Part 12 (1/2)

”We just finished installing the rollers tonight. There was no chance to test it. But I explained the operation to the indentures. We'll see if they can remember.”

An ox had been harnessed to each of the two sweeps; as Briggs approached he signaled the servants to whip them forward. The men nodded and lashed out at the animals, who snorted, tossed their heads, then began to trudge in a circular path around the mill. Immediately the central roller began to turn, rotating the outer rollers against it by way of its cogs. As the rollers groaned into movement, several of the indentures backed away and studied them nervously.

”Well, what are you waiting for?” Briggs yelled at the two men standing nearest the mill, holding the first bundles of cane. ”Go ahead and try feeding it through.”

One of the men moved gingerly toward the grinding rollers and reached out, at arm's length, to feed a small bundle consisting of a half dozen stalks of cane into the side rotating away from him. There was a loud crackle as the bundle began to gradually disappear between the rollers.

As the crushed cane stalks emerged on the rear side of the mill, a second indenture seized the flattened bundle and fed it back through the pair of rollers turning in the opposite direction. In moments a trickle of pale sap began sliding down the sides of the rollers and dripping into a narrow trough that led through the wall and down the incline toward the boiling house.

Briggs walked over to the trough and examined the running sap in silence. Then he dipped in a finger and took it to his lips. He savored it for a moment, looked up, triumph in his eyes, and motioned the other men forward.

”Have a taste. It's the sweetest nectar there could ever be.” As the planters gathered around the trough sampling the first cane juice, indentures continued feeding a steady progression of cane bundles between the rollers. While the planters stood watching, the trough began to flow.

”It works, by Christ.” Marlott emitted a whoop and dipped in for a second taste. ”The first English sugar mill in all the world.”

”We've just witnessed that grand historic moment, Miss Bedford.”

Winston turned back to her, his voice sardonic. ”In a little more time, these wonderful sugarmills will probably cover Barbados. Together with the slaves needed to cut the cane for them. I'd wager that in a few years' time there'll be more Africans here than English. What we've just witnessed is not the beginning of the great English Caribbees, but the first step toward what'll one day be the great African Caribbees. I suggest we take time to savor it well.”

His voice was drowned in the cheer rising up from the cl.u.s.ter of planters around Briggs. They had moved on down the incline now and were standing next to the boiling house, watching as the sap began to collect in a tank. Briggs scrutinized the tank a moment longer, then turned to the group. ”This is where the sap's tempered with wet ashes just before it's boiled. That's how the Portugals do it. From here it runs through that trough,”--he indicated a second flow, now starting-- ”directly into the first kettle in the boiling house.” He paused and gestured Farrell to bring the flasks forward. ”I propose we take time to fortify ourselves against the heat before going in.”

”Shall we proceed?” Winston was pointing down the hill. Then he laughed. ”Or would you like some liquor first?”

”Please.” She pushed past him and headed down the incline. They reached the door of the boiling house well before the planters, who were lingering at the tank, pa.s.sing the flask. Winston ducked his head at the doorway and they pa.s.sed through a wide archway and into a thatched- roof enclosure containing a long, waist-high furnace of Dutch brick. In the back, visible only from the light of the open furnace door, were two figures: Briggs' new Yoruba slave Atiba and his Portuguese mistress, Serina.

Katherine, who had almost forgotten how beautiful the mulatto was, found herself slightly relieved that Serina was dressed in perfect modesty. She wore a full-length white s.h.i.+ft, against which her flawless olive skin fairly glowed in the torchlight. As they entered, she was speaking animatedly with Atiba while bending over to demonstrate how to feed dry cane tops into the small openings along the side of the furnace. When she spotted them, however, she pulled suddenly erect and fell silent, halting in mid-sentence.

The heat in the room momentarily took away Katherine's breath, causing her to stand in startled disorientation. It was only then that she realized Hugh Winston was pulling at her sleeve. Something in the scene apparently had taken him completely by surprise.

Then she realized what it was. Serina had been speaking to the tall, loincloth-clad Yoruba in an alien language that sounded almost like a blend of musical tones and stops.

Now the planters began barging through the opening, congratulating Briggs as they cl.u.s.tered around the string of copper cauldrons cemented into the top of the long furnace. Then, as the crowd watched expectantly, a trickle of cane sap flowed down from the holding tank and spattered into the first red-hot cauldron.

The men erupted with a cheer and whipped their hats into the air. Again the brown flask of kill-devil was pa.s.sed appreciatively. After taking a long swallow, Briggs turned to Serina, gesturing toward Atiba as he addressed her in pidgin Portuguese, intended to add an international flavor to the evening.

”_Ele compreendo _?”

”_Sim. Compreendo_.” She nodded, reached for a ladle, and began to skim the first gathering of froth off the top of the boiling liquid.

Then she dumped the foam into a clay pot beside the furnace.

”She's supposed to know how fast to feed the furnaces to keep the temperature right. And when to ladle the liquor into the next cauldron down the row.” He stepped back from the furnace, fanning himself with his hat, and turned to the men. ”According to the way the Portugals do it in Brazil, the clarified liquor from the last cauldron in the line here is moved to a cistern to cool for a time, then it's filled into wooden pots and moved to the curing house.”

”Is that ready too?” A husky voice came from somewhere in the crowd.

”Aye, and I've already had enough pots made to get started. We let the mola.s.ses drain out and the sugar cure for three or four months, then we move the pots to the knocking house, where we turn them over and tap out a block of sugar. The top and bottom are brown sugar, what the Portugals call _muscavado_, and the center is pure white.” He reached again for the bottle and took a deep swallow. ”Twenty pence a pound in London, when our tobacco used to clear three farthings.”

”To be sure, the mill and the boiling house are the key. We'll have to start building these all over the island.” Thomas Lancaster removed his black hat to wipe his brow, then pulled it firmly back on his head.

”And start training the Africans in their operation. No white man could stand this heat.”

”She should have this one trained in a day or so.” Briggs