"Faith, doctor, you were fortunate in killing these fellows before they scented you, or they might have given you some ugly bites," observed Tim, holding open one of the heads.
Having performed our unpleasant operation, we went down to the river to wash our hands, while Tim and the black beat the surface to scare away any alligators which might be prowling about. On our return to the camp we once more lay down, one of the party as before keeping watch; which was more than ever necessary, as the dead tapirs were very likely to attract either jaguars or pumas. We were unmolested, however.
In the morning, mounting our horses, we rode some distance before we breakfasted. Then we shot all day with a result highly satisfactory to the doctor, though we met with no adventures worth noting.
In the evening I found that we were not far from Padre Pacheco"s abode; and recollecting my promise to visit him, I proposed that we should go round that way. To this the doctor and Gerald agreed; and, accordingly, the next morning, after we had had a few hours" shooting, we turned our horses" heads in that direction.
On reaching the padre"s house we saw no one about. Fearing that he was ill, I went to the door and knocked, but n.o.body came. I tried to open the door; it was bolted. At last, seeing a cottage at some little distance, I rode towards it, and shouted out,--"Friends, can you tell me what has become of the padre?"
The door opened, and a native woman rushed out with a child at her back, exclaiming,--"Has he come back?--has he come back? O senor, we have lost him!"
"Lost him! How, and when?" I asked.
"Two days ago, when one of our people went to his house it was closed, and no one was within. Neither the senor padre nor Candela were to be found. It is said," (and here she dropped her voice to a whisper) "the Gothos carried them off. They were here, that is certain; and we fear they have murdered him, as they have done so many other unfortunates."
In vain I tried to draw more information from the poor woman, who showed, by her sorrow, the affection she felt for the worthy padre. We also made inquiries at other cottages in the neighbourhood, but received only the same answer.
"Has no one been into the house?" I asked at length. "Perhaps they are there. They may, alas! have been murdered."
We rode back, and after searching round I found a window open. Gerald and Tim scrambled in, and I waited, expecting to have my worst antic.i.p.ations confirmed. I was indeed relieved when they came back saying that they could find no one. There was still some hope that the padre might be alive; though had he been carried off by the Spaniards, his fate might be that of many others.
As we could not longer delay, we set off, in order to reach the house of a native acquaintance of Gerald"s before dark. He was a great sportsman, Gerald told us; and having had several encounters with jaguars and pumas, he would be delighted to recount his adventures.
The house was situated some way up the mountains on the right. To reach it we had frequently to get off our horses and lead them along the rugged path. Our friend"s abode was not a grand one; it consisted but of one room, which was ornamented with his trophies of the chase. He maintained himself chiefly by keeping a large flock of goats, which lived secure from jaguars and pumas among the rugged rocks. The savage animals sometimes came, however, to try and catch them, but generally paid the penalty of their audacity with their lives. He gave us a kid for supper, and told us some wonderful stories. Even lately, a jaguar, which was crouching behind a rock, suddenly sprang out on him, and seized him by the arm. With his knife he attempted to strike the brute, when they both rolled over the precipice, and he lost all consciousness.
On recovering, the jaguar was gone; but there were marks of blood, which showed that it must have been severely wounded.
I did not fail to mention Padre Pacheco"s absence, and asked if he could divine what had become of him.
"I do not think the Gothos have got him," he answered; "for, to say the truth, I gave him information that they were coming, and, as the padre is a wise man, he would not have waited for their visit. Where he has gone I cannot tell."
I was somewhat relieved by this information, though I pictured to myself the jovial padre wandering about the wilds without food or shelter.
The next day, by starting at dawn, we reached home at an early hour.
The doctor"s first inquiry was for his patient; when, to our astonishment, we heard that he had rapidly gained strength, and on the previous night had made his escape. In consequence of his evident weakness, he had been left unguarded, and no one supposed that he had even any wish to quit the house where he had been so kindly treated.
Only the day before, he had, with evident sincerity, expressed his grat.i.tude to Norah, and taking her hand had pressed it to his lips, vowing that he would be ready to die to do her any service.
"And so I am sure he would," exclaimed Norah, when our father told us this. "Could he write, he would have left a message explaining why he has left us; and we shall hear some day that he had good reason for doing so. Still, I was as much surprised as any one else when I found this morning that he had actually fled. Probably he was afraid that he might be stopped should he express his wish to go, and therefore thought it wiser to steal off secretly. We shall hear from him before long, depend on it. I cannot believe that he is ungrateful, or had any bad motive for running away."
I fully agreed with Norah. Still, the act was so like the ordinary conduct of Indians, that it was not surprising the rest of the party should believe him to be ungrateful.
"We must wait patiently, at all events, till the mystery is elucidated,"
observed my father; "and now, as you hunters are hungry, we will go to dinner."
We had just finished our meal when Tim hurried in with the announcement that a number of our black labourers were collecting outside in a state of great commotion, three or four of them having brought in the doctor"s servant, Gab, as a prisoner. Tim informed us that, having suspicions as to his conduct, they had followed him for several miles into the mountains, when they found that he had gone to meet some Spaniards.
On hearing this the doctor seized a thick stick, and was on the point of rushing out, to break it, as he said, on Gab"s head,--or rather on his shins, for his head was not likely to be much the worse for it.
"Sit down, my good friend," said my father. "I don"t manage my blacks in that way. Let me go and speak to him, and I may perchance elicit the truth. If he has been holding any traitorous communication with the enemy, he probably knows something of their movements; he may afford us valuable information."
My father accordingly went out. I stayed a short time to try and calm the doctor, who was excessively enraged at the conduct of his servant.
"Light your meerschaum, doctor," I said, "while I go and see how matters are proceeding."
On reaching the verandah in front of the house, I found Norah and old Josefa standing there, the latter apparently as much excited as the rest of her sable brethren and sisters, who in considerable numbers were collected round the accused negro, vociferating loudly, while Jumbo, who had never taken to him, was joining in the chorus with repeated barks.
My father advanced, and having requested the rest to be silent, addressed him earnestly, and urged him at once to confess what he had been about. Gab, lifting up his hands, declared that he had had no evil intentions, as he respected his master, and was grateful to us his entertainers; and that the other blacks, through jealousy, had brought a false accusation against him. On hearing this they all shouted out as before, denouncing Senor Gab as a traitor, a spy, a barefaced hypocrite, and bestowing a good many other unsavoury epithets upon him.
"Silence, my friends," again said my father; "I must sift this matter to the bottom. You have behaved faithfully in bringing him back, and I am thankful to you. And now, Gab, tell me at once, who are the people you went to meet, and what did you say to them? You will understand that if you faithfully speak the truth, you will be rewarded; but if you endeavour in any way to deceive us, you will be punished severely."
Gab hung down his head.
"Speak at once," said my father. "I cannot allow you time to concoct a story. Who are the people you went to meet?"
"I learned nothing from them, Senor Desmond," at length replied Gab.
"They were friends of the Spaniards, I confess; and they wanted to know how many people were a.s.sembled in this house, and in Senor Concannan"s; also if there were many fighting men in the village, and whether you expected a party of the insurgent troops to come here."
"And did you give them the information they required?" asked my father.
"O senor, believe me, I did not," exclaimed Gab. "I told them as many lies as I could think of, and tried my best to deceive them."
"You audacious villain! Then how are we to believe you?" exclaimed the doctor, who now appeared on the scene, and beard his servant"s last words. "What made you go out to meet those people? Answer that. I care not what you tell us that you said to them, or they said to you."
Gab was dumb.
"The fellow has probably been all along in communication with your enemies, Senor Desmond; and his object is to gain a reward for conducting them to this place," exclaimed the doctor. "Take my advice, and hang him forthwith. As I brought him here, I feel answerable for his behaviour; and it would be a bad return for your kindness should the villain betray you."
I am very sure the doctor said this to frighten Gab, for he was not at all of a sanguinary disposition, and even the beasts of the forest he only slew in the cause of Science. But Gab, believing him to be in earnest, trembled all over, and pleaded for mercy, promising to be faithful to his master in future, and to endeavour to mislead the enemy should they come into the neighbourhood. Our own blacks, on hearing this, shouted out,--"Don"t trust him; he has got two faces--one for the enemy, and one for you!"
"I don"t intend to do so," answered my father. "We will shut him up for the present, till we have settled what punishment to inflict."
With this the rest of the blacks were far from satisfied; and I believe that, had he been handed over to them, they would very quickly have disposed of him.
He was forthwith conveyed to the room in which the Indian had been confined--a plank being nailed over the window to prevent him from communicating with any one outside, and the bedding taken away, so that he had but the bare ground to sleep on, and the naked walls to look at.
He was not likely to make his escape, as our former captive had done.
Two or three days pa.s.sed. The doctor was mostly out in the woods shooting birds and collecting animals and insects. Among the first were some beautiful humming-birds, which in great numbers frequented the neighbourhood, one species scarcely larger than a humble-bee. The doctor came home delighted with his spoils. He observed that he found different species of humming-birds in different localities. One species, which he called a "thorn-bill," does not, as do most of its race, mount to the tops of the trees, but seeks its food among the low flowering shrubs. He exhibited the little creature, which was not so large as many moths. It was of a golden green colour on the upper parts, with a dull brown below; and it had a curious tuft hanging from its chin, of a light green at the base, and purple-red towards the points. The wings and tail were of a purple-brown hue, while the under part of the tail was of brown-yellow.
High up on the hills he found another beautiful little bird which he called the "white-booted racket-tail." It possessed m.u.f.fs round the legs, and the feathers of its tail were shaped like two racket sticks.
When flying these are in constant motion, waving in the air, opening and closing in the most beautiful manner, while it darts forward with the rapidity of an arrow. The colours are chiefly of a bronze-green, with wings of a purple-brown; while the feet, just appearing below its milk-white ruffs, are yellow.
However, I have not time to describe one-half of the humming-birds or others of the feathered tribe which the doctor exhibited. I had often seen them flying about, but had never taken the pains to examine the peculiarities of each. The doctor remarked that many of them were found at an elevation of ten thousand feet above the sea, and others still higher; often on the sides of Chimborazo and Pichincha.
I after this took more particular notice of the peculiarities of the humming-birds in different districts, and thus discovered how greatly they vary according to their localities. It seems a wonder how such defenceless little creatures can exist, surrounded as they must be by numerous foes. They escape in the daytime by the rapidity of their flight; and at night from their small size, and the care they take to guard their nests (many of which are built hanging to the ends of boughs, down which even the active monkeys cannot climb). Others, again, live high up the mountains, in spots to which neither monkeys nor insects find their way.
About a week had pa.s.sed from the discovery of Gab"s supposed treachery, during which time we had felt some anxiety lest an enemy should really intend to pay us a visit; but at last, as no further information reached us, our fears began to subside. I followed the advice I had received from General Bermudez, and endeavoured, as far as I was able, to improve myself in horsemanship, and in the use of the lance and carbine, by firing at a mark as I rode at full speed. As I improved, the desire of practically employing my accomplishments against the enemies of my country increased, and I looked forward eagerly to a summons from the general. I had been one day thus engaged, at some distance from the house, when I caught sight of a mounted Indian galloping towards me. He also carried a lance, and a long bow at his back. As I saw him, the thought that he was an enemy flashed across my mind. The time had come for me to try my prowess and to fight for my life. I reloaded my carbine, which I had just fired, and, placing it across my saddle ready to raise to my shoulder, I grasped my lance, meanwhile watching the movements of the Indian. He had not unslung his bow, while his lance still rested in an upright position; and as he came on he lifted up his hand, as a sign that his intentions were peaceable. In a few seconds I had recognised our late prisoner Kanimapo. His steed was panting and covered with foam. He had evidently ridden at a rapid rate for a long distance.
"I am thankful to meet with you here, Senor Barry," he said, "for my horse is well-nigh exhausted, and there is no time to be lost. But a few hours back I gained the information that a large body of men, under the Royalist leader Aqualonga, is about to make a foray in your district, and to carry off or slaughter all suspected persons,--which means every one whom they encounter. You have heard of the man, and the fierce banditti he commands. He has had notice that a traveller with a vast amount of wealth is residing in your house, and his chief object is to get possession of it, as well as of those whom he calls traitors.
Hasten back and make all the preparations in your power for defence, for I cannot tell how soon he may attack you. You may collect a sufficient body of men from the neighbouring village to a.s.sist in defending you, and I will endeavour to bring up some of my people to your aid. Again I say you have not a moment to lose. Ride on as fast as your horse can carry you. Farewell. Trust to my desire to a.s.sist you."
I thanked Kanimapo, a.s.suring him that I would follow his advice. In the hurry of the moment, I forgot even to ask him why he had quitted our house without wishing us good-bye; and as, immediately he had done speaking, he turned his horse"s head, I put spurs into the flanks of mine and galloped homewards.