"And now, my friend," I said, "I have some more questions to ask you. I
do not know your name, and I cannot guess how you came to find us out."
"What does that matter, mate? I do not know yours; and to say the
truth, I never heard of you till a few days ago, when I heard the people
talking--for I know something of their lingo--of a young Englishman who
was to be shot for siding with the Indians. Now, thinks I to myself,
that is a very bad thing for the lad, and if I can lend him a hand,
we'll disappoint the Dons. It's my belief, a seaman--as far as that
matters, anybody--ought always to help a countryman in distress, or he's
not worth his salt."
"Then I ought first to tell you who I am," I replied; and I gave him a
short account of myself, and my late adventures, and how I came to meet
with Pedro.
"That's very strange," he muttered; "very strange. I'm more than ever
glad to be of use to you. Now for my name. It's not a long one. I'm
called Ned Gale. I was born at sea and bred at sea; and it isn't often
I set foot on shore, so that what good there is in me I picked up
afloat."
"Then how comes it, Ned Gale, that you got so far inland as this?" I
asked.
"Why, you see the ship I sailed in was seized by the Spanish
authorities, in the port of Callao, where we had been driven by stress
of weather. It was alleged that we had been smuggling on the coast,
which was neither here nor there, as there was no one to prove it. At
last the master was advised to appeal to the viceroy, and so he set off
to Lima to see him, taking me in his company. When we got to Lima, we
found that the viceroy had gone up the country; so away we went after
him. We travelled over mountains, and across sandy plains, and rivers
and torrents, day after day, but he always kept ahead of us. You see
that he had gone out to fight the Indians; and when at last we came up
with him, we found him in a very bad humour, for his troops had been
beaten in every direction. So he would not listen to a word my captain
had to say. The fact was, the bribe Captain Hindson had been advised to
offer him was not large enough. My poor captain had before been very
ill, and as the ship was, his own property, and all he possessed in the
world, his loss ruined him. From the day he got the viceroy's answer,
he never again lifted up his head; and in a week he died in my arms. It
was of a broken heart, I suppose; for there was nothing the matter with
him that I could see. Poor fellow, I have seen many a shipmate struck
down by the shot of the enemy, or sinking under the foaming waves, when
there was no help at hand; but I never mourned for one as I did for him,
for he was a right honest and kind man. The Dons did not show much
Christian charity towards him after he was dead either, for they said he
was a heretic; so they would not bury him in the churchyard, but carried
him away to a field, where they dug a hole and covered him up like a
dog. I didn't think that mattered at all, however; so I owed them no
grudge for it. I never could see the use of praying for a man after he
was dead. He did not mind where he lay, and God will know where to look
for him at the last day, when he has to stand his trial like all of us.
At first I felt a wish to die too; but I soon got over that, and taking
the money and the few things the captain had given me (I've got his note
about that matter--his will he called it), I started off for the coast
to look out for another ship. As I have been often in the country, I
have picked up some of their lingo, so got on well enough among the
Dons; but I found I couldn't very well travel alone, and often had to
wait till I found some one going my road. It was in this way, while I
was looking out for companions, that I happened to fall in with you.
And now you know something of my history, are you willing to trust me?"
"Had I known nothing about it, after the essential service you have
rendered us, I would confidently have trusted you," I answered.
"Avast now then, mate," exclaimed Ned Gale; "don't give me any soft
sawder; I'm not fond of it. I like the cut of your jib, and you like
the cut of mine; so we shall sail very well in company. By-and-by we
shall know more of each other. And the young Don there, I like his
looks too, though I'm not over partial to the natives. Howsomdever,
we've had talking enough, and as my arms are rested, and there don't
appear to be any enemy abroad looking for us, we may as well get under
weigh again."
I agreed with him; and Pedro and I sinking down into our former
position, we again glided out into the stream. The river was in places
very shallow, and more than once we touched the bottom, and the water
began to foam over the stern; but Gale lifted her clear with his paddle,
without our being obliged to jump out, and away we went again as rapidly
as before. Pedro was very silent--he felt confused and astonished at
all that had occurred; neither did Ned Gale nor I exchange many words,
for we could not tell at what moment we might come upon any of the
villages which are to be found on the banks of the river. Now and then
we heard a dog bark, and the crowing of some cocks in the distance gave
signs of the approach of morning; but no habitations were visible, and
no human voices gave us cause for alarm.
Several of the villages on the south bank, Ned Gale had learned, had
been destroyed by the Indians; but they had not attempted to cross to
the north side. After about an hour's paddling, we reached a spot
similar to the one where we had before taken shelter. We paddled along
the shore of the little bay for some way, trying to find a place hard
enough to bear our feet, for the bank was generally soft and muddy
fringed by a broad belt of reeds, which the alligators must have found
convenient for tickling their snouts with.
"Step out," said Gale, "and learn if we are likely to make our way
inland from this. I will wait for you and look after the canoe."
Doing as he desired, Pedro and I felt our way along with cautious steps,
for under the trees it was so dark that we could scarcely see our hands
held up before us. We found that the ground rose a little way beyond,
and appeared quite hard. Satisfied with our discovery, after about a
quarter of an hour's absence, we commenced our return to the boat. We
walked on slowly, every instant expecting to fall into some hole; and at
last we agreed that we ought to have reached the canoe. We hunted about
to the right and to the left, but we could not even see the river. We
called out as loud as we dared, but Gale did not answer.
"There is the river; I see it shining through the trees," said Pedro.
Very soon we got up to it; and Pedro, who was a little in advance, was
very nearly falling in. I dragged him back, and we began to hunt for
the canoe. It was nowhere to be seen. Again we shouted louder than
before, but Ned Gale did not answer. Could he have deserted us? Such a
thing seemed impossible, yet we began almost to despair.
"Could an alligator have picked him off?" I asked Pedro, shuddering as
I thought of our friend's probable fate.
We had kept along the bank of the river for some way. Just then Gale's
voice sounded close to us. We were soon up with him, and had told him
of the result of our expedition, and of our alarm.
"It was my fault, I suppose," he answered, laughing. "I found a tree to
which I could make the canoe fast, so I thought I might as well take a
little sleep while you were away. I heard you call, and dreamed that I
answered you. The honest truth is, I spent all last night looking about
the prison to find you out, so I haven't closed my eyes for many an
hour. You'll pardon me, mates, I hope; nature's nature, and will have
its way."
I assured him, now that we had found him, we did not mind the fright;
and asked him what he proposed doing next.
"Why, the first thing, you see, is to send the canoe out into the
stream, so that our enemies may not discover where we have landed," he
answered. "It will float away over the falls; so they may be looking
for us miles below them perhaps."
According to Ned Gale's suggestion, we towed the canoe to the end of the
point which formed one side of the bay, and he then throwing the paddle
into it, we gave it a shove, which sent it out into the middle of the
stream, down which we could distinguish it gliding rapidly away, till it
was lost to sight.
"We must lose no more time now, mates," said Ned Gale, as we climbed up
the bank. "We must get some way inland before daylight, and then stow
ourselves away in a wood till we have time to look about us. We must
keep clear of all cottages, for the white-brown fellows hereabouts would
make no bones of selling us to the Dons, if they thought they could get
anything for us. You see I've brought prog enough to last all hands for
three days or more, on somewhat short commons; and mayhap we may snare
some game to eke it out much longer."
This was good news, for, by taking proper precautions, I thought we
might at all events avoid falling into the hands of the Spaniards; and
of the Indians I had no fear. The ground over which we were passing,
was very rough and uncultivated, and we could discover no beaten path.
After some time we came to a mud wall; and on the other side we found a
field full of maize, just fit for cutting. This gave us a very welcome
supply of food, and we filled our pockets and caps, and a bag Ned Gale
had brought with him, for that very purpose.
It was necessary, however, to get away from the farm before daylight; so
we skirted along the wall, and once more found ourselves on wild ground.
The whole eastern sky was covered with a mass of flame, a sign that the
sun himself was about to appear, when we caught sight of a forest
spreading out before us. We pushed on much faster than we had been able
to do during the darkness, and had just concealed ourselves among the
trees, as the sun, rushing from among the mountains, cast a bright glow
of light over the plains we had just passed. The first thing Ned Gale
did, was to climb up one of the tallest trees on the outskirts of the
forest, to take a look round and see what was in sight, as, he observed,
a good seaman always does the first thing in the morning. When he came
down, he reported that he had observed in the far distance some smoke,
which he supposed arose from the farmhouse we had passed in the night;
but that he had discovered no other human habitation while as far as the
eye could discern there appeared to be only an uncultivated plain.
Having eaten nothing since our last meal in the prison, Pedro and I were
very glad when Ned Gale opened his wallet, and produced some dried meat
and bread and cheese, and what was almost of greater value, a good
supply of cocoa. He had a flint and steel with him, and a tin cup for
boiling water; so we collected some sticks and lighted a small fire,
sufficient to cook our cocoa and to parch some peas. On looking over
our provisions, we found that we had already ample to last us a week, so
that we might venture to push across the mountains towards Cuzco, where,
Manco had told me, he expected about this time the Indians would be
collected in great force. We had, however, more than a day's journey
before we could reach the foot of the mountains, which were upwards of
thirty miles off.
On hunting about, we discovered a spring of bright water bubbling up
close to the roots of an enormous tree, which it evidently very much
assisted to nourish. We ate a good meal, and then Gale insisted that
Pedro and I should lie down and rest, while he watched. As we both of
us very much required sleep, we were not sorry to follow his advice; and
in about two hours we awoke much refreshed.
I have not yet described Ned Gale. He was about five feet six in
height, and very strongly built, with rather a large head, covered with
a profusion of light hair. He wore a full bushy beard and large
whiskers. His eyes were full and round, and of the brightest blue I
have ever seen in those of a man. His month was large, and filled with
strong white teeth, and his nose, though rather thick and prominent, was
otherwise well cut. Indeed he came up fully to the description of a
fine-looking fellow without being handsome. His dress was that of an
ordinary seaman of those days. He wore a belt with a brace of pistols
stuck in it, which were partly concealed by his loose cloth jacket. His
head was covered by a small low-crowned straw hat; and the puzzle seemed
to be how he could manage to keep it on. Altogether he presented a
figure very seldom seen so far inland as we then were.
"Come, mates," he exclaimed, "it's time to be making headway again."
We jumped up, and having divided our stores into three equal parts, and
cut some thick walking-sticks, we shouldered our bundles, and
recommenced our journey.