"God grant that I be worthier of such esteem," says I to myself in passion.
In the morning I told Matthew that I had resolved to abandon my design of staying amongst the Ingas, which he assured me he was heartily glad to hear.
"For," says he, "the more you have praised the scheme and enlarged upon it, the more difficulties and dangers I have perceived, till, to tell you the truth, I have more than once wished myself at Gilkicker before I ever put such a notion into your head. For look you, master, a man may be thrown from his horse in a twinkling, but it takes him a plaguy long time to catch the steed and get up in the saddle again. Whereby, if these Ingas have been a matter of a century or two sinking into their present condition, we may safely argue that we should be pretty old before we restored them to their former estate. In the mean while, as it seems to be the fashion all the world over to cut your king's head off as soon as he grows tiresome, we should have stood in a fair way to go to the block whenever we ventured to improve the condition of our people. You will say that this is a trifling matter to a man under the sacred call of duty (though for my own part I'd as soon have my head cut off with a knife as die abed of a colic), yet it won't do to be carried away by our own views of pleasure: we must consider, as doubtless you have, that we have a female on our hands, and ought to avoid placing her in an awkward position."
I believe the fellow would have run on in this fashion half an hour; but, cutting him short, I bade him tell the Ingas at once of our decision, and this he presently did.
They heard him out patiently, but whether they were cast down or not by our refusal to join in their enterprise we could not judge, for they suffer themselves to betray no sentiment which may detract from their manhood, and count all expressions of joy and sorrow as a weakness only fit for women and children. And it seems they do in all things shape their conduct (as far as they may) in keeping with the carriage of their god, the Sun; for when Matthew told them we hoped our refusal would not hinder them from putting us on our way to reach the Baraquan, the chief replied that they had given their promise to do so, and would not go from their word.
"For," says he, lifting his hand, "does the Sun cease to complete his course because of a chilling cloud? He gets to his height, and the clouds part; he goes his way and looks back kindly on the golden streak which was an inky cloud. Should we be worthy children to disregard our father's teaching?"
"This is well for us," says Matthew, when he had translated this speech; "for if these fellows, instead of following their deity, were guided by their devil—as are nine-tenths of the rest of humanity—we should be in a pretty pickle."
We reached the Ingas' village about midday, which was naught but a barren piece of ground fenced about with stakes at a little distance from the river, and screened from observation by a thick growth of trees and bushes. Their nets hung between trees, and half a dozen canoes lay ready to be carried to the water. These, with a beggarly account of pots and vessels made of gourds, constituted all their belongings.
The men met each other with forced composure, the victors showing no sign of triumph, and those of the village none of envy, and yet it was clear to see as they handled the arquebuses, examined the stores carried by the mules, and regarded the captured slaves and ourselves, that they regarded this foray as no small matter. Until the men had done talking together, the women stood apart in silence, not daring to approach their lords before they were bidden; but it was touching to see how they stood there, taking no heed of us or of each other, but watching their men with eager, loving eyes, ready to dart forward at the first permitting signal.
"How do they justify this treatment of their women, Matthew?" says I. "The Sun shines on men and women alike; but here the poor souls are left in the shade."
"Their turn will come," says he; "and 'tis clear by the faces of the women that they are loved. As for justification, I have no doubt they will tell you that the Sun touches first the mountain-tops, and descends afterwards to the little hills; and for that matter—with all respect to your ladyship" (giving a scrape to Lady Biddy)—"I doubt if the females have any reason to complain; for I have observed that those who dwell in high places, though they get more observation and admiration than others do, have but a chilly time of it, while they who hold a moderate height enjoy an agreeable warmth. Hows'mever," says he, "let us leave 'em to themselves awhile, for I see they are going to hold a meeting, and we shall do well to lay our heads together likewise."
I had not left my Lady Biddy's side in descending the mountain, but Matthew had walked three parts of the way conversing with the Ingas, and for the fourth part had fallen behind us and walked in silence, whence I gathered there was something weighty on his mind. And so it presently appeared, for as soon as we were seated together on that part of the enclosure where the canoes lay, he began as follows:
"I have been questioning the Ingas, your ladyship, about getting down the Oronoque," says he, "and it seems to me a more hopeful business than when we first looked at it, thanks be to God. If I have not been quite so chatty as I used to be, and look a little bit chop-fallen at this present, I do beg you to believe it is not by reason of anything the Ingas have told me, but on another account. When you reach the River Meta they will obtain a canoe from a friendly tribe that dwells there, and furnish you with store of things necessary to your journey; and also, by means of cut sticks, which pass among them for letters, they will give you the means of securing help from other tribes that you may meet with. And with their help I doubt not but you will come safe to the mouth of the Oronoque."
"But, Matthew," says I, "you speak as if you were not coming with us. Have you the heart to leave us after sharing our fortunes thus far?"
"Lord love you, master, no. I haven't the heart to leave you, and that's the fact," says he, with a wry face and a scratch of his head. "There's nothing in the world would please me better than to go this journey with you, for I do love you with all my soul. But the best things in this world are put here for us to look at and not to have, and we must put up with what we can get, and be grateful to Providence it's no worse. 'Tis in this way, your ladyship. At the mouth of the Oronoque you would be as badly off as you are here, if there was no one there to meet you; nay, worse, for here you have friends, and there you would stand a chance of finding naught but enemies, wherefore I design to go down this river to Cartagena, or elsewhere, as may be expedient, and thence go in quest of your uncle, that he may come up the Oronoque to meet you. 'Tis but a chance that I find him, to be sure; yet help of some kind I will bring to you by hook or by crook, I warrant, and certain am I that I may serve you better in this manner than in any other, or I could not screw up my courage to part."
"Nay," says Lady Biddy, "why should we part? Can not we all descend to Cartagena?"
"No, your ladyship," says he, with a rueful shake of his head. "Your face marks you out for observation; your speech would betray us, and we should be undone."
"But how can we consent to let you run a risk that we dare not encounter?" says she.
"Alone my risk is small," says he, "for, as Master Benet knows, I have a famous preservative against the touch of Portugals in certain berries that produce a distemper of my skin, which will serve my turn to a marvel at this season when pestilence is rife. I pray you, do not think of me, but only of yourself; or if your generous disposition will not suffer that, then think of your poor uncle and friends, to whom your absence must be torture, and so let me go my way with further discussion."
However, we could not thus suddenly agree to this project, and racked our invention to devise some better expedient; but there was none, and so were we forced at length to yield to his going, but with bitter regret, for we stood in need of a friend, and sure no man was ever a more cheerful, sensible, and devoted comrade than our poor Matthew.
When the time came for him to depart, the Ingas made him a handsome present of a canoe, stored with dried flesh (which they callbuccan), cassavy bread, etc., besides one of the Portugal's swords and a good knife; and Lady Biddy gave him a little chain she wore about her neck as a token; but I had nothing to give him, save a paltry brass tobacco-box, which I had managed to keep through all my accidents; but I do think he was as well pleased to have this as if it had been a purse of a thousand crowns.
When he pushed off from the shore into the midst of the current he waved his hat and cried to us "Farewell" very cheerily, yet I knew by my own feeling that his heart was sore. And we cried to him "Farewell" as happily as we could, but I could not see him presently for the tears that came into my eyes. "As like as not," says I to myself, "we shall never meet again."
Then Lady Biddy, seeing my dejection, slips her hand through my arm in silence, to remind me that I had yet a friend; whereupon my heart leapt from despondency to joy, and I thought, "What matters it if all the world be lost so that this dear soul is left to me?" Yet I felt the more that night for poor Matthew, because he had no such comfort in the cheerless, lonely wilds.
We set out from the River Cauca with the whole tribe of those Ingas, the effects, and the captive women and spoil taken from the Portugals; for they were still minded to raise their people to carry war into the strong-holds of their enemies, and counted to bring other tribes to their intent by a display of their force, and the trophies of their victory. And so in a long line, with the ablest men to the fore spying the way, we traveled painfully through the desert wilds, crossing the River Magdalena by a tolerable ford, besides many mountains and valleys of prodigious proportions; for there is no country in the world where the mountains are so high and steep, and the valleys so deep and bushy, I do think; and how we made our way, yet keeping a fairly true course, is a mystery to me, for one half the time we never saw the sky for the umbrage of trees and the other half never a blade of grass for the stony barrenness of the rocks.
At the end of six weeks and three days we came to the great River Meta, which was as long again as the Ingas do usually take for that journey, by reason that in many places a way had to be hewn for the passage of the mules, where the Indians might readily have slipped through in their nakedness. However, though by this delay we lost in one respect we made profit by it in another; for not only did my Lady Biddy and I pick up enough of their words to make ourselves understood, which later on served us in good stead, but also we learnt great store of things, for want of which we might have been sorely pestered when we had no hands to help us but our own. Thus we learnt to make excellent bread from the root of thecassavy—which, made properly, is as good as any loaf of wheat flour, and yet for want of proper attention may poison you so that you die of it in an hour. Also they showed me how to make a canoe with the bark of a tree, sewn up at each end, and smeared over with the gum ofcaoutchoucona, a most admirable natural juice, which hardens quickly, and is as water-tight as any Sweden pitch. Likewise, to our great comfort, we were shown a sweet-smelling herb calledcaccanowa, from which issues a thin oil that no flies or insects can abide; so that by rubbing the skin therewith one may sleep all night and never once be bitten by any scorpion, moskitaw, or ant. And besides this we learnt their mode of kindling fire, which is ten times better than our fashion of striking flint and steel together; and this they do by making an engine of two pieces of cane like a child's popgun, only that the ends of these canes are open at one end and closed at the other. In the bottom of the bigger cane they put a store of powdered touchwood; then slipping in the smaller cane, which serves as a rammer, they give it a smart blow with the hand, and this sets fire to the tinder, though as how it passes my comprehension. In short, we picked up more knowledge of herbs, fruits, flowers, birds, beasts, and fishes, with the divers manners of rearing them, with properties of others things, their uses, etc., in those six weeks than I could describe fairly in six months, and so will I go back to my history.
Being come to the Meta, as I say, we made our way to the village of those Ingas who were friendly with ours, and there we were very well received. With them we stayed two days, during which time I showed them the use of the muskets taken from the Portugals, which I had not done before because of wasting the munitions, and in return they gave us as much information as they possessed with regard to descending the river, bidding us beware of certain falls which would certainly be our ruin unless we escaped them by drawing our boat through the woods from the upper river to the lower, and also counseling us to find a suitable shelter as soon as the rains threatened to fall; for they reckoned we could by no means hope to get down even to the Baraquan before the rainy season began.
Then they chose the largest and fittest canoe they had, and gave it us with a free heart; and in this, when we were ready to depart, they set (imprimis) an ample store of buccan and cassavy cakes; (2) vessels for cooking and drinking; (3) a Portugal sword and knife like those they gave to Matthew; (4) three good bows with strings to spare, a hundred arrows, and a small gourd of poison to envenom the points, which poison they do esteem and prize most highly; (5) a gourd of their tinder and two popguns, as I will call them for kindling it; (6) two wands, very curiously wrought with carving of figures, to serve as tokens to other tribes that we were their friends and enemies to all Portugals; (7) two sleeping-nets; (8) a packet of various things, such as medicines against fevers, bites of serpents, etc.; and (9) a couple of soft woven mats which these people do use for blankets. And now, when these good, kind folk had nothing more to give us for our use, they came, every man, woman, and child, and laid their hands on us as a sign of love, so that our hearts ached as we got into the canoe bidding them farewell, and the tears coursed down Lady Biddy's cheeks as she waved her hand to her little friend Wangapona, who, kneeling on the bank by the water-side, covered her face with her hands, as if she could no longer bear to watch one so dearly loved sliding down that river, away, away, never to return.
However, though I risk being deemed heartless, I must admit that this feeling of regret passed from my breast as soon as the bend of the river shut the Ingas from our perspective, and in its place sprang a sentiment of gladness and joy that I could scarce contain; for there before me sat my Lady Biddy, radiant with health and beauty, her eyes yet glittering with tears, but a gentle smile playing about her sweet cheek as hope revived her heart, and I knew that for many weeks—ay, months—we must live close together; that for long, long days every word of her dear lips must be for my ear, every smile for me, and for me only. My mind was too enchanted with the prospect of such happiness to dwell on the blank, dreadful misery that must follow when our journey came to an end, and she was restored to her friends. "Why should I plague myself," says I to myself, "with the future when the present is so lovely? If one is to weep to-morrow, there is more reason in smiling today." Yet, nevertheless, a wicked hope did secretly lie at the bottom of my heart that ere we reached our journey's end some sudden accident might put an end to both our lives.
'Twas like some pleasant summer holiday jaunt, for the river was broad and smooth, and the current just swift enough to carry us merrily onward, with no more than a stroke of the paddle now and then to keep the canoe to her course. On either hand were trees weighed down with strings of rubies and opals and amethysts, for so those twining wreaths of flowers seemed. In the pools stood wondrous herons; some saffron and rosy pink, and other some crimson red; but of the birds that started from the reeds, and those that flew over our heads, there was no end to the gorgeous tints.
About midday we became conscious of a most delicate sweet scent, and at a sudden turn of the river my dear lady clapped her hands and cried out in delight. Turning about whither her eyes were resting, I spied a wide, deep inlet of the river, where there was but slight movement of the water, all covered over with green lily leaves, dotted with blooms of creamy-white and tender pink, from which that delicate perfume issued. But how shall I tell, and yet be believed for a truthful man, of the wondrous size of these lilies? There was not a bloom that measured less than a yard about; and as for the leaves, I have seen no round table so big, for some of them did measure a good fathom and a half from side to side.
For some time we looked in amaze at this wondrous field of beauty, and then perceiving a part of that inlet very agreeably shaded with drooping palmettoes, I thought it would be a vastly proper place to rest in and eat our noon-day meal; and Lady Biddy being also of this opinion, I shoved the canoe in the midst of these lilies, where she was like to stay as secure as if chained to an anchor, and there we ate and drank, refreshing ourselves at the same time with the delights of this lily paradise.
When we had feasted to our heart's content, I pushed to the shore, and having tied one of the nets betwixt two trees, I begged my lady to repose till the heat of the day was passed.
"'Tis but changing one dream for another, Benet," says she, lying down in her net. So she lay facing the water and looking at the great moths that fluttered over the still flowers, with sweet content in her face, till her lids dropped, and she slept.
As soon as I perceived this I got up, for to gratify her wish I had made a pretense of sleeping on the herb at a little distance; and observing that this grass was exceeding fine and soft, I got my sword and mowed enough to make two good trusses, and these I took down to the canoe and bestowed them in the hinder end. Then pushing out amongst the lilies, I cut me two great leaves of like circumference, which I carried to the shore, and there laying them on the ground back to back, I made shift, with a long thorn for a needle and some stout palmetto fibre for thread, to sew them tightly together, so that it stood on edge very well by reason of the edges being curled up all round half a foot high, and one leaf supporting the other. Then this I took down to the canoe, and setting it up crosswise betwixt the two trusses of grass, and further securing it by means of threads from its circumference to the hinder end of the canoe, it kept its place as well as I could wish. By the time I had finished this business my Lady Biddy awoke, and coming down to where I stood looking at my handiwork, she says, "Why, what is that for, Benet?"
"To keep the sun from your back as we go down the river," says I, "and the sun out of my eyes."
"And the soft grass is a cushion for me to sit on," says she; "sure, no one in the world is so ingenious and thoughtful as you."
But I had another purpose in view for this screen, as I put in practice that night when we could go no further, and I anchored our canoe in a little shallow. While Lady Biddy was ashore to get some fruit she had a mind to, I set this lily-leaf screen midway in the length of the canoe, which was some twenty feet long, or thereabouts, dividing it, as you may say, into two chambers, each ten feet long, and duly screened one from another; and this screen I secured with strings, so that it could fall neither one way nor t'other. In the hinder half, which was not encumbered with our goods, I strewed one of the trusses of grass, and from the other I drew out a good soft armful that I set against the screen for a pillow.
When my lady came with a leaf full of fruit for our supper, I pointed to the provision I had made in the boat, and says I:
"There, my lady, is your bed-chamber" (indicating the hinder part), "and here is mine" (pointing to the fore part).
"That is famous," says she with a little blush. And I think she was the more content for having been troubled in her mind before as to this matter, as I judged from her silence. So when we had eaten our fruit, I stepped into the shallow, drew the boat hither, and helped my lady to step into her part. Then I pushed the boat out into the current, where she was anchored, and after pressing my lady's hand for a good-night, I stepped into my part of the boat and lay me down with a feeling of boundless joyful gratitude in my heart, such as I never felt there before. To think that she lay quite close to me, with naught but a lily-leaf betwixt her dear head and mine, was enough to distract my reason.
Though we had said good-night, Lady Biddy continued to chat some time, and from her cheerful, sprightly tone it was clear that she made her preparations for the night without fear; but, Lord, I do believe, had there been no screen betwixt us, she had been as secure from my observation, for I would have torn the eyes from my head rather than destroy the dainty image of virgin modesty that was hallowed in my breast.
The next morning I awoke at daybreak, but lay very still for a good hour, not to disturb my dear lady; and this time was in nowise tedious, for my head was full of glee to think that here was another day of joy before me. And also my mind was well occupied in turning over the particulars of our existence, and devising means by which I might make the day agreeable to my lady as well as joyful to myself.
Among other things, I thought it would not be amiss if I went a-hunting in the woods for some fresh game to replace the buccan, which is at best but an indifferent dry kind of victuals. "Moreover," thinks I, "my absence will give Lady Biddy occasion to bathe her sweet body if she be so minded." Whereupon I cast off my mat, and stepping into the shallow, that I might not overmuch joggle the canoe about, I gave myself a sluice and dressed myself.
Presently my lady, awaking, calls to me to know if it were time to rise.
"Nay," says I, "there is no hurry, for I am going a-hunting in the woods and shall not return maybe for an hour."
"You are sure you will not be back before, Benet?" says she.
"As for that," says I, "I will not stir from the place if you are afraid to be alone."
"Nay," says she, with a little laugh, "I am not afraid of that."
"Then I shall assuredly not be back for an hour," says I. "And if you are disposed to bathe, you will find the water very fresh and proper. I see no danger now, but I do beg you, ere you step in the water, to look well about you that there be no water-serpents nor cockadrils nigh."
She promised me she would be very careful; and so with a bow and a dozen arrows away I went into the woods, as cheerful as you please. And there, after shooting at a bird with a beak as big as his body (which is called atucana) and missing him, I had the good chance to spy atumandua, which is a long-haired beast with a snout three parts of a yard long, that feeds on the ants of the earth, which he licks up with a prodigious long tongue, like any whip-thong. I killed him with my first arrow, and having taken the skin off I cut the best parts, packed them in a cool leaf, and left the rest behind. And now I looked about for a milk-tree such as I have spoken of, and having the good fortune to find one I gave it a couple of gashes and drew off as much as a quart of excellent good milk in a gourd I had bethought me to sling on to my waist-belt. And by the time this was done, and I had plucked some good fruits, I reckoned it was time to return to the river; so thither I made my way, stopping now and then to stuff my pockets with such dry husks of nuts as make a brisk fire, and culling a few flowers that I thought might refresh my dear lady's senses as she ate. In this manner I charged myself pretty well: with this under one arm, that under t'other, my pockets sticking out on either side, my bow on my back, and my hands full.
But I was like to let all these things drop from me when I came to that point of the woods whence I could see the canoe, for the boat lay there empty, and nowhere could I catch a glimpse of my lady. But, to my horror, I presently spied, through an opening in the wood to my right, a Portugal (as I accounted him by his dress), fitting an arrow to his bow. I caught sight of him but for a moment, for having fitted his arrow he stole forward stealthily, as if to take his quarry by surprise, and disappeared behind a thicket. Then, as I say, was I like to have dropped all I had for amazement and terror. And now in a moment it appeared to me that my lady, having caught sight of this enemy, had fled into the wood to find me, and that, hampered by the thick growth, she had been brought to a stand, whither this wicked Portugal was stealing upon her to take her life. Whereupon, casting everything to the ground, I rushed forward, hallooing with all my force.
"Turn, villain Portugal!" shouts I. "Here is your enemy!"
But ere I had run fifty paces I was stayed by a new amazement, for, coming to the edge of the thicket, I was brought face to face with what I had taken for a Portugal, and now found was none other than Lady Biddy herself, but arrayed in a Portugal's doublet and trunks like any boy.
Hearing my terrible shout, and then catching sight of me all dumbfounded with astonishment, she must needs fall into a merry laugh; but the next moment she hung her head, blushing up to the eyes, and her knees turned in together for shame to be seen in that dress.
However, coming to herself presently, and perceiving there was no need to be ashamed of that which is done with no ill-motive, she lifts up her head, though her cheek yet burned and her bright eyes twinkled, and tells me how she had begged these clothes (which had belonged to the stripling that was page, as I have told, to Lewis de Pino) of the Ingas for her own use. And now I remembered how, when she stepped first into the canoe, she carried with her a packet which she put carefully in one part of the canoe, where, as may be believed, I had left it untouched.
"I shall need my gown," says she, "when we get out of these wilds, and assuredly there would be little left of it if I tried to make my way through these woods wearing it. Now," adds she, "I need be no plague to you, Benet, when we have to leave the river, for I can pass as readily as you through the bushes and thickets. Nay, I wish to be independent, so far as my strength will allow, that you may not fear to leave me alone if there be occasion; and to that end I was practising with this bow, and I thought I was brave enough for anything till you frightened me out of my wits by shouting out so terribly." And therewith she fell to laughing again; but now she was more at her ease, perceiving that I did not regard her in any unbecoming manner.
"Your judgment is never at fault, cousin," says I; "and sure it is more fit you should travel in this sort than in a gown which you have no means to mend when it suffered by an unseemly rent. Also 'twill be a great comfort to me to know you will not be left helpless by any accident that may happen to me."
"We will not think of such misfortunes," says she; "but I am heartily glad you approve of what I have done; and now, to complete the improvement, do, prithee, cut my hair close with your knife."
"Nay," says I, "that I can not do; you know not how pretty it is."
"Perhaps I do," says she sadly, and yet with a certain depth of meaning that I did not then fathom; "and so do as I beg you; for I can not well do it myself, and I am still woman enough to dread the thought of its being cut away."
"What need is there to cut it at all?" says I deploringly.
"Why," says she, "'tis as like to catch in the briars as my skirts, and the vexation will be greater. Besides, 'tis out of character with my dress, and I wish to feel my head as free as my limbs are. See," says she, undoing the knot and letting it fall, "how unbecoming it is to a young fellow, and what a deal of trouble it may get me into."
Here again was a hint of her meaning, yet I could not catch it then for admiring of the long waving tresses that came down to her waist, and glittered like threads of spun silk, with the color of a chestnut just burst from its husk.
However, seeing she would take no denial, I screwed up courage to take off some of this beautiful adornment; but I would cut it no shorter than her shoulders, which I maintained was the length that pages do wear it. And I would not lose a single hair; but when the business was done I tied the long locks in a thick knot, tenderly and in silence, for my heart was sorrowing with the reflection that one day this would be all that I could have of her.
"You are not going to keep that, Benet?" says she, seeing what I was about.
"Ay," says I, "if you will let me." And then, not knowing any better excuse to make, I added, "It may serve very well for fish-lines if there be any angling to do."
Thereupon we fell to talking of fishing and hunting, as that were the main question (though, so far as I was concerned, it was a long way therefrom), and I took her to see what I had got us in the shape of provision; and, to our content, no mischief had happened to those things by casting them down so hurriedly, for they had fallen into a tuft of grass, and the gourd of milk was unspilt. So we set about making a fire and preparing our food, all with a light and cheerful heart, as if 'twas the most natural thing in the world for my lady to be figuring in the garb of a boy. But when she was occupied with the cooking of the tamandua, under the pretense of seeing that the canoe had not shifted, I withdrew a little out of sight, and having pressed my lips and cheek to the cold shining locks of her hair, I opened my doublet and slipped them into my breast, where I ever kept them thereafter.
And now, to make an end to this part of our history, I must say here that I think my dear lady had another and secret intent in putting on the boy's habit and cutting off her hair, which was that she might that way abate somewhat the passion of love that reigned in my heart, and was, despite my utmost endeavors to conceal it, yet visible to her eyes. She thought, as I believe, that by putting off the garb and character of her sex, I might come to regard her less as a woman, and more as a comrade of my own kind. It is not necessary to be a philosopher—it is enough to be a woman—to perceive that a man's tenderness does increase by the dependence of womankind upon his means and love; and 'twas for this reason she desired to undertake what I undertook, to overcome her weakness, and to stand alone, as one may say.
But my passion was proof against these devices. For I could trace no action of hers to its motive without increasing my admiration and delight in the contemplation of her fine disposition. Nay, the aspect of her mind did delight my soul, as much, I truly believe, as the sight of her dear person; and she could do nothing to conceal the one or disguise the other from my searching perception. "Lord!" thinks I, when I dare not look at her, "can there be another soul so beautiful in all the world?" And then, when her eyes were elsewhere and I could regard her unseen, I would mark the dainty outline of her brow and nose, and the short upper lip that did betray her delicacy, her rounded under lip that spoke of mirth, her full, round chin, in which was no sign of weak or wanton purpose; also (with joy) how her hair that I had cut so barbarous straight did begin to curl at the end, and would sit shining on her shoulder or flutter in the soft breeze lightly by her downy cheek, like a butterfly beside a peach-plum.
For five weeks we traveled down that great river, and if I set about it I could give a good account of every day; for 'twas my pleasure when I lay down at night to review the incidents of the day, since every hour did yield some precious food for rumination. Assuredly there were accidents, mishaps, and perils in that journey (as notably an assault by hostile savages, which made us mindful to trust them not thereafter); but in overcoming these difficulties and helping each other, my dear lady and I were knit more closely together, seeing that we had fared but miserably alone; and trouble, I take it, is like salt, which of itself is an abomination, but mingled sparingly with one's daily bread does give it good savor, and serves as a zest to the appetite.
But not to weary the reader with a tedious detail of my happiness, I will cut this matter short, and come to that time when the rainy season set in, and I knew no comfort day or night for concern on my dear lady's account. And over this business I will not linger neither, for surely no one with a feeling heart will care to hear of my misery.
At first we counted that the rain would give over at the end of the day, and that we might yet go a little further before taking refuge for the season; but we soon found our mistake, for in these parts it does not rain in showers, but comes down cats and dogs, as you may say, for spitefulness, a whole month without ceasing. So when we perceived how matters stood, having not a dry thread on us, and no means to lie down but in a bath, we resolved to stop at the next convenient spot we came to. And coming at length to a part of the river where the waters spread out into a kind of lake, we spied, standing up out of it on its south side, a very fair high island, which I then made for, as we deemed it would be more proper to our purpose than elsewhere. And a very good sort of island we found it—about fifty acres in extent, well furnished with trees, and of a sandy soil; and we were well pleased to find abundance of holes in the higher part, which I knew at once for the burrows of acutis,[4]which, boiled or roast, make as good a dish as any man could have. Here, having settled to make our dwelling on the highest part of the island, as being the best drained, we drew our canoe ashore, and hauled it up thither. I say we, for my lady did haul with all her strength bravely, for she shrank from no helpful service, and well she aided me, bless her good heart!
Then with a couple of lianes that had served us for mooring our boat, we made a shift to sling up our canoe bottom upwards between two trees about seven feet from the ground; and, this done, we went to the water-side and cut a fair stack of cane-reeds, that grew abundantly there, and with a good deal of labor carried them up to our canoe. And now we set about planting our canes the length of the canoe, but a good bit wider at the base, and inclining them in such sort that they joined at the top within the boat, so that no wet could enter that way; indeed, we set these canes so close together, and so thickly all round and about save a little opening at the leeward end for our door, that not a drop of rain came through anywhere. Thus by nightfall had we made for ourselves a very decent little cottage, which I divided in two by hanging my mat across midway of its length, in order that my lady should have a chamber to herself.
Miserable as our estate may appear to those who have never suffered adversity, and are frighted out of their wits if they be but caught in an April shower, we were, I protest, heartily well content with our shelter, taking mighty satisfaction to ourselves because no wet leaked through our walls; that the ground, by being sandy, absorbed the water, so that there was no mud or beastliness on our floor; that, though our clothes were sodden, yet we felt no discomfort of cold, etc. Nay, we even made merry in getting our supper, because we were nearly choked by our fire of damp nuts, which set us coughing like any sick of a phthisic. But the true reason of our cheerfulness was that we were each minded to make the best of a bad job for the sake of the other, and in that way looked over the defects in our condition in spying out its advantages; and sure I am that the less we study our personal happiness, the less we find to be discontented with in our lot.
When we had been here three weeks I began to grow uneasy, for in all this time the rain had not ceased to fall, I verily believe, half an hour, whereby the waters were swelled to such a prodigious extent that more than half our island was flooded (and that the steeper part), so that I foresaw we could stay there not above another week unless a change in the weather came about; but sign of change was there none, the rain pouring down as though it would never have done. Yet where on earth we were to go, or what to do for the best, I could no way imagine. For as our island lay under water, so did the land by the river-side. To pass afoot amidst the trees in quest of higher ground was not less impossible than to get thither with the canoe—the trees about there being as close together as nine-pins, and the water pretty nigh a couple of fathoms high amongst them.
At length, seeing my anxiety, Lady Biddy accused me of keeping a secret from her against the spirit of true friendship. Whereupon I told her of my fears, and the perplexity they threw me into.
"I did think you had this matter on your mind, Benet," says she, "and I own I have noticed the rising of the waters with mistrust. Indeed," adds she, "you and I are not alone in this apprehension."
"Why, who else is there here to heed such matters?" says I.
"Look," says she, pointing before her through the opening as we sat in our hut.
Casting my eyes as she directed, I noticed a troop of acutis with their heads to the ground and their ears cast back.
"They have been driven from their holes by the water," says she, "and are so subdued by fear that they have let me take them up in my arms."
"They know they are safe here; which we may take for our own assurance," says I.
"So I think," says she. "A change must come ere long. Indeed, the air feels different already."
And a change did come the very next night; but such as we had not bargained for. About midnight there broke over us the most terrific storm of thunder and lightning I ever knew, and with it the rain came down in such torrents that I thought the weight of it must burst the lianes and bring our shelter down about our ears. This continued all the night, and I could not sleep a wink for thinking that mayhap the end of the world was at hand, and we were to be drowned by a second flood, despite the rainbow.
About daybreak Lady Biddy called to me.
"Benet," says she, "here's one of those poor acutis crept right into my arms."
Upon that I sprang to my feet and went outside, fearing the worst. And there, in the half-light, the whole of the ground about me was alive with the poor acutis, all so numbed with the wet and terror that they had not the sense to move out of my way; nor did they even cry out when I trod upon them. I had not gone a score of paces when I felt the sand yielding beneath me, and caught sight of water amidst the trees.
"Cousin," says I, running back, "we must prepare to go at once."
"I am dressed, Benet," says she cheerfully; "what can I do?"
I could not at once reply for admiring of the helpful, ready character of that dear woman (thus revealed), but paused to gaze on her in wonder and love; however, this was no time for long delay, so we presently got all the things out of the hut and placed them ready to our hand; and then I unfastened the lianes that held up our canoe, and we had now but a short distance to haul it ere we reached the water. Then we stowed all our poor possessions in their place, and launched the canoe amidst the trees. When it lay fairly afloat I begged my lady to get in. But she hesitated, with a mournful look behind her.
"Benet," says she, "if it won't make your labor of rowing more difficult, I should like to take some of those poor dear conies away. 'Tis so pitiful to leave them here to die."
I helped her with a willing and ready heart to carry as many of the half-dead acutis to the canoe as we could take, and then we got in, and I pushed my way through the trees out into the stream.
We swiftly left the island behind us, for this lake (as I call it), which had been pretty still when we entered it, was now hurrying along with the force of any mill-stream. The water was orange-tawny with the mud and sand it had swept up in its course, and littered all over with great trees and bushes; and this wreck on it, with the desolation all around, and the vast extent and the mighty force of it, did strike us both with awe and a feeling of our littleness and helplessness, so that we could not speak for some time. However, we presently found some consolation in perceiving that the rain had ceased to fall, and that betwixt the black clouds was here and there a rift of blue, which was the first we had seen of the sky for six weeks or thereabouts; and with this we grew more cheery, and even the conies began to prick their ears and nibble of some herb we had torn up for them the last thing before putting off.
My attention was soon diverted from these trifles by more serious matters; for being carried to that end of the lake whence the waters issued in a narrow passage betwixt two high rocks as through the neck of a funnel, it was with the utmost ado I kept our canoe in mid-stream and clear of those bushes and trees which, as I have said, were scattered abroad, and here by the confluence of the flood we were brought into such close quarters that at every turn the canoe was threatened to be nipped in their embrace or swept into the midst of the wreck and lumber that ground painfully against the banks, where our frail bark (as I may truly call it) would in a moment have been crushed like a thing of paper, and we with it.
To make matters worse, the course of the river was impeded by sundry huge rocks standing up here and there, which threw the stream into violent convulsions of eddies and torrents that no force of man could resist, so that one minute we faced one way, and the next another, to our great confusion and imminent peril, for out of all this trouble of rocks, bushes, trees, dead carcasses of cuacuparas,[5]and the like, there was promise of a speedy end (by death) to all our troubles; and certain I am that but for the help of Providence we had never come out of these straits alive.
How long we were in this pickle, whether five minutes or five hours, I know not; but I take it few men are so plagued in eighty years. And not one instant of repose was there either for me or my dear lady (who throughout kept a cool head, and helped with one of the oars to stave off this or that floating thing as surely and stoutly as any man), for ere we were out of one danger we were into another, and destruction menacing us on all sides.
It seemed that our condition could be no worse than it was; but whilst I was laying this fool's flattery to my heart, for its encouragement, my Lady Biddy cries suddenly:
"Hark, Benet! What can that noise be?"
Then straining my ears, yet still battling with trees, rocks, etc., I caught the sound her finer ear had first detected, which was like the rushing of a great wind at a distance. This perplexed me greatly for a space, for there was but a little air stirring; but at length, growing more used to the sound, which increased every instant, I hit upon an explanation of it which struck despair into my soul.
"Lord help us!" says I, "'tis the cataract we were warned against by the Ingas."
"Oh, what is to be done?" says she.
"Nay," says I, dropping my oar, "there is nothing to do now but to perish, dear cousin."
But she was not minded to perish tamely thus; and seeing we were drifting upon a tree, deftly turned her oar to my side and pushed the canoe from it, to our immediate salvation. Thus put to shame for my cowardice, I picked up my oar and strove again vigorously to keep in clear water.
But now the roaring of that fall was grown to the loudness of thunder, and casting my eye that way I perceived a kind of cloud rising above the river, which was nothing but the vapor thrown off by the heat of this vast river in falling such a prodigious depth.
Hitherto we had striven only to keep to the middle of the river, but now I glanced to the side, for there only might we chance to escape being engulfed in the cataract; though only to be crushed amidst the tearing heaps of timber that swept the shores. To my astonishment, I saw nothing but steep rocks on either hand; for being entirely occupied in steering away from the floating masses on the river, I had taken no note of the changing character of the country we had entered. In that glance I perceived there was no escape by the sides; so that there seemed truly no way but to go down with the water into that terrible abysm.
And yet my spirits recoiled from such an end, being stirred up to a desperate antagonism by the frightful noise of the waters, that appeared to me like the impatient roaring of some great cage of famished lions awaiting their meal.
Lady Biddy glanced round her at the same moment, and I saw no look of hope in her face. In truth, she saw no escape, for now we were come within the cold vapors of the fall, that fell on us like an autumn mist; and so she turned her face to me, and seeing naught but despair there, her face lit up with a gentle smile, and she held forth her hands for me to take. Her lips moved as I clasped her dear hand, and though I could hear never a sound from the thundering of the fall now close to our ears, I knew full well that those last words were, "God bless you, dear Benet!"
The thought that she must die, so beautiful and sweet, and still but in the budding season of her life, and that after enduring so much, and striving so bravely and heartily, did fire me with a very madness of revolt against Providence, which, as I wickedly conceived, had doomed this dear girl, against all reason, justice, and mercy, to death; so that with a furious cry I caught up my oar and struck it wildly against a rock upon which we were being carried.
The shock of this encounter bent the oar till it snapped, though it was made of the toughest wood that grows in those parts, but it saved us; for this lusty blow turned us about from the current that was to the left of these rocks into that which sped to the right, and whereas that to the left went not more than two fathoms off over that mighty fall, the right passed through an opening in this rocky shore which we had not hitherto perceived, and here were we safe—at least, from destruction in that frightful fall, thanks be to God. And here could I diverge likewise one moment from the course of my history to point out the heinous folly of those who abandon themselves to despair, under the conviction that Providence has decreed their destruction, which it were useless to struggle against; for in thus yielding they do more surely oppose the decree of Providence, which hath given us functions expressly to preserve ourselves.
And now, I saw, we were in a manner safe, for though the stream was swift and strong, much encumbered from wreckage torn from the banks, etc., and obstructed with rocks where the waters shot down with incredible force, carrying us into divers eddies and whirlpools below, yet were our ears unassailed by that fearful roar of torrents which had paralyzed us. And after a while being carried through that chain of hills we came in view of a great plain, flooded over as far as the eye could reach, so that it looked like nothing but a vast sea, which flood was naught but the overflow of the River Baraquan, poured through the passage by which we had escaped the great falls. Here was there no current except on the verge of the hills, and that running gently; and as these hills ran westward we kept our canoe in the stream, hoping that it would run again into the Baraquan at a safe distance below the falls, which seemed to me the more likely because it bore towards a gap in some reasonably high mountains hemming in the plain to the southwest.
After running about two hours, as I judge, at about a league and a half to the hour, and passing through this gap, though with such diminished speed that I had to use my oar, we came into a lake of still water, about a mile across, and shut in all around with a ragged wall of crystal or silver, I know not which—only this I will answer for, that when a ray of sunlight touched them for a minute the eye was blinded by the dazzling glister. On some parts this wall of rock rose flush from the water; but elsewhere there was a little sloping ground fairly well wooded, but so flooded with the water that had streamed into this basin from the Baraquan that some of the trees on the border rose not more than four fathoms above the surface.
Issue from that lake saw I none, save by the passage we had entered; but I did not concern myself greatly on this head then, my main anxiety being to find some refuge where we might repose, for the day was drawing to a close. Not a morsel of food has passed our lips for nigh on twenty-four hours; and what with our exertion, terror, and hunger we were spent and sick.
To this end I paddled the canoe towards those rocks which rose (as I have said) sheer from the water, and by good luck we came to a craggy part on the western side which led up to a deep cavern, which, to our great comfort, we found as dry as any barn. But that which contented me as well as anything in this cavern was a great bank of dry leaves in the further extremity, the product of countless years, borne hither by the winds, which in these parts do constantly blow from the east.
"Here," thinks I, with glee—"here shall my dear lady lie warm and dry at least this night."
However, before deciding this way we made a fire of dry leaves, to be sure there was no savage beast or venomous worm hiding in the cavities; but there was no sign of any live creature having been there before us, save birds, whereof were some empty nests in the crevices. So hither we transported the goods from our canoe, not forgetting those acutis we had brought with us; and having satisfied the cravings of nature with what broken victual we had (being more hungry than nice), we knelt down side by side with one accord, and rendered thanks to God for his mercy to us. Indeed, our hearts were full of gratitude and peace; so that when our lips had ceased to speak, our spirits were yet very still and meditative. Thus it came about that instead of setting to (as I intended) to make some sort of sleeping-chamber for my gentle lady, I sat down beside her on a little knoll, and through the mouth of our cavern we watched the pink light fade out of the pearly clouds in silence.
Before I could rouse myself to an active disposition my sweet little comrade, quite overcome by the fatigue of that long day, fell asleep where she sat. First her chin drooped upon her breast, and then inclining towards me, her shoulder rested against my side, whereupon, to give her support, I put my arm about her body, with no unholy intent, but reverently, as any father might encircle his child. Presently she raised her head with a deep-drawn breath, and all unconscious laid her face against my breast, and so fell again into a deep slumber, with the innocent calm of a little child. And, though her pretty head was so near that I might have touched it with my lips, I did not take advantage of her unconsciousness in this way (thanks be to God), nor in any other which would give me shame to remember, my heart being filled with an ecstasy of pure love, softened with a compassionate sorrow, that one of her sex and condition should be brought, by rude hardship and cruel fortune, to this pitiful estate.
When she gave signs of awakening, I made a feint of yawning and stretching my arms, and then jumping up I cried:
"Lord, cousin, I do believe we've been a-napping!"
"Why, where are we, Benet?" says she.
"That we will presently see," says I; and putting some leaves on the embers that yet glowed, I blew them up into a flame, and by this light in a twinkling I set up a mat with the oar and a half that were left us, and begged my lady to repose herself, if she would make a shift with that poor accommodation, for the night.
The next morning being tolerably fair we made a voyage around our lake, and though we examined the inlets and rocks closely we could discover no issue, save that (as I have said afore) by which we had come in, where the waters were still flowing in pretty freely. This perplexed us considerably, for besides the stream from the Baraquan there were constantly falling into the lake some half a dozen runnels from springs in the rocks; yet, as we could plainly see, the water had not risen in the night, but rather fallen away if anything. However, on taking a second turn round the lake, we were like to have had this mystery explained in a fashion that was more conclusive than agreeable; for coasting closer than heretofore by these rocks that rose sheer out of the water, we felt ourselves suddenly within the influence of a current, which drew us with incredible velocity towards a deep vortex of whirlpool, by which these waters were drawn into some subterraneous passage through the rocks, and 'twas only by employing our utmost strength and skill that we thrust our canoe out of the flow, and so (thanks be to God!) escaped being sucked into that horrid gulf.
When we were somewhat recovered of the disorder into which this late peril had thrown us, I pointed out to my lady that there appeared no way of escaping from our captivity but by the stream that had brought us thither. "For," says I, "'tis questionable if ever we can scale those steep and slippery rocks that surround us."
"And could we do so," says she, "we must go empty-handed, for sure we could never drag our canoe up there, nor any of those things that are necessary to us. Nor have we any assurance that we shall be better off on the other side of those rocks than on this."
"You are in the right of it," says I; "then there remains nothing for it but to get back into the Baraquan as best we may."
"Ay," says she, "but we must assuredly wait until the rainy season is past—which has but just begun—for 'twere madness to venture again into such dangers as we have by a miracle escaped."
On hearing this I turned aside, that she might not read in my face the exultation of joy that filled my heart. And so as I made no reply she said in a rallying tone:
"Are you very anxious to get rid of me, Benet?"
'Twas on my tongue to answer, "If I could make captivity endurable to you, I would never take you from these rocky confines"; but I kept these words to myself, though what reply I stammered in their place I can not recall to mind.
Having decided to dwell on that lake for some months to come, we set about making our cavern habitable. First of all we shifted our acutis into a separate cave hard by our abode, where they were very well housed; and thither also we carried all the dry leaves and rubbish, that we might have our floor sweet and clean, and afford no harbor for insects or worms. Then I parted off a fair corner to serve as a chamber for my lady by setting up a hurdle which I made of suitable wands, bound together with lianes, and clothing it on both sides with palmetto leaves, overlapping each other and pinned to the hurdle with thorn-stickles. To get these materials I made several voyages in the canoe amongst the wooded slopes that were partly under water; and in these excursions I found a good store of cassavy, and many other things that would be useful to us. When I had finished this partition to my own satisfaction and my dear lady's admiration (for she missed no occasion to encourage me with her approval), I hung up her sleeping-net and set one of the mat coverlets, which I had taken care to dry, ready to her hand. I would have had her use the other as a carpet to her feet, for I could have slept without it as well as the Ingas do; but she would by no means hear of this, so that I was forced to forego the happiness of yielding it to her use.
And while I was about this business my dear comrade was not idle—no, not for one moment. For she herself made several expeditions in the canoe alone, getting herbs for her conies, who were so appreciative of her gentle interest that they came to eat from her hand, and did (after a while) sit of a row at the mouth of their cave straining their necks to catch sight of her coming; and storing up in that cave such nuts and sticks as would serve for fuel when dry. And admirable it was to see with what skill she navigated the canoe, and how resolute, bold, and masterful she showed herself in carrying out her purpose—no matter what. Yet I was heartily pleased when these journeys were done, for all the time of her absence I was in a flutter of fear, going every other minute to spy out from the cavern if I could see her, and counting upon mishaps that might come to her.
Amongst other things, she brought home certain heads of broom, with which she brushed the walls and floor, so that not a speck of dust was to be seen. And all the time we were thus working together she kept up a lively gossip with me, save when we had naught to talk about, and those intervals we filled up by singing together certain simple songs that Cornish children sing, so that we had not a dull hour all day, and were for the best part as merry as any grigs.
And lest any one should be disposed to think ill of her (as that she forgot the dignity of her birth and breeding, and the delicacy of her sex in wearing the garb of a boy, and laying her hand with light heart to rough toil), I would urge this—that, in my humble thinking, she did infinitely more to maintain her character for nobility and true womanhood in making the best of her position with this cheerful, helpful spirit, than if she had left all labor to me, and sat her down to bewail and bemoan the cruel usage of fortune. For a surety she did increase my respect thereby, and I know no man who would not hold her sex in greater veneration for the addition she made to its virtues.
I lay awake the best part of that night scheming improvements of our dwelling-place. "As my hurdle is such a success," says I to myself, "I will make another as soon as possible, and part off a corner for my own sleeping-place, which will be more seemly and becoming than lying here on the floor of our parlor like a tom cat. And while I am about it I may as well make a third to shut off that nook against the entrance, which will serve my lady very commodiously for a kitchen. And there might I set up a shelf for her vessels; and also with stones I can fashion a fire-place, with a back chimney to carry off the smoke. The flat stone there, if I can raise it up a bit, will answer very well as a dresser to grind cassavy upon; but I must hunt up some sort of slate to dry it upon over the fire, and likewise for baking the cakes when my lady has made them. More gourds I must get for certain, that my dear lady may ever have store of fresh water to her hand; and this I shall do well to fetch from one of the fountains ere she rises in the morning, that she may not have to ask for it or fetch it herself, which else she were like enough to do. It will not be amiss, neither, if I look about pretty soon for some convenient screened-off pool of sparkling water, where she may bathe freely. And now for our living-room, which will be square and neat when I have cut off the other two sides as I design, we must have some sort of table and benches. Polished oak have we none, but stones in plenty; and a fair stone set up straight and level must be our table; a stone also will serve me well enough for a seat, but my lady shall have a chair if it cost me a fortnight to make one. In the mean time she can't be left a-standing; so a stone she must have for the present, but I will make a mat of rushes to cover it, which I may do in an hour. And while I am cutting these rushes I may as well get enough over and above to strew the floor of her chamber, for I can not abide the idea of her tender feet encountering the cold, hard rock. As for her chair, I may fashion the frame with stout sticks of a proper kind, bound together with lianes crosswise, like the letter X, and it shall have a back and elbows if my ingenuity carry me such length, and the seat and back I may make of rushes woven together. If I can find rushes of divers colors to plait with a pleasing device, so much the better; and by working this secretly before she rises of a morning, I may give it to her as a surprise for a birthday gift next Monday se'nnight, which must needs give her pleasure, however poor be the merits of my workmanship." And being got upon this theme I could not get away from it, but continued to revolve this chair in my mind till I fell asleep.
I have no space to give an account of our life day by day, though I fain would—for who can tire of narrating the history of happy hours? And so briefly I must tell that I carried out all I designed that night I lay awake, and more besides, for every day discovered new necessities, and we begrudged no labor that ministered to our common comfort. When it was fine we went a-hunting of waterfowl, of which there was abundance, and other times of game in those woods that lay high and dry; and herein did my lady show herself as deft and skillful as in all else to which she lent her hand, bringing down her quarry with an arrow as surely as ever I did, so that there was no lack of contentment on either side. And when the day was foul we stayed within our cavern—I fashioning arrows or such like, and Lady Biddy at her needle. I say her needle, for out of thorns we contrived to make things that answered this purpose; and for stuff she had the skins of animals, which she shaped, with incredible ingenuity, into excellent socks for our feet, in place of shoes, which were now pretty nigh worn out. Nor did we lack amusement for our leisure hours, for my admirable lady being an excellent player of checks, she taught me this game, marking our dining-table out in squares for a check-board, and using divers-shaped nuts, ground flat at one end, for men. Also I tried to devise an instrument of music in the shape of a dulcimer; but this I succeeded worse in than anything else, for we could get no agreeable notes out of it, nor any sound that was worthy to mate with my dear lady's voice. But it gave us amusement, for all that, and many a hearty laugh.
In this way the winter, as I must call it, though there was never a chilly day, passed away; and in those months there was not for me a single wretched hour, save when the thought forced itself upon me that it must come to an end. As suddenly as the rain had set in, it ceased, and every cloud vanished from the sky as if by enchantment. In twenty-four hours the water sank as many inches, and as many more in the next day. With the return of the sun the birds burst into song, hallooing and whistling from morn till night. Lady Biddy went quietly about her duties and said nothing; nor did I; yet all day long a voice seemed to be saying in my ears, "You must go, Benet—you must go!" Even when I slept, the same words were repeated in my dreams. Yet I could not have the courage to tell Lady Biddy our time had come. But on the third evening, as we were standing by the mouth of our cavern, that bird we had heard before in the mountains gave tongue to his strange call. And my lady, clasping her hands, cried:
"Falmouth bells!—Falmouth bells!"
"Yes," says I, touched by the plaintive joy in her voice, "they are calling us. We must go." So the next morning we rowed over to the gap in the mountains to see if the waters were suitable for our departure yet awhile; and there we found a great bar of refuse brought down by the winter flood and no water flowing into the lake; nor was there sufficient depth to float our canoe. This proved to me that we ought to have gone the moment I saw the water sinking, but for shame I dared not admit the truth.
"In a few days," says I, "the plain will be dry, and we shall be able to march well enough to the Baraquan."
"We must leave our canoe behind us, musn't we, Benet?" says my lady quietly.
"Ay, but what of that?" says I, shortly; "can not we make another?"
"Yes," says she; but not a word of reproach passed her lips, though she must have seen that I was to blame not to have started while there was yet water to float us back to the river. And so we returned to the cave without a word, for I was in a despicably bad temper, because I knew I was in fault for not going when my conscience bade me. This ill-humor possessed me all day, though frequently my lady essayed to return to our customary free and cordial understanding; only when night came and I lay awake I felt remorse and grief for my wicked delay in the first place, and my foolish perversity after. "Fool," says I to myself bitterly, "not content with robbing your dear lady of freedom, you have marred a day she would have rendered happy. It may be the last she will ever care to lighten for you."
I could not rest for the torment of my self-reproach. Getting out of my net I went softly in the dark to her kitchen, and passed my hand over the things she was wont to use.
"Here," says I to myself, touching her dresser—"here have we stood side by side grinding our cassavy, mirthful and light-hearted. Why were we so happy and content? Because I had none but good intent towards her; because she was confident in me. Will she ever have faith in me again, knowing I have let slip her chance to escape? Can we ever more be happy together?"
Before daybreak I rowed over to the gap, and thence as soon as it was light I perceived that vast plain green as far as the eye could reach with the young shoots of reeds, laid bare by the further sinking of the water; but for some distance round and about the gap and extending by the hill, where the water had flowed in from the Baraquan, was a great bed of yellow mud, neither firm enough for the foot nor liquid enough for the canoe. Seeing, therefore, that no escape was possible until this mud grew hard (if ever it should), I went back very desolate to the cavern. And there was our morning meal spread on fair fresh leaves, which Lady Biddy employed for a table-cloth, and that dear creature waiting to greet me with a cheerful bright countenance, as if she had naught to reproach me with, though I marked a shade of anxiety beneath her sweet smile.
I told her where I had been, and, putting as good a face on it as well I could, added that we must wait a few days for the ground to harden ere we started again upon our journey. "But," thinks I, "'twill never harden, for surely from those hills there must dribble streams that flow into the lake; and here must my dear patient lady linger another whole year." And with this reflection, despite all my efforts to seem easy and hopeful, I fell into a despondent mood.