my weak condition, and the patience of my Indians was severely taxed; but + they did not forsake me; and at last the entire distance, which I + conjectured to be about sixty-five leagues, was accomplished; and at the + end I was actually stronger and better in every way than at the start. + From this time my progress towards complete recovery was rapid. The air, + with or without any medicinal virtue blown from the cinchona trees in the + far-off Andean forest, was tonic; and when I took my walks on the hillside + above the Indian village, or later when able to climb to the summits, the + world as seen from those wild Queneveta mountains had a largeness and + varied glory of scenery peculiarly refreshing and delightful to the soul. + </p> + <p> + With the Maquiritari tribe I passed some weeks, and the sweet sensations + of returning health made me happy for a time; but such sensations seldom + outlast convalescence. I was no sooner well again than I began to feel a + restless spirit stirring in me. The monotony of savage life in this place + became intolerable. After my long listless period the reaction had come, + and I wished only for action, adventure—no matter how dangerous; and + for new scenes, new faces, new dialects. In the end I conceived the idea + of going on to the Casiquiare river, where I would find a few small + settlements, and perhaps obtain help from the authorities there which + would enable me to reach the Rio Negro. For it was now in my mind to + follow that river to the Amazons, and so down to Para and the Atlantic + coast. + </p> + <p> + Leaving the Queneveta range, I started with two of the Indians as guides + and travelling companions; but their journey ended only half-way to the + river I wished to reach; and they left me with some friendly savages + living on the Chunapay, a tributary of the Cunucumana, which flows to the + Orinoco. Here I had no choice but to wait until an opportunity of + attaching myself to some party of travelling Indians going south-west + should arrive; for by this time I had expended the whole of my small + capital in ornaments and calico brought from Manapuri, so that I could no + longer purchase any man’s service. And perhaps it will be as well to state + at this point just what I possessed. For some time I had worn nothing but + sandals to protect my feet; my garments consisted of a single suit, and + one flannel shirt, which I washed frequently, going shirtless while it was + drying. Fortunately I had an excellent blue cloth cloak, durable and + handsome, given to me by a friend at Angostura, whose prophecy on + presenting it, that it would outlast ME, very nearly came true. It served + as a covering by night, and to keep a man warm and comfortable when + travelling in cold and wet weather no better garment was ever made. I had + a revolver and metal cartridge-box in my broad leather belt, also a good + hunting-knife with strong buckhorn handle and a heavy blade about nine + inches long. In the pocket of my cloak I had a pretty silver tinder-box, + and a match-box—to be mentioned again in this narrative—and + one or two other trifling objects; these I was determined to keep until + they could be kept no longer. + </p> + <p> + During the tedious interval of waiting on the Chunapay I was told a + flattering tale by the village Indians, which eventually caused me to + abandon the proposed journey to the Rio Negro. These Indians wore + necklets, like nearly all the Guayana savages; but one, I observed, + possessed a necklet unlike that of the others, which greatly aroused my + curiosity. It was made of thirteen gold plates, irregular in form, about + as broad as a man’s thumb-nail, and linked together with fibres. I was + allowed to examine it, and had no doubt that the pieces were of pure gold, + beaten flat by the savages. When questioned about it, they said it was + originally obtained from the Indians of Parahuari, and Parahuari, they + further said, was a mountainous country west of the Orinoco. Every man and + woman in that place, they assured me, had such a necklet. This report + inflamed my mind to such a degree that I could not rest by night or day + for dreaming golden dreams, and considering how to get to that rich + district, unknown to civilized men. The Indians gravely shook their heads + when I tried to persuade them to take me. They were far enough from the + Orinoco, and Parahuari was ten, perhaps fifteen, days’ journey further on—a + country unknown to them, where they had no relations. + </p> + <p> + In spite of difficulties and delays, however, and not without pain and + some perilous adventures, I succeeded at last in reaching the upper + Orinoco, and, eventually, in crossing to the other side. With my life in + my hand I struggled on westward through an unknown difficult country, from + Indian village to village, where at any moment I might have been murdered + with impunity for the sake of my few belongings. It is hard for me to + speak a good word for the Guayana savages; but I must now say this of + them, that they not only did me no harm when I was at their mercy during + this long journey, but they gave me shelter in their villages, and fed me + when I was hungry, and helped me on my way when I could make no return. + You must not, however, run away with the idea that there is any sweetness + in their disposition, any humane or benevolent instincts such as are found + among the civilized nations: far from it. I regard them now, and, + fortunately for me, I regarded them then, when, as I have said, I was at + their mercy, as beasts of prey, plus a cunning or low kind of intelligence + vastly greater than that of the brute; and, for only morality, that + respect for the rights of other members of the same family, or tribe, + without which even the rudest communities cannot hold together. How, then, + could I do this thing, and dwell and travel freely, without receiving + harm, among tribes that have no peace with and no kindly feelings towards + the stranger, in a district where the white man is rarely or never seen? + Because I knew them so well. Without that knowledge, always available, and + an extreme facility in acquiring new dialects, which had increased by + practice until it was almost like intuition, I should have fared badly + after leaving the Maquiritari tribe. As it was, I had two or three very + narrow escapes. + </p> + <p> + To return from this digression. I looked at last on the famous Parahuari + mountains, which, I was greatly surprised to find, were after all nothing + but hills, and not very high ones. This, however, did not impress me. The + very fact that Parahuari possessed no imposing feature in its scenery + seemed rather to prove that it must be rich in gold: how else could its + name and the fame of its treasures be familiar to people dwelling so far + away as the Cunucumana? + </p> + <p> + But there was no gold. I searched through the whole range, which was about + seven leagues long, and visited the villages, where I talked much with the + Indians, interrogating them, and they had no necklets of gold, nor gold in + any form; nor had they ever heard of its presence in Parahuari or in any + other place known to them. + </p> + <p> + The very last village where I spoke on the subject of my quest, albeit now + without hope, was about a league from the western extremity of the range, + in the midst of a high broken country of forest and savannah and many + swift streams; near one of these, called the Curicay, the village stood, + among low scattered trees—a large building, in which all the people, + numbering eighteen, passed most of their time when not hunting, with two + smaller buildings attached to it. The head, or chief, Runi by name, was + about fifty years old, a taciturn, finely formed, and somewhat dignified + savage, who was either of a sullen disposition or not well pleased at the + intrusion of a white man. And for a time I made no attempt to conciliate + him. What profit was there in it at all? Even that light mask, which I had + worn so long and with such good effect, incommoded me now: I would cast it + aside and be myself—silent and sullen as my barbarous host. If any + malignant purpose was taking form in his mind, let it, and let him do his + worst; for when failure first stares a man in the face, it has so dark and + repellent a look that not anything that can be added can make him more + miserable; nor has he any apprehension. For weeks I had been searching + with eager, feverish eyes in every village, in every rocky crevice, in + every noisy mountain streamlet, for the glittering yellow dust I had + travelled so far to find. And now all my beautiful dreams—all the + pleasure and power to be—had vanished like a mere mirage on the + savannah at noon. + </p> + <p> + It was a day of despair which I spent in this place, sitting all day + indoors, for it was raining hard, immersed in my own gloomy thoughts, + pretending to doze in my seat, and out of the narrow slits of my + half-closed eyes seeing the others, also sitting or moving about, like + shadows or people in a dream; and I cared nothing about them, and wished + not to seem friendly, even for the sake of the food they might offer me by + and by. + </p> + <p> + Towards evening the rain ceased; and rising up I went out a short distance + to the neighbouring stream, where I sat on a stone and, casting off my + sandals, laved my bruised feet in the cool running water. The western half + of the sky was blue again with that tender lucid blue seen after rain, but + the leaves still glittered with water, and the wet trunks looked almost + black under the green foliage. The rare loveliness of the scene touched + and lightened my heart. Away back in the east the hills of Parahuari, with + the level sun full on them, loomed with a strange glory against the grey + rainy clouds drawing off on that side, and their new mystic beauty almost + made me forget how these same hills had wearied, and hurt, and mocked me. + On that side, also to the north and south, there was open forest, but to + the west a different prospect met the eye. Beyond the stream and the strip + of verdure that fringed it, and the few scattered dwarf trees growing near + its banks, spread a brown savannah sloping upwards to a long, low, rocky + ridge, beyond which rose a great solitary hill, or rather mountain, + conical in form, and clothed in forest almost to the summit. This was the + mountain Ytaioa, the chief landmark in that district. As the sun went down + over the ridge, beyond the savannah, the whole western sky changed to a + delicate rose colour that had the appearance of rose-coloured smoke blown + there by some far off-wind, and left suspended—a thin, brilliant + veil showing through it the distant sky beyond, blue and ethereal. Flocks + of birds, a kind of troupial, were flying past me overhead, flock + succeeding flock, on their way to their roosting-place, uttering as they + flew a clear, bell-like chirp; and there was something ethereal too in + those drops of melodious sound, which fell into my heart like raindrops + falling into a pool to mix their fresh heavenly water with the water of + earth. + </p> + <p> + Doubtless into the turbid tarn of my heart some sacred drops had fallen—from + the passing birds, from that crimson disk which had now dropped below the + horizon, the darkening hills, the rose and blue of infinite heaven, from + the whole visible circle; and I felt purified and had a strange sense and + apprehension of a secret innocence and spirituality in nature—a + prescience of some bourn, incalculably distant perhaps, to which we are + all moving; of a time when the heavenly rain shall have washed us clean + from all spot and blemish. This unexpected peace which I had found now + seemed to me of infinitely greater value than that yellow metal I had + missed finding, with all its possibilities. My wish now was to rest for a + season at this spot, so remote and lovely and peaceful, where I had + experienced such unusual feelings and such a blessed disillusionment. + </p> + <p> + This was the end of my second period in Guayana: the first had been filled + with that dream of a book to win me fame in my country, perhaps even in + Europe; the second, from the time of leaving the Queneveta mountains, with + the dream of boundless wealth—the old dream of gold in this region + that has drawn so many minds since the days of Francisco Pizarro. But to + remain I must propitiate Runi, sitting silent with gloomy brows over there + indoors; and he did not appear to me like one that might be won with + words, however flattering. It was clear to me that the time had come to + part with my one remaining valuable trinket—the tinder-box of chased + silver. + </p> + <p> + I returned to the house and, going in, seated myself on a log by the fire, + just opposite to my grim host, who was smoking and appeared not to have + moved since I left him. I made myself a cigarette, then drew out the + tinder-box, with its flint and steel attached to it by means of two small + silver chains. His eyes brightened a little as they curiously watched my + movements, and he pointed without speaking to the glowing coals of fire at + my feet. I shook my head, and striking the steel, sent out a brilliant + spray of sparks, then blew on the tinder and lit my cigarette. + </p> + <p> + This done, instead of returning the box to my pocket I passed the chain + through the buttonhole of my cloak and let it dangle on my breast as an + ornament. When the cigarette was smoked, I cleared my throat in the + orthodox manner and fixed my eyes on Runi, who, on his part, made a slight + movement to indicate that he was ready to listen to what I had to say. + </p> + <p> + My speech was long, lasting at least half an hour, delivered in a profound + silence; it was chiefly occupied with an account of my wanderings in + Guayana; and being little more than a catalogue of names of all the places + I had visited, and the tribes and chief or head men with whom I had come + in contact, I was able to speak continuously, and so to hide my ignorance + of a dialect which was still new to me. The Guayana savage judges a man + for his staying powers. To stand as motionless as a bronze statue for one + or two hours watching for a bird; to sit or lie still for half a day; to + endure pain, not seldom self-inflicted, without wincing; and when + delivering a speech to pour it out in a copious stream, without pausing to + take breath or hesitating over a word—to be able to do all this is + to prove yourself a man, an equal, one to be respected and even made a + friend of. What I really wished to say to him was put in a few words at + the conclusion of my well-nigh meaningless oration. Everywhere, I said, I + had been the Indian’s friend, and I wished to be his friend, to live with + him at Parahuari, even as I had lived with other chiefs and heads of + villages and families; to be looked on by him, as these others had looked + on me, not as a stranger or a white man, but as a friend, a brother, an + Indian. + </p> + <p> + I ceased speaking, and there was a slight murmurous sound in the room, as + of wind long pent up in many lungs suddenly exhaled; while Runi, still + unmoved, emitted a low grunt. Then I rose, and detaching the silver + ornament from my cloak, presented it to him. He accepted it; not very + graciously, as a stranger to these people might have imagined; but I was + satisfied, feeling sure that I had made a favourable impression. After a + little he handed the box to the person sitting next to him, who examined + it and passed it on to a third, and in this way it went round and came + back once more to Runi. Then he called for a drink. There happened to be a + store of casserie in the house; probably the women had been busy for some + days past in making it, little thinking that it was destined to be + prematurely consumed. A large jarful was produced; Runi politely quaffed + the first cup; I followed; then the others; and the women drank also, a + woman taking about one cupful to a man’s three. Runi and I, however, drank + the most, for we had our positions as the two principal personages there + to maintain. Tongues were loosened now; for the alcohol, small as the + quantity contained in this mild liquor is, had begun to tell on our + brains. I had not their pottle-shaped stomach, made to hold unlimited + quantities of meat and drink; but I was determined on this most important + occasion not to deserve my host’s contempt—to be compared, perhaps, + to the small bird that delicately picks up six drops of water in its bill + and is satisfied. I would measure my strength against his, and if + necessary drink myself into a state of insensibility. + </p> + <p> + At last I was scarcely able to stand on my legs. But even the seasoned old + savage was affected by this time. In vino veritas, said the ancients; and + the principle holds good where there is no vinum, but only mild casserie. + Runi now informed me that he had once known a white man, that he was a bad + man, which had caused him to say that all white men were bad; even as + David, still more sweepingly, had proclaimed that all men were liars. Now + he found that it was not so, that I was a good man. His friendliness + increased with intoxication. He presented me with a curious little + tinder-box, made from the conical tail of an armadillo, hollowed out, and + provided with a wooden stopper—this to be used in place of the box I + had deprived myself of. He also furnished me with a grass hammock, and had + it hung up there and then, so that I could lie down when inclined. There + was nothing he would not do for me. And at last, when many more cups had + been emptied, and a third or fourth jar brought out, he began to unburthen + his heart of its dark and dangerous secrets. He shed tears—for the + “man without a tear” dwells not in the woods of Guayana: tears for those + who had been treacherously slain long years ago; for his father, who had + been killed by Tripica, the father of Managa, who was still above ground. + But let him and all his people beware of Runi. He had spilt their blood + before, he had fed the fox and vulture with their flesh, and would never + rest while Managa lived with his people at Uritay—the five hills of + Uritay, which were two days’ journey from Parahuari. While thus talking of + his old enemy he lashed himself into a kind of frenzy, smiting his chest + and gnashing his teeth; and finally seizing a spear, he buried its point + deep into the clay floor, only to wrench it out and strike it into the + earth again and again, to show how he would serve Managa, and any one of + Managa’s people he might meet with—man, woman, or child. Then he + staggered out from the door to flourish his spear; and looking to the + north-west, he shouted aloud to Managa to come and slay his people and + burn down his house, as he had so often threatened to do. + </p> + <p> + “Let him come! Let Managa come!” I cried, staggering out after him. “I am + your friend, your brother; I have no spear and no arrows, but I have this—this!” + And here I drew out and flourished my revolver. “Where is Managa?” I + continued. “Where are the hills of Uritay?” He pointed to a star low down + in the south-west. “Then,” I shouted, “let this bullet find Managa, + sitting by the fire among his people, and let him fall and pour out his + blood on the ground!” And with that I discharged my pistol in the + direction he had pointed to. A scream of terror burst out from the women + and children, while Runi at my side, in an access of fierce delight and + admiration, turned and embraced me. It was the first and last embrace I + ever suffered from a naked male savage, and although this did not seem a + time for fastidious feelings, to be hugged to his sweltering body was an + unpleasant experience. + </p> + <p> + More cups of casserie followed this outburst; and at last, unable to keep + it up any longer, I staggered to my hammock; but being unable to get into + it, Runi, overflowing with kindness, came to my assistance, whereupon we + fell and rolled together on the floor. Finally I was raised by the others + and tumbled into my swinging bed, and fell at once into a deep, dreamless + sleep, from which I did not awake until after sunrise on the following + morning. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + It is fortunate that casserie is manufactured by an extremely slow, + laborious process, since the women, who are the drink-makers, in the first + place have to reduce the material (cassava bread) to a pulp by means of + their own molars, after which it is watered down and put away in troughs + to ferment. Great is the diligence of these willing slaves; but, work how + they will, they can only satisfy their lords’ love of a big drink at long + intervals. Such a function as that at which I had assisted is therefore + the result of much patient mastication and silent fermentation—the + delicate flower of a plant that has been a long time growing. + </p> + <p> + Having now established myself as one of the family, at the cost of some + disagreeable sensations and a pang or two of self-disgust, I resolved to + let nothing further trouble me at Parahuari, but to live the easy, + careless life of the idle man, joining in hunting and fishing expeditions + when in the mood; at other times enjoying existence in my own way, apart + from my fellows, conversing with wild nature in that solitary place. + Besides Runi, there were, in our little community, two oldish men, his + cousins I believe, who had wives and grown-up children. Another family + consisted of Piake, Runi’s nephew, his brother Kua-ko—about whom + there will be much to say—and a sister Oalava. Piake had a wife and + two children; Kua-ko was unmarried and about nineteen or twenty years old; + Oalava was the youngest of the three. Last of all, who should perhaps have + been first, was Runi’s mother, called Cla-cla, probably in imitation of + the cry of some bird, for in these latitudes a person is rarely, perhaps + never, called by his or her real name, which is a secret jealously + preserved, even from near relations. I believe that Cla-cla herself was + the only living being who knew the name her parents had bestowed on her at + birth. She was a very old woman, spare in figure, brown as old sun-baked + leather, her face written over with innumerable wrinkles, and her long + coarse hair perfectly white; yet she was exceedingly active, and seemed to + do more work than any other woman in the community; more than that, when + the day’s toil was over and nothing remained for the others to do, then + Cla-cla’s night work would begin; and this was to talk all the others, or + at all events all the men, to sleep. She was like a self-regulating + machine, and punctually every evening, when the door was closed, and the + night fire made up, and every man in his hammock, she would set herself + going, telling the most interminable stories, until the last listener was + fast asleep; later in the night, if any man woke with a snort or grunt, + off she would go again, taking up the thread of the tale where she had + dropped it. + </p> + <p> + Old Cla-cla amused me very much, by night and day, and I seldom tired of + watching her owlish countenance as she sat by the fire, never allowing it + to sink low for want of fuel; always studying the pot when it was on to + simmer, and at the same time attending to the movements of the others + about her, ready at a moment’s notice to give assistance or to dart out on + a stray chicken or refractory child. + </p> + <p> + So much did she amuse me, although without intending it, that I thought it + would be only fair, in my turn, to do something for her entertainment. I + was engaged one day in shaping a wooden foil with my knife, whistling and + singing snatches of old melodies at my work, when all at once I caught + sight of the ancient dame looking greatly delighted, chuckling internally, + nodding her head, and keeping time with her hands. Evidently she was able + to appreciate a style of music superior to that of the aboriginals, and + forthwith I abandoned my foils for the time and set about the manufacture + of a guitar, which cost me much labour and brought out more ingenuity than + I had ever thought myself capable of. To reduce the wood to the right + thinness, then to bend and fasten it with wooden pegs and with gums, to + add the arm, frets, keys, and finally the catgut strings—those of + another kind being out of the question—kept me busy for some days. + When completed it was a rude instrument, scarcely tunable; nevertheless + when I smote the strings, playing lively music, or accompanied myself in + singing, I found that it was a great success, and so was as much pleased + with my own performance as if I had had the most perfect guitar ever made + in old Spain. I also skipped about the floor, strum-strumming at the same + time, instructing them in the most lively dances of the whites, in which + the feet must be as nimble as the player’s fingers. It is true that these + exhibitions were always witnessed by the adults with a profound gravity, + which would have disheartened a stranger to their ways. They were a set of + hollow bronze statues that looked at me, but I knew that the living + animals inside of them were tickled at my singing, strumming, and + pirouetting. Cla-cla was, however, an exception, and encouraged me not + infrequently by emitting a sound, half cackle and half screech, by way of + laughter; for she had come to her second childhood, or, at all events, had + dropped the stolid mask which the young Guayana savage, in imitation of + his elders, adjusts to his face at about the age of twelve, to wear it + thereafter all his life long, or only to drop it occasionally when very + drunk. The youngsters also openly manifested their pleasure, although, as + a rule, they try to restrain their feelings in the presence of grown-up + people, and with them I became a great favourite. + </p> + <p> + By and by I returned to my foil-making, and gave them fencing lessons, and + sometimes invited two or three of the biggest boys to attack me + simultaneously, just to show how easily I could disarm and kill them. This + practice excited some interest in Kua-ko, who had a little more of + curiosity and geniality and less of the put-on dignity of the others, and + with him I became most intimate. Fencing with Kua-ko was highly amusing: + no sooner was he in position, foil in hand, than all my instructions were + thrown to the winds, and he would charge and attack me in his own + barbarous manner, with the result that I would send his foil spinning a + dozen yards away, while he, struck motionless, would gaze after it in + open-mouthed astonishment. + </p> + <p> + Three weeks had passed by not unpleasantly when, one morning, I took it + into my head to walk by myself across that somewhat sterile savannah west + of the village and stream, which ended, as I have said, in a long, low, + stony ridge. From the village there was nothing to attract the eye in that + direction; but I wished to get a better view of that great solitary hill + or mountain of Ytaioa, and of the cloud-like summits beyond it in the + distance. From the stream the ground rose in a gradual slope, and the + highest part of the ridge for which I made was about two miles from the + starting-point—a parched brown plain, with nothing growing on it but + scattered tussocks of sere hair-like grass. + </p> + <p> + When I reached the top and could see the country beyond, I was agreeably + disappointed at the discovery that the sterile ground extended only about + a mile and a quarter on the further side, and was succeeded by a forest—a + very inviting patch of woodland covering five or six square miles, + occupying a kind of oblong basin, extending from the foot of Ytaioa on the + north to a low range of rocky hills on the south. From the wooded basin + long narrow strips of forest ran out in various directions like the arms + of an octopus, one pair embracing the slopes of Ytaioa, another much + broader belt extending along a valley which cut through the ridge of hills + on the south side at right angles and was lost to sight beyond; far away + in the west and south and north distant mountains appeared, not in regular + ranges, but in groups or singly, or looking like blue banked-up clouds on + the horizon. + </p> + <p> + Glad at having discovered the existence of this forest so near home, and + wondering why my Indian friends had never taken me to it nor ever went out + on that side, I set forth with a light heart to explore it for myself, + regretting only that I was without a proper weapon for procuring game. The + walk from the ridge over the savannah was easy, as the barren, stony + ground sloped downwards the whole way. The outer part of the wood on my + side was very open, composed in most part of dwarf trees that grow on + stony soil, and scattered thorny bushes bearing a yellow pea-shaped + blossom. Presently I came to thicker wood, where the trees were much + taller and in greater variety; and after this came another sterile strip, + like that on the edge of the wood where stone cropped out from the ground + and nothing grew except the yellow-flowered thorn bushes. Passing this + sterile ribbon, which seemed to extend to a considerable distance north + and south, and was fifty to a hundred yards wide, the forest again became + dense and the trees large, with much undergrowth in places obstructing the + view and making progress difficult. + </p> + <p> + I spent several hours in this wild paradise, which was so much more + delightful than the extensive gloomier forests I had so often penetrated + in Guayana; for here, if the trees did not attain to such majestic + proportions, the variety of vegetable forms was even greater; as far as I + went it was nowhere dark under the trees, and the number of lovely + parasites everywhere illustrated the kindly influence of light and air. + Even where the trees were largest the sunshine penetrated, subdued by the + foliage to exquisite greenish-golden tints, filling the wide lower spaces + with tender half-lights, and faint blue-and-gray shadows. Lying on my back + and gazing up, I felt reluctant to rise and renew my ramble. For what a + roof was that above my head! Roof I call it, just as the poets in their + poverty sometimes describe the infinite ethereal sky by that word; but it + was no more roof-like and hindering to the soaring spirit than the higher + clouds that float in changing forms and tints, and like the foliage + chasten the intolerable noonday beams. How far above me seemed that leafy + cloudland into which I gazed! Nature, we know, first taught the architect + to produce by long colonnades the illusion of distance; but the + light-excluding roof prevents him from getting the same effect above. Here + Nature is unapproachable with her green, airy canopy, a sun-impregnated + cloud—cloud above cloud; and though the highest may be unreached by + the eye, the beams yet filter through, illuming the wide spaces beneath—chamber + succeeded by chamber, each with its own special lights and shadows. Far + above me, but not nearly so far as it seemed, the tender gloom of one such + chamber or space is traversed now by a golden shaft of light falling + through some break in the upper foliage, giving a strange glory to + everything it touches—projecting leaves, and beard-like tuft of + moss, and snaky bush-rope. And in the most open part of that most open + space, suspended on nothing to the eye, the shaft reveals a tangle of + shining silver threads—the web of some large tree-spider. These + seemingly distant yet distinctly visible threads serve to remind me that + the human artist is only able to get his horizontal distance by a + monotonous reduplication of pillar and arch, placed at regular intervals, + and that the least departure from this order would destroy the effect. But + Nature produces her effects at random, and seems only to increase the + beautiful illusion by that infinite variety of decoration in which she + revels, binding tree to tree in a tangle of anaconda-like lianas, and + dwindling down from these huge cables to airy webs and hair-like fibres + that vibrate to the wind of the passing insect’s wing. + </p> + <p> + Thus in idleness, with such thoughts for company, I spent my time, glad + that no human being, savage or civilized, was with me. It was better to be + alone to listen to the monkeys that chattered without offending; to watch + them occupied with the unserious business of their lives. With that + luxuriant tropical nature, its green clouds and illusive aerial spaces, + full of mystery, they harmonized well in language, appearance, and motions—mountebank + angels, living their fantastic lives far above earth in a half-way heaven + of their own. + </p> + <p> + I saw more monkeys on that morning than I usually saw in the course of a + week’s rambling. And other animals were seen; I particularly remember two + accouries I startled, that after rushing away a few yards stopped and + stood peering back at me as if not knowing whether to regard me as friend + or enemy. Birds, too, were strangely abundant; and altogether this struck + me as being the richest hunting-ground I had seen, and it astonished me to + think that the Indians of the village did not appear to visit it. + </p> + <p> + On my return in the afternoon I gave an enthusiastic account of my day’s + ramble, speaking not of the things that had moved my soul, but only of + those which move the Guayana Indian’s soul—the animal food he + craves, and which, one would imagine, Nature would prefer him to do + without, so hard he finds it to wrest a sufficiency from her. To my + surprise they shook their heads and looked troubled at what I said; and + finally my host informed me that the wood I had been in was a dangerous + place; that if they went there to hunt, a great injury would be done to + them; and he finished by advising me not to visit it again. + </p> + <p> + I began to understand from their looks and the old man’s vague words that + their fear of the wood was superstitious. If dangerous creatures had + existed there—tigers, or camoodis, or solitary murderous savages—they + would have said so; but when I pressed them with questions they could only + repeat that “something bad” existed in the place, that animals were + abundant there because no Indian who valued his life dared venture into + it. I replied that unless they gave me some more definite information I + should certainly go again and put myself in the way of the danger they + feared. + </p> + <p> + My reckless courage, as they considered it, surprised them; but they had + already begun to find out that their superstitions had no effect on me, + that I listened to them as to stories invented to amuse a child, and for + the moment they made no further attempt to dissuade me. + </p> + <p> + Next day I returned to the forest of evil report, which had now a new and + even greater charm—the fascination of the unknown and the + mysterious; still, the warning I had received made me distrustful and + cautious at first, for I could not help thinking about it. When we + consider how much of their life is passed in the woods, which become as + familiar to them as the streets of our native town to us, it seems almost + incredible that these savages have a superstitious fear of all forests, + fearing them as much, even in the bright light of day, as a nervous child + with memory filled with ghost-stories fears a dark room. But, like the + child in the dark room, they fear the forest only when alone in it, and + for this reason always hunt in couples or parties. What, then, prevented + them from visiting this particular wood, which offered so tempting a + harvest? The question troubled me not a little; at the same time I was + ashamed of the feeling, and fought against it; and in the end I made my + way to the same sequestered spot where I had rested so long on my previous + visit. + </p> + <p> + In this place I witnessed a new thing and had a strange experience. + Sitting on the ground in the shade of a large tree, I began to hear a + confused noise as of a coming tempest of wind mixed with shrill calls and + cries. Nearer and nearer it came, and at last a multitude of birds of many + kinds, but mostly small, appeared in sight swarming through the trees, + some running on the trunks and larger branches, others flitting through + the foliage, and many keeping on the wing, now hovering and now darting + this way or that. They were all busily searching for and pursuing the + insects, moving on at the same time, and in a very few minutes they had + finished examining the trees near me and were gone; but not satisfied with + what I had witnessed, I jumped up and rushed after the flock to keep it in + sight. All my caution and all recollection of what the Indians had said + was now forgot, so great was my interest in this bird-army; but as they + moved on without pause, they quickly left me behind, and presently my + career was stopped by an impenetrable tangle of bushes, vines, and roots + of large trees extending like huge cables along the ground. In the midst + of this leafy labyrinth I sat down on a projecting root to cool my blood + before attempting to make my way back to my former position. After that + tempest of motion and confused noises the silence of the forest seemed + very profound; but before I had been resting many moments it was broken by + a low strain of exquisite bird-melody, wonderfully pure and expressive, + unlike any musical sound I had ever heard before. It seemed to issue from + a thick cluster of broad leaves of a creeper only a few yards from where I + sat. With my eyes fixed on this green hiding-place I waited with suspended + breath for its repetition, wondering whether any civilized being had ever + listened to such a strain before. Surely not, I thought, else the fame of + so divine a melody would long ago have been noised abroad. I thought of + the rialejo, the celebrated organbird or flute-bird, and of the various + ways in which hearers are affected by it. To some its warbling is like the + sound of a beautiful mysterious instrument, while to others it seems like + the singing of a blithe-hearted child with a highly melodious voice. I had + often heard and listened with delight to the singing of the rialejo in the + Guayana forests, but this song, or musical phrase, was utterly unlike it + in character. It was pure, more expressive, softer—so low that at a + distance of forty yards I could hardly have heard it. But its greatest + charm was its resemblance to the human voice—a voice purified and + brightened to something almost angelic. Imagine, then, my impatience as I + sat there straining my sense, my deep disappointment when it was not + repeated! I rose at length very reluctantly and slowly began making my way + back; but when I had progressed about thirty yards, again the sweet voice + sounded just behind me, and turning quickly, I stood still and waited. The + same voice, but not the same song—not the same phrase; the notes + were different, more varied and rapidly enunciated, as if the singer had + been more excited. The blood rushed to my heart as I listened; my nerves + tingled with a strange new delight, the rapture produced by such music + heightened by a sense of mystery. Before many moments I heard it again, + not rapid now, but a soft warbling, lower than at first, infinitely sweet + and tender, sinking to lisping sounds that soon ceased to be audible; the + whole having lasted as long as it would take me to repeat a sentence of a + dozen words. This seemed the singer’s farewell to me, for I waited and + listened in vain to hear it repeated; and after getting back to the + starting-point I sat for upwards of an hour, still hoping to hear it once + more! + </p> + <p> + The weltering sun at length compelled me to quit the wood, but not before + I had resolved to return the next morning and seek for the spot where I + had met with so enchanting an experience. After crossing the sterile belt + I have mentioned within the wood, and just before I came to the open outer + edge where the stunted trees and bushes die away on the border of the + savannah, what was my delight and astonishment at hearing the mysterious + melody once more! It seemed to issue from a clump of bushes close by; but + by this time I had come to the conclusion that there was a ventriloquism + in this woodland voice which made it impossible for me to determine its + exact direction. Of one thing I was, however, now quite convinced, and + that was that the singer had been following me all the time. Again and + again as I stood there listening it sounded, now so faint and apparently + far off as to be scarcely audible; then all at once it would ring out + bright and clear within a few yards of me, as if the shy little thing had + suddenly grown bold; but, far or near, the vocalist remained invisible, + and at length the tantalizing melody ceased altogether. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + I was not disappointed on my next visit to the forest, nor on several + succeeding visits; and this seemed to show that if I was right in + believing that these strange, melodious utterances proceeded from one + individual, then the bird or being, although still refusing to show + itself, was always on the watch for my appearance and followed me wherever + I went. This thought only served to increase my curiosity; I was + constantly pondering over the subject, and at last concluded that it would + be best to induce one of the Indians to go with me to the wood on the + chance of his being able to explain the mystery. + </p> + <p> + One of the treasures I had managed to preserve in my sojourn with these + children of nature, who were always anxious to become possessors of my + belongings, was a small prettily fashioned metal match-box, opening with a + spring. Remembering that Kua-ko, among others, had looked at this trifle + with covetous eyes—the covetous way in which they all looked at it + had given it a fictitious value in my own—I tried to bribe him with + the offer of it to accompany me to my favourite haunt. The brave young + hunter refused again and again; but on each occasion he offered to perform + some other service or to give me something in exchange for the box. At + last I told him that I would give it to the first person who should + accompany me, and fearing that someone would be found valiant enough to + win the prize, he at length plucked up a spirit, and on the next day, + seeing me going out for a walk, he all at once offered to go with me. He + cunningly tried to get the box before starting—his cunning, poor + youth, was not very deep! I told him that the forest we were about to + visit abounded with plants and birds unlike any I had seen elsewhere, that + I wished to learn their names and everything about them, and that when I + had got the required information the box would be his—not sooner. + Finally we started, he, as usual, armed with his zabatana, with which, I + imagined, he would procure more game than usually fell to his little + poisoned arrows. When we reached the wood I could see that he was ill at + ease: nothing would persuade him to go into the deeper parts; and even + where it was very open and light he was constantly gazing into bushes and + shadowy places, as if expecting to see some frightful creature lying in + wait for him. This behaviour might have had a disquieting effect on me had + I not been thoroughly convinced that his fears were purely superstitious + and that there could be no dangerous animal in a spot I was accustomed to + walk in every day. My plan was to ramble about with an unconcerned air, + occasionally pointing out an uncommon tree or shrub or vine, or calling + his attention to a distant bird-cry and asking the bird’s name, in the + hope that the mysterious voice would make itself heard and that he would + be able to give me some explanation of it. But for upwards of two hours we + moved about, hearing nothing except the usual bird voices, and during all + that time he never stirred a yard from my side nor made an attempt to + capture anything. At length we sat down under a tree, in an open spot + close to the border of the wood. He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed + more troubled in his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continually roving + about, while he listened intently to every sound. The sounds were not few, + owing to the abundance of animal and especially of bird life in this + favoured spot. I began to question my companion as to some of the cries we + heard. There were notes and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the + cock—parrot screams and yelping of toucans, the distant wailing + calls of maam and duraquara; and shrill laughter-like notes of the large + tree-climber as it passed from tree to tree; the quick whistle of + cotingas; and strange throbbing and thrilling sounds, as of pygmies + beating on metallic drums, of the skulking pitta-thrushes; and with these + mingled other notes less well known. One came from the treetops, where it + was perpetually wandering amid the foliage a low note, repeated at + intervals of a few seconds, so thin and mournful and full of mystery that + I half expected to hear that it proceeded from the restless ghost of some + dead bird. But no; he only said it was uttered by a “little bird”—too + little presumably to have a name. From the foliage of a neighbouring tree + came a few tinkling chirps, as of a small mandolin, two or three strings + of which had been carelessly struck by the player. He said that it came + from a small green frog that lived in trees; and in this way my rude + Indian—vexed perhaps at being asked such trivial questions—brushed + away the pretty fantasies my mind had woven in the woodland solitude. For + I often listened to this tinkling music, and it had suggested the idea + that the place was frequented by a tribe of fairy-like troubadour monkeys, + and that if I could only be quick-sighted enough I might one day be able + to detect the minstrel sitting, in a green tunic perhaps, cross-legged on + some high, swaying bough, carelessly touching his mandolin, suspended from + his neck by a yellow ribbon. + </p> + <p> + By and by a bird came with low, swift flight, its great tail spread open + fan-wise, and perched itself on an exposed bough not thirty yards from us. + It was all of a chestnut-red colour, long-bodied, in size like a big + pigeon. Its actions showed that its curiosity had been greatly excited, + for it jerked from side to side, eyeing us first with one eye, then the + other, while its long tail rose and fell in a measured way. + </p> + <p> + “Look, Kua-ko,” I said in a whisper, “there is a bird for you to kill.” + </p> + <p> + But he only shook his head, still watchful. + </p> + <p> + “Give me the blow-pipe, then,” I said, with a laugh, putting out my hand + to take it. But he refused to let me take it, knowing that it would only + be an arrow wasted if I attempted to shoot anything. + </p> + <p> + As I persisted in telling him to kill the bird, he at last bent his lips + near me and said in a half-whisper, as if fearful of being overheard: “I + can kill nothing here. If I shot at the bird, the daughter of the Didi + would catch the dart in her hand and throw it back and hit me here,” + touching his breast just over his heart. + </p> + <p> + I laughed again, saying to myself, with some amusement, that Kua-ko was + not such a bad companion after all—that he was not without + imagination. But in spite of my laughter his words roused my interest and + suggested the idea that the voice I was curious about had been heard by + the Indians and was as great a mystery to them as to me; since, not being + like that of any creature known to them, it would be attributed by their + superstitious minds to one of the numerous demons or semi-human monsters + inhabiting every forest, stream, and mountain; and fear of it would drive + them from the wood. In this case, judging from my companion’s words, they + had varied the form of the superstition somewhat, inventing a daughter of + a water-spirit to be afraid of. My thought was that if their keen, + practiced eyes had never been able to see this flitting woodland creature + with a musical soul, it was not likely that I would succeed in my quest. + </p> + <p> + I began to question him, but he now appeared less inclined to talk and + more frightened than ever, and each time I attempted to speak he imposed + silence, with a quick gesture of alarm, while he continued to stare about + him with dilated eyes. All at once he sprang to his feet as if overcome + with terror and started running at full speed. His fear infected me, and, + springing up, I followed as fast as I could, but he was far ahead of me, + running for dear life; and before I had gone forty yards my feet were + caught in a creeper trailing along the surface, and I measured my length + on the ground. The sudden, violent shock almost took away my senses for a + moment, but when I jumped up and stared round to see no unspeakable + monster—Curupita or other—rushing on to slay and devour me + there and then, I began to feel ashamed of my cowardice; and in the end I + turned and walked back to the spot I had just quitted and sat down once + more. I even tried to hum a tune, just to prove to myself that I had + completely recovered from the panic caught from the miserable Indian; but + it is never possible in such cases to get back one’s serenity immediately, + and a vague suspicion continued to trouble me for a time. After sitting + there for half an hour or so, listening to distant bird-sounds, I began to + recover my old confidence, and even to feel inclined to penetrate further + into the wood. All at once, making me almost jump, so sudden it was, so + much nearer and louder than I had ever heard it before, the mysterious + melody began. Unmistakably it was uttered by the same being heard on + former occasions; but today it was different in character. The utterance + was far more rapid, with fewer silent intervals, and it had none of the + usual tenderness in it, nor ever once sunk to that low, whisper-like + talking which had seemed to me as if the spirit of the wind had breathed + its low sighs in syllables and speech. Now it was not only loud, rapid, + and continuous, but, while still musical, there was an incisiveness in it, + a sharp ring as of resentment, which made it strike painfully on the + sense. + </p> + <p> + The impression of an intelligent unhuman being addressing me in anger took + so firm a hold on my mind that the old fear returned, and, rising, I began + to walk rapidly away, intending to escape from the wood. The voice + continued violently rating me, as it seemed to my mind, moving with me, + which caused me to accelerate my steps; and very soon I would have broken + into a run, when its character began to change again. There were pauses + now, intervals of silence, long or short, and after each one the voice + came to my ear with a more subdued and dulcet sound—more of that + melting, flute-like quality it had possessed at other times; and this + softness of tone, coupled with the talking-like form of utterance, gave me + the idea of a being no longer incensed, addressing me now in a peaceable + spirit, reasoning away my unworthy tremors, and imploring me to remain + with it in the wood. Strange as this voice without a body was, and always + productive of a slightly uncomfortable feeling on account of its mystery, + it seemed impossible to doubt that it came to me now in a spirit of pure + friendliness; and when I had recovered my composure I found a new delight + in listening to it—all the greater because of the fear so lately + experienced, and of its seeming intelligence. For the third time I + reseated myself on the same spot, and at intervals the voice talked to me + there for some time and, to my fancy, expressed satisfaction and pleasure + at my presence. But later, without losing its friendly tone, it changed + again. It seemed to move away and to be thrown back from a considerable + distance; and, at long intervals, it would approach me again with a new + sound, which I began to interpret as of command, or entreaty. Was it, I + asked myself, inviting me to follow? And if I obeyed, to what delightful + discoveries or frightful dangers might it lead? My curiosity together with + the belief that the being—I called it being, not bird, now—was + friendly to me, overcame all timidity, and I rose and walked at random + towards the interior of the wood. Very soon I had no doubt left that the + being had desired me to follow; for there was now a new note of gladness + in its voice, and it continued near me as I walked, at intervals + approaching me so closely as to set me staring into the surrounding + shadowy places like poor scared Kua-ko. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion, too, I began to have a new fancy, for fancy or illusion + I was determined to regard it, that some swift-footed being was treading + the ground near me; that I occasionally caught the faint rustle of a light + footstep, and detected a motion in leaves and fronds and thread-like stems + of creepers hanging near the surface, as if some passing body had touched + and made them tremble; and once or twice that I even had a glimpse of a + grey, misty object moving at no great distance in the deeper shadows. + </p> + <p> + Led by this wandering tricksy being, I came to a spot where the trees were + very large and the damp dark ground almost free from undergrowth; and here + the voice ceased to be heard. After patiently waiting and listening for + some time, I began to look about me with a slight feeling of apprehension. + It was still about two hours before sunset; only in this place the shade + of the vast trees made a perpetual twilight: moreover, it was strangely + silent here, the few bird-cries that reached me coming from a long + distance. I had flattered myself that the voice had become to some extent + intelligible to me: its outburst of anger caused no doubt by my cowardly + flight after the Indian; then its recovered friendliness, which had + induced me to return; and finally its desire to be followed. Now that it + had led me to this place of shadow and profound silence and had ceased to + speak and to lead, I could not help thinking that this was my goal, that I + had been brought to this spot with a purpose, that in this wild and + solitary retreat some tremendous adventure was about to befall me. + </p> + <p> + As the silence continued unbroken, there was time to dwell on this + thought. I gazed before me and listened intently, scarcely breathing, + until the suspense became painful—too painful at last, and I turned + and took a step with the idea of going back to the border of the wood, + when close by, clear as a silver bell, sounded the voice once more, but + only for a moment—two or three syllables in response to my movement, + then it was silent again. + </p> + <p> + Once more I was standing still, as if in obedience to a command, in the + same state of suspense; and whether the change was real or only imagined I + know not, but the silence every minute grew more profound and the gloom + deeper. Imaginary terrors began to assail me. Ancient fables of men + allured by beautiful forms and melodious voices to destruction all at once + acquired a fearful significance. I recalled some of the Indian beliefs, + especially that of the mis-shapen, man-devouring monster who is said to + beguile his victims into the dark forest by mimicking the human voice—the + voice sometimes of a woman in distress—or by singing some strange + and beautiful melody. I grew almost afraid to look round lest I should + catch sight of him stealing towards me on his huge feet with toes pointing + backwards, his mouth snarling horribly to display his great green fangs. + It was distressing to have such fancies in this wild, solitary spot—hateful + to feel their power over me when I knew that they were nothing but fancies + and creations of the savage mind. But if these supernatural beings had no + existence, there were other monsters, only too real, in these woods which + it would be dreadful to encounter alone and unarmed, since against such + adversaries a revolver would be as ineffectual as a popgun. Some huge + camoodi, able to crush my bones like brittle twigs in its constricting + coils, might lurk in these shadows, and approach me stealthily, unseen in + its dark colour on the dark ground. Or some jaguar or black tiger might + steal towards me, masked by a bush or tree-trunk, to spring upon me + unawares. Or, worse still, this way might suddenly come a pack of those + swift-footed, unspeakably terrible hunting-leopards, from which every + living thing in the forest flies with shrieks of consternation or else + falls paralysed in their path to be instantly torn to pieces and devoured. + </p> + <p> + A slight rustling sound in the foliage above me made me start and cast up + my eyes. High up, where a pale gleam of tempered sunlight fell through the + leaves, a grotesque human-like face, black as ebony and adorned with a + great red beard, appeared staring down upon me. In another moment it was + gone. It was only a large araguato, or howling monkey, but I was so + unnerved that I could not get rid of the idea that it was something more + than a monkey. Once more I moved, and again, the instant I moved my foot, + clear, and keen, and imperative, sounded the voice! It was no longer + possible to doubt its meaning. It commanded me to stand still—to + wait—to watch—to listen! Had it cried “Listen! Do not move!” I + could not have understood it better. Trying as the suspense was, I now + felt powerless to escape. Something very terrible, I felt convinced, was + about to happen, either to destroy or to release me from the spell that + held me. + </p> + <p> + And while I stood thus rooted to the ground, the sweat standing in large + drops on my forehead, all at once close to me sounded a cry, fine and + clear at first, and rising at the end to a shriek so loud, piercing, and + unearthly in character that the blood seemed to freeze in my veins, and a + despairing cry to heaven escaped my lips; then, before that long shriek + expired, a mighty chorus of thunderous voices burst forth around me; and + in this awful tempest of sound I trembled like a leaf; and the leaves on + the trees were agitated as if by a high wind, and the earth itself seemed + to shake beneath my feet. Indescribably horrible were my sensations at + that moment; I was deafened, and would possibly have been maddened had I + not, as by a miracle, chanced to see a large araguato on a branch + overhead, roaring with open mouth and inflated throat and chest. + </p> + <p> + It was simply a concert of howling monkeys that had so terrified me! But + my extreme fear was not strange in the circumstances; since everything + that had led up to the display—the gloom and silence, the period of + suspense, and my heated imagination—had raised my mind to the + highest degree of excitement and expectancy. I had rightly conjectured, no + doubt, that my unseen guide had led me to that spot for a purpose; and the + purpose had been to set me in the midst of a congregation of araguatos to + enable me for the first time fully to appreciate their unparalleled vocal + powers. I had always heard them at a distance; here they were gathered in + scores, possibly hundreds—the whole araguato population of the + forest, I should think—close to me; and it may give some faint + conception of the tremendous power and awful character of the sound thus + produced by their combined voices when I say that this animal—miscalled + “howler” in English—would outroar the mightiest lion that ever woke + the echoes of an African wilderness. + </p> + <p> + This roaring concert, which lasted three or four minutes, having ended, I + lingered a few minutes longer on the spot, and not hearing the voice + again, went back to the edge of the wood, and then started on my way back + to the village. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + Perhaps I was not capable of thinking quite coherently on what had just + happened until I was once more fairly outside of the forest shadows—out + in that clear open daylight, where things seem what they are, and + imagination, like a juggler detected and laughed at, hastily takes itself + out of the way. As I walked homewards I paused midway on the barren ridge + to gaze back on the scene I had left, and then the recent adventure began + to take a semi-ludicrous aspect in my mind. All that circumstance of + preparation, that mysterious prelude to something unheard of, + unimaginable, surpassing all fables ancient and modern, and all tragedies—to + end at last in a concert of howling monkeys! Certainly the concert was + very grand—indeed, one of the most astounding in nature—-but + still—I sat down on a stone and laughed freely. + </p> + <p> + The sun was sinking behind the forest, its broad red disk still showing + through the topmost leaves, and the higher part of the foliage was of a + luminous green, like green flame, throwing off flakes of quivering, fiery + light, but lower down the trees were in profound shadow. + </p> + <p> + I felt very light-hearted while I gazed on this scene, for how pleasant it + was just now to think of the strange experience I had passed through—to + think that I had come safely out of it, that no human eye had witnessed my + weakness, and that the mystery existed still to fascinate me! For, + ludicrous as the denouement now looked, the cause of all, the voice + itself, was a thing to marvel at more than ever. That it proceeded from an + intelligent being I was firmly convinced; and although too materialistic + in my way of thinking to admit for a moment that it was a supernatural + being, I still felt that there was something more than I had at first + imagined in Kua-ko’s speech about a daughter of the Didi. That the Indians + knew a great deal about the mysterious voice, and had held it in great + fear, seemed evident. But they were savages, with ways that were not mine; + and however friendly they might be towards one of a superior race, there + was always in their relations with him a low cunning, prompted partly by + suspicion, underlying their words and actions. For the white man to put + himself mentally on their level is not more impossible than for these + aborigines to be perfectly open, as children are, towards the white. + Whatever subject the stranger within their gates exhibits an interest in, + that they will be reticent about; and their reticence, which conceals + itself under easily invented lies or an affected stupidity, invariably + increases with his desire for information. It was plain to them that some + very unusual interest took me to the wood; consequently I could not expect + that they would tell me anything they might know to enlighten me about the + matter; and I concluded that Kua-ko’s words about the daughter of the + Didi, and what she would do if he blew an arrow at a bird, had + accidentally escaped him in a moment of excitement. Nothing, therefore, + was to be gained by questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them + how much the subject attracted me. And I had nothing to fear; my + independent investigations had made this much clear to me; the voice might + proceed from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of wild + fantastic humours, but nothing worse. It was friendly to me, I felt sure; + at the same time it might not be friendly towards the Indians; for, on + that day, it had made itself heard only after my companion had taken + flight; and it had then seemed incensed against me, possibly because the + savage had been in my company. + </p> + <p> + That was the result of my reflections on the day’s events when I returned + to my entertainer’s roof and sat down among my friends to refresh myself + with stewed fowl and fish from the household pot, into which a hospitable + woman invited me with a gesture to dip my fingers. + </p> + <p> + Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think—certainly not + reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me, probably + surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid temper. I laughed at + the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he dropped his head down again. + After a minute or two I took the metal match-box and tossed it on to his + breast. He clutched it and, starting up, stared at me in the utmost + astonishment. He could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had + failed to carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to + the loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up the + box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid look; while all + the others gathered about him, each trying to get the box into his own + hands to admire it again, notwithstanding that they had all seen it a + dozen times before. But it was Kua-ko’s now and not the stranger’s, and + therefore more nearly their own than formerly, and must look different, + more beautiful, with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful + enamelled cock on the lid—figured in Paris probably, but just like a + cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of killing and + eating than we do our purring pussies and lemon-coloured canaries—must + now look more strikingly valiant and cock-like than ever, with its crimson + comb and wattles, burnished red hackles, and dark green arching + tail-plumes. But Kua-ko, while willing enough to have it admired and + praised, would not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously that + it was not theirs for them to handle, but his—Kua-ko’s—for all + time; that he had won it by accompanying me—valorous man that he + was!—to that evil wood into which they—timid, inferior + creatures that they were!—would never have ventured to set foot. I + am not translating his words, but that was what he gave them to understand + pretty plainly, to my great amusement. + </p> + <p> + After the excitement was over, Runi, who had maintained a dignified calm, + made some roundabout remarks, apparently with the object of eliciting an + account of what I had seen and heard in the forest of evil fame. I replied + carelessly that I had seen a great many birds and monkeys—monkeys so + tame that I might have procured one if I had had a blow-pipe, in spite of + my never having practiced shooting with that weapon. + </p> + <p> + It interested them to hear about the abundance and tameness of the + monkeys, although it was scarcely news; but how tame they must have been + when I, the stranger not to the manner born—not naked, + brown-skinned, lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an owl in his movements—had + yet been able to look closely at them! Runi only remarked, apropos of what + I had told him, that they could not go there to hunt; then he asked me if + I feared nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” I replied carelessly. “The things you fear hurt not the white + man and are no more than this to me,” saying which I took up a little + white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with my breath. “And against + other enemies I have this,” I added, touching my revolver. A brave speech, + just after that araguato episode; but I did not make it without blushing—mentally. + </p> + <p> + He shook his head, and said it was a poor weapon against some enemies; + also—truly enough—that it would procure no birds and monkeys + for the stew-pot. + </p> + <p> + Next morning my friend Kua-ko, taking his zabatana, invited me to go out + with him, and I consented with some misgivings, thinking he had overcome + his superstitious fears and, inflamed by my account of the abundance of + game in the forest, intended going there with me. The previous day’s + experience had made me think that it would be better in the future to go + there alone. But I was giving the poor youth more credit than he deserved: + it was far from his intention to face the terrible unknown again. We went + in a different direction, and tramped for hours through woods where birds + were scarce and only of the smaller kinds. Then my guide surprised me a + second time by offering to teach me to use the zabatana. This, then, was + to be my reward for giving him the box! I readily consented, and with the + long weapon, awkward to carry, in my hand, and imitating the noiseless + movements and cautious, watchful manner of my companion, I tried to + imagine myself a simple Guayana savage, with no knowledge of that + artificial social state to which I had been born, dependent on my skill + and little roll of poison-darts for a livelihood. By an effort of the will + I emptied myself of my life experience and knowledge—or as much of + it as possible—and thought only of the generations of my dead + imaginary progenitors, who had ranged these woods back to the dim + forgotten years before Columbus; and if the pleasure I had in the fancy + was childish, it made the day pass quickly enough. Kua-ko was constantly + at my elbow to assist and give advice; and many an arrow I blew from the + long tube, and hit no bird. Heaven knows what I hit, for the arrows flew + away on their wide and wild career to be seen no more, except a few which + my keen-eyed comrade marked to their destination and managed to recover. + The result of our day’s hunting was a couple of birds, which Kua-ko, not + I, shot, and a small opossum his sharp eyes detected high up a tree lying + coiled up on an old nest, over the side of which the animal had + incautiously allowed his snaky tail to dangle. The number of darts I + wasted must have been a rather serious loss to him, but he did not seem + troubled at it, and made no remark. + </p> + <p> + Next day, to my surprise, he volunteered to give me a second lesson, and + we went out again. On this occasion he had provided himself with a large + bundle of darts, but—wise man!—they were not poisoned, and it + therefore mattered little whether they were wasted or not. I believe that + on this day I made some little progress; at all events, my teacher + remarked that before long I would be able to hit a bird. This made me + smile and answer that if he could place me within twenty yards of a bird + not smaller than a small man I might manage to touch it with an arrow. + </p> + <p> + This speech had a very unexpected and remarkable effect. He stopped short + in his walk, stared at me wildly, then grinned, and finally burst into a + roar of laughter, which was no bad imitation of the howling monkey’s + performance, and smote his naked thighs with tremendous energy. At length + recovering himself, he asked whether a small woman was not the same as a + small man, and being answered in the affirmative, went off into a second + extravagant roar of laughter. + </p> + <p> + Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he continued in this mood, I + began making any number of feeble jokes—feeble, but quite as good as + the one which had provoked such outrageous merriment—for it amused + me to see him acting in this unusual way. But they all failed of their + effect—there was no hitting the bull’s-eye a second time; he would + only stare vacantly at me, then grunt like a peccary—not + appreciatively—and walk on. Still, at intervals he would go back to + what I had said about hitting a very big bird, and roar again, as if this + wonderful joke was not easily exhausted. + </p> + <p> + Again on the third day we were out together practicing at the birds—frightening + if not killing them; but before noon, finding that it was his intention to + go to a distant spot where he expected to meet with larger game, I left + him and returned to the village. The blow-pipe practice had lost its + novelty, and I did not care to go on all day and every day with it; more + than that, I was anxious after so long an interval to pay a visit to my + wood, as I began to call it, in the hope of hearing that mysterious melody + which I had grown to love and to miss when even a single day passed + without it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of pleasing + anticipations, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in! + What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness it possessed above all + forests, because of that mystery that drew me to it! And it was mine, + truly and absolutely—as much mine as any portion of earth’s surface + could belong to any man—mine with all its products: the precious + woods and fruits and fragrant gums that would never be trafficked away; + its wild animals that man would never persecute; nor would any jealous + savage dispute my ownership or pretend that it was part of his + hunting-ground. As I crossed the savannah I played with this fancy; but + when I reached the ridgy eminence, to look down once more on my new + domain, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced to my heart + and was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to rush to my eyes. And + caring not in that solitude to disguise my feelings from myself, and from + the wide heaven that looked down and saw me—for this is the sweetest + thing that solitude has for us, that we are free in it, and no convention + holds us—I dropped on my knees and kissed the stony ground, then + casting up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being for the gift of that + wild forest, those green mansions where I had found so great a happiness! + </p> + <p> + Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long after + noon; but no melodious voice gave me familiar and expected welcome; nor + did my invisible companion make itself heard at all on that day, or, at + all events, not in its usual bird-like warbling language. But on this day + I met with a curious little adventure and heard something very + extraordinary, very mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in my + mind with the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles. + </p> + <p> + It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and finding + myself in a rather open part of the wood, near its border, where the + breeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a large + branch, which was half broken, but still remained attached to the trunk of + the tree, while resting its terminal twigs on the ground. Just before me, + where I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad, round, + polished leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectly horizontal + position of the upper leaves made them look like a collection of small + platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. Through the + leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a slender dead stem + protruded, and from a twig at its summit depended a broken spider’s web. A + minute dead leaf had become attached to one of the loose threads and threw + its small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves below; and as it + trembled and swayed in the current of air, the black spot trembled with it + or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and was seldom at rest. + Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the small dancing shadow, + scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I noticed a small spider, with + a flat body and short legs, creep cautiously out on to the upper surface + of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred with velvet black first drew my + attention to it, for it was beautiful to the eye; and presently I + discovered that this was no web-spinning, sedentary spider, but a + wandering hunter, that captured its prey, like a cat, by stealing on it + concealed and making a rush or spring at the last. The moving shadow had + attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken for a fly running + about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to leaf. Now began a series + of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider’s part, with the object of + circumventing the imaginary fly, which seemed specially designed to meet + this special case; for certainly no insect had ever before behaved in + quite so erratic a manner. Each time the shadow flew past, the spider ran + swiftly in the same direction, hiding itself under the leaves, always + trying to get near without alarming its prey; and then the shadow would go + round and round in a small circle, and some new strategic move on the part + of the hunter would be called forth. I became deeply interested in this + curious scene; I began to wish that the shadow would remain quiet for a + moment or two, so as to give the hunter a chance. And at last I had my + wish: the shadow was almost motionless, and the spider moving towards it, + yet seeming not to move, and as it crept closer I fancied that I could + almost see the little striped body quivering with excitement. Then came + the final scene: swift and straight as an arrow the hunter shot himself on + to the fly-like shadow, then wiggled round and round, evidently trying to + take hold of his prey with fangs and claws; and finding nothing under him, + he raised the fore part of his body vertically, as if to stare about him + in search of the delusive fly; but the action may have simply expressed + astonishment. At this moment I was just on the point of giving free and + loud vent to the laughter which I had been holding in when, just behind + me, as if from some person who had been watching the scene over my + shoulder and was as much amused as myself at its termination, sounded a + clear trill of merry laughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but + no living creature was there. The mass of loose foliage I stared into was + agitated, as if from a body having just pushed through it. In a moment the + leaves and fronds were motionless again; still, I could not be sure that a + slight gust of wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced that I had + heard close to me a real human laugh, or sound of some living creature + that exactly simulated a laugh, that I carefully searched the ground about + me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing, and going + back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated for a + considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on the mystery + of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to wonder whether I, + like the spider that chased the shadow, had been deluded, and had seemed + to hear a sound that was not a sound. + </p> + <p> + On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or three + hours’ ramble, during which I heard nothing, thinking it useless to haunt + the known spots any longer, I turned southwards and penetrated into a + denser part of the forest, where the undergrowth made progress difficult. + I was not afraid of losing myself; the sun above and my sense of + direction, which was always good, would enable me to return to the + starting-point. + </p> + <p> + In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on for over half an hour, + finding it no easy matter to make my way without constantly deviating to + this side or that from the course I wished to keep, when I came to a much + more open spot. The trees were smaller and scantier here, owing to the + rocky nature of the ground, which sloped rather rapidly down; but it was + moist and overgrown with mosses, ferns, creepers, and low shrubs, all of + the liveliest green. I could not see many yards ahead owing to the bushes + and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to hear a low, continuous + sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or thirty yards further, I made + out to be the gurgling of running water; and at the same moment I made the + discovery that my throat was parched and my palms tingling with heat. I + hurried on, promising myself a cool draught, when all at once, above the + soft dashing and gurgling of the water, I caught yet another sound—a + low, warbling note, or succession of notes, which might have been emitted + by a bird. But it startled me nevertheless—bird-like warbling sounds + had come to mean so much to me—and pausing, I listened intently. It + was not repeated, and finally, treading with the utmost caution so as not + to alarm the mysterious vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart + with a quantity of feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, I + saw that just beyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in + the sunlight from above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was + in this open space, about twenty yards from me, although the water was + still hidden from sight. Something else was there, which I did see; + instantly my cautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with + concentrated vision, scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it + away. + </p> + <p> + It was a human being—a girl form, reclining on the moss among the + ferns and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled + behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held + extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched on + a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing with + the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to her hand; + and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently hopped up + and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting its wings and + tail, and always appearing just on the point of dropping on to her finger. + From my position it was impossible to see her distinctly, yet I dared not + move. I could make out that she was small, not above four feet six or + seven inches in height, in figure slim, with delicately shaped little + hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her only garment was a slight + chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees, of a whitish-gray colour, + with a faint lustre as of a silky material. Her hair was very wonderful; + it was loose and abundant, and seemed wavy or curly, falling in a cloud on + her shoulders and arms. Dark it appeared, but the precise tint was + indeterminable, as was that of her skin, which looked neither brown nor + white. All together, near to me as she actually was, there was a kind of + mistiness in the figure which made it appear somewhat vague and distant, + and a greenish grey seemed the prevailing colour. This tint I presently + attributed to the effect of the sunlight falling on her through the green + foliage; for once, for a moment, she raised herself to reach her finger + nearer to the bird, and then a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on her + hair and arm, and the arm at that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, + and the hair, just where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and + play of iridescent colour. + </p> + <p> + I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the bird, with + a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in sudden alarm; at the + same moment she turned and saw me through the light leafy screen. But + although catching sight of me thus suddenly, she did not exhibit alarm + like the bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised look in them, + remained immovably fixed on my face. And then slowly, imperceptibly—for + I did not notice the actual movement, so gradual and smooth it was, like + the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its form and place, yet to the + eye seems not to have moved—she rose to her knees, to her feet, + retired, and with face still towards me, and eyes fixed on mine, finally + disappeared, going as if she had melted away into the verdure. The leafage + was there occupying the precise spot where she had been a moment before—the + feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, and stems and broad, arrow-shaped + leaves of an aquatic plant, and slim, drooping fern fronds, and they were + motionless and seemed not to have been touched by something passing + through them. She had gone, yet I continued still, bent almost double, + gazing fixedly at the spot where I had last seen her, my mind in a strange + condition, possessed by sensations which were keenly felt and yet + contradictory. So vivid was the image left on my brain that she still + seemed to be actually before my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, + for it was a dream, an illusion, and no such being existed, or could + exist, in this gross world; and at the same time I knew that she had been + there—that imagination was powerless to conjure up a form so + exquisite. + </p> + <p> + With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I remained for + some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiar + melodious sound. For I was now convinced that in this wild solitary girl I + had at length discovered the mysterious warbler that so often followed me + in the wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a drink + from the stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the forest + and went home. + </p> + <p> + Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful anticipations, + and had no sooner got well among the trees than a soft, warbling sound + reached my ears; it was like that heard on the previous day just before + catching sight of the girl among the ferns. So soon! thought I, elated, + and with cautious steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again to + catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to doubt + that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on a rock, the + sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near and distinct. + Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour later, in another place, + the same mysterious note sounded near me. During my remaining time in the + forest I was served many times in the same way, and still nothing was + seen, nor was there any change in the voice. + </p> + <p> + Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, feeling very + keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the cause of the elusive + creature’s behaviour was that she had been piqued at my discovery of her + in one of her most secret hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and that + it had pleased her to pay me out in this manner. + </p> + <p> + On the next day there was no change; she was there again, evidently + following me, but always invisible, and varied not from that one mocking + note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her a second time. + In the end I was vexed, and resolved to be even with her by not visiting + the wood for some time. A display of indifference on my part would, I + hoped, result in making her less coy in the future. + </p> + <p> + Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two others + to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening fruit on a cashew + tree would attract a large number of birds. The fruit, however, proved + still green, so that we gathered none and killed few birds. Returning + together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by and by, falling behind our + companions, he complimented me on my good shooting, although, as usual, I + had only wasted the arrows I had blown. + </p> + <p> + “Soon you will be able to hit,” he said; “hit a bird as big as a small + woman”; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old joke. At last, + growing confidential, he said that I would soon possess a zabatana of my + own, with arrows in plenty. He was going to make the arrows himself, and + his uncle Otawinki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. I treated + it all as a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he meant it. + </p> + <p> + Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil fame, and + when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, very much to my + surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade me to go, + where before I had been earnestly recommended not to go, until, finding + that I would not, he took me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he + returned to the same subject: he could not understand why I would not go + to that wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid. + </p> + <p> + “No, not afraid,” I replied; “but I know the place well, and am getting + tired of it.” I had seen everything in it—birds and beasts—and + had heard all its strange noises. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, heard,” he said, nodding his head knowingly; “but you have seen + nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet.” + </p> + <p> + I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything strange + the wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I went on to + describe her appearance, and finished by asking if he thought a white man + was frightened at the sight of a young girl. + </p> + <p> + What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, growing + still more confidential and generous than on the previous day, he said + that I would soon be a most important personage among them, and greatly + distinguish myself. He did not like it when I laughed at all this, and + went on with great seriousness to speak of the unmade blowpipe that would + be mine—speaking of it as if it had been something very great, equal + to the gift of a large tract of land, or the governorship of a province, + north of the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke of something else more + wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore, and + this was that young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid of about + sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather lean and dirty; not ugly, + nor yet prepossessing. And this copper-coloured little drab of the + wilderness he proposed to bestow in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him, I + managed to control my muscles and asked him what authority he—a + young nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife for + himself—could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand way? He + replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would give his + consent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations; and last, and + LEAST, according to the matrimonial customs of these latitudes, Oalava + herself would be ready to bestow her person—queyou, worn + figleaf-wise, necklace of accouri teeth, and all—on so worthy a + suitor as myself. Finally, to make the prospect still more inviting, he + added that it would not be necessary for me to subject myself to any + voluntary tortures to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the + purgatorial state of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I + said, and, with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of + torture he would recommend. For me—so valorous a person—“no + torture,” he answered magnanimously. But he—Kua-ko—had made up + his mind as to the form of torture he meant to inflict some day on his own + person. He would prepare a large sack and into it put fire-ants—“As + many as that!” he exclaimed triumphantly, stooping and filling his two + hands with loose sand. He would put them in the sack, and then get into it + himself naked, and tie it tightly round his neck, so as to show to all + spectators that the hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his + flesh could be endured without a groan and with an unmoved countenance. + The poor youth had not an original mind, since this was one of the + commonest forms of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But the sudden + wonderful animation with which he spoke of it, the fiendish joy that + illumined his usually stolid countenance, sent a sudden disgust and horror + through me. But what a strange inverted kind of fiendishness is this, + which delights at the anticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not + on an enemy! And towards others these savages are mild and peaceable! No, + I could not believe in their mildness; that was only on the surface, when + nothing occurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. I could have + laughed at the whole matter, but the exulting look on my companion’s face + had made me sick of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more about + it. + </p> + <p> + But he would talk still—this fellow whose words, as a rule, I had to + take out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on the same + subject, he said that not one person in the village would expect to see me + torture myself; that after what I would do for them all—after + delivering them from a great evil—nothing further would be expected + of me. + </p> + <p> + I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear plain that + in everything he had said he had been leading up to some very important + matter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake to suppose that my + savage was offering me a blow-pipe and a marketable virgin sister from + purely disinterested motives. + </p> + <p> + In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my being able + eventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with an arrow. Out of it + all came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious girl I had seen in + the wood was not of a size to suit me as a target when I had got my hand + in with a little more practice. That was the great work I was asked to do + for them—that shy, mysterious girl with the melodious wild-bird + voice was the evil being I was asked to slay with poisoned arrows! This + was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to become more and more + familiar with her haunts and habits, to overcome all shyness and suspicion + in her; and at the proper moment, when it would be impossible to miss my + mark, to plant the fatal arrow! The disgust he had inspired in me before, + when gloating over anticipated tortures, was a weak and transient feeling + to what I now experienced. I turned on him in a sudden transport of rage, + and in a moment would have shattered on his head the blow-pipe I was + carrying in my hand, but his astonished look as he turned to face me made + me pause and prevented me from committing so fatal an indiscretion. I + could only grind my teeth and struggle to overcome an almost overpowering + hatred and wrath. Finally I flung the tube down and bade him take it, + telling him that I would not touch it again if he offered me all the + sisters of all the savages in Guayana for wives. + </p> + <p> + He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence suggested + that it would be best to conceal as far as possible the violent animosity + I had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat scornfully if he + believed that I should ever be able to hit anything—bird or human + being—with an arrow. “No,” I almost shouted, so as to give vent to + my feelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, “this is the white man’s + weapon; but he kills men with it—men who attempt to kill or injure + him—but neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder + innocent young girls treacherously.” After that we went on in silence for + some time; at length he said that the being I had seen in the wood and was + not afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a daughter of the Didi, an + evil being; and that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood they + could not go there to hunt, and even in other woods they constantly went + in fear of meeting her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on in + silence; and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw off my + clothes and plunged into the water to cool my anger before going in to the + others. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + Thinking about the forest girl while lying awake that night, I came to the + conclusion that I had made it sufficiently plain to her how little her + capricious behaviour had been relished, and had therefore no need to + punish myself more by keeping any longer out of my beloved green mansions. + Accordingly, next day, after the heavy rain that fell during the morning + hours had ceased, I set forth about noon to visit the wood. Overhead the + sky was clear again; but there was no motion in the heavy sultry + atmosphere, while dark blue masses of banked-up clouds on the western + horizon threatened a fresh downpour later in the day. My mind was, + however, now too greatly excited at the prospect of a possible encounter + with the forest nymph to allow me to pay any heed to these ominous signs. + </p> + <p> + I had passed through the first strip of wood and was in the succeeding + stony sterile space when a gleam of brilliant colour close by on the + ground caught my sight. It was a snake lying on the bare earth; had I kept + on without noticing it, I should most probably have trodden upon or + dangerously near it. Viewing it closely, I found that it was a coral + snake, famed as much for its beauty and singularity as for its deadly + character. It was about three feet long, and very slim; its ground colour + a brilliant vermilion, with broad jet-black rings at equal distances round + its body, each black ring or band divided by a narrow yellow strip in the + middle. The symmetrical pattern and vividly contrasted colours would have + given it the appearance of an artificial snake made by some fanciful + artist, but for the gleam of life in its bright coils. Its fixed eyes, + too, were living gems, and from the point of its dangerous arrowy head the + glistening tongue flickered ceaselessly as I stood a few yards away + regarding it. + </p> + <p> + “I admire you greatly, Sir Serpent,” I said, or thought, “but it is + dangerous, say the military authorities, to leave an enemy or possible + enemy in the rear; the person who does such a thing must be either a bad + strategist or a genius, and I am neither.” + </p> + <p> + Retreating a few paces, I found and picked up a stone about as big as a + man’s hand and hurled it at the dangerous-looking head with the intention + of crushing it; but the stone hit upon the rocky ground a little on one + side of the mark and, being soft, flew into a hundred small fragments. + This roused the creature’s anger, and in a moment with raised head he was + gliding swiftly towards me. Again I retreated, not so slowly on this + occasion; and finding another stone, I raised and was about to launch it + when a sharp, ringing cry issued from the bushes growing near, and, + quickly following the sound, forth stepped the forest girl; no longer + elusive and shy, vaguely seen in the shadowy wood, but boldly challenging + attention, exposed to the full power of the meridian sun, which made her + appear luminous and rich in colour beyond example. Seeing her thus, all + those emotions of fear and abhorrence invariably excited in us by the + sight of an active venomous serpent in our path vanished instantly from my + mind: I could now only feel astonishment and admiration at the brilliant + being as she advanced with swift, easy, undulating motion towards me; or + rather towards the serpent, which was now between us, moving more and more + slowly as she came nearer. The cause of this sudden wonderful boldness, so + unlike her former habit, was unmistakable. She had been watching my + approach from some hiding-place among the bushes, ready no doubt to lead + me a dance through the wood with her mocking voice, as on previous + occasions, when my attack on the serpent caused that outburst of wrath. + The torrent of ringing and to me inarticulate sounds in that unknown + tongue, her rapid gestures, and, above all, her wide-open sparkling eyes + and face aflame with colour made it impossible to mistake the nature of + her feeling. + </p> + <p> + In casting about for some term or figure of speech in which to describe + the impression produced on me at that moment, I think of waspish, and, + better still, avispada—literally the same word in Spanish, not + having precisely the same meaning nor ever applied contemptuously—only + to reject both after a moment’s reflection. Yet I go back to the image of + an irritated wasp as perhaps offering the best illustration; of some large + tropical wasp advancing angrily towards me, as I have witnessed a hundred + times, not exactly flying, but moving rapidly, half running and half + flying, over the ground, with loud and angry buzz, the glistening wings + open and agitated; beautiful beyond most animated creatures in its sharp + but graceful lines, polished surface, and varied brilliant colouring, and + that wrathfulness that fits it so well and seems to give it additional + lustre. + </p> + <p> + Wonder-struck at the sight of her strange beauty and passion, I forgot the + advancing snake until she came to a stop at about five yards from me; then + to my horror I saw that it was beside her naked feet. Although no longer + advancing, the head was still raised high as if to strike; but presently + the spirit of anger appeared to die out of it; the lifted head, + oscillating a little from side to side, sunk down lower and lower to rest + finally on the girl’s bare instep; and lying there motionless, the deadly + thing had the appearance of a gaily coloured silken garter just dropped + from her leg. It was plain to see that she had no fear of it, that she was + one of those exceptional persons, to be found, it is said, in all + countries, who possess some magnetic quality which has a soothing effect + on even the most venomous and irritable reptiles. + </p> + <p> + Following the direction of my eyes, she too glanced down, but did not move + her foot; then she made her voice heard again, still loud and sharp, but + the anger was not now so pronounced. + </p> + <p> + “Do not fear, I shall not harm it,” I said in the Indian tongue. + </p> + <p> + She took no notice of my speech and continued speaking with increasing + resentment. + </p> + <p> + I shook my head, replying that her language was unknown to me. Then by + means of signs I tried to make her understand that the creature was safe + from further molestation. She pointed indignantly at the stone in my hand, + which I had forgotten all about. At once I threw it from me, and instantly + there was a change; the resentment had vanished, and a tender radiance lit + her face like a smile. + </p> + <p> + I advanced a little nearer, addressing her once more in the Indian tongue; + but my speech was evidently unintelligible to her, as she stood now + glancing at the snake lying at her feet, now at me. Again I had recourse + to signs and gestures; pointing to the snake, then to the stone I had cast + away, I endeavoured to convey to her that in the future I would for her + sake be a friend to all venomous reptiles, and that I wished her to have + the same kindly feelings towards me as towards these creatures. Whether or + not she understood me, she showed no disposition to go into hiding again, + and continued silently regarding me with a look that seemed to express + pleasure at finding herself at last thus suddenly brought face to face + with me. Flattered at this, I gradually drew nearer until at the last I + was standing at her side, gazing down with the utmost delight into that + face which so greatly surpassed in loveliness all human faces I had ever + seen or imagined. + </p> + <p> + And yet to you, my friend, it probably will not seem that she was so + beautiful, since I have, alas! only the words we all use to paint + commoner, coarser things, and no means to represent all the exquisite + details, all the delicate lights, and shades, and swift changes of colour + and expression. Moreover, is it not a fact that the strange or unheard of + can never appear beautiful in a mere description, because that which is + most novel in it attracts too much attention and is given undue prominence + in the picture, and we miss that which would have taken away the effect of + strangeness—the perfect balance of the parts and harmony of the + whole? For instance, the blue eyes of the northerner would, when first + described to the black-eyed inhabitants of warm regions, seem unbeautiful + and a monstrosity, because they would vividly see with the mental vision + that unheard-of blueness, but not in the same vivid way the accompanying + flesh and hair tints with which it harmonizes. + </p> + <p> + Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint it in words than of + the feeling its original inspired in me when, looking closely for the + first time on that rare loveliness, trembling with delight, I mentally + cried: “Oh, why has Nature, maker of so many types and of innumerable + individuals of each, given to the world but one being like this?” + </p> + <p> + Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind before I dismissed it as + utterly incredible. No, this exquisite being was without doubt one of a + distinct race which had existed in this little-known corner of the + continent for thousands of generations, albeit now perhaps reduced to a + small and dwindling remnant. + </p> + <p> + Her figure and features were singularly delicate, but it was her colour + that struck me most, which indeed made her differ from all other human + beings. The colour of the skin would be almost impossible to describe, so + greatly did it vary with every change of mood—and the moods were + many and transient—and with the angle on which the sunlight touched + it, and the degree of light. + </p> + <p> + Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a somewhat dim white or + pale grey; near in the strong sunshine it was not white, but alabastrian, + semi-pellucid, showing an underlying rose colour; and at any point where + the rays fell direct this colour was bright and luminous, as we see in our + fingers when held before a strong firelight. But that part of her skin + that remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer white, and the underlying + colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim blue. With the skin the colour + of the eyes harmonized perfectly. At first, when lit with anger, they had + appeared flame-like; now the iris was of a peculiar soft or dim and tender + red, a shade sometimes seen in flowers. But only when looked closely at + could this delicate hue be discerned, the pupils being large, as in some + grey eyes, and the long, dark, shading lashes at a short distance made the + whole eye appear dark. Think not, then, of the red flower, exposed to the + light and sun in conjunction with the vivid green of the foliage; think + only of such a hue in the half-hidden iris, brilliant and moist with the + eye’s moisture, deep with the eye’s depth, glorified by the outward look + of a bright, beautiful soul. Most variable of all in colour was the hair, + this being due to its extreme fineness and glossiness, and to its + elasticity, which made it lie fleecy and loose on head, shoulders, and + back; a cloud with a brightness on its surface made by the freer outer + hairs, a fit setting and crown for a countenance of such rare changeful + loveliness. In the shade, viewed closely, the general colour appeared a + slate, deepening in places to purple; but even in the shade the nimbus of + free flossy hairs half veiled the darker tints with a downy pallor; and at + a distance of a few yards it gave the whole hair a vague, misty + appearance. In the sunlight the colour varied more, looking now dark, + sometimes intensely black, now of a light uncertain hue, with a play of + iridescent colour on the loose surface, as we see on the glossed plumage + of some birds; and at a short distance, with the sun shining full on her + head, it sometimes looked white as a noonday cloud. So changeful was it + and ethereal in appearance with its cloud colours that all other human + hair, even of the most beautiful golden shades, pale or red, seemed heavy + and dull and dead-looking by comparison. + </p> + <p> + But more than form and colour and that enchanting variability was the look + of intelligence, which at the same time seemed complementary to and one + with the all-seeing, all-hearing alertness appearing in her face; the + alertness one remarks in a wild creature, even when in repose and fearing + nothing; but seldom in man, never perhaps in intellectual or studious man. + She was a wild, solitary girl of the woods, and did not understand the + language of the country in which I had addressed her. What inner or mind + life could such a one have more than that of any wild animal existing in + the same conditions? Yet looking at her face it was not possible to doubt + its intelligence. This union in her of two opposite qualities, which, with + us, cannot or do not exist together, although so novel, yet struck me as + the girl’s principal charm. Why had Nature not done this before—why + in all others does the brightness of the mind dim that beautiful physical + brightness which the wild animals have? But enough for me that that which + no man had ever looked for or hoped to find existed here; that through + that unfamiliar lustre of the wild life shone the spiritualizing light of + mind that made us kin. + </p> + <p> + These thoughts passed swiftly through my brain as I stood feasting my + sight on her bright, piquant face; while she on her part gazed back into + my eyes, not only with fearless curiosity, but with a look of recognition + and pleasure at the encounter so unmistakably friendly that, encouraged by + it, I took her arm in my hand, moving at the same time a little nearer to + her. At that moment a swift, startled expression came into her eyes; she + glanced down and up again into my face; her lips trembled and slightly + parted as she murmured some sorrowful sounds in a tone so low as to be + only just audible. + </p> + <p> + Thinking she had become alarmed and was on the point of escaping out of my + hands, and fearing, above all things, to lose sight of her again so soon, + I slipped my arm around her slender body to detain her, moving one foot at + the same time to balance myself; and at that moment I felt a slight blow + and a sharp burning sensation shoot into my leg, so sudden and intense + that I dropped my arm, at the same time uttering a cry of pain, and + recoiled one or two paces from her. But she stirred not when I released + her; her eyes followed my movements; then she glanced down at her feet. I + followed her look, and figure to yourself my horror when I saw there the + serpent I had so completely forgotten, and which even that sting of sharp + pain had not brought back to remembrance! There it lay, a coil of its own + thrown round one of her ankles, and its head, raised nearly a foot high, + swaying slowly from side to side, while the swift forked tongue flickered + continuously. Then—only then—I knew what had happened, and at + the same time I understood the reason of that sudden look of alarm in her + face, the murmuring sounds she had uttered, and the downward startled + glance. Her fears had been solely for my safety, and she had warned me! + Too late! too late! In moving I had trodden on or touched the serpent with + my foot, and it had bitten me just above the ankle. In a few moments I + began to realize the horror of my position. “Must I die! must I die! Oh, + my God, is there nothing that can save me?” I cried in my heart. + </p> + <p> + She was still standing motionless in the same place: her eyes wandered + back from me to the snake; gradually its swaying head was lowered again, + and the coil unwound from her ankle; then it began to move away, slowly at + first, and with the head a little raised, then faster, and in the end it + glided out of sight. Gone!—but it had left its venom in my blood—O + cursed reptile! + </p> + <p> + Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned to her face, now + strangely clouded with trouble; her eyes dropped before mine, while the + palms of her hands were pressed together, and the fingers clasped and + unclasped alternately. How different she seemed now; the brilliant face + grown so pallid and vague-looking! But not only because this tragic end to + our meeting had pierced her with pain: that cloud in the west had grown up + and now covered half the sky with vast lurid masses of vapour, blotting + out the sun, and a great gloom had fallen on the earth. + </p> + <p> + That sudden twilight and a long roll of approaching thunder, reverberating + from the hills, increased my anguish and desperation. Death at that moment + looked unutterably terrible. The remembrance of all that made life dear + pierced me to the core—all that nature was to me, all the pleasures + of sense and intellect, the hopes I had cherished—all was revealed + to me as by a flash of lightning. Bitterest of all was the thought that I + must now bid everlasting farewell to this beautiful being I had found in + the solitude—this lustrous daughter of the Didi—just when I had won + her from her shyness—that I must go away into the cursed blackness + of death and never know the mystery of her life! It was that which utterly + unnerved me, and made my legs tremble under me, and brought great drops of + sweat to my forehead, until I thought that the venom was already doing its + swift, fatal work in my veins. + </p> + <p> + With uncertain steps I moved to a stone a yard or two away and sat down + upon it. As I did so the hope came to me that this girl, so intimate with + nature, might know of some antidote to save me. Touching my leg, and using + other signs, I addressed her again in the Indian language. + </p> + <p> + “The snake has bitten me,” I said. “What shall I do? Is there no leaf, no + root you know that would save me from death? Help me! help me!” I cried in + despair. + </p> + <p> + My signs she probably understood if not my words, but she made no reply; + and still she remained standing motionless, twisting and untwisting her + fingers, and regarding me with a look of ineffable grief and compassion. + </p> + <p> + Alas! It was vain to appeal to her: she knew what had happened, and what + the result would most likely be, and pitied, but was powerless to help me. + Then it occurred to me that if I could reach the Indian village before the + venom overpowered me something might be done to save me. Oh, why had I + tarried so long, losing so many precious minutes! Large drops of rain were + falling now, and the gloom was deeper, and the thunder almost continuous. + With a cry of anguish I started to my feet and was about to rush away + towards the village when a dazzling flash of lightning made me pause for a + moment. When it vanished I turned a last look on the girl, and her face + was deathly pale, and her hair looked blacker than night; and as she + looked she stretched out her arms towards me and uttered a low, wailing + cry. “Good-bye for ever!” I murmured, and turning once more from her, + rushed away like one crazed into the wood. But in my confusion I had + probably taken the wrong direction, for instead of coming out in a few + minutes into the open border of the forest, and on to the savannah, I + found myself every moment getting deeper among the trees. I stood still, + perplexed, but could not shake off the conviction that I had started in + the right direction. Eventually I resolved to keep on for a hundred yards + or so and then, if no opening appeared, to turn back and retrace my steps. + But this was no easy matter. I soon became entangled in a dense + undergrowth, which so confused me that at last I confessed despairingly to + myself that for the first time in this wood I was hopelessly lost. And in + what terrible circumstances! At intervals a flash of lightning would throw + a vivid blue glare down into the interior of the wood and only serve to + show that I had lost myself in a place where even at noon in cloudless + weather progress would be most difficult; and now the light would only + last a moment, to be followed by thick gloom; and I could only tear + blindly on, bruising and lacerating my flesh at every step, falling again + and again, only to struggle up and on again, now high above the surface, + climbing over prostrate trees and branches, now plunged to my middle in a + pool or torrent of water. + </p> + <p> + Hopeless—utterly hopeless seemed all my mad efforts; and at each + pause, when I would stand exhausted, gasping for breath, my throbbing + heart almost suffocating me, a dull, continuous, teasing pain in my bitten + leg served to remind me that I had but a little time left to exist—that + by delaying at first I had allowed my only chance of salvation to slip by. + </p> + <p> + How long a time I spent fighting my way through this dense black wood I + know not; perhaps two or three hours, only to me the hours seemed like + years of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I found that I was free of + the close undergrowth and walking on level ground; but it was darker here + darker than the darkest night; and at length, when the lightning came and + flared down through the dense roof of foliage overhead, I discovered that + I was in a spot that had a strange look, where the trees were very large + and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to impede progress beneath + them. Here, recovering breath, I began to run, and after a while found + that I had left the large trees behind me, and was now in a more open + place, with small trees and bushes; and this made me hope for a while that + I had at last reached the border of the forest. But the hope proved vain; + once more I had to force my way through dense undergrowth, and finally + emerged on to a slope where it was open, and I could once more see for + some distance around me by such light as came through the thick pall of + clouds. Trudging on to the summit of the slope, I saw that there was open + savannah country beyond, and for a moment rejoiced that I had got free + from the forest. A few steps more, and I was standing on the very edge of + a bank, a precipice not less than fifty feet deep. I had never seen that + bank before, and therefore knew that I could not be on the right side of + the forest. But now my only hope was to get completely away from the trees + and then to look for the village, and I began following the bank in search + of a descent. No break occurred, and presently I was stopped by a dense + thicket of bushes. I was about to retrace my steps when I noticed that a + tall slender tree growing at the foot of the precipice, its green top not + more than a couple of yards below my feet, seemed to offer a means of + escape. Nerving myself with the thought that if I got crushed by the fall + I should probably escape a lingering and far more painful death, I dropped + into the cloud of foliage beneath me and clutched desperately at the twigs + as I fell. For a moment I felt myself sustained; but branch after branch + gave way beneath my weight, and then I only remember, very dimly, a swift + flight through the air before losing consciousness. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <p> + With the return of consciousness, I at first had a vague impression that I + was lying somewhere, injured, and incapable of motion; that it was night, + and necessary for me to keep my eyes fast shut to prevent them from being + blinded by almost continuous vivid flashes of lightning. Injured, and sore + all over, but warm and dry—surely dry; nor was it lightning that + dazzled, but firelight. I began to notice things little by little. The + fire was burning on a clay floor a few feet from where I was lying. Before + it, on a log of wood, sat or crouched a human figure. An old man, with + chin on breast and hands clasped before his drawn-up knees; only a small + portion of his forehead and nose visible to me. An Indian I took him to + be, from his coarse, lank, grey hair and dark brown skin. I was in a large + hut, falling at the sides to within two feet of the floor; but there were + no hammocks in it, nor bows and spears, and no skins, not even under me, + for I was lying on straw mats. I could hear the storm still raging + outside; the rush and splash of rain, and, at intervals, the distant growl + of thunder. There was wind, too; I listened to it sobbing in the trees, + and occasionally a puff found its way in, and blew up the white ashes at + the old man’s feet, and shook the yellow flames like a flag. I remembered + now how the storm began, the wild girl, the snake-bite, my violent efforts + to find a way out of the woods, and, finally, that leap from the bank + where recollection ended. That I had not been killed by the venomous + tooth, nor the subsequent fearful fall, seemed like a miracle to me. And + in that wild, solitary place, lying insensible, in that awful storm and + darkness, I had been found by a fellow creature—a savage, doubtless, + but a good Samaritan all the same—who had rescued me from death! I + was bruised all over and did not attempt to move, fearing the pain it + would give me; and I had a racking headache; but these seemed trifling + discomforts after such adventures and such perils. I felt that I had + recovered or was recovering from that venomous bite; that I would live and + not die—live to return to my country; and the thought filled my + heart to overflowing, and tears of gratitude and happiness rose to my + eyes. + </p> + <p> + At such times a man experiences benevolent feelings, and would willingly + bestow some of that overplus of happiness on his fellows to lighten other + hearts; and this old man before me, who was probably the instrument of my + salvation, began greatly to excite my interest and compassion. For he + seemed so poor in his old age and rags, so solitary and dejected as he sat + there with knees drawn up, his great, brown, bare feet looking almost + black by contrast with the white wood-ashes about them! What could I do + for him? What could I say to cheer his spirits in that Indian language, + which has few or no words to express kindly feelings? Unable to think of + anything better to say, I at length suddenly cried aloud: “Smoke, old man! + Why do you not smoke? It is good to smoke.” + </p> + <p> + He gave a mighty start and, turning, fixed his eyes on me. Then I saw that + he was not a pure Indian, for although as brown as old leather, he wore a + beard and moustache. A curious face had this old man, which looked as if + youth and age had made it a battling-ground. His forehead was smooth + except for two parallel lines in the middle running its entire length, + dividing it in zones; his arched eyebrows were black as ink, and his small + black eyes were bright and cunning, like the eyes of some wild carnivorous + animal. In this part of his face youth had held its own, especially in the + eyes, which looked young and lively. But lower down age had conquered, + scribbling his skin all over with wrinkles, while moustache and beard were + white as thistledown. “Aha, the dead man is alive again!” he exclaimed, + with a chuckling laugh. This in the Indian tongue; then in Spanish he + added: “But speak to me in the language you know best, senor; for if you + are not a Venezuelan call me an owl.” + </p> + <p> + “And you, old man?” said I. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, I was right! Why sir what I am is plainly written on my face. Surely + you do not take me for a pagan! I might be a black man from Africa, or an + Englishman, but an Indian—that, no! But a minute ago you had the + goodness to invite me to smoke. How, sir, can a poor man smoke who is + without tobacco?” + </p> + <p> + “Without tobacco—in Guayana!” + </p> + <p> + “Can you believe it? But, sir, do not blame me; if the beast that came one + night and destroyed my plants when ripe for cutting had taken pumpkins and + sweet potatoes instead, it would have been better for him, if curses have + any effect. And the plant grows slowly, sir—it is not an evil weed + to come to maturity in a single day. And as for other leaves in the + forest, I smoke them, yes; but there is no comfort to the lungs in such + smoke.” + </p> + <p> + “My tobacco-pouch was full,” I said. “You will find it in my coat, if I + did not lose it.” + </p> + <p> + “The saints forbid!” he exclaimed. “Grandchild—Rima, have you got a + tobacco-pouch with the other things? Give it to me.” + </p> + <p> + Then I first noticed that another person was in the hut, a slim young + girl, who had been seated against the wall on the other side of the fire, + partially hid by the shadows. She had my leather belt, with the revolver + in its case, and my hunting-knife attached, and the few articles I had had + in my pockets, on her lap. Taking up the pouch, she handed it to him, and + he clutched it with a strange eagerness. + </p> + <p> + “I will give it back presently, Rima,” he said. “Let me first smoke a + cigarette—and then another.” + </p> + <p> + It seemed probable from this that the good old man had already been + casting covetous eyes on my property, and that his granddaughter had taken + care of it for me. But how the silent, demure girl had kept it from him + was a puzzle, so intensely did he seem now to enjoy it, drawing the smoke + vigorously into his lungs and, after keeping it ten or fifteen seconds + there, letting it fly out again from mouth and nose in blue jets and + clouds. His face softened visibly, he became more and more genial and + loquacious, and asked me how I came to be in that solitary place. I told + him that I was staying with the Indian Runi, his neighbour. + </p> + <p> + “But, senor,” he said, “if it is not an impertinence, how is it that a + young man of so distinguished an appearance as yourself, a Venezuelan, + should be residing with these children of the devil?” + </p> + <p> + “You love not your neighbours, then?” + </p> + <p> + “I know them, sir—how should I love them?” He was rolling up his + second or third cigarette by this time, and I could not help noticing that + he took a great deal more tobacco than he required in his fingers, and + that the surplus on each occasion was conveyed to some secret receptacle + among his rags. “Love them, sir! They are infidels, and therefore the good + Christian must only hate them. They are thieves—they will steal from + you before your very face, so devoid are they of all shame. And also + murderers; gladly would they burn this poor thatch above my head, and kill + me and my poor grandchild, who shares this solitary life with me, if they + had the courage. But they are all arrant cowards, and fear to approach me—fear + even to come into this wood. You would laugh to hear what they are afraid + of—a child would laugh to hear it!” + </p> + <p> + “What do they fear?” I said, for his words had excited my interest in a + great degree. + </p> + <p> + “Why, sir, would you believe it? They fear this child—my + granddaughter, seated there before you. A poor innocent girl of seventeen + summers, a Christian who knows her Catechism, and would not harm the + smallest thing that God has made—no, not a fly, which is not + regarded on account of its smallness. Why, sir, it is due to her tender + heart that you are safely sheltered here, instead of being left out of + doors in this tempestuous night.” + </p> + <p> + “To her—to this girl?” I returned in astonishment. “Explain, old + man, for I do not know how I was saved.” + </p> + <p> + “Today, senor, through your own heedlessness you were bitten by a venomous + snake.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that is true, although I do not know how it came to your knowledge. + But why am I not a dead man, then—have you done something to save me + from the effects of the poison?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing. What could I do so long after you were bitten? When a man is + bitten by a snake in a solitary place he is in God’s hands. He will live + or die as God wills. There is nothing to be done. But surely, sir, you + remember that my poor grandchild was with you in the wood when the snake + bit you?” + </p> + <p> + “A girl was there—a strange girl I have seen and heard before when I + have walked in the forest. But not this girl—surely not this girl!” + </p> + <p> + “No other,” said he, carefully rolling up another cigarette. + </p> + <p> + “It is not possible!” I returned. + </p> + <p> + “Ill would you have fared, sir, had she not been there. For after being + bitten, you rushed away into the thickest part of the wood, and went about + in a circle like a demented person for Heaven knows how long. But she + never left you; she was always close to you—you might have touched + her with your hand. And at last some good angel who was watching you, in + order to stop your career, made you mad altogether and caused you to jump + over a precipice and lose your senses. And you were no sooner on the + ground than she was with you—ask me not how she got down! And when + she had propped you up against the bank, she came for me. Fortunately the + spot where you had fallen is near—not five hundred yards from the + door. And I, on my part, was willing to assist her in saving you; for I + knew it was no Indian that had fallen, since she loves not that breed, and + they come not here. It was not an easy task, for you weigh, senor; but + between us we brought you in.” + </p> + <p> + While he spoke, the girl continued sitting in the same listless attitude + as when I first observed her, with eyes cast down and hands folded in her + lap. Recalling that brilliant being in the wood that had protected the + serpent from me and calmed its rage, I found it hard to believe his words, + and still felt a little incredulous. + </p> + <p> + “Rima—that is your name, is it not?” I said. “Will you come here and + stand before me, and let me look closely at you?” + </p> + <p> + “Si, senor.” she meekly answered; and removing the things from her lap, + she stood up; then, passing behind the old man, came and stood before me, + her eyes still bent on the ground—a picture of humility. + </p> + <p> + She had the figure of the forest girl, but wore now a scanty faded cotton + garment, while the loose cloud of hair was confined in two plaits and hung + down her back. The face also showed the same delicate lines, but of the + brilliant animation and variable colour and expression there appeared no + trace. Gazing at her countenance as she stood there silent, shy, and + spiritless before me, the image of her brighter self came vividly to my + mind and I could not recover from the astonishment I felt at such a + contrast. + </p> + <p> + Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial dance + among the flowers—a living prismatic gem that changes its colour + with every change of position—how in turning it catches the sunshine + on its burnished neck and gorges plumes—green and gold and + flame-coloured, the beams changing to visible flakes as they fall, + dissolving into nothing, to be succeeded by others and yet others? In its + exquisite form, its changeful splendour, its swift motions and intervals + of aerial suspension, it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to + mock all description. And have you seen this same fairy-like creature + suddenly perch itself on a twig, in the shade, its misty wings and + fan-like tail folded, the iridescent glory vanished, looking like some + common dull-plumaged little bird sitting listless in a cage? Just so great + was the difference in the girl as I had seen her in the forest and as she + now appeared under the smoky roof in the firelight. + </p> + <p> + After watching her for some moments, I spoke: “Rima, there must be a good + deal of strength in that frame of yours, which looks so delicate; will you + raise me up a little?” + </p> + <p> + She went down on one knee and, placing her arms round me, assisted me to a + sitting posture. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, Rima—oh, misery!” I groaned. “Is there a bone left + unbroken in my poor body?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing broken,” cried the old man, clouds of smoke flying out with his + words. “I have examined you well—legs, arms, ribs. For this is how + it was, senor. A thorny bush into which you fell saved you from being + flattened on the stony ground. But you are bruised, sir, black with + bruises; and there are more scratches of thorns on your skin than letters + on a written page.” + </p> + <p> + “A long thorn might have entered my brain,” I said, “from the way it + pains. Feel my forehead, Rima; is it very hot and dry?” + </p> + <p> + She did as I asked, touching me lightly with her little cool hand. “No, + senor, not hot, but warm and moist,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Thank Heaven for that!” I said. “Poor girl! And you followed me through + the wood in all that terrible storm! Ah, if I could lift my bruised arm I + would take your hand to kiss it in gratitude for so great a service. I owe + you my life, sweet Rima—what shall I do to repay so great a debt?” + </p> + <p> + The old man chuckled as if amused, but the girl lifted not her eyes nor + spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me, sweet child,” I said, “for I cannot realize it yet; was it + really you that saved the serpent’s life when I would have killed it—did + you stand by me in the wood with the serpent lying at your feet?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, senor,” came her gentle answer. + </p> + <p> + “And it was you I saw in the wood one day, lying on the ground playing + with a small bird?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, senor.” + </p> + <p> + “And it was you that followed me so often among the trees, calling to me, + yet always hiding so that I could never see you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, senor.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, this is wonderful!” I exclaimed; whereat the old man chuckled again. + </p> + <p> + “But tell me this, my sweet girl,” I continued. “You never addressed me in + Spanish; what strange musical language was it you spoke to me in?” + </p> + <p> + She shot a timid glance at my face and looked troubled at the question, + but made no reply. + </p> + <p> + “Senor,” said the old man, “that is a question which you must excuse my + child from answering. Not, sir, from want of will, for she is docile and + obedient, though I say it, but there is no answer beyond what I can tell + you. And this is, sir, that all creatures, whether man or bird, have the + voice that God has given them; and in some the voice is musical and in + others not so.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, old man,” said I to myself; “there let the matter rest for the + present. But if I am destined to live and not die, I shall not long remain + satisfied with your too simple explanation.” + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I said, “you must be fatigued; it is thoughtless of me to keep you + standing here so long.” + </p> + <p> + Her face brightened a little, and bending down, she replied in a low + voice: “I am not fatigued, sir. Let me get you something to eat now.” + </p> + <p> + She moved quickly away to the fire, and presently returned with an + earthenware dish of roasted pumpkin and sweet potatoes and, kneeling at my + side, fed me deftly with a small wooden spoon. I did not feel grieved at + the absence of meat and the stinging condiments the Indians love, nor did + I even remark that there was no salt in the vegetables, so much was I + taken up with watching her beautiful delicate face while she ministered to + me. The exquisite fragrance of her breath was more to me than the most + delicious viands could have been; and it was a delight each time she + raised the spoon to my mouth to catch a momentary glimpse of her eyes, + which now looked dark as wine when we lift the glass to see the ruby gleam + of light within the purple. But she never for a moment laid aside the + silent, meek, constrained manner; and when I remembered her bursting out + in her brilliant wrath on me, pouring forth that torrent of stinging + invective in her mysterious language, I was lost in wonder and admiration + at the change in her, and at her double personality. Having satisfied my + wants, she moved quietly away and, raising a straw mat, disappeared behind + it into her own sleeping-apartment, which was divided off by a partition + from the room I was in. + </p> + <p> + The old man’s sleeping-place was a wooden cot or stand on the opposite + side of the room, but he was in no hurry to sleep, and after Rima had left + us, put a fresh log on the blaze and lit another cigarette. Heaven knows + how many he had smoked by this time. He became very talkative and called + to his side his two dogs, which I had not noticed in the room before, for + me to see. It amused me to hear their names—Susio and Goloso: Dirty + and Greedy. They were surly-looking brutes, with rough yellow hair, and + did not win my heart, but according to his account they possessed all the + usual canine virtues; and he was still holding forth on the subject when I + fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + When morning came I was too stiff and sore to move, and not until the + following day was I able to creep out to sit in the shade of the trees. My + old host, whose name was Nuflo, went off with his dogs, leaving the girl + to attend to my wants. Two or three times during the day she appeared to + serve me with food and drink, but she continued silent and constrained in + manner as on the first evening of seeing her in the hut. + </p> + <p> + Late in the afternoon old Nuflo returned, but did not say where he had + been; and shortly afterwards Rima reappeared, demure as usual, in her + faded cotton dress, her cloud of hair confined in two long plaits. My + curiosity was more excited than ever, and I resolved to get to the bottom + of the mystery of her life. The girl had not shown herself responsive, but + now that Nuflo was back I was treated to as much talk as I cared to hear. + He talked of many things, only omitting those which I desired to hear + about; but his pet subject appeared to be the divine government of the + world—“God’s politics”—and its manifest imperfections, or, in + other words, the manifold abuses which from time to time had been allowed + to creep into it. The old man was pious, but like many of his class in my + country, he permitted himself to indulge in very free criticisms of the + powers above, from the King of Heaven down to the smallest saint whose + name figures in the calendar. + </p> + <p> + “These things, senor,” he said, “are not properly managed. Consider my + position. Here am I compelled for my sins to inhabit this wilderness with + my poor granddaughter—” + </p> + <p> + “She is not your granddaughter!” I suddenly interrupted, thinking to + surprise him into an admission. + </p> + <p> + But he took his time to answer. “Senor, we are never sure of anything in + this world. Not absolutely sure. Thus, it may come to pass that you will + one day marry, and that your wife will in due time present you with a son—one + that will inherit your fortune and transmit your name to posterity. And + yet, sir, in this world, you will never know to a certainty that he is + your son.” + </p> + <p> + “Proceed with what you were saying,” I returned, with some dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Here we are,” he continued, “compelled to inhabit this land and do not + meet with proper protection from the infidel. Now, sir, this is a crying + evil, and it is only becoming in one who has the true faith, and is a + loyal subject of the All-Powerful, to point out with due humility that He + is growing very remiss in His affairs, and is losing a good deal of His + prestige. And what, senor, is at the bottom of it? Favoritism. We know + that the Supreme cannot Himself be everywhere, attending to each little + trick-track that arises in the world—matters altogether beneath His + notice; and that He must, like the President of Venezuela or the Emperor + of Brazil, appoint men—angels if you like—to conduct His + affairs and watch over each district. And it is manifest that for this + country of Guayana the proper person has not been appointed. Every evil is + done and there is no remedy, and the Christian has no more consideration + shown him than the infidel. Now, senor, in a town near the Orinoco I once + saw on a church the archangel Michael, made of stone, and twice as tall as + a man, with one foot on a monster shaped like a cayman, but with bat’s + wings, and a head and neck like a serpent. Into this monster he was + thrusting his spear. That is the kind of person that should be sent to + rule these latitudes—a person of firmness and resolution, with + strength in his wrist. And yet it is probable that this very man—this + St. Michael—is hanging about the palace, twirling his thumbs, + waiting for an appointment, while other weaker men, and—Heaven + forgive me for saying it—not above a bribe, perhaps, are sent out to + rule over this province.” + </p> + <p> + On this string he would harp by the hour; it was a lofty subject on which + he had pondered much in his solitary life, and he was glad of an + opportunity of ventilating his grievance and expounding his views. At + first it was a pure pleasure to hear Spanish again, and the old man, + albeit ignorant of letters, spoke well; but this, I may say, is a common + thing in our country, where the peasant’s quickness of intelligence and + poetic feeling often compensate for want of instruction. His views also + amused me, although they were not novel. But after a while I grew tired of + listening, yet I listened still, agreeing with him, and leading him on to + let him have his fill of talk, always hoping that he would come at last to + speak of personal matters and give me an account of his history and of + Rima’s origin. But the hope proved vain; not a word to enlighten me would + he drop, however cunningly I tempted him. + </p> + <p> + “So be it,” thought I; “but if you are cunning, old man, I shall be + cunning too—and patient; for all things come to him who waits.” + </p> + <p> + He was in no hurry to get rid of me. On the contrary, he more than hinted + that I would be safer under his roof than with the Indians, at the same + time apologizing for not giving me meat to eat. + </p> + <p> + “But why do you not have meat? Never have I seen animals so abundant and + tame as in this wood.” Before he could reply Rima, with a jug of water + from the spring in her hand, came in; glancing at me, he lifted his finger + to signify that such a subject must not be discussed in her presence; but + as soon as she quitted the room he returned to it. + </p> + <p> + “Senor,” he said, “have you forgotten your adventure with the snake? Know, + then, that my grandchild would not live with me for one day longer if I + were to lift my hand against any living creature. For us, senor, every day + is fast-day—only without the fish. We have maize, pumpkin, cassava, + potatoes, and these suffice. And even of these cultivated fruits of the + earth she eats but little in the house, preferring certain wild berries + and gums, which are more to her taste, and which she picks here and there + in her rambles in the wood. And I, sir, loving her as I do, whatever my + inclination may be, shed no blood and eat no flesh.” + </p> + <p> + I looked at him with an incredulous smile. + </p> + <p> + “And your dogs, old man?” + </p> + <p> + “My dogs? Sir, they would not pause or turn aside if a coatimundi crossed + their path—an animal with a strong odour. As a man is, so is his + dog. Have you not seen dogs eating grass, sir, even in Venezuela, where + these sentiments do not prevail? And when there is no meat—when meat + is forbidden—these sagacious animals accustom themselves to a + vegetable diet.” + </p> + <p> + I could not very well tell the old man that he was lying to me—that + would have been bad policy—and so I passed it off. “I have no doubt + that you are right,” I said. “I have heard that there are dogs in China + that eat no meat, but are themselves eaten by their owners after being + fattened on rice. I should not care to dine on one of your animals, old + man.” + </p> + <p> + He looked at them critically and replied: “Certainly they are lean.” + </p> + <p> + “I was thinking less of their leanness than of their smell,” I returned. + “Their odour when they approach me is not flowery, but resembles that of + other dogs which feed on flesh, and have offended my too sensitive + nostrils even in the drawing-rooms of Caracas. It is not like the + fragrance of cattle when they return from the pasture.” + </p> + <p> + “Every animal,” he replied, “gives out that odour which is peculiar to its + kind”; an incontrovertible fact which left me nothing to say. + </p> + <p> + When I had sufficiently recovered the suppleness of my limbs to walk with + ease, I went for a ramble in the wood, in the hope that Rima would + accompany me, and that out among the trees she would cast aside that + artificial constraint and shyness which was her manner in the house. + </p> + <p> + It fell out just as I had expected; she accompanied me in the sense of + being always near me, or within earshot, and her manner was now free and + unconstrained as I could wish; but little or nothing was gained by the + change. She was once more the tantalizing, elusive, mysterious creature I + had first known through her wandering, melodious voice. The only + difference was that the musical, inarticulate sounds were now less often + heard, and that she was no longer afraid to show herself to me. This for a + short time was enough to make me happy, since no lovelier being was ever + looked upon, nor one whose loveliness was less likely to lose its charm + through being often seen. + </p> + <p> + But to keep her near me or always in sight was, I found, impossible: she + would be free as the wind, free as the butterfly, going and coming at her + wayward will, and losing herself from sight a dozen times every hour. To + induce her to walk soberly at my side or sit down and enter into + conversation with me seemed about as impracticable as to tame the + fiery-hearted little humming-bird that flashes into sight, remains + suspended motionless for a few seconds before your face, then, quick as + lightning, vanishes again. + </p> + <p> + At length, feeling convinced that she was most happy when she had me out + following her in the wood, that in spite of her bird-like wildness she had + a tender, human heart, which was easily moved, I determined to try to draw + her closer by means of a little innocent stratagem. Going out in the + morning, after calling her several times to no purpose, I began to assume + a downcast manner, as if suffering pain or depressed with grief; and at + last, finding a convenient exposed root under a tree, on a spot where the + ground was dry and strewn with loose yellow sand, I sat down and refused + to go any further. For she always wanted to lead me on and on, and + whenever I paused she would return to show herself, or to chide or + encourage me in her mysterious language. All her pretty little arts were + now practiced in vain: with cheek resting on my hand, I still sat. + </p> + <p> + So my eyes fixed on that patch of yellow sand at my feet, watching how the + small particles glinted like diamond dust when the sunlight touched them. + A full hour passed in this way, during which I encouraged myself by saying + mentally: “This is a contest between us, and the most patient and the + strongest of will, which should be the man, must conquer. And if I win on + this occasion, it will be easier for me in the future—easier to + discover those things which I am resolved to know, and the girl must + reveal to me, since the old man has proved impracticable.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile she came and went and came again; and at last, finding that I + was not to be moved, she approached and stood near me. Her face, when I + glanced at it, had a somewhat troubled look—both troubled and + curious. + </p> + <p> + “Come here, Rima,” I said, “and stay with me for a little while—I + cannot follow you now.” + </p> + <p> + She took one or two hesitating steps, then stood still again; and at + length, slowly and reluctantly, advanced to within a yard of me. Then I + rose from my seat on the root, so as to catch her face better, and placed + my hand against the rough bark of the tree. + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I said, speaking in a low, caressing tone, “will you stay with me + here a little while and talk to me, not in your language, but in mine, so + that I may understand? Will you listen when I speak to you, and answer + me?” + </p> + <p> + Her lips moved, but made no sound. She seemed strangely disquieted, and + shook back her loose hair, and with her small toes moved the sparkling + sand at her feet, and once or twice her eyes glanced shyly at my face. + </p> + <p> + “Rima, you have not answered me,” I persisted. “Will you not say yes?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Where does your grandfather spend his day when he goes out with his + dogs?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head slightly, but would not speak. + </p> + <p> + “Have you no mother, Rima? Do you remember your mother?” + </p> + <p> + “My mother! My mother!” she exclaimed in a low voice, but with a sudden, + wonderful animation. Bending a little nearer, she continued: “Oh, she is + dead! Her body is in the earth and turned to dust. Like that,” and she + moved the loose sand with her foot. “Her soul is up there, where the stars + and the angels are, grandfather says. But what is that to me? I am here—am + I not? I talk to her just the same. Everything I see I point out, and tell + her everything. In the daytime—in the woods, when we are together. + And at night when I lie down I cross my arms on my breast—so, and + say: ‘Mother, mother, now you are in my arms; let us go to sleep + together.’ Sometimes I say: ‘Oh, why will you never answer me when I speak + and speak?’ Mother—mother—mother!” + </p> + <p> + At the end her voice suddenly rose to a mournful cry, then sunk, and at + the last repetition of the word died to a low whisper. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, poor Rima! she is dead and cannot speak to you—cannot hear you! + Talk to me, Rima; I am living and can answer.” + </p> + <p> + But now the cloud, which had suddenly lifted from her heart, letting me + see for a moment into its mysterious depths—its fancies so childlike + and feelings so intense—had fallen again; and my words brought no + response, except a return of that troubled look to her face. + </p> + <p> + “Silent still?” I said. “Talk to me, then, of your mother, Rima. Do you + know that you will see her again some day?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, when I die. That is what the priest said.” + </p> + <p> + “The priest?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, at Voa—do you know? Mother died there when I was small—it + is so far away! And there are thirteen houses by the side of the river—just + here; and on this side—trees, trees.” + </p> + <p> + This was important, I thought, and would lead to the very knowledge I + wished for; so I pressed her to tell me more about the settlement she had + named, and of which I had never heard. + </p> + <p> + “Everything have I told you,” she returned, surprised that I did not know + that she had exhausted the subject in those half-dozen words she had + spoken. + </p> + <p> + Obliged to shift my ground, I said at a venture: “Tell me, what do you ask + of the Virgin Mother when you kneel before her picture? Your grandfather + told me that you had a picture in your little room.” + </p> + <p> + “You know!” flashed out her answer, with something like resentment. + </p> + <p> + “It is all there in there,” waving her hand towards the hut. “Out here in + the wood it is all gone—like this,” and stooping quickly, she raised + a little yellow sand on her palm, then let it run away through her + fingers. + </p> + <p> + Thus she illustrated how all the matters she had been taught slipped from + her mind when she was out of doors, out of sight of the picture. After an + interval she added: “Only mother is here—always with me.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, poor Rima!” I said; “alone without a mother, and only your old + grandfather! He is old—what will you do when he dies and flies away + to the starry country where your mother is?” + </p> + <p> + She looked inquiringly at me, then made answer in a low voice: “You are + here.” + </p> + <p> + “But when I go away?” + </p> + <p> + She was silent; and not wishing to dwell on a subject that seemed to pain + her, I continued: “Yes, I am here now, but you will not stay with me and + talk freely! Will it always be the same if I remain with you? Why are you + always so silent in the house, so cold with your old grandfather? So + different—so full of life, like a bird, when you are alone in the + woods? Rima, speak to me! Am I no more to you than your old grandfather? + Do you not like me to talk to you?” + </p> + <p> + She appeared strangely disturbed at my words. “Oh, you are not like him,” + she suddenly replied. “Sitting all day on a log by the fire—all day, + all day; Goloso and Susio lying beside him—sleep, sleep. Oh, when I + saw you in the wood I followed you, and talked and talked; still no + answer. Why will you not come when I call? To me!” Then, mocking my voice: + “Rima, Rima! Come here! Do this! Say that! Rima! Rima! It is nothing, + nothing—it is not you,” pointing to my mouth, and then, as if + fearing that her meaning had not been made clear, suddenly touching my + lips with her finger. “Why do you not answer me?—speak to me—speak + to me, like this!” And turning a little more towards me, and glancing at + me with eyes that had all at once changed, losing their clouded expression + for one of exquisite tenderness, from her lips came a succession of those + mysterious sounds which had first attracted me to her, swift and low and + bird-like, yet with something so much higher and more soul-penetrating + than any bird-music. Ah, what feeling and fancies, what quaint turns of + expression, unfamiliar to my mind, were contained in those sweet, wasted + symbols! I could never know—never come to her when she called, or + respond to her spirit. To me they would always be inarticulate sounds, + affecting me like a tender spiritual music—a language without words, + suggesting more than words to the soul. + </p> + <p> + The mysterious speech died down to a lisping sound, like the faint note of + some small bird falling from a cloud of foliage on the topmost bough of a + tree; and at the same time that new light passed from her eyes, and she + half averted her face in a disappointed way. + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I said at length, a new thought coming to my aid, “it is true that + I am not here,” touching my lips as she had done, “and that my words are + nothing. But look into my eyes, and you will see me there—all, all + that is in my heart.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I know what I should see there!” she returned quickly. + </p> + <p> + “What would you see—tell me?” + </p> + <p> + “There is a little black ball in the middle of your eye; I should see + myself in it no bigger than that,” and she marked off about an eighth of + her little fingernail. “There is a pool in the wood, and I look down and + see myself there. That is better. Just as large as I am—not small + and black like a small, small fly.” And after saying this a little + disdainfully, she moved away from my side and out into the sunshine; and + then, half turning towards me, and glancing first at my face and then + upwards, she raised her hand to call my attention to something there. + </p> + <p> + Far up, high as the tops of the tallest trees, a great blue-winged + butterfly was passing across the open space with loitering flight. In a + few moments it was gone over the trees; then she turned once more to me + with a little rippling sound of laughter—the first I had heard from + her, and called: “Come, come!” + </p> + <p> + I was glad enough to go with her then; and for the next two hours we + rambled together in the wood; that is, together in her way, for though + always near she contrived to keep out of my sight most of the time. She + was evidently now in a gay, frolicsome temper; again and again, when I + looked closely into some wide-spreading bush, or peered behind a tree, + when her calling voice had sounded, her rippling laughter would come to me + from some other spot. At length, somewhere about the centre of the wood, + she led me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, covering with + its shade a large space of ground entirely free from undergrowth. At this + spot she all at once vanished from my side; and after listening and + watching some time in vain, I sat down beside the giant trunk to wait for + her. Very soon I heard a low, warbling sound which seemed quite near. + </p> + <p> + “Rima! Rima!” I called, and instantly my call was repeated like an echo. + Again and again I called, and still the words flew back to me, and I could + not decide whether it was an echo or not. Then I gave up calling; and + presently the low, warbling sound was repeated, and I knew that Rima was + somewhere near me. + </p> + <p> + “Rima, where are you?” I called. + </p> + <p> + “Rima, where are you?” came the answer. + </p> + <p> + “You are behind the tree.” + </p> + <p> + “You are behind the tree.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall catch you, Rima.” And this time, instead of repeating my words, + she answered: “Oh no.” + </p> + <p> + I jumped up and ran round the tree, feeling sure that I should find her. + It was about thirty-five or forty feet in circumference; and after going + round two or three times, I turned and ran the other way, but failing to + catch a glimpse of her I at last sat down again. + </p> + <p> + “Rima, Rima!” sounded the mocking voice as soon as I had sat down. “Where + are you, Rima? I shall catch you, Rima! Have you caught Rima?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I have not caught her. There is no Rima now. She has faded away like + a rainbow—like a drop of dew in the sun. I have lost her; I shall go + to sleep.” And stretching myself out at full length under the tree, I + remained quiet for two or three minutes. Then a slight rustling sound was + heard, and I looked eagerly round for her. But the sound was overhead and + caused by a great avalanche of leaves which began to descend on me from + that vast leafy canopy above. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, little spider-monkey—little green tree-snake—you are + there!” But there was no seeing her in that immense aerial palace hung + with dim drapery of green and copper-coloured leaves. But how had she got + there? Up the stupendous trunk even a monkey could not have climbed, and + there were no lianas dropping to earth from the wide horizontal branches + that I could see; but by and by, looking further away, I perceived that on + one side the longest lower branches reached and mingled with the shorter + boughs of the neighbouring trees. While gazing up I heard her low, + rippling laugh, and then caught sight of her as she ran along an exposed + horizontal branch, erect on her feet; and my heart stood still with + terror, for she was fifty to sixty feet above the ground. In another + moment she vanished from sight in a cloud of foliage, and I saw no more of + her for about ten minutes, when all at once she appeared at my side once + more, having come round the trunk of the mora. Her face had a bright, + pleased expression, and showed no trace of fatigue or agitation. + </p> + <p> + I caught her hand in mine. It was a delicate, shapely little hand, soft as + velvet, and warm—a real human hand; only now when I held it did she + seem altogether like a human being and not a mocking spirit of the wood, a + daughter of the Didi. + </p> + <p> + “Do you like me to hold your hand, Rima?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she replied, with indifference. + </p> + <p> + “Is it I?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” This time as if it was small satisfaction to make acquaintance with + this purely physical part of me. + </p> + <p> + Having her so close gave me an opportunity of examining that light sheeny + garment she wore always in the woods. It felt soft and satiny to the + touch, and there was no seam nor hem in it that I could see, but it was + all in one piece, like the cocoon of the caterpillar. While I was feeling + it on her shoulder and looking narrowly at it, she glanced at me with a + mocking laugh in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Is it silk?” I asked. Then, as she remained silent, I continued: “Where + did you get this dress, Rima? Did you make it yourself? Tell me.” + </p> + <p> + She answered not in words, but in response to my question a new look came + into her face; no longer restless and full of change in her expression, + she was now as immovable as an alabaster statue; not a silken hair on her + head trembled; her eyes were wide open, gazing fixedly before her; and + when I looked into them they seemed to see and yet not to see me. They + were like the clear, brilliant eyes of a bird, which reflect as in a + miraculous mirror all the visible world but do not return our look and + seem to see us merely as one of the thousand small details that make up + the whole picture. Suddenly she darted out her hand like a flash, making + me start at the unexpected motion, and quickly withdrawing it, held up a + finger before me. From its tip a minute gossamer spider, about twice the + bigness of a pin’s head, appeared suspended from a fine, scarcely visible + line three or four inches long. + </p> + <p> + “Look!” she exclaimed, with a bright glance at my face. + </p> + <p> + The small spider she had captured, anxious to be free, was falling, + falling earthward, but could not reach the surface. Leaning her shoulder a + little forward, she placed the finger-tip against it, but lightly, + scarcely touching, and moving continuously, with a motion rapid as that of + a fluttering moth’s wing; while the spider, still paying out his line, + remained suspended, rising and falling slightly at nearly the same + distance from the ground. After a few moments she cried: “Drop down, + little spider.” Her finger’s motion ceased, and the minute captive fell, + to lose itself on the shaded ground. + </p> + <p> + “Do you not see?” she said to me, pointing to her shoulder. Just where the + finger-tip had touched the garment a round shining spot appeared, looking + like a silver coin on the cloth; but on touching it with my finger it + seemed part of the original fabric, only whiter and more shiny on the grey + ground, on account of the freshness of the web of which it had just been + made. + </p> + <p> + And so all this curious and pretty performance, which seemed instinctive + in its spontaneous quickness and dexterity, was merely intended to show me + how she made her garments out of the fine floating lines of small gossamer + spiders! + </p> + <p> + Before I could express my surprise and admiration she cried again, with + startling suddenness: “Look!” + </p> + <p> + A minute shadowy form darted by, appearing like a dim line traced across + the deep glossy more foliage, then on the lighter green foliage further + away. She waved her hand in imitation of its swift, curving flight; then, + dropping it, exclaimed: “Gone—oh, little thing!” + </p> + <p> + “What was it?” I asked, for it might have been a bird, a bird-like moth, + or a bee. + </p> + <p> + “Did you not see? And you asked me to look into your eyes!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, little squirrel Sakawinki, you remind me of that!” I said, passing my + arm round her waist and drawing her a little closer. “Look into my eyes + now and see if I am blind, and if there is nothing in them except an image + of Rima like a small, small fly.” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head and laughed a little mockingly, but made no effort to + escape from my arm. + </p> + <p> + “Would you like me always to do what you wish, Rima—to follow you in + the woods when you say ‘Come’—to chase you round the tree to catch + you, and lie down for you to throw leaves on me, and to be glad when you + are glad?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Then let us make a compact. I shall do everything to please you, and you + must promise to do everything to please me.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “Little things, Rima—none so hard as chasing you round a tree. Only + to have you stand or sit by me and talk will make me happy. And to begin + you must call me by my name—Abel.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that your name? Oh, not your real name! Abel, Abel—what is that? + It says nothing. I have called you by so many names—twenty, thirty—and + no answer.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you? But, dearest girl, every person has a name, one name he is + called by. Your name, for instance, is Rima, is it not?” + </p> + <p> + “Rima! only Rima—to you? In the morning, in the evening... now in + this place and in a little while where know I? ... in the night when you + wake and it is dark, dark, and you see me all the same. Only Rima—oh, + how strange!” + </p> + <p> + “What else, sweet girl? Your grandfather Nuflo calls you Rima.” + </p> + <p> + “Nuflo?” She spoke as if putting a question to herself. “Is that an old + man with two dogs that lives somewhere in the wood?” And then, with sudden + petulance: “And you ask me to talk to you!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Rima, what can I say to you? Listen—” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” she exclaimed, quickly turning and putting her fingers on my + mouth to stop my speech, while a sudden merry look shone in her eyes. “You + shall listen when I speak, and do all I say. And tell me what to do to + please you with your eyes—let me look in your eyes that are not + blind.” + </p> + <p> + She turned her face more towards me and with head a little thrown back and + inclined to one side, gazing now full into my eyes as I had wished her to + do. After a few moments she glanced away to the distant trees. But I could + see into those divine orbs, and knew that she was not looking at any + particular object. All the ever-varying expressions—inquisitive, + petulant, troubled, shy, frolicsome had now vanished from the still face, + and the look was inward and full of a strange, exquisite light, as if some + new happiness or hope had touched her spirit. + </p> + <p> + Sinking my voice to a whisper, I said: “Tell me what you have seen in my + eyes, Rima?” + </p> + <p> + She murmured in reply something melodious and inarticulate, then glanced + at my face in a questioning way; but only for a moment, then her sweet + eyes were again veiled under those drooping lashes. + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Rima,” I said. “Was that a humming-bird we saw a little while + ago? You are like that, now dark, a shadow in the shadow, seen for an + instant, and then—gone, oh, little thing! And now in the sunshine + standing still, how beautiful!—a thousand times more beautiful than + the humming-bird. Listen, Rima, you are like all beautiful things in the + wood—flower, and bird, and butterfly, and green leaf, and frond, and + little silky-haired monkey high up in the trees. When I look at you I see + them all—all and more, a thousand times, for I see Rima herself. And + when I listen to Rima’s voice, talking in a language I cannot understand, + I hear the wind whispering in the leaves, the gurgling running water, the + bee among the flowers, the organ-bird singing far, far away in the shadows + of the trees. I hear them all, and more, for I hear Rima. Do you + understand me now? Is it I speaking to you—have I answered you—have + I come to you?” + </p> + <p> + She glanced at me again, her lips trembling, her eyes now clouded with + some secret trouble. “Yes,” she replied in a whisper, and then: “No, it is + not you,” and after a moment, doubtfully: “Is it you?” + </p> + <p> + But she did not wait to be answered: in a moment she was gone round the + more; nor would she return again for all my calling. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <p> + That afternoon with Rima in the forest under the mora tree had proved so + delightful that I was eager for more rambles and talks with her, but the + variable little witch had a great surprise in store for me. All her wild + natural gaiety had unaccountably gone out of her: when I walked in the + shade she was there, but no longer as the blithe, fantastic being, bright + as an angel, innocent and affectionate as a child, tricksy as a monkey, + that had played at hide-and-seek with me. She was now my shy, silent + attendant, only occasionally visible, and appearing then like the + mysterious maid I had found reclining among the ferns who had melted away + mist-like from sight as I gazed. When I called she would not now answer as + formerly, but in response would appear in sight as if to assure me that I + had not been forsaken; and after a few moments her grey shadowy form would + once more vanish among the trees. The hope that as her confidence + increased and she grew accustomed to talk with me she would be brought to + reveal the story of her life had to be abandoned, at all events for the + present. I must, after all, get my information from Nuflo, or rest in + ignorance. The old man was out for the greater part of each day with his + dogs, and from these expeditions he brought back nothing that I could see + but a few nuts and fruits, some thin bark for his cigarettes, and an + occasional handful of haima gum to perfume the hut of an evening. After I + had wasted three days in vainly trying to overcome the girl’s now + inexplicable shyness, I resolved to give for a while my undivided + attention to her grandfather to discover, if possible, where he went and + how he spent his time. + </p> + <p> + My new game of hide-and-seek with Nuflo instead of with Rima began on the + following morning. He was cunning; so was I. Going out and concealing + myself among the bushes, I began to watch the hut. That I could elude + Rima’s keener eyes I doubted; but that did not trouble me. She was not in + harmony with the old man, and would do nothing to defeat my plan. I had + not been long in my hiding-place before he came out, followed by his two + dogs, and going to some distance from the door, he sat down on a log. For + some minutes he smoked, then rose, and after looking cautiously round + slipped away among the trees. I saw that he was going off in the direction + of the low range of rocky hills south of the forest. I knew that the + forest did not extend far in that direction, and thinking that I should be + able to catch a sight of him on its borders, I left the bushes and ran + through the trees as fast as I could to get ahead of him. Coming to where + the wood was very open, I found that a barren plain beyond it, a quarter + of a mile wide, separated it from the range of hills; thinking that the + old man might cross this open space, I climbed into a tree to watch. After + some time he appeared, walking rapidly among the trees, the dogs at his + heels, but not going towards the open plain; he had, it seemed, after + arriving at the edge of the wood, changed his direction and was going + west, still keeping in the shelter of the trees. When he had been gone + about five minutes, I dropped to the ground and started in pursuit; once + more I caught sight of him through the trees, and I kept him in sight for + about twenty minutes longer; then he came to a broad strip of dense wood + which extended into and through the range of hills, and here I quickly + lost him. Hoping still to overtake him, I pushed on, but after struggling + through the underwood for some distance, and finding the forest growing + more difficult as I progressed, I at last gave him up. Turning eastward, I + got out of the wood to find myself at the foot of a steep rough hill, one + of the range which the wooded valley cut through at right angles. It + struck me that it would be a good plan to climb the hill to get a view of + the forest belt in which I had lost the old man; and after walking a short + distance I found a spot which allowed of an ascent. The summit of the hill + was about three hundred feet above the surrounding level and did not take + me long to reach; it commanded a fair view, and I now saw that the belt of + wood beneath me extended right through the range, and on the south side + opened out into an extensive forest. “If that is your destination,” + thought I, “old fox, your secrets are safe from me.” + </p> + <p> + It was still early in the day, and a slight breeze tempered the air and + made it cool and pleasant on the hilltop after my exertions. My scramble + through the wood had fatigued me somewhat, and resolving to spend some + hours on that spot, I looked round for a comfortable resting-place. I soon + found a shady spot on the west side of an upright block of stone where I + could recline at ease on a bed of lichen. Here, with shoulders resting + against the rock, I sat thinking of Rima, alone in her wood today, with + just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts which made me hope that she + would miss me as much as I missed her; and in the end I fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + When I woke, it was past noon, and the sun was shining directly on me. + Standing up to gaze once more on the prospect, I noticed a small wreath of + white smoke issuing from a spot about the middle of the forest belt + beneath me, and I instantly divined that Nuflo had made a fire at that + place, and I resolved to surprise him in his retreat. When I got down to + the base of the hill the smoke could no longer be seen, but I had studied + the spot well from above, and had singled out a large clump of trees on + the edge of the belt as a starting-point; and after a search of half an + hour I succeeded in finding the old man’s hiding-place. First I saw smoke + again through an opening in the trees, then a small rude hut of sticks and + palm leaves. Approaching cautiously, I peered through a crack and + discovered old Nuflo engaged in smoking some meat over a fire, and at the + same time grilling some bones on the coals. He had captured a coatimundi, + an animal somewhat larger than a tame tom-cat, with a long snout and long + ringed tail; one of the dogs was gnawing at the animal’s head, and the + tail and the feet were also lying on the floor, among the old bones and + rubbish that littered it. Stealing round, I suddenly presented myself at + the opening to his den, when the dogs rose up with a growl and Nuflo + instantly leaped to his feet, knife in hand. + </p> + <p> + “Aha, old man,” I cried, with a laugh, “I have found you at one of your + vegetarian repasts; and your grass-eating dogs as well!” + </p> + <p> + He was disconcerted and suspicious, but when I explained that I had seen a + smoke while on the hills, where I had gone to search for a curious blue + flower which grew in such places, and had made my way to it to discover + the cause, he recovered confidence and invited me to join him at his + dinner of roast meat. + </p> + <p> + I was hungry by this time and not sorry to get animal food once more; + nevertheless, I ate this meat with some disgust, as it had a rank taste + and smell, and it was also unpleasant to have those evil-looking dogs + savagely gnawing at the animal’s head and feet at the same time. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” said the old hypocrite, wiping the grease from his moustache, + “this is what I am compelled to do in order to avoid giving offence. My + granddaughter is a strange being, sir, as you have perhaps observed—” + </p> + <p> + “That reminds me,” I interrupted, “that I wish you to relate her history + to me. She is, as you say, strange, and has speech and faculties unlike + ours, which shows that she comes of a different race.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, her faculties are not different from ours. They are sharper, that + is all. It pleases the All-Powerful to give more to some than to others. + Not all the fingers on the hand are alike. You will find a man who will + take up a guitar and make it speak, while I—” + </p> + <p> + “All that I understand,” I broke in again. “But her origin, her history—that + is what I wish to hear.” + </p> + <p> + “And that, sir, is precisely what I am about to relate. Poor child, she + was left on my hands by her sainted mother—my daughter, sir—who + perished young. Now, her birthplace, where she was taught letters and the + Catechism by the priest, was in an unhealthy situation. It was hot and wet—always + wet—a place suited to frogs rather than to human beings. At length, + thinking that it would suit the child better—for she was pale and + weakly—to live in a drier atmosphere among mountains, I brought her + to this district. For this, senor, and for all I have done for her, I look + for no reward here, but to that place where my daughter has got her foot; + not, sir, on the threshold, as you might think, but well inside. For, + after all, it is to the authorities above, in spite of some blots which we + see in their administration, that we must look for justice. Frankly, sir, + this is the whole story of my granddaughter’s origin.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, yes,” I returned, “your story explains why she can call a wild bird + to her hand, and touch a venomous serpent with her bare foot and receive + no harm.” + </p> + <p> + “Doubtless you are right,” said the old dissembler. “Living alone in the + wood, she had only God’s creatures to play and make friends with; and wild + animals, I have heard it said, know those who are friendly towards them.” + </p> + <p> + “You treat her friends badly,” said I, kicking the long tail of the + coatimundi away with my foot, and regretting that I had joined in his + repast. + </p> + <p> + “Senor, you must consider that we are only what Heaven made us. When all + this was formed,” he continued, opening his arms wide to indicate the + entire creation, “the Person who concerned Himself with this matter gave + seeds and fruitless and nectar of flowers for the sustentation of His + small birds. But we have not their delicate appetites. The more robust + stomach which he gave to man cries out for meat. Do you understand? But of + all this, friend, not one word to Rima!” + </p> + <p> + I laughed scornfully. “Do you think me such a child, old man, as to + believe that Rima, that little sprite, does not know that you are an eater + of flesh? Rima, who is everywhere in the wood, seeing all things, even if + I lift my hand against a serpent, she herself unseen.” + </p> + <p> + “But, sir, if you will pardon my presumption, you are saying too much. She + does not come here, and therefore cannot see that I eat meat. In all that + wood where she flourishes and sings, where she is in her house and garden, + and mistress of the creatures, even of the small butterfly with painted + wings, there, sir, I hunt no animal. Nor will my dogs chase any animal + there. That is what I meant when I said that if an animal should stumble + against their legs, they would lift up their noses and pass on without + seeing it. For in that wood there is one law, the law that Rima imposes, + and outside of it a different law.” + </p> + <p> + “I am glad that you have told me this,” I replied. “The thought that Rima + might be near, and, unseen herself, look in upon us feeding with the dogs + and, like dogs, on flesh, was one which greatly troubled my mind.” + </p> + <p> + He glanced at me in his usual quick, cunning way. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, senor, you have that feeling too—after so short a time with us! + Consider, then, what it must be for me, unable to nourish myself on gums + and fruitlets, and that little sweetness made by wasps out of flowers, + when I am compelled to go far away and eat secretly to avoid giving + offence.” + </p> + <p> + It was hard, no doubt, but I did not pity him; secretly I could only feel + anger against him for refusing to enlighten me, while making such a + presence of openness; and I also felt disgusted with myself for having + joined him in his rank repast. But dissimulation was necessary, and so, + after conversing a little more on indifferent topics, and thanking him for + his hospitality, I left him alone to go on with his smoky task. + </p> + <p> + On my way back to the lodge, fearing that some taint of Nuflo’s + evil-smelling den and dinner might still cling to me, I turned aside to + where a streamlet in the wood widened and formed a deep pool, to take a + plunge in the water. After drying myself in the air, and thoroughly + ventilating my garments by shaking and beating them, I found an open, + shady spot in the wood and threw myself on the grass to wait for evening + before returning to the house. By that time the sweet, warm air would have + purified me. Besides, I did not consider that I had sufficiently punished + Rima for her treatment of me. She would be anxious for my safety, perhaps + even looking for me everywhere in the wood. It was not much to make her + suffer one day after she had made me miserable for three; and perhaps when + she discovered that I could exist without her society she would begin to + treat me less capriciously. + </p> + <p> + So ran my thoughts as I rested on the warm ground, gazing up into the + foliage, green as young grass in the lower, shady parts, and above + luminous with the bright sunlight, and full of the murmuring sounds of + insect life. My every action, word, thought, had my feeling for Rima as a + motive. Why, I began to ask myself, was Rima so much to me? It was easy to + answer that question: Because nothing so exquisite had ever been created. + All the separate and fragmentary beauty and melody and graceful motion + found scattered throughout nature were concentrated and harmoniously + combined in her. How various, how luminous, how divine she was! A being + for the mind to marvel at, to admire continually, finding some new grace + and charm every hour, every moment, to add to the old. And there was, + besides, the fascinating mystery surrounding her origin to arouse and keep + my interest in her continually active. + </p> + <p> + That was the easy answer I returned to the question I had asked myself. + But I knew that there was another answer—a reason more powerful than + the first. And I could no longer thrust it back, or hide its shining face + with the dull, leaden mask of mere intellectual curiosity. BECAUSE I LOVED + HER; loved her as I had never loved before, never could love any other + being, with a passion which had caught something of her own brilliance and + intensity, making a former passion look dim and commonplace in comparison—a + feeling known to everyone, something old and worn out, a weariness even to + think of. + </p> + <p> + From these reflections I was roused by the plaintive three-syllable call + of an evening bird—a nightjar common in these woods; and was + surprised to find that the sun had set, and the woods already shadowed + with the twilight. I started up and began hurriedly walking homewards, + thinking of Rima, and was consumed with impatience to see her; and as I + drew near to the house, walking along a narrow path which I knew, I + suddenly met her face to face. Doubtless she had heard my approach, and + instead of shrinking out of the path and allowing me to pass on without + seeing her, as she would have done on the previous day, she had sprung + forward to meet me. I was struck with wonder at the change in her as she + came with a swift, easy motion, like a flying bird, her hands outstretched + as if to clasp mine, her lips parted in a radiant, welcoming smile, her + eyes sparkling with joy. + </p> + <p> + I started forward to meet her, but had no sooner touched her hands than + her countenance changed, and she shrunk back trembling, as if the touch + had chilled her warm blood; and moving some feet away, she stood with + downcast eyes, pale and sorrowful as she had seemed yesterday. In vain I + implored her to tell me the cause of this change and of the trouble she + evidently felt; her lips trembled as if with speech, but she made no + reply, and only shrunk further away when I attempted to approach her; and + at length, moving aside from the path, she was lost to sight in the dusky + leafage. + </p> + <p> + I went on alone, and sat outside for some time, until old Nuflo returned + from his hunting; and only after he had gone in and had made the fire burn + up did Rima make her appearance, silent and constrained as ever. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <p> + On the following day Rima continued in the same inexplicable humour; and + feeling my defeat keenly, I determined once more to try the effect of + absence on her, and to remain away on this occasion for a longer period. + Like old Nuflo, I was secret in going forth next morning, waiting until + the girl was out of the way, then slipping off among the bushes into the + deeper wood; and finally quitting its shelter, I set out across the + savannah towards my old quarters. Great was my surprise on arriving at the + village to find no person there. At first I imagined that my disappearance + in the forest of evil fame had caused them to abandon their home in a + panic; but on looking round I concluded that my friends had only gone on + one of their periodical visits to some neighbouring village. For when + these Indians visit their neighbours they do it in a very thorough manner; + they all go, taking with them their entire stock of provisions, their + cooking utensils, weapons, hammocks, and even their pet animals. + Fortunately in this case they had not taken quite everything; my hammock + was there, also one small pot, some cassava bread, purple potatoes, and a + few ears of maize. I concluded that these had been left for me in the + event of my return; also that they had not been gone very many hours, + since a log of wood buried under the ashes of the hearth was still alight. + Now, as their absences from home usually last many days, it was plain that + I would have the big naked barn-like house to myself for as long as I + thought proper to remain, with little food to eat; but the prospect did + not disturb me, and I resolved to amuse myself with music. In vain I + hunted for my guitar; the Indians had taken it to delight their friends by + twanging its strings. At odd moments during the last day or two I had been + composing a simple melody in my brain, fitting it to ancient words; and + now, without an instrument to assist me, I began softly singing to myself: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes. +</pre> + <p> + After music I made up the fire and parched an ear of maize for my dinner, + and while laboriously crunching the dry hard grain I thanked Heaven for + having bestowed on me such good molars. Finally I slung my hammock in its + old corner, and placing myself in it in my favourite oblique position, my + hands clasped behind my head, one knee cocked up, the other leg dangling + down, I resigned myself to idle thought. I felt very happy. How strange, + thought I, with a little self-flattery, that I, accustomed to the + agreeable society of intelligent men and charming women, and of books, + should find such perfect contentment here! But I congratulated myself too + soon. The profound silence began at length to oppress me. It was not like + the forest, where one has wild birds for company, where their cries, + albeit inarticulate, have a meaning and give a charm to solitude. Even the + sight and whispered sounds of green leaves and rushes trembling in the + wind have for us something of intelligence and sympathy; but I could not + commune with mud walls and an earthen pot. Feeling my loneliness too + acutely, I began to regret that I had left Rima, then to feel remorse at + the secrecy I had practiced. Even now while I inclined idly in my hammock, + she would be roaming the forest in search of me, listening for my + footsteps, fearing perhaps that I had met with some accident where there + was no person to succour me. It was painful to think of her in this way, + of the pain I had doubtless given her by stealing off without a word of + warning. Springing to the floor, I flung out of the house and went down to + the stream. It was better there, for now the greatest heat of the day was + over, and the weltering sun began to look large and red and rayless + through the afternoon haze. + </p> + <p> + I seated myself on a stone within a yard or two of the limpid water; and + now the sight of nature and the warm, vital air and sunshine infected my + spirit and made it possible for me to face the position calmly, even + hopefully. The position was this: for some days the idea had been present + in my mind, and was now fixed there, that this desert was to be my + permanent home. The thought of going back to Caracas, that little Paris in + America, with its Old World vices, its idle political passions, its empty + round of gaieties, was unendurable. I was changed, and this change—so + great, so complete—was proof that the old artificial life had not + been and could not be the real one, in harmony with my deeper and truer + nature. I deceived myself, you will say, as I have often myself said. I + had and I had not. It is too long a question to discuss here; but just + then I felt that I had quitted the hot, tainted atmosphere of the + ballroom, that the morning air of heaven refreshed and elevated me and was + sweet to breathe. Friends and relations I had who were dear to me; but I + could forget them, even as I could forget the splendid dreams which had + been mine. And the woman I had loved, and who perhaps loved me in return—I + could forget her too. A daughter of civilization and of that artificial + life, she could never experience such feelings as these and return to + nature as I was doing. For women, though within narrow limits more plastic + than men, are yet without that larger adaptiveness which can take us back + to the sources of life, which they have left eternally behind. Better, far + better for both of us that she should wait through the long, slow months, + growing sick at heart with hope deferred; that, seeing me no more, she + should weep my loss, and be healed at last by time, and find love and + happiness again in the old way, in the old place. + </p> + <p> + And while I thus sat thinking, sadly enough, but not despondingly, of past + and present and future, all at once on the warm, still air came the + resonant, far-reaching KLING-KLANG of the campanero from some leafy summit + half a league away. KLING-KLANG fell the sound again, and often again, at + intervals, affecting me strangely at that moment, so bell-like, so like + the great wide-travelling sounds associated in our minds with Christian + worship. And yet so unlike. A bell, yet not made of gross metal dug out of + earth, but of an ethereal, sublimer material that floats impalpable and + invisible in space—a vital bell suspended on nothing, giving out + sounds in harmony with the vastness of blue heaven, the unsullied purity + of nature, the glory of the sun, and conveying a mystic, a higher message + to the soul than the sounds that surge from tower and belfry. + </p> + <p> + O mystic bell-bird of the heavenly race of the swallow and dove, the + quetzal and the nightingale! When the brutish savage and the brutish white + man that slay thee, one for food, the other for the benefit of science, + shall have passed away, live still, live to tell thy message to the + blameless spiritualized race that shall come after us to possess the + earth, not for a thousand years, but for ever; for how much shall thy + voice be our clarified successors when even to my dull, unpurged soul thou + canst speak such high things and bring it a sense of an impersonal, + all-compromising One who is in me and I in Him, flesh of His flesh and + soul of His soul. + </p> + <p> + The sounds ceased, but I was still in that exalted mood and, like a person + in a trance, staring fixedly before me into the open wood of scattered + dwarf trees on the other side of the stream, when suddenly on the field of + vision appeared a grotesque human figure moving towards me. I started + violently, astonished and a little alarmed, but in a very few moments I + recognized the ancient Cla-cla, coming home with a large bundle of dry + sticks on her shoulders, bent almost double under the burden, and still + ignorant of my presence. Slowly she came down to the stream, then + cautiously made her way over the line of stepping-stones by which it was + crossed; and only when within ten yards did the old creature catch sight + of me sitting silent and motionless in her path. With a sharp cry of + amazement and terror she straightened herself up, the bundle of sticks + dropping to the ground, and turned to run from me. That, at all events, + seemed her intention, for her body was thrown forward, and her head and + arms working like those of a person going at full speed, but her legs + seemed paralysed and her feet remained planted on the same spot. I burst + out laughing; whereat she twisted her neck until her wrinkled, brown old + face appeared over her shoulder staring at me. This made me laugh again, + whereupon she straightened herself up once more and turned round to have a + good look at me. + </p> + <p> + “Come, Cla-cla,” I cried; “can you not see that I am a living man and no + spirit? I thought no one had remained behind to keep me company and give + me food. Why are you not with the others?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, why!” she returned tragically. And then deliberately turning from me + and assuming a most unladylike attitude, she slapped herself vigorously on + the small of the back, exclaiming: “Because of my pain here!” + </p> + <p> + As she continued in that position with her back towards me for some time, + I laughed once more and begged her to explain. + </p> + <p> + Slowly she turned round and advanced cautiously towards me, staring at me + all the time. Finally, still eyeing me suspiciously, she related that the + others had all gone on a visit to a distant village, she starting with + them; that after going some distance a pain had attacked her in her hind + quarters, so sudden and acute that it had instantly brought her to a full + stop; and to illustrate how full the stop was she allowed herself to go + down, very unnecessarily, with a flop to the ground. But she no sooner + touched the ground than up she started to her feet again, with an alarmed + look on her owlish face, as if she had sat down on a stinging-nettle. + </p> + <p> + “We thought you were dead,” she remarked, still thinking that I might be a + ghost after all. + </p> + <p> + “No, still alive,” I said. “And so because you came to the ground with + your pain, they left you behind! Well, never mind, Cla-cla, we are two now + and must try to be happy together.” + </p> + <p> + By this time she had recovered from her fear and began to feel highly + pleased at my return, only lamenting that she had no meat to give me. She + was anxious to hear my adventures, and the reason of my long absence. I + had no wish to gratify her curiosity, with the truth at all events, + knowing very well that with regard to the daughter of the Didi her + feelings were as purely savage and malignant as those of Kua-ko. But it + was necessary to say something, and, fortifying myself with the good old + Spanish notion that lies told to the heathen are not recorded, I related + that a venomous serpent had bitten me; after which a terrible thunderstorm + had surprised me in the forest, and night coming on prevented my escape + from it; then, next day, remembering that he who is bitten by a serpent + dies, and not wishing to distress my friends with the sight of my + dissolution, I elected to remain, sitting there in the wood, amusing + myself by singing songs and smoking cigarettes; and after several days and + nights had gone by, finding that I was not going to die after all, and + beginning to feel hungry, I got up and came back. + </p> + <p> + Old Cla-cla looked very serious, shaking and nodding her head a great + deal, muttering to herself; finally she gave it as her opinion that + nothing ever would or could kill me; but whether my story had been + believed or not she only knew. + </p> + <p> + I spent an amusing evening with my old savage hostess. She had thrown off + her ailments and, pleased at having a companion in her dreary solitude, + she was good-tempered and talkative, and much more inclined to laugh than + when the others were present, when she was on her dignity. + </p> + <p> + We sat by the fire, cooking such food as we had, and talked and smoked; + then I sang her songs in Spanish with that melody of my own— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Muy mas clara que la luna; +</pre> + <p> + and she rewarded me by emitting a barbarous chant in a shrill, screechy + voice; and finally, starting up, I danced for her benefit polka, mazurka, + and valse, whistling and singing to my motions. + </p> + <p> + More than once during the evening she tried to introduce serious subjects, + telling me that I must always live with them, learn to shoot the birds and + catch the fishes, and have a wife; and then she would speak of her + granddaughter Oalava, whose virtues it was proper to mention, but whose + physical charms needed no description since they had never been concealed. + Each time she got on this topic I cut her short, vowing that if I ever + married she only should be my wife. She informed me that she was old and + past her fruitful period; that not much longer would she make cassava + bread, and blow the fire to a flame with her wheezy old bellows, and talk + the men to sleep at night. But I stuck to it that she was young and + beautiful, that our descendants would be more numerous than the birds in + the forest. I went out to some bushes close by, where I had noticed a + passion plant in bloom, and gathering a few splendid scarlet blossoms with + their stems and leaves, I brought them in and wove them into a garland for + the old dame’s head; then I pulled her up, in spite of screams and + struggles, and waltzed her wildly to the other end of the room and back + again to her seat beside the fire. And as she sat there, panting and + grinning with laughter, I knelt before her and, with suitable passionate + gestures, declaimed again the old delicate lines sung by Mena before + Columbus sailed the seas: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes + tan gentil, que no vecistes + ni tavistes + competedora ninguna + Desdi ninez en la cuna + cobrastes fama, beldad, con tanta graciosidad, + que vos doto la fortuna. +</pre> + <p> + Thinking of another all the time! O poor old Cla-cla, knowing not what the + jingle meant nor the secret of my wild happiness, now when I recall you + sitting there, your old grey owlish head crowned with scarlet passion + flowers, flushed with firelight, against the background of smoke-blackened + walls and rafters, how the old undying sorrow comes back to me! + </p> + <p> + Thus our evening was spent, merrily enough; then we made up the fire with + hard wood that would last all night, and went to our hammocks, but wakeful + still. The old dame, glad and proud to be on duty once more, religiously + went to work to talk me to sleep; but although I called out at intervals + to encourage her to go on, I did not attempt to follow the ancient tales + she told, which she had imbibed in childhood from other white-headed + grandmothers long, long turned to dust. My own brain was busy thinking, + thinking, thinking now of the woman I had once loved, far away in + Venezuela, waiting and weeping and sick with hope deferred; now of Rima, + wakeful and listening to the mysterious nightsounds of the forest—listening, + listening for my returning footsteps. + </p> + <p> + Next morning I began to waver in my resolution to remain absent from Rima + for some days; and before evening my passion, which I had now ceased to + struggle against, coupled with the thought that I had acted unkindly in + leaving her, that she would be a prey to anxiety, overcame me, and I was + ready to return. The old woman, who had been suspiciously watching my + movements, rushed out after me as I left the house, crying out that a + storm was brewing, that it was too late to go far, and night would be full + of danger. I waved my hand in good-bye, laughingly reminding her that I + was proof against all perils. Little she cared what evil might befall me, + I thought; but she loved not to be alone; even for her, low down as she + was intellectually, the solitary earthen pot had no “mind stuff” in it, + and could not be sent to sleep at night with the legends of long ago. + </p> + <p> + By the time I reached the ridge, I had discovered that she had prophesied + truly, for now an ominous change had come over nature. A dull grey vapour + had overspread the entire western half of the heavens; down, beyond the + forest, the sky looked black as ink, and behind this blackness the sun had + vanished. It was too late to go back now; I had been too long absent from + Rima, and could only hope to reach Nuflo’s lodge, wet or dry, before night + closed round me in the forest. + </p> + <p> + For some moments I stood still on the ridge, struck by the somewhat weird + aspect of the shadowed scene before me—the long strip of dull + uniform green, with here and there a slender palm lifting its feathery + crown above the other trees, standing motionless, in strange relief + against the advancing blackness. Then I set out once more at a run, taking + advantage of the downward slope to get well on my way before the tempest + should burst. As I approached the wood, there came a flash of lightning, + pale, but covering the whole visible sky, followed after a long interval + by a distant roll of thunder, which lasted several seconds and ended with + a succession of deep throbs. It was as if Nature herself, in supreme + anguish and abandonment, had cast herself prone on the earth, and her + great heart had throbbed audibly, shaking the world with its beats. No + more thunder followed, but the rain was coming down heavily now in huge + drops that fell straight through the gloomy, windless air. In half a + minute I was drenched to the skin; but for a short time the rain seemed an + advantage, as the brightness of the falling water lessened the gloom, + turning the air from dark to lighter grey. This subdued rain-light did not + last long: I had not been twenty minutes in the wood before a second and + greater darkness fell on the earth, accompanied by an even more copious + downpour of water. The sun had evidently gone down, and the whole sky was + now covered with one thick cloud. Becoming more nervous as the gloom + increased, I bent my steps more to the south, so as to keep near the + border and more open part of the wood. Probably I had already grown + confused before deviating and turned the wrong way, for instead of finding + the forest easier, it grew closer and more difficult as I advanced. Before + many minutes the darkness so increased that I could no longer distinguish + objects more than five feet from my eyes. Groping blindly along, I became + entangled in a dense undergrowth, and after struggling and stumbling along + for some distance in vain endeavours to get through it, I came to a stand + at last in sheer despair. All sense of direction was now lost: I was + entombed in thick blackness—blackness of night and cloud and rain + and of dripping foliage and network of branches bound with bush ropes and + creepers in a wild tangle. I had struggled into a hollow, or hole, as it + were, in the midst of that mass of vegetation, where I could stand upright + and turn round and round without touching anything; but when I put out my + hands they came into contact with vines and bushes. To move from that spot + seemed folly; yet how dreadful to remain there standing on the sodden + earth, chilled with rain, in that awful blackness in which the only + luminous thing one could look to see would be the eyes, shining with their + own internal light, of some savage beast of prey! Yet the danger, the + intense physical discomfort, and the anguish of looking forward to a whole + night spent in that situation stung my heart less than the thought of + Rima’s anxiety and of the pain I had carelessly given by secretly leaving + her. + </p> + <p> + It was then, with that pang in my heart, that I was startled by hearing, + close by, one of her own low, warbled expressions. There could be no + mistake; if the forest had been full of the sounds of animal life and + songs of melodious birds, her voice would have been instantly + distinguished from all others. How mysterious, how infinitely tender it + sounded in that awful blackness!—so musical and exquisitely + modulated, so sorrowful, yet piercing my heart with a sudden, unutterable + joy. + </p> + <p> + “Rima! Rima!” I cried. “Speak again. Is it you? Come to me here.” + </p> + <p> + Again that low, warbling sound, or series of sounds, seemingly from a + distance of a few yards. I was not disturbed at her not replying in + Spanish: she had always spoken it somewhat reluctantly, and only when at + my side; but when calling to me from some distance she would return + instinctively to her own mysterious language, and call to me as bird calls + to bird. I knew that she was inviting me to follow her, but I refused to + move. + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I cried again, “come to me here, for I know not where to step, and + cannot move until you are at my side and I can feel your hand.” + </p> + <p> + There came no response, and after some moments, becoming alarmed, I called + to her again. + </p> + <p> + Then close by me, in a low, trembling voice, she returned: “I am here.” + </p> + <p> + I put out my hand and touched something soft and wet; it was her breast, + and moving my hand higher up, I felt her hair, hanging now and streaming + with water. She was trembling, and I thought the rain had chilled her. + </p> + <p> + “Rima—poor child! How wet you are! How strange to meet you in such a + place! Tell me, dear Rima, how did you find me?” + </p> + <p> + “I was waiting—watching—all day. I saw you coming across the + savannah, and followed at a distance through the wood.” + </p> + <p> + “And I had treated you so unkindly! Ah, my guardian angel, my light in the + darkness, how I hate myself for giving you pain! Tell me, sweet, did you + wish me to come back and live with you again?” She made no reply. Then, + running my fingers down her arm, I took her hand in mine. It was hot, like + the hand of one in a fever. I raised it to my lips and then attempted to + draw her to me, but she slipped down and out of my arms to my feet. I felt + her there, on her knees, with head bowed low. Stooping and putting my arm + round her body, I drew her up and held her against my breast, and felt her + heart throbbing wildly. With many endearing words I begged her to speak to + me; but her only reply was: “Come—come,” as she slipped again out of + my arms and, holding my hand in hers, guided me through the bushes. + </p> + <p> + Before long we came to an open path or glade, where the darkness was not + profound; and releasing my hand, she began walking rapidly before me, + always keeping at such a distance as just enabled me to distinguish her + grey, shadowy figure, and with frequent doublings to follow the natural + paths and openings which she knew so well. In this way we kept on nearly + to the end, without exchanging a word, and hearing no sound except the + continuous rush of rain, which to our accustomed ears had ceased to have + the effect of sound, and the various gurgling noises of innumerable + runners. All at once, as we came to a more open place, a strip of bright + firelight appeared before us, shining from the half-open door of Nuflo’s + lodge. She turned round as much as to say: “Now you know where you are,” + then hurried on, leaving me to follow as best I could. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <p> + There was a welcome change in the weather when I rose early next morning; + the sky was without cloud and had that purity in its colour and look of + infinite distance seen only when the atmosphere is free from vapour. The + sun had not yet risen, but old Nuflo was already among the ashes, on his + hands and knees, blowing the embers he had uncovered to a flame. Then Rima + appeared only to pass through the room with quick light tread to go out of + the door without a word or even a glance at my face. The old man, after + watching at the door for a few minutes, turned and began eagerly + questioning me about my adventures on the previous evening. In reply I + related to him how the girl had found me in the forest lost and unable to + extricate myself from the tangled undergrowth. + </p> + <p> + He rubbed his hands on his knees and chuckled. “Happy for you, senor,” he + said, “that my granddaughter regards you with such friendly eyes, + otherwise you might have perished before morning. Once she was at your + side, no light, whether of sun or moon or lantern, was needed, nor that + small instrument which is said to guide a man aright in the desert, even + in the darkest night—let him that can believe such a thing!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, happy for me,” I returned. “I am filled with remorse that it was all + through my fault that the poor child was exposed to such weather.” + </p> + <p> + “O senor,” he cried airily, “let not that distress you! Rain and wind and + hot suns, from which we seek shelter, do not harm her. She takes no cold, + and no fever, with or without ague.” + </p> + <p> + After some further conversation I left him to steal away unobserved on his + own account, and set out for a ramble in the hope of encountering Rima and + winning her to talk to me. + </p> + <p> + My quest did not succeed: not a glimpse of her delicate shadowy form did I + catch among the trees; and not one note from her melodious lips came to + gladden me. At noon I returned to the house, where I found food placed + ready for me, and knew that she had come there during my absence and had + not been forgetful of my wants. “Shall I thank you for this?” I said. “I + ask you for heavenly nectar for the sustentation of the higher winged + nature in me, and you give me a boiled sweet potato, toasted strips of + sun-dried pumpkins, and a handful of parched maize! Rima! Rima! my + woodland fairy, my sweet saviour, why do you yet fear me? Is it that love + struggles in you with repugnance? Can you discern with clear spiritual + eyes the grosser elements in me, and hate them; or has some false + imagination made me appear all dark and evil, but too late for your peace, + after the sweet sickness of love has infected you?” + </p> + <p> + But she was not there to answer me, and so after a time I went forth again + and seated myself listlessly on the root of an old tree not far from the + house. I had sat there a full hour when all at once Rima appeared at my + side. Bending forward, she touched my hand, but without glancing at my + face; “Come with me,” she said, and turning, moved swiftly towards the + northern extremity of the forest. She seemed to take it for granted that I + would follow, never casting a look behind nor pausing in her rapid walk; + but I was only too glad to obey and, starting up, was quickly after her. + She led me by easy ways, familiar to her, with many doublings to escape + the undergrowth, never speaking or pausing until we came out from the + thick forest, and I found myself for the first time at the foot of the + great hill or mountain Ytaioa. Glancing back for a few moments, she waved + a hand towards the summit, and then at once began the ascent. Here too it + seemed all familiar ground to her. From below, the sides had presented an + exceedingly rugged appearance—a wild confusion of huge jagged rocks, + mixed with a tangled vegetation of trees, bushes, and vines; but following + her in all her doublings, it became easy enough, although it fatigued me + greatly owing to our rapid pace. The hill was conical, but I found that it + had a flat top—an oblong or pear-shaped area, almost level, of a + soft, crumbly sandstone, with a few blocks and boulders of a harder stone + scattered about—and no vegetation, except the grey mountain lichen + and a few sere-looking dwarf shrubs. + </p> + <p> + Here Rima, at a distance of a few yards from me, remained standing still + for some minutes, as if to give me time to recover my breath; and I was + right glad to sit down on a stone to rest. Finally she walked slowly to + the centre of the level area, which was about two acres in extent; rising, + I followed her and, climbing on to a huge block of stone, began gazing at + the wide prospect spread out before me. The day was windless and bright, + with only a few white clouds floating at a great height above and casting + travelling shadows over that wild, broken country, where forest, marsh, + and savannah were only distinguishable by their different colours, like + the greys and greens and yellows on a map. At a great distance the circle + of the horizon was broken here and there by mountains, but the hills in + our neighbourhood were all beneath our feet. + </p> + <p> + After gazing all round for some minutes, I jumped down from my stand and, + leaning against the stone, stood watching the girl, waiting for her to + speak. I felt convinced that she had something of the very highest + importance (to herself) to communicate, and that only the pressing need of + a confidant, not Nuflo, had overcome her shyness of me; and I determined + to let her take her own time to say it in her own way. For a while she + continued silent, her face averted, but her little movements and the way + she clasped and unclasped her fingers showed that she was anxious and her + mind working. Suddenly, half turning to me, she began speaking eagerly and + rapidly. + </p> + <p> + “Do you see,” she said, waving her hand to indicate the whole circuit of + earth, “how large it is? Look!” pointing now to mountains in the west. + “Those are the Vahanas—one, two, three—the highest—I can + tell you their names—Vahana-Chara, Chumi, Aranoa. Do you see that + water? It is a river, called Guaypero. From the hills it comes down, + Inaruna is their name, and you can see them there in the south—far, + far.” And in this way she went on pointing out and naming all the + mountains and rivers within sight. Then she suddenly dropped her hands to + her sides and continued: “That is all. Because we can see no further. But + the world is larger than that! Other mountains, other rivers. Have I not + told you of Voa, on the River Voa, where I was born, where mother died, + where the priest taught me, years, years ago? All that you cannot see, it + is so far away—so far.” + </p> + <p> + I did not laugh at her simplicity, nor did I smile or feel any inclination + to smile. On the contrary, I only experienced a sympathy so keen that it + was like pain while watching her clouded face, so changeful in its + expression, yet in all changes so wistful. I could not yet form any idea + as to what she wished to communicate or to discover, but seeing that she + paused for a reply, I answered: “The world is so large, Rima, that we can + only see a very small portion of it from any one spot. Look at this,” and + with a stick I had used to aid me in my ascent I traced a circle six or + seven inches in circumference on the soft stone, and in its centre placed + a small pebble. “This represents the mountain we are standing on,” I + continued, touching the pebble; “and this line encircling it encloses all + of the earth we can see from the mountain-top. Do you understand?—the + line I have traced is the blue line of the horizon beyond which we cannot + see. And outside of this little circle is all the flat top of Ytaioa + representing the world. Consider, then, how small a portion of the world + we can see from this spot!” + </p> + <p> + “And do you know it all?” she returned excitedly. “All the world?” waving + her hand to indicate the little stone plain. “All the mountains, and + rivers, and forests—all the people in the world?” + </p> + <p> + “That would be impossible, Rima; consider how large it is.” + </p> + <p> + “That does not matter. Come, let us go together—we two and + grandfather—and see all the world; all the mountains and forests, + and know all the people.” + </p> + <p> + “You do not know what you are saying, Rima. You might as well say: ‘Come, + let us go to the sun and find out everything in it.’” + </p> + <p> + “It is you who do not know what you are saying,” she retorted, with + brightening eyes which for a moment glanced full into mine. “We have no + wings like birds to fly to the sun. Am I not able to walk on the earth, + and run? Can I not swim? Can I not climb every mountain?” + </p> + <p> + “No, you cannot. You imagine that all the earth is like this little + portion you see. But it is not all the same. There are great rivers which + you cannot cross by swimming; mountains you cannot climb; forests you + cannot penetrate—dark, and inhabited by dangerous beasts, and so + vast that all this space your eyes look on is a mere speck of earth in + comparison.” + </p> + <p> + She listened excitedly. “Oh, do you know all that?” she cried, with a + strangely brightening look; and then half turning from me, she added, with + sudden petulance: “Yet only a minute ago you knew nothing of the world—because + it is so large! Is anything to be gained by speaking to one who says such + contrary things?” + </p> + <p> + I explained that I had not contradicted myself, that she had not rightly + interpreted my words. I knew, I said, something about the principal + features of the different countries of the world, as, for instance, the + largest mountain ranges, and rivers, and the cities. Also something, but + very little, about the tribes of savage men. She heard me with impatience, + which made me speak rapidly, in very general terms; and to simplify the + matter I made the world stand for the continent we were in. It seemed idle + to go beyond that, and her eagerness would not have allowed it. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me all you know,” she said the moment I ceased speaking. “What is + there—and there—and there?” pointing in various directions. + “Rivers and forests—they are nothing to me. The villages, the + tribes, the people everywhere; tell me, for I must know it all.” + </p> + <p> + “It would take long to tell, Rima.” + </p> + <p> + “Because you are so slow. Look how high the sun is! Speak, speak! What is + there?” pointing to the north. + </p> + <p> + “All that country,” I said, waving my hands from east to west, “is + Guayana; and so large is it that you could go in this direction, or in + this, travelling for months, without seeing the end of Guayana. Still it + would be Guayana; rivers, rivers, rivers, with forests between, and other + forests and rivers beyond. And savage people, nations and tribes—Guahibo, + Aguaricoto, Ayano, Maco, Piaroa, Quiriquiripo, Tuparito—shall I name + a hundred more? It would be useless, Rima; they are all savages, and live + widely scattered in the forests, hunting with bow and arrow and the + zabatana. Consider, then, how large Guayana is!” + </p> + <p> + “Guayana—Guayana! Do I not know all this is Guayana? But beyond, and + beyond, and beyond? Is there no end to Guayana?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; there northwards it ends at the Orinoco, a mighty river, coming from + mighty mountains, compared with which Ytaioa is like a stone on the ground + on which we have sat down to rest. You must know that guayana is only a + portion, a half, of our country, Venezuela. Look,” I continued, putting my + hand round my shoulder to touch the middle of my back, “there is a groove + running down my spine dividing my body into equal parts. Thus does the + great Orinoco divide Venezuela, and on one side of it is all Guayana; and + on the other side the countries or provinces of Cumana, Maturm, Barcelona, + Bolivar, Guarico, Apure, and many others.” I then gave a rapid description + of the northern half of the country, with its vast llanos covered with + herds in one part, its plantations of coffee, rice, and sugar-cane in + another, and its chief towns; last of all Caracas, the gay and opulent + little Paris in America. + </p> + <p> + This seemed to weary her; but the moment I ceased speaking, and before I + could well moisten my dry lips, she demanded to know what came after + Caracas—after all Venezuela. + </p> + <p> + “The ocean—water, water, water,” I replied. + </p> + <p> + “There are no people there—in the water; only fishes,” she remarked; + then suddenly continued: “Why are you silent—is Venezuela, then, all + the world?” + </p> + <p> + The task I had set myself to perform seemed only at its commencement yet. + Thinking how to proceed with it, my eyes roved over the level area we were + standing on, and it struck me that this little irregular plain, broad at + one end and almost pointed at the other, roughly resembled the South + American continent in its form. + </p> + <p> + “Look, Rima,” I began, “here we are on this small pebble—Ytaioa; and + this line round it shuts us in—we cannot see beyond. Now let us + imagine that we can see beyond—that we can see the whole flat + mountaintop; and that, you know, is the whole world. Now listen while I + tell you of all the countries, and principal mountains, and rivers, and + cities of the world.” + </p> + <p> + The plan I had now fixed on involved a great deal of walking about and + some hard work in moving and setting up stones and tracing boundary and + other lines; but it gave me pleasure, for Rima was close by all the time, + following me from place to place, listening to all I said in silence but + with keen interest. At the broad end of the level summit I marked out + Venezuela, showing by means of a long line how the Orinoco divided it, and + also marking several of the greater streams flowing into it. I also marked + the sites of Caracas and other large towns with stones; and rejoiced that + we are not like the Europeans, great city-builders, for the stones proved + heavy to lift. Then followed Colombia and Ecuador on the west; and, + successively, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, ending at last in the south with + Patagonia, a cold arid land, bleak and desolate. I marked the littoral + cities as we progressed on that side, where earth ends and the Pacific + Ocean begins, and infinitude. + </p> + <p> + Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration, I described the Cordilleras to her—that + world-long, stupendous chain; its sea of Titicaca, and wintry, desolate + Paramo, where lie the ruins of Tiahuanaco, older than Thebes. I mentioned + its principal cities—those small inflamed or festering pimples that + attract much attention from appearing on such a body. Quito, called—not + in irony, but by its own people—the Splendid and the Magnificent; so + high above the earth as to appear but a little way removed from heaven—“de + Quito al cielo,” as the saying is. But of its sublime history, its kings + and conquerors, Haymar Capac the Mighty, and Huascar, and Atahualpa the + Unhappy, not one word. Many words—how inadequate!—of the + summits, white with everlasting snows, above it—above this navel of + the world, above the earth, the ocean, the darkening tempest, the condor’s + flight. Flame-breathing Cotopaxi, whose wrathful mutterings are audible + two hundred leagues away, and Chimborazo, Antisana, Sarata, Illimani, + Aconcagua—names of mountains that affect us like the names of gods, + implacable Pachacamac and Viracocha, whose everlasting granite thrones + they are. At the last I showed her Cuzco, the city of the sun, and the + highest dwelling-place of men on earth. + </p> + <p> + I was carried away by so sublime a theme; and remembering that I had no + critical hearer, I gave free reins to fancy, forgetting for the moment + that some undiscovered thought or feeling had prompted her questions. And + while I spoke of the mountains, she hung on my words, following me closely + in my walk, her countenance brilliant, her frame quivering with + excitement. + </p> + <p> + There yet remained to be described all that unimaginable space east of the + Andes; the rivers—what rivers!—the green plains that are like + the sea—the illimitable waste of water where there is no land—and + the forest region. The very thought of the Amazonian forest made my spirit + droop. If I could have snatched her up and placed her on the dome of + Chimborazo she would have looked on an area of ten thousand square miles + of earth, so vast is the horizon at that elevation. And possibly her + imagination would have been able to clothe it all with an unbroken forest. + Yet how small a portion this would be of the stupendous whole—of a + forest region equal in extent to the whole of Europe! All loveliness, all + grace, all majesty are there; but we cannot see, cannot conceive—come + away! From this vast stage, to be occupied in the distant future by + millions and myriads of beings, like us of upright form, the nations that + will be born when all the existing dominant races on the globe and the + civilizations they represent have perished as utterly as those who + sculptured the stones of old Tiahuanaco—from this theatre of palms + prepared for a drama unlike any which the Immortals have yet witnessed—I + hurried away; and then slowly conducted her along the Atlantic coast, + listening to the thunder of its great waves, and pausing at intervals to + survey some maritime city. + </p> + <p> + Never probably since old Father Noah divided the earth among his sons had + so grand a geographical discourse been delivered; and having finished, I + sat down, exhausted with my efforts, and mopped my brow, but glad that my + huge task was over, and satisfied that I had convinced her of the futility + of her wish to see the world for herself. + </p> + <p> + Her excitement had passed away by now. She was standing a little apart + from me, her eyes cast down and thoughtful. At length she approached me + and said, waving her hand all round: “What is beyond the mountains over + there, beyond the cities on that side—beyond the world?” + </p> + <p> + “Water, only water. Did I not tell you?” I returned stoutly; for I had, of + course, sunk the Isthmus of Panama beneath the sea. + </p> + <p> + “Water! All round?” she persisted. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Water, and no beyond? Only water—always water?” + </p> + <p> + I could no longer adhere to so gross a lie. She was too intelligent, and I + loved her too much. Standing up, I pointed to distant mountains and + isolated peaks. + </p> + <p> + “Look at those peaks,” I said. “It is like that with the world—this + world we are standing on. Beyond that great water that flows all round the + world, but far away, so far that it would take months in a big boat to + reach them, there are islands, some small, others as large as this world. + But, Rima, they are so far away, so impossible to reach, that it is + useless to speak or to think of them. They are to us like the sun and moon + and stars, to which we cannot fly. And now sit down and rest by my side, + for you know everything.” + </p> + <p> + She glanced at me with troubled eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing do I know—nothing have you told me. Did I not say that + mountains and rivers and forests are nothing? Tell me about all the people + in the world. Look! there is Cuzco over there, a city like no other in the + world—did you not tell me so? Of the people nothing. Are they also + different from all others in the world?” + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you that if you will first answer me one question, Rima.” + </p> + <p> + She drew a little nearer, curious to hear, but was silent. + </p> + <p> + “Promise that you will answer me,” I persisted, and as she continued + silent, I added: “Shall I not ask you, then?” + </p> + <p> + “Say,” she murmured. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you wish to know about the people of Cuzco?” + </p> + <p> + She flashed a look at me, then averted her face. For some moments she + stood hesitating; then, coming closer, touched me on the shoulder and said + softly: “Turn away, do not look at me.” + </p> + <p> + I obeyed, and bending so close that I felt her warm breath on my neck, she + whispered: “Are the people in Cuzco like me? Would they understand me—the + things you cannot understand? Do you know?” + </p> + <p> + Her tremulous voice betrayed her agitation, and her words, I imagined, + revealed the motive of her action in bringing me to the summit of Ytaioa, + and of her desire to visit and know all the various peoples inhabiting the + world. She had begun to realize, after knowing me, her isolation and + unlikeness to others, and at the same time to dream that all human beings + might not be unlike her and unable to understand her mysterious speech and + to enter into her thoughts and feelings. + </p> + <p> + “I can answer that question, Rima,” I said. “Ah, no, poor child, there are + none there like you—not one, not one. Of all there—priests, + soldiers, merchants, workmen, white, black, red, and mixed; men and women, + old and young, rich and poor, ugly and beautiful—not one would + understand the sweet language you speak.” + </p> + <p> + She said nothing, and glancing round, I discovered that she was walking + away, her fingers clasped before her, her eyes cast down, and looking + profoundly dejected. Jumping up, I hurried after her. “Listen!” I said, + coming to her side. “Do you know that there are others in the world like + you who would understand your speech?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, do I not! Yes—mother told me. I was young when you died, but, O + mother, why did you not tell me more?” + </p> + <p> + “But where?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, do you not think that I would go to them if I knew—that I would + ask?” + </p> + <p> + “Does Nuflo know?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head, walking dejectedly along. + </p> + <p> + “But have you asked him?” I persisted. + </p> + <p> + “Have I not! Not once—not a hundred times.” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she paused. “Look,” she said, “now we are standing in Guayana + again. And over there in Brazil, and up there towards the Cordilleras, it + is unknown. And there are people there. Come, let us go and seek for my + mother’s people in that place. With grandfather, but not the dogs; they + would frighten the animals and betray us by barking to cruel men who would + slay us with poisoned arrows.” + </p> + <p> + “O Rima, can you not understand? It is too far. And your grandfather, poor + old man, would die of weariness and hunger and old age in some strange + forest.” + </p> + <p> + “Would he die—old grandfather? Then we could cover him up with palm + leaves in the forest and leave him. It would not be grandfather; only his + body that must turn to dust. He would be away—away where the stars + are. We should not die, but go on, and on, and on.” + </p> + <p> + To continue the discussion seemed hopeless. I was silent, thinking of what + I had heard—that there were others like her somewhere in that vast + green world, so much of it imperfectly known, so many districts never yet + explored by white men. True, it was strange that no report of such a race + had reached the ears of any traveller; yet here was Rima herself at my + side, a living proof that such a race did exist. Nuflo probably knew more + than he would say; I had failed, as we have seen, to win the secret from + him by fair means, and could not have recourse to foul—the rack and + thumbscrew—to wring it from him. To the Indians she was only an + object of superstitious fear—a daughter of the Didi—and to + them nothing of her origin was known. And she, poor girl, had only a vague + remembrance of a few words heard in childhood from her mother, and + probably not rightly understood. + </p> + <p> + While these thoughts had been passing through my mind, Rima had been + standing silent by, waiting, perhaps, for an answer to her last words. + Then stooping, she picked up a small pebble and tossed it three or four + yards away. + </p> + <p> + “Do you see where it fell?” she cried, turning towards me. “That is on the + border of Guayana—is it not? Let us go there first.” + </p> + <p> + “Rima, how you distress me! We cannot go there. It is all a savage + wilderness, almost unknown to men—a blank on the map—” + </p> + <p> + “The map?—speak no word that I do not understand.” + </p> + <p> + In a very few words I explained my meaning; even fewer would have + sufficed, so quick was her apprehension. + </p> + <p> + “If it is a blank,” she returned quickly, “then you know of nothing to + stop us—no river we cannot swim, and no great mountains like those + where Quito is.” + </p> + <p> + “But I happen to know, Rima, for it has been related to me by old Indians, + that of all places that is the most difficult of access. There is a river + there, and although it is not on the map, it would prove more impassable + to us than the mighty Orinoco and Amazon. It has vast malarious swamps on + its borders, overgrown with dense forest, teeming with savage and venomous + animals, so that even the Indians dare not venture near it. And even + before the river is reached, there is a range of precipitous mountains + called by the same name—just there where your pebble fell—the + mountains of Riolama—” + </p> + <p> + Hardly had the name fallen from my lips before a change swift as lightning + came over her countenance; all doubt, anxiety, petulance, hope, and + despondence, and these in ever-varying degrees, chasing each other like + shadows, had vanished, and she was instinct and burning with some new + powerful emotion which had flashed into her soul. + </p> + <p> + “Riolama! Riolama!” she repeated so rapidly and in a tone so sharp that it + tingled in the brain. “That is the place I am seeking! There was my mother + found—there are her people and mine! Therefore was I called Riolama—that + is my name!” + </p> + <p> + “Rima!” I returned, astonished at her words. + </p> + <p> + “No, no, no—Riolama. When I was a child, and the priest baptized me, + he named me Riolama—the place where my mother was found. But it was + long to say, and they called me Rima.” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she became still and then cried in a ringing voice: + </p> + <p> + “And he knew it all along—that old man—he knew that Riolama + was near—only there where the pebble fell—that we could go + there!” + </p> + <p> + While speaking she turned towards her home, pointing with raised hand. Her + whole appearance now reminded me of that first meeting with her when the + serpent bit me; the soft red of her irides shone like fire, her delicate + skin seemed to glow with an intense rose colour, and her frame trembled + with her agitation, so that her loose cloud of hair was in motion as if + blown through by the wind. + </p> + <p> + “Traitor! Traitor!” she cried, still looking homewards and using quick, + passionate gestures. “It was all known to you, and you deceived me all + these years; even to me, Rima, you lied with your lips! Oh, horrible! Was + there ever such a scandal known in Guayana? Come, follow me, let us go at + once to Riolama.” And without so much as casting a glance behind to see + whether I followed or no, she hurried away, and in a couple of minutes + disappeared from sight over the edge of the flat summit. “Rima! Rima! Come + back and listen to me! Oh, you are mad! Come back! Come back!” + </p> + <p> + But she would not return or pause and listen; and looking after her, I saw + her bounding down the rocky slope like some wild, agile creature possessed + of padded hoofs and an infallible instinct; and before many minutes she + vanished from sight among crabs and trees lower down. + </p> + <p> + “Nuflo, old man,” said I, looking out towards his lodge, “are there no + shooting pains in those old bones of yours to warn you in time of the + tempest about to burst on your head?” + </p> + <p> + Then I sat down to think. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <p> + To follow impetuous, bird-like Rima in her descent of the hill would have + been impossible, nor had I any desire to be a witness of old Nuflo’s + discomfiture at the finish. It was better to leave them to settle their + quarrel themselves, while I occupied myself in turning over these fresh + facts in my mind to find out how they fitted into the speculative + structure I had been building during the last two or three weeks. But it + soon struck me that it was getting late, that the sun would be gone in a + couple of hours; and at once I began the descent. It was not accomplished + without some bruises and a good many scratches. After a cold draught, + obtained by putting my lips to a black rock from which the water was + trickling, I set out on my walk home, keeping near the western border of + the forest for fear of losing myself. I had covered about half the + distance from the foot of the hill to Nuflo’s lodge when the sun went + down. Away on my left the evening uproar of the howling monkeys burst out, + and after three or four minutes ceased; the after silence was pierced at + intervals by screams of birds going to roost among the trees in the + distance, and by many minor sounds close at hand, of small bird, frog, and + insect. The western sky was now like amber-coloured flame, and against + that immeasurably distant luminous background the near branches and + clustered foliage looked black; but on my left hand the vegetation still + appeared of a uniform dusky green. In a little while night would drown all + colour, and there would be no light but that of the wandering lantern-fly, + always unwelcome to the belated walker in a lonely place, since, like the + ignis fatuus, it is confusing to the sight and sense of direction. + </p> + <p> + With increasing anxiety I hastened on, when all at once a low growl + issuing from the bushes some yards ahead of me brought me to a stop. In a + moment the dogs, Susio and Goloso, rushed out from some hiding place + furiously barking; but they quickly recognized me and slunk back again. + Relieved from fear, I walked on for a short distance; then it struck me + that the old man must be about somewhere, as the dogs scarcely ever + stirred from his side. Turning back, I went to the spot where they had + appeared to me; and there, after a while, I caught sight of a dim, yellow + form as one of the brutes rose up to look at me. He had been lying on the + ground by the side of a wide-spreading bush, dead and dry, but overgrown + by a creeping plant which had completely covered its broad, flat top like + a piece of tapestry thrown over a table, its slender terminal stems and + leaves hanging over the edge like a deep fringe. But the fringe did not + reach to the ground and under the bush, in its dark interior. I caught + sight of the other dog; and after gazing in for some time, I also + discovered a black, recumbent form, which I took to be Nuflo. + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing there, old man?” I cried. “Where is Rima—have + you not seen her? Come out.” + </p> + <p> + Then he stirred himself, slowly creeping out on all fours; and finally, + getting free of the dead twigs and leaves, he stood up and faced me. He + had a strange, wild look, his white beard all disordered, moss and dead + leaves clinging to it, his eyes staring like an owl’s, while his mouth + opened and shut, the teeth striking together audibly, like an angry + peccary’s. After silently glaring at me in this mad way for some moments, + he burst out: “Cursed be the day when I first saw you, man of Caracas! + Cursed be the serpent that bit you and had not sufficient power in its + venom to kill! Ha! you come from Ytaioa, where you talked with Rima? And + you have now returned to the tiger’s den to mock that dangerous animal + with the loss of its whelp. Fool, if you did not wish the dogs to feed on + your flesh, it would have been better if you had taken your evening walk + in some other direction.” + </p> + <p> + These raging words did not have the effect of alarming me in the least, + nor even of astonishing me very much, albeit up till now the old man had + always shown himself suave and respectful. His attack did not seem quite + spontaneous. In spite of the wildness of his manner and the violence of + his speech, he appeared to be acting a part which he had rehearsed + beforehand. I was only angry, and stepping forward, I dealt him a very + sharp rap with my knuckles on his chest. “Moderate your language, old + man,” I said; “remember that you are addressing a superior.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you say to me?” he screamed in a shrill, broken voice, + accompanying his words with emphatic gestures. “Do you think you are on + the pavement of Caracas? Here are no police to protect you—here we + are alone in the desert where names and titles are nothing, standing man + to man.” + </p> + <p> + “An old man to a young one,” I returned. “And in virtue of my youth I am + your superior. Do you wish me to take you by the throat and shake your + insolence out of you?” + </p> + <p> + “What, do you threaten me with violence?” he exclaimed, throwing himself + into a hostile attitude. “You, the man I saved, and sheltered, and fed, + and treated like a son! Destroyer of my peace, have you not injured me + enough? You have stolen my grandchild’s heart from me; with a thousand + inventions you have driven her mad! My child, my angel, Rima, my saviour! + With your lying tongue you have changed her into a demon to persecute me! + And you are not satisfied, but must finish your evil work by inflicting + blows on my worn body! All, all is lost to me! Take my life if you wish + it, for now it is worth nothing and I desire not to keep it!” And here he + threw himself on his knees and, tearing open his old, ragged mantle, + presented his naked breast to me. “Shoot! Shoot!” he screeched. “And if + you have no weapon take my knife and plunge it into this sad heart, and + let me die!” And drawing his knife from its sheath, he flung it down at my + feet. + </p> + <p> + All this performance only served to increase my anger and contempt; but + before I could make any reply I caught sight of a shadowy object at some + distance moving towards us—something grey and formless, gliding + swift and noiseless, like some great low-flying owl among the trees. It + was Rima, and hardly had I seen her before she was with us, facing old + Nuflo, her whole frame quivering with passion, her wide-open eyes + appearing luminous in that dim light. + </p> + <p> + “You are here!” she cried in that quick, ringing tone that was almost + painful to the sense. “You thought to escape me! To hide yourself from my + eyes in the wood! Miserable! Do you not know that I have need of you—that + I have not finished with you yet? Do you, then, wish to be scourged to + Riolama with thorny twigs—to be dragged thither by the beard?” + </p> + <p> + He had been staring open-mouthed at her, still on his knees, and holding + his mantle open with his skinny hands. “Rima! Rima! have mercy on me!” he + cried out piteously. “I cannot go to Riolama, it is so far—so far. + And I am old and should meet my death. Oh, Rima, child of the woman I + saved from death, have you no compassion? I shall die, I shall die!” + </p> + <p> + “Shall you die? Not until you have shown me the way to Riolama. And when I + have seen Riolama with my eyes, then you may die, and I shall be glad at + your death; and the children and the grandchildren and cousins and friends + of all the animals you have slain and fed on shall know that you are dead + and be glad at your death. For you have deceived me with lies all these + years even me—and are not fit to live! Come now to Riolama; rise + instantly, I command you!” + </p> + <p> + Instead of rising he suddenly put out his hand and snatched up the knife + from the ground. “Do you then wish me to die?” he cried. “Shall you be + glad at my death? Behold, then I shall slay myself before your eyes. By my + own hand, Rima, I am now about to perish, striking the knife into my + heart!” + </p> + <p> + While speaking he waved the knife in a tragic manner over his head, but I + made no movement; I was convinced that he had no intention of taking his + own life—that he was still acting. Rima, incapable of understanding + such a thing, took it differently. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you are going to kill yourself.” she cried. “Oh, wicked man, wait + until you know what will happen to you after death. All shall now be told + to my mother. Hear my words, then kill yourself.” + </p> + <p> + She also now dropped on to her knees and, lifting her clasped hands and + fixing her resentful sparkling eyes on the dim blue patch of heaven + visible beyond the treetops, began to speak rapidly in clear, vibrating + tones. She was praying to her mother in heaven; and while Nuflo listened + absorbed, his mouth open, his eyes fixed on her, the hand that clutched + the knife dropped to his side. I also heard with the greatest wonder and + admiration. For she had been shy and reticent with me, and now, as if + oblivious of my presence, she was telling aloud the secrets of her inmost + heart. + </p> + <p> + “O mother, mother, listen to me, to Rima, your beloved child!” she began. + “All these years I have been wickedly deceived by grandfather—Nuflo—the + old man that found you. Often have I spoken to him of Riolama, where you + once were, and your people are, and he denied all knowledge of such a + place. Sometimes he said that it was at an immense distance, in a great + wilderness full of serpents larger than the trunks of great trees, and of + evil spirits and savage men, slayers of all strangers. At other times he + affirmed that no such place existed; that it was a tale told by the + Indians; such false things did he say to me—to Rima, your child. O + mother, can you believe such wickedness? + </p> + <p> + “Then a stranger, a white man from Venezuela, came into our woods: this is + the man that was bitten by a serpent, and his name is Abel; only I do not + call him by that name, but by other names which I have told you. But + perhaps you did not listen, or did not hear, for I spoke softly and not as + now, on my knees, solemnly. For I must tell you, O mother, that after you + died the priest at Voa told me repeatedly that when I prayed, whether to + you or to any of the saints, or to the Mother of Heaven, I must speak as + he had taught me if I wished to be heard and understood. And that was most + strange, since you had taught me differently; but you were living then, at + Voa, and now that you are in heaven, perhaps you know better. Therefore + listen to me now, O mother, and let nothing I say escape you. + </p> + <p> + “When this white man had been for some days with us, a strange thing + happened to me, which made me different, so that I was no longer Rima, + although Rima still—so strange was this thing; and I often went to + the pool to look at myself and see the change in me, but nothing different + could I see. In the first place it came from his eyes passing into mine, + and filling me just as the lightning fills a cloud at sunset: afterwards + it was no longer from his eyes only, but it came into me whenever I saw + him, even at a distance, when I heard his voice, and most of all when he + touched me with his hand. When he is out of my sight I cannot rest until I + see him again; and when I see him, then I am glad, yet in such fear and + trouble that I hide myself from him. O mother, it could not be told; for + once when he caught me in his arms and compelled me to speak of it, he did + not understand; yet there was need to tell it; then it came to me that + only to our people could it be told, for they would understand, and reply + to me, and tell me what to do in such a case. + </p> + <p> + “And now, O mother, this is what happened next. I went to grandfather and + first begged and then commanded him to take me to Riolama; but he would + not obey, nor give attention to what I said, but whenever I spoke to him + of it he rose up and hurried from me; and when I followed he flung back a + confused and angry reply, saying in the same breath that it was so long + since he had been to Riolama that he had forgotten where it was, and that + no such place existed. And which of his words were true and which false I + knew not; so that it would have been better if he had returned no answer + at all; and there was no help to be got from him. And having thus failed, + and there being no other person to speak to except this stranger, I + determined to go to him, and in his company seek through the whole world + for my people. This will surprise you, O mother, because of that fear + which came on me in his presence, causing me to hide from his sight; but + my wish was so great that for a time it overcame my fear; so that I went + to him as he sat alone in the wood, sad because he could not see me, and + spoke to him, and led him to the summit of Ytaioa to show me all the + countries of the world from the summit. And you must also know that I + tremble in his presence, not because I fear him as I fear Indians and + cruel men; for he has no evil in him, and is beautiful to look at, and his + words are gentle, and his desire is to be always with me, so that he + differs from all other men I have seen, just as I differ from all women, + except from you only, O sweet mother. + </p> + <p> + “On the mountain-top he marked out and named all the countries of the + world, the great mountains, the rivers, the plains, the forests, the + cities; and told me also of the peoples, whites and savages, but of our + people nothing. And beyond where the world ends there is water, water, + water. And when he spoke of that unknown part on the borders of Guayana, + on the side of the Cordilleras, he named the mountains of Riolama, and in + that way I first found out where my people are. I then left him on Ytaioa, + he refusing to follow me, and ran to grandfather and taxed him with his + falsehoods; and he, finding I knew all, escaped from me into the woods, + where I have now found him once more, talking with the stranger. And now, + O mother, seeing himself caught and unable to escape a second time, he has + taken up a knife to kill himself, so as not to take me to Riolama; and he + is only waiting until I finish speaking to you, for I wish him to know + what will happen to him after death. Therefore, O mother, listen well and + do what I tell you. When he has killed himself, and has come into that + place where you are, see that he does not escape the punishment he merits. + Watch well for his coming, for he is full of cunning and deceit, and will + endeavor to hide himself from your eyes. When you have recognized him—an + old man, brown as an Indian, with a white beard—point him out to the + angels, and say: ‘This is Nuflo, the bad man that lied to Rima.’ Let them + take him and singe his wings with fire, so that he may not escape by + flying; and afterwards thrust him into some dark cavern under a mountain, + and place a great stone that a hundred men could not remove over its + mouth, and leave him there alone and in the dark for ever!” + </p> + <p> + Having ended, she rose quickly from her knees, and at the same moment + Nuflo, dropping the knife, cast himself prostrate at her feet. + </p> + <p> + “Rima—my child, my child, not that!” he cried out in a voice that + was broken with terror. He tried to take hold of her feet with his hands, + but she shrank from him with aversion; still he kept on crawling after her + like a disabled lizard, abjectly imploring her to forgive him, reminding + her that he had saved from death the woman whose enmity had now been + enlisted against him, and declaring that he would do anything she + commanded him, and gladly perish in her service. + </p> + <p> + It was a pitiable sight, and moving quickly to her side I touched her on + the shoulder and asked her to forgive him. + </p> + <p> + The response came quickly enough. Turning to him once more, she said: “I + forgive you, grandfather. And now get up and take me to Riolama.” + </p> + <p> + He rose, but only to his knees. “But you have not told her!” he said, + recovering his natural voice, although still anxious, and jerking a thumb + over his shoulder. “Consider, my child, that I am old and shall doubtless + perish on the way. What would become of my soul in such a case? For now + you have told her everything, and it will not be forgotten.” + </p> + <p> + She regarded him in silence for a few moments; then, moving a little way + apart, dropped on to her knees again, and with raised hands and eyes fixed + on the blue space above, already sprinkled with stars, prayed again. + </p> + <p> + “O mother, listen to me, for I have something fresh to say to you. + Grandfather has not killed himself, but has asked my forgiveness and has + promised to obey me. O mother, I have forgiven him, and he will now take + me to Riolama, to our people. Therefore, O mother, if he dies on the way + to Riolama let nothing be done against him, but remember only that I + forgave him at the last; and when he comes into that place where you are, + let him be well received, for that is the wish of Rima, your child.” + </p> + <p> + As soon as this second petition was ended she was up again and engaged in + an animated discussion with him, urging him to take her without further + delay to Riolama; while he, now recovered from his fear, urged that so + important an undertaking required a great deal of thought and preparation; + that the journey would occupy about twenty days, and unless he set out + well provided with food he would starve before accomplishing half the + distance, and his death would leave her worse off than before. He + concluded by affirming that he could not start in less time than seven or + eight days. + </p> + <p> + For a while I listened with keen interest to this dispute, and at length + interposed once more on the old man’s side. The poor girl in her petition + had unwittingly revealed to me the power I possessed, and it was a + pleasing experience to exercise it. Touching her shoulder again, I assured + her that seven or eight days was only a reasonable time in which to + prepare for so long a journey. She instantly yielded, and after one glance + at my face, she moved swiftly away into the darker shadows, leaving me + alone with the old man. + </p> + <p> + As we returned together through the now profoundly dark wood, I explained + to him how the subject of Riolama had first come up during my conversation + with Rima, and he then apologized for the violent language he had used to + me. This personal question disposed of, he spoke of the pilgrimage before + him, and informed me in confidence that he intended preparing a quantity + of smoke-dried meat and packing it in a bag, with a layer of cassava + bread, dried pumpkin slips, and such innocent trifles to conceal it from + Rima’s keen sight and delicate nostrils. Finally he made a long rambling + statement which, I vainly imagined, was intended to lead up to an account + of Rima’s origin, with something about her people at Riolama; but it led + to nothing except an expression of opinion that the girl was afflicted + with a maggot in the brain, but that as she had interest with the powers + above, especially with her mother, who was now a very important person + among the celestials, it was good policy to submit to her wishes. Turning + to me, doubtless to wink (only I missed the sign owing to the darkness), + he added that it was a fine thing to have a friend at court. With a little + gratulatory chuckle he went on to say that for others it was necessary to + obey all the ordinances of the Church, to contribute to its support, hear + mass, confess from time to time, and receive absolution; consequently + those who went out into the wilderness, where there were no churches and + no priests to absolve them, did so at the risk of losing their souls. But + with him it was different: he expected in the end to escape the fires of + purgatory and go directly in all his uncleanness to heaven—a thing, + he remarked, which happened to very few; and he, Nuflo, was no saint, and + had first become a dweller in the desert, as a very young man, in order to + escape the penalty of his misdeeds. + </p> + <p> + I could not resist the temptation of remarking here that to an + unregenerate man the celestial country might turn out a somewhat + uncongenial place for a residence. He replied airily that he had + considered the point and had no fear about the future; that he was old, + and from all he had observed of the methods of government followed by + those who ruled over earthly affairs from the sky, he had formed a clear + idea of that place, and believed that even among so many glorified beings + he would be able to meet with those who would prove companionable enough + and would think no worse of him on account of his little blemishes. + </p> + <p> + How he had first got this idea into his brain about Rima’s ability to make + things smooth for him after death I cannot say; probably it was the effect + of the girl’s powerful personality and vivid faith acting on an ignorant + and extremely superstitious mind. While she was making that petition to + her mother in heaven, it did not seem in the least ridiculous to me: I had + felt no inclination to smile, even when hearing all that about the old + man’s wings being singed to prevent his escape by flying. Her rapt look; + the intense conviction that vibrated in her ringing, passionate tones; the + brilliant scorn with which she, a hater of bloodshed, one so tender + towards all living things, even the meanest, bade him kill himself, and + only hear first how her vengeance would pursue his deceitful soul into + other worlds; the clearness with which she had related the facts of the + case, disclosing the inmost secrets of her heart—all this had had a + strange, convincing effect on me. Listening to her I was no longer the + enlightened, the creedless man. She herself was so near to the + supernatural that it seemed brought near me; indefinable feelings, which + had been latent in me, stirred into life, and following the direction of + her divine, lustrous eyes, fixed on the blue sky above, I seemed to see + there another being like herself, a Rima glorified, leaning her pale, + spiritual face to catch the winged words uttered by her child on earth. + And even now, while hearing the old man’s talk, showing as it did a mind + darkened with such gross delusions, I was not yet altogether free from the + strange effect of that prayer. Doubtless it was a delusion; her mother was + not really there above listening to the girl’s voice. Still, in some + mysterious way, Rima had become to me, even as to superstitious old Nuflo, + a being apart and sacred, and this feeling seemed to mix with my passion, + to purify and exalt it and make it infinitely sweet and precious. + </p> + <p> + After we had been silent for some time, I said: “Old man, the result of + the grand discussion you have had with Rima is that you have agreed to + take her to Riolama, but about my accompanying you not one word has been + spoken by either of you.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped short to stare at me, and although it was too dark to see his + face, I felt his astonishment. “Senor!” he exclaimed, “we cannot go + without you. Have you not heard my granddaughter’s words—that it is + only because of you that she is about to undertake this crazy journey? If + you are not with us in this thing, then, senor, here we must remain. But + what will Rima say to that?” + </p> + <p> + “Very well, I will go, but only on one condition.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” he asked, with a sudden change of tone, which warned me that + he was becoming cautious again. + </p> + <p> + “That you tell me the whole story of Rima’s origin, and how you came to be + now living with her in this solitary place, and who these people are she + wishes to visit at Riolama.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, senor, it is a long story, and sad. But you shall hear it all. You + must hear it, senor, since you are now one of us; and when I am no longer + here to protect her, then she will be yours. And although you will never + be able to do more than old Nuflo for her, perhaps she will be better + pleased; and you, senor, better able to exist innocently by her side, + without eating flesh, since you will always have that rare flower to + delight you. But the story would take long to tell. You shall hear it all + as we journey to Riolama. What else will there be to talk about when we + are walking that long distance, and when we sit at night by the fire?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, old man, I am not to be put off in that way. I must hear it + before I start.” + </p> + <p> + But he was determined to reserve the narrative until the journey, and + after some further argument I yielded the point. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <p> + That evening by the fire old Nuflo, lately so miserable, now happy in his + delusions, was more than usually gay and loquacious. He was like a child + who by timely submission has escaped a threatened severe punishment. But + his lightness of heart was exceeded by mine; and, with the exception of + one other yet to come, that evening now shines in memory as the happiest + my life has known. For Rima’s sweet secret was known to me; and her very + ignorance of the meaning of the feeling she experienced, which caused her + to fly from me as from an enemy, only served to make the thought of it + more purely delightful. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion she did not steal away like a timid mouse to her own + apartment, as her custom was, but remained to give that one evening a + special grace, seated well away from the fire in that same shadowy corner + where I had first seen her indoors, when I had marvelled at her altered + appearance. From that corner she could see my face, with the firelight + full upon it, she herself in shadow, her eyes veiled by their drooping + lashes. Sitting there, the vivid consciousness of my happiness was like + draughts of strong, delicious wine, and its effect was like wine, + imparting such freedom to fancy, such fluency, that again and again old + Nuflo applauded, crying out that I was a poet, and begging me to put it + all into rhyme. I could not do that to please him, never having acquired + the art of improvisation—that idle trick of making words jingle + which men of Nuflo’s class in my country so greatly admire; yet it seemed + to me on that evening that my feelings could be adequately expressed only + in that sublimated language used by the finest minds in their inspired + moments; and, accordingly, I fell to reciting. But not from any modern, + nor from the poets of the last century, nor even from the greater + seventeenth century. I kept to the more ancient romances and ballads, the + sweet old verse that, whether glad or sorrowful, seems always natural and + spontaneous as the song of a bird, and so simple that even a child can + understand it. + </p> + <p> + It was late that night before all the romances I remembered or cared to + recite were exhausted, and not until then did Rima come out of her shaded + corner and steal silently away to her sleeping-place. + </p> + <p> + Although I had resolved to go with them, and had set Nuflo’s mind at rest + on the point, I was bent on getting the request from Rima’s own lips; and + the next morning the opportunity of seeing her alone presented itself, + after old Nuflo had sneaked off with his dogs. From the moment of his + departure I kept a close watch on the house, as one watches a bush in + which a bird one wishes to see has concealed itself, and out of which it + may dart at any moment and escape unseen. + </p> + <p> + At length she came forth, and seeing me in the way, would have slipped + back into hiding; for, in spite of her boldness on the previous day, she + now seemed shyer than ever when I spoke to her. + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I said, “do you remember where we first talked together under a + tree one morning, when you spoke of your mother, telling me that she was + dead?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “I am going now to that spot to wait for you. I must speak to you again in + that place about this journey to Riolama.” As she kept silent, I added: + “Will you promise to come to me there?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head, turning half away. + </p> + <p> + “Have you forgotten our compact, Rima?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” she returned; and then, suddenly coming near, spoke in a low tone: + “I will go there to please you, and you must also do as I tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you wish, Rima?” + </p> + <p> + She came nearer still. “Listen! You must not look into my eyes, you must + not touch me with your hands.” + </p> + <p> + “Sweet Rima, I must hold your hand when I speak with you.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, no,” she murmured, shrinking from me; and finding that it must be + as she wished, I reluctantly agreed. + </p> + <p> + Before I had waited long, she appeared at the trysting-place, and stood + before me, as on a former occasion, on that same spot of clean yellow + sand, clasping and unclasping her fingers, troubled in mind even then. + Only now her trouble was different and greater, making her shyer and more + reticent. + </p> + <p> + “Rima, your grandfather is going to take you to Riolama. Do you wish me to + go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, do you not know that?” she returned, with a swift glance at my face. + </p> + <p> + “How should I know?” + </p> + <p> + Her eyes wandered away restlessly. “On Ytaioa you told me a hundred things + which I did not know,” she replied in a vague way, wishing, perhaps, to + imply that with so great a knowledge of geography it was strange I did not + know everything, even her most secret thoughts. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me, why must you go to Riolama?” + </p> + <p> + “You have heard. To speak to my people.” + </p> + <p> + “What will you say to them? Tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “What you do not understand. How tell you?” + </p> + <p> + “I understand you when you speak in Spanish.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that is not speaking.” + </p> + <p> + “Last night you spoke to your mother in Spanish. Did you not tell her + everything?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no—not then. When I tell her everything I speak in another way, + in a low voice—not on my knees and praying. At night, and in the + woods, and when I am alone I tell her. But perhaps she does not hear me; + she is not here, but up there—so far! She never answers, but when I + speak to my people they will answer me.” + </p> + <p> + Then she turned away as if there was nothing more to be said. + </p> + <p> + “Is this all I am to hear from you, Rima—these few words?” I + exclaimed. “So much did you say to your grandfather, so much to your dead + mother, but to me you say so little!” + </p> + <p> + She turned again, and with eyes cast down replied: + </p> + <p> + “He deceived me—I had to tell him that, and then to pray to mother. + But to you that do not understand, what can I say? Only that you are not + like him and all those that I knew at Voa. It is so different—and + the same. You are you, and I am I; why is it—do you know?” + </p> + <p> + “No; yes—I know, but cannot tell you. And if you find your people, + what will you do—leave me to go to them? Must I go all the way to + Riolama only to lose you?” + </p> + <p> + “Where I am, there you must be.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Do I not see it there?” she returned, with a quick gesture to indicate + that it appeared in my face. + </p> + <p> + “Your sight is keen, Rima—keen as a bird’s. Mine is not so keen. Let + me look once more into those beautiful wild eyes, then perhaps I shall see + in them as much as you see in mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, no, not that!” she murmured in distress, drawing away from me; + then with a sudden flash of brilliant colour cried: + </p> + <p> + “Have you forgotten the compact—the promise you made me?” + </p> + <p> + Her words made me ashamed, and I could not reply. But the shame was as + nothing in strength compared to the impulse I felt to clasp her beautiful + body in my arms and cover her face with kisses. Sick with desire, I turned + away and, sitting on a root of the tree, covered my face with my hands. + </p> + <p> + She came nearer: I could see her shadow through my fingers; then her face + and wistful, compassionate eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me, dear Rima,” I said, dropping my hands again. “I have tried so + hard to please you in everything! Touch my face with your hand—only + that, and I will go to Riolama with you, and obey you in all things.” + </p> + <p> + For a while she hesitated, then stepped quickly aside so that I could not + see her; but I knew that she had not left me, that she was standing just + behind me. And after waiting a moment longer I felt her fingers touching + my skin, softly, trembling over my cheek as if a soft-winged moth had + fluttered against it; then the slight aerial touch was gone, and she, too, + moth-like, had vanished from my side. + </p> + <p> + Left alone in the wood, I was not happy. That fluttering, flattering touch + of her finger-tips had been to me like spoken language, and more eloquent + than language, yet the sweet assurance it conveyed had not given perfect + satisfaction; and when I asked myself why the gladness of the previous + evening had forsaken me—why I was infected with this new sadness + when everything promised well for me, I found that it was because my + passion had greatly increased during the last few hours; even during sleep + it had been growing, and could no longer be fed by merely dwelling in + thought on the charms, moral and physical, of its object, and by dreams of + future fruition. + </p> + <p> + I concluded that it would be best for Rima’s sake as well as my own to + spend a few of the days before setting out on our journey with my Indian + friends, who would be troubled at my long absence; and, accordingly, next + morning I bade good-bye to the old man, promising to return in three or + four days, and then started without seeing Rima, who had quitted the house + before her usual time. After getting free of the woods, on casting back my + eyes I caught sight of the girl standing under an isolated tree watching + me with that vague, misty, greenish appearance she so frequently had when + seen in the light shade at a short distance. + </p> + <p> + “Rima!” I cried, hurrying back to speak to her, but when I reached the + spot she had vanished; and after waiting some time, seeing and hearing + nothing to indicate that she was near me, I resumed my walk, half thinking + that my imagination had deceived me. + </p> + <p> + I found my Indian friends home again, and was not surprised to observe a + distinct change in their manner towards me. I had expected as much; and + considering that they must have known very well where and in whose company + I had been spending my time, it was not strange. Coming across the + savannah that morning I had first begun to think seriously of the risk I + was running. But this thought only served to prepare me for a new + condition of things; for now to go back and appear before Rima, and thus + prove myself to be a person not only capable of forgetting a promise + occasionally, but also of a weak, vacillating mind, was not to be thought + of for a moment. + </p> + <p> + I was received—not welcomed—quietly enough; not a question, + not a word, concerning my long absence fell from anyone; it was as if a + stranger had appeared among them, one about whom they knew nothing and + consequently regarded with suspicion, if not actual hostility. I affected + not to notice the change, and dipped my hand uninvited in the pot to + satisfy my hunger, and smoked and dozed away the sultry hours in my + hammock. Then I got my guitar and spent the rest of the day over it, + tuning it, touching the strings so softly with my finger-tips that to a + person four yards off the sound must have seemed like the murmur or buzz + of an insect’s wings; and to this scarcely audible accompaniment I + murmured in an equally low tone a new song. + </p> + <p> + In the evening, when all were gathered under the roof and I had eaten + again, I took up the instrument once more, furtively watched by all those + half-closed animal eyes, and swept the strings loudly, and sang aloud. I + sang an old simple Spanish melody, to which I had put words in their own + language—a language with no words not in everyday use, in which it + is so difficult to express feelings out of and above the common. What I + had been constructing and practicing all the afternoon sotto voce was a + kind of ballad, an extremely simple tale of a poor Indian living alone + with his young family in a season of dearth; how day after day he ranged + the voiceless woods, to return each evening with nothing but a few + withered sour berries in his hand, to find his lean, large-eyed wife still + nursing the fire that cooked nothing, and his children crying for food, + showing their bones more plainly through their skins every day; and how, + without anything miraculous, anything wonderful, happening, that + barrenness passed from earth, and the garden once more yielded them + pumpkin and maize, and manioc, the wild fruits ripened, and the birds + returned, filling the forest with their cries; and so their long hunger + was satisfied, and the children grew sleek, and played and laughed in the + sunshine; and the wife, no longer brooding over the empty pot, wove a + hammock of silk grass, decorated with blue-and-scarlet feathers of the + macaw; and in that new hammock the Indian rested long from his labours, + smoking endless cigars. + </p> + <p> + When I at last concluded with a loud note of joy, a long, involuntary + suspiration in the darkening room told me that I had been listened to with + profound interest; and, although no word was spoken, though I was still a + stranger and under a cloud, it was plain that the experiment had + succeeded, and that for the present the danger was averted. + </p> + <p> + I went to my hammock and slept, but without undressing. Next morning I + missed my revolver and found that the holster containing it had been + detached from the belt. My knife had not been taken, possibly because it + was under me in the hammock while I slept. In answer to my inquiries I was + informed that Runi had BORROWED my weapon to take it with him to the + forest, where he had gone to hunt, and that he would return it to me in + the evening. I affected to take it in good part, although feeling secretly + ill at ease. Later in the day I came to the conclusion that Runi had had + it in his mind to murder me, that I had softened him by singing that + Indian story, and that by taking possession of the revolver he showed that + he now only meant to keep me a prisoner. Subsequent events confirmed me in + this suspicion. On his return he explained that he had gone out to seek + for game in the woods; and, going without a companion, he had taken my + revolver to preserve him from dangers—meaning those of a + supernatural kind; and that he had had the misfortune to drop it among the + bushes while in pursuit of some animal. I answered hotly that he had not + treated me like a friend; that if he had asked me for the weapon it would + have been lent to him; that as he had taken it without permission he must + pay me for it. After some pondering he said that when he took it I was + sleeping soundly; also, that it would not be lost; he would take me to the + place where he had dropped it, when we could search together for it. + </p> + <p> + He was in appearance more friendly towards me now, even asking me to + repeat my last evening’s song, and so we had that performance all over + again to everybody’s satisfaction. But when morning came he was not + inclined to go to the woods: there was food enough in the house, and the + pistol would not be hurt by lying where it had fallen a day longer. Next + day the same excuse; still I disguised my impatience and suspicion of him + and waited, singing the ballad for the third time that evening. Then I was + conducted to a wood about a league and a half away and we hunted for the + lost pistol among the bushes, I with little hope of finding it, while he + attended to the bird voices and frequently asked me to stand or lie still + when a chance of something offered. + </p> + <p> + The result of that wasted day was a determination on my part to escape + from Runi as soon as possible, although at the risk of making a deadly + enemy of him and of being compelled to go on that long journey to Riolama + with no better weapon than a hunting-knife. I had noticed, while appearing + not to do so, that outside of the house I was followed or watched by one + or other of the Indians, so that great circumspection was needed. On the + following day I attacked my host once more about the revolver, telling him + with well-acted indignation that if not found it must be paid for. I went + so far as to give a list of the articles I should require, including a bow + and arrows, zabatana, two spears, and other things which I need not + specify, to set me up for life as a wild man in the woods of Guayana. I + was going to add a wife, but as I had already been offered one it did not + appear to be necessary. He seemed a little taken aback at the value I set + upon my weapon, and promised to go and look for it again. Then I begged + that Kua-ko, in whose sharpness of sight I had great faith, might + accompany us. He consented, and named the next day but one for the + expedition. Very well, thought I, tomorrow their suspicion will be less, + and my opportunity will come; then taking up my rude instrument, I gave + them an old Spanish song: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Desde aquel doloroso momento; +</pre> + <p> + but this kind of music had lost its charm for them, and I was asked to + give them the ballad they understood so well, in which their interest + seemed to increase with every repetition. In spite of anxiety it amused me + to see old Cla-cla regarding me fixedly with owlish eyes and lips moving. + My tale had no wonderful things in it, like hers of the olden time, which + she told only to send her hearers to sleep. Perhaps she had discovered by + now that it was the strange honey of melody which made the coarse, common + cassava bread of everyday life in my story so pleasant to the palate. I + was quite prepared to receive a proposal to give her music and singing + lessons, and to bequeath a guitar to her in my last will and testament. + For, in spite of her hoary hair and million wrinkles, she, more than any + other savage I had met with, seemed to have taken a draught from Ponce de + Leon’s undiscovered fountain of eternal youth. Poor old witch! + </p> + <p> + The following day was the sixth of my absence from Rima, and one of + intense anxiety to me, a feeling which I endeavoured to hide by playing + with the children, fighting our old comic stick fights, and by strumming + noisily on the guitar. In the afternoon, when it was hottest, and all the + men who happened to be indoors were lying in their hammocks, I asked + Kua-ko to go with me to the stream to bathe. He refused—I had + counted on that—and earnestly advised me not to bathe in the pool I + was accustomed to, as some little caribe fishes had made their appearance + there and would be sure to attack me. I laughed at his idle tale and, + taking up my cloak, swung out of the door, whistling a lively air. He knew + that I always threw my cloak over my head and shoulders as a protection + from the sun and stinging flies when coming out of the water, and so his + suspicion was not aroused, and I was not followed. The pool was about ten + minutes’ walk from the house; I arrived at it with palpitating heart, and + going round to its end, where the stream was shallow, sat down to rest for + a few moments and take a few sips of cool water dipped up in my palm. + Presently I rose, crossed the stream, and began running, keeping among the + low trees near the bank until a dry gully, which extended for some + distance across the savannah, was reached. By following its course the + distance to be covered would be considerably increased, but the shorter + way would have exposed me to sight and made it more dangerous. I had put + forth too much speed at first, and in a short time my exertions, and the + hot sun, together with my intense excitement, overcame me. I dared not + hope that my flight had not been observed; I imagined that the Indians, + unencumbered by any heavy weight, were already close behind me, and ready + to launch their deadly spears at my back. With a sob of rage and despair I + fell prostrate on my face in the dry bed of the stream, and for two or + three minutes remained thus exhausted and unmanned, my heart throbbing so + violently that my whole frame was shaken. If my enemies had come on me + then disposed to kill me, I could not have lifted a hand in defence of my + life. But minutes passed and they came not. I rose and went on, at a fast + walk now, and when the sheltering streamed ended, I stooped among the sere + dwarfed shrubs scattered about here and there on its southern side; and + now creeping and now running, with an occasional pause to rest and look + back, I at last reached the dividing ridge at its southern extremity. The + rest of the way was over comparatively easy ground, inclining downwards; + and with that glad green forest now full in sight, and hope growing + stronger every minute in my breast, my knees ceased to tremble, and I ran + on again, scarcely pausing until I had touched and lost myself in the + welcome shadows. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <p> + Ah, that return to the forest where Rima dwelt, after so anxious day, when + the declining sun shone hotly still, and the green woodland shadows were + so grateful! The coolness, the sense of security, allayed the fever and + excitement I had suffered on the open savannah; I walked leisurely, + pausing often to listen to some bird voice or to admire some rare insect + or parasitic flower shining star-like in the shade. There was a strangely + delightful sensation in me. I likened myself to a child that, startled at + something it had seen while out playing in the sun, flies to its mother to + feel her caressing hand on its cheek and forget its tremors. And + describing what I felt in that way, I was a little ashamed and laughed at + myself; nevertheless the feeling was very sweet. At that moment Mother and + Nature seemed one and the same thing. As I kept to the more open part of + the wood, on its southernmost border, the red flame of the sinking sun was + seen at intervals through the deep humid green of the higher foliage. How + every object it touched took from it a new wonderful glory! At one spot, + high up where the foliage was scanty, and slender bush ropes and moss + depended like broken cordage from a dead limb—just there, bathing + itself in that glory-giving light, I noticed a fluttering bird, and stood + still to watch its antics. Now it would cling, head downwards, to the + slender twigs, wings and tail open; then, righting itself, it would flit + from waving line to line, dropping lower and lower; and anon soar upwards + a distance of twenty feet and alight to recommence the flitting and + swaying and dropping towards the earth. It was one of those birds that + have a polished plumage, and as it moved this way and that, flirting its + feathers, they caught the beams and shone at moments like glass or + burnished metal. Suddenly another bird of the same kind dropped down to it + as if from the sky, straight and swift as a falling stone; and the first + bird sprang up to meet the comer, and after rapidly wheeling round each + other for a moment, they fled away in company, screaming shrilly through + the wood, and were instantly lost to sight, while their jubilant cries + came back fainter and fainter at each repetition. + </p> + <p> + I envied them not their wings: at that moment earth did not seem fixed and + solid beneath me, nor I bound by gravity to it. The faint, floating + clouds, the blue infinite heaven itself, seemed not more ethereal and free + than I, or the ground I walked on. The low, stony hills on my right hand, + of which I caught occasional glimpses through the trees, looking now blue + and delicate in the level rays, were no more than the billowy projections + on the moving cloud of earth: the trees of unnumbered kinds—great + more, cecropia, and greenheart, bush and fern and suspended lianas, and + tall palms balancing their feathery foliage on slender stems—all was + but a fantastic mist embroidery covering the surface of that floating + cloud on which my feet were set, and which floated with me near the sun. + </p> + <p> + The red evening flame had vanished from the summits of the trees, the sun + was setting, the woods in shadow, when I got to the end of my walk. I did + not approach the house on the side of the door, yet by some means those + within became aware of my presence, for out they came in a great hurry, + Rima leading the way, Nuflo behind her, waving his arms and shouting. But + as I drew near, the girl dropped behind and stood motionless regarding me, + her face pallid and showing strong excitement. I could scarcely remove my + eyes from her eloquent countenance: I seemed to read in it relief and + gladness mingled with surprise and something like vexation. She was piqued + perhaps that I had taken her by surprise, that after much watching for me + in the wood I had come through it undetected when she was indoors. + </p> + <p> + “Happy the eyes that see you!” shouted the old man, laughing boisterously. + </p> + <p> + “Happy are mine that look on Rima again,” I answered. “I have been long + absent.” + </p> + <p> + “Long—you may say so,” returned Nuflo. “We had given you up. We said + that, alarmed at the thought of the journey to Riolama, you had abandoned + us.” + </p> + <p> + “WE said!” exclaimed Rima, her pallid face suddenly flushing. “I spoke + differently.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know—I know!” he said airily, waving his hand. “You said + that he was in danger, that he was kept against his will from coming. He + is present now—let him speak.” + </p> + <p> + “She was right,” I said. “Ah, Nuflo, old man, you have lived long, and got + much experience, but not insight—not that inner vision that sees + further than the eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “No, not that—I know what you mean,” he answered. Then, tossing his + hand towards the sky, he added: “The knowledge you speak of comes from + there.” + </p> + <p> + The girl had been listening with keen interest, glancing from one to the + other. “What!” she spoke suddenly, as if unable to keep silence, “do you + think, grandfather, that SHE tells me—when there is danger—when + the rain will cease—when the wind will blow—everything? Do I + not ask and listen, lying awake at night? She is always silent, like the + stars.” + </p> + <p> + Then, pointing to me with her finger, she finished: + </p> + <p> + “HE knows so many things! Who tells them to HIM?” + </p> + <p> + “But distinguish, Rima. You do not distinguish the great from the little,” + he answered loftily. “WE know a thousand things, but they are things that + any man with a forehead can learn. The knowledge that comes from the blue + is not like that—it is more important and miraculous. Is it not so, + senor?” he ended, appealing to me. + </p> + <p> + “Is it, then, left for me to decide?” said I, addressing the girl. + </p> + <p> + But though her face was towards me, she refused to meet my look and was + silent. Silent, but not satisfied: she doubted still, and had perhaps + caught something in my tone that strengthened her doubt. + </p> + <p> + Old Nuflo understood the expression. “Look at me, Rima,” he said, drawing + himself up. “I am old, and he is young—do I not know best? I have + spoken and have decided it.” + </p> + <p> + Still that unconvinced expression, and her face turned expectant to me. + </p> + <p> + “Am I to decide?” I repeated. + </p> + <p> + “Who, then?” she said at last, her voice scarcely more than a murmur; yet + there was reproach in the tone, as if she had made a long speech and I had + tyrannously driven her to it. + </p> + <p> + “Thus, then, I decide,” said I. “To each of us, as to every kind of + animal, even to small birds and insects, and to every kind of plant, there + is given something peculiar—a fragrance, a melody, a special + instinct, an art, a knowledge, which no other has. And to Rima has been + given this quickness of mind and power to divine distant things; it is + hers, just as swiftness and grace and changeful, brilliant colour are the + hummingbird’s; therefore she need not that anyone dwelling in the blue + should instruct her.” + </p> + <p> + The old man frowned and shook his head; while she, after one swift, shy + glance at my face, and with something like a smile flitting over her + delicate lips, turned and re-entered the house. + </p> + <p> + I felt convinced from that parting look that she had understood me, that + my words had in some sort given her relief; for, strong as was her faith + in the supernatural, she appeared as ready to escape from it, when a way + of escape offered, as from the limp cotton gown and constrained manner + worn in the house. The religion and cotton dress were evidently remains of + her early training at the settlement of Voa. + </p> + <p> + Old Nuflo, strange to say, had proved better than his word. Instead of + inventing new causes for delay, as I had imagined would be the case, he + now informed me that his preparations for the journey were all but + complete, that he had only waited for my return to set out. + </p> + <p> + Rima soon left us in her customary way, and then, talking by the fire, I + gave an account of my detention by the Indians and of the loss of my + revolver, which I thought very serious. + </p> + <p> + “You seem to think little of it,” I said, observing that he took it very + coolly. “Yet I know not how I shall defend myself in case of an attack.” + </p> + <p> + “I have no fear of an attack,” he answered. “It seems to me the same thing + whether you have a revolver or many revolvers and carbines and swords, or + no revolver—no weapon at all. And for a very simple reason. While + Rima is with us, so long as we are on her business, we are protected from + above. The angels, senor, will watch over us by day and night. What need + of weapons, then, except to procure food?” + </p> + <p> + “Why should not the angels provide us with food also?” said I. + </p> + <p> + “No, no, that is a different thing,” he returned. “That is a small and low + thing, a necessity common to all creatures, which all know how to meet. + You would not expect an angel to drive away a cloud of mosquitoes, or to + remove a bush-tick from your person. No, sir, you may talk of natural + gifts, and try to make Rima believe that she is what she is, and knows + what she knows, because, like a humming-bird or some plants with a + peculiar fragrance, she has been made so. It is wrong, senor, and, pardon + me for saying it, it ill becomes you to put such fables into her head.” + </p> + <p> + I answered, with a smile: “She herself seems to doubt what you believe.” + </p> + <p> + “But, senor, what can you expect from an ignorant girl like Rima? She + knows nothing, or very little, and will not listen to reason. If she would + only remain quietly indoors, with her hair braided, and pray and read her + Catechism, instead of running about after flowers and birds and + butterflies and such unsubstantial things, it would be better for both of + us.” + </p> + <p> + “In what way, old man?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, it is plain that if she would cultivate the acquaintance of the + people that surround her—I mean those that come to her from her + sainted mother—and are ready to do her bidding in everything, she + could make it more safe for us in this place. For example, there is Runi + and his people; why should they remain living so near us as to be a + constant danger when a pestilence of small-pox or some other fever might + easily be sent to kill them off?” + </p> + <p> + “And have you ever suggested such a thing to your grandchild?” + </p> + <p> + He looked surprised and grieved at the question. “Yes, many times, senor,” + he said. “I should have been a poor Christian had I not mentioned it. But + when I speak of it she gives me a look and is gone, and I see no more of + her all day, and when I see her she refuses even to answer me—so + perverse, so foolish is she in her ignorance; for, as you can see for + yourself, she has no more sense or concern about what is most important + than some little painted fly that flits about all day long without any + object.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <p> + The next day we were early at work. Nuflo had already gathered, dried, and + conveyed to a place of concealment the greater portion of his garden + produce. He was determined to leave nothing to be taken by any wandering + party of savages that might call at the house during our absence. He had + no fear of a visit from his neighbours; they would not know, he said, that + he and Rima were out of the wood. A few large earthen pots, filled with + shelled maize, beans, and sun-dried strips of pumpkin, still remained to + be disposed of. Taking up one of these vessels and asking me to follow + with another, he started off through the wood. We went a distance of five + or six hundred yards, then made our way down a very steep incline, close + to the border of the forest on the western side. Arrived at the bottom, we + followed the bank a little further, and I then found myself once more at + the foot of the precipice over which I had desperately thrown myself on + the stormy evening after the snake had bitten me. Nuflo, stealing silently + and softly before me through the bushes, had observed a caution and + secrecy in approaching this spot resembling that of a wise old hen when + she visits her hidden nest to lay an egg. And here was his nest, his most + secret treasure-house, which he had probably not revealed even to me + without a sharp inward conflict, notwithstanding that our fates were now + linked together. The lower portion of the bank was of rock; and in it, + about ten or twelve feet above the ground, but easily reached from below, + there was a natural cavity large enough to contain all his portable + property. Here, besides the food-stuff, he had already stored a quantity + of dried tobacco leaf, his rude weapons, cooking utensils, ropes, mats, + and other objects. Two or three more journeys were made for the remaining + pots, after which we adjusted a slab of sandstone to the opening, which + was fortunately narrow, plastered up the crevices with clay, and covered + them over with moss to hide all traces of our work. + </p> + <p> + Towards evening, after we had refreshed ourselves with a long siesta, + Nuflo brought out from some other hiding-place two sacks; one weighing + about twenty pounds and containing smoke-dried meat, also grease and gum + for lighting-purposes, and a few other small objects. This was his load; + the other sack, which was smaller and contained parched corn and raw + beans, was for me to carry. + </p> + <p> + The old man, cautious in all his movements, always acting as if surrounded + by invisible spies, delayed setting out until an hour after dark. Then, + skirting the forest on its west side, we left Ytaioa on our right hand, + and after travelling over rough, difficult ground, with only the stars to + light us, we saw the waning moon rise not long before dawn. Our course had + been a north-easterly one at first; now it was due east, with broad, dry + savannahs and patches of open forest as far as we could see before us. It + was weary walking on that first night, and weary waiting on the first day + when we sat in the shade during the long, hot hours, persecuted by small + stinging flies; but the days and nights that succeeded were far worse, + when the weather became bad with intense heat and frequent heavy falls of + rain. The one compensation I had looked for, which would have outweighed + all the extreme discomforts we suffered, was denied me. Rima was no more + to me or with me now than she had been during those wild days in her + native woods, when every bush and bole and tangled creeper or fern frond + had joined in a conspiracy to keep her out of my sight. It is true that at + intervals in the daytime she was visible, sometimes within speaking + distance, so that I could address a few words to her, but there was no + companionship, and we were fellow travellers only like birds flying + independently in the same direction, not so widely separated but that they + can occasionally hear and see each other. The pilgrim in the desert is + sometimes attended by a bird, and the bird, with its freer motions, will + often leave him a league behind and seem lost to him, but only to return + and show its form again; for it has never lost sight nor recollection of + the traveller toiling slowly over the surface. Rima kept us company in + some such wild erratic way as that. A word, a sign from Nuflo was enough + for her to know the direction to take—the distant forest or still + more distant mountain near which we should have to pass. She would hasten + on and be lost to our sight, and when there was a forest in the way she + would explore it, resting in the shade and finding her own food; but + invariably she was before us at each resting- or camping-place. + </p> + <p> + Indian villages were seen during the journey, but only to be avoided; and + in like manner, if we caught sight of Indians travelling or camping at a + distance, we would alter our course, or conceal ourselves to escape + observation. Only on one occasion, two days after setting out, were we + compelled to speak with strangers. We were going round a hill, and all at + once came face to face with three persons travelling in an opposite + direction—two men and a woman, and, by a strange fatality, Rima at + that moment happened to be with us. We stood for some time talking to + these people, who were evidently surprised at our appearance, and wished + to learn who we were; but Nuflo, who spoke their language like one of + themselves, was too cunning to give any true answer. They, on their side, + told us that they had been to visit a relative at Chani, the name of a + river three days ahead of us, and were now returning to their own village + at Baila-baila, two days beyond Parahuari. After parting from them Nuflo + was much troubled in his mind for the rest of that day. These people, he + said, would probably rest at some Parahuari village, where they would be + sure to give a description of us, and so it might eventually come to the + knowledge of our unneighbourly neighbour Runi that we had left Ytaioa. + </p> + <p> + Other incidents of our long and wearisome journey need not be related. + Sitting under some shady tree during the sultry hours, with Rima only too + far out of earshot, or by the nightly fire, the old man told me little by + little and with much digression, chiefly on sacred subjects, the strange + story of the girl’s origin. + </p> + <p> + About seventeen years back—Nuflo had no sure method to compute time + by—when he was already verging on old age, he was one of a company + of nine men, living a kind of roving life in the very part of Guayana + through which we were now travelling; the others, much younger than + himself, were all equally offenders against the laws of Venezuela, and + fugitives from justice. Nuflo was the leader of this gang, for it happened + that he had passed a great portion of his life outside the pale of + civilization, and could talk the Indian language, and knew this part of + Guayana intimately. But according to his own account he was not in harmony + with them. They were bold, desperate men, whose evil appetites had so far + only been whetted by the crimes they had committed; while he, with + passions worn out, recalling his many bad acts, and with a vivid + conviction of the truth of all he had been taught in early life—for + Nuflo was nothing if not religious—was now grown timid and desirous + only of making his peace with Heaven. This difference of disposition made + him morose and quarrelsome with his companions; and they would, he said, + have murdered him without remorse if he had not been so useful to them. + Their favourite plan was to hang about the neighbourhood of some small + isolated settlement, keeping a watch on it, and, when most of the male + inhabitants were absent, to swoop down on it and work their will. Now, + shortly after one of these raids it happened that a woman they had carried + off, becoming a burden to them, was flung into a river to the alligators; + but when being dragged down to the waterside she cast up her eyes, and in + a loud voice cried to God to execute vengeance on her murderers. Nuflo + affirmed that he took no part in this black deed; nevertheless, the + woman’s dying appeal to Heaven preyed on his mind; he feared that it might + have won a hearing, and the “person” eventually commissioned to execute + vengeance—after the usual days, of course might act on the principle + of the old proverb: Tell me whom you are with, and I will tell you what + you are—and punish the innocent (himself to wit) along with the + guilty. But while thus anxious about his spiritual interests, he was not + yet prepared to break with his companions. He thought it best to + temporize, and succeeded in persuading them that it would be unsafe to + attack another Christian settlement for some time to come; that in the + interval they might find some pleasure, if no great credit, by turning + their attention to the Indians. The infidels, he said, were God’s natural + enemies and fair game to the Christian. To make a long story short, + Nuflo’s Christian band, after some successful adventures, met with a + reverse which reduced their number from nine to five. Flying from their + enemies, they sought safety at Riolama, an uninhabited place, where they + found it possible to exist for some weeks on game, which was abundant, and + wild fruits. + </p> + <p> + One day at noon, while ascending a mountain at the southern extremity of + the Riolama range in order to get a view of the country beyond the summit, + Nuflo and his companions discovered a cave; and finding it dry, without + animal occupants, and with a level floor, they at once determined to make + it their dwelling-place for a season. Wood for firing and water were to be + had close by; they were also well provided with smoked flesh of a tapir + they had slaughtered a day or two before, so that they could afford to + rest for a time in so comfortable a shelter. At a short distance from the + cave they made a fire on the rock to toast some slices of meat for their + dinner; and while thus engaged all at once one of the men uttered a cry of + astonishment, and casting up his eyes Nuflo beheld, standing near and + regarding them with surprise and fear in-her wide-open eyes, a woman of a + most wonderful appearance. The one slight garment she had on was silky and + white as the snow on the summit of some great mountain, but of the snow + when the sinking sun touches and gives it some delicate changing colour + which is like fire. Her dark hair was like a cloud from which her face + looked out, and her head was surrounded by an aureole like that of a saint + in a picture, only more beautiful. For, said Nuflo, a picture is a + picture, and the other was a reality, which is finer. Seeing her he fell + on his knees and crossed himself; and all the time her eyes, full of + amazement and shining with such a strange splendour that he could not meet + them, were fixed on him and not on the others; and he felt that she had + come to save his soul, in danger of perdition owing to his companionship + with men who were at war with God and wholly bad. + </p> + <p> + But at this moment his comrades, recovering from their astonishment, + sprang to their feet, and the heavenly woman vanished. Just behind where + she had stood, and not twelve yards from them, there was a huge chasm in + the mountain, its jagged precipitous sides clothed with thorny bushes; the + men now cried out that she had made her escape that way, and down after + her they rushed, pell-mell. + </p> + <p> + Nuflo cried out after them that they had seen a saint and that some + horrible thing would befall them if they allowed any evil thought to enter + their hearts; but they scoffed at his words, and were soon far down out of + hearing, while he, trembling with fear, remained praying to the woman that + had appeared to them and had looked with such strange eyes at him, not to + punish him for the sins of the others. + </p> + <p> + Before long the men returned, disappointed and sullen, for they had failed + in their search for the woman; and perhaps Nuflo’s warning words had made + them give up the chase too soon. At all events, they seemed ill at ease, + and made up their minds to abandon the cave; in a short time they left the + place to camp that night at a considerable distance from the mountain. But + they were not satisfied: they had now recovered from their fear, but not + from the excitement of an evil passion; and finally, after comparing + notes, they came to the conclusion that they had missed a great prize + through Nuflo’s cowardice; and when he reproved them they blasphemed all + the saints in the calendar and even threatened him with violence. Fearing + to remain longer in the company of such godless men, he only waited until + they slept, then rose up cautiously, helped himself to most of the + provisions, and made his escape, devoutly hoping that after losing their + guide they would all speedily perish. + </p> + <p> + Finding himself alone now and master of his own actions, Nuflo was in + terrible distress, for while his heart was in the utmost fear, it yet + urged him imperiously to go back to the mountain, to seek again for that + sacred being who had appeared to him and had been driven away by his + brutal companions. If he obeyed that inner voice, he would be saved; if he + resisted it, then there would be no hope for him, and along with those who + had cast the woman to the alligators he would be lost eternally. Finally, + on the following day, he went back, although not without fear and + trembling, and sat down on a stone just where he had sat toasting his + tapir meat on the previous day. But he waited in vain, and at length that + voice within him, which he had so far obeyed, began urging him to descend + into the valley-like chasm down which the woman had escaped from his + comrades, and to seek for her there. Accordingly he rose and began + cautiously and slowly climbing down over the broken jagged rocks and + through a dense mass of thorny bushes and creepers. At the bottom of the + chasm a clear, swift stream of water rushed with foam and noise along its + rocky bed; but before reaching it, and when it was still twenty yards + lower down, he was startled by hearing a low moan among the bushes, and + looking about for the cause, he found the wonderful woman—his + saviour, as he expressed it. She was not now standing nor able to stand, + but half reclining among the rough stones, one foot, which she had + sprained in that headlong flight down the ragged slope, wedged immovably + between the rocks; and in this painful position she had remained a + prisoner since noon on the previous day. She now gazed on her visitor in + silent consternation; while he, casting himself prostrate on the ground, + implored her forgiveness and begged to know her will. But she made no + reply; and at length, finding that she was powerless to move, he concluded + that, though a saint and one of the beings that men worship, she was also + flesh and liable to accidents while sojourning on earth; and perhaps, he + thought, that accident which had befallen her had been specially designed + by the powers above to prove him. With great labour, and not without + causing her much pain, he succeeded in extricating her from her position; + and then finding that the injured foot was half crushed and blue and + swollen, he took her up in his arms and carried her to the stream. There, + making a cup of a broad green leaf, he offered her water, which she drank + eagerly; and he also laved her injured foot in the cold stream and + bandaged it with fresh aquatic leaves; finally he made her a soft bed of + moss and dry grass and placed her on it. That night he spent keeping watch + over her, at intervals applying fresh wet leaves to her foot as the old + ones became dry and wilted from the heat of the inflammation. + </p> + <p> + The effect of all he did was that the terror with which she regarded him + gradually wore off; and next day, when she seemed to be recovering her + strength, he proposed by signs to remove her to the cave higher up, where + she would be sheltered in case of rain. She appeared to understand him, + and allowed herself to be taken up in his arms and carried with much + labour to the top of the chasm. In the cave he made her a second couch, + and tended her assiduously. He made a fire on the floor and kept it + burning night and day, and supplied her with water to drink and fresh + leaves for her foot. There was little more that he could do. From the + choicest and fattest bits of toasted tapir flesh he offered her she turned + away with disgust. A little cassava bread soaked in water she would take, + but seemed not to like it. After a time, fearing that she would starve, he + took to hunting after wild fruits, edible bulbs and gums, and on these + small things she subsisted during the whole time of their sojourn together + in the desert. + </p> + <p> + The woman, although lamed for life, was now so far recovered as to be able + to limp about without assistance, and she spent a portion of each day out + among the rocks and trees on the mountains. Nuflo at first feared that she + would now leave him, but before long he became convinced that she had no + such intentions. And yet she was profoundly unhappy. He was accustomed to + see her seated on a rock, as if brooding over some secret grief, her head + bowed, and great tears falling from half-closed eyes. + </p> + <p> + From the first he had conceived the idea that she was in the way of + becoming a mother at no distant date—an idea which seemed to accord + badly with the suppositions as to the nature of this heavenly being he was + privileged to minister to and so win salvation; but he was now convinced + of its truth, and he imagined that in her condition he had discovered the + cause of that sorrow and anxiety which preyed continually on her. By means + of that dumb language of signs which enabled them to converse together a + little, he made it known to her that at a great distance from the + mountains there existed a place where there were beings like herself, + women, and mothers of children, who would comfort and tenderly care for + her. When she had understood, she seemed pleased and willing to accompany + him to that distant place; and so it came to pass that they left their + rocky shelter and the mountains of Riolama far behind. But for several + days, as they slowly journeyed over the plain, she would pause at + intervals in her limping walk to gaze back on those blue summits, shedding + abundant tears. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately the village Voa, on the river of the same name, which was the + nearest Christian settlement to Riolama, whither his course was directed, + was well known to him; he had lived there in former years, and, what was + of great advantage, the inhabitants were ignorant of his worst crimes, or, + to put it in his own subtle way, of the crimes committed by the men he had + acted with. Great was the astonishment and curiosity of the people of Voa + when, after many weeks’ travelling, Nuflo arrived at last with his + companion. But he was not going to tell the truth, nor even the least + particle of the truth, to a gaping crowd of inferior persons. For these, + ingenious lies; only to the priest he told the whole story, dwelling + minutely on all he had done to rescue and protect her; all of which was + approved by the holy man, whose first act was to baptize the woman for + fear that she was not a Christian. Let it be said to Nuflo’s credit that + he objected to this ceremony, arguing that she could not be a saint, with + an aureole in token of her sainthood, yet stand in need of being baptized + by a priest. A priest—he added, with a little chuckle of malicious + pleasure—who was often seen drunk, who cheated at cards, and was + sometimes suspected of putting poison on his fighting-cock’s spur to make + sure of the victory! Doubtless the priest had his faults; but he was not + without humanity, and for the whole seven years of that unhappy stranger’s + sojourn at Voa he did everything in his power to make her existence + tolerable. Some weeks after arriving she gave birth to a female child, and + then the priest insisted on naming it Riolama, in order, he said, to keep + in remembrance the strange story of the mother’s discovery at that place. + </p> + <p> + Rima’s mother could not be taught to speak either Spanish or Indian; and + when she found that the mysterious and melodious sounds that fell from her + own lips were understood by none, she ceased to utter them, and thereafter + preserved an unbroken silence among the people she lived with. But from + the presence of others she shrank, as if in disgust or fear, excepting + only Nuflo and the priest, whose kindly intentions she appeared to + understand and appreciate. So far her life in the village was silent and + sorrowful. With her child it was different; and every day that was not + wet, taking the little thing by the hand, she would limp painfully out + into the forest, and there, sitting on the ground, the two would commune + with each other by the hour in their wonderful language. + </p> + <p> + At length she began to grow perceptibly paler and feebler week by week, + day by day, until she could no longer go out into the wood, but sat or + reclined, panting for breath in the dull hot room, waiting for death to + release her. At the same time little Rima, who had always appeared frail, + as if from sympathy, now began to fade and look more shadowy, so that it + was expected she would not long survive her parent. To the mother death + came slowly, but at last it seemed so near that Nuflo and the priest were + together at her side waiting to see the end. It was then that little Rima, + who had learnt from infancy to speak in Spanish, rose from the couch where + her mother had been whispering to her, and began with some difficulty to + express what was in the dying woman’s mind. Her child, she had said, could + not continue to live in that hot wet place, but if taken away to a + distance where there were mountains and a cooler air she would survive and + grow strong again. + </p> + <p> + Hearing this, old Nuflo declared that the child should not perish; that he + himself would take her away to Parahuari, a distant place where there were + mountains and dry plains and open woods; that he would watch over her and + care for her there as he had cared for her mother at Riolama. + </p> + <p> + When the substance of this speech had been made known by Rima to the dying + woman, she suddenly rose up from her couch, which she had not risen from + for many days, and stood erect on the floor, her wasted face shining with + joy. Then Nuflo knew that God’s angels had come for her, and put out his + arms to save her from falling; and even while he held her that sudden + glory went out from her face, now of a dead white like burnt-out ashes; + and murmuring something soft and melodious, her spirit passed away. + </p> + <p> + Once more Nuflo became a wanderer, now with the fragile-looking little + Rima for companion, the sacred child who had inherited the position of his + intercessor from a sacred mother. The priest, who had probably become + infected with Nuflo’s superstitions, did not allow them to leave Voa + empty-handed, but gave the old man as much calico as would serve to buy + hospitality and whatsoever he might require from the Indians for many a + day to come. + </p> + <p> + At Parahuari, where they arrived safely at last, they lived for some + little time at one of the villages. But the child had an instinctive + aversion to all savages, or possibly the feeling was derived from her + mother, for it had shown itself early at Voa, where she had refused to + learn their language; and this eventually led Nuflo to go away and live + apart from them, in the forest by Ytaioa, where he made himself a house + and garden. The Indians, however, continued friendly with him and visited + him with frequency. But when Rima grew up, developing into that mysterious + woodland girl I found her, they became suspicious, and in the end regarded + her with dangerously hostile feeling. She, poor child, detested them + because they were incessantly at war with the wild animals she loved, her + companions; and having no fear of them, for she did not know that they had + it in their minds to turn their little poisonous arrows against herself, + she was constantly in the woods frustrating them; and the animals, in + league with her, seemed to understand her note of warning and hid + themselves or took to flight at the approach of danger. At length their + hatred and fear grew to such a degree that they determined to make away + with her, and one day, having matured a plan, they went to the wood and + spread themselves two and two about it. The couples did not keep together, + but moved about or remained concealed at a distance of forty or fifty + yards apart, lest she should be missed. Two of the savages, armed with + blow-pipes, were near the border of the forest on the side nearest to the + village, and one of them, observing a motion in the foliage of a tree, ran + swiftly and cautiously towards it to try and catch a glimpse of the enemy. + And he did see her no doubt, as she was there watching both him and his + companions, and blew an arrow at her, but even while in the act of blowing + it he was himself struck by a dart that buried itself deep in his flesh + just over the heart. He ran some distance with the fatal barbed point in + his flesh and met his comrade, who had mistaken him for the girl and shot + him. The wounded man threw himself down to die, and dying related that he + had fired at the girl sitting up in a tree and that she had caught the + arrow in her hand only to hurl it instantly back with such force and + precision that it pierced his flesh just over the heart. He had seen it + all with his own eyes, and his friend who had accidentally slain him + believed his story and repeated it to the others. Rima had seen one Indian + shoot the other, and when she told her grandfather he explained to her + that it was an accident, but he guessed why the arrow had been fired. + </p> + <p> + From that day the Indians hunted no more in the wood; and at length one + day Nuflo, meeting an Indian who did not know him and with whom he had + some talk, heard the strange story of the arrow, and that the mysterious + girl who could not be shot was the offspring of an old man and a Didi who + had become enamoured of him; that, growing tired of her consort, the Didi + had returned to her river, leaving her half-human child to play her + malicious pranks in the wood. + </p> + <p> + This, then, was Nuflo’s story, told not in Nuflo’s manner, which was + infinitely prolix; and think not that it failed to move me—that I + failed to bless him for what he had done, in spite of his selfish motives. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <p> + We were eighteen days travelling to Riolama, on the last two making little + progress, on account of continuous rain, which made us miserable beyond + description. Fortunately the dogs had found, and Nuflo had succeeded in + killing, a great ant-eater, so that we were well supplied with excellent, + strength-giving flesh. We were among the Riolama mountains at last, and + Rima kept with us, apparently expecting great things. I expected nothing, + for reasons to be stated by and by. My belief was that the only important + thing that could happen to us would be starvation. + </p> + <p> + The afternoon of the last day was spent in skirting the foot of a very + long mountain, crowned at its southern extremity with a huge, rocky mass + resembling the head of a stone sphinx above its long, couchant body, and + at its highest part about a thousand feet above the surrounding level. It + was late in the day, raining fast again, yet the old man still toiled on, + contrary to his usual practice, which was to spend the last daylight hours + in gathering firewood and in constructing a shelter. At length, when we + were nearly under the peak, he began to ascend. The rise in this place was + gentle, and the vegetation, chiefly composed of dwarf thorn trees rooted + in the clefts of the rock, scarcely impeded our progress; yet Nuflo moved + obliquely, as if he found the ascent difficult, pausing frequently to take + breath and look round him. Then we came to a deep, ravine-like cleft in + the side of the mountain, which became deeper and narrower above us, but + below it broadened out to a valley; its steep sides as we looked down were + clothed with dense, thorny vegetation, and from the bottom rose to our + ears the dull sound of a hidden torrent. Along the border of this ravine + Nuflo began toiling upwards, and finally brought us out upon a stony + plateau on the mountain-side. Here he paused and, turning and regarding us + with a look as of satisfied malice in his eyes, remarked that we were at + our journey’s end, and he trusted the sight of that barren mountain-side + would compensate us for all the discomforts we had suffered during the + last eighteen days. + </p> + <p> + I heard him with indifference. I had already recognized the place from his + own exact description of it, and I now saw all that I had looked to see—a + big, barren hill. But Rima, what had she expected that her face wore that + blank look of surprise and pain? “Is this the place where mother appeared + to you?” she suddenly cried. “The very place—this! This!” Then she + added: “The cave where you tended her—where is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Over there,” he said, pointing across the plateau, which was partially + overgrown with dwarf trees and bushes, and ended at a wall of rock, almost + vertical and about forty feet high. + </p> + <p> + Going to this precipice, we saw no cave until Nuflo had cut away two or + three tangled bushes, revealing an opening behind, about half as high and + twice as wide as the door of an ordinary dwelling-house. + </p> + <p> + The next thing was to make a torch, and aided by its light we groped our + way in and explored the interior. The cave, we found, was about fifty feet + long, narrowing to a mere hole at the extremity; but the anterior portion + formed an oblong chamber, very lofty, with a dry floor. Leaving our torch + burning, we set to work cutting bushes to supply ourselves with wood + enough to last us all night. Nuflo, poor old man, loved a big fire dearly; + a big fire and fat meat to eat (the ranker its flavour, the better he + liked it) were to him the greatest blessings that man could wish for. In + me also the prospect of a cheerful blaze put a new heart, and I worked + with a will in the rain, which increased in the end to a blinding + downpour. + </p> + <p> + By the time I dragged my last load in, Nuflo had got his fire well alight, + and was heaping on wood in a most lavish way. “No fear of burning our + house down tonight,” he remarked, with a chuckle—the first sound of + that description he had emitted for a long time. + </p> + <p> + After we had satisfied our hunger, and had smoked one or two cigarettes, + the unaccustomed warmth, and dryness, and the firelight affected us with + drowsiness, and I had probably been nodding for some time; but starting at + last and opening my eyes, I missed Rima. The old man appeared to be + asleep, although still in a sitting posture close to the fire. I rose and + hurried out, drawing my cloak close around me to protect me from the rain; + but what was my surprise on emerging from the cave to feel a dry, bracing + wind in my face and to see the desert spread out for leagues before me in + the brilliant white light of a full moon! The rain had apparently long + ceased, and only a few thin white clouds appeared moving swiftly over the + wide blue expanse of heaven. It was a welcome change, but the shock of + surprise and pleasure was instantly succeeded by the maddening fear that + Rima was lost to me. She was nowhere in sight beneath, and running to the + end of the little plateau to get free of the thorn trees, I turned my eyes + towards the summit, and there, at some distance above me, caught sight of + her standing motionless and gazing upwards. I quickly made my way to her + side, calling to her as I approached; but she only half turned to cast a + look at me and did not reply. + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I said, “why have you come here? Are you actually thinking of + climbing the mountain at this hour of the night?” “Yes—why not?” she + returned, moving one or two steps from me. + </p> + <p> + “Rima—sweet Rima, will you listen to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Now? Oh, no—why do you ask that? Did I not listen to you in the + wood before we started, and you also promised to do what I wished? See, + the rain is over and the moon shines brightly. Why should I wait? Perhaps + from the summit I shall see my people’s country. Are we not near it now?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Rima, what do you expect to see? Listen—you must listen, for I + know best. From that summit you would see nothing but a vast dim desert, + mountain and forest, mountain and forest, where you might wander for + years, or until you perished of hunger or fever, or were slain by some + beast of prey or by savage men; but oh, Rima, never, never, never would + you find your people, for they exist not. You have seen the false water of + the mirage on the savannah, when the sun shines bright and hot; and if one + were to follow it one would at last fall down and perish, with never a + cool drop to moisten one’s parched lips. And your hope, Rima—this + hope to find your people which has brought you all the way to Riolama—is + a mirage, a delusion, which will lead to destruction if you will not + abandon it.” + </p> + <p> + She turned to face me with flashing eyes. “You know best!” she exclaimed. + “You know best and tell me that! Never until this moment have you spoken + falsely. Oh, why have you said such things to me—named after this + place, Riolama? Am I also like that false water you speak of—no + divine Rima, no sweet Rima? My mother, had she no mother, no mother’s + mother? I remember her, at Voa, before she died, and this hand seems real—like + yours; you have asked to hold it. But it is not he that speaks to me—not + one that showed me the whole world on Ytaioa. Ah, you have wrapped + yourself in a stolen cloak, only you have left your old grey beard behind! + Go back to the cave and look for it, and leave me to seek my people + alone!” + </p> + <p> + Once more, as on that day in the forest when she prevented me from killing + the serpent, and as on the occasion of her meeting with Nuflo after we had + been together on Ytaioa, she appeared transformed and instinct with + intense resentment—a beautiful human wasp, and every word a sting. + </p> + <p> + “Rima,” I cried, “you are cruelly unjust to say such words to me. If you + know that I have never deceived you before, give me a little credit now. + You are no delusion—no mirage, but Rima, like no other being on + earth. So perfectly truthful and pure I cannot be, but rather than mislead + you with falsehoods I would drop down and die on this rock, and lose you + and the sweet light that shines on us for ever.” + </p> + <p> + As she listened to my words, spoken with passion, she grew pale and + clasped her hands. “What have I said? What have I said?” She spoke in a + low voice charged with pain, and all at once she came nearer, and with a + low, sobbing cry sank down at my feet, uttering, as on the occasion of + finding me lost at night in the forest near her home, tender, sorrowful + expressions in her own mysterious language. But before I could take her in + my arms she rose again quickly to her feet and moved away a little space + from me. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, no, it cannot be that you know best!” she began again. “But I know + that you have never sought to deceive me. And now, because I falsely + accused you, I cannot go there without you”—pointing to the summit—“but + must stand still and listen to all you have to say.” + </p> + <p> + “You know, Rima, that your grandfather has now told me your history—how + he found your mother at this place, and took her to Voa, where you were + born; but of your mother’s people he knows nothing, and therefore he can + now take you no further.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, you think that! He says that now; but he deceived me all these years, + and if he lied to me in the past, can he not still lie, affirming that he + knows nothing of my people, even as he affirmed that he knew not Riolama?” + </p> + <p> + “He tells lies and he tells truth, Rima, and one can be distinguished from + the other. He spoke truthfully at last, and brought us to this place, + beyond which he cannot lead you.” + </p> + <p> + “You are right; I must go alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Not so, Rima, for where you go, there we must go; only you will lead and + we follow, believing only that our quest will end in disappointment, if + not in death.” + </p> + <p> + “Believe that and yet follow! Oh no! Why did he consent to lead me so far + for nothing?” + </p> + <p> + “Do you forget that you compelled him? You know what he believes; and he + is old and looks with fear at death, remembering his evil deeds, and is + convinced that only through your intercession and your mother’s he can + escape from perdition. Consider, Rima, he could not refuse, to make you + more angry and so deprive himself of his only hope.” + </p> + <p> + My words seemed to trouble her, but very soon she spoke again with renewed + animation. “If my people exist, why must it be disappointment and perhaps + death? He does not know; but she came to him here—did she not? The + others are not here, but perhaps not far off. Come, let us go to the + summit together to see from it the desert beneath us—mountain and + forest, mountain and forest. Somewhere there! You said that I had + knowledge of distant things. And shall I not know which mountain—which + forest?” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! no, Rima; there is a limit to your far-seeing; and even if that + faculty were as great as you imagine, it would avail you nothing, for + there is no mountain, no forest, in whose shadow your people dwell.” + </p> + <p> + For a while she was silent, but her eyes and clasping fingers were + restless and showed her agitation. She seemed to be searching in the + depths of her mind for some argument to oppose to my assertions. Then in a + low, almost despondent voice, with something of reproach in it, she said: + “Have we come so far to go back again? You were not Nuflo to need my + intercession, yet you came too.” + </p> + <p> + “Where you are, there I must be—you have said it yourself. Besides, + when we started I had some hope of finding your people. Now I know better, + having heard Nuflo’s story. Now I know that your hope is a vain one.” + </p> + <p> + “Why? Why? Was she not found here—mother? Where, then, are the + others?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, she was found here, alone. You must remember all the things she + spoke to you before she died. Did she ever speak to you of her people—speak + of them as if they existed, and would be glad to receive you among them + some day?” + </p> + <p> + “No. Why did she not speak of that? Do you know—can you tell me?” + </p> + <p> + “I can guess the reason, Rima. It is very sad—so sad that it is hard + to tell it. When Nuflo tended her in the cave and was ready to worship her + and do everything she wished, and conversed with her by signs, she showed + no wish to return to her people. And when he offered her, in a way she + understood, to take her to a distant place, where she would be among + strange beings, among others like Nuflo, she readily consented, and + painfully performed that long journey to Voa. Would you, Rima, have acted + thus—would you have gone so far away from your beloved people, never + to return, never to hear of them or speak to them again? Oh no, you could + not; nor would she if her people had been in existence. But she knew that + she had survived them, that some great calamity had fallen upon and + destroyed them. They were few in number, perhaps, and surrounded on every + side by hostile tribes, and had no weapons, and made no war. They had been + preserved because they inhabited a place apart, some deep valley perhaps, + guarded on all sides by lofty mountains and impenetrable forests and + marshes; but at last the cruel savages broke into this retreat and hunted + them down, destroying all except a few fugitives, who escaped singly like + your mother, and fled away to hide in some distant solitude.” + </p> + <p> + The anxious expression on her face deepened as she listened to one of + anguish and despair; and then, almost before I concluded, she suddenly + lifted her hands to her head, uttering a low, sobbing cry, and would have + fallen on the rock had I not caught her quickly in my arms. Once more in + my arms—against my breast, her proper place! But now all that bright + life seemed gone out of her; her head fell on my shoulder, and there was + no motion in her except at intervals a slight shudder in her frame + accompanied by a low, gasping sob. In a little while the sobs ceased, the + eyes were closed, the face still and deathly white, and with a terrible + anxiety in my heart I carried her down to the cave. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <p> + As I re-entered the cave with my burden Nuflo sat up and stared at me with + a frightened look in his eyes. Throwing my cloak down, I placed the girl + on it and briefly related what had happened. + </p> + <p> + He drew near to examine her; then placed his hand on her heart. “Dead!—she + is dead!” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + My own anxiety changed to an irrational anger at his words. “Old fool! She + has only fainted,” I returned. “Get me some water, quick.” + </p> + <p> + But the water failed to restore her, and my anxiety deepened as I gazed on + that white, still face. Oh, why had I told her that sad tragedy I had + imagined with so little preparation? Alas! I had succeeded too well in my + purpose, killing her vain hope and her at the same moment. + </p> + <p> + The old man, still bending over her, spoke again. “No, I will not believe + that she is dead yet; but, sir, if not dead, then she is dying.” + </p> + <p> + I could have struck him down for his words. “She will die in my arms, + then,” I exclaimed, thrusting him roughly aside, and lifting her up with + the cloak beneath her. + </p> + <p> + And while I held her thus, her head resting on my arm, and gazed with + unutterable anguish into her strangely white face, insanely praying to + Heaven to restore her to me, Nuflo fell on his knees before her, and with + bowed head, and hands clasped in supplication, began to speak. + </p> + <p> + “Rima! Grandchild!” he prayed, his quivering voice betraying his + agitation. “Do not die just yet: you must not die—not wholly die—until + you have heard what I have to say to you. I do not ask you to answer in + words—you are past that, and I am not unreasonable. Only, when I + finish, make some sign—a sigh, a movement of the eyelid, a twitch of + the lips, even in the small corners of the mouth; nothing more than that, + just to show that you have heard, and I shall be satisfied. Remember all + the years that I have been your protector, and this long journey that I + have taken on your account; also all that I did for your sainted mother + before she died at Voa, to become one of the most important of those who + surround the Queen of Heaven, and who, when they wish for any favour, have + only to say half a word to get it. And do not cast in oblivion that at the + last I obeyed your wish and brought you safely to Riolama. It is true that + in some small things I deceived you; but that must not weigh with you, + because it is a small matter and not worthy of mention when you consider + the claims I have on you. In your hands, Rima, I leave everything, relying + on the promise you made me, and on my services. Only one word of caution + remains to be added. Do not let the magnificence of the place you are now + about to enter, the new sights and colours, and the noise of shouting, and + musical instruments and blowing of trumpets, put these things out of your + head. Nor must you begin to think meanly of yourself and be abashed when + you find yourself surrounded by saints and angels; for you are not less + than they, although it may not seem so at first when you see them in their + bright clothes, which, they say, shine like the sun. I cannot ask you to + tie a string round your finger; I can only trust to your memory, which was + always good, even about the smallest things; and when you are asked, as no + doubt you will be, to express a wish, remember before everything to speak + of your grandfather, and his claims on you, also on your angelic mother, + to whom you will present my humble remembrances.” + </p> + <p> + During this petition, which in other circumstances would have moved me to + laughter but now only irritated me, a subtle change seemed to come to the + apparently lifeless girl to make me hope. The small hand in mine felt not + so icy cold, and though no faintest colour had come to the face, its + pallor had lost something of its deathly waxen appearance; and now the + compressed lips had relaxed a little and seemed ready to part. I laid my + finger-tips on her heart and felt, or imagined that I felt, a faint + fluttering; and at last I became convinced that her heart was really + beating. + </p> + <p> + I turned my eyes on the old man, still bending forward, intently watching + for the sign he had asked her to make. My anger and disgust at his gross + earthy egoism had vanished. “Let us thank God, old man,” I said, the tears + of joy half choking my utterance. “She lives—she is recovering from + her fit.” + </p> + <p> + He drew back, and on his knees, with bowed head, murmured a prayer of + thanks to Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Together we continued watching her face for half an hour longer, I still + holding her in my arms, which could never grow weary of that sweet burden, + waiting for other, surer signs of returning life; and she seemed now like + one that had fallen into a profound, death-like sleep which must end in + death. Yet when I remembered her face as it had looked an hour ago, I was + confirmed in the belief that the progress to recovery, so strangely slow, + was yet sure. So slow, so gradual was this passing from death to life that + we had hardly ceased to fear when we noticed that the lips were parted, or + almost parted, that they were no longer white, and that under her pale, + transparent skin a faint, bluish-rosy colour was now visible. And at + length, seeing that all danger was past and recovery so slow, old Nuflo + withdrew once more to the fireside and, stretching himself out on the + sandy floor, soon fell into a deep sleep. + </p> + <p> + If he had not been lying there before me in the strong light of the + glowing embers and dancing flames, I could not have felt more alone with + Rima—alone amid those remote mountains, in that secret cavern, with + lights and shadows dancing on its grey vault. In that profound silence and + solitude the mysterious loveliness of the still face I continued to gaze + on, its appearance of life without consciousness, produced a strange + feeling in me, hard, perhaps impossible, to describe. + </p> + <p> + Once, when clambering among the rough rocks, overgrown with forest, among + the Queneveta mountains, I came on a single white flower which was new to + me, which I have never seen since. After I had looked long at it, and + passed on, the image of that perfect flower remained so persistently in my + mind that on the following day I went again, in the hope of seeing it + still untouched by decay. There was no change; and on this occasion I + spent a much longer time looking at it, admiring the marvellous beauty of + its form, which seemed so greatly to exceed that of all other flowers. It + had thick petals, and at first gave me the idea of an artificial flower, + cut by a divinely inspired artist from some unknown precious stone, of the + size of a large orange and whiter than milk, and yet, in spite of its + opacity, with a crystalline lustre on the surface. Next day I went again, + scarcely hoping to find it still unwithered; it was fresh as if only just + opened; and after that I went often, sometimes at intervals of several + days, and still no faintest sign of any change, the clear, exquisite lines + still undimmed, the purity and lustre as I had first seen it. Why, I often + asked, does not this mystic forest flower fade and perish like others? + That first impression of its artificial appearance had soon left me; it + was, indeed, a flower, and, like other flowers, had life and growth, only + with that transcendent beauty it had a different kind of life. + Unconscious, but higher; perhaps immortal. Thus it would continue to bloom + when I had looked my last on it; wind and rain and sunlight would never + stain, never tinge, its sacred purity; the savage Indian, though he sees + little to admire in a flower, yet seeing this one would veil his face and + turn back; even the browsing beast crashing his way through the forest, + struck with its strange glory, would swerve aside and pass on without + harming it. Afterwards I heard from some Indians to whom I described it + that the flower I had discovered was called Hata; also that they had a + superstition concerning it—a strange belief. They said that only one + Hata flower existed in the world; that it bloomed in one spot for the + space of a moon; that on the disappearance of the moon in the sky the Hata + disappeared from its place, only to reappear blooming in some other spot, + sometimes in some distant forest. And they also said that whosoever + discovered the Hata flower in the forest would overcome all his enemies + and obtain all his desires, and finally outlive other men by many years. + But, as I have said, all this I heard afterwards, and my + half-superstitious feeling for the flower had grown up independently in my + own mind. A feeling like that was in me while I gazed on the face that had + no motion, no consciousness in it, and yet had life, a life of so high a + kind as to match with its pure, surpassing loveliness. I could almost + believe that, like the forest flower, in this state and aspect it would + endure for ever; endure and perhaps give of its own immortality to + everything around it—to me, holding her in my arms and gazing + fixedly on the pale face framed in its cloud of dark, silken hair; to the + leaping flames that threw changing lights on the dim stony wall of rock; + to old Nuflo and his two yellow dogs stretched out on the floor in + eternal, unawakening sleep. + </p> + <p> + This feeling took such firm possession of my mind that it kept me for a + time as motionless as the form I held in my arms. I was only released from + its power by noting still further changes in the face I watched, a more + distinct advance towards conscious life. The faint colour, which had + scarcely been more than a suspicion of colour, had deepened perceptibly; + the lids were lifted so as to show a gleam of the crystal orbs beneath; + the lips, too, were slightly parted. + </p> + <p> + And, at last, bending lower down to feel her breath, the beauty and + sweetness of those lips could no longer be resisted, and I touched them + with mine. Having once tasted their sweetness and fragrance, it was + impossible to keep from touching them again and again. She was not + conscious—how could she be and not shrink from my caress? Yet there + was a suspicion in my mind, and drawing back I gazed into her face once + more. A strange new radiance had overspread it. Or was this only an + illusive colour thrown on her skin by the red firelight? I shaded her face + with my open hand, and saw that her pallor had really gone, that the rosy + flame on her cheeks was part of her life. Her lustrous eyes, half open, + were gazing into mine. Oh, surely consciousness had returned to her! Had + she been sensible of those stolen kisses? Would she now shrink from + another caress? Trembling, I bent down and touched her lips again, + lightly, but lingeringly, and then again, and when I drew back and looked + at her face the rosy flame was brighter, and the eyes, more open still, + were looking into mine. And gazing with those open, conscious eyes, it + seemed to me that at last, at last, the shadow that had rested between us + had vanished, that we were united in perfect love and confidence, and that + speech was superfluous. And when I spoke, it was not without doubt and + hesitation: our bliss in those silent moments had been so complete, what + could speaking do but make it less! + </p> + <p> + “My love, my life, my sweet Rima, I know that you will understand me now + as you did not before, on that dark night—do you remember it, Rima?—when + I held you clasped to my breast in the wood. How it pierced my heart with + pain to speak plainly to you as I did on the mountain tonight—to + kill the hope that had sustained and brought you so far from home! But now + that anguish is over; the shadow has gone out of those beautiful eyes that + are looking at me. It is because loving me, knowing now what love is, + knowing, too, how much I love you, that you no longer need to speak to any + other living being of such things? To tell it, to show it, to me is now + enough—is it not so, Rima? How strange it seemed, at first, when you + shrank in fear from me! But, afterwards, when you prayed aloud to your + mother, opening all the secrets of your heart, I understood it. In that + lonely, isolated life in the wood you had heard nothing of love, of its + power over the heart, its infinite sweetness; when it came to you at last + it was a new, inexplicable thing, and filled you with misgivings and + tumultuous thoughts, so that you feared it and hid yourself from its + cause. Such tremors would be felt if it had always been night, with no + light except that of the stars and the pale moon, as we saw it a little + while ago on the mountain; and, at last, day dawned, and a strange, + unheard-of rose and purple flame kindled in the eastern sky, foretelling + the coming sun. It would seem beautiful beyond anything that night had + shown to you, yet you would tremble and your heart beat fast at that + strange sight; you would wish to fly to those who might be able to tell + you its meaning, and whether the sweet things it prophesied would ever + really come. That is why you wished to find your people, and came to + Riolama to seek them; and when you knew—when I cruelly told you—that + they would never be found, then you imagined that that strange feeling in + your heart must remain a secret for ever, and you could not endure the + thought of your loneliness. If you had not fainted so quickly, then I + should have told you what I must tell you now. They are lost, Rima—your + people—but I am with you, and know what you feel, even if you have + no words to tell it. But what need of words? It shines in your eyes, it + burns like a flame in your face; I can feel it in your hands. Do you not + also see it in my face—all that I feel for you, the love that makes + me happy? For this is love, Rima, the flower and the melody of life, the + sweetest thing, the sweet miracle that makes our two souls one.” + </p> + <p> + Still resting in my arms, as if glad to rest there, still gazing into my + face, it was clear to me that she understood my every word. And then, with + no trace of doubt or fear left, I stooped again, until my lips were on + hers; and when I drew back once more, hardly knowing which bliss was + greatest—kissing her delicate mouth or gazing into her face—she + all at once put her arms about my neck and drew herself up until she sat + on my knee. + </p> + <p> + “Abel—shall I call you Abel now—and always?” she spoke, still + with her arms round my neck. “Ah, why did you let me come to Riolama? I + would come! I made him come—old grandfather, sleeping there: he does + not count, but you—you! After you had heard my story, and knew that + it was all for nothing! And all I wished to know was there—in you. + Oh, how sweet it is! But a little while ago, what pain! When I stood on + the mountain when you talked to me, and I knew that you knew best, and + tried and tried not to know. At last I could try no more; they were all + dead like mother; I had chased the false water on the savannah. ‘Oh, let + me die too,’ I said, for I could not bear the pain. And afterwards, here + in the cave, I was like one asleep, and when I woke I did not really wake. + It was like morning with the light teasing me to open my eyes and look at + it. Not yet, dear light; a little while longer, it is so sweet to lie + still. But it would not leave me, and stayed teasing me still, like a + small shining green fly; until, because it teased me so, I opened my lids + just a little. It was not morning, but the firelight, and I was in your + arms, not in my little bed. Your eyes looking, looking into mine. But I + could see yours better. I remembered everything then, how you once asked + me to look into your eyes. I remembered so many things—oh, so many!” + </p> + <p> + “How many things did you remember, Rima?” + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Abel, do you ever lie on the dry moss and look straight up into a + tree and count a thousand leaves?” + </p> + <p> + “No, sweetest, that could not be done, it is so many to count. Do you know + how many a thousand are?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, do I not! When a humming-bird flies close to my face and stops still + in the air, humming like a bee, and then is gone, in that short time I can + count a hundred small round bright feathers on its throat. That is only a + hundred; a thousand are more, ten times. Looking up I count a thousand + leaves; then stop counting, because there are thousands more behind the + first, and thousands more, crowded together so that I cannot count them. + Lying in your arms, looking up into your face, it was like that; I could + not count the things I remembered. In the wood, when you were there, and + before; and long, long ago at Voa, when I was a child with mother.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me some of the things you remembered, Rima.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, one—only one now. When I was a child at Voa mother was very + lame—you know that. Whenever we went out, away from the houses, into + the forest, walking slowly, slowly, she would sit under a tree while I ran + about playing. And every time I came back to her I would find her so pale, + so sad, crying—crying. That was when I would hide and come softly + back so that she would not hear me coming. ‘Oh, mother, why are you + crying? Does your lame foot hurt you?’ And one day she took me in her arms + and told me truly why she cried.” + </p> + <p> + She ceased speaking, but looked at me with a strange new light coming into + her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Why did she cry, my love?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Abel, can you understand—now—at last!” And putting her + lips close to my ear, she began to murmur soft, melodious sounds that told + me nothing. Then drawing back her head, she looked again at me, her eyes + glistening with tears, her lips half parted with a smile, tender and + wistful. + </p> + <p> + Ah, poor child! in spite of all that had been said, all that had happened, + she had returned to the old delusion that I must understand her speech. I + could only return her look, sorrowfully and in silence. + </p> + <p> + Her face became clouded with disappointment, then she spoke again with + something of pleading in her tone. “Look, we are not now apart, I hiding + in the wood, you seeking, but together, saying the same things. In your + language—yours and now mine. But before you came I knew nothing, + nothing, for there was only grandfather to talk to. A few words each day, + the same words. If yours is mine, mine must be yours. Oh, do you not know + that mine is better?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, better; but alas! Rima, I can never hope to understand your sweet + speech, much less to speak it. The bird that only chirps and twitters can + never sing like the organ-bird.” + </p> + <p> + Crying, she hid her face against my neck, murmuring sadly between her + sobs: “Never—never!” + </p> + <p> + How strange it seemed, in that moment of joy, such a passion of tears, + such despondent words! + </p> + <p> + For some minutes I preserved a sorrowful silence, realizing for the first + time, so far as it was possible to realize such a thing, what my inability + to understand her secret language meant to her—that finer language + in which alone her swift thoughts and vivid emotions could be expressed. + Easily and well as she seemed able to declare herself in my tongue, I + could well imagine that to her it would seem like the merest stammering. + As she had said to me once when I asked her to speak in Spanish, “That is + not speaking.” And so long as she could not commune with me in that better + language, which reflected her mind, there would not be that perfect union + of soul she so passionately desired. + </p> + <p> + By and by, as she grew calmer, I sought to say something that would be + consoling to both of us. “Sweetest Rima,” I spoke, “it is so sad that I + can never hope to talk with you in your way; but a greater love than this + that is ours we could never feel, and love will make us happy, unutterably + happy, in spite of that one sadness. And perhaps, after a while, you will + be able to say all you wish in my language, which is also yours, as you + said some time ago. When we are back again in the beloved wood, and talk + once more under that tree where we first talked, and under the old mora, + where you hid yourself and threw down leaves on me, and where you caught + the little spider to show me how you made yourself a dress, you shall + speak to me in your own sweet tongue, and then try to say the same things + in mine.... And in the end, perhaps, you will find that it is not so + impossible as you think.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at me, smiling again through her tears, and shook her head a + little. + </p> + <p> + “Remember what I have heard, that before your mother died you were able to + tell Nuflo and the priest what her wish was. Can you not, in the same way, + tell me why she cried?” + </p> + <p> + “I can tell you, but it will not be telling you.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand. You can tell the bare facts. I can imagine something more, + and the rest I must lose. Tell me, Rima.” + </p> + <p> + Her face became troubled; she glanced away and let her eyes wander round + the dim, firelit cavern; then they returned to mine once more. + </p> + <p> + “Look,” she said, “grandfather lying asleep by the fire. So far away from + us—oh, so far! But if we were to go out from the cave, and on and on + to the great mountains where the city of the sun is, and stood there at + last in the midst of great crowds of people, all looking at us, talking to + us, it would be just the same. They would be like the trees and rocks and + animals—so far! Not with us nor we with them. But we are everywhere + alone together, apart—we two. It is love; I know it now, but I did + not know it before because I had forgotten what she told me. Do you think + I can tell you what she said when I asked her why she cried? Oh no! Only + this, she and another were like one, always, apart from the others. Then + something came—something came! O Abel, was that the something you + told me about on the mountain? And the other was lost for ever, and she + was alone in the forests and mountains of the world. Oh, why do we cry for + what is lost? Why do we not quickly forget it and feel glad again? Now + only do I know what you felt, O sweet mother, when you sat still and + cried, while I ran about and played and laughed! O poor mother! Oh, what + pain!” And hiding her face against my neck, she sobbed once more. + </p> + <p> + To my eyes also love and sympathy brought the tears; but in a little while + the fond, comforting words I spoke and my caresses recalled her from that + sad past to the present; then, lying back as at first, her head resting on + my folded cloak, her body partly supported by my encircling arm and partly + by the rock we were leaning against, her half-closed eyes turned to mine + expressed a tender assured happiness—the chastened gladness of + sunshine after rain; a soft delicious languor that was partly passionate + with the passion etherealized. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me, Rima,” I said, bending down to her, “in all those troubled days + with me in the woods had you no happy moments? Did not something in your + heart tell you that it was sweet to love, even before you knew what love + meant?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; and once—O Abel, do you remember that night, after returning + from Ytaioa, when you sat so late talking by the fire—I in the + shadow, never stirring, listening, listening; you by the fire with the + light on your face, saying so many strange things? I was happy then—oh, + how happy! It was black night and raining, and I a plant growing in the + dark, feeling the sweet raindrops falling, falling on my leaves. Oh, it + will be morning by and by and the sun will shine on my wet leaves; and + that made me glad till I trembled with happiness. Then suddenly the + lightning would come, so bright, and I would tremble with fear, and wish + that it would be dark again. That was when you looked at me sitting in the + shadow, and I could not take my eyes away quickly and could not meet + yours, so that I trembled with fear.” + </p> + <p> + “And now there is no fear—no shadow; now you are perfectly happy?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, so happy! If the way back to the wood was longer, ten times, and if + the great mountains, white with snow on their tops, were between, and the + great dark forest, and rivers wider than Orinoco, still I would go alone + without fear, because you would come after me, to join me in the wood, to + be with me at last and always.” + </p> + <p> + “But I should not let you go alone, Rima—your lonely days are over + now.” + </p> + <p> + She opened her eyes wider and looked earnestly into my face. “I must go + back alone, Abel,” she said. “Before day comes I must leave you. Rest + here, with grandfather, for a few days and nights, then follow me.” + </p> + <p> + I heard her with astonishment. “It must not be, Rima,” I cried. “What, let + you leave me—now you are mine—to go all that distance, through + all that wild country where you might lose yourself and perish alone? Oh, + do not think of it!” + </p> + <p> + She listened, regarding me with some slight trouble in her eyes, but + smiling a little at the same time. Her small hand moved up my arm and + caressed my cheek; then she drew my face down to hers until our lips met. + But when I looked at her eyes again, I saw that she had not consented to + my wish. “Do I not know all the way now,” she spoke, “all the mountains, + rivers, forests—how should I lose myself? And I must return quickly, + not step by step, walking—resting, resting—walking, stopping + to cook and eat, stopping to gather firewood, to make a shelter—so + many things! Oh, I shall be back in half the time; and I have so much to + do.” + </p> + <p> + “What can you have to do, love?—everything can be done when we are + in the wood together.” + </p> + <p> + A bright smile with a touch of mockery in it flitted over her face as she + replied: “Oh, must I tell you that there are things you cannot do? Look, + Abel,” and she touched the slight garment she wore, thinner now than at + first, and dulled by long exposure to sun and wind and rain. + </p> + <p> + I could not command her, and seemed powerless to persuade her; but I had + not done yet, and proceeded to use every argument I could find to bring + her round to my view; and when I finished she put her arms around my neck + and drew herself up once more. “O Abel, how happy I shall be!” she said, + taking no notice of all I had said. “Think of me alone, days and days, in + the wood, waiting for you, working all the time; saying: ‘Come quickly, + Abel; come slow, Abel. O Abel, how long you are! Oh, do not come until my + work is finished!’ And when it is finished and you arrive you shall find + me, but not at once. First you will seek for me in the house, then in the + wood, calling: ‘Rima! Rima!’ And she will be there, listening, hid in the + trees, wishing to be in your arms, wishing for your lips—oh, so + glad, yet fearing to show herself. Do you know why? He told you—did + he not?—that when he first saw her she was standing before him all + in white—a dress that was like snow on the mountain-tops when the + sun is setting and gives it rose and purple colour. I shall be like that, + hidden among the trees, saying: ‘Am I different—not like Rima? Will + he know me—will he love me just the same?’ Oh, do I not know that + you will be glad, and love me, and call me beautiful? Listen! Listen!” she + suddenly exclaimed, lifting her face. + </p> + <p> + Among the bushes not far from the cave’s mouth a small bird had broken out + in song, a clear, tender melody soon taken up by other birds further away. + </p> + <p> + “It will soon be morning,” she said, and then clasped her arms about me + once more and held me in a long, passionate embrace; then slipping away + from my arms and with one swift glance at the sleeping old man, passed out + of the cave. + </p> + <p> + For a few moments I remained sitting, not yet realizing that she had left + me, so suddenly and swiftly had she passed from my arms and my sight; + then, recovering my faculties, I started up and rushed out in hopes of + overtaking her. + </p> + <p> + It was not yet dawn, but there was still some light from the full moon, + now somewhere behind the mountains. Running to the verge of the bushgrown + plateau, I explored the rocky slope beneath without seeing her form, and + then called: “Rima! Rima!” + </p> + <p> + A soft, warbling sound, uttered by no bird, came up from the shadowy + bushes far below; and in that direction I ran on; then pausing, called + again. The sweet sound was repeated once more, but much lower down now, + and so faintly that I scarcely heard it. And when I went on further and + called again and again, there was no reply, and I knew that she had indeed + gone on that long journey alone. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII + </h2> + <p> + When Nuflo at length opened his eyes he found me sitting alone and + despondent by the fire, just returned from my vain chase. I had been + caught in a heavy mist on the mountain-side, and was wet through as well + as weighed down by fatigue and drowsiness, consequent upon the previous + day’s laborious march and my night-long vigil; yet I dared not think of + rest. She had gone from me, and I could not have prevented it; yet the + thought that I had allowed her to slip out of my arms, to go away alone on + that long, perilous journey, was as intolerable as if I had consented to + it. + </p> + <p> + Nuflo was at first startled to hear of her sudden departure; but he + laughed at my fears, affirming that after having once been over the ground + she could not lose herself; that she would be in no danger from the + Indians, as she would invariably see them at a distance and avoid them, + and that wild beasts, serpents, and other evil creatures would do her no + harm. The small amount of food she required to sustain life could be found + anywhere; furthermore, her journey would not be interrupted by bad + weather, since rain and heat had no effect on her. In the end he seemed + pleased that she had left us, saying that with Rima in the wood the house + and cultivated patch and hidden provisions and implements would be safe, + for no Indian would venture to come where she was. His confidence + reassured me, and casting myself down on the sandy floor of the cave, I + fell into a deep slumber, which lasted until evening; then I only woke to + share a meal with the old man, and sleep again until the following day. + </p> + <p> + Nuflo was not ready to start yet; he was enamoured of the unaccustomed + comforts of a dry sleeping-place and a fire blown about by no wind and + into which fell no hissing raindrops. Not for two days more would he + consent to set out on the return journey, and if he could have persuaded + me our stay at Riolama would have lasted a week. + </p> + <p> + We had fine weather at starting; but before long it clouded, and then for + upwards of a fortnight we had it wet and stormy, which so hindered us that + it took us twenty-three days to accomplish the return journey, whereas the + journey out had only taken eighteen. The adventures we met with and the + pains we suffered during this long march need not be related. The rain + made us miserable, but we suffered more from hunger than from any other + cause, and on more than one occasion were reduced to the verge of + starvation. Twice we were driven to beg for food at Indian villages, and + as we had nothing to give in exchange for it, we got very little. It is + possible to buy hospitality from the savage without fish-hooks, nails, and + calico; but on this occasion I found myself without that impalpable medium + of exchange which had been so great a help to me on my first journey to + Parahuari. Now I was weak and miserable and without cunning. It is true + that we could have exchanged the two dogs for cassava bread and corn, but + we should then have been worse off than ever. And in the end the dogs + saved us by an occasional capture—an armadillo surprised in the open + and seized before it could bury itself in the soil, or an iguana, opossum, + or labba, traced by means of their keen sense of smell to its + hiding-place. Then Nuflo would rejoice and feast, rewarding them with the + skin, bones, and entrails. But at length one of the dogs fell lame, and + Nuflo, who was very hungry, made its lameness an excuse for dispatching + it, which he did apparently without compunction, notwithstanding that the + poor brute had served him well in its way. He cut up and smoke-dried the + flesh, and the intolerable pangs of hunger compelled me to share the + loathsome food with him. We were not only indecent, it seemed to me, but + cannibals to feed on the faithful servant that had been our butcher. “But + what does it matter?” I argued with myself. “All flesh, clean and unclean, + should be, and is, equally abhorrent to me, and killing animals a kind of + murder. But now I find myself constrained to do this evil thing that good + may come. Only to live I take it now—this hateful strength-giver + that will enable me to reach Rima, and the purer, better life that is to + be.” + </p> + <p> + During all that time, when we toiled onwards league after league in + silence, or sat silent by the nightly fire, I thought of many things; but + the past, with which I had definitely broken, was little in my mind. Rima + was still the source and centre of all my thoughts; from her they rose, + and to her returned. Thinking, hoping, dreaming, sustained me in those + dark days and nights of pain and privation. Imagination was the bread that + gave me strength, the wine that exhilarated. What sustained old Nuflo’s + mind I know not. Probably it was like a chrysalis, dormant, independent of + sustenance; the bright-winged image to be called at some future time to + life by a great shouting of angelic hosts and noises of musical + instruments slept secure, coffined in that dull, gross nature. + </p> + <p> + The old beloved wood once more! Never did his native village in some + mountain valley seem more beautiful to the Switzer, returning, war-worn, + from long voluntary exile, than did that blue cloud on the horizon—the + forest where Rima dwelt, my bride, my beautiful—and towering over it + the dark cone of Ytaioa, now seem to my hungry eyes! How near at last—how + near! And yet the two or three intervening leagues to be traversed so + slowly, step by step—how vast the distance seemed! Even at far + Riolama, when I set out on my return, I scarcely seemed so far from my + love. This maddening impatience told on my strength, which was small, and + hindered me. I could not run nor even walk fast; old Nuflo, slow, and + sober, with no flame consuming his heart, was more than my equal in the + end, and to keep up with him was all I could do. At the finish he became + silent and cautious, first entering the belt of trees leading away through + the low range of hills at the southern extremity of the wood. For a mile + or upwards we trudged on in the shade; then I began to recognize familiar + ground, the old trees under which I had walked or sat, and knew that a + hundred yards further on there would be a first glimpse of the palm-leaf + thatch. Then all weakness forsook me; with a low cry of passionate longing + and joy I rushed on ahead; but I strained my eyes in vain for a sight of + that sweet shelter; no patch of pale yellow colour appeared amidst the + universal verdure of bushes, creepers, and trees—trees beyond trees, + trees towering above trees. + </p> + <p> + For some moments I could not realize it. No, I had surely made a mistake, + the house had not stood on that spot; it would appear in sight a little + further on. I took a few uncertain steps onwards, and then again stood + still, my brain reeling, my heart swelling nigh to bursting with anguish. + I was still standing motionless, with hand pressed to my breast, when + Nuflo overtook me. “Where is it—the house?” I stammered, pointing + with my hand. All his stolidity seemed gone now; he was trembling too, his + lips silently moving. At length he spoke: “They have come—the + children of hell have been here, and have destroyed everything!” + </p> + <p> + “Rima! What has become of Rima?” I cried; but without replying he walked + on, and I followed. + </p> + <p> + The house, we soon found, had been burnt down. Not a stick remained. Where + it had stood a heap of black ashes covered the ground—nothing more. + But on looking round we could discover no sign of human beings having + recently visited the spot. A rank growth of grass and herbage now covered + the once clear space surrounding the site of the dwelling, and the + ash-heap looked as if it had been lying there for a month at least. As to + what had become of Rima the old man could say no word. He sat down on the + ground overwhelmed at the calamity: Runi’s people had been there, he could + not doubt it, and they would come again, and he could only look for death + at their hands. The thought that Rima had perished, that she was lost, was + unendurable. It could not be! No doubt the Indians tract come and + destroyed the house during our absence; but she had returned, and they had + gone away again to come no more. She would be somewhere in the forest, + perhaps not far off, impatiently waiting our return. The old man stared at + me while I spoke; he appeared to be in a kind of stupor, and made no + reply: and at last, leaving him still sitting on the ground, I went into + the wood to look for Rima. + </p> + <p> + As I walked there, occasionally stopping to peer into some shadowy glade + or opening, and to listen, I was tempted again and again to call the name + of her I sought aloud; and still the fear that by so doing I might bring + some hidden danger on myself, perhaps on her, made me silent. A strange + melancholy rested on the forest, a quietude seldom broken by a distant + bird’s cry. How, I asked myself, should I ever find her in that wide + forest while I moved about in that silent, cautious way? My only hope was + that she would find me. It occurred to me that the most likely place to + seek her would be some of the old haunts known to us both, where we had + talked together. I thought first of the mora tree, where she had hidden + herself from me, and thither I directed my steps. About this tree, and + within its shade, I lingered for upwards of an hour; and, finally, casting + my eyes up into the great dim cloud of green and purple leaves, I softly + called: “Rima, Rima, if you have seen me, and have concealed yourself from + me in your hiding-place, in mercy answer me—in mercy come down to me + now!” But Rima answered not, nor threw down any red glowing leaves to mock + me: only the wind, high up, whispered something low and sorrowful in the + foliage; and turning, I wandered away at random into the deeper shadows. + </p> + <p> + By and by I was startled by the long, piercing cry of a wildfowl, sounding + strangely loud in the silence; and no sooner was the air still again than + it struck me that no bird had uttered that cry. The Indian is a good mimic + of animal voices, but practice had made me able to distinguish the true + from the false bird-note. For a minute or so I stood still, at a loss what + to do, then moved on again with greater caution, scarcely breathing, + straining my sight to pierce the shadowy depths. All at once I gave a + great start, for directly before me, on the projecting root in the deeper + shade of a tree, sat a dark, motionless human form. I stood still, + watching it for some time, not yet knowing that it had seen me, when all + doubts were put to flight by the form rising and deliberately advancing—a + naked Indian with a zabatana in his hand. As he came up out of the deeper + shade I recognized Piake, the surly elder brother of my friend Kua-ko. + </p> + <p> + It was a great shock to meet him in the wood, but I had no time to reflect + just then. I only remembered that I had deeply offended him and his + people, that they probably looked on me as an enemy, and would think + little of taking my life. It was too late to attempt to escape by flight; + I was spent with my long journey and the many privations I had suffered, + while he stood there in his full strength with a deadly weapon in his + hand. + </p> + <p> + Nothing was left but to put a bold face on, greet him in a friendly way, + and invent some plausible story to account for my action in secretly + leaving the village. + </p> + <p> + He was now standing still, silently regarding me, and glancing round I saw + that he was not alone: at a distance of about forty yards on my right hand + two other dusky forms appeared watching me from the deep shade. + </p> + <p> + “Piake!” I cried, advancing three or four steps. + </p> + <p> + “You have returned,” he answered, but without moving. “Where from?” + </p> + <p> + “Riolama.” + </p> + <p> + He shook his head, then asked where it was. + </p> + <p> + “Twenty days towards the setting sun,” I said. As he remained silent I + added: “I heard that I could find gold in the mountains there. An old man + told me, and we went to look for gold.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you find?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” + </p> + <p> + And so our conversation appeared to be at an end. But after a few moments + my intense desire to discover whether the savages knew aught of Rima or + not made me hazard a question. + </p> + <p> + “Do you live here in the forest now?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + He shook his head, and after a while said: “We come to kill animals.” + </p> + <p> + “You are like me now,” I returned quickly; “you fear nothing.” + </p> + <p> + He looked distrustfully at me, then came a little nearer and said: “You + are very brave. I should not have gone twenty days’ journey with no + weapons and only an old man for companion. What weapons did you have?” + </p> + <p> + I saw that he feared me and wished to make sure that I had it not in my + power to do him some injury. “No weapon except my knife,” I replied, with + assumed carelessness. With that I raised my cloak so as to let him see for + himself, turning my body round before him. “Have you found my pistol?” I + added. + </p> + <p> + He shook his head; but he appeared less suspicious now and came close up + to me. “How do you get food? Where are you going?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + I answered boldly: “Food! I am nearly starving. I am going to the village + to see if the women have got any meat in the pot, and to tell Runi all I + have done since I left him.” + </p> + <p> + He looked at me keenly, a little surprised at my confidence perhaps, then + said that he was also going back and would accompany me One of the other + men now advanced, blow-pipe in hand, to join us, and, leaving the wood, we + started to walk across the savannah. + </p> + <p> + It was hateful to have to recross that savannah again, to leave the + woodland shadows where I had hoped to find Rima; but I was powerless: I + was a prisoner once more, the lost captive recovered and not yet pardoned, + probably never to be pardoned. Only by means of my own cunning could I be + saved, and Nuflo, poor old man, must take his chance. + </p> + <p> + Again and again as we tramped over the barren ground, and when we climbed + the ridge, I was compelled to stand still to recover breath, explaining to + Piake that I had been travelling day and night, with no meat during the + last three days, so that I was exhausted. This was an exaggeration, but it + was necessary to account in some way for the faintness I experienced + during our walk, caused less by fatigue and want of food than by anguish + of mind. + </p> + <p> + At intervals I talked to him, asking after all the other members of the + community by name. At last, thinking only of Rima, I asked him if any + other person or persons besides his people came to the wood now or lived + there. + </p> + <p> + He said no. “Once,” I said, “there was a daughter of the Didi, a girl you + all feared: is she there now?” + </p> + <p> + He looked at me with suspicion and then shook his head. I dared not press + him with more questions; but after an interval he said plainly: “She is + not there now.” + </p> + <p> + And I was forced to believe him; for had Rima been in the wood they would + not have been there. She was not there, this much I had discovered. Had + she, then, lost her way, or perished on that long journey from Riolama? Or + had she returned only to fall into the hands of her cruel enemies? My + heart was heavy in me; but if these devils in human shape knew more than + they had told me, I must, I said, hide my anxiety and wait patiently to + find it out, should they spare my life. And if they spared me and had not + spared that other sacred life interwoven with mine, the time would come + when they would find, too late, that they had taken to their bosom a worse + devil than themselves. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX + </h2> + <p> + My arrival at the village created some excitement; but I was plainly no + longer regarded as a friend or one of the family. Runi was absent, and I + looked forward to his return with no little apprehension; he would + doubtless decide my fate. Kua-ko was also away. The others sat or stood + about the great room, staring at me in silence. I took no notice, but + merely asked for food, then for my hammock, which I hung up in the old + place, and lying down I fell into a doze. Runi made his appearance at + dusk. I rose and greeted him, but he spoke no word and, until he went to + his hammock, sat in sullen silence, ignoring my presence. + </p> + <p> + On the following day the crisis came. We were once more gathered in the + room—all but Kua-ko and another of the men, who had not yet returned + from some expedition—and for the space of half an hour not a word + was spoken by anyone. Something was expected; even the children were + strangely still, and whenever one of the pet birds strayed in at the open + door, uttering a little plaintive note, it was chased out again, but + without a sound. At length Runi straightened himself on his seat and fixed + his eyes on me; then cleared his throat and began a long harangue, + delivered in the loud, monotonous singsong which I knew so well and which + meant that the occasion was an important one. And as is usual in such + efforts, the same thought and expressions were used again and again, and + yet again, with dull, angry insistence. The orator of Guayana to be + impressive must be long, however little he may have to say. Strange as it + may seem, I listened critically to him, not without a feeling of scorn at + his lower intelligence. But I was easier in my mind now. From the very + fact of his addressing such a speech to me I was convinced that he wished + not to take my life, and would not do so if I could clear myself of the + suspicion of treachery. + </p> + <p> + I was a white man, he said, they were Indians; nevertheless they had + treated me well. They had fed me and sheltered me. They had done a great + deal for me: they had taught me the use of the zabatana, and had promised + to make one for me, asking for nothing in return. They had also promised + me a wife. How had I treated them? I had deserted them, going away + secretly to a distance, leaving them in doubt as to my intentions. How + could they tell why I had gone, and where? They had an enemy. Managa was + his name; he and his people hated them; I knew that he wished them evil; I + knew where to find him, for they had told me. That was what they thought + when I suddenly left them. Now I returned to them, saying that I had been + to Riolama. He knew where Riolama was, although he had never been there: + it was so far. Why did I go to Riolama? It was a bad place. There were + Indians there, a few; but they were not good Indians like those of + Parahuari, and would kill a white man. HAD I gone there? Why had I gone + there? + </p> + <p> + He finished at last, and it was my turn to speak, but he had given me + plenty of time, and my reply was ready. “I have heard you,” I said. “Your + words are good words. They are the words of a friend. ‘I am the white + man’s friend,’ you say; ‘is he my friend? He went away secretly, saying no + word; why did he go without speaking to his friend who had treated him + well? Has he been to my enemy Managa? Perhaps he is a friend of my enemy? + Where has he been?’ I must now answer these things, saying true words to + my friend. You are an Indian, I am a white man. You do not know all the + white man’s thoughts. These are the things I wish to tell you. In the + white man’s country are two kinds of men. There are the rich men, who have + all that a man can desire—houses made of stone, full of fine things, + fine clothes, fine weapons, fine ornaments; and they have horses, cattle, + sheep, dogs—everything they desire. Because they have gold, for with + gold the white man buys everything. The other kind of white men are the + poor, who have no gold and cannot buy or have anything: they must work + hard for the rich man for the little food he gives them, and a rag to + cover their nakedness; and if he gives them shelter they have it; if not + they must lie down in the rain out of doors. In my own country, a hundred + days from here, I was the son of a great chief, who had much gold, and + when he died it was all mine, and I was rich. But I had an enemy, one + worse than Managa, for he was rich and had many people. And in a war his + people overcame mine, and he took my gold, and all I possessed, making me + poor. The Indian kills his enemy, but the white man takes his gold, and + that is worse than death. Then I said: ‘I have been a rich man and now I + am poor, and must work like a dog for some rich man, for the sake of the + little food he will throw me at the end of each day. No, I cannot do it! I + will go away and live with the Indians, so that those who have seen me a + rich man shall never see me working like a dog for a master, and cry out + and mock at me. For the Indians are not like white men: they have no gold; + they are not rich and poor; all are alike. One roof covers them from the + rain and sun. All have weapons which they make; all kill birds in the + forest and catch fish in the rivers; and the women cook the meat and all + eat from one pot. And with the Indians I will be an Indian, and hunt in + the forest and eat with them and drink with them.’ Then I left my country + and came here, and lived with you, Runi, and was well treated. And now, + why did I go away? This I have now to tell you. After I had been here a + certain time I went over there to the forest. You wished me not to go, + because of an evil thing, a daughter of the Didi, that lived there; but I + feared nothing and went. There I met an old man, who talked to me in the + white man’s language. He had travelled and seen much, and told me one + strange thing. On a mountain at Riolama he told me that he had seen a + great lump of gold, as much as a man could carry. And when I heard this I + said: ‘With the gold I could return to my country, and buy weapons for + myself and all my people and go to war with my enemy and deprive him of + all his possessions and serve him as he served me.’ I asked the old man to + take me to Riolama; and when he had consented I went away from here + without saying a word, so as not to be prevented. It is far to Riolama, + and I had no weapons; but I feared nothing. I said: ‘If I must fight I + must fight, and if I must be killed I must be killed.’ But when I got to + Riolama I found no gold. There was only a yellow stone which the old man + had mistaken for gold. It was yellow, like gold, but it would buy nothing. + Therefore I came back to Parahuari again, to my friend; and if he is angry + with me still because I went away without informing him, let him say: ‘Go + and seek elsewhere for a new friend, for I am your friend no longer.’” + </p> + <p> + I concluded thus boldly because I did not wish him to know that I had + suspected him of harbouring any sinister designs, or that I looked on our + quarrel as a very serious one. When I had finished speaking he emitted a + sound which expressed neither approval nor disapproval, but only the fact + that he had heard me. But I was satisfied. His expression had undergone a + favourable change; it was less grim. After a while he remarked, with a + peculiar twitching of the mouth which might have developed into a smile: + “The white man will do much to get gold. You walked twenty days to see a + yellow stone that would buy nothing.” It was fortunate that he took this + view of the case, which was flattering to his Indian nature, and perhaps + touched his sense of the ludicrous. At all events, he said nothing to + discredit my story, to which they had all listened with profound interest. + </p> + <p> + From that time it seemed to be tacitly agreed to let bygones be bygones; + and I could see that as the dangerous feeling that had threatened my life + diminished, the old pleasure they had once found in my company returned. + But my feelings towards them did not change, nor could they while that + black and terrible suspicion concerning Rima was in my heart. I talked + again freely with them, as if there had been no break in the old friendly + relations. If they watched me furtively whenever I went out of doors, I + affected not to see it. I set to work to repair my rude guitar, which had + been broken in my absence, and studied to show them a cheerful + countenance. But when alone, or in my hammock, hidden from their eyes, + free to look into my own heart, then I was conscious that something new + and strange had come into my life; that a new nature, black and + implacable, had taken the place of the old. And sometimes it was hard to + conceal this fury that burnt in me; sometimes I felt an impulse to spring + like a tiger on one of the Indians, to hold him fast by the throat until + the secret I wished to learn was forced from his lips, then to dash his + brains out against the stone. But they were many, and there was no choice + but to be cautious and patient if I wished to outwit them with a cunning + superior to their own. + </p> + <p> + Three days after my arrival at the village, Kua-ko returned with his + companion. I greeted him with affected warmth, but was really pleased that + he was back, believing that if the Indians knew anything of Rima he among + them all would be most likely to tell it. + </p> + <p> + Kua-ko appeared to have brought some important news, which he discussed + with Runi and the others; and on the following day I noticed that + preparations for an expedition were in progress. Spears and bows and + arrows were got ready, but not blow-pipes, and I knew by this that the + expedition would not be a hunting one. Having discovered so much, also + that only four men were going out, I called Kua-ko aside and begged him to + let me go with them. He seemed pleased at the proposal, and at once + repeated it to Runi, who considered for a little and then consented. + </p> + <p> + By and by he said, touching his bow: “You cannot fight with our weapons; + what will you do if we meet an enemy?” + </p> + <p> + I smiled and returned that I would not run away. All I wished to show him + was that his enemies were my enemies, that I was ready to fight for my + friend. + </p> + <p> + He was pleased at my words, and said no more and gave me no weapons. Next + morning, however, when we set out before daylight, I made the discovery + that he was carrying my revolver fastened to his waist. He had concealed + it carefully under the one simple garment he wore, but it bulged slightly, + and so the secret was betrayed. I had never believed that he had lost it, + and I was convinced that he took it now with the object of putting it into + my hands at the last moment in case of meeting with an enemy. + </p> + <p> + From the village we travelled in a north-westerly direction, and before + noon camped in a grove of dwarf trees, where we remained until the sun was + low, then continued our walk through a rather barren country. At night we + camped again beside a small stream, only a few inches deep, and after a + meal of smoked meat and parched maize prepared to sleep till dawn on the + next day. + </p> + <p> + Sitting by the fire I resolved to make a first attempt to discover from + Kua-ko anything concerning Rima which might be known to him. Instead of + lying down when the others did, I remained seated, my guardian also + sitting—no doubt waiting for me to lie down first. Presently I moved + nearer to him and began a conversation in a low voice, anxious not to + rouse the attention of the other men. + </p> + <p> + “Once you said that Oalava would be given to me for a wife,” I began. + “Some day I shall want a wife.” + </p> + <p> + He nodded approval, and remarked sententiously that the desire to possess + a wife was common to all men. + </p> + <p> + “What has been left to me?” I said despondingly and spreading out my + hands. “My pistol gone, and did I not give Runi the tinder-box, and the + little box with a cock painted on it to you? I had no return—not + even the blow-pipe. How, then, can I get me a wife?” + </p> + <p> + He, like the others—dull-witted savage that he was—had come to + the belief that I was incapable of the cunning and duplicity they + practiced. I could not see a green parrot sitting silent and motionless + amidst the green foliage as they could; I had not their preternatural + keenness of sight; and, in like manner, to deceive with lies and false + seeming was their faculty and not mine. He fell readily into the trap. My + return to practical subjects pleased him. He bade me hope that Oalava + might yet be mine in spite of my poverty. It was not always necessary to + have things to get a wife: to be able to maintain her was enough; some day + I would be like one of themselves, able to kill animals and catch fish. + Besides, did not Runi wish to keep me with them for other reasons? But he + could not keep me wifeless. I could do much: I could sing and make music; + I was brave and feared nothing; I could teach the children to fight. + </p> + <p> + He did not say, however, that I could teach anything to one of his years + and attainments. + </p> + <p> + I protested that he gave me too much praise, that they were just as brave. + Did they not show a courage equal to mine by going every day to hunt in + that wood which was inhabited by the daughter of the Didi? + </p> + <p> + I came to this subject with fear and trembling, but he took it quietly. He + shook his head, and then all at once began to tell me how they first came + to go there to hunt. He said that a few days after I had secretly + disappeared, two men and a woman, returning home from a distant place + where they had been on a visit to a relation, stopped at the village. + These travellers related that two days’ journey from Ytaioa they had met + three persons travelling in an opposite direction: an old man with a white + beard, followed by two yellow dogs, a young man in a big cloak, and a + strange-looking girl. Thus it came to be known that I had left the wood + with the old man and the daughter of the Didi. It was great news to them, + for they did not believe that we had any intention of returning, and at + once they began to hunt in the wood, and went there every day, killing + birds, monkeys, and other animals in numbers. + </p> + <p> + His words had begun to excite me greatly, but I studied to appear calm and + only slightly interested, so as to draw him on to say more. + </p> + <p> + “Then we returned,” I said at last. “But only two of us, and not together. + I left the old man on the road, and SHE left us in Riolama. She went away + from us into the mountains—who knows whither!” + </p> + <p> + “But she came back!” he returned, with a gleam of devilish satisfaction in + his eyes that made the blood run cold in my veins. + </p> + <p> + It was hard to dissemble still, to tempt him to say something that would + madden me! “No, no,” I answered, after considering his words. “She feared + to return; she went away to hide herself in the great mountains beyond + Riolama. She could not come back.” + </p> + <p> + “But she came back!” he persisted, with that triumphant gleam in his eyes + once more. Under my cloak my hand had clutched my knife-handle, but I + strove hard against the fierce, almost maddening impulse to pluck it out + and bury it, quick as lightning, in his accursed throat. + </p> + <p> + He continued: “Seven days before you returned we saw her in the wood. We + were always expecting, watching, always afraid; and when hunting we were + three and four together. On that day I and three others saw her. It was in + an open place, where the trees are big and wide apart. We started up and + chased her when she ran from us, but feared to shoot. And in one moment + she climbed up into a small tree, then, like a monkey, passed from its + highest branches into a big tree. We could not see her there, but she was + there in the big tree, for there was no other tree near—no way of + escape. Three of us sat down to watch, and the other went back to the + village. He was long gone; we were just going to leave the tree, fearing + that she would do us some injury, when he came back, and with him all the + others, men, women, and children. They brought axes and knives. Then Runi + said: ‘Let no one shoot an arrow into the tree thinking to hit her, for + the arrow would be caught in her hand and thrown back at him. We must burn + her in the tree; there is no way to kill her except by fire.’ Then we went + round and round looking up, but could see nothing; and someone said: ‘She + has escaped, flying like a bird from the tree’; but Runi answered that + fire would show. So we cut down the small tree and lopped the branches off + and heaped them round the big trunk. Then, at a distance, we cut down ten + more small trees, and afterwards, further away, ten more, and then others, + and piled them all round, tree after tree, until the pile reached as far + from the trunk as that,” and here he pointed to a bush forty to fifty + yards from where we sat. + </p> + <p> + The feeling with which I had listened to this recital had become + intolerable. The sweat ran from me in streams; I shivered like a person in + a fit of ague, and clenched my teeth together to prevent them from + rattling. “I must drink,” I said, cutting him short and rising to my feet. + He also rose, but did not follow me, when, with uncertain steps, I made my + way to the waterside, which was ten or twelve yards away. Lying prostrate + on my chest, I took a long draught of clear cold water, and held my face + for a few moments in the current. It sent a chill through me, drying my + wet skin, and bracing me for the concluding part of the hideous narrative. + Slowly I stepped back to the fireside and sat down again, while he resumed + his old place at my side. + </p> + <p> + “You burnt the tree down,” I said. “Finish telling me now and let me sleep—my + eyes are heavy.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. While the men cut and brought trees, the women and children gathered + dry stuff in the forest and brought it in their arms and piled it round. + Then they set fire to it on all sides, laughing and shouting: ‘Burn, burn, + daughter of the Didi!’ At length all the lower branches of the big tree + were on fire, and the trunk was on fire, but above it was still green, and + we could see nothing. But the flames went up higher and higher with a + great noise; and at last from the top of the tree, out of the green + leaves, came a great cry, like the cry of a bird: ‘Abel! Abel!’ and then + looking we saw something fall; through leaves and smoke and flame it fell + like a great white bird killed with an arrow and falling to the earth, and + fell into the flames beneath. And it was the daughter of the Didi, and she + was burnt to ashes like a moth in the flames of a fire, and no one has + ever heard or seen her since.” + </p> + <p> + It was well for me that he spoke rapidly, and finished quickly. Even + before he had quite concluded I drew my cloak round my face and stretched + myself out. And I suppose that he at once followed my example, but I had + grown blind and deaf to outward things just then. My heart no longer + throbbed violently; it fluttered and seemed to grow feebler and feebler in + its action: I remember that there was a dull, rushing sound in my ears, + that I gasped for breath, that my life seemed ebbing away. After these + horrible sensations had passed, I remained quiet for about half an hour; + and during this time the picture of that last act in the hateful tragedy + grew more and more distinct and vivid in my mind, until I seemed to be + actually gazing on it, until my ears were filled with the hissing and + crackling of the fire, the exultant shouts of the savages, and above all + the last piercing cry of “Abel! Abel!” from the cloud of burning foliage. + I could not endure it longer, and rose at last to my feet. I glanced at + Kua-ko lying two or three yards away, and he, like the others, was, or + appeared to be, in a deep sleep; he was lying on his back, and his dark + firelit face looked as still and unconscious as a face of stone. Now was + my chance to escape—if to escape was my wish. Yes; for I now + possessed the coveted knowledge, and nothing more was to be gained by + keeping with my deadly enemies. And now, most fortunately for me, they had + brought me far on the road to that place of the five hills where Managa + lived—Managa, whose name had been often in my mind since my return + to Parahuari. Glancing away from Kua-ko’s still stone-like face. I caught + sight of that pale solitary star which Runi had pointed out to me low down + in the north-western sky when I had asked him where his enemy lived. In + that direction we had been travelling since leaving the village; surely if + I walked all night, by tomorrow I could reach Managa’s hunting-ground, and + be safe and think over what I had heard and on what I had to do. + </p> + <p> + I moved softly away a few steps, then thinking that it would be well to + take a spear in my hand, I turned back, and was surprised and startled to + notice that Kua-ko had moved in the interval. He had turned over on his + side, and his face was now towards me. His eyes appeared closed, but he + might be only feigning sleep, and I dared not go back to pick up the + spear. After a moment’s hesitation I moved on again, and after a second + glance back and seeing that he did not stir, I waded cautiously across the + stream, walked softly twenty or thirty yards, and then began to run. At + intervals I paused to listen for a moment; and presently I heard a + pattering sound as of footsteps coming swiftly after me. I instantly + concluded that Kua-ko had been awake all the time watching my movements, + and that he was now following me. I now put forth my whole speed, and + while thus running could distinguish no sound. That he would miss me, for + it was very dark, although with a starry sky above, was my only hope; for + with no weapon except my knife my chances would be small indeed should he + overtake me. Besides, he had no doubt roused the others before starting, + and they would be close behind. There were no bushes in that place to hide + myself in and let them pass me; and presently, to make matters worse, the + character of the soil changed, and I was running over level clayey ground, + so white with a salt efflorescence that a dark object moving on it would + show conspicuously at a distance. Here I paused to look back and listen, + when distinctly came the sound of footsteps, and the next moment I made + out the vague form of an Indian advancing at a rapid rate of speed and + with his uplifted spear in his hand. In the brief pause I had made he had + advanced almost to within hurling distance of me, and turning, I sped on + again, throwing off my cloak to ease my flight. The next time I looked + back he was still in sight, but not so near; he had stopped to pick up my + cloak, which would be his now, and this had given me a slight advantage. I + fled on, and had continued running for a distance perhaps of fifty yards + when an object rushed past me, tearing through the flesh of my left arm + close to the shoulder on its way; and not knowing that I was not badly + wounded nor how near my pursuer might be, I turned in desperation to meet + him, and saw him not above twenty-five yards away, running towards me with + something bright in his hand. It was Kua-ko, and after wounding me with + his spear he was about to finish me with his knife. O fortunate young + savage, after such a victory, and with that noble blue cloth cloak for + trophy and covering, what fame and happiness will be yours! A change swift + as lightning had come over me, a sudden exultation. I was wounded, but my + right hand was sound and clutched a knife as good as his, and we were on + an equality. I waited for him calmly. All weakness, grief, despair had + vanished, all feelings except a terrible raging desire to spill his + accursed blood; and my brain was clear and my nerves like steel, and I + remembered with something like laughter our old amusing encounters with + rapiers of wood. Ah, that was only making believe and childish play; this + was reality. Could any white man, deprived of his treacherous, far-killing + weapon, meet the resolute savage, face to face and foot to foot, and equal + him with the old primitive weapons? Poor youth, this delusion will cost + you dear! It was scarcely an equal contest when he hurled himself against + me, with only his savage strength and courage to match my skill; in a few + moments he was lying at my feet, pouring out his life blood on that white + thirsty plain. From his prostrate form I turned, the wet, red knife in my + hand, to meet the others, still thinking that they were on the track and + close at hand. Why had he stooped to pick up the cloak if they were not + following—if he had not been afraid of losing it? I turned only to + receive their spears, to die with my face to them; nor was the thought of + death terrible to me; I could die calmly now after killing my first + assailant. But had I indeed killed him? I asked, hearing a sound like a + groan escape from his lips. Quickly stooping, I once more drove my weapon + to the hilt in his prostrate form, and when he exhaled a deep sigh, and + his frame quivered, and the blood spurted afresh, I experienced a feeling + of savage joy. And still no sound of hurrying footsteps came to my + listening ears and no vague forms appeared in the darkness. I concluded + that he had either left them sleeping or that they had not followed in the + right direction. Taking up the cloak, I was about to walk on, when I + noticed the spear he had thrown at me lying where it had fallen some yards + away, and picking that up also, I went on once more, still keeping the + guiding star before me. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX + </h2> + <p> + That good fight had been to me like a draught of wine, and made me for a + while oblivious of my loss and of the pain from my wound. But the glow and + feeling of exultation did not last: the lacerated flesh smarted; I was + weak from loss of blood, and oppressed with sensations of fatigue. If my + foes had appeared on the scene they would have made an easy conquest of + me; but they came not, and I continued to walk on, slowly and painfully, + pausing often to rest. + </p> + <p> + At last, recovering somewhat from my faint condition, and losing all fear + of being overtaken, my sorrow revived in full force, and thought returned + to madden me. + </p> + <p> + Alas! this bright being, like no other in its divine brightness, so long + in the making, now no more than a dead leaf, a little dust, lost and + forgotten for ever—oh, pitiless! Oh, cruel! + </p> + <p> + But I knew it all before—this law of nature and of necessity, + against which all revolt is idle: often had the remembrance of it filled + me with ineffable melancholy; only now it seemed cruel beyond all cruelty. + </p> + <p> + Not nature the instrument, not the keen sword that cuts into the bleeding + tissues, but the hand that wields it—the unseen unknown something, + or person, that manifests itself in the horrible workings of nature. + </p> + <p> + “Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that + moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, + that you cried not to him? To me was your cry; but your poor, frail fellow + creature was not there to save, or, failing that, to cast himself into the + flames and perish with you, hating God.” + </p> + <p> + Thus, in my insufferable pain, I spoke aloud; alone in that solitary + place, a bleeding fugitive in the dark night, looking up at the stars I + cursed the Author of my being and called on Him to take back the abhorred + gift of life. + </p> + <p> + Yet, according to my philosophy, how vain it was! All my bitterness and + hatred and defiance were as empty, as ineffectual, as utterly futile, as + are the supplications of the meek worshipper, and no more than the whisper + of a leaf, the light whirr of an insect’s wing. Whether I loved Him who + was over all, as when I thanked Him on my knees for guiding me to where I + had heard so sweet and mysterious a melody, or hated and defied Him as + now, it all came from Him—love and hate, good and evil. + </p> + <p> + But I know—I knew then—that in one thing my philosophy was + false, that it was not the whole truth; that though my cries did not touch + nor come near Him they would yet hurt me; and, just as a prisoner maddened + at his unjust fate beats against the stone walls of his cell until he + falls back bruised and bleeding to the floor, so did I wilfully bruise my + own soul, and knew that those wounds I gave myself would not heal. + </p> + <p> + Of that night, the beginning of the blackest period of my life, I shall + say no more; and over subsequent events I shall pass quickly. + </p> + <p> + Morning found me at a distance of many miles from the scene of my duel + with the Indian, in a broken, hilly country, varied with savannah and open + forest. I was well-nigh spent with my long march, and felt that unless + food was obtained before many hours my situation would be indeed + desperate. With labour I managed to climb to the summit of a hill about + three hundred feet high in order to survey the surrounding country, and + found that it was one of a group of five, and conjectured that these were + the five hills of Uritay and that I was in the neighbourhood of Managa’s + village. Coming down I proceeded to the next hill, which was higher; and + before reaching it came to a stream in a narrow valley dividing the hills, + and proceeding along its banks in search of a crossing-place, I came full + in sight of the settlement sought for. As I approached, people were seen + moving hurriedly about; and by the time I arrived, walking slowly and + painfully, seven or eight men were standing before the village’ some with + spears in their hands, the women and children behind them, all staring + curiously at me. Drawing near I cried out in a somewhat feeble voice that + I was seeking for Managa; whereupon a gray-haired man stepped forth, spear + in hand, and replied that he was Managa, and demanded to know why I sought + him. I told him a part of my story—enough to show that I had a + deadly feud with Runi, that I had escaped from him after killing one of + his people. + </p> + <p> + I was taken in and supplied with food; my wound was examined and dressed; + and then I was permitted to lie down and sleep, while Managa, with half a + dozen of his people, hurriedly started to visit the scene of my fight with + Kua-ko, not only to verify my story, but partly with the hope of meeting + Runi. I did not see him again until the next morning, when he informed me + that he had found the spot where I had been overtaken, that the dead man + had been discovered by the others and carried back towards Parahuari. He + had followed the trace for some distance, and he was satisfied that Runi + had come thus far in the first place only with the intention of spying on + him. + </p> + <p> + My arrival, and the strange tidings I had brought, had thrown the village + into a great commotion; it was evident that from that time Managa lived in + constant apprehension of a sudden attack from his old enemy. This gave me + great satisfaction; it was my study to keep the feeling alive, and, more + than that, to drop continual hints of his enemy’s secret murderous + purpose, until he was wrought up to a kind of frenzy of mingled fear and + rage. And being of a suspicious and somewhat truculent temper, he one day + all at once turned on me as the immediate cause of his miserable state, + suspecting perhaps that I only wished to make an instrument of him. But I + was strangely bold and careless of danger then, and only mocked at his + rage, telling him proudly that I feared him not; that Runi, his mortal + enemy and mine, feared not him but me; that Runi knew perfectly well where + I had taken refuge and would not venture to make his meditated attack + while I remained in his village, but would wait for my departure. “Kill + me, Managa,” I cried, smiting my chest as I stood facing him. “Kill me, + and the result will be that he will come upon you unawares and murder you + all, as he has resolved to do sooner or later.” + </p> + <p> + After that speech he glared at me in silence, then flung down the spear he + had snatched up in his sudden rage and stalked out of the house and into + the wood; but before long he was back again, seated in his old place, + brooding on my words with a face black as night. + </p> + <p> + It is painful to recall that secret dark chapter of my life—that + period of moral insanity. But I wish not to be a hypocrite, conscious or + unconscious, to delude myself or another with this plea of insanity. My + mind was very clear just then; past and present were clear to me; the + future clearest of all: I could measure the extent of my action and + speculate on its future effect, and my sense of right or wrong—of + individual responsibility—was more vivid than at any other period of + my life. Can I even say that I was blinded by passion? Driven, perhaps, + but certainly not blinded. For no reaction, or submission, had followed on + that furious revolt against the unknown being, personal or not, that is + behind nature, in whose existence I believed. I was still in revolt: I + would hate Him, and show my hatred by being like Him, as He appears to us + reflected in that mirror of Nature. Had He given me good gifts—the + sense of right and wrong and sweet humanity? The beautiful sacred flower + He had caused to grow in me I would crush ruthlessly; its beauty and + fragrance and grace would be dead for ever; there was nothing evil, + nothing cruel and contrary to my nature, that I would not be guilty of, + glorying in my guilt. This was not the temper of a few days: I remained + for close upon two months at Managa’s village, never repenting nor + desisting in my efforts to induce the Indians to join me in that most + barbarous adventure on which my heart was set. + </p> + <p> + I succeeded in the end; it would have been strange if I had not. The + horrible details need not be given. Managa did not wait for his enemy, but + fell on him unexpectedly, an hour after nightfall in his own village. If I + had really been insane during those two months, if some cloud had been on + me, some demoniacal force dragging me on, the cloud and insanity vanished + and the constraint was over in one moment, when that hellish enterprise + was completed. It was the sight of an old woman, lying where she had been + struck down, the fire of the blazing house lighting her wide-open glassy + eyes and white hair dabbled in blood, which suddenly, as by a miracle, + wrought this change in my brain. For they were all dead at last, old and + young, all who had lighted the fire round that great green tree in which + Rima had taken refuge, who had danced round the blaze, shouting: “Burn! + burn!” + </p> + <p> + At the moment my glance fell on that prostrate form I paused and stood + still, trembling like a person struck with a sudden pang in the heart, who + thinks that his last moment has come to him unawares. After a while I + slunk away out of the great circle of firelight into the thick darkness + beyond. Instinctively I turned towards the forests across the savannah—my + forest again; and fled away from the noise and the sight of flames, never + pausing until I found myself within the black shadow of the trees. Into + the deeper blackness of the interior I dared not venture; on the border I + paused to ask myself what I did there alone in the night-time. Sitting + down, I covered my face with my hands as if to hide it more effectually + than it could be hidden by night and the forest shadows. What horrible + thing, what calamity that frightened my soul to think of, had fallen on + me? The revulsion of feeling, the unspeakable horror, the remorse, was + more than I could bear. I started up with a cry of anguish, and would have + slain myself to escape at that moment; but Nature is not always and + utterly cruel, and on this occasion she came to my aid. Consciousness + forsook me, and I lived not again until the light of early morning was in + the east; then found myself lying on the wet herbage—wet with rain + that had lately fallen. My physical misery was now so great that it + prevented me from dwelling on the scenes witnessed on the previous + evening. Nature was again merciful in this. I only remembered that it was + necessary to hide myself, in case the Indians should be still in the + neighbourhood and pay the wood a visit. Slowly and painfully I crept away + into the forest, and there sat for several hours, scarcely thinking at + all, in a half-stupefied condition. At noon the sun shone out and dried + the wood. I felt no hunger, only a vague sense of bodily misery, and with + it the fear that if I left my hiding-place I might meet some human + creature face to face. This fear prevented me from stirring until the + twilight came, when I crept forth and made my way to the border of the + forest, to spend the night there. Whether sleep visited me during the dark + hours or not I cannot say: day and night my condition seemed the same; I + experienced only a dull sensation of utter misery which seemed in spirit + and flesh alike, an inability to think clearly, or for more than a few + moments consecutively, about anything. Scenes in which I had been + principal actor came and went, as in a dream when the will slumbers: now + with devilish ingenuity and persistence I was working on Managa’s mind; + now standing motionless in the forest listening for that sweet, mysterious + melody; now staring aghast at old Cla-cla’s wide-open glassy eyes and + white hair dabbled in blood; then suddenly, in the cave at Riolama, I was + fondly watching the slow return of life and colour to Rima’s still face. + </p> + <p> + When morning came again, I felt so weak that a vague fear of sinking down + and dying of hunger at last roused me and sent me forth in quest of food. + I moved slowly and my eyes were dim to see, but I knew so well where to + seek for small morsels—small edible roots and leaf-stalks, berries, + and drops of congealed gum—that it would have been strange in that + rich forest if I had not been able to discover something to stay my + famine. It was little, but it sufficed for the day. Once more Nature was + merciful to me; for that diligent seeking among the concealing leaves left + no interval for thought; every chance morsel gave a momentary pleasure, + and as I prolonged my search my steps grew firmer, the dimness passed from + my eyes. I was more forgetful of self, more eager, and like a wild animal + with no thought or feeling beyond its immediate wants. Fatigued at the + end, I fell asleep as soon as darkness brought my busy rambles to a close, + and did not wake until another morning dawned. + </p> + <p> + My hunger was extreme now. The wailing notes of a pair of small birds, + persistently flitting round me, or perched with gaping bills and wings + trembling with agitation, served to remind me that it was now + breeding-time; also that Rima had taught me to find a small bird’s nest. + She found them only to delight her eyes with the sight; but they would be + food for me; the crystal and yellow fluid in the gem-like, white or blue + or red-speckled shells would help to keep me alive. All day I hunted, + listening to every note and cry, watching the motions of every winged + thing, and found, besides gums and fruits, over a score of nests + containing eggs, mostly of small birds, and although the labour was great + and the scratches many, I was well satisfied with the result. + </p> + <p> + A few days later I found a supply of Haima gum, and eagerly began picking + it from the tree; not that it could be used, but the thought of the + brilliant light it gave was so strong in my mind that mechanically I + gathered it all. The possession of this gum, when night closed round me + again, produced in me an intense longing for artificial light and warmth. + The darkness was harder than ever to endure. I envied the fireflies their + natural lights, and ran about in the dusk to capture a few and hold them + in the hollow of my two hands, for the sake of their cold, fitful flashes. + On the following day I wasted two or three hours trying to get fire in the + primitive method with dry wood, but failed, and lost much time, and + suffered more than ever from hunger in consequence. Yet there was fire in + everything; even when I struck at hard wood with my knife, sparks were + emitted. If I could only arrest those wonderful heat- and light-giving + sparks! And all at once, as if I had just lighted upon some new, wonderful + truth, it occurred to me that with my steel hunting-knife and a piece of + flint fire could be obtained. Immediately I set about preparing tinder + with dry moss, rotten wood, and wild cotton; and in a short time I had the + wished fire, and heaped wood dry and green on it to make it large. I + nursed it well, and spent the night beside it; and it also served to roast + some huge white grubs which I had found in the rotten wood of a prostrate + trunk. The sight of these great grubs had formerly disgusted me; but they + tasted good to me now, and stayed my hunger, and that was all I looked for + in my wild forest food. + </p> + <p> + For a long time an undefined feeling prevented me from going near the site + of Nuflo’s burnt lodge. I went there at last; and the first thing I did + was to go all round the fatal spot, cautiously peering into the rank + herbage, as if I feared a lurking serpent; and at length, at some distance + from the blackened heap, I discovered a human skeleton, and knew it to be + Nuflo’s. In his day he had been a great armadillo-hunter, and these quaint + carrion-eaters had no doubt revenged themselves by devouring his flesh + when they found him dead—killed by the savages. + </p> + <p> + Having once returned to this spot of many memories, I could not quit it + again; while my wild woodland life lasted, here must I have my lair, and + being here I could not leave that mournful skeleton above ground. With + labour I excavated a pit to bury it, careful not to cut or injure a + broad-leafed creeper that had begun to spread itself over the spot; and + after refilling the hole I drew the long, trailing stems over the mound. + </p> + <p> + “Sleep well, old man,” said I, when my work was done; and these few words, + implying neither censure nor praise, was all the burial service that old + Nuflo had from me. + </p> + <p> + I then visited the spot where the old man, assisted by me, had concealed + his provisions before starting for Riolama, and was pleased to find that + it had not been discovered by the Indians. Besides the store of tobacco + leaf, maize, pumpkin, potatoes, and cassava bread, and the cooking + utensils, I found among other things a chopper—a great acquisition, + since with it I would be able to cut down small palms and bamboos to make + myself a hut. + </p> + <p> + The possession of a supply of food left me time for many things: time in + the first place to make my own conditions; doubtless after them there + would be further progression on the old lines—luxuries added to + necessaries; a healthful, fruitful life of thought and action combined; + and at last a peaceful, contemplative old age. + </p> + <p> + I cleared away ashes and rubbish, and marked out the very spot where + Rima’s separate bower had been for my habitation, which I intended to make + small. In five days it was finished; then, after lighting a fire, I + stretched myself out in my dry bed of moss and leaves with a feeling that + was almost triumphant. Let the rain now fall in torrents, putting out the + firefly’s lamp; let the wind and thunder roar their loudest, and the + lightnings smite the earth with intolerable light, frightening the poor + monkeys in their wet, leafy habitations, little would I heed it all on my + dry bed, under my dry, palm-leaf thatch, with glorious fire to keep me + company and protect me from my ancient enemy, Darkness. + </p> + <p> + From that first sleep under shelter I woke refreshed, and was not driven + by the cruel spur of hunger into the wet forest. The wished time had come + of rest from labour, of leisure for thought. Resting here, just where she + had rested, night by night clasping a visionary mother in her arms, + whispering tenderest words in a visionary ear, I too now clasped her in my + arms—a visionary Rima. How different the nights had seemed when I + was without shelter, before I had rediscovered fire! How had I endured it? + That strange ghostly gloom of the woods at night-time full of innumerable + strange shapes; still and dark, yet with something seen at times moving + amidst them, dark and vague and strange also—an owl, perhaps, or + bat, or great winged moth, or nightjar. Nor had I any choice then but to + listen to the night-sounds of the forest; and they were various as the + day-sounds, and for every day-sound, from the faintest lisping and softest + trill to the deep boomings and piercing cries, there was an analogue; + always with something mysterious, unreal in its tone, something proper to + the night. They were ghostly sounds, uttered by the ghosts of dead + animals; they were a hundred different things by turns, but always with a + meaning in them, which I vainly strove to catch—something to be + interpreted only by a sleeping faculty in us, lightly sleeping, and now, + now on the very point of awaking! + </p> + <p> + Now the gloom and the mystery were shut out; now I had that which stood in + the place of pleasure to me, and was more than pleasure. It was a mournful + rapture to lie awake now, wishing not for sleep and oblivion, hating the + thought of daylight that would come at last to drown and scare away my + vision. To be with Rima again—my lost Rima recovered—mine, + mine at last! No longer the old vexing doubt now—“You are you, and I + am I—why is it?”—the question asked when our souls were near + together, like two raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly nearer, + ever nearer: for now they had touched and were not two, but one + inseparable drop, crystallized beyond change, not to be disintegrated by + time, nor shattered by death’s blow, nor resolved by any alchemy. + </p> + <p> + I had other company besides this unfailing vision and the bright dancing + fire that talked to me in its fantastic fire language. It was my custom to + secure the door well on retiring; grief had perhaps chilled my blood, for + I suffered less from heat than from cold at this period, and the fire + seemed grateful all night long; I was also anxious to exclude all small + winged and creeping night-wanderers. But to exclude them entirely proved + impossible: through a dozen invisible chinks they would find their way to + me; also some entered by day to lie concealed until after nightfall. A + monstrous hairy hermit spider found an asylum in a dusky corner of the + hut, under the thatch, and day after day he was there, all day long, + sitting close and motionless; but at dark he invariably disappeared—who + knows on what murderous errand! His hue was a deep dead-leaf yellow, with + a black and grey pattern, borrowed from some wild cat; and so large was he + that his great outspread hairy legs, radiating from the flat disk of his + body, would have covered a man’s open hand. It was easy to see him in my + small interior; often in the night-time my eyes would stray to his corner, + never to encounter that strange hairy figure; but daylight failed not to + bring him. He troubled me; but now, for Rima’s sake, I could slay no + living thing except from motives of hunger. I had it in my mind to injure + him—to strike off one of his legs, which would not be missed much, + as they were many—so as to make him go away and return no more to so + inhospitable a place. But courage failed me. He might come stealthily back + at night to plunge his long, crooked farces into my throat, poisoning my + blood with fever and delirium and black death. So I left him alone, and + glanced furtively and fearfully at him, hoping that he had not divined any + thoughts; thus we lived on unsocially together. More companionable, but + still in an uncomfortable way, were the large crawling, running insects—crickets, + beetles, and others. They were shapely and black and polished, and ran + about here and there on the floor, just like intelligent little horseless + carriages; then they would pause with their immovable eyes fixed on me, + seeing or in some mysterious way divining my presence; their pliant horns + waving up and down, like delicate instruments used to test the air. + Centipedes and millipedes in dozens came too, and were not welcome. I + feared not their venom, but it was a weariness to see them; for they + seemed no living things, but the vertebrae of snakes and eels and long + slim fishes, dead and desiccated, made to move mechanically over walls and + floor by means of some jugglery of nature. I grew skilful at picking them + up with a pair of pliant green twigs, to thrust them into the outer + darkness. + </p> + <p> + One night a moth fluttered in and alighted on my hand as I sat by the + fire, causing me to hold my breath as I gazed on it. Its fore-wings were + pale grey, with shadings dark and light written all over in finest + characters with some twilight mystery or legend; but the round under-wings + were clear amber-yellow, veined like a leaf with red and purple veins; a + thing of such exquisite chaste beauty that the sight of it gave me a + sudden shock of pleasure. Very soon it flew up, circling about, and + finally lighted on the palm-leaf thatch directly over the fire. The heat, + I thought, would soon drive it from the spot; and, rising, I opened the + door, so that it might find its way out again into its own cool, dark, + flowery world. And standing by the open door I turned and addressed it: “O + night-wanderer of the pale, beautiful wings, go forth, and should you by + chance meet her somewhere in the shadowy depths, revisiting her old + haunts, be my messenger—” Thus much had I spoken when the frail + thing loosened its hold to fall without a flutter, straight and swift, + into the white blaze beneath. I sprang forward with a shriek and stood + staring into the fire, my whole frame trembling with a sudden terrible + emotion. Even thus had Rima fallen—fallen from the great height—into + the flames that instantly consumed her beautiful flesh and bright spirit! + O cruel Nature! + </p> + <p> + A moth that perished in the flame; an indistinct faint sound; a dream in + the night; the semblance of a shadowy form moving mist-like in the + twilight gloom of the forest, would suddenly bring back a vivid memory, + the old anguish, to break for a while the calm of that period. It was calm + then after the storm. Nevertheless, my health deteriorated. I ate little + and slept little and grew thin and weak. When I looked down on the dark, + glassy forest pool, where Rima would look no more to see herself so much + better than in the small mirror of her lover’s pupil, it showed me a + gaunt, ragged man with a tangled mass of black hair falling over his + shoulders, the bones of his face showing through the dead-looking, + sun-parched skin, the sunken eyes with a gleam in them that was like + insanity. + </p> + <p> + To see this reflection had a strangely disturbing effect on me. A + torturing voice would whisper in my ear: “Yes, you are evidently going + mad. By and by you will rush howling through the forest, only to drop down + at last and die; and no person will ever find and bury your bones. Old + Nuflo was more fortunate in that he perished first.” + </p> + <p> + “A lying voice!” I retorted in sudden anger. “My faculties were never + keener than now. Not a fruit can ripen but I find it. If a small bird + darts by with a feather or straw in its bill I mark its flight, and it + will be a lucky bird if I do not find its nest in the end. Could a savage + born in the forest do more? He would starve where I find food!” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, yes, there is nothing wonderful in that,” answered the voice. “The + stranger from a cold country suffers less from the heat, when days are + hottest, than the Indian who knows no other climate. But mark the result! + The stranger dies, while the Indian, sweating and gasping for breath, + survives. In like manner the low-minded savage, cut off from all human + fellowship, keeps his faculties to the end, while your finer brain proves + your ruin.” + </p> + <p> + I cut from a tree a score of long, blunt thorns, tough and black as + whalebone, and drove them through a strip of wood in which I had burnt a + row of holes to receive them, and made myself a comb, and combed out my + long, tangled hair to improve my appearance. + </p> + <p> + “It is not the tangled condition of your hair,” persisted the voice, “but + your eyes, so wild and strange in their expression, that show the approach + of madness. Make your locks as smooth as you like, and add a garland of + those scarlet, star-shaped blossoms hanging from the bush behind you—crown + yourself as you crowned old Cla-cla—but the crazed look will remain + just the same.” + </p> + <p> + And being no longer able to reply, rage and desperation drove me to an act + which only seemed to prove that the hateful voice had prophesied truly. + Taking up a stone, I hurled it down on the water to shatter the image I + saw there, as if it had been no faithful reflection of myself, but a + travesty, cunningly made of enamelled clay or some other material, and put + there by some malicious enemy to mock me. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI + </h2> + <p> + Many days had passed since the hut was made—how many may not be + known, since I notched no stick and knotted no cord—yet never in my + rambles in the wood had I seen that desolate ash-heap where the fire had + done its work. Nor had I looked for it. On the contrary, my wish was never + to see it, and the fear of coming accidentally upon it made me keep to the + old familiar paths. But at length, one night, without thinking of Rima’s + fearful end, it all at once occurred to me that the hated savage whose + blood I had shed on the white savannah might have only been practicing his + natural deceit when he told me that most pitiful story. If that were so—if + he had been prepared with a fictitious account of her death to meet my + questions—then Rima might still exist: lost, perhaps, wandering in + some distant place, exposed to perils day and night, and unable to find + her way back, but living still! Living! her heart on fire with the hope of + reunion with me, cautiously threading her way through the undergrowth of + immeasurable forests; spying out the distant villages and hiding herself + from the sight of all men, as she knew so well how to hide; studying the + outlines of distant mountains, to recognize some familiar landmark at + last, and so find her way back to the old wood once more! Even now, while + I sat there idly musing, she might be somewhere in the wood—somewhere + near me; but after so long an absence full of apprehension, waiting in + concealment for what tomorrow’s light might show. + </p> + <p> + I started up and replenished the fire with trembling hands, then set the + door open to let the welcoming stream out into the wood. But Rima had done + more; going out into the black forest in the pitiless storm, she had found + and led me home. Could I do less! I was quickly out in the shadows of the + wood. Surely it was more than a mere hope that made my heart beat so + wildly! How could a sensation so strangely sudden, so irresistible in its + power, possess me unless she were living and near? Can it be, can it be + that we shall meet again? To look again into your divine eyes—to + hold you again in my arms at last! I so changed—so different! But + the old love remains; and of all that has happened in your absence I shall + tell you nothing—not one word; all shall be forgotten now—sufferings, + madness, crime, remorse! Nothing shall ever vex you again—not Nuflo, + who vexed you every day; for he is dead now—murdered, only I shall + not say that—and I have decently buried his poor old sinful bones. + We alone together in the wood—OUR wood now! The sweet old days + again; for I know that you would not have it different, nor would I. + </p> + <p> + Thus I talked to myself, mad with the thoughts of the joy that would soon + be mine; and at intervals I stood still and made the forest echo with my + calls. “Rima! Rima!” I called again and again, and waited for some + response; and heard only the familiar night-sounds—voices of insect + and bird and tinkling tree-frog, and a low murmur in the topmost foliage, + moved by some light breath of wind unfelt below. I was drenched with dew, + bruised and bleeding from falls in the dark, and from rocks and thorns and + rough branches, but had felt nothing; gradually the excitement burnt + itself out; I was hoarse with shouting and ready to drop down with + fatigue, and hope was dead: and at length I crept back to my hut, to cast + myself on my grass bed and sink into a dull, miserable, desponding stupor. + </p> + <p> + But on the following morning I was out once more, determined to search the + forest well; since, if no evidence of the great fire Kua-ko had described + to me existed, it would still be possible to believe that he had lied to + me, and that Rima lived. I searched all day and found nothing; but the + area was large, and to search it thoroughly would require several days. + </p> + <p> + On the third day I discovered the fatal spot, and knew that never again + would I behold Rima in the flesh, that my last hope had indeed been a vain + one. There could be no mistake: just such an open place as the Indian had + pictured to me was here, with giant trees standing apart; while one tree + stood killed and blackened by fire, surrounded by a huge heap, sixty or + seventy yards across, of prostrate charred tree-trunks and ashes. Here and + there slender plants had sprung up through the ashes, and the omnipresent + small-leaved creepers were beginning to throw their pale green embroidery + over the blackened trunks. I looked long at the vast funeral tree that had + a buttressed girth of not less than fifty feet, and rose straight as a + ship’s mast, with its top about a hundred and fifty feet from the earth. + What a distance to fall, through burning leaves and smoke, like a white + bird shot dead with a poisoned arrow, swift and straight into that sea of + flame below! How cruel imagination was to turn that desolate ash-heap, in + spite of feathery foliage and embroidery of creepers, into roaring leaping + flames again—to bring those dead savages back, men, women, and + children—even the little ones I had played with—to set them + yelling around me: “Burn! burn!” Oh, no, this damnable spot must not be + her last resting-place! If the fire had not utterly consumed her, bones as + well as sweet tender flesh, shrivelling her like a frail white-winged moth + into the finest white ashes, mixed inseparably with the ashes of stems and + leaves innumerable, then whatever remained of her must be conveyed + elsewhere to be with me, to mingle with my ashes at last. + </p> + <p> + Having resolved to sift and examine the entire heap, I at once set about + my task. If she had climbed into the central highest branch, and had + fallen straight, then she would have dropped into the flames not far from + the roots; and so to begin I made a path to the trunk, and when darkness + overtook me I had worked all round the tree, in a width of three to four + yards, without discovering any remains. At noon on the following day I + found the skeleton, or, at all events, the larger bones, rendered so + fragile by the fierce heat they had been subjected to, that they fell to + pieces when handled. But I was careful—how careful!—to save + these last sacred relics, all that was now left of Rima!—kissing + each white fragment as I lifted it, and gathering them all in my old + frayed cloak, spread out to receive them. And when I had recovered them + all, even to the smallest, I took my treasure home. + </p> + <p> + Another storm had shaken my soul, and had been succeeded by a second calm, + which was more complete and promised to be more enduring than the first. + But it was no lethargic calm; my brain was more active than ever; and by + and by it found a work for my hands to do, of such a character as to + distinguish me from all other forest hermits, fugitives from their + fellows, in that savage land. The calcined bones I had rescued were kept + in one of the big, rudely shaped, half-burnt earthen jars which Nuflo had + used for storing grain and other food-stuff. It was of a wood-ash colour; + and after I had given up my search for the peculiar fine clay he had used + in its manufacture—for it had been in my mind to make a more shapely + funeral urn myself—I set to work to ornament its surface. A portion + of each day was given to this artistic labour; and when the surface was + covered with a pattern of thorny stems, and a trailing creeper with + curving leaf and twining tendril, and pendent bud and blossom, I gave it + colour. Purples and black only were used, obtained from the juices of some + deeply coloured berries; and when a tint, or shade, or line failed to + satisfy me I erased it, to do it again; and this so often that I never + completed my work. I might, in the proudly modest spirit of the old + sculptors, have inscribed on the vase the words: Abel was doing this. For + was not my ideal beautiful like theirs, and the best that my art could do + only an imperfect copy—a rude sketch? A serpent was represented + wound round the lower portion of the jar, dull-hued, with a chain of + irregular black spots or blotches extending along its body; and if any + person had curiously examined these spots he would have discovered that + every other one was a rudely shaped letter, and that the letters, by being + properly divided, made the following words: + </p> + <p> + Sin vos y siu dios y mi. + </p> + <p> + Words that to some might seem wild, even insane in their extravagance, + sung by some ancient forgotten poet; or possibly the motto of some + love-sick knight-errant, whose passion was consumed to ashes long + centuries ago. But not wild nor insane to me, dwelling alone on a vast + stony plain in everlasting twilight, where there was no motion, nor any + sound; but all things, even trees, ferns, and grasses, were stone. And in + that place I had sat for many a thousand years, drawn up and motionless, + with stony fingers clasped round my legs, and forehead resting on my + knees; and there would I sit, unmoving, immovable, for many a thousand + years to come—I, no longer I, in a universe where she was not, and + God was not. + </p> + <p> + The days went by, and to others grouped themselves into weeks and months; + to me they were only days—not Saturday, Sunday, Monday, but + nameless. They were so many and their sum so great that all my previous + life, all the years I had existed before this solitary time, now looked + like a small island immeasurably far away, scarcely discernible, in the + midst of that endless desolate waste of nameless days. + </p> + <p> + My stock of provisions had been so long consumed that I had forgotten the + flavour of pulse and maize and pumpkins and purple and sweet potatoes. For + Nuflo’s cultivated patch had been destroyed by the savages—not a + stem, not a root had they left: and I, like the sorrowful man that broods + on his sorrow and the artist who thinks only of his art, had been + improvident and had consumed the seed without putting a portion into the + ground. Only wild food, and too little of that, found with much seeking + and got with many hurts. Birds screamed at and scolded me; branches + bruised and thorns scratched me; and still worse were the angry clouds of + waspish things no bigger than flies. Buzz—buzz! Sting—sting! A + serpent’s tooth has failed to kill me; little do I care for your small + drops of fiery venom so that I get at the spoil—grubs and honey. My + white bread and purple wine! Once my soul hungered after knowledge; I took + delight in fine thoughts finely expressed; I sought them carefully in + printed books: now only this vile bodily hunger, this eager seeking for + grubs and honey, and ignoble war with little things! + </p> + <p> + A bad hunter I proved after larger game. Bird and beast despised my + snares, which took me so many waking hours at night to invent, so many + daylight hours to make. Once, seeing a troop of monkeys high up in the + tall trees, I followed and watched them for a long time, thinking how + royally I should feast if by some strange unheard-of accident one were to + fall disabled to the ground and be at my mercy. But nothing impossible + happened, and I had no meat. What meat did I ever have except an + occasional fledgling, killed in its cradle, or a lizard, or small + tree-frog detected, in spite of its green colour, among the foliage? I + would roast the little green minstrel on the coals. Why not? Why should he + live to tinkle on his mandolin and clash his airy cymbals with no + appreciative ear to listen? Once I had a different and strange kind of + meat; but the starved stomach is not squeamish. I found a serpent coiled + up in my way in a small glade, and arming myself with a long stick, I + roused him from his siesta and slew him without mercy. Rima was not there + to pluck the rage from my heart and save his evil life. No coral snake + this, with slim, tapering body, ringed like a wasp with brilliant colour; + but thick and blunt, with lurid scales, blotched with black; also a broad, + flat, murderous head, with stony, ice-like, whity-blue eyes, cold enough + to freeze a victim’s blood in its veins and make it sit still, like some + wide-eyed creature carved in stone, waiting for the sharp, inevitable + stroke—so swift at last, so long in coming. “O abominable flat head, + with icy-cold, humanlike, fiend-like eyes, I shall cut you off and throw + you away!” And away I flung it, far enough in all conscience: yet I walked + home troubled with a fancy that somewhere, somewhere down on the black, + wet soil where it had fallen, through all that dense, thorny tangle and + millions of screening leaves, the white, lidless, living eyes were + following me still, and would always be following me in all my goings and + comings and windings about in the forest. And what wonder? For were we not + alone together in this dreadful solitude, I and the serpent, eaters of the + dust, singled out and cursed above all cattle? HE would not have bitten + me, and I—faithless cannibal!—had murdered him. That cursed + fancy would live on, worming itself into every crevice of my mind; the + severed head would grow and grow in the night-time to something monstrous + at last, the hellish white lidless eyes increasing to the size of two full + moons. “Murderer! murderer!” they would say; “first a murderer of your own + fellow creatures—that was a small crime; but God, our enemy, had + made them in His image, and He cursed you; and we two were together, alone + and apart—you and I, murderer! you and I, murderer!” + </p> + <p> + I tried to escape the tyrannous fancy by thinking of other things and by + making light of it. “The starved, bloodless brain,” I said, “has strange + thoughts.” I fell to studying the dark, thick, blunt body in my hands; I + noticed that the livid, rudely blotched, scaly surface showed in some + lights a lovely play of prismatic colours. And growing poetical, I said: + “When the wild west wind broke up the rainbow on the flying grey cloud and + scattered it over the earth, a fragment doubtless fell on this reptile to + give it that tender celestial tint. For thus it is Nature loves all her + children, and gives to each some beauty, little or much; only to me, her + hated stepchild, she gives no beauty, no grace. But stay, am I not + wronging her? Did not Rima, beautiful above all things, love me well? said + she not that I was beautiful?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, yes, that was long ago,” spoke the voice that mocked me by the pool + when I combed out my tangled hair. “Long ago, when the soul that looked + from your eyes was not the accursed thing it is now. Now Rima would start + at the sight of them; now she would fly in terror from their insane + expression.” + </p> + <p> + “O spiteful voice, must you spoil even such appetite as I have for this + fork-tongued spotty food? You by day and Rima by night—what shall I + do—what shall I do?” + </p> + <p> + For it had now come to this, that the end of each day brought not sleep + and dreams, but waking visions. Night by night, from my dry grass bed I + beheld Nuflo sitting in his old doubled-up posture, his big brown feet + close to the white ashes—sitting silent and miserable. I pitied him; + I owed him hospitality; but it seemed intolerable that he should be there. + It was better to shut my eyes; for then Rima’s arms would be round my + neck; the silky mist of her hair against my face, her flowery breath + mixing with my breath. What a luminous face was hers! Even with closeshut + eyes I could see it vividly, the translucent skin showing the radiant rose + beneath, the lustrous eyes, spiritual and passionate, dark as purple wine + under their dark lashes. Then my eyes would open wide. No Rima in my arms! + But over there, a little way back from the fire, just beyond where old + Nuflo had sat brooding a few minutes ago, Rima would be standing, still + and pale and unspeakably sad. Why does she come to me from the outside + darkness to stand there talking to me, yet never once lifting her mournful + eyes to mine? “Do not believe it, Abel; no, that was only a phantom of + your brain, the What-I-was that you remember so well. For do you not see + that when I come she fades away and is nothing? Not that—do not ask + it. I know that I once refused to look into your eyes, and afterwards, in + the cave at Riolama, I looked long and was happy—unspeakably happy! + But now—oh, you do not know what you ask; you do not know the sorrow + that has come into mine; that if you once beheld it, for very sorrow you + would die. And you must live. But I will wait patiently, and we shall be + together in the end, and see each other without disguise. Nothing shall + divide us. Only wish not for it soon; think not that death will ease your + pain, and seek it not. Austerities? Good works? Prayers? They are not + seen; they are not heard, they are less-than nothing, and there is no + intercession. I did not know it then, but you knew it. Your life was your + own; you are not saved nor judged! acquit yourself—undo that which + you have done, which Heaven cannot undo—and Heaven will say no word + nor will I. You cannot, Abel, you cannot. That which you have done is + done, and yours must be the penalty and the sorrow—yours and mine—yours + and mine—yours and mine.” + </p> + <p> + This, too, was a phantom, a Rima of the mind, one of the shapes the + ever-changing black vapours of remorse and insanity would take; and all + her mournful sentences were woven out of my own brain. I was not so crazed + as not to know it; only a phantom, an illusion, yet more real than reality—real + as my crime and vain remorse and death to come. It was, indeed, Rima + returned to tell me that I that loved her had been more cruel to her than + her cruellest enemies; for they had but tortured and destroyed her body + with fire, while I had cast this shadow on her soul—this sorrow + transcending all sorrows, darker than death, immitigable, eternal. + </p> + <p> + If I could only have faded gradually, painlessly, growing feebler in body + and dimmer in my senses each day, to sink at last into sleep! But it could + not be. Still the fever in my brain, the mocking voice by day, the + phantoms by night; and at last I became convinced that unless I quitted + the forest before long, death would come to me in some terrible shape. But + in the feeble condition I was now in, and without any provisions, to + escape from the neighbourhood of Parahuari was impossible, seeing that it + was necessary at starting to avoid the villages where the Indians were of + the same tribe as Runi, who would recognize me as the white man who was + once his guest and afterwards his implacable enemy. I must wait, and in + spite of a weakened body and a mind diseased, struggle still to wrest a + scanty subsistence from wild nature. + </p> + <p> + One day I discovered an old prostrate tree, buried under a thick growth of + creeper and fern, the wood of which was nearly or quite rotten, as I + proved by thrusting my knife to the heft in it. No doubt it would contain + grubs—those huge, white wood-borers which now formed an important + item in my diet. On the following day I returned to the spot with a + chopper and a bundle of wedges to split the trunk up, but had scarcely + commenced operations when an animal, startled at my blows, rushed or + rather wriggled from its hiding-place under the dead wood at a distance of + a few yards from me. It was a robust, round-headed, short-legged creature, + about as big as a good-sized cat, and clothed in a thick, greenish-brown + fur. The ground all about was covered with creepers, binding the ferns, + bushes, and old dead branches together; and in this confused tangle the + animal scrambled and tore with a great show of energy, but really made + very little progress; and all at once it flashed into my mind that it was + a sloth—a common animal, but rarely seen on the ground—with no + tree near to take refuge in. The shock of joy this discovery produced was + great enough to unnerve me, and for some moments I stood trembling, hardly + able to breathe; then recovering I hastened after it, and stunned it with + a blow from my chopper on its round head. + </p> + <p> + “Poor sloth!” I said as I stood over it. “Poor old lazy-bones! Did Rima + ever find you fast asleep in a tree, hugging a branch as if you loved it, + and with her little hand pat your round, human-like head; and laugh + mockingly at the astonishment in your drowsy, waking eyes; and scold you + tenderly for wearing your nails so long, and for being so ugly? Lazybones, + your death is revenged! Oh, to be out of this wood—away from this + sacred place—to be anywhere where killing is not murder!” + </p> + <p> + Then it came into my mind that I was now in possession of the supply of + food which would enable me to quit the wood. A noble capture! As much to + me as if a stray, migratory mule had rambled into the wood and found me, + and I him. Now I would be my own mule, patient, and long-suffering, and + far-going, with naked feet hardened to hoofs, and a pack of provender on + my back to make me independent of the dry, bitter grass on the sunburnt + savannahs. + </p> + <p> + Part of that night and the next morning was spent in curing the flesh over + a smoky fire of green wood and in manufacturing a rough sack to store it + in, for I had resolved to set out on my journey. How safely to convey + Rima’s treasured ashes was a subject of much thought and anxiety. The clay + vessel on which I had expended so much loving, sorrowful labour had to be + left, being too large and heavy to carry; eventually I put the fragments + into a light sack; and in order to avert suspicion from the people I would + meet on the way, above the ashes I packed a layer of roots and bulbs. + These I would say contained medicinal properties, known to the white + doctors, to whom I would sell them on my arrival at a Christian + settlement, and with the money buy myself clothes to start life afresh. + </p> + <p> + On the morrow I would bid a last farewell to that forest of many memories. + And my journey would be eastwards, over a wild savage land of mountains, + rivers, and forests, where every dozen miles would be like a hundred of + Europe; but a land inhabited by tribes not unfriendly to the stranger. And + perhaps it would be my good fortune to meet with Indians travelling east + who would know the easiest routes; and from time to time some + compassionate voyager would let me share his wood-skin, and many leagues + would be got over without weariness, until some great river, flowing + through British or Dutch Guiana, would be reached; and so on, and on, by + slow or swift stages, with little to eat perhaps, with much labour and + pain, in hot sun and in storm, to the Atlantic at last, and towns + inhabited by Christian men. + </p> + <p> + In the evening of that day, after completing my preparations, I supped on + the remaining portions of the sloth, not suitable for preservation, + roasting bits of fat on the coals and boiling the head and bones into a + broth; and after swallowing the liquid I crunched the bones and sucked the + marrow, feeding like some hungry carnivorous animal. + </p> + <p> + Glancing at the fragments scattered on the floor, I remembered old Nuflo, + and how I had surprised him at his feast of rank coatimundi in his secret + retreat. “Nuflo, old neighbour,” said I, “how quiet you are under your + green coverlet, spangled just now with yellow flowers! It is no sham + sleep, old man, I know. If any suspicion of these curious doings, this + feast of flesh on a spot once sacred, could flit like a small moth into + your mouldy hollow skull you would soon thrust out your old nose to sniff + the savour of roasting fat once more.” + </p> + <p> + There was in me at that moment an inclination to laughter; it came to + nothing, but affected me strangely, like an impulse I had not experienced + since boyhood—familiar, yet novel. After the good-night to my + neighbour, I tumbled into my straw and slept soundly, animal-like. No + fancies and phantoms that night: the lidless, white, implacable eyes of + the serpent’s severed head were turned to dust at last; no sudden + dream-glare lighted up old Cla-cla’s wrinkled dead face and white, + blood-dabbled locks; old Nuflo stayed beneath his green coverlet; nor did + my mournful spirit-bride come to me to make my heart faint at the thought + of immortality. + </p> + <p> + But when morning dawned again, it was bitter to rise up and go away for + ever from that spot where I had often talked with Rima—the true and + the visionary. The sky was cloudless and the forest wet as if rain had + fallen; it was only a heavy dew, and it made the foliage look pale and + hoary in the early light. And the light grew, and a whispering wind sprung + as I walked through the wood; and the fast-evaporating moisture was like a + bloom on the feathery fronds and grass and rank herbage; but on the higher + foliage it was like a faint iridescent mist—a glory above the trees. + The everlasting beauty and freshness of nature was over all again, as I + had so often seen it with joy and adoration before grief and dreadful + passions had dimmed my vision. And now as I walked, murmuring my last + farewell, my eyes grew dim again with the tears that gathered to them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII + </h2> + <p> + Before that well-nigh hopeless journey to the coast was half over I became + ill—so ill that anyone who had looked on me might well have imagined + that I had come to the end of my pilgrimage. That was what I feared. For + days I remained sunk in the deepest despondence; then, in a happy moment, + I remembered how, after being bitten by the serpent, when death had seemed + near and inevitable, I had madly rushed away through the forest in search + of help, and wandered lost for hours in the storm and darkness, and in the + end escaped death, probably by means of these frantic exertions. The + recollection served to inspire me with a new desperate courage. Bidding + good-bye to the Indian village where the fever had smitten me, I set out + once more on that apparently hopeless adventure. Hopeless, indeed, it + seemed to one in my weak condition. My legs trembled under me when I + walked, while hot sun and pelting rain were like flame and stinging ice to + my morbidly sensitive skin. + </p> + <p> + For many days my sufferings were excessive, so that I often wished myself + back in that milder purgatory of the forest, from which I had been so + anxious to escape. When I try to retrace my route on the map, there occurs + a break here—a space on the chart where names of rivers and + mountains call up no image to my mind, although, in a few cases, they were + names I seem to have heard in a troubled dream. The impressions of nature + received during that sick period are blurred, or else so coloured and + exaggerated by perpetual torturing anxiety, mixed with half-delirious + night-fancies, that I can only think of that country as an earthly + inferno, where I fought against every imaginable obstacle, alternately + sweating and freezing, toiling as no man ever toiled before. Hot and cold, + cold and hot, and no medium. Crystal waters; green shadows under coverture + of broad, moist leaves; and night with dewy fanning winds—these + chilled but did not refresh me; a region in which there was no sweet and + pleasant thing; where even the ita palm and mountain glory and airy + epiphyte starring the woodland twilight with pendent blossoms had lost all + grace and beauty; where all brilliant colours in earth and heaven were + like the unmitigated sun that blinded my sight and burnt my brain. + Doubtless I met with help from the natives, otherwise I do not see how I + could have continued my journey; yet in my dim mental picture of that + period I see myself incessantly dogged by hostile savages. They flit like + ghosts through the dark forest; they surround me and cut off all retreat, + until I burst through them, escaping out of their very hands, to fly over + some wide, naked savannah, hearing their shrill, pursuing yells behind me, + and feeling the sting of their poisoned arrows in my flesh. + </p> + <p> + This I set down to the workings of remorse in a disordered mind and to + clouds of venomous insects perpetually shrilling in my ears and stabbing + me with their small, fiery needles. + </p> + <p> + Not only was I pursued by phantom savages and pierced by phantom arrows, + but the creations of the Indian imagination had now become as real to me + as anything in nature. I was persecuted by that superhuman man-eating + monster supposed to be the guardian of the forest. In dark, silent places + he is lying in wait for me: hearing my slow, uncertain footsteps he starts + up suddenly in my path, outyelling the bearded aguaratos in the trees; and + I stand paralysed, my blood curdled in my veins. His huge, hairy arms are + round me; his foul, hot breath is on my skin; he will tear my liver out + with his great green teeth to satisfy his raging hunger. Ah, no, he cannot + harm me! For every ravening beast, every cold-blooded, venomous thing, and + even the frightful Curupita, half brute and half devil, that shared the + forest with her, loved and worshipped Rima, and that mournful burden I + carried, her ashes, was a talisman to save me. He has left me, the + semi-human monster, uttering such wild, lamentable cries as he hurries + away into the deeper, darker woods that horror changes to grief, and I, + too, lament Rima for the first time: a memory of all the mystic, + unimaginable grace and loveliness and joy that had vanished smites on my + heart with such sudden, intense pain that I cast myself prone on the earth + and weep tears that are like drops of blood. + </p> + <p> + Where in the rude savage heart of Guiana was this region where the natural + obstacles and pain and hunger and thirst and everlasting weariness were + terrible enough without the imaginary monsters and legions of phantoms + that peopled it, I cannot say. Nor can I conjecture how far I strayed + north or south from my course. I only know that marshes that were like + Sloughs of Despond, and barren and wet savannahs, were crossed; and + forests that seemed infinite in extent and never to be got through; and + scores of rivers that boiled round the sharp rocks, threatening to + submerge or dash in pieces the frail bark canoe—black and frightful + to look on as rivers in hell; and nameless mountain after mountain to be + toiled round or toiled over. I may have seen Roraima during that mentally + clouded period. I vaguely remember a far-extending gigantic wall of stone + that seemed to bar all further progress—a rocky precipice rising to + a stupendous height, seen by moonlight, with a huge sinuous rope of white + mist suspended from its summit; as if the guardian camoodi of the mountain + had been a league-long spectral serpent which was now dropping its coils + from the mighty stone table to frighten away the rash intruder. + </p> + <p> + That spectral moonlight camoodi was one of many serpent fancies that + troubled me. There was another, surpassing them all, which attended me + many days. When the sun grew hot overhead and the way was over open + savannah country, I would see something moving on the ground at my side + and always keeping abreast of me. A small snake, one or two feet long. No, + not a small snake, but a sinuous mark in the pattern on a huge serpent’s + head, five or six yards long, always moving deliberately at my side. If a + cloud came over the sun, or a fresh breeze sprang up, gradually the + outline of that awful head would fade and the well-defined pattern would + resolve itself into the motlings on the earth. But if the sun grew more + and more hot and dazzling as the day progressed, then the tremendous + ophidian head would become increasingly real to my sight, with glistening + scales and symmetrical markings; and I would walk carefully not to stumble + against or touch it; and when I cast my eyes behind me I could see no end + to its great coils extending across the savannah. Even looking back from + the summit of a high hill I could see it stretching leagues and leagues + away through forests and rivers, across wide plains, valleys and + mountains, to lose itself at last in the infinite blue distance. + </p> + <p> + How or when this monster left me—washed away by cold rains perhaps—I + do not know. Probably it only transformed itself into some new shape, its + long coils perhaps changing into those endless processions and multitudes + of pale-faced people I seem to remember having encountered. In my devious + wanderings I must have reached the shores of the undiscovered great White + Lake, and passed through the long shining streets of Manoa, the mysterious + city in the wilderness. I see myself there, the wide thoroughfare filled + from end to end with people gaily dressed as if for some high festival, + all drawing aside to let the wretched pilgrim pass, staring at his fever- + and famine-wasted figure, in its strange rags, with its strange burden. + </p> + <p> + A new Ahasuerus, cursed by inexpiable crime, yet sustained by a great + purpose. + </p> + <p> + But Ahasuerus prayed ever for death to come to him and ran to meet it, + while I fought against it with all my little strength. Only at intervals, + when the shadows seemed to lift and give me relief, would I pray to Death + to spare me yet a little longer; but when the shadows darkened again and + hope seemed almost quenched in utter gloom, then I would curse it and defy + its power. Through it all I clung to the belief that my will would + conquer, that it would enable me to keep off the great enemy from my worn + and suffering body until the wished goal was reached; then only would I + cease to fight and let death have its way. There would have been comfort + in this belief had it not been for that fevered imagination which + corrupted everything that touched me and gave it some new hateful + character. For soon enough this conviction that the will would triumph + grew to something monstrous, a parent of monstrous fancies. Worst of all, + when I felt no actual pain, but only unutterable weariness of body and + soul, when feet and legs were numb so that I knew not whether I trod on + dry hot rock or in slime, was the fancy that I was already dead, so far as + the body was concerned—had perhaps been dead for days—that + only the unconquerable will survived to compel the dead flesh to do its + work. + </p> + <p> + Whether it really was will—more potent than the bark of barks and + wiser than the physicians—or merely the vis medicatrix with which + nature helps our weakness even when the will is suspended, that saved me I + cannot say; but it is certain that I gradually recovered health, physical + and mental, and finally reached the coast comparatively well, although my + mind was still in a gloomy, desponding state when I first walked the + streets of Georgetown, in rags, half-starved and penniless. + </p> + <p> + But even when well, long after the discovery that my flesh was not only + alive, but that it was of an exceedingly tough quality, the idea born + during the darkest period of my pilgrimage, that die I must, persisted in + my mind. I had lived through that which would have killed most men—lived + only to accomplish the one remaining purpose of my life. Now it was + accomplished; the sacred ashes brought so far, with such infinite labour, + through so many and such great perils, were safe and would mix with mine + at last. There was nothing more in life to make me love it or keep me + prisoner in its weary chains. This prospect of near death faded in time; + love of life returned, and the earth had recovered its everlasting + freshness and beauty; only that feeling about Rima’s ashes did not fade or + change, and is as strong now as it was then. Say that it is morbid—call + it superstition if you like; but there it is, the most powerful motive I + have known, always in all things to be taken into account—a + philosophy of life to be made to fit it. Or take it as a symbol, since + that may come to be one with the thing symbolized. In those darkest days + in the forest I had her as a visitor—a Rima of the mind, whose words + when she spoke reflected my despair. Yet even then I was not entirely + without hope. Heaven itself, she said, could not undo that which I had + done; and she also said that if I forgave myself, Heaven would say no + word, nor would she. That is my philosophy still: prayers, austerities, + good works—they avail nothing, and there is no intercession, and + outside of the soul there is no forgiveness in heaven or earth for sin. + Nevertheless there is a way, which every soul can find out for itself—even + the most rebellious, the most darkened with crime and tormented by + remorse. In that way I have walked; and, self-forgiven and self-absolved, + I know that if she were to return once more and appear to me—even + here where her ashes are—I know that her divine eyes would no longer + refuse to look into mine, since the sorrow which seemed eternal and would + have slain me to see would not now be in them. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Green Mansions, by W. H. 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Hudson + +Posting Date: July 26, 2008 [EBook #942] +Release Date: June, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREEN MANSIONS *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean + + + + + +GREEN MANSIONS + +A Romance of the Tropical Forest + +by W. H. Hudson + + + + +FOREWORD + +I take up pen for this foreword with the fear of one who knows that he +cannot do justice to his subject, and the trembling of one who would +not, for a good deal, set down words unpleasing to the eye of him who +wrote Green Mansions, The Purple Land, and all those other books which +have meant so much to me. For of all living authors--now that Tolstoi +has gone I could least dispense with W. H. Hudson. Why do I love his +writing so? I think because he is, of living writers that I read, the +rarest spirit, and has the clearest gift of conveying to me the nature +of that spirit. Writers are to their readers little new worlds to be +explored; and each traveller in the realms of literature must needs have +a favourite hunting-ground, which, in his good will--or perhaps merely +in his egoism--he would wish others to share with him. + +The great and abiding misfortunes of most of us writers are twofold: We +are, as worlds, rather common tramping-ground for our readers, +rather tame territory; and as guides and dragomans thereto we are too +superficial, lacking clear intimacy of expression; in fact--like guide +or dragoman--we cannot let folk into the real secrets, or show them the +spirit, of the land. + +Now, Hudson, whether in a pure romance like this Green Mansions, or in +that romantic piece of realism The Purple Land, or in books like Idle +Days in Patagonia, Afoot in England, The Land's End, Adventures +among Birds, A Shepherd's Life, and all his other nomadic records of +communings with men, birds, beasts, and Nature, has a supreme gift of +disclosing not only the thing he sees but the spirit of his vision. +Without apparent effort he takes you with him into a rare, free, natural +world, and always you are refreshed, stimulated, enlarged, by going +there. + +He is of course a distinguished naturalist, probably the most acute, +broad-minded, and understanding observer of Nature living. And this, in +an age of specialism, which loves to put men into pigeonholes and label +them, has been a misfortune to the reading public, who seeing the label +Naturalist, pass on, and take down the nearest novel. Hudson has indeed +the gifts and knowledge of a Naturalist, but that is a mere fraction of +his value and interest. A really great writer such as this is no more to +be circumscribed by a single word than America by the part of it called +New York. The expert knowledge which Hudson has of Nature gives to all +his work backbone and surety of fibre, and to his sense of beauty an +intimate actuality. But his real eminence and extraordinary attraction +lie in his spirit and philosophy. We feel from his writings that he +is nearer to Nature than other men, and yet more truly civilized. The +competitive, towny culture, the queer up-to-date commercial knowingness +with which we are so busy coating ourselves simply will not stick to +him. A passage in his Hampshire Days describes him better than I +can: "The blue sky, the brown soil beneath, the grass, the trees, the +animals, the wind, and rain, and stars are never strange to me; for I am +in and of and am one with them; and my flesh and the soil are one, and +the heat in my blood and in the sunshine are one, and the winds and the +tempests and my passions are one. I feel the 'strangeness' only with +regard to my fellow men, especially in towns, where they exist in +conditions unnatural to me, but congenial to them.... In such moments we +sometimes feel a kinship with, and are strangely drawn to, the dead, +who were not as these; the long, long dead, the men who knew not life in +towns, and felt no strangeness in sun and wind and rain." This unspoiled +unity with Nature pervades all his writings; they are remote from the +fret and dust and pettiness of town life; they are large, direct, free. +It is not quite simplicity, for the mind of this writer is subtle and +fastidious, sensitive to each motion of natural and human life; but his +sensitiveness is somehow different from, almost inimical to, that of us +others, who sit indoors and dip our pens in shades of feeling. Hudson's +fancy is akin to the flight of the birds that are his special loves--it +never seems to have entered a house, but since birth to have been +roaming the air, in rain and sun, or visiting the trees and the grass. +I not only disbelieve utterly, but intensely dislike, the doctrine of +metempsychosis, which, if I understand it aright, seems the negation of +the creative impulse, an apotheosis of staleness--nothing quite new in +the world, never anything quite new--not even the soul of a baby; and +so I am not prepared to entertain the whim that a bird was one of his +remote incarnations; still, in sweep of wing, quickness of eye, and +natural sweet strength of song he is not unlike a super-bird--which is +a horrid image. And that reminds me: This, after all, is a foreword to +Green Mansions--the romance of the bird-girl Rima--a story actual yet +fantastic, which immortalizes, I think, as passionate a love of all +beautiful things as ever was in the heart of man. Somewhere Hudson says: +"The sense of the beautiful is God's best gift to the human soul." So +it is: and to pass that gift on to others, in such measure as herein +is expressed, must surely have been happiness to him who wrote Green +Mansions. In form and spirit the book is unique, a simple romantic +narrative transmuted by sheer glow of beauty into a prose poem. Without +ever departing from its quality of a tale, it symbolizes the yearning +of the human soul for the attainment of perfect love and beauty in this +life--that impossible perfection which we must all learn to see fall +from its high tree and be consumed in the flames, as was Rima the +bird-girl, but whose fine white ashes we gather that they may be mingled +at last with our own, when we too have been refined by the fire of +death's resignation. The book is soaked through and through with a +strange beauty. I will not go on singing its praises, or trying to make +it understood, because I have other words to say of its author. + +Do we realize how far our town life and culture have got away from +things that really matter; how instead of making civilization our +handmaid to freedom we have set her heel on our necks, and under it bite +dust all the time? Hudson, whether he knows it or not, is now the chief +standard-bearer of another faith. Thus he spake in The Purple Land: "Ah, +yes, we are all vainly seeking after happiness in the wrong way. It +was with us once and ours, but we despised it, for it was only the old +common happiness which Nature gives to all her children, and we went +away from it in search of another grander kind of happiness which some +dreamer--Bacon or another--assured us we should find. We had only to +conquer Nature, find out her secrets, make her our obedient slave, then +the Earth would be Eden, and every man Adam and every woman Eve. We are +still marching bravely on, conquering Nature, but how weary and sad +we are getting! The old joy in life and gaiety of heart have vanished, +though we do sometimes pause for a few moments in our long forced march +to watch the labours of some pale mechanician, seeking after perpetual +motion, and indulge in a little, dry, cackling laugh at his expense." +And again: "For here the religion that languishes in crowded cities or +steals shamefaced to hide itself in dim churches flourishes greatly, +filling the soul with a solemn joy. Face to face with Nature on the vast +hills at eventide, who does not feel himself near to the Unseen? + + "Out of his heart God shall not pass + His image stamped is on every grass." + +All Hudson's books breathe this spirit of revolt against our new +enslavement by towns and machinery, and are true oases in an age so +dreadfully resigned to the "pale mechanician." + +But Hudson is not, as Tolstoi was, a conscious prophet; his spirit is +freer, more willful, whimsical--almost perverse--and far more steeped in +love of beauty. If you called him a prophet he would stamp his foot +at you--as he will at me if he reads these words; but his voice is +prophetic, for all that, crying in a wilderness, out of which, at the +call, will spring up roses here and there, and the sweet-smelling grass. +I would that every man, woman, and child in England were made to read +him; and I would that you in America would take him to heart. He is a +tonic, a deep refreshing drink, with a strange and wonderful flavour; he +is a mine of new interests, and ways of thought instinctively right. As +a simple narrator he is well-nigh unsurpassed; as a stylist he has +few, if any, living equals. And in all his work there is an indefinable +freedom from any thought of after-benefit--even from the desire that we +should read him. He puts down what he sees and feels, out of sheer love +of the thing seen, and the emotion felt; the smell of the lamp has not +touched a single page that he ever wrote. That alone is a marvel to us +who know that to write well, even to write clearly, is a wound business, +long to learn, hard to learn, and no gift of the angels. Style should +not obtrude between a writer and his reader; it should be servant, not +master. To use words so true and simple that they oppose no obstacle +to the flow of thought and feeling from mind to mind, and yet by +juxtaposition of word-sounds set up in the recipient continuing emotion +or gratification--this is the essence of style; and Hudson's writing has +pre-eminently this double quality. From almost any page of his books an +example might be taken. Here is one no better than a thousand others, a +description of two little girls on a beach: "They were dressed in black +frocks and scarlet blouses, which set off their beautiful small dark +faces; their eyes sparkled like black diamonds, and their loose hair +was a wonder to see, a black mist or cloud about their heads and necks +composed of threads fine as gossamer, blacker than jet and shining like +spun glass--hair that looked as if no comb or brush could ever tame its +beautiful wildness. And in spirit they were what they seemed: such a +wild, joyous, frolicsome spirit, with such grace and fleetness, one +does not look for in human beings, but only in birds or in some small +bird-like volatile mammal--a squirrel or a spider-monkey of the tropical +forest, or the chinchilla of the desolate mountain slopes; the swiftest, +wildest, loveliest, most airy, and most vocal of small beauties." Or +this, as the quintessence of a sly remark: "After that Mantel got on to +his horse and rode away. It was black and rainy, but he had never needed +moon or lantern to find what he sought by night, whether his own +house, or a fat cow--also his own, perhaps." So one might go on quoting +felicity for ever from this writer. He seems to touch every string with +fresh and uninked fingers; and the secret of his power lies, I suspect, +in the fact that his words: "Life being more than all else to me. . ." +are so utterly true. + +I do not descant on his love for simple folk and simple things, his +championship of the weak, and the revolt against the cagings and +cruelties of life, whether to men or birds or beasts, that springs out +of him as if against his will; because, having spoken of him as one with +a vital philosophy or faith, I don't wish to draw red herrings across +the main trail of his worth to the world. His work is a vision of +natural beauty and of human life as it might be, quickened and sweetened +by the sun and the wind and the rain, and by fellowship with all the +other forms of life--the truest vision now being given to us, who are +more in want of it than any generation has ever been. A very great +writer; and--to my thinking--the most valuable our age possesses. + +JOHN GALSWORTHY + +September 1915 Manaton: Devon + + + + +GREEN MANSIONS + + + + +PROLOGUE + +It is a cause of very great regret to me that this task has taken so +much longer a time than I had expected for its completion. It is +now many months--over a year, in fact--since I wrote to Georgetown +announcing my intention of publishing, IN A VERY FEW MONTHS, the whole +truth about Mr. Abel. Hardly less could have been looked for from his +nearest friend, and I had hoped that the discussion in the newspapers +would have ceased, at all events, until the appearance of the promised +book. It has not been so; and at this distance from Guiana I was not +aware of how much conjectural matter was being printed week by week in +the local press, some of which must have been painful reading to Mr. +Abel's friends. A darkened chamber, the existence of which had never +been suspected in that familiar house in Main Street, furnished +only with an ebony stand on which stood a cinerary urn, its surface +ornamented with flower and leaf and thorn, and winding through it all +the figure of a serpent; an inscription, too, of seven short words which +no one could understand or rightly interpret; and finally the disposal +of the mysterious ashes--that was all there was relating to an untold +chapter in a man's life for imagination to work on. Let us hope that +now, at last, the romance-weaving will come to an end. It was, however, +but natural that the keenest curiosity should have been excited; not +only because of that peculiar and indescribable charm of the man, which +all recognized and which won all hearts, but also because of that hidden +chapter--that sojourn in the desert, about which he preserved silence. +It was felt in a vague way by his intimates that he had met with unusual +experiences which had profoundly affected him and changed the course of +his life. To me alone was the truth known, and I must now tell, briefly +as possible, how my great friendship and close intimacy with him came +about. + +When, in 1887, I arrived in Georgetown to take up an appointment in a +public office, I found Mr. Abel an old resident there, a man of means +and a favourite in society. Yet he was an alien, a Venezuelan, one +of that turbulent people on our border whom the colonists have always +looked on as their natural enemies. The story told to me was that about +twelve years before that time he had arrived at Georgetown from some +remote district in the interior; that he had journeyed alone on foot +across half the continent to the coast, and had first appeared among +them, a young stranger, penniless, in rags, wasted almost to a skeleton +by fever and misery of all kinds, his face blackened by long exposure +to sun and wind. Friendless, with but little English, it was a hard +struggle for him to live; but he managed somehow, and eventually letters +from Caracas informed him that a considerable property of which he had +been deprived was once more his own, and he was also invited to return +to his country to take his part in the government of the Republic. But +Mr. Abel, though young, had already outlived political passions and +aspirations, and, apparently, even the love of his country; at all +events, he elected to stay where he was--his enemies, he would say +smilingly, were his best friends--and one of the first uses he made of +his fortune was to buy that house in Main Street which was afterwards +like a home to me. + +I must state here that my friend's full name was Abel Guevez de +Argensola, but in his early days in Georgetown he was called by his +Christian name only, and later he wished to be known simply as "Mr. +Abel." + +I had no sooner made his acquaintance than I ceased to wonder at the +esteem and even affection with which he, a Venezuelan, was regarded in +this British colony. All knew and liked him, and the reason of it was +the personal charm of the man, his kindly disposition, his manner with +women, which pleased them and excited no man's jealousy--not even +the old hot-tempered planter's, with a very young and pretty and +light-headed wife--his love of little children, of all wild creatures, +of nature, and of whatsoever was furthest removed from the common +material interests and concerns of a purely commercial community. +The things which excited other men--politics, sport, and the price of +crystals--were outside of his thoughts; and when men had done with +them for a season, when like the tempest they had "blown their fill" in +office and club-room and house and wanted a change, it was a relief to +turn to Mr. Abel and get him to discourse of his world--the world of +nature and of the spirit. + +It was, all felt, a good thing to have a Mr. Abel in Georgetown. That +it was indeed good for me I quickly discovered. I had certainly +not expected to meet in such a place with any person to share my +tastes--that love of poetry which has been the chief passion and delight +of my life; but such a one I had found in Mr. Abel. It surprised me +that he, suckled on the literature of Spain, and a reader of only ten or +twelve years of English literature, possessed a knowledge of our modern +poetry as intimate as my own, and a love of it equally great. This +feeling brought us together and made us two--the nervous olive-skinned +Hispano-American of the tropics and the phlegmatic blue-eyed Saxon of +the cold north--one in spirit and more than brothers. Many were the +daylight hours we spent together and "tired the sun with talking"; many, +past counting, the precious evenings in that restful house of his where +I was an almost daily guest. I had not looked for such happiness; nor, +he often said, had he. A result of this intimacy was that the vague idea +concerning his hidden past, that some unusual experience had profoundly +affected him and perhaps changed the whole course of his life, did not +diminish, but, on the contrary, became accentuated, and was often in +my mind. The change in him was almost painful to witness whenever our +wandering talk touched on the subject of the aborigines, and of the +knowledge he had acquired of their character and languages when +living or travelling among them; all that made his conversation most +engaging--the lively, curious mind, the wit, the gaiety of spirit +tinged with a tender melancholy--appeared to fade out of it; even the +expression of his face would change, becoming hard and set, and he would +deal you out facts in a dry mechanical way as if reading them in a book. +It grieved me to note this, but I dropped no hint of such a feeling, and +would never have spoken about it but for a quarrel which came at last to +make the one brief solitary break in that close friendship of years. +I got into a bad state of health, and Abel was not only much concerned +about it, but annoyed, as if I had not treated him well by being ill, +and he would even say that I could get well if I wished to. I did not +take this seriously, but one morning, when calling to see me at the +office, he attacked me in a way that made me downright angry with him. +He told me that indolence and the use of stimulants was the cause of +my bad health. He spoke in a mocking way, with a presence of not quite +meaning it, but the feeling could not be wholly disguised. Stung by his +reproaches, I blurted out that he had no right to talk to me, even +in fun, in such a way. Yes, he said, getting serious, he had the best +right--that of our friendship. He would be no true friend if he kept his +peace about such a matter. Then, in my haste, I retorted that to me the +friendship between us did not seem so perfect and complete as it did to +him. One condition of friendship is that the partners in it should be +known to each other. He had had my whole life and mind open to him, to +read it as in a book. HIS life was a closed and clasped volume to me. + +His face darkened, and after a few moments' silent reflection he got up +and left me with a cold good-bye, and without that hand-grasp which had +been customary between us. + +After his departure I had the feeling that a great loss, a great +calamity, had befallen me, but I was still smarting at his too candid +criticism, all the more because in my heart I acknowledged its truth. +And that night, lying awake, I repented of the cruel retort I had made, +and resolved to ask his forgiveness and leave it to him to determine +the question of our future relations. But he was beforehand with me, and +with the morning came a letter begging my forgiveness and asking me to +go that evening to dine with him. + +We were alone, and during dinner and afterwards, when we sat smoking and +sipping black coffee in the veranda, we were unusually quiet, even to +gravity, which caused the two white-clad servants that waited on us--the +brown-faced subtle-eyed old Hindu butler and an almost blue-black young +Guiana Negro--to direct many furtive glances at their master's face. +They were accustomed to see him in a more genial mood when he had a +friend to dine. To me the change in his manner was not surprising: from +the moment of seeing him I had divined that he had determined to open +the shut and clasped volume of which I had spoken--that the time had now +come for him to speak. + + + +CHAPTER I + +Now that we are cool, he said, and regret that we hurt each other, I am +not sorry that it happened. I deserved your reproach: a hundred times +I have wished to tell you the whole story of my travels and adventures +among the savages, and one of the reasons which prevented me was the +fear that it would have an unfortunate effect on our friendship. That +was precious, and I desired above everything to keep it. But I must +think no more about that now. I must think only of how I am to tell you +my story. I will begin at a time when I was twenty-three. It was early +in life to be in the thick of politics, and in trouble to the extent of +having to fly my country to save my liberty, perhaps my life. + +Every nation, someone remarks, has the government it deserves, and +Venezuela certainly has the one it deserves and that suits it best. We +call it a republic, not only because it is not one, but also because a +thing must have a name; and to have a good name, or a fine name, is +very convenient--especially when you want to borrow money. If the +Venezuelans, thinly distributed over an area of half a million square +miles, mostly illiterate peasants, half-breeds, and indigenes, were +educated, intelligent men, zealous only for the public weal, it would +be possible for them to have a real republic. They have instead +a government by cliques, tempered by revolution; and a very good +government it is, in harmony with the physical conditions of the country +and the national temperament. Now, it happens that the educated men, +representing your higher classes, are so few that there are not many +persons unconnected by ties of blood or marriage with prominent members +of the political groups to which they belong. By this you will see how +easy and almost inevitable it is that we should become accustomed to +look on conspiracy and revolt against the regnant party--the men of +another clique--as only in the natural order of things. In the event +of failure such outbreaks are punished, but they are not regarded as +immoral. On the contrary, men of the highest intelligence and virtue +among us are seen taking a leading part in these adventures. Whether +such a condition of things is intrinsically wrong or not, or would be +wrong in some circumstances and is not wrong, because inevitable, in +others, I cannot pretend to decide; and all this tiresome profusion +is only to enable you to understand how I--a young man of unblemished +character, not a soldier by profession, not ambitious of political +distinction, wealthy for that country, popular in society, a lover of +social pleasures, of books, of nature actuated, as I believed, by the +highest motives, allowed myself to be drawn very readily by friends and +relations into a conspiracy to overthrow the government of the moment, +with the object of replacing it by more worthy men--ourselves, to wit. + +Our adventure failed because the authorities got wind of the affair +and matters were precipitated. Our leaders at the moment happened to be +scattered over the country--some were abroad; and a few hotheaded men +of the party, who were in Caracas just then and probably feared arrest, +struck a rash blow: the President was attacked in the street and +wounded. But the attackers were seized, and some of them shot on the +following day. When the news reached me I was at a distance from the +capital, staying with a friend on an estate he owned on the River +Quebrada Honda, in the State of Guarico, some fifteen to twenty miles +from the town of Zaraza. My friend, an officer in the army, was a leader +in the conspiracy; and as I was the only son of a man who had been +greatly hated by the Minister of War, it became necessary for us both +to fly for our lives. In the circumstances we could not look to be +pardoned, even on the score of youth. + +Our first decision was to escape to the sea-coast; but as the risk of a +journey to La Guayra, or any other port of embarkation on the north +side of the country, seemed too great, we made our way in a contrary +direction to the Orinoco, and downstream to Angostura. Now, when we had +reached this comparatively safe breathing-place--safe, at all events, +for the moment--I changed my mind about leaving or attempting to leave +the country. Since boyhood I had taken a very peculiar interest in that +vast and almost unexplored territory we possess south of the Orinoco, +with its countless unmapped rivers and trackless forests; and in +its savage inhabitants, with their ancient customs and character, +unadulterated by contact with Europeans. To visit this primitive +wilderness had been a cherished dream; and I had to some extent even +prepared myself for such an adventure by mastering more than one of the +Indian dialects of the northern states of Venezuela. And now, finding +myself on the south side of our great river, with unlimited time at +my disposal, I determined to gratify this wish. My companion took his +departure towards the coast, while I set about making preparations and +hunting up information from those who had travelled in the interior to +trade with the savages. I decided eventually to go back upstream and +penetrate to the interior in the western part of Guayana, and the +Amazonian territory bordering on Colombia and Brazil, and to return to +Angostura in about six months' time. I had no fear of being arrested +in the semi-independent and in most part savage region, as the Guayana +authorities concerned themselves little enough about the political +upheavals at Caracas. + +The first five or six months I spent in Guayana, after leaving the city +of refuge, were eventful enough to satisfy a moderately adventurous +spirit. A complaisant government employee at Angostura had provided +me with a passport, in which it was set down (for few to read) that my +object in visiting the interior was to collect information concerning +the native tribes, the vegetable products of the country, and other +knowledge which would be of advantage to the Republic; and the +authorities were requested to afford me protection and assist me in my +pursuits. I ascended the Orinoco, making occasional expeditions to the +small Christian settlements in the neighbourhood of the right bank, also +to the Indian villages; and travelling in this way, seeing and learning +much, in about three months I reached the River Metal. During this +period I amused myself by keeping a journal, a record of personal +adventures, impressions of the country and people, both semi-civilized +and savage; and as my journal grew, I began to think that on my return +at some future time to Caracas, it might prove useful and interesting to +the public, and also procure me fame; which thought proved pleasurable +and a great incentive, so that I began to observe things more narrowly +and to study expression. But the book was not to be. + +From the mouth of the Meta I journeyed on, intending to visit the +settlement of Atahapo, where the great River Guaviare, with other +rivers, empties itself into the Orinoco. But I was not destined to reach +it, for at the small settlement of Manapuri I fell ill of a low fever; +and here ended the first half-year of my wanderings, about which no more +need be told. + +A more miserable place than Manapuri for a man to be ill of a low fever +in could not well be imagined. The settlement, composed of mean hovels, +with a few large structures of mud, or plastered wattle, thatched +with palm leaves, was surrounded by water, marsh, and forest, the +breeding-place of myriads of croaking frogs and of clouds of mosquitoes; +even to one in perfect health existence in such a place would have +been a burden. The inhabitants mustered about eighty or ninety, mostly +Indians of that degenerate class frequently to be met with in small +trading outposts. The savages of Guayana are great drinkers, but not +drunkards in our sense, since their fermented liquors contain so +little alcohol that inordinate quantities must be swallowed to produce +intoxication; in the settlements they prefer the white man's more potent +poisons, with the result that in a small place like Manapuri one can see +enacted, as on a stage, the last act in the great American tragedy. To +be succeeded, doubtless, by other and possibly greater tragedies. My +thoughts at that period of suffering were pessimistic in the extreme. +Sometimes, when the almost continuous rain held up for half a day, I +would manage to creep out a short distance; but I was almost past making +any exertion, scarcely caring to live, and taking absolutely no interest +in the news from Caracas, which reached me at long intervals. At the end +of two months, feeling a slight improvement in my health, and with it a +returning interest in life and its affairs, it occurred to me to get +out my diary and write a brief account of my sojourn at Manapuri. I had +placed it for safety in a small deal box, lent to me for the purpose +by a Venezuelan trader, an old resident at the settlement, by name +Pantaleon--called by all Don Panta--one who openly kept half a dozen +Indian wives in his house, and was noted for his dishonesty and greed, +but who had proved himself a good friend to me. The box was in a corner +of the wretched palm-thatched hovel I inhabited; but on taking it out I +discovered that for several weeks the rain had been dripping on it, and +that the manuscript was reduced to a sodden pulp. I flung it upon the +floor with a curse and threw myself back on my bed with a groan. + +In that desponding state I was found by my friend Panta, who was +constant in his visits at all hours; and when in answer to his anxious +inquiries I pointed to the pulpy mass on the mud floor, he turned it +over with his foot, and then, bursting into a loud laugh, kicked it out, +remarking that he had mistaken the object for some unknown reptile that +had crawled in out of the rain. He affected to be astonished that I +should regret its loss. It was all a true narrative, he exclaimed; if +I wished to write a book for the stay-at-homes to read, I could easily +invent a thousand lies far more entertaining than any real experiences. +He had come to me, he said, to propose something. He had lived twenty +years at that place, and had got accustomed to the climate, but it would +not do for me to remain any longer if I wished to live. I must go away +at once to a different country--to the mountains, where it was open and +dry. "And if you want quinine when you are there," he concluded, "smell +the wind when it blows from the south-west, and you will inhale it into +your system, fresh from the forest." When I remarked despondingly that +in my condition it would be impossible to quit Manapuri, he went on to +say that a small party of Indians was now in the settlement; that they +had come, not only to trade, but to visit one of their own tribe, who +was his wife, purchased some years ago from her father. "And the money +she cost me I have never regretted to this day," said he, "for she is a +good wife not jealous," he added, with a curse on all the others. These +Indians came all the way from the Queneveta mountains, and were of the +Maquiritari tribe. He, Panta, and, better still, his good wife would +interest them on my behalf, and for a suitable reward they would take me +by slow, easy stages to their own country, where I would be treated well +and recover my health. + +This proposal, after I had considered it well, produced so good an +effect on me that I not only gave a glad consent, but, on the following +day, I was able to get about and begin the preparations for my journey +with some spirit. + +In about eight days I bade good-bye to my generous friend Panta, whom I +regarded, after having seen much of him, as a kind of savage beast that +had sprung on me, not to rend, but to rescue from death; for we +know that even cruel savage brutes and evil men have at times sweet, +beneficent impulses, during which they act in a way contrary to their +natures, like passive agents of some higher power. It was a continual +pain to travel in my weak condition, and the patience of my Indians +was severely taxed; but they did not forsake me; and at last the entire +distance, which I conjectured to be about sixty-five leagues, was +accomplished; and at the end I was actually stronger and better in +every way than at the start. From this time my progress towards complete +recovery was rapid. The air, with or without any medicinal virtue blown +from the cinchona trees in the far-off Andean forest, was tonic; and +when I took my walks on the hillside above the Indian village, or later +when able to climb to the summits, the world as seen from those +wild Queneveta mountains had a largeness and varied glory of scenery +peculiarly refreshing and delightful to the soul. + +With the Maquiritari tribe I passed some weeks, and the sweet sensations +of returning health made me happy for a time; but such sensations seldom +outlast convalescence. I was no sooner well again than I began to feel +a restless spirit stirring in me. The monotony of savage life in this +place became intolerable. After my long listless period the reaction had +come, and I wished only for action, adventure--no matter how dangerous; +and for new scenes, new faces, new dialects. In the end I conceived the +idea of going on to the Casiquiare river, where I would find a few small +settlements, and perhaps obtain help from the authorities there which +would enable me to reach the Rio Negro. For it was now in my mind to +follow that river to the Amazons, and so down to Para and the Atlantic +coast. + +Leaving the Queneveta range, I started with two of the Indians as guides +and travelling companions; but their journey ended only half-way to the +river I wished to reach; and they left me with some friendly savages +living on the Chunapay, a tributary of the Cunucumana, which flows to +the Orinoco. Here I had no choice but to wait until an opportunity of +attaching myself to some party of travelling Indians going south-west +should arrive; for by this time I had expended the whole of my small +capital in ornaments and calico brought from Manapuri, so that I could +no longer purchase any man's service. And perhaps it will be as well +to state at this point just what I possessed. For some time I had worn +nothing but sandals to protect my feet; my garments consisted of a +single suit, and one flannel shirt, which I washed frequently, going +shirtless while it was drying. Fortunately I had an excellent blue cloth +cloak, durable and handsome, given to me by a friend at Angostura, whose +prophecy on presenting it, that it would outlast ME, very nearly came +true. It served as a covering by night, and to keep a man warm and +comfortable when travelling in cold and wet weather no better garment +was ever made. I had a revolver and metal cartridge-box in my broad +leather belt, also a good hunting-knife with strong buckhorn handle and +a heavy blade about nine inches long. In the pocket of my cloak I had a +pretty silver tinder-box, and a match-box--to be mentioned again in this +narrative--and one or two other trifling objects; these I was determined +to keep until they could be kept no longer. + +During the tedious interval of waiting on the Chunapay I was told a +flattering tale by the village Indians, which eventually caused me +to abandon the proposed journey to the Rio Negro. These Indians wore +necklets, like nearly all the Guayana savages; but one, I observed, +possessed a necklet unlike that of the others, which greatly aroused my +curiosity. It was made of thirteen gold plates, irregular in form, about +as broad as a man's thumb-nail, and linked together with fibres. I was +allowed to examine it, and had no doubt that the pieces were of pure +gold, beaten flat by the savages. When questioned about it, they said +it was originally obtained from the Indians of Parahuari, and Parahuari, +they further said, was a mountainous country west of the Orinoco. Every +man and woman in that place, they assured me, had such a necklet. This +report inflamed my mind to such a degree that I could not rest by night +or day for dreaming golden dreams, and considering how to get to that +rich district, unknown to civilized men. The Indians gravely shook their +heads when I tried to persuade them to take me. They were far enough +from the Orinoco, and Parahuari was ten, perhaps fifteen, days' journey +further on--a country unknown to them, where they had no relations. + +In spite of difficulties and delays, however, and not without pain and +some perilous adventures, I succeeded at last in reaching the upper +Orinoco, and, eventually, in crossing to the other side. With my life +in my hand I struggled on westward through an unknown difficult country, +from Indian village to village, where at any moment I might have been +murdered with impunity for the sake of my few belongings. It is hard for +me to speak a good word for the Guayana savages; but I must now say this +of them, that they not only did me no harm when I was at their mercy +during this long journey, but they gave me shelter in their villages, +and fed me when I was hungry, and helped me on my way when I could make +no return. You must not, however, run away with the idea that there is +any sweetness in their disposition, any humane or benevolent instincts +such as are found among the civilized nations: far from it. I regard +them now, and, fortunately for me, I regarded them then, when, as I have +said, I was at their mercy, as beasts of prey, plus a cunning or low +kind of intelligence vastly greater than that of the brute; and, for +only morality, that respect for the rights of other members of the same +family, or tribe, without which even the rudest communities cannot hold +together. How, then, could I do this thing, and dwell and travel freely, +without receiving harm, among tribes that have no peace with and no +kindly feelings towards the stranger, in a district where the white +man is rarely or never seen? Because I knew them so well. Without that +knowledge, always available, and an extreme facility in acquiring new +dialects, which had increased by practice until it was almost like +intuition, I should have fared badly after leaving the Maquiritari +tribe. As it was, I had two or three very narrow escapes. + +To return from this digression. I looked at last on the famous Parahuari +mountains, which, I was greatly surprised to find, were after all +nothing but hills, and not very high ones. This, however, did not +impress me. The very fact that Parahuari possessed no imposing feature +in its scenery seemed rather to prove that it must be rich in gold: how +else could its name and the fame of its treasures be familiar to people +dwelling so far away as the Cunucumana? + +But there was no gold. I searched through the whole range, which was +about seven leagues long, and visited the villages, where I talked much +with the Indians, interrogating them, and they had no necklets of +gold, nor gold in any form; nor had they ever heard of its presence in +Parahuari or in any other place known to them. + +The very last village where I spoke on the subject of my quest, albeit +now without hope, was about a league from the western extremity of the +range, in the midst of a high broken country of forest and savannah and +many swift streams; near one of these, called the Curicay, the village +stood, among low scattered trees--a large building, in which all the +people, numbering eighteen, passed most of their time when not hunting, +with two smaller buildings attached to it. The head, or chief, Runi by +name, was about fifty years old, a taciturn, finely formed, and somewhat +dignified savage, who was either of a sullen disposition or not well +pleased at the intrusion of a white man. And for a time I made no +attempt to conciliate him. What profit was there in it at all? Even +that light mask, which I had worn so long and with such good effect, +incommoded me now: I would cast it aside and be myself--silent and +sullen as my barbarous host. If any malignant purpose was taking form +in his mind, let it, and let him do his worst; for when failure first +stares a man in the face, it has so dark and repellent a look that not +anything that can be added can make him more miserable; nor has he any +apprehension. For weeks I had been searching with eager, feverish +eyes in every village, in every rocky crevice, in every noisy mountain +streamlet, for the glittering yellow dust I had travelled so far to +find. And now all my beautiful dreams--all the pleasure and power to +be--had vanished like a mere mirage on the savannah at noon. + +It was a day of despair which I spent in this place, sitting all day +indoors, for it was raining hard, immersed in my own gloomy thoughts, +pretending to doze in my seat, and out of the narrow slits of my +half-closed eyes seeing the others, also sitting or moving about, like +shadows or people in a dream; and I cared nothing about them, and wished +not to seem friendly, even for the sake of the food they might offer me +by and by. + +Towards evening the rain ceased; and rising up I went out a short +distance to the neighbouring stream, where I sat on a stone and, casting +off my sandals, laved my bruised feet in the cool running water. The +western half of the sky was blue again with that tender lucid blue +seen after rain, but the leaves still glittered with water, and the wet +trunks looked almost black under the green foliage. The rare loveliness +of the scene touched and lightened my heart. Away back in the east +the hills of Parahuari, with the level sun full on them, loomed with a +strange glory against the grey rainy clouds drawing off on that side, +and their new mystic beauty almost made me forget how these same hills +had wearied, and hurt, and mocked me. On that side, also to the north +and south, there was open forest, but to the west a different prospect +met the eye. Beyond the stream and the strip of verdure that fringed it, +and the few scattered dwarf trees growing near its banks, spread a brown +savannah sloping upwards to a long, low, rocky ridge, beyond which rose +a great solitary hill, or rather mountain, conical in form, and clothed +in forest almost to the summit. This was the mountain Ytaioa, the chief +landmark in that district. As the sun went down over the ridge, beyond +the savannah, the whole western sky changed to a delicate rose colour +that had the appearance of rose-coloured smoke blown there by some far +off-wind, and left suspended--a thin, brilliant veil showing through it +the distant sky beyond, blue and ethereal. Flocks of birds, a kind of +troupial, were flying past me overhead, flock succeeding flock, on their +way to their roosting-place, uttering as they flew a clear, bell-like +chirp; and there was something ethereal too in those drops of melodious +sound, which fell into my heart like raindrops falling into a pool to +mix their fresh heavenly water with the water of earth. + +Doubtless into the turbid tarn of my heart some sacred drops had +fallen--from the passing birds, from that crimson disk which had now +dropped below the horizon, the darkening hills, the rose and blue of +infinite heaven, from the whole visible circle; and I felt purified +and had a strange sense and apprehension of a secret innocence and +spirituality in nature--a prescience of some bourn, incalculably distant +perhaps, to which we are all moving; of a time when the heavenly rain +shall have washed us clean from all spot and blemish. This unexpected +peace which I had found now seemed to me of infinitely greater value +than that yellow metal I had missed finding, with all its possibilities. +My wish now was to rest for a season at this spot, so remote and lovely +and peaceful, where I had experienced such unusual feelings and such a +blessed disillusionment. + +This was the end of my second period in Guayana: the first had been +filled with that dream of a book to win me fame in my country, perhaps +even in Europe; the second, from the time of leaving the Queneveta +mountains, with the dream of boundless wealth--the old dream of gold +in this region that has drawn so many minds since the days of Francisco +Pizarro. But to remain I must propitiate Runi, sitting silent with +gloomy brows over there indoors; and he did not appear to me like one +that might be won with words, however flattering. It was clear to +me that the time had come to part with my one remaining valuable +trinket--the tinder-box of chased silver. + +I returned to the house and, going in, seated myself on a log by the +fire, just opposite to my grim host, who was smoking and appeared not +to have moved since I left him. I made myself a cigarette, then drew out +the tinder-box, with its flint and steel attached to it by means of +two small silver chains. His eyes brightened a little as they curiously +watched my movements, and he pointed without speaking to the glowing +coals of fire at my feet. I shook my head, and striking the steel, sent +out a brilliant spray of sparks, then blew on the tinder and lit my +cigarette. + +This done, instead of returning the box to my pocket I passed the chain +through the buttonhole of my cloak and let it dangle on my breast as +an ornament. When the cigarette was smoked, I cleared my throat in the +orthodox manner and fixed my eyes on Runi, who, on his part, made a +slight movement to indicate that he was ready to listen to what I had to +say. + +My speech was long, lasting at least half an hour, delivered in +a profound silence; it was chiefly occupied with an account of my +wanderings in Guayana; and being little more than a catalogue of names +of all the places I had visited, and the tribes and chief or head men +with whom I had come in contact, I was able to speak continuously, and +so to hide my ignorance of a dialect which was still new to me. +The Guayana savage judges a man for his staying powers. To stand as +motionless as a bronze statue for one or two hours watching for a +bird; to sit or lie still for half a day; to endure pain, not seldom +self-inflicted, without wincing; and when delivering a speech to pour +it out in a copious stream, without pausing to take breath or hesitating +over a word--to be able to do all this is to prove yourself a man, an +equal, one to be respected and even made a friend of. What I really +wished to say to him was put in a few words at the conclusion of my +well-nigh meaningless oration. Everywhere, I said, I had been the +Indian's friend, and I wished to be his friend, to live with him at +Parahuari, even as I had lived with other chiefs and heads of villages +and families; to be looked on by him, as these others had looked on me, +not as a stranger or a white man, but as a friend, a brother, an Indian. + +I ceased speaking, and there was a slight murmurous sound in the room, +as of wind long pent up in many lungs suddenly exhaled; while Runi, +still unmoved, emitted a low grunt. Then I rose, and detaching the +silver ornament from my cloak, presented it to him. He accepted it; not +very graciously, as a stranger to these people might have imagined; but +I was satisfied, feeling sure that I had made a favourable impression. +After a little he handed the box to the person sitting next to him, who +examined it and passed it on to a third, and in this way it went round +and came back once more to Runi. Then he called for a drink. There +happened to be a store of casserie in the house; probably the women had +been busy for some days past in making it, little thinking that it was +destined to be prematurely consumed. A large jarful was produced; Runi +politely quaffed the first cup; I followed; then the others; and the +women drank also, a woman taking about one cupful to a man's three. +Runi and I, however, drank the most, for we had our positions as the two +principal personages there to maintain. Tongues were loosened now; for +the alcohol, small as the quantity contained in this mild liquor is, had +begun to tell on our brains. I had not their pottle-shaped stomach, made +to hold unlimited quantities of meat and drink; but I was determined on +this most important occasion not to deserve my host's contempt--to be +compared, perhaps, to the small bird that delicately picks up six drops +of water in its bill and is satisfied. I would measure my strength +against his, and if necessary drink myself into a state of +insensibility. + +At last I was scarcely able to stand on my legs. But even the seasoned +old savage was affected by this time. In vino veritas, said the +ancients; and the principle holds good where there is no vinum, but only +mild casserie. Runi now informed me that he had once known a white man, +that he was a bad man, which had caused him to say that all white men +were bad; even as David, still more sweepingly, had proclaimed that all +men were liars. Now he found that it was not so, that I was a good man. +His friendliness increased with intoxication. He presented me with a +curious little tinder-box, made from the conical tail of an armadillo, +hollowed out, and provided with a wooden stopper--this to be used in +place of the box I had deprived myself of. He also furnished me with a +grass hammock, and had it hung up there and then, so that I could lie +down when inclined. There was nothing he would not do for me. And at +last, when many more cups had been emptied, and a third or fourth jar +brought out, he began to unburthen his heart of its dark and dangerous +secrets. He shed tears--for the "man without a tear" dwells not in the +woods of Guayana: tears for those who had been treacherously slain long +years ago; for his father, who had been killed by Tripica, the father +of Managa, who was still above ground. But let him and all his people +beware of Runi. He had spilt their blood before, he had fed the fox and +vulture with their flesh, and would never rest while Managa lived with +his people at Uritay--the five hills of Uritay, which were two days' +journey from Parahuari. While thus talking of his old enemy he lashed +himself into a kind of frenzy, smiting his chest and gnashing his teeth; +and finally seizing a spear, he buried its point deep into the clay +floor, only to wrench it out and strike it into the earth again and +again, to show how he would serve Managa, and any one of Managa's people +he might meet with--man, woman, or child. Then he staggered out from the +door to flourish his spear; and looking to the north-west, he shouted +aloud to Managa to come and slay his people and burn down his house, as +he had so often threatened to do. + +"Let him come! Let Managa come!" I cried, staggering out after him. "I +am your friend, your brother; I have no spear and no arrows, but I have +this--this!" And here I drew out and flourished my revolver. "Where is +Managa?" I continued. "Where are the hills of Uritay?" He pointed to +a star low down in the south-west. "Then," I shouted, "let this bullet +find Managa, sitting by the fire among his people, and let him fall and +pour out his blood on the ground!" And with that I discharged my pistol +in the direction he had pointed to. A scream of terror burst out from +the women and children, while Runi at my side, in an access of fierce +delight and admiration, turned and embraced me. It was the first and +last embrace I ever suffered from a naked male savage, and although +this did not seem a time for fastidious feelings, to be hugged to his +sweltering body was an unpleasant experience. + +More cups of casserie followed this outburst; and at last, unable to +keep it up any longer, I staggered to my hammock; but being unable to +get into it, Runi, overflowing with kindness, came to my assistance, +whereupon we fell and rolled together on the floor. Finally I was raised +by the others and tumbled into my swinging bed, and fell at once into a +deep, dreamless sleep, from which I did not awake until after sunrise on +the following morning. + + + +CHAPTER II + +It is fortunate that casserie is manufactured by an extremely slow, +laborious process, since the women, who are the drink-makers, in the +first place have to reduce the material (cassava bread) to a pulp by +means of their own molars, after which it is watered down and put away +in troughs to ferment. Great is the diligence of these willing slaves; +but, work how they will, they can only satisfy their lords' love of +a big drink at long intervals. Such a function as that at which I had +assisted is therefore the result of much patient mastication and silent +fermentation--the delicate flower of a plant that has been a long time +growing. + +Having now established myself as one of the family, at the cost of some +disagreeable sensations and a pang or two of self-disgust, I resolved +to let nothing further trouble me at Parahuari, but to live the +easy, careless life of the idle man, joining in hunting and fishing +expeditions when in the mood; at other times enjoying existence in my +own way, apart from my fellows, conversing with wild nature in that +solitary place. Besides Runi, there were, in our little community, two +oldish men, his cousins I believe, who had wives and grown-up +children. Another family consisted of Piake, Runi's nephew, his brother +Kua-ko--about whom there will be much to say--and a sister Oalava. Piake +had a wife and two children; Kua-ko was unmarried and about nineteen or +twenty years old; Oalava was the youngest of the three. Last of all, +who should perhaps have been first, was Runi's mother, called Cla-cla, +probably in imitation of the cry of some bird, for in these latitudes a +person is rarely, perhaps never, called by his or her real name, which +is a secret jealously preserved, even from near relations. I believe +that Cla-cla herself was the only living being who knew the name her +parents had bestowed on her at birth. She was a very old woman, spare +in figure, brown as old sun-baked leather, her face written over with +innumerable wrinkles, and her long coarse hair perfectly white; yet she +was exceedingly active, and seemed to do more work than any other woman +in the community; more than that, when the day's toil was over and +nothing remained for the others to do, then Cla-cla's night work would +begin; and this was to talk all the others, or at all events all the +men, to sleep. She was like a self-regulating machine, and punctually +every evening, when the door was closed, and the night fire made up, and +every man in his hammock, she would set herself going, telling the most +interminable stories, until the last listener was fast asleep; later +in the night, if any man woke with a snort or grunt, off she would go +again, taking up the thread of the tale where she had dropped it. + +Old Cla-cla amused me very much, by night and day, and I seldom tired of +watching her owlish countenance as she sat by the fire, never allowing +it to sink low for want of fuel; always studying the pot when it was on +to simmer, and at the same time attending to the movements of the others +about her, ready at a moment's notice to give assistance or to dart out +on a stray chicken or refractory child. + +So much did she amuse me, although without intending it, that I +thought it would be only fair, in my turn, to do something for her +entertainment. I was engaged one day in shaping a wooden foil with my +knife, whistling and singing snatches of old melodies at my work, +when all at once I caught sight of the ancient dame looking greatly +delighted, chuckling internally, nodding her head, and keeping time +with her hands. Evidently she was able to appreciate a style of music +superior to that of the aboriginals, and forthwith I abandoned my foils +for the time and set about the manufacture of a guitar, which cost +me much labour and brought out more ingenuity than I had ever thought +myself capable of. To reduce the wood to the right thinness, then to +bend and fasten it with wooden pegs and with gums, to add the arm, +frets, keys, and finally the catgut strings--those of another kind being +out of the question--kept me busy for some days. When completed it was +a rude instrument, scarcely tunable; nevertheless when I smote the +strings, playing lively music, or accompanied myself in singing, I found +that it was a great success, and so was as much pleased with my own +performance as if I had had the most perfect guitar ever made in old +Spain. I also skipped about the floor, strum-strumming at the same time, +instructing them in the most lively dances of the whites, in which the +feet must be as nimble as the player's fingers. It is true that these +exhibitions were always witnessed by the adults with a profound gravity, +which would have disheartened a stranger to their ways. They were a set +of hollow bronze statues that looked at me, but I knew that the living +animals inside of them were tickled at my singing, strumming, and +pirouetting. Cla-cla was, however, an exception, and encouraged me not +infrequently by emitting a sound, half cackle and half screech, by +way of laughter; for she had come to her second childhood, or, at all +events, had dropped the stolid mask which the young Guayana savage, in +imitation of his elders, adjusts to his face at about the age of twelve, +to wear it thereafter all his life long, or only to drop it occasionally +when very drunk. The youngsters also openly manifested their pleasure, +although, as a rule, they try to restrain their feelings in the presence +of grown-up people, and with them I became a great favourite. + +By and by I returned to my foil-making, and gave them fencing lessons, +and sometimes invited two or three of the biggest boys to attack me +simultaneously, just to show how easily I could disarm and kill them. +This practice excited some interest in Kua-ko, who had a little more of +curiosity and geniality and less of the put-on dignity of the others, +and with him I became most intimate. Fencing with Kua-ko was highly +amusing: no sooner was he in position, foil in hand, than all my +instructions were thrown to the winds, and he would charge and attack me +in his own barbarous manner, with the result that I would send his foil +spinning a dozen yards away, while he, struck motionless, would gaze +after it in open-mouthed astonishment. + +Three weeks had passed by not unpleasantly when, one morning, I took +it into my head to walk by myself across that somewhat sterile savannah +west of the village and stream, which ended, as I have said, in a long, +low, stony ridge. From the village there was nothing to attract the +eye in that direction; but I wished to get a better view of that great +solitary hill or mountain of Ytaioa, and of the cloud-like summits +beyond it in the distance. From the stream the ground rose in a gradual +slope, and the highest part of the ridge for which I made was about +two miles from the starting-point--a parched brown plain, with nothing +growing on it but scattered tussocks of sere hair-like grass. + +When I reached the top and could see the country beyond, I was agreeably +disappointed at the discovery that the sterile ground extended only +about a mile and a quarter on the further side, and was succeeded by a +forest--a very inviting patch of woodland covering five or six square +miles, occupying a kind of oblong basin, extending from the foot of +Ytaioa on the north to a low range of rocky hills on the south. From the +wooded basin long narrow strips of forest ran out in various directions +like the arms of an octopus, one pair embracing the slopes of Ytaioa, +another much broader belt extending along a valley which cut through the +ridge of hills on the south side at right angles and was lost to sight +beyond; far away in the west and south and north distant mountains +appeared, not in regular ranges, but in groups or singly, or looking +like blue banked-up clouds on the horizon. + +Glad at having discovered the existence of this forest so near home, and +wondering why my Indian friends had never taken me to it nor ever went +out on that side, I set forth with a light heart to explore it for +myself, regretting only that I was without a proper weapon for procuring +game. The walk from the ridge over the savannah was easy, as the barren, +stony ground sloped downwards the whole way. The outer part of the wood +on my side was very open, composed in most part of dwarf trees that grow +on stony soil, and scattered thorny bushes bearing a yellow pea-shaped +blossom. Presently I came to thicker wood, where the trees were much +taller and in greater variety; and after this came another sterile +strip, like that on the edge of the wood where stone cropped out from +the ground and nothing grew except the yellow-flowered thorn bushes. +Passing this sterile ribbon, which seemed to extend to a considerable +distance north and south, and was fifty to a hundred yards wide, the +forest again became dense and the trees large, with much undergrowth in +places obstructing the view and making progress difficult. + +I spent several hours in this wild paradise, which was so much more +delightful than the extensive gloomier forests I had so often penetrated +in Guayana; for here, if the trees did not attain to such majestic +proportions, the variety of vegetable forms was even greater; as far +as I went it was nowhere dark under the trees, and the number of lovely +parasites everywhere illustrated the kindly influence of light and air. +Even where the trees were largest the sunshine penetrated, subdued by +the foliage to exquisite greenish-golden tints, filling the wide lower +spaces with tender half-lights, and faint blue-and-gray shadows. Lying +on my back and gazing up, I felt reluctant to rise and renew my ramble. +For what a roof was that above my head! Roof I call it, just as the +poets in their poverty sometimes describe the infinite ethereal sky by +that word; but it was no more roof-like and hindering to the soaring +spirit than the higher clouds that float in changing forms and tints, +and like the foliage chasten the intolerable noonday beams. How far +above me seemed that leafy cloudland into which I gazed! Nature, we +know, first taught the architect to produce by long colonnades the +illusion of distance; but the light-excluding roof prevents him from +getting the same effect above. Here Nature is unapproachable with her +green, airy canopy, a sun-impregnated cloud--cloud above cloud; and +though the highest may be unreached by the eye, the beams yet filter +through, illuming the wide spaces beneath--chamber succeeded by chamber, +each with its own special lights and shadows. Far above me, but not +nearly so far as it seemed, the tender gloom of one such chamber or +space is traversed now by a golden shaft of light falling through some +break in the upper foliage, giving a strange glory to everything it +touches--projecting leaves, and beard-like tuft of moss, and snaky +bush-rope. And in the most open part of that most open space, suspended +on nothing to the eye, the shaft reveals a tangle of shining silver +threads--the web of some large tree-spider. These seemingly distant yet +distinctly visible threads serve to remind me that the human artist is +only able to get his horizontal distance by a monotonous reduplication +of pillar and arch, placed at regular intervals, and that the least +departure from this order would destroy the effect. But Nature produces +her effects at random, and seems only to increase the beautiful illusion +by that infinite variety of decoration in which she revels, binding tree +to tree in a tangle of anaconda-like lianas, and dwindling down from +these huge cables to airy webs and hair-like fibres that vibrate to the +wind of the passing insect's wing. + +Thus in idleness, with such thoughts for company, I spent my time, glad +that no human being, savage or civilized, was with me. It was better to +be alone to listen to the monkeys that chattered without offending; to +watch them occupied with the unserious business of their lives. With +that luxuriant tropical nature, its green clouds and illusive aerial +spaces, full of mystery, they harmonized well in language, appearance, +and motions--mountebank angels, living their fantastic lives far above +earth in a half-way heaven of their own. + +I saw more monkeys on that morning than I usually saw in the course of +a week's rambling. And other animals were seen; I particularly remember +two accouries I startled, that after rushing away a few yards stopped +and stood peering back at me as if not knowing whether to regard me as +friend or enemy. Birds, too, were strangely abundant; and altogether +this struck me as being the richest hunting-ground I had seen, and it +astonished me to think that the Indians of the village did not appear to +visit it. + +On my return in the afternoon I gave an enthusiastic account of my day's +ramble, speaking not of the things that had moved my soul, but only of +those which move the Guayana Indian's soul--the animal food he craves, +and which, one would imagine, Nature would prefer him to do without, so +hard he finds it to wrest a sufficiency from her. To my surprise they +shook their heads and looked troubled at what I said; and finally my +host informed me that the wood I had been in was a dangerous place; that +if they went there to hunt, a great injury would be done to them; and he +finished by advising me not to visit it again. + +I began to understand from their looks and the old man's vague words +that their fear of the wood was superstitious. If dangerous creatures +had existed there--tigers, or camoodis, or solitary murderous +savages--they would have said so; but when I pressed them with questions +they could only repeat that "something bad" existed in the place, that +animals were abundant there because no Indian who valued his life dared +venture into it. I replied that unless they gave me some more definite +information I should certainly go again and put myself in the way of the +danger they feared. + +My reckless courage, as they considered it, surprised them; but they had +already begun to find out that their superstitions had no effect on me, +that I listened to them as to stories invented to amuse a child, and for +the moment they made no further attempt to dissuade me. + +Next day I returned to the forest of evil report, which had now a +new and even greater charm--the fascination of the unknown and the +mysterious; still, the warning I had received made me distrustful and +cautious at first, for I could not help thinking about it. When we +consider how much of their life is passed in the woods, which become +as familiar to them as the streets of our native town to us, it seems +almost incredible that these savages have a superstitious fear of all +forests, fearing them as much, even in the bright light of day, as a +nervous child with memory filled with ghost-stories fears a dark room. +But, like the child in the dark room, they fear the forest only when +alone in it, and for this reason always hunt in couples or parties. +What, then, prevented them from visiting this particular wood, which +offered so tempting a harvest? The question troubled me not a little; at +the same time I was ashamed of the feeling, and fought against it; and +in the end I made my way to the same sequestered spot where I had rested +so long on my previous visit. + +In this place I witnessed a new thing and had a strange experience. +Sitting on the ground in the shade of a large tree, I began to hear a +confused noise as of a coming tempest of wind mixed with shrill calls +and cries. Nearer and nearer it came, and at last a multitude of birds +of many kinds, but mostly small, appeared in sight swarming through the +trees, some running on the trunks and larger branches, others flitting +through the foliage, and many keeping on the wing, now hovering and +now darting this way or that. They were all busily searching for and +pursuing the insects, moving on at the same time, and in a very few +minutes they had finished examining the trees near me and were gone; but +not satisfied with what I had witnessed, I jumped up and rushed after +the flock to keep it in sight. All my caution and all recollection of +what the Indians had said was now forgot, so great was my interest in +this bird-army; but as they moved on without pause, they quickly left me +behind, and presently my career was stopped by an impenetrable tangle of +bushes, vines, and roots of large trees extending like huge cables +along the ground. In the midst of this leafy labyrinth I sat down on a +projecting root to cool my blood before attempting to make my way back +to my former position. After that tempest of motion and confused noises +the silence of the forest seemed very profound; but before I had +been resting many moments it was broken by a low strain of exquisite +bird-melody, wonderfully pure and expressive, unlike any musical sound I +had ever heard before. It seemed to issue from a thick cluster of broad +leaves of a creeper only a few yards from where I sat. With my eyes +fixed on this green hiding-place I waited with suspended breath for its +repetition, wondering whether any civilized being had ever listened to +such a strain before. Surely not, I thought, else the fame of so divine +a melody would long ago have been noised abroad. I thought of the +rialejo, the celebrated organbird or flute-bird, and of the various ways +in which hearers are affected by it. To some its warbling is like the +sound of a beautiful mysterious instrument, while to others it seems +like the singing of a blithe-hearted child with a highly melodious +voice. I had often heard and listened with delight to the singing of the +rialejo in the Guayana forests, but this song, or musical phrase, was +utterly unlike it in character. It was pure, more expressive, softer--so +low that at a distance of forty yards I could hardly have heard it. +But its greatest charm was its resemblance to the human voice--a voice +purified and brightened to something almost angelic. Imagine, then, my +impatience as I sat there straining my sense, my deep disappointment +when it was not repeated! I rose at length very reluctantly and slowly +began making my way back; but when I had progressed about thirty yards, +again the sweet voice sounded just behind me, and turning quickly, I +stood still and waited. The same voice, but not the same song--not +the same phrase; the notes were different, more varied and rapidly +enunciated, as if the singer had been more excited. The blood rushed to +my heart as I listened; my nerves tingled with a strange new delight, +the rapture produced by such music heightened by a sense of mystery. +Before many moments I heard it again, not rapid now, but a soft +warbling, lower than at first, infinitely sweet and tender, sinking to +lisping sounds that soon ceased to be audible; the whole having lasted +as long as it would take me to repeat a sentence of a dozen words. This +seemed the singer's farewell to me, for I waited and listened in vain to +hear it repeated; and after getting back to the starting-point I sat for +upwards of an hour, still hoping to hear it once more! + +The weltering sun at length compelled me to quit the wood, but not +before I had resolved to return the next morning and seek for the spot +where I had met with so enchanting an experience. After crossing the +sterile belt I have mentioned within the wood, and just before I came to +the open outer edge where the stunted trees and bushes die away on the +border of the savannah, what was my delight and astonishment at hearing +the mysterious melody once more! It seemed to issue from a clump of +bushes close by; but by this time I had come to the conclusion +that there was a ventriloquism in this woodland voice which made it +impossible for me to determine its exact direction. Of one thing I was, +however, now quite convinced, and that was that the singer had been +following me all the time. Again and again as I stood there listening it +sounded, now so faint and apparently far off as to be scarcely audible; +then all at once it would ring out bright and clear within a few yards +of me, as if the shy little thing had suddenly grown bold; but, far or +near, the vocalist remained invisible, and at length the tantalizing +melody ceased altogether. + + + +CHAPTER III + +I was not disappointed on my next visit to the forest, nor on several +succeeding visits; and this seemed to show that if I was right in +believing that these strange, melodious utterances proceeded from one +individual, then the bird or being, although still refusing to show +itself, was always on the watch for my appearance and followed me +wherever I went. This thought only served to increase my curiosity; I +was constantly pondering over the subject, and at last concluded that it +would be best to induce one of the Indians to go with me to the wood on +the chance of his being able to explain the mystery. + +One of the treasures I had managed to preserve in my sojourn with these +children of nature, who were always anxious to become possessors of my +belongings, was a small prettily fashioned metal match-box, opening +with a spring. Remembering that Kua-ko, among others, had looked at this +trifle with covetous eyes--the covetous way in which they all looked at +it had given it a fictitious value in my own--I tried to bribe him with +the offer of it to accompany me to my favourite haunt. The brave young +hunter refused again and again; but on each occasion he offered to +perform some other service or to give me something in exchange for the +box. At last I told him that I would give it to the first person who +should accompany me, and fearing that someone would be found valiant +enough to win the prize, he at length plucked up a spirit, and on the +next day, seeing me going out for a walk, he all at once offered to go +with me. He cunningly tried to get the box before starting--his cunning, +poor youth, was not very deep! I told him that the forest we were about +to visit abounded with plants and birds unlike any I had seen elsewhere, +that I wished to learn their names and everything about them, and +that when I had got the required information the box would be his--not +sooner. Finally we started, he, as usual, armed with his zabatana, with +which, I imagined, he would procure more game than usually fell to his +little poisoned arrows. When we reached the wood I could see that he was +ill at ease: nothing would persuade him to go into the deeper parts; +and even where it was very open and light he was constantly gazing +into bushes and shadowy places, as if expecting to see some frightful +creature lying in wait for him. This behaviour might have had a +disquieting effect on me had I not been thoroughly convinced that his +fears were purely superstitious and that there could be no dangerous +animal in a spot I was accustomed to walk in every day. My plan was +to ramble about with an unconcerned air, occasionally pointing out an +uncommon tree or shrub or vine, or calling his attention to a distant +bird-cry and asking the bird's name, in the hope that the mysterious +voice would make itself heard and that he would be able to give me some +explanation of it. But for upwards of two hours we moved about, hearing +nothing except the usual bird voices, and during all that time he never +stirred a yard from my side nor made an attempt to capture anything. At +length we sat down under a tree, in an open spot close to the border of +the wood. He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed more troubled in +his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continually roving about, while he +listened intently to every sound. The sounds were not few, owing to the +abundance of animal and especially of bird life in this favoured spot. +I began to question my companion as to some of the cries we heard. There +were notes and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the cock--parrot +screams and yelping of toucans, the distant wailing calls of maam and +duraquara; and shrill laughter-like notes of the large tree-climber as +it passed from tree to tree; the quick whistle of cotingas; and strange +throbbing and thrilling sounds, as of pygmies beating on metallic drums, +of the skulking pitta-thrushes; and with these mingled other notes +less well known. One came from the treetops, where it was perpetually +wandering amid the foliage a low note, repeated at intervals of a few +seconds, so thin and mournful and full of mystery that I half expected +to hear that it proceeded from the restless ghost of some dead bird. +But no; he only said it was uttered by a "little bird"--too little +presumably to have a name. From the foliage of a neighbouring tree came +a few tinkling chirps, as of a small mandolin, two or three strings of +which had been carelessly struck by the player. He said that it came +from a small green frog that lived in trees; and in this way my rude +Indian--vexed perhaps at being asked such trivial questions--brushed +away the pretty fantasies my mind had woven in the woodland solitude. +For I often listened to this tinkling music, and it had suggested the +idea that the place was frequented by a tribe of fairy-like troubadour +monkeys, and that if I could only be quick-sighted enough I might one +day be able to detect the minstrel sitting, in a green tunic perhaps, +cross-legged on some high, swaying bough, carelessly touching his +mandolin, suspended from his neck by a yellow ribbon. + +By and by a bird came with low, swift flight, its great tail spread open +fan-wise, and perched itself on an exposed bough not thirty yards from +us. It was all of a chestnut-red colour, long-bodied, in size like a big +pigeon. Its actions showed that its curiosity had been greatly excited, +for it jerked from side to side, eyeing us first with one eye, then the +other, while its long tail rose and fell in a measured way. + +"Look, Kua-ko," I said in a whisper, "there is a bird for you to kill." + +But he only shook his head, still watchful. + +"Give me the blow-pipe, then," I said, with a laugh, putting out my hand +to take it. But he refused to let me take it, knowing that it would only +be an arrow wasted if I attempted to shoot anything. + +As I persisted in telling him to kill the bird, he at last bent his lips +near me and said in a half-whisper, as if fearful of being overheard: "I +can kill nothing here. If I shot at the bird, the daughter of the Didi +would catch the dart in her hand and throw it back and hit me here," +touching his breast just over his heart. + +I laughed again, saying to myself, with some amusement, that Kua-ko was +not such a bad companion after all--that he was not without imagination. +But in spite of my laughter his words roused my interest and suggested +the idea that the voice I was curious about had been heard by the +Indians and was as great a mystery to them as to me; since, not being +like that of any creature known to them, it would be attributed by their +superstitious minds to one of the numerous demons or semi-human monsters +inhabiting every forest, stream, and mountain; and fear of it would +drive them from the wood. In this case, judging from my companion's +words, they had varied the form of the superstition somewhat, inventing +a daughter of a water-spirit to be afraid of. My thought was that if +their keen, practiced eyes had never been able to see this flitting +woodland creature with a musical soul, it was not likely that I would +succeed in my quest. + +I began to question him, but he now appeared less inclined to talk and +more frightened than ever, and each time I attempted to speak he imposed +silence, with a quick gesture of alarm, while he continued to stare +about him with dilated eyes. All at once he sprang to his feet as +if overcome with terror and started running at full speed. His fear +infected me, and, springing up, I followed as fast as I could, but he +was far ahead of me, running for dear life; and before I had gone forty +yards my feet were caught in a creeper trailing along the surface, and I +measured my length on the ground. The sudden, violent shock almost took +away my senses for a moment, but when I jumped up and stared round to +see no unspeakable monster--Curupita or other--rushing on to slay and +devour me there and then, I began to feel ashamed of my cowardice; and +in the end I turned and walked back to the spot I had just quitted and +sat down once more. I even tried to hum a tune, just to prove to myself +that I had completely recovered from the panic caught from the miserable +Indian; but it is never possible in such cases to get back one's +serenity immediately, and a vague suspicion continued to trouble me for +a time. After sitting there for half an hour or so, listening to distant +bird-sounds, I began to recover my old confidence, and even to feel +inclined to penetrate further into the wood. All at once, making me +almost jump, so sudden it was, so much nearer and louder than I had +ever heard it before, the mysterious melody began. Unmistakably it was +uttered by the same being heard on former occasions; but today it was +different in character. The utterance was far more rapid, with fewer +silent intervals, and it had none of the usual tenderness in it, nor +ever once sunk to that low, whisper-like talking which had seemed to me +as if the spirit of the wind had breathed its low sighs in syllables +and speech. Now it was not only loud, rapid, and continuous, but, while +still musical, there was an incisiveness in it, a sharp ring as of +resentment, which made it strike painfully on the sense. + +The impression of an intelligent unhuman being addressing me in anger +took so firm a hold on my mind that the old fear returned, and, rising, +I began to walk rapidly away, intending to escape from the wood. The +voice continued violently rating me, as it seemed to my mind, moving +with me, which caused me to accelerate my steps; and very soon I would +have broken into a run, when its character began to change again. There +were pauses now, intervals of silence, long or short, and after each one +the voice came to my ear with a more subdued and dulcet sound--more of +that melting, flute-like quality it had possessed at other times; and +this softness of tone, coupled with the talking-like form of utterance, +gave me the idea of a being no longer incensed, addressing me now in a +peaceable spirit, reasoning away my unworthy tremors, and imploring me +to remain with it in the wood. Strange as this voice without a body was, +and always productive of a slightly uncomfortable feeling on account of +its mystery, it seemed impossible to doubt that it came to me now in +a spirit of pure friendliness; and when I had recovered my composure I +found a new delight in listening to it--all the greater because of the +fear so lately experienced, and of its seeming intelligence. For the +third time I reseated myself on the same spot, and at intervals the +voice talked to me there for some time and, to my fancy, expressed +satisfaction and pleasure at my presence. But later, without losing its +friendly tone, it changed again. It seemed to move away and to be thrown +back from a considerable distance; and, at long intervals, it would +approach me again with a new sound, which I began to interpret as of +command, or entreaty. Was it, I asked myself, inviting me to follow? And +if I obeyed, to what delightful discoveries or frightful dangers might +it lead? My curiosity together with the belief that the being--I called +it being, not bird, now--was friendly to me, overcame all timidity, and +I rose and walked at random towards the interior of the wood. Very soon +I had no doubt left that the being had desired me to follow; for there +was now a new note of gladness in its voice, and it continued near me +as I walked, at intervals approaching me so closely as to set me staring +into the surrounding shadowy places like poor scared Kua-ko. + +On this occasion, too, I began to have a new fancy, for fancy or +illusion I was determined to regard it, that some swift-footed being was +treading the ground near me; that I occasionally caught the faint rustle +of a light footstep, and detected a motion in leaves and fronds and +thread-like stems of creepers hanging near the surface, as if some +passing body had touched and made them tremble; and once or twice that +I even had a glimpse of a grey, misty object moving at no great distance +in the deeper shadows. + +Led by this wandering tricksy being, I came to a spot where the trees +were very large and the damp dark ground almost free from undergrowth; +and here the voice ceased to be heard. After patiently waiting and +listening for some time, I began to look about me with a slight feeling +of apprehension. It was still about two hours before sunset; only +in this place the shade of the vast trees made a perpetual twilight: +moreover, it was strangely silent here, the few bird-cries that reached +me coming from a long distance. I had flattered myself that the voice +had become to some extent intelligible to me: its outburst of anger +caused no doubt by my cowardly flight after the Indian; then its +recovered friendliness, which had induced me to return; and finally its +desire to be followed. Now that it had led me to this place of shadow +and profound silence and had ceased to speak and to lead, I could not +help thinking that this was my goal, that I had been brought to this +spot with a purpose, that in this wild and solitary retreat some +tremendous adventure was about to befall me. + +As the silence continued unbroken, there was time to dwell on this +thought. I gazed before me and listened intently, scarcely breathing, +until the suspense became painful--too painful at last, and I turned and +took a step with the idea of going back to the border of the wood, when +close by, clear as a silver bell, sounded the voice once more, but only +for a moment--two or three syllables in response to my movement, then it +was silent again. + +Once more I was standing still, as if in obedience to a command, in the +same state of suspense; and whether the change was real or only imagined +I know not, but the silence every minute grew more profound and the +gloom deeper. Imaginary terrors began to assail me. Ancient fables of +men allured by beautiful forms and melodious voices to destruction all +at once acquired a fearful significance. I recalled some of the Indian +beliefs, especially that of the mis-shapen, man-devouring monster who is +said to beguile his victims into the dark forest by mimicking the human +voice--the voice sometimes of a woman in distress--or by singing some +strange and beautiful melody. I grew almost afraid to look round lest I +should catch sight of him stealing towards me on his huge feet with toes +pointing backwards, his mouth snarling horribly to display his great +green fangs. It was distressing to have such fancies in this wild, +solitary spot--hateful to feel their power over me when I knew that they +were nothing but fancies and creations of the savage mind. But if these +supernatural beings had no existence, there were other monsters, only +too real, in these woods which it would be dreadful to encounter alone +and unarmed, since against such adversaries a revolver would be as +ineffectual as a popgun. Some huge camoodi, able to crush my bones like +brittle twigs in its constricting coils, might lurk in these shadows, +and approach me stealthily, unseen in its dark colour on the dark +ground. Or some jaguar or black tiger might steal towards me, masked by +a bush or tree-trunk, to spring upon me unawares. Or, worse still, +this way might suddenly come a pack of those swift-footed, unspeakably +terrible hunting-leopards, from which every living thing in the forest +flies with shrieks of consternation or else falls paralysed in their +path to be instantly torn to pieces and devoured. + +A slight rustling sound in the foliage above me made me start and +cast up my eyes. High up, where a pale gleam of tempered sunlight fell +through the leaves, a grotesque human-like face, black as ebony and +adorned with a great red beard, appeared staring down upon me. In +another moment it was gone. It was only a large araguato, or howling +monkey, but I was so unnerved that I could not get rid of the idea that +it was something more than a monkey. Once more I moved, and again, the +instant I moved my foot, clear, and keen, and imperative, sounded the +voice! It was no longer possible to doubt its meaning. It commanded me +to stand still--to wait--to watch--to listen! Had it cried "Listen! Do +not move!" I could not have understood it better. Trying as the suspense +was, I now felt powerless to escape. Something very terrible, I felt +convinced, was about to happen, either to destroy or to release me from +the spell that held me. + +And while I stood thus rooted to the ground, the sweat standing in large +drops on my forehead, all at once close to me sounded a cry, fine and +clear at first, and rising at the end to a shriek so loud, piercing, and +unearthly in character that the blood seemed to freeze in my veins, +and a despairing cry to heaven escaped my lips; then, before that long +shriek expired, a mighty chorus of thunderous voices burst forth around +me; and in this awful tempest of sound I trembled like a leaf; and the +leaves on the trees were agitated as if by a high wind, and the earth +itself seemed to shake beneath my feet. Indescribably horrible were my +sensations at that moment; I was deafened, and would possibly have been +maddened had I not, as by a miracle, chanced to see a large araguato +on a branch overhead, roaring with open mouth and inflated throat and +chest. + +It was simply a concert of howling monkeys that had so terrified me! But +my extreme fear was not strange in the circumstances; since everything +that had led up to the display--the gloom and silence, the period of +suspense, and my heated imagination--had raised my mind to the highest +degree of excitement and expectancy. I had rightly conjectured, no +doubt, that my unseen guide had led me to that spot for a purpose; +and the purpose had been to set me in the midst of a congregation of +araguatos to enable me for the first time fully to appreciate their +unparalleled vocal powers. I had always heard them at a distance; here +they were gathered in scores, possibly hundreds--the whole araguato +population of the forest, I should think--close to me; and it may give +some faint conception of the tremendous power and awful character of +the sound thus produced by their combined voices when I say that this +animal--miscalled "howler" in English--would outroar the mightiest lion +that ever woke the echoes of an African wilderness. + +This roaring concert, which lasted three or four minutes, having ended, +I lingered a few minutes longer on the spot, and not hearing the voice +again, went back to the edge of the wood, and then started on my way +back to the village. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Perhaps I was not capable of thinking quite coherently on what had just +happened until I was once more fairly outside of the forest shadows--out +in that clear open daylight, where things seem what they are, and +imagination, like a juggler detected and laughed at, hastily takes +itself out of the way. As I walked homewards I paused midway on the +barren ridge to gaze back on the scene I had left, and then the recent +adventure began to take a semi-ludicrous aspect in my mind. All that +circumstance of preparation, that mysterious prelude to something +unheard of, unimaginable, surpassing all fables ancient and modern, and +all tragedies--to end at last in a concert of howling monkeys! Certainly +the concert was very grand--indeed, one of the most astounding in +nature---but still--I sat down on a stone and laughed freely. + +The sun was sinking behind the forest, its broad red disk still showing +through the topmost leaves, and the higher part of the foliage was of +a luminous green, like green flame, throwing off flakes of quivering, +fiery light, but lower down the trees were in profound shadow. + +I felt very light-hearted while I gazed on this scene, for how pleasant +it was just now to think of the strange experience I had passed +through--to think that I had come safely out of it, that no human +eye had witnessed my weakness, and that the mystery existed still to +fascinate me! For, ludicrous as the denouement now looked, the cause of +all, the voice itself, was a thing to marvel at more than ever. That it +proceeded from an intelligent being I was firmly convinced; and although +too materialistic in my way of thinking to admit for a moment that it +was a supernatural being, I still felt that there was something more +than I had at first imagined in Kua-ko's speech about a daughter of the +Didi. That the Indians knew a great deal about the mysterious voice, and +had held it in great fear, seemed evident. But they were savages, with +ways that were not mine; and however friendly they might be towards one +of a superior race, there was always in their relations with him a +low cunning, prompted partly by suspicion, underlying their words and +actions. For the white man to put himself mentally on their level is +not more impossible than for these aborigines to be perfectly open, as +children are, towards the white. Whatever subject the stranger within +their gates exhibits an interest in, that they will be reticent about; +and their reticence, which conceals itself under easily invented lies +or an affected stupidity, invariably increases with his desire for +information. It was plain to them that some very unusual interest took +me to the wood; consequently I could not expect that they would tell +me anything they might know to enlighten me about the matter; and I +concluded that Kua-ko's words about the daughter of the Didi, and what +she would do if he blew an arrow at a bird, had accidentally escaped +him in a moment of excitement. Nothing, therefore, was to be gained +by questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them how much +the subject attracted me. And I had nothing to fear; my independent +investigations had made this much clear to me; the voice might proceed +from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of wild fantastic +humours, but nothing worse. It was friendly to me, I felt sure; at the +same time it might not be friendly towards the Indians; for, on that +day, it had made itself heard only after my companion had taken flight; +and it had then seemed incensed against me, possibly because the savage +had been in my company. + +That was the result of my reflections on the day's events when I +returned to my entertainer's roof and sat down among my friends to +refresh myself with stewed fowl and fish from the household pot, into +which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture to dip my fingers. + +Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think--certainly not +reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me, probably +surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid temper. I laughed +at the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he dropped his head down again. +After a minute or two I took the metal match-box and tossed it on to +his breast. He clutched it and, starting up, stared at me in the utmost +astonishment. He could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had +failed to carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to +the loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up the +box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid look; while all +the others gathered about him, each trying to get the box into his own +hands to admire it again, notwithstanding that they had all seen it a +dozen times before. But it was Kua-ko's now and not the stranger's, and +therefore more nearly their own than formerly, and must look different, +more beautiful, with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful +enamelled cock on the lid--figured in Paris probably, but just like a +cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of killing and +eating than we do our purring pussies and lemon-coloured canaries--must +now look more strikingly valiant and cock-like than ever, with its +crimson comb and wattles, burnished red hackles, and dark green arching +tail-plumes. But Kua-ko, while willing enough to have it admired and +praised, would not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously that +it was not theirs for them to handle, but his--Kua-ko's--for all time; +that he had won it by accompanying me--valorous man that he was!--to +that evil wood into which they--timid, inferior creatures that they +were!--would never have ventured to set foot. I am not translating his +words, but that was what he gave them to understand pretty plainly, to +my great amusement. + +After the excitement was over, Runi, who had maintained a dignified +calm, made some roundabout remarks, apparently with the object of +eliciting an account of what I had seen and heard in the forest of +evil fame. I replied carelessly that I had seen a great many birds and +monkeys--monkeys so tame that I might have procured one if I had had +a blow-pipe, in spite of my never having practiced shooting with that +weapon. + +It interested them to hear about the abundance and tameness of the +monkeys, although it was scarcely news; but how tame they must have been +when I, the stranger not to the manner born--not naked, brown-skinned, +lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an owl in his movements--had yet been able +to look closely at them! Runi only remarked, apropos of what I had told +him, that they could not go there to hunt; then he asked me if I feared +nothing. + +"Nothing," I replied carelessly. "The things you fear hurt not the white +man and are no more than this to me," saying which I took up a little +white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with my breath. "And against +other enemies I have this," I added, touching my revolver. A brave +speech, just after that araguato episode; but I did not make it without +blushing--mentally. + +He shook his head, and said it was a poor weapon against some enemies; +also--truly enough--that it would procure no birds and monkeys for the +stew-pot. + +Next morning my friend Kua-ko, taking his zabatana, invited me to go out +with him, and I consented with some misgivings, thinking he had overcome +his superstitious fears and, inflamed by my account of the abundance +of game in the forest, intended going there with me. The previous day's +experience had made me think that it would be better in the future to +go there alone. But I was giving the poor youth more credit than he +deserved: it was far from his intention to face the terrible unknown +again. We went in a different direction, and tramped for hours through +woods where birds were scarce and only of the smaller kinds. Then my +guide surprised me a second time by offering to teach me to use the +zabatana. This, then, was to be my reward for giving him the box! I +readily consented, and with the long weapon, awkward to carry, in my +hand, and imitating the noiseless movements and cautious, watchful +manner of my companion, I tried to imagine myself a simple Guayana +savage, with no knowledge of that artificial social state to which I had +been born, dependent on my skill and little roll of poison-darts for +a livelihood. By an effort of the will I emptied myself of my life +experience and knowledge--or as much of it as possible--and thought +only of the generations of my dead imaginary progenitors, who had ranged +these woods back to the dim forgotten years before Columbus; and if the +pleasure I had in the fancy was childish, it made the day pass quickly +enough. Kua-ko was constantly at my elbow to assist and give advice; and +many an arrow I blew from the long tube, and hit no bird. Heaven knows +what I hit, for the arrows flew away on their wide and wild career to +be seen no more, except a few which my keen-eyed comrade marked to their +destination and managed to recover. The result of our day's hunting was +a couple of birds, which Kua-ko, not I, shot, and a small opossum his +sharp eyes detected high up a tree lying coiled up on an old nest, over +the side of which the animal had incautiously allowed his snaky tail +to dangle. The number of darts I wasted must have been a rather serious +loss to him, but he did not seem troubled at it, and made no remark. + +Next day, to my surprise, he volunteered to give me a second lesson, and +we went out again. On this occasion he had provided himself with a +large bundle of darts, but--wise man!--they were not poisoned, and it +therefore mattered little whether they were wasted or not. I believe +that on this day I made some little progress; at all events, my teacher +remarked that before long I would be able to hit a bird. This made me +smile and answer that if he could place me within twenty yards of a bird +not smaller than a small man I might manage to touch it with an arrow. + +This speech had a very unexpected and remarkable effect. He stopped +short in his walk, stared at me wildly, then grinned, and finally burst +into a roar of laughter, which was no bad imitation of the howling +monkey's performance, and smote his naked thighs with tremendous energy. +At length recovering himself, he asked whether a small woman was not +the same as a small man, and being answered in the affirmative, went off +into a second extravagant roar of laughter. + +Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he continued in this mood, I +began making any number of feeble jokes--feeble, but quite as good as +the one which had provoked such outrageous merriment--for it amused +me to see him acting in this unusual way. But they all failed of their +effect--there was no hitting the bull's-eye a second time; he would only +stare vacantly at me, then grunt like a peccary--not appreciatively--and +walk on. Still, at intervals he would go back to what I had said about +hitting a very big bird, and roar again, as if this wonderful joke was +not easily exhausted. + +Again on the third day we were out together practicing at the +birds--frightening if not killing them; but before noon, finding that it +was his intention to go to a distant spot where he expected to meet +with larger game, I left him and returned to the village. The blow-pipe +practice had lost its novelty, and I did not care to go on all day +and every day with it; more than that, I was anxious after so long an +interval to pay a visit to my wood, as I began to call it, in the hope +of hearing that mysterious melody which I had grown to love and to miss +when even a single day passed without it. + + + +CHAPTER V + +After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of pleasing +anticipations, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in! +What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness it possessed above +all forests, because of that mystery that drew me to it! And it was +mine, truly and absolutely--as much mine as any portion of earth's +surface could belong to any man--mine with all its products: the +precious woods and fruits and fragrant gums that would never be +trafficked away; its wild animals that man would never persecute; nor +would any jealous savage dispute my ownership or pretend that it was +part of his hunting-ground. As I crossed the savannah I played with this +fancy; but when I reached the ridgy eminence, to look down once more on +my new domain, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced to +my heart and was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to rush to +my eyes. And caring not in that solitude to disguise my feelings from +myself, and from the wide heaven that looked down and saw me--for this +is the sweetest thing that solitude has for us, that we are free in it, +and no convention holds us--I dropped on my knees and kissed the stony +ground, then casting up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being for +the gift of that wild forest, those green mansions where I had found so +great a happiness! + +Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long after +noon; but no melodious voice gave me familiar and expected welcome; nor +did my invisible companion make itself heard at all on that day, or, at +all events, not in its usual bird-like warbling language. But on this +day I met with a curious little adventure and heard something very +extraordinary, very mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in my +mind with the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles. + +It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and finding +myself in a rather open part of the wood, near its border, where the +breeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a large +branch, which was half broken, but still remained attached to the trunk +of the tree, while resting its terminal twigs on the ground. Just before +me, where I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad, +round, polished leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectly +horizontal position of the upper leaves made them look like a collection +of small platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. Through +the leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a slender dead +stem protruded, and from a twig at its summit depended a broken spider's +web. A minute dead leaf had become attached to one of the loose threads +and threw its small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves below; +and as it trembled and swayed in the current of air, the black spot +trembled with it or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and was +seldom at rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the small +dancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I noticed a +small spider, with a flat body and short legs, creep cautiously out on +to the upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred with velvet +black first drew my attention to it, for it was beautiful to the eye; +and presently I discovered that this was no web-spinning, sedentary +spider, but a wandering hunter, that captured its prey, like a cat, by +stealing on it concealed and making a rush or spring at the last. The +moving shadow had attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken +for a fly running about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to leaf. +Now began a series of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider's part, with +the object of circumventing the imaginary fly, which seemed specially +designed to meet this special case; for certainly no insect had ever +before behaved in quite so erratic a manner. Each time the shadow flew +past, the spider ran swiftly in the same direction, hiding itself under +the leaves, always trying to get near without alarming its prey; and +then the shadow would go round and round in a small circle, and some new +strategic move on the part of the hunter would be called forth. I became +deeply interested in this curious scene; I began to wish that the shadow +would remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to give the hunter a +chance. And at last I had my wish: the shadow was almost motionless, and +the spider moving towards it, yet seeming not to move, and as it +crept closer I fancied that I could almost see the little striped body +quivering with excitement. Then came the final scene: swift and straight +as an arrow the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, then +wiggled round and round, evidently trying to take hold of his prey with +fangs and claws; and finding nothing under him, he raised the fore +part of his body vertically, as if to stare about him in search of the +delusive fly; but the action may have simply expressed astonishment. At +this moment I was just on the point of giving free and loud vent to the +laughter which I had been holding in when, just behind me, as if from +some person who had been watching the scene over my shoulder and was as +much amused as myself at its termination, sounded a clear trill of merry +laughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but no living creature +was there. The mass of loose foliage I stared into was agitated, as if +from a body having just pushed through it. In a moment the leaves and +fronds were motionless again; still, I could not be sure that a slight +gust of wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced that I had +heard close to me a real human laugh, or sound of some living creature +that exactly simulated a laugh, that I carefully searched the ground +about me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing, +and going back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated for +a considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on the +mystery of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to wonder +whether I, like the spider that chased the shadow, had been deluded, and +had seemed to hear a sound that was not a sound. + +On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or three +hours' ramble, during which I heard nothing, thinking it useless to +haunt the known spots any longer, I turned southwards and penetrated +into a denser part of the forest, where the undergrowth made progress +difficult. I was not afraid of losing myself; the sun above and my sense +of direction, which was always good, would enable me to return to the +starting-point. + +In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on for over half an +hour, finding it no easy matter to make my way without constantly +deviating to this side or that from the course I wished to keep, when I +came to a much more open spot. The trees were smaller and scantier here, +owing to the rocky nature of the ground, which sloped rather rapidly +down; but it was moist and overgrown with mosses, ferns, creepers, and +low shrubs, all of the liveliest green. I could not see many yards ahead +owing to the bushes and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to hear +a low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or thirty +yards further, I made out to be the gurgling of running water; and at +the same moment I made the discovery that my throat was parched and my +palms tingling with heat. I hurried on, promising myself a cool draught, +when all at once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the water, I +caught yet another sound--a low, warbling note, or succession of +notes, which might have been emitted by a bird. But it startled me +nevertheless--bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so much to +me--and pausing, I listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally, +treading with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysterious +vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a quantity of +feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, I saw that just +beyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in the sunlight +from above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was in this open +space, about twenty yards from me, although the water was still hidden +from sight. Something else was there, which I did see; instantly my +cautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision, +scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it away. + +It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among the ferns +and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubled +behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was held +extended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perched +on a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playing +with the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on to +her hand; and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently +hopped up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting +its wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of dropping +on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to see her +distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that she was small, +not above four feet six or seven inches in height, in figure slim, with +delicately shaped little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her +only garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees, +of a whitish-gray colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material. +Her hair was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed +wavy or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it +appeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of her +skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, near to me as +she actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in the figure which made +it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed the +prevailing colour. This tint I presently attributed to the effect of +the sunlight falling on her through the green foliage; for once, for a +moment, she raised herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, and +then a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the arm +at that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just +where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of iridescent +colour. + +I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the bird, +with a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in sudden alarm; +at the same moment she turned and saw me through the light leafy screen. +But although catching sight of me thus suddenly, she did not exhibit +alarm like the bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised look +in them, remained immovably fixed on my face. And then slowly, +imperceptibly--for I did not notice the actual movement, so gradual and +smooth it was, like the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its +form and place, yet to the eye seems not to have moved--she rose to her +knees, to her feet, retired, and with face still towards me, and eyes +fixed on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away into +the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise spot where she +had been a moment before--the feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, and +stems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an aquatic plant, and slim, +drooping fern fronds, and they were motionless and seemed not to have +been touched by something passing through them. She had gone, yet I +continued still, bent almost double, gazing fixedly at the spot where +I had last seen her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed by +sensations which were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid was +the image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually before +my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a dream, an +illusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in this gross +world; and at the same time I knew that she had been there--that +imagination was powerless to conjure up a form so exquisite. + +With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I remained for +some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiar +melodious sound. For I was now convinced that in this wild solitary girl +I had at length discovered the mysterious warbler that so often followed +me in the wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a +drink from the stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the +forest and went home. + +Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful anticipations, +and had no sooner got well among the trees than a soft, warbling sound +reached my ears; it was like that heard on the previous day just before +catching sight of the girl among the ferns. So soon! thought I, elated, +and with cautious steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again +to catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to +doubt that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on +a rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near and +distinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour later, in +another place, the same mysterious note sounded near me. During my +remaining time in the forest I was served many times in the same way, +and still nothing was seen, nor was there any change in the voice. + +Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, feeling very +keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the cause of the elusive +creature's behaviour was that she had been piqued at my discovery of her +in one of her most secret hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and +that it had pleased her to pay me out in this manner. + +On the next day there was no change; she was there again, evidently +following me, but always invisible, and varied not from that one mocking +note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her a second +time. In the end I was vexed, and resolved to be even with her by not +visiting the wood for some time. A display of indifference on my part +would, I hoped, result in making her less coy in the future. + +Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two others +to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening fruit on a +cashew tree would attract a large number of birds. The fruit, however, +proved still green, so that we gathered none and killed few birds. +Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by and by, falling +behind our companions, he complimented me on my good shooting, although, +as usual, I had only wasted the arrows I had blown. + +"Soon you will be able to hit," he said; "hit a bird as big as a small +woman"; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old joke. At last, +growing confidential, he said that I would soon possess a zabatana of my +own, with arrows in plenty. He was going to make the arrows himself, +and his uncle Otawinki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. I +treated it all as a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he meant it. + +Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil fame, and +when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, very much to my +surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade me to go, +where before I had been earnestly recommended not to go, until, finding +that I would not, he took me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he +returned to the same subject: he could not understand why I would not go +to that wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid. + +"No, not afraid," I replied; "but I know the place well, and am getting +tired of it." I had seen everything in it--birds and beasts--and had +heard all its strange noises. + +"Yes, heard," he said, nodding his head knowingly; "but you have seen +nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet." + +I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything strange +the wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I went on to +describe her appearance, and finished by asking if he thought a white +man was frightened at the sight of a young girl. + +What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, growing +still more confidential and generous than on the previous day, he said +that I would soon be a most important personage among them, and greatly +distinguish myself. He did not like it when I laughed at all this, and +went on with great seriousness to speak of the unmade blowpipe that +would be mine--speaking of it as if it had been something very great, +equal to the gift of a large tract of land, or the governorship of a +province, north of the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke of something else +more wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore, +and this was that young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid of +about sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather lean and dirty; not +ugly, nor yet prepossessing. And this copper-coloured little drab of the +wilderness he proposed to bestow in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him, +I managed to control my muscles and asked him what authority he--a +young nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife +for himself--could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand way? +He replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would give his +consent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations; and last, +and LEAST, according to the matrimonial customs of these latitudes, +Oalava herself would be ready to bestow her person--queyou, worn +figleaf-wise, necklace of accouri teeth, and all--on so worthy a suitor +as myself. Finally, to make the prospect still more inviting, he added +that it would not be necessary for me to subject myself to any voluntary +tortures to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the purgatorial +state of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I said, and, +with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of torture he +would recommend. For me--so valorous a person--"no torture," he answered +magnanimously. But he--Kua-ko--had made up his mind as to the form of +torture he meant to inflict some day on his own person. He would prepare +a large sack and into it put fire-ants--"As many as that!" he exclaimed +triumphantly, stooping and filling his two hands with loose sand. He +would put them in the sack, and then get into it himself naked, and +tie it tightly round his neck, so as to show to all spectators that +the hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his flesh could be +endured without a groan and with an unmoved countenance. The poor youth +had not an original mind, since this was one of the commonest forms +of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But the sudden wonderful +animation with which he spoke of it, the fiendish joy that illumined his +usually stolid countenance, sent a sudden disgust and horror through me. +But what a strange inverted kind of fiendishness is this, which delights +at the anticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not on an enemy! +And towards others these savages are mild and peaceable! No, I could not +believe in their mildness; that was only on the surface, when nothing +occurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. I could have laughed at +the whole matter, but the exulting look on my companion's face had made +me sick of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more about it. + +But he would talk still--this fellow whose words, as a rule, I had to +take out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on the same +subject, he said that not one person in the village would expect to +see me torture myself; that after what I would do for them all--after +delivering them from a great evil--nothing further would be expected of +me. + +I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear plain +that in everything he had said he had been leading up to some very +important matter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake to +suppose that my savage was offering me a blow-pipe and a marketable +virgin sister from purely disinterested motives. + +In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my being able +eventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with an arrow. Out of +it all came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious girl I had +seen in the wood was not of a size to suit me as a target when I had got +my hand in with a little more practice. That was the great work I was +asked to do for them--that shy, mysterious girl with the melodious +wild-bird voice was the evil being I was asked to slay with poisoned +arrows! This was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to become +more and more familiar with her haunts and habits, to overcome all +shyness and suspicion in her; and at the proper moment, when it would be +impossible to miss my mark, to plant the fatal arrow! The disgust he had +inspired in me before, when gloating over anticipated tortures, was a +weak and transient feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him in +a sudden transport of rage, and in a moment would have shattered on his +head the blow-pipe I was carrying in my hand, but his astonished look as +he turned to face me made me pause and prevented me from committing +so fatal an indiscretion. I could only grind my teeth and struggle to +overcome an almost overpowering hatred and wrath. Finally I flung the +tube down and bade him take it, telling him that I would not touch it +again if he offered me all the sisters of all the savages in Guayana for +wives. + +He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence suggested +that it would be best to conceal as far as possible the violent +animosity I had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat scornfully +if he believed that I should ever be able to hit anything--bird or human +being--with an arrow. "No," I almost shouted, so as to give vent to my +feelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, "this is the white man's +weapon; but he kills men with it--men who attempt to kill or injure +him--but neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder innocent +young girls treacherously." After that we went on in silence for some +time; at length he said that the being I had seen in the wood and was +not afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a daughter of the Didi, an +evil being; and that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood they +could not go there to hunt, and even in other woods they constantly went +in fear of meeting her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on +in silence; and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw off +my clothes and plunged into the water to cool my anger before going in +to the others. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Thinking about the forest girl while lying awake that night, I came to +the conclusion that I had made it sufficiently plain to her how little +her capricious behaviour had been relished, and had therefore no need +to punish myself more by keeping any longer out of my beloved green +mansions. Accordingly, next day, after the heavy rain that fell during +the morning hours had ceased, I set forth about noon to visit the wood. +Overhead the sky was clear again; but there was no motion in the heavy +sultry atmosphere, while dark blue masses of banked-up clouds on the +western horizon threatened a fresh downpour later in the day. My mind +was, however, now too greatly excited at the prospect of a possible +encounter with the forest nymph to allow me to pay any heed to these +ominous signs. + +I had passed through the first strip of wood and was in the succeeding +stony sterile space when a gleam of brilliant colour close by on the +ground caught my sight. It was a snake lying on the bare earth; had I +kept on without noticing it, I should most probably have trodden upon +or dangerously near it. Viewing it closely, I found that it was a coral +snake, famed as much for its beauty and singularity as for its deadly +character. It was about three feet long, and very slim; its ground +colour a brilliant vermilion, with broad jet-black rings at equal +distances round its body, each black ring or band divided by a narrow +yellow strip in the middle. The symmetrical pattern and vividly +contrasted colours would have given it the appearance of an artificial +snake made by some fanciful artist, but for the gleam of life in its +bright coils. Its fixed eyes, too, were living gems, and from the point +of its dangerous arrowy head the glistening tongue flickered ceaselessly +as I stood a few yards away regarding it. + +"I admire you greatly, Sir Serpent," I said, or thought, "but it is +dangerous, say the military authorities, to leave an enemy or possible +enemy in the rear; the person who does such a thing must be either a bad +strategist or a genius, and I am neither." + +Retreating a few paces, I found and picked up a stone about as big as +a man's hand and hurled it at the dangerous-looking head with the +intention of crushing it; but the stone hit upon the rocky ground a +little on one side of the mark and, being soft, flew into a hundred +small fragments. This roused the creature's anger, and in a moment with +raised head he was gliding swiftly towards me. Again I retreated, not +so slowly on this occasion; and finding another stone, I raised and +was about to launch it when a sharp, ringing cry issued from the bushes +growing near, and, quickly following the sound, forth stepped the forest +girl; no longer elusive and shy, vaguely seen in the shadowy wood, but +boldly challenging attention, exposed to the full power of the meridian +sun, which made her appear luminous and rich in colour beyond example. +Seeing her thus, all those emotions of fear and abhorrence invariably +excited in us by the sight of an active venomous serpent in our path +vanished instantly from my mind: I could now only feel astonishment +and admiration at the brilliant being as she advanced with swift, easy, +undulating motion towards me; or rather towards the serpent, which was +now between us, moving more and more slowly as she came nearer. The +cause of this sudden wonderful boldness, so unlike her former habit, was +unmistakable. She had been watching my approach from some hiding-place +among the bushes, ready no doubt to lead me a dance through the wood +with her mocking voice, as on previous occasions, when my attack on the +serpent caused that outburst of wrath. The torrent of ringing and to +me inarticulate sounds in that unknown tongue, her rapid gestures, and, +above all, her wide-open sparkling eyes and face aflame with colour made +it impossible to mistake the nature of her feeling. + +In casting about for some term or figure of speech in which to describe +the impression produced on me at that moment, I think of waspish, and, +better still, avispada--literally the same word in Spanish, not having +precisely the same meaning nor ever applied contemptuously--only to +reject both after a moment's reflection. Yet I go back to the image of +an irritated wasp as perhaps offering the best illustration; of some +large tropical wasp advancing angrily towards me, as I have witnessed a +hundred times, not exactly flying, but moving rapidly, half running and +half flying, over the ground, with loud and angry buzz, the glistening +wings open and agitated; beautiful beyond most animated creatures in +its sharp but graceful lines, polished surface, and varied brilliant +colouring, and that wrathfulness that fits it so well and seems to give +it additional lustre. + +Wonder-struck at the sight of her strange beauty and passion, I forgot +the advancing snake until she came to a stop at about five yards from +me; then to my horror I saw that it was beside her naked feet. Although +no longer advancing, the head was still raised high as if to strike; +but presently the spirit of anger appeared to die out of it; the lifted +head, oscillating a little from side to side, sunk down lower and lower +to rest finally on the girl's bare instep; and lying there motionless, +the deadly thing had the appearance of a gaily coloured silken garter +just dropped from her leg. It was plain to see that she had no fear of +it, that she was one of those exceptional persons, to be found, it is +said, in all countries, who possess some magnetic quality which has a +soothing effect on even the most venomous and irritable reptiles. + +Following the direction of my eyes, she too glanced down, but did not +move her foot; then she made her voice heard again, still loud and +sharp, but the anger was not now so pronounced. + +"Do not fear, I shall not harm it," I said in the Indian tongue. + +She took no notice of my speech and continued speaking with increasing +resentment. + +I shook my head, replying that her language was unknown to me. Then by +means of signs I tried to make her understand that the creature was safe +from further molestation. She pointed indignantly at the stone in my +hand, which I had forgotten all about. At once I threw it from me, and +instantly there was a change; the resentment had vanished, and a tender +radiance lit her face like a smile. + +I advanced a little nearer, addressing her once more in the Indian +tongue; but my speech was evidently unintelligible to her, as she stood +now glancing at the snake lying at her feet, now at me. Again I had +recourse to signs and gestures; pointing to the snake, then to the stone +I had cast away, I endeavoured to convey to her that in the future I +would for her sake be a friend to all venomous reptiles, and that I +wished her to have the same kindly feelings towards me as towards these +creatures. Whether or not she understood me, she showed no disposition +to go into hiding again, and continued silently regarding me with a look +that seemed to express pleasure at finding herself at last thus suddenly +brought face to face with me. Flattered at this, I gradually drew nearer +until at the last I was standing at her side, gazing down with the +utmost delight into that face which so greatly surpassed in loveliness +all human faces I had ever seen or imagined. + +And yet to you, my friend, it probably will not seem that she was +so beautiful, since I have, alas! only the words we all use to paint +commoner, coarser things, and no means to represent all the exquisite +details, all the delicate lights, and shades, and swift changes of +colour and expression. Moreover, is it not a fact that the strange or +unheard of can never appear beautiful in a mere description, because +that which is most novel in it attracts too much attention and is given +undue prominence in the picture, and we miss that which would have taken +away the effect of strangeness--the perfect balance of the parts and +harmony of the whole? For instance, the blue eyes of the northerner +would, when first described to the black-eyed inhabitants of warm +regions, seem unbeautiful and a monstrosity, because they would vividly +see with the mental vision that unheard-of blueness, but not in the +same vivid way the accompanying flesh and hair tints with which it +harmonizes. + +Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint it in words than of +the feeling its original inspired in me when, looking closely for the +first time on that rare loveliness, trembling with delight, I mentally +cried: "Oh, why has Nature, maker of so many types and of innumerable +individuals of each, given to the world but one being like this?" + +Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind before I dismissed it +as utterly incredible. No, this exquisite being was without doubt one +of a distinct race which had existed in this little-known corner of the +continent for thousands of generations, albeit now perhaps reduced to a +small and dwindling remnant. + +Her figure and features were singularly delicate, but it was her colour +that struck me most, which indeed made her differ from all other human +beings. The colour of the skin would be almost impossible to describe, +so greatly did it vary with every change of mood--and the moods were +many and transient--and with the angle on which the sunlight touched it, +and the degree of light. + +Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a somewhat dim white +or pale grey; near in the strong sunshine it was not white, but +alabastrian, semi-pellucid, showing an underlying rose colour; and +at any point where the rays fell direct this colour was bright and +luminous, as we see in our fingers when held before a strong firelight. +But that part of her skin that remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer +white, and the underlying colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim +blue. With the skin the colour of the eyes harmonized perfectly. At +first, when lit with anger, they had appeared flame-like; now the iris +was of a peculiar soft or dim and tender red, a shade sometimes seen +in flowers. But only when looked closely at could this delicate hue be +discerned, the pupils being large, as in some grey eyes, and the long, +dark, shading lashes at a short distance made the whole eye appear dark. +Think not, then, of the red flower, exposed to the light and sun in +conjunction with the vivid green of the foliage; think only of such +a hue in the half-hidden iris, brilliant and moist with the eye's +moisture, deep with the eye's depth, glorified by the outward look of +a bright, beautiful soul. Most variable of all in colour was the hair, +this being due to its extreme fineness and glossiness, and to its +elasticity, which made it lie fleecy and loose on head, shoulders, and +back; a cloud with a brightness on its surface made by the freer outer +hairs, a fit setting and crown for a countenance of such rare changeful +loveliness. In the shade, viewed closely, the general colour appeared a +slate, deepening in places to purple; but even in the shade the nimbus +of free flossy hairs half veiled the darker tints with a downy pallor; +and at a distance of a few yards it gave the whole hair a vague, misty +appearance. In the sunlight the colour varied more, looking now dark, +sometimes intensely black, now of a light uncertain hue, with a play of +iridescent colour on the loose surface, as we see on the glossed plumage +of some birds; and at a short distance, with the sun shining full on her +head, it sometimes looked white as a noonday cloud. So changeful was it +and ethereal in appearance with its cloud colours that all other human +hair, even of the most beautiful golden shades, pale or red, seemed +heavy and dull and dead-looking by comparison. + +But more than form and colour and that enchanting variability was the +look of intelligence, which at the same time seemed complementary to and +one with the all-seeing, all-hearing alertness appearing in her face; +the alertness one remarks in a wild creature, even when in repose and +fearing nothing; but seldom in man, never perhaps in intellectual or +studious man. She was a wild, solitary girl of the woods, and did not +understand the language of the country in which I had addressed her. +What inner or mind life could such a one have more than that of any wild +animal existing in the same conditions? Yet looking at her face it +was not possible to doubt its intelligence. This union in her of two +opposite qualities, which, with us, cannot or do not exist together, +although so novel, yet struck me as the girl's principal charm. Why had +Nature not done this before--why in all others does the brightness of +the mind dim that beautiful physical brightness which the wild animals +have? But enough for me that that which no man had ever looked for or +hoped to find existed here; that through that unfamiliar lustre of the +wild life shone the spiritualizing light of mind that made us kin. + +These thoughts passed swiftly through my brain as I stood feasting my +sight on her bright, piquant face; while she on her part gazed back +into my eyes, not only with fearless curiosity, but with a look of +recognition and pleasure at the encounter so unmistakably friendly that, +encouraged by it, I took her arm in my hand, moving at the same time a +little nearer to her. At that moment a swift, startled expression came +into her eyes; she glanced down and up again into my face; her lips +trembled and slightly parted as she murmured some sorrowful sounds in a +tone so low as to be only just audible. + +Thinking she had become alarmed and was on the point of escaping out of +my hands, and fearing, above all things, to lose sight of her again so +soon, I slipped my arm around her slender body to detain her, moving +one foot at the same time to balance myself; and at that moment I felt +a slight blow and a sharp burning sensation shoot into my leg, so sudden +and intense that I dropped my arm, at the same time uttering a cry of +pain, and recoiled one or two paces from her. But she stirred not when +I released her; her eyes followed my movements; then she glanced down at +her feet. I followed her look, and figure to yourself my horror when I +saw there the serpent I had so completely forgotten, and which even that +sting of sharp pain had not brought back to remembrance! There it lay, +a coil of its own thrown round one of her ankles, and its head, raised +nearly a foot high, swaying slowly from side to side, while the swift +forked tongue flickered continuously. Then--only then--I knew what had +happened, and at the same time I understood the reason of that sudden +look of alarm in her face, the murmuring sounds she had uttered, and the +downward startled glance. Her fears had been solely for my safety, and +she had warned me! Too late! too late! In moving I had trodden on or +touched the serpent with my foot, and it had bitten me just above the +ankle. In a few moments I began to realize the horror of my position. +"Must I die! must I die! Oh, my God, is there nothing that can save me?" +I cried in my heart. + +She was still standing motionless in the same place: her eyes wandered +back from me to the snake; gradually its swaying head was lowered again, +and the coil unwound from her ankle; then it began to move away, slowly +at first, and with the head a little raised, then faster, and in the end +it glided out of sight. Gone!--but it had left its venom in my blood--O +cursed reptile! + +Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned to her face, now +strangely clouded with trouble; her eyes dropped before mine, while the +palms of her hands were pressed together, and the fingers clasped and +unclasped alternately. How different she seemed now; the brilliant face +grown so pallid and vague-looking! But not only because this tragic end +to our meeting had pierced her with pain: that cloud in the west had +grown up and now covered half the sky with vast lurid masses of vapour, +blotting out the sun, and a great gloom had fallen on the earth. + +That sudden twilight and a long roll of approaching thunder, +reverberating from the hills, increased my anguish and desperation. +Death at that moment looked unutterably terrible. The remembrance of all +that made life dear pierced me to the core--all that nature was to me, +all the pleasures of sense and intellect, the hopes I had cherished--all +was revealed to me as by a flash of lightning. Bitterest of all was the +thought that I must now bid everlasting farewell to this beautiful being +I had found in the solitude--this lustrous daughter of the Didi--just +when I had won her from her shyness--that I must go away into the cursed +blackness of death and never know the mystery of her life! It was +that which utterly unnerved me, and made my legs tremble under me, and +brought great drops of sweat to my forehead, until I thought that the +venom was already doing its swift, fatal work in my veins. + +With uncertain steps I moved to a stone a yard or two away and sat down +upon it. As I did so the hope came to me that this girl, so intimate +with nature, might know of some antidote to save me. Touching my leg, +and using other signs, I addressed her again in the Indian language. + +"The snake has bitten me," I said. "What shall I do? Is there no leaf, +no root you know that would save me from death? Help me! help me!" I +cried in despair. + +My signs she probably understood if not my words, but she made no reply; +and still she remained standing motionless, twisting and untwisting her +fingers, and regarding me with a look of ineffable grief and compassion. + +Alas! It was vain to appeal to her: she knew what had happened, and what +the result would most likely be, and pitied, but was powerless to help +me. Then it occurred to me that if I could reach the Indian village +before the venom overpowered me something might be done to save me. Oh, +why had I tarried so long, losing so many precious minutes! Large drops +of rain were falling now, and the gloom was deeper, and the thunder +almost continuous. With a cry of anguish I started to my feet and +was about to rush away towards the village when a dazzling flash of +lightning made me pause for a moment. When it vanished I turned a last +look on the girl, and her face was deathly pale, and her hair looked +blacker than night; and as she looked she stretched out her arms towards +me and uttered a low, wailing cry. "Good-bye for ever!" I murmured, and +turning once more from her, rushed away like one crazed into the wood. +But in my confusion I had probably taken the wrong direction, for +instead of coming out in a few minutes into the open border of the +forest, and on to the savannah, I found myself every moment getting +deeper among the trees. I stood still, perplexed, but could not shake +off the conviction that I had started in the right direction. Eventually +I resolved to keep on for a hundred yards or so and then, if no opening +appeared, to turn back and retrace my steps. But this was no easy +matter. I soon became entangled in a dense undergrowth, which so +confused me that at last I confessed despairingly to myself that for +the first time in this wood I was hopelessly lost. And in what terrible +circumstances! At intervals a flash of lightning would throw a vivid +blue glare down into the interior of the wood and only serve to show +that I had lost myself in a place where even at noon in cloudless +weather progress would be most difficult; and now the light would only +last a moment, to be followed by thick gloom; and I could only tear +blindly on, bruising and lacerating my flesh at every step, falling +again and again, only to struggle up and on again, now high above the +surface, climbing over prostrate trees and branches, now plunged to my +middle in a pool or torrent of water. + +Hopeless--utterly hopeless seemed all my mad efforts; and at each pause, +when I would stand exhausted, gasping for breath, my throbbing heart +almost suffocating me, a dull, continuous, teasing pain in my bitten leg +served to remind me that I had but a little time left to exist--that by +delaying at first I had allowed my only chance of salvation to slip by. + +How long a time I spent fighting my way through this dense black wood I +know not; perhaps two or three hours, only to me the hours seemed like +years of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I found that I was free +of the close undergrowth and walking on level ground; but it was darker +here darker than the darkest night; and at length, when the lightning +came and flared down through the dense roof of foliage overhead, I +discovered that I was in a spot that had a strange look, where the trees +were very large and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to impede +progress beneath them. Here, recovering breath, I began to run, and +after a while found that I had left the large trees behind me, and was +now in a more open place, with small trees and bushes; and this made me +hope for a while that I had at last reached the border of the forest. +But the hope proved vain; once more I had to force my way through dense +undergrowth, and finally emerged on to a slope where it was open, and +I could once more see for some distance around me by such light as +came through the thick pall of clouds. Trudging on to the summit of +the slope, I saw that there was open savannah country beyond, and for a +moment rejoiced that I had got free from the forest. A few steps more, +and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, a precipice not less than +fifty feet deep. I had never seen that bank before, and therefore knew +that I could not be on the right side of the forest. But now my only +hope was to get completely away from the trees and then to look for the +village, and I began following the bank in search of a descent. No break +occurred, and presently I was stopped by a dense thicket of bushes. I +was about to retrace my steps when I noticed that a tall slender tree +growing at the foot of the precipice, its green top not more than +a couple of yards below my feet, seemed to offer a means of escape. +Nerving myself with the thought that if I got crushed by the fall I +should probably escape a lingering and far more painful death, I dropped +into the cloud of foliage beneath me and clutched desperately at the +twigs as I fell. For a moment I felt myself sustained; but branch after +branch gave way beneath my weight, and then I only remember, very dimly, +a swift flight through the air before losing consciousness. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +With the return of consciousness, I at first had a vague impression that +I was lying somewhere, injured, and incapable of motion; that it was +night, and necessary for me to keep my eyes fast shut to prevent them +from being blinded by almost continuous vivid flashes of lightning. +Injured, and sore all over, but warm and dry--surely dry; nor was it +lightning that dazzled, but firelight. I began to notice things little +by little. The fire was burning on a clay floor a few feet from where I +was lying. Before it, on a log of wood, sat or crouched a human figure. +An old man, with chin on breast and hands clasped before his drawn-up +knees; only a small portion of his forehead and nose visible to me. An +Indian I took him to be, from his coarse, lank, grey hair and dark brown +skin. I was in a large hut, falling at the sides to within two feet of +the floor; but there were no hammocks in it, nor bows and spears, and +no skins, not even under me, for I was lying on straw mats. I could hear +the storm still raging outside; the rush and splash of rain, and, at +intervals, the distant growl of thunder. There was wind, too; I listened +to it sobbing in the trees, and occasionally a puff found its way in, +and blew up the white ashes at the old man's feet, and shook the yellow +flames like a flag. I remembered now how the storm began, the wild girl, +the snake-bite, my violent efforts to find a way out of the woods, and, +finally, that leap from the bank where recollection ended. That I had +not been killed by the venomous tooth, nor the subsequent fearful fall, +seemed like a miracle to me. And in that wild, solitary place, lying +insensible, in that awful storm and darkness, I had been found by a +fellow creature--a savage, doubtless, but a good Samaritan all the +same--who had rescued me from death! I was bruised all over and did not +attempt to move, fearing the pain it would give me; and I had a racking +headache; but these seemed trifling discomforts after such adventures +and such perils. I felt that I had recovered or was recovering from +that venomous bite; that I would live and not die--live to return to my +country; and the thought filled my heart to overflowing, and tears of +gratitude and happiness rose to my eyes. + +At such times a man experiences benevolent feelings, and would willingly +bestow some of that overplus of happiness on his fellows to lighten +other hearts; and this old man before me, who was probably the +instrument of my salvation, began greatly to excite my interest and +compassion. For he seemed so poor in his old age and rags, so solitary +and dejected as he sat there with knees drawn up, his great, brown, bare +feet looking almost black by contrast with the white wood-ashes about +them! What could I do for him? What could I say to cheer his spirits +in that Indian language, which has few or no words to express kindly +feelings? Unable to think of anything better to say, I at length +suddenly cried aloud: "Smoke, old man! Why do you not smoke? It is good +to smoke." + +He gave a mighty start and, turning, fixed his eyes on me. Then I saw +that he was not a pure Indian, for although as brown as old leather, +he wore a beard and moustache. A curious face had this old man, which +looked as if youth and age had made it a battling-ground. His forehead +was smooth except for two parallel lines in the middle running its +entire length, dividing it in zones; his arched eyebrows were black as +ink, and his small black eyes were bright and cunning, like the eyes of +some wild carnivorous animal. In this part of his face youth had held +its own, especially in the eyes, which looked young and lively. +But lower down age had conquered, scribbling his skin all over with +wrinkles, while moustache and beard were white as thistledown. "Aha, the +dead man is alive again!" he exclaimed, with a chuckling laugh. This +in the Indian tongue; then in Spanish he added: "But speak to me in the +language you know best, senor; for if you are not a Venezuelan call me +an owl." + +"And you, old man?" said I. + +"Ah, I was right! Why sir what I am is plainly written on my face. +Surely you do not take me for a pagan! I might be a black man from +Africa, or an Englishman, but an Indian--that, no! But a minute ago you +had the goodness to invite me to smoke. How, sir, can a poor man smoke +who is without tobacco?" + +"Without tobacco--in Guayana!" + +"Can you believe it? But, sir, do not blame me; if the beast that +came one night and destroyed my plants when ripe for cutting had taken +pumpkins and sweet potatoes instead, it would have been better for him, +if curses have any effect. And the plant grows slowly, sir--it is not an +evil weed to come to maturity in a single day. And as for other leaves +in the forest, I smoke them, yes; but there is no comfort to the lungs +in such smoke." + +"My tobacco-pouch was full," I said. "You will find it in my coat, if I +did not lose it." + +"The saints forbid!" he exclaimed. "Grandchild--Rima, have you got a +tobacco-pouch with the other things? Give it to me." + +Then I first noticed that another person was in the hut, a slim young +girl, who had been seated against the wall on the other side of the +fire, partially hid by the shadows. She had my leather belt, with +the revolver in its case, and my hunting-knife attached, and the few +articles I had had in my pockets, on her lap. Taking up the pouch, she +handed it to him, and he clutched it with a strange eagerness. + +"I will give it back presently, Rima," he said. "Let me first smoke a +cigarette--and then another." + +It seemed probable from this that the good old man had already been +casting covetous eyes on my property, and that his granddaughter had +taken care of it for me. But how the silent, demure girl had kept it +from him was a puzzle, so intensely did he seem now to enjoy it, drawing +the smoke vigorously into his lungs and, after keeping it ten or fifteen +seconds there, letting it fly out again from mouth and nose in blue jets +and clouds. His face softened visibly, he became more and more genial +and loquacious, and asked me how I came to be in that solitary place. I +told him that I was staying with the Indian Runi, his neighbour. + +"But, senor," he said, "if it is not an impertinence, how is it that a +young man of so distinguished an appearance as yourself, a Venezuelan, +should be residing with these children of the devil?" + +"You love not your neighbours, then?" + +"I know them, sir--how should I love them?" He was rolling up his second +or third cigarette by this time, and I could not help noticing that he +took a great deal more tobacco than he required in his fingers, and +that the surplus on each occasion was conveyed to some secret receptacle +among his rags. "Love them, sir! They are infidels, and therefore the +good Christian must only hate them. They are thieves--they will steal +from you before your very face, so devoid are they of all shame. And +also murderers; gladly would they burn this poor thatch above my head, +and kill me and my poor grandchild, who shares this solitary life with +me, if they had the courage. But they are all arrant cowards, and fear +to approach me--fear even to come into this wood. You would laugh to +hear what they are afraid of--a child would laugh to hear it!" + +"What do they fear?" I said, for his words had excited my interest in a +great degree. + +"Why, sir, would you believe it? They fear this child--my granddaughter, +seated there before you. A poor innocent girl of seventeen summers, a +Christian who knows her Catechism, and would not harm the smallest thing +that God has made--no, not a fly, which is not regarded on account of +its smallness. Why, sir, it is due to her tender heart that you are +safely sheltered here, instead of being left out of doors in this +tempestuous night." + +"To her--to this girl?" I returned in astonishment. "Explain, old man, +for I do not know how I was saved." + +"Today, senor, through your own heedlessness you were bitten by a +venomous snake." + +"Yes, that is true, although I do not know how it came to your +knowledge. But why am I not a dead man, then--have you done something to +save me from the effects of the poison?" + +"Nothing. What could I do so long after you were bitten? When a man is +bitten by a snake in a solitary place he is in God's hands. He will live +or die as God wills. There is nothing to be done. But surely, sir, you +remember that my poor grandchild was with you in the wood when the snake +bit you?" + +"A girl was there--a strange girl I have seen and heard before when I +have walked in the forest. But not this girl--surely not this girl!" + +"No other," said he, carefully rolling up another cigarette. + +"It is not possible!" I returned. + +"Ill would you have fared, sir, had she not been there. For after being +bitten, you rushed away into the thickest part of the wood, and went +about in a circle like a demented person for Heaven knows how long. But +she never left you; she was always close to you--you might have touched +her with your hand. And at last some good angel who was watching you, +in order to stop your career, made you mad altogether and caused you to +jump over a precipice and lose your senses. And you were no sooner on +the ground than she was with you--ask me not how she got down! And when +she had propped you up against the bank, she came for me. Fortunately +the spot where you had fallen is near--not five hundred yards from the +door. And I, on my part, was willing to assist her in saving you; for I +knew it was no Indian that had fallen, since she loves not that breed, +and they come not here. It was not an easy task, for you weigh, senor; +but between us we brought you in." + +While he spoke, the girl continued sitting in the same listless attitude +as when I first observed her, with eyes cast down and hands folded in +her lap. Recalling that brilliant being in the wood that had protected +the serpent from me and calmed its rage, I found it hard to believe his +words, and still felt a little incredulous. + +"Rima--that is your name, is it not?" I said. "Will you come here and +stand before me, and let me look closely at you?" + +"Si, senor." she meekly answered; and removing the things from her lap, +she stood up; then, passing behind the old man, came and stood before +me, her eyes still bent on the ground--a picture of humility. + +She had the figure of the forest girl, but wore now a scanty faded +cotton garment, while the loose cloud of hair was confined in two plaits +and hung down her back. The face also showed the same delicate lines, +but of the brilliant animation and variable colour and expression there +appeared no trace. Gazing at her countenance as she stood there silent, +shy, and spiritless before me, the image of her brighter self came +vividly to my mind and I could not recover from the astonishment I felt +at such a contrast. + +Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial dance +among the flowers--a living prismatic gem that changes its colour with +every change of position--how in turning it catches the sunshine on its +burnished neck and gorges plumes--green and gold and flame-coloured, the +beams changing to visible flakes as they fall, dissolving into nothing, +to be succeeded by others and yet others? In its exquisite form, +its changeful splendour, its swift motions and intervals of aerial +suspension, it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to +mock all description. And have you seen this same fairy-like creature +suddenly perch itself on a twig, in the shade, its misty wings and +fan-like tail folded, the iridescent glory vanished, looking like some +common dull-plumaged little bird sitting listless in a cage? Just so +great was the difference in the girl as I had seen her in the forest and +as she now appeared under the smoky roof in the firelight. + +After watching her for some moments, I spoke: "Rima, there must be a +good deal of strength in that frame of yours, which looks so delicate; +will you raise me up a little?" + +She went down on one knee and, placing her arms round me, assisted me to +a sitting posture. + +"Thank you, Rima--oh, misery!" I groaned. "Is there a bone left unbroken +in my poor body?" + +"Nothing broken," cried the old man, clouds of smoke flying out with his +words. "I have examined you well--legs, arms, ribs. For this is how +it was, senor. A thorny bush into which you fell saved you from being +flattened on the stony ground. But you are bruised, sir, black with +bruises; and there are more scratches of thorns on your skin than +letters on a written page." + +"A long thorn might have entered my brain," I said, "from the way it +pains. Feel my forehead, Rima; is it very hot and dry?" + +She did as I asked, touching me lightly with her little cool hand. "No, +senor, not hot, but warm and moist," she said. + +"Thank Heaven for that!" I said. "Poor girl! And you followed me through +the wood in all that terrible storm! Ah, if I could lift my bruised arm +I would take your hand to kiss it in gratitude for so great a service. I +owe you my life, sweet Rima--what shall I do to repay so great a debt?" + +The old man chuckled as if amused, but the girl lifted not her eyes nor +spoke. + +"Tell me, sweet child," I said, "for I cannot realize it yet; was +it really you that saved the serpent's life when I would have killed +it--did you stand by me in the wood with the serpent lying at your +feet?" + +"Yes, senor," came her gentle answer. + +"And it was you I saw in the wood one day, lying on the ground playing +with a small bird?" + +"Yes, senor." + +"And it was you that followed me so often among the trees, calling to +me, yet always hiding so that I could never see you?" + +"Yes, senor." + +"Oh, this is wonderful!" I exclaimed; whereat the old man chuckled +again. + +"But tell me this, my sweet girl," I continued. "You never addressed me +in Spanish; what strange musical language was it you spoke to me in?" + +She shot a timid glance at my face and looked troubled at the question, +but made no reply. + +"Senor," said the old man, "that is a question which you must excuse my +child from answering. Not, sir, from want of will, for she is docile and +obedient, though I say it, but there is no answer beyond what I can tell +you. And this is, sir, that all creatures, whether man or bird, have the +voice that God has given them; and in some the voice is musical and in +others not so." + +"Very well, old man," said I to myself; "there let the matter rest for +the present. But if I am destined to live and not die, I shall not long +remain satisfied with your too simple explanation." + +"Rima," I said, "you must be fatigued; it is thoughtless of me to keep +you standing here so long." + +Her face brightened a little, and bending down, she replied in a low +voice: "I am not fatigued, sir. Let me get you something to eat now." + +She moved quickly away to the fire, and presently returned with an +earthenware dish of roasted pumpkin and sweet potatoes and, kneeling at +my side, fed me deftly with a small wooden spoon. I did not feel grieved +at the absence of meat and the stinging condiments the Indians love, nor +did I even remark that there was no salt in the vegetables, so much +was I taken up with watching her beautiful delicate face while she +ministered to me. The exquisite fragrance of her breath was more to me +than the most delicious viands could have been; and it was a delight +each time she raised the spoon to my mouth to catch a momentary glimpse +of her eyes, which now looked dark as wine when we lift the glass to see +the ruby gleam of light within the purple. But she never for a moment +laid aside the silent, meek, constrained manner; and when I remembered +her bursting out in her brilliant wrath on me, pouring forth that +torrent of stinging invective in her mysterious language, I was lost +in wonder and admiration at the change in her, and at her double +personality. Having satisfied my wants, she moved quietly away +and, raising a straw mat, disappeared behind it into her own +sleeping-apartment, which was divided off by a partition from the room I +was in. + +The old man's sleeping-place was a wooden cot or stand on the opposite +side of the room, but he was in no hurry to sleep, and after Rima had +left us, put a fresh log on the blaze and lit another cigarette. Heaven +knows how many he had smoked by this time. He became very talkative and +called to his side his two dogs, which I had not noticed in the room +before, for me to see. It amused me to hear their names--Susio and +Goloso: Dirty and Greedy. They were surly-looking brutes, with rough +yellow hair, and did not win my heart, but according to his account they +possessed all the usual canine virtues; and he was still holding forth +on the subject when I fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +When morning came I was too stiff and sore to move, and not until the +following day was I able to creep out to sit in the shade of the trees. +My old host, whose name was Nuflo, went off with his dogs, leaving +the girl to attend to my wants. Two or three times during the day she +appeared to serve me with food and drink, but she continued silent and +constrained in manner as on the first evening of seeing her in the hut. + +Late in the afternoon old Nuflo returned, but did not say where he had +been; and shortly afterwards Rima reappeared, demure as usual, in her +faded cotton dress, her cloud of hair confined in two long plaits. +My curiosity was more excited than ever, and I resolved to get to +the bottom of the mystery of her life. The girl had not shown herself +responsive, but now that Nuflo was back I was treated to as much talk as +I cared to hear. He talked of many things, only omitting those which +I desired to hear about; but his pet subject appeared to be the +divine government of the world--"God's politics"--and its manifest +imperfections, or, in other words, the manifold abuses which from time +to time had been allowed to creep into it. The old man was pious, but +like many of his class in my country, he permitted himself to indulge in +very free criticisms of the powers above, from the King of Heaven down +to the smallest saint whose name figures in the calendar. + +"These things, senor," he said, "are not properly managed. Consider my +position. Here am I compelled for my sins to inhabit this wilderness +with my poor granddaughter--" + +"She is not your granddaughter!" I suddenly interrupted, thinking to +surprise him into an admission. + +But he took his time to answer. "Senor, we are never sure of anything in +this world. Not absolutely sure. Thus, it may come to pass that you will +one day marry, and that your wife will in due time present you with +a son--one that will inherit your fortune and transmit your name +to posterity. And yet, sir, in this world, you will never know to a +certainty that he is your son." + +"Proceed with what you were saying," I returned, with some dignity. + +"Here we are," he continued, "compelled to inhabit this land and do not +meet with proper protection from the infidel. Now, sir, this is a crying +evil, and it is only becoming in one who has the true faith, and is a +loyal subject of the All-Powerful, to point out with due humility that +He is growing very remiss in His affairs, and is losing a good deal of +His prestige. And what, senor, is at the bottom of it? Favoritism. We +know that the Supreme cannot Himself be everywhere, attending to each +little trick-track that arises in the world--matters altogether beneath +His notice; and that He must, like the President of Venezuela or the +Emperor of Brazil, appoint men--angels if you like--to conduct His +affairs and watch over each district. And it is manifest that for this +country of Guayana the proper person has not been appointed. Every +evil is done and there is no remedy, and the Christian has no more +consideration shown him than the infidel. Now, senor, in a town near the +Orinoco I once saw on a church the archangel Michael, made of stone, and +twice as tall as a man, with one foot on a monster shaped like a cayman, +but with bat's wings, and a head and neck like a serpent. Into this +monster he was thrusting his spear. That is the kind of person that +should be sent to rule these latitudes--a person of firmness and +resolution, with strength in his wrist. And yet it is probable that this +very man--this St. Michael--is hanging about the palace, twirling his +thumbs, waiting for an appointment, while other weaker men, and--Heaven +forgive me for saying it--not above a bribe, perhaps, are sent out to +rule over this province." + +On this string he would harp by the hour; it was a lofty subject on +which he had pondered much in his solitary life, and he was glad of an +opportunity of ventilating his grievance and expounding his views. At +first it was a pure pleasure to hear Spanish again, and the old man, +albeit ignorant of letters, spoke well; but this, I may say, is a common +thing in our country, where the peasant's quickness of intelligence and +poetic feeling often compensate for want of instruction. His views also +amused me, although they were not novel. But after a while I grew tired +of listening, yet I listened still, agreeing with him, and leading him +on to let him have his fill of talk, always hoping that he would come at +last to speak of personal matters and give me an account of his history +and of Rima's origin. But the hope proved vain; not a word to enlighten +me would he drop, however cunningly I tempted him. + +"So be it," thought I; "but if you are cunning, old man, I shall be +cunning too--and patient; for all things come to him who waits." + +He was in no hurry to get rid of me. On the contrary, he more than +hinted that I would be safer under his roof than with the Indians, at +the same time apologizing for not giving me meat to eat. + +"But why do you not have meat? Never have I seen animals so abundant and +tame as in this wood." Before he could reply Rima, with a jug of water +from the spring in her hand, came in; glancing at me, he lifted his +finger to signify that such a subject must not be discussed in her +presence; but as soon as she quitted the room he returned to it. + +"Senor," he said, "have you forgotten your adventure with the snake? +Know, then, that my grandchild would not live with me for one day longer +if I were to lift my hand against any living creature. For us, senor, +every day is fast-day--only without the fish. We have maize, pumpkin, +cassava, potatoes, and these suffice. And even of these cultivated +fruits of the earth she eats but little in the house, preferring certain +wild berries and gums, which are more to her taste, and which she picks +here and there in her rambles in the wood. And I, sir, loving her as I +do, whatever my inclination may be, shed no blood and eat no flesh." + +I looked at him with an incredulous smile. + +"And your dogs, old man?" + +"My dogs? Sir, they would not pause or turn aside if a coatimundi +crossed their path--an animal with a strong odour. As a man is, so is +his dog. Have you not seen dogs eating grass, sir, even in Venezuela, +where these sentiments do not prevail? And when there is no meat--when +meat is forbidden--these sagacious animals accustom themselves to a +vegetable diet." + +I could not very well tell the old man that he was lying to me--that +would have been bad policy--and so I passed it off. "I have no doubt +that you are right," I said. "I have heard that there are dogs in China +that eat no meat, but are themselves eaten by their owners after being +fattened on rice. I should not care to dine on one of your animals, old +man." + +He looked at them critically and replied: "Certainly they are lean." + +"I was thinking less of their leanness than of their smell," I returned. +"Their odour when they approach me is not flowery, but resembles that +of other dogs which feed on flesh, and have offended my too sensitive +nostrils even in the drawing-rooms of Caracas. It is not like the +fragrance of cattle when they return from the pasture." + +"Every animal," he replied, "gives out that odour which is peculiar to +its kind"; an incontrovertible fact which left me nothing to say. + +When I had sufficiently recovered the suppleness of my limbs to walk +with ease, I went for a ramble in the wood, in the hope that Rima would +accompany me, and that out among the trees she would cast aside that +artificial constraint and shyness which was her manner in the house. + +It fell out just as I had expected; she accompanied me in the sense of +being always near me, or within earshot, and her manner was now free and +unconstrained as I could wish; but little or nothing was gained by the +change. She was once more the tantalizing, elusive, mysterious creature +I had first known through her wandering, melodious voice. The only +difference was that the musical, inarticulate sounds were now less often +heard, and that she was no longer afraid to show herself to me. This for +a short time was enough to make me happy, since no lovelier being was +ever looked upon, nor one whose loveliness was less likely to lose its +charm through being often seen. + +But to keep her near me or always in sight was, I found, impossible: she +would be free as the wind, free as the butterfly, going and coming at +her wayward will, and losing herself from sight a dozen times every +hour. To induce her to walk soberly at my side or sit down and enter +into conversation with me seemed about as impracticable as to tame +the fiery-hearted little humming-bird that flashes into sight, remains +suspended motionless for a few seconds before your face, then, quick as +lightning, vanishes again. + +At length, feeling convinced that she was most happy when she had me out +following her in the wood, that in spite of her bird-like wildness she +had a tender, human heart, which was easily moved, I determined to try +to draw her closer by means of a little innocent stratagem. Going out in +the morning, after calling her several times to no purpose, I began to +assume a downcast manner, as if suffering pain or depressed with grief; +and at last, finding a convenient exposed root under a tree, on a spot +where the ground was dry and strewn with loose yellow sand, I sat down +and refused to go any further. For she always wanted to lead me on and +on, and whenever I paused she would return to show herself, or to chide +or encourage me in her mysterious language. All her pretty little arts +were now practiced in vain: with cheek resting on my hand, I still sat. + +So my eyes fixed on that patch of yellow sand at my feet, watching how +the small particles glinted like diamond dust when the sunlight touched +them. A full hour passed in this way, during which I encouraged myself +by saying mentally: "This is a contest between us, and the most patient +and the strongest of will, which should be the man, must conquer. And if +I win on this occasion, it will be easier for me in the future--easier +to discover those things which I am resolved to know, and the girl must +reveal to me, since the old man has proved impracticable." + +Meanwhile she came and went and came again; and at last, finding that I +was not to be moved, she approached and stood near me. Her face, when I +glanced at it, had a somewhat troubled look--both troubled and curious. + +"Come here, Rima," I said, "and stay with me for a little while--I +cannot follow you now." + +She took one or two hesitating steps, then stood still again; and at +length, slowly and reluctantly, advanced to within a yard of me. Then +I rose from my seat on the root, so as to catch her face better, and +placed my hand against the rough bark of the tree. + +"Rima," I said, speaking in a low, caressing tone, "will you stay with +me here a little while and talk to me, not in your language, but in +mine, so that I may understand? Will you listen when I speak to you, and +answer me?" + +Her lips moved, but made no sound. She seemed strangely disquieted, and +shook back her loose hair, and with her small toes moved the sparkling +sand at her feet, and once or twice her eyes glanced shyly at my face. + +"Rima, you have not answered me," I persisted. "Will you not say yes?" + +"Yes." + +"Where does your grandfather spend his day when he goes out with his +dogs?" + +She shook her head slightly, but would not speak. + +"Have you no mother, Rima? Do you remember your mother?" + +"My mother! My mother!" she exclaimed in a low voice, but with a sudden, +wonderful animation. Bending a little nearer, she continued: "Oh, she is +dead! Her body is in the earth and turned to dust. Like that," and she +moved the loose sand with her foot. "Her soul is up there, where the +stars and the angels are, grandfather says. But what is that to me? I +am here--am I not? I talk to her just the same. Everything I see I point +out, and tell her everything. In the daytime--in the woods, when we are +together. And at night when I lie down I cross my arms on my breast--so, +and say: 'Mother, mother, now you are in my arms; let us go to sleep +together.' Sometimes I say: 'Oh, why will you never answer me when I +speak and speak?' Mother--mother--mother!" + +At the end her voice suddenly rose to a mournful cry, then sunk, and at +the last repetition of the word died to a low whisper. + +"Ah, poor Rima! she is dead and cannot speak to you--cannot hear you! +Talk to me, Rima; I am living and can answer." + +But now the cloud, which had suddenly lifted from her heart, letting me +see for a moment into its mysterious depths--its fancies so childlike +and feelings so intense--had fallen again; and my words brought no +response, except a return of that troubled look to her face. + +"Silent still?" I said. "Talk to me, then, of your mother, Rima. Do you +know that you will see her again some day?" + +"Yes, when I die. That is what the priest said." + +"The priest?" + +"Yes, at Voa--do you know? Mother died there when I was small--it is so +far away! And there are thirteen houses by the side of the river--just +here; and on this side--trees, trees." + +This was important, I thought, and would lead to the very knowledge I +wished for; so I pressed her to tell me more about the settlement she +had named, and of which I had never heard. + +"Everything have I told you," she returned, surprised that I did not +know that she had exhausted the subject in those half-dozen words she +had spoken. + +Obliged to shift my ground, I said at a venture: "Tell me, what do +you ask of the Virgin Mother when you kneel before her picture? Your +grandfather told me that you had a picture in your little room." + +"You know!" flashed out her answer, with something like resentment. + +"It is all there in there," waving her hand towards the hut. "Out here +in the wood it is all gone--like this," and stooping quickly, she raised +a little yellow sand on her palm, then let it run away through her +fingers. + +Thus she illustrated how all the matters she had been taught slipped +from her mind when she was out of doors, out of sight of the picture. +After an interval she added: "Only mother is here--always with me." + +"Ah, poor Rima!" I said; "alone without a mother, and only your old +grandfather! He is old--what will you do when he dies and flies away to +the starry country where your mother is?" + +She looked inquiringly at me, then made answer in a low voice: "You are +here." + +"But when I go away?" + +She was silent; and not wishing to dwell on a subject that seemed to +pain her, I continued: "Yes, I am here now, but you will not stay with +me and talk freely! Will it always be the same if I remain with you? +Why are you always so silent in the house, so cold with your old +grandfather? So different--so full of life, like a bird, when you are +alone in the woods? Rima, speak to me! Am I no more to you than your old +grandfather? Do you not like me to talk to you?" + +She appeared strangely disturbed at my words. "Oh, you are not like +him," she suddenly replied. "Sitting all day on a log by the fire--all +day, all day; Goloso and Susio lying beside him--sleep, sleep. Oh, when +I saw you in the wood I followed you, and talked and talked; still no +answer. Why will you not come when I call? To me!" Then, mocking my +voice: "Rima, Rima! Come here! Do this! Say that! Rima! Rima! It is +nothing, nothing--it is not you," pointing to my mouth, and then, as if +fearing that her meaning had not been made clear, suddenly touching my +lips with her finger. "Why do you not answer me?--speak to me--speak to +me, like this!" And turning a little more towards me, and glancing at me +with eyes that had all at once changed, losing their clouded expression +for one of exquisite tenderness, from her lips came a succession of +those mysterious sounds which had first attracted me to her, swift +and low and bird-like, yet with something so much higher and more +soul-penetrating than any bird-music. Ah, what feeling and fancies, what +quaint turns of expression, unfamiliar to my mind, were contained in +those sweet, wasted symbols! I could never know--never come to her +when she called, or respond to her spirit. To me they would always +be inarticulate sounds, affecting me like a tender spiritual music--a +language without words, suggesting more than words to the soul. + +The mysterious speech died down to a lisping sound, like the faint note +of some small bird falling from a cloud of foliage on the topmost bough +of a tree; and at the same time that new light passed from her eyes, and +she half averted her face in a disappointed way. + +"Rima," I said at length, a new thought coming to my aid, "it is true +that I am not here," touching my lips as she had done, "and that +my words are nothing. But look into my eyes, and you will see me +there--all, all that is in my heart." + +"Oh, I know what I should see there!" she returned quickly. + +"What would you see--tell me?" + +"There is a little black ball in the middle of your eye; I should see +myself in it no bigger than that," and she marked off about an eighth of +her little fingernail. "There is a pool in the wood, and I look down and +see myself there. That is better. Just as large as I am--not small +and black like a small, small fly." And after saying this a little +disdainfully, she moved away from my side and out into the sunshine; and +then, half turning towards me, and glancing first at my face and then +upwards, she raised her hand to call my attention to something there. + +Far up, high as the tops of the tallest trees, a great blue-winged +butterfly was passing across the open space with loitering flight. In a +few moments it was gone over the trees; then she turned once more to +me with a little rippling sound of laughter--the first I had heard from +her, and called: "Come, come!" + +I was glad enough to go with her then; and for the next two hours we +rambled together in the wood; that is, together in her way, for though +always near she contrived to keep out of my sight most of the time. She +was evidently now in a gay, frolicsome temper; again and again, when I +looked closely into some wide-spreading bush, or peered behind a tree, +when her calling voice had sounded, her rippling laughter would come to +me from some other spot. At length, somewhere about the centre of the +wood, she led me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, +covering with its shade a large space of ground entirely free from +undergrowth. At this spot she all at once vanished from my side; and +after listening and watching some time in vain, I sat down beside the +giant trunk to wait for her. Very soon I heard a low, warbling sound +which seemed quite near. + +"Rima! Rima!" I called, and instantly my call was repeated like an echo. +Again and again I called, and still the words flew back to me, and I +could not decide whether it was an echo or not. Then I gave up calling; +and presently the low, warbling sound was repeated, and I knew that Rima +was somewhere near me. + +"Rima, where are you?" I called. + +"Rima, where are you?" came the answer. + +"You are behind the tree." + +"You are behind the tree." + +"I shall catch you, Rima." And this time, instead of repeating my words, +she answered: "Oh no." + +I jumped up and ran round the tree, feeling sure that I should find her. +It was about thirty-five or forty feet in circumference; and after going +round two or three times, I turned and ran the other way, but failing to +catch a glimpse of her I at last sat down again. + +"Rima, Rima!" sounded the mocking voice as soon as I had sat down. +"Where are you, Rima? I shall catch you, Rima! Have you caught Rima?" + +"No, I have not caught her. There is no Rima now. She has faded away +like a rainbow--like a drop of dew in the sun. I have lost her; I shall +go to sleep." And stretching myself out at full length under the tree, +I remained quiet for two or three minutes. Then a slight rustling +sound was heard, and I looked eagerly round for her. But the sound +was overhead and caused by a great avalanche of leaves which began to +descend on me from that vast leafy canopy above. + +"Ah, little spider-monkey--little green tree-snake--you are there!" +But there was no seeing her in that immense aerial palace hung with dim +drapery of green and copper-coloured leaves. But how had she got there? +Up the stupendous trunk even a monkey could not have climbed, and there +were no lianas dropping to earth from the wide horizontal branches that +I could see; but by and by, looking further away, I perceived that on +one side the longest lower branches reached and mingled with the shorter +boughs of the neighbouring trees. While gazing up I heard her low, +rippling laugh, and then caught sight of her as she ran along an exposed +horizontal branch, erect on her feet; and my heart stood still with +terror, for she was fifty to sixty feet above the ground. In another +moment she vanished from sight in a cloud of foliage, and I saw no more +of her for about ten minutes, when all at once she appeared at my side +once more, having come round the trunk of the mora. Her face had a +bright, pleased expression, and showed no trace of fatigue or agitation. + +I caught her hand in mine. It was a delicate, shapely little hand, soft +as velvet, and warm--a real human hand; only now when I held it did she +seem altogether like a human being and not a mocking spirit of the wood, +a daughter of the Didi. + +"Do you like me to hold your hand, Rima?" + +"Yes," she replied, with indifference. + +"Is it I?" + +"Yes." This time as if it was small satisfaction to make acquaintance +with this purely physical part of me. + +Having her so close gave me an opportunity of examining that light +sheeny garment she wore always in the woods. It felt soft and satiny to +the touch, and there was no seam nor hem in it that I could see, but it +was all in one piece, like the cocoon of the caterpillar. While I was +feeling it on her shoulder and looking narrowly at it, she glanced at me +with a mocking laugh in her eyes. + +"Is it silk?" I asked. Then, as she remained silent, I continued: "Where +did you get this dress, Rima? Did you make it yourself? Tell me." + +She answered not in words, but in response to my question a new look +came into her face; no longer restless and full of change in her +expression, she was now as immovable as an alabaster statue; not a +silken hair on her head trembled; her eyes were wide open, gazing +fixedly before her; and when I looked into them they seemed to see and +yet not to see me. They were like the clear, brilliant eyes of a bird, +which reflect as in a miraculous mirror all the visible world but do not +return our look and seem to see us merely as one of the thousand small +details that make up the whole picture. Suddenly she darted out her +hand like a flash, making me start at the unexpected motion, and quickly +withdrawing it, held up a finger before me. From its tip a minute +gossamer spider, about twice the bigness of a pin's head, appeared +suspended from a fine, scarcely visible line three or four inches long. + +"Look!" she exclaimed, with a bright glance at my face. + +The small spider she had captured, anxious to be free, was falling, +falling earthward, but could not reach the surface. Leaning her shoulder +a little forward, she placed the finger-tip against it, but lightly, +scarcely touching, and moving continuously, with a motion rapid as that +of a fluttering moth's wing; while the spider, still paying out his +line, remained suspended, rising and falling slightly at nearly the same +distance from the ground. After a few moments she cried: "Drop down, +little spider." Her finger's motion ceased, and the minute captive fell, +to lose itself on the shaded ground. + +"Do you not see?" she said to me, pointing to her shoulder. Just where +the finger-tip had touched the garment a round shining spot appeared, +looking like a silver coin on the cloth; but on touching it with my +finger it seemed part of the original fabric, only whiter and more shiny +on the grey ground, on account of the freshness of the web of which it +had just been made. + +And so all this curious and pretty performance, which seemed instinctive +in its spontaneous quickness and dexterity, was merely intended to show +me how she made her garments out of the fine floating lines of small +gossamer spiders! + +Before I could express my surprise and admiration she cried again, with +startling suddenness: "Look!" + +A minute shadowy form darted by, appearing like a dim line traced across +the deep glossy more foliage, then on the lighter green foliage further +away. She waved her hand in imitation of its swift, curving flight; +then, dropping it, exclaimed: "Gone--oh, little thing!" + +"What was it?" I asked, for it might have been a bird, a bird-like moth, +or a bee. + +"Did you not see? And you asked me to look into your eyes!" + +"Ah, little squirrel Sakawinki, you remind me of that!" I said, passing +my arm round her waist and drawing her a little closer. "Look into my +eyes now and see if I am blind, and if there is nothing in them except +an image of Rima like a small, small fly." + +She shook her head and laughed a little mockingly, but made no effort to +escape from my arm. + +"Would you like me always to do what you wish, Rima--to follow you in +the woods when you say 'Come'--to chase you round the tree to catch you, +and lie down for you to throw leaves on me, and to be glad when you are +glad?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"Then let us make a compact. I shall do everything to please you, and +you must promise to do everything to please me." + +"Tell me." + +"Little things, Rima--none so hard as chasing you round a tree. Only to +have you stand or sit by me and talk will make me happy. And to begin +you must call me by my name--Abel." + +"Is that your name? Oh, not your real name! Abel, Abel--what is that? It +says nothing. I have called you by so many names--twenty, thirty--and no +answer." + +"Have you? But, dearest girl, every person has a name, one name he is +called by. Your name, for instance, is Rima, is it not?" + +"Rima! only Rima--to you? In the morning, in the evening... now in this +place and in a little while where know I? ... in the night when you wake +and it is dark, dark, and you see me all the same. Only Rima--oh, how +strange!" + +"What else, sweet girl? Your grandfather Nuflo calls you Rima." + +"Nuflo?" She spoke as if putting a question to herself. "Is that an +old man with two dogs that lives somewhere in the wood?" And then, with +sudden petulance: "And you ask me to talk to you!" + +"Oh, Rima, what can I say to you? Listen--" + +"No, no," she exclaimed, quickly turning and putting her fingers on my +mouth to stop my speech, while a sudden merry look shone in her eyes. +"You shall listen when I speak, and do all I say. And tell me what to +do to please you with your eyes--let me look in your eyes that are not +blind." + +She turned her face more towards me and with head a little thrown back +and inclined to one side, gazing now full into my eyes as I had wished +her to do. After a few moments she glanced away to the distant trees. +But I could see into those divine orbs, and knew that she was +not looking at any particular object. All the ever-varying +expressions--inquisitive, petulant, troubled, shy, frolicsome had now +vanished from the still face, and the look was inward and full of a +strange, exquisite light, as if some new happiness or hope had touched +her spirit. + +Sinking my voice to a whisper, I said: "Tell me what you have seen in my +eyes, Rima?" + +She murmured in reply something melodious and inarticulate, then glanced +at my face in a questioning way; but only for a moment, then her sweet +eyes were again veiled under those drooping lashes. + +"Listen, Rima," I said. "Was that a humming-bird we saw a little while +ago? You are like that, now dark, a shadow in the shadow, seen for +an instant, and then--gone, oh, little thing! And now in the sunshine +standing still, how beautiful!--a thousand times more beautiful than +the humming-bird. Listen, Rima, you are like all beautiful things in the +wood--flower, and bird, and butterfly, and green leaf, and frond, and +little silky-haired monkey high up in the trees. When I look at you I +see them all--all and more, a thousand times, for I see Rima herself. +And when I listen to Rima's voice, talking in a language I cannot +understand, I hear the wind whispering in the leaves, the gurgling +running water, the bee among the flowers, the organ-bird singing far, +far away in the shadows of the trees. I hear them all, and more, for +I hear Rima. Do you understand me now? Is it I speaking to you--have I +answered you--have I come to you?" + +She glanced at me again, her lips trembling, her eyes now clouded with +some secret trouble. "Yes," she replied in a whisper, and then: "No, it +is not you," and after a moment, doubtfully: "Is it you?" + +But she did not wait to be answered: in a moment she was gone round the +more; nor would she return again for all my calling. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +That afternoon with Rima in the forest under the mora tree had proved so +delightful that I was eager for more rambles and talks with her, but the +variable little witch had a great surprise in store for me. All her wild +natural gaiety had unaccountably gone out of her: when I walked in +the shade she was there, but no longer as the blithe, fantastic being, +bright as an angel, innocent and affectionate as a child, tricksy as a +monkey, that had played at hide-and-seek with me. She was now my shy, +silent attendant, only occasionally visible, and appearing then like +the mysterious maid I had found reclining among the ferns who had melted +away mist-like from sight as I gazed. When I called she would not now +answer as formerly, but in response would appear in sight as if to +assure me that I had not been forsaken; and after a few moments her grey +shadowy form would once more vanish among the trees. The hope that as +her confidence increased and she grew accustomed to talk with me she +would be brought to reveal the story of her life had to be abandoned, at +all events for the present. I must, after all, get my information from +Nuflo, or rest in ignorance. The old man was out for the greater part +of each day with his dogs, and from these expeditions he brought back +nothing that I could see but a few nuts and fruits, some thin bark for +his cigarettes, and an occasional handful of haima gum to perfume the +hut of an evening. After I had wasted three days in vainly trying to +overcome the girl's now inexplicable shyness, I resolved to give for +a while my undivided attention to her grandfather to discover, if +possible, where he went and how he spent his time. + +My new game of hide-and-seek with Nuflo instead of with Rima began +on the following morning. He was cunning; so was I. Going out and +concealing myself among the bushes, I began to watch the hut. That I +could elude Rima's keener eyes I doubted; but that did not trouble me. +She was not in harmony with the old man, and would do nothing to defeat +my plan. I had not been long in my hiding-place before he came out, +followed by his two dogs, and going to some distance from the door, +he sat down on a log. For some minutes he smoked, then rose, and after +looking cautiously round slipped away among the trees. I saw that he was +going off in the direction of the low range of rocky hills south of the +forest. I knew that the forest did not extend far in that direction, and +thinking that I should be able to catch a sight of him on its borders, +I left the bushes and ran through the trees as fast as I could to get +ahead of him. Coming to where the wood was very open, I found that a +barren plain beyond it, a quarter of a mile wide, separated it from the +range of hills; thinking that the old man might cross this open space, +I climbed into a tree to watch. After some time he appeared, walking +rapidly among the trees, the dogs at his heels, but not going towards +the open plain; he had, it seemed, after arriving at the edge of the +wood, changed his direction and was going west, still keeping in the +shelter of the trees. When he had been gone about five minutes, I +dropped to the ground and started in pursuit; once more I caught sight +of him through the trees, and I kept him in sight for about twenty +minutes longer; then he came to a broad strip of dense wood which +extended into and through the range of hills, and here I quickly lost +him. Hoping still to overtake him, I pushed on, but after struggling +through the underwood for some distance, and finding the forest growing +more difficult as I progressed, I at last gave him up. Turning eastward, +I got out of the wood to find myself at the foot of a steep rough hill, +one of the range which the wooded valley cut through at right angles. It +struck me that it would be a good plan to climb the hill to get a view +of the forest belt in which I had lost the old man; and after walking a +short distance I found a spot which allowed of an ascent. The summit of +the hill was about three hundred feet above the surrounding level and +did not take me long to reach; it commanded a fair view, and I now saw +that the belt of wood beneath me extended right through the range, and +on the south side opened out into an extensive forest. "If that is your +destination," thought I, "old fox, your secrets are safe from me." + +It was still early in the day, and a slight breeze tempered the air and +made it cool and pleasant on the hilltop after my exertions. My scramble +through the wood had fatigued me somewhat, and resolving to spend some +hours on that spot, I looked round for a comfortable resting-place. I +soon found a shady spot on the west side of an upright block of stone +where I could recline at ease on a bed of lichen. Here, with shoulders +resting against the rock, I sat thinking of Rima, alone in her wood +today, with just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts which made me hope +that she would miss me as much as I missed her; and in the end I fell +asleep. + +When I woke, it was past noon, and the sun was shining directly on me. +Standing up to gaze once more on the prospect, I noticed a small wreath +of white smoke issuing from a spot about the middle of the forest belt +beneath me, and I instantly divined that Nuflo had made a fire at that +place, and I resolved to surprise him in his retreat. When I got down +to the base of the hill the smoke could no longer be seen, but I had +studied the spot well from above, and had singled out a large clump of +trees on the edge of the belt as a starting-point; and after a search of +half an hour I succeeded in finding the old man's hiding-place. First I +saw smoke again through an opening in the trees, then a small rude hut +of sticks and palm leaves. Approaching cautiously, I peered through a +crack and discovered old Nuflo engaged in smoking some meat over a fire, +and at the same time grilling some bones on the coals. He had captured +a coatimundi, an animal somewhat larger than a tame tom-cat, with a long +snout and long ringed tail; one of the dogs was gnawing at the animal's +head, and the tail and the feet were also lying on the floor, among +the old bones and rubbish that littered it. Stealing round, I suddenly +presented myself at the opening to his den, when the dogs rose up with a +growl and Nuflo instantly leaped to his feet, knife in hand. + +"Aha, old man," I cried, with a laugh, "I have found you at one of your +vegetarian repasts; and your grass-eating dogs as well!" + +He was disconcerted and suspicious, but when I explained that I had seen +a smoke while on the hills, where I had gone to search for a curious +blue flower which grew in such places, and had made my way to it to +discover the cause, he recovered confidence and invited me to join him +at his dinner of roast meat. + +I was hungry by this time and not sorry to get animal food once more; +nevertheless, I ate this meat with some disgust, as it had a rank taste +and smell, and it was also unpleasant to have those evil-looking dogs +savagely gnawing at the animal's head and feet at the same time. + +"You see," said the old hypocrite, wiping the grease from his moustache, +"this is what I am compelled to do in order to avoid giving offence. My +granddaughter is a strange being, sir, as you have perhaps observed--" + +"That reminds me," I interrupted, "that I wish you to relate her history +to me. She is, as you say, strange, and has speech and faculties unlike +ours, which shows that she comes of a different race." + +"No, no, her faculties are not different from ours. They are sharper, +that is all. It pleases the All-Powerful to give more to some than to +others. Not all the fingers on the hand are alike. You will find a man +who will take up a guitar and make it speak, while I--" + +"All that I understand," I broke in again. "But her origin, her +history--that is what I wish to hear." + +"And that, sir, is precisely what I am about to relate. Poor child, +she was left on my hands by her sainted mother--my daughter, sir--who +perished young. Now, her birthplace, where she was taught letters and +the Catechism by the priest, was in an unhealthy situation. It was +hot and wet--always wet--a place suited to frogs rather than to human +beings. At length, thinking that it would suit the child better--for she +was pale and weakly--to live in a drier atmosphere among mountains, I +brought her to this district. For this, senor, and for all I have done +for her, I look for no reward here, but to that place where my daughter +has got her foot; not, sir, on the threshold, as you might think, but +well inside. For, after all, it is to the authorities above, in spite of +some blots which we see in their administration, that we must look for +justice. Frankly, sir, this is the whole story of my granddaughter's +origin." + +"Ah, yes," I returned, "your story explains why she can call a wild bird +to her hand, and touch a venomous serpent with her bare foot and receive +no harm." + +"Doubtless you are right," said the old dissembler. "Living alone in the +wood, she had only God's creatures to play and make friends with; and +wild animals, I have heard it said, know those who are friendly towards +them." + +"You treat her friends badly," said I, kicking the long tail of the +coatimundi away with my foot, and regretting that I had joined in his +repast. + +"Senor, you must consider that we are only what Heaven made us. When all +this was formed," he continued, opening his arms wide to indicate the +entire creation, "the Person who concerned Himself with this matter gave +seeds and fruitless and nectar of flowers for the sustentation of His +small birds. But we have not their delicate appetites. The more robust +stomach which he gave to man cries out for meat. Do you understand? But +of all this, friend, not one word to Rima!" + +I laughed scornfully. "Do you think me such a child, old man, as to +believe that Rima, that little sprite, does not know that you are an +eater of flesh? Rima, who is everywhere in the wood, seeing all things, +even if I lift my hand against a serpent, she herself unseen." + +"But, sir, if you will pardon my presumption, you are saying too much. +She does not come here, and therefore cannot see that I eat meat. In all +that wood where she flourishes and sings, where she is in her house and +garden, and mistress of the creatures, even of the small butterfly with +painted wings, there, sir, I hunt no animal. Nor will my dogs chase any +animal there. That is what I meant when I said that if an animal should +stumble against their legs, they would lift up their noses and pass on +without seeing it. For in that wood there is one law, the law that Rima +imposes, and outside of it a different law." + +"I am glad that you have told me this," I replied. "The thought that +Rima might be near, and, unseen herself, look in upon us feeding with +the dogs and, like dogs, on flesh, was one which greatly troubled my +mind." + +He glanced at me in his usual quick, cunning way. + +"Ah, senor, you have that feeling too--after so short a time with us! +Consider, then, what it must be for me, unable to nourish myself on gums +and fruitlets, and that little sweetness made by wasps out of flowers, +when I am compelled to go far away and eat secretly to avoid giving +offence." + +It was hard, no doubt, but I did not pity him; secretly I could only +feel anger against him for refusing to enlighten me, while making such +a presence of openness; and I also felt disgusted with myself for having +joined him in his rank repast. But dissimulation was necessary, and so, +after conversing a little more on indifferent topics, and thanking him +for his hospitality, I left him alone to go on with his smoky task. + +On my way back to the lodge, fearing that some taint of Nuflo's +evil-smelling den and dinner might still cling to me, I turned aside to +where a streamlet in the wood widened and formed a deep pool, to take +a plunge in the water. After drying myself in the air, and thoroughly +ventilating my garments by shaking and beating them, I found an open, +shady spot in the wood and threw myself on the grass to wait for evening +before returning to the house. By that time the sweet, warm air would +have purified me. Besides, I did not consider that I had sufficiently +punished Rima for her treatment of me. She would be anxious for my +safety, perhaps even looking for me everywhere in the wood. It was not +much to make her suffer one day after she had made me miserable for +three; and perhaps when she discovered that I could exist without her +society she would begin to treat me less capriciously. + +So ran my thoughts as I rested on the warm ground, gazing up into the +foliage, green as young grass in the lower, shady parts, and above +luminous with the bright sunlight, and full of the murmuring sounds of +insect life. My every action, word, thought, had my feeling for Rima +as a motive. Why, I began to ask myself, was Rima so much to me? It was +easy to answer that question: Because nothing so exquisite had ever been +created. All the separate and fragmentary beauty and melody and +graceful motion found scattered throughout nature were concentrated and +harmoniously combined in her. How various, how luminous, how divine she +was! A being for the mind to marvel at, to admire continually, finding +some new grace and charm every hour, every moment, to add to the old. +And there was, besides, the fascinating mystery surrounding her origin +to arouse and keep my interest in her continually active. + +That was the easy answer I returned to the question I had asked myself. +But I knew that there was another answer--a reason more powerful than +the first. And I could no longer thrust it back, or hide its shining +face with the dull, leaden mask of mere intellectual curiosity. BECAUSE +I LOVED HER; loved her as I had never loved before, never could love +any other being, with a passion which had caught something of her +own brilliance and intensity, making a former passion look dim and +commonplace in comparison--a feeling known to everyone, something old +and worn out, a weariness even to think of. + +From these reflections I was roused by the plaintive three-syllable call +of an evening bird--a nightjar common in these woods; and was surprised +to find that the sun had set, and the woods already shadowed with the +twilight. I started up and began hurriedly walking homewards, thinking +of Rima, and was consumed with impatience to see her; and as I drew near +to the house, walking along a narrow path which I knew, I suddenly met +her face to face. Doubtless she had heard my approach, and instead of +shrinking out of the path and allowing me to pass on without seeing her, +as she would have done on the previous day, she had sprung forward to +meet me. I was struck with wonder at the change in her as she came with +a swift, easy motion, like a flying bird, her hands outstretched as if +to clasp mine, her lips parted in a radiant, welcoming smile, her eyes +sparkling with joy. + +I started forward to meet her, but had no sooner touched her hands than +her countenance changed, and she shrunk back trembling, as if the touch +had chilled her warm blood; and moving some feet away, she stood with +downcast eyes, pale and sorrowful as she had seemed yesterday. In vain I +implored her to tell me the cause of this change and of the trouble she +evidently felt; her lips trembled as if with speech, but she made no +reply, and only shrunk further away when I attempted to approach her; +and at length, moving aside from the path, she was lost to sight in the +dusky leafage. + +I went on alone, and sat outside for some time, until old Nuflo returned +from his hunting; and only after he had gone in and had made the fire +burn up did Rima make her appearance, silent and constrained as ever. + + + +CHAPTER X + +On the following day Rima continued in the same inexplicable humour; and +feeling my defeat keenly, I determined once more to try the effect of +absence on her, and to remain away on this occasion for a longer period. +Like old Nuflo, I was secret in going forth next morning, waiting until +the girl was out of the way, then slipping off among the bushes into +the deeper wood; and finally quitting its shelter, I set out across the +savannah towards my old quarters. Great was my surprise on arriving +at the village to find no person there. At first I imagined that my +disappearance in the forest of evil fame had caused them to abandon +their home in a panic; but on looking round I concluded that my friends +had only gone on one of their periodical visits to some neighbouring +village. For when these Indians visit their neighbours they do it in a +very thorough manner; they all go, taking with them their entire stock +of provisions, their cooking utensils, weapons, hammocks, and even +their pet animals. Fortunately in this case they had not taken quite +everything; my hammock was there, also one small pot, some cassava +bread, purple potatoes, and a few ears of maize. I concluded that these +had been left for me in the event of my return; also that they had not +been gone very many hours, since a log of wood buried under the ashes +of the hearth was still alight. Now, as their absences from home usually +last many days, it was plain that I would have the big naked barn-like +house to myself for as long as I thought proper to remain, with little +food to eat; but the prospect did not disturb me, and I resolved to +amuse myself with music. In vain I hunted for my guitar; the Indians +had taken it to delight their friends by twanging its strings. At odd +moments during the last day or two I had been composing a simple melody +in my brain, fitting it to ancient words; and now, without an instrument +to assist me, I began softly singing to myself: + + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes. + +After music I made up the fire and parched an ear of maize for my +dinner, and while laboriously crunching the dry hard grain I thanked +Heaven for having bestowed on me such good molars. Finally I slung my +hammock in its old corner, and placing myself in it in my favourite +oblique position, my hands clasped behind my head, one knee cocked up, +the other leg dangling down, I resigned myself to idle thought. I felt +very happy. How strange, thought I, with a little self-flattery, that +I, accustomed to the agreeable society of intelligent men and charming +women, and of books, should find such perfect contentment here! But I +congratulated myself too soon. The profound silence began at length to +oppress me. It was not like the forest, where one has wild birds for +company, where their cries, albeit inarticulate, have a meaning and give +a charm to solitude. Even the sight and whispered sounds of green leaves +and rushes trembling in the wind have for us something of intelligence +and sympathy; but I could not commune with mud walls and an earthen pot. +Feeling my loneliness too acutely, I began to regret that I had left +Rima, then to feel remorse at the secrecy I had practiced. Even now +while I inclined idly in my hammock, she would be roaming the forest in +search of me, listening for my footsteps, fearing perhaps that I had +met with some accident where there was no person to succour me. It was +painful to think of her in this way, of the pain I had doubtless given +her by stealing off without a word of warning. Springing to the floor, I +flung out of the house and went down to the stream. It was better there, +for now the greatest heat of the day was over, and the weltering sun +began to look large and red and rayless through the afternoon haze. + +I seated myself on a stone within a yard or two of the limpid water; and +now the sight of nature and the warm, vital air and sunshine infected +my spirit and made it possible for me to face the position calmly, +even hopefully. The position was this: for some days the idea had been +present in my mind, and was now fixed there, that this desert was to +be my permanent home. The thought of going back to Caracas, that little +Paris in America, with its Old World vices, its idle political passions, +its empty round of gaieties, was unendurable. I was changed, and this +change--so great, so complete--was proof that the old artificial life +had not been and could not be the real one, in harmony with my deeper +and truer nature. I deceived myself, you will say, as I have often +myself said. I had and I had not. It is too long a question to +discuss here; but just then I felt that I had quitted the hot, tainted +atmosphere of the ballroom, that the morning air of heaven refreshed and +elevated me and was sweet to breathe. Friends and relations I had who +were dear to me; but I could forget them, even as I could forget the +splendid dreams which had been mine. And the woman I had loved, and +who perhaps loved me in return--I could forget her too. A daughter of +civilization and of that artificial life, she could never experience +such feelings as these and return to nature as I was doing. For women, +though within narrow limits more plastic than men, are yet without that +larger adaptiveness which can take us back to the sources of life, which +they have left eternally behind. Better, far better for both of us that +she should wait through the long, slow months, growing sick at heart +with hope deferred; that, seeing me no more, she should weep my loss, +and be healed at last by time, and find love and happiness again in the +old way, in the old place. + +And while I thus sat thinking, sadly enough, but not despondingly, of +past and present and future, all at once on the warm, still air came +the resonant, far-reaching KLING-KLANG of the campanero from some leafy +summit half a league away. KLING-KLANG fell the sound again, and +often again, at intervals, affecting me strangely at that moment, so +bell-like, so like the great wide-travelling sounds associated in our +minds with Christian worship. And yet so unlike. A bell, yet not made of +gross metal dug out of earth, but of an ethereal, sublimer material +that floats impalpable and invisible in space--a vital bell suspended on +nothing, giving out sounds in harmony with the vastness of blue heaven, +the unsullied purity of nature, the glory of the sun, and conveying a +mystic, a higher message to the soul than the sounds that surge from +tower and belfry. + +O mystic bell-bird of the heavenly race of the swallow and dove, the +quetzal and the nightingale! When the brutish savage and the brutish +white man that slay thee, one for food, the other for the benefit of +science, shall have passed away, live still, live to tell thy message to +the blameless spiritualized race that shall come after us to possess the +earth, not for a thousand years, but for ever; for how much shall thy +voice be our clarified successors when even to my dull, unpurged soul +thou canst speak such high things and bring it a sense of an impersonal, +all-compromising One who is in me and I in Him, flesh of His flesh and +soul of His soul. + +The sounds ceased, but I was still in that exalted mood and, like a +person in a trance, staring fixedly before me into the open wood of +scattered dwarf trees on the other side of the stream, when suddenly on +the field of vision appeared a grotesque human figure moving towards me. +I started violently, astonished and a little alarmed, but in a very +few moments I recognized the ancient Cla-cla, coming home with a large +bundle of dry sticks on her shoulders, bent almost double under the +burden, and still ignorant of my presence. Slowly she came down to the +stream, then cautiously made her way over the line of stepping-stones +by which it was crossed; and only when within ten yards did the old +creature catch sight of me sitting silent and motionless in her path. +With a sharp cry of amazement and terror she straightened herself up, +the bundle of sticks dropping to the ground, and turned to run from +me. That, at all events, seemed her intention, for her body was thrown +forward, and her head and arms working like those of a person going at +full speed, but her legs seemed paralysed and her feet remained planted +on the same spot. I burst out laughing; whereat she twisted her neck +until her wrinkled, brown old face appeared over her shoulder staring at +me. This made me laugh again, whereupon she straightened herself up once +more and turned round to have a good look at me. + +"Come, Cla-cla," I cried; "can you not see that I am a living man and no +spirit? I thought no one had remained behind to keep me company and give +me food. Why are you not with the others?" + +"Ah, why!" she returned tragically. And then deliberately turning +from me and assuming a most unladylike attitude, she slapped herself +vigorously on the small of the back, exclaiming: "Because of my pain +here!" + +As she continued in that position with her back towards me for some +time, I laughed once more and begged her to explain. + +Slowly she turned round and advanced cautiously towards me, staring at +me all the time. Finally, still eyeing me suspiciously, she related that +the others had all gone on a visit to a distant village, she starting +with them; that after going some distance a pain had attacked her in her +hind quarters, so sudden and acute that it had instantly brought her to +a full stop; and to illustrate how full the stop was she allowed herself +to go down, very unnecessarily, with a flop to the ground. But she no +sooner touched the ground than up she started to her feet again, with +an alarmed look on her owlish face, as if she had sat down on a +stinging-nettle. + +"We thought you were dead," she remarked, still thinking that I might be +a ghost after all. + +"No, still alive," I said. "And so because you came to the ground with +your pain, they left you behind! Well, never mind, Cla-cla, we are two +now and must try to be happy together." + +By this time she had recovered from her fear and began to feel highly +pleased at my return, only lamenting that she had no meat to give +me. She was anxious to hear my adventures, and the reason of my long +absence. I had no wish to gratify her curiosity, with the truth at all +events, knowing very well that with regard to the daughter of the Didi +her feelings were as purely savage and malignant as those of Kua-ko. But +it was necessary to say something, and, fortifying myself with the good +old Spanish notion that lies told to the heathen are not recorded, I +related that a venomous serpent had bitten me; after which a terrible +thunderstorm had surprised me in the forest, and night coming on +prevented my escape from it; then, next day, remembering that he who is +bitten by a serpent dies, and not wishing to distress my friends with +the sight of my dissolution, I elected to remain, sitting there in the +wood, amusing myself by singing songs and smoking cigarettes; and after +several days and nights had gone by, finding that I was not going to die +after all, and beginning to feel hungry, I got up and came back. + +Old Cla-cla looked very serious, shaking and nodding her head a great +deal, muttering to herself; finally she gave it as her opinion that +nothing ever would or could kill me; but whether my story had been +believed or not she only knew. + +I spent an amusing evening with my old savage hostess. She had thrown +off her ailments and, pleased at having a companion in her dreary +solitude, she was good-tempered and talkative, and much more inclined to +laugh than when the others were present, when she was on her dignity. + +We sat by the fire, cooking such food as we had, and talked and smoked; +then I sang her songs in Spanish with that melody of my own-- + + Muy mas clara que la luna; + +and she rewarded me by emitting a barbarous chant in a shrill, screechy +voice; and finally, starting up, I danced for her benefit polka, +mazurka, and valse, whistling and singing to my motions. + +More than once during the evening she tried to introduce serious +subjects, telling me that I must always live with them, learn to shoot +the birds and catch the fishes, and have a wife; and then she would +speak of her granddaughter Oalava, whose virtues it was proper to +mention, but whose physical charms needed no description since they had +never been concealed. Each time she got on this topic I cut her short, +vowing that if I ever married she only should be my wife. She informed +me that she was old and past her fruitful period; that not much longer +would she make cassava bread, and blow the fire to a flame with her +wheezy old bellows, and talk the men to sleep at night. But I stuck to +it that she was young and beautiful, that our descendants would be more +numerous than the birds in the forest. I went out to some bushes close +by, where I had noticed a passion plant in bloom, and gathering a few +splendid scarlet blossoms with their stems and leaves, I brought them in +and wove them into a garland for the old dame's head; then I pulled her +up, in spite of screams and struggles, and waltzed her wildly to the +other end of the room and back again to her seat beside the fire. And +as she sat there, panting and grinning with laughter, I knelt before her +and, with suitable passionate gestures, declaimed again the old delicate +lines sung by Mena before Columbus sailed the seas: + + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes + tan gentil, que no vecistes + ni tavistes + competedora ninguna + Desdi ninez en la cuna + cobrastes fama, beldad, con tanta graciosidad, + que vos doto la fortuna. + +Thinking of another all the time! O poor old Cla-cla, knowing not what +the jingle meant nor the secret of my wild happiness, now when I recall +you sitting there, your old grey owlish head crowned with scarlet +passion flowers, flushed with firelight, against the background of +smoke-blackened walls and rafters, how the old undying sorrow comes back +to me! + +Thus our evening was spent, merrily enough; then we made up the fire +with hard wood that would last all night, and went to our hammocks, but +wakeful still. The old dame, glad and proud to be on duty once more, +religiously went to work to talk me to sleep; but although I called out +at intervals to encourage her to go on, I did not attempt to follow the +ancient tales she told, which she had imbibed in childhood from other +white-headed grandmothers long, long turned to dust. My own brain was +busy thinking, thinking, thinking now of the woman I had once loved, far +away in Venezuela, waiting and weeping and sick with hope deferred; +now of Rima, wakeful and listening to the mysterious nightsounds of the +forest--listening, listening for my returning footsteps. + +Next morning I began to waver in my resolution to remain absent from +Rima for some days; and before evening my passion, which I had now +ceased to struggle against, coupled with the thought that I had acted +unkindly in leaving her, that she would be a prey to anxiety, overcame +me, and I was ready to return. The old woman, who had been suspiciously +watching my movements, rushed out after me as I left the house, crying +out that a storm was brewing, that it was too late to go far, and +night would be full of danger. I waved my hand in good-bye, laughingly +reminding her that I was proof against all perils. Little she cared what +evil might befall me, I thought; but she loved not to be alone; even for +her, low down as she was intellectually, the solitary earthen pot had +no "mind stuff" in it, and could not be sent to sleep at night with the +legends of long ago. + +By the time I reached the ridge, I had discovered that she had +prophesied truly, for now an ominous change had come over nature. A dull +grey vapour had overspread the entire western half of the heavens; +down, beyond the forest, the sky looked black as ink, and behind this +blackness the sun had vanished. It was too late to go back now; I had +been too long absent from Rima, and could only hope to reach Nuflo's +lodge, wet or dry, before night closed round me in the forest. + +For some moments I stood still on the ridge, struck by the somewhat +weird aspect of the shadowed scene before me--the long strip of dull +uniform green, with here and there a slender palm lifting its feathery +crown above the other trees, standing motionless, in strange relief +against the advancing blackness. Then I set out once more at a run, +taking advantage of the downward slope to get well on my way before the +tempest should burst. As I approached the wood, there came a flash of +lightning, pale, but covering the whole visible sky, followed after a +long interval by a distant roll of thunder, which lasted several seconds +and ended with a succession of deep throbs. It was as if Nature herself, +in supreme anguish and abandonment, had cast herself prone on the earth, +and her great heart had throbbed audibly, shaking the world with its +beats. No more thunder followed, but the rain was coming down heavily +now in huge drops that fell straight through the gloomy, windless air. +In half a minute I was drenched to the skin; but for a short time +the rain seemed an advantage, as the brightness of the falling water +lessened the gloom, turning the air from dark to lighter grey. This +subdued rain-light did not last long: I had not been twenty minutes +in the wood before a second and greater darkness fell on the earth, +accompanied by an even more copious downpour of water. The sun had +evidently gone down, and the whole sky was now covered with one thick +cloud. Becoming more nervous as the gloom increased, I bent my steps +more to the south, so as to keep near the border and more open part of +the wood. Probably I had already grown confused before deviating and +turned the wrong way, for instead of finding the forest easier, it +grew closer and more difficult as I advanced. Before many minutes the +darkness so increased that I could no longer distinguish objects more +than five feet from my eyes. Groping blindly along, I became entangled +in a dense undergrowth, and after struggling and stumbling along for +some distance in vain endeavours to get through it, I came to a stand +at last in sheer despair. All sense of direction was now lost: I was +entombed in thick blackness--blackness of night and cloud and rain and +of dripping foliage and network of branches bound with bush ropes and +creepers in a wild tangle. I had struggled into a hollow, or hole, as +it were, in the midst of that mass of vegetation, where I could stand +upright and turn round and round without touching anything; but when I +put out my hands they came into contact with vines and bushes. To move +from that spot seemed folly; yet how dreadful to remain there standing +on the sodden earth, chilled with rain, in that awful blackness in which +the only luminous thing one could look to see would be the eyes, shining +with their own internal light, of some savage beast of prey! Yet the +danger, the intense physical discomfort, and the anguish of looking +forward to a whole night spent in that situation stung my heart less +than the thought of Rima's anxiety and of the pain I had carelessly +given by secretly leaving her. + +It was then, with that pang in my heart, that I was startled by hearing, +close by, one of her own low, warbled expressions. There could be no +mistake; if the forest had been full of the sounds of animal life +and songs of melodious birds, her voice would have been instantly +distinguished from all others. How mysterious, how infinitely tender it +sounded in that awful blackness!--so musical and exquisitely modulated, +so sorrowful, yet piercing my heart with a sudden, unutterable joy. + +"Rima! Rima!" I cried. "Speak again. Is it you? Come to me here." + +Again that low, warbling sound, or series of sounds, seemingly from +a distance of a few yards. I was not disturbed at her not replying in +Spanish: she had always spoken it somewhat reluctantly, and only when +at my side; but when calling to me from some distance she would return +instinctively to her own mysterious language, and call to me as bird +calls to bird. I knew that she was inviting me to follow her, but I +refused to move. + +"Rima," I cried again, "come to me here, for I know not where to step, +and cannot move until you are at my side and I can feel your hand." + +There came no response, and after some moments, becoming alarmed, I +called to her again. + +Then close by me, in a low, trembling voice, she returned: "I am here." + +I put out my hand and touched something soft and wet; it was her breast, +and moving my hand higher up, I felt her hair, hanging now and streaming +with water. She was trembling, and I thought the rain had chilled her. + +"Rima--poor child! How wet you are! How strange to meet you in such a +place! Tell me, dear Rima, how did you find me?" + +"I was waiting--watching--all day. I saw you coming across the savannah, +and followed at a distance through the wood." + +"And I had treated you so unkindly! Ah, my guardian angel, my light in +the darkness, how I hate myself for giving you pain! Tell me, sweet, did +you wish me to come back and live with you again?" She made no reply. +Then, running my fingers down her arm, I took her hand in mine. It was +hot, like the hand of one in a fever. I raised it to my lips and then +attempted to draw her to me, but she slipped down and out of my arms to +my feet. I felt her there, on her knees, with head bowed low. Stooping +and putting my arm round her body, I drew her up and held her against my +breast, and felt her heart throbbing wildly. With many endearing words I +begged her to speak to me; but her only reply was: "Come--come," as she +slipped again out of my arms and, holding my hand in hers, guided me +through the bushes. + +Before long we came to an open path or glade, where the darkness was not +profound; and releasing my hand, she began walking rapidly before me, +always keeping at such a distance as just enabled me to distinguish her +grey, shadowy figure, and with frequent doublings to follow the natural +paths and openings which she knew so well. In this way we kept on nearly +to the end, without exchanging a word, and hearing no sound except the +continuous rush of rain, which to our accustomed ears had ceased to +have the effect of sound, and the various gurgling noises of innumerable +runners. All at once, as we came to a more open place, a strip of bright +firelight appeared before us, shining from the half-open door of Nuflo's +lodge. She turned round as much as to say: "Now you know where you are," +then hurried on, leaving me to follow as best I could. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +There was a welcome change in the weather when I rose early next +morning; the sky was without cloud and had that purity in its colour +and look of infinite distance seen only when the atmosphere is free from +vapour. The sun had not yet risen, but old Nuflo was already among the +ashes, on his hands and knees, blowing the embers he had uncovered to a +flame. Then Rima appeared only to pass through the room with quick light +tread to go out of the door without a word or even a glance at my face. +The old man, after watching at the door for a few minutes, turned +and began eagerly questioning me about my adventures on the previous +evening. In reply I related to him how the girl had found me in the +forest lost and unable to extricate myself from the tangled undergrowth. + +He rubbed his hands on his knees and chuckled. "Happy for you, senor," +he said, "that my granddaughter regards you with such friendly eyes, +otherwise you might have perished before morning. Once she was at your +side, no light, whether of sun or moon or lantern, was needed, nor that +small instrument which is said to guide a man aright in the desert, even +in the darkest night--let him that can believe such a thing!" + +"Yes, happy for me," I returned. "I am filled with remorse that it was +all through my fault that the poor child was exposed to such weather." + +"O senor," he cried airily, "let not that distress you! Rain and wind +and hot suns, from which we seek shelter, do not harm her. She takes no +cold, and no fever, with or without ague." + +After some further conversation I left him to steal away unobserved on +his own account, and set out for a ramble in the hope of encountering +Rima and winning her to talk to me. + +My quest did not succeed: not a glimpse of her delicate shadowy form did +I catch among the trees; and not one note from her melodious lips came +to gladden me. At noon I returned to the house, where I found food +placed ready for me, and knew that she had come there during my absence +and had not been forgetful of my wants. "Shall I thank you for this?" I +said. "I ask you for heavenly nectar for the sustentation of the higher +winged nature in me, and you give me a boiled sweet potato, toasted +strips of sun-dried pumpkins, and a handful of parched maize! Rima! +Rima! my woodland fairy, my sweet saviour, why do you yet fear me? Is it +that love struggles in you with repugnance? Can you discern with clear +spiritual eyes the grosser elements in me, and hate them; or has some +false imagination made me appear all dark and evil, but too late for +your peace, after the sweet sickness of love has infected you?" + +But she was not there to answer me, and so after a time I went forth +again and seated myself listlessly on the root of an old tree not +far from the house. I had sat there a full hour when all at once Rima +appeared at my side. Bending forward, she touched my hand, but without +glancing at my face; "Come with me," she said, and turning, moved +swiftly towards the northern extremity of the forest. She seemed to +take it for granted that I would follow, never casting a look behind nor +pausing in her rapid walk; but I was only too glad to obey and, starting +up, was quickly after her. She led me by easy ways, familiar to her, +with many doublings to escape the undergrowth, never speaking or pausing +until we came out from the thick forest, and I found myself for the +first time at the foot of the great hill or mountain Ytaioa. Glancing +back for a few moments, she waved a hand towards the summit, and then +at once began the ascent. Here too it seemed all familiar ground to her. +From below, the sides had presented an exceedingly rugged appearance--a +wild confusion of huge jagged rocks, mixed with a tangled vegetation +of trees, bushes, and vines; but following her in all her doublings, it +became easy enough, although it fatigued me greatly owing to our rapid +pace. The hill was conical, but I found that it had a flat top--an +oblong or pear-shaped area, almost level, of a soft, crumbly sandstone, +with a few blocks and boulders of a harder stone scattered about--and no +vegetation, except the grey mountain lichen and a few sere-looking dwarf +shrubs. + +Here Rima, at a distance of a few yards from me, remained standing still +for some minutes, as if to give me time to recover my breath; and I was +right glad to sit down on a stone to rest. Finally she walked slowly +to the centre of the level area, which was about two acres in extent; +rising, I followed her and, climbing on to a huge block of stone, began +gazing at the wide prospect spread out before me. The day was windless +and bright, with only a few white clouds floating at a great height +above and casting travelling shadows over that wild, broken country, +where forest, marsh, and savannah were only distinguishable by their +different colours, like the greys and greens and yellows on a map. At +a great distance the circle of the horizon was broken here and there by +mountains, but the hills in our neighbourhood were all beneath our feet. + +After gazing all round for some minutes, I jumped down from my stand +and, leaning against the stone, stood watching the girl, waiting for her +to speak. I felt convinced that she had something of the very highest +importance (to herself) to communicate, and that only the pressing +need of a confidant, not Nuflo, had overcome her shyness of me; and I +determined to let her take her own time to say it in her own way. For a +while she continued silent, her face averted, but her little movements +and the way she clasped and unclasped her fingers showed that she was +anxious and her mind working. Suddenly, half turning to me, she began +speaking eagerly and rapidly. + +"Do you see," she said, waving her hand to indicate the whole circuit of +earth, "how large it is? Look!" pointing now to mountains in the west. +"Those are the Vahanas--one, two, three--the highest--I can tell you +their names--Vahana-Chara, Chumi, Aranoa. Do you see that water? It is +a river, called Guaypero. From the hills it comes down, Inaruna is their +name, and you can see them there in the south--far, far." And in this +way she went on pointing out and naming all the mountains and rivers +within sight. Then she suddenly dropped her hands to her sides and +continued: "That is all. Because we can see no further. But the world is +larger than that! Other mountains, other rivers. Have I not told you of +Voa, on the River Voa, where I was born, where mother died, where the +priest taught me, years, years ago? All that you cannot see, it is so +far away--so far." + +I did not laugh at her simplicity, nor did I smile or feel any +inclination to smile. On the contrary, I only experienced a sympathy so +keen that it was like pain while watching her clouded face, so changeful +in its expression, yet in all changes so wistful. I could not yet form +any idea as to what she wished to communicate or to discover, but seeing +that she paused for a reply, I answered: "The world is so large, Rima, +that we can only see a very small portion of it from any one spot. Look +at this," and with a stick I had used to aid me in my ascent I traced +a circle six or seven inches in circumference on the soft stone, and in +its centre placed a small pebble. "This represents the mountain we +are standing on," I continued, touching the pebble; "and this +line encircling it encloses all of the earth we can see from the +mountain-top. Do you understand?--the line I have traced is the blue +line of the horizon beyond which we cannot see. And outside of this +little circle is all the flat top of Ytaioa representing the world. +Consider, then, how small a portion of the world we can see from this +spot!" + +"And do you know it all?" she returned excitedly. "All the world?" +waving her hand to indicate the little stone plain. "All the mountains, +and rivers, and forests--all the people in the world?" + +"That would be impossible, Rima; consider how large it is." + +"That does not matter. Come, let us go together--we two and +grandfather--and see all the world; all the mountains and forests, and +know all the people." + +"You do not know what you are saying, Rima. You might as well say: +'Come, let us go to the sun and find out everything in it.'" + +"It is you who do not know what you are saying," she retorted, with +brightening eyes which for a moment glanced full into mine. "We have no +wings like birds to fly to the sun. Am I not able to walk on the earth, +and run? Can I not swim? Can I not climb every mountain?" + +"No, you cannot. You imagine that all the earth is like this little +portion you see. But it is not all the same. There are great rivers +which you cannot cross by swimming; mountains you cannot climb; forests +you cannot penetrate--dark, and inhabited by dangerous beasts, and so +vast that all this space your eyes look on is a mere speck of earth in +comparison." + +She listened excitedly. "Oh, do you know all that?" she cried, with a +strangely brightening look; and then half turning from me, she added, +with sudden petulance: "Yet only a minute ago you knew nothing of the +world--because it is so large! Is anything to be gained by speaking to +one who says such contrary things?" + +I explained that I had not contradicted myself, that she had not rightly +interpreted my words. I knew, I said, something about the principal +features of the different countries of the world, as, for instance, the +largest mountain ranges, and rivers, and the cities. Also something, +but very little, about the tribes of savage men. She heard me with +impatience, which made me speak rapidly, in very general terms; and to +simplify the matter I made the world stand for the continent we were +in. It seemed idle to go beyond that, and her eagerness would not have +allowed it. + +"Tell me all you know," she said the moment I ceased speaking. "What is +there--and there--and there?" pointing in various directions. "Rivers +and forests--they are nothing to me. The villages, the tribes, the +people everywhere; tell me, for I must know it all." + +"It would take long to tell, Rima." + +"Because you are so slow. Look how high the sun is! Speak, speak! What +is there?" pointing to the north. + +"All that country," I said, waving my hands from east to west, "is +Guayana; and so large is it that you could go in this direction, or in +this, travelling for months, without seeing the end of Guayana. Still +it would be Guayana; rivers, rivers, rivers, with forests between, +and other forests and rivers beyond. And savage people, nations +and tribes--Guahibo, Aguaricoto, Ayano, Maco, Piaroa, Quiriquiripo, +Tuparito--shall I name a hundred more? It would be useless, Rima; they +are all savages, and live widely scattered in the forests, hunting with +bow and arrow and the zabatana. Consider, then, how large Guayana is!" + +"Guayana--Guayana! Do I not know all this is Guayana? But beyond, and +beyond, and beyond? Is there no end to Guayana?" + +"Yes; there northwards it ends at the Orinoco, a mighty river, coming +from mighty mountains, compared with which Ytaioa is like a stone on the +ground on which we have sat down to rest. You must know that guayana is +only a portion, a half, of our country, Venezuela. Look," I continued, +putting my hand round my shoulder to touch the middle of my back, "there +is a groove running down my spine dividing my body into equal parts. +Thus does the great Orinoco divide Venezuela, and on one side of it is +all Guayana; and on the other side the countries or provinces of Cumana, +Maturm, Barcelona, Bolivar, Guarico, Apure, and many others." I then +gave a rapid description of the northern half of the country, with its +vast llanos covered with herds in one part, its plantations of coffee, +rice, and sugar-cane in another, and its chief towns; last of all +Caracas, the gay and opulent little Paris in America. + +This seemed to weary her; but the moment I ceased speaking, and before +I could well moisten my dry lips, she demanded to know what came after +Caracas--after all Venezuela. + +"The ocean--water, water, water," I replied. + +"There are no people there--in the water; only fishes," she remarked; +then suddenly continued: "Why are you silent--is Venezuela, then, all +the world?" + +The task I had set myself to perform seemed only at its commencement +yet. Thinking how to proceed with it, my eyes roved over the level area +we were standing on, and it struck me that this little irregular plain, +broad at one end and almost pointed at the other, roughly resembled the +South American continent in its form. + +"Look, Rima," I began, "here we are on this small pebble--Ytaioa; and +this line round it shuts us in--we cannot see beyond. Now let us imagine +that we can see beyond--that we can see the whole flat mountaintop; and +that, you know, is the whole world. Now listen while I tell you of all +the countries, and principal mountains, and rivers, and cities of the +world." + +The plan I had now fixed on involved a great deal of walking about and +some hard work in moving and setting up stones and tracing boundary +and other lines; but it gave me pleasure, for Rima was close by all +the time, following me from place to place, listening to all I said in +silence but with keen interest. At the broad end of the level summit I +marked out Venezuela, showing by means of a long line how the Orinoco +divided it, and also marking several of the greater streams flowing +into it. I also marked the sites of Caracas and other large towns +with stones; and rejoiced that we are not like the Europeans, great +city-builders, for the stones proved heavy to lift. Then followed +Colombia and Ecuador on the west; and, successively, Bolivia, Peru, +Chile, ending at last in the south with Patagonia, a cold arid land, +bleak and desolate. I marked the littoral cities as we progressed +on that side, where earth ends and the Pacific Ocean begins, and +infinitude. + +Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration, I described the Cordilleras to +her--that world-long, stupendous chain; its sea of Titicaca, and wintry, +desolate Paramo, where lie the ruins of Tiahuanaco, older than Thebes. +I mentioned its principal cities--those small inflamed or festering +pimples that attract much attention from appearing on such a body. +Quito, called--not in irony, but by its own people--the Splendid and +the Magnificent; so high above the earth as to appear but a little way +removed from heaven--"de Quito al cielo," as the saying is. But of its +sublime history, its kings and conquerors, Haymar Capac the Mighty, +and Huascar, and Atahualpa the Unhappy, not one word. Many words--how +inadequate!--of the summits, white with everlasting snows, above +it--above this navel of the world, above the earth, the ocean, the +darkening tempest, the condor's flight. Flame-breathing Cotopaxi, +whose wrathful mutterings are audible two hundred leagues away, and +Chimborazo, Antisana, Sarata, Illimani, Aconcagua--names of mountains +that affect us like the names of gods, implacable Pachacamac and +Viracocha, whose everlasting granite thrones they are. At the last I +showed her Cuzco, the city of the sun, and the highest dwelling-place of +men on earth. + +I was carried away by so sublime a theme; and remembering that I had no +critical hearer, I gave free reins to fancy, forgetting for the moment +that some undiscovered thought or feeling had prompted her questions. +And while I spoke of the mountains, she hung on my words, following me +closely in my walk, her countenance brilliant, her frame quivering with +excitement. + +There yet remained to be described all that unimaginable space east of +the Andes; the rivers--what rivers!--the green plains that are like +the sea--the illimitable waste of water where there is no land--and the +forest region. The very thought of the Amazonian forest made my spirit +droop. If I could have snatched her up and placed her on the dome of +Chimborazo she would have looked on an area of ten thousand square miles +of earth, so vast is the horizon at that elevation. And possibly her +imagination would have been able to clothe it all with an unbroken +forest. Yet how small a portion this would be of the stupendous +whole--of a forest region equal in extent to the whole of Europe! All +loveliness, all grace, all majesty are there; but we cannot see, cannot +conceive--come away! From this vast stage, to be occupied in the distant +future by millions and myriads of beings, like us of upright form, the +nations that will be born when all the existing dominant races on the +globe and the civilizations they represent have perished as utterly as +those who sculptured the stones of old Tiahuanaco--from this theatre +of palms prepared for a drama unlike any which the Immortals have yet +witnessed--I hurried away; and then slowly conducted her along the +Atlantic coast, listening to the thunder of its great waves, and pausing +at intervals to survey some maritime city. + +Never probably since old Father Noah divided the earth among his +sons had so grand a geographical discourse been delivered; and having +finished, I sat down, exhausted with my efforts, and mopped my brow, but +glad that my huge task was over, and satisfied that I had convinced her +of the futility of her wish to see the world for herself. + +Her excitement had passed away by now. She was standing a little apart +from me, her eyes cast down and thoughtful. At length she approached me +and said, waving her hand all round: "What is beyond the mountains over +there, beyond the cities on that side--beyond the world?" + +"Water, only water. Did I not tell you?" I returned stoutly; for I had, +of course, sunk the Isthmus of Panama beneath the sea. + + +"Water! All round?" she persisted. + +"Yes." + +"Water, and no beyond? Only water--always water?" + +I could no longer adhere to so gross a lie. She was too intelligent, and +I loved her too much. Standing up, I pointed to distant mountains and +isolated peaks. + +"Look at those peaks," I said. "It is like that with the world--this +world we are standing on. Beyond that great water that flows all round +the world, but far away, so far that it would take months in a big boat +to reach them, there are islands, some small, others as large as this +world. But, Rima, they are so far away, so impossible to reach, that it +is useless to speak or to think of them. They are to us like the sun and +moon and stars, to which we cannot fly. And now sit down and rest by my +side, for you know everything." + +She glanced at me with troubled eyes. + +"Nothing do I know--nothing have you told me. Did I not say that +mountains and rivers and forests are nothing? Tell me about all the +people in the world. Look! there is Cuzco over there, a city like no +other in the world--did you not tell me so? Of the people nothing. Are +they also different from all others in the world?" + +"I will tell you that if you will first answer me one question, Rima." + +She drew a little nearer, curious to hear, but was silent. + +"Promise that you will answer me," I persisted, and as she continued +silent, I added: "Shall I not ask you, then?" + +"Say," she murmured. + +"Why do you wish to know about the people of Cuzco?" + +She flashed a look at me, then averted her face. For some moments she +stood hesitating; then, coming closer, touched me on the shoulder and +said softly: "Turn away, do not look at me." + +I obeyed, and bending so close that I felt her warm breath on my neck, +she whispered: "Are the people in Cuzco like me? Would they understand +me--the things you cannot understand? Do you know?" + +Her tremulous voice betrayed her agitation, and her words, I imagined, +revealed the motive of her action in bringing me to the summit of +Ytaioa, and of her desire to visit and know all the various peoples +inhabiting the world. She had begun to realize, after knowing me, her +isolation and unlikeness to others, and at the same time to dream that +all human beings might not be unlike her and unable to understand her +mysterious speech and to enter into her thoughts and feelings. + +"I can answer that question, Rima," I said. "Ah, no, poor child, there +are none there like you--not one, not one. Of all there--priests, +soldiers, merchants, workmen, white, black, red, and mixed; men and +women, old and young, rich and poor, ugly and beautiful--not one would +understand the sweet language you speak." + +She said nothing, and glancing round, I discovered that she was walking +away, her fingers clasped before her, her eyes cast down, and looking +profoundly dejected. Jumping up, I hurried after her. "Listen!" I said, +coming to her side. "Do you know that there are others in the world like +you who would understand your speech?" + +"Oh, do I not! Yes--mother told me. I was young when you died, but, O +mother, why did you not tell me more?" + +"But where?" + +"Oh, do you not think that I would go to them if I knew--that I would +ask?" + +"Does Nuflo know?" + +She shook her head, walking dejectedly along. + +"But have you asked him?" I persisted. + +"Have I not! Not once--not a hundred times." + +Suddenly she paused. "Look," she said, "now we are standing in Guayana +again. And over there in Brazil, and up there towards the Cordilleras, +it is unknown. And there are people there. Come, let us go and seek for +my mother's people in that place. With grandfather, but not the dogs; +they would frighten the animals and betray us by barking to cruel men +who would slay us with poisoned arrows." + +"O Rima, can you not understand? It is too far. And your grandfather, +poor old man, would die of weariness and hunger and old age in some +strange forest." + +"Would he die--old grandfather? Then we could cover him up with palm +leaves in the forest and leave him. It would not be grandfather; only +his body that must turn to dust. He would be away--away where the stars +are. We should not die, but go on, and on, and on." + +To continue the discussion seemed hopeless. I was silent, thinking of +what I had heard--that there were others like her somewhere in that vast +green world, so much of it imperfectly known, so many districts never +yet explored by white men. True, it was strange that no report of such a +race had reached the ears of any traveller; yet here was Rima herself at +my side, a living proof that such a race did exist. Nuflo probably knew +more than he would say; I had failed, as we have seen, to win the secret +from him by fair means, and could not have recourse to foul--the rack +and thumbscrew--to wring it from him. To the Indians she was only +an object of superstitious fear--a daughter of the Didi--and to them +nothing of her origin was known. And she, poor girl, had only a vague +remembrance of a few words heard in childhood from her mother, and +probably not rightly understood. + +While these thoughts had been passing through my mind, Rima had been +standing silent by, waiting, perhaps, for an answer to her last words. +Then stooping, she picked up a small pebble and tossed it three or four +yards away. + +"Do you see where it fell?" she cried, turning towards me. "That is on +the border of Guayana--is it not? Let us go there first." + +"Rima, how you distress me! We cannot go there. It is all a savage +wilderness, almost unknown to men--a blank on the map--" + +"The map?--speak no word that I do not understand." + +In a very few words I explained my meaning; even fewer would have +sufficed, so quick was her apprehension. + +"If it is a blank," she returned quickly, "then you know of nothing +to stop us--no river we cannot swim, and no great mountains like those +where Quito is." + +"But I happen to know, Rima, for it has been related to me by old +Indians, that of all places that is the most difficult of access. There +is a river there, and although it is not on the map, it would prove +more impassable to us than the mighty Orinoco and Amazon. It has vast +malarious swamps on its borders, overgrown with dense forest, teeming +with savage and venomous animals, so that even the Indians dare not +venture near it. And even before the river is reached, there is a range +of precipitous mountains called by the same name--just there where your +pebble fell--the mountains of Riolama--" + +Hardly had the name fallen from my lips before a change swift as +lightning came over her countenance; all doubt, anxiety, petulance, +hope, and despondence, and these in ever-varying degrees, chasing each +other like shadows, had vanished, and she was instinct and burning with +some new powerful emotion which had flashed into her soul. + +"Riolama! Riolama!" she repeated so rapidly and in a tone so sharp that +it tingled in the brain. "That is the place I am seeking! There was +my mother found--there are her people and mine! Therefore was I called +Riolama--that is my name!" + +"Rima!" I returned, astonished at her words. + +"No, no, no--Riolama. When I was a child, and the priest baptized me, he +named me Riolama--the place where my mother was found. But it was long +to say, and they called me Rima." + +Suddenly she became still and then cried in a ringing voice: + +"And he knew it all along--that old man--he knew that Riolama was +near--only there where the pebble fell--that we could go there!" + +While speaking she turned towards her home, pointing with raised hand. +Her whole appearance now reminded me of that first meeting with her +when the serpent bit me; the soft red of her irides shone like fire, her +delicate skin seemed to glow with an intense rose colour, and her frame +trembled with her agitation, so that her loose cloud of hair was in +motion as if blown through by the wind. + +"Traitor! Traitor!" she cried, still looking homewards and using quick, +passionate gestures. "It was all known to you, and you deceived me all +these years; even to me, Rima, you lied with your lips! Oh, horrible! +Was there ever such a scandal known in Guayana? Come, follow me, let us +go at once to Riolama." And without so much as casting a glance behind +to see whether I followed or no, she hurried away, and in a couple of +minutes disappeared from sight over the edge of the flat summit. "Rima! +Rima! Come back and listen to me! Oh, you are mad! Come back! Come +back!" + +But she would not return or pause and listen; and looking after her, +I saw her bounding down the rocky slope like some wild, agile creature +possessed of padded hoofs and an infallible instinct; and before many +minutes she vanished from sight among crabs and trees lower down. + +"Nuflo, old man," said I, looking out towards his lodge, "are there no +shooting pains in those old bones of yours to warn you in time of the +tempest about to burst on your head?" + +Then I sat down to think. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +To follow impetuous, bird-like Rima in her descent of the hill would +have been impossible, nor had I any desire to be a witness of old +Nuflo's discomfiture at the finish. It was better to leave them to +settle their quarrel themselves, while I occupied myself in turning +over these fresh facts in my mind to find out how they fitted into the +speculative structure I had been building during the last two or three +weeks. But it soon struck me that it was getting late, that the sun +would be gone in a couple of hours; and at once I began the descent. +It was not accomplished without some bruises and a good many scratches. +After a cold draught, obtained by putting my lips to a black rock from +which the water was trickling, I set out on my walk home, keeping +near the western border of the forest for fear of losing myself. I had +covered about half the distance from the foot of the hill to Nuflo's +lodge when the sun went down. Away on my left the evening uproar of the +howling monkeys burst out, and after three or four minutes ceased; the +after silence was pierced at intervals by screams of birds going to +roost among the trees in the distance, and by many minor sounds close +at hand, of small bird, frog, and insect. The western sky was now like +amber-coloured flame, and against that immeasurably distant luminous +background the near branches and clustered foliage looked black; but on +my left hand the vegetation still appeared of a uniform dusky green. In +a little while night would drown all colour, and there would be no light +but that of the wandering lantern-fly, always unwelcome to the belated +walker in a lonely place, since, like the ignis fatuus, it is confusing +to the sight and sense of direction. + +With increasing anxiety I hastened on, when all at once a low growl +issuing from the bushes some yards ahead of me brought me to a stop. In +a moment the dogs, Susio and Goloso, rushed out from some hiding place +furiously barking; but they quickly recognized me and slunk back again. +Relieved from fear, I walked on for a short distance; then it struck +me that the old man must be about somewhere, as the dogs scarcely ever +stirred from his side. Turning back, I went to the spot where they +had appeared to me; and there, after a while, I caught sight of a dim, +yellow form as one of the brutes rose up to look at me. He had been +lying on the ground by the side of a wide-spreading bush, dead and +dry, but overgrown by a creeping plant which had completely covered +its broad, flat top like a piece of tapestry thrown over a table, its +slender terminal stems and leaves hanging over the edge like a deep +fringe. But the fringe did not reach to the ground and under the bush, +in its dark interior. I caught sight of the other dog; and after gazing +in for some time, I also discovered a black, recumbent form, which I +took to be Nuflo. + +"What are you doing there, old man?" I cried. "Where is Rima--have you +not seen her? Come out." + +Then he stirred himself, slowly creeping out on all fours; and finally, +getting free of the dead twigs and leaves, he stood up and faced me. He +had a strange, wild look, his white beard all disordered, moss and dead +leaves clinging to it, his eyes staring like an owl's, while his mouth +opened and shut, the teeth striking together audibly, like an angry +peccary's. After silently glaring at me in this mad way for some +moments, he burst out: "Cursed be the day when I first saw you, man of +Caracas! Cursed be the serpent that bit you and had not sufficient power +in its venom to kill! Ha! you come from Ytaioa, where you talked +with Rima? And you have now returned to the tiger's den to mock that +dangerous animal with the loss of its whelp. Fool, if you did not wish +the dogs to feed on your flesh, it would have been better if you had +taken your evening walk in some other direction." + +These raging words did not have the effect of alarming me in the least, +nor even of astonishing me very much, albeit up till now the old man had +always shown himself suave and respectful. His attack did not seem quite +spontaneous. In spite of the wildness of his manner and the violence +of his speech, he appeared to be acting a part which he had rehearsed +beforehand. I was only angry, and stepping forward, I dealt him a very +sharp rap with my knuckles on his chest. "Moderate your language, old +man," I said; "remember that you are addressing a superior." + +"What do you say to me?" he screamed in a shrill, broken voice, +accompanying his words with emphatic gestures. "Do you think you are on +the pavement of Caracas? Here are no police to protect you--here we are +alone in the desert where names and titles are nothing, standing man to +man." + +"An old man to a young one," I returned. "And in virtue of my youth I am +your superior. Do you wish me to take you by the throat and shake your +insolence out of you?" + +"What, do you threaten me with violence?" he exclaimed, throwing himself +into a hostile attitude. "You, the man I saved, and sheltered, and fed, +and treated like a son! Destroyer of my peace, have you not injured me +enough? You have stolen my grandchild's heart from me; with a thousand +inventions you have driven her mad! My child, my angel, Rima, my +saviour! With your lying tongue you have changed her into a demon to +persecute me! And you are not satisfied, but must finish your evil work +by inflicting blows on my worn body! All, all is lost to me! Take my +life if you wish it, for now it is worth nothing and I desire not to +keep it!" And here he threw himself on his knees and, tearing open his +old, ragged mantle, presented his naked breast to me. "Shoot! Shoot!" he +screeched. "And if you have no weapon take my knife and plunge it into +this sad heart, and let me die!" And drawing his knife from its sheath, +he flung it down at my feet. + +All this performance only served to increase my anger and contempt; but +before I could make any reply I caught sight of a shadowy object at some +distance moving towards us--something grey and formless, gliding swift +and noiseless, like some great low-flying owl among the trees. It was +Rima, and hardly had I seen her before she was with us, facing old +Nuflo, her whole frame quivering with passion, her wide-open eyes +appearing luminous in that dim light. + +"You are here!" she cried in that quick, ringing tone that was almost +painful to the sense. "You thought to escape me! To hide yourself from +my eyes in the wood! Miserable! Do you not know that I have need of +you--that I have not finished with you yet? Do you, then, wish to be +scourged to Riolama with thorny twigs--to be dragged thither by the +beard?" + +He had been staring open-mouthed at her, still on his knees, and holding +his mantle open with his skinny hands. "Rima! Rima! have mercy on me!" +he cried out piteously. "I cannot go to Riolama, it is so far--so far. +And I am old and should meet my death. Oh, Rima, child of the woman I +saved from death, have you no compassion? I shall die, I shall die!" + +"Shall you die? Not until you have shown me the way to Riolama. And when +I have seen Riolama with my eyes, then you may die, and I shall be glad +at your death; and the children and the grandchildren and cousins and +friends of all the animals you have slain and fed on shall know that you +are dead and be glad at your death. For you have deceived me with lies +all these years even me--and are not fit to live! Come now to Riolama; +rise instantly, I command you!" + +Instead of rising he suddenly put out his hand and snatched up the knife +from the ground. "Do you then wish me to die?" he cried. "Shall you be +glad at my death? Behold, then I shall slay myself before your eyes. By +my own hand, Rima, I am now about to perish, striking the knife into my +heart!" + +While speaking he waved the knife in a tragic manner over his head, but +I made no movement; I was convinced that he had no intention of taking +his own life--that he was still acting. Rima, incapable of understanding +such a thing, took it differently. + +"Oh, you are going to kill yourself." she cried. "Oh, wicked man, wait +until you know what will happen to you after death. All shall now be +told to my mother. Hear my words, then kill yourself." + +She also now dropped on to her knees and, lifting her clasped hands +and fixing her resentful sparkling eyes on the dim blue patch of heaven +visible beyond the treetops, began to speak rapidly in clear, vibrating +tones. She was praying to her mother in heaven; and while Nuflo listened +absorbed, his mouth open, his eyes fixed on her, the hand that clutched +the knife dropped to his side. I also heard with the greatest wonder and +admiration. For she had been shy and reticent with me, and now, as +if oblivious of my presence, she was telling aloud the secrets of her +inmost heart. + +"O mother, mother, listen to me, to Rima, your beloved child!" +she began. "All these years I have been wickedly deceived by +grandfather--Nuflo--the old man that found you. Often have I spoken to +him of Riolama, where you once were, and your people are, and he denied +all knowledge of such a place. Sometimes he said that it was at an +immense distance, in a great wilderness full of serpents larger than the +trunks of great trees, and of evil spirits and savage men, slayers of +all strangers. At other times he affirmed that no such place existed; +that it was a tale told by the Indians; such false things did he say to +me--to Rima, your child. O mother, can you believe such wickedness? + +"Then a stranger, a white man from Venezuela, came into our woods: this +is the man that was bitten by a serpent, and his name is Abel; only I do +not call him by that name, but by other names which I have told you. But +perhaps you did not listen, or did not hear, for I spoke softly and not +as now, on my knees, solemnly. For I must tell you, O mother, that +after you died the priest at Voa told me repeatedly that when I prayed, +whether to you or to any of the saints, or to the Mother of Heaven, I +must speak as he had taught me if I wished to be heard and understood. +And that was most strange, since you had taught me differently; but you +were living then, at Voa, and now that you are in heaven, perhaps you +know better. Therefore listen to me now, O mother, and let nothing I say +escape you. + +"When this white man had been for some days with us, a strange thing +happened to me, which made me different, so that I was no longer Rima, +although Rima still--so strange was this thing; and I often went to the +pool to look at myself and see the change in me, but nothing different +could I see. In the first place it came from his eyes passing into mine, +and filling me just as the lightning fills a cloud at sunset: afterwards +it was no longer from his eyes only, but it came into me whenever I saw +him, even at a distance, when I heard his voice, and most of all when he +touched me with his hand. When he is out of my sight I cannot rest until +I see him again; and when I see him, then I am glad, yet in such fear +and trouble that I hide myself from him. O mother, it could not be told; +for once when he caught me in his arms and compelled me to speak of it, +he did not understand; yet there was need to tell it; then it came to me +that only to our people could it be told, for they would understand, and +reply to me, and tell me what to do in such a case. + +"And now, O mother, this is what happened next. I went to grandfather +and first begged and then commanded him to take me to Riolama; but he +would not obey, nor give attention to what I said, but whenever I spoke +to him of it he rose up and hurried from me; and when I followed he +flung back a confused and angry reply, saying in the same breath that it +was so long since he had been to Riolama that he had forgotten where it +was, and that no such place existed. And which of his words were true +and which false I knew not; so that it would have been better if he had +returned no answer at all; and there was no help to be got from him. And +having thus failed, and there being no other person to speak to except +this stranger, I determined to go to him, and in his company seek +through the whole world for my people. This will surprise you, O mother, +because of that fear which came on me in his presence, causing me +to hide from his sight; but my wish was so great that for a time it +overcame my fear; so that I went to him as he sat alone in the wood, sad +because he could not see me, and spoke to him, and led him to the summit +of Ytaioa to show me all the countries of the world from the summit. And +you must also know that I tremble in his presence, not because I fear +him as I fear Indians and cruel men; for he has no evil in him, and is +beautiful to look at, and his words are gentle, and his desire is to be +always with me, so that he differs from all other men I have seen, just +as I differ from all women, except from you only, O sweet mother. + +"On the mountain-top he marked out and named all the countries of the +world, the great mountains, the rivers, the plains, the forests, the +cities; and told me also of the peoples, whites and savages, but of our +people nothing. And beyond where the world ends there is water, water, +water. And when he spoke of that unknown part on the borders of Guayana, +on the side of the Cordilleras, he named the mountains of Riolama, and +in that way I first found out where my people are. I then left him on +Ytaioa, he refusing to follow me, and ran to grandfather and taxed him +with his falsehoods; and he, finding I knew all, escaped from me into +the woods, where I have now found him once more, talking with the +stranger. And now, O mother, seeing himself caught and unable to escape +a second time, he has taken up a knife to kill himself, so as not to +take me to Riolama; and he is only waiting until I finish speaking +to you, for I wish him to know what will happen to him after death. +Therefore, O mother, listen well and do what I tell you. When he has +killed himself, and has come into that place where you are, see that he +does not escape the punishment he merits. Watch well for his coming, for +he is full of cunning and deceit, and will endeavor to hide himself from +your eyes. When you have recognized him--an old man, brown as an Indian, +with a white beard--point him out to the angels, and say: 'This is +Nuflo, the bad man that lied to Rima.' Let them take him and singe his +wings with fire, so that he may not escape by flying; and afterwards +thrust him into some dark cavern under a mountain, and place a great +stone that a hundred men could not remove over its mouth, and leave him +there alone and in the dark for ever!" + +Having ended, she rose quickly from her knees, and at the same moment +Nuflo, dropping the knife, cast himself prostrate at her feet. + +"Rima--my child, my child, not that!" he cried out in a voice that was +broken with terror. He tried to take hold of her feet with his hands, +but she shrank from him with aversion; still he kept on crawling after +her like a disabled lizard, abjectly imploring her to forgive him, +reminding her that he had saved from death the woman whose enmity had +now been enlisted against him, and declaring that he would do anything +she commanded him, and gladly perish in her service. + +It was a pitiable sight, and moving quickly to her side I touched her on +the shoulder and asked her to forgive him. + +The response came quickly enough. Turning to him once more, she said: "I +forgive you, grandfather. And now get up and take me to Riolama." + +He rose, but only to his knees. "But you have not told her!" he said, +recovering his natural voice, although still anxious, and jerking a +thumb over his shoulder. "Consider, my child, that I am old and shall +doubtless perish on the way. What would become of my soul in such +a case? For now you have told her everything, and it will not be +forgotten." + +She regarded him in silence for a few moments; then, moving a little +way apart, dropped on to her knees again, and with raised hands and +eyes fixed on the blue space above, already sprinkled with stars, prayed +again. + +"O mother, listen to me, for I have something fresh to say to you. +Grandfather has not killed himself, but has asked my forgiveness and has +promised to obey me. O mother, I have forgiven him, and he will now take +me to Riolama, to our people. Therefore, O mother, if he dies on the +way to Riolama let nothing be done against him, but remember only that +I forgave him at the last; and when he comes into that place where +you are, let him be well received, for that is the wish of Rima, your +child." + +As soon as this second petition was ended she was up again and engaged +in an animated discussion with him, urging him to take her without +further delay to Riolama; while he, now recovered from his fear, urged +that so important an undertaking required a great deal of thought and +preparation; that the journey would occupy about twenty days, and unless +he set out well provided with food he would starve before accomplishing +half the distance, and his death would leave her worse off than before. +He concluded by affirming that he could not start in less time than +seven or eight days. + +For a while I listened with keen interest to this dispute, and at +length interposed once more on the old man's side. The poor girl in her +petition had unwittingly revealed to me the power I possessed, and it +was a pleasing experience to exercise it. Touching her shoulder again, I +assured her that seven or eight days was only a reasonable time in which +to prepare for so long a journey. She instantly yielded, and after +one glance at my face, she moved swiftly away into the darker shadows, +leaving me alone with the old man. + +As we returned together through the now profoundly dark wood, I +explained to him how the subject of Riolama had first come up during my +conversation with Rima, and he then apologized for the violent language +he had used to me. This personal question disposed of, he spoke of the +pilgrimage before him, and informed me in confidence that he intended +preparing a quantity of smoke-dried meat and packing it in a bag, with +a layer of cassava bread, dried pumpkin slips, and such innocent trifles +to conceal it from Rima's keen sight and delicate nostrils. Finally he +made a long rambling statement which, I vainly imagined, was intended to +lead up to an account of Rima's origin, with something about her people +at Riolama; but it led to nothing except an expression of opinion that +the girl was afflicted with a maggot in the brain, but that as she had +interest with the powers above, especially with her mother, who was +now a very important person among the celestials, it was good policy to +submit to her wishes. Turning to me, doubtless to wink (only I missed +the sign owing to the darkness), he added that it was a fine thing to +have a friend at court. With a little gratulatory chuckle he went on to +say that for others it was necessary to obey all the ordinances of the +Church, to contribute to its support, hear mass, confess from time to +time, and receive absolution; consequently those who went out into the +wilderness, where there were no churches and no priests to absolve them, +did so at the risk of losing their souls. But with him it was different: +he expected in the end to escape the fires of purgatory and go directly +in all his uncleanness to heaven--a thing, he remarked, which happened +to very few; and he, Nuflo, was no saint, and had first become a dweller +in the desert, as a very young man, in order to escape the penalty of +his misdeeds. + +I could not resist the temptation of remarking here that to an +unregenerate man the celestial country might turn out a somewhat +uncongenial place for a residence. He replied airily that he had +considered the point and had no fear about the future; that he was old, +and from all he had observed of the methods of government followed by +those who ruled over earthly affairs from the sky, he had formed a +clear idea of that place, and believed that even among so many glorified +beings he would be able to meet with those who would prove companionable +enough and would think no worse of him on account of his little +blemishes. + +How he had first got this idea into his brain about Rima's ability to +make things smooth for him after death I cannot say; probably it was the +effect of the girl's powerful personality and vivid faith acting on an +ignorant and extremely superstitious mind. While she was making +that petition to her mother in heaven, it did not seem in the least +ridiculous to me: I had felt no inclination to smile, even when hearing +all that about the old man's wings being singed to prevent his escape +by flying. Her rapt look; the intense conviction that vibrated in her +ringing, passionate tones; the brilliant scorn with which she, a hater +of bloodshed, one so tender towards all living things, even the meanest, +bade him kill himself, and only hear first how her vengeance would +pursue his deceitful soul into other worlds; the clearness with which +she had related the facts of the case, disclosing the inmost secrets +of her heart--all this had had a strange, convincing effect on me. +Listening to her I was no longer the enlightened, the creedless man. She +herself was so near to the supernatural that it seemed brought near me; +indefinable feelings, which had been latent in me, stirred into life, +and following the direction of her divine, lustrous eyes, fixed on the +blue sky above, I seemed to see there another being like herself, a Rima +glorified, leaning her pale, spiritual face to catch the winged words +uttered by her child on earth. And even now, while hearing the old man's +talk, showing as it did a mind darkened with such gross delusions, I +was not yet altogether free from the strange effect of that prayer. +Doubtless it was a delusion; her mother was not really there above +listening to the girl's voice. Still, in some mysterious way, Rima had +become to me, even as to superstitious old Nuflo, a being apart and +sacred, and this feeling seemed to mix with my passion, to purify and +exalt it and make it infinitely sweet and precious. + +After we had been silent for some time, I said: "Old man, the result of +the grand discussion you have had with Rima is that you have agreed to +take her to Riolama, but about my accompanying you not one word has been +spoken by either of you." + +He stopped short to stare at me, and although it was too dark to see +his face, I felt his astonishment. "Senor!" he exclaimed, "we cannot +go without you. Have you not heard my granddaughter's words--that it is +only because of you that she is about to undertake this crazy journey? +If you are not with us in this thing, then, senor, here we must remain. +But what will Rima say to that?" + +"Very well, I will go, but only on one condition." + +"What is it?" he asked, with a sudden change of tone, which warned me +that he was becoming cautious again. + +"That you tell me the whole story of Rima's origin, and how you came to +be now living with her in this solitary place, and who these people are +she wishes to visit at Riolama." + +"Ah, senor, it is a long story, and sad. But you shall hear it all. +You must hear it, senor, since you are now one of us; and when I am no +longer here to protect her, then she will be yours. And although you +will never be able to do more than old Nuflo for her, perhaps she will +be better pleased; and you, senor, better able to exist innocently by +her side, without eating flesh, since you will always have that rare +flower to delight you. But the story would take long to tell. You shall +hear it all as we journey to Riolama. What else will there be to talk +about when we are walking that long distance, and when we sit at night +by the fire?" + +"No, no, old man, I am not to be put off in that way. I must hear it +before I start." + +But he was determined to reserve the narrative until the journey, and +after some further argument I yielded the point. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +That evening by the fire old Nuflo, lately so miserable, now happy in +his delusions, was more than usually gay and loquacious. He was like +a child who by timely submission has escaped a threatened severe +punishment. But his lightness of heart was exceeded by mine; and, with +the exception of one other yet to come, that evening now shines in +memory as the happiest my life has known. For Rima's sweet secret was +known to me; and her very ignorance of the meaning of the feeling she +experienced, which caused her to fly from me as from an enemy, only +served to make the thought of it more purely delightful. + +On this occasion she did not steal away like a timid mouse to her own +apartment, as her custom was, but remained to give that one evening +a special grace, seated well away from the fire in that same shadowy +corner where I had first seen her indoors, when I had marvelled at her +altered appearance. From that corner she could see my face, with the +firelight full upon it, she herself in shadow, her eyes veiled by their +drooping lashes. Sitting there, the vivid consciousness of my happiness +was like draughts of strong, delicious wine, and its effect was like +wine, imparting such freedom to fancy, such fluency, that again and +again old Nuflo applauded, crying out that I was a poet, and begging +me to put it all into rhyme. I could not do that to please him, never +having acquired the art of improvisation--that idle trick of making +words jingle which men of Nuflo's class in my country so greatly admire; +yet it seemed to me on that evening that my feelings could be adequately +expressed only in that sublimated language used by the finest minds in +their inspired moments; and, accordingly, I fell to reciting. But not +from any modern, nor from the poets of the last century, nor even from +the greater seventeenth century. I kept to the more ancient romances +and ballads, the sweet old verse that, whether glad or sorrowful, seems +always natural and spontaneous as the song of a bird, and so simple that +even a child can understand it. + +It was late that night before all the romances I remembered or cared +to recite were exhausted, and not until then did Rima come out of her +shaded corner and steal silently away to her sleeping-place. + +Although I had resolved to go with them, and had set Nuflo's mind at +rest on the point, I was bent on getting the request from Rima's own +lips; and the next morning the opportunity of seeing her alone presented +itself, after old Nuflo had sneaked off with his dogs. From the moment +of his departure I kept a close watch on the house, as one watches a +bush in which a bird one wishes to see has concealed itself, and out of +which it may dart at any moment and escape unseen. + +At length she came forth, and seeing me in the way, would have slipped +back into hiding; for, in spite of her boldness on the previous day, she +now seemed shyer than ever when I spoke to her. + +"Rima," I said, "do you remember where we first talked together under a +tree one morning, when you spoke of your mother, telling me that she was +dead?" + +"Yes." + +"I am going now to that spot to wait for you. I must speak to you again +in that place about this journey to Riolama." As she kept silent, I +added: "Will you promise to come to me there?" + +She shook her head, turning half away. + +"Have you forgotten our compact, Rima?" + +"No," she returned; and then, suddenly coming near, spoke in a low tone: +"I will go there to please you, and you must also do as I tell you." + +"What do you wish, Rima?" + +She came nearer still. "Listen! You must not look into my eyes, you must +not touch me with your hands." + +"Sweet Rima, I must hold your hand when I speak with you." + +"No, no, no," she murmured, shrinking from me; and finding that it must +be as she wished, I reluctantly agreed. + +Before I had waited long, she appeared at the trysting-place, and stood +before me, as on a former occasion, on that same spot of clean yellow +sand, clasping and unclasping her fingers, troubled in mind even then. +Only now her trouble was different and greater, making her shyer and +more reticent. + +"Rima, your grandfather is going to take you to Riolama. Do you wish me +to go with you?" + +"Oh, do you not know that?" she returned, with a swift glance at my +face. + +"How should I know?" + +Her eyes wandered away restlessly. "On Ytaioa you told me a hundred +things which I did not know," she replied in a vague way, wishing, +perhaps, to imply that with so great a knowledge of geography it was +strange I did not know everything, even her most secret thoughts. + +"Tell me, why must you go to Riolama?" + +"You have heard. To speak to my people." + +"What will you say to them? Tell me." + +"What you do not understand. How tell you?" + +"I understand you when you speak in Spanish." + +"Oh, that is not speaking." + +"Last night you spoke to your mother in Spanish. Did you not tell her +everything?" + +"Oh no--not then. When I tell her everything I speak in another way, in +a low voice--not on my knees and praying. At night, and in the woods, +and when I am alone I tell her. But perhaps she does not hear me; she is +not here, but up there--so far! She never answers, but when I speak to +my people they will answer me." + +Then she turned away as if there was nothing more to be said. + +"Is this all I am to hear from you, Rima--these few words?" I exclaimed. +"So much did you say to your grandfather, so much to your dead mother, +but to me you say so little!" + +She turned again, and with eyes cast down replied: + +"He deceived me--I had to tell him that, and then to pray to mother. +But to you that do not understand, what can I say? Only that you are not +like him and all those that I knew at Voa. It is so different--and the +same. You are you, and I am I; why is it--do you know?" + +"No; yes--I know, but cannot tell you. And if you find your people, what +will you do--leave me to go to them? Must I go all the way to Riolama +only to lose you?" + +"Where I am, there you must be." + +"Why?" + +"Do I not see it there?" she returned, with a quick gesture to indicate +that it appeared in my face. + +"Your sight is keen, Rima--keen as a bird's. Mine is not so keen. Let me +look once more into those beautiful wild eyes, then perhaps I shall see +in them as much as you see in mine." + +"Oh no, no, not that!" she murmured in distress, drawing away from me; +then with a sudden flash of brilliant colour cried: + +"Have you forgotten the compact--the promise you made me?" + +Her words made me ashamed, and I could not reply. But the shame was +as nothing in strength compared to the impulse I felt to clasp her +beautiful body in my arms and cover her face with kisses. Sick with +desire, I turned away and, sitting on a root of the tree, covered my +face with my hands. + +She came nearer: I could see her shadow through my fingers; then her +face and wistful, compassionate eyes. + +"Forgive me, dear Rima," I said, dropping my hands again. "I have tried +so hard to please you in everything! Touch my face with your hand--only +that, and I will go to Riolama with you, and obey you in all things." + +For a while she hesitated, then stepped quickly aside so that I could +not see her; but I knew that she had not left me, that she was standing +just behind me. And after waiting a moment longer I felt her fingers +touching my skin, softly, trembling over my cheek as if a soft-winged +moth had fluttered against it; then the slight aerial touch was gone, +and she, too, moth-like, had vanished from my side. + +Left alone in the wood, I was not happy. That fluttering, flattering +touch of her finger-tips had been to me like spoken language, and more +eloquent than language, yet the sweet assurance it conveyed had not +given perfect satisfaction; and when I asked myself why the gladness of +the previous evening had forsaken me--why I was infected with this +new sadness when everything promised well for me, I found that it was +because my passion had greatly increased during the last few hours; even +during sleep it had been growing, and could no longer be fed by merely +dwelling in thought on the charms, moral and physical, of its object, +and by dreams of future fruition. + +I concluded that it would be best for Rima's sake as well as my own to +spend a few of the days before setting out on our journey with my Indian +friends, who would be troubled at my long absence; and, accordingly, +next morning I bade good-bye to the old man, promising to return in +three or four days, and then started without seeing Rima, who had +quitted the house before her usual time. After getting free of the +woods, on casting back my eyes I caught sight of the girl standing under +an isolated tree watching me with that vague, misty, greenish appearance +she so frequently had when seen in the light shade at a short distance. + +"Rima!" I cried, hurrying back to speak to her, but when I reached the +spot she had vanished; and after waiting some time, seeing and hearing +nothing to indicate that she was near me, I resumed my walk, half +thinking that my imagination had deceived me. + +I found my Indian friends home again, and was not surprised to observe a +distinct change in their manner towards me. I had expected as much; +and considering that they must have known very well where and in whose +company I had been spending my time, it was not strange. Coming across +the savannah that morning I had first begun to think seriously of the +risk I was running. But this thought only served to prepare me for a new +condition of things; for now to go back and appear before Rima, and thus +prove myself to be a person not only capable of forgetting a promise +occasionally, but also of a weak, vacillating mind, was not to be +thought of for a moment. + +I was received--not welcomed--quietly enough; not a question, not +a word, concerning my long absence fell from anyone; it was as if a +stranger had appeared among them, one about whom they knew nothing +and consequently regarded with suspicion, if not actual hostility. I +affected not to notice the change, and dipped my hand uninvited in the +pot to satisfy my hunger, and smoked and dozed away the sultry hours in +my hammock. Then I got my guitar and spent the rest of the day over it, +tuning it, touching the strings so softly with my finger-tips that to a +person four yards off the sound must have seemed like the murmur or +buzz of an insect's wings; and to this scarcely audible accompaniment I +murmured in an equally low tone a new song. + +In the evening, when all were gathered under the roof and I had eaten +again, I took up the instrument once more, furtively watched by all +those half-closed animal eyes, and swept the strings loudly, and sang +aloud. I sang an old simple Spanish melody, to which I had put words +in their own language--a language with no words not in everyday use, +in which it is so difficult to express feelings out of and above the +common. What I had been constructing and practicing all the afternoon +sotto voce was a kind of ballad, an extremely simple tale of a poor +Indian living alone with his young family in a season of dearth; how +day after day he ranged the voiceless woods, to return each evening with +nothing but a few withered sour berries in his hand, to find his lean, +large-eyed wife still nursing the fire that cooked nothing, and his +children crying for food, showing their bones more plainly through +their skins every day; and how, without anything miraculous, anything +wonderful, happening, that barrenness passed from earth, and the garden +once more yielded them pumpkin and maize, and manioc, the wild fruits +ripened, and the birds returned, filling the forest with their cries; +and so their long hunger was satisfied, and the children grew sleek, +and played and laughed in the sunshine; and the wife, no longer brooding +over the empty pot, wove a hammock of silk grass, decorated with +blue-and-scarlet feathers of the macaw; and in that new hammock the +Indian rested long from his labours, smoking endless cigars. + +When I at last concluded with a loud note of joy, a long, involuntary +suspiration in the darkening room told me that I had been listened to +with profound interest; and, although no word was spoken, though I was +still a stranger and under a cloud, it was plain that the experiment had +succeeded, and that for the present the danger was averted. + +I went to my hammock and slept, but without undressing. Next morning +I missed my revolver and found that the holster containing it had been +detached from the belt. My knife had not been taken, possibly because it +was under me in the hammock while I slept. In answer to my inquiries I +was informed that Runi had BORROWED my weapon to take it with him to the +forest, where he had gone to hunt, and that he would return it to me +in the evening. I affected to take it in good part, although feeling +secretly ill at ease. Later in the day I came to the conclusion that +Runi had had it in his mind to murder me, that I had softened him by +singing that Indian story, and that by taking possession of the revolver +he showed that he now only meant to keep me a prisoner. Subsequent +events confirmed me in this suspicion. On his return he explained that +he had gone out to seek for game in the woods; and, going without +a companion, he had taken my revolver to preserve him from +dangers--meaning those of a supernatural kind; and that he had had the +misfortune to drop it among the bushes while in pursuit of some animal. +I answered hotly that he had not treated me like a friend; that if he +had asked me for the weapon it would have been lent to him; that as +he had taken it without permission he must pay me for it. After some +pondering he said that when he took it I was sleeping soundly; also, +that it would not be lost; he would take me to the place where he had +dropped it, when we could search together for it. + +He was in appearance more friendly towards me now, even asking me to +repeat my last evening's song, and so we had that performance all over +again to everybody's satisfaction. But when morning came he was not +inclined to go to the woods: there was food enough in the house, and the +pistol would not be hurt by lying where it had fallen a day longer. Next +day the same excuse; still I disguised my impatience and suspicion of +him and waited, singing the ballad for the third time that evening. Then +I was conducted to a wood about a league and a half away and we hunted +for the lost pistol among the bushes, I with little hope of finding it, +while he attended to the bird voices and frequently asked me to stand or +lie still when a chance of something offered. + +The result of that wasted day was a determination on my part to escape +from Runi as soon as possible, although at the risk of making a deadly +enemy of him and of being compelled to go on that long journey to +Riolama with no better weapon than a hunting-knife. I had noticed, while +appearing not to do so, that outside of the house I was followed or +watched by one or other of the Indians, so that great circumspection +was needed. On the following day I attacked my host once more about the +revolver, telling him with well-acted indignation that if not found +it must be paid for. I went so far as to give a list of the articles I +should require, including a bow and arrows, zabatana, two spears, and +other things which I need not specify, to set me up for life as a wild +man in the woods of Guayana. I was going to add a wife, but as I had +already been offered one it did not appear to be necessary. He seemed a +little taken aback at the value I set upon my weapon, and promised to go +and look for it again. Then I begged that Kua-ko, in whose sharpness of +sight I had great faith, might accompany us. He consented, and named +the next day but one for the expedition. Very well, thought I, tomorrow +their suspicion will be less, and my opportunity will come; then taking +up my rude instrument, I gave them an old Spanish song: + + Desde aquel doloroso momento; + +but this kind of music had lost its charm for them, and I was asked to +give them the ballad they understood so well, in which their interest +seemed to increase with every repetition. In spite of anxiety it amused +me to see old Cla-cla regarding me fixedly with owlish eyes and lips +moving. My tale had no wonderful things in it, like hers of the olden +time, which she told only to send her hearers to sleep. Perhaps she had +discovered by now that it was the strange honey of melody which made the +coarse, common cassava bread of everyday life in my story so pleasant to +the palate. I was quite prepared to receive a proposal to give her music +and singing lessons, and to bequeath a guitar to her in my last will and +testament. For, in spite of her hoary hair and million wrinkles, she, +more than any other savage I had met with, seemed to have taken a +draught from Ponce de Leon's undiscovered fountain of eternal youth. +Poor old witch! + +The following day was the sixth of my absence from Rima, and one of +intense anxiety to me, a feeling which I endeavoured to hide by playing +with the children, fighting our old comic stick fights, and by strumming +noisily on the guitar. In the afternoon, when it was hottest, and all +the men who happened to be indoors were lying in their hammocks, I asked +Kua-ko to go with me to the stream to bathe. He refused--I had counted +on that--and earnestly advised me not to bathe in the pool I was +accustomed to, as some little caribe fishes had made their appearance +there and would be sure to attack me. I laughed at his idle tale and, +taking up my cloak, swung out of the door, whistling a lively air. +He knew that I always threw my cloak over my head and shoulders as a +protection from the sun and stinging flies when coming out of the water, +and so his suspicion was not aroused, and I was not followed. The +pool was about ten minutes' walk from the house; I arrived at it with +palpitating heart, and going round to its end, where the stream was +shallow, sat down to rest for a few moments and take a few sips of cool +water dipped up in my palm. Presently I rose, crossed the stream, and +began running, keeping among the low trees near the bank until a +dry gully, which extended for some distance across the savannah, was +reached. By following its course the distance to be covered would be +considerably increased, but the shorter way would have exposed me to +sight and made it more dangerous. I had put forth too much speed at +first, and in a short time my exertions, and the hot sun, together with +my intense excitement, overcame me. I dared not hope that my flight +had not been observed; I imagined that the Indians, unencumbered by any +heavy weight, were already close behind me, and ready to launch +their deadly spears at my back. With a sob of rage and despair I fell +prostrate on my face in the dry bed of the stream, and for two or three +minutes remained thus exhausted and unmanned, my heart throbbing so +violently that my whole frame was shaken. If my enemies had come on me +then disposed to kill me, I could not have lifted a hand in defence of +my life. But minutes passed and they came not. I rose and went on, at a +fast walk now, and when the sheltering streamed ended, I stooped among +the sere dwarfed shrubs scattered about here and there on its southern +side; and now creeping and now running, with an occasional pause to +rest and look back, I at last reached the dividing ridge at its southern +extremity. The rest of the way was over comparatively easy ground, +inclining downwards; and with that glad green forest now full in sight, +and hope growing stronger every minute in my breast, my knees ceased to +tremble, and I ran on again, scarcely pausing until I had touched and +lost myself in the welcome shadows. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Ah, that return to the forest where Rima dwelt, after so anxious day, +when the declining sun shone hotly still, and the green woodland shadows +were so grateful! The coolness, the sense of security, allayed the fever +and excitement I had suffered on the open savannah; I walked leisurely, +pausing often to listen to some bird voice or to admire some rare +insect or parasitic flower shining star-like in the shade. There was a +strangely delightful sensation in me. I likened myself to a child that, +startled at something it had seen while out playing in the sun, flies +to its mother to feel her caressing hand on its cheek and forget its +tremors. And describing what I felt in that way, I was a little ashamed +and laughed at myself; nevertheless the feeling was very sweet. At that +moment Mother and Nature seemed one and the same thing. As I kept to the +more open part of the wood, on its southernmost border, the red flame +of the sinking sun was seen at intervals through the deep humid green +of the higher foliage. How every object it touched took from it a new +wonderful glory! At one spot, high up where the foliage was scanty, and +slender bush ropes and moss depended like broken cordage from a dead +limb--just there, bathing itself in that glory-giving light, I noticed +a fluttering bird, and stood still to watch its antics. Now it would +cling, head downwards, to the slender twigs, wings and tail open; then, +righting itself, it would flit from waving line to line, dropping lower +and lower; and anon soar upwards a distance of twenty feet and alight to +recommence the flitting and swaying and dropping towards the earth. It +was one of those birds that have a polished plumage, and as it moved +this way and that, flirting its feathers, they caught the beams and +shone at moments like glass or burnished metal. Suddenly another bird of +the same kind dropped down to it as if from the sky, straight and swift +as a falling stone; and the first bird sprang up to meet the comer, and +after rapidly wheeling round each other for a moment, they fled away in +company, screaming shrilly through the wood, and were instantly lost to +sight, while their jubilant cries came back fainter and fainter at each +repetition. + +I envied them not their wings: at that moment earth did not seem fixed +and solid beneath me, nor I bound by gravity to it. The faint, floating +clouds, the blue infinite heaven itself, seemed not more ethereal and +free than I, or the ground I walked on. The low, stony hills on my right +hand, of which I caught occasional glimpses through the trees, looking +now blue and delicate in the level rays, were no more than the billowy +projections on the moving cloud of earth: the trees of unnumbered +kinds--great more, cecropia, and greenheart, bush and fern and suspended +lianas, and tall palms balancing their feathery foliage on slender +stems--all was but a fantastic mist embroidery covering the surface of +that floating cloud on which my feet were set, and which floated with me +near the sun. + +The red evening flame had vanished from the summits of the trees, the +sun was setting, the woods in shadow, when I got to the end of my walk. +I did not approach the house on the side of the door, yet by some means +those within became aware of my presence, for out they came in a great +hurry, Rima leading the way, Nuflo behind her, waving his arms and +shouting. But as I drew near, the girl dropped behind and stood +motionless regarding me, her face pallid and showing strong excitement. +I could scarcely remove my eyes from her eloquent countenance: I seemed +to read in it relief and gladness mingled with surprise and something +like vexation. She was piqued perhaps that I had taken her by surprise, +that after much watching for me in the wood I had come through it +undetected when she was indoors. + +"Happy the eyes that see you!" shouted the old man, laughing +boisterously. + +"Happy are mine that look on Rima again," I answered. "I have been long +absent." + +"Long--you may say so," returned Nuflo. "We had given you up. We +said that, alarmed at the thought of the journey to Riolama, you had +abandoned us." + +"WE said!" exclaimed Rima, her pallid face suddenly flushing. "I spoke +differently." + +"Yes, I know--I know!" he said airily, waving his hand. "You said that +he was in danger, that he was kept against his will from coming. He is +present now--let him speak." + +"She was right," I said. "Ah, Nuflo, old man, you have lived long, and +got much experience, but not insight--not that inner vision that sees +further than the eyes." + +"No, not that--I know what you mean," he answered. Then, tossing his +hand towards the sky, he added: "The knowledge you speak of comes from +there." + +The girl had been listening with keen interest, glancing from one to the +other. "What!" she spoke suddenly, as if unable to keep silence, "do you +think, grandfather, that SHE tells me--when there is danger--when the +rain will cease--when the wind will blow--everything? Do I not ask and +listen, lying awake at night? She is always silent, like the stars." + +Then, pointing to me with her finger, she finished: + +"HE knows so many things! Who tells them to HIM?" + +"But distinguish, Rima. You do not distinguish the great from the +little," he answered loftily. "WE know a thousand things, but they are +things that any man with a forehead can learn. The knowledge that comes +from the blue is not like that--it is more important and miraculous. Is +it not so, senor?" he ended, appealing to me. + +"Is it, then, left for me to decide?" said I, addressing the girl. + +But though her face was towards me, she refused to meet my look and was +silent. Silent, but not satisfied: she doubted still, and had perhaps +caught something in my tone that strengthened her doubt. + +Old Nuflo understood the expression. "Look at me, Rima," he said, +drawing himself up. "I am old, and he is young--do I not know best? I +have spoken and have decided it." + +Still that unconvinced expression, and her face turned expectant to me. + +"Am I to decide?" I repeated. + +"Who, then?" she said at last, her voice scarcely more than a murmur; +yet there was reproach in the tone, as if she had made a long speech and +I had tyrannously driven her to it. + +"Thus, then, I decide," said I. "To each of us, as to every kind of +animal, even to small birds and insects, and to every kind of plant, +there is given something peculiar--a fragrance, a melody, a special +instinct, an art, a knowledge, which no other has. And to Rima has been +given this quickness of mind and power to divine distant things; it is +hers, just as swiftness and grace and changeful, brilliant colour are +the hummingbird's; therefore she need not that anyone dwelling in the +blue should instruct her." + +The old man frowned and shook his head; while she, after one swift, shy +glance at my face, and with something like a smile flitting over her +delicate lips, turned and re-entered the house. + +I felt convinced from that parting look that she had understood me, that +my words had in some sort given her relief; for, strong as was her faith +in the supernatural, she appeared as ready to escape from it, when a way +of escape offered, as from the limp cotton gown and constrained manner +worn in the house. The religion and cotton dress were evidently remains +of her early training at the settlement of Voa. + +Old Nuflo, strange to say, had proved better than his word. Instead of +inventing new causes for delay, as I had imagined would be the case, +he now informed me that his preparations for the journey were all but +complete, that he had only waited for my return to set out. + +Rima soon left us in her customary way, and then, talking by the fire, +I gave an account of my detention by the Indians and of the loss of my +revolver, which I thought very serious. + +"You seem to think little of it," I said, observing that he took it very +coolly. "Yet I know not how I shall defend myself in case of an attack." + +"I have no fear of an attack," he answered. "It seems to me the same +thing whether you have a revolver or many revolvers and carbines and +swords, or no revolver--no weapon at all. And for a very simple reason. +While Rima is with us, so long as we are on her business, we are +protected from above. The angels, senor, will watch over us by day and +night. What need of weapons, then, except to procure food?" + +"Why should not the angels provide us with food also?" said I. + +"No, no, that is a different thing," he returned. "That is a small and +low thing, a necessity common to all creatures, which all know how to +meet. You would not expect an angel to drive away a cloud of mosquitoes, +or to remove a bush-tick from your person. No, sir, you may talk of +natural gifts, and try to make Rima believe that she is what she is, and +knows what she knows, because, like a humming-bird or some plants with +a peculiar fragrance, she has been made so. It is wrong, senor, and, +pardon me for saying it, it ill becomes you to put such fables into her +head." + +I answered, with a smile: "She herself seems to doubt what you believe." + +"But, senor, what can you expect from an ignorant girl like Rima? She +knows nothing, or very little, and will not listen to reason. If she +would only remain quietly indoors, with her hair braided, and pray and +read her Catechism, instead of running about after flowers and birds and +butterflies and such unsubstantial things, it would be better for both +of us." + +"In what way, old man?" + +"Why, it is plain that if she would cultivate the acquaintance of the +people that surround her--I mean those that come to her from her sainted +mother--and are ready to do her bidding in everything, she could make +it more safe for us in this place. For example, there is Runi and his +people; why should they remain living so near us as to be a constant +danger when a pestilence of small-pox or some other fever might easily +be sent to kill them off?" + +"And have you ever suggested such a thing to your grandchild?" + +He looked surprised and grieved at the question. "Yes, many times, +senor," he said. "I should have been a poor Christian had I not +mentioned it. But when I speak of it she gives me a look and is gone, +and I see no more of her all day, and when I see her she refuses even to +answer me--so perverse, so foolish is she in her ignorance; for, as you +can see for yourself, she has no more sense or concern about what is +most important than some little painted fly that flits about all day +long without any object." + + + +CHAPTER XV + +The next day we were early at work. Nuflo had already gathered, dried, +and conveyed to a place of concealment the greater portion of his garden +produce. He was determined to leave nothing to be taken by any wandering +party of savages that might call at the house during our absence. He had +no fear of a visit from his neighbours; they would not know, he said, +that he and Rima were out of the wood. A few large earthen pots, filled +with shelled maize, beans, and sun-dried strips of pumpkin, still +remained to be disposed of. Taking up one of these vessels and asking +me to follow with another, he started off through the wood. We went a +distance of five or six hundred yards, then made our way down a very +steep incline, close to the border of the forest on the western side. +Arrived at the bottom, we followed the bank a little further, and I then +found myself once more at the foot of the precipice over which I had +desperately thrown myself on the stormy evening after the snake had +bitten me. Nuflo, stealing silently and softly before me through the +bushes, had observed a caution and secrecy in approaching this spot +resembling that of a wise old hen when she visits her hidden nest to lay +an egg. And here was his nest, his most secret treasure-house, which he +had probably not revealed even to me without a sharp inward conflict, +notwithstanding that our fates were now linked together. The lower +portion of the bank was of rock; and in it, about ten or twelve feet +above the ground, but easily reached from below, there was a natural +cavity large enough to contain all his portable property. Here, besides +the food-stuff, he had already stored a quantity of dried tobacco leaf, +his rude weapons, cooking utensils, ropes, mats, and other objects. Two +or three more journeys were made for the remaining pots, after which +we adjusted a slab of sandstone to the opening, which was fortunately +narrow, plastered up the crevices with clay, and covered them over with +moss to hide all traces of our work. + +Towards evening, after we had refreshed ourselves with a long siesta, +Nuflo brought out from some other hiding-place two sacks; one weighing +about twenty pounds and containing smoke-dried meat, also grease and gum +for lighting-purposes, and a few other small objects. This was his load; +the other sack, which was smaller and contained parched corn and raw +beans, was for me to carry. + +The old man, cautious in all his movements, always acting as if +surrounded by invisible spies, delayed setting out until an hour after +dark. Then, skirting the forest on its west side, we left Ytaioa on our +right hand, and after travelling over rough, difficult ground, with only +the stars to light us, we saw the waning moon rise not long before dawn. +Our course had been a north-easterly one at first; now it was due east, +with broad, dry savannahs and patches of open forest as far as we could +see before us. It was weary walking on that first night, and weary +waiting on the first day when we sat in the shade during the long, hot +hours, persecuted by small stinging flies; but the days and nights that +succeeded were far worse, when the weather became bad with intense heat +and frequent heavy falls of rain. The one compensation I had looked for, +which would have outweighed all the extreme discomforts we suffered, +was denied me. Rima was no more to me or with me now than she had been +during those wild days in her native woods, when every bush and bole and +tangled creeper or fern frond had joined in a conspiracy to keep her +out of my sight. It is true that at intervals in the daytime she was +visible, sometimes within speaking distance, so that I could address +a few words to her, but there was no companionship, and we were fellow +travellers only like birds flying independently in the same direction, +not so widely separated but that they can occasionally hear and see each +other. The pilgrim in the desert is sometimes attended by a bird, and +the bird, with its freer motions, will often leave him a league behind +and seem lost to him, but only to return and show its form again; for +it has never lost sight nor recollection of the traveller toiling slowly +over the surface. Rima kept us company in some such wild erratic way as +that. A word, a sign from Nuflo was enough for her to know the direction +to take--the distant forest or still more distant mountain near which we +should have to pass. She would hasten on and be lost to our sight, and +when there was a forest in the way she would explore it, resting in the +shade and finding her own food; but invariably she was before us at each +resting- or camping-place. + +Indian villages were seen during the journey, but only to be avoided; +and in like manner, if we caught sight of Indians travelling or camping +at a distance, we would alter our course, or conceal ourselves to escape +observation. Only on one occasion, two days after setting out, were we +compelled to speak with strangers. We were going round a hill, and all +at once came face to face with three persons travelling in an opposite +direction--two men and a woman, and, by a strange fatality, Rima at that +moment happened to be with us. We stood for some time talking to these +people, who were evidently surprised at our appearance, and wished +to learn who we were; but Nuflo, who spoke their language like one of +themselves, was too cunning to give any true answer. They, on their +side, told us that they had been to visit a relative at Chani, the name +of a river three days ahead of us, and were now returning to their own +village at Baila-baila, two days beyond Parahuari. After parting from +them Nuflo was much troubled in his mind for the rest of that day. These +people, he said, would probably rest at some Parahuari village, +where they would be sure to give a description of us, and so it might +eventually come to the knowledge of our unneighbourly neighbour Runi +that we had left Ytaioa. + +Other incidents of our long and wearisome journey need not be related. +Sitting under some shady tree during the sultry hours, with Rima only +too far out of earshot, or by the nightly fire, the old man told me +little by little and with much digression, chiefly on sacred subjects, +the strange story of the girl's origin. + +About seventeen years back--Nuflo had no sure method to compute time +by--when he was already verging on old age, he was one of a company +of nine men, living a kind of roving life in the very part of Guayana +through which we were now travelling; the others, much younger than +himself, were all equally offenders against the laws of Venezuela, +and fugitives from justice. Nuflo was the leader of this gang, for it +happened that he had passed a great portion of his life outside the pale +of civilization, and could talk the Indian language, and knew this part +of Guayana intimately. But according to his own account he was not in +harmony with them. They were bold, desperate men, whose evil appetites +had so far only been whetted by the crimes they had committed; while he, +with passions worn out, recalling his many bad acts, and with a vivid +conviction of the truth of all he had been taught in early life--for +Nuflo was nothing if not religious--was now grown timid and desirous +only of making his peace with Heaven. This difference of disposition +made him morose and quarrelsome with his companions; and they would, he +said, have murdered him without remorse if he had not been so useful to +them. Their favourite plan was to hang about the neighbourhood of some +small isolated settlement, keeping a watch on it, and, when most of the +male inhabitants were absent, to swoop down on it and work their will. +Now, shortly after one of these raids it happened that a woman they had +carried off, becoming a burden to them, was flung into a river to the +alligators; but when being dragged down to the waterside she cast up +her eyes, and in a loud voice cried to God to execute vengeance on +her murderers. Nuflo affirmed that he took no part in this black deed; +nevertheless, the woman's dying appeal to Heaven preyed on his mind; +he feared that it might have won a hearing, and the "person" eventually +commissioned to execute vengeance--after the usual days, of course might +act on the principle of the old proverb: Tell me whom you are with, and +I will tell you what you are--and punish the innocent (himself to +wit) along with the guilty. But while thus anxious about his spiritual +interests, he was not yet prepared to break with his companions. He +thought it best to temporize, and succeeded in persuading them that it +would be unsafe to attack another Christian settlement for some time to +come; that in the interval they might find some pleasure, if no great +credit, by turning their attention to the Indians. The infidels, he +said, were God's natural enemies and fair game to the Christian. To +make a long story short, Nuflo's Christian band, after some successful +adventures, met with a reverse which reduced their number from nine +to five. Flying from their enemies, they sought safety at Riolama, an +uninhabited place, where they found it possible to exist for some weeks +on game, which was abundant, and wild fruits. + +One day at noon, while ascending a mountain at the southern extremity +of the Riolama range in order to get a view of the country beyond the +summit, Nuflo and his companions discovered a cave; and finding it +dry, without animal occupants, and with a level floor, they at once +determined to make it their dwelling-place for a season. Wood for firing +and water were to be had close by; they were also well provided with +smoked flesh of a tapir they had slaughtered a day or two before, so +that they could afford to rest for a time in so comfortable a shelter. +At a short distance from the cave they made a fire on the rock to toast +some slices of meat for their dinner; and while thus engaged all at once +one of the men uttered a cry of astonishment, and casting up his eyes +Nuflo beheld, standing near and regarding them with surprise and fear +in-her wide-open eyes, a woman of a most wonderful appearance. The one +slight garment she had on was silky and white as the snow on the summit +of some great mountain, but of the snow when the sinking sun touches and +gives it some delicate changing colour which is like fire. Her dark +hair was like a cloud from which her face looked out, and her head was +surrounded by an aureole like that of a saint in a picture, only more +beautiful. For, said Nuflo, a picture is a picture, and the other was +a reality, which is finer. Seeing her he fell on his knees and crossed +himself; and all the time her eyes, full of amazement and shining with +such a strange splendour that he could not meet them, were fixed on him +and not on the others; and he felt that she had come to save his soul, +in danger of perdition owing to his companionship with men who were at +war with God and wholly bad. + +But at this moment his comrades, recovering from their astonishment, +sprang to their feet, and the heavenly woman vanished. Just behind where +she had stood, and not twelve yards from them, there was a huge chasm in +the mountain, its jagged precipitous sides clothed with thorny bushes; +the men now cried out that she had made her escape that way, and down +after her they rushed, pell-mell. + +Nuflo cried out after them that they had seen a saint and that some +horrible thing would befall them if they allowed any evil thought to +enter their hearts; but they scoffed at his words, and were soon far +down out of hearing, while he, trembling with fear, remained praying +to the woman that had appeared to them and had looked with such strange +eyes at him, not to punish him for the sins of the others. + +Before long the men returned, disappointed and sullen, for they had +failed in their search for the woman; and perhaps Nuflo's warning words +had made them give up the chase too soon. At all events, they seemed ill +at ease, and made up their minds to abandon the cave; in a short time +they left the place to camp that night at a considerable distance from +the mountain. But they were not satisfied: they had now recovered from +their fear, but not from the excitement of an evil passion; and finally, +after comparing notes, they came to the conclusion that they had missed +a great prize through Nuflo's cowardice; and when he reproved them they +blasphemed all the saints in the calendar and even threatened him with +violence. Fearing to remain longer in the company of such godless men, +he only waited until they slept, then rose up cautiously, helped himself +to most of the provisions, and made his escape, devoutly hoping that +after losing their guide they would all speedily perish. + +Finding himself alone now and master of his own actions, Nuflo was in +terrible distress, for while his heart was in the utmost fear, it yet +urged him imperiously to go back to the mountain, to seek again for that +sacred being who had appeared to him and had been driven away by his +brutal companions. If he obeyed that inner voice, he would be saved; +if he resisted it, then there would be no hope for him, and along +with those who had cast the woman to the alligators he would be lost +eternally. Finally, on the following day, he went back, although not +without fear and trembling, and sat down on a stone just where he had +sat toasting his tapir meat on the previous day. But he waited in vain, +and at length that voice within him, which he had so far obeyed, began +urging him to descend into the valley-like chasm down which the woman +had escaped from his comrades, and to seek for her there. Accordingly +he rose and began cautiously and slowly climbing down over the broken +jagged rocks and through a dense mass of thorny bushes and creepers. At +the bottom of the chasm a clear, swift stream of water rushed with foam +and noise along its rocky bed; but before reaching it, and when it was +still twenty yards lower down, he was startled by hearing a low +moan among the bushes, and looking about for the cause, he found the +wonderful woman--his saviour, as he expressed it. She was not now +standing nor able to stand, but half reclining among the rough stones, +one foot, which she had sprained in that headlong flight down the ragged +slope, wedged immovably between the rocks; and in this painful position +she had remained a prisoner since noon on the previous day. She now +gazed on her visitor in silent consternation; while he, casting himself +prostrate on the ground, implored her forgiveness and begged to know +her will. But she made no reply; and at length, finding that she was +powerless to move, he concluded that, though a saint and one of the +beings that men worship, she was also flesh and liable to accidents +while sojourning on earth; and perhaps, he thought, that accident which +had befallen her had been specially designed by the powers above to +prove him. With great labour, and not without causing her much pain, he +succeeded in extricating her from her position; and then finding that +the injured foot was half crushed and blue and swollen, he took her +up in his arms and carried her to the stream. There, making a cup of a +broad green leaf, he offered her water, which she drank eagerly; and +he also laved her injured foot in the cold stream and bandaged it with +fresh aquatic leaves; finally he made her a soft bed of moss and dry +grass and placed her on it. That night he spent keeping watch over +her, at intervals applying fresh wet leaves to her foot as the old ones +became dry and wilted from the heat of the inflammation. + +The effect of all he did was that the terror with which she regarded him +gradually wore off; and next day, when she seemed to be recovering her +strength, he proposed by signs to remove her to the cave higher up, +where she would be sheltered in case of rain. She appeared to understand +him, and allowed herself to be taken up in his arms and carried with +much labour to the top of the chasm. In the cave he made her a second +couch, and tended her assiduously. He made a fire on the floor and kept +it burning night and day, and supplied her with water to drink and fresh +leaves for her foot. There was little more that he could do. From the +choicest and fattest bits of toasted tapir flesh he offered her she +turned away with disgust. A little cassava bread soaked in water she +would take, but seemed not to like it. After a time, fearing that she +would starve, he took to hunting after wild fruits, edible bulbs and +gums, and on these small things she subsisted during the whole time of +their sojourn together in the desert. + +The woman, although lamed for life, was now so far recovered as to be +able to limp about without assistance, and she spent a portion of each +day out among the rocks and trees on the mountains. Nuflo at first +feared that she would now leave him, but before long he became convinced +that she had no such intentions. And yet she was profoundly unhappy. +He was accustomed to see her seated on a rock, as if brooding over some +secret grief, her head bowed, and great tears falling from half-closed +eyes. + +From the first he had conceived the idea that she was in the way of +becoming a mother at no distant date--an idea which seemed to accord +badly with the suppositions as to the nature of this heavenly being +he was privileged to minister to and so win salvation; but he was now +convinced of its truth, and he imagined that in her condition he had +discovered the cause of that sorrow and anxiety which preyed continually +on her. By means of that dumb language of signs which enabled them to +converse together a little, he made it known to her that at a great +distance from the mountains there existed a place where there were +beings like herself, women, and mothers of children, who would comfort +and tenderly care for her. When she had understood, she seemed pleased +and willing to accompany him to that distant place; and so it came to +pass that they left their rocky shelter and the mountains of Riolama far +behind. But for several days, as they slowly journeyed over the plain, +she would pause at intervals in her limping walk to gaze back on those +blue summits, shedding abundant tears. + +Fortunately the village Voa, on the river of the same name, which was +the nearest Christian settlement to Riolama, whither his course was +directed, was well known to him; he had lived there in former years, +and, what was of great advantage, the inhabitants were ignorant of +his worst crimes, or, to put it in his own subtle way, of the crimes +committed by the men he had acted with. Great was the astonishment and +curiosity of the people of Voa when, after many weeks' travelling, Nuflo +arrived at last with his companion. But he was not going to tell the +truth, nor even the least particle of the truth, to a gaping crowd of +inferior persons. For these, ingenious lies; only to the priest he told +the whole story, dwelling minutely on all he had done to rescue and +protect her; all of which was approved by the holy man, whose first act +was to baptize the woman for fear that she was not a Christian. Let it +be said to Nuflo's credit that he objected to this ceremony, arguing +that she could not be a saint, with an aureole in token of her +sainthood, yet stand in need of being baptized by a priest. A priest--he +added, with a little chuckle of malicious pleasure--who was often seen +drunk, who cheated at cards, and was sometimes suspected of putting +poison on his fighting-cock's spur to make sure of the victory! +Doubtless the priest had his faults; but he was not without humanity, +and for the whole seven years of that unhappy stranger's sojourn at Voa +he did everything in his power to make her existence tolerable. Some +weeks after arriving she gave birth to a female child, and then the +priest insisted on naming it Riolama, in order, he said, to keep in +remembrance the strange story of the mother's discovery at that place. + +Rima's mother could not be taught to speak either Spanish or Indian; and +when she found that the mysterious and melodious sounds that fell from +her own lips were understood by none, she ceased to utter them, and +thereafter preserved an unbroken silence among the people she lived +with. But from the presence of others she shrank, as if in disgust or +fear, excepting only Nuflo and the priest, whose kindly intentions she +appeared to understand and appreciate. So far her life in the village +was silent and sorrowful. With her child it was different; and every day +that was not wet, taking the little thing by the hand, she would limp +painfully out into the forest, and there, sitting on the ground, the two +would commune with each other by the hour in their wonderful language. + +At length she began to grow perceptibly paler and feebler week by week, +day by day, until she could no longer go out into the wood, but sat or +reclined, panting for breath in the dull hot room, waiting for death +to release her. At the same time little Rima, who had always appeared +frail, as if from sympathy, now began to fade and look more shadowy, +so that it was expected she would not long survive her parent. To the +mother death came slowly, but at last it seemed so near that Nuflo and +the priest were together at her side waiting to see the end. It was then +that little Rima, who had learnt from infancy to speak in Spanish, rose +from the couch where her mother had been whispering to her, and began +with some difficulty to express what was in the dying woman's mind. Her +child, she had said, could not continue to live in that hot wet place, +but if taken away to a distance where there were mountains and a cooler +air she would survive and grow strong again. + +Hearing this, old Nuflo declared that the child should not perish; that +he himself would take her away to Parahuari, a distant place where there +were mountains and dry plains and open woods; that he would watch over +her and care for her there as he had cared for her mother at Riolama. + +When the substance of this speech had been made known by Rima to the +dying woman, she suddenly rose up from her couch, which she had not +risen from for many days, and stood erect on the floor, her wasted face +shining with joy. Then Nuflo knew that God's angels had come for her, +and put out his arms to save her from falling; and even while he held +her that sudden glory went out from her face, now of a dead white like +burnt-out ashes; and murmuring something soft and melodious, her spirit +passed away. + +Once more Nuflo became a wanderer, now with the fragile-looking little +Rima for companion, the sacred child who had inherited the position +of his intercessor from a sacred mother. The priest, who had probably +become infected with Nuflo's superstitions, did not allow them to leave +Voa empty-handed, but gave the old man as much calico as would serve +to buy hospitality and whatsoever he might require from the Indians for +many a day to come. + +At Parahuari, where they arrived safely at last, they lived for some +little time at one of the villages. But the child had an instinctive +aversion to all savages, or possibly the feeling was derived from her +mother, for it had shown itself early at Voa, where she had refused to +learn their language; and this eventually led Nuflo to go away and live +apart from them, in the forest by Ytaioa, where he made himself a +house and garden. The Indians, however, continued friendly with him and +visited him with frequency. But when Rima grew up, developing into that +mysterious woodland girl I found her, they became suspicious, and in +the end regarded her with dangerously hostile feeling. She, poor child, +detested them because they were incessantly at war with the wild animals +she loved, her companions; and having no fear of them, for she did not +know that they had it in their minds to turn their little poisonous +arrows against herself, she was constantly in the woods frustrating +them; and the animals, in league with her, seemed to understand her +note of warning and hid themselves or took to flight at the approach of +danger. At length their hatred and fear grew to such a degree that they +determined to make away with her, and one day, having matured a plan, +they went to the wood and spread themselves two and two about it. The +couples did not keep together, but moved about or remained concealed at +a distance of forty or fifty yards apart, lest she should be missed. +Two of the savages, armed with blow-pipes, were near the border of the +forest on the side nearest to the village, and one of them, observing a +motion in the foliage of a tree, ran swiftly and cautiously towards it +to try and catch a glimpse of the enemy. And he did see her no doubt, as +she was there watching both him and his companions, and blew an arrow at +her, but even while in the act of blowing it he was himself struck by +a dart that buried itself deep in his flesh just over the heart. He +ran some distance with the fatal barbed point in his flesh and met his +comrade, who had mistaken him for the girl and shot him. The wounded man +threw himself down to die, and dying related that he had fired at the +girl sitting up in a tree and that she had caught the arrow in her hand +only to hurl it instantly back with such force and precision that it +pierced his flesh just over the heart. He had seen it all with his own +eyes, and his friend who had accidentally slain him believed his story +and repeated it to the others. Rima had seen one Indian shoot the other, +and when she told her grandfather he explained to her that it was an +accident, but he guessed why the arrow had been fired. + +From that day the Indians hunted no more in the wood; and at length one +day Nuflo, meeting an Indian who did not know him and with whom he had +some talk, heard the strange story of the arrow, and that the mysterious +girl who could not be shot was the offspring of an old man and a Didi +who had become enamoured of him; that, growing tired of her consort, the +Didi had returned to her river, leaving her half-human child to play her +malicious pranks in the wood. + +This, then, was Nuflo's story, told not in Nuflo's manner, which was +infinitely prolix; and think not that it failed to move me--that I +failed to bless him for what he had done, in spite of his selfish +motives. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +We were eighteen days travelling to Riolama, on the last two making +little progress, on account of continuous rain, which made us miserable +beyond description. Fortunately the dogs had found, and Nuflo had +succeeded in killing, a great ant-eater, so that we were well supplied +with excellent, strength-giving flesh. We were among the Riolama +mountains at last, and Rima kept with us, apparently expecting great +things. I expected nothing, for reasons to be stated by and by. My +belief was that the only important thing that could happen to us would +be starvation. + +The afternoon of the last day was spent in skirting the foot of a very +long mountain, crowned at its southern extremity with a huge, rocky mass +resembling the head of a stone sphinx above its long, couchant body, and +at its highest part about a thousand feet above the surrounding level. +It was late in the day, raining fast again, yet the old man still toiled +on, contrary to his usual practice, which was to spend the last daylight +hours in gathering firewood and in constructing a shelter. At length, +when we were nearly under the peak, he began to ascend. The rise in this +place was gentle, and the vegetation, chiefly composed of dwarf thorn +trees rooted in the clefts of the rock, scarcely impeded our progress; +yet Nuflo moved obliquely, as if he found the ascent difficult, pausing +frequently to take breath and look round him. Then we came to a deep, +ravine-like cleft in the side of the mountain, which became deeper and +narrower above us, but below it broadened out to a valley; its steep +sides as we looked down were clothed with dense, thorny vegetation, and +from the bottom rose to our ears the dull sound of a hidden torrent. +Along the border of this ravine Nuflo began toiling upwards, and finally +brought us out upon a stony plateau on the mountain-side. Here he paused +and, turning and regarding us with a look as of satisfied malice in his +eyes, remarked that we were at our journey's end, and he trusted the +sight of that barren mountain-side would compensate us for all the +discomforts we had suffered during the last eighteen days. + +I heard him with indifference. I had already recognized the place from +his own exact description of it, and I now saw all that I had looked to +see--a big, barren hill. But Rima, what had she expected that her face +wore that blank look of surprise and pain? "Is this the place where +mother appeared to you?" she suddenly cried. "The very place--this! +This!" Then she added: "The cave where you tended her--where is it?" + +"Over there," he said, pointing across the plateau, which was partially +overgrown with dwarf trees and bushes, and ended at a wall of rock, +almost vertical and about forty feet high. + +Going to this precipice, we saw no cave until Nuflo had cut away two or +three tangled bushes, revealing an opening behind, about half as high +and twice as wide as the door of an ordinary dwelling-house. + +The next thing was to make a torch, and aided by its light we groped our +way in and explored the interior. The cave, we found, was about fifty +feet long, narrowing to a mere hole at the extremity; but the anterior +portion formed an oblong chamber, very lofty, with a dry floor. Leaving +our torch burning, we set to work cutting bushes to supply ourselves +with wood enough to last us all night. Nuflo, poor old man, loved a big +fire dearly; a big fire and fat meat to eat (the ranker its flavour, the +better he liked it) were to him the greatest blessings that man could +wish for. In me also the prospect of a cheerful blaze put a new heart, +and I worked with a will in the rain, which increased in the end to a +blinding downpour. + +By the time I dragged my last load in, Nuflo had got his fire well +alight, and was heaping on wood in a most lavish way. "No fear of +burning our house down tonight," he remarked, with a chuckle--the first +sound of that description he had emitted for a long time. + +After we had satisfied our hunger, and had smoked one or two cigarettes, +the unaccustomed warmth, and dryness, and the firelight affected us with +drowsiness, and I had probably been nodding for some time; but starting +at last and opening my eyes, I missed Rima. The old man appeared to be +asleep, although still in a sitting posture close to the fire. I rose +and hurried out, drawing my cloak close around me to protect me from the +rain; but what was my surprise on emerging from the cave to feel a dry, +bracing wind in my face and to see the desert spread out for leagues +before me in the brilliant white light of a full moon! The rain had +apparently long ceased, and only a few thin white clouds appeared moving +swiftly over the wide blue expanse of heaven. It was a welcome change, +but the shock of surprise and pleasure was instantly succeeded by +the maddening fear that Rima was lost to me. She was nowhere in sight +beneath, and running to the end of the little plateau to get free of +the thorn trees, I turned my eyes towards the summit, and there, at some +distance above me, caught sight of her standing motionless and gazing +upwards. I quickly made my way to her side, calling to her as I +approached; but she only half turned to cast a look at me and did not +reply. + +"Rima," I said, "why have you come here? Are you actually thinking of +climbing the mountain at this hour of the night?" "Yes--why not?" she +returned, moving one or two steps from me. + +"Rima--sweet Rima, will you listen to me?" + +"Now? Oh, no--why do you ask that? Did I not listen to you in the wood +before we started, and you also promised to do what I wished? See, the +rain is over and the moon shines brightly. Why should I wait? Perhaps +from the summit I shall see my people's country. Are we not near it +now?" + +"Oh, Rima, what do you expect to see? Listen--you must listen, for I +know best. From that summit you would see nothing but a vast dim desert, +mountain and forest, mountain and forest, where you might wander for +years, or until you perished of hunger or fever, or were slain by some +beast of prey or by savage men; but oh, Rima, never, never, never would +you find your people, for they exist not. You have seen the false water +of the mirage on the savannah, when the sun shines bright and hot; and +if one were to follow it one would at last fall down and perish, +with never a cool drop to moisten one's parched lips. And your hope, +Rima--this hope to find your people which has brought you all the way to +Riolama--is a mirage, a delusion, which will lead to destruction if you +will not abandon it." + +She turned to face me with flashing eyes. "You know best!" she +exclaimed. "You know best and tell me that! Never until this moment have +you spoken falsely. Oh, why have you said such things to me--named after +this place, Riolama? Am I also like that false water you speak of--no +divine Rima, no sweet Rima? My mother, had she no mother, no mother's +mother? I remember her, at Voa, before she died, and this hand seems +real--like yours; you have asked to hold it. But it is not he that +speaks to me--not one that showed me the whole world on Ytaioa. Ah, you +have wrapped yourself in a stolen cloak, only you have left your old +grey beard behind! Go back to the cave and look for it, and leave me to +seek my people alone!" + +Once more, as on that day in the forest when she prevented me from +killing the serpent, and as on the occasion of her meeting with Nuflo +after we had been together on Ytaioa, she appeared transformed and +instinct with intense resentment--a beautiful human wasp, and every word +a sting. + +"Rima," I cried, "you are cruelly unjust to say such words to me. If you +know that I have never deceived you before, give me a little credit now. +You are no delusion--no mirage, but Rima, like no other being on earth. +So perfectly truthful and pure I cannot be, but rather than mislead you +with falsehoods I would drop down and die on this rock, and lose you and +the sweet light that shines on us for ever." + +As she listened to my words, spoken with passion, she grew pale and +clasped her hands. "What have I said? What have I said?" She spoke in a +low voice charged with pain, and all at once she came nearer, and with +a low, sobbing cry sank down at my feet, uttering, as on the occasion of +finding me lost at night in the forest near her home, tender, sorrowful +expressions in her own mysterious language. But before I could take her +in my arms she rose again quickly to her feet and moved away a little +space from me. + +"Oh no, no, it cannot be that you know best!" she began again. "But +I know that you have never sought to deceive me. And now, because I +falsely accused you, I cannot go there without you"--pointing to the +summit--"but must stand still and listen to all you have to say." + +"You know, Rima, that your grandfather has now told me your history--how +he found your mother at this place, and took her to Voa, where you were +born; but of your mother's people he knows nothing, and therefore he can +now take you no further." + +"Ah, you think that! He says that now; but he deceived me all these +years, and if he lied to me in the past, can he not still lie, affirming +that he knows nothing of my people, even as he affirmed that he knew not +Riolama?" + +"He tells lies and he tells truth, Rima, and one can be distinguished +from the other. He spoke truthfully at last, and brought us to this +place, beyond which he cannot lead you." + +"You are right; I must go alone." + +"Not so, Rima, for where you go, there we must go; only you will lead +and we follow, believing only that our quest will end in disappointment, +if not in death." + +"Believe that and yet follow! Oh no! Why did he consent to lead me so +far for nothing?" + +"Do you forget that you compelled him? You know what he believes; and he +is old and looks with fear at death, remembering his evil deeds, and is +convinced that only through your intercession and your mother's he can +escape from perdition. Consider, Rima, he could not refuse, to make you +more angry and so deprive himself of his only hope." + +My words seemed to trouble her, but very soon she spoke again with +renewed animation. "If my people exist, why must it be disappointment +and perhaps death? He does not know; but she came to him here--did she +not? The others are not here, but perhaps not far off. Come, let us go +to the summit together to see from it the desert beneath us--mountain +and forest, mountain and forest. Somewhere there! You said that I had +knowledge of distant things. And shall I not know which mountain--which +forest?" + +"Alas! no, Rima; there is a limit to your far-seeing; and even if that +faculty were as great as you imagine, it would avail you nothing, for +there is no mountain, no forest, in whose shadow your people dwell." + +For a while she was silent, but her eyes and clasping fingers were +restless and showed her agitation. She seemed to be searching in the +depths of her mind for some argument to oppose to my assertions. Then +in a low, almost despondent voice, with something of reproach in it, she +said: "Have we come so far to go back again? You were not Nuflo to need +my intercession, yet you came too." + +"Where you are, there I must be--you have said it yourself. Besides, +when we started I had some hope of finding your people. Now I know +better, having heard Nuflo's story. Now I know that your hope is a vain +one." + +"Why? Why? Was she not found here--mother? Where, then, are the others?" + +"Yes, she was found here, alone. You must remember all the things +she spoke to you before she died. Did she ever speak to you of her +people--speak of them as if they existed, and would be glad to receive +you among them some day?" + +"No. Why did she not speak of that? Do you know--can you tell me?" + +"I can guess the reason, Rima. It is very sad--so sad that it is hard to +tell it. When Nuflo tended her in the cave and was ready to worship +her and do everything she wished, and conversed with her by signs, she +showed no wish to return to her people. And when he offered her, in a +way she understood, to take her to a distant place, where she would be +among strange beings, among others like Nuflo, she readily consented, +and painfully performed that long journey to Voa. Would you, Rima, have +acted thus--would you have gone so far away from your beloved people, +never to return, never to hear of them or speak to them again? Oh no, +you could not; nor would she if her people had been in existence. But +she knew that she had survived them, that some great calamity had +fallen upon and destroyed them. They were few in number, perhaps, and +surrounded on every side by hostile tribes, and had no weapons, and made +no war. They had been preserved because they inhabited a place apart, +some deep valley perhaps, guarded on all sides by lofty mountains and +impenetrable forests and marshes; but at last the cruel savages broke +into this retreat and hunted them down, destroying all except a few +fugitives, who escaped singly like your mother, and fled away to hide in +some distant solitude." + +The anxious expression on her face deepened as she listened to one of +anguish and despair; and then, almost before I concluded, she suddenly +lifted her hands to her head, uttering a low, sobbing cry, and would +have fallen on the rock had I not caught her quickly in my arms. Once +more in my arms--against my breast, her proper place! But now all that +bright life seemed gone out of her; her head fell on my shoulder, and +there was no motion in her except at intervals a slight shudder in her +frame accompanied by a low, gasping sob. In a little while the sobs +ceased, the eyes were closed, the face still and deathly white, and with +a terrible anxiety in my heart I carried her down to the cave. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +As I re-entered the cave with my burden Nuflo sat up and stared at me +with a frightened look in his eyes. Throwing my cloak down, I placed the +girl on it and briefly related what had happened. + +He drew near to examine her; then placed his hand on her heart. +"Dead!--she is dead!" he exclaimed. + +My own anxiety changed to an irrational anger at his words. "Old fool! +She has only fainted," I returned. "Get me some water, quick." + +But the water failed to restore her, and my anxiety deepened as I gazed +on that white, still face. Oh, why had I told her that sad tragedy I had +imagined with so little preparation? Alas! I had succeeded too well in +my purpose, killing her vain hope and her at the same moment. + +The old man, still bending over her, spoke again. "No, I will not +believe that she is dead yet; but, sir, if not dead, then she is dying." + +I could have struck him down for his words. "She will die in my arms, +then," I exclaimed, thrusting him roughly aside, and lifting her up with +the cloak beneath her. + +And while I held her thus, her head resting on my arm, and gazed with +unutterable anguish into her strangely white face, insanely praying to +Heaven to restore her to me, Nuflo fell on his knees before her, and +with bowed head, and hands clasped in supplication, began to speak. + +"Rima! Grandchild!" he prayed, his quivering voice betraying his +agitation. "Do not die just yet: you must not die--not wholly die--until +you have heard what I have to say to you. I do not ask you to answer +in words--you are past that, and I am not unreasonable. Only, when I +finish, make some sign--a sigh, a movement of the eyelid, a twitch of +the lips, even in the small corners of the mouth; nothing more than +that, just to show that you have heard, and I shall be satisfied. +Remember all the years that I have been your protector, and this long +journey that I have taken on your account; also all that I did for +your sainted mother before she died at Voa, to become one of the most +important of those who surround the Queen of Heaven, and who, when they +wish for any favour, have only to say half a word to get it. And do not +cast in oblivion that at the last I obeyed your wish and brought you +safely to Riolama. It is true that in some small things I deceived you; +but that must not weigh with you, because it is a small matter and not +worthy of mention when you consider the claims I have on you. In your +hands, Rima, I leave everything, relying on the promise you made me, and +on my services. Only one word of caution remains to be added. Do not let +the magnificence of the place you are now about to enter, the new sights +and colours, and the noise of shouting, and musical instruments and +blowing of trumpets, put these things out of your head. Nor must you +begin to think meanly of yourself and be abashed when you find yourself +surrounded by saints and angels; for you are not less than they, +although it may not seem so at first when you see them in their bright +clothes, which, they say, shine like the sun. I cannot ask you to tie +a string round your finger; I can only trust to your memory, which was +always good, even about the smallest things; and when you are asked, as +no doubt you will be, to express a wish, remember before everything to +speak of your grandfather, and his claims on you, also on your angelic +mother, to whom you will present my humble remembrances." + +During this petition, which in other circumstances would have moved me +to laughter but now only irritated me, a subtle change seemed to come +to the apparently lifeless girl to make me hope. The small hand in mine +felt not so icy cold, and though no faintest colour had come to the +face, its pallor had lost something of its deathly waxen appearance; and +now the compressed lips had relaxed a little and seemed ready to part. +I laid my finger-tips on her heart and felt, or imagined that I felt, +a faint fluttering; and at last I became convinced that her heart was +really beating. + +I turned my eyes on the old man, still bending forward, intently +watching for the sign he had asked her to make. My anger and disgust +at his gross earthy egoism had vanished. "Let us thank God, old man," +I said, the tears of joy half choking my utterance. "She lives--she is +recovering from her fit." + +He drew back, and on his knees, with bowed head, murmured a prayer of +thanks to Heaven. + +Together we continued watching her face for half an hour longer, I +still holding her in my arms, which could never grow weary of that sweet +burden, waiting for other, surer signs of returning life; and she seemed +now like one that had fallen into a profound, death-like sleep which +must end in death. Yet when I remembered her face as it had looked an +hour ago, I was confirmed in the belief that the progress to recovery, +so strangely slow, was yet sure. So slow, so gradual was this passing +from death to life that we had hardly ceased to fear when we noticed +that the lips were parted, or almost parted, that they were no longer +white, and that under her pale, transparent skin a faint, bluish-rosy +colour was now visible. And at length, seeing that all danger was past +and recovery so slow, old Nuflo withdrew once more to the fireside and, +stretching himself out on the sandy floor, soon fell into a deep sleep. + +If he had not been lying there before me in the strong light of the +glowing embers and dancing flames, I could not have felt more alone with +Rima--alone amid those remote mountains, in that secret cavern, with +lights and shadows dancing on its grey vault. In that profound silence +and solitude the mysterious loveliness of the still face I continued +to gaze on, its appearance of life without consciousness, produced a +strange feeling in me, hard, perhaps impossible, to describe. + +Once, when clambering among the rough rocks, overgrown with forest, +among the Queneveta mountains, I came on a single white flower which was +new to me, which I have never seen since. After I had looked long at it, +and passed on, the image of that perfect flower remained so persistently +in my mind that on the following day I went again, in the hope of seeing +it still untouched by decay. There was no change; and on this occasion +I spent a much longer time looking at it, admiring the marvellous +beauty of its form, which seemed so greatly to exceed that of all +other flowers. It had thick petals, and at first gave me the idea of an +artificial flower, cut by a divinely inspired artist from some unknown +precious stone, of the size of a large orange and whiter than milk, and +yet, in spite of its opacity, with a crystalline lustre on the surface. +Next day I went again, scarcely hoping to find it still unwithered; it +was fresh as if only just opened; and after that I went often, sometimes +at intervals of several days, and still no faintest sign of any change, +the clear, exquisite lines still undimmed, the purity and lustre as +I had first seen it. Why, I often asked, does not this mystic forest +flower fade and perish like others? That first impression of its +artificial appearance had soon left me; it was, indeed, a flower, and, +like other flowers, had life and growth, only with that transcendent +beauty it had a different kind of life. Unconscious, but higher; perhaps +immortal. Thus it would continue to bloom when I had looked my last +on it; wind and rain and sunlight would never stain, never tinge, its +sacred purity; the savage Indian, though he sees little to admire in a +flower, yet seeing this one would veil his face and turn back; even +the browsing beast crashing his way through the forest, struck with +its strange glory, would swerve aside and pass on without harming it. +Afterwards I heard from some Indians to whom I described it that +the flower I had discovered was called Hata; also that they had a +superstition concerning it--a strange belief. They said that only one +Hata flower existed in the world; that it bloomed in one spot for the +space of a moon; that on the disappearance of the moon in the sky the +Hata disappeared from its place, only to reappear blooming in some +other spot, sometimes in some distant forest. And they also said that +whosoever discovered the Hata flower in the forest would overcome all +his enemies and obtain all his desires, and finally outlive other men +by many years. But, as I have said, all this I heard afterwards, and my +half-superstitious feeling for the flower had grown up independently +in my own mind. A feeling like that was in me while I gazed on the face +that had no motion, no consciousness in it, and yet had life, a life of +so high a kind as to match with its pure, surpassing loveliness. I could +almost believe that, like the forest flower, in this state and aspect it +would endure for ever; endure and perhaps give of its own immortality to +everything around it--to me, holding her in my arms and gazing fixedly +on the pale face framed in its cloud of dark, silken hair; to the +leaping flames that threw changing lights on the dim stony wall of +rock; to old Nuflo and his two yellow dogs stretched out on the floor in +eternal, unawakening sleep. + +This feeling took such firm possession of my mind that it kept me for +a time as motionless as the form I held in my arms. I was only released +from its power by noting still further changes in the face I watched, +a more distinct advance towards conscious life. The faint colour, +which had scarcely been more than a suspicion of colour, had deepened +perceptibly; the lids were lifted so as to show a gleam of the crystal +orbs beneath; the lips, too, were slightly parted. + +And, at last, bending lower down to feel her breath, the beauty and +sweetness of those lips could no longer be resisted, and I touched them +with mine. Having once tasted their sweetness and fragrance, it was +impossible to keep from touching them again and again. She was not +conscious--how could she be and not shrink from my caress? Yet there +was a suspicion in my mind, and drawing back I gazed into her face once +more. A strange new radiance had overspread it. Or was this only an +illusive colour thrown on her skin by the red firelight? I shaded her +face with my open hand, and saw that her pallor had really gone, that +the rosy flame on her cheeks was part of her life. Her lustrous eyes, +half open, were gazing into mine. Oh, surely consciousness had returned +to her! Had she been sensible of those stolen kisses? Would she now +shrink from another caress? Trembling, I bent down and touched her lips +again, lightly, but lingeringly, and then again, and when I drew back +and looked at her face the rosy flame was brighter, and the eyes, +more open still, were looking into mine. And gazing with those open, +conscious eyes, it seemed to me that at last, at last, the shadow that +had rested between us had vanished, that we were united in perfect love +and confidence, and that speech was superfluous. And when I spoke, it +was not without doubt and hesitation: our bliss in those silent moments +had been so complete, what could speaking do but make it less! + +"My love, my life, my sweet Rima, I know that you will understand me +now as you did not before, on that dark night--do you remember it, +Rima?--when I held you clasped to my breast in the wood. How it pierced +my heart with pain to speak plainly to you as I did on the mountain +tonight--to kill the hope that had sustained and brought you so far from +home! But now that anguish is over; the shadow has gone out of those +beautiful eyes that are looking at me. It is because loving me, knowing +now what love is, knowing, too, how much I love you, that you no longer +need to speak to any other living being of such things? To tell it, to +show it, to me is now enough--is it not so, Rima? How strange it seemed, +at first, when you shrank in fear from me! But, afterwards, when you +prayed aloud to your mother, opening all the secrets of your heart, I +understood it. In that lonely, isolated life in the wood you had heard +nothing of love, of its power over the heart, its infinite sweetness; +when it came to you at last it was a new, inexplicable thing, and filled +you with misgivings and tumultuous thoughts, so that you feared it and +hid yourself from its cause. Such tremors would be felt if it had always +been night, with no light except that of the stars and the pale moon, as +we saw it a little while ago on the mountain; and, at last, day dawned, +and a strange, unheard-of rose and purple flame kindled in the eastern +sky, foretelling the coming sun. It would seem beautiful beyond anything +that night had shown to you, yet you would tremble and your heart beat +fast at that strange sight; you would wish to fly to those who might be +able to tell you its meaning, and whether the sweet things it prophesied +would ever really come. That is why you wished to find your people, and +came to Riolama to seek them; and when you knew--when I cruelly told +you--that they would never be found, then you imagined that that strange +feeling in your heart must remain a secret for ever, and you could +not endure the thought of your loneliness. If you had not fainted so +quickly, then I should have told you what I must tell you now. They are +lost, Rima--your people--but I am with you, and know what you feel, even +if you have no words to tell it. But what need of words? It shines in +your eyes, it burns like a flame in your face; I can feel it in your +hands. Do you not also see it in my face--all that I feel for you, the +love that makes me happy? For this is love, Rima, the flower and the +melody of life, the sweetest thing, the sweet miracle that makes our two +souls one." + +Still resting in my arms, as if glad to rest there, still gazing into +my face, it was clear to me that she understood my every word. And then, +with no trace of doubt or fear left, I stooped again, until my lips were +on hers; and when I drew back once more, hardly knowing which bliss was +greatest--kissing her delicate mouth or gazing into her face--she all at +once put her arms about my neck and drew herself up until she sat on my +knee. + +"Abel--shall I call you Abel now--and always?" she spoke, still with +her arms round my neck. "Ah, why did you let me come to Riolama? I would +come! I made him come--old grandfather, sleeping there: he does not +count, but you--you! After you had heard my story, and knew that it was +all for nothing! And all I wished to know was there--in you. Oh, how +sweet it is! But a little while ago, what pain! When I stood on the +mountain when you talked to me, and I knew that you knew best, and tried +and tried not to know. At last I could try no more; they were all dead +like mother; I had chased the false water on the savannah. 'Oh, let me +die too,' I said, for I could not bear the pain. And afterwards, here in +the cave, I was like one asleep, and when I woke I did not really wake. +It was like morning with the light teasing me to open my eyes and look +at it. Not yet, dear light; a little while longer, it is so sweet to lie +still. But it would not leave me, and stayed teasing me still, like a +small shining green fly; until, because it teased me so, I opened my +lids just a little. It was not morning, but the firelight, and I was in +your arms, not in my little bed. Your eyes looking, looking into mine. +But I could see yours better. I remembered everything then, how you once +asked me to look into your eyes. I remembered so many things--oh, so +many!" + +"How many things did you remember, Rima?" + +"Listen, Abel, do you ever lie on the dry moss and look straight up into +a tree and count a thousand leaves?" + +"No, sweetest, that could not be done, it is so many to count. Do you +know how many a thousand are?" + +"Oh, do I not! When a humming-bird flies close to my face and stops +still in the air, humming like a bee, and then is gone, in that short +time I can count a hundred small round bright feathers on its throat. +That is only a hundred; a thousand are more, ten times. Looking up I +count a thousand leaves; then stop counting, because there are thousands +more behind the first, and thousands more, crowded together so that I +cannot count them. Lying in your arms, looking up into your face, it was +like that; I could not count the things I remembered. In the wood, when +you were there, and before; and long, long ago at Voa, when I was a +child with mother." + +"Tell me some of the things you remembered, Rima." + +"Yes, one--only one now. When I was a child at Voa mother was very +lame--you know that. Whenever we went out, away from the houses, into +the forest, walking slowly, slowly, she would sit under a tree while I +ran about playing. And every time I came back to her I would find her so +pale, so sad, crying--crying. That was when I would hide and come softly +back so that she would not hear me coming. 'Oh, mother, why are you +crying? Does your lame foot hurt you?' And one day she took me in her +arms and told me truly why she cried." + +She ceased speaking, but looked at me with a strange new light coming +into her eyes. + +"Why did she cry, my love?" + +"Oh, Abel, can you understand--now--at last!" And putting her lips +close to my ear, she began to murmur soft, melodious sounds that told +me nothing. Then drawing back her head, she looked again at me, her eyes +glistening with tears, her lips half parted with a smile, tender and +wistful. + +Ah, poor child! in spite of all that had been said, all that had +happened, she had returned to the old delusion that I must understand +her speech. I could only return her look, sorrowfully and in silence. + +Her face became clouded with disappointment, then she spoke again with +something of pleading in her tone. "Look, we are not now apart, I hiding +in the wood, you seeking, but together, saying the same things. In +your language--yours and now mine. But before you came I knew nothing, +nothing, for there was only grandfather to talk to. A few words each +day, the same words. If yours is mine, mine must be yours. Oh, do you +not know that mine is better?" + +"Yes, better; but alas! Rima, I can never hope to understand your sweet +speech, much less to speak it. The bird that only chirps and twitters +can never sing like the organ-bird." + +Crying, she hid her face against my neck, murmuring sadly between her +sobs: "Never--never!" + +How strange it seemed, in that moment of joy, such a passion of tears, +such despondent words! + +For some minutes I preserved a sorrowful silence, realizing for the +first time, so far as it was possible to realize such a thing, what my +inability to understand her secret language meant to her--that finer +language in which alone her swift thoughts and vivid emotions could be +expressed. Easily and well as she seemed able to declare herself in my +tongue, I could well imagine that to her it would seem like the merest +stammering. As she had said to me once when I asked her to speak in +Spanish, "That is not speaking." And so long as she could not commune +with me in that better language, which reflected her mind, there would +not be that perfect union of soul she so passionately desired. + +By and by, as she grew calmer, I sought to say something that would be +consoling to both of us. "Sweetest Rima," I spoke, "it is so sad that +I can never hope to talk with you in your way; but a greater love than +this that is ours we could never feel, and love will make us happy, +unutterably happy, in spite of that one sadness. And perhaps, after a +while, you will be able to say all you wish in my language, which is +also yours, as you said some time ago. When we are back again in the +beloved wood, and talk once more under that tree where we first talked, +and under the old mora, where you hid yourself and threw down leaves +on me, and where you caught the little spider to show me how you made +yourself a dress, you shall speak to me in your own sweet tongue, and +then try to say the same things in mine.... And in the end, perhaps, you +will find that it is not so impossible as you think." + +She looked at me, smiling again through her tears, and shook her head a +little. + +"Remember what I have heard, that before your mother died you were able +to tell Nuflo and the priest what her wish was. Can you not, in the same +way, tell me why she cried?" + +"I can tell you, but it will not be telling you." + +"I understand. You can tell the bare facts. I can imagine something +more, and the rest I must lose. Tell me, Rima." + +Her face became troubled; she glanced away and let her eyes wander round +the dim, firelit cavern; then they returned to mine once more. + +"Look," she said, "grandfather lying asleep by the fire. So far away +from us--oh, so far! But if we were to go out from the cave, and on and +on to the great mountains where the city of the sun is, and stood there +at last in the midst of great crowds of people, all looking at us, +talking to us, it would be just the same. They would be like the trees +and rocks and animals--so far! Not with us nor we with them. But we are +everywhere alone together, apart--we two. It is love; I know it now, but +I did not know it before because I had forgotten what she told me. Do +you think I can tell you what she said when I asked her why she cried? +Oh no! Only this, she and another were like one, always, apart from +the others. Then something came--something came! O Abel, was that the +something you told me about on the mountain? And the other was lost for +ever, and she was alone in the forests and mountains of the world. Oh, +why do we cry for what is lost? Why do we not quickly forget it and feel +glad again? Now only do I know what you felt, O sweet mother, when you +sat still and cried, while I ran about and played and laughed! O poor +mother! Oh, what pain!" And hiding her face against my neck, she sobbed +once more. + +To my eyes also love and sympathy brought the tears; but in a little +while the fond, comforting words I spoke and my caresses recalled her +from that sad past to the present; then, lying back as at first, +her head resting on my folded cloak, her body partly supported by my +encircling arm and partly by the rock we were leaning against, +her half-closed eyes turned to mine expressed a tender assured +happiness--the chastened gladness of sunshine after rain; a soft +delicious languor that was partly passionate with the passion +etherealized. + +"Tell me, Rima," I said, bending down to her, "in all those troubled +days with me in the woods had you no happy moments? Did not something in +your heart tell you that it was sweet to love, even before you knew what +love meant?" + +"Yes; and once--O Abel, do you remember that night, after returning from +Ytaioa, when you sat so late talking by the fire--I in the shadow, never +stirring, listening, listening; you by the fire with the light on your +face, saying so many strange things? I was happy then--oh, how happy! It +was black night and raining, and I a plant growing in the dark, feeling +the sweet raindrops falling, falling on my leaves. Oh, it will be +morning by and by and the sun will shine on my wet leaves; and that +made me glad till I trembled with happiness. Then suddenly the lightning +would come, so bright, and I would tremble with fear, and wish that +it would be dark again. That was when you looked at me sitting in the +shadow, and I could not take my eyes away quickly and could not meet +yours, so that I trembled with fear." + +"And now there is no fear--no shadow; now you are perfectly happy?" + +"Oh, so happy! If the way back to the wood was longer, ten times, and +if the great mountains, white with snow on their tops, were between, and +the great dark forest, and rivers wider than Orinoco, still I would go +alone without fear, because you would come after me, to join me in the +wood, to be with me at last and always." + +"But I should not let you go alone, Rima--your lonely days are over +now." + +She opened her eyes wider and looked earnestly into my face. "I must go +back alone, Abel," she said. "Before day comes I must leave you. Rest +here, with grandfather, for a few days and nights, then follow me." + +I heard her with astonishment. "It must not be, Rima," I cried. "What, +let you leave me--now you are mine--to go all that distance, through all +that wild country where you might lose yourself and perish alone? Oh, do +not think of it!" + +She listened, regarding me with some slight trouble in her eyes, but +smiling a little at the same time. Her small hand moved up my arm and +caressed my cheek; then she drew my face down to hers until our lips +met. But when I looked at her eyes again, I saw that she had not +consented to my wish. "Do I not know all the way now," she spoke, "all +the mountains, rivers, forests--how should I lose myself? And I must +return quickly, not step by step, walking--resting, resting--walking, +stopping to cook and eat, stopping to gather firewood, to make a +shelter--so many things! Oh, I shall be back in half the time; and I +have so much to do." + +"What can you have to do, love?--everything can be done when we are in +the wood together." + +A bright smile with a touch of mockery in it flitted over her face as +she replied: "Oh, must I tell you that there are things you cannot do? +Look, Abel," and she touched the slight garment she wore, thinner now +than at first, and dulled by long exposure to sun and wind and rain. + +I could not command her, and seemed powerless to persuade her; but I had +not done yet, and proceeded to use every argument I could find to bring +her round to my view; and when I finished she put her arms around my +neck and drew herself up once more. "O Abel, how happy I shall be!" she +said, taking no notice of all I had said. "Think of me alone, days and +days, in the wood, waiting for you, working all the time; saying: 'Come +quickly, Abel; come slow, Abel. O Abel, how long you are! Oh, do not +come until my work is finished!' And when it is finished and you arrive +you shall find me, but not at once. First you will seek for me in the +house, then in the wood, calling: 'Rima! Rima!' And she will be there, +listening, hid in the trees, wishing to be in your arms, wishing for +your lips--oh, so glad, yet fearing to show herself. Do you know why? +He told you--did he not?--that when he first saw her she was standing +before him all in white--a dress that was like snow on the mountain-tops +when the sun is setting and gives it rose and purple colour. I shall +be like that, hidden among the trees, saying: 'Am I different--not like +Rima? Will he know me--will he love me just the same?' Oh, do I not +know that you will be glad, and love me, and call me beautiful? Listen! +Listen!" she suddenly exclaimed, lifting her face. + +Among the bushes not far from the cave's mouth a small bird had broken +out in song, a clear, tender melody soon taken up by other birds further +away. + +"It will soon be morning," she said, and then clasped her arms about me +once more and held me in a long, passionate embrace; then slipping away +from my arms and with one swift glance at the sleeping old man, passed +out of the cave. + +For a few moments I remained sitting, not yet realizing that she had +left me, so suddenly and swiftly had she passed from my arms and my +sight; then, recovering my faculties, I started up and rushed out in +hopes of overtaking her. + +It was not yet dawn, but there was still some light from the full +moon, now somewhere behind the mountains. Running to the verge of the +bushgrown plateau, I explored the rocky slope beneath without seeing her +form, and then called: "Rima! Rima!" + +A soft, warbling sound, uttered by no bird, came up from the shadowy +bushes far below; and in that direction I ran on; then pausing, called +again. The sweet sound was repeated once more, but much lower down now, +and so faintly that I scarcely heard it. And when I went on further +and called again and again, there was no reply, and I knew that she had +indeed gone on that long journey alone. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +When Nuflo at length opened his eyes he found me sitting alone and +despondent by the fire, just returned from my vain chase. I had been +caught in a heavy mist on the mountain-side, and was wet through as well +as weighed down by fatigue and drowsiness, consequent upon the previous +day's laborious march and my night-long vigil; yet I dared not think of +rest. She had gone from me, and I could not have prevented it; yet the +thought that I had allowed her to slip out of my arms, to go away alone +on that long, perilous journey, was as intolerable as if I had consented +to it. + +Nuflo was at first startled to hear of her sudden departure; but he +laughed at my fears, affirming that after having once been over the +ground she could not lose herself; that she would be in no danger from +the Indians, as she would invariably see them at a distance and avoid +them, and that wild beasts, serpents, and other evil creatures would do +her no harm. The small amount of food she required to sustain life could +be found anywhere; furthermore, her journey would not be interrupted +by bad weather, since rain and heat had no effect on her. In the end he +seemed pleased that she had left us, saying that with Rima in the wood +the house and cultivated patch and hidden provisions and implements +would be safe, for no Indian would venture to come where she was. His +confidence reassured me, and casting myself down on the sandy floor of +the cave, I fell into a deep slumber, which lasted until evening; then +I only woke to share a meal with the old man, and sleep again until the +following day. + +Nuflo was not ready to start yet; he was enamoured of the unaccustomed +comforts of a dry sleeping-place and a fire blown about by no wind and +into which fell no hissing raindrops. Not for two days more would he +consent to set out on the return journey, and if he could have persuaded +me our stay at Riolama would have lasted a week. + +We had fine weather at starting; but before long it clouded, and then +for upwards of a fortnight we had it wet and stormy, which so hindered +us that it took us twenty-three days to accomplish the return journey, +whereas the journey out had only taken eighteen. The adventures we +met with and the pains we suffered during this long march need not be +related. The rain made us miserable, but we suffered more from hunger +than from any other cause, and on more than one occasion were reduced to +the verge of starvation. Twice we were driven to beg for food at Indian +villages, and as we had nothing to give in exchange for it, we got +very little. It is possible to buy hospitality from the savage without +fish-hooks, nails, and calico; but on this occasion I found myself +without that impalpable medium of exchange which had been so great +a help to me on my first journey to Parahuari. Now I was weak and +miserable and without cunning. It is true that we could have exchanged +the two dogs for cassava bread and corn, but we should then have been +worse off than ever. And in the end the dogs saved us by an occasional +capture--an armadillo surprised in the open and seized before it could +bury itself in the soil, or an iguana, opossum, or labba, traced by +means of their keen sense of smell to its hiding-place. Then Nuflo would +rejoice and feast, rewarding them with the skin, bones, and entrails. +But at length one of the dogs fell lame, and Nuflo, who was very hungry, +made its lameness an excuse for dispatching it, which he did apparently +without compunction, notwithstanding that the poor brute had served +him well in its way. He cut up and smoke-dried the flesh, and the +intolerable pangs of hunger compelled me to share the loathsome food +with him. We were not only indecent, it seemed to me, but cannibals to +feed on the faithful servant that had been our butcher. "But what does +it matter?" I argued with myself. "All flesh, clean and unclean, should +be, and is, equally abhorrent to me, and killing animals a kind of +murder. But now I find myself constrained to do this evil thing that +good may come. Only to live I take it now--this hateful strength-giver +that will enable me to reach Rima, and the purer, better life that is to +be." + +During all that time, when we toiled onwards league after league in +silence, or sat silent by the nightly fire, I thought of many things; +but the past, with which I had definitely broken, was little in my mind. +Rima was still the source and centre of all my thoughts; from her they +rose, and to her returned. Thinking, hoping, dreaming, sustained me in +those dark days and nights of pain and privation. Imagination was the +bread that gave me strength, the wine that exhilarated. What sustained +old Nuflo's mind I know not. Probably it was like a chrysalis, dormant, +independent of sustenance; the bright-winged image to be called at some +future time to life by a great shouting of angelic hosts and noises of +musical instruments slept secure, coffined in that dull, gross nature. + +The old beloved wood once more! Never did his native village in some +mountain valley seem more beautiful to the Switzer, returning, war-worn, +from long voluntary exile, than did that blue cloud on the horizon--the +forest where Rima dwelt, my bride, my beautiful--and towering over +it the dark cone of Ytaioa, now seem to my hungry eyes! How near at +last--how near! And yet the two or three intervening leagues to be +traversed so slowly, step by step--how vast the distance seemed! Even at +far Riolama, when I set out on my return, I scarcely seemed so far from +my love. This maddening impatience told on my strength, which was small, +and hindered me. I could not run nor even walk fast; old Nuflo, slow, +and sober, with no flame consuming his heart, was more than my equal in +the end, and to keep up with him was all I could do. At the finish he +became silent and cautious, first entering the belt of trees leading +away through the low range of hills at the southern extremity of the +wood. For a mile or upwards we trudged on in the shade; then I began +to recognize familiar ground, the old trees under which I had walked +or sat, and knew that a hundred yards further on there would be a first +glimpse of the palm-leaf thatch. Then all weakness forsook me; with a +low cry of passionate longing and joy I rushed on ahead; but I strained +my eyes in vain for a sight of that sweet shelter; no patch of pale +yellow colour appeared amidst the universal verdure of bushes, creepers, +and trees--trees beyond trees, trees towering above trees. + +For some moments I could not realize it. No, I had surely made a +mistake, the house had not stood on that spot; it would appear in sight +a little further on. I took a few uncertain steps onwards, and then +again stood still, my brain reeling, my heart swelling nigh to bursting +with anguish. I was still standing motionless, with hand pressed to my +breast, when Nuflo overtook me. "Where is it--the house?" I stammered, +pointing with my hand. All his stolidity seemed gone now; he was +trembling too, his lips silently moving. At length he spoke: "They +have come--the children of hell have been here, and have destroyed +everything!" + +"Rima! What has become of Rima?" I cried; but without replying he walked +on, and I followed. + +The house, we soon found, had been burnt down. Not a stick remained. +Where it had stood a heap of black ashes covered the ground--nothing +more. But on looking round we could discover no sign of human beings +having recently visited the spot. A rank growth of grass and herbage now +covered the once clear space surrounding the site of the dwelling, and +the ash-heap looked as if it had been lying there for a month at least. +As to what had become of Rima the old man could say no word. He sat down +on the ground overwhelmed at the calamity: Runi's people had been there, +he could not doubt it, and they would come again, and he could only look +for death at their hands. The thought that Rima had perished, that she +was lost, was unendurable. It could not be! No doubt the Indians tract +come and destroyed the house during our absence; but she had returned, +and they had gone away again to come no more. She would be somewhere in +the forest, perhaps not far off, impatiently waiting our return. The old +man stared at me while I spoke; he appeared to be in a kind of stupor, +and made no reply: and at last, leaving him still sitting on the ground, +I went into the wood to look for Rima. + +As I walked there, occasionally stopping to peer into some shadowy glade +or opening, and to listen, I was tempted again and again to call the +name of her I sought aloud; and still the fear that by so doing I might +bring some hidden danger on myself, perhaps on her, made me silent. A +strange melancholy rested on the forest, a quietude seldom broken by a +distant bird's cry. How, I asked myself, should I ever find her in that +wide forest while I moved about in that silent, cautious way? My only +hope was that she would find me. It occurred to me that the most likely +place to seek her would be some of the old haunts known to us both, +where we had talked together. I thought first of the mora tree, where +she had hidden herself from me, and thither I directed my steps. About +this tree, and within its shade, I lingered for upwards of an hour; and, +finally, casting my eyes up into the great dim cloud of green and purple +leaves, I softly called: "Rima, Rima, if you have seen me, and have +concealed yourself from me in your hiding-place, in mercy answer me--in +mercy come down to me now!" But Rima answered not, nor threw down +any red glowing leaves to mock me: only the wind, high up, whispered +something low and sorrowful in the foliage; and turning, I wandered away +at random into the deeper shadows. + +By and by I was startled by the long, piercing cry of a wildfowl, +sounding strangely loud in the silence; and no sooner was the air still +again than it struck me that no bird had uttered that cry. The Indian +is a good mimic of animal voices, but practice had made me able to +distinguish the true from the false bird-note. For a minute or so I +stood still, at a loss what to do, then moved on again with greater +caution, scarcely breathing, straining my sight to pierce the shadowy +depths. All at once I gave a great start, for directly before me, on the +projecting root in the deeper shade of a tree, sat a dark, motionless +human form. I stood still, watching it for some time, not yet knowing +that it had seen me, when all doubts were put to flight by the form +rising and deliberately advancing--a naked Indian with a zabatana in +his hand. As he came up out of the deeper shade I recognized Piake, the +surly elder brother of my friend Kua-ko. + +It was a great shock to meet him in the wood, but I had no time to +reflect just then. I only remembered that I had deeply offended him and +his people, that they probably looked on me as an enemy, and would +think little of taking my life. It was too late to attempt to escape by +flight; I was spent with my long journey and the many privations I had +suffered, while he stood there in his full strength with a deadly weapon +in his hand. + +Nothing was left but to put a bold face on, greet him in a friendly way, +and invent some plausible story to account for my action in secretly +leaving the village. + +He was now standing still, silently regarding me, and glancing round +I saw that he was not alone: at a distance of about forty yards on my +right hand two other dusky forms appeared watching me from the deep +shade. + +"Piake!" I cried, advancing three or four steps. + +"You have returned," he answered, but without moving. "Where from?" + +"Riolama." + +He shook his head, then asked where it was. + +"Twenty days towards the setting sun," I said. As he remained silent I +added: "I heard that I could find gold in the mountains there. An old +man told me, and we went to look for gold." + +"What did you find?" + +"Nothing." + +"Ah!" + +And so our conversation appeared to be at an end. But after a few +moments my intense desire to discover whether the savages knew aught of +Rima or not made me hazard a question. + +"Do you live here in the forest now?" I asked. + +He shook his head, and after a while said: "We come to kill animals." + +"You are like me now," I returned quickly; "you fear nothing." + +He looked distrustfully at me, then came a little nearer and said: "You +are very brave. I should not have gone twenty days' journey with no +weapons and only an old man for companion. What weapons did you have?" + +I saw that he feared me and wished to make sure that I had it not in +my power to do him some injury. "No weapon except my knife," I replied, +with assumed carelessness. With that I raised my cloak so as to let him +see for himself, turning my body round before him. "Have you found my +pistol?" I added. + +He shook his head; but he appeared less suspicious now and came close up +to me. "How do you get food? Where are you going?" he asked. + +I answered boldly: "Food! I am nearly starving. I am going to the +village to see if the women have got any meat in the pot, and to tell +Runi all I have done since I left him." + +He looked at me keenly, a little surprised at my confidence perhaps, +then said that he was also going back and would accompany me One of the +other men now advanced, blow-pipe in hand, to join us, and, leaving the +wood, we started to walk across the savannah. + +It was hateful to have to recross that savannah again, to leave the +woodland shadows where I had hoped to find Rima; but I was powerless: +I was a prisoner once more, the lost captive recovered and not yet +pardoned, probably never to be pardoned. Only by means of my own cunning +could I be saved, and Nuflo, poor old man, must take his chance. + +Again and again as we tramped over the barren ground, and when we +climbed the ridge, I was compelled to stand still to recover breath, +explaining to Piake that I had been travelling day and night, with no +meat during the last three days, so that I was exhausted. This was +an exaggeration, but it was necessary to account in some way for the +faintness I experienced during our walk, caused less by fatigue and want +of food than by anguish of mind. + +At intervals I talked to him, asking after all the other members of the +community by name. At last, thinking only of Rima, I asked him if any +other person or persons besides his people came to the wood now or lived +there. + +He said no. "Once," I said, "there was a daughter of the Didi, a girl +you all feared: is she there now?" + +He looked at me with suspicion and then shook his head. I dared not +press him with more questions; but after an interval he said plainly: +"She is not there now." + +And I was forced to believe him; for had Rima been in the wood +they would not have been there. She was not there, this much I had +discovered. Had she, then, lost her way, or perished on that long +journey from Riolama? Or had she returned only to fall into the hands +of her cruel enemies? My heart was heavy in me; but if these devils in +human shape knew more than they had told me, I must, I said, hide my +anxiety and wait patiently to find it out, should they spare my +life. And if they spared me and had not spared that other sacred life +interwoven with mine, the time would come when they would find, too +late, that they had taken to their bosom a worse devil than themselves. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +My arrival at the village created some excitement; but I was plainly no +longer regarded as a friend or one of the family. Runi was absent, and +I looked forward to his return with no little apprehension; he would +doubtless decide my fate. Kua-ko was also away. The others sat or stood +about the great room, staring at me in silence. I took no notice, but +merely asked for food, then for my hammock, which I hung up in the old +place, and lying down I fell into a doze. Runi made his appearance at +dusk. I rose and greeted him, but he spoke no word and, until he went to +his hammock, sat in sullen silence, ignoring my presence. + +On the following day the crisis came. We were once more gathered in the +room--all but Kua-ko and another of the men, who had not yet returned +from some expedition--and for the space of half an hour not a word +was spoken by anyone. Something was expected; even the children were +strangely still, and whenever one of the pet birds strayed in at the +open door, uttering a little plaintive note, it was chased out again, +but without a sound. At length Runi straightened himself on his seat and +fixed his eyes on me; then cleared his throat and began a long harangue, +delivered in the loud, monotonous singsong which I knew so well and +which meant that the occasion was an important one. And as is usual +in such efforts, the same thought and expressions were used again and +again, and yet again, with dull, angry insistence. The orator of Guayana +to be impressive must be long, however little he may have to say. +Strange as it may seem, I listened critically to him, not without a +feeling of scorn at his lower intelligence. But I was easier in my mind +now. From the very fact of his addressing such a speech to me I was +convinced that he wished not to take my life, and would not do so if I +could clear myself of the suspicion of treachery. + +I was a white man, he said, they were Indians; nevertheless they had +treated me well. They had fed me and sheltered me. They had done a +great deal for me: they had taught me the use of the zabatana, and had +promised to make one for me, asking for nothing in return. They had also +promised me a wife. How had I treated them? I had deserted them, going +away secretly to a distance, leaving them in doubt as to my intentions. +How could they tell why I had gone, and where? They had an enemy. Managa +was his name; he and his people hated them; I knew that he wished them +evil; I knew where to find him, for they had told me. That was what they +thought when I suddenly left them. Now I returned to them, saying that +I had been to Riolama. He knew where Riolama was, although he had never +been there: it was so far. Why did I go to Riolama? It was a bad place. +There were Indians there, a few; but they were not good Indians like +those of Parahuari, and would kill a white man. HAD I gone there? Why +had I gone there? + +He finished at last, and it was my turn to speak, but he had given me +plenty of time, and my reply was ready. "I have heard you," I said. +"Your words are good words. They are the words of a friend. 'I am the +white man's friend,' you say; 'is he my friend? He went away secretly, +saying no word; why did he go without speaking to his friend who had +treated him well? Has he been to my enemy Managa? Perhaps he is a friend +of my enemy? Where has he been?' I must now answer these things, saying +true words to my friend. You are an Indian, I am a white man. You do not +know all the white man's thoughts. These are the things I wish to tell +you. In the white man's country are two kinds of men. There are the rich +men, who have all that a man can desire--houses made of stone, full of +fine things, fine clothes, fine weapons, fine ornaments; and they have +horses, cattle, sheep, dogs--everything they desire. Because they have +gold, for with gold the white man buys everything. The other kind +of white men are the poor, who have no gold and cannot buy or have +anything: they must work hard for the rich man for the little food he +gives them, and a rag to cover their nakedness; and if he gives them +shelter they have it; if not they must lie down in the rain out of +doors. In my own country, a hundred days from here, I was the son of a +great chief, who had much gold, and when he died it was all mine, and I +was rich. But I had an enemy, one worse than Managa, for he was rich and +had many people. And in a war his people overcame mine, and he took my +gold, and all I possessed, making me poor. The Indian kills his enemy, +but the white man takes his gold, and that is worse than death. Then I +said: 'I have been a rich man and now I am poor, and must work like a +dog for some rich man, for the sake of the little food he will throw me +at the end of each day. No, I cannot do it! I will go away and live with +the Indians, so that those who have seen me a rich man shall never see +me working like a dog for a master, and cry out and mock at me. For the +Indians are not like white men: they have no gold; they are not rich +and poor; all are alike. One roof covers them from the rain and sun. +All have weapons which they make; all kill birds in the forest and catch +fish in the rivers; and the women cook the meat and all eat from one +pot. And with the Indians I will be an Indian, and hunt in the forest +and eat with them and drink with them.' Then I left my country and came +here, and lived with you, Runi, and was well treated. And now, why did +I go away? This I have now to tell you. After I had been here a certain +time I went over there to the forest. You wished me not to go, because +of an evil thing, a daughter of the Didi, that lived there; but I feared +nothing and went. There I met an old man, who talked to me in the white +man's language. He had travelled and seen much, and told me one strange +thing. On a mountain at Riolama he told me that he had seen a great lump +of gold, as much as a man could carry. And when I heard this I said: +'With the gold I could return to my country, and buy weapons for myself +and all my people and go to war with my enemy and deprive him of all his +possessions and serve him as he served me.' I asked the old man to take +me to Riolama; and when he had consented I went away from here without +saying a word, so as not to be prevented. It is far to Riolama, and I +had no weapons; but I feared nothing. I said: 'If I must fight I must +fight, and if I must be killed I must be killed.' But when I got to +Riolama I found no gold. There was only a yellow stone which the old +man had mistaken for gold. It was yellow, like gold, but it would buy +nothing. Therefore I came back to Parahuari again, to my friend; and if +he is angry with me still because I went away without informing him, let +him say: 'Go and seek elsewhere for a new friend, for I am your friend +no longer.'" + +I concluded thus boldly because I did not wish him to know that I had +suspected him of harbouring any sinister designs, or that I looked +on our quarrel as a very serious one. When I had finished speaking he +emitted a sound which expressed neither approval nor disapproval, but +only the fact that he had heard me. But I was satisfied. His expression +had undergone a favourable change; it was less grim. After a while +he remarked, with a peculiar twitching of the mouth which might have +developed into a smile: "The white man will do much to get gold. You +walked twenty days to see a yellow stone that would buy nothing." It was +fortunate that he took this view of the case, which was flattering to +his Indian nature, and perhaps touched his sense of the ludicrous. At +all events, he said nothing to discredit my story, to which they had all +listened with profound interest. + +From that time it seemed to be tacitly agreed to let bygones be bygones; +and I could see that as the dangerous feeling that had threatened my +life diminished, the old pleasure they had once found in my company +returned. But my feelings towards them did not change, nor could they +while that black and terrible suspicion concerning Rima was in my heart. +I talked again freely with them, as if there had been no break in the +old friendly relations. If they watched me furtively whenever I went +out of doors, I affected not to see it. I set to work to repair my rude +guitar, which had been broken in my absence, and studied to show them +a cheerful countenance. But when alone, or in my hammock, hidden from +their eyes, free to look into my own heart, then I was conscious that +something new and strange had come into my life; that a new nature, +black and implacable, had taken the place of the old. And sometimes +it was hard to conceal this fury that burnt in me; sometimes I felt an +impulse to spring like a tiger on one of the Indians, to hold him fast +by the throat until the secret I wished to learn was forced from his +lips, then to dash his brains out against the stone. But they were many, +and there was no choice but to be cautious and patient if I wished to +outwit them with a cunning superior to their own. + +Three days after my arrival at the village, Kua-ko returned with his +companion. I greeted him with affected warmth, but was really pleased +that he was back, believing that if the Indians knew anything of Rima he +among them all would be most likely to tell it. + +Kua-ko appeared to have brought some important news, which he discussed +with Runi and the others; and on the following day I noticed that +preparations for an expedition were in progress. Spears and bows and +arrows were got ready, but not blow-pipes, and I knew by this that the +expedition would not be a hunting one. Having discovered so much, also +that only four men were going out, I called Kua-ko aside and begged him +to let me go with them. He seemed pleased at the proposal, and at once +repeated it to Runi, who considered for a little and then consented. + +By and by he said, touching his bow: "You cannot fight with our weapons; +what will you do if we meet an enemy?" + +I smiled and returned that I would not run away. All I wished to show +him was that his enemies were my enemies, that I was ready to fight for +my friend. + +He was pleased at my words, and said no more and gave me no weapons. +Next morning, however, when we set out before daylight, I made the +discovery that he was carrying my revolver fastened to his waist. He +had concealed it carefully under the one simple garment he wore, but it +bulged slightly, and so the secret was betrayed. I had never believed +that he had lost it, and I was convinced that he took it now with the +object of putting it into my hands at the last moment in case of meeting +with an enemy. + +From the village we travelled in a north-westerly direction, and before +noon camped in a grove of dwarf trees, where we remained until the sun +was low, then continued our walk through a rather barren country. At +night we camped again beside a small stream, only a few inches deep, +and after a meal of smoked meat and parched maize prepared to sleep till +dawn on the next day. + +Sitting by the fire I resolved to make a first attempt to discover from +Kua-ko anything concerning Rima which might be known to him. Instead +of lying down when the others did, I remained seated, my guardian also +sitting--no doubt waiting for me to lie down first. Presently I moved +nearer to him and began a conversation in a low voice, anxious not to +rouse the attention of the other men. + +"Once you said that Oalava would be given to me for a wife," I began. +"Some day I shall want a wife." + +He nodded approval, and remarked sententiously that the desire to +possess a wife was common to all men. + +"What has been left to me?" I said despondingly and spreading out my +hands. "My pistol gone, and did I not give Runi the tinder-box, and the +little box with a cock painted on it to you? I had no return--not even +the blow-pipe. How, then, can I get me a wife?" + +He, like the others--dull-witted savage that he was--had come to the +belief that I was incapable of the cunning and duplicity they practiced. +I could not see a green parrot sitting silent and motionless amidst the +green foliage as they could; I had not their preternatural keenness of +sight; and, in like manner, to deceive with lies and false seeming was +their faculty and not mine. He fell readily into the trap. My return to +practical subjects pleased him. He bade me hope that Oalava might yet be +mine in spite of my poverty. It was not always necessary to have things +to get a wife: to be able to maintain her was enough; some day I would +be like one of themselves, able to kill animals and catch fish. Besides, +did not Runi wish to keep me with them for other reasons? But he could +not keep me wifeless. I could do much: I could sing and make music; I +was brave and feared nothing; I could teach the children to fight. + +He did not say, however, that I could teach anything to one of his years +and attainments. + +I protested that he gave me too much praise, that they were just as +brave. Did they not show a courage equal to mine by going every day to +hunt in that wood which was inhabited by the daughter of the Didi? + +I came to this subject with fear and trembling, but he took it quietly. +He shook his head, and then all at once began to tell me how they first +came to go there to hunt. He said that a few days after I had secretly +disappeared, two men and a woman, returning home from a distant place +where they had been on a visit to a relation, stopped at the village. +These travellers related that two days' journey from Ytaioa they had +met three persons travelling in an opposite direction: an old man with +a white beard, followed by two yellow dogs, a young man in a big cloak, +and a strange-looking girl. Thus it came to be known that I had left the +wood with the old man and the daughter of the Didi. It was great news to +them, for they did not believe that we had any intention of returning, +and at once they began to hunt in the wood, and went there every day, +killing birds, monkeys, and other animals in numbers. + +His words had begun to excite me greatly, but I studied to appear calm +and only slightly interested, so as to draw him on to say more. + +"Then we returned," I said at last. "But only two of us, and not +together. I left the old man on the road, and SHE left us in Riolama. +She went away from us into the mountains--who knows whither!" + +"But she came back!" he returned, with a gleam of devilish satisfaction +in his eyes that made the blood run cold in my veins. + +It was hard to dissemble still, to tempt him to say something that +would madden me! "No, no," I answered, after considering his words. "She +feared to return; she went away to hide herself in the great mountains +beyond Riolama. She could not come back." + +"But she came back!" he persisted, with that triumphant gleam in his +eyes once more. Under my cloak my hand had clutched my knife-handle, but +I strove hard against the fierce, almost maddening impulse to pluck it +out and bury it, quick as lightning, in his accursed throat. + +He continued: "Seven days before you returned we saw her in the wood. We +were always expecting, watching, always afraid; and when hunting we were +three and four together. On that day I and three others saw her. It was +in an open place, where the trees are big and wide apart. We started +up and chased her when she ran from us, but feared to shoot. And in one +moment she climbed up into a small tree, then, like a monkey, passed +from its highest branches into a big tree. We could not see her there, +but she was there in the big tree, for there was no other tree near--no +way of escape. Three of us sat down to watch, and the other went back +to the village. He was long gone; we were just going to leave the tree, +fearing that she would do us some injury, when he came back, and with +him all the others, men, women, and children. They brought axes and +knives. Then Runi said: 'Let no one shoot an arrow into the tree +thinking to hit her, for the arrow would be caught in her hand and +thrown back at him. We must burn her in the tree; there is no way to +kill her except by fire.' Then we went round and round looking up, but +could see nothing; and someone said: 'She has escaped, flying like a +bird from the tree'; but Runi answered that fire would show. So we cut +down the small tree and lopped the branches off and heaped them round +the big trunk. Then, at a distance, we cut down ten more small trees, +and afterwards, further away, ten more, and then others, and piled them +all round, tree after tree, until the pile reached as far from the trunk +as that," and here he pointed to a bush forty to fifty yards from where +we sat. + +The feeling with which I had listened to this recital had become +intolerable. The sweat ran from me in streams; I shivered like a person +in a fit of ague, and clenched my teeth together to prevent them from +rattling. "I must drink," I said, cutting him short and rising to my +feet. He also rose, but did not follow me, when, with uncertain steps, I +made my way to the waterside, which was ten or twelve yards away. Lying +prostrate on my chest, I took a long draught of clear cold water, and +held my face for a few moments in the current. It sent a chill through +me, drying my wet skin, and bracing me for the concluding part of the +hideous narrative. Slowly I stepped back to the fireside and sat down +again, while he resumed his old place at my side. + +"You burnt the tree down," I said. "Finish telling me now and let me +sleep--my eyes are heavy." + +"Yes. While the men cut and brought trees, the women and children +gathered dry stuff in the forest and brought it in their arms and piled +it round. Then they set fire to it on all sides, laughing and shouting: +'Burn, burn, daughter of the Didi!' At length all the lower branches of +the big tree were on fire, and the trunk was on fire, but above it was +still green, and we could see nothing. But the flames went up higher and +higher with a great noise; and at last from the top of the tree, out +of the green leaves, came a great cry, like the cry of a bird: 'Abel! +Abel!' and then looking we saw something fall; through leaves and smoke +and flame it fell like a great white bird killed with an arrow and +falling to the earth, and fell into the flames beneath. And it was the +daughter of the Didi, and she was burnt to ashes like a moth in the +flames of a fire, and no one has ever heard or seen her since." + +It was well for me that he spoke rapidly, and finished quickly. +Even before he had quite concluded I drew my cloak round my face and +stretched myself out. And I suppose that he at once followed my example, +but I had grown blind and deaf to outward things just then. My heart no +longer throbbed violently; it fluttered and seemed to grow feebler and +feebler in its action: I remember that there was a dull, rushing sound +in my ears, that I gasped for breath, that my life seemed ebbing away. +After these horrible sensations had passed, I remained quiet for about +half an hour; and during this time the picture of that last act in the +hateful tragedy grew more and more distinct and vivid in my mind, until +I seemed to be actually gazing on it, until my ears were filled with the +hissing and crackling of the fire, the exultant shouts of the savages, +and above all the last piercing cry of "Abel! Abel!" from the cloud of +burning foliage. I could not endure it longer, and rose at last to my +feet. I glanced at Kua-ko lying two or three yards away, and he, like +the others, was, or appeared to be, in a deep sleep; he was lying on +his back, and his dark firelit face looked as still and unconscious as +a face of stone. Now was my chance to escape--if to escape was my wish. +Yes; for I now possessed the coveted knowledge, and nothing more was to +be gained by keeping with my deadly enemies. And now, most fortunately +for me, they had brought me far on the road to that place of the five +hills where Managa lived--Managa, whose name had been often in my +mind since my return to Parahuari. Glancing away from Kua-ko's still +stone-like face. I caught sight of that pale solitary star which Runi +had pointed out to me low down in the north-western sky when I had asked +him where his enemy lived. In that direction we had been travelling +since leaving the village; surely if I walked all night, by tomorrow I +could reach Managa's hunting-ground, and be safe and think over what I +had heard and on what I had to do. + +I moved softly away a few steps, then thinking that it would be well to +take a spear in my hand, I turned back, and was surprised and startled +to notice that Kua-ko had moved in the interval. He had turned over on +his side, and his face was now towards me. His eyes appeared closed, but +he might be only feigning sleep, and I dared not go back to pick up the +spear. After a moment's hesitation I moved on again, and after a second +glance back and seeing that he did not stir, I waded cautiously across +the stream, walked softly twenty or thirty yards, and then began to run. +At intervals I paused to listen for a moment; and presently I heard a +pattering sound as of footsteps coming swiftly after me. I instantly +concluded that Kua-ko had been awake all the time watching my movements, +and that he was now following me. I now put forth my whole speed, and +while thus running could distinguish no sound. That he would miss me, +for it was very dark, although with a starry sky above, was my only +hope; for with no weapon except my knife my chances would be small +indeed should he overtake me. Besides, he had no doubt roused the others +before starting, and they would be close behind. There were no bushes +in that place to hide myself in and let them pass me; and presently, to +make matters worse, the character of the soil changed, and I was running +over level clayey ground, so white with a salt efflorescence that a +dark object moving on it would show conspicuously at a distance. Here +I paused to look back and listen, when distinctly came the sound of +footsteps, and the next moment I made out the vague form of an Indian +advancing at a rapid rate of speed and with his uplifted spear in his +hand. In the brief pause I had made he had advanced almost to within +hurling distance of me, and turning, I sped on again, throwing off my +cloak to ease my flight. The next time I looked back he was still in +sight, but not so near; he had stopped to pick up my cloak, which would +be his now, and this had given me a slight advantage. I fled on, and had +continued running for a distance perhaps of fifty yards when an object +rushed past me, tearing through the flesh of my left arm close to the +shoulder on its way; and not knowing that I was not badly wounded nor +how near my pursuer might be, I turned in desperation to meet him, +and saw him not above twenty-five yards away, running towards me with +something bright in his hand. It was Kua-ko, and after wounding me with +his spear he was about to finish me with his knife. O fortunate young +savage, after such a victory, and with that noble blue cloth cloak for +trophy and covering, what fame and happiness will be yours! A change +swift as lightning had come over me, a sudden exultation. I was wounded, +but my right hand was sound and clutched a knife as good as his, and +we were on an equality. I waited for him calmly. All weakness, grief, +despair had vanished, all feelings except a terrible raging desire to +spill his accursed blood; and my brain was clear and my nerves like +steel, and I remembered with something like laughter our old amusing +encounters with rapiers of wood. Ah, that was only making believe and +childish play; this was reality. Could any white man, deprived of his +treacherous, far-killing weapon, meet the resolute savage, face to face +and foot to foot, and equal him with the old primitive weapons? Poor +youth, this delusion will cost you dear! It was scarcely an equal +contest when he hurled himself against me, with only his savage strength +and courage to match my skill; in a few moments he was lying at my +feet, pouring out his life blood on that white thirsty plain. From his +prostrate form I turned, the wet, red knife in my hand, to meet the +others, still thinking that they were on the track and close at hand. +Why had he stooped to pick up the cloak if they were not following--if +he had not been afraid of losing it? I turned only to receive their +spears, to die with my face to them; nor was the thought of death +terrible to me; I could die calmly now after killing my first assailant. +But had I indeed killed him? I asked, hearing a sound like a groan +escape from his lips. Quickly stooping, I once more drove my weapon to +the hilt in his prostrate form, and when he exhaled a deep sigh, and his +frame quivered, and the blood spurted afresh, I experienced a feeling +of savage joy. And still no sound of hurrying footsteps came to my +listening ears and no vague forms appeared in the darkness. I concluded +that he had either left them sleeping or that they had not followed in +the right direction. Taking up the cloak, I was about to walk on, when +I noticed the spear he had thrown at me lying where it had fallen some +yards away, and picking that up also, I went on once more, still keeping +the guiding star before me. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +That good fight had been to me like a draught of wine, and made me for +a while oblivious of my loss and of the pain from my wound. But the glow +and feeling of exultation did not last: the lacerated flesh smarted; I +was weak from loss of blood, and oppressed with sensations of fatigue. +If my foes had appeared on the scene they would have made an easy +conquest of me; but they came not, and I continued to walk on, slowly +and painfully, pausing often to rest. + +At last, recovering somewhat from my faint condition, and losing all +fear of being overtaken, my sorrow revived in full force, and thought +returned to madden me. + +Alas! this bright being, like no other in its divine brightness, so long +in the making, now no more than a dead leaf, a little dust, lost and +forgotten for ever--oh, pitiless! Oh, cruel! + +But I knew it all before--this law of nature and of necessity, against +which all revolt is idle: often had the remembrance of it filled me with +ineffable melancholy; only now it seemed cruel beyond all cruelty. + +Not nature the instrument, not the keen sword that cuts into the +bleeding tissues, but the hand that wields it--the unseen unknown +something, or person, that manifests itself in the horrible workings of +nature. + +"Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that +moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the +stars, that you cried not to him? To me was your cry; but your poor, +frail fellow creature was not there to save, or, failing that, to cast +himself into the flames and perish with you, hating God." + +Thus, in my insufferable pain, I spoke aloud; alone in that solitary +place, a bleeding fugitive in the dark night, looking up at the stars +I cursed the Author of my being and called on Him to take back the +abhorred gift of life. + +Yet, according to my philosophy, how vain it was! All my bitterness and +hatred and defiance were as empty, as ineffectual, as utterly futile, +as are the supplications of the meek worshipper, and no more than the +whisper of a leaf, the light whirr of an insect's wing. Whether I loved +Him who was over all, as when I thanked Him on my knees for guiding +me to where I had heard so sweet and mysterious a melody, or hated and +defied Him as now, it all came from Him--love and hate, good and evil. + +But I know--I knew then--that in one thing my philosophy was false, that +it was not the whole truth; that though my cries did not touch nor come +near Him they would yet hurt me; and, just as a prisoner maddened at +his unjust fate beats against the stone walls of his cell until he falls +back bruised and bleeding to the floor, so did I wilfully bruise my own +soul, and knew that those wounds I gave myself would not heal. + +Of that night, the beginning of the blackest period of my life, I shall +say no more; and over subsequent events I shall pass quickly. + +Morning found me at a distance of many miles from the scene of my duel +with the Indian, in a broken, hilly country, varied with savannah and +open forest. I was well-nigh spent with my long march, and felt that +unless food was obtained before many hours my situation would be indeed +desperate. With labour I managed to climb to the summit of a hill about +three hundred feet high in order to survey the surrounding country, and +found that it was one of a group of five, and conjectured that these +were the five hills of Uritay and that I was in the neighbourhood of +Managa's village. Coming down I proceeded to the next hill, which was +higher; and before reaching it came to a stream in a narrow valley +dividing the hills, and proceeding along its banks in search of a +crossing-place, I came full in sight of the settlement sought for. As I +approached, people were seen moving hurriedly about; and by the time I +arrived, walking slowly and painfully, seven or eight men were standing +before the village' some with spears in their hands, the women and +children behind them, all staring curiously at me. Drawing near I cried +out in a somewhat feeble voice that I was seeking for Managa; whereupon +a gray-haired man stepped forth, spear in hand, and replied that he was +Managa, and demanded to know why I sought him. I told him a part of my +story--enough to show that I had a deadly feud with Runi, that I had +escaped from him after killing one of his people. + +I was taken in and supplied with food; my wound was examined and +dressed; and then I was permitted to lie down and sleep, while Managa, +with half a dozen of his people, hurriedly started to visit the scene of +my fight with Kua-ko, not only to verify my story, but partly with the +hope of meeting Runi. I did not see him again until the next morning, +when he informed me that he had found the spot where I had been +overtaken, that the dead man had been discovered by the others and +carried back towards Parahuari. He had followed the trace for some +distance, and he was satisfied that Runi had come thus far in the first +place only with the intention of spying on him. + +My arrival, and the strange tidings I had brought, had thrown the +village into a great commotion; it was evident that from that time +Managa lived in constant apprehension of a sudden attack from his old +enemy. This gave me great satisfaction; it was my study to keep the +feeling alive, and, more than that, to drop continual hints of his +enemy's secret murderous purpose, until he was wrought up to a kind of +frenzy of mingled fear and rage. And being of a suspicious and somewhat +truculent temper, he one day all at once turned on me as the immediate +cause of his miserable state, suspecting perhaps that I only wished +to make an instrument of him. But I was strangely bold and careless of +danger then, and only mocked at his rage, telling him proudly that I +feared him not; that Runi, his mortal enemy and mine, feared not him but +me; that Runi knew perfectly well where I had taken refuge and would not +venture to make his meditated attack while I remained in his village, +but would wait for my departure. "Kill me, Managa," I cried, smiting my +chest as I stood facing him. "Kill me, and the result will be that he +will come upon you unawares and murder you all, as he has resolved to do +sooner or later." + +After that speech he glared at me in silence, then flung down the spear +he had snatched up in his sudden rage and stalked out of the house and +into the wood; but before long he was back again, seated in his old +place, brooding on my words with a face black as night. + +It is painful to recall that secret dark chapter of my life--that +period of moral insanity. But I wish not to be a hypocrite, conscious or +unconscious, to delude myself or another with this plea of insanity. My +mind was very clear just then; past and present were clear to me; the +future clearest of all: I could measure the extent of my action and +speculate on its future effect, and my sense of right or wrong--of +individual responsibility--was more vivid than at any other period of my +life. Can I even say that I was blinded by passion? Driven, perhaps, but +certainly not blinded. For no reaction, or submission, had followed on +that furious revolt against the unknown being, personal or not, that is +behind nature, in whose existence I believed. I was still in revolt: I +would hate Him, and show my hatred by being like Him, as He appears to +us reflected in that mirror of Nature. Had He given me good gifts--the +sense of right and wrong and sweet humanity? The beautiful sacred flower +He had caused to grow in me I would crush ruthlessly; its beauty and +fragrance and grace would be dead for ever; there was nothing evil, +nothing cruel and contrary to my nature, that I would not be guilty of, +glorying in my guilt. This was not the temper of a few days: I remained +for close upon two months at Managa's village, never repenting nor +desisting in my efforts to induce the Indians to join me in that most +barbarous adventure on which my heart was set. + +I succeeded in the end; it would have been strange if I had not. The +horrible details need not be given. Managa did not wait for his enemy, +but fell on him unexpectedly, an hour after nightfall in his own +village. If I had really been insane during those two months, if some +cloud had been on me, some demoniacal force dragging me on, the cloud +and insanity vanished and the constraint was over in one moment, when +that hellish enterprise was completed. It was the sight of an old woman, +lying where she had been struck down, the fire of the blazing house +lighting her wide-open glassy eyes and white hair dabbled in blood, +which suddenly, as by a miracle, wrought this change in my brain. For +they were all dead at last, old and young, all who had lighted the fire +round that great green tree in which Rima had taken refuge, who had +danced round the blaze, shouting: "Burn! burn!" + +At the moment my glance fell on that prostrate form I paused and stood +still, trembling like a person struck with a sudden pang in the heart, +who thinks that his last moment has come to him unawares. After a +while I slunk away out of the great circle of firelight into the thick +darkness beyond. Instinctively I turned towards the forests across the +savannah--my forest again; and fled away from the noise and the sight +of flames, never pausing until I found myself within the black shadow +of the trees. Into the deeper blackness of the interior I dared not +venture; on the border I paused to ask myself what I did there alone in +the night-time. Sitting down, I covered my face with my hands as if to +hide it more effectually than it could be hidden by night and the forest +shadows. What horrible thing, what calamity that frightened my soul to +think of, had fallen on me? The revulsion of feeling, the unspeakable +horror, the remorse, was more than I could bear. I started up with a cry +of anguish, and would have slain myself to escape at that moment; but +Nature is not always and utterly cruel, and on this occasion she came to +my aid. Consciousness forsook me, and I lived not again until the light +of early morning was in the east; then found myself lying on the wet +herbage--wet with rain that had lately fallen. My physical misery was +now so great that it prevented me from dwelling on the scenes witnessed +on the previous evening. Nature was again merciful in this. I only +remembered that it was necessary to hide myself, in case the Indians +should be still in the neighbourhood and pay the wood a visit. Slowly +and painfully I crept away into the forest, and there sat for several +hours, scarcely thinking at all, in a half-stupefied condition. At noon +the sun shone out and dried the wood. I felt no hunger, only a +vague sense of bodily misery, and with it the fear that if I left my +hiding-place I might meet some human creature face to face. This fear +prevented me from stirring until the twilight came, when I crept forth +and made my way to the border of the forest, to spend the night there. +Whether sleep visited me during the dark hours or not I cannot say: +day and night my condition seemed the same; I experienced only a dull +sensation of utter misery which seemed in spirit and flesh alike, +an inability to think clearly, or for more than a few moments +consecutively, about anything. Scenes in which I had been principal +actor came and went, as in a dream when the will slumbers: now with +devilish ingenuity and persistence I was working on Managa's mind; now +standing motionless in the forest listening for that sweet, mysterious +melody; now staring aghast at old Cla-cla's wide-open glassy eyes and +white hair dabbled in blood; then suddenly, in the cave at Riolama, I +was fondly watching the slow return of life and colour to Rima's still +face. + +When morning came again, I felt so weak that a vague fear of sinking +down and dying of hunger at last roused me and sent me forth in quest +of food. I moved slowly and my eyes were dim to see, but I knew so well +where to seek for small morsels--small edible roots and leaf-stalks, +berries, and drops of congealed gum--that it would have been strange in +that rich forest if I had not been able to discover something to stay my +famine. It was little, but it sufficed for the day. Once more Nature was +merciful to me; for that diligent seeking among the concealing leaves +left no interval for thought; every chance morsel gave a momentary +pleasure, and as I prolonged my search my steps grew firmer, the dimness +passed from my eyes. I was more forgetful of self, more eager, and like +a wild animal with no thought or feeling beyond its immediate wants. +Fatigued at the end, I fell asleep as soon as darkness brought my busy +rambles to a close, and did not wake until another morning dawned. + +My hunger was extreme now. The wailing notes of a pair of small birds, +persistently flitting round me, or perched with gaping bills and +wings trembling with agitation, served to remind me that it was now +breeding-time; also that Rima had taught me to find a small bird's nest. +She found them only to delight her eyes with the sight; but they would +be food for me; the crystal and yellow fluid in the gem-like, white +or blue or red-speckled shells would help to keep me alive. All day I +hunted, listening to every note and cry, watching the motions of every +winged thing, and found, besides gums and fruits, over a score of nests +containing eggs, mostly of small birds, and although the labour was +great and the scratches many, I was well satisfied with the result. + +A few days later I found a supply of Haima gum, and eagerly began +picking it from the tree; not that it could be used, but the thought of +the brilliant light it gave was so strong in my mind that mechanically I +gathered it all. The possession of this gum, when night closed round +me again, produced in me an intense longing for artificial light and +warmth. The darkness was harder than ever to endure. I envied the +fireflies their natural lights, and ran about in the dusk to capture a +few and hold them in the hollow of my two hands, for the sake of their +cold, fitful flashes. On the following day I wasted two or three hours +trying to get fire in the primitive method with dry wood, but failed, +and lost much time, and suffered more than ever from hunger in +consequence. Yet there was fire in everything; even when I struck at +hard wood with my knife, sparks were emitted. If I could only arrest +those wonderful heat- and light-giving sparks! And all at once, as if I +had just lighted upon some new, wonderful truth, it occurred to me that +with my steel hunting-knife and a piece of flint fire could be obtained. +Immediately I set about preparing tinder with dry moss, rotten wood, and +wild cotton; and in a short time I had the wished fire, and heaped wood +dry and green on it to make it large. I nursed it well, and spent the +night beside it; and it also served to roast some huge white grubs which +I had found in the rotten wood of a prostrate trunk. The sight of these +great grubs had formerly disgusted me; but they tasted good to me now, +and stayed my hunger, and that was all I looked for in my wild forest +food. + +For a long time an undefined feeling prevented me from going near the +site of Nuflo's burnt lodge. I went there at last; and the first thing I +did was to go all round the fatal spot, cautiously peering into the +rank herbage, as if I feared a lurking serpent; and at length, at some +distance from the blackened heap, I discovered a human skeleton, and +knew it to be Nuflo's. In his day he had been a great armadillo-hunter, +and these quaint carrion-eaters had no doubt revenged themselves by +devouring his flesh when they found him dead--killed by the savages. + +Having once returned to this spot of many memories, I could not quit it +again; while my wild woodland life lasted, here must I have my lair, and +being here I could not leave that mournful skeleton above ground. With +labour I excavated a pit to bury it, careful not to cut or injure a +broad-leafed creeper that had begun to spread itself over the spot; and +after refilling the hole I drew the long, trailing stems over the mound. + +"Sleep well, old man," said I, when my work was done; and these few +words, implying neither censure nor praise, was all the burial service +that old Nuflo had from me. + +I then visited the spot where the old man, assisted by me, had concealed +his provisions before starting for Riolama, and was pleased to find that +it had not been discovered by the Indians. Besides the store of tobacco +leaf, maize, pumpkin, potatoes, and cassava bread, and the cooking +utensils, I found among other things a chopper--a great acquisition, +since with it I would be able to cut down small palms and bamboos to +make myself a hut. + +The possession of a supply of food left me time for many things: time +in the first place to make my own conditions; doubtless after them +there would be further progression on the old lines--luxuries added to +necessaries; a healthful, fruitful life of thought and action combined; +and at last a peaceful, contemplative old age. + +I cleared away ashes and rubbish, and marked out the very spot where +Rima's separate bower had been for my habitation, which I intended to +make small. In five days it was finished; then, after lighting a fire, +I stretched myself out in my dry bed of moss and leaves with a feeling +that was almost triumphant. Let the rain now fall in torrents, putting +out the firefly's lamp; let the wind and thunder roar their loudest, and +the lightnings smite the earth with intolerable light, frightening the +poor monkeys in their wet, leafy habitations, little would I heed it +all on my dry bed, under my dry, palm-leaf thatch, with glorious fire to +keep me company and protect me from my ancient enemy, Darkness. + +From that first sleep under shelter I woke refreshed, and was not driven +by the cruel spur of hunger into the wet forest. The wished time had +come of rest from labour, of leisure for thought. Resting here, just +where she had rested, night by night clasping a visionary mother in her +arms, whispering tenderest words in a visionary ear, I too now clasped +her in my arms--a visionary Rima. How different the nights had seemed +when I was without shelter, before I had rediscovered fire! How had I +endured it? That strange ghostly gloom of the woods at night-time full +of innumerable strange shapes; still and dark, yet with something seen +at times moving amidst them, dark and vague and strange also--an owl, +perhaps, or bat, or great winged moth, or nightjar. Nor had I any choice +then but to listen to the night-sounds of the forest; and they were +various as the day-sounds, and for every day-sound, from the faintest +lisping and softest trill to the deep boomings and piercing cries, there +was an analogue; always with something mysterious, unreal in its tone, +something proper to the night. They were ghostly sounds, uttered by the +ghosts of dead animals; they were a hundred different things by +turns, but always with a meaning in them, which I vainly strove to +catch--something to be interpreted only by a sleeping faculty in us, +lightly sleeping, and now, now on the very point of awaking! + +Now the gloom and the mystery were shut out; now I had that which stood +in the place of pleasure to me, and was more than pleasure. It was a +mournful rapture to lie awake now, wishing not for sleep and oblivion, +hating the thought of daylight that would come at last to drown +and scare away my vision. To be with Rima again--my lost Rima +recovered--mine, mine at last! No longer the old vexing doubt now--"You +are you, and I am I--why is it?"--the question asked when our souls were +near together, like two raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly +nearer, ever nearer: for now they had touched and were not two, but one +inseparable drop, crystallized beyond change, not to be disintegrated by +time, nor shattered by death's blow, nor resolved by any alchemy. + +I had other company besides this unfailing vision and the bright dancing +fire that talked to me in its fantastic fire language. It was my custom +to secure the door well on retiring; grief had perhaps chilled my blood, +for I suffered less from heat than from cold at this period, and the +fire seemed grateful all night long; I was also anxious to exclude all +small winged and creeping night-wanderers. But to exclude them entirely +proved impossible: through a dozen invisible chinks they would find +their way to me; also some entered by day to lie concealed until after +nightfall. A monstrous hairy hermit spider found an asylum in a dusky +corner of the hut, under the thatch, and day after day he was there, +all day long, sitting close and motionless; but at dark he invariably +disappeared--who knows on what murderous errand! His hue was a deep +dead-leaf yellow, with a black and grey pattern, borrowed from some wild +cat; and so large was he that his great outspread hairy legs, radiating +from the flat disk of his body, would have covered a man's open hand. +It was easy to see him in my small interior; often in the night-time my +eyes would stray to his corner, never to encounter that strange hairy +figure; but daylight failed not to bring him. He troubled me; but now, +for Rima's sake, I could slay no living thing except from motives of +hunger. I had it in my mind to injure him--to strike off one of his +legs, which would not be missed much, as they were many--so as to make +him go away and return no more to so inhospitable a place. But courage +failed me. He might come stealthily back at night to plunge his long, +crooked farces into my throat, poisoning my blood with fever and +delirium and black death. So I left him alone, and glanced furtively and +fearfully at him, hoping that he had not divined any thoughts; thus +we lived on unsocially together. More companionable, but still in an +uncomfortable way, were the large crawling, running insects--crickets, +beetles, and others. They were shapely and black and polished, and +ran about here and there on the floor, just like intelligent little +horseless carriages; then they would pause with their immovable eyes +fixed on me, seeing or in some mysterious way divining my presence; +their pliant horns waving up and down, like delicate instruments used to +test the air. Centipedes and millipedes in dozens came too, and were not +welcome. I feared not their venom, but it was a weariness to see them; +for they seemed no living things, but the vertebrae of snakes and eels +and long slim fishes, dead and desiccated, made to move mechanically +over walls and floor by means of some jugglery of nature. I grew skilful +at picking them up with a pair of pliant green twigs, to thrust them +into the outer darkness. + +One night a moth fluttered in and alighted on my hand as I sat by the +fire, causing me to hold my breath as I gazed on it. Its fore-wings +were pale grey, with shadings dark and light written all over in +finest characters with some twilight mystery or legend; but the round +under-wings were clear amber-yellow, veined like a leaf with red and +purple veins; a thing of such exquisite chaste beauty that the sight of +it gave me a sudden shock of pleasure. Very soon it flew up, circling +about, and finally lighted on the palm-leaf thatch directly over the +fire. The heat, I thought, would soon drive it from the spot; and, +rising, I opened the door, so that it might find its way out again +into its own cool, dark, flowery world. And standing by the open door I +turned and addressed it: "O night-wanderer of the pale, beautiful wings, +go forth, and should you by chance meet her somewhere in the shadowy +depths, revisiting her old haunts, be my messenger--" Thus much had I +spoken when the frail thing loosened its hold to fall without a flutter, +straight and swift, into the white blaze beneath. I sprang forward with +a shriek and stood staring into the fire, my whole frame trembling with +a sudden terrible emotion. Even thus had Rima fallen--fallen from the +great height--into the flames that instantly consumed her beautiful +flesh and bright spirit! O cruel Nature! + +A moth that perished in the flame; an indistinct faint sound; a dream +in the night; the semblance of a shadowy form moving mist-like in the +twilight gloom of the forest, would suddenly bring back a vivid memory, +the old anguish, to break for a while the calm of that period. It was +calm then after the storm. Nevertheless, my health deteriorated. I ate +little and slept little and grew thin and weak. When I looked down +on the dark, glassy forest pool, where Rima would look no more to see +herself so much better than in the small mirror of her lover's pupil, it +showed me a gaunt, ragged man with a tangled mass of black hair +falling over his shoulders, the bones of his face showing through the +dead-looking, sun-parched skin, the sunken eyes with a gleam in them +that was like insanity. + +To see this reflection had a strangely disturbing effect on me. A +torturing voice would whisper in my ear: "Yes, you are evidently going +mad. By and by you will rush howling through the forest, only to drop +down at last and die; and no person will ever find and bury your bones. +Old Nuflo was more fortunate in that he perished first." + +"A lying voice!" I retorted in sudden anger. "My faculties were never +keener than now. Not a fruit can ripen but I find it. If a small bird +darts by with a feather or straw in its bill I mark its flight, and +it will be a lucky bird if I do not find its nest in the end. Could a +savage born in the forest do more? He would starve where I find food!" + +"Ay, yes, there is nothing wonderful in that," answered the voice. "The +stranger from a cold country suffers less from the heat, when days +are hottest, than the Indian who knows no other climate. But mark the +result! The stranger dies, while the Indian, sweating and gasping for +breath, survives. In like manner the low-minded savage, cut off from all +human fellowship, keeps his faculties to the end, while your finer brain +proves your ruin." + +I cut from a tree a score of long, blunt thorns, tough and black as +whalebone, and drove them through a strip of wood in which I had burnt a +row of holes to receive them, and made myself a comb, and combed out my +long, tangled hair to improve my appearance. + +"It is not the tangled condition of your hair," persisted the voice, +"but your eyes, so wild and strange in their expression, that show the +approach of madness. Make your locks as smooth as you like, and add a +garland of those scarlet, star-shaped blossoms hanging from the bush +behind you--crown yourself as you crowned old Cla-cla--but the crazed +look will remain just the same." + +And being no longer able to reply, rage and desperation drove me to an +act which only seemed to prove that the hateful voice had prophesied +truly. Taking up a stone, I hurled it down on the water to shatter the +image I saw there, as if it had been no faithful reflection of myself, +but a travesty, cunningly made of enamelled clay or some other material, +and put there by some malicious enemy to mock me. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Many days had passed since the hut was made--how many may not be known, +since I notched no stick and knotted no cord--yet never in my rambles in +the wood had I seen that desolate ash-heap where the fire had done its +work. Nor had I looked for it. On the contrary, my wish was never to see +it, and the fear of coming accidentally upon it made me keep to the old +familiar paths. But at length, one night, without thinking of Rima's +fearful end, it all at once occurred to me that the hated savage whose +blood I had shed on the white savannah might have only been practicing +his natural deceit when he told me that most pitiful story. If that were +so--if he had been prepared with a fictitious account of her death to +meet my questions--then Rima might still exist: lost, perhaps, wandering +in some distant place, exposed to perils day and night, and unable to +find her way back, but living still! Living! her heart on fire with +the hope of reunion with me, cautiously threading her way through the +undergrowth of immeasurable forests; spying out the distant villages +and hiding herself from the sight of all men, as she knew so well how +to hide; studying the outlines of distant mountains, to recognize some +familiar landmark at last, and so find her way back to the old wood once +more! Even now, while I sat there idly musing, she might be somewhere +in the wood--somewhere near me; but after so long an absence full of +apprehension, waiting in concealment for what tomorrow's light might +show. + +I started up and replenished the fire with trembling hands, then set the +door open to let the welcoming stream out into the wood. But Rima had +done more; going out into the black forest in the pitiless storm, she +had found and led me home. Could I do less! I was quickly out in the +shadows of the wood. Surely it was more than a mere hope that made my +heart beat so wildly! How could a sensation so strangely sudden, so +irresistible in its power, possess me unless she were living and near? +Can it be, can it be that we shall meet again? To look again into your +divine eyes--to hold you again in my arms at last! I so changed--so +different! But the old love remains; and of all that has happened +in your absence I shall tell you nothing--not one word; all shall be +forgotten now--sufferings, madness, crime, remorse! Nothing shall +ever vex you again--not Nuflo, who vexed you every day; for he is dead +now--murdered, only I shall not say that--and I have decently buried his +poor old sinful bones. We alone together in the wood--OUR wood now! The +sweet old days again; for I know that you would not have it different, +nor would I. + +Thus I talked to myself, mad with the thoughts of the joy that would +soon be mine; and at intervals I stood still and made the forest echo +with my calls. "Rima! Rima!" I called again and again, and waited for +some response; and heard only the familiar night-sounds--voices of +insect and bird and tinkling tree-frog, and a low murmur in the topmost +foliage, moved by some light breath of wind unfelt below. I was drenched +with dew, bruised and bleeding from falls in the dark, and from rocks +and thorns and rough branches, but had felt nothing; gradually the +excitement burnt itself out; I was hoarse with shouting and ready to +drop down with fatigue, and hope was dead: and at length I crept back to +my hut, to cast myself on my grass bed and sink into a dull, miserable, +desponding stupor. + +But on the following morning I was out once more, determined to search +the forest well; since, if no evidence of the great fire Kua-ko had +described to me existed, it would still be possible to believe that +he had lied to me, and that Rima lived. I searched all day and found +nothing; but the area was large, and to search it thoroughly would +require several days. + +On the third day I discovered the fatal spot, and knew that never again +would I behold Rima in the flesh, that my last hope had indeed been +a vain one. There could be no mistake: just such an open place as the +Indian had pictured to me was here, with giant trees standing apart; +while one tree stood killed and blackened by fire, surrounded by a huge +heap, sixty or seventy yards across, of prostrate charred tree-trunks +and ashes. Here and there slender plants had sprung up through the +ashes, and the omnipresent small-leaved creepers were beginning to throw +their pale green embroidery over the blackened trunks. I looked long at +the vast funeral tree that had a buttressed girth of not less than fifty +feet, and rose straight as a ship's mast, with its top about a hundred +and fifty feet from the earth. What a distance to fall, through burning +leaves and smoke, like a white bird shot dead with a poisoned arrow, +swift and straight into that sea of flame below! How cruel imagination +was to turn that desolate ash-heap, in spite of feathery foliage and +embroidery of creepers, into roaring leaping flames again--to bring +those dead savages back, men, women, and children--even the little ones +I had played with--to set them yelling around me: "Burn! burn!" Oh, no, +this damnable spot must not be her last resting-place! If the fire +had not utterly consumed her, bones as well as sweet tender flesh, +shrivelling her like a frail white-winged moth into the finest white +ashes, mixed inseparably with the ashes of stems and leaves innumerable, +then whatever remained of her must be conveyed elsewhere to be with me, +to mingle with my ashes at last. + +Having resolved to sift and examine the entire heap, I at once set about +my task. If she had climbed into the central highest branch, and had +fallen straight, then she would have dropped into the flames not far +from the roots; and so to begin I made a path to the trunk, and when +darkness overtook me I had worked all round the tree, in a width of +three to four yards, without discovering any remains. At noon on the +following day I found the skeleton, or, at all events, the larger bones, +rendered so fragile by the fierce heat they had been subjected to, that +they fell to pieces when handled. But I was careful--how careful!--to +save these last sacred relics, all that was now left of Rima!--kissing +each white fragment as I lifted it, and gathering them all in my old +frayed cloak, spread out to receive them. And when I had recovered them +all, even to the smallest, I took my treasure home. + +Another storm had shaken my soul, and had been succeeded by a second +calm, which was more complete and promised to be more enduring than the +first. But it was no lethargic calm; my brain was more active than ever; +and by and by it found a work for my hands to do, of such a character +as to distinguish me from all other forest hermits, fugitives from their +fellows, in that savage land. The calcined bones I had rescued were kept +in one of the big, rudely shaped, half-burnt earthen jars which Nuflo +had used for storing grain and other food-stuff. It was of a wood-ash +colour; and after I had given up my search for the peculiar fine clay he +had used in its manufacture--for it had been in my mind to make a more +shapely funeral urn myself--I set to work to ornament its surface. A +portion of each day was given to this artistic labour; and when the +surface was covered with a pattern of thorny stems, and a trailing +creeper with curving leaf and twining tendril, and pendent bud and +blossom, I gave it colour. Purples and black only were used, obtained +from the juices of some deeply coloured berries; and when a tint, or +shade, or line failed to satisfy me I erased it, to do it again; and +this so often that I never completed my work. I might, in the proudly +modest spirit of the old sculptors, have inscribed on the vase the +words: Abel was doing this. For was not my ideal beautiful like theirs, +and the best that my art could do only an imperfect copy--a rude sketch? +A serpent was represented wound round the lower portion of the jar, +dull-hued, with a chain of irregular black spots or blotches extending +along its body; and if any person had curiously examined these spots he +would have discovered that every other one was a rudely shaped letter, +and that the letters, by being properly divided, made the following +words: + +Sin vos y siu dios y mi. + +Words that to some might seem wild, even insane in their extravagance, +sung by some ancient forgotten poet; or possibly the motto of some +love-sick knight-errant, whose passion was consumed to ashes long +centuries ago. But not wild nor insane to me, dwelling alone on a vast +stony plain in everlasting twilight, where there was no motion, nor any +sound; but all things, even trees, ferns, and grasses, were stone. +And in that place I had sat for many a thousand years, drawn up and +motionless, with stony fingers clasped round my legs, and forehead +resting on my knees; and there would I sit, unmoving, immovable, for +many a thousand years to come--I, no longer I, in a universe where she +was not, and God was not. + +The days went by, and to others grouped themselves into weeks and +months; to me they were only days--not Saturday, Sunday, Monday, but +nameless. They were so many and their sum so great that all my previous +life, all the years I had existed before this solitary time, now looked +like a small island immeasurably far away, scarcely discernible, in the +midst of that endless desolate waste of nameless days. + +My stock of provisions had been so long consumed that I had forgotten +the flavour of pulse and maize and pumpkins and purple and sweet +potatoes. For Nuflo's cultivated patch had been destroyed by the +savages--not a stem, not a root had they left: and I, like the sorrowful +man that broods on his sorrow and the artist who thinks only of his art, +had been improvident and had consumed the seed without putting a portion +into the ground. Only wild food, and too little of that, found with +much seeking and got with many hurts. Birds screamed at and scolded me; +branches bruised and thorns scratched me; and still worse were the angry +clouds of waspish things no bigger than flies. Buzz--buzz! Sting--sting! +A serpent's tooth has failed to kill me; little do I care for your small +drops of fiery venom so that I get at the spoil--grubs and honey. My +white bread and purple wine! Once my soul hungered after knowledge; I +took delight in fine thoughts finely expressed; I sought them carefully +in printed books: now only this vile bodily hunger, this eager seeking +for grubs and honey, and ignoble war with little things! + +A bad hunter I proved after larger game. Bird and beast despised my +snares, which took me so many waking hours at night to invent, so many +daylight hours to make. Once, seeing a troop of monkeys high up in the +tall trees, I followed and watched them for a long time, thinking how +royally I should feast if by some strange unheard-of accident one +were to fall disabled to the ground and be at my mercy. But nothing +impossible happened, and I had no meat. What meat did I ever have except +an occasional fledgling, killed in its cradle, or a lizard, or small +tree-frog detected, in spite of its green colour, among the foliage? I +would roast the little green minstrel on the coals. Why not? Why should +he live to tinkle on his mandolin and clash his airy cymbals with no +appreciative ear to listen? Once I had a different and strange kind of +meat; but the starved stomach is not squeamish. I found a serpent coiled +up in my way in a small glade, and arming myself with a long stick, +I roused him from his siesta and slew him without mercy. Rima was not +there to pluck the rage from my heart and save his evil life. No coral +snake this, with slim, tapering body, ringed like a wasp with brilliant +colour; but thick and blunt, with lurid scales, blotched with black; +also a broad, flat, murderous head, with stony, ice-like, whity-blue +eyes, cold enough to freeze a victim's blood in its veins and make it +sit still, like some wide-eyed creature carved in stone, waiting for +the sharp, inevitable stroke--so swift at last, so long in coming. "O +abominable flat head, with icy-cold, humanlike, fiend-like eyes, I shall +cut you off and throw you away!" And away I flung it, far enough in +all conscience: yet I walked home troubled with a fancy that somewhere, +somewhere down on the black, wet soil where it had fallen, through all +that dense, thorny tangle and millions of screening leaves, the white, +lidless, living eyes were following me still, and would always be +following me in all my goings and comings and windings about in the +forest. And what wonder? For were we not alone together in this dreadful +solitude, I and the serpent, eaters of the dust, singled out and +cursed above all cattle? HE would not have bitten me, and I--faithless +cannibal!--had murdered him. That cursed fancy would live on, worming +itself into every crevice of my mind; the severed head would grow and +grow in the night-time to something monstrous at last, the hellish +white lidless eyes increasing to the size of two full moons. "Murderer! +murderer!" they would say; "first a murderer of your own fellow +creatures--that was a small crime; but God, our enemy, had made them +in His image, and He cursed you; and we two were together, alone and +apart--you and I, murderer! you and I, murderer!" + +I tried to escape the tyrannous fancy by thinking of other things and by +making light of it. "The starved, bloodless brain," I said, "has strange +thoughts." I fell to studying the dark, thick, blunt body in my hands; +I noticed that the livid, rudely blotched, scaly surface showed in some +lights a lovely play of prismatic colours. And growing poetical, I said: +"When the wild west wind broke up the rainbow on the flying grey cloud +and scattered it over the earth, a fragment doubtless fell on this +reptile to give it that tender celestial tint. For thus it is Nature +loves all her children, and gives to each some beauty, little or much; +only to me, her hated stepchild, she gives no beauty, no grace. But +stay, am I not wronging her? Did not Rima, beautiful above all things, +love me well? said she not that I was beautiful?" + +"Ah, yes, that was long ago," spoke the voice that mocked me by the pool +when I combed out my tangled hair. "Long ago, when the soul that looked +from your eyes was not the accursed thing it is now. Now Rima would +start at the sight of them; now she would fly in terror from their +insane expression." + +"O spiteful voice, must you spoil even such appetite as I have for this +fork-tongued spotty food? You by day and Rima by night--what shall I +do--what shall I do?" + +For it had now come to this, that the end of each day brought not sleep +and dreams, but waking visions. Night by night, from my dry grass bed I +beheld Nuflo sitting in his old doubled-up posture, his big brown feet +close to the white ashes--sitting silent and miserable. I pitied him; I +owed him hospitality; but it seemed intolerable that he should be there. +It was better to shut my eyes; for then Rima's arms would be round my +neck; the silky mist of her hair against my face, her flowery breath +mixing with my breath. What a luminous face was hers! Even with +closeshut eyes I could see it vividly, the translucent skin showing the +radiant rose beneath, the lustrous eyes, spiritual and passionate, dark +as purple wine under their dark lashes. Then my eyes would open wide. No +Rima in my arms! But over there, a little way back from the fire, just +beyond where old Nuflo had sat brooding a few minutes ago, Rima would +be standing, still and pale and unspeakably sad. Why does she come to me +from the outside darkness to stand there talking to me, yet never once +lifting her mournful eyes to mine? "Do not believe it, Abel; no, that +was only a phantom of your brain, the What-I-was that you remember so +well. For do you not see that when I come she fades away and is nothing? +Not that--do not ask it. I know that I once refused to look into your +eyes, and afterwards, in the cave at Riolama, I looked long and was +happy--unspeakably happy! But now--oh, you do not know what you ask; you +do not know the sorrow that has come into mine; that if you once beheld +it, for very sorrow you would die. And you must live. But I will wait +patiently, and we shall be together in the end, and see each other +without disguise. Nothing shall divide us. Only wish not for it soon; +think not that death will ease your pain, and seek it not. Austerities? +Good works? Prayers? They are not seen; they are not heard, they are +less-than nothing, and there is no intercession. I did not know it then, +but you knew it. Your life was your own; you are not saved nor judged! +acquit yourself--undo that which you have done, which Heaven cannot +undo--and Heaven will say no word nor will I. You cannot, Abel, you +cannot. That which you have done is done, and yours must be the penalty +and the sorrow--yours and mine--yours and mine--yours and mine." + +This, too, was a phantom, a Rima of the mind, one of the shapes the +ever-changing black vapours of remorse and insanity would take; and +all her mournful sentences were woven out of my own brain. I was not +so crazed as not to know it; only a phantom, an illusion, yet more real +than reality--real as my crime and vain remorse and death to come. It +was, indeed, Rima returned to tell me that I that loved her had been +more cruel to her than her cruellest enemies; for they had but tortured +and destroyed her body with fire, while I had cast this shadow on +her soul--this sorrow transcending all sorrows, darker than death, +immitigable, eternal. + +If I could only have faded gradually, painlessly, growing feebler in +body and dimmer in my senses each day, to sink at last into sleep! But +it could not be. Still the fever in my brain, the mocking voice by day, +the phantoms by night; and at last I became convinced that unless I +quitted the forest before long, death would come to me in some terrible +shape. But in the feeble condition I was now in, and without any +provisions, to escape from the neighbourhood of Parahuari was +impossible, seeing that it was necessary at starting to avoid the +villages where the Indians were of the same tribe as Runi, who would +recognize me as the white man who was once his guest and afterwards his +implacable enemy. I must wait, and in spite of a weakened body and a +mind diseased, struggle still to wrest a scanty subsistence from wild +nature. + +One day I discovered an old prostrate tree, buried under a thick growth +of creeper and fern, the wood of which was nearly or quite rotten, as +I proved by thrusting my knife to the heft in it. No doubt it would +contain grubs--those huge, white wood-borers which now formed an +important item in my diet. On the following day I returned to the spot +with a chopper and a bundle of wedges to split the trunk up, but had +scarcely commenced operations when an animal, startled at my blows, +rushed or rather wriggled from its hiding-place under the dead wood at +a distance of a few yards from me. It was a robust, round-headed, +short-legged creature, about as big as a good-sized cat, and clothed +in a thick, greenish-brown fur. The ground all about was covered with +creepers, binding the ferns, bushes, and old dead branches together; and +in this confused tangle the animal scrambled and tore with a great show +of energy, but really made very little progress; and all at once it +flashed into my mind that it was a sloth--a common animal, but rarely +seen on the ground--with no tree near to take refuge in. The shock of +joy this discovery produced was great enough to unnerve me, and for some +moments I stood trembling, hardly able to breathe; then recovering I +hastened after it, and stunned it with a blow from my chopper on its +round head. + +"Poor sloth!" I said as I stood over it. "Poor old lazy-bones! Did Rima +ever find you fast asleep in a tree, hugging a branch as if you loved +it, and with her little hand pat your round, human-like head; and laugh +mockingly at the astonishment in your drowsy, waking eyes; and scold +you tenderly for wearing your nails so long, and for being so ugly? +Lazybones, your death is revenged! Oh, to be out of this wood--away from +this sacred place--to be anywhere where killing is not murder!" + +Then it came into my mind that I was now in possession of the supply of +food which would enable me to quit the wood. A noble capture! As much to +me as if a stray, migratory mule had rambled into the wood and found me, +and I him. Now I would be my own mule, patient, and long-suffering, and +far-going, with naked feet hardened to hoofs, and a pack of provender on +my back to make me independent of the dry, bitter grass on the sunburnt +savannahs. + +Part of that night and the next morning was spent in curing the flesh +over a smoky fire of green wood and in manufacturing a rough sack to +store it in, for I had resolved to set out on my journey. How safely to +convey Rima's treasured ashes was a subject of much thought and anxiety. +The clay vessel on which I had expended so much loving, sorrowful labour +had to be left, being too large and heavy to carry; eventually I put the +fragments into a light sack; and in order to avert suspicion from the +people I would meet on the way, above the ashes I packed a layer of +roots and bulbs. These I would say contained medicinal properties, +known to the white doctors, to whom I would sell them on my arrival at +a Christian settlement, and with the money buy myself clothes to start +life afresh. + +On the morrow I would bid a last farewell to that forest of many +memories. And my journey would be eastwards, over a wild savage land of +mountains, rivers, and forests, where every dozen miles would be like a +hundred of Europe; but a land inhabited by tribes not unfriendly to the +stranger. And perhaps it would be my good fortune to meet with Indians +travelling east who would know the easiest routes; and from time to time +some compassionate voyager would let me share his wood-skin, and many +leagues would be got over without weariness, until some great river, +flowing through British or Dutch Guiana, would be reached; and so on, +and on, by slow or swift stages, with little to eat perhaps, with much +labour and pain, in hot sun and in storm, to the Atlantic at last, and +towns inhabited by Christian men. + +In the evening of that day, after completing my preparations, I supped +on the remaining portions of the sloth, not suitable for preservation, +roasting bits of fat on the coals and boiling the head and bones into a +broth; and after swallowing the liquid I crunched the bones and sucked +the marrow, feeding like some hungry carnivorous animal. + +Glancing at the fragments scattered on the floor, I remembered old +Nuflo, and how I had surprised him at his feast of rank coatimundi in +his secret retreat. "Nuflo, old neighbour," said I, "how quiet you are +under your green coverlet, spangled just now with yellow flowers! It +is no sham sleep, old man, I know. If any suspicion of these curious +doings, this feast of flesh on a spot once sacred, could flit like a +small moth into your mouldy hollow skull you would soon thrust out your +old nose to sniff the savour of roasting fat once more." + +There was in me at that moment an inclination to laughter; it came +to nothing, but affected me strangely, like an impulse I had not +experienced since boyhood--familiar, yet novel. After the good-night to +my neighbour, I tumbled into my straw and slept soundly, animal-like. No +fancies and phantoms that night: the lidless, white, implacable eyes +of the serpent's severed head were turned to dust at last; no sudden +dream-glare lighted up old Cla-cla's wrinkled dead face and white, +blood-dabbled locks; old Nuflo stayed beneath his green coverlet; nor +did my mournful spirit-bride come to me to make my heart faint at the +thought of immortality. + +But when morning dawned again, it was bitter to rise up and go away for +ever from that spot where I had often talked with Rima--the true and +the visionary. The sky was cloudless and the forest wet as if rain had +fallen; it was only a heavy dew, and it made the foliage look pale and +hoary in the early light. And the light grew, and a whispering wind +sprung as I walked through the wood; and the fast-evaporating moisture +was like a bloom on the feathery fronds and grass and rank herbage; but +on the higher foliage it was like a faint iridescent mist--a glory above +the trees. The everlasting beauty and freshness of nature was over all +again, as I had so often seen it with joy and adoration before grief and +dreadful passions had dimmed my vision. And now as I walked, murmuring +my last farewell, my eyes grew dim again with the tears that gathered to +them. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Before that well-nigh hopeless journey to the coast was half over I +became ill--so ill that anyone who had looked on me might well have +imagined that I had come to the end of my pilgrimage. That was what I +feared. For days I remained sunk in the deepest despondence; then, in a +happy moment, I remembered how, after being bitten by the serpent, when +death had seemed near and inevitable, I had madly rushed away through +the forest in search of help, and wandered lost for hours in the storm +and darkness, and in the end escaped death, probably by means of these +frantic exertions. The recollection served to inspire me with a new +desperate courage. Bidding good-bye to the Indian village where the +fever had smitten me, I set out once more on that apparently hopeless +adventure. Hopeless, indeed, it seemed to one in my weak condition. My +legs trembled under me when I walked, while hot sun and pelting rain +were like flame and stinging ice to my morbidly sensitive skin. + +For many days my sufferings were excessive, so that I often wished +myself back in that milder purgatory of the forest, from which I had +been so anxious to escape. When I try to retrace my route on the map, +there occurs a break here--a space on the chart where names of rivers +and mountains call up no image to my mind, although, in a few +cases, they were names I seem to have heard in a troubled dream. The +impressions of nature received during that sick period are blurred, or +else so coloured and exaggerated by perpetual torturing anxiety, mixed +with half-delirious night-fancies, that I can only think of that country +as an earthly inferno, where I fought against every imaginable obstacle, +alternately sweating and freezing, toiling as no man ever toiled before. +Hot and cold, cold and hot, and no medium. Crystal waters; green shadows +under coverture of broad, moist leaves; and night with dewy fanning +winds--these chilled but did not refresh me; a region in which there was +no sweet and pleasant thing; where even the ita palm and mountain glory +and airy epiphyte starring the woodland twilight with pendent blossoms +had lost all grace and beauty; where all brilliant colours in earth and +heaven were like the unmitigated sun that blinded my sight and burnt my +brain. Doubtless I met with help from the natives, otherwise I do not +see how I could have continued my journey; yet in my dim mental picture +of that period I see myself incessantly dogged by hostile savages. They +flit like ghosts through the dark forest; they surround me and cut off +all retreat, until I burst through them, escaping out of their very +hands, to fly over some wide, naked savannah, hearing their shrill, +pursuing yells behind me, and feeling the sting of their poisoned arrows +in my flesh. + +This I set down to the workings of remorse in a disordered mind and to +clouds of venomous insects perpetually shrilling in my ears and stabbing +me with their small, fiery needles. + +Not only was I pursued by phantom savages and pierced by phantom arrows, +but the creations of the Indian imagination had now become as real to +me as anything in nature. I was persecuted by that superhuman man-eating +monster supposed to be the guardian of the forest. In dark, silent +places he is lying in wait for me: hearing my slow, uncertain footsteps +he starts up suddenly in my path, outyelling the bearded aguaratos in +the trees; and I stand paralysed, my blood curdled in my veins. His +huge, hairy arms are round me; his foul, hot breath is on my skin; he +will tear my liver out with his great green teeth to satisfy his raging +hunger. Ah, no, he cannot harm me! For every ravening beast, every +cold-blooded, venomous thing, and even the frightful Curupita, half +brute and half devil, that shared the forest with her, loved and +worshipped Rima, and that mournful burden I carried, her ashes, was a +talisman to save me. He has left me, the semi-human monster, uttering +such wild, lamentable cries as he hurries away into the deeper, darker +woods that horror changes to grief, and I, too, lament Rima for +the first time: a memory of all the mystic, unimaginable grace and +loveliness and joy that had vanished smites on my heart with such +sudden, intense pain that I cast myself prone on the earth and weep +tears that are like drops of blood. + +Where in the rude savage heart of Guiana was this region where the +natural obstacles and pain and hunger and thirst and everlasting +weariness were terrible enough without the imaginary monsters and +legions of phantoms that peopled it, I cannot say. Nor can I conjecture +how far I strayed north or south from my course. I only know that +marshes that were like Sloughs of Despond, and barren and wet savannahs, +were crossed; and forests that seemed infinite in extent and never to +be got through; and scores of rivers that boiled round the sharp rocks, +threatening to submerge or dash in pieces the frail bark canoe--black +and frightful to look on as rivers in hell; and nameless mountain after +mountain to be toiled round or toiled over. I may have seen Roraima +during that mentally clouded period. I vaguely remember a far-extending +gigantic wall of stone that seemed to bar all further progress--a rocky +precipice rising to a stupendous height, seen by moonlight, with a huge +sinuous rope of white mist suspended from its summit; as if the guardian +camoodi of the mountain had been a league-long spectral serpent which +was now dropping its coils from the mighty stone table to frighten away +the rash intruder. + +That spectral moonlight camoodi was one of many serpent fancies that +troubled me. There was another, surpassing them all, which attended +me many days. When the sun grew hot overhead and the way was over open +savannah country, I would see something moving on the ground at my side +and always keeping abreast of me. A small snake, one or two feet long. +No, not a small snake, but a sinuous mark in the pattern on a huge +serpent's head, five or six yards long, always moving deliberately at +my side. If a cloud came over the sun, or a fresh breeze sprang up, +gradually the outline of that awful head would fade and the well-defined +pattern would resolve itself into the motlings on the earth. But if the +sun grew more and more hot and dazzling as the day progressed, then the +tremendous ophidian head would become increasingly real to my sight, +with glistening scales and symmetrical markings; and I would walk +carefully not to stumble against or touch it; and when I cast my eyes +behind me I could see no end to its great coils extending across the +savannah. Even looking back from the summit of a high hill I could +see it stretching leagues and leagues away through forests and rivers, +across wide plains, valleys and mountains, to lose itself at last in the +infinite blue distance. + +How or when this monster left me--washed away by cold rains perhaps--I +do not know. Probably it only transformed itself into some new shape, +its long coils perhaps changing into those endless processions and +multitudes of pale-faced people I seem to remember having encountered. +In my devious wanderings I must have reached the shores of the +undiscovered great White Lake, and passed through the long shining +streets of Manoa, the mysterious city in the wilderness. I see myself +there, the wide thoroughfare filled from end to end with people gaily +dressed as if for some high festival, all drawing aside to let the +wretched pilgrim pass, staring at his fever- and famine-wasted figure, +in its strange rags, with its strange burden. + +A new Ahasuerus, cursed by inexpiable crime, yet sustained by a great +purpose. + +But Ahasuerus prayed ever for death to come to him and ran to meet +it, while I fought against it with all my little strength. Only at +intervals, when the shadows seemed to lift and give me relief, would +I pray to Death to spare me yet a little longer; but when the shadows +darkened again and hope seemed almost quenched in utter gloom, then I +would curse it and defy its power. Through it all I clung to the belief +that my will would conquer, that it would enable me to keep off the +great enemy from my worn and suffering body until the wished goal was +reached; then only would I cease to fight and let death have its way. +There would have been comfort in this belief had it not been for that +fevered imagination which corrupted everything that touched me and gave +it some new hateful character. For soon enough this conviction that the +will would triumph grew to something monstrous, a parent of monstrous +fancies. Worst of all, when I felt no actual pain, but only unutterable +weariness of body and soul, when feet and legs were numb so that I knew +not whether I trod on dry hot rock or in slime, was the fancy that I was +already dead, so far as the body was concerned--had perhaps been dead +for days--that only the unconquerable will survived to compel the dead +flesh to do its work. + +Whether it really was will--more potent than the bark of barks and wiser +than the physicians--or merely the vis medicatrix with which nature +helps our weakness even when the will is suspended, that saved me +I cannot say; but it is certain that I gradually recovered health, +physical and mental, and finally reached the coast comparatively well, +although my mind was still in a gloomy, desponding state when I first +walked the streets of Georgetown, in rags, half-starved and penniless. + +But even when well, long after the discovery that my flesh was not only +alive, but that it was of an exceedingly tough quality, the idea born +during the darkest period of my pilgrimage, that die I must, persisted +in my mind. I had lived through that which would have killed most +men--lived only to accomplish the one remaining purpose of my life. Now +it was accomplished; the sacred ashes brought so far, with such infinite +labour, through so many and such great perils, were safe and would mix +with mine at last. There was nothing more in life to make me love it or +keep me prisoner in its weary chains. This prospect of near death +faded in time; love of life returned, and the earth had recovered its +everlasting freshness and beauty; only that feeling about Rima's ashes +did not fade or change, and is as strong now as it was then. Say that it +is morbid--call it superstition if you like; but there it is, the most +powerful motive I have known, always in all things to be taken into +account--a philosophy of life to be made to fit it. Or take it as a +symbol, since that may come to be one with the thing symbolized. In +those darkest days in the forest I had her as a visitor--a Rima of the +mind, whose words when she spoke reflected my despair. Yet even then I +was not entirely without hope. Heaven itself, she said, could not undo +that which I had done; and she also said that if I forgave myself, +Heaven would say no word, nor would she. That is my philosophy still: +prayers, austerities, good works--they avail nothing, and there is no +intercession, and outside of the soul there is no forgiveness in heaven +or earth for sin. Nevertheless there is a way, which every soul can find +out for itself--even the most rebellious, the most darkened with crime +and tormented by remorse. In that way I have walked; and, self-forgiven +and self-absolved, I know that if she were to return once more and +appear to me--even here where her ashes are--I know that her divine eyes +would no longer refuse to look into mine, since the sorrow which seemed +eternal and would have slain me to see would not now be in them. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Green Mansions, by W. H. 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Hudson + + + +FOREWORD + +I take up pen for this foreword with the fear of one who knows +that he cannot do justice to his subject, and the trembling of +one who would not, for a good deal, set down words unpleasing to +the eye of him who wrote Green Mansions, The Purple Land, and all +those other books which have meant so much to me. For of all +living authors--now that Tolstoi has gone I could least dispense +with W. H. Hudson. Why do I love his writing so? I think +because he is, of living writers that I read, the rarest spirit, +and has the clearest gift of conveying to me the nature of that +spirit. Writers are to their readers little new worlds to be +explored; and each traveller in the realms of literature must +needs have a favourite hunting-ground, which, in his good +will--or perhaps merely in his egoism--he would wish others to +share with him. + +The great and abiding misfortunes of most of us writers are +twofold: We are, as worlds, rather common tramping-ground for our +readers, rather tame territory; and as guides and dragomans +thereto we are too superficial, lacking clear intimacy of +expression; in fact--like guide or dragoman--we cannot let folk +into the real secrets, or show them the spirit, of the land. + +Now, Hudson, whether in a pure romance like this Green Mansions, +or in that romantic piece of realism The Purple Land, or in books +like Idle Days in Patagonia, Afoot in England, The Land's End, +Adventures among Birds, A Shepherd's Life, and all his other +nomadic records of communings with men, birds, beasts, and +Nature, has a supreme gift of disclosing not only the thing he +sees but the spirit of his vision. Without apparent effort he +takes you with him into a rare, free, natural world, and always +you are refreshed, stimulated, enlarged, by going there. + +He is of course a distinguished naturalist, probably the most +acute, broad-minded, and understanding observer of Nature living. +And this, in an age of specialism, which loves to put men into +pigeonholes and label them, has been a misfortune to the reading +public, who seeing the label Naturalist, pass on, and take down +the nearest novel. Hudson has indeed the gifts and knowledge of +a Naturalist, but that is a mere fraction of his value and +interest. A really great writer such as this is no more to be +circumscribed by a single word than America by the part of it +called New York. The expert knowledge which Hudson has of Nature +gives to all his work backbone and surety of fibre, and to his +sense of beauty an intimate actuality. But his real eminence and +extraordinary attraction lie in his spirit and philosophy. We +feel from his writings that he is nearer to Nature than other +men, and yet more truly civilized. The competitive, towny +culture, the queer up-to-date commercial knowingness with which +we are so busy coating ourselves simply will not stick to him. A +passage in his Hampshire Days describes him better than I can: +"The blue sky, the brown soil beneath, the grass, the trees, the +animals, the wind, and rain, and stars are never strange to me; +for I am in and of and am one with them; and my flesh and the +soil are one, and the heat in my blood and in the sunshine are +one, and the winds and the tempests and my passions are one. I +feel the 'strangeness' only with regard to my fellow men, +especially in towns, where they exist in conditions unnatural to +me, but congenial to them.... In such moments we sometimes feel +a kinship with, and are strangely drawn to, the dead, who were +not as these; the long, long dead, the men who knew not life in +towns, and felt no strangeness in sun and wind and rain." This +unspoiled unity with Nature pervades all his writings; they are +remote from the fret and dust and pettiness of town life; they +are large, direct, free. It is not quite simplicity, for the +mind of this writer is subtle and fastidious, sensitive to each +motion of natural and human life; but his sensitiveness is +somehow different from, almost inimical to, that of us others, +who sit indoors and dip our pens in shades of feeling. Hudson's +fancy is akin to the flight of the birds that are his special +loves--it never seems to have entered a house, but since birth to +have been roaming the air, in rain and sun, or visiting the trees +and the grass. I not only disbelieve utterly, but intensely +dislike, the doctrine of metempsychosis, which, if I understand +it aright, seems the negation of the creative impulse, an +apotheosis of staleness--nothing quite new in the world, never +anything quite new--not even the soul of a baby; and so I am not +prepared to entertain the whim that a bird was one of his remote +incarnations; still, in sweep of wing, quickness of eye, and +natural sweet strength of song he is not unlike a +super-bird--which is a horrid image. And that reminds me: This, +after all, is a foreword to Green Mansions--the romance of the +bird-girl Rima--a story actual yet fantastic, which immortalizes, +I think, as passionate a love of all beautiful things as ever was +in the heart of man. Somewhere Hudson says: "The sense of the +beautiful is God's best gift to the human soul." So it is: and +to pass that gift on to others, in such measure as herein is +expressed, must surely have been happiness to him who wrote Green +Mansions. In form and spirit the book is unique, a simple +romantic narrative transmuted by sheer glow of beauty into a +prose poem. Without ever departing from its quality of a tale, +it symbolizes the yearning of the human soul for the attainment +of perfect love and beauty in this life--that impossible +perfection which we must all learn to see fall from its high tree +and be consumed in the flames, as was Rima the bird-girl, but +whose fine white ashes we gather that they may be mingled at last +with our own, when we too have been refined by the fire of +death's resignation. The book is soaked through and through with +a strange beauty. I will not go on singing its praises, or +trying to make it understood, because I have other words to say +of its author. + +Do we realize how far our town life and culture have got away +from things that really matter; how instead of making +civilization our handmaid to freedom we have set her heel on our +necks, and under it bite dust all the time? Hudson, whether he +knows it or not, is now the chief standard-bearer of another +faith. Thus he spake in The Purple Land: "Ah, yes, we are all +vainly seeking after happiness in the wrong way. It was with us +once and ours, but we despised it, for it was only the old common +happiness which Nature gives to all her children, and we went +away from it in search of another grander kind of happiness which +some dreamer--Bacon or another--assured us we should find. We +had only to conquer Nature, find out her secrets, make her our +obedient slave, then the Earth would be Eden, and every man Adam +and every woman Eve. We are still marching bravely on, +conquering Nature, but how weary and sad we are getting! The old +joy in life and gaiety of heart have vanished, though we do +sometimes pause for a few moments in our long forced march to +watch the labours of some pale mechanician, seeking after +perpetual motion, and indulge in a little, dry, cackling laugh at +his expense." And again: "For here the religion that languishes +in crowded cities or steals shamefaced to hide itself in dim +churches flourishes greatly, filling the soul with a solemn joy. +Face to face with Nature on the vast hills at eventide, who does +not feel himself near to the Unseen? + + "Out of his heart God shall not pass + His image stamped is on every grass." + +All Hudson's books breathe this spirit of revolt against our new +enslavement by towns and machinery, and are true oases in an age +so dreadfully resigned to the "pale mechanician." + +But Hudson is not, as Tolstoi was, a conscious prophet; his +spirit is freer, more willful, whimsical--almost perverse--and +far more steeped in love of beauty. If you called him a prophet +he would stamp his foot at you--as he will at me if he reads +these words; but his voice is prophetic, for all that, crying in +a wilderness, out of which, at the call, will spring up roses +here and there, and the sweet-smelling grass. I would that every +man, woman, and child in England were made to read him; and I +would that you in America would take him to heart. He is a +tonic, a deep refreshing drink, with a strange and wonderful +flavour; he is a mine of new interests, and ways of thought +instinctively right. As a simple narrator he is well-nigh +unsurpassed; as a stylist he has few, if any, living equals. And +in all his work there is an indefinable freedom from any thought +of after-benefit--even from the desire that we should read him. +He puts down what he sees and feels, out of sheer love of the +thing seen, and the emotion felt; the smell of the lamp has not +touched a single page that he ever wrote. That alone is a marvel +to us who know that to write well, even to write clearly, is a +wound business, long to learn, hard to learn, and no gift of the +angels. Style should not obtrude between a writer and his +reader; it should be servant, not master. To use words so true +and simple that they oppose no obstacle to the flow of thought +and feeling from mind to mind, and yet by juxtaposition of +word-sounds set up in the recipient continuing emotion or +gratification--this is the essence of style; and Hudson's writing +has pre-eminently this double quality. From almost any page of +his books an example might be taken. Here is one no better than +a thousand others, a description of two little girls on a beach: +"They were dressed in black frocks and scarlet blouses, which set +off their beautiful small dark faces; their eyes sparkled like +black diamonds, and their loose hair was a wonder to see, a black +mist or cloud about their heads and necks composed of threads +fine as gossamer, blacker than jet and shining like spun +glass--hair that looked as if no comb or brush could ever tame +its beautiful wildness. And in spirit they were what they +seemed: such a wild, joyous, frolicsome spirit, with such grace +and fleetness, one does not look for in human beings, but only in +birds or in some small bird-like volatile mammal--a squirrel or a +spider-monkey of the tropical forest, or the chinchilla of the +desolate mountain slopes; the swiftest, wildest, loveliest, most +airy, and most vocal of small beauties." Or this, as the +quintessence of a sly remark: "After that Mantel got on to his +horse and rode away. It was black and rainy, but he had never +needed moon or lantern to find what he sought by night, whether +his own house, or a fat cow--also his own, perhaps." So one +might go on quoting felicity for ever from this writer. He seems +to touch every string with fresh and uninked fingers; and the +secret of his power lies, I suspect, in the fact that his words: +"Life being more than all else to me . . ." are so utterly +true. + +I do not descant on his love for simple folk and simple things, +his championship of the weak, and the revolt against the cagings +and cruelties of life, whether to men or birds or beasts, that +springs out of him as if against his will; because, having spoken +of him as one with a vital philosophy or faith, I don't wish to +draw red herrings across the main trail of his worth to the +world. His work is a vision of natural beauty and of human life +as it might be, quickened and sweetened by the sun and the wind +and the rain, and by fellowship with all the other forms of life-- +the truest vision now being given to us, who are more in want of +it than any generation has ever been. A very great writer; +and--to my thinking--the most valuable our age possesses. + +JOHN GALSWORTHY + +September 1915 Manaton: Devon + + +Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson + +PROLOGUE + +It is a cause of very great regret to me that this task has taken +so much longer a time than I had expected for its completion. It +is now many months--over a year, in fact--since I wrote to +Georgetown announcing my intention of publishing, IN A VERY FEW +MONTHS, the whole truth about Mr. Abel. Hardly less could have +been looked for from his nearest friend, and I had hoped that the +discussion in the newspapers would have ceased, at all events, +until the appearance of the promised book. It has not been so; +and at this distance from Guiana I was not aware of how much +conjectural matter was being printed week by week in the local +press, some of which must have been painful reading to Mr. Abel's +friends. A darkened chamber, the existence of which had never +been suspected in that familiar house in Main Street, furnished +only with an ebony stand on which stood a cinerary urn, its +surface ornamented with flower and leaf and thorn, and winding +through it all the figure of a serpent; an inscription, too, of +seven short words which no one could understand or rightly +interpret; and finally the disposal of the mysterious ashes--that +was all there was relating to an untold chapter in a man's life +for imagination to work on. Let us hope that now, at last, the +romance-weaving will come to an end. It was, however, but +natural that the keenest curiosity should have been excited; not +only because of that peculiar and indescribable charm of the man, +which all recognized and which won all hearts, but also because +of that hidden chapter--that sojourn in the desert, about which +he preserved silence. It was felt in a vague way by his +intimates that he had met with unusual experiences which had +profoundly affected him and changed the course of his life. To +me alone was the truth known, and I must now tell, briefly as +possible, how my great friendship and close intimacy with him +came about. + +When, in 1887, I arrived in Georgetown to take up an appointment +in a public office, I found Mr. Abel an old resident there, a man +of means and a favourite in society. Yet he was an alien, a +Venezuelan, one of that turbulent people on our border whom the +colonists have always looked on as their natural enemies. The +story told to me was that about twelve years before that time he +had arrived at Georgetown from some remote district in the +interior; that he had journeyed alone on foot across half the +continent to the coast, and had first appeared among them, a +young stranger, penniless, in rags, wasted almost to a skeleton +by fever and misery of all kinds, his face blackened by long +exposure to sun and wind. Friendless, with but little English, +it was a hard struggle for him to live; but he managed somehow, +and eventually letters from Caracas informed him that a +considerable property of which he had been deprived was once more +his own, and he was also invited to return to his country to take +his part in the government of the Republic. But Mr. Abel, though +young, had already outlived political passions and aspirations, +and, apparently, even the love of his country; at all events, he +elected to stay where he was--his enemies, he would say +smilingly, were his best friends--and one of the first uses he +made of his fortune was to buy that house in Main Street which +was afterwards like a home to me. + +I must state here that my friend's full name was Abel Guevez de +Argensola, but in his early days in Georgetown he was called by +his Christian name only, and later he wished to be known simply +as "Mr. Abel." + +I had no sooner made his acquaintance than I ceased to wonder at +the esteem and even affection with which he, a Venezuelan, was +regarded in this British colony. All knew and liked him, and the +reason of it was the personal charm of the man, his kindly +disposition, his manner with women, which pleased them and +excited no man's jealousy--not even the old hot-tempered +planter's, with a very young and pretty and light-headed +wife--his love of little children, of all wild creatures, of +nature, and of whatsoever was furthest removed from the common +material interests and concerns of a purely commercial community. +The things which excited other men--politics, sport, and the +price of crystals--were outside of his thoughts; and when men had +done with them for a season, when like the tempest they had +"blown their fill" in office and club-room and house and wanted a +change, it was a relief to turn to Mr. Abel and get him to +discourse of his world--the world of nature and of the spirit. + +It was, all felt, a good thing to have a Mr. Abel in Georgetown. +That it was indeed good for me I quickly discovered. I had +certainly not expected to meet in such a place with any person to +share my tastes--that love of poetry which has been the chief +passion and delight of my life; but such a one I had found in Mr. +Abel. It surprised me that he, suckled on the literature of +Spain, and a reader of only ten or twelve years of English +literature, possessed a knowledge of our modern poetry as +intimate as my own, and a love of it equally great. This feeling +brought us together and made us two--the nervous olive-skinned +Hispano-American of the tropics and the phlegmatic blue-eyed +Saxon of the cold north--one in spirit and more than brothers. +Many were the daylight hours we spent together and "tired the sun +with talking"; many, past counting, the precious evenings in that +restful house of his where I was an almost daily guest. I had +not looked for such happiness; nor, he often said, had he. A +result of this intimacy was that the vague idea concerning his +hidden past, that some unusual experience had profoundly affected +him and perhaps changed the whole course of his life, did not +diminish, but, on the contrary, became accentuated, and was often +in my mind. The change in him was almost painful to witness +whenever our wandering talk touched on the subject of the +aborigines, and of the knowledge he had acquired of their +character and languages when living or travelling among them; all +that made his conversation most engaging--the lively, curious +mind, the wit, the gaiety of spirit tinged with a tender +melancholy--appeared to fade out of it; even the expression of +his face would change, becoming hard and set, and he would deal +you out facts in a dry mechanical way as if reading them in a +book. It grieved me to note this, but I dropped no hint of such +a feeling, and would never have spoken about it but for a quarrel +which came at last to make the one brief solitary break in that +close friendship of years. I got into a bad state of health, and +Abel was not only much concerned about it, but annoyed, as if I +had not treated him well by being ill, and he would even say that +I could get well if I wished to. I did not take this seriously, +but one morning, when calling to see me at the office, he +attacked me in a way that made me downright angry with him. He +told me that indolence and the use of stimulants was the cause of +my bad health. He spoke in a mocking way, with a presence of not +quite meaning it, but the feeling could not be wholly disguised. +Stung by his reproaches, I blurted out that he had no right to +talk to me, even in fun, in such a way. Yes, he said, getting +serious, he had the best right--that of our friendship. He would +be no true friend if he kept his peace about such a matter. +Then, in my haste, I retorted that to me the friendship between +us did not seem so perfect and complete as it did to him. One +condition of friendship is that the partners in it should be +known to each other. He had had my whole life and mind open to +him, to read it as in a book. HIS life was a closed and clasped +volume to me. + +His face darkened, and after a few moments' silent reflection he +got up and left me with a cold good-bye, and without that +hand-grasp which had been customary between us. + +After his departure I had the feeling that a great loss, a great +calamity, had befallen me, but I was still smarting at his too +candid criticism, all the more because in my heart I acknowledged +its truth. And that night, lying awake, I repented of the cruel +retort I had made, and resolved to ask his forgiveness and leave +it to him to determine the question of our future relations. But +he was beforehand with me, and with the morning came a letter +begging my forgiveness and asking me to go that evening to dine +with him. + +We were alone, and during dinner and afterwards, when we sat +smoking and sipping black coffee in the veranda, we were +unusually quiet, even to gravity, which caused the two white-clad +servants that waited on us--the brown-faced subtle-eyed old Hindu +butler and an almost blue-black young Guiana Negro--to direct +many furtive glances at their master's face. They were +accustomed to see him in a more genial mood when he had a friend +to dine. To me the change in his manner was not surprising: from +the moment of seeing him I had divined that he had determined to +open the shut and clasped volume of which I had spoken--that the +time had now come for him to speak. + + + +CHAPTER I + +Now that we are cool, he said, and regret that we hurt each +other, I am not sorry that it happened. I deserved your +reproach: a hundred times I have wished to tell you the whole +story of my travels and adventures among the savages, and one of +the reasons which prevented me was the fear that it would have an +unfortunate effect on our friendship. That was precious, and I +desired above everything to keep it. But I must think no more +about that now. I must think only of how I am to tell you my +story. I will begin at a time when I was twenty-three. It was +early in life to be in the thick of politics, and in trouble to +the extent of having to fly my country to save my liberty, +perhaps my life. + +Every nation, someone remarks, has the government it deserves, +and Venezuela certainly has the one it deserves and that suits it +best. We call it a republic, not only because it is not one, but +also because a thing must have a name; and to have a good name, +or a fine name, is very convenient--especially when you want to +borrow money. If the Venezuelans, thinly distributed over an +area of half a million square miles, mostly illiterate peasants, +half-breeds, and indigenes, were educated, intelligent men, +zealous only for the public weal, it would be possible for them +to have a real republic. They have instead a government by +cliques, tempered by revolution; and a very good government it +is, in harmony with the physical conditions of the country and +the national temperament. Now, it happens that the educated men, +representing your higher classes, are so few that there are not +many persons unconnected by ties of blood or marriage with +prominent members of the political groups to which they belong. +By this you will see how easy and almost inevitable it is that we +should become accustomed to look on conspiracy and revolt against +the regnant party--the men of another clique--as only in the +natural order of things. In the event of failure such outbreaks +are punished, but they are not regarded as immoral. On the +contrary, men of the highest intelligence and virtue among us are +seen taking a leading part in these adventures. Whether such a +condition of things is intrinsically wrong or not, or would be +wrong in some circumstances and is not wrong, because inevitable, +in others, I cannot pretend to decide; and all this tiresome +profusion is only to enable you to understand how I--a young man +of unblemished character, not a soldier by profession, not +ambitious of political distinction, wealthy for that country, +popular in society, a lover of social pleasures, of books, of +nature actuated, as I believed, by the highest motives, allowed +myself to be drawn very readily by friends and relations into a +conspiracy to overthrow the government of the moment, with the +object of replacing it by more worthy men ourselves, to wit. + +Our adventure failed because the authorities got wind of the +affair and matters were precipitated. Our leaders at the moment +happened to be scattered over the country--some were abroad; and +a few hotheaded men of the party, who were in Caracas just then +and probably feared arrest, struck a rash blow: the President was +attacked in the street and wounded. But the attackers were +seized, and some of them shot on the following day. When the +news reached me I was at a distance from the capital, staying +with a friend on an estate he owned on the River Quebrada Honda, +in the State of Guarico, some fifteen to twenty miles from the +town of Zaraza. My friend, an officer in the army, was a leader +in the conspiracy; and as I was the only son of a man who had +been greatly hated by the Minister of War, it became necessary +for us both to fly for our lives. In the circumstances we could +not look to be pardoned, even on the score of youth. + +Our first decision was to escape to the sea-coast; but as the +risk of a journey to La Guayra, or any other port of embarkation +on the north side of the country, seemed too great, we made our +way in a contrary direction to the Orinoco, and downstream to +Angostura. Now, when we had reached this comparatively safe +breathing-place--safe, at all events, for the moment--I changed +my mind about leaving or attempting to leave the country. Since +boyhood I had taken a very peculiar interest in that vast and +almost unexplored territory we possess south of the Orinoco, with +its countless unmapped rivers and trackless forests; and in its +savage inhabitants, with their ancient customs and character, +unadulterated by contact with Europeans. To visit this primitive +wilderness had been a cherished dream; and I had to some extent +even prepared myself for such an adventure by mastering more than +one of the Indian dialects of the northern states of Venezuela. +And now, finding myself on the south side of our great river, +with unlimited time at my disposal, I determined to gratify this +wish. My companion took his departure towards the coast, while I +set about making preparations and hunting up information from +those who had travelled in the interior to trade with the +savages. I decided eventually to go back upstream and penetrate +to the interior in the western part of Guayana, and the Amazonian +territory bordering on Colombia and Brazil, and to return to +Angostura in about six months' time. I had no fear of being +arrested in the semi-independent and in most part savage region, +as the Guayana authorities concerned themselves little enough +about the political upheavals at Caracas. + +The first five or six months I spent in Guayana, after leaving +the city of refuge, were eventful enough to satisfy a moderately +adventurous spirit. A complaisant government employee at +Angostura had provided me with a passport, in which it was set +down (for few to read) that my object in visiting the interior +was to collect information concerning the native tribes, the +vegetable products of the country, and other knowledge which +would be of advantage to the Republic; and the authorities were +requested to afford me protection and assist me in my pursuits. +I ascended the Orinoco, making occasional expeditions to the +small Christian settlements in the neighbourhood of the right +bank, also to the Indian villages; and travelling in this way, +seeing and learning much, in about three months I reached the +River Metal. During this period I amused myself by keeping a +journal, a record of personal adventures, impressions of the +country and people, both semi-civilized and savage; and as my +journal grew, I began to think that on my return at some future +time to Caracas, it might prove useful and interesting to the +public, and also procure me fame; which thought proved +pleasurable and a great incentive, so that I began to observe +things more narrowly and to study expression. But the book was +not to be. + +From the mouth of the Meta I journeyed on, intending to visit the +settlement of Atahapo, where the great River Guaviare, with other +rivers, empties itself into the Orinoco. But I was not destined +to reach it, for at the small settlement of Manapuri I fell ill +of a low fever; and here ended the first half-year of my +wanderings, about which no more need be told. + +A more miserable place than Manapuri for a man to be ill of a low +fever in could not well be imagined. The settlement, composed of +mean hovels, with a few large structures of mud, or plastered +wattle, thatched with palm leaves, was surrounded by water, +marsh, and forest, the breeding-place of myriads of croaking +frogs and of clouds of mosquitoes; even to one in perfect health +existence in such a place would have been a burden. The +inhabitants mustered about eighty or ninety, mostly Indians of +that degenerate class frequently to be met with in small trading +outposts. The savages of Guayana are great drinkers, but not +drunkards in our sense, since their fermented liquors contain so +little alcohol that inordinate quantities must be swallowed to +produce intoxication; in the settlements they prefer the white +man's more potent poisons, with the result that in a small place +like Manapuri one can see enacted, as on a stage, the last act in +the great American tragedy. To be succeeded, doubtless, by other +and possibly greater tragedies. My thoughts at that period of +suffering were pessimistic in the extreme. Sometimes, when the +almost continuous rain held up for half a day, I would manage to +creep out a short distance; but I was almost past making any +exertion, scarcely caring to live, and taking absolutely no +interest in the news from Caracas, which reached me at long +intervals. At the end of two months, feeling a slight +improvement in my health, and with it a returning interest in +life and its affairs, it occurred to me to get out my diary and +write a brief account of my sojourn at Manapuri. I had placed it +for safety in a small deal box, lent to me for the purpose by a +Venezuelan trader, an old resident at the settlement, by name +Pantaleon--called by all Don Panta--one who openly kept half a +dozen Indian wives in his house, and was noted for his dishonesty +and greed, but who had proved himself a good friend to me. The +box was in a corner of the wretched palm-thatched hovel I +inhabited; but on taking it out I discovered that for several +weeks the rain had been dripping on it, and that the manuscript +was reduced to a sodden pulp. I flung it upon the floor with a +curse and threw myself back on my bed with a groan. + +In that desponding state I was found by my friend Panta, who was +constant in his visits at all hours; and when in answer to his +anxious inquiries I pointed to the pulpy mass on the mud floor, +he turned it over with his foot, and then, bursting into a loud +laugh, kicked it out, remarking that he had mistaken the object +for some unknown reptile that had crawled in out of the rain. He +affected to be astonished that I should regret its loss. It was +all a true narrative, he exclaimed; if I wished to write a book +for the stay-at-homes to read, I could easily invent a thousand +lies far more entertaining than any real experiences. He had +come to me, he said, to propose something. He had lived twenty +years at that place, and had got accustomed to the climate, but +it would not do for me to remain any longer if I wished to live. +I must go away at once to a different country--to the mountains, +where it was open and dry. "And if you want quinine when you are +there," he concluded, "smell the wind when it blows from the +south-west, and you will inhale it into your system, fresh from +the forest." When I remarked despondingly that in my condition +it would be impossible to quit Manapuri, he went on to say that a +small party of Indians was now in the settlement; that they had +come, not only to trade, but to visit one of their own tribe, who +was his wife, purchased some years ago from her father. "And the +money she cost me I have never regretted to this day," said he, +"for she is a good wife not jealous," he added, with a curse on +all the others. These Indians came all the way from the +Queneveta mountains, and were of the Maquiritari tribe. He, +Panta, and, better still, his good wife would interest them on my +behalf, and for a suitable reward they would take me by slow, +easy stages to their own country, where I would be treated well +and recover my health. + +This proposal, after I had considered it well, produced so good +an effect on me that I not only gave a glad consent, but, on the +following day, I was able to get about and begin the preparations +for my journey with some spirit. + +In about eight days I bade good-bye to my generous friend Panta, +whom I regarded, after having seen much of him, as a kind of +savage beast that had sprung on me, not to rend, but to rescue +from death; for we know that even cruel savage brutes and evil +men have at times sweet, beneficent impulses, during which they +act in a way contrary to their natures, like passive agents of +some higher power. It was a continual pain to travel in my weak +condition, and the patience of my Indians was severely taxed; but +they did not forsake me; and at last the entire distance, which I +conjectured to be about sixty-five leagues, was accomplished; and +at the end I was actually stronger and better in every way than +at the start. From this time my progress towards complete +recovery was rapid. The air, with or without any medicinal +virtue blown from the cinchona trees in the far-off Andean +forest, was tonic; and when I took my walks on the hillside above +the Indian village, or later when able to climb to the summits, +the world as seen from those wild Queneveta mountains had a +largeness and varied glory of scenery peculiarly refreshing and +delightful to the soul. + +With the Maquiritari tribe I passed some weeks, and the sweet +sensations of returning health made me happy for a time; but such +sensations seldom outlast convalescence. I was no sooner well +again than I began to feel a restless spirit stirring in me. The +monotony of savage life in this place became intolerable. After +my long listless period the reaction had come, and I wished only +for action, adventure--no matter how dangerous; and for new +scenes, new faces, new dialects. In the end I conceived the idea +of going on to the Casiquiare river, where I would find a few +small settlements, and perhaps obtain help from the authorities +there which would enable me to reach the Rio Negro. For it was +now in my mind to follow that river to the Amazons, and so down +to Para and the Atlantic coast. + +Leaving the Queneveta range, I started with two of the Indians as +guides and travelling companions; but their journey ended only +half-way to the river I wished to reach; and they left me with +some friendly savages living on the Chunapay, a tributary of the +Cunucumana, which flows to the Orinoco. Here I had no choice but +to wait until an opportunity of attaching myself to some party of +travelling Indians going south-west should arrive; for by this +time I had expended the whole of my small capital in ornaments +and calico brought from Manapuri, so that I could no longer +purchase any man's service. And perhaps it will be as well to +state at this point just what I possessed. For some time I had +worn nothing but sandals to protect my feet; my garments +consisted of a single suit, and one flannel shirt, which I washed +frequently, going shirtless while it was drying. Fortunately I +had an excellent blue cloth cloak, durable and handsome, given to +me by a friend at Angostura, whose prophecy on presenting it, +that it would outlast ME, very nearly came true. It served as a +covering by night, and to keep a man warm and comfortable when +travelling in cold and wet weather no better garment was ever +made. I had a revolver and metal cartridge-box in my broad +leather belt, also a good hunting-knife with strong buckhorn +handle and a heavy blade about nine inches long. In the pocket +of my cloak I had a pretty silver tinder-box, and a match-box--to +be mentioned again in this narrative--and one or two other +trifling objects; these I was determined to keep until they +could be kept no longer. + +During the tedious interval of waiting on the Chunapay I was told +a flattering tale by the village Indians, which eventually caused +me to abandon the proposed journey to the Rio Negro. These +Indians wore necklets, like nearly all the Guayana savages; but +one, I observed, possessed a necklet unlike that of the others, +which greatly aroused my curiosity. It was made of thirteen gold +plates, irregular in form, about as broad as a man's thumb-nail, +and linked together with fibres. I was allowed to examine it, +and had no doubt that the pieces were of pure gold, beaten flat +by the savages. When questioned about it, they said it was +originally obtained from the Indians of Parahuari, and Parahuari, +they further said, was a mountainous country west of the Orinoco. +Every man and woman in that place, they assured me, had such a +necklet. This report inflamed my mind to such a degree that I +could not rest by night or day for dreaming golden dreams, and +considering how to get to that rich district, unknown to +civilized men. The Indians gravely shook their heads when I +tried to persuade them to take me. They were far enough from the +Orinoco, and Parahuari was ten, perhaps fifteen, days' journey +further on--a country unknown to them, where they had no +relations. + +In spite of difficulties and delays, however, and not without +pain and some perilous adventures, I succeeded at last in +reaching the upper Orinoco, and, eventually, in crossing to the +other side. With my life in my hand I struggled on westward +through an unknown difficult country, from Indian village to +village, where at any moment I might have been murdered with +impunity for the sake of my few belongings. It is hard for me to +speak a good word for the Guayana savages; but I must now say +this of them, that they not only did me no harm when I was at +their mercy during this long journey, but they gave me shelter in +their villages, and fed me when I was hungry, and helped me on my +way when I could make no return. You must not, however, run away +with the idea that there is any sweetness in their disposition, +any humane or benevolent instincts such as are found among the +civilized nations: far from it. I regard them now, and, +fortunately for me, I regarded them then, when, as I have said, I +was at their mercy, as beasts of prey, plus a cunning or low kind +of intelligence vastly greater than that of the brute; and, for +only morality, that respect for the rights of other members of +the same family, or tribe, without which even the rudest +communities cannot hold together. How, then, could I do this +thing, and dwell and travel freely, without receiving harm, among +tribes that have no peace with and no kindly feelings towards the +stranger, in a district where the white man is rarely or never +seen? Because I knew them so well. Without that knowledge, +always available, and an extreme facility in acquiring new +dialects, which had increased by practice until it was almost +like intuition, I should have fared badly after leaving the +Maquiritari tribe. As it was, I had two or three very narrow +escapes. + +To return from this digression. I looked at last on the famous +Parahuari mountains, which, I was greatly surprised to find, were +after all nothing but hills, and not very high ones. This, +however, did not impress me. The very fact that Parahuari +possessed no imposing feature in its scenery seemed rather to +prove that it must be rich in gold: how else could its name and +the fame of its treasures be familiar to people dwelling so far +away as the Cunucumana? + +But there was no gold. I searched through the whole range, which +was about seven leagues long, and visited the villages, where I +talked much with the Indians, interrogating them, and they had no +necklets of gold, nor gold in any form; nor had they ever heard +of its presence in Parahuari or in any other place known to them. + +The very last village where I spoke on the subject of my quest, +albeit now without hope, was about a league from the western +extremity of the range, in the midst of a high broken country of +forest and savannah and many swift streams; near one of these, +called the Curicay, the village stood, among low scattered trees-- +a large building, in which all the people, numbering eighteen, +passed most of their time when not hunting, with two smaller +buildings attached to it. The head, or chief, Runi by name, was +about fifty years old, a taciturn, finely formed, and somewhat +dignified savage, who was either of a sullen disposition or not +well pleased at the intrusion of a white man. And for a time I +made no attempt to conciliate him. What profit was there in it +at all? Even that light mask, which I had worn so long and with +such good effect, incommoded me now: I would cast it aside and be +myself--silent and sullen as my barbarous host. If any malignant +purpose was taking form in his mind, let it, and let him do his +worst; for when failure first stares a man in the face, it has so +dark and repellent a look that not anything that can be added can +make him more miserable; nor has he any apprehension. For weeks +I had been searching with eager, feverish eyes in every village, +in every rocky crevice, in every noisy mountain streamlet, for +the glittering yellow dust I had travelled so far to find. And +now all my beautiful dreams--all the pleasure and power to +be--had vanished like a mere mirage on the savannah at noon. + +It was a day of despair which I spent in this place, sitting all +day indoors, for it was raining hard, immersed in my own gloomy +thoughts, pretending to doze in my seat, and out of the narrow +slits of my half-closed eyes seeing the others, also sitting or +moving about, like shadows or people in a dream; and I cared +nothing about them, and wished not to seem friendly, even for the +sake of the food they might offer me by and by. + +Towards evening the rain ceased; and rising up I went out a short +distance to the neighbouring stream, where I sat on a stone and, +casting off my sandals, laved my bruised feet in the cool running +water. The western half of the sky was blue again with that +tender lucid blue seen after rain, but the leaves still glittered +with water, and the wet trunks looked almost black under the +green foliage. The rare loveliness of the scene touched and +lightened my heart. Away back in the east the hills of +Parahuari, with the level sun full on them, loomed with a strange +glory against the grey rainy clouds drawing off on that side, and +their new mystic beauty almost made me forget how these same +hills had wearied, and hurt, and mocked me. On that side, also +to the north and south, there was open forest, but to the west a +different prospect met the eye. Beyond the stream and the strip +of verdure that fringed it, and the few scattered dwarf trees +growing near its banks, spread a brown savannah sloping upwards +to a long, low, rocky ridge, beyond which rose a great solitary +hill, or rather mountain, conical in form, and clothed in forest +almost to the summit. This was the mountain Ytaioa, the chief +landmark in that district. As the sun went down over the ridge, +beyond the savannah, the whole western sky changed to a delicate +rose colour that had the appearance of rose-coloured smoke blown +there by some far off-wind, and left suspended--a thin, brilliant +veil showing through it the distant sky beyond, blue and +ethereal. Flocks of birds, a kind of troupial, were flying past +me overhead, flock succeeding flock, on their way to their +roosting-place, uttering as they flew a clear, bell-like chirp; +and there was something ethereal too in those drops of melodious +sound, which fell into my heart like raindrops falling into a +pool to mix their fresh heavenly water with the water of earth. + +Doubtless into the turbid tarn of my heart some sacred drops had +fallen--from the passing birds, from that crimson disk which had +now dropped below the horizon, the darkening hills, the rose and +blue of infinite heaven, from the whole visible circle; and I +felt purified and had a strange sense and apprehension of a +secret innocence and spirituality in nature--a prescience of some +bourn, incalculably distant perhaps, to which we are all moving; +of a time when the heavenly rain shall have washed us clean from +all spot and blemish. This unexpected peace which I had found +now seemed to me of infinitely greater value than that yellow +metal I had missed finding, with all its possibilities. My wish +now was to rest for a season at this spot, so remote and lovely +and peaceful, where I had experienced such unusual feelings and +such a blessed disillusionment. + +This was the end of my second period in Guayana: the first had +been filled with that dream of a book to win me fame in my +country, perhaps even in Europe; the second, from the time of +leaving the Queneveta mountains, with the dream of boundless +wealth--the old dream of gold in this region that has drawn so +many minds since the days of Francisco Pizarro. But to remain I +must propitiate Runi, sitting silent with gloomy brows over there +indoors; and he did not appear to me like one that might be won +with words, however flattering. It was clear to me that the time +had come to part with my one remaining valuable trinket--the +tinder-box of chased silver. + +I returned to the house and, going in, seated myself on a log by +the fire, just opposite to my grim host, who was smoking and +appeared not to have moved since I left him. I made myself a +cigarette, then drew out the tinder-box, with its flint and steel +attached to it by means of two small silver chains. His eyes +brightened a little as they curiously watched my movements, and +he pointed without speaking to the glowing coals of fire at my +feet. I shook my head, and striking the steel, sent out a +brilliant spray of sparks, then blew on the tinder and lit my +cigarette. + +This done, instead of returning the box to my pocket I passed the +chain through the buttonhole of my cloak and let it dangle on my +breast as an ornament. When the cigarette was smoked, I cleared +my throat in the orthodox manner and fixed my eyes on Runi, who, +on his part, made a slight movement to indicate that he was ready +to listen to what I had to say. + +My speech was long, lasting at least half an hour, delivered in a +profound silence; it was chiefly occupied with an account of my +wanderings in Guayana; and being little more than a catalogue of +names of all the places I had visited, and the tribes and chief +or head men with whom I had come in contact, I was able to speak +continuously, and so to hide my ignorance of a dialect which was +still new to me. The Guayana savage judges a man for his staying +powers. To stand as motionless as a bronze statue for one or two +hours watching for a bird; to sit or lie still for half a day; to +endure pain, not seldom self-inflicted, without wincing; and when +delivering a speech to pour it out in a copious stream, without +pausing to take breath or hesitating over a word--to be able to +do all this is to prove yourself a man, an equal, one to be +respected and even made a friend of. What I really wished to say +to him was put in a few words at the conclusion of my well-nigh +meaningless oration. Everywhere, I said, I had been the Indian's +friend, and I wished to be his friend, to live with him at +Parahuari, even as I had lived with other chiefs and heads of +villages and families; to be looked on by him, as these others +had looked on me, not as a stranger or a white man, but as a +friend, a brother, an Indian. + +I ceased speaking, and there was a slight murmurous sound in the +room, as of wind long pent up in many lungs suddenly exhaled; +while Runi, still unmoved, emitted a low grunt. Then I rose, and +detaching the silver ornament from my cloak, presented it to him. +He accepted it; not very graciously, as a stranger to these +people might have imagined; but I was satisfied, feeling sure +that I had made a favourable impression. After a little he +handed the box to the person sitting next to him, who examined it +and passed it on to a third, and in this way it went round and +came back once more to Runi. Then he called for a drink. There +happened to be a store of casserie in the house; probably the +women had been busy for some days past in making it, little +thinking that it was destined to be prematurely consumed. A +large jarful was produced; Runi politely quaffed the first cup; I +followed; then the others; and the women drank also, a woman +taking about one cupful to a man's three. Runi and I, however, +drank the most, for we had our positions as the two principal +personages there to maintain. Tongues were loosened now; for the +alcohol, small as the quantity contained in this mild liquor is, +had begun to tell on our brains. I had not their pottle-shaped +stomach, made to hold unlimited quantities of meat and drink; but +I was determined on this most important occasion not to deserve +my host's contempt--to be compared, perhaps, to the small bird +that delicately picks up six drops of water in its bill and is +satisfied. I would measure my strength against his, and if +necessary drink myself into a state of insensibility. + +At last I was scarcely able to stand on my legs. But even the +seasoned old savage was affected by this time. In vino veritas, +said the ancients; and the principle holds good where there is no +vinum, but only mild casserie. Runi now informed me that he had +once known a white man, that he was a bad man, which had caused +him to say that all white men were bad; even as David, still more +sweepingly, had proclaimed that all men were liars. Now he found +that it was not so, that I was a good man. His friendliness +increased with intoxication. He presented me with a curious +little tinder-box, made from the conical tail of an armadillo, +hollowed out, and provided with a wooden stopper--this to be used +in place of the box I had deprived myself of. He also furnished +me with a grass hammock, and had it hung up there and then, so +that I could lie down when inclined. There was nothing he would +not do for me. And at last, when many more cups had been +emptied, and a third or fourth jar brought out, he began to +unburthen his heart of its dark and dangerous secrets. He shed +tears--for the "man without at ear" dwells not in the woods of +Guayana: tears for those who had been treacherously slain long +years ago; for his father, who had been killed by Tripica, the +father of Managa, who was still above ground. But let him and +all his people beware of Runi. He had spilt their blood before, +he had fed the fox and vulture with their flesh, and would never +rest while Managa lived with his people at Uritay--the five hills +of Uritay, which were two days' journey from Parahuari. While +thus talking of his old enemy he lashed himself into a kind of +frenzy, smiting his chest and gnashing his teeth; and finally +seizing a spear, he buried its point deep into the clay floor, +only to wrench it out and strike it into the earth again and +again, to show how he would serve Managa, and any one of Managa's +people he might meet with--man, woman, or child. Then he +staggered out from the door to flourish his spear; and looking to +the north-west, he shouted aloud to Managa to come and slay his +people and burn down his house, as he had so often threatened to +do. + +"Let him come! Let Managa come!" I cried, staggering out after +him. "I am your friend, your brother; I have no spear and no +arrows, but I have this--this!" And here I drew out and +flourished my revolver. "Where is Managa?" I continued. "Where +are the hills of Uritay?" He pointed to a star low down in the +south-west. "Then," I shouted, "let this bullet find Managa, +sitting by the fire among his people, and let him fall and pour +out his blood on the ground!" And with that I discharged my +pistol in the direction he had pointed to. A scream of terror +burst out from the women and children, while Runi at my side, in +an access of fierce delight and admiration, turned and embraced +me. It was the first and last embrace I ever suffered from a +naked male savage, and although this did not seem a time for +fastidious feelings, to be hugged to his sweltering body was an +unpleasant experience. + +More cups of casserie followed this outburst; and at last, unable +to keep it up any longer, I staggered to my hammock; but being +unable to get into it, Runi, overflowing with kindness, came to +my assistance, whereupon we fell and rolled together on the +floor. Finally I was raised by the others and tumbled into my +swinging bed, and fell at once into a deep, dreamless sleep, from +which I did not awake until after sunrise on the following +morning. + + + +CHAPTER II + +It is fortunate that casserie is manufactured by an extremely +slow, laborious process, since the women, who are the +drink-makers, in the first place have to reduce the material +(cassava bread) to a pulp by means of their own molars, after +which it is watered down and put away in troughs to ferment. +Great is the diligence of these willing slaves; but, work how +they will, they can only satisfy their lords' love of a big drink +at long intervals. Such a function as that at which I had +assisted is therefore the result of much patient mastication and +silent fermentation--the delicate flower of a plant that has been +a long time growing. + +Having now established myself as one of the family, at the cost +of some disagreeable sensations and a pang or two of +self-disgust, I resolved to let nothing further trouble me at +Parahuari, but to live the easy, careless life of the idle man, +joining in hunting and fishing expeditions when in the mood; at +other times enjoying existence in my own way, apart from my +fellows, conversing with wild nature in that solitary place. +Besides Runi, there were, in our little community, two oldish +men, his cousins I believe, who had wives and grown-up children. +Another family consisted of Piake, Runi's nephew, his brother +Kua-ko--about whom there will be much to say--and a sister +Oalava. Piake had a wife and two children; Kua-ko was unmarried +and about nineteen or twenty years old; Oalava was the youngest +of the three. Last of all, who should perhaps have been first, +was Runi's mother, called Cla-cla, probably in imitation of the +cry of some bird, for in these latitudes a person is rarely, +perhaps never, called by his or her real name, which is a secret +jealously preserved, even from near relations. I believe that +Cla-cla herself was the only living being who knew the name her +parents had bestowed on her at birth. She was a very old woman, +spare in figure, brown as old sun-baked leather, her face written +over with innumerable wrinkles, and her long coarse hair +perfectly white; yet she was exceedingly active, and seemed to do +more work than any other woman in the community; more than that, +when the day's toil was over and nothing remained for the others +to do, then Cla-cla's night work would begin; and this was to +talk all the others, or at all events all the men, to sleep. She +was like a self-regulating machine, and punctually every evening, +when the door was closed, and the night fire made up, and every +man in his hammock, she would set herself going, telling the most +interminable stories, until the last listener was fast asleep; +later in the night, if any man woke with a snort or grunt, off +she would go again, taking up the thread of the tale where she +had dropped it. + +Old Cla-cla amused me very much, by night and day, and I seldom +tired of watching her owlish countenance as she sat by the fire, +never allowing it to sink low for want of fuel; always studying +the pot when it was on to simmer, and at the same time attending +to the movements of the others about her, ready at a moment's +notice to give assistance or to dart out on a stray chicken or +refractory child. + +So much did she amuse me, although without intending it, that I +thought it would be only fair, in my turn, to do something for +her entertainment. I was engaged one day in shaping a wooden +foil with my knife, whistling and singing snatches of old +melodies at my work, when all at once I caught sight of the +ancient dame looking greatly delighted, chuckling internally, +nodding her head, and keeping time with her hands. Evidently she +was able to appreciate a style of music superior to that of the +aboriginals, and forthwith I abandoned my foils for the time and +set about the manufacture of a guitar, which cost me much labour +and brought out more ingenuity than I had ever thought myself +capable of. To reduce the wood to the right thinness, then to +bend and fasten it with wooden pegs and with gums, to add the +arm, frets, keys, and finally the catgut strings--those of +another kind being out of the question--kept me busy for some +days. When completed it was a rude instrument, scarcely tunable; +nevertheless when I smote the strings, playing lively music, or +accompanied myself in singing, I found that it was a great +success, and so was as much pleased with my own performance as if +I had had the most perfect guitar ever made in old Spain. I also +skipped about the floor, strum-strumming at the same time, +instructing them in the most lively dances of the whites, in +which the feet must be as nimble as the player's fingers. It is +true that these exhibitions were always witnessed by the adults +with a profound gravity, which would have disheartened a stranger +to their ways. They were a set of hollow bronze statues that +looked at me, but I knew that the living animals inside of them +were tickled at my singing, strumming, and pirouetting. Cla-cla +was, however, an exception, and encouraged me not infrequently by +emitting a sound, half cackle and half screech, by way of +laughter; for she had come to her second childhood, or, at all +events, had dropped the stolid mask which the young Guayana +savage, in imitation of his elders, adjusts to his face at about +the age of twelve, to wear it thereafter all his life long, or +only to drop it occasionally when very drunk. The youngsters also +openly manifested their pleasure, although, as a rule, they try +to restrain their feelings in the presence of grown-up people, +and with them I became a greet favourite. + +By and by I returned to my foil-making, and gave them fencing +lessons, and sometimes invited two or three of the biggest boys +to attack me simultaneously, just to show how easily I could +disarm and kill them. This practice excited some interest in +Kua-ko, who had a little more of curiosity and geniality and less +of the put-on dignity of the others, and with him I became most +intimate. Fencing with Kua-ko was highly amusing: no sooner was +he in position, foil in hand, than all my instructions were +thrown to the winds, and he would charge and attack me in his own +barbarous manner, with the result that I would send his foil +spinning a dozen yards away, while he, struck motionless, would +gaze after it in open-mouthed astonishment. + +Three weeks had passed by not unpleasantly when, one morning, I +took it into my head to walk by myself across that somewhat +sterile savannah west of the village and stream, which ended, as +I have said, in a long, low, stony ridge. From the village there +was nothing to attract the eye in that direction; but I wished to +get a better view of that great solitary hill or mountain of +Ytaioa, and of the cloud-like summits beyond it in the distance. +From the stream the ground rose in a gradual slope, and the +highest part of the ridge for which I made was about two miles +from the starting-point--a parched brown plain, with nothing +growing on it but scattered tussocks of sere hair-like grass. + +When I reached the top and could see the country beyond, I was +agreeably disappointed at the discovery that the sterile ground +extended only about a mile and a quarter on the further side, and +was succeeded by a forest--a very inviting patch of woodland +covering five or six square miles, occupying a kind of oblong +basin, extending from the foot of Ytaioa on the north to a low +range of rocky hills on the south. From the wooded basin long +narrow strips of forest ran out in various directions like the +arms of an octopus, one pair embracing the slopes of Ytaioa, +another much broader belt extending along a valley which cut +through the ridge of hills on the south side at right angles and +was lost to sight beyond; far away in the west and south and +north distant mountains appeared, not in regular ranges, but in +groups or singly, or looking like blue banked-up clouds on the +horizon. + +Glad at having discovered the existence of this forest so near +home, and wondering why my Indian friends had never taken me to +it nor ever went out on that side, I set forth with a light heart +to explore it for myself, regretting only that I was without a +proper weapon for procuring game. The walk from the ridge over +the savannah was easy, as the barren, stony ground sloped +downwards the whole way. The outer part of the wood on my side +was very open, composed in most part of dwarf trees that grow on +stony soil, and scattered thorny bushes bearing a yellow +pea-shaped blossom. Presently I came to thicker wood, where the +trees were much taller and in greater variety; and after this +came another sterile strip, like that on the edge of the wood +where stone cropped out from the ground and nothing grew except +the yellow-flowered thorn bushes. Passing this sterile ribbon, +which seemed to extend to a considerable distance north and +south, and was fifty to a hundred yards wide, the forest again +became dense and the trees large, with much undergrowth in places +obstructing the view and making progress difficult. + +I spent several hours in this wild paradise, which was so much +more delightful than the extensive gloomier forests I had so +often penetrated in Guayana; for here, if the trees did not +attain to such majestic proportions, the variety of vegetable +forms was even greater; as far as I went it was nowhere dark +under the trees, and the number of lovely parasites everywhere +illustrated the kindly influence of light and air. Even where +the trees were largest the sunshine penetrated, subdued by the +foliage to exquisite greenish-golden tints, filling the wide +lower spaces with tender half-lights, and faint blue-and-gray +shadows. Lying on my back and gazing up, I felt reluctant to +rise and renew my ramble. For what a roof was that above my +head! Roof I call it, just as the poets in their poverty +sometimes describe the infinite ethereal sky by that word; but it +was no more roof-like and hindering to the soaring spirit than +the higher clouds that float in changing forms and tints, and +like the foliage chasten the intolerable noonday beams. How far +above me seemed that leafy cloudland into which I gazed! Nature, +we know, first taught the architect to produce by long colonnades +the illusion of distance; but the light-excluding roof prevents +him from getting the same effect above. Here Nature is +unapproachable with her green, airy canopy, a sun-impregnated +cloud--cloud above cloud; and though the highest may be unreached +by the eye, the beams yet filter through, illuming the wide +spaces beneath--chamber succeeded by chamber, each with its own +special lights and shadows. Far above me, but not nearly so far +as it seemed, the tender gloom of one such chamber or space is +traversed now by a golden shaft of light falling through some +break in the upper foliage, giving a strange glory to everything +it touches--projecting leaves, and beard-like tuft of moss, and +snaky bush-rope. And in the most open part of that most open +space, suspended on nothing to the eye, the shaft reveals a +tangle of shining silver threads--the web of some large +tree-spider. These seemingly distant yet distinctly visible +threads serve to remind me that the human artist is only able to +get his horizontal distance by a monotonous reduplication of +pillar and arch, placed at regular intervals, and that the least +departure from this order would destroy the effect. But Nature +produces her effects at random, and seems only to increase the +beautiful illusion by that infinite variety of decoration in +which she revels, binding tree to tree in a tangle of +anaconda-like lianas, and dwindling down from these huge cables +to airy webs and hair-like fibres that vibrate to the wind of the +passing insect's wing. + +Thus in idleness, with such thoughts for company, I spent my +time, glad that no human being, savage or civilized, was with me. +It was better to be alone to listen to the monkeys that chattered +without offending; to watch them occupied with the unserious +business of their lives. With that luxuriant tropical nature, +its green clouds and illusive aerial spaces, full of mystery, +they harmonized well in language, appearance, and +motions--mountebank angels, living their fantastic lives far +above earth in a half-way heaven of their own. + +I saw more monkeys on that morning than I usually saw in the +course of a week's rambling. And other animals were seen; I +particularly remember two accouries I startled, that after +rushing away a few yards stopped and stood peering back at me as +if not knowing whether to regard me as friend or enemy. Birds, +too, were strangely abundant; and altogether this struck me as +being the richest hunting-ground I had seen, and it astonished me +to think that the Indians of the village did not appear to visit +it. + +On my return in the afternoon I gave an enthusiastic account of +my day's ramble, speaking not of the things that had moved my +soul, but only of those which move the Guayana Indian's soul--the +animal food he craves, and which, one would imagine, Nature would +prefer him to do without, so hard he finds it to wrest a +sufficiency from her. To my surprise they shook their heads and +looked troubled at what I said; and finally my host informed me +that the wood I had been in was a dangerous place; that if they +went there to hunt, a great injury would be done to them; and he +finished by advising me not to visit it again. + +I began to understand from their looks and the old man's vague +words that their fear of the wood was superstitious. If +dangerous creatures had existed there tigers, or camoodis, or +solitary murderous savages--they would have said so; but when I +pressed them with questions they could only repeat that +"something bad" existed in the place, that animals were abundant +there because no Indian who valued his life dared venture into +it. I replied that unless they gave me some more definite +information I should certainly go again and put myself in the way +of the danger they feared. + +My reckless courage, as they considered it, surprised them; but +they had already begun to find out that their superstitions had +no effect on me, that I listened to them as to stories invented +to amuse a child, and for the moment they made no further attempt +to dissuade me. + +Next day I returned to the forest of evil report, which had now a +new and even greater charm--the fascination of the unknown and +the mysterious; still, the warning I had received made me +distrustful and cautious at first, for I could not help thinking +about it. When we consider how much of their life is passed in +the woods, which become as familiar to them as the streets of our +native town to us, it seems almost incredible that these savages +have a superstitious fear of all forests, fearing them as much, +even in the bright light of day, as a nervous child with memory +filled with ghost-stories fears a dark room. But, like the child +in the dark room, they fear the forest only when alone in it, and +for this reason always hunt in couples or parties. What, then, +prevented them from visiting this particular wood, which offered +so tempting a harvest? The question troubled me not a little; at +the same time I was ashamed of the feeling, and fought against +it; and in the end I made my way to the same sequestered spot +where I had rested so long on my previous visit. + +In this place I witnessed a new thing and had a strange +experience. Sitting on the ground in the shade of a large tree, +I began to hear a confused noise as of a coming tempest of wind +mixed with shrill calls and cries. Nearer and nearer it came, +and at last a multitude of birds of many kinds, but mostly small, +appeared in sight swarming through the trees, some running on the +trunks and larger branches, others flitting through the foliage, +and many keeping on the wing, now hovering and now darting this +way or that. They were all busily searching for and pursuing the +insects, moving on at the same time, and in a very few minutes +they had finished examining the trees near me and were gone; but +not satisfied with what I had witnessed, I jumped up and rushed +after the flock to keep it in sight. All my caution and all +recollection of what the Indians had said was now forgot, so +great was my interest in this bird-army; but as they moved on +without pause, they quickly left me behind, and presently my +career was stopped by an impenetrable tangle of bushes, vines, +and roots of large trees extending like huge cables along the +ground. In the midst of this leafy labyrinth I sat down on a +projecting root to cool my blood before attempting to make my way +back to my former position. After that tempest of motion and +confused noises the silence of the forest seemed very profound; +but before I had been resting many moments it was broken by a low +strain of exquisite bird-melody, wonderfully pure and expressive, +unlike any musical sound I had ever heard before. It seemed to +issue from a thick cluster of broad leaves of a creeper only a +few yards from where I sat. With my eyes fixed on this green +hiding-place I waited with suspended breath for its repetition, +wondering whether any civilized being had ever listened to such a +strain before. Surely not, I thought, else the fame of so divine +a melody would long ago have been noised abroad. I thought of +the rialejo, the celebrated organbird or flute-bird, and of the +various ways in which hearers are affected by it. To some its +warbling is like the sound of a beautiful mysterious instrument, +while to others it seems like the singing of a blithe-hearted +child with a highly melodious voice. I had often heard and +listened with delight to the singing of the rialejo in the +Guayana forests, but this song, or musical phrase, was utterly +unlike it in character. It was pure, more expressive, softer--so +low that at a distance of forty yards I could hardly have heard +it. But its greatest charm was its resemblance to the human +voice--a voice purified and brightened to something almost +angelic. Imagine, then, my impatience as I sat there straining my +sense, my deep disappointment when it was not repeated! I rose +at length very reluctantly and slowly began making my way back; +but when I had progressed about thirty yards, again the sweet +voice sounded just behind me, and turning quickly, I stood still +and waited. The same voice, but not the same song--not the same +phrase; the notes were different, more varied and rapidly +enunciated, as if the singer had been more excited. The blood +rushed to my heart as I listened; my nerves tingled with a +strange new delight, the rapture produced by such music +heightened by a sense of mystery. Before many moments I heard it +again, not rapid now, but a soft warbling, lower than at first, +infinitely sweet and tender, sinking to lisping sounds that soon +ceased to be audible; the whole having lasted as long as it would +take me to repeat a sentence of a dozen words. This seemed the +singer's farewell to me, for I waited and listened in vain to +hear it repeated; and after getting back to the starting-point I +sat for upwards of an hour, still hoping to hear it once more! + +The weltering sun at length compelled me to quit the wood, but +not before I had resolved to return the next morning and seek for +the spot where I had met with so enchanting an experience. After +crossing the sterile belt I have mentioned within the wood, and +just before I came to the open outer edge where the stunted trees +and bushes die away on the border of the savannah, what was my +delight and astonishment at hearing the mysterious melody once +more! It seemed to issue from a clump of bushes close by; but by +this time I had come to the conclusion that there was a +ventriloquism in this woodland voice which made it impossible for +me to determine its exact direction. Of one thing I was, +however, now quite convinced, and that was that the singer had +been following me all the time. Again and again as I stood there +listening it sounded, now so faint and apparently far off as to +be scarcely audible; then all at once it would ring out bright +and clear within a few yards of me, as if the shy little thing +had suddenly grown bold; but, far or near, the vocalist remained +invisible, and at length the tantalizing melody ceased +altogether. + + + +CHAPTER III + +I was not disappointed on my next visit to the forest, nor on +several succeeding visits; and this seemed to show that if I was +right in believing that these strange, melodious utterances +proceeded from one individual, then the bird or being, although +still refusing to show itself, was always on the watch for my +appearance and followed me wherever I went. This thought only +served to increase my curiosity; I was constantly pondering over +the subject, and at last concluded that it would be best to +induce one of the Indians to go with me to the wood on the chance +of his being able to explain the mystery. + +One of the treasures I had managed to preserve in my sojourn with +these children of nature, who were always anxious to become +possessors of my belongings, was a small prettily fashioned metal +match-box, opening with a spring. Remembering that Kua-ko, among +others, had looked at this trifle with covetous eyes--the +covetous way in which they all looked at it had given it a +fictitious value in my own--I tried to bribe him with the offer +of it to accompany me to my favourite haunt. The brave young +hunter refused again and again; but on each occasion he offered +to perform some other service or to give me something in exchange +for the box. At last I told him that I would give it to the +first person who should accompany me, and fearing that someone +would be found valiant enough to win the prize, he at length +plucked up a spirit, and on the next day, seeing me going out for +a walk, he all at once offered to go with me. He cunningly tried +to get the box before starting--his cunning, poor youth, was not +very deep! I told him that the forest we were about to visit +abounded with plants and birds unlike any I had seen elsewhere, +that I wished to learn their names and everything about them, and +that when I had got the required information the box would be +his--not sooner. Finally we started, he, as usual, armed with +his zabatana, with which, I imagined, he would procure more game +than usually fell to his little poisoned arrows. When we reached +the wood I could see that he was ill at ease: nothing would +persuade him to go into the deeper parts; and even where it was +very open and light he was constantly gazing into bushes and +shadowy places, as if expecting to see some frightful creature +lying in wait for him. This behaviour might have had a +disquieting effect on me had I not been thoroughly convinced that +his fears were purely superstitious and that there could be no +dangerous animal in a spot I was accustomed to walk in every day. +My plan was to ramble about with an unconcerned air, occasionally +pointing out an uncommon tree or shrub or vine, or calling his +attention to a distant bird-cry and asking the bird's name, in +the hope that the mysterious voice would make itself heard and +that he would be able to give me some explanation of it. But for +upwards of two hours we moved about, hearing nothing except the +usual bird voices, and during all that time he never stirred a +yard from my side nor made an attempt to capture anything. At +length we sat down under a tree, in an open spot close to the +border of the wood. He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed +more troubled in his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continually +roving about, while he listened intently to every sound. The +sounds were not few, owing to the abundance of animal and +especially of bird life in this favoured spot. I began to +question my companion as to some of the cries we heard. There +were notes and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the +cock--parrot screams and yelping of toucans, the distant wailing +calls of maam and duraquara; and shrill laughter-like notes of +the large tree-climber as it passed from tree to tree; the quick +whistle of cotingas; and strange throbbing and thrilling sounds, +as of pygmies beating on metallic drums, of the skulking +pitta-thrushes; and with these mingled other notes less well +known. One came from the treetops, where it was perpetually +wandering amid the foliage a low note, repeated at intervals of a +few seconds, so thin and mournful and full of mystery that I half +expected to hear that it proceeded from the restless ghost of +some dead bird. But no; he only said it was uttered by a "little +bird"--too little presumably to have a name. From the foliage of +a neighbouring tree came a few tinkling chirps, as of a small +mandolin, two or three strings of which had been carelessly +struck by the player. He said that it came from a small green +frog that lived in trees; and in this way my rude Indian--vexed +perhaps at being asked such trivial questions--brushed away the +pretty fantasies my mind had woven in the woodland solitude. For +I often listened to this tinkling music, and it had suggested the +idea that the place was frequented by a tribe of fairy-like +troubadour monkeys, and that if I could only be quick-sighted +enough I might one day be able to detect the minstrel sitting, in +a green tunic perhaps, cross-legged on some high, swaying bough, +carelessly touching his mandolin, suspended from his neck by a +yellow ribbon. + +By and by a bird came with low, swift flight, its great tail +spread open fan-wise, and perched itself on an exposed bough not +thirty yards from us. It was all of a chestnut-red colour, +long-bodied, in size like a big pigeon. Its actions showed that +its curiosity had been greatly excited, for it jerked from side +to side, eyeing us first with one eye, then the other, while its +long tail rose and fell in a measured way. + +"Look, Kua-ko," I said in a whisper, "there is a bird for you to +kill." + +But he only shook his head, still watchful. + +"Give me the blow-pipe, then," I said, with a laugh, putting out +my hand to take it. But he refused to let me take it, knowing +that it would only be an arrow wasted if I attempted to shoot +anything. + +As I persisted in telling him to kill the bird, he at last bent +his lips near me and said in a half-whisper, as if fearful of +being overheard: "I can kill nothing here. If I shot at the +bird, the daughter of the Didi would catch the dart in her hand +and throw it back and hit me here," touching his breast just over +his heart. + +I laughed again, saying to myself, with some amusement, that +Kua-ko was not such a bad companion after all--that he was not +without imagination. But in spite of my laughter his words +roused my interest and suggested the idea that the voice I was +curious about had been heard by the Indians and was as great a +mystery to them as to me; since, not being like that of any +creature known to them, it would be attributed by their +superstitious minds to one of the numerous demons or semi-human +monsters inhabiting every forest, stream, and mountain; and fear +of it would drive them from the wood. In this case, judging from +my companion's words, they had varied the form of the +superstition somewhat, inventing a daughter of a water-spirit to +be afraid of. My thought was that if their keen, practiced eyes +had never been able to see this flitting woodland creature with a +musical soul, it was not likely that I would succeed in my quest. + +I began to question him, but he now appeared less inclined to +talk and more frightened than ever, and each time I attempted to +speak he imposed silence, with a quick gesture of alarm, while he +continued to stare about him with dilated eyes. All at once he +sprang to his feet as if overcome with terror and started running +at full speed. His fear infected me, and, springing up, I +followed as fast as I could, but he was far ahead of me, running +for dear life; and before I had gone forty yards my feet were +caught in a creeper trailing along the surface, and I measured my +length on the ground. The sudden, violent shock almost took away +my senses for a moment, but when I jumped up and stared round to +see no unspeakable monster--Curupita or other--rushing on to slay +and devour me there and then, I began to feel ashamed of my +cowardice; and in the end I turned and walked back to the spot I +had just quitted and sat down once more. I even tried to hum a +tune, just to prove to myself that I had completely recovered +from the panic caught from the miserable Indian; but it is never +possible in such cases to get back one's serenity immediately, +and a vague suspicion continued to trouble me for a time. After +sitting there for half an hour or so, listening to distant +bird-sounds, I began to recover my old confidence, and even to +feel inclined to penetrate further into the wood. All at once, +making me almost jump, so sudden it was, so much nearer and +louder than I had ever heard it before, the mysterious melody +began. Unmistakably it was uttered by the same being heard on +former occasions; but today it was different in character. The +utterance was far more rapid, with fewer silent intervals, and it +had none of the usual tenderness in it, nor ever once sunk to +that low, whisper-like talking which had seemed to me as if the +spirit of the wind had breathed its low sighs in syllables and +speech. Now it was not only loud, rapid, and continuous, but, +while still musical, there was an incisiveness in it, a sharp +ring as of resentment, which made it strike painfully on the +sense. + +The impression of an intelligent unhuman being addressing me in +anger took so firm a hold on my mind that the old fear returned, +and, rising, I began to walk rapidly away, intending to escape +from the wood. The voice continued violently rating me, as it +seemed to my mind, moving with me, which caused me to accelerate +my steps; and very soon I would have broken into a run, when its +character began to change again. There were pauses now, +intervals of silence, long or short, and after each one the voice +came to my ear with a more subdued and dulcet sound--more of that +melting, flute-like quality it had possessed at other times; and +this softness of tone, coupled with the talking-like form of +utterance, gave me the idea of a being no longer incensed, +addressing me now in a peaceable spirit, reasoning away my +unworthy tremors, and imploring me to remain with it in the wood. +Strange as this voice without a body was, and always productive +of a slightly uncomfortable feeling on account of its mystery, it +seemed impossible to doubt that it came to me now in a spirit of +pure friendliness; and when I had recovered my composure I found +a new delight in listening to it--all the greater because of the +fear so lately experienced, and of its seeming intelligence. For +the third time I reseated myself on the same spot, and at +intervals the voice talked to me there for some time and, to my +fancy, expressed satisfaction and pleasure at my presence. But +later, without losing its friendly tone, it changed again. It +seemed to move away and to be thrown back from a considerable +distance; and, at long intervals, it would approach me again with +a new sound, which I began to interpret as of command, or +entreaty. Was it, I asked myself, inviting me to follow? And if +I obeyed, to what delightful discoveries or frightful dangers +might it lead? My curiosity together with the belief that the +being--I called it being, not bird, now--was friendly to me, +overcame all timidity, and I rose and walked at random towards +the interior of the wood. Very soon I had no doubt left that the +being had desired me to follow; for there was now a new note of +gladness in its voice, and it continued near me as I walked, at +intervals approaching me so closely as to set me staring into the +surrounding shadowy places like poor scared Kua-ko. + +On this occasion, too, I began to have a new fancy, for fancy or +illusion I was determined to regard it, that some swift-footed +being was treading the ground near me; that I occasionally caught +the faint rustle of a light footstep, and detected a motion in +leaves and fronds and thread-like stems of creepers hanging near +the surface, as if some passing body had touched and made them +tremble; and once or twice that I even had a glimpse of a grey, +misty object moving at no great distance in the deeper shadows. + +Led by this wandering tricksy being, I came to a spot where the +trees were very large and the damp dark ground almost free from +undergrowth; and here the voice ceased to be heard. After +patiently waiting and listening for some time, I began to look +about me with a slight feeling of apprehension. It was still +about two hours before sunset; only in this place the shade of +the vast trees made a perpetual twilight: moreover, it was +strangely silent here, the few bird-cries that reached me coming +from a long distance. I had flattered myself that the voice had +become to some extent intelligible to me: its outburst of anger +caused no doubt by my cowardly flight after the Indian; then its +recovered friendliness, which had induced me to return; and +finally its desire to be followed. Now that it had led me to +this place of shadow and profound silence and had ceased to speak +and to lead, I could not help thinking that this was my goal, +that I had been brought to this spot with a purpose, that in this +wild and solitary retreat some tremendous adventure was about to +befall me. + +As the silence continued unbroken, there was time to dwell on +this thought. I gazed before me and listened intently, scarcely +breathing, until the suspense became painful--too painful at +last, and I turned and took a step with the idea of going back to +the border of the wood, when close by, clear as a silver bell, +sounded the voice once more, but only for a moment--two or three +syllables in response to my movement, then it was silent again. + +Once more I was standing still, as if in obedience to a command, +in the same state of suspense; and whether the change was real or +only imagined I know not, but the silence every minute grew more +profound and the gloom deeper. Imaginary terrors began to assail +me. Ancient fables of men allured by beautiful forms and +melodious voices to destruction all at once acquired a fearful +significance. I recalled some of the Indian beliefs, especially +that of the mis-shapen, man-devouring monster who is said to +beguile his victims into the dark forest by mimicking the human +voice--the voice sometimes of a woman in distress--or by singing +some strange and beautiful melody. I grew almost afraid to look +round lest I should catch sight of him stealing towards me on his +huge feet with toes pointing backwards, his mouth snarling +horribly to display his great green fangs. It was distressing to +have such fancies in this wild, solitary spot--hateful to feel +their power over me when I knew that they were nothing but +fancies and creations of the savage mind. But if these +supernatural beings had no existence, there were other monsters, +only too real, in these woods which it would be dreadful to +encounter alone and unarmed, since against such adversaries a +revolver would be as ineffectual as a popgun. Some huge camoodi, +able to crush my bones like brittle twigs in its constricting +coils, might lurk in these shadows, and approach me stealthily, +unseen in its dark colour on the dark ground. Or some jaguar or +black tiger might steal towards me, masked by a bush or +tree-trunk, to spring upon me unawares. Or, worse still, this +way might suddenly come a pack of those swift-footed, unspeakably +terrible hunting-leopards, from which every living thing in the +forest flies with shrieks of consternation or else falls +paralysed in their path to be instantly torn to pieces and +devoured. + +A slight rustling sound in the foliage above me made me start and +cast up my eyes. High up, where a pale gleam of tempered +sunlight fell through the leaves, a grotesque human-like face, +black as ebony and adorned with a great red beard, appeared +staring down upon me. In another moment it was gone. It was +only a large araguato, or howling monkey, but I was so unnerved +that I could not get rid of the idea that it was something more +than a monkey. Once more I moved, and again, the instant I moved +my foot, clear, and keen, and imperative, sounded the voice! It +was no longer possible to doubt its meaning. It commanded me to +stand still--to wait--to watch--to listen! Had it cried "Listen! +Do not move!" I could not have understood it better. Trying as +the suspense was, I now felt powerless to escape. Something very +terrible, I felt convinced, was about to happen, either to +destroy or to release me from the spell that held me. + +And while I stood thus rooted to the ground, the sweat standing +in large drops on my forehead, all at once close to me sounded a +cry, fine and clear at first, and rising at the end to a shriek +so loud, piercing, and unearthly in character that the blood +seemed to freeze in my veins, and a despairing cry to heaven +escaped my lips; then, before that long shriek expired, a mighty +chorus of thunderous voices burst forth around me; and in this +awful tempest of sound I trembled like a leaf; and the leaves on +the trees were agitated as if by a high wind, and the earth +itself seemed to shake beneath my feet. Indescribably horrible +were my sensations at that moment; I was deafened, and would +possibly have been maddened had I not, as by a miracle, chanced +to see a large araguato on a branch overhead, roaring with open +mouth and inflated throat and chest. + +It was simply a concert of howling monkeys that had so terrified +me! But my extreme fear was not strange in the circumstances; +since everything that had led up to the display--the gloom and +silence, the period of suspense, and my heated imagination--had +raised my mind to the highest degree of excitement and +expectancy. I had rightly conjectured, no doubt, that my unseen +guide had led me to that spot for a purpose; and the purpose had +been to set me in the midst of a congregation of araguatos to +enable me for the first time fully to appreciate their +unparalleled vocal powers. I had always heard them at a +distance; here they were gathered in scores, possibly +hundreds--the whole araguato population of the forest, I should +think--close to me; and it may give some faint conception of the +tremendous power and awful character of the sound thus produced +by their combined voices when I say that this animal--miscalled +"howler" in English--would outroar the mightiest lion that ever +woke the echoes of an African wilderness. + +This roaring concert, which lasted three or four minutes, having +ended, I lingered a few minutes longer on the spot, and not +hearing the voice again, went back to the edge of the wood, and +then started on my way back to the village. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Perhaps I was not capable of thinking quite coherently on what +had just happened until I was once more fairly outside of the +forest shadows--out in that clear open daylight, where things +seem what they are, and imagination, like a juggler detected and +laughed at, hastily takes itself out of the way. As I walked +homewards I paused midway on the barren ridge to gaze back on the +scene I had left, and then the recent adventure began to take a +semi-ludicrous aspect in my mind. All that circumstance of +preparation, that mysterious prelude to something unheard of, +unimaginable, surpassing all fables ancient and modern, and all +tragedies--to end at last in a concert of howling monkeys! +Certainly the concert was very grand--indeed, one of the most +astounding in nature---but still--I sat down on a stone and +laughed freely. + +The sun was sinking behind the forest, its broad red disk still +showing through the topmost leaves, and the higher part of the +foliage was of a luminous green, like green flame, throwing off +flakes of quivering, fiery light, but lower down the trees were +in profound shadow. + +I felt very light-hearted while I gazed on this scene, for how +pleasant it was just now to think of the strange experience I had +passed through--to think that I had come safely out of it, that +no human eye had witnessed my weakness, and that the mystery +existed still to fascinate me! For, ludicrous as the denouement +now looked, the cause of all, the voice itself, was a thing to +marvel at more than ever. That it proceeded from an intelligent +being I was firmly convinced; and although too materialistic in +my way of thinking to admit for a moment that it was a +supernatural being, I still felt that there was something more +than I had at first imagined in Kua-ko's speech about a daughter +of the Didi. That the Indians knew a great deal about the +mysterious voice, and had held it in great fear, seemed evident. +But they were savages, with ways that were not mine; and however +friendly they might be towards one of a superior race, there was +always in their relations with him a low cunning, prompted partly +by suspicion, underlying their words and actions. For the white +man to put himself mentally on their level is not more impossible +than for these aborigines to be perfectly open, as children are, +towards the white. Whatever subject the stranger within their +gates exhibits an interest in, that they will be reticent about; +and their reticence, which conceals itself under easily invented +lies or an affected stupidity, invariably increases with his +desire for information. It was plain to them that some very +unusual interest took me to the wood; consequently I could not +expect that they would tell me anything they might know to +enlighten me about the matter; and I concluded that Kua-ko's +words about the daughter of the Didi, and what she would do if he +blew an arrow at a bird, had accidentally escaped him in a moment +of excitement. Nothing, therefore, was to be gained by +questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them how much the +subject attracted me. And I had nothing to fear; my independent +investigations had made this much clear to me; the voice might +proceed from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of wild +fantastic humours, but nothing worse. It was friendly to me, I +felt sure; at the same time it might not be friendly towards the +Indians; for, on that day, it had made itself heard only after my +companion had taken flight; and it had then seemed incensed +against me, possibly because the savage had been in my company. + +That was the result of my reflections on the day's events when I +returned to my entertainer's roof and sat down among my friends +to refresh myself with stewed fowl and fish from the household +pot, into which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture to +dip my fingers. + +Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I think--certainly not +reading. When I entered he lifted his head and stared at me, +probably surprised to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid +temper. I laughed at the look, and, somewhat disconcerted, he +dropped his head down again. After a minute or two I took the +metal match-box and tossed it on to his breast. He clutched it +and, starting up, stared at me in the utmost astonishment. He +could scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had failed to +carry out his part of the compact and had resigned himself to the +loss of the coveted prize. Jumping down to the floor, he held up +the box triumphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid +look; while all the others gathered about him, each trying to get +the box into his own hands to admire it again, notwithstanding +that they had all seen it a dozen times before. But it was +Kua-ko's now and not the stranger's, and therefore more nearly +their own than formerly, and must look different, more beautiful, +with a brighter polish on the metal. And that wonderful +enamelled cock on the lid--figured in Paris probably, but just +like a cock in Guayana, the pet bird which they no more think of +killing and eating than we do our purring pussies and +lemon-coloured canaries--must now look more strikingly valiant +and cock-like than ever, with its crimson comb and wattles, +burnished red hackles, and dark green arching tail-plumes. But +Kua-ko, while willing enough to have it admired and praised, +would not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously that +it was not theirs for them to handle, but his--Kua-ko's--for all +time; that he had won it by accompanying me--valorous man that he +was!--to that evil wood into which they--timid, inferior +creatures that they were!--would never have ventured to set foot. +I am not translating his words, but that was what he gave them to +understand pretty plainly, to my great amusement. + +After the excitement was over, Runi, who had maintained a +dignified calm, made some roundabout remarks, apparently with the +object of eliciting an account of what I had seen and heard in +the forest of evil fame. I replied carelessly that I had seen a +great many birds and monkeys--monkeys so tame that I might have +procured one if I had had a blow-pipe, in spite of my never +having practiced shooting with that weapon. + +It interested them to hear about the abundance and tameness of +the monkeys, although it was scarcely news; but how tame they +must have been when I, the stranger not to the manner born--not +naked, brown-skinned, lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an owl in his +movements--had yet been able to look closely at them! Runi only +remarked, apropos of what I had told him, that they could not go +there to hunt; then he asked me if I feared nothing. + +"Nothing," I replied carelessly. "The things you fear hurt not +the white man and are no more than this to me," saying which I +took up a little white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with +my breath. "And against other enemies I have this," I added, +touching my revolver. A brave speech, just after that araguato +episode; but I did not make it without blushing--mentally. + +He shook his head, and said it was a poor weapon against some +enemies; also--truly enough--that it would procure no birds and +monkeys for the stew-pot. + +Next morning my friend Kua-ko, taking his zabatana, invited me to +go out with him, and I consented with some misgivings, thinking +he had overcome his superstitious fears and, inflamed by my +account of the abundance of game in the forest, intended going +there with me. The previous day's experience had made me think +that it would be better in the future to go there alone. But I +was giving the poor youth more credit than he deserved: it was +far from his intention to face the terrible unknown again. We +went in a different direction, and tramped for hours through +woods where birds were scarce and only of the smaller kinds. +Then my guide surprised me a second time by offering to teach me +to use the zabatana. This, then, was to be my reward for giving +him the box! I readily consented, and with the long weapon, +awkward to carry, in my hand, and imitating the noiseless +movements and cautious, watchful manner of my companion, I tried +to imagine myself a simple Guayana savage, with no knowledge of +that artificial social state to which I had been born, dependent +on my skill and little roll of poison-darts for a livelihood. By +an effort of the will I emptied myself of my life experience and +knowledge--or as much of it as possible--and thought only of the +generations of my dead imaginary progenitors, who had ranged +these woods back to the dim forgotten years before Columbus; and +if the pleasure I had in the fancy was childish, it made the day +pass quickly enough. Kua-ko was constantly at my elbow to assist +and give advice; and many an arrow I blew from the long tube, and +hit no bird. Heaven knows what I hit, for the arrows flew away +on their wide and wild career to be seen no more, except a few +which my keen-eyed comrade marked to their destination and +managed to recover. The result of our day's hunting was a couple +of birds, which Kua-ko, not I, shot, and a small opossum his +sharp eyes detected high up a tree lying coiled up on an old +nest, over the side of which the animal had incautiously allowed +his snaky tail to dangle. The number of darts I wasted must have +been a rather serious loss to him, but he did not seem troubled +at it, and made no remark. + +Next day, to my surprise, he volunteered to give me a second +lesson, and we went out again. On this occasion he had provided +himself with a large bundle of darts, but--wise man!--they were +not poisoned, and it therefore mattered little whether they were +wasted or not. I believe that on this day I made some little +progress; at all events, my teacher remarked that before long I +would be able to hit a bird. This made me smile and answer that +if he could place me within twenty yards of a bird not smaller +than a small man I might manage to touch it with an arrow. + +This speech had a very unexpected and remarkable effect. He +stopped short in his walk, stared at me wildly, then grinned, and +finally burst into a roar of laughter, which was no bad imitation +of the howling monkey's performance, and smote his naked thighs +with tremendous energy. At length recovering himself, he asked +whether a small woman was not the same as a small man, and being +answered in the affirmative, went off into a second extravagant +roar of laughter. + +Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he continued in this +mood, I began making any number of feeble jokes--feeble, but +quite as good as the one which had provoked such outrageous +merriment--for it amused me to see him acting in this unusual +way. But they all failed of their effect--there was no hitting +the bull's-eye a second time; he would only stare vacantly at me, +then grunt like a peccary--not appreciatively--and walk on. +Still, at intervals he would go back to what I had said about +hitting a very big bird, and roar again, as if this wonderful +joke was not easily exhausted. + +Again on the third day we were out together practicing at the +birds--frightening if not killing them; but before noon, finding +that it was his intention to go to a distant spot where he +expected to meet with larger game, I left him and returned to the +village. The blow-pipe practice had lost its novelty, and I did +not care to go on all day and every day with it; more than that, +I was anxious after so long an interval to pay a visit to my +wood, as I began to call it, in the hope of hearing that +mysterious melody which I had grown to love and to miss when even +a single day passed without it. + + + +CHAPTER V + +After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of +pleasing anticipations, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it +was to be in! What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness +it possessed above all forests, because of that mystery that drew +me to it! And it was mine, truly and absolutely--as much mine as +any portion of earth's surface could belong to any man--mine with +all its products: the precious woods and fruits and fragrant gums +that would never be trafficked away; its wild animals that man +would never persecute; nor would any jealous savage dispute my +ownership or pretend that it was part of his hunting-ground. As +I crossed the savannah I played with this fancy; but when I +reached the ridgy eminence, to look down once more on my new +domain, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced to +my heart and was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to +rush to my eyes. And caring not in that solitude to disguise my +feelings from myself, and from the wide heaven that looked down +and saw me--for this is the sweetest thing that solitude has for +us, that we are free in it, and no convention holds us--I dropped +on my knees and kissed the stony ground, then casting up my eyes, +thanked the Author of my being for the gift of that wild forest, +those green mansions where I had found so great a happiness! + +Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long +after noon; but no melodious voice gave me familiar and expected +welcome; nor did my invisible companion make itself heard at all +on that day, or, at all events, not in its usual bird-like +warbling language. But on this day I met with a curious little +adventure and heard something very extraordinary, very +mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in my mind with +the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles. + +It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and +finding myself in a rather open part of the wood, near its +border, where the breeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the +lower part of a large branch, which was half broken, but still +remained attached to the trunk of the tree, while resting its +terminal twigs on the ground. Just before me, where I sat, grew +a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad, round, polished +leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectly horizontal +position of the upper leaves made them look like a collection of +small platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. +Through the leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a +slender dead stem protruded, and from a twig at its summit +depended a broken spider's web. A minute dead leaf had become +attached to one of the loose threads and threw its small but +distinct shadow on the platform leaves below; and as it trembled +and swayed in the current of air, the black spot trembled with it +or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and was seldom at +rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the small +dancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I +noticed a small spider, with a flat body and short legs, creep +cautiously out on to the upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red +colour barred with velvet black first drew my attention to it, +for it was beautiful to the eye; and presently I discovered that +this was no web-spinning, sedentary spider, but a wandering +hunter, that captured its prey, like a cat, by stealing on it +concealed and making a rush or spring at the last. The moving +shadow had attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken +for a fly running about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to +leaf. Now began a series of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider's +part, with the object of circumventing the imaginary fly, which +seemed specially designed to meet this special case; for +certainly no insect had ever before behaved in quite so erratic a +manner. Each time the shadow flew past, the spider ran swiftly +in the same direction, hiding itself under the leaves, always +trying to get near without alarming its prey; and then the shadow +would go round and round in a small circle, and some new +strategic move on the part of the hunter would be called forth. +I became deeply interested in this curious scene; I began to wish +that the shadow would remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to +give the hunter a chance. And at last I had my wish: the shadow +was almost motionless, and the spider moving towards it, yet +seeming not to move, and as it crept closer I fancied that I +could almost see the little striped body quivering with +excitement. Then came the final scene: swift and straight as an +arrow the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, then +wiggled round and round, evidently trying to take hold of his +prey with fangs and claws; and finding nothing under him, he +raised the fore part of his body vertically, as if to stare about +him in search of the delusive fly; but the action may have simply +expressed astonishment. At this moment I was just on the point +of giving free and loud vent to the laughter which I had been +holding in when, just behind me, as if from some person who had +been watching the scene over my shoulder and was as much amused +as myself at its termination, sounded a clear trill of merry +laughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but no living +creature was there. The mass of loose foliage I stared into was +agitated, as if from a body having just pushed through it. In a +moment the leaves and fronds were motionless again; still, I +could not be sure that a slight gust of wind had not shaken them. +But I was so convinced that I had heard close to me a real human +laugh, or sound of some living creature that exactly simulated a +laugh, that I carefully searched the ground about me, expecting +to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing, and going +back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated for a +considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on the +mystery of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to +wonder whether I, like the spider that chased the shadow, had +been deluded, and had seemed to hear a sound that was not a +sound. + +On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or +three hours' ramble, during which I heard nothing, thinking it +useless to haunt the known spots any longer, I turned southwards +and penetrated into a denser part of the forest, where the +undergrowth made progress difficult. I was not afraid of losing +myself; the sun above and my sense of direction, which was always +good, would enable me to return to the starting-point. + +In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on for over half +an hour, finding it no easy matter to make my way without +constantly deviating to this side or that from the course I +wished to keep, when I came to a much more open spot. The trees +were smaller and scantier here, owing to the rocky nature of the +ground, which sloped rather rapidly down; but it was moist and +overgrown with mosses, ferns, creepers, and low shrubs, all of +the liveliest green. I could not see many yards ahead owing to +the bushes and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to hear a +low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or +thirty yards further, I made out to be the gurgling of running +water; and at the same moment I made the discovery that my throat +was parched and my palms tingling with heat. I hurried on, +promising myself a cool draught, when all at once, above the soft +dashing and gurgling of the water, I caught yet another sound--a +low, warbling note, or succession of notes, which might have been +emitted by a bird. But it startled me nevertheless--bird-like +warbling sounds had come to mean so much to me--and pausing, I +listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally, treading +with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysterious +vocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a +quantity of feathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, +I saw that just beyond the tree the ground was more open still, +letting in the sunlight from above, and that the channel of the +stream I sought was in this open space, about twenty yards from +me, although the water was still hidden from sight. Something +else was there, which I did see; instantly my cautious advance +was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision, scarcely +daring to breathe lest I should scare it away. + +It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among +the ferns and herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm +was doubled behind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the +other arm was held extended before her, the hand raised towards a +small brown bird perched on a pendulous twig just beyond its +reach. She appeared to be playing with the bird, possibly +amusing herself by trying to entice it on to her hand; and the +hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently hopped up +and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirting its +wings and tail, and always appearing just on the point of +dropping on to her finger. From my position it was impossible to +see her distinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that +she was small, not above four feet six or seven inches in height, +in figure slim, with delicately shaped little hands and feet. +Her feet were bare, and her only garment was a slight +chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees, of a whitish-gray +colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material. Her hair was +very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemed wavy or +curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark it +appeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of +her skin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, +near to me as she actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in +the figure which made it appear somewhat vague and distant, and a +greenish grey seemed the prevailing colour. This tint I +presently attributed to the effect of the sunlight falling on her +through the green foliage; for once, for a moment, she raised +herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, and then a gleam +of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the arm at +that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just +where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of +iridescent colour. + +I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the +bird, with a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in +sudden alarm; at the same moment she turned and saw me through +the light leafy screen. But although catching sight of me thus +suddenly, she did not exhibit alarm like the bird; only her eyes, +wide open, with a surprised look in them, remained immovably +fixed on my face. And then slowly, imperceptibly--for I did not +notice the actual movement, so gradual and smooth it was, like +the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its form and place, +yet to the eye seems not to have moved--she rose to her knees, to +her feet, retired, and with face still towards me, and eyes fixed +on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away +into the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise +spot where she had been a moment before--the feathery foliage of +an acacia shrub, and stems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an +aquatic plant, and slim, drooping fern fronds, and they were +motionless and seemed not to have been touched by something +passing through them. She had gone, yet I continued still, bent +almost double, gazing fixedly at the spot where I had last seen +her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed by sensations +which were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid was the +image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually +before my eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a +dream, an illusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in +this gross world; and at the same time I knew that she had been +there--that imagination was powerless to conjure up a form so +exquisite. + +With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I +remained for some hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did +I hear any familiar melodious sound. For I was now convinced +that in this wild solitary girl I had at length discovered the +mysterious warbler that so often followed me in the wood. At +length, seeing that it was growing late, I took a drink from the +stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of the forest +and went home. + +Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful +anticipations, and had no sooner got well among the trees than a +soft, warbling sound reached my ears; it was like that heard on +the previous day just before catching sight of the girl among the +ferns. So soon! thought I, elated, and with cautious steps I +proceeded to explore the ground, hoping again to catch her +unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning to doubt +that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on a +rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near +and distinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour +later, in another place, the same mysterious note sounded near +me. During my remaining time in the forest I was served many +times in the same way, and still nothing was seen, nor was there +any change in the voice. + +Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, +feeling very keenly disappointed. It then struck me that the +cause of the elusive creature's behaviour was that she had been +piqued at my discovery of her in one of her most secret +hiding-places in the heart of the wood, and that it had pleased +her to pay me out in this manner. + +On the next day there was no change; she was there again, +evidently following me, but always invisible, and varied not from +that one mocking note of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me +to find her a second time. In the end I was vexed, and resolved +to be even with her by not visiting the wood for some time. A +display of indifference on my part would, I hoped, result in +making her less coy in the future. + +Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two +others to a distant spot where they expected that the ripening +fruit on a cashew tree would attract a large number of birds. +The fruit, however, proved still green, so that we gathered none +and killed few birds. Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my +side, and by and by, falling behind our companions, he +complimented me on my good shooting, although, as usual, I had +only wasted the arrows I had blown. + +"Soon you will be able to hit," he said; "hit a bird as big as a +small woman"; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old +joke. At last, growing confidential, he said that I would soon +possess a zabatana of my own, with arrows in plenty. He was +going to make the arrows himself, and his uncle Otawinki, who had +a straight eye, would make the tube. I treated it all as a joke, +but he solemnly assured me that he meant it. + +Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil +fame, and when I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, +very much to my surprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried +to persuade me to go, where before I had been earnestly +recommended not to go, until, finding that I would not, he took +me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by he returned to the +same subject: he could not understand why I would not go to that +wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid. + +"No, not afraid," I replied; "but I know the place well, and am +getting tired of it." I had seen everything in it--birds and +beasts--and had heard all its strange noises. + +"Yes, heard," he said, nodding his head knowingly; "but you have +seen nothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet." + +I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything +strange the wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I +went on to describe her appearance, and finished by asking if he +thought a white man was frightened at the sight of a young girl. + +What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, +growing still more confidential and generous than on the previous +day, he said that I would soon be a most important personage +among them, and greatly distinguish myself. He did not like it +when I laughed at all this, and went on with great seriousness to +speak of the unmade blowpipe that would be mine--speaking of it +as if it had been something very great, equal to the gift of a +large tract of land, or the governorship of a province, north of +the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke of something else more +wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows +galore, and this was that young sister of his, whose name was +Oalava, a maid of about sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, +rather lean and dirty; not ugly, nor yet prepossessing. And this +copper-coloured little drab of the wilderness he proposed to +bestow in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him, I managed to +control my muscles and asked him what authority he--a young +nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife for +himself--could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand way? +He replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would +give his consent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other +relations; and last, and LEAST, according to the matrimonial +customs of these latitudes, Oalava herself would be ready to +bestow her person--queyou, worn figleaf-wise, necklace of accouri +teeth, and all--on so worthy a suitor as myself. Finally, to +make the prospect still more inviting, he added that it would not +be necessary for me to subject myself to any voluntary tortures +to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the purgatorial +state of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I said, +and, with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of +torture he would recommend. For me--so valorous a person--"no +torture," he answered magnanimously. But he--Kua-ko--had made up +his mind as to the form of torture he meant to inflict some day +on his own person. He would prepare a large sack and into it put +fire-ants--"As many as that!" he exclaimed triumphantly, +stooping and filling his two hands with loose sand. He would put +them in the sack, and then get into it himself naked, and tie it +tightly round his neck, so as to show to all spectators that the +hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his flesh could be +endured without a groan and with an unmoved countenance. The +poor youth had not an original mind, since this was one of the +commonest forms of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But +the sudden wonderful animation with which he spoke of it, the +fiendish joy that illumined his usually stolid countenance, sent +a sudden disgust and horror through me. But what a strange +inverted kind of fiendishness is this, which delights at the +anticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not on an enemy! +And towards others these savages are mild and peaceable! No, I +could not believe in their mildness; that was only on the +surface, when nothing occurred to rouse their savage, cruel +instincts. I could have laughed at the whole matter, but the +exulting look on my companion's face had made me sick of the +subject, and I wished not to talk any more about it. + +But he would talk still--this fellow whose words, as a rule, I +had to take out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on +the same subject, he said that not one person in the village +would expect to see me torture myself; that after what I would do +for them all--after delivering them from a great evil--nothing +further would be expected of me. + +I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear +plain that in everything he had said he had been leading up to +some very important matter. It would, of course, have been a +great mistake to suppose that my savage was offering me a +blow-pipe and a marketable virgin sister from purely +disinterested motives. + +In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my +being able eventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with +an arrow. Out of it all came, when he went on to ask me if that +mysterious girl I had seen in the wood was not of a size to suit +me as a target when I had got my hand in with a little more +practice. That was the great work I was asked to do for +them--that shy, mysterious girl with the melodious wild-bird +voice was the evil being I was asked to slay with poisoned +arrows! This was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, +to become more and more familiar with her haunts and habits, to +overcome all shyness and suspicion in her; and at the proper +moment, when it would be impossible to miss my mark, to plant the +fatal arrow! The disgust he had inspired in me before, when +gloating over anticipated tortures, was a weak and transient +feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him in a sudden +transport of rage, and in a moment would have shattered on his +head the blow-pipe I was carrying in my hand, but his astonished +look as he turned to face me made me pause and prevented me from +committing so fatal an indiscretion. I could only grind my teeth +and struggle to overcome an almost overpowering hatred and wrath. +Finally I flung the tube down and bade him take it, telling him +that I would not touch it again if he offered me all the sisters +of all the savages in Guayana for wives. + +He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence +suggested that it would be best to conceal as far as possible the +violent animosity I had conceived against him. I asked him +somewhat scornfully if he believed that I should ever be able to +hit anything--bird or human being--with an arrow. "No," I almost +shouted, so as to give vent to my feelings in some way, and +drawing my revolver, "this is the white man's weapon; but he +kills men with it--men who attempt to kill or injure him--but +neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder innocent +young girls treacherously." After that we went on in silence for +some time; at length he said that the being I had seen in the +wood and was not afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a +daughter of the Didi, an evil being; and that so long as she +continued to inhabit the wood they could not go there to hunt, +and even in other woods they constantly went in fear of meeting +her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on in silence; +and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw off my +clothes and plunged into the water to cool my anger before going +in to the others. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Thinking about the forest girl while lying awake that night, I +came to the conclusion that I had made it sufficiently plain to +her how little her capricious behaviour had been relished, and +had therefore no need to punish myself more by keeping any longer +out of my beloved green mansions. Accordingly, next day, after +the heavy rain that fell during the morning hours had ceased, I +set forth about noon to visit the wood. Overhead the sky was +clear again; but there was no motion in the heavy sultry +atmosphere, while dark blue masses of banked-up clouds on the +western horizon threatened a fresh downpour later in the day. My +mind was, however, now too greatly excited at the prospect of a +possible encounter with the forest nymph to allow me to pay any +heed to these ominous signs. + +I had passed through the first strip of wood and was in the +succeeding stony sterile space when a gleam of brilliant colour +close by on the ground caught my sight. It was a snake lying on +the bare earth; had I kept on without noticing it, I should most +probably have trodden upon or dangerously near it. Viewing it +closely, I found that it was a coral snake, famed as much for its +beauty and singularity as for its deadly character. It was about +three feet long, and very slim; its ground colour a brilliant +vermilion, with broad jet-black rings at equal distances round +its body, each black ring or band divided by a narrow yellow +strip in the middle. The symmetrical pattern and vividly +contrasted colours would have given it the appearance of an +artificial snake made by some fanciful artist, but for the gleam +of life in its bright coils. Its fixed eyes, too, were living +gems, and from the point of its dangerous arrowy head the +glistening tongue flickered ceaselessly as I stood a few yards +away regarding it. + +"I admire you greatly, Sir Serpent," I said, or thought, "but it +is dangerous, say the military authorities, to leave an enemy or +possible enemy in the rear; the person who does such a thing must +be either a bad strategist or a genius, and I am neither." + +Retreating a few paces, I found and picked up a stone about as +big as a man's hand and hurled it at the dangerous-looking head +with the intention of crushing it; but the stone hit upon the +rocky ground a little on one side of the mark and, being soft, +flew into a hundred small fragments. This roused the creature's +anger, and in a moment with raised head he was gliding swiftly +towards me. Again I retreated, not so slowly on this occasion; +and finding another stone, I raised and was about to launch it +when a sharp, ringing cry issued from the bushes growing near, +and, quickly following the sound, forth stepped the forest girl; +no longer elusive and shy, vaguely seen in the shadowy wood, but +boldly challenging attention, exposed to the full power of the +meridian sun, which made her appear luminous and rich in colour +beyond example. Seeing her thus, all those emotions of fear and +abhorrence invariably excited in us by the sight of an active +venomous serpent in our path vanished instantly from my mind: I +could now only feel astonishment and admiration at the brilliant +being as she advanced with swift, easy, undulating motion towards +me; or rather towards the serpent, which was now between us, +moving more and more slowly as she came nearer. The cause of +this sudden wonderful boldness, so unlike her former habit, was +unmistakable. She had been watching my approach from some +hiding-place among the bushes, ready no doubt to lead me a dance +through the wood with her mocking voice, as on previous +occasions, when my attack on the serpent caused that outburst of +wrath. The torrent of ringing and to me inarticulate sounds in +that unknown tongue, her rapid gestures, and, above all, her +wide-open sparkling eyes and face aflame with colour made it +impossible to mistake the nature of her feeling. + +In casting about for some term or figure of speech in which to +describe the impression produced on me at that moment, I think of +waspish, and, better still, avispada--literally the same word in +Spanish, not having precisely the same meaning nor ever applied +contemptuously--only to reject both after a moment's reflection. +Yet I go back to the image of an irritated wasp as perhaps +offering the best illustration; of some large tropical wasp +advancing angrily towards me, as I have witnessed a hundred +times, not exactly flying, but moving rapidly, half running and +half flying, over the ground, with loud and angry buzz, the +glistening wings open and agitated; beautiful beyond most +animated creatures in its sharp but graceful lines, polished +surface, and varied brilliant colouring, and that wrathfulness +that fits it so well and seems to give it additional lustre. + +Wonder-struck at the sight of her strange beauty and passion, I +forgot the advancing snake until she came to a stop at about five +yards from me; then to my horror I saw that it was beside her +naked feet. Although no longer advancing, the head was still +raised high as if to strike; but presently the spirit of anger +appeared to die out of it; the lifted head, oscillating a little +from side to side, sunk down lower and lower to rest finally on +the girl's bare instep; and lying there motionless, the deadly +thing had the appearance of a gaily coloured silken garter just +dropped from her leg. It was plain to see that she had no fear +of it, that she was one of those exceptional persons, to be +found, it is said, in all countries, who possess some magnetic +quality which has a soothing effect on even the most venomous and +irritable reptiles. + +Following the direction of my eyes, she too glanced down, but did +not move her foot; then she made her voice heard again, still +loud and sharp, but the anger was not now so pronounced. + +"Do not fear, I shall not harm it," I said in the Indian tongue. + +She took no notice of my speech and continued speaking with +increasing resentment. + +I shook my head, replying that her language was unknown to me. +Then by means of signs I tried to make her understand that the +creature was safe from further molestation. She pointed +indignantly at the stone in my hand, which I had forgotten all +about. At once I threw it from me, and instantly there was a +change; the resentment had vanished, and a tender radiance lit +her face like a smile. + +I advanced a little nearer, addressing her once more in the +Indian tongue; but my speech was evidently unintelligible to her, +as she stood now glancing at the snake lying at her feet, now at +me. Again I had recourse to signs and gestures; pointing to the +snake, then to the stone I had cast away, I endeavoured to convey +to her that in the future I would for her sake be a friend to all +venomous reptiles, and that I wished her to have the same kindly +feelings towards me as towards these creatures. Whether or not +she understood me, she showed no disposition to go into hiding +again, and continued silently regarding me with a look that +seemed to express pleasure at finding herself at last thus +suddenly brought face to face with me. Flattered at this, I +gradually drew nearer until at the last I was standing at her +side, gazing down with the utmost delight into that face which so +greatly surpassed in loveliness all human faces I had ever seen +or imagined. + +And yet to you, my friend, it probably will not seem that she was +so beautiful, since I have, alas! only the words we all use to +paint commoner, coarser things, and no means to represent all the +exquisite details, all the delicate lights, and shades, and swift +changes of colour and expression. Moreover, is it not a fact +that the strange or unheard of can never appear beautiful in a +mere description, because that which is most novel in it attracts +too much attention and is given undue prominence in the picture, +and we miss that which would have taken away the effect of +strangeness--the perfect balance of the parts and harmony of the +whole? For instance, the blue eyes of the northerner would, when +first described to the black-eyed inhabitants of warm regions, +seem unbeautiful and a monstrosity, because they would vividly +see with the mental vision that unheard-of blueness, but not in +the same vivid way the accompanying flesh and hair tints with +which it harmonizes. + +Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint it in words +than of the feeling its original inspired in me when, looking +closely for the first time on that rare loveliness, trembling +with delight, I mentally cried: "Oh, why has Nature, maker of so +many types and of innumerable individuals of each, given to the +world but one being like this?" + +Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind before I +dismissed it as utterly incredible. No, this exquisite being was +without doubt one of a distinct race which had existed in this +little-known corner of the continent for thousands of +generations, albeit now perhaps reduced to a small and dwindling +remnant. + +Her figure and features were singularly delicate, but it was her +colour that struck me most, which indeed made her differ from all +other human beings. The colour of the skin would be almost +impossible to describe, so greatly did it vary with every change +of mood--and the moods were many and transient--and with the +angle on which the sunlight touched it, and the degree of light. + +Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a somewhat dim +white or pale grey; near in the strong sunshine it was not white, +but alabastrian, semi-pellucid, showing an underlying rose +colour; and at any point where the rays fell direct this colour +was bright and luminous, as we see in our fingers when held +before a strong firelight. But that part of her skin that +remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer white, and the underlying +colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim blue. With the skin +the colour of the eyes harmonized perfectly. At first, when lit +with anger, they had appeared flame-like; now the iris was of a +peculiar soft or dim and tender red, a shade sometimes seen in +flowers. But only when looked closely at could this delicate hue +be discerned, the pupils being large, as in some grey eyes, and +the long, dark, shading lashes at a short distance made the whole +eye appear dark. Think not, then, of the red flower, exposed to +the light and sun in conjunction with the vivid green of the +foliage; think only of such a hue in the half-hidden iris, +brilliant and moist with the eye's moisture, deep with the eye's +depth, glorified by the outward look of a bright, beautiful soul. +Most variable of all in colour was the hair, this being due to +its extreme fineness and glossiness, and to its elasticity, which +made it lie fleecy and loose on head, shoulders, and back; a +cloud with a brightness on its surface made by the freer outer +hairs, a fit setting and crown for a countenance of such rare +changeful loveliness. In the shade, viewed closely, the general +colour appeared a slate, deepening in places to purple; but even +in the shade the nimbus of free flossy hairs half veiled the +darker tints with a downy pallor; and at a distance of a few +yards it gave the whole hair a vague, misty appearance. In the +sunlight the colour varied more, looking now dark, sometimes +intensely black, now of a light uncertain hue, with a play of +iridescent colour on the loose surface, as we see on the glossed +plumage of some birds; and at a short distance, with the sun +shining full on her head, it sometimes looked white as a noonday +cloud. So changeful was it and ethereal in appearance with its +cloud colours that all other human hair, even of the most +beautiful golden shades, pale or red, seemed heavy and dull and +dead-looking by comparison. + +But more than form and colour and that enchanting variability was +the look of intelligence, which at the same time seemed +complementary to and one with the all-seeing, all-hearing +alertness appearing in her face; the alertness one remarks in a +wild creature, even when in repose and fearing nothing; but +seldom in man, never perhaps in intellectual or studious man. +She was a wild, solitary girl of the woods, and did not +understand the language of the country in which I had addressed +her. What inner or mind life could such a one have more than +that of any wild animal existing in the same conditions? Yet +looking at her face it was not possible to doubt its +intelligence. This union in her of two opposite qualities, +which, with us, cannot or do not exist together, although so +novel, yet struck me as the girl's principal charm. Why had +Nature not done this before--why in all others does the +brightness of the mind dim that beautiful physical brightness +which the wild animals have? But enough for me that that which +no man had ever looked for or hoped to find existed here; that +through that unfamiliar lustre of the wild life shone the +spiritualizing light of mind that made us kin. + +These thoughts passed swiftly through my brain as I stood +feasting my sight on her bright, piquant face; while she on her +part gazed back into my eyes, not only with fearless curiosity, +but with a look of recognition and pleasure at the encounter so +unmistakably friendly that, encouraged by it, I took her arm in +my hand, moving at the same time a little nearer to her. At that +moment a swift, startled expression came into her eyes; she +glanced down and up again into my face; her lips trembled and +slightly parted as she murmured some sorrowful sounds in a tone +so low as to be only just audible. + +Thinking she had become alarmed and was on the point of escaping +out of my hands, and fearing, above all things, to lose sight of +her again so soon, I slipped my arm around her slender body to +detain her, moving one foot at the same time to balance myself; +and at that moment I felt a slight blow and a sharp burning +sensation shoot into my leg, so sudden and intense that I dropped +my arm, at the same time uttering a cry of pain, and recoiled one +or two paces from her. But she stirred not when I released her; +her eyes followed my movements; then she glanced down at her +feet. I followed her look, and figure to yourself my horror when +I saw there the serpent I had so completely forgotten, and which +even that sting of sharp pain had not brought back to +remembrance! There it lay, a coil of its own thrown round one of +her ankles, and its head, raised nearly a foot high, swaying +slowly from side to side, while the swift forked tongue flickered +continuously. Then--only then--I knew what had happened, and at +the same time I understood the reason of that sudden look of +alarm in her face, the murmuring sounds she had uttered, and the +downward startled glance. Her fears had been solely for my +safety, and she had warned me! Too late! too late! In moving I +had trodden on or touched the serpent with my foot, and it had +bitten me just above the ankle. In a few moments I began to +realize the horror of my position. "Must I die! must I die! +Oh, my God, is there nothing that can save me?" I cried in my +heart. + +She was still standing motionless in the same place: her eyes +wandered back from me to the snake; gradually its swaying head +was lowered again, and the coil unwound from her ankle; then it +began to move away, slowly at first, and with the head a little +raised, then faster, and in the end it glided out of sight. +Gone!--but it had left its venom in my blood--O cursed reptile! + +Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned to her face, now +strangely clouded with trouble; her eyes dropped before mine, +while the palms of her hands were pressed together, and the +fingers clasped and unclasped alternately. How different she +seemed now; the brilliant face grown so pallid and vague-looking! +But not only because this tragic end to our meeting had pierced +her with pain: that cloud in the west had grown up and now +covered half the sky with vast lurid masses of vapour, blotting +out the sun, and a great gloom had fallen on the earth. + +That sudden twilight and a long roll of approaching thunder, +reverberating from the hills, increased my anguish and +desperation. Death at that moment looked unutterably terrible. +The remembrance of all that made life dear pierced me to the +core--all that nature was to me, all the pleasures of sense and +intellect, the hopes I had cherished--all was revealed to me as +by a flash of lightning. Bitterest of all was the thought that I +must now bid everlasting farewell to this beautiful being I had +found in the solitude this lustrous daughter of the Didi--just +when I had won her from her shyness--that I must go away into the +cursed blackness of death and never know the mystery of her life! +It was that which utterly unnerved me, and made my legs tremble +under me, and brought great drops of sweat to my forehead, until +I thought that the venom was already doing its swift, fatal work +in my veins. + +With uncertain steps I moved to a stone a yard or two away and +sat down upon it. As I did so the hope came to me that this +girl, so intimate with nature, might know of some antidote to +save me. Touching my leg, and using other signs, I addressed her +again in the Indian language. + +"The snake has bitten me," I said. "What shall I do? Is there +no leaf, no root you know that would save me from death? Help +me! help me!" I cried in despair. + +My signs she probably understood if not my words, but she made no +reply; and still she remained standing motionless, twisting and +untwisting her fingers, and regarding me with a look of ineffable +grief and compassion. + +Alas! It was vain to appeal to her: she knew what had happened, +and what the result would most likely be, and pitied, but was +powerless to help me. Then it occurred to me that if I could +reach the Indian village before the venom overpowered me +something might be done to save me. Oh, why had I tarried so +long, losing so many precious minutes! Large drops of rain were +falling now, and the gloom was deeper, and the thunder almost +continuous. With a cry of anguish I started to my feet and was +about to rush away towards the village when a dazzling flash of +lightning made me pause for a moment. When it vanished I turned +a last look on the girl, and her face was deathly pale, and her +hair looked blacker than night; and as she looked she stretched +out her arms towards me and uttered a low, wailing cry. +"Good-bye for ever!" I murmured, and turning once more from her, +rushed away like one crazed into the wood. But in my confusion I +had probably taken the wrong direction, for instead of coming out +in a few minutes into the open border of the forest, and on to +the savannah, I found myself every moment getting deeper among +the trees. I stood still, perplexed, but could not shake off the +conviction that I had started in the right direction. Eventually +I resolved to keep on for a hundred yards or so and then, if no +opening appeared, to turn back and retrace my steps. But this +was no easy matter. I soon became entangled in a dense +undergrowth, which so confused me that at last I confessed +despairingly to myself that for the first time in this wood I was +hopelessly lost. And in what terrible circumstances! At +intervals a flash of lightning would throw a vivid blue glare +down into the interior of the wood and only serve to show that I +had lost myself in a place where even at noon in cloudless +weather progress would be most difficult; and now the light would +only last a moment, to be followed by thick gloom; and I could +only tear blindly on, bruising and lacerating my flesh at every +step, falling again and again, only to struggle up and on again, +now high above the surface, climbing over prostrate trees and +branches, now plunged to my middle in a pool or torrent of water. + +Hopeless--utterly hopeless seemed all my mad efforts; and at each +pause, when I would stand exhausted, gasping for breath, my +throbbing heart almost suffocating me, a dull, continuous, +teasing pain in my bitten leg served to remind me that I had but +a little time left to exist--that by delaying at first I had +allowed my only chance of salvation to slip by. + +How long a time I spent fighting my way through this dense black +wood I know not; perhaps two or three hours, only to me the hours +seemed like years of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I +found that I was free of the close undergrowth and walking on +level ground; but it was darker here darker than the darkest +night; and at length, when the lightning came and flared down +through the dense roof of foliage overhead, I discovered that I +was in a spot that had a strange look, where the trees were very +large and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to impede +progress beneath them. Here, recovering breath, I began to run, +and after a while found that I had left the large trees behind +me, and was now in a more open place, with small trees and +bushes; and this made me hope for a while that I had at last +reached the border of the forest. But the hope proved vain; once +more I had to force my way through dense undergrowth, and finally +emerged on to a slope where it was open, and I could once more +see for some distance around me by such light as came through the +thick pall of clouds. Trudging on to the summit of the slope, I +saw that there was open savannah country beyond, and for a moment +rejoiced that I had got free from the forest. A few steps more, +and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, a precipice not +less than fifty feet deep. I had never seen that bank before, +and therefore knew that I could not be on the right side of the +forest. But now my only hope was to get completely away from the +trees and then to look for the village, and I began following the +bank in search of a descent. No break occurred, and presently I +was stopped by a dense thicket of bushes. I was about to retrace +my steps when I noticed that a tall slender tree growing at the +foot of the precipice, its green top not more than a couple of +yards below my feet, seemed to offer a means of escape. Nerving +myself with the thought that if I got crushed by the fall I +should probably escape a lingering and far more painful death, I +dropped into the cloud of foliage beneath me and clutched +desperately at the twigs as I fell. For a moment I felt myself +sustained; but branch after branch gave way beneath my weight, +and then I only remember, very dimly, a swift flight through the +air before losing consciousness. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +With the return of consciousness, I at first had a vague +impression that I was lying somewhere, injured, and incapable of +motion; that it was night, and necessary for me to keep my eyes +fast shut to prevent them from being blinded by almost continuous +vivid flashes of lightning. Injured, and sore all over, but warm +and dry--surely dry; nor was it lightning that dazzled, but +firelight. I began to notice things little by little. The fire +was burning on a clay floor a few feet from where I was lying. +Before it, on a log of wood, sat or crouched a human figure. An +old man, with chin on breast and hands clasped before his +drawn-up knees; only a small portion of his forehead and nose +visible to me. An Indian I took him to be, from his coarse, +lank, grey hair and dark brown skin. I was in a large hut, +falling at the sides to within two feet of the floor; but there +were no hammocks in it, nor bows and spears, and no skins, not +even under me, for I was lying on straw mats. I could hear the +storm still raging outside; the rush and splash of rain, and, at +intervals, the distant growl of thunder. There was wind, too; I +listened to it sobbing in the trees, and occasionally a puff +found its way in, and blew up the white ashes at the old man's +feet, and shook the yellow flames like a flag. I remembered now +how the storm began, the wild girl, the snake-bite, my violent +efforts to find a way out of the woods, and, finally, that leap +from the bank where recollection ended. That I had not been +killed by the venomous tooth, nor the subsequent fearful fall, +seemed like a miracle to me. And in that wild, solitary place, +lying insensible, in that awful storm and darkness, I had been +found by a fellow creature--a savage, doubtless, but a good +Samaritan all the same--who had rescued me from death! I was +bruised all over and did not attempt to move, fearing the pain it +would give me; and I had a racking headache; but these seemed +trifling discomforts after such adventures and such perils. I +felt that I had recovered or was recovering from that venomous +bite; that I would live and not die--live to return to my +country; and the thought filled my heart to overflowing, and +tears of gratitude and happiness rose to my eyes. + +At such times a man experiences benevolent feelings, and would +willingly bestow some of that overplus of happiness on his +fellows to lighten other hearts; and this old man before me, who +was probably the instrument of my salvation, began greatly to +excite my interest and compassion. For he seemed so poor in his +old age and rags, so solitary and dejected as he sat there with +knees drawn up, his great, brown, bare feet looking almost black +by contrast with the white wood-ashes about them! What could I +do for him? What could I say to cheer his spirits in that Indian +language, which has few or no words to express kindly feelings? +Unable to think of anything better to say, I at length suddenly +cried aloud: "Smoke, old man! Why do you not smoke? It is good +to smoke." + +He gave a mighty start and, turning, fixed his eyes on me. Then +I saw that he was not a pure Indian, for although as brown as old +leather, he wore a beard and moustache. A curious face had this +old man, which looked as if youth and age had made it a +battling-ground. His forehead was smooth except for two parallel +lines in the middle running its entire length, dividing it in +zones; his arched eyebrows were black as ink, and his small black +eyes were bright and cunning, like the eyes of some wild +carnivorous animal. In this part of his face youth had held its +own, especially in the eyes, which looked young and lively. But +lower down age had conquered, scribbling his skin all over with +wrinkles, while moustache and beard were white as thistledown. +"Aha, the dead man is alive again!" he exclaimed, with a +chuckling laugh. This in the Indian tongue; then in Spanish he +added: "But speak to me in the language you know best, senor; for +if you are not a Venezuelan call me an owl." + +"And you, old man?" said I. + +"Ah, I was right! Why sir what I am is plainly written on my +face. Surely you do not take me for a pagan! I might be a black +man from Africa, or an Englishman, but an Indian--that, no! But +a minute ago you had the goodness to invite me to smoke. How, sir, +can a poor man smoke who is without tobacco?" + +"Without tobacco--in Guayana!" + +"Can you believe it? But, sir, do not blame me; if the beast +that came one night and destroyed my plants when ripe for cutting +had taken pumpkins and sweet potatoes instead, it would have been +better for him, if curses have any effect. And the plant grows +slowly, sir--it is not an evil weed to come to maturity in a +single day. And as for other leaves in the forest, I smoke them, +yes; but there is no comfort to the lungs in such smoke." + +"My tobacco-pouch was full," I said. "You will find it in my +coat, if I did not lose it." + +"The saints forbid!" he exclaimed. "Grandchild--Rima, have you +got a tobacco-pouch with the other things? Give it to me." + +Then I first noticed that another person was in the hut, a slim +young girl, who had been seated against the wall on the other +side of the fire, partially hid by the shadows. She had my +leather belt, with the revolver in its case, and my hunting-knife +attached, and the few articles I had had in my pockets, on her +lap. Taking up the pouch, she handed it to him, and he clutched +it with a strange eagerness. + +"I will give it back presently, Rima," he said. "Let me first +smoke a cigarette--and then another." + +It seemed probable from this that the good old man had already +been casting covetous eyes on my property, and that his +granddaughter had taken care of it for me. But how the silent, +demure girl had kept it from him was a puzzle, so intensely did +he seem now to enjoy it, drawing the smoke vigorously into his +lungs and, after keeping it ten or fifteen seconds there, letting +it fly out again from mouth and nose in blue jets and clouds. +His face softened visibly, he became more and more genial and +loquacious, and asked me how I came to be in that solitary place. +I told him that I was staying with the Indian Runi, his +neighbour. + +"But, senor," he said, "if it is not an impertinence, how is it +that a young man of so distinguished an appearance as yourself, a +Venezuelan, should be residing with these children of the devil?" + +"You love not your neighbours, then?" + +"I know them, sir--how should I love them?" He was rolling up +his second or third cigarette by this time, and I could not help +noticing that he took a great deal more tobacco than he required +in his fingers, and that the surplus on each occasion was +conveyed to some secret receptacle among his rags. "Love them, +sir! They are infidels, and therefore the good Christian must +only hate them. They are thieves--they will steal from you before +your very face, so devoid are they of all shame. And also +murderers; gladly would they burn this poor thatch above my head, +and kill me and my poor grandchild, who shares this solitary life +with me, if they had the courage. But they are all arrant +cowards, and fear to approach me--fear even to come into this +wood. You would laugh to hear what they are afraid of--a child +would laugh to hear it!" + +"What do they fear?" I said, for his words had excited my +interest in a great degree. + +"Why, sir, would you believe it? They fear this child--my +granddaughter, seated there before you. A poor innocent girl of +seventeen summers, a Christian who knows her Catechism, and would +not harm the smallest thing that God has made--no, not a fly, +which is not regarded on account of its smallness. Why, sir, it +is due to her tender heart that you are safely sheltered here, +instead of being left out of doors in this tempestuous night." + +"To her--to this girl?" I returned in astonishment. "Explain, +old man, for I do not know how I was saved." + +"Today, senor, through your own heedlessness you were bitten by a +venomous snake." + +"Yes, that is true, although I do not know how it came to your +knowledge. But why am I not a dead man, then--have you done +something to save me from the effects of the poison?" + +"Nothing. What could I do so long after you were bitten? When a +man is bitten by a snake in a solitary place he is in God's +hands. He will live or die as God wills. There is nothing to be +done. But surely, sir, you remember that my poor grandchild was +with you in the wood when the snake bit you?" + +"A girl was there--a strange girl I have seen and heard before +when I have walked in the forest. But not this girl--surely not +this girl!" + +"No other," said he, carefully rolling up another cigarette. + +"It is not possible!" I returned. + +"Ill would you have fared, sir, had she not been there. For +after being bitten, you rushed away into the thickest part of the +wood, and went about in a circle like a demented person for +Heaven knows how long. But she never left you; she was always +close to you--you might have touched her with your hand. And at +last some good angel who was watching you, in order to stop your +career, made you mad altogether and caused you to jump over a +precipice and lose your senses. And you were no sooner on the +ground than she was with you--ask me not how she got down! And +when she had propped you up against the bank, she came for me. +Fortunately the spot where you had fallen is near--not five +hundred yards from the door. And I, on my part, was willing to +assist her in saving you; for I knew it was no Indian that had +fallen, since she loves not that breed, and they come not here. +It was not an easy task, for you weigh, senor; but between us we +brought you in." + +While he spoke, the girl continued sitting in the same listless +attitude as when I first observed her, with eyes cast down and +hands folded in her lap. Recalling that brilliant being in the +wood that had protected the serpent from me and calmed its rage, +I found it hard to believe his words, and still felt a little +incredulous. + +"Rima--that is your name, is it not?" I said. "Will you come +here and stand before me, and let me look closely at you?" + +"Si, senor." she meekly answered; and removing the things from +her lap, she stood up; then, passing behind the old man, came and +stood before me, her eyes still bent on the ground--a picture of +humility. + +She had the figure of the forest girl, but wore now a scanty +faded cotton garment, while the loose cloud of hair was confined +in two plaits and hung down her back. The face also showed the +same delicate lines, but of the brilliant animation and variable +colour and expression there appeared no trace. Gazing at her +countenance as she stood there silent, shy, and spiritless before +me, the image of her brighter self came vividly to my mind and I +could not recover from the astonishment I felt at such a +contrast. + +Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial +dance among the flowers--a living prismatic gem that changes its +colour with every change of position--how in turning it catches +the sunshine on its burnished neck and gorges plumes--green and +gold and flame-coloured, the beams changing to visible flakes as +they fall, dissolving into nothing, to be succeeded by others and +yet others? In its exquisite form, its changeful splendour, its +swift motions and intervals of aerial suspension, it is a +creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all +description. And have you seen this same fairy-like creature +suddenly perch itself on a twig, in the shade, its misty wings +and fan-like tail folded, the iridescent glory vanished, looking +like some common dull-plumaged little bird sitting listless in a +cage? Just so great was the difference in the girl as I had seen +her in the forest and as she now appeared under the smoky roof in +the firelight. + +After watching her for some moments, I spoke: "Rima, there must +be a good deal of strength in that frame of yours, which looks so +delicate; will you raise me up a little?" + +She went down on one knee and, placing her arms round me, +assisted me to a sitting posture. + +"Thank you, Rima--oh, misery!" I groaned. "Is there a bone left +unbroken in my poor body?" + +"Nothing broken," cried the old man, clouds of smoke flying out +with his words. "I have examined you well--legs, arms, ribs. +For this is how it was, senor. A thorny bush into which you fell +saved you from being flattened on the stony ground. But you are +bruised, sir, black with bruises; and there are more scratches of +thorns on your skin than letters on a written page." + +"A long thorn might have entered my brain," I said, "from the way +it pains. Feel my forehead, Rima; is it very hot and dry?" + +She did as I asked, touching me lightly with her little cool +hand. "No, senor, not hot, but warm and moist," she said. + +"Thank Heaven for that!" I said. "Poor girl! And you followed +me through the wood in all that terrible storm! Ah, if I could +lift my bruised arm I would take your hand to kiss it in +gratitude for so great a service. I owe you my life, sweet +Rima--what shall I do to repay so great a debt?" + +The old man chuckled as if amused, but the girl lifted not her +eyes nor spoke. + +"Tell me, sweet child," I said, "for I cannot realize it yet; was +it really you that saved the serpent's life when I would have +killed it--did you stand by me in the wood with the serpent lying +at your feet?" + +"Yes, senor," came her gentle answer. + +"And it was you I saw in the wood one day, lying on the ground +playing with a small bird?" + +"Yes, senor." + +"And it was you that followed me so often among the trees, +calling to me, yet always hiding so that I could never see you?" + +"Yes, senor." + +"Oh, this is wonderful!" I exclaimed; whereat the old man +chuckled again. + +"But tell me this, my sweet girl," I continued. "You never +addressed me in Spanish; what strange musical language was it you +spoke to me in?" + +She shot a timid glance at my face and looked troubled at the +question, but made no reply. + +"Senor," said the old man, "that is a question which you must +excuse my child from answering. Not, sir, from want of will, for +she is docile and obedient, though I say it, but there is no +answer beyond what I can tell you. And this is, sir, that all +creatures, whether man or bird, have the voice that God has given +them; and in some the voice is musical and in others not so." + +"Very well, old man," said I to myself; "there let the matter +rest for the present. But if I am destined to live and not die, +I shall not long remain satisfied with your too simple +explanation." + +"Rima," I said, "you must be fatigued; it is thoughtless of me to +keep you standing here so long." + +Her face brightened a little, and bending down, she replied in a +low voice: "I am not fatigued, sir. Let me get you something to +eat now." + +She moved quickly away to the fire, and presently returned with +an earthenware dish of roasted pumpkin and sweet potatoes and, +kneeling at my side, fed me deftly with a small wooden spoon. I +did not feel grieved at the absence of meat and the stinging +condiments the Indians love, nor did I even remark that there was +no salt in the vegetables, so much was I taken up with watching +her beautiful delicate face while she ministered to me. The +exquisite fragrance of her breath was more to me than the most +delicious viands could have been; and it was a delight each time +she raised the spoon to my mouth to catch a momentary glimpse of +her eyes, which now looked dark as wine when we lift the glass to +see the ruby gleam of light within the purple. But she never for +a moment laid aside the silent, meek, constrained manner; and +when I remembered her bursting out in her brilliant wrath on me, +pouring forth that torrent of stinging invective in her +mysterious language, I was lost in wonder and admiration at the +change in her, and at her double personality. Having satisfied +my wants, she moved quietly away and, raising a straw mat, +disappeared behind it into her own sleeping-apartment, which was +divided off by a partition from the room I was in. + +The old man's sleeping-place was a wooden cot or stand on the +opposite side of the room, but he was in no hurry to sleep, and +after Rima had left us, put a fresh log on the blaze and lit +another cigarette. Heaven knows how many he had smoked by this +time. He became very talkative and called to his side his two +dogs, which I had not noticed in the room before, for me to see. +It amused me to hear their names--Susio and Goloso: Dirty and +Greedy. They were surly-looking brutes, with rough yellow hair, +and did not win my heart, but according to his account they +possessed all the usual canine virtues; and he was still holding +forth on the subject when I fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +When morning came I was too stiff and sore to move, and not until +the following day was I able to creep out to sit in the shade of +the trees. My old host, whose name was Nuflo, went off with his +dogs, leaving the girl to attend to my wants. Two or three times +during the day she appeared to serve me with food and drink, but +she continued silent and constrained in manner as on the first +evening of seeing her in the hut. + +Late in the afternoon old Nuflo returned, but did not say where +he had been; and shortly afterwards Rima reappeared, demure as +usual, in her faded cotton dress, her cloud of hair confined in +two long plaits. My curiosity was more excited than ever, and I +resolved to get to the bottom of the mystery of her life. The +girl had not shown herself responsive, but now that Nuflo was +back I was treated to as much talk as I cared to hear. He talked +of many things, only omitting those which I desired to hear +about; but his pet subject appeared to be the divine government +of the world--"God's politics"--and its manifest imperfections, +or, in other words, the manifold abuses which from time to time +had been allowed to creep into it. The old man was pious, but +like many of his class in my country, he permitted himself to +indulge in very free criticisms of the powers above, from the +King of Heaven down to the smallest saint whose name figures in +the calendar. + +"These things, senor," he said, "are not properly managed. +Consider my position. Here am I compelled for my sins to inhabit +this wilderness with my poor granddaughter--" + +"She is not your granddaughter!" I suddenly interrupted, +thinking to surprise him into an admission. + +But he took his time to answer. "Senor, we are never sure of +anything in this world. Not absolutely sure. Thus, it may come +to pass that you will one day marry, and that your wife will in +due time present you with a son--one that will inherit your +fortune and transmit your name to posterity. And yet, sir, in +this world, you will never know to a certainty that he is your +son." + +"Proceed with what you were saying," I returned, with some +dignity. + +"Here we are," he continued, "compelled to inhabit this land and +do not meet with proper protection from the infidel. Now, sir, +this is a crying evil, and it is only becoming in one who has the +true faith, and is a loyal subject of the All-Powerful, to point +out with due humility that He is growing very remiss in His +affairs, and is losing a good deal of His prestige. And what, +senor, is at the bottom of it? Favoritism. We know that the +Supreme cannot Himself be everywhere, attending to each little +trick-track that arises in the world--matters altogether beneath +His notice; and that He must, like the President of Venezuela or +the Emperor of Brazil, appoint men--angels if you like--to +conduct His affairs and watch over each district. And it is +manifest that for this country of Guayana the proper person has +not been appointed. Every evil is done and there is no remedy, +and the Christian has no more consideration shown him than the +infidel. Now, senor, in a town near the Orinoco I once saw on a +church the archangel Michael, made of stone, and twice as tall as +a man, with one foot on a monster shaped like a cayman, but with +bat's wings, and a head and neck like a serpent. Into this +monster he was thrusting his spear. That is the kind of person +that should be sent to rule these latitudes--a person of firmness +and resolution, with strength in his wrist. And yet it is +probable that this very man--this St. Michael--is hanging about +the palace, twirling his thumbs, waiting for an appointment, +while other weaker men, and--Heaven forgive me for saying it--not +above a bribe, perhaps, are sent out to rule over this province." + +On this string he would harp by the hour; it was a lofty subject +on which he had pondered much in his solitary life, and he was +glad of an opportunity of ventilating his grievance and +expounding his views. At first it was a pure pleasure to hear +Spanish again, and the old man, albeit ignorant of letters, spoke +well; but this, I may say, is a common thing in our country, +where the peasant's quickness of intelligence and poetic feeling +often compensate for want of instruction. His views also amused +me, although they were not novel. But after a while I grew tired +of listening, yet I listened still, agreeing with him, and +leading him on to let him have his fill of talk, always hoping +that he would come at last to speak of personal matters and give +me an account of his history and of Rima's origin. But the hope +proved vain; not a word to enlighten me would he drop, however +cunningly I tempted him. + +"So be it," thought I; "but if you are cunning, old man, I shall +be cunning too--and patient; for all things come to him who +waits." + +He was in no hurry to get rid of me. On the contrary, he more +than hinted that I would be safer under his roof than with the +Indians, at the same time apologizing for not giving me meat to +eat. + +"But why do you not have meat? Never have I seen animals so +abundant and tame as in this wood." Before he could reply Rima, +with a jug of water from the spring in her hand, came in; +glancing at me, he lifted his finger to signify that such a +subject must not be discussed in her presence; but as soon as she +quitted the room he returned to it. + +"Senor," he said, "have you forgotten your adventure with the +snake? Know, then, that my grandchild would not live with me for +one day longer if I were to lift my hand against any living +creature. For us, senor, every day is fast-day--only without the +fish. We have maize, pumpkin, cassava, potatoes, and these +suffice. And even of these cultivated fruits of the earth she +eats but little in the house, preferring certain wild berries and +gums, which are more to her taste, and which she picks here and +there in her rambles in the wood. And I, sir, loving her as I +do, whatever my inclination may be, shed no blood and eat no +flesh." + +I looked at him with an incredulous smile. + +"And your dogs, old man?" + +"My dogs? Sir, they would not pause or turn aside if a +coatimundi crossed their path--an animal with a strong odour. As +a man is, so is his dog. Have you not seen dogs eating grass, +sir, even in Venezuela, where these sentiments do not prevail? +And when there is no meat--when meat is forbidden--these +sagacious animals accustom themselves to a vegetable diet." + +I could not very well tell the old man that he was lying to +me--that would have been bad policy--and so I passed it off. "I +have no doubt that you are right," I said. "I have heard that +there are dogs in China that eat no meat, but are themselves +eaten by their owners after being fattened on rice. I should not +care to dine on one of your animals, old man." + +He looked at them critically and replied: "Certainly they are +lean." + +"I was thinking less of their leanness than of their smell," I +returned. "Their odour when they approach me is not flowery, but +resembles that of other dogs which feed on flesh, and have +offended my too sensitive nostrils even in the drawing-rooms of +Caracas. It is not like the fragrance of cattle when they return +from the pasture." + +"Every animal," he replied, "gives out that odour which is +peculiar to its kind"; an incontrovertible fact which left me +nothing to say. + +When I had sufficiently recovered the suppleness of my limbs to +walk with ease, I went for a ramble in the wood, in the hope that +Rima would accompany me, and that out among the trees she would +cast aside that artificial constraint and shyness which was her +manner in the house. + +It fell out just as I had expected; she accompanied me in the +sense of being always near me, or within earshot, and her manner +was now free and unconstrained as I could wish; but little or +nothing was gained by the change. She was once more the +tantalizing, elusive, mysterious creature I had first known +through her wandering, melodious voice. The only difference was +that the musical, inarticulate sounds were now less often heard, +and that she was no longer afraid to show herself to me. This +for a short time was enough to make me happy, since no lovelier +being was ever looked upon, nor one whose loveliness was less +likely to lose its charm through being often seen. + +But to keep her near me or always in sight was, I found, +impossible: she would be free as the wind, free as the butterfly, +going and coming at her wayward will, and losing herself from +sight a dozen times every hour. To induce her to walk soberly at +my side or sit down and enter into conversation with me seemed +about as impracticable as to tame the fiery-hearted little +humming-bird that flashes into sight, remains suspended +motionless for a few seconds before your face, then, quick as +lightning, vanishes again. + +At length, feeling convinced that she was most happy when she had +me out following her in the wood, that in spite of her bird-like +wildness she had a tender, human heart, which was easily moved, I +determined to try to draw her closer by means of a little +innocent stratagem. Going out in the morning, after calling her +several times to no purpose, I began to assume a downcast manner, +as if suffering pain or depressed with grief; and at last, +finding a convenient exposed root under a tree, on a spot where +the ground was dry and strewn with loose yellow sand, I sat down +and refused to go any further. For she always wanted to lead me +on and on, and whenever I paused she would return to show +herself, or to chide or encourage me in her mysterious language. +All her pretty little arts were now practiced in vain: with cheek +resting on my hand, I still sat. + +So my eyes fixed on that patch of yellow sand at my feet, +watching how the small particles glinted like diamond dust when +the sunlight touched them. A full hour passed in this way, +during which I encouraged myself by saying mentally: "This is a +contest between us, and the most patient and the strongest of +will, which should be the man, must conquer. And if I win on +this occasion, it will be easier for me in the future--easier to +discover those things which I am resolved to know, and the girl +must reveal to me, since the old man has proved impracticable." + +Meanwhile she came and went and came again; and at last, finding +that I was not to be moved, she approached and stood near me. +Her face, when I glanced at it, had a somewhat troubled +look--both troubled and curious. + +"Come here, Rima," I said, "and stay with me for a little +while--I cannot follow you now." + +She took one or two hesitating steps, then stood still again; and +at length, slowly and reluctantly, advanced to within a yard of +me. Then I rose from my seat on the root, so as to catch her +face better, and placed my hand against the rough bark of the +tree. + +"Rima," I said, speaking in a low, caressing tone, "will you stay +with me here a little while and talk to me, not in your language, +but in mine, so that I may understand? Will you listen when I +speak to you, and answer me?" + +Her lips moved, but made no sound. She seemed strangely +disquieted, and shook back her loose hair, and with her small +toes moved the sparkling sand at her feet, and once or twice her +eyes glanced shyly at my face. + +"Rima, you have not answered me," I persisted. "Will you not say +yes?" + +"Yes." + +"Where does your grandfather spend his day when he goes out with +his dogs?" + +She shook her head slightly, but would not speak. + +"Have you no mother, Rima? Do you remember your mother?" + +"My mother! My mother!" she exclaimed in a low voice, but with +a sudden, wonderful animation. Bending a little nearer, she +continued: "Oh, she is dead! Her body is in the earth and turned +to dust. Like that," and she moved the loose sand with her foot. +"Her soul is up there, where the stars and the angels are, +grandfather says. But what is that to me? I am here--am I not? +I talk to her just the same. Everything I see I point out, and +tell her everything. In the daytime--in the woods, when we are +together. And at night when I lie down I cross my arms on my +breast--so, and say: 'Mother, mother, now you are in my arms; let +us go to sleep together.' Sometimes I say: 'Oh, why will you +never answer me when I speak and speak?' Mother--mother--mother!" + +At the end her voice suddenly rose to a mournful cry, then sunk, +and at the last repetition of the word died to a low whisper. + +"Ah, poor Rima! she is dead and cannot speak to you--cannot hear +you! Talk to me, Rima; I am living and can answer." + +But now the cloud, which had suddenly lifted from her heart, +letting me see for a moment into its mysterious depths--its +fancies so childlike and feelings so intense--had fallen again; +and my words brought no response, except a return of that +troubled look to her face. + +"Silent still?" I said. "Talk to me, then, of your mother, +Rima. Do you know that you will see her again some day?" + +"Yes, when I die. That is what the priest said." + +"The priest?" + +"Yes, at Voa--do you know? Mother died there when I was +small--it is so far away! And there are thirteen houses by the +side of the river--just here; and on this side--trees, trees." + +This was important, I thought, and would lead to the very +knowledge I wished for; so I pressed her to tell me more about +the settlement she had named, and of which I had never heard. + +"Everything have I told you," she returned, surprised that I did +not know that she had exhausted the subject in those half-dozen +words she had spoken. + +Obliged to shift my ground, I said at a venture: "Tell me, what +do you ask of the Virgin Mother when you kneel before her +picture? Your grandfather told me that you had a picture in your +little room." + +"You know!" flashed out her answer, with something like +resentment. + +"It is all there in there," waving her hand towards the hut. +"Out here in the wood it is all gone--like this," and stooping +quickly, she raised a little yellow sand on her palm, then let it +run away through her fingers. + +Thus she illustrated how all the matters she had been taught +slipped from her mind when she was out of doors, out of sight of +the picture. After an interval she added: "Only mother is +here--always with me." + +"Ah, poor Rima!" I said; "alone without a mother, and only your +old grandfather! He is old--what will you do when he dies and +flies away to the starry country where your mother is?" + +She looked inquiringly at me, then made answer in a low voice: +"You are here." + +"But when I go away?" + +She was silent; and not wishing to dwell on a subject that seemed +to pain her, I continued: "Yes, I am here now, but you will not +stay with me and talk freely! Will it always be the same if I +remain with you? Why are you always so silent in the house, so +cold with your old grandfather? So different--so full of life, +like a bird, when you are alone in the woods? Rima, speak to me! +Am I no more to you than your old grandfather? Do you not like +me to talk to you?" + +She appeared strangely disturbed at my words. "Oh, you are not +like him," she suddenly replied. "Sitting all day on a log by +the fire--all day, all day; Goloso and Susio lying beside +him--sleep, sleep. Oh, when I saw you in the wood I followed +you, and talked and talked; still no answer. Why will you not +come when I call? To me!" Then, mocking my voice: "Rima, Rima! +Come here! Do this! Say that! Rima! Rima! It is nothing, +nothing--it is not you," pointing to my mouth, and then, as if +fearing that her meaning had not been made clear, suddenly +touching my lips with her finger. "Why do you not answer +me?--speak to me--speak to me, like this!" And turning a little +more towards me, and glancing at me with eyes that had all at +once changed, losing their clouded expression for one of +exquisite tenderness, from her lips came a succession of those +mysterious sounds which had first attracted me to her, swift and +low and bird-like, yet with something so much higher and more +soul-penetrating than any bird-music. Ah, what feeling and +fancies, what quaint turns of expression, unfamiliar to my mind, +were contained in those sweet, wasted symbols! I could never +know--never come to her when she called, or respond to her +spirit. To me they would always be inarticulate sounds, +affecting me like a tender spiritual music--a language without +words, suggesting more than words to the soul. + +The mysterious speech died down to a lisping sound, like the +faint note of some small bird falling from a cloud of foliage on +the topmost bough of a tree; and at the same time that new light +passed from her eyes, and she half averted her face in a +disappointed way. + +"Rima," I said at length, a new thought coming to my aid, "it is +true that I am not here," touching my lips as she had done, "and +that my words are nothing. But look into my eyes, and you will +see me there--all, all that is in my heart." + +"Oh, I know what I should see there!" she returned quickly. + +"What would you see--tell me?" + +"There is a little black ball in the middle of your eye; I should +see myself in it no bigger than that," and she marked off about +an eighth of her little fingernail. "There is a pool in the +wood, and I look down and see myself there. That is better. +Just as large as I am--not small and black like a small, small +fly." And after saying this a little disdainfully, she moved +away from my side and out into the sunshine; and then, half +turning towards me, and glancing first at my face and then +upwards, she raised her hand to call my attention to something +there. + +Far up, high as the tops of the tallest trees, a great +blue-winged butterfly was passing across the open space with +loitering flight. In a few moments it was gone over the trees; +then she turned once more to me with a little rippling sound of +laughter--the first I had heard from her, and called: "Come, +come!" + +I was glad enough to go with her then; and for the next two hours +we rambled together in the wood; that is, together in her way, +for though always near she contrived to keep out of my sight most +of the time. She was evidently now in a gay, frolicsome temper; +again and again, when I looked closely into some wide-spreading +bush, or peered behind a tree, when her calling voice had +sounded, her rippling laughter would come to me from some other +spot. At length, somewhere about the centre of the wood, she led +me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, covering +with its shade a large space of ground entirely free from +undergrowth. At this spot she all at once vanished from my side; +and after listening and watching some time in vain, I sat down +beside the giant trunk to wait for her. Very soon I heard a low, +warbling sound which seemed quite near. + +"Rima! Rima!" I called, and instantly my call was repeated like +an echo. Again and again I called, and still the words flew back +to me, and I could not decide whether it was an echo or not. +Then I gave up calling; and presently the low, warbling sound was +repeated, and I knew that Rima was somewhere near me. + +"Rima, where are you?" I called. + +"Rima, where are you?" came the answer. + +"You are behind the tree." + +"You are behind the tree." + +"I shall catch you, Rima." And this time, instead of repeating +my words, she answered: "Oh no." + +I jumped up and ran round the tree, feeling sure that I should +find her. It was about thirty-five or forty feet in +circumference; and after going round two or three times, I turned +and ran the other way, but failing to catch a glimpse of her I at +last sat down again. + +"Rima, Rima!" sounded the mocking voice as soon as I had sat +down. "Where are you, Rima? I shall catch you, Rima! Have you +caught Rima?" + +"No, I have not caught her. There is no Rima now. She has faded +away like a rainbow--like a drop of dew in the sun. I have lost +her; I shall go to sleep." And stretching myself out at full +length under the tree, I remained quiet for two or three minutes. +Then a slight rustling sound was heard, and I looked eagerly +round for her. But the sound was overhead and caused by a great +avalanche of leaves which began to descend on me from that vast +leafy canopy above. + +"Ah, little spider-monkey--little green tree-snake--you are +there!" But there was no seeing her in that immense aerial +palace hung with dim drapery of green and copper-coloured leaves. +But how had she got there? Up the stupendous trunk even a monkey +could not have climbed, and there were no lianas dropping to +earth from the wide horizontal branches that I could see; but by +and by, looking further away, I perceived that on one side the +longest lower branches reached and mingled with the shorter +boughs of the neighbouring trees. While gazing up I heard her +low, rippling laugh, and then caught sight of her as she ran +along an exposed horizontal branch, erect on her feet; and my +heart stood still with terror, for she was fifty to sixty feet +above the ground. In another moment she vanished from sight in a +cloud of foliage, and I saw no more of her for about ten minutes, +when all at once she appeared at my side once more, having come +round the trunk of the mora. Her face had a bright, pleased +expression, and showed no trace of fatigue or agitation. + +I caught her hand in mine. It was a delicate, shapely little +hand, soft as velvet, and warm--a real human hand; only now when +I held it did she seem altogether like a human being and not a +mocking spirit of the wood, a daughter of the Didi. + +"Do you like me to hold your hand, Rima?" + +"Yes," she replied, with indifference. + +"Is it I?" + +"Yes." This time as if it was small satisfaction to make +acquaintance with this purely physical part of me. + +Having her so close gave me an opportunity of examining that +light sheeny garment she wore always in the woods. It felt soft +and satiny to the touch, and there was no seam nor hem in it that +I could see, but it was all in one piece, like the cocoon of the +caterpillar. While I was feeling it on her shoulder and looking +narrowly at it, she glanced at me with a mocking laugh in her +eyes. + +"Is it silk?" I asked. Then, as she remained silent, I +continued: "Where did you get this dress, Rima? Did you make it +yourself? Tell me." + +She answered not in words, but in response to my question a new +look came into her face; no longer restless and full of change in +her expression, she was now as immovable as an alabaster statue; +not a silken hair on her head trembled; her eyes were wide open, +gazing fixedly before her; and when I looked into them they +seemed to see and yet not to see me. They were like the clear, +brilliant eyes of a bird, which reflect as in a miraculous mirror +all the visible world but do not return our look and seem to see +us merely as one of the thousand small details that make up the +whole picture. Suddenly she darted out her hand like a flash, +making me start at the unexpected motion, and quickly withdrawing +it, held up a finger before me. From its tip a minute gossamer +spider, about twice the bigness of a pin's head, appeared +suspended from a fine, scarcely visible line three or four inches +long. + +"Look!" she exclaimed, with a bright glance at my face. + +The small spider she had captured, anxious to be free, was +falling, falling earthward, but could not reach the surface. +Leaning her shoulder a little forward, she placed the finger-tip +against it, but lightly, scarcely touching, and moving +continuously, with a motion rapid as that of a fluttering moth's +wing; while the spider, still paying out his line, remained +suspended, rising and falling slightly at nearly the same +distance from the ground. After a few moments she cried: "Drop +down, little spider." Her finger's motion ceased, and the minute +captive fell, to lose itself on the shaded ground. + +"Do you not see?" she said to me, pointing to her shoulder. +Just where the finger-tip had touched the garment a round shining +spot appeared, looking like a silver coin on the cloth; but on +touching it with my finger it seemed part of the original fabric, +only whiter and more shiny on the grey ground, on account of the +freshness of the web of which it had just been made. + +And so all this curious and pretty performance, which seemed +instinctive in its spontaneous quickness and dexterity, was +merely intended to show me how she made her garments out of the +fine floating lines of small gossamer spiders! + +Before I could express my surprise and admiration she cried +again, with startling suddenness: "Look!" + +A minute shadowy form darted by, appearing like a dim line traced +across the deep glossy more foliage, then on the lighter green +foliage further away. She waved her hand in imitation of its +swift, curving flight; then, dropping it, exclaimed: "Gone--oh, +little thing!" + +"What was it?" I asked, for it might have been a bird, a +bird-like moth, or a bee. + +"Did you not see? And you asked me to look into your eyes!" + +"Ah, little squirrel Sakawinki, you remind me of that!" I said, +passing my arm round her waist and drawing her a little closer. +"Look into my eyes now and see if I am blind, and if there is +nothing in them except an image of Rima like a small, small fly." + +She shook her head and laughed a little mockingly, but made no +effort to escape from my arm. + +"Would you like me always to do what you wish, Rima--to follow +you in the woods when you say 'Come'--to chase you round the tree +to catch you, and lie down for you to throw leaves on me, and to +be glad when you are glad?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"Then let us make a compact. I shall do everything to please +you, and you must promise to do everything to please me." + +"Tell me." + +"Little things, Rima--none so hard as chasing you round a tree. +Only to have you stand or sit by me and talk will make me happy. +And to begin you must call me by my name--Abel." + +"Is that your name? Oh, not your real name! Abel, Abel--what is +that? It says nothing. I have called you by so many +names--twenty, thirty--and no answer." + +"Have you? But, dearest girl, every person has a name, one name +he is called by. Your name, for instance, is Rima, is it not?" + +"Rima! only Rima--to you? In the morning, in the evening . . . +now in this place and in a little while where know I? . . . +in the night when you wake and it is dark, dark, and you see me +all the same. Only Rima--oh, how strange!" + +"What else, sweet girl? Your grandfather Nuflo calls you Rima." + +"Nuflo?" She spoke as if putting a question to herself. "Is +that an old man with two dogs that lives somewhere in the wood?" +And then, with sudden petulance: "And you ask me to talk to you!" + +"Oh, Rima, what can I say to you? Listen--" + +"No, no," she exclaimed, quickly turning and putting her fingers +on my mouth to stop my speech, while a sudden merry look shone in +her eyes. "You shall listen when I speak, and do all I say. And +tell me what to do to please you with your eyes--let me look in +your eyes that are not blind." + +She turned her face more towards me and with head a little thrown +back and inclined to one side, gazing now full into my eyes as I +had wished her to do. After a few moments she glanced away to +the distant trees. But I could see into those divine orbs, and +knew that she was not looking at any particular object. All the +ever-varying expressions--inquisitive, petulant, troubled, shy, +frolicsome had now vanished from the still face, and the look was +inward and full of a strange, exquisite light, as if some new +happiness or hope had touched her spirit. + +Sinking my voice to a whisper, I said: "Tell me what you have +seen in my eyes, Rima?" + +She murmured in reply something melodious and inarticulate, then +glanced at my face in a questioning way; but only for a moment, +then her sweet eyes were again veiled under those drooping +lashes. + +"Listen, Rima," I said. "Was that a humming-bird we saw a little +while ago? You are like that, now dark, a shadow in the shadow, +seen for an instant, and then--gone, oh, little thing! And now +in the sunshine standing still, how beautiful!--a thousand times +more beautiful than the humming-bird. Listen, Rima, you are like +all beautiful things in the wood--flower, and bird, and +butterfly, and green leaf, and frond, and little silky-haired +monkey high up in the trees. When I look at you I see them +all--all and more, a thousand times, for I see Rima herself. And +when I listen to Rima's voice, talking in a language I cannot +understand, I hear the wind whispering in the leaves, the +gurgling running water, the bee among the flowers, the organ-bird +singing far, far away in the shadows of the trees. I hear them +all, and more, for I hear Rima. Do you understand me now? Is it +I speaking to you--have I answered you--have I come to you?" + +She glanced at me again, her lips trembling, her eyes now clouded +with some secret trouble. "Yes," she replied in a whisper, and +then: "No, it is not you," and after a moment, doubtfully: "Is it +you?" + +But she did not wait to be answered: in a moment she was gone +round the more; nor would she return again for all my calling. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +That afternoon with Rima in the forest under the mora tree had +proved so delightful that I was eager for more rambles and talks +with her, but the variable little witch had a great surprise in +store for me. All her wild natural gaiety had unaccountably gone +out of her: when I walked in the shade she was there, but no +longer as the blithe, fantastic being, bright as an angel, +innocent and affectionate as a child, tricksy as a monkey, that +had played at hide-and-seek with me. She was now my shy, silent +attendant, only occasionally visible, and appearing then like the +mysterious maid I had found reclining among the ferns who had +melted away mist-like from sight as I gazed. When I called she +would not now answer as formerly, but in response would appear in +sight as if to assure me that I had not been forsaken; and after +a few moments her grey shadowy form would once more vanish among +the trees. The hope that as her confidence increased and she +grew accustomed to talk with me she would be brought to reveal +the story of her life had to be abandoned, at all events for the +present. I must, after all, get my information from Nuflo, or +rest in ignorance. The old man was out for the greater part of +each day with his dogs, and from these expeditions he brought +back nothing that I could see but a few nuts and fruits, some +thin bark for his cigarettes, and an occasional handful of haima +gum to perfume the hut of an evening. After I had wasted three +days in vainly trying to overcome the girl's now inexplicable +shyness, I resolved to give for a while my undivided attention to +her grandfather to discover, if possible, where he went and how +he spent his time. + +My new game of hide-and-seek with Nuflo instead of with Rima +began on the following morning. He was cunning; so was I. Going +out and concealing myself among the bushes, I began to watch the +hut. That I could elude Rima's keener eyes I doubted; but that +did not trouble me. She was not in harmony with the old man, and +would do nothing to defeat my plan. I had not been long in my +hiding-place before he came out, followed by his two dogs, and +going to some distance from the door, he sat down on a log. For +some minutes he smoked, then rose, and after looking cautiously +round slipped away among the trees. I saw that he was going off +in the direction of the low range of rocky hills south of the +forest. I knew that the forest did not extend far in that +direction, and thinking that I should be able to catch a sight of +him on its borders, I left the bushes and ran through the trees +as fast as I could to get ahead of him. Coming to where the wood +was very open, I found that a barren plain beyond it, a quarter +of a mile wide, separated it from the range of hills; thinking +that the old man might cross this open space, I climbed into a +tree to watch. After some time he appeared, walking rapidly +among the trees, the dogs at his heels, but not going towards the +open plain; he had, it seemed, after arriving at the edge of the +wood, changed his direction and was going west, still keeping in +the shelter of the trees. When he had been gone about five +minutes, I dropped to the ground and started in pursuit; once +more I caught sight of him through the trees, and I kept him in +sight for about twenty minutes longer; then he came to a broad +strip of dense wood which extended into and through the range of +hills, and here I quickly lost him. Hoping still to overtake +him, I pushed on, but after struggling through the underwood for +some distance, and finding the forest growing more difficult as I +progressed, I at last gave him up. Turning eastward, I got out +of the wood to find myself at the foot of a steep rough hill, one +of the range which the wooded valley cut through at right angles. +It struck me that it would be a good plan to climb the hill to +get a view of the forest belt in which I had lost the old man; +and after walking a short distance I found a spot which allowed +of an ascent. The summit of the hill was about three hundred +feet above the surrounding level and did not take me long to +reach; it commanded a fair view, and I now saw that the belt of +wood beneath me extended right through the range, and on the +south side opened out into an extensive forest. "If that is your +destination," thought I, "old fox, your secrets are safe from +me." + +It was still early in the day, and a slight breeze tempered the +air and made it cool and pleasant on the hilltop after my +exertions. My scramble through the wood had fatigued me +somewhat, and resolving to spend some hours on that spot, I +looked round for a comfortable resting-place. I soon found a +shady spot on the west side of an upright block of stone where I +could recline at ease on a bed of lichen. Here, with shoulders +resting against the rock, I sat thinking of Rima, alone in her +wood today, with just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts which +made me hope that she would miss me as much as I missed her; and +in the end I fell asleep. + +When I woke, it was past noon, and the sun was shining directly +on me. Standing up to gaze once more on the prospect, I noticed +a small wreath of white smoke issuing from a spot about the +middle of the forest belt beneath me, and I instantly divined +that Nuflo had made a fire at that place, and I resolved to +surprise him in his retreat. When I got down to the base of the +hill the smoke could no longer be seen, but I had studied the +spot well from above, and had singled out a large clump of trees +on the edge of the belt as a starting-point; and after a search +of half an hour I succeeded in finding the old man's +hiding-place. First I saw smoke again through an opening in the +trees, then a small rude hut of sticks and palm leaves. +Approaching cautiously, I peered through a crack and discovered +old Nuflo engaged in smoking some meat over a fire, and at the +same time grilling some bones on the coals. He had captured a +coatimundi, an animal somewhat larger than a tame tom-cat, with a +long snout and long ringed tail; one of the dogs was gnawing at +the animal's head, and the tail and the feet were also lying on +the floor, among the old bones and rubbish that littered it. +Stealing round, I suddenly presented myself at the opening to his +den, when the dogs rose up with a growl and Nuflo instantly +leaped to his feet, knife in hand. + +"Aha, old man," I cried, with a laugh, "I have found you at one +of your vegetarian repasts; and your grass-eating dogs as well!" + +He was disconcerted and suspicious, but when I explained that I +had seen a smoke while on the hills, where I had gone to search +for a curious blue flower which grew in such places, and had made +my way to it to discover the cause, he recovered confidence and +invited me to join him at his dinner of roast meat. + +I was hungry by this time and not sorry to get animal food once +more; nevertheless, I ate this meat with some disgust, as it had +a rank taste and smell, and it was also unpleasant to have those +evil-looking dogs savagely gnawing at the animal's head and feet +at the same time. + +"You see," said the old hypocrite, wiping the grease from his +moustache, "this is what I am compelled to do in order to avoid +giving offence. My granddaughter is a strange being, sir, as you +have perhaps observed--" + +"That reminds me," I interrupted, "that I wish you to relate her +history to me. She is, as you say, strange, and has speech and +faculties unlike ours, which shows that she comes of a different +race." + +"No, no, her faculties are not different from ours. They are +sharper, that is all. It pleases the All-Powerful to give more +to some than to others. Not all the fingers on the hand are +alike. You will find a man who will take up a guitar and make it +speak, while I--" + +"All that I understand," I broke in again. "But her origin, her +history--that is what I wish to hear." + +"And that, sir, is precisely what I am about to relate. Poor +child, she was left on my hands by her sainted mother--my +daughter, sir--who perished young. Now, her birthplace, where +she was taught letters and the Catechism by the priest, was in an +unhealthy situation. It was hot and wet--always wet--a place +suited to frogs rather than to human beings. At length, thinking +that it would suit the child better--for she was pale and +weakly--to live in a drier atmosphere among mountains, I brought +her to this district. For this, senor, and for all I have done +for her, I look for no reward here, but to that place where my +daughter has got her foot; not, sir, on the threshold, as you +might think, but well inside. For, after all, it is to the +authorities above, in spite of some blots which we see in their +administration, that we must look for justice. Frankly, sir, +this is the whole story of my granddaughter's origin." + +"Ah, yes," I returned, "your story explains why she can call a +wild bird to her hand, and touch a venomous serpent with her bare +foot and receive no harm." + +"Doubtless you are right," said the old dissembler. "Living +alone in the wood, she had only God's creatures to play and make +friends with; and wild animals, I have heard it said, know those +who are friendly towards them." + +"You treat her friends badly," said I, kicking the long tail of +the coatimundi away with my foot, and regretting that I had +joined in his repast. + +"Senor, you must consider that we are only what Heaven made us. +When all this was formed," he continued, opening his arms wide to +indicate the entire creation, "the Person who concerned Himself +with this matter gave seeds and fruitless and nectar of flowers +for the sustentation of His small birds. But we have not their +delicate appetites. The more robust stomach which he gave to man +cries out for meat. Do you understand? But of all this, friend, +not one word to Rima!" + +I laughed scornfully. "Do you think me such a child, old man, as +to believe that Rima, that little sprite, does not know that you +are an eater of flesh? Rima, who is everywhere in the wood, +seeing all things, even if I lift my hand against a serpent, she +herself unseen." + +"But, sir, if you will pardon my presumption, you are saying too +much. She does not come here, and therefore cannot see that I +eat meat. In all that wood where she flourishes and sings, where +she is in her house and garden, and mistress of the creatures, +even of the small butterfly with painted wings, there, sir, I +hunt no animal. Nor will my dogs chase any animal there. That +is what I meant when I said that if an animal should stumble +against their legs, they would lift up their noses and pass on +without seeing it. For in that wood there is one law, the law +that Rima imposes, and outside of it a different law." + +"I am glad that you have told me this," I replied. "The thought +that Rima might be near, and, unseen herself, look in upon us +feeding with the dogs and, like dogs, on flesh, was one which +greatly troubled my mind." + +He glanced at me in his usual quick, cunning way. + +"Ah, senor, you have that feeling too--after so short a time with +us! Consider, then, what it must be for me, unable to nourish +myself on gums and fruitlets, and that little sweetness made by +wasps out of flowers, when I am compelled to go far away and eat +secretly to avoid giving offence." + +It was hard, no doubt, but I did not pity him; secretly I could +only feel anger against him for refusing to enlighten me, while +making such a presence of openness; and I also felt disgusted +with myself for having joined him in his rank repast. But +dissimulation was necessary, and so, after conversing a little +more on indifferent topics, and thanking him for his hospitality, +I left him alone to go on with his smoky task. + +On my way back to the lodge, fearing that some taint of Nuflo's +evil-smelling den and dinner might still cling to me, I turned +aside to where a streamlet in the wood widened and formed a deep +pool, to take a plunge in the water. After drying myself in the +air, and thoroughly ventilating my garments by shaking and +beating them, I found an open, shady spot in the wood and threw +myself on the grass to wait for evening before returning to the +house. By that time the sweet, warm air would have purified me. +Besides, I did not consider that I had sufficiently punished Rima +for her treatment of me. She would be anxious for my safety, +perhaps even looking for me everywhere in the wood. It was not +much to make her suffer one day after she had made me miserable +for three; and perhaps when she discovered that I could exist +without her society she would begin to treat me less +capriciously. + +So ran my thoughts as I rested on the warm ground, gazing up into +the foliage, green as young grass in the lower, shady parts, and +above luminous with the bright sunlight, and full of the +murmuring sounds of insect life. My every action, word, thought, +had my feeling for Rima as a motive. Why, I began to ask myself, +was Rima so much to me? It was easy to answer that question: +Because nothing so exquisite had ever been created. All the +separate and fragmentary beauty and melody and graceful motion +found scattered throughout nature were concentrated and +harmoniously combined in her. How various, how luminous, how +divine she was! A being for the mind to marvel at, to admire +continually, finding some new grace and charm every hour, every +moment, to add to the old. And there was, besides, the +fascinating mystery surrounding her origin to arouse and keep my +interest in her continually active. + +That was the easy answer I returned to the question I had asked +myself. But I knew that there was another answer--a reason more +powerful than the first. And I could no longer thrust it back, +or hide its shining face with the dull, leaden mask of mere +intellectual curiosity. BECAUSE I LOVED HER; loved her as I had +never loved before, never could love any other being, with a +passion which had caught something of her own brilliance and +intensity, making a former passion look dim and commonplace in +comparison--a feeling known to everyone, something old and worn +out, a weariness even to think of. + +From these reflections I was roused by the plaintive +three-syllable call of an evening bird--a nightjar common in +these woods; and was surprised to find that the sun had set, and +the woods already shadowed with the twilight. I started up and +began hurriedly walking homewards, thinking of Rima, and was +consumed with impatience to see her; and as I drew near to the +house, walking along a narrow path which I knew, I suddenly met +her face to face. Doubtless she had heard my approach, and +instead of shrinking out of the path and allowing me to pass on +without seeing her, as she would have done on the previous day, +she had sprung forward to meet me. I was struck with wonder at +the change in her as she came with a swift, easy motion, like a +flying bird, her hands outstretched as if to clasp mine, her lips +parted in a radiant, welcoming smile, her eyes sparkling with +joy. + +I started forward to meet her, but had no sooner touched her +hands than her countenance changed, and she shrunk back +trembling, as if the touch had chilled her warm blood; and moving +some feet away, she stood with downcast eyes, pale and sorrowful +as she had seemed yesterday. In vain I implored her to tell me +the cause of this change and of the trouble she evidently felt; +her lips trembled as if with speech, but she made no reply, and +only shrunk further away when I attempted to approach her; and at +length, moving aside from the path, she was lost to sight in the +dusky leafage. + +I went on alone, and sat outside for some time, until old Nuflo +returned from his hunting; and only after he had gone in and had +made the fire burn up did Rima make her appearance, silent and +constrained as ever. + + + +CHAPTER X + +On the following day Rima continued in the same inexplicable +humour; and feeling my defeat keenly, I determined once more to +try the effect of absence on her, and to remain away on this +occasion for a longer period. Like old Nuflo, I was secret in +going forth next morning, waiting until the girl was out of the +way, then slipping off among the bushes into the deeper wood; and +finally quitting its shelter, I set out across the savannah +towards my old quarters. Great was my surprise on arriving at +the village to find no person there. At first I imagined that my +disappearance in the forest of evil fame had caused them to +abandon their home in a panic; but on looking round I concluded +that my friends had only gone on one of their periodical visits +to some neighbouring village. For when these Indians visit their +neighbours they do it in a very thorough manner; they all go, +taking with them their entire stock of provisions, their cooking +utensils, weapons, hammocks, and even their pet animals. +Fortunately in this case they had not taken quite everything; my +hammock was there, also one small pot, some cassava bread, purple +potatoes, and a few ears of maize. I concluded that these had +been left for me in the event of my return; also that they had +not been gone very many hours, since a log of wood buried under +the ashes of the hearth was still alight. Now, as their absences +from home usually last many days, it was plain that I would have +the big naked barn-like house to myself for as long as I thought +proper to remain, with little food to eat; but the prospect did +not disturb me, and I resolved to amuse myself with music. In +vain I hunted for my guitar; the Indians had taken it to delight +their friends by twanging its strings. At odd moments during the +last day or two I had been composing a simple melody in my brain, +fitting it to ancient words; and now, without an instrument to +assist me, I began softly singing to myself: + + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes. + +After music I made up the fire and parched an ear of maize for my +dinner, and while laboriously crunching the dry hard grain I +thanked Heaven for having bestowed on me such good molars. +Finally I slung my hammock in its old corner, and placing myself +in it in my favourite oblique position, my hands clasped behind +my head, one knee cocked up, the other leg dangling down, I +resigned myself to idle thought. I felt very happy. How +strange, thought I, with a little self-flattery, that I, +accustomed to the agreeable society of intelligent men and +charming women, and of books, should find such perfect +contentment here! But I congratulated myself too soon. The +profound silence began at length to oppress me. It was not like +the forest, where one has wild birds for company, where their +cries, albeit inarticulate, have a meaning and give a charm to +solitude. Even the sight and whispered sounds of green leaves +and rushes trembling in the wind have for us something of +intelligence and sympathy; but I could not commune with mud walls +and an earthen pot. Feeling my loneliness too acutely, I began +to regret that I had left Rima, then to feel remorse at the +secrecy I had practiced. Even now while I inclined idly in my +hammock, she would be roaming the forest in search of me, +listening for my footsteps, fearing perhaps that I had met with +some accident where there was no person to succour me. It was +painful to think of her in this way, of the pain I had doubtless +given her by stealing off without a word of warning. Springing +to the floor, I flung out of the house and went down to the +stream. It was better there, for now the greatest heat of the +day was over, and the weltering sun began to look large and red +and rayless through the afternoon haze. + +I seated myself on a stone within a yard or two of the limpid +water; and now the sight of nature and the warm, vital air and +sunshine infected my spirit and made it possible for me to face +the position calmly, even hopefully. The position was this: for +some days the idea had been present in my mind, and was now fixed +there, that this desert was to be my permanent home. The thought +of going back to Caracas, that little Paris in America, with its +Old World vices, its idle political passions, its empty round of +gaieties, was unendurable. I was changed, and this change--so +great, so complete--was proof that the old artificial life had +not been and could not be the real one, in harmony with my deeper +and truer nature. I deceived myself, you will say, as I have +often myself said. I had and I had not. It is too long a +question to discuss here; but just then I felt that I had quitted +the hot, tainted atmosphere of the ballroom, that the morning air +of heaven refreshed and elevated me and was sweet to breathe. +Friends and relations I had who were dear to me; but I could +forget them, even as I could forget the splendid dreams which had +been mine. And the woman I had loved, and who perhaps loved me +in return--I could forget her too. A daughter of civilization +and of that artificial life, she could never experience such +feelings as these and return to nature as I was doing. For +women, though within narrow limits more plastic than men, are yet +without that larger adaptiveness which can take us back to the +sources of life, which they have left eternally behind. Better, +far better for both of us that she should wait through the long, +slow months, growing sick at heart with hope deferred; that, +seeing me no more, she should weep my loss, and be healed at last +by time, and find love and happiness again in the old way, in the +old place. + +And while I thus sat thinking, sadly enough, but not +despondingly, of past and present and future, all at once on the +warm, still air came the resonant, far-reaching KLING-KLANG of +the campanero from some leafy summit half a league away. +KLING-KLANG fell the sound again, and often again, at intervals, +affecting me strangely at that moment, so bell-like, so like the +great wide-travelling sounds associated in our minds with +Christian worship. And yet so unlike. A bell, yet not made of +gross metal dug out of earth, but of an ethereal, sublimer +material that floats impalpable and invisible in space--a vital +bell suspended on nothing, giving out sounds in harmony with the +vastness of blue heaven, the unsullied purity of nature, the +glory of the sun, and conveying a mystic, a higher message to the +soul than the sounds that surge from tower and belfry. + +O mystic bell-bird of the heavenly race of the swallow and dove, +the quetzal and the nightingale! When the brutish savage and the +brutish white man that slay thee, one for food, the other for the +benefit of science, shall have passed away, live still, live to +tell thy message to the blameless spiritualized race that shall +come after us to possess the earth, not for a thousand years, but +for ever; for how much shall thy voice be our clarified +successors when even to my dull, unpurged soul thou canst speak +such high things and bring it a sense of an impersonal, +all-compromising One who is in me and I in Him, flesh of His +flesh and soul of His soul. + +The sounds ceased, but I was still in that exalted mood and, like +a person in a trance, staring fixedly before me into the open +wood of scattered dwarf trees on the other side of the stream, +when suddenly on the field of vision appeared a grotesque human +figure moving towards me. I started violently, astonished and a +little alarmed, but in a very few moments I recognized the +ancient Cla-cla, coming home with a large bundle of dry sticks on +her shoulders, bent almost double under the burden, and still +ignorant of my presence. Slowly she came down to the stream, +then cautiously made her way over the line of stepping-stones by +which it was crossed; and only when within ten yards did the old +creature catch sight of me sitting silent and motionless in her +path. With a sharp cry of amazement and terror she straightened +herself up, the bundle of sticks dropping to the ground, and +turned to run from me. That, at all events, seemed her +intention, for her body was thrown forward, and her head and arms +working like those of a person going at full speed, but her legs +seemed paralysed and her feet remained planted on the same spot. +I burst out laughing; whereat she twisted her neck until her +wrinkled, brown old face appeared over her shoulder staring at +me. This made me laugh again, whereupon she straightened herself +up once more and turned round to have a good look at me. + +"Come, Cla-cla," I cried; "can you not see that I am a living man +and no spirit? I thought no one had remained behind to keep me +company and give me food. Why are you not with the others?" + +"Ah, why!" she returned tragically. And then deliberately +turning from me and assuming a most unladylike attitude, she +slapped herself vigorously on the small of the back, exclaiming: +"Because of my pain here!" + +As she continued in that position with her back towards me for +some time, I laughed once more and begged her to explain. + +Slowly she turned round and advanced cautiously towards me, +staring at me all the time. Finally, still eyeing me +suspiciously, she related that the others had all gone on a visit +to a distant village, she starting with them; that after going +some distance a pain had attacked her in her hind quarters, so +sudden and acute that it had instantly brought her to a full +stop; and to illustrate how full the stop was she allowed herself +to go down, very unnecessarily, with a flop to the ground. But +she no sooner touched the ground than up she started to her feet +again, with an alarmed look on her owlish face, as if she had sat +down on a stinging-nettle. + +"We thought you were dead," she remarked, still thinking that I +might be a ghost after all. + +"No, still alive," I said. "And so because you came to the +ground with your pain, they left you behind! Well, never mind, +Cla-cla, we are two now and must try to be happy together." + +By this time she had recovered from her fear and began to feel +highly pleased at my return, only lamenting that she had no meat +to give me. She was anxious to hear my adventures, and the +reason of my long absence. I had no wish to gratify her +curiosity, with the truth at all events, knowing very well that +with regard to the daughter of the Didi her feelings were as +purely savage and malignant as those of Kua-ko. But it was +necessary to say something, and, fortifying myself with the good +old Spanish notion that lies told to the heathen are not +recorded, I related that a venomous serpent had bitten me; after +which a terrible thunderstorm had surprised me in the forest, and +night coming on prevented my escape from it; then, next day, +remembering that he who is bitten by a serpent dies, and not +wishing to distress my friends with the sight of my dissolution, +I elected to remain, sitting there in the wood, amusing myself by +singing songs and smoking cigarettes; and after several days and +nights had gone by, finding that I was not going to die after +all, and beginning to feel hungry, I got up and came back. + +Old Cla-cla looked very serious, shaking and nodding her head a +great deal, muttering to herself; finally she gave it as her +opinion that nothing ever would or could kill me; but whether my +story had been believed or not she only knew. + +I spent an amusing evening with my old savage hostess. She had +thrown off her ailments and, pleased at having a companion in her +dreary solitude, she was good-tempered and talkative, and much +more inclined to laugh than when the others were present, when +she was on her dignity. + +We sat by the fire, cooking such food as we had, and talked and +smoked; then I sang her songs in Spanish with that melody of my +own-- + + Muy mas clara que la luna; + +and she rewarded me by emitting a barbarous chant in a shrill, +screechy voice; and finally, starting up, I danced for her +benefit polka, mazurka, and valse, whistling and singing to my +motions. + +More than once during the evening she tried to introduce serious +subjects, telling me that I must always live with them, learn to +shoot the birds and catch the fishes, and have a wife; and then +she would speak of her granddaughter Oalava, whose virtues it was +proper to mention, but whose physical charms needed no +description since they had never been concealed. Each time she +got on this topic I cut her short, vowing that if I ever married +she only should be my wife. She informed me that she was old and +past her fruitful period; that not much longer would she make +cassava bread, and blow the fire to a flame with her wheezy old +bellows, and talk the men to sleep at night. But I stuck to it +that she was young and beautiful, that our descendants would be +more numerous than the birds in the forest. I went out to some +bushes close by, where I had noticed a passion plant in bloom, +and gathering a few splendid scarlet blossoms with their stems +and leaves, I brought them in and wove them into a garland for +the old dame's head; then I pulled her up, in spite of screams +and struggles, and waltzed her wildly to the other end of the +room and back again to her seat beside the fire. And as she sat +there, panting and grinning with laughter, I knelt before her +and, with suitable passionate gestures, declaimed again the old +delicate lines sung by Mena before Columbus sailed the seas: + + Muy mas clara que la luna + Sola una + en el mundo vos nacistes + tan gentil, que no vecistes + ni tavistes + competedora ninguna + Desdi ninez en la cuna + cobrastes fama, beldad, con tanta graciosidad, + que vos doto la fortuna. + +Thinking of another all the time! O poor old Cla-cla, knowing +not what the jingle meant nor the secret of my wild happiness, +now when I recall you sitting there, your old grey owlish head +crowned with scarlet passion flowers, flushed with firelight, +against the background of smoke-blackened walls and rafters, how +the old undying sorrow comes back to me! + +Thus our evening was spent, merrily enough; then we made up the +fire with hard wood that would last all night, and went to our +hammocks, but wakeful still. The old dame, glad and proud to be +on duty once more, religiously went to work to talk me to sleep; +but although I called out at intervals to encourage her to go on, +I did not attempt to follow the ancient tales she told, which she +had imbibed in childhood from other white-headed grandmothers +long, long turned to dust. My own brain was busy thinking, +thinking, thinking now of the woman I had once loved, far away in +Venezuela, waiting and weeping and sick with hope deferred; now +of Rima, wakeful and listening to the mysterious nightsounds of +the forest--listening, listening for my returning footsteps. + +Next morning I began to waver in my resolution to remain absent +from Rima for some days; and before evening my passion, which I +had now ceased to struggle against, coupled with the thought that +I had acted unkindly in leaving her, that she would be a prey to +anxiety, overcame me, and I was ready to return. The old woman, +who had been suspiciously watching my movements, rushed out after +me as I left the house, crying out that a storm was brewing, that +it was too late to go far, and night would be full of danger. I +waved my hand in good-bye, laughingly reminding her that I was +proof against all perils. Little she cared what evil might +befall me, I thought; but she loved not to be alone; even for +her, low down as she was intellectually, the solitary earthen pot +had no "mind stuff" in it, and could not be sent to sleep at +night with the legends of long ago. + +By the time I reached the ridge, I had discovered that she had +prophesied truly, for now an ominous change had come over nature. +A dull grey vapour had overspread the entire western half of the +heavens; down, beyond the forest, the sky looked black as ink, +and behind this blackness the sun had vanished. It was too late +to go back now; I had been too long absent from Rima, and could +only hope to reach Nuflo's lodge, wet or dry, before night closed +round me in the forest. + +For some moments I stood still on the ridge, struck by the +somewhat weird aspect of the shadowed scene before me--the long +strip of dull uniform green, with here and there a slender palm +lifting its feathery crown above the other trees, standing +motionless, in strange relief against the advancing blackness. +Then I set out once more at a run, taking advantage of the +downward slope to get well on my way before the tempest should +burst. As I approached the wood, there came a flash of +lightning, pale, but covering the whole visible sky, followed +after a long interval by a distant roll of thunder, which lasted +several seconds and ended with a succession of deep throbs. It +was as if Nature herself, in supreme anguish and abandonment, had +cast herself prone on the earth, and her great heart had throbbed +audibly, shaking the world with its beats. No more thunder +followed, but the rain was coming down heavily now in huge drops +that fell straight through the gloomy, windless air. In half a +minute I was drenched to the skin; but for a short time the rain +seemed an advantage, as the brightness of the falling water +lessened the gloom, turning the air from dark to lighter grey. +This subdued rain-light did not last long: I had not been twenty +minutes in the wood before a second and greater darkness fell on +the earth, accompanied by an even more copious downpour of water. +The sun had evidently gone down, and the whole sky was now +covered with one thick cloud. Becoming more nervous as the gloom +increased, I bent my steps more to the south, so as to keep near +the border and more open part of the wood. Probably I had +already grown confused before deviating and turned the wrong way, +for instead of finding the forest easier, it grew closer and more +difficult as I advanced. Before many minutes the darkness so +increased that I could no longer distinguish objects more than +five feet from my eyes. Groping blindly along, I became +entangled in a dense undergrowth, and after struggling and +stumbling along for some distance in vain endeavours to get +through it, I came to a stand at last in sheer despair. All +sense of direction was now lost: I was entombed in thick +blackness--blackness of night and cloud and rain and of dripping +foliage and network of branches bound with bush ropes and +creepers in a wild tangle. I had struggled into a hollow, or +hole, as it were, in the midst of that mass of vegetation, where +I could stand upright and turn round and round without touching +anything; but when I put out my hands they came into contact with +vines and bushes. To move from that spot seemed folly; yet how +dreadful to remain there standing on the sodden earth, chilled +with rain, in that awful blackness in which the only luminous +thing one could look to see would be the eyes, shining with their +own internal light, of some savage beast of prey! Yet the +danger, the intense physical discomfort, and the anguish of +looking forward to a whole night spent in that situation stung my +heart less than the thought of Rima's anxiety and of the pain I +had carelessly given by secretly leaving her. + +It was then, with that pang in my heart, that I was startled by +hearing, close by, one of her own low, warbled expressions. +There could be no mistake; if the forest had been full of the +sounds of animal life and songs of melodious birds, her voice +would have been instantly distinguished from all others. How +mysterious, how infinitely tender it sounded in that awful +blackness!--so musical and exquisitely modulated, so sorrowful, +yet piercing my heart with a sudden, unutterable joy. + +"Rima! Rima!" I cried. "Speak again. Is it you? Come to me +here." + +Again that low, warbling sound, or series of sounds, seemingly +from a distance of a few yards. I was not disturbed at her not +replying in Spanish: she had always spoken it somewhat +reluctantly, and only when at my side; but when calling to me +from some distance she would return instinctively to her own +mysterious language, and call to me as bird calls to bird. I +knew that she was inviting me to follow her, but I refused to +move. + +"Rima," I cried again, "come to me here, for I know not where to +step, and cannot move until you are at my side and I can feel +your hand." + +There came no response, and after some moments, becoming alarmed, +I called to her again. + +Then close by me, in a low, trembling voice, she returned: "I am +here." + +I put out my hand and touched something soft and wet; it was her +breast, and moving my hand higher up, I felt her hair, hanging +now and streaming with water. She was trembling, and I thought +the rain had chilled her. + +"Rima--poor child! How wet you are! How strange to meet you in +such a place! Tell me, dear Rima, how did you find me?" + +"I was waiting--watching--all day. I saw you coming across the +savannah, and followed at a distance through the wood." + +"And I had treated you so unkindly! Ah, my guardian angel, my +light in the darkness, how I hate myself for giving you pain! +Tell me, sweet, did you wish me to come back and live with you +again?" She made no reply. Then, running my fingers down her +arm, I took her hand in mine. It was hot, like the hand of one +in a fever. I raised it to my lips and then attempted to draw +her to me, but she slipped down and out of my arms to my feet. I +felt her there, on her knees, with head bowed low. Stooping and +putting my arm round her body, I drew her up and held her against +my breast, and felt her heart throbbing wildly. With many +endearing words I begged her to speak to me; but her only reply +was: "Come--come," as she slipped again out of my arms and, +holding my hand in hers, guided me through the bushes. + +Before long we came to an open path or glade, where the darkness +was not profound; and releasing my hand, she began walking +rapidly before me, always keeping at such a distance as just +enabled me to distinguish her grey, shadowy figure, and with +frequent doublings to follow the natural paths and openings which +she knew so well. In this way we kept on nearly to the end, +without exchanging a word, and hearing no sound except the +continuous rush of rain, which to our accustomed ears had ceased +to have the effect of sound, and the various gurgling noises of +innumerable runners. All at once, as we came to a more open +place, a strip of bright firelight appeared before us, shining +from the half-open door of Nuflo's lodge. She turned round as +much as to say: "Now you know where you are," then hurried on, +leaving me to follow as best I could. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +There was a welcome change in the weather when I rose early next +morning; the sky was without cloud and had that purity in its +colour and look of infinite distance seen only when the +atmosphere is free from vapour. The sun had not yet risen, but +old Nuflo was already among the ashes, on his hands and knees, +blowing the embers he had uncovered to a flame. Then Rima appeared +only to pass through the room with quick light tread to go out of +the door without a word or even a glance at my face. The old +man, after watching at the door for a few minutes, turned and +began eagerly questioning me about my adventures on the previous +evening. In reply I related to him how the girl had found me in +the forest lost and unable to extricate myself from the tangled +undergrowth. + +He rubbed his hands on his knees and chuckled. "Happy for you, +senor," he said, "that my granddaughter regards you with such +friendly eyes, otherwise you might have perished before morning. +Once she was at your side, no light, whether of sun or moon or +lantern, was needed, nor that small instrument which is said to +guide a man aright in the desert, even in the darkest night--let +him that can believe such a thing!" + +"Yes, happy for me," I returned. "I am filled with remorse that +it was all through my fault that the poor child was exposed to +such weather." + +"O senor," he cried airily, "let not that distress you! Rain and +wind and hot suns, from which we seek shelter, do not harm her. +She takes no cold, and no fever, with or without ague." + +After some further conversation I left him to steal away +unobserved on his own account, and set out for a ramble in the +hope of encountering Rima and winning her to talk to me. + +My quest did not succeed: not a glimpse of her delicate shadowy +form did I catch among the trees; and not one note from her +melodious lips came to gladden me. At noon I returned to the +house, where I found food placed ready for me, and knew that she +had come there during my absence and had not been forgetful of my +wants. "Shall I thank you for this?" I said. "I ask you for +heavenly nectar for the sustentation of the higher winged nature +in me, and you give me a boiled sweet potato, toasted strips of +sun-dried pumpkins, and a handful of parched maize! Rima! Rima! +my woodland fairy, my sweet saviour, why do you yet fear me? Is +it that love struggles in you with repugnance? Can you discern +with clear spiritual eyes the grosser elements in me, and hate +them; or has some false imagination made me appear all dark and +evil, but too late for your peace, after the sweet sickness of +love has infected you?" + +But she was not there to answer me, and so after a time I went +forth again and seated myself listlessly on the root of an old +tree not far from the house. I had sat there a full hour when +all at once Rima appeared at my side. Bending forward, she +touched my hand, but without glancing at my face; "Come with me," +she said, and turning, moved swiftly towards the northern +extremity of the forest. She seemed to take it for granted that +I would follow, never casting a look behind nor pausing in her +rapid walk; but I was only too glad to obey and, starting up, was +quickly after her. She led me by easy ways, familiar to her, +with many doublings to escape the undergrowth, never speaking or +pausing until we came out from the thick forest, and I found +myself for the first time at the foot of the great hill or +mountain Ytaioa. Glancing back for a few moments, she waved a +hand towards the summit, and then at once began the ascent. Here +too it seemed all familiar ground to her. From below, the sides +had presented an exceedingly rugged appearance--a wild confusion +of huge jagged rocks, mixed with a tangled vegetation of trees, +bushes, and vines; but following her in all her doublings, it +became easy enough, although it fatigued me greatly owing to our +rapid pace. The hill was conical, but I found that it had a flat +top--an oblong or pear-shaped area, almost level, of a soft, +crumbly sandstone, with a few blocks and boulders of a harder +stone scattered about--and no vegetation, except the grey +mountain lichen and a few sere-looking dwarf shrubs. + +Here Rima, at a distance of a few yards from me, remained +standing still for some minutes, as if to give me time to recover +my breath; and I was right glad to sit down on a stone to rest. +Finally she walked slowly to the centre of the level area, which +was about two acres in extent; rising, I followed her and, +climbing on to a huge block of stone, began gazing at the wide +prospect spread out before me. The day was windless and bright, +with only a few white clouds floating at a great height above and +casting travelling shadows over that wild, broken country, where +forest, marsh, and savannah were only distinguishable by their +different colours, like the greys and greens and yellows on a +map. At a great distance the circle of the horizon was broken +here and there by mountains, but the hills in our neighbourhood +were all beneath our feet. + +After gazing all round for some minutes, I jumped down from my +stand and, leaning against the stone, stood watching the girl, +waiting for her to speak. I felt convinced that she had +something of the very highest importance (to herself) to +communicate, and that only the pressing need of a confidant, not +Nuflo, had overcome her shyness of me; and I determined to let +her take her own time to say it in her own way. For a while she +continued silent, her face averted, but her little movements and +the way she clasped and unclasped her fingers showed that she was +anxious and her mind working. Suddenly, half turning to me, she +began speaking eagerly and rapidly. + +"Do you see," she said, waving her hand to indicate the whole +circuit of earth, "how large it is? Look!" pointing now to +mountains in the west. "Those are the Vahanas--one, two, +three--the highest--I can tell you their names--Vahana-Chara, +Chumi, Aranoa. Do you see that water? It is a river, called +Guaypero. From the hills it comes down, Inaruna is their name, +and you can see them there in the south--far, far." And in this +way she went on pointing out and naming all the mountains and +rivers within sight. Then she suddenly dropped her hands to her +sides and continued: "That is all. Because we can see no +further. But the world is larger than that! Other mountains, +other rivers. Have I not told you of Voa, on the River Voa, +where I was born, where mother died, where the priest taught me, +years, years ago? All that you cannot see, it is so far away--so +far." + +I did not laugh at her simplicity, nor did I smile or feel any +inclination to smile. On the contrary, I only experienced a +sympathy so keen that it was like pain while watching her clouded +face, so changeful in its expression, yet in all changes so +wistful. I could not yet form any idea as to what she wished to +communicate or to discover, but seeing that she paused for a +reply, I answered: "The world is so large, Rima, that we can only +see a very small portion of it from any one spot. Look at this," +and with a stick I had used to aid me in my ascent I traced a +circle six or seven inches in circumference on the soft stone, +and in its centre placed a small pebble. "This represents the +mountain we are standing on," I continued, touching the pebble; +"and this line encircling it encloses all of the earth we can see +from the mountain-top. Do you understand?--the line I have +traced is the blue line of the horizon beyond which we cannot +see. And outside of this little circle is all the flat top of +Ytaioa representing the world. Consider, then, how small a +portion of the world we can see from this spot!" + +"And do you know it all?" she returned excitedly. "All the +world?" waving her hand to indicate the little stone plain. +"All the mountains, and rivers, and forests--all the people in +the world?" + +"That would be impossible, Rima; consider how large it is." + +"That does not matter. Come, let us go together--we two and +grandfather--and see all the world; all the mountains and +forests, and know all the people." + +"You do not know what you are saying, Rima. You might as well +say: 'Come, let us go to the sun and find out everything in it.'" + +"It is you who do not know what you are saying," she retorted, +with brightening eyes which for a moment glanced full into mine. +"We have no wings like birds to fly to the sun. Am I not able to +walk on the earth, and run? Can I not swim? Can I not climb +every mountain?" + +"No, you cannot. You imagine that all the earth is like this +little portion you see. But it is not all the same. There are +great rivers which you cannot cross by swimming; mountains you +cannot climb; forests you cannot penetrate--dark, and inhabited +by dangerous beasts, and so vast that all this space your eyes +look on is a mere speck of earth in comparison." + +She listened excitedly. "Oh, do you know all that?" she cried, +with a strangely brightening look; and then half turning from me, +she added, with sudden petulance: "Yet only a minute ago you knew +nothing of the world--because it is so large! Is anything to be +gained by speaking to one who says such contrary things?" + +I explained that I had not contradicted myself, that she had not +rightly interpreted my words. I knew, I said, something about +the principal features of the different countries of the world, +as, for instance, the largest mountain ranges, and rivers, and +the cities. Also something, but very little, about the tribes of +savage men. She heard me with impatience, which made me speak +rapidly, in very general terms; and to simplify the matter I made +the world stand for the continent we were in. It seemed idle to +go beyond that, and her eagerness would not have allowed it. + +"Tell me all you know," she said the moment I ceased speaking. +"What is there--and there--and there?" pointing in various +directions. "Rivers and forests--they are nothing to me. The +villages, the tribes, the people everywhere; tell me, for I must +know it all." + +"It would take long to tell, Rima." + +"Because you are so slow. Look how high the sun is! Speak, +speak! What is there?" pointing to the north. + +"All that country," I said, waving my hands from east to west, +"is Guayana; and so large is it that you could go in this +direction, or in this, travelling for months, without seeing the +end of Guayana. Still it would be Guayana; rivers, rivers, +rivers, with forests between, and other forests and rivers +beyond. And savage people, nations and tribes--Guahibo, +Aguaricoto, Ayano, Maco, Piaroa, Quiriquiripo, Tuparito--shall I +name a hundred more? It would be useless, Rima; they are all +savages, and live widely scattered in the forests, hunting with +bow and arrow and the zabatana. Consider, then, how large +Guayana is!" + +"Guayana--Guayana! Do I not know all this is Guayana? But +beyond, and beyond, and beyond? Is there no end to Guayana?" + +"Yes; there northwards it ends at the Orinoco, a mighty river, +coming from mighty mountains, compared with which Ytaioa is like +a stone on the ground on which we have sat down to rest. You +must know that guayana is only a portion, a half, of our country, +Venezuela. Look," I continued, putting my hand round my shoulder +to touch the middle of my back, "there is a groove running down +my spine dividing my body into equal parts. Thus does the great +Orinoco divide Venezuela, and on one side of it is all Guayana; +and on the other side the countries or provinces of Cumana, +Maturm, Barcelona, Bolivar, Guarico, Apure, and many others." I +then gave a rapid description of the northern half of the +country, with its vast llanos covered with herds in one part, its +plantations of coffee, rice, and sugar-cane in another, and its +chief towns; last of all Caracas, the gay and opulent little +Paris in America. + +This seemed to weary her; but the moment I ceased speaking, and +before I could well moisten my dry lips, she demanded to know +what came after Caracas--after all Venezuela. + +"The ocean--water, water, water," I replied. + +"There are no people there--in the water; only fishes," she +remarked; then suddenly continued: "Why are you silent--is +Venezuela, then, all the world?" + +The task I had set myself to perform seemed only at its +commencement yet. Thinking how to proceed with it, my eyes roved +over the level area we were standing on, and it struck me that +this little irregular plain, broad at one end and almost pointed +at the other, roughly resembled the South American continent in +its form. + +"Look, Rima," I began, "here we are on this small pebble--Ytaioa; +and this line round it shuts us in--we cannot see beyond. Now +let us imagine that we can see beyond--that we can see the whole +flat mountaintop; and that, you know, is the whole world. Now +listen while I tell you of all the countries, and principal +mountains, and rivers, and cities of the world." + +The plan I had now fixed on involved a great deal of walking +about and some hard work in moving and setting up stones and +tracing boundary and other lines; but it gave me pleasure, for +Rima was close by all the time, following me from place to place, +listening to all I said in silence but with keen interest. At +the broad end of the level summit I marked out Venezuela, showing +by means of a long line how the Orinoco divided it, and also +marking several of the greater streams flowing into it. I also +marked the sites of Caracas and other large towns with stones; +and rejoiced that we are not like the Europeans, great +city-builders, for the stones proved heavy to lift. Then +followed Colombia and Ecuador on the west; and, successively, +Bolivia, Peru, Chile, ending at last in the south with Patagonia, +a cold arid land, bleak and desolate. I marked the littoral +cities as we progressed on that side, where earth ends and the +Pacific Ocean begins, and infinitude. + +Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration, I described the +Cordilleras to her--that world-long, stupendous chain; its sea of +Titicaca, and wintry, desolate Paramo, where lie the ruins of +Tiahuanaco, older than Thebes. I mentioned its principal +cities--those small inflamed or festering pimples that attract +much attention from appearing on such a body. Quito, called--not +in irony, but by its own people--the Splendid and the +Magnificent; so high above the earth as to appear but a little +way removed from heaven--"de Quito al cielo," as the saying is. +But of its sublime history, its kings and conquerors, Haymar +Capac the Mighty, and Huascar, and Atahualpa the Unhappy, not one +word. Many words--how inadequate!--of the summits, white with +everlasting snows, above it--above this navel of the world, above +the earth, the ocean, the darkening tempest, the condor's flight. +Flame-breathing Cotopaxi, whose wrathful mutterings are audible +two hundred leagues away, and Chimborazo, Antisana, Sarata, +Illimani, Aconcagua--names of mountains that affect us like the +names of gods, implacable Pachacamac and Viracocha, whose +everlasting granite thrones they are. At the last I showed her +Cuzco, the city of the sun, and the highest dwelling-place of men +on earth. + +I was carried away by so sublime a theme; and remembering that I +had no critical hearer, I gave free reins to fancy, forgetting +for the moment that some undiscovered thought or feeling had +prompted her questions. And while I spoke of the mountains, she +hung on my words, following me closely in my walk, her +countenance brilliant, her frame quivering with excitement. + +There yet remained to be described all that unimaginable space +east of the Andes; the rivers--what rivers!--the green plains +that are like the sea--the illimitable waste of water where there +is no land--and the forest region. The very thought of the +Amazonian forest made my spirit droop. If I could have snatched +her up and placed her on the dome of Chimborazo she would have +looked on an area of ten thousand square miles of earth, so vast +is the horizon at that elevation. And possibly her imagination +would have been able to clothe it all with an unbroken forest. +Yet how small a portion this would be of the stupendous whole--of +a forest region equal in extent to the whole of Europe! All +loveliness, all grace, all majesty are there; but we cannot see, +cannot conceive--come away! From this vast stage, to be occupied +in the distant future by millions and myriads of beings, like us +of upright form, the nations that will be born when all the +existing dominant races on the globe and the civilizations they +represent have perished as utterly as those who sculptured the +stones of old Tiahuanaco--from this theatre of palms prepared for +a drama unlike any which the Immortals have yet witnessed--I +hurried away; and then slowly conducted her along the Atlantic +coast, listening to the thunder of its great waves, and pausing +at intervals to survey some maritime city. + +Never probably since old Father Noah divided the earth among his +sons had so grand a geographical discourse been delivered; and +having finished, I sat down, exhausted with my efforts, and +mopped my brow, but glad that my huge task was over, and +satisfied that I had convinced her of the futility of her wish to +see the world for herself. + +Her excitement had passed away by now. She was standing a little +apart from me, her eyes cast down and thoughtful. At length she +approached me and said, waving her hand all round: "What is +beyond the mountains over there, beyond the cities on that +side--beyond the world?" + +"Water, only water. Did I not tell you?" I returned stoutly; +for I had, of course, sunk the Isthmus of Panama beneath the sea. + + +"Water! All round?" she persisted. + +"Yes." + +"Water, and no beyond? Only water--always water?" + +I could no longer adhere to so gross a lie. She was too +intelligent, and I loved her too much. Standing up, I pointed to +distant mountains and isolated peaks. + +"Look at those peaks," I said. "It is like that with the +world--this world we are standing on. Beyond that great water +that flows all round the world, but far away, so far that it +would take months in a big boat to reach them, there are islands, +some small, others as large as this world. But, Rima, they are +so far away, so impossible to reach, that it is useless to speak +or to think of them. They are to us like the sun and moon and +stars, to which we cannot fly. And now sit down and rest by my +side, for you know everything." + +She glanced at me with troubled eyes. + +"Nothing do I know--nothing have you told me. Did I not say that +mountains and rivers and forests are nothing? Tell me about all +the people in the world. Look! there is Cuzco over there, a +city like no other in the world--did you not tell me so? Of the +people nothing. Are they also different from all others in the +world?" + +"I will tell you that if you will first answer me one question, +Rima." + +She drew a little nearer, curious to hear, but was silent. + +"Promise that you will answer me," I persisted, and as she +continued silent, I added: "Shall I not ask you, then?" + +"Say," she murmured. + +"Why do you wish to know about the people of Cuzco?" + +She flashed a look at me, then averted her face. For some +moments she stood hesitating; then, coming closer, touched me on +the shoulder and said softly: "Turn away, do not look at me." + +I obeyed, and bending so close that I felt her warm breath on my +neck, she whispered: "Are the people in Cuzco like me? Would +they understand me--the things you cannot understand? Do you +know?" + +Her tremulous voice betrayed her agitation, and her words, I +imagined, revealed the motive of her action in bringing me to the +summit of Ytaioa, and of her desire to visit and know all the +various peoples inhabiting the world. She had begun to realize, +after knowing me, her isolation and unlikeness to others, and at +the same time to dream that all human beings might not be unlike +her and unable to understand her mysterious speech and to enter +into her thoughts and feelings. + +"I can answer that question, Rima," I said. "Ah, no, poor child, +there are none there like you--not one, not one. Of all +there--priests, soldiers, merchants, workmen, white, black, red, +and mixed; men and women, old and young, rich and poor, ugly and +beautiful--not one would understand the sweet language you +speak." + +She said nothing, and glancing round, I discovered that she was +walking away, her fingers clasped before her, her eyes cast down, +and looking profoundly dejected. Jumping up, I hurried after +her. "Listen!" I said, coming to her side. "Do you know that +there are others in the world like you who would understand your +speech?" + +"Oh, do I not! Yes--mother told me. I was young when you died, +but, O mother, why did you not tell me more?" + +"But where?" + +"Oh, do you not think that I would go to them if I knew--that I +would ask?" + +"Does Nuflo know?" + +She shook her head, walking dejectedly along. + +"But have you asked him?" I persisted. + +"Have I not! Not once--not a hundred times." + +Suddenly she paused. "Look," she said, "now we are standing in +Guayana again. And over there in Brazil, and up there towards +the Cordilleras, it is unknown. And there are people there. +Come, let us go and seek for my mother's people in that place. +With grandfather, but not the dogs; they would frighten the +animals and betray us by barking to cruel men who would slay us +with poisoned arrows." + +"O Rima, can you not understand? It is too far. And your +grandfather, poor old man, would die of weariness and hunger and +old age in some strange forest." + +"Would he die--old grandfather? Then we could cover him up with +palm leaves in the forest and leave him. It would not be +grandfather; only his body that must turn to dust. He would be +away--away where the stars are. We should not die, but go on, +and on, and on." + +To continue the discussion seemed hopeless. I was silent, +thinking of what I had heard--that there were others like her +somewhere in that vast green world, so much of it imperfectly +known, so many districts never yet explored by white men. True, +it was strange that no report of such a race had reached the ears +of any traveller; yet here was Rima herself at my side, a living +proof that such a race did exist. Nuflo probably knew more than +he would say; I had failed, as we have seen, to win the secret +from him by fair means, and could not have recourse to foul--the +rack and thumbscrew--to wring it from him. To the Indians she +was only an object of superstitious fear--a daughter of the +Didi--and to them nothing of her origin was known. And she, poor +girl, had only a vague remembrance of a few words heard in +childhood from her mother, and probably not rightly understood. + +While these thoughts had been passing through my mind, Rima had +been standing silent by, waiting, perhaps, for an answer to her +last words. Then stooping, she picked up a small pebble and +tossed it three or four yards away. + +"Do you see where it fell?" she cried, turning towards me. +"That is on the border of Guayana--is it not? Let us go there +first." + +"Rima, how you distress me! We cannot go there. It is all a +savage wilderness, almost unknown to men--a blank on the map--" + +"The map?--speak no word that I do not understand." + +In a very few words I explained my meaning; even fewer would have +sufficed, so quick was her apprehension. + +"If it is a blank," she returned quickly, "then you know of +nothing to stop us--no river we cannot swim, and no great +mountains like those where Quito is." + +"But I happen to know, Rima, for it has been related to me by old +Indians, that of all places that is the most difficult of access. +There is a river there, and although it is not on the map, it +would prove more impassable to us than the mighty Orinoco and +Amazon. It has vast malarious swamps on its borders, overgrown +with dense forest, teeming with savage and venomous animals, so +that even the Indians dare not venture near it. And even before +the river is reached, there is a range of precipitous mountains +called by the same name--just there where your pebble fell--the +mountains of Riolama--" + +Hardly had the name fallen from my lips before a change swift as +lightning came over her countenance; all doubt, anxiety, +petulance, hope, and despondence, and these in ever-varying +degrees, chasing each other like shadows, had vanished, and she +was instinct and burning with some new powerful emotion which had +flashed into her soul. + +"Riolama! Riolama!" she repeated so rapidly and in a tone so +sharp that it tingled in the brain. "That is the place I am +seeking! There was my mother found--there are her people and +mine! Therefore was I called Riolama--that is my name!" + +"Rima!" I returned, astonished at her words. + +"No, no, no--Riolama. When I was a child, and the priest +baptized me, he named me Riolama--the place where my mother was +found. But it was long to say, and they called me Rima." + +Suddenly she became still and then cried in a ringing voice: + +"And he knew it all along--that old man--he knew that Riolama was +near--only there where the pebble fell--that we could go there!" + +While speaking she turned towards her home, pointing with raised +hand. Her whole appearance now reminded me of that first meeting +with her when the serpent bit me; the soft red of her irides +shone like fire, her delicate skin seemed to glow with an intense +rose colour, and her frame trembled with her agitation, so that +her loose cloud of hair was in motion as if blown through by the +wind. + +"Traitor! Traitor!" she cried, still looking homewards and +using quick, passionate gestures. "It was all known to you, and +you deceived me all these years; even to me, Rima, you lied with +your lips! Oh, horrible! Was there ever such a scandal known in +Guayana? Come, follow me, let us go at once to Riolama." And +without so much as casting a glance behind to see whether I +followed or no, she hurried away, and in a couple of minutes +disappeared from sight over the edge of the flat summit. "Rima! +Rima! Come back and listen to me! Oh, you are mad! Come back! +Come back!" + +But she would not return or pause and listen; and looking after +her, I saw her bounding down the rocky slope like some wild, +agile creature possessed of padded hoofs and an infallible +instinct; and before many minutes she vanished from sight among +crabs and trees lower down. + +"Nuflo, old man," said I, looking out towards his lodge, "are +there no shooting pains in those old bones of yours to warn you +in time of the tempest about to burst on your head?" + +Then I sat down to think. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +To follow impetuous, bird-like Rima in her descent of the hill +would have been impossible, nor had I any desire to be a witness +of old Nuflo's discomfiture at the finish. It was better to +leave them to settle their quarrel themselves, while I occupied +myself in turning over these fresh facts in my mind to find out +how they fitted into the speculative structure I had been +building during the last two or three weeks. But it soon struck +me that it was getting late, that the sun would be gone in a +couple of hours; and at once I began the descent. It was not +accomplished without some bruises and a good many scratches. +After a cold draught, obtained by putting my lips to a black rock +from which the water was trickling, I set out on my walk home, +keeping near the western border of the forest for fear of losing +myself. I had covered about half the distance from the foot of +the hill to Nuflo's lodge when the sun went down. Away on my +left the evening uproar of the howling monkeys burst out, and +after three or four minutes ceased; the after silence was pierced +at intervals by screams of birds going to roost among the trees +in the distance, and by many minor sounds close at hand, of small +bird, frog, and insect. The western sky was now like +amber-coloured flame, and against that immeasurably distant +luminous background the near branches and clustered foliage +looked black; but on my left hand the vegetation still appeared +of a uniform dusky green. In a little while night would drown all +colour, and there would be no light but that of the wandering +lantern-fly, always unwelcome to the belated walker in a lonely +place, since, like the ignis fatuus, it is confusing to the sight +and sense of direction. + +With increasing anxiety I hastened on, when all at once a low +growl issuing from the bushes some yards ahead of me brought me +to a stop. In a moment the dogs, Susio and Goloso, rushed out +from some hiding place furiously barking; but they quickly +recognized me and slunk back again. Relieved from fear, I walked +on for a short distance; then it struck me that the old man must +be about somewhere, as the dogs scarcely ever stirred from his +side. Turning back, I went to the spot where they had appeared +to me; and there, after a while, I caught sight of a dim, yellow +form as one of the brutes rose up to look at me. He had been +lying on the ground by the side of a wide-spreading bush, dead +and dry, but overgrown by a creeping plant which had completely +covered its broad, flat top like a piece of tapestry thrown over +a table, its slender terminal stems and leaves hanging over the +edge like a deep fringe. But the fringe did not reach to the +ground and under the bush, in its dark interior. I caught sight +of the other dog; and after gazing in for some time, I also +discovered a black, recumbent form, which I took to be Nuflo. + +"What are you doing there, old man?" I cried. "Where is +Rima--have you not seen her? Come out." + +Then he stirred himself, slowly creeping out on all fours; and +finally, getting free of the dead twigs and leaves, he stood up +and faced me. He had a strange, wild look, his white beard all +disordered, moss and dead leaves clinging to it, his eyes staring +like an owl's, while his mouth opened and shut, the teeth +striking together audibly, like an angry peccary's. After +silently glaring at me in this mad way for some moments, he burst +out: "Cursed be the day when I first saw you, man of Caracas! +Cursed be the serpent that bit you and had not sufficient power +in its venom to kill! Ha! you come from Ytaioa, where you +talked with Rima? And you have now returned to the tiger's den +to mock that dangerous animal with the loss of its whelp. Fool, +if you did not wish the dogs to feed on your flesh, it would have +been better if you had taken your evening walk in some other +direction." + +These raging words did not have the effect of alarming me in the +least, nor even of astonishing me very much, albeit up till now +the old man had always shown himself suave and respectful. His +attack did not seem quite spontaneous. In spite of the wildness +of his manner and the violence of his speech, he appeared to be +acting a part which he had rehearsed beforehand. I was only +angry, and stepping forward, I dealt him a very sharp rap with my +knuckles on his chest. "Moderate your language, old man," I +said; "remember that you are addressing a superior." + +"What do you say to me?" he screamed in a shrill, broken voice, +accompanying his words with emphatic gestures. "Do you think you +are on the pavement of Caracas? Here are no police to protect +you--here we are alone in the desert where names and titles are +nothing, standing man to man." + +"An old man to a young one," I returned. "And in virtue of my +youth I am your superior. Do you wish me to take you by the +throat and shake your insolence out of you?" + +"What, do you threaten me with violence?" he exclaimed, throwing +himself into a hostile attitude. "You, the man I saved, and +sheltered, and fed, and treated like a son! Destroyer of my +peace, have you not injured me enough? You have stolen my +grandchild's heart from me; with a thousand inventions you have +driven her mad! My child, my angel, Rima, my saviour! With your +lying tongue you have changed her into a demon to persecute me! +And you are not satisfied, but must finish your evil work by +inflicting blows on my worn body! All, all is lost to me! Take +my life if you wish it, for now it is worth nothing and I desire +not to keep it!" And here he threw himself on his knees and, +tearing open his old, ragged mantle, presented his naked breast +to me. "Shoot! Shoot!" he screeched. "And if you have no +weapon take my knife and plunge it into this sad heart, and let +me die!" And drawing his knife from its sheath, he flung it down +at my feet. + +All this performance only served to increase my anger and +contempt; but before I could make any reply I caught sight of a +shadowy object at some distance moving towards us--something grey +and formless, gliding swift and noiseless, like some great +low-flying owl among the trees. It was Rima, and hardly had I +seen her before she was with us, facing old Nuflo, her whole +frame quivering with passion, her wide-open eyes appearing +luminous in that dim light. + +"You are here!" she cried in that quick, ringing tone that was +almost painful to the sense. "You thought to escape me! To hide +yourself from my eyes in the wood! Miserable! Do you not know +that I have need of you--that I have not finished with you yet? +Do you, then, wish to be scourged to Riolama with thorny +twigs--to be dragged thither by the beard?" + +He had been staring open-mouthed at her, still on his knees, and +holding his mantle open with his skinny hands. "Rima! Rima! +have mercy on me!" he cried out piteously. "I cannot go to +Riolama, it is so far--so far. And I am old and should meet my +death. Oh, Rima, child of the woman I saved from death, have you +no compassion? I shall die, I shall die!" + +"Shall you die? Not until you have shown me the way to Riolama. +And when I have seen Riolama with my eyes, then you may die, and +I shall be glad at your death; and the children and the +grandchildren and cousins and friends of all the animals you have +slain and fed on shall know that you are dead and be glad at your +death. For you have deceived me with lies all these years even +me--and are not fit to live! Come now to Riolama; rise +instantly, I command you!" + +Instead of rising he suddenly put out his hand and snatched up +the knife from the ground. "Do you then wish me to die?" he +cried. "Shall you be glad at my death? Behold, then I shall +slay myself before your eyes. By my own hand, Rima, I am now +about to perish, striking the knife into my heart!" + +While speaking he waved the knife in a tragic manner over his +head, but I made no movement; I was convinced that he had no +intention of taking his own life--that he was still acting. +Rima, incapable of understanding such a thing, took it +differently. + +"Oh, you are going to kill yourself." she cried. "Oh, wicked +man, wait until you know what will happen to you after death. +All shall now be told to my mother. Hear my words, then kill +yourself." + +She also now dropped on to her knees and, lifting her clasped +hands and fixing her resentful sparkling eyes on the dim blue +patch of heaven visible beyond the treetops, began to speak +rapidly in clear, vibrating tones. She was praying to her mother +in heaven; and while Nuflo listened absorbed, his mouth open, his +eyes fixed on her, the hand that clutched the knife dropped to +his side. I also heard with the greatest wonder and admiration. +For she had been shy and reticent with me, and now, as if +oblivious of my presence, she was telling aloud the secrets of +her inmost heart. + +"O mother, mother, listen to me, to Rima, your beloved child!" +she began. "All these years I have been wickedly deceived by +grandfather--Nuflo--the old man that found you. Often have I +spoken to him of Riolama, where you once were, and your people +are, and he denied all knowledge of such a place. Sometimes he +said that it was at an immense distance, in a great wilderness +full of serpents larger than the trunks of great trees, and of +evil spirits and savage men, slayers of all strangers. At other +times he affirmed that no such place existed; that it was a tale +told by the Indians; such false things did he say to me--to Rima, +your child. O mother, can you believe such wickedness? + +"Then a stranger, a white man from Venezuela, came into our +woods: this is the man that was bitten by a serpent, and his name +is Abel; only I do not call him by that name, but by other names +which I have told you. But perhaps you did not listen, or did +not hear, for I spoke softly and not as now, on my knees, +solemnly. For I must tell you, O mother, that after you died the +priest at Voa told me repeatedly that when I prayed, whether to +you or to any of the saints, or to the Mother of Heaven, I must +speak as he had taught me if I wished to be heard and understood. +And that was most strange, since you had taught me differently; +but you were living then, at Voa, and now that you are in heaven, +perhaps you know better. Therefore listen to me now, O mother, +and let nothing I say escape you. + +"When this white man had been for some days with us, a strange +thing happened to me, which made me different, so that I was no +longer Rima, although Rima still--so strange was this thing; and +I often went to the pool to look at myself and see the change in +me, but nothing different could I see. In the first place it +came from his eyes passing into mine, and filling me just as the +lightning fills a cloud at sunset: afterwards it was no longer +from his eyes only, but it came into me whenever I saw him, even +at a distance, when I heard his voice, and most of all when he +touched me with his hand. When he is out of my sight I cannot +rest until I see him again; and when I see him, then I am glad, +yet in such fear and trouble that I hide myself from him. O +mother, it could not be told; for once when he caught me in his +arms and compelled me to speak of it, he did not understand; yet +there was need to tell it; then it came to me that only to our +people could it be told, for they would understand, and reply to +me, and tell me what to do in such a case. + +"And now, O mother, this is what happened next. I went to +grandfather and first begged and then commanded him to take me to +Riolama; but he would not obey, nor give attention to what I +said, but whenever I spoke to him of it he rose up and hurried +from me; and when I followed he flung back a confused and angry +reply, saying in the same breath that it was so long since he had +been to Riolama that he had forgotten where it was, and that no +such place existed. And which of his words were true and which +false I knew not; so that it would have been better if he had +returned no answer at all; and there was no help to be got from +him. And having thus failed, and there being no other person to +speak to except this stranger, I determined to go to him, and in +his company seek through the whole world for my people. This +will surprise you, O mother, because of that fear which came on +me in his presence, causing me to hide from his sight; but my +wish was so great that for a time it overcame my fear; so that I +went to him as he sat alone in the wood, sad because he could not +see me, and spoke to him, and led him to the summit of Ytaioa to +show me all the countries of the world from the summit. And you +must also know that I tremble in his presence, not because I fear +him as I fear Indians and cruel men; for he has no evil in him, +and is beautiful to look at, and his words are gentle, and his +desire is to be always with me, so that he differs from all other +men I have seen, just as I differ from all women, except from you +only, O sweet mother. + +"On the mountain-top he marked out and named all the countries of +the world, the great mountains, the rivers, the plains, the +forests, the cities; and told me also of the peoples, whites and +savages, but of our people nothing. And beyond where the world +ends there is water, water, water. And when he spoke of that +unknown part on the borders of Guayana, on the side of the +Cordilleras, he named the mountains of Riolama, and in that way I +first found out where my people are. I then left him on Ytaioa, +he refusing to follow me, and ran to grandfather and taxed him +with his falsehoods; and he, finding I knew all, escaped from me +into the woods, where I have now found him once more, talking +with the stranger. And now, O mother, seeing himself caught and +unable to escape a second time, he has taken up a knife to kill +himself, so as not to take me to Riolama; and he is only waiting +until I finish speaking to you, for I wish him to know what will +happen to him after death. Therefore, O mother, listen well and +do what I tell you. When he has killed himself, and has come +into that place where you are, see that he does not escape the +punishment he merits. Watch well for his coming, for he is full +of cunning and deceit, and will endeavor to hide himself from +your eyes. When you have recognized him--an old man, brown as an +Indian, with a white beard--point him out to the angels, and say: +'This is Nuflo, the bad man that lied to Rima.' Let them take him +and singe his wings with fire, so that he may not escape by +flying; and afterwards thrust him into some dark cavern under a +mountain, and place a great stone that a hundred men could not +remove over its mouth, and leave him there alone and in the dark +for ever!" + +Having ended, she rose quickly from her knees, and at the same +moment Nuflo, dropping the knife, cast himself prostrate at her +feet. + +"Rima--my child, my child, not that!" he cried out in a voice +that was broken with terror. He tried to take hold of her feet +with his hands, but she shrank from him with aversion; still he +kept on crawling after her like a disabled lizard, abjectly +imploring her to forgive him, reminding her that he had saved +from death the woman whose enmity had now been enlisted against +him, and declaring that he would do anything she commanded him, +and gladly perish in her service. + +It was a pitiable sight, and moving quickly to her side I touched +her on the shoulder and asked her to forgive him. + +The response came quickly enough. Turning to him once more, she +said: "I forgive you, grandfather. And now get up and take me to +Riolama." + +He rose, but only to his knees. "But you have not told her!" he +said, recovering his natural voice, although still anxious, and +jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Consider, my child, that I +am old and shall doubtless perish on the way. What would become +of my soul in such a case? For now you have told her everything, +and it will not be forgotten." + +She regarded him in silence for a few moments; then, moving a +little way apart, dropped on to her knees again, and with raised +hands and eyes fixed on the blue space above, already sprinkled +with stars, prayed again. + +"O mother, listen to me, for I have something fresh to say to +you. Grandfather has not killed himself, but has asked my +forgiveness and has promised to obey me. O mother, I have +forgiven him, and he will now take me to Riolama, to our people. +Therefore, O mother, if he dies on the way to Riolama let nothing +be done against him, but remember only that I forgave him at the +last; and when he comes into that place where you are, let him be +well received, for that is the wish of Rima, your child." + +As soon as this second petition was ended she was up again and +engaged in an animated discussion with him, urging him to take +her without further delay to Riolama; while he, now recovered +from his fear, urged that so important an undertaking required a +great deal of thought and preparation; that the journey would +occupy about twenty days, and unless he set out well provided +with food he would starve before accomplishing half the distance, +and his death would leave her worse off than before. He +concluded by affirming that he could not start in less time than +seven or eight days. + +For a while I listened with keen interest to this dispute, and at +length interposed once more on the old man's side. The poor girl +in her petition had unwittingly revealed to me the power I +possessed, and it was a pleasing experience to exercise it. +Touching her shoulder again, I assured her that seven or eight +days was only a reasonable time in which to prepare for so long a +journey. She instantly yielded, and after one glance at my face, +she moved swiftly away into the darker shadows, leaving me alone +with the old man. + +As we returned together through the now profoundly dark wood, I +explained to him how the subject of Riolama had first come up +during my conversation with Rima, and he then apologized for the +violent language he had used to me. This personal question +disposed of, he spoke of the pilgrimage before him, and informed +me in confidence that he intended preparing a quantity of +smoke-dried meat and packing it in a bag, with a layer of cassava +bread, dried pumpkin slips, and such innocent trifles to conceal +it from Rima's keen sight and delicate nostrils. Finally he made +a long rambling statement which, I vainly imagined, was intended +to lead up to an account of Rima's origin, with something about +her people at Riolama; but it led to nothing except an expression +of opinion that the girl was afflicted with a maggot in the +brain, but that as she had interest with the powers above, +especially with her mother, who was now a very important person +among the celestials, it was good policy to submit to her wishes. +Turning to me, doubtless to wink (only I missed the sign owing to +the darkness), he added that it was a fine thing to have a friend +at court. With a little gratulatory chuckle he went on to say +that for others it was necessary to obey all the ordinances of +the Church, to contribute to its support, hear mass, confess from +time to time, and receive absolution; consequently those who went +out into the wilderness, where there were no churches and no +priests to absolve them, did so at the risk of losing their +souls. But with him it was different: he expected in the end to +escape the fires of purgatory and go directly in all his +uncleanness to heaven--a thing, he remarked, which happened to +very few; and he, Nuflo, was no saint, and had first become a +dweller in the desert, as a very young man, in order to escape +the penalty of his misdeeds. + +I could not resist the temptation of remarking here that to an +unregenerate man the celestial country might turn out a somewhat +uncongenial place for a residence. He replied airily that he had +considered the point and had no fear about the future; that he +was old, and from all he had observed of the methods of +government followed by those who ruled over earthly affairs from +the sky, he had formed a clear idea of that place, and believed +that even among so many glorified beings he would be able to meet +with those who would prove companionable enough and would think +no worse of him on account of his little blemishes. + +How he had first got this idea into his brain about Rima's +ability to make things smooth for him after death I cannot say; +probably it was the effect of the girl's powerful personality and +vivid faith acting on an ignorant and extremely superstitious +mind. While she was making that petition to her mother in +heaven, it did not seem in the least ridiculous to me: I had felt +no inclination to smile, even when hearing all that about the old +man's wings being singed to prevent his escape by flying. Her +rapt look; the intense conviction that vibrated in her ringing, +passionate tones; the brilliant scorn with which she, a hater of +bloodshed, one so tender towards all living things, even the +meanest, bade him kill himself, and only hear first how her +vengeance would pursue his deceitful soul into other worlds; the +clearness with which she had related the facts of the case, +disclosing the inmost secrets of her heart--all this had had a +strange, convincing effect on me. Listening to her I was no +longer the enlightened, the creedless man. She herself was so +near to the supernatural that it seemed brought near me; +indefinable feelings, which had been latent in me, stirred into +life, and following the direction of her divine, lustrous eyes, +fixed on the blue sky above, I seemed to see there another being +like herself, a Rima glorified, leaning her pale, spiritual face +to catch the winged words uttered by her child on earth. And +even now, while hearing the old man's talk, showing as it did a +mind darkened with such gross delusions, I was not yet altogether +free from the strange effect of that prayer. Doubtless it was a +delusion; her mother was not really there above listening to the +girl's voice. Still, in some mysterious way, Rima had become to +me, even as to superstitious old Nuflo, a being apart and sacred, +and this feeling seemed to mix with my passion, to purify and +exalt it and make it infinitely sweet and precious. + +After we had been silent for some time, I said: "Old man, the +result of the grand discussion you have had with Rima is that you +have agreed to take her to Riolama, but about my accompanying you +not one word has been spoken by either of you." + +He stopped short to stare at me, and although it was too dark to +see his face, I felt his astonishment. "Senor!" he exclaimed, +"we cannot go without you. Have you not heard my granddaughter's +words--that it is only because of you that she is about to +undertake this crazy journey? If you are not with us in this +thing, then, senor, here we must remain. But what will Rima say +to that?" + +"Very well, I will go, but only on one condition." + +"What is it?" he asked, with a sudden change of tone, which +warned me that he was becoming cautious again. + +"That you tell me the whole story of Rima's origin, and how you +came to be now living with her in this solitary place, and who +these people are she wishes to visit at Riolama." + +"Ah, senor, it is a long story, and sad. But you shall hear it +all. You must hear it, senor, since you are now one of us; and +when I am no longer here to protect her, then she will be yours. +And although you will never be able to do more than old Nuflo for +her, perhaps she will be better pleased; and you, senor, better +able to exist innocently by her side, without eating flesh, since +you will always have that rare flower to delight you. But the +story would take long to tell. You shall hear it all as we +journey to Riolama. What else will there be to talk about when +we are walking that long distance, and when we sit at night by +the fire?" + +"No, no, old man, I am not to be put off in that way. I must +hear it before I start." + +But he was determined to reserve the narrative until the journey, +and after some further argument I yielded the point. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +That evening by the fire old Nuflo, lately so miserable, now +happy in his delusions, was more than usually gay and loquacious. +He was like a child who by timely submission has escaped a +threatened severe punishment. But his lightness of heart was +exceeded by mine; and, with the exception of one other yet to +come, that evening now shines in memory as the happiest my life +has known. For Rima's sweet secret was known to me; and her very +ignorance of the meaning of the feeling she experienced, which +caused her to fly from me as from an enemy, only served to make +the thought of it more purely delightful. + +On this occasion she did not steal away like a timid mouse to her +own apartment, as her custom was, but remained to give that one +evening a special grace, seated well away from the fire in that +same shadowy corner where I had first seen her indoors, when I +had marvelled at her altered appearance. From that corner she +could see my face, with the firelight full upon it, she herself +in shadow, her eyes veiled by their drooping lashes. Sitting +there, the vivid consciousness of my happiness was like draughts +of strong, delicious wine, and its effect was like wine, +imparting such freedom to fancy, such fluency, that again and +again old Nuflo applauded, crying out that I was a poet, and +begging me to put it all into rhyme. I could not do that to +please him, never having acquired the art of improvisation--that +idle trick of making words jingle which men of Nuflo's class in +my country so greatly admire; yet it seemed to me on that evening +that my feelings could be adequately expressed only in that +sublimated language used by the finest minds in their inspired +moments; and, accordingly, I fell to reciting. But not from any +modern, nor from the poets of the last century, nor even from the +greater seventeenth century. I kept to the more ancient romances +and ballads, the sweet old verse that, whether glad or sorrowful, +seems always natural and spontaneous as the song of a bird, and +so simple that even a child can understand it. + +It was late that night before all the romances I remembered or +cared to recite were exhausted, and not until then did Rima come +out of her shaded corner and steal silently away to her +sleeping-place. + +Although I had resolved to go with them, and had set Nuflo's mind +at rest on the point, I was bent on getting the request from +Rima's own lips; and the next morning the opportunity of seeing +her alone presented itself, after old Nuflo had sneaked off with +his dogs. From the moment of his departure I kept a close watch +on the house, as one watches a bush in which a bird one wishes to +see has concealed itself, and out of which it may dart at any +moment and escape unseen. + +At length she came forth, and seeing me in the way, would have +slipped back into hiding; for, in spite of her boldness on the +previous day, she now seemed shyer than ever when I spoke to her. + +"Rima," I said, "do you remember where we first talked together +under a tree one morning, when you spoke of your mother, telling +me that she was dead?" + +"Yes." + +"I am going now to that spot to wait for you. I must speak to +you again in that place about this journey to Riolama." As she +kept silent, I added: "Will you promise to come to me there?" + +She shook her head, turning half away. + +"Have you forgotten our compact, Rima?" + +"No," she returned; and then, suddenly coming near, spoke in a +low tone: "I will go there to please you, and you must also do as +I tell you." + +"What do you wish, Rima?" + +She came nearer still. "Listen! You must not look into my eyes, +you must not touch me with your hands." + +"Sweet Rima, I must hold your hand when I speak with you." + +"No, no, no," she murmured, shrinking from me; and finding that +it must be as she wished, I reluctantly agreed. + +Before I had waited long, she appeared at the trysting-place, and +stood before me, as on a former occasion, on that same spot of +clean yellow sand, clasping and unclasping her fingers, troubled +in mind even then. Only now her trouble was different and +greater, making her shyer and more reticent. + +"Rima, your grandfather is going to take you to Riolama. Do you +wish me to go with you?" + +"Oh, do you not know that?" she returned, with a swift glance at +my face. + +"How should I know?" + +Her eyes wandered away restlessly. "On Ytaioa you told me a +hundred things which I did not know," she replied in a vague way, +wishing, perhaps, to imply that with so great a knowledge of +geography it was strange I did not know everything, even her most +secret thoughts. + +"Tell me, why must you go to Riolama?" + +"You have heard. To speak to my people." + +"What will you say to them? Tell me." + +"What you do not understand. How tell you?" + +"I understand you when you speak in Spanish." + +"Oh, that is not speaking." + +"Last night you spoke to your mother in Spanish. Did you not +tell her everything?" + +"Oh no--not then. When I tell her everything I speak in another +way, in a low voice--not on my knees and praying. At night, and +in the woods, and when I am alone I tell her. But perhaps she +does not hear me; she is not here, but up there--so far! She +never answers, but when I speak to my people they will answer +me." + +Then she turned away as if there was nothing more to be said. + +"Is this all I am to hear from you, Rima--these few words?" I +exclaimed. "So much did you say to your grandfather, so much to +your dead mother, but to me you say so little!" + +She turned again, and with eyes cast down replied: + +"He deceived me--I had to tell him that, and then to pray to +mother. But to you that do not understand, what can I say? Only +that you are not like him and all those that I knew at Voa. It +is so different--and the same. You are you, and I am I; why is +it--do you know?" + +"No; yes--I know, but cannot tell you. And if you find your +people, what will you do--leave me to go to them? Must I go all +the way to Riolama only to lose you?" + +"Where I am, there you must be." + +"Why?" + +"Do I not see it there?" she returned, with a quick gesture to +indicate that it appeared in my face. + +"Your sight is keen, Rima--keen as a bird's. Mine is not so +keen. Let me look once more into those beautiful wild eyes, then +perhaps I shall see in them as much as you see in mine." + +"Oh no, no, not that!" she murmured in distress, drawing away +from me; then with a sudden flash of brilliant colour cried: + +"Have you forgotten the compact--the promise you made me?" + +Her words made me ashamed, and I could not reply. But the shame +was as nothing in strength compared to the impulse I felt to +clasp her beautiful body in my arms and cover her face with +kisses. Sick with desire, I turned away and, sitting on a root +of the tree, covered my face with my hands. + +She came nearer: I could see her shadow through my fingers; then +her face and wistful, compassionate eyes. + +"Forgive me, dear Rima," I said, dropping my hands again. "I +have tried so hard to please you in everything! Touch my face +with your hand--only that, and I will go to Riolama with you, and +obey you in all things." + +For a while she hesitated, then stepped quickly aside so that I +could not see her; but I knew that she had not left me, that she +was standing just behind me. And after waiting a moment longer I +felt her fingers touching my skin, softly, trembling over my +cheek as if a soft-winged moth had fluttered against it; then the +slight aerial touch was gone, and she, too, moth-like, had +vanished from my side. + +Left alone in the wood, I was not happy. That fluttering, +flattering touch of her finger-tips had been to me like spoken +language, and more eloquent than language, yet the sweet +assurance it conveyed had not given perfect satisfaction; and +when I asked myself why the gladness of the previous evening had +forsaken me--why I was infected with this new sadness when +everything promised well for me, I found that it was because my +passion had greatly increased during the last few hours; even +during sleep it had been growing, and could no longer be fed by +merely dwelling in thought on the charms, moral and physical, of +its object, and by dreams of future fruition. + +I concluded that it would be best for Rima's sake as well as my +own to spend a few of the days before setting out on our journey +with my Indian friends, who would be troubled at my long absence; +and, accordingly, next morning I bade good-bye to the old man, +promising to return in three or four days, and then started +without seeing Rima, who had quitted the house before her usual +time. After getting free of the woods, on casting back my eyes I +caught sight of the girl standing under an isolated tree watching +me with that vague, misty, greenish appearance she so frequently +had when seen in the light shade at a short distance. + +"Rima!" I cried, hurrying back to speak to her, but when I +reached the spot she had vanished; and after waiting some time, +seeing and hearing nothing to indicate that she was near me, I +resumed my walk, half thinking that my imagination had deceived +me. + +I found my Indian friends home again, and was not surprised to +observe a distinct change in their manner towards me. I had +expected as much; and considering that they must have known very +well where and in whose company I had been spending my time, it +was not strange. Coming across the savannah that morning I had +first begun to think seriously of the risk I was running. But +this thought only served to prepare me for a new condition of +things; for now to go back and appear before Rima, and thus prove +myself to be a person not only capable of forgetting a promise +occasionally, but also of a weak, vacillating mind, was not to be +thought of for a moment. + +I was received--not welcomed--quietly enough; not a question, not +a word, concerning my long absence fell from anyone; it was as if +a stranger had appeared among them, one about whom they knew +nothing and consequently regarded with suspicion, if not actual +hostility. I affected not to notice the change, and dipped my +hand uninvited in the pot to satisfy my hunger, and smoked and +dozed away the sultry hours in my hammock. Then I got my guitar +and spent the rest of the day over it, tuning it, touching the +strings so softly with my finger-tips that to a person four yards +off the sound must have seemed like the murmur or buzz of an +insect's wings; and to this scarcely audible accompaniment I +murmured in an equally low tone a new song. + +In the evening, when all were gathered under the roof and I had +eaten again, I took up the instrument once more, furtively +watched by all those half-closed animal eyes, and swept the +strings loudly, and sang aloud. I sang an old simple Spanish +melody, to which I had put words in their own language--a +language with no words not in everyday use, in which it is so +difficult to express feelings out of and above the common. What +I had been constructing and practicing all the afternoon sotto +voce was a kind of ballad, an extremely simple tale of a poor +Indian living alone with his young family in a season of dearth; +how day after day he ranged the voiceless woods, to return each +evening with nothing but a few withered sour berries in his hand, +to find his lean, large-eyed wife still nursing the fire that +cooked nothing, and his children crying for food, showing their +bones more plainly through their skins every day; and how, +without anything miraculous, anything wonderful, happening, that +barrenness passed from earth, and the garden once more yielded +them pumpkin and maize, and manioc, the wild fruits ripened, and +the birds returned, filling the forest with their cries; and so +their long hunger was satisfied, and the children grew sleek, and +played and laughed in the sunshine; and the wife, no longer +brooding over the empty pot, wove a hammock of silk grass, +decorated with blue-and-scarlet feathers of the macaw; and in +that new hammock the Indian rested long from his labours, smoking +endless cigars. + +When I at last concluded with a loud note of joy, a long, +involuntary suspiration in the darkening room told me that I had +been listened to with profound interest; and, although no word +was spoken, though I was still a stranger and under a cloud, it +was plain that the experiment had succeeded, and that for the +present the danger was averted. + +I went to my hammock and slept, but without undressing. Next +morning I missed my revolver and found that the holster +containing it had been detached from the belt. My knife had not +been taken, possibly because it was under me in the hammock while +I slept. In answer to my inquiries I was informed that Runi had +BORROWED my weapon to take it with him to the forest, where he +had gone to hunt, and that he would return it to me in the +evening. I affected to take it in good part, although feeling +secretly ill at ease. Later in the day I came to the conclusion +that Runi had had it in his mind to murder me, that I had +softened him by singing that Indian story, and that by taking +possession of the revolver he showed that he now only meant to +keep me a prisoner. Subsequent events confirmed me in this +suspicion. On his return he explained that he had gone out to +seek for game in the woods; and, going without a companion, he +had taken my revolver to preserve him from dangers--meaning those +of a supernatural kind; and that he had had the misfortune to +drop it among the bushes while in pursuit of some animal. I +answered hotly that he had not treated me like a friend; that if +he had asked me for the weapon it would have been lent to him; +that as he had taken it without permission he must pay me for it. +After some pondering he said that when he took it I was sleeping +soundly; also, that it would not be lost; he would take me to the +place where he had dropped it, when we could search together for +it. + +He was in appearance more friendly towards me now, even asking me +to repeat my last evening's song, and so we had that performance +all over again to everybody's satisfaction. But when morning +came he was not inclined to go to the woods: there was food +enough in the house, and the pistol would not be hurt by lying +where it had fallen a day longer. Next day the same excuse; +still I disguised my impatience and suspicion of him and waited, +singing the ballad for the third time that evening. Then I was +conducted to a wood about a league and a half away and we hunted +for the lost pistol among the bushes, I with little hope of +finding it, while he attended to the bird voices and frequently +asked me to stand or lie still when a chance of something +offered. + +The result of that wasted day was a determination on my part to +escape from Runi as soon as possible, although at the risk of +making a deadly enemy of him and of being compelled to go on that +long journey to Riolama with no better weapon than a +hunting-knife. I had noticed, while appearing not to do so, that +outside of the house I was followed or watched by one or other of +the Indians, so that great circumspection was needed. On the +following day I attacked my host once more about the revolver, +telling him with well-acted indignation that if not found it must +be paid for. I went so far as to give a list of the articles I +should require, including a bow and arrows, zabatana, two spears, +and other things which I need not specify, to set me up for life +as a wild man in the woods of Guayana. I was going to add a +wife, but as I had already been offered one it did not appear to +be necessary. He seemed a little taken aback at the value I set +upon my weapon, and promised to go and look for it again. Then I +begged that Kua-ko, in whose sharpness of sight I had great +faith, might accompany us. He consented, and named the next day +but one for the expedition. Very well, thought I, tomorrow their +suspicion will be less, and my opportunity will come; then taking +up my rude instrument, I gave them an old Spanish song: + + Desde aquel doloroso momento; + +but this kind of music had lost its charm for them, and I was +asked to give them the ballad they understood so well, in which +their interest seemed to increase with every repetition. In +spite of anxiety it amused me to see old Cla-cla regarding me +fixedly with owlish eyes and lips moving. My tale had no +wonderful things in it, like hers of the olden time, which she +told only to send her hearers to sleep. Perhaps she had +discovered by now that it was the strange honey of melody which +made the coarse, common cassava bread of everyday life in my +story so pleasant to the palate. I was quite prepared to receive +a proposal to give her music and singing lessons, and to bequeath +a guitar to her in my last will and testament. For, in spite of +her hoary hair and million wrinkles, she, more than any other +savage I had met with, seemed to have taken a draught from Ponce +de Leon's undiscovered fountain of eternal youth. Poor old +witch! + +The following day was the sixth of my absence from Rima, and one +of intense anxiety to me, a feeling which I endeavoured to hide +by playing with the children, fighting our old comic stick +fights, and by strumming noisily on the guitar. In the +afternoon, when it was hottest, and all the men who happened to +be indoors were lying in their hammocks, I asked Kua-ko to go +with me to the stream to bathe. He refused--I had counted on +that--and earnestly advised me not to bathe in the pool I was +accustomed to, as some little caribe fishes had made their +appearance there and would be sure to attack me. I laughed at +his idle tale and, taking up my cloak, swung out of the door, +whistling a lively air. He knew that I always threw my cloak +over my head and shoulders as a protection from the sun and +stinging flies when coming out of the water, and so his suspicion +was not aroused, and I was not followed. The pool was about ten +minutes' walk from the house; I arrived at it with palpitating +heart, and going round to its end, where the stream was shallow, +sat down to rest for a few moments and take a few sips of cool +water dipped up in my palm. Presently I rose, crossed the +stream, and began running, keeping among the low trees near the +bank until a dry gully, which extended for some distance across +the savannah, was reached. By following its course the distance +to be covered would be considerably increased, but the shorter +way would have exposed me to sight and made it more dangerous. I +had put forth too much speed at first, and in a short time my +exertions, and the hot sun, together with my intense excitement, +overcame me. I dared not hope that my flight had not been +observed; I imagined that the Indians, unencumbered by any heavy +weight, were already close behind me, and ready to launch their +deadly spears at my back. With a sob of rage and despair I fell +prostrate on my face in the dry bed of the stream, and for two or +three minutes remained thus exhausted and unmanned, my heart +throbbing so violently that my whole frame was shaken. If my +enemies had come on me then disposed to kill me, I could not have +lifted a hand in defence of my life. But minutes passed and they +came not. I rose and went on, at a fast walk now, and when the +sheltering streamed ended, I stooped among the sere dwarfed +shrubs scattered about here and there on its southern side; and +now creeping and now running, with an occasional pause to rest +and look back, I at last reached the dividing ridge at its +southern extremity. The rest of the way was over comparatively +easy ground, inclining downwards; and with that glad green forest +now full in sight, and hope growing stronger every minute in my +breast, my knees ceased to tremble, and I ran on again, scarcely +pausing until I had touched and lost myself in the welcome +shadows. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Ah, that return to the forest where Rima dwelt, after so anxious +day, when the declining sun shone hotly still, and the green +woodland shadows were so grateful! The coolness, the sense of +security, allayed the fever and excitement I had suffered on the +open savannah; I walked leisurely, pausing often to listen to +some bird voice or to admire some rare insect or parasitic flower +shining star-like in the shade. There was a strangely delightful +sensation in me. I likened myself to a child that, startled at +something it had seen while out playing in the sun, flies to its +mother to feel her caressing hand on its cheek and forget its +tremors. And describing what I felt in that way, I was a little +ashamed and laughed at myself; nevertheless the feeling was very +sweet. At that moment Mother and Nature seemed one and the same +thing. As I kept to the more open part of the wood, on its +southernmost border, the red flame of the sinking sun was seen at +intervals through the deep humid green of the higher foliage. +How every object it touched took from it a new wonderful glory! +At one spot, high up where the foliage was scanty, and slender +bush ropes and moss depended like broken cordage from a dead +limb--just there, bathing itself in that glory-giving light, I +noticed a fluttering bird, and stood still to watch its antics. +Now it would cling, head downwards, to the slender twigs, wings +and tail open; then, righting itself, it would flit from waving +line to line, dropping lower and lower; and anon soar upwards a +distance of twenty feet and alight to recommence the flitting and +swaying and dropping towards the earth. It was one of those +birds that have a polished plumage, and as it moved this way and +that, flirting its feathers, they caught the beams and shone at +moments like glass or burnished metal. Suddenly another bird of +the same kind dropped down to it as if from the sky, straight and +swift as a falling stone; and the first bird sprang up to meet +the comer, and after rapidly wheeling round each other for a +moment, they fled away in company, screaming shrilly through the +wood, and were instantly lost to sight, while their jubilant +cries came back fainter and fainter at each repetition. + +I envied them not their wings: at that moment earth did not seem +fixed and solid beneath me, nor I bound by gravity to it. The +faint, floating clouds, the blue infinite heaven itself, seemed +not more ethereal and free than I, or the ground I walked on. +The low, stony hills on my right hand, of which I caught +occasional glimpses through the trees, looking now blue and +delicate in the level rays, were no more than the billowy +projections on the moving cloud of earth: the trees of unnumbered +kinds--great more, cecropia, and greenheart, bush and fern and +suspended lianas, and tall palms balancing their feathery foliage +on slender stems--all was but a fantastic mist embroidery +covering the surface of that floating cloud on which my feet were +set, and which floated with me near the sun. + +The red evening flame had vanished from the summits of the trees, +the sun was setting, the woods in shadow, when I got to the end +of my walk. I did not approach the house on the side of the +door, yet by some means those within became aware of my presence, +for out they came in a great hurry, Rima leading the way, Nuflo +behind her, waving his arms and shouting. But as I drew near, +the girl dropped behind and stood motionless regarding me, her +face pallid and showing strong excitement. I could scarcely +remove my eyes from her eloquent countenance: I seemed to read in +it relief and gladness mingled with surprise and something like +vexation. She was piqued perhaps that I had taken her by +surprise, that after much watching for me in the wood I had come +through it undetected when she was indoors. + +"Happy the eyes that see you!" shouted the old man, laughing +boisterously. + +"Happy are mine that look on Rima again," I answered. "I have +been long absent." + +"Long--you may say so," returned Nuflo. "We had given you up. +We said that, alarmed at the thought of the journey to Riolama, +you had abandoned us." + +"WE said!" exclaimed Rima, her pallid face suddenly flushing. +"I spoke differently." + +"Yes, I know--I know!" he said airily, waving his hand. "You +said that he was in danger, that he was kept against his will +from coming. He is present now--let him speak." + +"She was right," I said. "Ah, Nuflo, old man, you have lived +long, and got much experience, but not insight--not that inner +vision that sees further than the eyes." + +"No, not that--I know what you mean," he answered. Then, tossing +his hand towards the sky, he added: "The knowledge you speak of +comes from there." + +The girl had been listening with keen interest, glancing from one +to the other. "What!" she spoke suddenly, as if unable to keep +silence, "do you think, grandfather, that SHE tells me--when +there is danger--when the rain will cease--when the wind will +blow--everything? Do I not ask and listen, lying awake at night? +She is always silent, like the stars." + +Then, pointing to me with her finger, she finished: + +"HE knows so many things! Who tells them to HIM?" + +"But distinguish, Rima. You do not distinguish the great from +the little," he answered loftily. "WE know a thousand things, +but they are things that any man with a forehead can learn. The +knowledge that comes from the blue is not like that--it is more +important and miraculous. Is it not so, senor?" he ended, +appealing to me. + +"Is it, then, left for me to decide?" said I, addressing the +girl. + +But though her face was towards me, she refused to meet my look +and was silent. Silent, but not satisfied: she doubted still, +and had perhaps caught something in my tone that strengthened her +doubt. + +Old Nuflo understood the expression. "Look at me, Rima," he +said, drawing himself up. "I am old, and he is young--do I not +know best? I have spoken and have decided it." + +Still that unconvinced expression, and her face turned expectant +to me. + +"Am I to decide?" I repeated. + +"Who, then?" she said at last, her voice scarcely more than a +murmur; yet there was reproach in the tone, as if she had made a +long speech and I had tyrannously driven her to it. + +"Thus, then, I decide," said I. "To each of us, as to every kind +of animal, even to small birds and insects, and to every kind of +plant, there is given something peculiar--a fragrance, a melody, +a special instinct, an art, a knowledge, which no other has. And +to Rima has been given this quickness of mind and power to divine +distant things; it is hers, just as swiftness and grace and +changeful, brilliant colour are the hummingbird's; therefore she +need not that anyone dwelling in the blue should instruct her." + +The old man frowned and shook his head; while she, after one +swift, shy glance at my face, and with something like a smile +flitting over her delicate lips, turned and re-entered the house. + +I felt convinced from that parting look that she had understood +me, that my words had in some sort given her relief; for, strong +as was her faith in the supernatural, she appeared as ready to +escape from it, when a way of escape offered, as from the limp +cotton gown and constrained manner worn in the house. The +religion and cotton dress were evidently remains of her early +training at the settlement of Voa. + +Old Nuflo, strange to say, had proved better than his word. +Instead of inventing new causes for delay, as I had imagined +would be the case, he now informed me that his preparations for +the journey were all but complete, that he had only waited for my +return to set out. + +Rima soon left us in her customary way, and then, talking by the +fire, I gave an account of my detention by the Indians and of the +loss of my revolver, which I thought very serious. + +"You seem to think little of it," I said, observing that he took +it very coolly. "Yet I know not how I shall defend myself in +case of an attack." + +"I have no fear of an attack," he answered. "It seems to me the +same thing whether you have a revolver or many revolvers and +carbines and swords, or no revolver--no weapon at all. And for a +very simple reason. While Rima is with us, so long as we are on +her business, we are protected from above. The angels, senor, +will watch over us by day and night. What need of weapons, then, +except to procure food?" + +"Why should not the angels provide us with food also?" said I. + +"No, no, that is a different thing," he returned. "That is a +small and low thing, a necessity common to all creatures, which +all know how to meet. You would not expect an angel to drive +away a cloud of mosquitoes, or to remove a bush-tick from your +person. No, sir, you may talk of natural gifts, and try to make +Rima believe that she is what she is, and knows what she knows, +because, like a humming-bird or some plants with a peculiar +fragrance, she has been made so. It is wrong, senor, and, pardon +me for saying it, it ill becomes you to put such fables into her +head." + +I answered, with a smile: "She herself seems to doubt what you +believe." + +"But, senor, what can you expect from an ignorant girl like Rima? +She knows nothing, or very little, and will not listen to reason. +If she would only remain quietly indoors, with her hair braided, +and pray and read her Catechism, instead of running about after +flowers and birds and butterflies and such unsubstantial things, +it would be better for both of us." + +"In what way, old man?" + +"Why, it is plain that if she would cultivate the acquaintance of +the people that surround her--I mean those that come to her from +her sainted mother--and are ready to do her bidding in +everything, she could make it more safe for us in this place. +For example, there is Runi and his people; why should they remain +living so near us as to be a constant danger when a pestilence of +small-pox or some other fever might easily be sent to kill them +off?" + +"And have you ever suggested such a thing to your grandchild?" + +He looked surprised and grieved at the question. "Yes, many +times, senor," he said. "I should have been a poor Christian had +I not mentioned it. But when I speak of it she gives me a look +and is gone, and I see no more of her all day, and when I see her +she refuses even to answer me--so perverse, so foolish is she in +her ignorance; for, as you can see for yourself, she has no more +sense or concern about what is most important than some little +painted fly that flits about all day long without any object." + + + +CHAPTER XV + +The next day we were early at work. Nuflo had already gathered, +dried, and conveyed to a place of concealment the greater portion +of his garden produce. He was determined to leave nothing to be +taken by any wandering party of savages that might call at the +house during our absence. He had no fear of a visit from his +neighbours; they would not know, he said, that he and Rima were +out of the wood. A few large earthen pots, filled with shelled +maize, beans, and sun-dried strips of pumpkin, still remained to +be disposed of. Taking up one of these vessels and asking me to +follow with another, he started off through the wood. We went a +distance of five or six hundred yards, then made our way down a +very steep incline, close to the border of the forest on the +western side. Arrived at the bottom, we followed the bank a +little further, and I then found myself once more at the foot of +the precipice over which I had desperately thrown myself on the +stormy evening after the snake had bitten me. Nuflo, stealing +silently and softly before me through the bushes, had observed a +caution and secrecy in approaching this spot resembling that of a +wise old hen when she visits her hidden nest to lay an egg. And +here was his nest, his most secret treasure-house, which he had +probably not revealed even to me without a sharp inward conflict, +notwithstanding that our fates were now linked together. The +lower portion of the bank was of rock; and in it, about ten or +twelve feet above the ground, but easily reached from below, +there was a natural cavity large enough to contain all his +portable property. Here, besides the food-stuff, he had already +stored a quantity of dried tobacco leaf, his rude weapons, +cooking utensils, ropes, mats, and other objects. Two or three +more journeys were made for the remaining pots, after which we +adjusted a slab of sandstone to the opening, which was +fortunately narrow, plastered up the crevices with clay, and +covered them over with moss to hide all traces of our work. + +Towards evening, after we had refreshed ourselves with a long +siesta, Nuflo brought out from some other hiding-place two sacks; +one weighing about twenty pounds and containing smoke-dried meat, +also grease and gum for lighting-purposes, and a few other small +objects. This was his load; the other sack, which was smaller +and contained parched corn and raw beans, was for me to carry. + +The old man, cautious in all his movements, always acting as if +surrounded by invisible spies, delayed setting out until an hour +after dark. Then, skirting the forest on its west side, we left +Ytaioa on our right hand, and after travelling over rough, +difficult ground, with only the stars to light us, we saw the +waning moon rise not long before dawn. Our course had been a +north-easterly one at first; now it was due east, with broad, dry +savannahs and patches of open forest as far as we could see +before us. It was weary walking on that first night, and weary +waiting on the first day when we sat in the shade during the +long, hot hours, persecuted by small stinging flies; but the days +and nights that succeeded were far worse, when the weather became +bad with intense heat and frequent heavy falls of rain. The one +compensation I had looked for, which would have outweighed all +the extreme discomforts we suffered, was denied me. Rima was no +more to me or with me now than she had been during those wild +days in her native woods, when every bush and bole and tangled +creeper or fern frond had joined in a conspiracy to keep her out +of my sight. It is true that at intervals in the daytime she was +visible, sometimes within speaking distance, so that I could +address a few words to her, but there was no companionship, and +we were fellow travellers only like birds flying independently in +the same direction, not so widely separated but that they can +occasionally hear and see each other. The pilgrim in the desert +is sometimes attended by a bird, and the bird, with its freer +motions, will often leave him a league behind and seem lost to +him, but only to return and show its form again; for it has never +lost sight nor recollection of the traveller toiling slowly over +the surface. Rima kept us company in some such wild erratic way +as that. A word, a sign from Nuflo was enough for her to know +the direction to take--the distant forest or still more distant +mountain near which we should have to pass. She would hasten on +and be lost to our sight, and when there was a forest in the way +she would explore it, resting in the shade and finding her own +food; but invariably she was before us at each resting- or +camping-place. + +Indian villages were seen during the journey, but only to be +avoided; and in like manner, if we caught sight of Indians +travelling or camping at a distance, we would alter our course, +or conceal ourselves to escape observation. Only on one +occasion, two days after setting out, were we compelled to speak +with strangers. We were going round a hill, and all at once came +face to face with three persons travelling in an opposite +direction--two men and a woman, and, by a strange fatality, Rima +at that moment happened to be with us. We stood for some time +talking to these people, who were evidently surprised at our +appearance, and wished to learn who we were; but Nuflo, who spoke +their language like one of themselves, was too cunning to give +any true answer. They, on their side, told us that they had been +to visit a relative at Chani, the name of a river three days +ahead of us, and were now returning to their own village at +Baila-baila, two days beyond Parahuari. After parting from them +Nuflo was much troubled in his mind for the rest of that day. +These people, he said, would probably rest at some Parahuari +village, where they would be sure to give a description of us, +and so it might eventually come to the knowledge of our +unneighbourly neighbour Runi that we had left Ytaioa. + +Other incidents of our long and wearisome journey need not be +related. Sitting under some shady tree during the sultry hours, +with Rima only too far out of earshot, or by the nightly fire, +the old man told me little by little and with much digression, +chiefly on sacred subjects, the strange story of the girl's +origin. + +About seventeen years back--Nuflo had no sure method to compute +time by--when he was already verging on old age, he was one of a +company of nine men, living a kind of roving life in the very +part of Guayana through which we were now travelling; the others, +much younger than himself, were all equally offenders against the +laws of Venezuela, and fugitives from justice. Nuflo was the +leader of this gang, for it happened that he had passed a great +portion of his life outside the pale of civilization, and could +talk the Indian language, and knew this part of Guayana +intimately. But according to his own account he was not in +harmony with them. They were bold, desperate men, whose evil +appetites had so far only been whetted by the crimes they had +committed; while he, with passions worn out, recalling his many +bad acts, and with a vivid conviction of the truth of all he had +been taught in early life--for Nuflo was nothing if not +religious--was now grown timid and desirous only of making his +peace with Heaven. This difference of disposition made him +morose and quarrelsome with his companions; and they would, he +said, have murdered him without remorse if he had not been so +useful to them. Their favourite plan was to hang about the +neighbourhood of some small isolated settlement, keeping a watch +on it, and, when most of the male inhabitants were absent, to +swoop down on it and work their will. Now, shortly after one of +these raids it happened that a woman they had carried off, +becoming a burden to them, was flung into a river to the +alligators; but when being dragged down to the waterside she cast +up her eyes, and in a loud voice cried to God to execute +vengeance on her murderers. Nuflo affirmed that he took no part +in this black deed; nevertheless, the woman's dying appeal to +Heaven preyed on his mind; he feared that it might have won a +hearing, and the "person" eventually commissioned to execute +vengeance--after the usual days, of course might act on the +principle of the old proverb: Tell me whom you are with, and I +will tell you what you are--and punish the innocent (himself to +wit) along with the guilty. But while thus anxious about his +spiritual interests, he was not yet prepared to break with his +companions. He thought it best to temporize, and succeeded in +persuading them that it would be unsafe to attack another +Christian settlement for some time to come; that in the interval +they might find some pleasure, if no great credit, by turning +their attention to the Indians. The infidels, he said, were +God's natural enemies and fair game to the Christian. To make a +long story short, Nuflo's Christian band, after some successful +adventures, met with a reverse which reduced their number from +nine to five. Flying from their enemies, they sought safety at +Riolama, an uninhabited place, where they found it possible to +exist for some weeks on game, which was abundant, and wild +fruits. + +One day at noon, while ascending a mountain at the southern +extremity of the Riolama range in order to get a view of the +country beyond the summit, Nuflo and his companions discovered a +cave; and finding it dry, without animal occupants, and with a +level floor, they at once determined to make it their +dwelling-place for a season. Wood for firing and water were to +be had close by; they were also well provided with smoked flesh +of a tapir they had slaughtered a day or two before, so that they +could afford to rest for a time in so comfortable a shelter. At +a short distance from the cave they made a fire on the rock to +toast some slices of meat for their dinner; and while thus +engaged all at once one of the men uttered a cry of astonishment, +and casting up his eyes Nuflo beheld, standing near and regarding +them with surprise and fear in-her wide-open eyes, a woman of a +most wonderful appearance. The one slight garment she had on was +silky and white as the snow on the summit of some great mountain, +but of the snow when the sinking sun touches and gives it some +delicate changing colour which is like fire. Her dark hair was +like a cloud from which her face looked out, and her head was +surrounded by an aureole like that of a saint in a picture, only +more beautiful. For, said Nuflo, a picture is a picture, and the +other was a reality, which is finer. Seeing her he fell on his +knees and crossed himself; and all the time her eyes, full of +amazement and shining with such a strange splendour that he could +not meet them, were fixed on him and not on the others; and he +felt that she had come to save his soul, in danger of perdition +owing to his companionship with men who were at war with God and +wholly bad. + +But at this moment his comrades, recovering from their +astonishment, sprang to their feet, and the heavenly woman +vanished. Just behind where she had stood, and not twelve yards +from them, there was a huge chasm in the mountain, its jagged +precipitous sides clothed with thorny bushes; the men now cried +out that she had made her escape that way, and down after her +they rushed, pell-mell. + +Nuflo cried out after them that they had seen a saint and that +some horrible thing would befall them if they allowed any evil +thought to enter their hearts; but they scoffed at his words, and +were soon far down out of hearing, while he, trembling with fear, +remained praying to the woman that had appeared to them and had +looked with such strange eyes at him, not to punish him for the +sins of the others. + +Before long the men returned, disappointed and sullen, for they +had failed in their search for the woman; and perhaps Nuflo's +warning words had made them give up the chase too soon. At all +events, they seemed ill at ease, and made up their minds to +abandon the cave; in a short time they left the place to camp +that night at a considerable distance from the mountain. But +they were not satisfied: they had now recovered from their fear, +but not from the excitement of an evil passion; and finally, +after comparing notes, they came to the conclusion that they had +missed a great prize through Nuflo's cowardice; and when he +reproved them they blasphemed all the saints in the calendar and +even threatened him with violence. Fearing to remain longer in +the company of such godless men, he only waited until they slept, +then rose up cautiously, helped himself to most of the +provisions, and made his escape, devoutly hoping that after +losing their guide they would all speedily perish. + +Finding himself alone now and master of his own actions, Nuflo +was in terrible distress, for while his heart was in the utmost +fear, it yet urged him imperiously to go back to the mountain, to +seek again for that sacred being who had appeared to him and had +been driven away by his brutal companions. If he obeyed that +inner voice, he would be saved; if he resisted it, then there +would be no hope for him, and along with those who had cast the +woman to the alligators he would be lost eternally. Finally, on +the following day, he went back, although not without fear and +trembling, and sat down on a stone just where he had sat toasting +his tapir meat on the previous day. But he waited in vain, and +at length that voice within him, which he had so far obeyed, +began urging him to descend into the valley-like chasm down which +the woman had escaped from his comrades, and to seek for her +there. Accordingly he rose and began cautiously and slowly +climbing down over the broken jagged rocks and through a dense +mass of thorny bushes and creepers. At the bottom of the chasm a +clear, swift stream of water rushed with foam and noise along its +rocky bed; but before reaching it, and when it was still twenty +yards lower down, he was startled by hearing a low moan among the +bushes, and looking about for the cause, he found the wonderful +woman--his saviour, as he expressed it. She was not now standing +nor able to stand, but half reclining among the rough stones, one +foot, which she had sprained in that headlong flight down the +ragged slope, wedged immovably between the rocks; and in this +painful position she had remained a prisoner since noon on the +previous day. She now gazed on her visitor in silent +consternation; while he, casting himself prostrate on the ground, +implored her forgiveness and begged to know her will. But she +made no reply; and at length, finding that she was powerless to +move, he concluded that, though a saint and one of the beings +that men worship, she was also flesh and liable to accidents +while sojourning on earth; and perhaps, he thought, that accident +which had befallen her had been specially designed by the powers +above to prove him. With great labour, and not without causing +her much pain, he succeeded in extricating her from her position; +and then finding that the injured foot was half crushed and blue +and swollen, he took her up in his arms and carried her to the +stream. There, making a cup of a broad green leaf, he offered +her water, which she drank eagerly; and he also laved her injured +foot in the cold stream and bandaged it with fresh aquatic +leaves; finally he made her a soft bed of moss and dry grass and +placed her on it. That night he spent keeping watch over her, at +intervals applying fresh wet leaves to her foot as the old ones +became dry and wilted from the heat of the inflammation. + +The effect of all he did was that the terror with which she +regarded him gradually wore off; and next day, when she seemed to +be recovering her strength, he proposed by signs to remove her to +the cave higher up, where she would be sheltered in case of rain. +She appeared to understand him, and allowed herself to be taken +up in his arms and carried with much labour to the top of the +chasm. In the cave he made her a second couch, and tended her +assiduously. He made a fire on the floor and kept it burning +night and day, and supplied her with water to drink and fresh +leaves for her foot. There was little more that he could do. +From the choicest and fattest bits of toasted tapir flesh he +offered her she turned away with disgust. A little cassava bread +soaked in water she would take, but seemed not to like it. After +a time, fearing that she would starve, he took to hunting after +wild fruits, edible bulbs and gums, and on these small things she +subsisted during the whole time of their sojourn together in the +desert. + +The woman, although lamed for life, was now so far recovered as +to be able to limp about without assistance, and she spent a +portion of each day out among the rocks and trees on the +mountains. Nuflo at first feared that she would now leave him, +but before long he became convinced that she had no such +intentions. And yet she was profoundly unhappy. He was +accustomed to see her seated on a rock, as if brooding over some +secret grief, her head bowed, and great tears falling from +half-closed eyes. + +From the first he had conceived the idea that she was in the way +of becoming a mother at no distant date--an idea which seemed to +accord badly with the suppositions as to the nature of this +heavenly being he was privileged to minister to and so win +salvation; but he was now convinced of its truth, and he imagined +that in her condition he had discovered the cause of that sorrow +and anxiety which preyed continually on her. By means of that +dumb language of signs which enabled them to converse together a +little, he made it known to her that at a great distance from the +mountains there existed a place where there were beings like +herself, women, and mothers of children, who would comfort and +tenderly care for her. When she had understood, she seemed +pleased and willing to accompany him to that distant place; and +so it came to pass that they left their rocky shelter and the +mountains of Riolama far behind. But for several days, as they +slowly journeyed over the plain, she would pause at intervals in +her limping walk to gaze back on those blue summits, shedding +abundant tears. + +Fortunately the village Voa, on the river of the same name, which +was the nearest Christian settlement to Riolama, whither his +course was directed, was well known to him; he had lived there in +former years, and, what was of great advantage, the inhabitants +were ignorant of his worst crimes, or, to put it in his own +subtle way, of the crimes committed by the men he had acted with. +Great was the astonishment and curiosity of the people of Voa +when, after many weeks' travelling, Nuflo arrived at last with +his companion. But he was not going to tell the truth, nor even +the least particle of the truth, to a gaping crowd of inferior +persons. For these, ingenious lies; only to the priest he told +the whole story, dwelling minutely on all he had done to rescue +and protect her; all of which was approved by the holy man, whose +first act was to baptize the woman for fear that she was not a +Christian. Let it be said to Nuflo's credit that he objected to +this ceremony, arguing that she could not be a saint, with an +aureole in token of her sainthood, yet stand in need of being +baptized by a priest. A priest--he added, with a little chuckle +of malicious pleasure--who was often seen drunk, who cheated at +cards, and was sometimes suspected of putting poison on his +fighting-cock's spur to make sure of the victory! Doubtless the +priest had his faults; but he was not without humanity, and for +the whole seven years of that unhappy stranger's sojourn at Voa +he did everything in his power to make her existence tolerable. +Some weeks after arriving she gave birth to a female child, and +then the priest insisted on naming it Riolama, in order, he said, +to keep in remembrance the strange story of the mother's +discovery at that place. + +Rima's mother could not be taught to speak either Spanish or +Indian; and when she found that the mysterious and melodious +sounds that fell from her own lips were understood by none, she +ceased to utter them, and thereafter preserved an unbroken +silence among the people she lived with. But from the presence +of others she shrank, as if in disgust or fear, excepting only +Nuflo and the priest, whose kindly intentions she appeared to +understand and appreciate. So far her life in the village was +silent and sorrowful. With her child it was different; and every +day that was not wet, taking the little thing by the hand, she +would limp painfully out into the forest, and there, sitting on +the ground, the two would commune with each other by the hour in +their wonderful language. + +At length she began to grow perceptibly paler and feebler week by +week, day by day, until she could no longer go out into the wood, +but sat or reclined, panting for breath in the dull hot room, +waiting for death to release her. At the same time little Rima, +who had always appeared frail, as if from sympathy, now began to +fade and look more shadowy, so that it was expected she would not +long survive her parent. To the mother death came slowly, but at +last it seemed so near that Nuflo and the priest were together at +her side waiting to see the end. It was then that little Rima, +who had learnt from infancy to speak in Spanish, rose from the +couch where her mother had been whispering to her, and began with +some difficulty to express what was in the dying woman's mind. +Her child, she had said, could not continue to live in that hot +wet place, but if taken away to a distance where there were +mountains and a cooler air she would survive and grow strong +again. + +Hearing this, old Nuflo declared that the child should not +perish; that he himself would take her away to Parahuari, a +distant place where there were mountains and dry plains and open +woods; that he would watch over her and care for her there as he +had cared for her mother at Riolama. + +When the substance of this speech had been made known by Rima to +the dying woman, she suddenly rose up from her couch, which she +had not risen from for many days, and stood erect on the floor, +her wasted face shining with joy. Then Nuflo knew that God's +angels had come for her, and put out his arms to save her from +falling; and even while he held her that sudden glory went out +from her face, now of a dead white like burnt-out ashes; and +murmuring something soft and melodious, her spirit passed away. + +Once more Nuflo became a wanderer, now with the fragile-looking +little Rima for companion, the sacred child who had inherited the +position of his intercessor from a sacred mother. The priest, +who had probably become infected with Nuflo's superstitions, did +not allow them to leave Voa empty-handed, but gave the old man as +much calico as would serve to buy hospitality and whatsoever he +might require from the Indians for many a day to come. + +At Parahuari, where they arrived safely at last, they lived for +some little time at one of the villages. But the child had an +instinctive aversion to all savages, or possibly the feeling was +derived from her mother, for it had shown itself early at Voa, +where she had refused to learn their language; and this +eventually led Nuflo to go away and live apart from them, in the +forest by Ytaioa, where he made himself a house and garden. The +Indians, however, continued friendly with him and visited him +with frequency. But when Rima grew up, developing into that +mysterious woodland girl I found her, they became suspicious, and +in the end regarded her with dangerously hostile feeling. She, +poor child, detested them because they were incessantly at war +with the wild animals she loved, her companions; and having no +fear of them, for she did not know that they had it in their +minds to turn their little poisonous arrows against herself, she +was constantly in the woods frustrating them; and the animals, in +league with her, seemed to understand her note of warning and hid +themselves or took to flight at the approach of danger. At +length their hatred and fear grew to such a degree that they +determined to make away with her, and one day, having matured a +plan, they went to the wood and spread themselves two and two +about it. The couples did not keep together, but moved about or +remained concealed at a distance of forty or fifty yards apart, +lest she should be missed. Two of the savages, armed with +blow-pipes, were near the border of the forest on the side +nearest to the village, and one of them, observing a motion in +the foliage of a tree, ran swiftly and cautiously towards it to +try and catch a glimpse of the enemy. And he did see her no +doubt, as she was there watching both him and his companions, and +blew an arrow at her, but even while in the act of blowing it he +was himself struck by a dart that buried itself deep in his flesh +just over the heart. He ran some distance with the fatal barbed +point in his flesh and met his comrade, who had mistaken him for +the girl and shot him. The wounded man threw himself down to +die, and dying related that he had fired at the girl sitting up +in a tree and that she had caught the arrow in her hand only to +hurl it instantly back with such force and precision that it +pierced his flesh just over the heart. He had seen it all with +his own eyes, and his friend who had accidentally slain him +believed his story and repeated it to the others. Rima had seen +one Indian shoot the other, and when she told her grandfather he +explained to her that it was an accident, but he guessed why the +arrow had been fired. + +From that day the Indians hunted no more in the wood; and at +length one day Nuflo, meeting an Indian who did not know him and +with whom he had some talk, heard the strange story of the arrow, +and that the mysterious girl who could not be shot was the +offspring of an old man and a Didi who had become enamoured of +him; that, growing tired of her consort, the Didi had returned to +her river, leaving her half-human child to play her malicious +pranks in the wood. + +This, then, was Nuflo's story, told not in Nuflo's manner, which +was infinitely prolix; and think not that it failed to move +me--that I failed to bless him for what he had done, in spite of +his selfish motives. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +We were eighteen days travelling to Riolama, on the last two +making little progress, on account of continuous rain, which made +us miserable beyond description. Fortunately the dogs had found, +and Nuflo had succeeded in killing, a great ant-eater, so that we +were well supplied with excellent, strength-giving flesh. We +were among the Riolama mountains at last, and Rima kept with us, +apparently expecting great things. I expected nothing, for +reasons to be stated by and by. My belief was that the only +important thing that could happen to us would be starvation. + +The afternoon of the last day was spent in skirting the foot of a +very long mountain, crowned at its southern extremity with a +huge, rocky mass resembling the head of a stone sphinx above its +long, couchant body, and at its highest part about a thousand +feet above the surrounding level. It was late in the day, +raining fast again, yet the old man still toiled on, contrary to +his usual practice, which was to spend the last daylight hours in +gathering firewood and in constructing a shelter. At length, +when we were nearly under the peak, he began to ascend. The rise +in this place was gentle, and the vegetation, chiefly composed of +dwarf thorn trees rooted in the clefts of the rock, scarcely +impeded our progress; yet Nuflo moved obliquely, as if he found +the ascent difficult, pausing frequently to take breath and look +round him. Then we came to a deep, ravine-like cleft in the side +of the mountain, which became deeper and narrower above us, but +below it broadened out to a valley; its steep sides as we looked +down were clothed with dense, thorny vegetation, and from the +bottom rose to our ears the dull sound of a hidden torrent. +Along the border of this ravine Nuflo began toiling upwards, and +finally brought us out upon a stony plateau on the mountain-side. +Here he paused and, turning and regarding us with a look as of +satisfied malice in his eyes, remarked that we were at our +journey's end, and he trusted the sight of that barren +mountain-side would compensate us for all the discomforts we had +suffered during the last eighteen days. + +I heard him with indifference. I had already recognized the +place from his own exact description of it, and I now saw all +that I had looked to see--a big, barren hill. But Rima, what had +she expected that her face wore that blank look of surprise and +pain? "Is this the place where mother appeared to you?" she +suddenly cried. "The very place--this! This!" Then she added: +"The cave where you tended her--where is it?" + +"Over there," he said, pointing across the plateau, which was +partially overgrown with dwarf trees and bushes, and ended at a +wall of rock, almost vertical and about forty feet high. + +Going to this precipice, we saw no cave until Nuflo had cut away +two or three tangled bushes, revealing an opening behind, about +half as high and twice as wide as the door of an ordinary +dwelling-house. + +The next thing was to make a torch, and aided by its light we +groped our way in and explored the interior. The cave, we found, +was about fifty feet long, narrowing to a mere hole at the +extremity; but the anterior portion formed an oblong chamber, +very lofty, with a dry floor. Leaving our torch burning, we set +to work cutting bushes to supply ourselves with wood enough to +last us all night. Nuflo, poor old man, loved a big fire dearly; +a big fire and fat meat to eat (the ranker its flavour, the +better he liked it) were to him the greatest blessings that man +could wish for. In me also the prospect of a cheerful blaze put +a new heart, and I worked with a will in the rain, which +increased in the end to a blinding downpour. + +By the time I dragged my last load in, Nuflo had got his fire +well alight, and was heaping on wood in a most lavish way. "No +fear of burning our house down tonight," he remarked, with a +chuckle--the first sound of that description he had emitted for a +long time. + +After we had satisfied our hunger, and had smoked one or two +cigarettes, the unaccustomed warmth, and dryness, and the +firelight affected us with drowsiness, and I had probably been +nodding for some time; but starting at last and opening my eyes, +I missed Rima. The old man appeared to be asleep, although still +in a sitting posture close to the fire. I rose and hurried out, +drawing my cloak close around me to protect me from the rain; but +what was my surprise on emerging from the cave to feel a dry, +bracing wind in my face and to see the desert spread out for +leagues before me in the brilliant white light of a full moon! +The rain had apparently long ceased, and only a few thin white +clouds appeared moving swiftly over the wide blue expanse of +heaven. It was a welcome change, but the shock of surprise and +pleasure was instantly succeeded by the maddening fear that Rima +was lost to me. She was nowhere in sight beneath, and running to +the end of the little plateau to get free of the thorn trees, I +turned my eyes towards the summit, and there, at some distance +above me, caught sight of her standing motionless and gazing +upwards. I quickly made my way to her side, calling to her as I +approached; but she only half turned to cast a look at me and did +not reply. + +"Rima," I said, "why have you come here? Are you actually +thinking of climbing the mountain at this hour of the night?" +"Yes--why not?" she returned, moving one or two steps from me. + +"Rima--sweet Rima, will you listen to me?" + +"Now? Oh, no--why do you ask that? Did I not listen to you in +the wood before we started, and you also promised to do what I +wished? See, the rain is over and the moon shines brightly. Why +should I wait? Perhaps from the summit I shall see my people's +country. Are we not near it now?" + +"Oh, Rima, what do you expect to see? Listen--you must listen, +for I know best. From that summit you would see nothing but a +vast dim desert, mountain and forest, mountain and forest, where +you might wander for years, or until you perished of hunger or +fever, or were slain by some beast of prey or by savage men; but +oh, Rima, never, never, never would you find your people, for +they exist not. You have seen the false water of the mirage on +the savannah, when the sun shines bright and hot; and if one were +to follow it one would at last fall down and perish, with never a +cool drop to moisten one's parched lips. And your hope, +Rima--this hope to find your people which has brought you all the +way to Riolama--is a mirage, a delusion, which will lead to +destruction if you will not abandon it." + +She turned to face me with flashing eyes. "You know best!" she +exclaimed. "You know best and tell me that! Never until this +moment have you spoken falsely. Oh, why have you said such +things to me--named after this place, Riolama? Am I also like +that false water you speak of--no divine Rima, no sweet Rima? My +mother, had she no mother, no mother's mother? I remember her, +at Voa, before she died, and this hand seems real--like yours; +you have asked to hold it. But it is not he that speaks to +me--not one that showed me the whole world on Ytaioa. Ah, you +have wrapped yourself in a stolen cloak, only you have left your +old grey beard behind! Go back to the cave and look for it, and +leave me to seek my people alone!" + +Once more, as on that day in the forest when she prevented me +from killing the serpent, and as on the occasion of her meeting +with Nuflo after we had been together on Ytaioa, she appeared +transformed and instinct with intense resentment--a beautiful +human wasp, and every word a sting. + +"Rima," I cried, "you are cruelly unjust to say such words to me. +If you know that I have never deceived you before, give me a +little credit now. You are no delusion--no mirage, but Rima, +like no other being on earth. So perfectly truthful and pure I +cannot be, but rather than mislead you with falsehoods I would +drop down and die on this rock, and lose you and the sweet light +that shines on us for ever." + +As she listened to my words, spoken with passion, she grew pale +and clasped her hands. "What have I said? What have I said?" +She spoke in a low voice charged with pain, and all at once she +came nearer, and with a low, sobbing cry sank down at my feet, +uttering, as on the occasion of finding me lost at night in the +forest near her home, tender, sorrowful expressions in her own +mysterious language. But before I could take her in my arms she +rose again quickly to her feet and moved away a little space from +me. + +"Oh no, no, it cannot be that you know best!" she began again. +"But I know that you have never sought to deceive me. And now, +because I falsely accused you, I cannot go there without +you"--pointing to the summit--"but must stand still and listen to +all you have to say." + +"You know, Rima, that your grandfather has now told me your +history--how he found your mother at this place, and took her to +Voa, where you were born; but of your mother's people he knows +nothing, and therefore he can now take you no further." + +"Ah, you think that! He says that now; but he deceived me all +these years, and if he lied to me in the past, can he not still +lie, affirming that he knows nothing of my people, even as he +affirmed that he knew not Riolama?" + +"He tells lies and he tells truth, Rima, and one can be +distinguished from the other. He spoke truthfully at last, and +brought us to this place, beyond which he cannot lead you." + +"You are right; I must go alone." + +"Not so, Rima, for where you go, there we must go; only you will +lead and we follow, believing only that our quest will end in +disappointment, if not in death." + +"Believe that and yet follow! Oh no! Why did he consent to lead +me so far for nothing?" + +"Do you forget that you compelled him? You know what he +believes; and he is old and looks with fear at death, remembering +his evil deeds, and is convinced that only through your +intercession and your mother's he can escape from perdition. +Consider, Rima, he could not refuse, to make you more angry and +so deprive himself of his only hope." + +My words seemed to trouble her, but very soon she spoke again +with renewed animation. "If my people exist, why must it be +disappointment and perhaps death? He does not know; but she came +to him here--did she not? The others are not here, but perhaps +not far off. Come, let us go to the summit together to see from +it the desert beneath us--mountain and forest, mountain and +forest. Somewhere there! You said that I had knowledge of +distant things. And shall I not know which mountain--which +forest?" + +"Alas! no, Rima; there is a limit to your far-seeing; and even +if that faculty were as great as you imagine, it would avail you +nothing, for there is no mountain, no forest, in whose shadow +your people dwell." + +For a while she was silent, but her eyes and clasping fingers +were restless and showed her agitation. She seemed to be +searching in the depths of her mind for some argument to oppose +to my assertions. Then in a low, almost despondent voice, with +something of reproach in it, she said: "Have we come so far to go +back again? You were not Nuflo to need my intercession, yet you +came too." + +"Where you are, there I must be--you have said it yourself. +Besides, when we started I had some hope of finding your people. +Now I know better, having heard Nuflo's story. Now I know that +your hope is a vain one." + +"Why? Why? Was she not found here--mother? Where, then, are +the others?" + +"Yes, she was found here, alone. You must remember all the +things she spoke to you before she died. Did she ever speak to +you of her people--speak of them as if they existed, and would be +glad to receive you among them some day?" + +"No. Why did she not speak of that? Do you know--can you tell +me?" + +"I can guess the reason, Rima. It is very sad--so sad that it is +hard to tell it. When Nuflo tended her in the cave and was ready +to worship her and do everything she wished, and conversed with +her by signs, she showed no wish to return to her people. And +when he offered her, in a way she understood, to take her to a +distant place, where she would be among strange beings, among +others like Nuflo, she readily consented, and painfully performed +that long journey to Voa. Would you, Rima, have acted +thus--would you have gone so far away from your beloved people, +never to return, never to hear of them or speak to them again? +Oh no, you could not; nor would she if her people had been in +existence. But she knew that she had survived them, that some +great calamity had fallen upon and destroyed them. They were few +in number, perhaps, and surrounded on every side by hostile +tribes, and had no weapons, and made no war. They had been +preserved because they inhabited a place apart, some deep valley +perhaps, guarded on all sides by lofty mountains and impenetrable +forests and marshes; but at last the cruel savages broke into +this retreat and hunted them down, destroying all except a few +fugitives, who escaped singly like your mother, and fled away to +hide in some distant solitude." + +The anxious expression on her face deepened as she listened to +one of anguish and despair; and then, almost before I concluded, +she suddenly lifted her hands to her head, uttering a low, +sobbing cry, and would have fallen on the rock had I not caught +her quickly in my arms. Once more in my arms--against my breast, +her proper place! But now all that bright life seemed gone out +of her; her head fell on my shoulder, and there was no motion in +her except at intervals a slight shudder in her frame accompanied +by a low, gasping sob. In a little while the sobs ceased, the +eyes were closed, the face still and deathly white, and with a +terrible anxiety in my heart I carried her down to the cave. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +As I re-entered the cave with my burden Nuflo sat up and stared +at me with a frightened look in his eyes. Throwing my cloak +down, I placed the girl on it and briefly related what had +happened. + +He drew near to examine her; then placed his hand on her heart. +"Dead!--she is dead!" he exclaimed. + +My own anxiety changed to an irrational anger at his words. "Old +fool! She has only fainted," I returned. "Get me some water, +quick." + +But the water failed to restore her, and my anxiety deepened as I +gazed on that white, still face. Oh, why had I told her that sad +tragedy I had imagined with so little preparation? Alas! I had +succeeded too well in my purpose, killing her vain hope and her +at the same moment. + +The old man, still bending over her, spoke again. "No, I will +not believe that she is dead yet; but, sir, if not dead, then she +is dying." + +I could have struck him down for his words. "She will die in my +arms, then," I exclaimed, thrusting him roughly aside, and +lifting her up with the cloak beneath her. + +And while I held her thus, her head resting on my arm, and gazed +with unutterable anguish into her strangely white face, insanely +praying to Heaven to restore her to me, Nuflo fell on his knees +before her, and with bowed head, and hands clasped in +supplication, began to speak. + +"Rima! Grandchild!" he prayed, his quivering voice betraying +his agitation. "Do not die just yet: you must not die--not +wholly die--until you have heard what I have to say to you. I do +not ask you to answer in words--you are past that, and I am not +unreasonable. Only, when I finish, make some sign--a sigh, a +movement of the eyelid, a twitch of the lips, even in the small +corners of the mouth; nothing more than that, just to show that +you have heard, and I shall be satisfied. Remember all the years +that I have been your protector, and this long journey that I +have taken on your account; also all that I did for your sainted +mother before she died at Voa, to become one of the most +important of those who surround the Queen of Heaven, and who, +when they wish for any favour, have only to say half a word to +get it. And do not cast in oblivion that at the last I obeyed +your wish and brought you safely to Riolama. It is true that in +some small things I deceived you; but that must not weigh with +you, because it is a small matter and not worthy of mention when +you consider the claims I have on you. In your hands, Rima, I +leave everything, relying on the promise you made me, and on my +services. Only one word of caution remains to be added. Do not +let the magnificence of the place you are now about to enter, the +new sights and colours, and the noise of shouting, and musical +instruments and blowing of trumpets, put these things out of your +head. Nor must you begin to think meanly of yourself and be +abashed when you find yourself surrounded by saints and angels; +for you are not less than they, although it may not seem so at +first when you see them in their bright clothes, which, they say, +shine like the sun. I cannot ask you to tie a string round your +finger; I can only trust to your memory, which was always good, +even about the smallest things; and when you are asked, as no +doubt you will be, to express a wish, remember before everything +to speak of your grandfather, and his claims on you, also on your +angelic mother, to whom you will present my humble remembrances." + +During this petition, which in other circumstances would have +moved me to laughter but now only irritated me, a subtle change +seemed to come to the apparently lifeless girl to make me hope. +The small hand in mine felt not so icy cold, and though no +faintest colour had come to the face, its pallor had lost +something of its deathly waxen appearance; and now the compressed +lips had relaxed a little and seemed ready to part. I laid my +finger-tips on her heart and felt, or imagined that I felt, a +faint fluttering; and at last I became convinced that her heart +was really beating. + +I turned my eyes on the old man, still bending forward, intently +watching for the sign he had asked her to make. My anger and +disgust at his gross earthy egoism had vanished. "Let us thank +God, old man," I said, the tears of joy half choking my +utterance. "She lives--she is recovering from her fit." + +He drew back, and on his knees, with bowed head, murmured a +prayer of thanks to Heaven. + +Together we continued watching her face for half an hour longer, +I still holding her in my arms, which could never grow weary of +that sweet burden, waiting for other, surer signs of returning +life; and she seemed now like one that had fallen into a +profound, death-like sleep which must end in death. Yet when I +remembered her face as it had looked an hour ago, I was confirmed +in the belief that the progress to recovery, so strangely slow, +was yet sure. So slow, so gradual was this passing from death to +life that we had hardly ceased to fear when we noticed that the +lips were parted, or almost parted, that they were no longer +white, and that under her pale, transparent skin a faint, +bluish-rosy colour was now visible. And at length, seeing that +all danger was past and recovery so slow, old Nuflo withdrew once +more to the fireside and, stretching himself out on the sandy +floor, soon fell into a deep sleep. + +If he had not been lying there before me in the strong light of +the glowing embers and dancing flames, I could not have felt more +alone with Rima--alone amid those remote mountains, in that +secret cavern, with lights and shadows dancing on its grey vault. +In that profound silence and solitude the mysterious loveliness +of the still face I continued to gaze on, its appearance of life +without consciousness, produced a strange feeling in me, hard, +perhaps impossible, to describe. + +Once, when clambering among the rough rocks, overgrown with +forest, among the Queneveta mountains, I came on a single white +flower which was new to me, which I have never seen since. After +I had looked long at it, and passed on, the image of that perfect +flower remained so persistently in my mind that on the following +day I went again, in the hope of seeing it still untouched by +decay. There was no change; and on this occasion I spent a much +longer time looking at it, admiring the marvellous beauty of its +form, which seemed so greatly to exceed that of all other +flowers. It had thick petals, and at first gave me the idea of +an artificial flower, cut by a divinely inspired artist from some +unknown precious stone, of the size of a large orange and whiter +than milk, and yet, in spite of its opacity, with a crystalline +lustre on the surface. Next day I went again, scarcely hoping to +find it still unwithered; it was fresh as if only just opened; +and after that I went often, sometimes at intervals of several +days, and still no faintest sign of any change, the clear, +exquisite lines still undimmed, the purity and lustre as I had +first seen it. Why, I often asked, does not this mystic forest +flower fade and perish like others? That first impression of its +artificial appearance had soon left me; it was, indeed, a flower, +and, like other flowers, had life and growth, only with that +transcendent beauty it had a different kind of life. +Unconscious, but higher; perhaps immortal. Thus it would +continue to bloom when I had looked my last on it; wind and rain +and sunlight would never stain, never tinge, its sacred purity; +the savage Indian, though he sees little to admire in a flower, +yet seeing this one would veil his face and turn back; even the +browsing beast crashing his way through the forest, struck with +its strange glory, would swerve aside and pass on without harming +it. Afterwards I heard from some Indians to whom I described it +that the flower I had discovered was called Hata; also that they +had a superstition concerning it--a strange belief. They said +that only one Hata flower existed in the world; that it bloomed +in one spot for the space of a moon; that on the disappearance of +the moon in the sky the Hata disappeared from its place, only to +reappear blooming in some other spot, sometimes in some distant +forest. And they also said that whosoever discovered the Hata +flower in the forest would overcome all his enemies and obtain +all his desires, and finally outlive other men by many years. +But, as I have said, all this I heard afterwards, and my +half-superstitious feeling for the flower had grown up +independently in my own mind. A feeling like that was in me +while I gazed on the face that had no motion, no consciousness in +it, and yet had life, a life of so high a kind as to match with +its pure, surpassing loveliness. I could almost believe that, +like the forest flower, in this state and aspect it would endure +for ever; endure and perhaps give of its own immortality to +everything around it--to me, holding her in my arms and gazing +fixedly on the pale face framed in its cloud of dark, silken +hair; to the leaping flames that threw changing lights on the dim +stony wall of rock; to old Nuflo and his two yellow dogs +stretched out on the floor in eternal, unawakening sleep. + +This feeling took such firm possession of my mind that it kept me +for a time as motionless as the form I held in my arms. I was +only released from its power by noting still further changes in +the face I watched, a more distinct advance towards conscious +life. The faint colour, which had scarcely been more than a +suspicion of colour, had deepened perceptibly; the lids were +lifted so as to show a gleam of the crystal orbs beneath; the +lips, too, were slightly parted. + +And, at last, bending lower down to feel her breath, the beauty +and sweetness of those lips could no longer be resisted, and I +touched them with mine. Having once tasted their sweetness and +fragrance, it was impossible to keep from touching them again and +again. She was not conscious--how could she be and not shrink +from my caress? Yet there was a suspicion in my mind, and +drawing back I gazed into her face once more. A strange new +radiance had overspread it. Or was this only an illusive colour +thrown on her skin by the red firelight? I shaded her face with +my open hand, and saw that her pallor had really gone, that the +rosy flame on her cheeks was part of her life. Her lustrous +eyes, half open, were gazing into mine. Oh, surely consciousness +had returned to her! Had she been sensible of those stolen +kisses? Would she now shrink from another caress? Trembling, I +bent down and touched her lips again, lightly, but lingeringly, +and then again, and when I drew back and looked at her face the +rosy flame was brighter, and the eyes, more open still, were +looking into mine. And gazing with those open, conscious eyes, +it seemed to me that at last, at last, the shadow that had rested +between us had vanished, that we were united in perfect love and +confidence, and that speech was superfluous. And when I spoke, +it was not without doubt and hesitation: our bliss in those +silent moments had been so complete, what could speaking do but +make it less! + +"My love, my life, my sweet Rima, I know that you will understand +me now as you did not before, on that dark night--do you remember +it, Rima?--when I held you clasped to my breast in the wood. How +it pierced my heart with pain to speak plainly to you as I did on +the mountain tonight--to kill the hope that had sustained and +brought you so far from home! But now that anguish is over; the +shadow has gone out of those beautiful eyes that are looking at +me. It is because loving me, knowing now what love is, knowing, +too, how much I love you, that you no longer need to speak to any +other living being of such things? To tell it, to show it, to me +is now enough--is it not so, Rima? How strange it seemed, at +first, when you shrank in fear from me! But, afterwards, when +you prayed aloud to your mother, opening all the secrets of your +heart, I understood it. In that lonely, isolated life in the +wood you had heard nothing of love, of its power over the heart, +its infinite sweetness; when it came to you at last it was a new, +inexplicable thing, and filled you with misgivings and tumultuous +thoughts, so that you feared it and hid yourself from its cause. +Such tremors would be felt if it had always been night, with no +light except that of the stars and the pale moon, as we saw it a +little while ago on the mountain; and, at last, day dawned, and a +strange, unheard-of rose and purple flame kindled in the eastern +sky, foretelling the coming sun. It would seem beautiful beyond +anything that night had shown to you, yet you would tremble and +your heart beat fast at that strange sight; you would wish to fly +to those who might be able to tell you its meaning, and whether +the sweet things it prophesied would ever really come. That is +why you wished to find your people, and came to Riolama to seek +them; and when you knew--when I cruelly told you--that they would +never be found, then you imagined that that strange feeling in +your heart must remain a secret for ever, and you could not +endure the thought of your loneliness. If you had not fainted so +quickly, then I should have told you what I must tell you now. +They are lost, Rima--your people--but I am with you, and know +what you feel, even if you have no words to tell it. But what +need of words? It shines in your eyes, it burns like a flame in +your face; I can feel it in your hands. Do you not also see it +in my face--all that I feel for you, the love that makes me +happy? For this is love, Rima, the flower and the melody of +life, the sweetest thing, the sweet miracle that makes our two +souls one." + +Still resting in my arms, as if glad to rest there, still gazing +into my face, it was clear to me that she understood my every +word. And then, with no trace of doubt or fear left, I stooped +again, until my lips were on hers; and when I drew back once +more, hardly knowing which bliss was greatest--kissing her +delicate mouth or gazing into her face--she all at once put her +arms about my neck and drew herself up until she sat on my knee. + +"Abel--shall I call you Abel now--and always?" she spoke, still +with her arms round my neck. "Ah, why did you let me come to +Riolama? I would come! I made him come--old grandfather, +sleeping there: he does not count, but you--you! After you had +heard my story, and knew that it was all for nothing! And all I +wished to know was there--in you. Oh, how sweet it is! But a +little while ago, what pain! When I stood on the mountain when +you talked to me, and I knew that you knew best, and tried and +tried not to know. At last I could try no more; they were all +dead like mother; I had chased the false water on the savannah. +'Oh, let me die too,' I said, for I could not bear the pain. And +afterwards, here in the cave, I was like one asleep, and when I +woke I did not really wake. It was like morning with the light +teasing me to open my eyes and look at it. Not yet, dear light; +a little while longer, it is so sweet to lie still. But it would +not leave me, and stayed teasing me still, like a small shining +green fly; until, because it teased me so, I opened my lids just +a little. It was not morning, but the firelight, and I was in +your arms, not in my little bed. Your eyes looking, looking into +mine. But I could see yours better. I remembered everything +then, how you once asked me to look into your eyes. I remembered +so many things--oh, so many!" + +"How many things did you remember, Rima?" + +"Listen, Abel, do you ever lie on the dry moss and look straight +up into a tree and count a thousand leaves?" + +"No, sweetest, that could not be done, it is so many to count. +Do you know how many a thousand are?" + +"Oh, do I not! When a humming-bird flies close to my face and +stops still in the air, humming like a bee, and then is gone, in +that short time I can count a hundred small round bright feathers +on its throat. That is only a hundred; a thousand are more, ten +times. Looking up I count a thousand leaves; then stop counting, +because there are thousands more behind the first, and thousands +more, crowded together so that I cannot count them. Lying in +your arms, looking up into your face, it was like that; I could +not count the things I remembered. In the wood, when you were +there, and before; and long, long ago at Voa, when I was a child +with mother." + +"Tell me some of the things you remembered, Rima." + +"Yes, one--only one now. When I was a child at Voa mother was +very lame--you know that. Whenever we went out, away from the +houses, into the forest, walking slowly, slowly, she would sit +under a tree while I ran about playing. And every time I came +back to her I would find her so pale, so sad, crying--crying. +That was when I would hide and come softly back so that she would +not hear me coming. 'Oh, mother, why are you crying? Does your +lame foot hurt you?' And one day she took me in her arms and told +me truly why she cried." + +She ceased speaking, but looked at me with a strange new light +coming into her eyes. + +"Why did she cry, my love?" + +"Oh, Abel, can you understand--now--at last!" And putting her +lips close to my ear, she began to murmur soft, melodious sounds +that told me nothing. Then drawing back her head, she looked +again at me, her eyes glistening with tears, her lips half parted +with a smile, tender and wistful. + +Ah, poor child! in spite of all that had been said, all that had +happened, she had returned to the old delusion that I must +understand her speech. I could only return her look, sorrowfully +and in silence. + +Her face became clouded with disappointment, then she spoke again +with something of pleading in her tone. "Look, we are not now +apart, I hiding in the wood, you seeking, but together, saying +the same things. In your language--yours and now mine. But +before you came I knew nothing, nothing, for there was only +grandfather to talk to. A few words each day, the same words. +If yours is mine, mine must be yours. Oh, do you not know that +mine is better?" + +"Yes, better; but alas! Rima, I can never hope to understand +your sweet speech, much less to speak it. The bird that only +chirps and twitters can never sing like the organ-bird." + +Crying, she hid her face against my neck, murmuring sadly between +her sobs: "Never--never!" + +How strange it seemed, in that moment of joy, such a passion of +tears, such despondent words! + +For some minutes I preserved a sorrowful silence, realizing for +the first time, so far as it was possible to realize such a +thing, what my inability to understand her secret language meant +to her--that finer language in which alone her swift thoughts and +vivid emotions could be expressed. Easily and well as she seemed +able to declare herself in my tongue, I could well imagine that +to her it would seem like the merest stammering. As she had said +to me once when I asked her to speak in Spanish, "That is not +speaking." And so long as she could not commune with me in that +better language, which reflected her mind, there would not be +that perfect union of soul she so passionately desired. + +By and by, as she grew calmer, I sought to say something that +would be consoling to both of us. "Sweetest Rima," I spoke, "it +is so sad that I can never hope to talk with you in your way; but +a greater love than this that is ours we could never feel, and +love will make us happy, unutterably happy, in spite of that one +sadness. And perhaps, after a while, you will be able to say all +you wish in my language, which is also yours, as you said some +time ago. When we are back again in the beloved wood, and talk +once more under that tree where we first talked, and under the +old mora, where you hid yourself and threw down leaves on me, and +where you caught the little spider to show me how you made +yourself a dress, you shall speak to me in your own sweet tongue, +and then try to say the same things in mine.... And in the end, +perhaps, you will find that it is not so impossible as you +think." + +She looked at me, smiling again through her tears, and shook her +head a little. + +"Remember what I have heard, that before your mother died you +were able to tell Nuflo and the priest what her wish was. Can +you not, in the same way, tell me why she cried?" + +"I can tell you, but it will not be telling you." + +"I understand. You can tell the bare facts. I can imagine +something more, and the rest I must lose. Tell me, Rima." + +Her face became troubled; she glanced away and let her eyes +wander round the dim, firelit cavern; then they returned to mine +once more. + +"Look," she said, "grandfather lying asleep by the fire. So far +away from us--oh, so far! But if we were to go out from the +cave, and on and on to the great mountains where the city of the +sun is, and stood there at last in the midst of great crowds of +people, all looking at us, talking to us, it would be just the +same. They would be like the trees and rocks and animals--so +far! Not with us nor we with them. But we are everywhere alone +together, apart--we two. It is love; I know it now, but I did +not know it before because I had forgotten what she told me. Do +you think I can tell you what she said when I asked her why she +cried? Oh no! Only this, she and another were like one, always, +apart from the others. Then something came--something came! O +Abel, was that the something you told me about on the mountain? +And the other was lost for ever, and she was alone in the forests +and mountains of the world. Oh, why do we cry for what is lost? +Why do we not quickly forget it and feel glad again? Now only do +I know what you felt, O sweet mother, when you sat still and +cried, while I ran about and played and laughed! O poor mother! +Oh, what pain!" And hiding her face against my neck, she sobbed +once more. + +To my eyes also love and sympathy brought the tears; but in a +little while the fond, comforting words I spoke and my caresses +recalled her from that sad past to the present; then, lying back +as at first, her head resting on my folded cloak, her body partly +supported by my encircling arm and partly by the rock we were +leaning against, her half-closed eyes turned to mine expressed a +tender assured happiness--the chastened gladness of sunshine +after rain; a soft delicious languor that was partly passionate +with the passion etherealized. + +"Tell me, Rima," I said, bending down to her, "in all those +troubled days with me in the woods had you no happy moments? Did +not something in your heart tell you that it was sweet to love, +even before you knew what love meant?" + +"Yes; and once--O Abel, do you remember that night, after +returning from Ytaioa, when you sat so late talking by the +fire--I in the shadow, never stirring, listening, listening; you +by the fire with the light on your face, saying so many strange +things? I was happy then--oh, how happy! It was black night and +raining, and I a plant growing in the dark, feeling the sweet +raindrops falling, falling on my leaves. Oh, it will be morning +by and by and the sun will shine on my wet leaves; and that made +me glad till I trembled with happiness. Then suddenly the +lightning would come, so bright, and I would tremble with fear, +and wish that it would be dark again. That was when you looked +at me sitting in the shadow, and I could not take my eyes away +quickly and could not meet yours, so that I trembled with fear." + +"And now there is no fear--no shadow; now you are perfectly +happy?" + +"Oh, so happy! If the way back to the wood was longer, ten +times, and if the great mountains, white with snow on their tops, +were between, and the great dark forest, and rivers wider than +Orinoco, still I would go alone without fear, because you would +come after me, to join me in the wood, to be with me at last and +always." + +"But I should not let you go alone, Rima--your lonely days are +over now." + +She opened her eyes wider and looked earnestly into my face. "I +must go back alone, Abel," she said. "Before day comes I must +leave you. Rest here, with grandfather, for a few days and +nights, then follow me." + +I heard her with astonishment. "It must not be, Rima," I cried. +"What, let you leave me--now you are mine--to go all that +distance, through all that wild country where you might lose +yourself and perish alone? Oh, do not think of it!" + +She listened, regarding me with some slight trouble in her eyes, +but smiling a little at the same time. Her small hand moved up +my arm and caressed my cheek; then she drew my face down to hers +until our lips met. But when I looked at her eyes again, I saw +that she had not consented to my wish. "Do I not know all the +way now," she spoke, "all the mountains, rivers, forests--how +should I lose myself? And I must return quickly, not step by +step, walking--resting, resting--walking, stopping to cook and +eat, stopping to gather firewood, to make a shelter--so many +things! Oh, I shall be back in half the time; and I have so much +to do." + +"What can you have to do, love?--everything can be done when we +are in the wood together." + +A bright smile with a touch of mockery in it flitted over her +face as she replied: "Oh, must I tell you that there are things +you cannot do? Look, Abel," and she touched the slight garment +she wore, thinner now than at first, and dulled by long exposure +to sun and wind and rain. + +I could not command her, and seemed powerless to persuade her; +but I had not done yet, and proceeded to use every argument I +could find to bring her round to my view; and when I finished she +put her arms around my neck and drew herself up once more. "O +Abel, how happy I shall be!" she said, taking no notice of all I +had said. "Think of me alone, days and days, in the wood, +waiting for you, working all the time; saying: 'Come quickly, +Abel; come slow, Abel. O Abel, how long you are! Oh, do not come +until my work is finished!' And when it is finished and you +arrive you shall find me, but not at once. First you will seek +for me in the house, then in the wood, calling: 'Rima! Rima!' +And she will be there, listening, hid in the trees, wishing to be +in your arms, wishing for your lips--oh, so glad, yet fearing to +show herself. Do you know why? He told you--did he not?--that +when he first saw her she was standing before him all in white--a +dress that was like snow on the mountain-tops when the sun is +setting and gives it rose and purple colour. I shall be like +that, hidden among the trees, saying: 'Am I different--not like +Rima? Will he know me--will he love me just the same?' Oh, do I +not know that you will be glad, and love me, and call me +beautiful? Listen! Listen!" she suddenly exclaimed, lifting +her face. + +Among the bushes not far from the cave's mouth a small bird had +broken out in song, a clear, tender melody soon taken up by other +birds further away. + +"It will soon be morning," she said, and then clasped her arms +about me once more and held me in a long, passionate embrace; +then slipping away from my arms and with one swift glance at the +sleeping old man, passed out of the cave. + +For a few moments I remained sitting, not yet realizing that she +had left me, so suddenly and swiftly had she passed from my arms +and my sight; then, recovering my faculties, I started up and +rushed out in hopes of overtaking her. + +It was not yet dawn, but there was still some light from the full +moon, now somewhere behind the mountains. Running to the verge +of the bushgrown plateau, I explored the rocky slope beneath +without seeing her form, and then called: "Rima! Rima!" + +A soft, warbling sound, uttered by no bird, came up from the +shadowy bushes far below; and in that direction I ran on; then +pausing, called again. The sweet sound was repeated once more, +but much lower down now, and so faintly that I scarcely heard it. +And when I went on further and called again and again, there was +no reply, and I knew that she had indeed gone on that long +journey alone. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +When Nuflo at length opened his eyes he found me sitting alone +and despondent by the fire, just returned from my vain chase. I +had been caught in a heavy mist on the mountain-side, and was wet +through as well as weighed down by fatigue and drowsiness, +consequent upon the previous day's laborious march and my +night-long vigil; yet I dared not think of rest. She had gone +from me, and I could not have prevented it; yet the thought that +I had allowed her to slip out of my arms, to go away alone on +that long, perilous journey, was as intolerable as if I had +consented to it. + +Nuflo was at first startled to hear of her sudden departure; but +he laughed at my fears, affirming that after having once been +over the ground she could not lose herself; that she would be in +no danger from the Indians, as she would invariably see them at a +distance and avoid them, and that wild beasts, serpents, and +other evil creatures would do her no harm. The small amount of +food she required to sustain life could be found anywhere; +furthermore, her journey would not be interrupted by bad weather, +since rain and heat had no effect on her. In the end he seemed +pleased that she had left us, saying that with Rima in the wood +the house and cultivated patch and hidden provisions and +implements would be safe, for no Indian would venture to come +where she was. His confidence reassured me, and casting myself +down on the sandy floor of the cave, I fell into a deep slumber, +which lasted until evening; then I only woke to share a meal with +the old man, and sleep again until the following day. + +Nuflo was not ready to start yet; he was enamoured of the +unaccustomed comforts of a dry sleeping-place and a fire blown +about by no wind and into which fell no hissing raindrops. Not +for two days more would he consent to set out on the return +journey, and if he could have persuaded me our stay at Riolama +would have lasted a week. + +We had fine weather at starting; but before long it clouded, and +then for upwards of a fortnight we had it wet and stormy, which +so hindered us that it took us twenty-three days to accomplish +the return journey, whereas the journey out had only taken +eighteen. The adventures we met with and the pains we suffered +during this long march need not be related. The rain made us +miserable, but we suffered more from hunger than from any other +cause, and on more than one occasion were reduced to the verge of +starvation. Twice we were driven to beg for food at Indian +villages, and as we had nothing to give in exchange for it, we +got very little. It is possible to buy hospitality from the +savage without fish-hooks, nails, and calico; but on this +occasion I found myself without that impalpable medium of +exchange which had been so great a help to me on my first journey +to Parahuari. Now I was weak and miserable and without cunning. +It is true that we could have exchanged the two dogs for cassava +bread and corn, but we should then have been worse off than ever. +And in the end the dogs saved us by an occasional capture--an +armadillo surprised in the open and seized before it could bury +itself in the soil, or an iguana, opossum, or labba, traced by +means of their keen sense of smell to its hiding-place. Then +Nuflo would rejoice and feast, rewarding them with the skin, +bones, and entrails. But at length one of the dogs fell lame, +and Nuflo, who was very hungry, made its lameness an excuse for +dispatching it, which he did apparently without compunction, +notwithstanding that the poor brute had served him well in its +way. He cut up and smoke-dried the flesh, and the intolerable +pangs of hunger compelled me to share the loathsome food with +him. We were not only indecent, it seemed to me, but cannibals +to feed on the faithful servant that had been our butcher. "But +what does it matter?" I argued with myself. "All flesh, clean +and unclean, should be, and is, equally abhorrent to me, and +killing animals a kind of murder. But now I find myself +constrained to do this evil thing that good may come. Only to +live I take it now--this hateful strength-giver that will enable +me to reach Rima, and the purer, better life that is to be." + +During all that time, when we toiled onwards league after league +in silence, or sat silent by the nightly fire, I thought of many +things; but the past, with which I had definitely broken, was +little in my mind. Rima was still the source and centre of all +my thoughts; from her they rose, and to her returned. Thinking, +hoping, dreaming, sustained me in those dark days and nights of +pain and privation. Imagination was the bread that gave me +strength, the wine that exhilarated. What sustained old Nuflo's +mind I know not. Probably it was like a chrysalis, dormant, +independent of sustenance; the bright-winged image to be called +at some future time to life by a great shouting of angelic hosts +and noises of musical instruments slept secure, coffined in that +dull, gross nature. + +The old beloved wood once more! Never did his native village in +some mountain valley seem more beautiful to the Switzer, +returning, war-worn, from long voluntary exile, than did that +blue cloud on the horizon--the forest where Rima dwelt, my bride, +my beautiful--and towering over it the dark cone of Ytaioa, now +seem to my hungry eyes! How near at last--how near! And yet the +two or three intervening leagues to be traversed so slowly, step +by step--how vast the distance seemed! Even at far Riolama, when +I set out on my return, I scarcely seemed so far from my love. +This maddening impatience told on my strength, which was small, +and hindered me. I could not run nor even walk fast; old Nuflo, +slow, and sober, with no flame consuming his heart, was more than +my equal in the end, and to keep up with him was all I could do. +At the finish he became silent and cautious, first entering the +belt of trees leading away through the low range of hills at the +southern extremity of the wood. For a mile or upwards we trudged +on in the shade; then I began to recognize familiar ground, the +old trees under which I had walked or sat, and knew that a +hundred yards further on there would be a first glimpse of the +palm-leaf thatch. Then all weakness forsook me; with a low cry +of passionate longing and joy I rushed on ahead; but I strained +my eyes in vain for a sight of that sweet shelter; no patch of +pale yellow colour appeared amidst the universal verdure of +bushes, creepers, and trees--trees beyond trees, trees towering +above trees. + +For some moments I could not realize it. No, I had surely made a +mistake, the house had not stood on that spot; it would appear in +sight a little further on. I took a few uncertain steps onwards, +and then again stood still, my brain reeling, my heart swelling +nigh to bursting with anguish. I was still standing motionless, +with hand pressed to my breast, when Nuflo overtook me. "Where +is it--the house?" I stammered, pointing with my hand. All his +stolidity seemed gone now; he was trembling too, his lips +silently moving. At length he spoke: "They have come--the +children of hell have been here, and have destroyed everything!" + +"Rima! What has become of Rima?" I cried; but without replying +he walked on, and I followed. + +The house, we soon found, had been burnt down. Not a stick +remained. Where it had stood a heap of black ashes covered the +ground--nothing more. But on looking round we could discover no +sign of human beings having recently visited the spot. A rank +growth of grass and herbage now covered the once clear space +surrounding the site of the dwelling, and the ash-heap looked as +if it had been lying there for a month at least. As to what had +become of Rima the old man could say no word. He sat down on the +ground overwhelmed at the calamity: Runi's people had been there, +he could not doubt it, and they would come again, and he could +only look for death at their hands. The thought that Rima had +perished, that she was lost, was unendurable. It could not be! +No doubt the Indians tract come and destroyed the house during +our absence; but she had returned, and they had gone away again +to come no more. She would be somewhere in the forest, perhaps +not far off, impatiently waiting our return. The old man stared +at me while I spoke; he appeared to be in a kind of stupor, and +made no reply: and at last, leaving him still sitting on the +ground, I went into the wood to look for Rima. + +As I walked there, occasionally stopping to peer into some +shadowy glade or opening, and to listen, I was tempted again and +again to call the name of her I sought aloud; and still the fear +that by so doing I might bring some hidden danger on myself, +perhaps on her, made me silent. A strange melancholy rested on +the forest, a quietude seldom broken by a distant bird's cry. +How, I asked myself, should I ever find her in that wide forest +while I moved about in that silent, cautious way? My only hope +was that she would find me. It occurred to me that the most +likely place to seek her would be some of the old haunts known to +us both, where we had talked together. I thought first of the +mora tree, where she had hidden herself from me, and thither I +directed my steps. About this tree, and within its shade, I +lingered for upwards of an hour; and, finally, casting my eyes up +into the great dim cloud of green and purple leaves, I softly +called: "Rima, Rima, if you have seen me, and have concealed +yourself from me in your hiding-place, in mercy answer me--in +mercy come down to me now!" But Rima answered not, nor threw +down any red glowing leaves to mock me: only the wind, high up, +whispered something low and sorrowful in the foliage; and +turning, I wandered away at random into the deeper shadows. + +By and by I was startled by the long, piercing cry of a wildfowl, +sounding strangely loud in the silence; and no sooner was the air +still again than it struck me that no bird had uttered that cry. +The Indian is a good mimic of animal voices, but practice had +made me able to distinguish the true from the false bird-note. +For a minute or so I stood still, at a loss what to do, then +moved on again with greater caution, scarcely breathing, +straining my sight to pierce the shadowy depths. All at once I +gave a great start, for directly before me, on the projecting +root in the deeper shade of a tree, sat a dark, motionless human +form. I stood still, watching it for some time, not yet knowing +that it had seen me, when all doubts were put to flight by the +form rising and deliberately advancing--a naked Indian with a +zabatana in his hand. As he came up out of the deeper shade I +recognized Piake, the surly elder brother of my friend Kua-ko. + +It was a great shock to meet him in the wood, but I had no time +to reflect just then. I only remembered that I had deeply +offended him and his people, that they probably looked on me as +an enemy, and would think little of taking my life. It was too +late to attempt to escape by flight; I was spent with my long +journey and the many privations I had suffered, while he stood +there in his full strength with a deadly weapon in his hand. + +Nothing was left but to put a bold face on, greet him in a +friendly way, and invent some plausible story to account for my +action in secretly leaving the village. + +He was now standing still, silently regarding me, and glancing +round I saw that he was not alone: at a distance of about forty +yards on my right hand two other dusky forms appeared watching me +from the deep shade. + +"Piake!" I cried, advancing three or four steps. + +"You have returned," he answered, but without moving. "Where +from?" + +"Riolama." + +He shook his head, then asked where it was. + +"Twenty days towards the setting sun," I said. As he remained +silent I added: "I heard that I could find gold in the mountains +there. An old man told me, and we went to look for gold." + +"What did you find?" + +"Nothing." + +"Ah!" + +And so our conversation appeared to be at an end. But after a +few moments my intense desire to discover whether the savages +knew aught of Rima or not made me hazard a question. + +"Do you live here in the forest now?" I asked. + +He shook his head, and after a while said: "We come to kill +animals." + +"You are like me now," I returned quickly; "you fear nothing." + +He looked distrustfully at me, then came a little nearer and +said: "You are very brave. I should not have gone twenty days' +journey with no weapons and only an old man for companion. What +weapons did you have?" + +I saw that he feared me and wished to make sure that I had it not +in my power to do him some injury. "No weapon except my knife," +I replied, with assumed carelessness. With that I raised my +cloak so as to let him see for himself, turning my body round +before him. "Have you found my pistol?" I added. + +He shook his head; but he appeared less suspicious now and came +close up to me. "How do you get food? Where are you going?" he +asked. + +I answered boldly: "Food! I am nearly starving. I am going to +the village to see if the women have got any meat in the pot, and +to tell Runi all I have done since I left him." + +He looked at me keenly, a little surprised at my confidence +perhaps, then said that he was also going back and would +accompany me One of the other men now advanced, blow-pipe in +hand, to join us, and, leaving the wood, we started to walk +across the savannah. + +It was hateful to have to recross that savannah again, to leave +the woodland shadows where I had hoped to find Rima; but I was +powerless: I was a prisoner once more, the lost captive recovered +and not yet pardoned, probably never to be pardoned. Only by +means of my own cunning could I be saved, and Nuflo, poor old +man, must take his chance. + +Again and again as we tramped over the barren ground, and when we +climbed the ridge, I was compelled to stand still to recover +breath, explaining to Piake that I had been travelling day and +night, with no meat during the last three days, so that I was +exhausted. This was an exaggeration, but it was necessary to +account in some way for the faintness I experienced during our +walk, caused less by fatigue and want of food than by anguish of +mind. + +At intervals I talked to him, asking after all the other members +of the community by name. At last, thinking only of Rima, I +asked him if any other person or persons besides his people came +to the wood now or lived there. + +He said no. "Once," I said, "there was a daughter of the Didi, a +girl you all feared: is she there now?" + +He looked at me with suspicion and then shook his head. I dared +not press him with more questions; but after an interval he said +plainly: "She is not there now." + +And I was forced to believe him; for had Rima been in the wood +they would not have been there. She was not there, this much I +had discovered. Had she, then, lost her way, or perished on that +long journey from Riolama? Or had she returned only to fall into +the hands of her cruel enemies? My heart was heavy in me; but if +these devils in human shape knew more than they had told me, I +must, I said, hide my anxiety and wait patiently to find it out, +should they spare my life. And if they spared me and had not +spared that other sacred life interwoven with mine, the time +would come when they would find, too late, that they had taken to +their bosom a worse devil than themselves. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +My arrival at the village created some excitement; but I was +plainly no longer regarded as a friend or one of the family. +Runi was absent, and I looked forward to his return with no +little apprehension; he would doubtless decide my fate. Kua-ko +was also away. The others sat or stood about the great room, +staring at me in silence. I took no notice, but merely asked for +food, then for my hammock, which I hung up in the old place, and +lying down I fell into a doze. Runi made his appearance at dusk. +I rose and greeted him, but he spoke no word and, until he went +to his hammock, sat in sullen silence, ignoring my presence. + +On the following day the crisis came. We were once more gathered +in the room--all but Kua-ko and another of the men, who had not +yet returned from some expedition--and for the space of half an +hour not a word was spoken by anyone. Something was expected; +even the children were strangely still, and whenever one of the +pet birds strayed in at the open door, uttering a little +plaintive note, it was chased out again, but without a sound. At +length Runi straightened himself on his seat and fixed his eyes +on me; then cleared his throat and began a long harangue, +delivered in the loud, monotonous singsong which I knew so well +and which meant that the occasion was an important one. And as +is usual in such efforts, the same thought and expressions were +used again and again, and yet again, with dull, angry insistence. +The orator of Guayana to be impressive must be long, however +little he may have to say. Strange as it may seem, I listened +critically to him, not without a feeling of scorn at his lower +intelligence. But I was easier in my mind now. From the very +fact of his addressing such a speech to me I was convinced that +he wished not to take my life, and would not do so if I could +clear myself of the suspicion of treachery. + +I was a white man, he said, they were Indians; nevertheless they +had treated me well. They had fed me and sheltered me. They had +done a great deal for me: they had taught me the use of the +zabatana, and had promised to make one for me, asking for nothing +in return. They had also promised me a wife. How had I treated +them? I had deserted them, going away secretly to a distance, +leaving them in doubt as to my intentions. How could they tell +why I had gone, and where? They had an enemy. Managa was his +name; he and his people hated them; I knew that he wished them +evil; I knew where to find him, for they had told me. That was +what they thought when I suddenly left them. Now I returned to +them, saying that I had been to Riolama. He knew where Riolama +was, although he had never been there: it was so far. Why did I +go to Riolama? It was a bad place. There were Indians there, a +few; but they were not good Indians like those of Parahuari, and +would kill a white man. HAD I gone there? Why had I gone there? + +He finished at last, and it was my turn to speak, but he had +given me plenty of time, and my reply was ready. "I have heard +you," I said. "Your words are good words. They are the words of +a friend. 'I am the white man's friend,' you say; 'is he my +friend? He went away secretly, saying no word; why did he go +without speaking to his friend who had treated him well? Has he +been to my enemy Managa? Perhaps he is a friend of my enemy? +Where has he been?' I must now answer these things, saying true +words to my friend. You are an Indian, I am a white man. You do +not know all the white man's thoughts. These are the things I +wish to tell you. In the white man's country are two kinds of +men. There are the rich men, who have all that a man can +desire--houses made of stone, full of fine things, fine clothes, +fine weapons, fine ornaments; and they have horses, cattle, +sheep, dogs--everything they desire. Because they have gold, for +with gold the white man buys everything. The other kind of white +men are the poor, who have no gold and cannot buy or have +anything: they must work hard for the rich man for the little +food he gives them, and a rag to cover their nakedness; and if he +gives them shelter they have it; if not they must lie down in the +rain out of doors. In my own country, a hundred days from here, +I was the son of a great chief, who had much gold, and when he +died it was all mine, and I was rich. But I had an enemy, one +worse than Managa, for he was rich and had many people. And in a +war his people overcame mine, and he took my gold, and all I +possessed, making me poor. The Indian kills his enemy, but the +white man takes his gold, and that is worse than death. Then I +said: 'I have been a rich man and now I am poor, and must work +like a dog for some rich man, for the sake of the little food he +will throw me at the end of each day. No, I cannot do it! I +will go away and live with the Indians, so that those who have +seen me a rich man shall never see me working like a dog for a +master, and cry out and mock at me. For the Indians are not like +white men: they have no gold; they are not rich and poor; all are +alike. One roof covers them from the rain and sun. All have +weapons which they make; all kill birds in the forest and catch +fish in the rivers; and the women cook the meat and all eat from +one pot. And with the Indians I will be an Indian, and hunt in +the forest and eat with them and drink with them.' Then I left my +country and came here, and lived with you, Runi, and was well +treated. And now, why did I go away? This I have now to tell +you. After I had been here a certain time I went over there to +the forest. You wished me not to go, because of an evil thing, a +daughter of the Didi, that lived there; but I feared nothing and +went. There I met an old man, who talked to me in the white +man's language. He had travelled and seen much, and told me one +strange thing. On a mountain at Riolama he told me that he had +seen a great lump of gold, as much as a man could carry. And +when I heard this I said: 'With the gold I could return to my +country, and buy weapons for myself and all my people and go to +war with my enemy and deprive him of all his possessions and +serve him as he served me.' I asked the old man to take me to +Riolama; and when he had consented I went away from here without +saying a word, so as not to be prevented. It is far to Riolama, +and I had no weapons; but I feared nothing. I said: 'If I must +fight I must fight, and if I must be killed I must be killed.' +But when I got to Riolama I found no gold. There was only a +yellow stone which the old man had mistaken for gold. It was +yellow, like gold, but it would buy nothing. Therefore I came +back to Parahuari again, to my friend; and if he is angry with me +still because I went away without informing him, let him say: 'Go +and seek elsewhere for a new friend, for I am your friend no +longer.'" + +I concluded thus boldly because I did not wish him to know that I +had suspected him of harbouring any sinister designs, or that I +looked on our quarrel as a very serious one. When I had finished +speaking he emitted a sound which expressed neither approval nor +disapproval, but only the fact that he had heard me. But I was +satisfied. His expression had undergone a favourable change; it +was less grim. After a while he remarked, with a peculiar +twitching of the mouth which might have developed into a smile: +"The white man will do much to get gold. You walked twenty days +to see a yellow stone that would buy nothing." It was fortunate +that he took this view of the case, which was flattering to his +Indian nature, and perhaps touched his sense of the ludicrous. +At all events, he said nothing to discredit my story, to which +they had all listened with profound interest. + +From that time it seemed to be tacitly agreed to let bygones be +bygones; and I could see that as the dangerous feeling that had +threatened my life diminished, the old pleasure they had once +found in my company returned. But my feelings towards them did +not change, nor could they while that black and terrible +suspicion concerning Rima was in my heart. I talked again freely +with them, as if there had been no break in the old friendly +relations. If they watched me furtively whenever I went out of +doors, I affected not to see it. I set to work to repair my rude +guitar, which had been broken in my absence, and studied to show +them a cheerful countenance. But when alone, or in my hammock, +hidden from their eyes, free to look into my own heart, then I +was conscious that something new and strange had come into my +life; that a new nature, black and implacable, had taken the +place of the old. And sometimes it was hard to conceal this fury +that burnt in me; sometimes I felt an impulse to spring like a +tiger on one of the Indians, to hold him fast by the throat until +the secret I wished to learn was forced from his lips, then to +dash his brains out against the stone. But they were many, and +there was no choice but to be cautious and patient if I wished to +outwit them with a cunning superior to their own. + +Three days after my arrival at the village, Kua-ko returned with +his companion. I greeted him with affected warmth, but was +really pleased that he was back, believing that if the Indians +knew anything of Rima he among them all would be most likely to +tell it. + +Kua-ko appeared to have brought some important news, which he +discussed with Runi and the others; and on the following day I +noticed that preparations for an expedition were in progress. +Spears and bows and arrows were got ready, but not blow-pipes, +and I knew by this that the expedition would not be a hunting +one. Having discovered so much, also that only four men were +going out, I called Kua-ko aside and begged him to let me go with +them. He seemed pleased at the proposal, and at once repeated it +to Runi, who considered for a little and then consented. + +By and by he said, touching his bow: "You cannot fight with our +weapons; what will you do if we meet an enemy?" + +I smiled and returned that I would not run away. All I wished to +show him was that his enemies were my enemies, that I was ready +to fight for my friend. + +He was pleased at my words, and said no more and gave me no +weapons. Next morning, however, when we set out before daylight, +I made the discovery that he was carrying my revolver fastened to +his waist. He had concealed it carefully under the one simple +garment he wore, but it bulged slightly, and so the secret was +betrayed. I had never believed that he had lost it, and I was +convinced that he took it now with the object of putting it into +my hands at the last moment in case of meeting with an enemy. + +From the village we travelled in a north-westerly direction, and +before noon camped in a grove of dwarf trees, where we remained +until the sun was low, then continued our walk through a rather +barren country. At night we camped again beside a small stream, +only a few inches deep, and after a meal of smoked meat and +parched maize prepared to sleep till dawn on the next day. + +Sitting by the fire I resolved to make a first attempt to +discover from Kua-ko anything concerning Rima which might be +known to him. Instead of lying down when the others did, I +remained seated, my guardian also sitting--no doubt waiting for +me to lie down first. Presently I moved nearer to him and began +a conversation in a low voice, anxious not to rouse the attention +of the other men. + +"Once you said that Oalava would be given to me for a wife," I +began. "Some day I shall want a wife." + +He nodded approval, and remarked sententiously that the desire to +possess a wife was common to all men. + +"What has been left to me?" I said despondingly and spreading +out my hands. "My pistol gone, and did I not give Runi the +tinder-box, and the little box with a cock painted on it to you? +I had no return--not even the blow-pipe. How, then, can I get me +a wife?" + +He, like the others--dull-witted savage that he was--had come to +the belief that I was incapable of the cunning and duplicity they +practiced. I could not see a green parrot sitting silent and +motionless amidst the green foliage as they could; I had not +their preternatural keenness of sight; and, in like manner, to +deceive with lies and false seeming was their faculty and not +mine. He fell readily into the trap. My return to practical +subjects pleased him. He bade me hope that Oalava might yet be +mine in spite of my poverty. It was not always necessary to have +things to get a wife: to be able to maintain her was enough; some +day I would be like one of themselves, able to kill animals and +catch fish. Besides, did not Runi wish to keep me with them for +other reasons? But he could not keep me wifeless. I could do +much: I could sing and make music; I was brave and feared +nothing; I could teach the children to fight. + +He did not say, however, that I could teach anything to one of +his years and attainments. + +I protested that he gave me too much praise, that they were just +as brave. Did they not show a courage equal to mine by going +every day to hunt in that wood which was inhabited by the +daughter of the Didi? + +I came to this subject with fear and trembling, but he took it +quietly. He shook his head, and then all at once began to tell +me how they first came to go there to hunt. He said that a few +days after I had secretly disappeared, two men and a woman, +returning home from a distant place where they had been on a +visit to a relation, stopped at the village. These travellers +related that two days' journey from Ytaioa they had met three +persons travelling in an opposite direction: an old man with a +white beard, followed by two yellow dogs, a young man in a big +cloak, and a strange-looking girl. Thus it came to be known that +I had left the wood with the old man and the daughter of the +Didi. It was great news to them, for they did not believe that +we had any intention of returning, and at once they began to hunt +in the wood, and went there every day, killing birds, monkeys, +and other animals in numbers. + +His words had begun to excite me greatly, but I studied to appear +calm and only slightly interested, so as to draw him on to say +more. + +"Then we returned," I said at last. "But only two of us, and not +together. I left the old man on the road, and SHE left us in +Riolama. She went away from us into the mountains--who knows +whither!" + +"But she came back!" he returned, with a gleam of devilish +satisfaction in his eyes that made the blood run cold in my +veins. + +It was hard to dissemble still, to tempt him to say something +that would madden me! "No, no," I answered, after considering +his words. "She feared to return; she went away to hide herself +in the great mountains beyond Riolama. She could not come back." + +"But she came back!" he persisted, with that triumphant gleam in +his eyes once more. Under my cloak my hand had clutched my +knife-handle, but I strove hard against the fierce, almost +maddening impulse to pluck it out and bury it, quick as +lightning, in his accursed throat. + +He continued: "Seven days before you returned we saw her in the +wood. We were always expecting, watching, always afraid; and +when hunting we were three and four together. On that day I and +three others saw her. It was in an open place, where the trees +are big and wide apart. We started up and chased her when she +ran from us, but feared to shoot. And in one moment she climbed +up into a small tree, then, like a monkey, passed from its +highest branches into a big tree. We could not see her there, +but she was there in the big tree, for there was no other tree +near--no way of escape. Three of us sat down to watch, and the +other went back to the village. He was long gone; we were just +going to leave the tree, fearing that she would do us some +injury, when he came back, and with him all the others, men, +women, and children. They brought axes and knives. Then Runi +said: 'Let no one shoot an arrow into the tree thinking to hit +her, for the arrow would be caught in her hand and thrown back at +him. We must burn her in the tree; there is no way to kill her +except by fire.' Then we went round and round looking up, but +could see nothing; and someone said: 'She has escaped, flying +like a bird from the tree'; but Runi answered that fire would +show. So we cut down the small tree and lopped the branches off +and heaped them round the big trunk. Then, at a distance, we cut +down ten more small trees, and afterwards, further away, ten +more, and then others, and piled them all round, tree after tree, +until the pile reached as far from the trunk as that," and here +he pointed to a bush forty to fifty yards from where we sat. + +The feeling with which I had listened to this recital had become +intolerable. The sweat ran from me in streams; I shivered like a +person in a fit of ague, and clenched my teeth together to +prevent them from rattling. "I must drink," I said, cutting him +short and rising to my feet. He also rose, but did not follow +me, when, with uncertain steps, I made my way to the waterside, +which was ten or twelve yards away. Lying prostrate on my chest, +I took a long draught of clear cold water, and held my face for a +few moments in the current. It sent a chill through me, drying +my wet skin, and bracing me for the concluding part of the +hideous narrative. Slowly I stepped back to the fireside and sat +down again, while he resumed his old place at my side. + +"You burnt the tree down," I said. "Finish telling me now and +let me sleep--my eyes are heavy." + +"Yes. While the men cut and brought trees, the women and +children gathered dry stuff in the forest and brought it in their +arms and piled it round. Then they set fire to it on all sides, +laughing and shouting: 'Burn, burn, daughter of the Didi!' At +length all the lower branches of the big tree were on fire, and +the trunk was on fire, but above it was still green, and we could +see nothing. But the flames went up higher and higher with a +great noise; and at last from the top of the tree, out of the +green leaves, came a great cry, like the cry of a bird: 'Abel! +Abel!' and then looking we saw something fall; through leaves and +smoke and flame it fell like a great white bird killed with an +arrow and falling to the earth, and fell into the flames beneath. +And it was the daughter of the Didi, and she was burnt to ashes +like a moth in the flames of a fire, and no one has ever heard or +seen her since." + +It was well for me that he spoke rapidly, and finished quickly. +Even before he had quite concluded I drew my cloak round my face +and stretched myself out. And I suppose that he at once followed +my example, but I had grown blind and deaf to outward things just +then. My heart no longer throbbed violently; it fluttered and +seemed to grow feebler and feebler in its action: I remember that +there was a dull, rushing sound in my ears, that I gasped for +breath, that my life seemed ebbing away. After these horrible +sensations had passed, I remained quiet for about half an hour; +and during this time the picture of that last act in the hateful +tragedy grew more and more distinct and vivid in my mind, until I +seemed to be actually gazing on it, until my ears were filled +with the hissing and crackling of the fire, the exultant shouts +of the savages, and above all the last piercing cry of "Abel! +Abel!" from the cloud of burning foliage. I could not endure it +longer, and rose at last to my feet. I glanced at Kua-ko lying +two or three yards away, and he, like the others, was, or +appeared to be, in a deep sleep; he was lying on his back, and +his dark firelit face looked as still and unconscious as a face +of stone. Now was my chance to escape--if to escape was my wish. +Yes; for I now possessed the coveted knowledge, and nothing more +was to be gained by keeping with my deadly enemies. And now, +most fortunately for me, they had brought me far on the road to +that place of the five hills where Managa lived--Managa, whose +name had been often in my mind since my return to Parahuari. +Glancing away from Kua-ko's still stone-like face. I caught +sight of that pale solitary star which Runi had pointed out to me +low down in the north-western sky when I had asked him where his +enemy lived. In that direction we had been travelling since +leaving the village; surely if I walked all night, by tomorrow I +could reach Managa's hunting-ground, and be safe and think over +what I had heard and on what I had to do. + +I moved softly away a few steps, then thinking that it would be +well to take a spear in my hand, I turned back, and was surprised +and startled to notice that Kua-ko had moved in the interval. He +had turned over on his side, and his face was now towards me. +His eyes appeared closed, but he might be only feigning sleep, +and I dared not go back to pick up the spear. After a moment's +hesitation I moved on again, and after a second glance back and +seeing that he did not stir, I waded cautiously across the +stream, walked softly twenty or thirty yards, and then began to +run. At intervals I paused to listen for a moment; and presently +I heard a pattering sound as of footsteps coming swiftly after +me. I instantly concluded that Kua-ko had been awake all the +time watching my movements, and that he was now following me. I +now put forth my whole speed, and while thus running could +distinguish no sound. That he would miss me, for it was very +dark, although with a starry sky above, was my only hope; for +with no weapon except my knife my chances would be small indeed +should he overtake me. Besides, he had no doubt roused the +others before starting, and they would be close behind. There +were no bushes in that place to hide myself in and let them pass +me; and presently, to make matters worse, the character of the +soil changed, and I was running over level clayey ground, so +white with a salt efflorescence that a dark object moving on it +would show conspicuously at a distance. Here I paused to look +back and listen, when distinctly came the sound of footsteps, and +the next moment I made out the vague form of an Indian advancing +at a rapid rate of speed and with his uplifted spear in his hand. +In the brief pause I had made he had advanced almost to within +hurling distance of me, and turning, I sped on again, throwing +off my cloak to ease my flight. The next time I looked back he +was still in sight, but not so near; he had stopped to pick up my +cloak, which would be his now, and this had given me a slight +advantage. I fled on, and had continued running for a distance +perhaps of fifty yards when an object rushed past me, tearing +through the flesh of my left arm close to the shoulder on its +way; and not knowing that I was not badly wounded nor how near my +pursuer might be, I turned in desperation to meet him, and saw +him not above twenty-five yards away, running towards me with +something bright in his hand. It was Kua-ko, and after wounding +me with his spear he was about to finish me with his knife. O +fortunate young savage, after such a victory, and with that noble +blue cloth cloak for trophy and covering, what fame and happiness +will be yours! A change swift as lightning had come over me, a +sudden exultation. I was wounded, but my right hand was sound +and clutched a knife as good as his, and we were on an equality. +I waited for him calmly. All weakness, grief, despair had +vanished, all feelings except a terrible raging desire to spill +his accursed blood; and my brain was clear and my nerves like +steel, and I remembered with something like laughter our old +amusing encounters with rapiers of wood. Ah, that was only +making believe and childish play; this was reality. Could any +white man, deprived of his treacherous, far-killing weapon, meet +the resolute savage, face to face and foot to foot, and equal him +with the old primitive weapons? Poor youth, this delusion will +cost you dear! It was scarcely an equal contest when he hurled +himself against me, with only his savage strength and courage to +match my skill; in a few moments he was lying at my feet, pouring +out his life blood on that white thirsty plain. From his +prostrate form I turned, the wet, red knife in my hand, to meet +the others, still thinking that they were on the track and close +at hand. Why had he stooped to pick up the cloak if they were +not following--if he had not been afraid of losing it? I turned +only to receive their spears, to die with my face to them; nor +was the thought of death terrible to me; I could die calmly now +after killing my first assailant. But had I indeed killed him? I +asked, hearing a sound like a groan escape from his lips. +Quickly stooping, I once more drove my weapon to the hilt in his +prostrate form, and when he exhaled a deep sigh, and his frame +quivered, and the blood spurted afresh, I experienced a feeling +of savage joy. And still no sound of hurrying footsteps came to +my listening ears and no vague forms appeared in the darkness. +I concluded that he had either left them sleeping or that they +had not followed in the right direction. Taking up the cloak, I +was about to walk on, when I noticed the spear he had thrown at +me lying where it had fallen some yards away, and picking that up +also, I went on once more, still keeping the guiding star before +me. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +That good fight had been to me like a draught of wine, and made +me for a while oblivious of my loss and of the pain from my +wound. But the glow and feeling of exultation did not last: the +lacerated flesh smarted; I was weak from loss of blood, and +oppressed with sensations of fatigue. If my foes had appeared on +the scene they would have made an easy conquest of me; but they +came not, and I continued to walk on, slowly and painfully, +pausing often to rest. + +At last, recovering somewhat from my faint condition, and losing +all fear of being overtaken, my sorrow revived in full force, and +thought returned to madden me. + +Alas! this bright being, like no other in its divine brightness, +so long in the making, now no more than a dead leaf, a little +dust, lost and forgotten for ever--oh, pitiless! Oh, cruel! + +But I knew it all before--this law of nature and of necessity, +against which all revolt is idle: often had the remembrance of it +filled me with ineffable melancholy; only now it seemed cruel +beyond all cruelty. + +Not nature the instrument, not the keen sword that cuts into the +bleeding tissues, but the hand that wields it--the unseen unknown +something, or person, that manifests itself in the horrible +workings of nature. + +"Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in +that moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful +as the stars, that you cried not to him? To me was your cry; but +your poor, frail fellow creature was not there to save, or, +failing that, to cast himself into the flames and perish with +you, hating God." + +Thus, in my insufferable pain, I spoke aloud; alone in that +solitary place, a bleeding fugitive in the dark night, looking up +at the stars I cursed the Author of my being and called on Him to +take back the abhorred gift of life. + +Yet, according to my philosophy, how vain it was! All my +bitterness and hatred and defiance were as empty, as ineffectual, +as utterly futile, as are the supplications of the meek +worshipper, and no more than the whisper of a leaf, the light +whirr of an insect's wing. Whether I loved Him who was over all, +as when I thanked Him on my knees for guiding me to where I had +heard so sweet and mysterious a melody, or hated and defied Him +as now, it all came from Him--love and hate, good and evil. + +But I know--I knew then--that in one thing my philosophy was +false, that it was not the whole truth; that though my cries did +not touch nor come near Him they would yet hurt me; and, just as +a prisoner maddened at his unjust fate beats against the stone +walls of his cell until he falls back bruised and bleeding to the +floor, so did I wilfully bruise my own soul, and knew that those +wounds I gave myself would not heal. + +Of that night, the beginning of the blackest period of my life, I +shall say no more; and over subsequent events I shall pass +quickly. + +Morning found me at a distance of many miles from the scene of my +duel with the Indian, in a broken, hilly country, varied with +savannah and open forest. I was well-nigh spent with my long +march, and felt that unless food was obtained before many hours +my situation would be indeed desperate. With labour I managed to +climb to the summit of a hill about three hundred feet high in +order to survey the surrounding country, and found that it was +one of a group of five, and conjectured that these were the five +hills of Uritay and that I was in the neighbourhood of Managa's +village. Coming down I proceeded to the next hill, which was +higher; and before reaching it came to a stream in a narrow +valley dividing the hills, and proceeding along its banks in +search of a crossing-place, I came full in sight of the +settlement sought for. As I approached, people were seen moving +hurriedly about; and by the time I arrived, walking slowly and +painfully, seven or eight men were standing before the village' +some with spears in their hands, the women and children behind +them, all staring curiously at me. Drawing near I cried out in a +somewhat feeble voice that I was seeking for Managa; whereupon a +gray-haired man stepped forth, spear in hand, and replied that he +was Managa, and demanded to know why I sought him. I told him a +part of my story--enough to show that I had a deadly feud with +Runi, that I had escaped from him after killing one of his +people. + +I was taken in and supplied with food; my wound was examined and +dressed; and then I was permitted to lie down and sleep, while +Managa, with half a dozen of his people, hurriedly started to +visit the scene of my fight with Kua-ko, not only to verify my +story, but partly with the hope of meeting Runi. I did not see +him again until the next morning, when he informed me that he had +found the spot where I had been overtaken, that the dead man had +been discovered by the others and carried back towards Parahuari. +He had followed the trace for some distance, and he was satisfied +that Runi had come thus far in the first place only with the +intention of spying on him. + +My arrival, and the strange tidings I had brought, had thrown the +village into a great commotion; it was evident that from that +time Managa lived in constant apprehension of a sudden attack +from his old enemy. This gave me great satisfaction; it was my +study to keep the feeling alive, and, more than that, to drop +continual hints of his enemy's secret murderous purpose, until he +was wrought up to a kind of frenzy of mingled fear and rage. And +being of a suspicious and somewhat truculent temper, he one day +all at once turned on me as the immediate cause of his miserable +state, suspecting perhaps that I only wished to make an +instrument of him. But I was strangely bold and careless of +danger then, and only mocked at his rage, telling him proudly +that I feared him not; that Runi, his mortal enemy and mine, +feared not him but me; that Runi knew perfectly well where I had +taken refuge and would not venture to make his meditated attack +while I remained in his village, but would wait for my departure. +"Kill me, Managa," I cried, smiting my chest as I stood facing +him. "Kill me, and the result will be that he will come upon you +unawares and murder you all, as he has resolved to do sooner or +later." + +After that speech he glared at me in silence, then flung down the +spear he had snatched up in his sudden rage and stalked out of +the house and into the wood; but before long he was back again, +seated in his old place, brooding on my words with a face black +as night. + +It is painful to recall that secret dark chapter of my life--that +period of moral insanity. But I wish not to be a hypocrite, +conscious or unconscious, to delude myself or another with this +plea of insanity. My mind was very clear just then; past and +present were clear to me; the future clearest of all: I could +measure the extent of my action and speculate on its future +effect, and my sense of right or wrong--of individual +responsibility--was more vivid than at any other period of my +life. Can I even say that I was blinded by passion? Driven, +perhaps, but certainly not blinded. For no reaction, or +submission, had followed on that furious revolt against the +unknown being, personal or not, that is behind nature, in whose +existence I believed. I was still in revolt: I would hate Him, +and show my hatred by being like Him, as He appears to us +reflected in that mirror of Nature. Had He given me good +gifts--the sense of right and wrong and sweet humanity? The +beautiful sacred flower He had caused to grow in me I would crush +ruthlessly; its beauty and fragrance and grace would be dead for +ever; there was nothing evil, nothing cruel and contrary to my +nature, that I would not be guilty of, glorying in my guilt. +This was not the temper of a few days: I remained for close upon +two months at Managa's village, never repenting nor desisting in +my efforts to induce the Indians to join me in that most +barbarous adventure on which my heart was set. + +I succeeded in the end; it would have been strange if I had not. +The horrible details need not be given. Managa did not wait for +his enemy, but fell on him unexpectedly, an hour after nightfall +in his own village. If I had really been insane during those two +months, if some cloud had been on me, some demoniacal force +dragging me on, the cloud and insanity vanished and the +constraint was over in one moment, when that hellish enterprise +was completed. It was the sight of an old woman, lying where she +had been struck down, the fire of the blazing house lighting her +wide-open glassy eyes and white hair dabbled in blood, which +suddenly, as by a miracle, wrought this change in my brain. For +they were all dead at last, old and young, all who had lighted +the fire round that great green tree in which Rima had taken +refuge, who had danced round the blaze, shouting: "Burn! burn!" + +At the moment my glance fell on that prostrate form I paused and +stood still, trembling like a person struck with a sudden pang in +the heart, who thinks that his last moment has come to him +unawares. After a while I slunk away out of the great circle of +firelight into the thick darkness beyond. Instinctively I turned +towards the forests across the savannah--my forest again; and +fled away from the noise and the sight of flames, never pausing +until I found myself within the black shadow of the trees. Into +the deeper blackness of the interior I dared not venture; on the +border I paused to ask myself what I did there alone in the +night-time. Sitting down, I covered my face with my hands as if +to hide it more effectually than it could be hidden by night and +the forest shadows. What horrible thing, what calamity that +frightened my soul to think of, had fallen on me? The revulsion +of feeling, the unspeakable horror, the remorse, was more than I +could bear. I started up with a cry of anguish, and would have +slain myself to escape at that moment; but Nature is not always +and utterly cruel, and on this occasion she came to my aid. +Consciousness forsook me, and I lived not again until the light +of early morning was in the east; then found myself lying on the +wet herbage--wet with rain that had lately fallen. My physical +misery was now so great that it prevented me from dwelling on the +scenes witnessed on the previous evening. Nature was again +merciful in this. I only remembered that it was necessary to +hide myself, in case the Indians should be still in the +neighbourhood and pay the wood a visit. Slowly and painfully I +crept away into the forest, and there sat for several hours, +scarcely thinking at all, in a half-stupefied condition. At noon +the sun shone out and dried the wood. I felt no hunger, only a +vague sense of bodily misery, and with it the fear that if I left +my hiding-place I might meet some human creature face to face. +This fear prevented me from stirring until the twilight came, +when I crept forth and made my way to the border of the forest, +to spend the night there. Whether sleep visited me during the +dark hours or not I cannot say: day and night my condition seemed +the same; I experienced only a dull sensation of utter misery +which seemed in spirit and flesh alike, an inability to think +clearly, or for more than a few moments consecutively, about +anything. Scenes in which I had been principal actor came and +went, as in a dream when the will slumbers: now with devilish +ingenuity and persistence I was working on Managa's mind; now +standing motionless in the forest listening for that sweet, +mysterious melody; now staring aghast at old Cla-cla's wide-open +glassy eyes and white hair dabbled in blood; then suddenly, in +the cave at Riolama, I was fondly watching the slow return of +life and colour to Rima's still face. + +When morning came again, I felt so weak that a vague fear of +sinking down and dying of hunger at last roused me and sent me +forth in quest of food. I moved slowly and my eyes were dim to +see, but I knew so well where to seek for small morsels--small +edible roots and leaf-stalks, berries, and drops of congealed +gum--that it would have been strange in that rich forest if I had +not been able to discover something to stay my famine. It was +little, but it sufficed for the day. Once more Nature was +merciful to me; for that diligent seeking among the concealing +leaves left no interval for thought; every chance morsel gave a +momentary pleasure, and as I prolonged my search my steps grew +firmer, the dimness passed from my eyes. I was more forgetful of +self, more eager, and like a wild animal with no thought or +feeling beyond its immediate wants. Fatigued at the end, I fell +asleep as soon as darkness brought my busy rambles to a close, +and did not wake until another morning dawned. + +My hunger was extreme now. The wailing notes of a pair of small +birds, persistently flitting round me, or perched with gaping +bills and wings trembling with agitation, served to remind me +that it was now breeding-time; also that Rima had taught me to +find a small bird's nest. She found them only to delight her +eyes with the sight; but they would be food for me; the crystal +and yellow fluid in the gem-like, white or blue or red-speckled +shells would help to keep me alive. All day I hunted, listening +to every note and cry, watching the motions of every winged +thing, and found, besides gums and fruits, over a score of nests +containing eggs, mostly of small birds, and although the labour +was great and the scratches many, I was well satisfied with the +result. + +A few days later I found a supply of Haima gum, and eagerly began +picking it from the tree; not that it could be used, but the +thought of the brilliant light it gave was so strong in my mind +that mechanically I gathered it all. The possession of this gum, +when night closed round me again, produced in me an intense +longing for artificial light and warmth. The darkness was harder +than ever to endure. I envied the fireflies their natural +lights, and ran about in the dusk to capture a few and hold them +in the hollow of my two hands, for the sake of their cold, fitful +flashes. On the following day I wasted two or three hours trying +to get fire in the primitive method with dry wood, but failed, +and lost much time, and suffered more than ever from hunger in +consequence. Yet there was fire in everything; even when I +struck at hard wood with my knife, sparks were emitted. If I +could only arrest those wonderful heat- and light-giving sparks! +And all at once, as if I had just lighted upon some new, +wonderful truth, it occurred to me that with my steel +hunting-knife and a piece of flint fire could be obtained. +Immediately I set about preparing tinder with dry moss, rotten +wood, and wild cotton; and in a short time I had the wished fire, +and heaped wood dry and green on it to make it large. I nursed +it well, and spent the night beside it; and it also served to +roast some huge white grubs which I had found in the rotten wood +of a prostrate trunk. The sight of these great grubs had +formerly disgusted me; but they tasted good to me now, and stayed +my hunger, and that was all I looked for in my wild forest food. + +For a long time an undefined feeling prevented me from going near +the site of Nuflo's burnt lodge. I went there at last; and the +first thing I did was to go all round the fatal spot, cautiously +peering into the rank herbage, as if I feared a lurking serpent; +and at length, at some distance from the blackened heap, I +discovered a human skeleton, and knew it to be Nuflo's. In his +day he had been a great armadillo-hunter, and these quaint +carrion-eaters had no doubt revenged themselves by devouring his +flesh when they found him dead--killed by the savages. + +Having once returned to this spot of many memories, I could not +quit it again; while my wild woodland life lasted, here must I +have my lair, and being here I could not leave that mournful +skeleton above ground. With labour I excavated a pit to bury it, +careful not to cut or injure a broad-leafed creeper that had +begun to spread itself over the spot; and after refilling the +hole I drew the long, trailing stems over the mound. + +"Sleep well, old man," said I, when my work was done; and these +few words, implying neither censure nor praise, was all the +burial service that old Nuflo had from me. + +I then visited the spot where the old man, assisted by me, had +concealed his provisions before starting for Riolama, and was +pleased to find that it had not been discovered by the Indians. +Besides the store of tobacco leaf, maize, pumpkin, potatoes, and +cassava bread, and the cooking utensils, I found among other +things a chopper--a great acquisition, since with it I would be +able to cut down small palms and bamboos to make myself a hut. + +The possession of a supply of food left me time for many things: +time in the first place to make my own conditions; doubtless +after them there would be further progression on the old +lines--luxuries added to necessaries; a healthful, fruitful life +of thought and action combined; and at last a peaceful, +contemplative old age. + +I cleared away ashes and rubbish, and marked out the very spot +where Rima's separate bower had been for my habitation, which I +intended to make small. In five days it was finished; then, +after lighting a fire, I stretched myself out in my dry bed of +moss and leaves with a feeling that was almost triumphant. Let +the rain now fall in torrents, putting out the firefly's lamp; +let the wind and thunder roar their loudest, and the lightnings +smite the earth with intolerable light, frightening the poor +monkeys in their wet, leafy habitations, little would I heed it +all on my dry bed, under my dry, palm-leaf thatch, with glorious +fire to keep me company and protect me from my ancient enemy, +Darkness. + +From that first sleep under shelter I woke refreshed, and was not +driven by the cruel spur of hunger into the wet forest. The +wished time had come of rest from labour, of leisure for thought. +Resting here, just where she had rested, night by night clasping +a visionary mother in her arms, whispering tenderest words in a +visionary ear, I too now clasped her in my arms--a visionary +Rima. How different the nights had seemed when I was without +shelter, before I had rediscovered fire! How had I endured it? +That strange ghostly gloom of the woods at night-time full of +innumerable strange shapes; still and dark, yet with something +seen at times moving amidst them, dark and vague and strange +also--an owl, perhaps, or bat, or great winged moth, or nightjar. +Nor had I any choice then but to listen to the night-sounds of +the forest; and they were various as the day-sounds, and for +every day-sound, from the faintest lisping and softest trill to +the deep boomings and piercing cries, there was an analogue; +always with something mysterious, unreal in its tone, something +proper to the night. They were ghostly sounds, uttered by the +ghosts of dead animals; they were a hundred different things by +turns, but always with a meaning in them, which I vainly strove +to catch--something to be interpreted only by a sleeping faculty +in us, lightly sleeping, and now, now on the very point of +awaking! + +Now the gloom and the mystery were shut out; now I had that which +stood in the place of pleasure to me, and was more than pleasure. +It was a mournful rapture to lie awake now, wishing not for sleep +and oblivion, hating the thought of daylight that would come at +last to drown and scare away my vision. To be with Rima +again--my lost Rima recovered--mine, mine at last! No longer the +old vexing doubt now--"You are you, and I am I--why is it?"--the +question asked when our souls were near together, like two +raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly nearer, ever nearer: +for now they had touched and were not two, but one inseparable +drop, crystallized beyond change, not to be disintegrated by +time, nor shattered by death's blow, nor resolved by any alchemy. + +I had other company besides this unfailing vision and the bright +dancing fire that talked to me in its fantastic fire language. +It was my custom to secure the door well on retiring; grief had +perhaps chilled my blood, for I suffered less from heat than from +cold at this period, and the fire seemed grateful all night long; +I was also anxious to exclude all small winged and creeping +night-wanderers. But to exclude them entirely proved impossible: +through a dozen invisible chinks they would find their way to me; +also some entered by day to lie concealed until after nightfall. +A monstrous hairy hermit spider found an asylum in a dusky corner +of the hut, under the thatch, and day after day he was there, all +day long, sitting close and motionless; but at dark he invariably +disappeared--who knows on what murderous errand! His hue was a +deep dead-leaf yellow, with a black and grey pattern, borrowed +from some wild cat; and so large was he that his great outspread +hairy legs, radiating from the flat disk of his body, would have +covered a man's open hand. It was easy to see him in my small +interior; often in the night-time my eyes would stray to his +corner, never to encounter that strange hairy figure; but +daylight failed not to bring him. He troubled me; but now, for +Rima's sake, I could slay no living thing except from motives of +hunger. I had it in my mind to injure him--to strike off one of +his legs, which would not be missed much, as they were many--so +as to make him go away and return no more to so inhospitable a +place. But courage failed me. He might come stealthily back at +night to plunge his long, crooked farces into my throat, +poisoning my blood with fever and delirium and black death. So I +left him alone, and glanced furtively and fearfully at him, +hoping that he had not divined any thoughts; thus we lived on +unsocially together. More companionable, but still in an +uncomfortable way, were the large crawling, running +insects--crickets, beetles, and others. They were shapely and +black and polished, and ran about here and there on the floor, +just like intelligent little horseless carriages; then they would +pause with their immovable eyes fixed on me, seeing or in some +mysterious way divining my presence; their pliant horns waving up +and down, like delicate instruments used to test the air. +Centipedes and millipedes in dozens came too, and were not +welcome. I feared not their venom, but it was a weariness to see +them; for they seemed no living things, but the vertebrae of +snakes and eels and long slim fishes, dead and desiccated, made +to move mechanically over walls and floor by means of some +jugglery of nature. I grew skilful at picking them up with a +pair of pliant green twigs, to thrust them into the outer +darkness. + +One night a moth fluttered in and alighted on my hand as I sat by +the fire, causing me to hold my breath as I gazed on it. Its +fore-wings were pale grey, with shadings dark and light written +all over in finest characters with some twilight mystery or +legend; but the round under-wings were clear amber-yellow, veined +like a leaf with red and purple veins; a thing of such exquisite +chaste beauty that the sight of it gave me a sudden shock of +pleasure. Very soon it flew up, circling about, and finally +lighted on the palm-leaf thatch directly over the fire. The +heat, I thought, would soon drive it from the spot; and, rising, +I opened the door, so that it might find its way out again into +its own cool, dark, flowery world. And standing by the open door +I turned and addressed it: "O night-wanderer of the pale, +beautiful wings, go forth, and should you by chance meet her +somewhere in the shadowy depths, revisiting her old haunts, be my +messenger--" Thus much had I spoken when the frail thing loosened +its hold to fall without a flutter, straight and swift, into the +white blaze beneath. I sprang forward with a shriek and stood +staring into the fire, my whole frame trembling with a sudden +terrible emotion. Even thus had Rima fallen--fallen from the +great height--into the flames that instantly consumed her +beautiful flesh and bright spirit! O cruel Nature! + +A moth that perished in the flame; an indistinct faint sound; a +dream in the night; the semblance of a shadowy form moving +mist-like in the twilight gloom of the forest, would suddenly +bring back a vivid memory, the old anguish, to break for a while +the calm of that period. It was calm then after the storm. +Nevertheless, my health deteriorated. I ate little and slept +little and grew thin and weak. When I looked down on the dark, +glassy forest pool, where Rima would look no more to see herself +so much better than in the small mirror of her lover's pupil, it +showed me a gaunt, ragged man with a tangled mass of black hair +falling over his shoulders, the bones of his face showing through +the dead-looking, sun-parched skin, the sunken eyes with a gleam +in them that was like insanity. + +To see this reflection had a strangely disturbing effect on me. +A torturing voice would whisper in my ear: "Yes, you are +evidently going mad. By and by you will rush howling through the +forest, only to drop down at last and die; and no person will +ever find and bury your bones. Old Nuflo was more fortunate in +that he perished first." + +"A lying voice!" I retorted in sudden anger. "My faculties were +never keener than now. Not a fruit can ripen but I find it. If +a small bird darts by with a feather or straw in its bill I mark +its flight, and it will be a lucky bird if I do not find its nest +in the end. Could a savage born in the forest do more? He would +starve where I find food!" + +"Ay, yes, there is nothing wonderful in that," answered the +voice. "The stranger from a cold country suffers less from the +heat, when days are hottest, than the Indian who knows no other +climate. But mark the result! The stranger dies, while the +Indian, sweating and gasping for breath, survives. In like +manner the low-minded savage, cut off from all human fellowship, +keeps his faculties to the end, while your finer brain proves +your ruin." + +I cut from a tree a score of long, blunt thorns, tough and black +as whalebone, and drove them through a strip of wood in which I +had burnt a row of holes to receive them, and made myself a comb, +and combed out my long, tangled hair to improve my appearance. + +"It is not the tangled condition of your hair," persisted the +voice, "but your eyes, so wild and strange in their expression, +that show the approach of madness. Make your locks as smooth as +you like, and add a garland of those scarlet, star-shaped +blossoms hanging from the bush behind you--crown yourself as you +crowned old Cla-cla--but the crazed look will remain just the +same." + +And being no longer able to reply, rage and desperation drove me +to an act which only seemed to prove that the hateful voice had +prophesied truly. Taking up a stone, I hurled it down on the +water to shatter the image I saw there, as if it had been no +faithful reflection of myself, but a travesty, cunningly made of +enamelled clay or some other material, and put there by some +malicious enemy to mock me. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +Many days had passed since the hut was made--how many may not be +known, since I notched no stick and knotted no cord--yet never in +my rambles in the wood had I seen that desolate ash-heap where +the fire had done its work. Nor had I looked for it. On the +contrary, my wish was never to see it, and the fear of coming +accidentally upon it made me keep to the old familiar paths. But +at length, one night, without thinking of Rima's fearful end, it +all at once occurred to me that the hated savage whose blood I +had shed on the white savannah might have only been practicing +his natural deceit when he told me that most pitiful story. If +that were so--if he had been prepared with a fictitious account +of her death to meet my questions--then Rima might still exist: +lost, perhaps, wandering in some distant place, exposed to perils +day and night, and unable to find her way back, but living still! +Living! her heart on fire with the hope of reunion with me, +cautiously threading her way through the undergrowth of +immeasurable forests; spying out the distant villages and hiding +herself from the sight of all men, as she knew so well how to +hide; studying the outlines of distant mountains, to recognize +some familiar landmark at last, and so find her way back to the +old wood once more! Even now, while I sat there idly musing, she +might be somewhere in the wood--somewhere near me; but after so +long an absence full of apprehension, waiting in concealment for +what tomorrow's light might show. + +I started up and replenished the fire with trembling hands, then +set the door open to let the welcoming stream out into the wood. +But Rima had done more; going out into the black forest in the +pitiless storm, she had found and led me home. Could I do less! +I was quickly out in the shadows of the wood. Surely it was more +than a mere hope that made my heart beat so wildly! How could a +sensation so strangely sudden, so irresistible in its power, +possess me unless she were living and near? Can it be, can it be +that we shall meet again? To look again into your divine +eyes--to hold you again in my arms at last! I so changed--so +different! But the old love remains; and of all that has happened +in your absence I shall tell you nothing--not one word; all shall +be forgotten now--sufferings, madness, crime, remorse! Nothing +shall ever vex you again--not Nuflo, who vexed you every day; for +he is dead now--murdered, only I shall not say that--and I have +decently buried his poor old sinful bones. We alone together in +the wood--OUR wood now! The sweet old days again; for I know +that you would not have it different, nor would I. + +Thus I talked to myself, mad with the thoughts of the joy that +would soon be mine; and at intervals I stood still and made the +forest echo with my calls. "Rima! Rima!" I called again and +again, and waited for some response; and heard only the familiar +night-sounds--voices of insect and bird and tinkling tree-frog, +and a low murmur in the topmost foliage, moved by some light +breath of wind unfelt below. I was drenched with dew, bruised +and bleeding from falls in the dark, and from rocks and thorns +and rough branches, but had felt nothing; gradually the +excitement burnt itself out; I was hoarse with shouting and ready +to drop down with fatigue, and hope was dead: and at length I +crept back to my hut, to cast myself on my grass bed and sink +into a dull, miserable, desponding stupor. + +But on the following morning I was out once more, determined to +search the forest well; since, if no evidence of the great fire +Kua-ko had described to me existed, it would still be possible to +believe that he had lied to me, and that Rima lived. I searched +all day and found nothing; but the area was large, and to search +it thoroughly would require several days. + +On the third day I discovered the fatal spot, and knew that never +again would I behold Rima in the flesh, that my last hope had +indeed been a vain one. There could be no mistake: just such an +open place as the Indian had pictured to me was here, with giant +trees standing apart; while one tree stood killed and blackened +by fire, surrounded by a huge heap, sixty or seventy yards +across, of prostrate charred tree-trunks and ashes. Here and +there slender plants had sprung up through the ashes, and the +omnipresent small-leaved creepers were beginning to throw their +pale green embroidery over the blackened trunks. I looked long +at the vast funeral tree that had a buttressed girth of not less +than fifty feet, and rose straight as a ship's mast, with its top +about a hundred and fifty feet from the earth. What a distance +to fall, through burning leaves and smoke, like a white bird shot +dead with a poisoned arrow, swift and straight into that sea of +flame below! How cruel imagination was to turn that desolate +ash-heap, in spite of feathery foliage and embroidery of +creepers, into roaring leaping flames again--to bring those dead +savages back, men, women, and children--even the little ones I +had played with--to set them yelling around me: "Burn! burn!" +Oh, no, this damnable spot must not be her last resting-place! +If the fire had not utterly consumed her, bones as well as sweet +tender flesh, shrivelling her like a frail white-winged moth into +the finest white ashes, mixed inseparably with the ashes of stems +and leaves innumerable, then whatever remained of her must be +conveyed elsewhere to be with me, to mingle with my ashes at +last. + +Having resolved to sift and examine the entire heap, I at once +set about my task. If she had climbed into the central highest +branch, and had fallen straight, then she would have dropped into +the flames not far from the roots; and so to begin I made a path +to the trunk, and when darkness overtook me I had worked all +round the tree, in a width of three to four yards, without +discovering any remains. At noon on the following day I found +the skeleton, or, at all events, the larger bones, rendered so +fragile by the fierce heat they had been subjected to, that they +fell to pieces when handled. But I was careful--how careful!--to +save these last sacred relics, all that was now left of +Rima!--kissing each white fragment as I lifted it, and gathering +them all in my old frayed cloak, spread out to receive them. And +when I had recovered them all, even to the smallest, I took my +treasure home. + +Another storm had shaken my soul, and had been succeeded by a +second calm, which was more complete and promised to be more +enduring than the first. But it was no lethargic calm; my brain +was more active than ever; and by and by it found a work for my +hands to do, of such a character as to distinguish me from all +other forest hermits, fugitives from their fellows, in that +savage land. The calcined bones I had rescued were kept in one +of the big, rudely shaped, half-burnt earthen jars which Nuflo +had used for storing grain and other food-stuff. It was of a +wood-ash colour; and after I had given up my search for the +peculiar fine clay he had used in its manufacture--for it had +been in my mind to make a more shapely funeral urn myself--I set +to work to ornament its surface. A portion of each day was given +to this artistic labour; and when the surface was covered with a +pattern of thorny stems, and a trailing creeper with curving leaf +and twining tendril, and pendent bud and blossom, I gave it +colour. Purples and black only were used, obtained from the +juices of some deeply coloured berries; and when a tint, or +shade, or line failed to satisfy me I erased it, to do it again; +and this so often that I never completed my work. I might, in +the proudly modest spirit of the old sculptors, have inscribed on +the vase the words: Abel was doing this. For was not my ideal +beautiful like theirs, and the best that my art could do only an +imperfect copy--a rude sketch? A serpent was represented wound +round the lower portion of the jar, dull-hued, with a chain of +irregular black spots or blotches extending along its body; and +if any person had curiously examined these spots he would have +discovered that every other one was a rudely shaped letter, and +that the letters, by being properly divided, made the following +words: + +Sin vos y siu dios y mi. + +Words that to some might seem wild, even insane in their +extravagance, sung by some ancient forgotten poet; or possibly +the motto of some love-sick knight-errant, whose passion was +consumed to ashes long centuries ago. But not wild nor insane to +me, dwelling alone on a vast stony plain in everlasting twilight, +where there was no motion, nor any sound; but all things, even +trees, ferns, and grasses, were stone. And in that place I had +sat for many a thousand years, drawn up and motionless, with +stony fingers clasped round my legs, and forehead resting on my +knees; and there would I sit, unmoving, immovable, for many a +thousand years to come--I, no longer I, in a universe where she +was not, and God was not. + +The days went by, and to others grouped themselves into weeks and +months; to me they were only days--not Saturday, Sunday, Monday, +but nameless. They were so many and their sum so great that all +my previous life, all the years I had existed before this +solitary time, now looked like a small island immeasurably far +away, scarcely discernible, in the midst of that endless desolate +waste of nameless days. + +My stock of provisions had been so long consumed that I had +forgotten the flavour of pulse and maize and pumpkins and purple +and sweet potatoes. For Nuflo's cultivated patch had been +destroyed by the savages--not a stem, not a root had they left: +and I, like the sorrowful man that broods on his sorrow and the +artist who thinks only of his art, had been improvident and had +consumed the seed without putting a portion into the ground. +Only wild food, and too little of that, found with much seeking +and got with many hurts. Birds screamed at and scolded me; +branches bruised and thorns scratched me; and still worse were +the angry clouds of waspish things no bigger than flies. +Buzz--buzz! Sting--sting! A serpent's tooth has failed to kill +me; little do I care for your small drops of fiery venom so that +I get at the spoil--grubs and honey. My white bread and purple +wine! Once my soul hungered after knowledge; I took delight in +fine thoughts finely expressed; I sought them carefully in +printed books: now only this vile bodily hunger, this eager +seeking for grubs and honey, and ignoble war with little things! + +A bad hunter I proved after larger game. Bird and beast despised +my snares, which took me so many waking hours at night to invent, +so many daylight hours to make. Once, seeing a troop of monkeys +high up in the tall trees, I followed and watched them for a long +time, thinking how royally I should feast if by some strange +unheard-of accident one were to fall disabled to the ground and +be at my mercy. But nothing impossible happened, and I had no +meat. What meat did I ever have except an occasional fledgling, +killed in its cradle, or a lizard, or small tree-frog detected, +in spite of its green colour, among the foliage? I would roast +the little green minstrel on the coals. Why not? Why should he +live to tinkle on his mandolin and clash his airy cymbals with no +appreciative ear to listen? Once I had a different and strange +kind of meat; but the starved stomach is not squeamish. I found +a serpent coiled up in my way in a small glade, and arming myself +with a long stick, I roused him from his siesta and slew him +without mercy. Rima was not there to pluck the rage from my +heart and save his evil life. No coral snake this, with slim, +tapering body, ringed like a wasp with brilliant colour; but +thick and blunt, with lurid scales, blotched with black; also a +broad, flat, murderous head, with stony, ice-like, whity-blue +eyes, cold enough to freeze a victim's blood in its veins and +make it sit still, like some wide-eyed creature carved in stone, +waiting for the sharp, inevitable stroke--so swift at last, so +long in coming. "O abominable flat head, with icy-cold, +humanlike, fiend-like eyes, I shall cut you off and throw you +away!" And away I flung it, far enough in all conscience: yet I +walked home troubled with a fancy that somewhere, somewhere down +on the black, wet soil where it had fallen, through all that +dense, thorny tangle and millions of screening leaves, the white, +lidless, living eyes were following me still, and would always be +following me in all my goings and comings and windings about in +the forest. And what wonder? For were we not alone together in +this dreadful solitude, I and the serpent, eaters of the dust, +singled out and cursed above all cattle? HE would not have +bitten me, and I--faithless cannibal!--had murdered him. That +cursed fancy would live on, worming itself into every crevice of +my mind; the severed head would grow and grow in the night-time +to something monstrous at last, the hellish white lidless eyes +increasing to the size of two full moons. "Murderer! murderer!" +they would say; "first a murderer of your own fellow +creatures--that was a small crime; but God, our enemy, had made +them in His image, and He cursed you; and we two were together, +alone and apart--you and I, murderer! you and I, murderer!" + +I tried to escape the tyrannous fancy by thinking of other things +and by making light of it. "The starved, bloodless brain," I +said, "has strange thoughts." I fell to studying the dark, +thick, blunt body in my hands; I noticed that the livid, rudely +blotched, scaly surface showed in some lights a lovely play of +prismatic colours. And growing poetical, I said: "When the wild +west wind broke up the rainbow on the flying grey cloud and +scattered it over the earth, a fragment doubtless fell on this +reptile to give it that tender celestial tint. For thus it is +Nature loves all her children, and gives to each some beauty, +little or much; only to me, her hated stepchild, she gives no +beauty, no grace. But stay, am I not wronging her? Did not +Rima, beautiful above all things, love me well? said she not +that I was beautiful?" + +"Ah, yes, that was long ago," spoke the voice that mocked me by +the pool when I combed out my tangled hair. "Long ago, when the +soul that looked from your eyes was not the accursed thing it is +now. Now Rima would start at the sight of them; now she would +fly in terror from their insane expression." + +"O spiteful voice, must you spoil even such appetite as I have +for this fork-tongued spotty food? You by day and Rima by +night--what shall I do--what shall I do?" + +For it had now come to this, that the end of each day brought not +sleep and dreams, but waking visions. Night by night, from my +dry grass bed I beheld Nuflo sitting in his old doubled-up +posture, his big brown feet close to the white ashes--sitting +silent and miserable. I pitied him; I owed him hospitality; but +it seemed intolerable that he should be there. It was better to +shut my eyes; for then Rima's arms would be round my neck; the +silky mist of her hair against my face, her flowery breath mixing +with my breath. What a luminous face was hers! Even with +closeshut eyes I could see it vividly, the translucent skin +showing the radiant rose beneath, the lustrous eyes, spiritual +and passionate, dark as purple wine under their dark lashes. +Then my eyes would open wide. No Rima in my arms! But over +there, a little way back from the fire, just beyond where old +Nuflo had sat brooding a few minutes ago, Rima would be standing, +still and pale and unspeakably sad. Why does she come to me from +the outside darkness to stand there talking to me, yet never once +lifting her mournful eyes to mine? "Do not believe it, Abel; no, +that was only a phantom of your brain, the What-I-was that you +remember so well. For do you not see that when I come she fades +away and is nothing? Not that--do not ask it. I know that I +once refused to look into your eyes, and afterwards, in the cave +at Riolama, I looked long and was happy--unspeakably happy! But +now--oh, you do not know what you ask; you do not know the sorrow +that has come into mine; that if you once beheld it, for very +sorrow you would die. And you must live. But I will wait +patiently, and we shall be together in the end, and see each +other without disguise. Nothing shall divide us. Only wish not +for it soon; think not that death will ease your pain, and seek +it not. Austerities? Good works? Prayers? They are not seen; +they are not heard, they are less-than nothing, and there is no +intercession. I did not know it then, but you knew it. Your life +was your own; you are not saved nor judged! acquit +yourself--undo that which you have done, which Heaven cannot +undo--and Heaven will say no word nor will I. You cannot, Abel, +you cannot. That which you have done is done, and yours must be +the penalty and the sorrow--yours and mine--yours and mine--yours +and mine." + +This, too, was a phantom, a Rima of the mind, one of the shapes +the ever-changing black vapours of remorse and insanity would +take; and all her mournful sentences were woven out of my own +brain. I was not so crazed as not to know it; only a phantom, an +illusion, yet more real than reality--real as my crime and vain +remorse and death to come. It was, indeed, Rima returned to tell +me that I that loved her had been more cruel to her than her +cruellest enemies; for they had but tortured and destroyed her +body with fire, while I had cast this shadow on her soul--this +sorrow transcending all sorrows, darker than death, immitigable, +eternal. + +If I could only have faded gradually, painlessly, growing feebler +in body and dimmer in my senses each day, to sink at last into +sleep! But it could not be. Still the fever in my brain, the +mocking voice by day, the phantoms by night; and at last I became +convinced that unless I quitted the forest before long, death +would come to me in some terrible shape. But in the feeble +condition I was now in, and without any provisions, to escape +from the neighbourhood of Parahuari was impossible, seeing that +it was necessary at starting to avoid the villages where the +Indians were of the same tribe as Runi, who would recognize me as +the white man who was once his guest and afterwards his +implacable enemy. I must wait, and in spite of a weakened body +and a mind diseased, struggle still to wrest a scanty subsistence +from wild nature. + +One day I discovered an old prostrate tree, buried under a thick +growth of creeper and fern, the wood of which was nearly or quite +rotten, as I proved by thrusting my knife to the heft in it. No +doubt it would contain grubs--those huge, white wood-borers which +now formed an important item in my diet. On the following day I +returned to the spot with a chopper and a bundle of wedges to +split the trunk up, but had scarcely commenced operations when an +animal, startled at my blows, rushed or rather wriggled from its +hiding-place under the dead wood at a distance of a few yards +from me. It was a robust, round-headed, short-legged creature, +about as big as a good-sized cat, and clothed in a thick, +greenish-brown fur. The ground all about was covered with +creepers, binding the ferns, bushes, and old dead branches +together; and in this confused tangle the animal scrambled and +tore with a great show of energy, but really made very little +progress; and all at once it flashed into my mind that it was a +sloth--a common animal, but rarely seen on the ground--with no +tree near to take refuge in. The shock of joy this discovery +produced was great enough to unnerve me, and for some moments I +stood trembling, hardly able to breathe; then recovering I +hastened after it, and stunned it with a blow from my chopper on +its round head. + +"Poor sloth!" I said as I stood over it. "Poor old lazy-bones! +Did Rima ever find you fast asleep in a tree, hugging a branch as +if you loved it, and with her little hand pat your round, +human-like head; and laugh mockingly at the astonishment in your +drowsy, waking eyes; and scold you tenderly for wearing your +nails so long, and for being so ugly? Lazybones, your death is +revenged! Oh, to be out of this wood--away from this sacred +place--to be anywhere where killing is not murder!" + +Then it came into my mind that I was now in possession of the +supply of food which would enable me to quit the wood. A noble +capture! As much to me as if a stray, migratory mule had rambled +into the wood and found me, and I him. Now I would be my own +mule, patient, and long-suffering, and far-going, with naked feet +hardened to hoofs, and a pack of provender on my back to make me +independent of the dry, bitter grass on the sunburnt savannahs. + +Part of that night and the next morning was spent in curing the +flesh over a smoky fire of green wood and in manufacturing a +rough sack to store it in, for I had resolved to set out on my +journey. How safely to convey Rima's treasured ashes was a +subject of much thought and anxiety. The clay vessel on which I +had expended so much loving, sorrowful labour had to be left, +being too large and heavy to carry; eventually I put the +fragments into a light sack; and in order to avert suspicion from +the people I would meet on the way, above the ashes I packed a +layer of roots and bulbs. These I would say contained medicinal +properties, known to the white doctors, to whom I would sell them +on my arrival at a Christian settlement, and with the money buy +myself clothes to start life afresh. + +On the morrow I would bid a last farewell to that forest of many +memories. And my journey would be eastwards, over a wild savage +land of mountains, rivers, and forests, where every dozen miles +would be like a hundred of Europe; but a land inhabited by tribes +not unfriendly to the stranger. And perhaps it would be my good +fortune to meet with Indians travelling east who would know the +easiest routes; and from time to time some compassionate voyager +would let me share his wood-skin, and many leagues would be got +over without weariness, until some great river, flowing through +British or Dutch Guiana, would be reached; and so on, and on, by +slow or swift stages, with little to eat perhaps, with much +labour and pain, in hot sun and in storm, to the Atlantic at +last, and towns inhabited by Christian men. + +In the evening of that day, after completing my preparations, I +supped on the remaining portions of the sloth, not suitable for +preservation, roasting bits of fat on the coals and boiling the +head and bones into a broth; and after swallowing the liquid I +crunched the bones and sucked the marrow, feeding like some +hungry carnivorous animal. + +Glancing at the fragments scattered on the floor, I remembered +old Nuflo, and how I had surprised him at his feast of rank +coatimundi in his secret retreat. "Nuflo, old neighbour," said +I, "how quiet you are under your green coverlet, spangled just +now with yellow flowers! It is no sham sleep, old man, I know. +If any suspicion of these curious doings, this feast of flesh on +a spot once sacred, could flit like a small moth into your mouldy +hollow skull you would soon thrust out your old nose to sniff the +savour of roasting fat once more." + +There was in me at that moment an inclination to laughter; it +came to nothing, but affected me strangely, like an impulse I had +not experienced since boyhood--familiar, yet novel. After the +good-night to my neighbour, I tumbled into my straw and slept +soundly, animal-like. No fancies and phantoms that night: the +lidless, white, implacable eyes of the serpent's severed head +were turned to dust at last; no sudden dream-glare lighted up old +Cla-cla's wrinkled dead face and white, blood-dabbled locks; old +Nuflo stayed beneath his green coverlet; nor did my mournful +spirit-bride come to me to make my heart faint at the thought of +immortality. + +But when morning dawned again, it was bitter to rise up and go +away for ever from that spot where I had often talked with +Rima--the true and the visionary. The sky was cloudless and the +forest wet as if rain had fallen; it was only a heavy dew, and it +made the foliage look pale and hoary in the early light. And the +light grew, and a whispering wind sprung as I walked through the +wood; and the fast-evaporating moisture was like a bloom on the +feathery fronds and grass and rank herbage; but on the higher +foliage it was like a faint iridescent mist--a glory above the +trees. The everlasting beauty and freshness of nature was over +all again, as I had so often seen it with joy and adoration +before grief and dreadful passions had dimmed my vision. And now +as I walked, murmuring my last farewell, my eyes grew dim again +with the tears that gathered to them. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Before that well-nigh hopeless journey to the coast was half over +I became ill--so ill that anyone who had looked on me might well +have imagined that I had come to the end of my pilgrimage. That +was what I feared. For days I remained sunk in the deepest +despondence; then, in a happy moment, I remembered how, after +being bitten by the serpent, when death had seemed near and +inevitable, I had madly rushed away through the forest in search +of help, and wandered lost for hours in the storm and darkness, +and in the end escaped death, probably by means of these frantic +exertions. The recollection served to inspire me with a new +desperate courage. Bidding good-bye to the Indian village where +the fever had smitten me, I set out once more on that apparently +hopeless adventure. Hopeless, indeed, it seemed to one in my +weak condition. My legs trembled under me when I walked, while +hot sun and pelting rain were like flame and stinging ice to my +morbidly sensitive skin. + +For many days my sufferings were excessive, so that I often +wished myself back in that milder purgatory of the forest, from +which I had been so anxious to escape. When I try to retrace my +route on the map, there occurs a break here--a space on the chart +where names of rivers and mountains call up no image to my mind, +although, in a few cases, they were names I seem to have heard in +a troubled dream. The impressions of nature received during that +sick period are blurred, or else so coloured and exaggerated by +perpetual torturing anxiety, mixed with half-delirious +night-fancies, that I can only think of that country as an +earthly inferno, where I fought against every imaginable +obstacle, alternately sweating and freezing, toiling as no man +ever toiled before. Hot and cold, cold and hot, and no medium. +Crystal waters; green shadows under coverture of broad, moist +leaves; and night with dewy fanning winds--these chilled but did +not refresh me; a region in which there was no sweet and pleasant +thing; where even the ita palm and mountain glory and airy +epiphyte starring the woodland twilight with pendent blossoms had +lost all grace and beauty; where all brilliant colours in earth +and heaven were like the unmitigated sun that blinded my sight +and burnt my brain. Doubtless I met with help from the natives, +otherwise I do not see how I could have continued my journey; yet +in my dim mental picture of that period I see myself incessantly +dogged by hostile savages. They flit like ghosts through the +dark forest; they surround me and cut off all retreat, until I +burst through them, escaping out of their very hands, to fly over +some wide, naked savannah, hearing their shrill, pursuing yells +behind me, and feeling the sting of their poisoned arrows in my +flesh. + +This I set down to the workings of remorse in a disordered mind +and to clouds of venomous insects perpetually shrilling in my +ears and stabbing me with their small, fiery needles. + +Not only was I pursued by phantom savages and pierced by phantom +arrows, but the creations of the Indian imagination had now +become as real to me as anything in nature. I was persecuted by +that superhuman man-eating monster supposed to be the guardian of +the forest. In dark, silent places he is lying in wait for me: +hearing my slow, uncertain footsteps he starts up suddenly in my +path, outyelling the bearded aguaratos in the trees; and I stand +paralysed, my blood curdled in my veins. His huge, hairy arms +are round me; his foul, hot breath is on my skin; he will tear my +liver out with his great green teeth to satisfy his raging +hunger. Ah, no, he cannot harm me! For every ravening beast, +every cold-blooded, venomous thing, and even the frightful +Curupita, half brute and half devil, that shared the forest with +her, loved and worshipped Rima, and that mournful burden I +carried, her ashes, was a talisman to save me. He has left me, +the semi-human monster, uttering such wild, lamentable cries as +he hurries away into the deeper, darker woods that horror changes +to grief, and I, too, lament Rima for the first time: a memory of +all the mystic, unimaginable grace and loveliness and joy that +had vanished smites on my heart with such sudden, intense pain +that I cast myself prone on the earth and weep tears that are +like drops of blood. + +Where in the rude savage heart of Guiana was this region where +the natural obstacles and pain and hunger and thirst and +everlasting weariness were terrible enough without the imaginary +monsters and legions of phantoms that peopled it, I cannot say. +Nor can I conjecture how far I strayed north or south from my +course. I only know that marshes that were like Sloughs of +Despond, and barren and wet savannahs, were crossed; and forests +that seemed infinite in extent and never to be got through; and +scores of rivers that boiled round the sharp rocks, threatening +to submerge or dash in pieces the frail bark canoe--black and +frightful to look on as rivers in hell; and nameless mountain +after mountain to be toiled round or toiled over. I may have +seen Roraima during that mentally clouded period. I vaguely +remember a far-extending gigantic wall of stone that seemed to +bar all further progress--a rocky precipice rising to a +stupendous height, seen by moonlight, with a huge sinuous rope of +white mist suspended from its summit; as if the guardian camoodi +of the mountain had been a league-long spectral serpent which was +now dropping its coils from the mighty stone table to frighten +away the rash intruder. + +That spectral moonlight camoodi was one of many serpent fancies +that troubled me. There was another, surpassing them all, which +attended me many days. When the sun grew hot overhead and the +way was over open savannah country, I would see something moving +on the ground at my side and always keeping abreast of me. A +small snake, one or two feet long. No, not a small snake, but a +sinuous mark in the pattern on a huge serpent's head, five or six +yards long, always moving deliberately at my side. If a cloud +came over the sun, or a fresh breeze sprang up, gradually the +outline of that awful head would fade and the well-defined +pattern would resolve itself into the motlings on the earth. But +if the sun grew more and more hot and dazzling as the day +progressed, then the tremendous ophidian head would become +increasingly real to my sight, with glistening scales and +symmetrical markings; and I would walk carefully not to stumble +against or touch it; and when I cast my eyes behind me I could +see no end to its great coils extending across the savannah. +Even looking back from the summit of a high hill I could see it +stretching leagues and leagues away through forests and rivers, +across wide plains, valleys and mountains, to lose itself at last +in the infinite blue distance. + +How or when this monster left me--washed away by cold rains +perhaps--I do not know. Probably it only transformed itself into +some new shape, its long coils perhaps changing into those +endless processions and multitudes of pale-faced people I seem to +remember having encountered. In my devious wanderings I must +have reached the shores of the undiscovered great White Lake, and +passed through the long shining streets of Manoa, the mysterious +city in the wilderness. I see myself there, the wide +thoroughfare filled from end to end with people gaily dressed as +if for some high festival, all drawing aside to let the wretched +pilgrim pass, staring at his fever- and famine-wasted figure, in +its strange rags, with its strange burden. + +A new Ahasuerus, cursed by inexpiable crime, yet sustained by a +great purpose. + +But Ahasuerus prayed ever for death to come to him and ran to +meet it, while I fought against it with all my little strength. +Only at intervals, when the shadows seemed to lift and give me +relief, would I pray to Death to spare me yet a little longer; +but when the shadows darkened again and hope seemed almost +quenched in utter gloom, then I would curse it and defy its +power. Through it all I clung to the belief that my will would +conquer, that it would enable me to keep off the great enemy from +my worn and suffering body until the wished goal was reached; +then only would I cease to fight and let death have its way. +There would have been comfort in this belief had it not been for +that fevered imagination which corrupted everything that touched +me and gave it some new hateful character. For soon enough this +conviction that the will would triumph grew to something +monstrous, a parent of monstrous fancies. Worst of all, when I +felt no actual pain, but only unutterable weariness of body and +soul, when feet and legs were numb so that I knew not whether I +trod on dry hot rock or in slime, was the fancy that I was +already dead, so far as the body was concerned--had perhaps been +dead for days--that only the unconquerable will survived to +compel the dead flesh to do its work. + +Whether it really was will--more potent than the bark of barks +and wiser than the physicians--or merely the vis medicatrix with +which nature helps our weakness even when the will is suspended, +that saved me I cannot say; but it is certain that I gradually +recovered health, physical and mental, and finally reached the +coast comparatively well, although my mind was still in a gloomy, +desponding state when I first walked the streets of Georgetown, +in rags, half-starved and penniless. + +But even when well, long after the discovery that my flesh was +not only alive, but that it was of an exceedingly tough quality, +the idea born during the darkest period of my pilgrimage, that +die I must, persisted in my mind. I had lived through that which +would have killed most men--lived only to accomplish the one +remaining purpose of my life. Now it was accomplished; the +sacred ashes brought so far, with such infinite labour, through +so many and such great perils, were safe and would mix with mine +at last. There was nothing more in life to make me love it or +keep me prisoner in its weary chains. This prospect of near +death faded in time; love of life returned, and the earth had +recovered its everlasting freshness and beauty; only that feeling +about Rima's ashes did not fade or change, and is as strong now +as it was then. Say that it is morbid--call it superstition if +you like; but there it is, the most powerful motive I have known, +always in all things to be taken into account--a philosophy of +life to be made to fit it. Or take it as a symbol, since that +may come to be one with the thing symbolized. In those darkest +days in the forest I had her as a visitor--a Rima of the mind, +whose words when she spoke reflected my despair. Yet even then I +was not entirely without hope. Heaven itself, she said, could +not undo that which I had done; and she also said that if I +forgave myself, Heaven would say no word, nor would she. That is +my philosophy still: prayers, austerities, good works--they avail +nothing, and there is no intercession, and outside of the soul +there is no forgiveness in heaven or earth for sin. Nevertheless +there is a way, which every soul can find out for itself--even +the most rebellious, the most darkened with crime and tormented +by remorse. In that way I have walked; and, self-forgiven and +self-absolved, I know that if she were to return once more and +appear to me--even here where her ashes are--I know that her +divine eyes would no longer refuse to look into mine, since the +sorrow which seemed eternal and would have slain me to see would +not now be in them. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Green Mansions, by W. H. Hudson + diff --git a/old/gmans10.zip b/old/gmans10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..801d75e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/gmans10.zip |