Part 16 (2/2)
Occasionally the long, clear cry of the venteveo, a lefisher, rang through the foliage; or a flock of pecho aht yellow vests, would visit the trees and utter their confused chorus of gay notes
I did not think very much about Santa Colouised in the huarments of a peasant; but that would be no new experience to him The bitter bread of expatriation had apparently been his usual food, and his periodical descents upon the country had so far always ended in disaster: he had still an object to live for But when I re her lost cause and vanished peace of rass, the soft, ind fanning e overhead, and thewas incame ere all wide awake, and sat till a very late hour round the fire we had
We were all in a talkative , and after the ordinary subjects of Banda Oriental conversation had been exhausted, we drifted into e appearance and habits, apparitions, and ua captures its prey is very curious,”
said one of the company, na black beard andvoice
We had all heard of the laua, a species of boa found in these countries, with a very thick body and extreer rodents, and captures the them into their burrohere they cannot escape fro
”I will tell you what I once witnessed, for I have never seen a stranger thing,” continued Rivarola ”Riding one day through a forest I saw so h up into the air, uttering a great scream of terror, then fall back upon the earth, where it lay for soed in deadly conflict withsoh the wood, but very slowly and still frantically struggling It seeed, theout, while it stillvery close to it, but it took no notice of round or seized a twig or stalk with its teeth, and it would then reave ahen it would roll over ed onwards Presently I saw in the direction ere going a huge serpent, thick as a rass, and motionless as a serpent of stone Its cavernous, blood-red ling fox When about twenty yards froround, its struggles growing feebler every h the air, and in an instant was in the serpent's an sloing its prey”
”And you actually witnessed this yourself?” said I
”With these eyes,” he returned, indicating the orbs in question by pointing at them with the tube of the _mate_-cup he held in his hand
”This was the only occasion on which I have actually seen the la it is well known to everyone from hearsay You see, it draws an animal towards it by means of its power of suction So or very far off--say two thousand yards--the serpent becomes so inflated with the quantity of air inhaled while drawing the victiested
”That it is obliged to stop drawing to blow the wind out When this happens, the ani force, instantly sets off at full speed Vain effort! The serpent has no sooner discharged the accumulated ith a report like a cannon----”
”No, no, like a musket! I have heard it myself,” interrupted Blas Aria, one of the listeners
”Like a s its power of suction to bear; and in this manner the contest continues until the victim is finally drawn into the ua is the strongest of all God's creatures, and that if a es one, and conquers it by sheer oes into hihed at this fable, and was severely rebuked forthat ever befellalone--for reasons--on the northern frontier I crossed the River Yaguaron into Brazilian territory, and for a whole day rode through a great marshy plain, where the reeds were dead and yellow, and the water shrunk into roeary of life When the sun was going down, and I began to despair of getting to the end of this desolation, I discovered a low hovel made of , with only one small door, and seemed to be uninhabited, for no person answeredand squealing within, and by and by a sow, followed by a litter of young pigs, caain I would have ridden on, but reat stor up, and no other shelter appeared in sight I therefore unsaddled, loosed ear into the hovel The roo occupied all the floor; there was, however, another roo the door, which was closed, I went into it, and found that it was very er than the first; also, that it contained a dirty bed made of skins in one corner, while on the floor was a heap of ashes and a black pot There was nothing else except old bones, sticks, and other rubbish littering the floor Afraid of being caught unawares by the owner of this foul den, and finding nothing to eat in it, I returned to the first roos out of doors, and sat down on et dark when a wo in a bundle of sticks, suddenly appeared at the door Never, sirs, have I beheld a fouler, more hideous object than this person Her face was hard, dark, and rough like the bark of the _nandubuy_ tree, while her hair, which covered her head and shoulders in a tangled mass, was of a dry, earthy colour Her body was thick and long, yet she looked like a dwarf, for she scarcely had any legs, only enored horse-rugs tied round her body with thongs of hide She stared atdown her bundle, asked me what I wanted I told her I was a tired traveller, and wanted food and shelter 'Shelter you can have: food there is none,' she said; then, taking up her sticks, she passed to the inner room and secured it with a bolt on the inside She had not inspiredto intrude on her there It was a black, storan to fall in torrents Several ti, caet up and beat theh thethe two roo of a fire which the vile woh the chinks careatly, for I had searched the roo to eat in it I concluded that she had brought in the ot it was a an to doze There were runting at the door, and the crackling of the fire in the hag's roole with these--voices of several persons talking, laughing, and singing At length I became wide awake, and found that these voices proceeded fro, then others were loudly talking and laughing I tried to peep through the cracks in the door and partition, but could not see through thee crack through which I was sure the interior could be seen, so ainst the partition, and all s folded sh asonto the ithh it The roo at one end, while on the floor a large crimson cloak was spread, on which the people I had heard were sitting with some fruit and bottles of wine before the as she had appeared when standing; she was playing on a guitar and singing a ballad in Portuguese Before her on the cloak lay a tall, well-for only a narrohite cloth round her loins, and broad silver arainst her knees, which were drawn up, sat a beautiful girl about fifteen years old, with a dark pale face She was dressed in white, her ar back her black hair, which fell unbound on her back Before her, on his knees on the cloak, was an old man with a face brown and wrinkled as a walnut, and beard white as thistle-down With one of his hands he was holding the girl's arlass of wine All this I saw at one glance, and then all of theether turned their eyes up at the crack as if they knew that so theround Then I heard loud screaain, I took s to the farther side of the roohter continued for about two hours, then it gradually died away, the light faded from the chinks, and all was dark and silent No person came out; and at last, overcome with drowsiness, I fell asleep It was day when I woke I rose and walked round the hovel, and, finding a crack in the wall, I peered into the hag's room It looked just as I had seen it the day before; there was the pot and pile of ashes, and in the corner the brutish woot on to ain have such an experience as I had that night”
So was then said about witchcraft by the others, all looking very soleht,” I ventured to remark, ”and perhaps after the woman locked her door you went to sleep and dreauitar”
”Our horses were tired and ere flying for our lives yesterday,”
returned Blas conteht five dun horses to carry us”
”When a person is incredulous, it is useless arguing with hirey-haired e adventure I had when I was a young man; but remember I do not put a blunderbuss to any man's breast to compel him to believe me For what is, is; and let him that disbelieves shake his head till he shakes it off, and it falls to the ground like a cocoanut frootallby carrying freight
One cart I drove myself, and to drive the other I hired a boy whoh that was not the naave him, but because he was stubborn and sullen as anear me, and when she heard about the ox-carts she cahbour Mariano, for your mother's sake, take my son and teach him to earn his bread, for he is a boy that loves not to do anything' So I took Mula and paid thefor his services after each journey When there was no freight to be had I so the carts with theo about the country to sell the rushes to those who required them to thatch their houses Mula loved not this work Often ere all day wading up to our thighs in the water, cutting the rushes down close to their roots, then carrying thee bundles on our shoulders to land, he would cry, co bitterly of his hard lot Soered me to see a poor boy so fastidious: then he would curse e 'When I ahost will coiven h
”At last, one day, while crossing a deep stream, swollen with rains, my poor Mula fell down from his perch on the shaft and ept away by the current into deep water and drowned Well, sirs, about a year after that event I was out in search of a couple of strayed oxen when night overtookdistance froe of hills running down to a deep river, so close that there was only a narrow passage to get through, and for a long distance there was no other opening When I reached the pass I fell into a narrow path with bushes and trees growing on either side; here, suddenly, the figure of a young man stepped out from the trees and stood before me It was all in white--_poncho, chiripa_, drawers, even its boots, and wore a broad-bri; nor was I less frightened, for 's back; and the sweat broke out on ure; only itre still with ar Then I cried out, 'In Heaven's name, who are you, and what do you ith Mariano Montes de Oca, that you bar his path?' At this speech it laughed; then it said, 'What, does my old master not know me? I am Mula; did I not often tell you that some day I should return to pay you out for all the thrashi+ngs you gave me?
Ah, Master Mariano, you see I have kept ain 'May ten thousand curses light on your head!' I shouted 'If you wish for my life, Mula, take it and be for ever dao back to Satan, your master, and tell him from me to keep a stricter watch on your ht to host, what host shouted with laughter, slapping its thighs, and doubling itself up with h of this fooling, Mariano I did not intend frightening you so hed a little at you now, for you have oftenimportant to say Go to my mother and tell her you have seen and spoken with me; tell her to pay for another mass for atory If she has no money lend her a few dollars for the mass, and I will repay you, old man, in another world'