"Good!" she exclaimed, with a smile of satisfaction that disclosed two
rows of small, perfectly-shaped teeth. "I will go and tell Mama Elisa."
And before I could say a word, or ask a question, she had vanished
through a door in the wall against which stood the head of my bed.
A minute later in came Mama Elisa, smiling all over her honest, still
good-looking face, bearing in her hands a large, massive tray, which
looked as though it might be solid silver. This tray was draped with a
cloth of snow-white damask, upon which were symmetrically arranged a
small silver bowl, the steaming contents of which emitted a most
savoury, appetising odour, a spoon, a small cruet, a plate upon which
lay a slice of white bread and another of dry toast, and a wine-glass
containing some liquid of a rich ruby colour, that might possibly be
port wine.
"Aha!" she cheerily exclaimed, as she placed the tray and its contents
upon the table by the side of the bed, "it is easy to see that the Senor
is better; his eyes are brighter; the long sleep has done him good. And
now he needs only plenty of nourishing food and careful nursing to set
him again upon his feet. Teresita tells me that you are hungry, Senor--
which is another good sign. Do you think you could take a little broth,
Senor?"
I replied that I had very little doubt upon that point, whereupon the
good soul proceeded to crumble a small quantity of the bread into the
steaming bowl, after which, slipping her arm under my shoulder and very
tenderly raising me, she supported my body against her ample bosom as
she fed me from the bowl, a spoonful at a time, coaxing me between
whiles to nibble at the toast. The broth was delicious, whatever it
might have been made of--I was in no mood to ask the question--and to my
own surprise and Mama's intense gratification I consumed it--in quantity
about half-a-pint--to the last drop, and also ate about half a slice of
toast. Then came the wine-glass of ruby-coloured liquid, which proved
to be, as I had anticipated, port wine, rich and generous, seeming to
fill me with new life. And when I had finished my meal and had drained
another bumper of lemonade, Teresita was summoned to assist in the
process of washing my face and hands and inducting me into clean linen,
after which followed another long sleep.
My progress toward recovery was now rapid, although I soon learned that
my escape from death had been little short of miraculous. Naturally, as
soon as my reason returned to me, and I was strong enough to engage in
conversation, I began to inquire where I was, and how I came to be
there; but for the first three or four days after the events above
described my nurses, Mama Elisa and Teresita, refused to tell me
anything save that I was with friends. But at length, when I had so far
recovered as to be able to sit up in bed without assistance, Mama Elisa
took compassion upon me and proceeded to satisfy my curiosity. She
informed me first, that the gale in which the _Wasp_ foundered had
occurred more than three weeks previously! Then she proceeded to say
that on the second day after the gale had moderated, the sea having by
that time gone down sufficiently to permit the fishermen once more to
proceed to sea in their canoes, one Tomasso, a negro--formerly a slave
but now a freeman, in the service of Senor Don Luis Fernando Maria
Calderon y Albuquerque, owner of the Bella Vista estate--had sallied
forth from a certain small cove on the estate for the purpose of
procuring a supply of fish, as usual. After having been thus engaged
for some hours, with very scant success, Tomasso had decided to try his
luck farther out; and while padding to seaward his attention had been
attracted by the appearance of something floating about a mile away.
Paddling in that direction, in the hope that what he saw might be worth
picking up, he had at length come alongside the hatchway, with me upon
it, in a state of collapse. The negroes on the island had risen in
insurrection against the whites only some six years previously, while
slavery had been abolished only about four years, the relations between
the blacks and the whites on the island were consequently still greatly
strained, and many a negro, finding one in that helpless state, would
have callously left me to die. Tomasso, however, luckily for me, was
not one of that sort: he had always been well treated by his master, and
therefore felt no animus against the whites; consequently as soon as he
found that a spark of life still remained in my body, he transferred me
to his canoe and, abandoning for the moment all further thought of
fishing, paddled back to the shore. Then, hauling his canoe up on the
beach, he had hastened to the house and acquainted his master, Don Luis,
with his find. The latter, a generous, humane, high-spirited fellow,
and as noble a specimen of the Spanish hidalgo as one need wish to meet,
at once hastened down to the cove and, upon perceiving my condition,
gave immediate orders that I was to be carried up to the house, put to
bed, and everything possible done to save my life. The nearest reliable
doctor being at Santiago, over forty miles distant, on the other side of
the mountains, he had quickly decided to put me in the hands of Mama
Elisa, born upon his estate, of amply proved fidelity, and marvellously
skilled in the use of herbs and the treatment of disease, with the
result that, having battled for a fortnight with the raging fever that
almost immediately developed itself, she had at length triumphantly
brought me to the point of convalescence.