Part 28 (1/2)

”Well, well,” he said, ”how people differ; now, for my part, when I receive payment for the work of my mules I care not in the least whether it comes from a heretic's pockets or those of a good Catholic. But I did not know that you Brazilians were heretics, senor.”

”As a rule we are not,” Stephen said, ”but my case is an exception; I will tell you more about it on the journey. Callao is not the town where it is safe to be a heretic.”

”No, indeed,” the muleteer said with a laugh; ”however, it is no business of mine, senor. A gentleman whose name I know not, but to whom I was recommended by a cousin of mine, who is a relation of the old woman who has just left us, made a bargain with me to take you to the Amazon or a river running into it. He agreed to give me my own terms. He paid me a third of the money in advance, and said that you would pay me the remainder at the end of the journey. He said that you were a Brazilian, and spoke Chilian better than our tongue; though, indeed, they are so much alike that one pa.s.ses as well as the other, or did till this war began.

That account of you may be true or it may not, it is no business whatever of mine. A man says to me, I want you to carry a bag of salt to such a place. I agree as to the terms, and it is no matter to me whether the sack contains salt or sand as long as the weight is the same. Your things all came up here to-day, senor-your wallet, and your sword, and a brace of pistols, a rifle and a bird gun. You will find everything right. I understood that it was your wish, for some reason which was again no business of mine, to start as soon as you arrived, and I have three mules standing saddled in the stable if you are ready to start.”

”I should certainly be glad to do so, Gomez. I have, as you say, my reasons for wanting to be off as soon as possible.”

Accordingly the three mules were at once brought round, the baggage divided between them, and five minutes later, after blowing out the candle and locking the door behind him, the muleteer mounted and rode off with Stephen.

CHAPTER XVI.

AN INDIAN GUIDE.

”Of course we must go through Lima,” Stephen said as they started.

”a.s.suredly, senor, the roads over the pa.s.ses all start from there, and it would take us a long circuit to avoid the town.”

”Oh, there is no occasion to avoid it,” Stephen said. ”It is about five miles, is it not?”

”That is the distance; but, as the road ascends a good deal, we generally count it as six. It is a fine city Lima, and I hope that it will not be very long before we shall be able to enjoy it without the presence of the Spaniards; we think they cannot remain here much longer. If the Chilian army would but move from the sea-coast the whole country would be up in arms. We would rather have done without the Chilians if we could, for there has never been any great friends.h.i.+p between them and the Peruvians.

I do not say between them and us, for I am almost as much Chilian as Peruvian, seeing that I was born within half a mile of the frontier and high up in the hills. But there is more money to be made here. In the first place, the Peruvians have more towns beyond the pa.s.ses, and there is more traffic; and in the next place, in Chili most men are ready to work if there is money to be made, whereas most of the Peruvians are too lazy to pick up gold if it lay at their feet. Most men in our business come from the hills.”

”And why don't the Peruvians and Chilians like each other?”

”Who can tell. The Chilians have a colder climate, and the people for the most part came from the north of Spain; they are hardier and more active; then, too, they are not so strict in church matters, and here they call them heretics, and a Peruvian hates a heretic a great deal worse than he does the father of all evil. We muleteers pray to the saints for protection on our journeys, and before we start on a long expedition burn a few candles at the shrine of our patron saint, and we never pa.s.s a shrine or a wayside cross without making a prayer; but we don't concern ourselves with other people's religion; that is their business, not ours.

But that is not so with the Spaniards, and the Peruvians are just as bad.

You may kill a man in a knife fight and no one cares much about it. But if you were to pa.s.s a village shrine without raising your sombrero they would be ready to tear you in pieces as a heretic.”

”What is the country like when you once get over the mountains?”

”It is a tree country and generally flat. Here you see the hillsides are mostly bare; but on the other side of the ranges of mountains-for there are two chains-the forest grows almost to the top, and, as I have heard, they extend thousands of miles over the country beyond. In these great forests there are swamps and rivers, great rivers. Very few white men know where they rise or how they go, but they all run into the largest of them all, which, when it gets near the sea, is called the Amazon, but which has many names at different points of its course. They say that some of these rivers have many rapids and falls, and on almost all of them there are Indians who are more dangerous still; some of them they say eat men who fall into their hands.

”It is a terrible journey that you are undertaking, senor. One thing is certain, you must take with you some man of courage and resolution, one who at least knows something of the country. No man knows much, but there are men, Indians, who make it their business either to trade or to guide traders. Of course they never go very far, but they have gone far enough to know much of the nature of the dangers and difficulties.”

”Do you think that you would be able to find me such a man?”

”There are many,” the muleteer said; ”but it is not everyone that can be trusted. I know of one man who, if he happened to be at home and disengaged, would suit you well if he would undertake such a journey. He would go if anyone would, for no dangers terrify him, and he has made, before now, perilous expeditions with officers and others who have sought to discover the sources of the rivers. He lives in a village but a few miles from the summit of the pa.s.s, and if you have not as yet decided on your route, he will at any rate, if he cannot go himself, give you better advice than you can obtain from anyone else I know of.”

They pa.s.sed through the city of Lima unnoticed. There were still numbers of people in the streets, and the sound of musical instruments came from the open windows. Parties of ladies stood on the balconies and were enjoying the coolness of the night air, and it was evident that Lima had no thoughts of going to bed for a long time yet.

”You would hardly see a soul in the streets while the sun is high,” the muleteer said upon Stephen remarking on the number of people still about.

”The whole town goes to sleep from eleven to four or five, the shops are all closed, and save on a business of life or death no one would think of going out. About six the day really begins, and goes on until one in the morning; then people sleep till five or six, and for a time the streets are busy; the marketing is done then, the ladies all go to early ma.s.s, the troops do their exercises; by nine the streets begin to thin, and by ten they are deserted.”

Stephen was much struck with the appearance of the town, which had been laid out with great care, the streets running at right angles to each other, and being all precisely the same width, dividing the town into regular blocks. It contained at that time some 70,000 inhabitants. He was surprised at the want of height in the houses, comparatively few of which had more than one story. On remarking on this to the muleteer, the latter said: