CHAPTER XXVIII
BY MY ARRANT FOLLY I LOSE MY DEAR LADY BIDDY
The sides of this gorge (which was prodigiously steep and profound, looking as if the rock had at one time been riven asunder) were craggy and barren, save here and there where some vines and brush had taken root in the crannies; however, by dint of agility in helping each other with our hands, we got down to a shelf or table of rock very agreeably covered with a soft sward, where we could rest in comfort, and refresh ourselves to our hearts' content with the wonderful sweet water we found there in a pool formed by a hollow of the rock.
And here was shade from the sun (which was now at its height), and a little cool breeze carried down by the falling water, so that we were well disposed to rest awhile, and overcome the fatigue produced by our long and difficult march, to say nothing of the exhaustion which we owed to the terrors of the morning. It seemed to me prudent also, as well as pleasurable, to repose till the heat of the day was moderated, in order to gain strength for our next march, which must carry us beyond the reach of Rodrigues and his wicked pirates, and as no place could be more proper for that purpose than this (wherein only by accident could we be discovered), I tore up from the rock half a dozen soft turfs, and, disposing them like a pillow, begged Lady Biddy to lie down at her ease.
Thanking me very sweetly, she did as I bade her, and presently fell asleep as gently as any child, which gave me exceeding happiness, for it showed how greatly she trusted in my protecting care.
For some time I sat watching her face, from which peaceful sleep had smoothed away all traces of fear and trouble, observing how her white teeth did gleam through her parted red lips; how her nether lip was round, and her upper lip pointed like a little bow, curved up; how her dark lashes curled; and how a little lock of hair had strayed from her gathered tresses and fluttered in the breeze loose upon her pale brow. I say I sat noting these trifles with an indescribable emotion in my breast; and truly, if all the world had been offered me, in exchange for my present condition, I would have refused it a thousand times. Nay, so selfish did my great joy make me, that I believe I would not have undone the past, though it had been to Lady Biddy's advantage.
My emotions growing by indulgence, and passion stirring within me as I feasted my eyes upon that lovely face, I was sorely tempted to touch her head with my fingers, yet in such a gentle manner as it should not awake her; but stretching out my hand I seemed to see upon it the blood of those men I had killed, so that I dropped it in shame, thinking what a wretch I was, and how cowardly to attempt upon her sleeping what I dared not offer if she were waking; moreover, what cleansing of my heart as well as of my hands there must be ere I might touch her without reproach.
Taking myself to task in this manner, I perceived that I must give my passion no loose, lest it should run away with me; and so, turning my eyes from her face, I set myself to think about the future and what measure I must take for my tender companion's comfort, as being vastly more creditable than the self-indulgence I had given way to.
And first, a griping in my vitals did put me in mind that we could not live on guava apples and water alone, but must have more solid victuals to strengthen us against the hardships of traveling in the desert that lay before us.
How was I to get meat? Never was man since the days of Orson so naked for the chase. Not a bodkin had I; nay, not even a stick with which to strike down a snake. Birds we had seen galore in the fruitful thicket, and thinking of the savory dish I might make of a young macaw for my Lady Biddy put me in mind of my old weapon – a sling. Then casting about for material to make this simple engine, I bethought me of my shoe that was furnished with a tongue, very proper for my purpose. Whereupon I whipped off the said shoe, and getting a sharp-edged stone I made a shift to cut it out.
"Now," thinks I, "if I had but a thorn for an awl, and a strip of silk grass for a thong, the business would be done in a trice."
Thorns there were (and to spare) in the thicket above, and I doubted not I might also find grass or the fibre of a palmetto to serve my turn. And seeing that I could get to the thicket and yet keep my eye on Lady Biddy for her safety, I cast a glance at my companion, whose bosom still heaved very gently and regularly; and satisfied she would not awake for some while, I rose and scaled the steep side of the gorge.
Being come to the top I looked down; my lady had not stirred, and so I set about cheerfully to get me the things I needed. After a little search I found a sort of grass nearly an ell long and reasonably tough, and stripping this down so as to get the mid-rib, I tested it, and found it would serve well enough for a few casts. As for a thorn, I found that without seeking – a stickle as long as a cock's spur and as sharp as any needle piercing through my breeches as I stooped to pluck a blade of the aforesaid grass.
Having all that I needed (and more, by the smarting wound in my thigh), I went back to the edge of the gorge whence I could see Lady Biddy, and set about making my sling. This being done to my satisfaction – not so stout as I could wish, but good enough as a makeshift – I hunted about for round stones, and got me half a dozen suitable enough. And now being armed, I itched to put my weapon to its use.
There was not a sound but the breaking of the water, and all around looked so still and peaceful that I deemed I might safely venture to ramble a little way in quest of game. Yet still I hesitated, but just then I heard the whir of wings hard by, and casting my eye that way, spied a bird which later I heard the Indians call a macucagua, about the size of an English pheasant and not unlike it, making for a plantain tree that stood in a coppice not far distant. I saw him alight on the tree and attack its fruit, on which this bird is a greedy feeder, and after him I started as stealthily as I might, that he should not take wing again before I got within range. From bush to bush I crept, till, getting pretty close, I slipped a stone into the sole of my sling, and stepping into the open gave my sling a twirl and let fly. By good chance my shot hit the bird in the neck, and so much to his damage that flying up he beat his wings vainly against the boughs and then fell fluttering to the ground. Yet was he only stupefied by the blow, and, being come to the ground, flew up again away for a furlong, and thence up once more and off for half a furlong more, so that by the time I finally overtook him and put an end to the business by wringing his neck I was pretty well three parts of a mile from the coppice where I started. However, I took not much heed of this or of the time it had taken me to steal to the coppice from the gorge, being mightily pleased with myself for my address.
Handling my bird I was as pleased as any fool to observe how fat he was, to find that he weighed four pounds if an ounce, etc.: nay, I was so fond as to pluck one of his tail feathers and stick it in my coat for a trophy. Then I fell to considering how I should dress him, and remembering how I had got fire by rubbing two dry sticks together that time I was in the Oronoque, I wasted another ten minutes in seeking wood that would serve my turn now. In short, by the time I had brought this silly business to an end and started off to rejoin Lady Biddy, more than half an hour was gone from the moment I began it.
When I got back to the edge of the gorge and looked down, I came to a stand like one suddenly bereft of his senses. Lady Biddy was gone!
I could not fetch my breath; the bird that was paid for so dearly slipped from my powerless fingers, nor did I ever see anything more of him save the feather I had stuck in my coat, and my limbs quaked under me. Then I would not believe but that I had mistaken the place, until the turfs I had pulled up for a pillow met my eye and convinced me that it was there and nowhere else that I had left her.
"She is gone!" I moaned; and then, striking my breast with my clenched fist, I muttered, "And thou, villain, must answer for her fate."
Then, hoping that she had but strolled a little way to find me, I rushed along the edge of the ravine to a rock that hung over the deep cleft. From this point I could see down to the bottom of the gorge where the stream ran into the river. Just within this creek lay a boat, which only too clearly discovered the reason why Lady Biddy was no longer where I had left her.
At that very moment I heard her voice calling faintly as from a great distance —
"Benet, Benet!" Then there was silence while I looked in vain to see her down the ravine, doubting not that she was being carried away to the boat below.
"Benet!" she cried, yet a little louder, yet still faintly. "Benet!"
I felt sure that she saw me and was crying for help, and it maddened me that I could not see her. Nor could I guess from her voice in what part of the ravine she had been taken for the breaking of the waters and the echo of the rocks. But leaping to another rock and craning my neck over, I caught sight of two fellows, whom I knew for Rodrigues' rascals, rounding a bend of the gorge below. And one of them, facing about, lifts his finger warningly as if to signal those who followed that they should stifle Lady Biddy's cry for help.
CHAPTER XXIX
I FIND MY LADY BIDDY, AND WE DESPOIL OUR ENEMIES; WITH OTHER FACETIOUS MATTER
The moment I concluded that those wretches at the foot of the ravine were carrying off Lady Biddy I threw myself down the rocks to her rescue; and had the chances of breaking my neck thereby been a hundredfold as great I should not have hesitated. For I considered that it was by my fault she had been taken, and that therefore I owed my life for hers; indeed, I valued not my life as a straw, save as it might be of service to her, for what use was life to me without her? I might as well be dead and forgotten as alive and she lost; nay better, for to live bereft for ever of her, or in doubt as to her fate, would be continual misery and the cause of never-abating self-reproach.
With these thoughts running confusedly in my head and urging me to desperate leaps which I had never dared to attempt in cooler blood, I descended that rocky gorge like any bounding ball, till coming to level ground, I spied half a dozen fellows clustered together in the shadow of a rock round one who was slicing a pine-nut to share among them. But no Lady Biddy could I see; nor was there any sign of her between them and the boat which lay hard by in the creek, as I have said.
By this time, the heat of my spirits being somewhat abated I reasoned with myself that to attack those six men, unarmed as I was, would be a piece of foolhardy madness which could do her no good, nor me neither, except as the cutting of my throat would put me out of my present anxiety, and that if I was to rescue her at all it must be by cunning. Whereof I set myself to approach them unseen, that I might learn, if possible, where they had bestowed their captive, and this I did without great difficulty, for hereabouts were many scattered stones and abundant growth of prickly shrubs, ground-palms, and the like.
Being come so nigh them that I could hear their remarks upon the fruit they were eating, which seemed entirely to occupy their thoughts, I waited for the conversation to take another turn. Presently one of them, flinging himself on the ground, says:
"Well, mates, I take it we've done work enough for this bout, so here shall I lie at my ease till it be time to fill the barricoes and get back a ship-board."
"Ay, I'm with you there, Jack," says another, following his example.
The rest were not slow to lie down likewise, save one, who, scratching his head, says:
"How about this here female we are to carry back alive or dead?"
"Plague take her, say I, and the likes of her," grunted he who spoke first. "What do we want of females? She's brought us no luck, and I'd as soon see a rat in the ship."
"So say I," chimed in his mate. "The other fellows have gone after her, and let them catch her if they may. For my own part I wish her no worse luck than to give them leg-bail and lose herself in these woods. You don't catch me running after no females till I get back to Penzance."
Hearing this I was struck with amazement, and could not too much admire my folly in rushing headlong into danger without proper occasion. For now I readily perceived what was the fact, that Lady Biddy, awaking after my departure, had caught sight of the men at the foot of the gorge and taken measures to conceal herself from discovery should they ascend. While thus hidden she had seen me come upon that point of rock, and to attract my attention, had called me by name as loud as she dared. My descent had been too furious for her to stop me by her further cries, which were lost upon my ear; and thus, in going to her, as I thought, had drawn myself away.
However, it was with a glad heart that I perceived my folly, and stealthily withdrew from those men whom a few minutes earlier I was like to have fallen among, and turned to follow the course of the torrent to the level above.
I made short work of this business when I was fairly out of sight of the seamen, and before long I again heard that sweet voice calling, "Benet, Benet!" upon which, casting my eyes eagerly about, I descried my dear Lady Biddy in a little natural cavern formed by two leaning rocks. She clasped her hands, and her face beamed with joy to see me again; but if she was pleased – lord! what was I? Then we sat down together and narrated our experiences, I blaming myself hugely for my headstrong conduct; yet still she smiled.
"Won't you be angry with me, Lady Biddy, for my rashness?" says I.
"Nay," says she; "you may blame yourself, but I cannot; for was it not to save me you encountered this danger? Since it has ended thus, I can but be pleased with this proof of your devotion. Yet, when I call again, I would not have you run away."
Then we were silent awhile; I know not why, except that I was too happy to speak.
But presently, reflecting on the dangers we had escaped, and considering how we might yet be encompassed by those who had given us chase on the sands – for, if one parcel of wretches came hither by accident, why might not the rest? – it came into my head that if we could descend and possess ourselves of the empty boat while the men were yet sleeping, we might come to the other side of the river, and so secure ourselves from pursuit. This scheme did so recommend itself to me that I at once propounded it to Lady Biddy.
"Have you not run enough risk, Benet?" she asked, a little frightened by the audacity of my design.
"Ay," says I; "and 'tis for that very reason I would put that broad river betwixt us and the recurrence of such risks."
"As you will," says she, with spirit. "If it ought to be done, you shall not find me wanting in courage."
I gave her my reasons for thinking it should be attempted, and she was the first to rise, saying, as she did so:
"I am ready. Let us set about it at once."
So, with good heart, we started to encounter this new peril.
First of all we followed the stream of waterfalls till we found a part where we could cross to the other side, and, getting over without great difficulty, we scaled the further slope, that from the ridge we might discover some other way of reaching the river-side than by the gorge.
And here we found the hillside clothed with a very dense wood, having but little undergrowth because of the shade. By running from tree to tree we managed very well to break the descent, and came at length into wet ground; but in these parts there is no danger or hardship in wetting the feet; so along this level we made our way till we came to a great growth of reeds that stood like a green wall before us. Here we went up a little, for the reeds betokened deeper water, besides being a harbor for cockodrills and water-snakes; then, pushing on still further, we reached the end of that reedy growth, and perceived we were come to the creek where the stream discharged itself, and not a stone's throw from the boat. Whereupon I bade Lady Biddy wait there patiently awhile, and crept forward, under cover of the bush, until I caught sight of the seamen. They were all asleep like so many logs, and most of them on their faces, as is the manner of mariners when they slumber.
Coming from my cover I stepped into the stream, which spread out and was of considerable depth, and carefully waded to the boat, unhitched the head line from the bush to which it was attached, and letting it swing out into the current drew it as gently as might be to that spot where Lady Biddy was waiting in pale concern.
I beckoned to her, and she came boldly out and stepped noiselessly into the boat; then got I in after her, and, taking up an oar, shoved gently out over the shoal until I had depth and room to ply my oars. Still was I obliged to be stealthy, for we were yet within gunshot, and the fellows had their muskets with them; nor had they left a weapon in the boat save only one sword, which, however, was a treasure to me. So then I pulled for some while very gently, but getting a furlong from the shore I laid to with a will; and it was a great delight to see how Lady Biddy did smile and rub her hands together for glee.
Now, being out a good way, I saw that this was no river at all, so far as I could make out, but only a great lake of water made by the stream that rushed down the hills and flooded the valley in the rainy season. There was no break in the chain of hills that environed us, and we were, as it seemed, in the centre of a prodigious hollow. And these slopes were all clothed with trees in bloom (the flowering season not yet being over), and wherever the eye rested it was delighted with glowing hues, brilliant where the sun fell, and delicate in the shade, so that looking around it was as if a thick haze of color rose from these woods.
"It is like a land of faerie," said Lady Biddy; and, indeed, it did seem like enchantment. Yet was I sorry this was not a river, but only a kind of lagoon; however, I knew it would cost our pursuers a week to get at us by going round the lake by those thick, tangled woods; nor could they fetch another boat to our pursuit without giving us ample time for escape.
As we neared the opposite shore the chain of mountains disappeared behind the nearer hills, which showed that they were at a considerable distance; but this gave me no great concern. Nor did I cast my eyes that way frequently, being more intent to see if the fellows had discovered the loss of their boat. We reached the shore, and yet I could see no sign of their moving, though I plainly descried the rock against which they lay.
We had fallen down a little towards the sea by reason of a current where the lake, as I call it, disembogued into the sea beyond the bar of sand, so that when we landed we perceived the black ship lying out at her moorings, but happily at a great distance.
I pulled the boat into the bank, which was here washed by the current free of the refuse that lay upon the other side, and having helped Lady Biddy to land, I fetched the sword out of the boat, and drawing it from its scabbard found it was as a good sword as any could wish to have, which was a great comfort to me.
While I was making fast the boat I was startled by a loud thump in the hinder part of it; but upon opening the locker to see what might have caused this noise, I discovered then to my great delight a tortugua1 lying on his back. Then, calling Lady Biddy, I bade her come and look at the supper our enemies had provided for us. At first she was frightened at the sight of this poor, inoffensive creature, never having seen the like before; but when I told her that it was excellent meat as any prince might eat, she was as pleased as I, being by this time pretty sharp set. Then, having both a mind to make our supper whilst we might, she set about to gather sticks for a fire while I dispatched the tortugua and cut some steaks ready for dressing with my sword-blade, for other cutlery had we none.
While I was still at this business, Lady Biddy comes back with her arms full of sticks, and very cheerful.
"But, Benet," says she, of a sudden, dropping the wood and turning aghast, "what is the use of wood with nothing to light it?"
So I showed her how to get fire by rubbing two bits of touchwood together, and to see us on our knees blowing the embers into a flame, choking as the smoke got into our throats, and laughing as we rubbed our smarting eyes, all as merry as grigs, one would have thought we had come there a pleasuring and had no trouble in the world. It is clear enough why I was happy, but I can only explain Lady Biddy's lightness of heart by contrasting her present condition with the days and nights of terror and bitter suffering that had gone before.
Be that how it may, I know this, that, as we knelt before the fire cooking our steaks on the end of sticks, we had to lay them down for laughing, when we heard the poor fools on the other side of the lake firing off their muskets in rage to find their boat gone, and to see the smoke of the fire at which we were cooking their tortugua for our own comfort. Indeed, to think of the plight of those who did seek to do us mortal hurt – one party cursing in the midst of tearing thorns, and the other with no means of getting back to their ship but by threading intricate woods, with a sorry reception when they showed themselves to their captain at last – was enough to make any cat laugh.