At the Foot of the Mountain Range.
Towards the close of a bright and warm day, between fifty and sixty years ago, a solitary1 man might have been seen, mounted on a mule2, wending his way slowly up the western slopes of the Andes.
Although decidedly inelegant and unhandsome, this specimen4 of the human family was by no means uninteresting. He was so large, and his legs were so long, that the contrast between him and the little mule which he bestrode was ridiculous. He was what is sometimes styled “loosely put together;” nevertheless, the various parts of him were so massive and muscular that, however loosely he might have been built up, most men would have found it rather difficult to take him down. Although wanting in grace, he was by no means repulsive5, for his face, which was ornamented6 with a soft flaxen beard and moustache of juvenile7 texture8, expressed wonderful depths of the milk of human kindness.
He wore boots with the trousers tucked into them, a grey tunic9, or hunting coat, belted at the waist, and a broad-brimmed straw hat, or sombrero.
Evidently the times in which he travelled were troublous, for, besides having a brace10 of large pistols in his belt, he wore a cavalry11 sabre at his side. As if to increase the eccentricity12 of his appearance, he carried a heavy cudgel, by way of riding-whip; but it might have been observed that, however much he flourished this whip about, he never actually applied13 it to his steed.
On reaching a turn of the road at the brow of an eminence14 the mule stopped, and, letting its head droop15 till almost as pendent as its tail, silently expressed a desire for repose16. The cavalier stepped off. It would convey a false impression to say that he dismounted. The mule heaved a sigh.
“Poor little thing!” murmured the traveller in a soft, low voice, and in a language which even a mule might have recognised as English; “you may well sigh. I really feel ashamed of myself for asking you to carry such a mass of flesh and bone. But it’s your own fault—you know it is—for you won’t be led. I’m quite willing to walk if you will only follow. Come—let us try!”
Gently, insinuatingly17, persuasively18, the traveller touched the reins19, and sought to lead the way. He might as well have tried to lead one of the snow-clad peaks of the mighty20 Cordillera which towered into the sky before him. With ears inclining to the neck, a resolute21 expression in the eyes, his fore-legs thrown forward and a lean slightly backward, the mule refused to move.
“Come now, do be amiable22; there’s a good little thing! Come on,” said the strong youth, applying more force.
Peruvian mules23 are not open to flattery. The advance of the fore-legs became more decided3, the lean backward more pronounced, the ears went flat down, and incipient24 passion gleamed in the eyes.
“Well, well, have it your own way,” exclaimed the youth, with a laugh, “but don’t blame me for riding you so much.”
He once more re-m–; no, we forgot—he once more lifted his right leg over the saddle and sat down. Fired, no doubt, with the glow of conscious victory the mule moved on and up at a more lively pace than before.
Thus the pair advanced until they gained a rocky eminence, whence the rich Peruvian plains could be seen stretching far-away toward the glowing horizon, where the sun was about to dip into the Pacific.
Here again the mule stopped, and the rider getting off sat down on a rock to take a look at the level horizon of the west—for he had reached a spot where the next turn in the road would partially25 shut out the plains and enclose him among the giant mountains.
As he sat there meditating26, while the mule cropped the herbage at his side, he observed two riders a considerable way down the circuitous27 road by which he had ascended—a man and a boy, apparently28.
Whether it was the fine stalwart figure of the man that influenced him, or the mere29 presence of wayfarers30 in such a solitary place, our traveller could not tell, but he certainly felt unusual interest, and not only watched the pair as they approached, but sat still until they came up. As they drew near he perceived that the smaller of the two, whom at a distance he had taken for a boy, was an Indian girl, who, according to custom, bestrode her mule like a man. Her companion was a handsome Spanish-looking man—a Peruvian or it might be a Chilian—with fine masculine features and magnificent black eyes. He was well-armed, and, to judge from his looks, seemed a little suspicious of the tall Englishman.
The hearty32 salutation of the latter, however, in bad Spanish, at once dissipated his suspicions. Replying in the same tongue, he then added, in good English:—
“You are a stranger in this land, I perceive.”
“In truth I am,” replied the other, while the Peruvian dismounted, “nevertheless, I ought scarcely to admit the fact, for I was born in Peru. This perhaps may seem contradictory33, but it is not more so than your being apparently a native of the soil yet speaking English like an Englishman.”
“From which it follows,” returned the Peruvian, “that men ought not to judge altogether by appearances. But you are wrong in supposing me a native of the soil, and yet—I am not an Englishman. I have got a gift of language, however—at least I feel myself equally at home in English, Indian, Spanish, and Portuguese34, which is not to be wondered at, seeing that I have been forced to talk in all four languages for nigh a quarter of a century.”
“Then you must have been but a boy when you came here,” returned the Englishman, “for you seem to be not yet middle-aged35.”
“Right, I was indeed a mere boy when I came to this land.”
“And I was a boy of seven when I left it to be educated in Europe,” returned the Englishman. “It is sixteen years since then, and I had feared that my memory might have failed to recognise the old landmarks36, but I am rejoiced to find that I remember every turn of the road as if I had left home but yesterday.”
We have said that the tall youth’s face was not handsome, but the glow of animation37 which rested on it when he spoke38 of home, seemed for a moment to transform it.
“Your home, then, cannot be far distant?” remarked the Peruvian, with a peculiar39 look that might have attracted the attention of the younger man if his gaze had not at the moment been directed to the Indian girl, who, during the foregoing conversation, had remained motionless on her mule with her eyes looking pensively40 at the ground, like a beautiful statue in bronze.
“My home is close at hand,” said the Englishman, when the question had been repeated; “unless memory plays me false, two more turns in the road will reveal it.”
The earnest look of the Peruvian deepened as he asked if the Estate of Passamanka was his home.
“Yes, you know it, then?” exclaimed the youth eagerly; “and perhaps you knew my father too?”
“Yes, indeed; there are few people within a hundred miles of the place who did not know the famous sugar-mill and its hospitable41 owner, Senhor Armstrong. But excuse me,” added the Peruvian, with some hesitation42, “you are aware, I suppose, that your father is dead?”
“Ay, well do I know that,” returned the other in a deeper tone. “It is to take my father’s place at the mills that I have been hastily summoned from England. Alas43! I know nothing of the work, and it will be sorely against the grain to attempt the carrying on of the old business in the desolate44 old home.”
“Of course you also know,” continued the Peruvian, “that the country is disturbed just now—that the old smouldering enmity between Chili31 and Peru has broken forth45 again in open war.”
“I could not have passed through the low country without finding that out. Indeed,” said the youth, glancing at his belt with a half-apologetic smile, “these weapons, which are so unfamiliar46 to my hand, and so distasteful to my spirit, are proof that I, at least, do not look for a time of peace. I accoutred myself thus on landing, at the urgent advice of a friend, though my good cudgel—which has sufficed for all my needs hitherto—is more to my mind, besides being useful as a mountain staff. But why do you ask? Is there much probability of the belligerents47 coming so far among the hills?”
“Wherever carrion48 is to be found, there you may be sure the vultures will congregate49. There is booty to be got here among the hills; and whether the soldiers belong to the well-trained battalions50 of Chili, or the wretched levies51 of Peru, they are always prepared, for plunder—ready to make hay while the sun shines. I only hope, Senhor Armstrong, that—but come, let us advance and see before the sun sets.”
Turning abruptly52 as he spoke, the man mounted his mule and rode briskly up the winding53 road, followed by the Indian girl and our Englishman.
At the second turning of the road they reached a spot where an opening in the hills revealed the level country below, stretching away into illimitable distance.
As had been anticipated, they here came upon the mills they were in quest of. The Peruvian reined54 up abruptly and looked back.
“I feared as much,” he said in a low tone as the Englishman rode forward.
Rendered anxious by the man’s manner, Lawrence Armstrong sprang from his mule and pushed forward, but suddenly stopped and stood with clasped hands and a gaze of agony.
For there stood the ruins of his early home—where his mother had died while he was yet a child, where his father had made a fortune, which, in his desolation, he had failed to enjoy, and where he finally died, leaving his possessions to his only child.
The troops had visited the spot, fired no doubt with patriotic55 fervour and knowing its owner to be wealthy. They had sacked the place, feasted on the provisions, drunk the wines, smashed up, by way of pleasantry, all the valuables that were too heavy to carry away, and, finally, setting fire to the place, had marched off to other fields of “glory.”
It was a tremendous blow to poor Lawrence, coming as he did fresh from college in a peaceful land, and full of the reminiscences of childhood.
Sitting down on a broken wall, he bowed his head and wept bitterly—though silently—while the Peruvian, quietly retiring with the Indian girl, left him alone.
The first paroxysm of grief over, young Armstrong rose, and began sadly to wander about the ruins. It had been an extensive structure, fitted with all the most approved appliances of mechanism56 which wealth could purchase. These now helped to enhance the wild aspect of the wreck57, for iron girders had been twisted by the action of fire into snake-like convolutions in some places, while, in others, their ends stuck out fantastically from the blackened walls. Beautiful furniture had been smashed up to furnish firewood for the cooking of the meal with which the heroic troops had refreshed themselves before leaving, while a number of broken wine-bottles at the side of a rosewood writing-desk with an empty bottle on the top of it and heaps of stones and pebbles58 around, suggested the idea that the warriors59 had mingled60 light amusement with sterner business. The roofs of most of the buildings had fallen in; the window-frames, where spared by the fire, had been torn out; and a pianoforte, which lay on its back on the grass, showed evidence of having undergone an examination of its internal arrangements, with the aid of the butt-ends of muskets61.
“And this is the result of war!” muttered the young man, at last breaking silence.
“Only one phase of it,” replied a voice at his side, in tones of exceeding bitterness; “you must imagine a few corpses62 of slaughtered63 men and women and children, if you would have a perfect picture of war.”
The speaker was the Peruvian, who had quietly approached to say that if they wished to reach the next resting-place before dark it was necessary to proceed without delay.
“But perhaps,” he added, “you do not intend to go further. No doubt this was to have been the end of your journey had all been well. It can scarcely, I fear, be the end of it now. I do not wish to intrude64 upon your sorrows, Mr Armstrong, but my business will not admit of delay. I must push on, yet I would not do so without expressing my profound sympathy, and offering to aid you if it lies in my power.”
There was a tone and look about the man which awoke a feeling of gratitude65 and confidence in the forlorn youth’s heart.
“You are very kind,” he said, “but it is not in the power of man to help me. As your business is urgent you had better go and leave me. I thank you for the sympathy you express—yet stay. You cannot advance much further to-night, why not encamp here? There used to be a small hut or out-house not far-off, in which my father spent much of his leisure. Perhaps the—the—”
“Patriots!” suggested the Peruvian.
“The scoundrels,” said Lawrence, “may have spared or overlooked it. The hut would furnish shelter enough, and we have provisions with us.”
After a moment’s reflection the Peruvian assented66 to this proposal, and, leaving the ruins together, they returned to the road, where they found the Indian girl holding the youth’s mule as well as that of her companion.
Hastening forward, Lawrence apologised for having in the agitation67 of the moment allowed his mule to run loose.
“But I forgot,” he added, “of course you do not understand English.”
“Try Spanish,” suggested the Peruvian, “she knows a little of that.”
“Unfortunately I have forgotten the little that I had picked up here when a boy,” returned Lawrence, as he mounted, “if I can manage to ask for food and lodging68 in that tongue, it is all that I can do.”
They soon reached an opening in the bushes at the roadside, and, at the further end of a natural glade69 or track, observed a small wooden hut thatched with rushes. Towards this young Armstrong led the way.
He was evidently much affected70, for his lips were compressed, and he gave no heed71 to a remark made by his companion. Entering the hut, he stood for some time looking silently round.
It was but a poor place with bare walls; a carpenter’s bench in one corner, near to it a smith’s forge, one or two chairs, and a few tools;—not much to interest a stranger but to Lawrence full of tender associations.
“It was here,” he said in tones of deepest pathos72, “that my father showed me how to handle tools, and my mother taught me to read from the Word of God.”
Looking at his companions he observed that the large dark eyes of the Indian girl were fixed73 on him with an expression of unmistakable sympathy. He felt grateful at the moment, for to most men sympathy is sweet when unobtrusively offered whether it come from rich or poor—civilised or savage74.
“Come, this will do,” said the Peruvian, looking round, “if you will kindle75 a fire on the forge, Senhor Armstrong, Manuela will arrange a sleeping chamber76 for herself in the closet I see there, while I look after the beasts.”
He spoke in cheering tones, which had the effect of rousing the poor youth somewhat from his despondency.
“Well, then,” he replied, “let us to work, and it is but just, as we are to sup together, and you know my name, that I should be put on an equal footing with yourself—”
“Impossible!” interrupted the other, with a slight curl of his moustache, “for as I am only six feet one, and you are at least six feet four, we can never be on an equal footing.”
“Nay, but I referred to names, not to inches. Pray, by what name shall I call you?”
“Pedro,” returned the Spaniard. “I am known by several names in these parts—some of them complimentary77, others the reverse, according as I am referred to by friends or foes78. Men often speak of me as a confirmed rover because of my wandering tendencies, but I’m not particular and will answer to any name you choose, so long as it is politely uttered. The one I prefer is Pedro.”
He went out as he spoke to look after the mules, while Lawrence set about kindling79 a small fire and otherwise making preparations for supper.
The Indian girl, Manuela, with that prompt and humble80 obedience81 characteristic of the race to which she belonged, had gone at once into the little closet which her companion had pointed82 out, and was by that time busily arranging it as a sleeping chamber for the night.
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1
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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insinuatingly
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persuasively
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| adv.口才好地；令人信服地 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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chili
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| n.辣椒 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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pensively
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| adv.沉思地，焦虑地 | |
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41
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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42
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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43
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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44
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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45
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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46
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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47
belligerents
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| n.交战的一方（指国家、集团或个人）( belligerent的名词复数 ) | |
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48
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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49
congregate
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| v.(使)集合，聚集 | |
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50
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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51
levies
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| （部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队 | |
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52
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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53
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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54
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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55
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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56
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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57
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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58
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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59
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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60
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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61
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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62
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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63
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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65
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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66
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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68
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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