Having heard Mama Elisa's story, the next thing I wanted was, naturally,
to see Don Luis and thank him for his extraordinary kindness to me, a
stranger, and more than that, an enemy. Accordingly, upon being
informed of my desire, and learning from Mama Elisa that I was now well
enough to receive a visitor, my host presented himself at my bedside
that same evening, and expressed the very great pleasure he felt at
finding me making such good progress toward recovery. He accepted my
expressions of gratitude with much graciousness, professed himself happy
to have been the means of saving the life of a fellow creature, begged
me to regard himself, his house, and everything that belonged to him as
entirely at my service for as long as I might be pleased to make use of
them, and then said he would be glad to learn how I came to be in the
plight in which Tomasso had found me, if I felt equal to the task of
telling the story. I thought that, for a moment, he looked a trifle
disconcerted when I mentioned the fact that I was a British naval
officer; but, if so, the expression was quickly suppressed, and he
listened with deep attention and much sympathy to my story of our
falling in with and boarding the _Santa Brigitta_, our subsequent fight
with the pirate schooner, and the foundering of the _Wasp_ during the
gale.
Somewhat to my surprise, he was quite a young man, scarcely more than
thirty years of age. I had somehow got it into my head that, being the
owner of so fine an estate as Bella Vista, he must of necessity be at
least a middle-aged, if not an elderly man; but I understood when he
explained that the estate had originally been purchased, and afterwards
developed, by his father, who, I now learned, had perished in the
insurrection of 1791.
At length, after we had been chatting together for fully an hour, Mama
Elisa intervened, protesting that I had been sufficiently excited for
one day, and quite unceremoniously ordered her master out of the room;
upon which Don Luis, laughing heartily at his favourite servant's
brusqueness, shook me cordially by the hand, hoped I should soon be well
enough to quit my sick chamber, and informed me that he would now do
himself the pleasure to visit me for a few minutes daily, if only for
the purpose of assuring himself that Mama Elisa had not poisoned me with
any of her vile concoctions. After which parting shot at Mama he
effected a masterly retreat.
From this time onward I mended rapidly, and on the sixth day after Don
Luis's first visit I was well enough to rise from my bed and leave my
room for an hour or two. And now I should have been in a ludicrous
difficulty in the matter of clothes--for the scanty garments in which I
had come ashore were not only ruined by long immersion in sea water, but
were also in rags--had it not been for the fortunate circumstance that
Don Luis and I were, as nearly as possible of the same height, which
enabled him generously to place his wardrobe at my disposal. But while
Don Luis was a fine, square-shouldered, well-built fellow, I had shrunk
to little more than a skeleton, so that although the clothes fitted me
well enough as to their lateral dimensions, in other respects they made
me look pretty much of a scarecrow, and I could not avoid seeing the
ghost of a smile flickering in Don Luis's eyes when, upon my first
appearance in public, so to speak, he presented me in due form to his
wife, Dona Inez. But there was no smile on that sweet lady's lips, nor
in her eyes as they fell upon me and noted the evidences of suffering in
my hollow cheeks and wasted form; on the contrary, she was at once all
commiseration and sympathy as she expressed her gratification that it
had fallen to the lot of one of her people to find me in the hour of my
need, and to bring me to the shelter of her roof instead of leaving me
to perish, as might very well have happened had the fisherman who found
me been any other than Tomasso.
She was quite a young woman, not more than twenty-five, I thought; a
typical Spaniard, with dark melting eyes shaded by very long, curving
lashes, an immense quantity of black glossy hair, a clear colourless
skin, _petite_, handsome, and exceedingly graceful in her every
movement; but, even better than all that, she was kind, gentle in her
manner, tender-hearted and sympathetic, and appeared to be absolutely
idolised by every man, woman, and child upon the estate.
She received me in her drawing-room, a fine, lofty, spacious apartment
occupying approximately half the width of the front part of the house,
the other half being occupied by the dining-room, between which and the
drawing-room there was a fine hall, roomy enough to be used as a lounge,
and very cool and pleasant, since the house stood on the slope of a
hill, facing north, and overlooking the sea, while the wide front door
stood always open, freely admitting the sea-breeze. The drawing-room
was a really handsome room, the floor being of some very beautiful
native wood, polished to the brilliancy of a mirror, and covered here
and there with mats, rugs, and skins; the walls, of polished satin-wood,
arranged in panels, were hung with a few very fine pictures; a few small
tables, loaded with miniatures and native curiosities, were arranged
apparently haphazard about the room; there was a large, low couch, and
about a dozen lounging chairs, and a piece of fancy work and a very
handsome guitar lay upon the couch.
The large French casement was wide-open, giving access to a wide gallery
reaching right athwart the house from side to side, and shaded from the
direct rays of the sun by an overhanging veranda; and into this gallery
I was taken, inducted into a low, spacious basket chair, well equipped
with cushions, and made thoroughly comfortable: the Senora seating
herself on one side of me, and Don Luis establishing himself on the
other, each of them obviously doing their utmost to make me feel
thoroughly at home. And oh! it was good to sit out there feeling the
soft, warm breeze playing about me, to drink in the perfume-laden air,
and to gaze abroad upon the sun-bathed, gently sloping lawns
interspersed here and there with neat, symmetrically shaped flower-beds,
gay with luxuriant, rainbow-tinted blooms, to watch the tall palms
swaying as the wind swept through their clashing fronds, to note the
magnificent butterflies and the brilliant-plumaged birds flitting hither
and thither, with the blue foam-flecked sea, mottled with rich purple
cloud shadows, stretching away to the far horizon. I was allowed to sit
there for two hours, drawing in renewed health with every breath; and
then Mama Elisa and Teresita, her lieutenant, swooped down upon me,
declaring that I must not be further fatigued, and marched me back to my
room, put me to bed, gave me a dainty little meal of broth and the
breast of a roasted chicken, administered a stiff dose of some new
concoction, characterised chiefly by its superlative nastiness, and then
left me to go to sleep, which I did with amazing promptitude.
This sort of thing continued for a fortnight, my "sitting-up" time being
gradually extended until on the fourteenth day Mama Elisa, my
medico-in-chief, pronounced me well enough to turn out for second
breakfast and to stay up for the remainder of the day. Then, as I
gradually recovered my strength, came little walks in the company of Don
Luis, Dona Inez, or perhaps both together, at first for a few yards
only, as far as a certain flower-bed and back, then to some point near
at hand from which a specially charming vista was to be obtained, and
finally up into the mountains for a distance of a mile or so.
By the time that this stage of my convalescence was reached I had
arrived at the conclusion that it was high time I should think of
relieving my kind benefactors of my company, and return to duty, and on
a certain day I took advantage of the circumstance of being alone with
my host to mention the matter, and to ask him if he could put me in the
way of obtaining a passage back to Jamaica, explaining that although, as
he was aware, I had not a single coin in my possession, I could pay my
passage-money immediately upon my arrival at Port Royal.
"My dear fellow," said Don Luis, laying his hand almost affectionately
upon my shoulder, "I knew of course that this must come, sooner or
later; we could not reasonably expect to keep you with us always--you
naturally desire to return to your profession and your duty as early as
possible; but do you not think that you are just a little hasty, a
little over-eager, in mentioning this matter to me so soon? After all,
you know, you are by no means well, as yet; your strength is no doubt
equal to a leisurely walk of two or three miles about the neighbourhood;
but do you really think that you are strong enough to return at once to
the hardship and exposure of a sailor's life?"
"Yes," I said; "I certainly think so; indeed, I believe I am a great
deal stronger than you seem to imagine. Besides, it is quite possible
that I may not be sent to sea again immediately upon my return; there
may be no ship for me just at the moment when I next turn up at Port
Royal, and in that case I may have a short spell of shore duty before
again going afloat. But, in any case, I am anxious to return and report
to the Admiral the unfortunate result of my encounter with the pirates,
and undergo my trial by court-martial for the loss of the _Wasp_."
"Your trial by court-martial?" he gasped. "Surely you do not mean to
say that your countrymen will be so cruel as to treat you as a criminal,
simply because you were inadequately equipped to cope with an
overwhelmingly superior force, and because, after beating off that
force, a storm happened to arise ere you had time to make suitable
preparation for it? The idea is monstrous, absolutely monstrous!"
I was about to explain to Don Luis that it is a custom of the British
Navy to try the officers who are unfortunate enough to lose their ship,
no matter what the circumstances may be, but he would not let me speak;
he was so full of indignation at what he evidently considered the rank
injustice of the thing, and so eager to avail himself of the lever which
it seemed to afford for pressing home upon me a certain proposition
which he now sprang upon me, that he would not suffer me to utter a
single word by way of explanation.
"Wait, my dear fellow, wait!" he exclaimed. "What you have just told me
affords me the opportunity to mention what Dona Inez and I have
discussed together more than once, without any real hope, however, of
being able to bring it to pass. Now, however, I find that if you go
back you must surrender yourself a prisoner, and be tried as a criminal
for what was certainly no fault of yours, I will speak what is in my
mind. Why go back at all? Why not give up the sea, remain here, and be
my trusted friend and right-hand man in the management of the estate? I
very badly need some one like yourself, some one in whom I can place the
most absolute trust; for the estate is altogether too big for me to
manage single-handed; and my overseers, while they are good enough men
in their way, and no doubt understand their business, are scarcely the
kind of men whom I could put upon an equality with myself, or admit to
the house and to intimacy with Dona Inez. You, however, are different;
you are a gentleman, and although an Englishman--"
"Thanks, Don Luis; a thousand thanks for your extraordinarily friendly
and generous proposal," I interrupted; "but what you suggest is
impossible. I must return to Port Royal, at all costs; my honour
demands it. And, as to your exceedingly kind offer, all I can say is
that not even to accept it would I give up a profession to which I am so
greatly attached, and of which I am so inexpressibly proud. I am afraid
I shall never be able to make you and the Senora understand how deeply
moved I am, how profoundly grateful for this really remarkable proof of
your kindly feeling toward me, but--"
"Quite so," interrupted my companion, again laying his hand upon my
shoulder; "you need say no more; I think I understand. Since you feel
that you really must go I will not make any further effort to tempt you,
but, on the contrary, will do everything I possibly can to assist your
wishes. I will ask you, however, my dear young friend, not to make any
reference to this conversation in the presence of Dona Inez; for I am
convinced that if she were to become aware that I had actually made this
proposal to you, and that you had felt yourself bound to reject it, she
would be profoundly disappointed."
We then changed the subject, Don Luis promising to send one of his
negroes into the little town of Puerto Plata, some twenty miles distant,
to make inquiry as to the possibility of my being able to obtain passage
on board one of the small vessels that occasionally traded between that
port and Kingston. At the same time the generous fellow gave me to
understand that his purse was entirely at my disposal for the purpose of
defraying all necessary expenses, and that the loan could be repaid at
my own convenience.
The negro messenger was duly dispatched on the following morning; and
then, as he was not expected back until the evening of the third day, I
had to possess my soul in patience; meanwhile Don Luis, who seemed to
have taken a most extraordinary liking for me, allowed matters on the
estate practically to look after themselves while he and Dona Inez gave
themselves up almost entirely to me, taking me short walks into the
adjacent country, and showing me as much as possible of its beauties.
It was on the second night after the occurrence of the above-recorded
conversation--or rather in the early hours of the following morning--
that I was awakened out of a deep sleep by the sound of galloping hoofs,
evidently approaching the house, and before I had found time to rub the
sleep out of my eyes and sit up in bed, wondering meanwhile what such
unusual sounds might portend, I heard the animals sweep past the end of
the house and pull up, with much snorting and scattering of gravel,
before the front door; and the next moment footsteps--apparently of
several people--were heard ascending the front steps, crossing the wide
gallery running along the front of the house, and entering the hall by
way of the front door, which stood open day and night, except in bad
weather. Then a strong voice pealed out, in Spanish--and methought
there was a note of panic in it--
"Hola, there! Don Luis--Don Luis, where are you, man? Arise, I pray
you, and at once. I have momentous news for you."
"Who is it? What is it?" I heard Don Luis exclaim, and then came the
creak of the bedstead in the adjoining room as the good man leapt from
it; and I heard him busy with the flint and steel, endeavouring to
obtain a light.
"It is I--de Mendouca," answered the strange voice, "I and my family.
The negroes from the mountains are out again, and, being warned that
they were making for Montpelier, I abandoned the place, took horse, and
came on here to warn you."
"_Ave Maria_!" Don Luis exclaimed, as he seemed to be scrambling into
his clothes. "The negroes out again! I heard that they were showing
signs of unrest. I will be with you in a moment. Nay, do not be
alarmed, _carissima_, the danger is certainly not immediate; you will
have ample time to rise and dress at your leisure."
"Oho!" thought I. "Danger, eh? It is time for me to be making a
muster." I therefore rolled out of bed and, without waiting to strike a
light, felt for my clothes, scrambled into them, and made my way to the
entrance hall just as Don Luis, having joined his unexpected visitors,
had succeeded in lighting the great hall lamp.
The strangers were five in number, and I was hurriedly presented to each
of them in turn. First, there was Don Esteban de Mendouca, a tall,
thin, cadaverous-looking man, with intensely dark eyes, a thin crop of
hair, exceedingly long moustache with thin, drooping ends, and a pointed
Vandyke beard, all dark, but beginning to be sprinkled with grey. Then
there was Dona Christina, his wife, a small woman, as dark as her
husband, but with a perfectly preserved complexion--fat, and fifty if a
day. Next there was Don Pedro de Mendouca, Don Esteban's elder son, a
very proud and haughty-looking man of about twenty-seven years of age;
Don Silvio, his brother, some three years younger, and exceedingly like
his elder brother, but with a much more agreeable expression of
countenance; and lastly, but by no means least in attractiveness,
Senorita Eugenia, Don Esteban's daughter, a most lovely young woman of
about seventeen years of age, exquisitely fair, and with a pair of
melting blue eyes. They all acknowledged the introduction with that
stately courtesy which seems natural to the Spaniard; and then, as Don
Esteban began his brief story, I had time to take a good look at them
all. It was easy enough to see that they had risen from their beds and
fled in the utmost haste, for the toilette of each had been very
inadequately performed; but despite this the predominating impression
which they produced upon me was distinctly favourable. Indeed, the only
thing of which I in the least disapproved was the demeanour of Don Pedro
de Mendouca, which struck me as being a good deal more haughty and
arrogant than there was any excuse for. The circumstance that, I think,
surprised me most was that these people should have fled in such
apparent unreasoning panic, abandoning a fine property and absolutely
all that they possessed, excepting the horses they had ridden and the
clothes they stood up in, to a parcel of lawless negroes. I was soon to
learn, however, that it was not lack of courage that had inspired their
flight.
"I have no doubt, Don Luis," began Don Esteban, "that you, like myself,
have heard rumours of late that the negroes up in the mountains were
again beginning to show signs of unrest. But, so far at least as I was
concerned, those rumours have been so exceedingly vague and
contradictory that I paid little or no attention to them; for, as you
are, of course, aware, scarcely a month passes over our heads but some
story of an impending outbreak reaches us. Yet it has never come, and I
think we have at last all grown to regard the rumours as mere idle talk,
without foundation or justification. Consequently I was not only very
greatly surprised, but also distinctly incredulous, when one of my house
boys aroused me shortly after midnight to-night with the intelligence
that the negroes were actually out, and that practically all my own
people had abandoned their huts and gone forth to join them! It was
this latter circumstance which alarmed me; and when, a little later, I
had verified the statement I came to the conclusion that the time for
action had arrived, and accordingly we saddled up and came away without
further ado. As we came along my sons and I discussed the situation,
and ultimately decided that the proper thing, and also the best thing,
would be to make for Bella Vista in the first instance, inform you of
the facts, and learn your views as to the situation."
"Were you able to learn in what strength the blacks have turned out?"
demanded Don Luis.
"No," answered Don Esteban, "I was not; but we know from experience that
when they begin these raids they usually divide themselves into a number
of small bands, attacking in several directions simultaneously, and
depending upon being reinforced by the negroes on the estates which they
purpose to attack. Thus, for example, whatever may have been the
original strength of the band which set out to attack Montpelier, they
have already been augmented by two hundred of my people. Probably they
now muster about two hundred and fifty altogether--not more, I should
say. Ah! look yonder. Do you see that blaze? That is Montpelier.
They have already plundered the house and set it on fire, so you see we
did not get away from it any too early."
Looking out through the open door at the back of the house, which could
be seen from the hall, we beheld a small, flickering spark of fire, well
up on the lower slopes of the mountain, which, even as we gazed, waxed
in size and brilliancy. Snatching up a powerful telescope that always
hung ready to hand in the hall, and bringing it to bear upon the spark,
I was able to make out that it was indeed a large house, from the
windows and thatched roof of which flames were bursting in momentarily
increasing volumes, while round about it a crowd of negroes were
apparently dancing a dance of savage delight at the destruction which
they were effecting.
"Yes," I said, as I laid down the glass, "that is undoubtedly your
house, Don Esteban; I distinctly remember Dona Inez pointing it out to
me while we were out for a walk about a week ago."
At this moment Dona Inez, fully attired, emerged from her room, and
there was instantly a cordial interchange of salutations between her and
our visitors. Then she turned to me and asked:
"What was that I heard you say just now, Don Ricardo? Surely not that
Montpelier is in flames?"
"I deeply regret to say that you heard aright, Senora. Look yonder; you
may see the blaze for yourself. And the blacks are dancing round it
like so many demons," I answered.
Dona Inez clasped her hands together and wrung them in distress.
"Oh, Don Esteban--Dona Christina--I am so sorry for you all," she
exclaimed. "It is horrible; and they will be here next. What do you
intend to do, Luis? Must we really run away and leave this beautiful
place to be destroyed and ourselves ruined? Is there nothing that can
be done to save it?"
"I will not go so far as to say that," answered Don Luis; "on the
contrary, I am strongly indisposed to abandon it without a struggle.
What say you, Don Ricardo?" turning to me. "You are a fighting man; do
you think this house is capable of being defended successfully against
an armed but undisciplined rabble of some three hundred blacks?"
"That depends entirely upon how strong a garrison you can muster, my
dear friend," answered I. "So far as the house itself is concerned I
believe that, given, say, a couple of hours for preparation, it might be
put into a very excellent state of defence; but that would be no good at
all unless you could raise a garrison of, let us say, thirty fighting
men, and at least as many non-combatants to act as loaders, ambulance
party, and so on."
"Thirty fighters, and thirty non-combatants," returned Don Luis.
"Surely that might be managed. Why, my `boys' number more than three
hundred, nine-tenths of whom were born and bred upon the estate. A few
of them might possibly desert--perhaps twenty-five per cent of them, to
put the figure at its very highest; but I feel certain that the bulk of
them would stand by me through thick and thin; they have everything to
lose and nothing to gain by going over to the outlaws. Oh yes, I am
convinced that there should be no difficulty in the matter of raising a
sufficient number of fighters."
"So far, then, so good," said I. "The next question is that of
weapons--firearms especially. I am afraid, my dear Don Luis, you will
scarcely be able to raise thirty guns, with adequate ammunition for the
same."
"Ah, true," answered Don Luis, "I had not thought of that. Still--now,
let me think a moment--"
"I may as well tell you here," cut in Don Esteban, "that although we
could not see our way to defend Montpelier successfully, my sons and I
have each brought our guns with us, and they of course will be
available, should you decide to make a stand and defend the house."
"But, my dear Don Esteban, you will need them for your own protection on
your way to--to--wherever you propose to make for; unless, of course,
you choose to throw in your lot with us, which would perhaps be scarcely
more dangerous than the attempt to reach one of the towns. For the news
of this rising will spread among the negroes like wildfire, and--"
"Precisely," cut in Don Esteban again. "That is exactly my own thought.
Therefore, if our presence here will not embarrass you we will gladly
remain and take our chance with you."
"My dear Don Esteban," exclaimed Don Luis, "let me hasten to assure you
that nothing could possibly give me greater satisfaction than to have
the assistance of yourself and your two gallant sons at this critical
juncture in my fortunes."
"Then that is settled," exclaimed I, breaking in rather ruthlessly, I am
afraid, upon Don Luis' compliments, for which, I considered, there was
scant time just then. "That makes three guns to start with. Now, how
many more can we muster?"
"Four of my overseers have two guns each, while the remaining two have
one each," answered Don Luis. "And each of them possesses a brace of
good serviceable pistols in addition. Then, as for me, you must know,
my dear Don Ricardo, that firearms are rather a weakness of mine;
whenever I see an especially good gun I buy it, if I can, consequently I
have a very fair selection in my gun-room, probably about twenty in all,
as well as a few brace of pistols, duelling and otherwise."
"Oh, but that is excellent," I exclaimed; "far better than I dared
expect. And as to ammunition?"
"I think you will find that we have as much of that as we are at all
likely to need, for I always make a point of keeping an ample supply in
stock," answered Don Luis.
"Good!" answered I. "The next point to determine is the identity of
your garrison. First, there is Don Esteban and his two sons; that makes
three. Then there is you and myself--five. Will your six overseers
fight, think you, Don Luis?"
"Oh yes, without a doubt," answered Don Luis. "They are most excellent
fellows, and devoted to me."
"Then, so far, we muster eleven," said I. "We want nineteen more
fighters, and at least thirty good, steady non-fighters, men who can be
depended upon to retain their coolness and do exactly as they are told
during the confusion and excitement of a fiercely contested fight. Now,
Don Luis, can you lay your hand upon forty-nine men of the kind I have
indicated--men who are trustworthy enough to be admitted inside these
walls at a moment when treachery on the part of any one of them would
probably be fatal to us all?"
Don Luis flushed and looked almost angrily at me as I suggested the
possibility of treachery on the part of any of his people.
"Really, Don Ricardo," he exclaimed, "put as you put it, you almost make
me tremble at the vastness of the responsibility that I am about to
undertake. But you shall see. I will at once go down to the huts,
choose my men, and bring them up here for your approval." And with that
shot at me he walked out at the back door and disappeared into the
darkness, while Don Silvio, at his father's request, went out to lead
the horses round to the stables, and bring in the guns.