THE YOUNG EXILE.
The night proved clear and beautiful, a typical southern evening most
fitly closing a day that had been flawless. All the afternoon the sky
and sea, so nearly of the same cerulean hue that where they met they
matched so perfectly as to seem a curtain of the same texture, had
appeared to vie with each other in their placidity, while now the stars
overhead were scarcely brighter than their reflections in the waters
below. On the rim of the distant horizon shone with a soft luster the
glorious radii of the gem of the Antipodes, the Southern Cross.
Harrie was promptly on hand to keep his meeting with the strange youth,
but no earlier than the other, who greeted him in his musical voice:
"Senor is in good season. It is well, for our time cannot be long in
which to talk. While we speak let us walk slowly back and forth, arm
in arm, so we shall not be overheard."
He spoke in a low tone, a little above a whisper, while Harrie allowed
his arm to be drawn into the other's grasp, though he was very watchful
not to be taken unawares in case of an attack on him.
"In the first place," said the young Venezuelan, "I judge senor is
anxious to know who it is who has placed himself in his way. But
before that I would speak of the ship which is at this moment bearing
us whither we fain would not go."
"What about the ship?" asked Harrie, as he hesitated. "What have you
to say of that?"
Lowering his voice so our hero could barely catch his words, he said:
"It is a pirate ship, senor!"
Harrie could not repress a low exclamation at this startling
announcement, but he quickly recovered his presence of mind, saying, as
he recalled the wild deeds of Morgan and his freebooters, Conrad and
his Blue Water Rovers, who once boasted dominion over these seas:
"How can that be?"
"At least it is outlawed by the Venezuelan Government, and a big reward
offered for its capture. It is a conscript working in the interest of
Matos, the outlaw."
"Who are you who says this, and how come you by this information? You
appear to be one of the crew; why is this so?"
"I could answer the last question by asking the same of senor. I am
here solely with the hope of getting back to my native land, and to the
side of my dear mother. Perhaps you will understand my situation
better when I tell you that I belong to a family that once ruled
Venezuela. The two Guzman Blancos, the elder of whom was an American,
were my ancestors. My name is Francisco de Caprian. My family is
hated by Matos, while father, who is not living now, did something to
incur the displeasure of Castro, so I am in ill-favor all around," he
added, with a smile which disclosed two rows of very white teeth.
"Notwithstanding this," he added, "I am anxious to get back to Caracas,
to protect my dear mother in these perilous times, and, it may be,
strike one blow more for my country. The De Caprians can trace their
ancestry back to Juan Ampues, who founded the first Spanish settlement
in Venezuela, and one of them was a captain under Bolivar. Whatever
they may say of my family, they have ever been true to their native
land. The illustrious General Blanco did much for downtrodden
Venezuela, if some complained of him. You cannot suit all, senor, at
the same time. Whither do you wish to go?"
"To Caracas," replied Harrie.
"I am glad to hear that, senor, for it will enable us to join fortunes.
That is, if you do not hesitate to associate with me. I am frank to
say that I am likely to involve you in trouble; but, at the same time,
judging you are strangers there, I may be able to help you. Then, too,
I do not believe they will dare to molest you to any serious extent, so
long as your country is not mixed up in this imbroglio. Yet a South
American aroused is like a wild bull, whose coming actions are not to
be gauged by his former behavior. I never have found an American who
could not take care of himself."
"Thank you, Senor Francisco. I trust you have not found one who would
desert a comrade in an hour of need."
Quick and earnest came the reply, while the young Venezuelan grasped
Harrie's hand.
"Never, senor."
"You shall find my friends and me faithful to our promises."
"I was confident of that, or I should not have dared to address you.
Believe me, the risk was greater than you may realize. Were my
identity to become known on this ship I have no doubt but I should be
hung at the yardarm, or shot down like a brute, within an hour."
The youthful speaker showed great earnestness, and with what appeared
to be genuine honesty and candor. At any rate, Harrie was fain to
believe in his honor, and without further delay related enough of his
experiences for the other to understand the situation of his friends
and himself.
"I was very sure you were here involuntarily," said Francisco, when he
had finished. "It is likely we can be of service to each other. From
what I have been able to pick up, we are to coast along the shore of
Venezuela, leaving here and there arms and ammunition for Matos and his
insurgents. It is possible we shall stop at Maracaibo. In case we do
so, that will be the place for us to leave the _Libertador_. If there
is a chance before, we shall be remiss as to our personal welfare if we
do not discover and improve it. The eyes of the watch are upon us," he
said, in a lower tone, "and we had better separate. Keep your eyes and
ears open until we have opportunity to speak to each other again."
Before Harrie could reply, the other had slipped away, and he was fain
to return to his companions, whom he found anxiously awaiting him. In
a few words he apprized them of what had passed between him and the
young Venezuelan outlaw, Francisco de Caprian.
"His words only confirm what we had concluded, and for that I am
inclined to believe the young man in part, at least. I was in
Venezuela at the time of the downfall of that pompous patriot Guzman
Blanco, and I knew something of the De Caprians. Possibly it was this
fellow's father who was mixed up in the muddle, and who was killed,
according to report, soon after I got away. Mind you, I say this, but
it will be well for us if we are careful whom we trust. In Venezuela
every man is a revolutionist, and where revolutions reign the
sacredness of human faith is lost. As we seem to be in for our share
of lively times, it may be well for us to look at the situation
intelligently."
"I am surprised at the small amount I know of these South American
republics," declared Harrie. "Though they are much nearer to us, I
really know far less of them than I do of European nations of to-day,
or the ancient empires that crumbled away long years ago."
"It is usually so," replied Jack. "It is a trait of human nature to be
reaching after the things beyond our reach, while we push right over
those near us. The history of South America is a most interesting one,
but the most interesting chapter is close at hand, when out of the
crude material shall crystallize a government and a people that shall
place themselves among the powers of the world. I should not know as
much as I do of Venezuela if it had not been for the two years I spent
there quite recently--years I am not likely to forget."
"Ojeda, the Spanish adventurer who followed Columbus, named the country
Venezuela, which means "Little Venice," from the fact that he found
people living in houses built on piles, which suggested to him the
'Queen of the Adriatic,'" said Ronie.
"Very true," argued [Transcriber's note: agreed?} Jack. "These were
natives living about Lake Maracaibo, but the name was extended to cover
the whole country, though its original inhabitants did not, as a whole,
live in dwellings on poles, and move about in canoes. This Alonso de
Ojeda carried back to his patrons much gold and many pearls that he
stole from the simple but honest natives."
"If I am not mistaken, Vespucci, who had so much to do with naming the
new continent,[1] accompanied Ojeda's expedition," said Harrie.
"Very true," replied Jack. "I am glad to think that he was more humane
than the majority of the early discoverers, who treated the natives so
cruelly. The Indians of this country were not only rapidly despoiled
of their gold and pearls, but they were themselves inhumanly butchered
or seized and sold into captivity. The result was they soon became
bitter enemies to the newcomers, who thus found colonization and
civilization not only difficult but dangerous. Among those of a kinder
heart who came here was Juan Ampues, whom your young friend, Harrie,
claims was an ancestor of his. Ampues succeeded, through his kindness,
in winning over the natives to his side, and he was thus enabled to
found the first settlement in Venezuela. This was in 1527, and the
town whose foundations he laid still exists under the name he gave it,
Santa Ana de Coro. But for the most part the Spaniards treated the
Indians in a brutal manner, and in the end the unfortunate race was
looted and slain."
"But I have read that the people of Venezuela fell into worse hands
when the country was leased for a while to the Germans," said Ronie.
"Right!" declared Jack, earnestly. "You are evidently well posted on
history. Germany's hold was broken in 1546, but it took two hundred
years to conquer and settle Venezuela, while all the slaughter of human
lives and vast outlay of wealth proved in the end a poor investment for
old Spain. One by one her American dependencies have slipped away from
her control, and Venezuela has the honor of being the first to gain her
freedom from Old World tyranny.
"The first effort to break the chains was made in 1797. This was
unsuccessful, and another attempt was made in 1806, this time by
General Francisco Miranda, who invaded Venezuela with an expedition
organized in the United States, This revolution was successful only so
far as it served to awaken the people to the possibility that lay
before them. The prime opportunity came when Napoleon dethroned
Ferdinand of Spain, and the inhabitants of this dependency declared
that they would not submit to this Napoleonic usurpation. Though this
movement was made under a claim of allegiance to the deposed king of
Spain, he was incapable of seeing that it was for his interest to stand
by them, so he renounced their declaration. The result was another
declaration made on July 5, 1811, a declaration of independence and a
constitution in some respects like ours."
"It seems a bit strange that they should have an independence day that
comes so close to ours," said Harrie.
"Yes; and it is quite as singular that the first blow for liberty was
struck by their ancestors on the same day in April that our forefathers
fired their opening guns upon the British at Concord and Lexington,"
replied Jack.
"What means that confusion and those loud voices upon the deck?" asked
Ronie, as they were arrested in the midst of their conversation by the
sounds of a great commotion having suddenly begun over their heads.
"There is something new afoot!" declared Jack. "It sounds as if there
was going to be a fight. Follow me, and we will find out what it
means."
[1] Our geographies were wont to credit this nobleman with having given
his name to the continent, but modern research has shown this to be an
error. The country was already called by the native inhabitants
Amarca, or America, which Vespucci very appropriately retained in his
written account of the New World, the first that was given to the
scholars of that day. From this fact his name became associated with
that country, and he became known as "Amerigo" Vespucci, which was very
appropriate, though his real name was Albertigo. Later writers,
without stopping to investigate, declared that the continent had been
named for him, and in that way others accepted the mistake as a fact.
The truth is the name of "America" is older and grander than that of
any of those who followed in the train of Columbus, and was that
appellation given it by the ancient Peruvians, the most highly
civilized people on the Western Continent at the coming of the Great
Discoverer.--AUTHOR.