AN EXCURSION TO RIOSA.
The Duke de Requena had given the last shake to the tree; the orange
dropped into his hands golden and juicy. At a given moment his agents in
Paris, London, and Madrid, bought up more than half of the Riosa shares.
Thus the management, or, which was the same thing, the mine, was
practically his. Some who had suspected his game, declined to sell,
especially in Madrid, where the banker was well-known; and if he had not
made haste to take the decisive step, the price would undoubtedly have
become firmer. Llera scented the danger and gave the signal. It was a
happy day for the Asturian when he received the telegrams from Paris and
London. His hatchet-face was as radiant as that of a general who has
just won a great battle. His clumsy arms waved in the air like the sails
of a windmill, as he told the tale to the various men of business who
had come to the Duke's counting-house to ask the news. Loud Homeric
laughter shook his pigeon-breasted frame, he hugged his friends tightly
enough to choke them; and when the Duke asked him a question, he
answered even him with a touch of scorn from the heights of his triumph.
And yet he was not to get the smallest percentage on this immense
transaction; not a single dollar of all the millions which were to come
out of that mine would remain in his hands. But what matter! His
calculations had proved correct; the scheme he had worked out with such
secrecy, perseverance, and wonderful energy and skill, had come to the
desired issue. His joy was that of the artist who has succeeded--a joy
compared with which all the other delights on earth are not worth a
straw.
The Duke's satisfaction was of a different stamp. His vanity was indeed
flattered by this brilliant success; he honestly thought that he had
achieved an undertaking worthy to be recorded on marble and sung by
poets. A proceeding which was in truth no more than a swindling trick,
within the letter of the law, was by some strange aberration of the
moral faculty transfigured into a glorious display of intellectual
power--and that not alone in his own eyes, but in those of society at
large. To celebrate his success, and at the same time to see for himself
what improvements must be effected in the working of the mine to make it
as productive as he intended it should become, he planned an excursion
thither with the engineers and a party of his friends. At first they
were to be eight or ten; by degrees the number grew, and when the day
came round they formed a party of above fifty guests. This was chiefly
owing to Clementina, who was greatly fascinated by the notion of this
journey. Thus what had been in the Duke's mind a little friendly "day
out," had, under her manipulation, acquired the proportions of a public
event, a much talked-of and ostentatious progress, which for some days
absorbed the attention of the fashionable world.
Salabert had a special train made up for his party; the servants and
provisions were despatched the day before. Everything was to be arranged
to receive them worthily. It was the middle of May, and beginning to be
hot. By nine in the morning the station of Las Delicias was crowded with
carriages, out of which stepped ladies and gentlemen, dressed for the
occasion; the women in smart costumes considered appropriate for a day
in the country, the men in morning suits and felt hats. But to these
apparently unpretending garments they had contrived to give a stamp of
individual caprice, distinguishing them, as was but right, from all the
shooting coats and wide-awakes hitherto invented. One had a flannel
suit, as white as snow, with black gloves and a black hat; another was
in the inconspicuous motley of the lizard, crowned by a blue hat with a
microscopic brim; a third had thought it an opportunity for turning out
in a black jersey suit, with a white hat, white gloves, and boots. Many
had hung a noble field-glass about their shoulders, by a leather strap,
that they might not miss the smallest details of the landscape, and
several flourished Alpine sticks, as if they were contemplating a
perilous clamber over cliffs and rocks.
The special train included two saloon cars, a sleeping car, and a
luggage van. The cream of Madrid society proceeded to settle itself,
with the noisy glee befitting the occasion. There were more men than
women; the ladies had, indeed, for the most part, excused themselves,
not caring particularly for the prospect of visiting a mine. Still there
were enough to lend grace to the expedition, and at the same time to
subdue its tone a little. There were some whose fathers or husbands were
connected with the business: Calderon's wife and daughter, Mrs. Biggs,
Clementina, and others. There were some who had come out of friendship
for these--Mercedes and Paz Alcudia, for instance, who were inseparable
from Esperanza. There were more again who could never bear to be absent
from any ploy: Pepa Frias, Lola, and a few more. Among the men were
politicians, men of business, and titles new and old. As they got into
the train the servile assiduity of the station-clerks betrayed how great
an excitement was produced by the mere passage through the office of
these potentates and grandees.
Last of all, and most potent of all, came the Duke de Requena, who,
taking out his handkerchief, waved it from a window as a signal for
departure. A whistle sounded, the engine responded with a long and noisy
yell, then, puffing and snorting, the train began to move its metallic
segments, and slowly quitted the station. The travellers waved their
hands from the windows in farewell greetings to those who had come to
see them off.
Great was the excitement and clatter as the train flew across the
barren plains around Madrid. Every one talked and laughed at once, as
loud as possible, and what with this and the noise of the train, no one
could hear. By degrees a sort of chemical diffusion or elective affinity
took place. The Duke, seated in a coupe or compartment at the back of
the train, found himself the centre of a group of financial and
political magnates. Clementina, Pepa Frias, Lola, and some other women
formed another party, with such men as preferred a lighter and more
highly spiced style: Pinedo, Fuentes, and Calderon. The young men and
maidens were exchanging witticisms which seemed to afford them infinite
amusement. One of the incidents which most enchanted them was the
appearance of Cobo Ramirez at the window, in a guard's coat and cap,
demanding the tickets. Cobo, who had been in the foremost carriage, had
clambered along by the foot-board, not without some risk, since the
train was going at a tremendous speed. He was hailed with applause.
Then the young people sent notes to their friends in the other saloon,
the young men inditing love-letters. The heir of Casa-Ramirez took
charge of them all, and went to and fro between the cars very nimbly,
considering his obesity. This amused them greatly for some time. The
love-letters, written in pencil, were read aloud, with much applause and
laughter.
Raimundo was content to talk to the Mexican and Osorio. Osorio had
really taken a liking to him. Though but a boy in looks the banker
discerned that he was intelligent and well-educated, and among the
"Savages" such endowments as these conferred pre-eminence. The young man
had, too, succeeded in adapting himself very sufficiently to the
atmosphere which for the time he breathed. Not only was his dress
visibly modified by the refinements of fashion and good taste, but his
tone and manners had undergone a very perceptible change. In his
behaviour to Clementina he was still the timid lad, the submissive
slave, who hung on every word and gesture of his mistress; his love was
taking deeper root in his heart every day. But in social intercourse he
had accommodated himself to what he saw around him. He did all in his
power to repress the impulses of his loving and expansive nature. He
assumed a grave indifference, an almost disdainful calm; ridiculed
everything that was said in his hearing, unless it bore on the manners
and customs of the Savage Club; learned to speak in a joking, ironical
voice, like his fellow "Savages," and above all was on his guard against
ever uttering any scientific or philosophical notions, for he knew by
experience that this was the one unpardonable sin. He even kept his own
counsel when one of his new associates roused him to a feeling of warmer
sympathy and regard than the others. Affection is in itself so absurd
that it is wise to bury it in the depths of your soul, or you expose
yourself to some rebuff, even from the object of your affection. Such
things have been known. Thanks to his diligence, and to an
apprenticeship, which to him was a very cruel one, he extorted much more
respect, and was looked on as a man of consummate _chic_, a height of
happiness which it is given to few to attain to in this weary world
beneath the stars.
When Cobo had made several journeys from one car to the other, in no
small danger, as the train was flying onwards, Lola, with a mischievous
look, first at Clementina and then at Alcazar, said to the young man:
"Alcazar, will you venture to go to the next carriage, and ask the
Condesa de Cotorraso for her bottle of salts? I feel rather sea-sick."
Now Raimundo was, as we know, but a frail creature, who had never gone
through the athletic training of these young aristocrats, his friends.
The scramble along the foot-boards at the pace at which the train was
going, which was to them mere child's play, was to him a service of real
danger. He was apt to turn giddy when only crossing a bridge or climbing
a tower. He was fully aware of this, and hesitated a moment; still, for
very shame he could but reply:
"I will go at once, Senora," and he was about to act on her orders.
But Clementina, whose brows had knit at her friend's preposterous
demand, stopped him, exclaiming:
"You certainly shall not go, Alcazar. We will make Cobo go for it next
time he returns."
The young man stood doubtful with his hand on the door; but Clementina
repeated more positively, colouring as she spoke:
"You are not to go--not on any account."
Raimundo turned to Lola with a bow.
"Forgive me, Senora, to-day I am sworn to this lady's service. I will be
your slave some other day."
And neither Lola's noisy laugh, nor the sarcastic smiles of the others,
could spoil the grateful emotion he experienced at his mistress's eager
interest.
Ramon Maldonado was in the other saloon, where also were Esperanza and
her mother with some other ladies, whom he deliberately laid himself out
to charm by his discourse. He was giving them a full and particular
report, in the most parliamentary style he could command, of some
curious incidents in the last sitting. He was already master of all the
commonplace of civic oratory, and knew the technical cant very
thoroughly. He could talk of the order of the day, votes of confidence,
private bills, committees of supply, the previous question, obstruction,
suspension, and closure as if he himself were the patentee of this
elaborate outcome of human ingenuity. He knew the municipal bye-laws as
well as if he had invented them, and discussed questions of city dues,
sewage, weights and measures, and seizure of contraband, so that it was
a marvel to hear him. Finally, being a man of unfathomable ambition, he
had joined a party in opposition to the Mayor, a step which he hoped
might lead to his nomination as a member of the board of highways.
For a long time past he had been waging a covert but determined struggle
against one Perez, another deputy not less ambitious than himself, for
this very appointment, in which he believed that his great gifts as an
innovator would shine with peculiar splendour. The various public
places of Madrid were awaiting the redeeming hand which might give them
fresh life and splendour, and the hand could be none other than that of
Maldonado. In the recesses of his brain, among a thousand other
portentous schemes, there was one so audacious that he dared not
communicate it to any one, while he was incubating it with the fondest
care, determined to fight for this child of his genius till his dying
day. This was no less than a plan for moving the fountain of Apollo from
the Prado to the Puerta del Sol. And a whippersnapper fellow like Perez,
a narrow-minded slow-coach, with no taste or spirit, dared to dispute
the place with him!
At the moment when he was most absorbed in his narrative of how he had
concocted the most ingenious intrigue to secure a vote of censure on the
Mayor, Cobo--that inevitable spoilsport--came up, and after listening
for a minute, roughly attacked him, saying:
"Come, Ramoncito, do not give yourself airs. We know very well that you
are a mere nobody in the House. Gonzalez can lead you by the nose
wherever he wants you to go."
This was a cruel thrust at Maldonado, considering that it was before
Esperancita and several other ladies, old and young. Indeed it stunned
him as completely as if it had been a blow on the head with a cudgel. He
turned pale, his lips quivered, and he could not utter a word. At last
he gasped out:
"I? Gonzalez? Leads me by the nose? Are you crazy? No one leads me by
the nose, much less Gonzalez, of all men!"
He spoke the last words with intense scorn; he denied Gonzalez as Peter
denied his Master, out of base pride. His conscience told him that he
was not speaking truly, though no cock crew. Gonzalez was the
acknowledged leader of the civic minority, and at the bottom of his
heart, Ramon held him in great veneration.
"Pooh! nonsense! Do you mean to tell me that Gonzalez cannot make you
work and dance like a puppet? Much good you dissidents would do if it
were not for him."
On this Ramon recovered the use of his tongue, and to such good purpose,
that he poured out above a thousand words in the course of a few
minutes, with fierce vehemence, foaming and sputtering with rage. He
rebuked with indignation the monstrous comparison of himself with a
puppet, and fully explained the precise position held by Gonzalez in the
city council and that which he himself occupied. But he did it with such
frenzied excitement and gesticulation that the ladies looked at him in
amused surprise.
"How eloquent he is! Who would have believed it of Ramoncito? Come,
Cobo, do not tease him any more; you will make him ill!"
This compassionate tone stung Ramon to the quick. He was instantly
speechless, and for at least an hour he wrapped himself in silent
dignity.
The train drew up at a small station in the midst of a wide stretch of
open moor, looking like a petrified sea; here the travellers were to
take their mid-day meal. The Duke's servants, sent on the day before,
had everything ready. Ramon devoted himself to the service of Esperanza,
and she allowed him to wait on her with a placid smile which turned his
head with joy. The reason of her condescension was that, by his aunt's
particular desire, Pepe Castro had not joined the party. The matrimonial
overtures, made under the greatest secrecy, required the utmost
prudence. As Maldonado was so intimate with the lord of her heart,
Esperanza felt a certain pleasure in keeping him at her side; at the
same time she avoided comment by talking to the Conde de Agreda or to
Cobo. Poor Ramon! How far he was from understanding these psychological
complications.
They took their seats in the train once more, and went on their way
across interminable sunburnt plains, no one dreaming of examining the
landscape through those ponderous fieldglasses. They reached Riosa
shortly before dusk.
The famous mines of Riosa are situated in a hollow between two low
ranges of hills, the spurs of a great mountain-chain, and are surrounded
on all sides by broken ground, knolls and downs of no great height, but
scarred and ravined in such a way as to look peculiarly barren and
melancholy. In the hollow stands a town dating from the remotest
antiquity. Our travellers did not invade it, they stopped about two
kilometres short of it, at a village named Villalegre, where the
engineers and miners have settled themselves with a view to avoiding the
mercurial and sulphurous fumes which slowly poison not the miners only,
but all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. It is divided from the
mines by a ridge, and is a striking contrast to the mining town itself.
It is watered by a stream which makes it blossom like a garden, gay with
wild lilies, jasmine, and heliotrope, and, above all, with damask roses,
which have naturalised themselves there more completely than in any
other region of Spain. The aromatic fragrance of thyme and fennel
perfumes and purifies the air.
The most flowery plot in all the settlement belonged to the company, at
about three hundred yards from the village. A handsome stone building
stood in the midst of a garden, this was the residence of the
head-manager, and the central office of the mines; round it, at some
little distance, were several smaller dwellings, each with its little
garden, occupied by clerks, and by some of the operatives; but most of
these lived at Riosa.
There was no station at Villalegre, the train stopped where it crossed
the road leading to the chief town of the province. Here carriages were
in waiting to convey them to the head office, a drive of about ten
minutes. At the park gate, and along the road, a crowd had gathered,
which hailed the visitors with very faint enthusiasm. These were the men
off their turn of work, whom the director had sent for from Riosa for
the purpose. They were all pallid and earth-stained, their eyes were
dull, and even from a distance it was easy to detect in their movements
a certain indecision, which, when seen closer, was a very perceptible
trembling. The smart party of visitors drove close past this mob of
ghosts--for such they seemed in the fading evening grey--the eyes of
beauty and fashion met those of the miners, and from that contact not a
spark of sympathy was struck. Behind the forced and melancholy smile of
the labourers, a keen eye could very plainly detect hostility. Requena's
little procession drove by in silence; these fine folks were visibly
uneasy; they were very grave, not without a touch of alarm. The ladies
involuntarily shrunk closer to the men, and as they turned in at the
gates there was a murmur of "Good heavens! what faces!" and a sigh of
relief at having escaped from the deep mysterious gaze of those haggard
eyes. Rafael Alcantara alone was so bold as to utter a jesting remark.
"Well," said he, "the sovereign people are not attractive looking in
these parts."
The manager introduced the clerks to Salabert, each by name. They were
almost all natives of other parts of the country, healthy, smiling young
fellows, with nothing noticeable about them, and the superintendents no
less so. The only man of them all who attracted any attention was a
delicate-looking man, with a pale face, and thin black moustache, whose
steady dark eyes looked at the fashionable visitors with such piercing
determination as bordered on insolence. Without knowing why, those who
met his gaze felt vaguely uncomfortable, and were glad to look away. The
manager introduced him as the doctor attached to the mines.
Rooms had been found for all the party, some in the director's house,
and others in those of the humbler residents. When they had taken a
little rest, they all met in the director's drawing-room, and from
thence they marched arm-in-arm, in solemn procession, to the office
board-room, which had been transformed into a dining-room. Here the Duke
gave them a magnificent dinner. Nothing was missing of the most refined
and aristocratic entertainment; the plate and china, the cooking, and
the service were all perfection. While they dined the grounds were
lighted up with Venetian lamps, and on rising from table, every one
rushed to the window to admire the effect, which was dazzlingly
beautiful. An orchestra, concealed in an arbour, played national airs
with great spirit. The whole party, panting from the heat of the room,
which was intense, and tempted by the brilliant spectacle, went out to
wander about the gardens; the younger men carried off the girls to a
grass-plot, close to the band, and there began to dance. Cobo Ramirez
presently joined the group.
"Do you know what you remind me of?" he shouted. "A party of commercial
travellers in some suburban cafe!"
This comparison seemed to hurt their feelings deeply; the dancing lost
its attractions for the fashionable juveniles, and soon ceased
altogether. However, as their hearts were set on Terpsichorean delights,
it occurred to them to transfer the music to the board room, where they
continued their devotions to the Muse, free from the dreadful burden
which Cobo had laid on their conscience.
The festivities were carried on till late. Fireworks were presently let
off, having been brought expressly from Madrid. The various couples
wandered about the gravelled paths, enjoying the coolness of the night,
made fragrant by the scent of flowers. There was but one dark blot on
their perfect enjoyment. When they went near the gate, they saw a crowd
outside, of labourers, women, and children, who had come from Riosa, on
hearing of the great doings--the same haggard creatures, hollow-eyed and
gloomy, as they had met on arriving. So they took care not to go too
near the fence, but to remain in the paths and alleys near the middle of
the garden. Lola, only, who prided herself on being charitable, and who
was president, secretary, and treasurer of no less than three societies,
was brave enough to speak to them, and even to distribute some small
silver money; but out of the darkness came obscene abuse and insults,
which compelled her to retreat. Cotorraso, when he heard of it, was in a
great rage.
"And these Bedouin savages are to have rights and liberties! Let them
first be made decent, civil, and well-behaved, and then we will talk
about it."
The law of elective affinity had drawn together Raimundo Alcazar and a
man who was somewhat out of his element in this riotous company. This
gentleman, with whom he was walking, was between fifty and sixty years
of age, short and thin, with a white moustache and beard, and prominent
eyes, with a somewhat absent gaze through his spectacles. His name was
Don Juan Penalver; he held a chair of philosophy at the University, and
had been in the Ministry. He enjoyed a high and deserved reputation for
learning, and for a dignity of character rare in Spain. This naturally
brought him into ill-odour with the "Savages," who affected to treat him
with contemptuous familiarity. It is obvious that nothing can be more
offensive to the average "Savage" than Philosophy. Penalver's
intellectual superiority and fame was a stab to their pride. Their scorn
did not trouble him; he was by nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and
absent-minded; he was incapable of discriminating the various shades of
social manner, and, in fact, had not been much seen in the world since
retiring from political life to devote himself exclusively to science.
He had joined this expedition to oblige his brother-in-law, Escosura,
who held a large number of shares in the Riosa mines. Of late years he
had been an ardent student of natural science, as the surest way of
combatting the metaphysical idealism to which he had devoted his early
life. It was with real pleasure that he found himself accidentally
thrown into the company of a youth so well-informed on scientific
matters as Raimundo. The rest of the party bored him past endurance, so
taking Alcazar by the arm, without inquiring whether he wanted him or
no, he began discussing physiology.
Raimundo was in a fit of despondency and gloom. He had observed that
this Escosura had been definitively making love to Clementina; he was
quite shameless in his attentions to her wherever he happened to meet
her, and affected to ignore her connection with Raimundo. Both in mind
and person Escosura was the exact opposite of his brother-in-law
Penalver. He was tall and stout, with a burly person and noisy manners;
rich, of some influence politically, a vehement orator, with a voice so
unusually sonorous that, according to his enemies, it was to that he
owed his parliamentary successes. He was a man of about forty, and had
never been Minister, though he asserted that he should soon be in
office. Clementina had already repelled his addresses several times, and
this Raimundo knew, and was proud of his own triumph. At the same time
he could not divest himself of some anxiety whenever, as at this moment,
he saw them talking together.
They were sitting in a summer-house with several other persons, but
conversing apart with great animation. Each time he and Penalver went
past them, his heart swelled with a pang; he scarcely heard, or even
tried to hear, the learned disquisition his companion was pouring into
his ear. Clementina could read in his anxious gaze how much he was
suffering, and after watching him for a little while she rose and joined
the two men, saying with a smile:
"And what plot are you two sages hatching?"
"You flatter me," said the younger with a modest bow. "The only sage
here is Senor Penalver."
"Well, Senor Penalver can bestow a lecture on the Condesa de Cotorraso,
who is anxious to make his acquaintance, while you come with me to see a
Gothic cathedral which is about to explode in fireworks," and she put
her hand through her lover's arm.
Alcazar was happy again. He did not even speak to her of the anguish he
had suffered but a moment ago; on other occasions when he had made such
a confession it had only led to double pain, for Clementina would answer
him in a tone of light banter which wounded him to the heart. They
watched the wonderful, blazing cathedral till it was burnt out; the
gentle pressure of her hand, the scent--always the same--which hung
about her sweet person were too much for the young man, who was
predisposed to be overcome by the proof of affection his beloved had
just given him. She, who knew him well, as she felt him press her arm
more closely, looked in his face, sure that she should see tears in his
eyes. In fact, Raimundo was silently weeping. On finding himself
detected, he smiled in a shamefaced way.
"Still such a baby!" she exclaimed, giving him a caressing little pinch.
"Pepa is right when she says you are like a school-girl in a convent.
Come, let us walk about; some one might see your face."
They went into a more retired part of the garden. From one spot in the
grounds they could see a very curious landscape. The full moon lighted
up the crest of the nearest hill, which divided Villalegre from Riosa,
making it look like the ruins of a castle. Clementina wished to see it
closer, so they went out by one of the side-gates, where no one was to
be seen, and slowly wandered on--the knoll was barren of vegetation, a
pile of boulders, in fact, of fantastic shapes, looking precisely like a
mass of ruins. It was not till they were close to it that they could
convince themselves of the truth.
When the lady had satisfied her curiosity, they returned round the
outside of the park, to enter by the opposite gate. On this side there
were still a few knots of people. Before reaching the gate, at a corner
of the road darkened by the shade of some trees, Clementina stumbled
over an object, and nearly fell. She screamed aloud, for on looking down
she saw a human creature lying at her feet. Raimundo took out a match,
and found that it was a boy of ten or twelve fast asleep. They picked
him up, and set him on his feet. The little fellow opened his eyes and
stared at them in alarm. Then, as if by a sudden inspiration, he
snatched the stick Raimundo was carrying, and began to move it slowly up
and down, as though he were fulfilling some very difficult task.
Clementina and her lover looked on in amazement, unable to guess what
this could mean. A few workmen collected round them, and one with a
horse-laugh exclaimed:
"It is one of the boys from the pumps! Go it, my boy, work away! A tough
job, isn't it?"
And his companions burst into brutal laughter, crying out to the poor
little somnambulist:
"Go at it! Keep it up! Harder, boy, harder, the water is rising!"
And the unhappy boy redoubled his imaginary efforts with more and more
energy. He was a weakly creature, with a white face, quite
expressionless with sleep, and his ragged rough hair gave him the look
of a wraith. The savage glee of the workmen, who looked on at the
pitiable scene, made a very painful impression on Raimundo. He took the
child in his arms, shook him gently to wake him, kissed him kindly on
the forehead, and taking a dollar out of his purse, gave it to the lad,
and then went on with Clementina. The working men ceased their laughter,
and one of them said in a tone of envy:
"Well, you have not worked hard for your day's pay."