EXCURSION TO EL MORAL AND THE ISLAND.
For a fortnight at least there had been talk of an excursion to El Moral
and the island. During the spring the young ladies[43] who went to the
parties at the house of the Elorzas had been anxious to form a capital
with the products of the tax and lottery to defray the expenses. Don
Mariano allowed them to do so, smiling roguishly every time that he was
told the state of the funds; but when the time came which was fixed for
the excursion, in presence of the whole tertulia, he took the handful of
silver from the little box in which it was kept and handed it to the
parish priest of Nieva to divide among the parishioners who most needed
it.
"Why!" exclaimed the noble caballero at the same time, "is it not a
hundred-fold better to spend this money in alleviating the hunger of one
or two poor people than in a frivolous and unnecessary amusement?"
"Certainly, certainly," said the girls, putting on an expression which
in truth did not give evidence of the purest delights of virtue and the
joys of the righteous.
That evening there was very little talking, singing, and dancing at the
Elorza tertulia. Virtue, stern by nature, does not approve of noisy
demonstrations. The young people of both sexes expressed the deep, pure
satisfaction with which their sacrifice had inspired them by an
ineffable severity, making them demure and silent the most of the time,
as though they were meditating deeply on some Gospel text. Great,
therefore, must have been the displeasure felt by all when Don Mariano
said to them at the last moment:--
"Ladies and gentlemen, Thursday, at eight o'clock in the morning, I
should be greatly pleased to have you meet at the quay, properly
provided with hats, parasols, wraps, and so forth and so forth. Nothing
is more likely than that the sailors of my falúa will be anxious to take
us down to El Moral, and, as you well know, it wouldn't be polite to
disappoint them."
The tertulia deplored this determination which deprived them of making a
sacrifice for the universal brotherhood, and manifested it with a
running fire of laughter, remarks, and disorderly movements: "What a man
Don Mariano is!" "He always has to be playing these jokes!" "Thursday,
Thursday!" "What engagement have I for Thursday? Oh, none, I believe."
"Must we take waterproofs?" "I think cloaks will be enough." And so on.
And in fact, on Thursday at eight o'clock in the morning, Don Mariano's
launch and the quarantine boat, both clean and adorned like damsels on a
fête-day, were impatiently waiting for the people, tossing side by side
in the slip by the quay. Four sailors in each were making the final
arrangements, from time to time casting inquiring glances now at the
river, now at the streets which led from the quay. The passengers were
not in sight, and the tide had already gone down two feet and a half.
One of the sailors expressed his dislike of tardiness in a rough voice
which was far enough from fashionable. At last appeared a variegated
group of women and men among whom straw hats and red cloaks
predominated, and the old sea-dog who had just been swearing like a
pirate blasphemed once more out of pure satisfaction, and put down a
gang-plank between the dock and the falúa for the people to cross on.
The first to leap on board was Don Mariano. The boat gently tipped on
one side when she received her master's weight, as though making him a
loving bow. All the young ladies, including, of course, the Delgados,
next came tripping on board, leaning on Don Mariano's strong hand: the
gentlemen followed. When the first falúa was full, they began to load
the second, and this was quickly accomplished. In the first, among other
people of distinction, were the two Misses de Delgado with their sister,
the widow, who chaperoned them; the De Merinos with their brother
Bonifacio, the most self-satisfied of all brothers; three or four
officials from the factory, Don Mariano, Don Maximo, Martita, and
Ricardo. Maria did not go because she would not break her vow to refrain
from all recreation. Likewise Doña Gertrudis's indisposition prevented
her from taking part in the excursion. In the second boat excellent
accommodation was found by our friend, the fascinating, sprightly
Señorita de Morí, under the watchful goggle eyes of the illustrious
Isidorito. Likewise, we can distinguish among others a very pretty young
girl named Rosario with whom the young swell at her side was not able to
dance on the evening of the Elorza soirée, on account of the war
proclaimed by the pianist against the German. The sailors were just
going to cast off the lines for starting when from one of the falúas
came a voice, asking,--
"But the De Ciudads?"
The De Ciudads were missing. Don Mariano and the quarantine doctor were
in consternation at the mention of this name, which was such a guaranty
of respectability. Before they had recovered from their consternation,
there appeared at the end of one of the streets leading to the quay the
six señoritas accompanied by their papa, their mamma, their engineer
Suárez, and two small brothers. It was impossible to accommodate so many
people in the two falúas; they had to hunt up another, and man it with
the first sailors they could find, and thus precious time was lost. But
at last, as everything in this world can be managed except death, the De
Ciudads and their friends were well bestowed in a fishing-boat, and the
captain of the quarantine gave the signal for the start. The twelve oars
of the falúas began to strike the water in time with a gentle splash,
like the arms of one stretching.
The level of the river was smooth, motionless, and bright as a mirror;
the sun cast upon it wide, silvery spots towards the centre, and darker
ones near the edges. The sky was covered by a delicate veil of clouds,
making a splendid rival for the ladies' hats and parasols. Only a gentle
breeze laden with the keen odor of pines on the shore came timidly
kissing the soft back of the waters, and the no less soft and fresh
necks of the ladies. It was not as yet a legitimate sea-breeze, but a
hybrid kind[44] with the characteristics both of sea and land. The oars
now put out all their agility, and with their blades lifted the crystal
of the waters, causing fleeting, foamy whirlpools; all faces showed the
healthful joy which is always caused by motion and the ever new and
beautiful spectacle of nature. The girls, bending over the gunwale of
the boat, delighted in taking off their rings and plunging their hands
into the water, letting it pour with a murmur through their white
fingers: they talked, they screamed, they laughed, and they exchanged
greetings from one boat to the other. The young fellows spattered their
faces with their canes or suddenly leaned to one side to scare them,
taking great pleasure in their cries of desperation. All was noise and
hubbub in the little squadron. As they came near El Moral, the marine
characteristics of the breeze began to get the upper hand of the inland
ones; it grew stronger, sometimes even blowing violently, as when the
falúas passed by some glen made through the hills or sloping banks which
shut in the river valley. The ribbons on the hats, the pennants on the
mast-heads, handkerchiefs and neckties began to flutter violently. The
voyagers felt the sweet deafness caused by the keen, salt-nurtured wind
of the sea. A few aquatic birds of little account flew out from one
shore and went flapping above the falúas, which was sufficient cause for
Don Serapio, in a fit of enthusiasm for the sea, to get upon deck and,
leaning over the flagstaff like one possessed, to sing the song which
begins:--
"_Al ver en la inmensa llanura del mar._
When o'er the mighty prairie of the sea,
I watch the sea-gulls in their rapid flight,
My soul is filled with envious thoughts," etc.
If the river could blush, it would not have failed to do so on hearing
itself called so hyperbolically the _mighty prairie_; but it took it in
bad part, believing that there was some joke intended, and was seriously
angry. At all events, the wind undertook to wreak vengeance for it by
suddenly snatching off the inspired singer's sombrero and cutting short
the current, not to say the torrent, of his voice. The falúa in the wake
picked up the hat and restored it in a very water-soaked condition to
its owner, who showed no more desire for the time being to continue
apostrophizing the sea-gulls.
The little squadron stood nearer and nearer to the handful of houses at
El Moral, distant from Nieva about a league and a half. The town kept
growing more distant from our voyagers, offering them a beautiful
spectacle. It was situated under the brow of a not very lofty mountain,
decorated with green gardens and groups of laurel and orange trees on
all sides; its white-walled houses seemed to have been placed in such a
situation by the hand of an artist who believed in combining the
advantages of nature so as to produce the æsthetic emotion, as a stage
manager would say; the dazzling whiteness of the town stood out against
the dark green of the mountain like a great patch of snow stretching
down from the top; the silvery sheet of the river extending at its feet
waited motionless and humble till it should melt into its bosom. The
gentle, pine-clad hills which bordered the shores, and which our
voyagers left one after the other, seemed like the bristling backs of
huge, fantastic monsters.
The remarks made by one falúa to another gradually ceased. Each of the
boats recovered self-jurisdiction, living for itself alone. Let us
listen to what is said in them.
IN THE ELORZA FALÚA.
"I am well in years, Don Maximo, but I expect that my daughters are
going to see this river perfectly channelled. The amount of water
entering the mouth of the port would be sufficient to float vessels of
the greatest draught, if it were not so spread out. The question is to
utilize it. And how can this be done? Why, it must be done by force, by
means of two parallel jetties, which should begin at the very bar and
come up as far as Nieva. The water, both at ebb and flow, will pass
between them with greater rapidity, working over the bottom until it
deepens it. Gradually the space included between the channel and the
shores will be left dry, and can be easily improved. To accomplish the
drainage, all that is needed is to construct a clay dike against each of
the jetties, and open large gates through which the water can flow out
but not come in.... Excuse my earnestness!... I know well that this is
not a work of months, but of many years; still there is nothing
impossible about it.... Once reclaimed, these wide spaces would
doubtless be utilized by the population of Nieva, even to the very bank
of the beautiful canal, which would be constantly crowded with every
kind of craft. The new city built on such a wide level would most
certainly have its streets laid out at right angles, like those of the
American cities, and magnificent wharves. The true port, however, cannot
be here, but near the roadstead of Los Arenales, ... very soon we shall
be passing by it. It is a well-sheltered and extensive site, where a
whole fleet could have stay-room.... At present it is not very deep; I
am perfectly aware of that, but it has a sandy bottom, and you know that
with the powerful dredging-machines which we have nowadays, in a very
short time, it could be made two or three metres deeper.... Then Nieva
will be the most important part of El Cantábrico; the larger part of our
mineral products will be exported through it, for the dock at Sarrió is
very small, and there is no chance to increase it; instead of going to
French watering-places to spend the summer, the Spaniards will come to
these beautiful Northern Provinces, neglected to-day for lack of means
of communication.... How is Biarritz to be compared in spring with these
fresh, delicious regions? What sea-coast of Arcachón can enter into
rivalry with ours at Miramar and Las Huelgas?..."
ON BOARD OF LA SANIDAD.
"Last night I slept splendidly, after a number of nights when I didn't
close my eyes hardly at all," said the Señorita de Morí to her friend
Rosario, who was seated near her.... "I don't know what has been ailing
me this long time.... I feel nervous.... My head aches when I get up....
I think I need a tonic."
"Sometimes you need to give the heart a tonic, señorita," said
Isidorito, boldly, with his face frightfully contracted by a smile.
"I didn't know that the apothecary shops furnished tonics for the
heart," replied the young lady, with a scornful gesture, directing her
words to Rosario.
"Oh, no, señorita; not in the apothecary shops; the heart is not cured
by the preparations of ordinary therapeutics, nor by any formulas of the
pharmacopoeia, for it has, apart from its physical nature, which is
not unlike the rest of the viscera, another nature purely spiritual as
we are generally accustomed to speak of it, and this cannot be treated
except by moral medicaments. When I said that sometimes you need to give
your heart a tonic, I meant to indicate that possibly it would be good
for you to drive away certain preoccupations of an amorous character,
which often are wont to affect it."
"I am not troubled by these _preoccupations_ of which you speak, nor do
I intend to have them at present, God helping me," replied the señorita
with the same air of dissatisfaction as before, and addressing herself
only to Rosario.
"You cannot affirm that in such a categorical manner."
"And why not?"
"For in the state in which you find yourself it is very difficult, not
to say impossible, to fathom all the profundities of the spirit and
scrutinize all of its hiding-places. Frequently impressions make their
way into our souls in a surreptitious manner without our taking note of
it; they begin by being vague and fugitive, and for that very reason
pass without being observed; but slowly they go on taking shape, growing
in strength, and finally they conquer the individual and rule him at
their will. Then they pass into the category of the passions."
"But I know perfectly well what I feel and what I don't feel."
"Oh, no, señorita; allow me to contradict you. You cannot know."
"Man, for goodness' sake! Can't I know what I feel?"
"Why, then, you must know that--"
"Perhaps I know better than you do. Self-observation, according to all
the philosophers and moralists, is more difficult than to observe
others, and there are very few who are able to reach to it. On the other
hand, youth is little prone to reflection, and above all women are
incapable of taking perfect account of their inclinations and of the
vague emotions passing through their hearts."
"Look you! women are as God created them, and so are men."
"I don't doubt it; but God has so created them, with a sensitive
capacity (if I may express myself in this way) more quick and delicate
than that of men. It may be said that they are born exclusively for
love, and that love ought to fill the measure of their existence. Love
and the consequences which arise from love constitute the first end of
conjugal union or, in other words, matrimony. Thus it has been
established in all legislative codes, and particularly in the canonical,
which is the purest fountain of all. Woman consequently works more
under the impulse of fancy and sentiment than of reason...."
"Heavens! how much Isidorito knows about us poor women!" exclaimed the
Señorita de Morí, in a tone between anger and jest.
The district attorney was somewhat crushed, but at length he went on
with his remarks, without ceasing the pseudo-smile which afflicted his
face.
"Love being, for the reason above given, the most powerful, not to say
the only, motive of a woman's life, there is nothing wonderful in the
supposition that a young lady like you may find herself agitated by this
omnipotent feeling, and paying tribute to what constitutes an
irrecusable law of life. You may now see how I was not out of the way
when I affirmed that sometimes it is necessary for you to give your
heart a tonic or--and this is the same thing--alleviate it of some too
grievous impression."
"O my![45] what a bore!" said the Señorita de Morí in a whisper; but she
replied aloud, "Why, you are absolutely mistaken, Isidorito; nothing
grieves me or disturbs me at present!"
"Allow me to doubt it."
"You are welcome to doubt it; but I assure you that I have the best
reason for knowing."
"Certainly, according to all logic, although you may declare the
contrary, yet there is no possibility of sustaining such an opinion; not
only reason and good sense oppose it, but from the most superficial
observation of the facts it results, first, that love is a natural and
constant sentiment in young ladies; second, that you have no reasons for
escaping from it; and third, that the fact of sleeping little and
uneasily makes the supposition that you are in love a very reasonable
one."
The Señorita de Morí shrugged her shoulders, made a scornful grimace
with her lips, and without deigning to reply, resumed her conversation
with her friend Rosario.
Isidorito had triumphed over his opponent as usual; for always the woman
with whom he was conversing was in his eyes his opponent, and he
believed in the necessity of involving her in the meshes of his logic,
and of getting her close in his grasp, until he subdued her like a
rebellious rival in the law. Thus he expected to win the admiration and
respect of the feminine sex. But the feminine sex (be it said to its
dishonor) not only did not admire Isidorito for his belligerent logic,
for his sedateness, and for his vast legal knowledge, but it looked upon
him with marked disfavor, and avoided his conversation as though it were
a disgusting clatter. The Señorita de Morí, with whom he had carried on
the most pugnacious argument on the nature of love and friendship, the
sweets of remembrance, the bitternesses of forgetfulness, sympathy, and
all else relating to the heart, in which he always came out instantly
victorious, had learned to hate him like death. Consequently our wise
youth was really more than a hundred leagues from the lovely heiress's
three thousand duros income, while he believed that he could touch them
with his finger-tips. His never-failing sedateness, his self-possessed
and serene eloquence, his long-tailed coats, his ideas of order, and his
legal diction had aroused against him a prejudice as cruel as it was
unjustified.
IN THE DE CIUDAD FALÚA.
"Maria, Julia, Consuelo, just see how lovely the water feels when you
put your hand in!"
"How lovely! how lovely!"
"You'll wet your clothes, Amparo!"
"See what cunning white feathers the water makes between the fingers,
Suárez!"
"Splendid!... but you'll wet the sleeve of your dress."
"Wait a moment.... I am going to tuck it up.... There, that's good....
Look! look!..."
"It still seems to me as though it would get wet.... Tuck it up a little
more."
"More?"
"Yes."
"But I shall show my whole arm!"
"What difference does that make?"
"Be sensible; it isn't the time to give one a cold.... Now it seems to
me all right.... Uf! how cold this water is!... It isn't noticeable on
the hands, but on your arms! Look! Look how it jumps up!... If you put
your palm flat against the current, it runs clear up your arm. Don't you
see how beautiful and clear it is to-day?"
"Speaking frankly, I will tell you," whispered the engineer in Amparo's
ear, "that at this moment my attention is attracted more by your fair
arm!"
"If you don't hush, you rogue, I shall spatter the water in your face,"
replied the girl, threatening him with her chaste vengeance.
"Though you should throw me into the river, I should still say so.... I
am an artist, above all things, as you well know.... There is nothing so
beautiful as the human form, ... when it is beautiful; and that arm of
yours stands comparison with the most perfect models of the sculptor's
art."
"Come, come! don't be absurd!... My arm is like any one else's. The
main thing is, that it is beginning to feel cold.... Whew! what
water.[46] It seemed so warm at first!... And how it keeps on growing
colder and colder, till at last it chills one to the bone!..."
"Take it out, take it out ... we must dry it!"
And Amparito obeyed, taking her arm out of the water, and innocently
holding it towards the engineer, who began to wipe it with his
handkerchief, lavishing upon it delicate attentions, and saying, at the
same time:--
"But what a lovely arm you have, Amparito! How white! what soft skin!
and how round it is, above all!... A woman's arm ought to be so, ...
round and slender, like that of the Venus di Medici ... the arm ought to
diminish gradually and symmetrically to the wrist.... The truth is, with
such an arm you ought to be worthy of being a sculptor's model....
Well-formed women are scarce enough nowadays. To this is due the decay
of sculpture, according to some critics.... If there were many like you,
this certainly could not be said.... What an arm! what a lovely arm!...
You can't imagine the pleasure I feel in touching it with my hand...."
The engineer, as he said this, suited the action to the word, and rubbed
it so hard that Señor de Ciudad, who, with grim eyes, was watching the
operation from the bow, could not help exclaiming, in an angry tone,--
"Amparo, please pull down your sleeve.... You most foolish girl!"
The girl blushed, and pulled down her sleeve. The engineer, not being
able to evolve his artistic theories with his model in sight, renounced,
for some time, the use of speech.
The falúas were now over against the Arenales. The sun had succeeded in
making a few rifts in the veil of cloud, and was threatening, sooner or
later, to rend it in pieces. The pencil of rays which penetrated through
these rifts, and fell on the sand-hills, made them gleam like enormous
flakes of gold, shedding their splendors over the whole breadth of the
watery sheet; occasionally, when the sunbeams were cut off a moment by
the interposition of some cloud, the splendors paled, and the sand
assumed the grayish or gilded shades of webs of yellow silk. The
voyagers all agreed that those sand wastes gave a very good idea of the
deserts of Africa; and Don Mariano expressed his opinion that it would
be very easy to control the sand by means of feather-grass and other
suitable vegetation, and soon convert them into magnificent groves of
pines.
The valley, which in the midst of the way opened out till it acquired
considerable breadth, became narrower again as it neared El Moral. The
waters became more restless, revealing the proximity of the sea; the
hills, protecting the village with their stony slopes and their bare,
melancholy tops, likewise made it evident. The breath of the monster
began to be felt, blowing freshly and proudly through the narrow mouth
of the river; and far away could be heard the low, portentous beating of
his heart. The falúas now and then pitched upon patches of foam, which
came rolling over the water, like tatters torn from the mantle of some
god who had been battling all the night with the monsters of the ocean.
They reached El Moral. Don Mariano had prepared for them a delicious
luncheon in a large ware-house, which he owned there, and the numerous
company gave one more proof that the sea breezes are the most excellent
stimulant for the appetite. When they had done good justice to it, and
rested a little while, they re-embarked to continue their excursion. A
short distance from El Moral was the mouth of the harbor from which they
put out to sea, leaving on the starboard quarter the lighthouse tower
set on a bluff. The sailors dropped their oars and hoisted the sails to
take advantage of the fresh north-east wind which forced them ahead. It
was eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The cloud veil had entirely vanished
down the horizon, leaving in view a beautiful, diaphanous blue sky
wherein the sun swam haughty and brilliant as never before. The sea
stretched out before our voyagers' eyes like one enormous, measureless
blue plain, shutting in on all sides the celestial vault to collect its
light and its harmony. Above this azure plain the luminous disk of the
sun made a wide path of shining silver peopled with tremulous, sparkling
gleams and extending in a direct line towards the east. In each one of
the crests which the breeze raised on the water the sunbeams left a
fugitive, vivid light which, on mingling and joining with the rest in an
incessant dance, seemed like the monstrous, fantastic ebullition of the
treasures hidden in the depths of the ocean. The voyagers followed that
silvery path with their gaze, and did not open their lips for a long
time, enjoying the deeply fine and solemn impression which the sea
always makes on the mind. The outlines of the island, dimmed and
confused by the excess of light, stood out opposite the very mouth of
the river, about five miles from the coast. Around it could be seen
great flocculent shreds of foam which alternately grew and narrowed down
again, girdling it with a white belt of lace-work. The wind blew strong,
but with generous benignity, for it had plenty of room to exercise its
powers. The three falúas, with sails spread, cut through the water, one
behind the other, like so many sea-gulls chasing them. The cordage
whistled, the masts creaked in the holes imprisoning them, and the sails
bellied under the breath of the breeze which tipped the boats more than
was relished by the ladies. The water, as it passed, broke into foam,
making a musical murmur against the bow, and sliding along on both sides
with a rustle like the unrolling of silk.
Don Serapio felt himself attacked by a maritime ecstasy, and, holding
his hat in one hand and gesticulating dramatically with the other, he
sang:--
"How blessed that man who can number
His joys on the ocean;
For the billows rock him to slumber
With somnolent motion."
The almost imperceptible voice of the proprietor of the canning-factory
had the honor of joining in with the eternal concert of the seas, like
one of so many noises of tumbling billows or rattling pebbles. The wind
would not deign to carry it twenty yards away.
The falúas, as they glided out on the swelling breasts of the waves,
mounted and fell with a gentle, lazy motion which at first was
delightful to the passengers. They began to sway, softly closing their
eyes with a smile of delicious content, surrendering themselves in full
to the vague, poetic dreams awakened in their hearts by the sea. Who
would have said, alas! that those who were dreaming so comfortably, and
rejoicing in a smiling world of gentle fancies and gilded illusions,
would be seen in a few minutes with heads sadly bent over the sea, necks
leaning on the gunwale, as though it were a chopping-block, faces livid
and eyes fixed upon the water, as though they were trying to sound the
secret arcana of the ocean! Oh terrible fickleness of human affairs!
But what was taking place in the quarantine boat, that she should come
about and leave her companions? An unforeseen contingency, and certainly
one most annoying. Isidorito's breakfast had played him false. Hardly
were they clear of El Moral when he began to be pale and silent, though
no one noticed it; but at last the pallor increased to such a degree
that he really looked like a corpse. Then it was suspected that he was
seasick, and they advised him to put his fingers in his mouth; but the
municipal attorney, very thoroughly acquainted with the tragedy at that
moment enacting in his stomach, would not do any such thing, and begged
humbly that, if it were possible, they should turn about and leave him
on shore. All were stupefied at this proposition, and the falúa
continued on her swift course, as though she had not heard. But, after a
time, Isidorito propounded it in a still more energetic manner, and the
sailors were obliged to reply that, though it was not impossible, still,
to return to shore would cost them an hour's time. Another interval
passed. Isidorito got up suddenly, with his face convulsed, and,
extending his right hand toward the shore, he exclaimed with a voice of
mighty anguish, "Turn around, turn around for God's sake, or I shall
jump into the water!" Then the falúa, not wanting to be an accomplice in
a suicide, veered around, dropped sail, and, putting out oars, began to
make its way, as quick as possible, to the nearest point on the shore.
There are reasons, however, for believing that the distinguished legal
gentleman did not reach land in sufficient time. The Señorita de Morí
felt sufficiently avenged for the many annoyances which his inflexible
logic had occasioned her.