Lady Biddy was greatly cast down when she caught sight of the black ship, as well she might be, for it seemed as if there were to be no more rest for her, body or mind. After standing in sad silence for a minute or two, she says to me:
"Benet, you must never yield to me again; if I had not persuaded you from your purpose, we should have escaped this present peril."
"Here is nothing," says I, "but what confirms my good opinion of your judgment."
"Nay," says she, "did you not tell Dom Sebastian that Rodrigues would come here?"
"To be sure, I don't want Rodrigues to catch Dom Sebastian unprepared; but as for our peril, I don't value it a snap of my fingers."
Hearing the name of Rodrigues coupled with his own, the governor, who had been eyeing us pretty shrewdly, stepped forward, and after apologizing for the intrusion, begged Lady Biddy to serve as our interpreter, and ask me whether I felt any anxiety with regard to my position; whereupon the following dialogue ensued:
I: "We may all go to bed and sleep comfortably to-night. But 'twill not do to lie abed to-morrow morning."
He: "You do not apprehend any immediate attack from the pirate?"
I: "No; for the reason that he is not in a position to offer it. You see how he has been making for the shore, and how now he is standing out; that shows that the wind is all against him, but it also proves his design to come hither."
He: "Why?"
I: "Because the ship's company are famished, and would never consent to work the ship at such a snail's pace unless Rodrigues could make them believe there was a town here to furnish them with all they need. They are not making half a league an hour. Unless the wind shifts to their advantage—and I see no likelihood of that—they will not be here ere midday to-morrow."
He: "What, in your opinion, will Rodrigues do then?"
I: "He will do his best to hoodwink and deceive you."
He (bending his brows): "And when he finds that Dom Sebastian d'Estovalderos is not to be hoodwinked?"
I: "Then he will seek to get what he wants by force. Neither he nor his men will go away unsatisfied."
He: "He may be satisfied to go away with what he does not want. My guns are not toys."
I: "I hope with all my heart he may under-rate them to his cost. It is more likely, however, that he will stand well out of their reach. He is hardy, but he is prudent. Be assured he would rather murder us all in our beds than venture an open encounter."
At this, Mistress Sebastian, who also understood the Italian a little, set up a shrill scream, and, after feeling about her person in great concern, called a servant who waited hard by, and bade him run at once to the house for her beads. The governor himself was too concerned to take much heed of his lady's agitation, though his pride kept him in good countenance.
He: "Are there any measures that you think it advisable to take?"
I: "I would have stout beams chained together, and thrown across the river from one side to the other to prevent an enemy's boat slipping past the guns of the fortress; also I should propose to send your lady, and anything else you value, to some place of security out of the town; finally, I would set up a gallows on the top of your citadel to be seen by Rodrigues, and at his first approach let him know that you will hang without mercy upon it him or the first of his company that comes within your reach."
He: "You have nothing else to recommend?"
I: "Nothing."
He (with a penetrating glance of his quick eye): "How is it you have not thought of defending that part of the town by which you entered, and the part most likely to be attacked by an enemy who has the discretion to perceive that his boats and men would be swept from the water by my guns if he were to venture an assault by the river?"
I: "Because that defence would not be omitted by you or a less experienced general in the face of any ordinary foe; I only venture to advise you on those points which might escape you in dealing with an enemy whose subtlety is best known to me."
The governor expressed himself quite satisfied with this explanation; but I could see, nevertheless, that he was inclined to eye me with suspicion for having neglected to recommend the fortification of the town on the western side, thinking, maybe, that I was no enemy to Rodrigues, but his friend, come there with a plausible tale to divert his defense from the weaker side. This, indeed, was a very ridiculous thing to imagine; yet there is nothing too absurd to be entertained of a suspicious man; and, certainly, no men do fear treachery more than these same Portugals, albeit they themselves are a match for all the world at lying and deceit.
Despite his boast that the guns of his castle could sweep the water of all enemies, he did not neglect the advice I had given him. Divers great masts were bound to a chain, and this laid across the river, firmly secured at either end. Within this barrier lay a long galley ship, and all the rest of the day slaves were employed in carrying goods and merchandise from the governor's house into this galley. Besides this, a great train of pack-mules was sent up into the country with other treasure. Everywhere there was great bustle and commotion, for the merchants and others who dwelt in the town, getting wind of the danger, were as anxious to have their goods out of the pirate's reach as the governor his; nay, so eager were they to preserve the least valuable part of their property that they would have departed with their goods and left the governor alone to meet the enemy, but that Dom Sebastian did threaten to hang at the first opportunity any man capable of bearing arms for the defense of the town who should fail to answer the summons of his trumpeter.
As long as there was light to see, my anxious eyes were strained to watch the approach of the black ship. By sunset she had got near enough for us to descry with a perspective that her sails were being furled, which showed she had cast anchor for the night. So, feeling that we were perfectly safe for the next ten or twelve hours, I for one made no scruple to accept the bed offered to me, for such a luxury was not to be denied by one who had not felt a cool sheet for an age.
The first thing that entered my head when I awoke in the morning was a remembrance that we had left the boat that belonged to theBlack Deathhigh and dry on the shore where we had landed after our escape from the naturals, which must surely be seen by Rodrigues in searching the shore with his glass, and thus betray us to him. Cursing my want of forethought, I slipped into my clothes as nimbly as I could, and started to go to the citadel, where I counted on seeing the governor. But on my way thither I was suddenly brought to a stand by the reflection that I could not make him understand a word of what I wanted. What was I to do? If I went back to arouse Lady Biddy to come and serve as interpreter, I must of a certainty lose time. Every moment was precious. It struck me that if I made good use of my legs I could get to the boat in an hour, stave a hole in the bottom of it, shove it out to sea, and so be quit of this plaguy evidence; and it being yet pretty early, I counted I might fairly do this before Rodrigues had come within boat-reach of the spot. Anyway, I esteemed it would be best to try and do this of my own hand rather than wait until a lengthy explanation of the matter could be made to the governor through Lady Biddy; so, without more ado, I turned out of the road to the citadel by that path we had come by the day before, and took to my heels as swiftly as I could. But ere I had come to the town-gate a couple of fellows, springing out into the road, crossed their bills in front of me, shouting for help; whereupon, in a twinkling, half a score of others with pike and musket ran up and laid hands on me. It was useless to cry out against this violence, for not one amongst them could make out what I said; so of necessity was I forced to yield patiently, and go whither they chose to lead me. So, like any criminal thief, was I carried to the citadel, where the governor stood with his friends looking out to sea.
I made him a bow, and with a shrug, after their manner, and a smile, I pointed to my captors.
Dom Sebastian replied to my salute very stiffly; but as for the rest, though we had all been as friendly over a bottle and tobacco-sticks as so many brothers the night afore, they took no more notice of me, except to stare violently, than if they had just clapped eyes on me for the first time. The men who had stopped me told their tale—as how I was running out of the town as fast as my legs could carry me, and the rest, which I could follow pretty closely by reason that these Portugals do suit the action to the word most admirably.
When the governor had listened, like any stock of wood for stiffness, to their history, he spoke a few words to one of the fellows, which were, I take it, to bid him fetch Lady Biddy; and then with another stiff bow to me, turned on his heel, leaving me still in the hands of the musketeers, and goes with his friends to the parapet to note the advance of the black ship.
Now I was vexed in the extreme, but with no one more than myself; for, had the governor been no Portugal, yet must it have aroused his suspicion that I should be caught, the first thing in the morning, running away from the town in the direction of the enemy without giving any word of explanation or farewell.
I had ample time, as I waited there, to look about me. TheBlack DeathI saw not above a couple of leagues off, having taken advantage betimes of the favorable breeze that had sprung up after the stillness of the night. This put me in mind that I should have done well to assure me of where the enemy was before I started on my mad journey, for he was already past the spot where the boat lay; but, indeed, when a man is flurried he is capable of any folly, and he never commits one without entailing another.
The governor and his friends continued in close conversation—doubtless discussing my behavior—until Lady Biddy came breathless to my side. Seeing me under arrest, her face was filled with alarm, and any one might see that her perplexity was unfeigned; yet I doubt if this removed the suspicion of my treachery.
"What does this mean, Benet?" asks Lady Biddy, when she could fetch her breath.
"Nay," says I, "that is the question I want you to ask Dom Sebastian."
The governor, who had drawn nigh, saluting Lady Biddy with the utmost civility, explained to her that I had been caught attempting to run out of the town, "And in that direction," adds he, pointing to the black ship.
In a few words I told how this came to pass, the governor eyeing us the while as if he would look into our very hearts. Happily he seemed to see that we were innocent, for the moment he heard Lady Biddy's account he bade the men unhand me, and begged her to tell me that he was sorry I had brought myself into this scrape, added that he should be glad to know how I came to forget that I had left the boat there.
To this I replied that I could say nothing in defense of my oversight.
"I trust," says he, "the senhor will not get himself into further trouble by a like accident. Had I not remembered the boat and got it removed, it would have served as a sure indication to the enemy that there was a path from that point by the cliff."
I felt that I deserved this reproach; nay, I was rather surprised at the governor's moderation, for, granting that I might be a knave, there was evidence enough against me to justify a halter being put about my neck.
"I am the more concerned for your cousin's prudence," continues he, "because in an hour's time you will no longer be under my protection."
"How, your excellency?" cries Biddy. "Are you going to send us hence?"
"Under a proper escort," says he, "who will insure your safe conduct to a point on the river whither my wife has already gone in the galley."
I had resolved to discharge my debt to the governor by fighting at his side, if Rodrigues attacked the town; but now by his manner I perceived so clearly that we were being sent away because he mistrusted us, that I thought better of it and made no offer of my services.
Having taken formal leave of the governor, whose duty kept him to the citadel, we returned to the house, where we had barely finished our meal when a gentleman came to us in great haste, telling us the black ship was casting anchor, and it was high time to be jogging.
Our escort was waiting in the courtyard, and we set out, a company of thirteen, with the like number of mules.
Our commander was a Portugal named Lewis de Pino, and, as luck would have it, he spoke Italian passably; besides him, there were ten other Portuguese footmen, each armed with an arquebuse, a sword, and a good supply of powder and ball, hung on their bandalieros. Three of the mules—sleek, well-conditioned beasts, and very bravely caparisoned—served to carry Lady Biddy, the commander, and myself; the rest bore pack-saddles well charged with stores.
We crossed the champaign, and there struck into the woods by a trodden path with a pleasant shade of trees. We traveled this way until noon, when, being come to a convenient spot, we dismounted, and there made a very excellent repast from our stores; after which we reposed until the great heat of the day was past, and then pushed on again.
About five o'clock we came to an opening in the woods, whence we could see the river winding through the valley below, but no sign of the galley which should be there waiting for us. Whereupon Senhor Lewis, who spoke the Italian, seeming to fall into a great pet, declared that this was a trick of the governor's lady to gratify her spleen against Lady Biddy, which had been only too evident from the very first.
"Now," says he, "I perceive why she was so anxious to start off betimes, and why she urged that you, being unused to traveling on these rivers, could never endure the teasing of the flies that do infest the water, and so should go as far as you might by road."
"Our mules are still fresh," says Lady Biddy; "can not we get to our destination by following this road still further?"
"Nay," says he, "for Dom Sebastian's seat, where he designed you should stay with his lady until it might be safe to return to Castello Lagos, lies yet some distance up the river, and is only to be reached by boat from the point below. For the river winds one way, and this road the other; nor is there any other means of getting at it that I know of. But I will make sure of this by questioning the men, who know these parts better than I."
While he was parleying with his men, Lady Biddy narrated this conversation to me, and, as she was saying the last words, he comes back, still feigning to be greatly vexed.
"I am sorry to tell you, madam," says he, "that my men, one and all, agree with me there is no road to the governor's seat; so I see nothing for it but to divide my company, and give you one half to cover your return to Castello Lagos."
"But why divide the company?" says Lady Biddy in alarm; "surely you will return with us?"
"Nothing would give me greater joy," says he, "but I am only a poor merchant, and these are my possessions" (with his head in his shoulders and his hands extended towards the company of footmen and mules). "I offering you half my servants, I jeopardize as much as I can afford, for I doubt if I shall see e'er a one of 'em alive again."
When Lady Biddy had translated this to me, she says, in a tone of terror:
"If he does not expect his men to save their lives in returning to the town, how may we hope to escape? We can not return thither. Oh, Benet, what shall we do?"
I was myself prodigiously taken aback, and not a little scared, by this new turn of affairs; yet, seeing how my dear lady was upset, I tried to calm her mind by making light of the matter.
"Be of good cheer," says I; "we will for certain not go back to this Castello Lagos, for if the Portugal will not venture his carcase there, I will assuredly not risk mine. Nay, you should know, cousin," I adds, feeling a little sore for reasons that I shall presently explain, "that I treasure your safety more than this man does his merchandise. I see through this rogue of a merchant, who, as likely as not, has contrived this difficulty for his own profit. Do you ask the fellow such questions as I would put to him."
"With all my heart," says Lady Biddy, "What shall I ask him, Benet?"
"Ask him if he be a merchant of Castello Lagos," says I, putting on a pretty determined air.
To this Lewis de Pino replied that he was a merchant of Valerias, whither he was now going. "Valerias," says I, pretending to be mighty knowing, that he might not perceive my ignorance, "that lies betwixt here and Caracas, I take it."
He replied yes, but after looking at me in silence a minute, as though to make out what I was driving at.
"And Caracas," says I, in the same tone, "is t'other side of those mountains?"
"Preciseamento!" says he, with a grin, holding up his hand with the tips of his thumb and second finger joined.
"How far is it to Valerias?" I asked.
"About six days' journey," says he in reply.
"And from Valerias to Caracas is no great matter," says I still, as if I knew the road well enough.
"The senhor knows that it is no distance at all," says he.
"Good," says I; "then, as our object is to get back to England rather than to trespass upon Dom Sebastian's hospitality, you shall carry us with you, for which service you shall be well paid. You shall have my bond for any reasonable sum."
He would have it that he needed no recompense, but I could see plainly that he was very well pleased with this turn, which did further convince me the matter was planned beforehand.
We pushed on till dusk, when we reached a collection of wooden huts, walled in with a palisade of stout wooden spikes, crossed in the manner of the letter X, and the spaces so stuffed with thorns and prickly herbs that no man (least of all a naked savage) could go either in or out, save by the postern gate at one side. In the midst of these huts stood a stone tower, pierced with little holes in the upper part, for the use of muskets in case of attack, as I thought.
We saw no women or children in this village, but only about a dozen wild, fierce Portugals, each with a long knife stuck in his girdle; and one, who seemed to have just returned from the chase, had his musket slung on behind to his bandeliero, and was dressed in a jerkin, breeches, and gaiters of leather. With their ragged beards, their sun-burnt skins, and savage air, they looked like so many brigands; yet were they as courteous as lackeys to us, helping us to dismount, and providing us with all that was necessary to our comfort. Most of the houses were mere sheds, used for the storing of powder, food, etc., for these Portugals, as I learnt, were hunters, who never slept under a roof except in the rainy season; but there was one well furnished and provided with sleeping-rooms to serve for the accommodation of the merchants, who came from time to time to truck their merchandise for the spoils brought hither by the hunters.
When we had supped, Lady Biddy, being fatigued with the day's journey, betook herself to her room, and I, having no inclination for society, lay myself down in a net hung from two beams in the roof, which is their manner of sleeping in these parts, and the first I had ever seen of such strange bed-places. There was a second net in this chamber for Lewis de Pino; but he, having business to do with the hunters, that we might start betimes the next morning, went out and joined them elsewhere, so that I was left alone to my meditations.
And here I took myself to task, as well I might, for having misbehaved myself in a very pitiful, paltry sort towards Lady Biddy from the first moment we set out on our journey. To make an honest confession, I had allowed myself once more to come under the dominion of that abominable jealousy which was my besetting vice. For this Lewis de Pino was one of those gallants we had discovered seated with Dom Sebastian on our arrival at Castello Lagos, and the most persistent in passing his addresses to my lady; nay, he was so smitten with her charms that his eyes did seem to devour her as often as he looked at her. I had observed him more than once talking apart with the governor very earnestly: once touching hands as if on a bargain; and from this I concluded that we had been sold in a manner by the governor to Lewis de Pino to further the amorous designs of the latter upon Lady Biddy. Now this conviction should have drawn me closer to her as a friend and protector, and so it would, but I took it into my head that she looked too kindly on him.
In crossing the champaign she took no notice of him whatever, being concerned for our safety, and fearing Rodrigues would get upon our track ere we got to a place of safety; and all this while she was very silent and preoccupied, turning in her saddle now and again to look back, and asking me if I thought we should yet escape, etc., all in a very troubled and grave manner; but being come into the wood, and greatly relieved of her anxiety, she grew, as it was natural she should, very suddenly gay and sprightly. Just at that time Lewis de Pino came to her side with a compliment in Italian, which, as I say, he spoke indifferently well, and this brought the smile to her cheek.
"She has not smiled on me since we bade each other good-morning," says I to myself. "Nay, she would scarcely accept for a truth my assurance of her safety; yet the moment this grinning Portugal comes to her side she forgets our peril and is blithe."
So we continued our way; he one side of my lady chatting and smiling, and I on the other glum and mumchance. Nor did I speak a single word for half an hour, when she says, turning to me with the smile Lewis de Pino had brought to her face:
"Have you nothing to say, Benet?"
On this, feeling ashamed to acknowledge the truth, I sought to excuse myself with a lie.
"I am thinking," says I, "of our peril, which is none of the least."
"Why," says she, "what have we to fear now? That man will never surely pursue us hither."
"No," says I; "very likely not; but I have heard no sounds of firing, and I do fear the governor, despite my warning, has yielded to some cunning artifice of Rodrigues; who by threat or torture may persuade him to fetch us back with his soldiery."
She translated my fears to Lewis de Pino, who replied that Dom Sebastian would perish in flames rather than be guilty of treachery.
"And I think so likewise," added Lady Biddy, when she had rendered this, "for these Portugals have nobility stamped in their features."
"Ay," says I, "and cruelty stamped on their lips, and wickedness in their eyes as well."
"As for that," says she, laughing, "we are not all Puritans. You must admit," added she, with a malicious twinkle in her eye, for I fancy she perceived the secret of my dislike and would pique me for a punishment—"you must admit Senhor Lewis is a very handsome man."
"Yes," says I; "but I like him none the better for that."
Presently we came to a part where, the path growing narrower, there was room but for two to go abreast, and here Lewis de Pino, taking off his hat, made as though he would yield his place to me; but I, not to be outdone in civility, gave him back his salute and fell behind.
There were abundance of beauteous flowers and gay-plumed birds and curious growths on either side to please the eye and interest the mind; but I could not take my eyes off the two faces before me, turned towards each other, and flushed with pleasure.
"And why," I asked myself, as I lay in my net brooding on these things—"why should she not be pleased with the courteous and lively attentions of a well-favored and good-tempered companion? Had I made myself agreeable, instead of sitting like any stock for stupidity, she would have smiled on me. This was the first moment of ease, the first opportunity of pleasant conversation with one of her own degree, that she had enjoyed for many a day. Granted his talk, as you would believe in your prejudice and ignorance, was trivial, might it not yet have been amusing? Wouldn't you, Benet, rather sit an hour listening to the jests of a Merry Andrew than wait half as long for an oracle to deliver itself?"
But my lady, for all her amusement, did think of me—ay, I believe she was concerned for my silence and grieved at my moody humor. Perhaps she repented having wounded my feelings by treating my gravity lightly. Still, she had too much spirit, too much proper pride, to humble herself by asking forgiveness; nay, delicate consideration for my feelings might have withheld her from humiliating me by taking my folly seriously. Nevertheless, I say, she did think of me, and turning now and then pointed out to me some sweet flower or pretty bird. And how did I make a return for this gentle kindness? By answering in a cavalier and careless manner that was particularly detestable.
All these reflections came to my mind, I say, as I lay in the dark; and so I fell a-tormenting myself with reproaches to such a degree that had I been ten times as tired I could not have closed an eye.
Some time after, Lewis de Pino, a little the worse for liquor, as I judged, came into the chamber, clambered up into his net, and fell a-snoring like any pig, so that, maugre my condition, I did wish Lady Biddy could hear him.
I was still lying wide awake, thinking what a hound I was, when suddenly there fell upon my ear a sound like a woman wailing in grief. I could not believe this until I heard the sound a second time. Then I started on the instant to my feet, knowing there was no woman there but Lady Biddy; but forgetting the kind of bed in which I lay, and how no man but a rope-dancer could stand up in such a thing safely, I swung on one side and came down with a spank on the floor. At that noise, Lewis de Pino awoke with a grunt, but he fell asleep with another the next minute; and now, coming to my feet, I heard again that mournful, sorrowing cry. The door stood wide open. Outside all was still. Not a breath of air moved the leaves of the trees. The big stars looked down very peacefully. In the distance I saw the Portugals lying on the ground asleep like so many dogs; but nothing moved.
Then, again, as I stood there, my heart was pierced with the distant moan. I crept to the hut where Lady Biddy lay, and, tapping gently at the door, asked if she were in pain.
But she answered that it was not she who cried; at which my heart was comforted, for at the first I thought that maybe my sullen humor had moved her to tears.
So thinking the sound was but the note of a night-bird, of which there are many in these woods that have the most strange human voices of any living thing, I went back to my net, and presently fell asleep.
The next morning when we were mounted, and only waiting the order to start on our way, our ears were assailed by the piteous cry of a woman, which recalled to my mind the weeping I had heard in the night; but now the wailing was close at hand, coming from the midst of the huts where the tower stood. The next moment there sounded the sharp crack of a whip, followed by a scream of pain. At this the pretty color went out of Lady Biddy's cheek, and she called to Lewis de Pino, who stood talking with one of the hunters (and both as unconcerned as if they had been stone deaf), to know whence that cry came; but ere he could come smiling to her side to reply, the whole matter was explained by the appearance of five young Indian women bearing among them a long pole, to which they were attached by leather collars round their throats. The foremost of them was stanching her tears with her hands under the threat of the arquebusier conducting them, who had a short-stocked whip with a long lash in his hand, with which he tapped her shoulder menacingly as he spoke. These poor souls had never a bit of clothes on but a clout about their loins, and she who was trying to check her weeping had a long wheal across her neck, that stood out purple from her copper skin where the whip had fallen.
Lady Biddy was greatly shocked at the spectacle of this barbarity; nor could she smile on Lewis de Pino that day as she had the day before, which I was glad to observe; albeit he did all he could to set this matter in a fair light when we stopped at noon to dinner. He told her that slaves were one of the commodities he dealt in, and that if he did not occupy himself in this traffic another would, and maybe to their disadvantage, assuring her they were better treated at his hands than by their own kinsmen, who, of their own free will, brought their wives and daughters down to the station to sell them for knives, axes, beads, and the like; justifying himself by the opinion of some very pious writers that all things being created for the use of man, Providence did furnish the savage heathens to be servants of Christians for the cultivation of spices, sugars, and other things necessary to their comfort.
"But," says Lady Biddy, "if their case is better as slaves than as free women, why does that poor soul weep?"
"Why," says he, "my man was forced to use his whip because she strove to hang herself by the neck to the pole the others carried; and you must agree that in every country those are deservingly punished who attempt to end a life given them to be a blessing to their fellow-creatures."
"Nay," says Lady Biddy, "that is no answer to my question. She wept ere she tried to end her miserable life, for a certainty, and I would know why she wept."
Lewis de Pino, making inquiries on this, learnt that the young woman had but recently been wedded, and that her husband losing his life in battle, she had been sold by her father, who could not be burthened with her.
"So you see, madam," says he, when he had imparted this, "we treat them no worse than they would be treated if we did not exist. Nevertheless, 'tis a trade I would gladly abandon, for the sight of their suffering—which I can not ignore—unmans me for my business, so that I often pay more for these slaves than they are worth, merely to secure them from the ill-treatment they would receive were they returned upon the hands of those who would be rid of them. Nay, the sight of that poor creature's tears so moves me that I will, if it please you, order her collar to be unbolted and give her freedom."
This the sly rogue offered, knowing well that Lady Biddy would not consent to an act which he himself had shown would be the greater cruelty, and with the sole intent, I take it, to insinuate himself into my lady's good graces. All that she desired, therefore, was that the young woman should be placed on one of the pack-mules until she had recovered from the exhaustion into which her grief had thrown her. Whereupon Lewis de Pino, with as good grace as he could muster, ordered her leather collar to be unbolted, and a place to be made for her on one of the mules, making the young woman understand at the same time that it was by the wish of Lady Biddy that this indulgence was granted her. This she understood well enough, for being freed she rushes to Lady Biddy, embraces her knees, pressing her face against them; but this done, ere hand could be laid on her, she darted off with a cry like a startled blackbird into the wood.
Coming to a distance, she had yet so much feeling that gratitude rose in her bosom above the instinct of self-preservation, and she turned about, raising her arms in the air as if to bless Lady Biddy. At that moment, seeing her thus exposed, a Portugal cocks his musket, and, clapping it to his shoulder, fires at her; but by good chance I, standing not more than a yard off, was enabled by a quick movement to fling the fellow's arm up, whereby the ball passed harmlessly over her head. With another wild cry of joy she turned about and fled out of sight, nor did any of the Portugals attempt to follow her more than a score of yards or so, for loaded as they were with their arms, to pursue her, who was light on foot as any deer, was a profitless folly.
This business did not prove more clearly than words what a liar Lewis de Pino was, for surely the girl would not so joyously have recovered freedom if that was true that he told of the barbarity of her kinsfolk. But for all this he did persevere in defending himself as we continued our march, and, to my mortification, Lady Biddy allowed herself, as I judged by her manner, to be beguiled by his crafty tongue. So that I was not much better pleased with her this day than I had been the day before.
Indeed, it was past my comprehension how one of her understanding could fail to see that this Lewis de Pino, for all his good looks and fair speaking, was an arrant rascal; but that was no such extraordinary matter neither, for as the day began to draw in I began to doubt whether I had not suffered him to deceive me, who was by no means under the charm of his personal gifts. For, taking note of the position of the sun pretty frequently, and making all allowance for the turns of the path in winding amongst the mountains, I came to the conclusion that we had been traveling for these two days full south, and rather a point or so to the east of it than to the west. Then calling to mind as well as I could the look of the chart, it grew upon me that we were not making in the direction of Caracas at all, by reason that the chain of mountains there set down ran east and west, with Caracas lying not more than half a dozen leagues from the sea.
As this conviction became stronger, I was troubled beyond description, for to go back was out of the question; while to go on was to lay ourselves more inevitably in the power of Lewis de Pino. So, with a heart like any lump of lead, I laid me in my net that night; yet might I have counted myself a happy man at that time could I have foreseen the greater trouble that was to come, as I shall show in the next chapter.
We set out from that station the next morning about seven o'clock with another pole of six slaves added to our number, and, toiling upwards, in about two hours we came out of the woods into a very wild, rocky country, where scarcely any herb grew for the height and abundance of stone. Sometimes the path wound along the edge of horrid precipices, and sometimes between prodigious high rocks, and this way I counted we crossed over a low chain of mountains; for about noon we began to descend again, but the road so steep and foul with loose stones that 'twas as much as the mules could do to keep their feet at times. As for the poor slaves, their pain was great indeed, by reason of being yoked to the poles one behind the other; for if one slipped she was as good as strangled in her collar; and if those behind could not keep pace with those before, they were like all to be thrown down. To see the sweat pouring down their dusky skins, the agony in their faces, the blood on their feet and legs cut by the sharp stones, was enough to melt any heart of stone. Yet that which did move me was their silence in the midst of their suffering; no herd of spent cattle could have shown more patient endurance.
An hour of sliding and stumbling brought us to a station at the bottom of this rocky valley; but it was unlike the other two, in having no trees around it, and a stone wall in place of a stockade; besides that, it was twice as big. The tower also was greater and stronger here, and the men had not that same aspect, but looked ten times more cruel and brutal. Every man of them carried arms, as if he mistrusted his fellows, and all had a very hang-dog look in their sullen faces. This, I take it, came partly of their living always in that grim, barren valley, where the sun never shone; and partly of their occupation, which was to goad on and watch over the slaves who worked mines in that region; for I observed that men's looks do take on the aspect of the surroundings and the character of the company they keep; and truly these fellows looked as sullen and forbidding as the rocks, with something of that dull, hopeless expression that marked the faces of their slaves.
After I had eaten my dinner (Lady Biddy having gone to her chamber to rest until it was time to set out again) I went to the door of the hut, and looking up saw Lewis de Pino in close conversation with a fellow who seemed to be the chief of the gang. When I saw how they lay their heads together, speaking low so that not a sound of their voices could I hear, my mind misgave me; but presently the rogue whom I called the chief goes up to the slaves and examines them, opening their eyes and pinching their flesh, as if to know if they were healthy or not; and then he takes Lewis de Pino to a box and shows him some pieces of metal, so that I concluded they were only trafficking their wares. Wherefore, being disgusted with the whole business, I turned my back on them, and flung myself on the net that hung in the hut, where I presently fell asleep.
How long I had lain there I know not (nor is it any great matter), but I was awoke rudely enough by four sturdy rascals laying hands on me at the same time that a fifth did cram a filthy clout in my mouth by way of gag. Seeing they meant to do me mischief, I put out all my strength to get free of their hands, and out of that accursed net on to the firm ground, where I might better defend myself; but all to no purpose, for the net gave no hold to my feet or vantage-point of any kind, so that I presently found myself bound hand and foot to my bed, with no more power to get out of it than if it had been my skin. And all this was done without so much as a word or any perceptible sound, for their feet were bare.
Seeing I was secure, they cut the cords that fastened the two ends of the net to the roof, and one fellow shouldering the end at my head and another that at my heels, they carried me out of the hut, and so jogged along pretty briskly till they reached the tower. Here the stairs being narrow and awkward, they flung me on the ground till they had tied a long cord to my feet, when four of them went to the head of the stairs, and pulling on to the cord with a will, they dragged me to the upper story like any bag of malt. From the landing they hauled me into a dim chamber, and there they left me to get out of my bonds as I might; going out by the door, which they barred and bolted close.
For a few moments I lay there stupefied by the rough usage I had been put to (for being dragged up heels foremost in the way I have described had thrown the blood into my head), but as my intelligence returned I saw that I had been clapped up in order that Lewis de Pino might carry off my Lady Biddy without opposition from me. No sooner did this idea come into my mind than I set to like a madman struggling to burst the cords that bound me; but this rash endeavor only drew the knots tighter, without breaking a strand of those hard ropes; yet was I made so frantic by the image of harm coming to my dear lady that I never paused to consider whether my strength might be better employed than in these vain efforts, nor heeded the wounds I inflicted on my own flesh, but still tore at the bonds with my bleeding wrists, as if my life depended on getting free; nay, I do believe that had a tiger been in that chamber, drawing near to tear me with his bloody fangs, I could have looked upon him with greater calm than I could support the image of my lady being borne away from me. So in a frenzy that grew with the conviction of my impotency rather than diminished, I labored as though I would tear my hands off to free my arms, until all my strength was spent, and I lay motionless, but for the throbbing of my chest, as I panted for breath. This brought me to a more reasonable state of mind, and as I got out of my faintness I began to wriggle my hands about without straining overmuch, and, thanks to the rope being made somewhat slippery with the blood from my wrists, I presently got one hand loose, and after that it was but a trifling matter (when I had freed my mouth from that beastly thing they had crammed in to gag me withal) to free the other, and after that my legs and ankles.
And now, seeing that I had done more to get my freedom by a ten minutes' patient endeavor than I had come, at in furiously struggling for the best part of an hour (and that without doing myself any mischief), I made up my mind to go about my business in a reasonable fashion henceforth. So getting on my legs I looked about me to find what part of my prison it was easiest to break through; and this gave me but little comfort, for no part seemed weaker than the rest, but all alike prodigious stout and strong.
The four walls were of solid stone, with no opening save the door, and six narrow slits, no bigger than rifts for shooting arrows, to admit light, and they higher up than I could get at with my hand, standing on my toes. The roof sprang from the walls about fifteen feet from the floor, and the cross-beams were boarded over. But casting my eye this way and that way, I saw a chink of light here and there, which led me to think these boards were not nailed down, but laid loosely down for the convenience of making a cock-loft there, and also that the roof must have some opening for the light thus to creep through.
Now I thought that if I could once get into the cock-loft the affair would be best part done; for if there were no dormer window, yet might I shift the shingles or the tiles of the roof, and so make an opening wide enough to creep through; and I counted that those cords which had bound me, tied together with the net-bed, which might be cut into three strips, and yet have strength to bear my weight, would serve to let me down some part of the way to the ground. What I should do after I got to the ground I did not trouble myself to consider; the main thing was to get out of the tower safely.
The more I looked at the chinks above, the more I liked my project; but how to make my way up into the cock-loft, as I call it, was the plague. I passed my hands carefully over every part of the walls within reach, hoping to find some hole or cranny to climb up by; but the stones were all smooth and flush, so that a cat could not have climbed up them. Nor was there anything in the shape of furniture that I might build up for a ladder. There was naught within these four walls but myself and the net I had been trussed up in. Taking up one of the cords from the ground, and weighing it in my hand, I asked myself if I could by any means turn it to my purpose; after thinking some little while, it came into my mind that if I made a big knot at one end, and thrust it through one of the rifts so that it would hitch on the outer side of the wall, I might then make a loop or two in the loose end, by which I could raise myself against the wall to the height of the said rift, and so reach up to the loose boards, if loose they were, above. The scheme was wild enough, but as I saw no better I began at once to put it into execution.
First of all I chose the longer of the cords, and made two loops in it to serve me as stirrups; then, taking a piece of the net, I rolled it into a hard ball, about as big as I might thrust through the rift; and, having bound this about with another cord, I fastened it securely to my stirrups, with length enough, as I judged, to allow the ball to pass through to the outer edge of the wall, where I hoped it would hitch.
When I had done this to my satisfaction, I began to cast about how I was to get it through the rift, which was a difficulty I had not foreseen.
"If I had only a pole," says I to myself—"a pole about two yards long!" But, Lord! while I was about it I might just as well have wished for a step-ladder of three yards to carry me at once into the cock-loft. However, growing a little desperate to find myself thus baulked for want of a stick, I made a spring upward, and, getting my hand in the rift, I contrived to hang there some while; but as to dragging myself up so that I could get my knot through with my other hand, that I could not do, strive as I might; nor do I think it possible that any man, though he were lusty as Samson, could have compassed that business.
Now was I pretty well at my wits' end; yet, being of a stubborn nature, I would not allow myself to be beaten, and still clung to the notion of scaling the wall with my precious rope stirrups. But it was clear that I could do nothing without some sort of hold for my foot to rest on as I hung from the rift, and so once more I began to feel about the wall for a hole to set my toes in.
There was a joint in the stonework about four feet from the ground, where the mortar gave way under my nail, but the crack was not as wide as my finger. However, I had a clasp-knife in my pocket, which Dom Sebastian had given me (for the Portugals do never go about without such weapons for their defense), and with this I determined to cut away the stone if I might. So at it I went without more ado.
I had scarcely begun this toil when I heard some one ascending the stairs that led to my prison.
"Now," thinks I, "am I undone. For if they come in here and see my knotted rope, they will certainly take it from me, and there will be an end of my only hope."
The steps came nearer and stopped; then I heard the bar being taken down. Upon this, with the hope of exciting fear, I set up a most violent shout, as if I were beside myself with rage, and rushing to the door beat it furiously with my fists and feet, whereupon there was a silence outside, as if the fellow was considering whether he had not best leave me alone for the present; and that he had come to this conclusion was made evident presently by his clapping up the bar again. After this I heard a shuffling on the ground, and the next minute his steps, as he descended the stairs.
I was mightily pleased with myself at the success of my stratagem, and, going back to the wall, set to work again at cutting the stone with my knife.
I ground and scraped till the blade of my knife was as hot as fire, but when I examined the stone with my finger, to see if the hole were anything like big enough yet, I found that I had made no perceptible difference in it whatever, which did so vex me that I was ready to tear my hair, or commit any other extravagance. Then, casting my eyes at the wall where the light from the rift fell, I was terrified to observe how the shadow had shifted since I first began, so that I concluded it must be getting towards sundown, by which I reckoned I must have been four or five hours at this business, and was pretty near as far as ever from making my escape. Whereupon I was beset with a kind of rage, and, accusing myself of indolence, cut again at the stone with redoubled energy. The result of this mad haste was that the blade of my knife snapped in half before I had worked a couple of minutes. Then I flung it down on the ground, and, resting my arm against the wall, I laid my face there, and could have wept for vexation.
But this was not to be endured for any time. Glancing again at the wall, it seemed to me the shadow had traveled a foot further.
"Every moment," says I to myself, "puts my lady further from me. Coward or fool! are you content to do nothing? Will you give up the hope of saving her because of a trifle? Have you no more heart and hardihood than this?"
With this, I picked up my knife again, and finding yet a couple of inches left of the blade, I once more set to work, but with more prudence. Yet every now and then would I turn to watch the shadow, saying to myself, "Now she is a league further away—she has been carried a full mile since last I looked," etc.
Sometimes my heart would grow heavy as stone with despair, as I noted the little effect I made; and then, that I might not lose courage, I would not feel what progress I had made, but ground on steadily, like the movement of a clock. But, though I did not tax my strength, the sweat streamed down my face and body, so that my shirt clung cold to my body with the wet from my skin, by reason of my anxiety.
After a while, when the light was sensibly fading, a faintness came upon me, and I felt dried up with thirst. Resting for strength to come, I bethought me that perhaps my jailer had no intention but to give me food when he came to the door. Then the hope led me to think that perhaps he had come back softly, and, hearing no sound, had ventured to open the door quietly, and slip a pitcher of water within for my comfort.
I went to the door, and, groping on the ground (for in that part it was very dark), I laid my hand on a loose piece of paper. It occurred to me in an instant (so quickly do our wishes summon conjecture) that Lady Biddy had found means to send me a message, and that the man who was charged with it, fearing to enter, had slid it beneath the door, which explained the shuffling sound I had heard before he went down.
I rushed back with the precious treasure, and, holding it as near the light from the rift as I could, read the inscription on the outside: "To my dear Cousin Benet."
And then, laughing like a fool for joy, I claps it to my mouth and kisses it.
As soon as I had got the better of my ecstasy, I held the letter again up to the light, yet could not make out one word of it, for the tears of gladness in my eyes. However, I brushed these away with my hand impatiently, and so held the letter up again, but still with the knife in my hand, for I was now more eager than ever to accomplish my design and overtake my lady, who, I doubted not, had writ me some comforting words to let me know how I might best come at her. And now, my eyes being clear, I read her letter, which I can repeat word for word; for, sure, I read it a hundred times, and each word did engrave itself into my memory.
"We are overtaken," the letter began, "by soldiers charged to carry us back to Castello Lagos, and surrender us into the hands of Rodrigues. To save me from such a fate, which was worse than death tenfold, Senhor de Pino has offered to convey me to Caracas. I have tried, but in vain, to obtain the same favor for you; but he dare not venture upon it. Indeed, he endangers his own life in saving me, wherefore I look to you to support the story he has given out to account for not obeying the governor's orders to the letter—to wit, that I have perished by the way. I know you are too reasonable and too generous to bear me ill-will for abandoning you, for sure you will own I have no choice but to do so. Farewell, Benet. Oh, may Providence be merciful to you!"
When I had came to the end, and turned it about, to see if there was not some little kind word that I had overlooked and could find none, the knife dropped from my hand; and truly all vigor and power seemed gone from my body, so that my limbs trembled under me as if I had just risen from a bed of sickness.
Then I could not believe I had read aright, and so went through it again and again and again; after that, pondering each word, to see if I could not make it appear a little better than it looked.
At last, when I could no longer see the writing for want of light, I flung myself prone on the ground, and gave myself up to the most miserable reflections ever man endured. It was as if a miser had suddenly discovered all his gold turned to fine ashes; for no miser ever prized his pieces for their true ring and bright lustre more than I valued Lady Biddy for her loyalty, and generous, loving disposition; and now I could find nothing but heartless ingratitude and careless cruelty in her nature, to abandon me thus, without a word of regret or comfort. It seemed to me as if her chief end in writing was to obtain security for herself and Lewis de Pino, by persuading me to support the story of her death; and with such a cold, cruel heart, to invoke the mercy of Providence towards me was nothing but hypocrisy, with a taint of blasphemy.
"Had she studied to crush the love out of my heart she could not have writ more unkindly," says I to myself. Then it came to my mind that this cruelty was studied to that end, in order that my passion might not give me the power to escape and rejoin her. And the more I thought of this, the more likely it appeared. "She has Lewis de Pino," says I, grinding my teeth in rage, "and has no further need of me."
Then I cursed her for a cruel, unkind jade, and would try to think I was well rid of such a baggage—that all women were false alike for fools and boys to love, and fit only to be treated as men like Rodrigues treated them. "They make sport," says I, "of those who are fond enough to love them, and kiss the hand of a cruel, hardened wretch like Lewis de Pino. 'Tis the trick of a dog who snaps at loving children who would caress it, and cringes before the tyrant who spurns it with his foot. Fear not that I shall seek to separate you from your lord—no, not though I saw him lift the whip to flog you as he would another slave. I trust no woman again; the friendship of Rodrigues is more stanch and loyal. I have done all a man could do in proportion to his means for the love of a woman; but I have come to an end of my folly. My body shall shed its blood no more for you—no, nor my heart a tear. And yet," thinks I, my rage abating as I perceived how dreary and barren my life must henceforth be, which seemed, as I looked back on it, to be all strewn with flowers and gladdened with sunshine—"yet, in truth, I do wish you had died before you writ that letter. Would that I could yet treasure that tender joy of love for you that has made a fool of me! Ay, would that you had died ere I knew you worthless, while I yet thought you all that was beautiful and good and kind! 'Twould have broke my heart to have lost you then; but better 'tis to live with ever-abiding sorrow for such loss than to find nothing in the world to weep for."
In this fashion did I pass from one fit to another—from rage to regret, from bitter hate to tender grief—till the stars shone brightly through the rifts above; but they came into sight and passed away, marking the growing hours, without my heeding any longer the increasing distance between Lady Biddy and me; nor did I once think to make my escape. She was gone from me forever, and with her all my hopes and anxiety. I gave no thought as to what would happen on the morrow, or what my fate would be when Rodrigues got me again into his hands. If I had thought of it I should have welcomed the prospect of death itself even by the worst torture his cruel nature could devise.
Lady Biddy had appealed to my generosity and reason, but I had neither one nor the other, else had I perhaps brought myself to see that, after all, she had done no more than I should have bid her do if her fate had been in my hands. Could I have consented to her being carried back with me to Rodrigues? No! not though the alternative was to yield her to the mercy of Lewis de Pino. Then why was I so put about because she had done that which I would have had her do? Simply because she had not paid me the compliment to ask my advice? There may have been no time to appeal to my decision; she may, as she said, have depended on my good judgment to accept what was inevitable. These and many other arguments I could urge, never occurred to me then, for my reason was undone.
As I lay there on the ground with that passionate turmoil in my breast, with my eyes turned away from the stars that seemed to look down on me through the night with a sweet, still sorrow that made my pain the more hard to endure, I saw a streak of light between the door and the footsill, and presently heard the bar being taken down very carefully, but after a pause, as if assurance were being made that I was not astir.
"They are come to murder me in my sleep," thinks I; "is this the mercy she prayed Providence to bestow on me, or did she pray that mercy of Lewis de Pino?"
The bar being down, first one bolt grated slowly in the socket, and then the other.
"Now," thinks I, "will they come upon me cautiously, or will they do it with a sudden rush?"
But so little count did I make of my life that I did not stir nor take my arm from under my head.
The door creaked slowly on its hinges, and I saw the wall beyond through the widening opening, and a lantern set upon the ground. Then a great shock head came athwart the opening, dark against the light on the wall; and after peering in for a minute or so without seeing anything (for I lay far back in the dark), or hearing any movement, the man ventured in a little further, so that his figure blocked out the light still more; and thus he stood another minute, turning his head this way and that, as if to make sure I was not hidden against the wall, ready to spring on him. Then he draws back and picks up something which stood behind the door with his left hand, and then the lantern with his right, and, stepping sideways and very gingerly past the door, he comes into my chamber, so that I could see he carried in his left hand a pitcher, and under that arm a little bundle.
"So," thinks I, "it is to bring my food, and not to murder me, the fellow has come. 'Tis all the same to me. I would as soon have his knife as his food in me."
Setting down the pitcher and the bundle, he lifts the lantern high and looks about; but not seeing me for the shadow where I lay, and the feeble light of his candle, he puts up his hand, and, shoving his hat on one side, scratches his head, as if perplexed to know where I had got to. Then moving a couple of steps forward on his toes, he holds up the lantern again and peers around, and then, getting a glimpse of me, gives a nod of satisfaction, as much as to say, "Oh, you're there after all, are you?" and so he comes forward again towards me, but very cautiously setting down the lantern and turning the door of it towards me, that the light might not fall upon my eyes.
And now the idea seized me of a sudden that I might throw this fellow down and make my escape, whilst a wicked longing for vengeance burnt up my heart. I know not what bloody design lay at the bottom of my purpose, but I made up my mind I would escape and overtake Lady Biddy, though she was in the furthest corner of the earth. So with the cunning of a villain I closed my eyes, that the fellow might not see by their glitter I was awake (yet not so close but that I could watch him well), in order that he might get near to me before I sprang at him.
He seemed to have some ill forecast of my design, for more than once he stopped betwixt the lantern and me to scratch his head and consider of his safety. However, he ventures within about a couple of feet of me, and then squatting down reaches out his arm, as if he would wake me to let me know he had brought food for my use. And though this was a kindly office, deserving of a better return (for I took no heed of it because of the devilish wickedness in my heart), I suddenly caught hold of his extended arm, and, giving it a sharp jerk, threw him on his side.
Seeing a knife in his belt, I bethought me I would cut his throat, and so save myself from pursuit, for there is no vile murder a man will stop short of when he gives up his soul to the fiend of vengeance; and this purpose came so suddenly to my mind (even as he was rolling over, and the handle of his knife caught a ray of light from the lantern) that I had no time to consider what I was about. In a moment I had sprung up, and set my knee in his flank, and grasping him by his ragged shock of hair with my left hand, so that I drew his head back between his shoulders, I whipped out his knife with my right.
Surely in another moment I should have cut his throat, but that just then, raising his voice as well as he could for his position, he cries out, in very good English—
"Lord love you, master, would you murder your own countryman?"
Hearing these words, I held my hand for amazement, though the knife was within a span of his throat. In that instant it came across my mind that the letter which had so distracted me was not of Lady Biddy's writing. I had not hitherto questioned this matter; for, firstly, I knew not her hand; and, secondly, neither Lewis de Pino nor any one else we had met since our coming on these shores had comprehended one word of our language. The letter was badly writ in a large and painful hand, but that might have been owing to ill accommodation for writing; and, indeed, I had not regarded the manner of it, but only the matter. But now, hearing this fellow speak in English, it did, as I say, cross my mind that he had penned it.
This took no longer to present itself to my intelligence than a flash of a musket.
"Fellow," says I hoarsely, "was it you that wrote that letter to me."
"Ay," says he, "with a plague to it; for if I had not writ it I should not have got into this mess."
Whereupon I flung aside the knife, and, laying hold of his two hands, could have kissed him for my great delight, despite the suffering I had endured through his handiwork.
Then I covered my face with my hands for shame to think how I had wronged that pure sweet girl by leaping so quickly to an evil opinion of her; and to think she might have so fallen away from a noble condition, I burst out with tears, and sobbed like any child; and from that to think that she had not fallen away, and was still the same dear woman I had thought her, I fell to laughing; and, springing to my feet, cut a caper in the air like a very fool, and might have proceeded to further extravagances in my delirium but that my good angel (as I dubbed the fellow), laying his hands on me whispered:
"For Heaven's sake, master, contain yourself a bit, or I shan't come out of this business with a whole skin yet. I doubt but you have waked some of the cursed Portugals by your antics."
With this he creeps over to the door, and thrusting his head over the stairs stands there listening carefully a minute or two; after which, seeming satisfied that no one was astir, he closes the door gently, and creeps back to me, by which time I had come to a more sober condition, though still near choking with the bounding of my heart and the throbbing of the blood in my veins for excess of joy.
"'Tis all quiet below," says he in a whisper; "but betwixt getting my throat cut by you, and being fleaed alive by the Portugals for being here, I've had a narrow squeak. Howsomever, I suppose you bear me no ill-will?"
"Heaven forgive me for treating you as an enemy!" says I, grasping his hand again.
"As for that," says he, "I don't blame you for your intent to stick me if you thought I was one of those accursed Portugals; and how were you to know better, finding me crawling on you in their own manner. Let us drink a dram, master, to our better acquaintance; 'twill stiffen our legs and clear our heads, and mine are all of a jelly-shake with this late bout."
"Where is my cousin?" I asked him, as he was drinking from the jar.
"That's good," says he, taking the jar from his mouth and handing it to me. "Take a pull at it—asking your pardon for drinking first, but I've lost my good manners with twelve years of slavery."
"My cousin," says I—"the lady in whose name you wrote that letter?"
"Drink," says he. "We've got no time to lose if, as I do hope, you're minded to get away from this."
"Ay," says I; "but my cousin?"
"Drink," says he.
Seeing he was of a persistent sort, I lifted the jar to my lips to cut the matter short.
"The female," says he, "went on with De Pino and his train about ten minutes after you were brought up here. De Pino made her believe you had gone on ahead, being in a strange dull humor, and she, to overtake you, hurried away. Drink," he adds, seeing me still with the jar a little from my lips. So I drank; but betwixt two gulps I said:
"They are still gone on the road to Caracas?"
"Caracas!" says he. "Lord love you, master!" (an exclamation with which he larded his sentences continually), "when they get to their journey's end they won't be within a hundred leagues of Caracas."
"Whither is he carrying her, then, in Heaven's name?"
"To Quito, where De Pino spends his time when he is not trafficking. Lord love you, master, don't spare the liquor."
I drank deeply to satisfy him, and that we might come more quickly to the matter I had a greater thirst for.
"Now," says I, "tell me how you came to write that letter."
He took the jar out of my hand and drank again in silence. At length he put it from his lips with a gasp.
"Have another turn; we may not have a taste of wine for many a long day hence," says he.
"I can drink no more. Would to Heaven I could get you to answer my questions!"
"Time enough for that," says he, "when we get where we can talk above a pig's whisper with no fear of being heard. Now, master, if you can drink no more, we'll set about getting out of this. We shall be all right if we tread light, and don't bungle till we get to the foot of the stairs. There I must put out the lantern. But you lay hold of my shoulder and get ready for a bolt if needs be. Are you got a knife?"
"No," says I.
"Then I must manage to get you one when we are below. A couple of swords won't be an inconvenience to us, neither. You won't have another dram?"
"No," says I; "and you have had enough."
"That's as may be," says he. "I could drink a tun of it. Howsomever, I'll take it you're right, so far as our safety is concerned. Now, master, you take my knife and follow close. Keep your questions till we get a league on our way. I'll carry the lantern and this bag of victuals, and if I'd got another hand, hang me if I'd leave the jar behind. Here goes, master. Remember, if we are caught we shall be fleaed alive. Now, then—softly does it! Not a word!"