I AM OVERCOME AND CLAPPED UP IN ONE OF THOSE STRONG TOWERS.
We set out from that station the next morning about seven o'clock with
another pole of six slaves added to our number, and, toiling upwards, in
about two hours we came out of the woods into a very wild, rocky
country, where scarcely any herb grew for the height and abundance of
stone. Sometimes the path wound along the edge of horrid precipices, and
sometimes between prodigious high rocks, and this way I counted we
crossed over a low chain of mountains; for about noon we began to
descend again, but the road so steep and foul with loose stones that
'twas as much as the mules could do to keep their feet at times. As for
the poor slaves, their pain was great indeed, by reason of being yoked
to the poles one behind the other; for if one slipped she was as good as
strangled in her collar; and if those behind could not keep pace with
those before, they were like all to be thrown down. To see the sweat
pouring down their dusky skins, the agony in their faces, the blood on
their feet and legs cut by the sharp stones, was enough to melt any
heart of stone. Yet that which did move me was their silence in the
midst of their suffering; no herd of spent cattle could have shown more
patient endurance.
An hour of sliding and stumbling brought us to a station at the bottom
of this rocky valley; but it was unlike the other two, in having no
trees around it, and a stone wall in place of a stockade; besides that,
it was twice as big. The tower also was greater and stronger here, and
the men had not that same aspect, but looked ten times more cruel and
brutal. Every man of them carried arms, as if he mistrusted his fellows,
and all had a very hang-dog look in their sullen faces. This, I take it,
came partly of their living always in that grim, barren valley, where
the sun never shone; and partly of their occupation, which was to goad
on and watch over the slaves who worked mines in that region; for I
observed that men's looks do take on the aspect of the surroundings and
the character of the company they keep; and truly these fellows looked
as sullen and forbidding as the rocks, with something of that dull,
hopeless expression that marked the faces of their slaves.
After I had eaten my dinner (Lady Biddy having gone to her chamber to
rest until it was time to set out again) I went to the door of the hut,
and looking up saw Lewis de Pino in close conversation with a fellow who
seemed to be the chief of the gang. When I saw how they lay their heads
together, speaking low so that not a sound of their voices could I hear,
my mind misgave me; but presently the rogue whom I called the chief goes
up to the slaves and examines them, opening their eyes and pinching
their flesh, as if to know if they were healthy or not; and then he
takes Lewis de Pino to a box and shows him some pieces of metal, so that
I concluded they were only trafficking their wares. Wherefore, being
disgusted with the whole business, I turned my back on them, and flung
myself on the net that hung in the hut, where I presently fell asleep.
How long I had lain there I know not (nor is it any great matter), but I
was awoke rudely enough by four sturdy rascals laying hands on me at the
same time that a fifth did cram a filthy clout in my mouth by way of
gag. Seeing they meant to do me mischief, I put out all my strength to
get free of their hands, and out of that accursed net on to the firm
ground, where I might better defend myself; but all to no purpose, for
the net gave no hold to my feet or vantage-point of any kind, so that I
presently found myself bound hand and foot to my bed, with no more power
to get out of it than if it had been my skin. And all this was done
without so much as a word or any perceptible sound, for their feet were
bare.
Seeing I was secure, they cut the cords that fastened the two ends of
the net to the roof, and one fellow shouldering the end at my head and
another that at my heels, they carried me out of the hut, and so jogged
along pretty briskly till they reached the tower. Here the stairs being
narrow and awkward, they flung me on the ground till they had tied a
long cord to my feet, when four of them went to the head of the stairs,
and pulling on to the cord with a will, they dragged me to the upper
story like any bag of malt. From the landing they hauled me into a dim
chamber, and there they left me to get out of my bonds as I might; going
out by the door, which they barred and bolted close.
For a few moments I lay there stupefied by the rough usage I had been
put to (for being dragged up heels foremost in the way I have described
had thrown the blood into my head), but as my intelligence returned I
saw that I had been clapped up in order that Lewis de Pino might carry
off my Lady Biddy without opposition from me. No sooner did this idea
come into my mind than I set to like a madman struggling to burst the
cords that bound me; but this rash endeavor only drew the knots tighter,
without breaking a strand of those hard ropes; yet was I made so frantic
by the image of harm coming to my dear lady that I never paused to
consider whether my strength might be better employed than in these vain
efforts, nor heeded the wounds I inflicted on my own flesh, but still
tore at the bonds with my bleeding wrists, as if my life depended on
getting free; nay, I do believe that had a tiger been in that chamber,
drawing near to tear me with his bloody fangs, I could have looked upon
him with greater calm than I could support the image of my lady being
borne away from me. So in a frenzy that grew with the conviction of my
impotency rather than diminished, I labored as though I would tear my
hands off to free my arms, until all my strength was spent, and I lay
motionless, but for the throbbing of my chest, as I panted for breath.
This brought me to a more reasonable state of mind, and as I got out of
my faintness I began to wriggle my hands about without straining
overmuch, and, thanks to the rope being made somewhat slippery with the
blood from my wrists, I presently got one hand loose, and after that it
was but a trifling matter (when I had freed my mouth from that beastly
thing they had crammed in to gag me withal) to free the other, and after
that my legs and ankles.
And now, seeing that I had done more to get my freedom by a ten minutes'
patient endeavor than I had come, at in furiously struggling for the
best part of an hour (and that without doing myself any mischief), I
made up my mind to go about my business in a reasonable fashion
henceforth. So getting on my legs I looked about me to find what part of
my prison it was easiest to break through; and this gave me but little
comfort, for no part seemed weaker than the rest, but all alike
prodigious stout and strong.
The four walls were of solid stone, with no opening save the door, and
six narrow slits, no bigger than rifts for shooting arrows, to admit
light, and they higher up than I could get at with my hand, standing on
my toes. The roof sprang from the walls about fifteen feet from the
floor, and the cross-beams were boarded over. But casting my eye this
way and that way, I saw a chink of light here and there, which led me to
think these boards were not nailed down, but laid loosely down for the
convenience of making a cock-loft there, and also that the roof must
have some opening for the light thus to creep through.
Now I thought that if I could once get into the cock-loft the affair
would be best part done; for if there were no dormer window, yet might I
shift the shingles or the tiles of the roof, and so make an opening wide
enough to creep through; and I counted that those cords which had bound
me, tied together with the net-bed, which might be cut into three
strips, and yet have strength to bear my weight, would serve to let me
down some part of the way to the ground. What I should do after I got to
the ground I did not trouble myself to consider; the main thing was to
get out of the tower safely.
The more I looked at the chinks above, the more I liked my project; but
how to make my way up into the cock-loft, as I call it, was the plague.
I passed my hands carefully over every part of the walls within reach,
hoping to find some hole or cranny to climb up by; but the stones were
all smooth and flush, so that a cat could not have climbed up them. Nor
was there anything in the shape of furniture that I might build up for a
ladder. There was naught within these four walls but myself and the net
I had been trussed up in. Taking up one of the cords from the ground,
and weighing it in my hand, I asked myself if I could by any means turn
it to my purpose; after thinking some little while, it came into my mind
that if I made a big knot at one end, and thrust it through one of the
rifts so that it would hitch on the outer side of the wall, I might then
make a loop or two in the loose end, by which I could raise myself
against the wall to the height of the said rift, and so reach up to the
loose boards, if loose they were, above. The scheme was wild enough, but
as I saw no better I began at once to put it into execution.
First of all I chose the longer of the cords, and made two loops in it
to serve me as stirrups; then, taking a piece of the net, I rolled it
into a hard ball, about as big as I might thrust through the rift; and,
having bound this about with another cord, I fastened it securely to my
stirrups, with length enough, as I judged, to allow the ball to pass
through to the outer edge of the wall, where I hoped it would hitch.
When I had done this to my satisfaction, I began to cast about how I was
to get it through the rift, which was a difficulty I had not foreseen.
"If I had only a pole," says I to myself--"a pole about two yards long!"
But, Lord! while I was about it I might just as well have wished for a
step-ladder of three yards to carry me at once into the cock-loft.
However, growing a little desperate to find myself thus baulked for want
of a stick, I made a spring upward, and, getting my hand in the rift, I
contrived to hang there some while; but as to dragging myself up so that
I could get my knot through with my other hand, that I could not do,
strive as I might; nor do I think it possible that any man, though he
were lusty as Samson, could have compassed that business.
Now was I pretty well at my wits' end; yet, being of a stubborn nature,
I would not allow myself to be beaten, and still clung to the notion of
scaling the wall with my precious rope stirrups. But it was clear that I
could do nothing without some sort of hold for my foot to rest on as I
hung from the rift, and so once more I began to feel about the wall for
a hole to set my toes in.
There was a joint in the stonework about four feet from the ground,
where the mortar gave way under my nail, but the crack was not as wide
as my finger. However, I had a clasp-knife in my pocket, which Dom
Sebastian had given me (for the Portugals do never go about without such
weapons for their defense), and with this I determined to cut away the
stone if I might. So at it I went without more ado.
I had scarcely begun this toil when I heard some one ascending the
stairs that led to my prison.
"Now," thinks I, "am I undone. For if they come in here and see my
knotted rope, they will certainly take it from me, and there will be an
end of my only hope."
The steps came nearer and stopped; then I heard the bar being taken
down. Upon this, with the hope of exciting fear, I set up a most violent
shout, as if I were beside myself with rage, and rushing to the door
beat it furiously with my fists and feet, whereupon there was a silence
outside, as if the fellow was considering whether he had not best leave
me alone for the present; and that he had come to this conclusion was
made evident presently by his clapping up the bar again. After this I
heard a shuffling on the ground, and the next minute his steps, as he
descended the stairs.
I was mightily pleased with myself at the success of my stratagem, and,
going back to the wall, set to work again at cutting the stone with my
knife.
I ground and scraped till the blade of my knife was as hot as fire, but
when I examined the stone with my finger, to see if the hole were
anything like big enough yet, I found that I had made no perceptible
difference in it whatever, which did so vex me that I was ready to tear
my hair, or commit any other extravagance. Then, casting my eyes at the
wall where the light from the rift fell, I was terrified to observe how
the shadow had shifted since I first began, so that I concluded it must
be getting towards sundown, by which I reckoned I must have been four or
five hours at this business, and was pretty near as far as ever from
making my escape. Whereupon I was beset with a kind of rage, and,
accusing myself of indolence, cut again at the stone with redoubled
energy. The result of this mad haste was that the blade of my knife
snapped in half before I had worked a couple of minutes. Then I flung it
down on the ground, and, resting my arm against the wall, I laid my face
there, and could have wept for vexation.
But this was not to be endured for any time. Glancing again at the wall,
it seemed to me the shadow had traveled a foot further.
"Every moment," says I to myself, "puts my lady further from me. Coward
or fool! are you content to do nothing? Will you give up the hope of
saving her because of a trifle? Have you no more heart and hardihood
than this?"
With this, I picked up my knife again, and finding yet a couple of
inches left of the blade, I once more set to work, but with more
prudence. Yet every now and then would I turn to watch the shadow,
saying to myself, "Now she is a league further away--she has been
carried a full mile since last I looked," etc.
Sometimes my heart would grow heavy as stone with despair, as I noted
the little effect I made; and then, that I might not lose courage, I
would not feel what progress I had made, but ground on steadily, like
the movement of a clock. But, though I did not tax my strength, the
sweat streamed down my face and body, so that my shirt clung cold to my
body with the wet from my skin, by reason of my anxiety.
After a while, when the light was sensibly fading, a faintness came upon
me, and I felt dried up with thirst. Resting for strength to come, I
bethought me that perhaps my jailer had no intention but to give me food
when he came to the door. Then the hope led me to think that perhaps he
had come back softly, and, hearing no sound, had ventured to open the
door quietly, and slip a pitcher of water within for my comfort.
I went to the door, and, groping on the ground (for in that part it was
very dark), I laid my hand on a loose piece of paper. It occurred to me
in an instant (so quickly do our wishes summon conjecture) that Lady
Biddy had found means to send me a message, and that the man who was
charged with it, fearing to enter, had slid it beneath the door, which
explained the shuffling sound I had heard before he went down.
I rushed back with the precious treasure, and, holding it as near the
light from the rift as I could, read the inscription on the outside: "To
my dear Cousin Benet."
And then, laughing like a fool for joy, I claps it to my mouth and
kisses it.