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@@ -0,0 +1,8588 @@ +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 + +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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