Mr. Fortescue by William Westall

W >> William Westall >> Mr. Fortescue

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

"You have been here a month, Monsieur Nigel, living in close intimacy with
Angela and myself," said the abbe, as we sat on the veranda sipping our
morning coffee. "You have mixed with our people, seen our country, and
inspected the great _azequia_ in its entire length. Tell me, now, frankly,
what do you think of us?"

"I never passed so happy a month in my life, and--"

"I am glad to hear you say so, very glad. My question, however, referred
not to your feelings but your opinion. I will repeat it: What think you of
Quipai and its institutions?"

"I know of but one institution in Quipai, and I admire it more than I can
tell."

"And that is?"

"Yourself, Monsieur l'Abbe."

The abbe smiled as if the compliment pleased him, but the next moment his
face took the "pale cast of thought," and he remained silent for several
minutes.

"I know what you mean," he said at length, speaking slowly and rather
sadly. "You mean that I am Quipai, and that without me Quipai would be
nowhere."

"Exactly, Monsieur l'Abbe. Quipai is a miracle; you are its creator, yet I
doubt whether, as it now exists, it could long survive you. But that is a
contingency which we need not discuss; you have still many years of life
before you."

"I like a well-turned compliment, Monsieur Nigel, because in order to be
acceptable it must possess both a modicum of truth and a _soupcon_ of wit.
But flattery I detest, for it must needs be insincere. A man of ninety
cannot, in the nature of things, have many years of life before him. What
are even ten years to one who has already lived nearly a century? This is
a solemn moment for both of us, and I want to be sincere with you. You
were sincere just now when you said Quipai would perish with me. And it
will--unless I can find a successor who will continue the work which I
have begun. My people are good and faithful, but they require a prescient
and capable chief, and there is not one among them who is fitted either by
nature or education to take the place of leader. Will you be my successor,
Monsieur Nigel?"

This was a startling proposal. To stay in Quipai for a few weeks or even a
few months might be very delightful. But to settle for life in an Andean
desert! On the other hand, to leave Quipai were to lose Angela.

"You hesitate. But reflect well, my friend, before denying my request.
True, you are loath to renounce the great world with its excitements,
ambitions, and pleasures. But you would renounce them for a life free from
care, an honorable position, and a career full of promise. It will take
years to complete the work I have begun, and make Quipai a nation. As I
said when you first came, Providence sent you here, as it sent Angela, for
some good end. It sent the one for the other. Stay with us, Monsieur
Nigel, and marry Angela! If you search the world through you could find no
sweeter wife."

My hesitation vanished like the morning mist before the rising sun.

"If Angela will be my wife," I said, "I will be your successor."

"It is the answer I expected, Monsieur Nigel. I am content to let Angela
be the arbiter of your fate and the fate of Quipai. She will be here
presently. Put the question yourself. She knows nothing of this; but I
have watched you both, and though my eyes are growing dim I am not blind."

And with that the abbe left me to my thoughts. It was not the first time
that the idea of asking Angela to be my wife had entered my mind. I loved
her from the moment I first set eyes on her, and my love has become a
passion. But I had not been able to see my way. How could I ask a
beautiful, gently nurtured girl to share the lot of a penniless wanderer,
even if she could consent to leave Quipai, which I greatly doubted. But
now! Compared with Angela, the excitements and ambitions of which the abbe
had spoken did not weigh as a feather in the balance. Without her life
would be a dreary penance; with her a much worse place than Quipai would
be an earthly paradise.

But would she have me? The abbe seemed to think so. Nevertheless, I felt
by no means sure about it. True, she appeared to like my company. But that
might be because I had so much to tell her that was strange and new; and
though I had observed her narrowly, I had detected none of that charming
self-consciousness, that tender confusion, those stolen glances, whereby
the conventional lover gauges his mistress's feelings, and knows before he
speaks that his love is returned. Angela was always the same--frank, open,
and joyous, and, except that her caresses were reserved for him, made no
difference between the abbe and me.

"A _chirimoya_ for your thoughts, senor!" said a well-known voice, in
musical Castilian. "For these three minutes I have been standing close by
you, with this freshly gathered chirimoya, and you took no notice of me."

"A thousand pardons and a thousand thanks, senorita!" I answered, taking
the proffered fruit. "But my thoughts were worth all the chirimoyas in the
world, delicious as they are, for they were of you."

"We were thinking of each other then."

"What! Were you thinking of me?"

"_Si, senor._"

"And what were you thinking, senorita?"

"That God was very good in sending you to Quipai."

"Why?"

"For several reasons."

"Tell me them."

"Because you have done the abbe good. Aforetime he was often sad. You
remember his saying that he had cares. I know not what, but now he seems
himself again."

"Anything else?"

"_Si, senor._ You have also increased my happiness. Not that I was unhappy
before, for, thanks to the dear abbe, my life has been free from sorrow;
but during the last month--since you came--I have been more than happy, I
have been joyous."

"You don't want me to go, then?"

"O senor! Want you to go! How can you--what have I done or said?"
exclaimed the girl, impetuously and almost indignantly. "Surely, sir, you
are not tired of us already?"

"Heaven forbid! If you want me to stay I shall not go. It is for you to
decide. _Angela mia_, it depends on you whether I go away soon--how or
whither I know not--or stay here all my life long."

"Depends on me! Then, sir, I bid you stay."

"Oh, Angela, you must say more than that. You must consent to become my
wife; then do with me what you will."

"Your wife! You ask me to become your wife?"

"Yes, Angela. I have loved you since the day we first met; every day my
love grows stronger and deeper, and unless you love me in return, and will
be my wife, I cannot stay; I must go--go at once."

"_Quipai, senor_," said Angela, archly, at the same time giving me her
hand.

"Quipai! I don't quite understand--unless you mean--"

"Quipai," she repeated, her eyes brightening into a merry smile.

"Unless you mean--"

"Quipai."

"Oh, how dull I am! I see now. Quipai--rest here."

"_Si, senor._"

"And if I rest here, you will--"

"Do as you wish, senor, and with all my heart; for as you love me, so I
love you."

"Dearest Angela!" I said, kissing her hand, "you make me almost too happy.
Never will I leave Quipai without you."

"And never will I leave it without you. But let us not talk of leaving
Quipai. Where can we be happier than here with the dear abbe? But what
will he say?"

"He will give us his blessing. His most ardent wish is that I should be
your husband and his successor."

"How good he is? And I, wicked girl that I am, repay his goodness with
base ingratitude. Ah me! How shall I tell him?"

"You repay his goodness with base ingratitude? You speak in riddles, my
Angela."

"Since the waves washed me to his feet, a little child, the abbe has
cherished me with all the tenderness of a mother, all the devotion of a
father. He has been everything to me; and now you are everything to me. I
love you better than I love him. Don't you think I am a wicked girl?" And
she put her arm within mine, and looking at me with love-beaming eyes,
caressing my cheek with her hand.

"I will grant you absolution, and award you no worse penance than an
embrace, _ma fille cherie_," said the abbe, who had returned to the
veranda just in time to overhear Angela's confession. "I rejoice in your
happiness, _mignonne_. To-day you make two men happy--your lover and
myself. You have lightened my mind of the cares which threatened to darken
my closing days. The thought of leaving you without a protector and Quipai
without a chief was a sore trouble. Your husband will be both. Like Moses,
I have seen the Promised Land, and I shall be content."

"Talk not of dying, dear father or you will make me sad," said Angela,
putting her arms round his neck.

"There are worse things than dying, my child. But you are quite right;
this is no time for melancholy forebodings. Let us be happy while we may;
and since I came to Quipai, sixty years ago, I have had no happier day
than this."

As the only law at Quipai was the abbe's will, and we had neither
settlements to make, trousseaux to prepare, nor house to get ready (the
abbe's house being big enough for us all), there was no reason why our
wedding should be delayed, and the week after Angela and I had plighted
our troth, we were married at the church of San Cristobal.

The abbe's wedding-present to Angela was a gold cross studded with large
uncut diamonds. Where he got them I had no idea, but I heard
afterward--and something more.

All this time nothing, save vague generalities, had passed between us on
the subject of religion--rather to my surprise, for priests are not wont
to ignore so completely their _raison d'etre_, but I subsequently found
that Balthazar, albeit a devout Christian, was no bigot. Either his early
training, his long isolation from ecclesiastical influence, or his
communings with Nature had broadened his horizon and spiritualized his
beliefs. Dogma sat lightly on him, and he construed the apostolic
exhortations to charity in their widest sense. But these views were
reserved for Angela and myself. With his flock he was the Roman
ecclesiastic--a sovereign pontiff--whom they must obey in this world on
pain of being damned in the next. For he held that the only ways of
successfully ruling semi-civilized races are by physical force, personal
influence, or their fear of the unseen and the unknown. At the outset
Balthazar, having no physical force at his command, had to trust
altogether to personal influence, which, being now re-enforced by the
highest religious sanctions, made his power literally absolute. Albeit
Quipai possessed neither soldiers, constables, nor prison, his authority
was never questioned; he was as implicitly obeyed as a general at the head
of an army in the field.

I have spoken of the abbe's communings with Nature. I ought rather to have
said his searchings into her mysteries; for he was a shrewd philosopher
and keen observer, and despite the disadvantages under which he labored,
the scarcity of his books, and the rudeness of his instruments, he had
acquired during his long life a vast fund of curious knowledge which he
placed unreservedly at my disposal. I became his pupil, and it was he who
first kindled in my breast that love of science which for nearly
three-score years I have lived only to gratify.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE ABBE'S LEGACY.

Life was easy at Quipai, and we were free from care. On the other hand, we
had so much to do that time sped swiftly, and though we were sometimes
tired we were never weary. The abbe made me the civil governor of the
mission, and gave orders that I should be as implicitly obeyed as himself.
My duties in this capacity, though not arduous, were interesting,
including as they did all that concerned the well-being of the people, the
maintenance of the _azequia_, and the irrigation of the oasis. My leisure
hours were spent in study, working in the abbe's laboratory, and with
Angela, who nearly always accompanied me on my excursions to the head of
the aqueduct which, as I have already mentioned was at the foot of the
snow-line, two days' journey from the valley lake.

It was during one of these excursions that we planned our new home, a
mountain nest which we would have all to ourselves, and whither at the
height of summer we might escape from the heat of the oasis, for albeit
the climate of Quipai was fine on the whole, there were times when the
temperature rose to an uncomfortable height. The spot on which we fixed
was a hollow in the hills, some two miles beyond the crater reservoir and
about eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. By tapping the
_azequia_ we turned the barren valley into a garden of roses, for in that
rainless region water was a veritable magician, whatsoever it touched it
vivified. This done we sent up timber, and built ourselves a cottage,
which we called Alta Vista, for the air was superb and the view one of the
grandest in the world.

Angela would fain have persuaded the abbe to join us; yet though I made a
well-graded road and the journey was neither long nor fatiguing he came
but seldom. He was so thoroughly acclimatized that he preferred the warmth
of San Cristobal to the freshness of Alta Vista, and the growing burden of
his years indisposed him to exertion, and made movement an effort. We
could all see, and none more clearly than himself, that the end was not
far off. He contemplated it with the fortitude of a philosopher and the
faith of a Christian. For the spiritual wants of his people he provided by
ordaining (as in virtue of his ecclesiastical rank he had the right to
do), three young men, whom he had carefully educated for the purpose; the
reins of government he gave over entirely to me.

"I have lived a long life and done a good work, and though I shall be
sorry to leave you, I am quite content to go," he said one day to Angela
and me. "It is not in my power to bequeath you a fortune, in the ordinary
sense of the word, for money I have none, yet so long as the mission
prospers you will be better off than if I could give you millions. But
everything human is ephemeral and I cannot disguise from myself the
possibility of some great disaster befalling you. Those mountains contain
both gold and silver, and an invasion of treasure-seekers, either from the
sea or the Cordillera would be the ruin of the mission. My poor people
would be demoralized, perhaps destroyed, and you would be compelled to
quit Quipai and return to the world. For that contingency, though I hope
it will never come to pass, you must be prepared, and I will point out the
way. The mountains, as I have said, contain silver and gold; and contain
something even more precious than silver and gold--diamonds, I made the
discovery nearly half a century ago, and I confess that, for a time, the
temptation was almost more than I could withstand. With such wealth as I
saw at my disposal I might do anything, be anything, enrich my order, win
distinction for myself, and attain to high rank, perhaps the highest, in
the church, or leave it and become a power in the world, a master of men
and the guest of princes. Yes, it was a sore temptation, but with God's
help, I overcame it and chose the better part, the path of duty, and I
have my reward. I brought a few diamonds away with me, some of which are
in Angela's cross; but I have never been to the place since. I told you
not this sooner, my son, partly because there seemed no need, partly
because, not knowing you as well as I know you now, I thought you might be
tempted in like manner as I was and we pray not to be led into temptation.
But though I tell you where these precious stones are to be found, I am
sure that you will never quit Quipai."

"I have no great desire to know the whereabout of this diamond mine,
father. Tell me or not as you think fit. In any case, I shall be true to
my trust and my word. I promise you that I will not leave Quipai till I am
forced, and I hope I never may be."

"All the same, my son, it is the part of a wise man to provide for even
unlikely contingencies. Remember, it is the unexpected that happens, and I
would not have you and our dear Angela cast on the world penniless. For
her, bred as she has been, it would be a frightful misfortune; and up
yonder are diamonds which would make you rich beyond the dreams of
avarice. Promise me that you will go thither, and bring away as many as
you can conveniently carry about your persons in the event of your being
compelled to quit the oasis at short notice."

"I promise. Nevertheless, I see no probability--"

"We are discussing possibilities not probabilities, my son. And during the
last few days I have had forebodings, if I were superstitious I should say
prophetic visions, else had I not broached the subject. Regard it, if you
like, as an old man's whim--and keep a look-out on the sea."

"Why particularly on the sea?"

"It is the quarter whence danger is most to be apprehended. If some
Spanish war-ship were to sight the oasis and send a boat ashore, either
out of idle curiosity or for other reasons, a report would be made to the
captain-general, or to whomsoever is now in authority at Lima, and there
would come a horde of government functionaries, who would take possession
of everything, and you would have to go. But take your pen and note down
the particulars that will enable you to find the diamond mine."

Though Angela and I listened to the abbe's warnings with all respect, they
made little impression on our minds. We regarded them as the vagaries of
an old man, whose mind was affected by the feebleness of his body, and a
few weeks later he breathed his last. His death came in the natural order
of things, and, as he had outlived his strength, it was for him a happy
release; yet, as we had loved him much, we sorrowed for him deeply, and I
still honor his memory. Take him all in all, Abbe Balthazar was the best
man I have ever known.

Shortly after we laid him in the ground I made a visit to the diamond
ground, the situation of which the abbe had so fully described that I
found it without difficulty. But the undertaking, besides proving much
more arduous than I had anticipated, came near to costing me my life. I
took with me an _arriero_ and three mules, one carrying an ample supply of
food, and, as I thought, of water, for the abbe had told me that a
mountain-stream ran through the valley where I was to look for the
diamonds. As ill-luck would have it, however, the stream was dried up. Had
it not been that I did not like to return empty-handed I should have
returned at once, for our stock of water was exhausted and we were two
days' journey from Quipai.

I spent a whole day seeking among the stones and pebbles, and my search
was so far successful that I picked up two score diamonds, some of
considerable size. If I could have stayed longer I might have made a still
richer harvest; and I had an idea that there were more under than above
ground. But I had stayed too long as it was. The mules were already
suffering for want of water; all three perished before we reached Quipai,
and the arriero and myself got home only just alive.

Nevertheless, had not Angelo put her veto on the project, I should have
made another visit to the place, provided with a sufficiency of water for
the double journey. I, moreover, thought that with time and proper tools I
could find water on the spot. However, I went not again, and I renounced
my design all the more willingly as I knew that the diamonds I had already
found were a fortune in themselves. I added them to my collection of
minerals which I kept in my cabinet at Alta Vista. My Quipais being honest
and knowing nothing whatever of precious stones I had no fear of robbers.

For several years after Balthazar's death nothing occurred to disturb the
even tenor of our way, and I had almost forgotten his warnings, and that
we were potentially "rich beyond the dreams of avarice," when one day a
runner brought word that two men had landed on the coasts and were on the
way to San Cristobal.

This was startling news, and I questioned the messenger closely, but all
he could tell me was that the strangers had arrived in a small boat, half
famished and terribly thirsty, and had asked, in broken Spanish, to be
taken to the chief of the country, and that he had been sent on to inform
me of their coming.

"The abbe!" exclaimed Angela, "you remember what he said about danger from
the sea."

"Yes; but there is nothing to fear from two hungry men in a small boat--as
I judge from the runner's account, shipwrecked mariners."

"I don't know; there's no telling, they may be followed by others, and
unless we keep them here--"

"If necessary we must keep them here; as, however, they are evidently not
Spaniards it may not be necessary. But as to that I can form no opinion
till I have seen and questioned them."

We were still talking about them, for the incident was both suggestive and
exciting, when the strangers were brought in. As I expected, they were
seamen, in appearance regular old salts. One was middle-sized, broad
built, brawny, and large-limbed--a squat Hercules, with big red whiskers,
earrings and a pig-tail. His companion was taller and less sturdy, his
black locks hung in ringlets on either side of a swarthy, hairless face,
and the arms and hands of both, as also their breasts were extensively
tattooed.

Their surprise on beholding Angela and me was almost ludicrous. They might
have been expecting to see a copper-colored cacique dressed in war-paint
and adorned with scalps.

"White! By the piper that played before Moses, white!" muttered the
red-whiskered man. "Who'd ha' thought it! A squaw in petticoats, too, with
a gold chain round her neck! Where the hangmant have we got to?"

"You are English?" I said, quietly.

"Well, I'll be--yes, sir! I'm English, name of Yawl, Bill Yawl, sir, of
the port of Liverpool, at your service. My mate, here, he's a--"

"I'll tell my own tale, if you please, Bill Yawl," interrupted the other
as I thought rather peremptorily. "My name is Kidd, and I'm a native of
Barbadoes in the West Indies, by calling, a mariner, and late second mate
of the brig Sulky Sail, Jones, master, bound from Liverpool to Lima, with
a cargo of hardware and cotton goods."

"And what has become of the Sulky Sail?"

"She went to the bottom, sir, three days ago."

"But there has been no bad weather, lately."

"Not lately. But we made very bad weather rounding the Horn, and the ship
sprang a leak, and though, by throwing cargo overboard, and working hard
at the pumps, we managed to keep her afloat nearly a month; she foundered
at last."

"And are you the only survivors?"

"No, sir; the master and most of the crew got away in the long boat. But
as the ship went down the dinghy was swamped. Bill and me managed to right
her and get aboard again, but the others as was with us got drowned."

"And the long boat?"

"We lost each other in the night, and, having no water, and only a tin of
biscuits, Bill and me made straight for the coast, and landed in the
little cove down below this morning. All we have is what we stand up in.
And we shall feel much obliged if you will kindly give us food and shelter
until such time as we can get away."

On this I assured Mr. Kidd that I was sorry for their misfortune, and
would gladly find them food and lodging, and whatever else they might
require, but as for getting away, I did not see how that was possible,
unless by sea, and in their own dinghy.

"We are very grateful for your kindness, sir; but I don't think we should
much like to make another voyage in the dinghy."

"She ain't seaworthy," growled Yawl, "you've to bale all the time, and if
it came on to blow she'd turn turtle in half a minute."

"May be some vessel will be touching here, sir," suggested Kidd.

"Vessels never do touch here, except to be dashed in pieces against the
rocks."

"Well, I suppose we shall have to wait till a chance happens out. This
seems a nice place, and we are in no hurry, if you aren't."

So the two castaways became my guests; and if they waited to be taken off
by a passing ship they were likely to remain my guests as long as they
lived.

For a few days they rambled about the place with their hands in their
pockets and cigars (with which I supplied them liberally) in their mouths.
But after a while time began to hang heavy on their hands, and one day
they came to me with a proposal.

"We are tired of doing nothing, Mr. Fortescue," said Kidd.

"It is the hardest work I ever put my hand to, and not a grog-shop in the
place," interposed Yawl.

"Hold your jaw, Bill, and let me say my say out. We are tired of doing
nothing, and if you like we will build you a sloop."

"A sloop! To go away in, I suppose?"

"That is as you please, sir. Anyhow, a sloop, say of fifteen or twenty
tons, would be very useful. You might take a sail with your lady now and
again, and explore the coast. Yawl has been both ship's carpenter and
bo'son--he'll boss the job; and I'm a very fair amateur cabinet-maker. If
you want anything in that line doing at your house, sir, I shall be glad
to do it for you."

The project pleased me; an occasional cruise would be an agreeable
diversion, and I assented to Kidd's proposal without hesitation. There was
as much wreckage lying on the cliff as would build a man-of-war, and a
small cove at the foot of the oasis where the sloop could lie safely at
anchor.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20