Part 24 (1/2)
”'I feel unusually young this morning,' said Brackenbury.
”'So do I,' replied O'Brady. 'It's the air, I suppose, but I do feel as gay as a lark.'
”'Suppose we have a little lark, then, all by ourselves up in this valley--eh? What say? A kind of private picnic?'
”'Is it safe?'
”'Yes, safe as anything. We'll take a few blue-jackets with us and a big hamper.'
”'Well, I'm with you,' said O'Brady, briskly.
”The spot looked so sweetly peaceful. Who could ever have dreamed that danger lurked in those lovely woods? The whole scene was more like one in our own delightful Devons.h.i.+re than in the wilds of South America.
”Nor had the usual crowd of boats surrounded the vessel, and when the gig from the _Adelaide_ landed the supercargo and captain, so well clad were the natives, and so peaceful did they seem, that Brackenbury felt half inclined to apologise to them for his armed escort.
”Two padres met them and saluted, and when told the errand that had brought them on sh.o.r.e, at once agreed to escort them to the head of the valley, where, the padres a.s.sured their ill.u.s.trious visitors, there was the finest scenery in the world. This interpreter was a tall Chilian, a by-no-means prepossessing fellow either. He was enveloped in a kind of blanket cloak, carried a pole in his hand, and wore a broad, peak-crowned sombrero of very greasy straw. His pointed beard and long black locks were greasy also. In fact he was altogether grim and greasy, and his speech was too oily to be pleasant.
”The coach that the padres had provided was apparently about a hundred years old, but the four horses attached to it seemed fit for anything.
”They took their seats at last, the padres crowded in beside them, and the great hamper was put up on top, the Chilian interpreter sat down beside the driver, and away they rumbled and rattled.
”Rumbled? Yes, rumbled; that is the exact word. Brackenbury and O'Brady had never got such a shaking and jolting before. But the higher up the valley the coach went, the grander grew the scenery. Every now and then at a turn of the road, away beneath them they caught glimpses of the green glen basking in the summer suns.h.i.+ne, the river gliding through it like a silver thread, falling at last into the bright blue bay, where lay the s.h.i.+p with its little white boats floating peacefully astern.
”But the scene grew wilder still, and oh! what a wealth of woodland beauty was all around them, covering the tops of the round hills, climbing halfway up the sides of precipitous mountains, clinging over cliffs and waterfalls, and fringing lovely lakes, the water of which was so pellucid that the sandy bottom was seen yards and yards from the sh.o.r.e.
”Anon the coach would plunge into a wood of pines and mimosa, draped in the most gorgeous of creeping flowers, while down beneath lovely snow-white heather showed in charming contrast to the mantle of scarlet and green, that half hid the sun from them.
”It was well into the afternoon before the coach drew up at the ruins of an ancient monastery, and our pleasure-seekers descended. Close by was a splendid waterfall; it came foaming down from a precipice in a gorge, and descended past them into a gloomy pool that looked dark as midnight, so far beneath was it.
”But the thunders of the falling cataract shook the ground on which the two sailors stood gazing almost awestruck. Far beneath was a forest glen that bore terrible evidence to the fury of a recent storm.
”And now the lunch was spread on the green gra.s.s, and the padres waxed quite merry over it. O'Brady had never seen priests drink wine before, as these fellows did, and he now began to entertain a suspicion that they were not quite what they pretended to be. He could not now help wondering at their own folly in trusting themselves so far inland without having brought the blue-jackets to protect them.
”'Why,' said Brackenbury, starting up at last, 'the sun is almost setting. We must be going. Where are the horses?'
”'The horses,' cried the Chilian, suddenly showing a pistol, 'are round the corner, and our way now lies up the valley.'
”Both Brackenbury and O'Brady attempted to draw revolvers, but were immediately surrounded and disarmed by a crowd of cut-throat Chilians, who sprang from a neighbouring thicket.
”'What means this indignity?' shouted Brackenbury, purple with rage.
”'It means, gentlemen,' said the Chilian, 'dat you are now de preesoners of Le Comte Pedro de Dolosa.'
”'Pedro de Dolosa!' cried O'Brady, aghast. 'Curses on our folly! we are ruined men! This count is a bandit.'
”'Your master shall live to rue this outrage!' cried Brackenbury, as he and his companion, with cords around their wrists, were dragged away and thrust into the carriage.
”Their companions, the two sham padres, had now quite altered in their bearing towards their prisoners. They talked and laughed with each other, and although neither Brackenbury nor O'Brady knew the exact meaning of the words, their looks and smiles of derision were easily enough translated.
”At sunset the carriage stopped, and the villainous-looking interpreter informed the two officers that they were already in bed, and must remain there all night.