“Talking over the question of escape, I and Cuastral had decided that we
should make the attempt the very next time that the Trauco queen took us
with her to the gold caves.
“We had noticed in our previous visits, that the river flowed onwards
due south, but that it narrowed considerably at this point, and seemed
to pass through a thick, almost impenetrable jungle. It appeared to us,
that if we could gain this jungle unperceived, we might lie concealed
therein with a faint hope of escaping detection. The chance seemed of
course forlorn, and yet we judged that it was worth while to risk it. It
was terrible to see the months flying by, and to know that we had, in
all probability, been given up as dead by all those whom we loved. And
therefore we resolved to make the attempt, come what might.
“Our opportunity came sooner than we anticipated. I must explain that
the Trauco village was frequently attacked by the black fiends who had
offered us battle on the way up the river. A few days before the time I
am alluding to, they had invaded the Traucos’ territory in large
numbers, but had been repulsed with great slaughter, and had retired,
taking away with them many wounded comrades. These frequent combats had
used up not a few of the Traucos’ arrows, and more gold was required in
consequence to weight and point the new ones, which had been hastily
fashioned to replace the lost ones.
“Our hearts beat high with hope and excitement, therefore, when the
queen beckoned to us one morning to accompany her on the raft, which had
been deputed to go up stream in search of more gold. We hastened to her
side with more than usual alacrity, which seemed to please her vastly,
for she gave several happy laughs, and cooed gently for a considerable
time afterwards. She had been very kind to us, in truth, had this Trauco
queen, most solicitous for our comfort, and especially tender and gentle
towards myself, whom she seemed to view with more than ordinary favour,
and to make an especial pet of. Indeed, though my heart was far away, I
could not help a pang of regret shooting through it, when I looked at
this strange beautiful-eyed being, and thought to myself, that before
long I should have passed out of her presence for ever. Aniwee, I know,
will not grudge that thought, which was more an expression of gratitude
than anything else; for though she held us captives, she had always
shown us kindness and extreme gentleness. And it seemed to me on this
journey that she was more than usually kind. Often, when we passed a
fine fruit tree, she would have the raft taken in shore, herself land,
and choose from the tree the best of the fruit, which she always brought
and handed to me with a kind light shining in her dark eyes. The idea of
watching us closely seemed to have left her, and she had entirely got
over her suspicions as to our desire to escape. When we arrived at the
gold cave, she would let us wander along the banks of the river without
setting a Trauco to watch us, as she had formerly done.
“Everything appeared ripe, therefore, for our escape, and after we had
been at the gold cave for two days we determined to make the attempt
that night. We proposed to drop silently into the river, swim to the
opposite bank, follow it as far as possible, and plunge into the jungle
at the first sign of pursuit. It wanted a few hours to midnight when we
rose silently from our bed of skins within the gold cave. The Traucos
were all curled up fast asleep, and the queen lay close by, breathing
gently, with her ebony lips slightly apart showing her white teeth. Her
graceful head was pillowed on her arm, and her dark eyes were fast
closed. Very quietly we entered the water and struck out quickly,
emerging into the river some forty yards away from the cave. The stream
flowed sluggishly, and we had no difficulty in gaining the opposite
bank. How my heart beat as I thought of thee and liberty, Aniwee; how I
prayed the good Gualichu to help us and shield us from recapture! We set
off along the river’s bank as hard as we could, and travelled on in this
wise till daylight, often looking back to see if we could perceive any
signs of the Traucos; for we knew them to be speechless, and therefore
thought that their pursuit would be conducted in pure silence. We slaked
our thirst by the river, and appeased our hunger on piñones and apples
gathered by the way, which were very refreshing. About midday we entered
the forest, and lay down to snatch a short rest. In doing so we both
fell fast asleep, overcome by the heat and the fatigue of our hasty
journey. When we awoke the sun was still shining brightly, but it had
evidently moved several hours on its course since we had lain down. We
jumped up quickly, and, as if impelled by a sudden sense of fear,
hastily continued our flight, almost without addressing a word to each
other. My father was stiff and footsore. An Araucanian is not accustomed
to much travelling on foot, and I could see that he suffered severely;
but he was too brave to acknowledge it, and worked his utmost to keep up
a uniform pace, for we knew that should the Traucos track us, they would
move quicker than we.
“Sundown found us still moving on; but my father limped wearily, and my
heart was torn on his behalf. I, too, young and vigorous as I was, began
to feel the weight of fatigue, and to long for rest.
“We had begun to discuss the advisability of halting, when suddenly,
faint and far away in the background, the sharp sound of a trumpet note
came floating to our ears. Cuastral looked at me with a great fear in
his eyes, for both he and I knew whence the sound came. It told us that
we were being pursued. Now it was not the first time that we had heard
that sound. It was the only sound which the Traucos made use of, and
then only on the battle-field, or in the midst of danger, or as an
expression of anger. Undoubtedly, therefore, they were on our track, and
were in full pursuit. The knowledge that this was so, gave fresh zest to
our tired frames. My father would not hear of halting, assuring me that
he could go still many miles, and increasing his pace into a run.
Pressing through the thick brushwood, which now almost swept the water’s
edge, we came suddenly on a branch in the river, and beheld the main
part of it leading straight for the mountains, hemmed in on either side
by a dark deep gorge, the sides of which towered high above us. The
other offshoot flowed towards the plains, but had no banks, and was
completely canopied by the forest trees.
“We halted to discuss the situation. To follow the last branch would be
impossible, and only two ways remained open to us. One was to scale the
steep gorge to our left, which in our present weary condition seemed
impracticable. The other was to follow the dark river that flowed
towards the mountains. We felt that the latter alternative was the only
one, and decided accordingly. Thus, as we pressed on, we came suddenly
upon a tiny bay in the river, and in the bay was moored a raft, with a
bunch of paddles lying upon it. You may judge of our surprise, half joy,
half fear, for the raft might betoken the presence of man, or that of
the tribe from which we were flying.
“We at once determined to take possession of the raft and paddle up the
river, and accordingly boarded her without delay. She appeared, on
examination, to have laid a long time unused, for moss and climbing
lichens clung to her, and the thong that bound her to the land was
rotting fast. It had all the appearance of an old lasso.
“Cutting it close to the knot we launched the raft into the stream, and
each taking a paddle began to paddle vigorously up the sluggish river.
As we advanced we congratulated ourselves on having elected to travel by
water instead of land, for the banks frequently ran into the sheer
cliff, which would have made progress on foot impossible.
“We paddled on until human nature could support the strain no longer,
and we were forced to desist. But we had reached a comparatively safe
position, for the rocks on either side had risen to a great height, and
above us sheer precipices looked down, while there were no banks or
shore along which our pursuers could pass. Climbing plants of great
thickness grew down the sides, and to one of these we made fast the
raft, and throwing ourselves face downwards thereon, fell at once into a
profound slumber.
“How long we lay unconscious I know not. It might have been a night and
part of a day, it might have been for nights and days, but when I opened
my eyes my limbs were numbed and powerless, blistered and shrivelled by
the sun, which makes me incline to the belief that our sleep had been
heavy and prolonged. Cuastral lay stretched beside me still face
downwards, though as I was lying on my back, I must have turned into
that position during sleep. But what immediately fixed my attention was
the sight that I viewed above. On the edge of the precipice, which
frowned down upon us, I beheld several Trauco forms, one of which lay
motionless at full length and peering over. This one was the Trauco
queen.
“I groaned aloud, and tried to move my arms, but they were useless. Then
I lifted up my voice and shouted to Cuastral. He never moved, but I felt
that the action of shouting restored feeling to my limbs, so I kept on
at it.
“Gradually, and by degrees, my powers came back to me, and I was able to
rise. I then turned my attention to my father. I found him numbed in the
same way as I had been, but by dint of rubbing his limbs circulation was
brought back, and he was able to stand on his feet. Then I told him how
we were being watched from above, and we deliberated again on the course
to be followed. There was only one to adopt, and that was to continue to
follow the river. It might happen that the cliffs would become more
accessible, in which case we could scale the left side, and thus put the
deep gorge between ourselves and our pursuers. As we prepared to start a
strange thing happened. The Trauco queen had risen and stretched out her
arms towards me, as though imploring me to come to her. As if to entice
me, she threw me several splendid apples. A happy thought struck me, and
I clapped my hands in the same way as I had seen the Traucos do when
they were pleased, and held out my hands as if pleading for more. She
understood, and threw more down, adding to them some fine araucarias. I
continued my gestures and apparent prayers in the mute language of her
tribe, until we had stacked a fine supply. Then we both resumed our
paddles and our toil up stream.
“At the sight of this she uttered a loud trumpet note of anger, and
followed along the precipitous edge, holding out her arms, and again
signing to us to come to her.
“And thus for several days we travelled, she and her followers never
losing sight of us for a moment. When we anchored and slept, they took
up their position on the cliff above, for they had clearly no intention
of abandoning the pursuit.
“One evening, after a more than unusually hard day’s toil, we sighted a
tiny miniature raft tied to the land, for narrow banks on either side
had reappeared, though the cliffs still prevented escape. Above the raft
was a small plateau bank covered with flowers and creeping plants. A
perfect fairy nook, as if the hand of man had given to it especial care.
The tiny raft mystified us, but we determined to exchange it for the
heavier one, and after spending the night amidst the flowers, we resumed
our journey on the mysterious raftling. But we did not go far. We had
barely paddled an hour when a bend in the river opened a fresh scene to
our view. Ahead of us yawned a wide open cave; the stream, which had
narrowed considerably, came to an end. The road was barred against all
further outlet of escape. We stared at each other, despair in our eyes.”
Harry and Topsie had for some minutes been looking at each other. As
Piñone paused, the latter exclaimed—
“Good heavens, Harry! it must have been the great gold mine of Or.”
[Illustration]