Up the Forked River: or, Adventures in South America

CHAPTER XII

But the fly was still in the ointment. General Yozarro showed in innumerable ways that his passion swayed him more absolutely, if possible, than before. It appeared in the touch of his hand when assisting Miss Starland to mount or alight from her horse on which she rode with her friends through the picturesque country that surrounded the capital, – in the glance of his ardent black eyes, in the sigh which he pretended to try to keep from her, and in the many hints which he dropped of his lonely life since the death of his wife. The young woman could not touch upon these themes, lest he accept it as encouragement; so she contented herself with parrying them. She began to long for the time when she should turn her back upon Atlamalco forever.

On a certain balmy forenoon, General Yozarro, his niece and Miss Starland rode out from the town and over the trail leading into the Rubio Mountains. They were on their way to Castillo Descanso, which had been the cause of much fighting between the republics, and which had finally fallen into the possession of the Dictator of Atlamalco. It was a considerable way in the mountains and stood upon an elevation that brought it out in clear view from the capital.

“It is fully three centuries old,” explained Señorita Estacardo to her friend, “and is unlike anything I have ever seen in this part of the world. I suppose there are plenty of similar buildings along the Rhine and perhaps on your own Hudson, which has been called the Rhine of America.”

“How came it to be built?”

“I can only repeat the legends that have come down to us. Some great pirate or general of Spain or Portugal – I don’t know which – came up the river in quest of gold mines of which he had heard stories from the natives. You know that the first Spaniards who crossed the ocean to our continent cared more for gold than any or everything else, and stopped at no crimes to obtain it.”

“That was the case with many other nations.”

“Well, this buccaneer landed his crew here and tramped inland to the mountains, where the gold was reported to be. He took with him several hundred native prisoners to work the mines. He is said to have been very successful, and while his slaves were digging in the mountains, he set many others to work building him a home.

“Oh, there was no element of romance lacking, for he brought with him a young and beautiful bride and it was for her that the Castle was built. He must have learned from Columbus, Balboa, Pizarro and the other early explorers that the worm sometimes turns and that it was wise for him to make his position safe against any revolt of the Indians. So the house which you are about to visit was put up. It is of solid stone and three stories high, – something almost unknown in an earthquake country like ours.”

“But what became of this fine old gentleman?”

“I declare I forgot that. He lived there for years and then found that the danger against which he had made such full preparations was not the one that threatened him. The natives did not revolt, though why they did not I do not understand, for he treated them like beasts of burden and killed many in mere wantonness. It was his own men who rose against him. They had gathered a great deal of gold, but grew homesick. They hated the country and begged him again and again to leave or allow them to go, since they had enough wealth for all. He swore that not one should depart till the store of gold was increased ten-fold. Then, and not until then, would he weigh anchor, spread sail and pass down the river to the ocean and so homeward.

“Well, although I suppose the men were able to gather more gold, it is not to be supposed they could have gotten as much as he wished. So they took the shortest way to close up the business. They killed the captain and his bride, carried aboard ship all the wealth they had collected, set sail and passed out from further chronicle. What do you think of the story, Warrenia?”

“It has the true flavor and makes me anxious to look through the Castle.”

General Yozarro, who was riding in advance along the narrow trail, and listening to the words of his niece at the rear, called over his shoulder:

“That privilege shall be yours in a brief time, Miss Starland; I am glad you are interested.”

“How could any one help it? Is the Castle yours, General?”

“Yes; it may be said to be a part of the spoils of war. The boundary line between Atlamalco and Zalapata runs through these mountains, but its precise course has never been defined. The Castle rightfully belonged to Atlamalco, but General Bambos claimed that it stood on his territory. Since he was deaf to argument and reason nothing remained but to refer it to the arbitrament of arms, with the result that General Bambos is quite sure not to open the dispute again.”

“Did those visitors of the long ago take away all the gold in the mountains?”

“That is quite impossible.”

“Why do you not dig or mine for what is left?”

“I have thought of that, but it seems wise to wait until I gain some one to share my lonely life with me.”

“Would it not be more considerate to finish the work before that time, so that you both will be at leisure to enjoy it? How much better than waging war with your neighbors!”

“I have sufficient gold for me and mine. You mean it would be better for my neighbors to refrain from waging war against me. I made a religious vow long since never to go to war except in the defence of my rights, and that you know is one’s solemn duty.”

It was the same old argument that General Bambos had used in discussing the question with Major Jack Starland.

The young woman made no reply, for she saw it would be useless, and her escort added:

“Your counsel is good, Miss Starland, but suppose General Bambos should construe such action on my part as unfriendly?”

“Surely he cannot do so, unless you enter his territory, and that I am sure you have no thought of doing.”

“You know not the perfidy of that man,” was the commentary of the Dictator, his words inspired by jealousy.

When the Castle of Rest was reached it justified all that Señorita Estacardo had said of it, though it lacked moat and drawbridge and the other feudal accessories. It was of massive rock and stone, sixty or more feet in length and almost as broad. The lowest floor consisted of two large rooms, with broad openings instead of doors, rough and unfurnished and with walls several feet in thickness. At the time of its building, it would have resisted any armament that could have been brought to bear against it. The crevices between the stones throughout the structure had been filled with clay or adobe, which in the course of centuries had hardened to the consistency of rock itself. The second and third stories contained each four apartments, whose walls were of less thickness, but the whole constituted a veritable Gibraltar. Sloping stone steps connected each story, but only the rooms of the second contained anything in the nature of furniture.

It was evident that General Yozarro had given this portion recent attention, for the windows, tall, narrow and paneless, had been screened by netting with the finest of meshes, though none can be fine enough to wholly exclude the infinitesimal insects like the coloradilla, or red flea, whose bite is as the point of a red hot needle, the sand fly, and other devilish insects beyond enumeration. Matting was spread on the smooth stone floors, there were imported chairs of costly make, stands, a bureau and much of what constitutes the appointments of a modern residence in a tropical country. The doors were made of a species of wood, beautifully carved, but showing no effects of the tooth of time, except in the gray faded color, for paint had never touched them. They were powerful enough to defy a battering ram, fitted with enormous locks and heavy bars that could be slipped into the massive iron receptacles.

“Had that old buccaneer been given notice of the attack by his men,” said Miss Starland, when the building had been inspected from top to bottom, “he might have shut himself in one of these rooms and bade them do their worst.”

“Perhaps he did,” suggested General Yozarro.

“And yet the legend says he fell.”

“Starvation and thirst are enemies to whom the bravest must surrender.”

“It looks, General, as if you had been rejuvenating this fine old Castle.”

“I have done so to a certain extent in honor of your coming. Besides I thought my niece would find a stay here pleasant during the oppressive weather and I prepared it partly for her. You observe how much cooler it is here than in the capital.”

CHAPTER XIII

All had observed this fact which was natural. The elevation of the structure, which was open to every breeze that fluttered through the mountains, made it one of the most comfortable places in that part of the world. Another thing had been noted by the young women. Two armed sentinels were pacing outside, and two more came forward from the lower apartments and saluted the General and his party. They relieved one another at regular intervals, and three of them had their wives domiciled on the second floor. These were slatterns, not wholly lacking in a certain comeliness, and eyed the visitors with shy curiosity. The latter spoke to them in Spanish, to which they smiled and replied in soft, awed monosyllables, and respectfully watched the movements of the young women.

General Yozarro descended the lower stairs, leaving his young friends on the second floor, where they lingered a few minutes to admire the view from the windows. The broad, wooded plain, stretching to the verge of vision, the town nestling in the lowlands a few miles away, the sweep of the river, and the cloudless blue sky formed a picture that would always linger in the memory of all whose privilege it was to look upon them.

The two turned to descend the steps, when the Señorita missed one of her gloves. Hurriedly glancing about her, she said:

“I must have dropped it in the story above; I’ll run up and search, while you may find it below or on the outside.”

She darted off like a bird, and Miss Starland moved down the sloping steps which gave back not the slightest sound. The female servants had preceded her, so that for a brief time she was alone. She reached the lower floor, and was passing through the opening leading out doors, when she heard some one speaking in a low, but excited voice. She paused and discovered that he was swearing frightfully, the passion of the speaker being the more fearful because of the repression of the tones. With a shock which cannot be described, she recognized the voice as General Yozarro’s, and, more shameful than all, he was addressing one of the women.

In her distress, and determined not to hear the words, Miss Starland softly ran up the steps and was looking through the rooms again for the missing glove, when her friend, with a glowing smile, came down holding it up in her hand. Both laughed over the insignificant incident, and Miss Starland took care as they descended that her own merriment continued. General Yozarro, thus warned, finished his imprecations, and met them with his usual smiles and graciousness. In his snowy suit, sombrero in hand, he was the acme of cool politeness and courtesy. Had not Miss Starland identified his voice unmistakably, she could not have believed what her ears had told her.

That one revelation, however, did its work. She was resolved to leave Atlamalco on the first opportunity and never to set foot within the Republic again. She had come to look upon this man with a mortal horror, for, under the mask of chivalry, he carried the blackest of hearts.

The return ride was trying to the last degree. General Yozarro seemed to have forgotten his promise to his niece, and tortured her friend with attentions which filled her with resentment. When he assisted her to dismount, he pressed her hand for an instant until the rings on her fingers dented the flesh and almost caused her to cry out with pain. He uttered endearing expressions in a voice so low that no ears except those for which they were intended heard them, and they gave no heed. Her friend seemed to see nothing of all this, though she must have been aware of it.

The irrepressible lover, more hopelessly enmeshed than ever, insisted upon their visitor sitting with him and his niece on the piazza in the moonlight, but in desperation, she pleaded a headache – when she had never suffered therefrom – and kept her room.

“And Jack never dreams of anything of this kind,” was her thought; “he is only a few miles away, and I shall insist that I be taken to him on the morrow.”

Having made her resolution, she carried it out. At the table, which was set in the large back room of General Yozarro’s city house, and provided with the choicest fruits and every delicacy that the fertile republic could furnish, she made known her wish. She longed to see her brother on an important matter, and begged that she might be taken to him with the least possible delay. The others expressed their regret, and the General offered to send for her relative.

“The one who goes to take the message can as well take me along,” said she, determined to force the point.

“Do you expect to remain with him long?” inquired the General.

“I know of nothing to prevent our coming back quite soon.”

“Your wish is my command; I shall be very busy today on important matters. Suppose we take the ride to Zalapata on my gunboat this evening?”

“That will be delightful!” exclaimed the niece, and though it was not the exact arrangement her friend wished, she could offer no objection and it was so agreed.

Thus it came to pass that the General Yozarro steamed past Major Jack Starland and Captain Guzman, while the two sat smoking in front of the native’s hut on the northern shore of the Rio Rubio, without either party suspecting how near they were to each other.

The long day gave General Yozarro abundant time to perfect his schemes which were carried out with precision and a faultless nicety of detail.

Two miles beyond the hut, while the young women were partaking of refreshments in the Captain’s room, which had been specially fitted for their reception, he came to them in great agitation.

“I have just discovered that General Bambos has obtained a boat somewhere and is descending the river with the undoubted purpose of attacking Atlamalco.”

“Let us hasten back ahead of him,” said his startled niece, who like her friend was in dismay over the tidings.

“It will never do to flee before him; he must be kept from reaching our capital; a battle with him is a necessity.”

“With us on board?”

“I do not see how it can be helped – but hold! I will land you here and send you to Castillo Descanso, where you will be beyond all harm. Ah! that is it! That is it!”

CHAPTER XIV

The tug rounded to and approached the shore so close that by running out the gangplank, the young women were readily assisted to land. They were nervously eager, for there was no saying when the hostile craft would appear and open fire, since its crew and leader must be unaware of the presence of the noncombatants.

General Yozarro could not have been more thoughtful. He was profuse in his regrets because it was necessary to subject them to this inconvenience, and he assured both over and over again that everything would be done for their comfort.

“You know the Castle is prepared for your stay, which I hope will be brief; I shall see that nothing is neglected and you will hear from me tomorrow.”

The three were standing for a minute or two on the bank, having but little luggage to take with them, since, when they left Atlamalco nothing like this had been dreamed of by the two.

“But, General,” said the Señorita, “it is a mile to the Castle; how are we to reach there alone and at night?”

Before he answered, two men came silently out of the gloomy wood. They were in the uniform of soldiers, and one of them, saluting, said:

“General, we have the horses saddled and waiting.”

“That is fortunate; I will assist you to mount.”

This time he did not press the hand of Miss Starland, when with his slight help, she vaulted into the saddle, nor did he sigh or give expression to anything sentimental. The time was too critical for anything like that. He waved them farewell, hurried aboard over the plank, which was quickly drawn in, and the screw of the tugboat began churning the muddy water, as she circled slowly about and headed up stream.

The young women, being mounted, looked apprehensively out over the moonlit stream, expecting and dreading the coming of the other boat which was to fire the opening gun of another senseless and vicious conflict between the peppery republics. The situation, however, was too dangerous for them to wait more than a few minutes, and one of the soldiers, doffing his sombrero, spoke with the utmost deference:

“I will lead the way and your horse will follow. My comrade will walk at the rear; be assured there is no danger.”

Each man carried a musket and the one who had spoken turned inland. The horse of the American followed, the gait of all being the ordinary walk. The Señorita was only a few steps behind her, while the second soldier silently stalked at the rear. The American noticed that they were following a clearly marked path or trail, which soon began descending, then climbed upward, and wound around and between rocks, the gloom in some places being so deep that she caught only shadowy glimpses of the guide in front, as he plodded onward like one familiar with his course. At times there were openings where the light was like that at mid-day. She might well have trembled had not her animal been sure-footed, for they had penetrated no more than a few hundred yards, when the little procession began threading along the face of a mass of rocks, where the path was so narrow that she felt the swish of her skirts against the mountain wall, and on her right it sloped downward perpendicularly, until what seemed a bottomless pit was hidden in a pool of gloom. A misstep by any member of the party would have sent him or her to instant destruction. But the animals and men moved confidently, though the pace was slow. Evidently, with the exception of the women, all were familiar, not only with this method of traveling, but with this particular route.

As soon as our friends had become accustomed to the work, the thoughts of both reverted to the river, and they listened with shrinking foreboding for the sound of the guns that would mark the opening of the fight between the two craft. General Yozarro had declared that he would not permit the boat of his enemy to reach the capital, and he intimated that as soon as he was released from the care of the ladies, he would be quick to open the naval battle.

“He steamed up stream,” reflected Miss Starland, “but he will not go far; he is seeking a favorable position near by and the conflict will be a fierce one.”

But the minutes passed and the silence was unbroken. Naught but the myriad voices of the jungle thrummed into her ears and she found herself wondering what the explanation of the continued silence could be. Had General Yozarro changed his mind and hastened to his capital, with the decision to offer defence there? She could not believe it. It seemed more probable that he had hurried down the river toward Zalapata to meet his antagonist, who may have turned and fled to his own town. Even this looked unlikely, but it was the only explanation that presented itself. She would have liked to converse with her friend, but the circumstances were unfavorable. The continual shifting of conditions compelled her to keep a firm seat and rein and to watch every step of her horse.

As the minutes passed and they penetrated farther into the interior, without hearing the boom of the gun, a disquieting question forced itself upon her. How did it come about that when she and her friend were put ashore, two soldiers were awaiting them, with properly saddled animals? It could not have been accident or coincidence. They must have been there by order of General Yozarro, who intended from the first that the landing should be made. No other theory was reasonable. Had any doubt lingered, it would have been removed by the silence of the armed craft.

This question inevitably suggested the other as to the reason why General Yozarro had adopted so extraordinary a policy. Had he wished to send the two to the Castle, there was not the shadow of a difficulty in doing so, by the simplest and most direct means. As we know, they had already visited the gloomy building and would not have hesitated to accompany him again. Why all this mystery of landing them from the boat at night and sending them into the mountains in charge of two of his soldiers?

The thoughts that thronged upon the American were too perplexing for solution, and she resolutely put them away for a more convenient season. When she and her comrade could sit down and talk in quietude, they might formulate the explanation which at present was beyond reach.

One resolution, however, had crystallized: she would lose no time or opportunity in getting beyond the domain of General Yozarro and would never again willingly enter it. She had had more than enough of Zalapata as well as Atlamalco, and yearned for the return of Jack’s yacht, when they could flit from a country which she had come to detest unutterably. She dearly loved Manuela and could not reconcile herself to the thought of losing her companionship forever; but from this time forward, the American must voyage to the country which had been her home for years, and where she could be assured of respectful treatment.