A STREET FRAY
"Now, señor," Dias said, "as we have settled the main point, let us
talk over the arrangements. What is the weight of your baggage?"
"Not more than a mule could carry. Of course we shall sling our rifles
over our shoulders. We have a good stock of ammunition for them and for
our pistols. We shall each take two suits of clothes besides those we
wear, and a case of spirits in the event of accident or illness. We
shall each have three flannel shirts, stockings, and so on, but
certainly everything belonging to us personally would not mount up to
more than a hundred and fifty pounds. We should, of course, require a
few cooking utensils, tin plates, mugs, and cups. What should we need
besides these?"
"A tent and bedding, señor. We should only have, at the start, to carry
such provisions as we could not buy. When we are beyond the range of
villages in the forests we might often be weeks without being able to
buy anything; still, we should probably be able to shoot game for food.
We should find fruits, but flour we shall have to take with us from the
last town we pass through before we strike into the mountains, and
dried meat for an emergency; and it would be well to have a bag of
grain, so that we could give a handful or so to each of the mules. I am
glad you have brought some good spirits--we shall need it in the swamps
by the rivers. Your tea and coffee will save your having to buy them
here, but you will want some sugar. We must take two picks and a
shovel, a hammer for breaking up ore, a small furnace, twenty crucibles
and bellows, and a few other things for aiding to melt the ore. You
would want for the journey five baggage mules, and, of course, three
riding mules. I could hardly manage them, even with aid from you, in
very bad places, and I would rather not take any strange man with me on
such business as we have in hand. But some assistance I must have, and
I will take with me my nephew José. He has lost his father, and I have
taken him as my assistant, and shall train him to be a guide such as I
am. He is but fifteen, but he already knows something of his business,
and such an expedition will teach him more than he would learn in ten
years on the roads."
"That would certainly be far better than having a muleteer whom you
could not trust, Dias. My brother and myself will be ready to lend you
a hand whenever you want help of any kind. We have not had any
experience with mules, but sailors can generally turn their hands to
anything. Now, how about the eight mules?"
"I have five of my own, as good mules as are to be found in the
province; we shall have to buy the three others for riding. Of course I
have saddles and ropes."
"But you will want four for riding."
"No, señor; yours and the one I ride will be enough. José at times will
take my place, and can when he likes perch on one of the most lightly
laden animals."
"How much will the riding mules cost?"
"I can get fair ones for about fifty dollars apiece; trade is slack at
present owing to the troubles, and there are many who would be glad to
get rid of one or two of their train."
"And now, Dias, we come to the very important question, what are we to
pay you for yourself, your nephew, and the five mules--say by the
month?"
"I have been thinking the matter over, señor--I have talked it over
with my wife"--he paused for a moment, and then said: "She wishes to go
with me, señor."
Harry opened his eyes in surprise. "But surely, Dias, you could not
think of taking her on such an expedition, where, as you say yourself,
you may meet with many grave dangers and difficulties?"
"A woman can support them as well as a man," Dias said quietly. "My
wife has more than once accompanied me on journeys when I have been
working on contract. We have been married for fifteen years, and she
has no children to keep her at home. She is accustomed to my being away
for weeks. This would be for months, perhaps for two years. I made no
secret to her that we might meet with many dangers. She says they will
be no greater for her than for me. At first she tried to dissuade me
from going for so long a time; but when I told her that you were sent
me by the gentleman who saved my life a year after I married her, and
that he had recommended you to me as standing to him almost in the
relation of a son, and I therefore felt bound to carry his wishes into
effect, and so to pay the debt of gratitude that I owed him, she agreed
at once that it was my duty to go and do all in my power for you, and
she prayed me to take her with me. I said that I would put it before
you, señor, and that I must abide by your decision."
"By all means bring her with you, Dias. If you and she are both willing
to share the dangers we should meet with, surely we cannot object in
any way."
"Thank you, señor; you will find her useful. You have already seen that
she can cook well; and if we have José to look after the animals when
we are searching among the hills, you will find it not unpleasant, when
we return of an evening, to find a hot supper ready for us."
"That is quite true, and I am sure we shall find your wife a great
acquisition to our party. The only difference will be, that instead of
one large tent we must have two small ones--it does not matter how
small, so long as we can crawl into them and they are long enough for
us to lie down. And now about payment?"
"I shall not overcharge you," Dias said with a smile. "If my wife had
remained behind I must have asked for money to maintain her while we
were away. It would not have been much, for she has her garden and her
house, and there is a bag hid away with my savings, so that if she had
been widowed she could still live in the house until she chose someone
else to share it with her; she is but thirty-two, and is as comely as
when I first married her. However, as she is going with us, there will
be no need to trouble about her. If misfortune comes upon us and I am
killed, it is likely she will be killed also. We shall have no expenses
on the journey, as you will pay for food for ourselves and the animals.
You will remember, señor, that I make this journey not as a business
matter--no money would buy from me any information that I may have as
to hidden mines or treasures,--I do it to repay a debt of gratitude to
my preserver, Don Henry Barnett, and partly because I am sure that I
shall like you and your brother as I did him. I shall aid you as far as
lies in my power in the object for which you are undertaking this
journey. Therefore until it is finished there shall be no talk about
payment. You may have many expenses beyond what you calculate upon. If
we meet with no success, and return to Lima empty-handed, I shall have
lost nothing. I shall have had no expenses at home, my wife and I will
have fed at your expense, and José will have learned so much that he
would be as good a guide as any in the country. You could then give me
the three mules you will buy, to take the place of any of mine that may
have perished on the journey, and should you have them to spare, I will
take a hundred dollars as a _bueno mano_. If we succeed, and you
discover a rich mine or a hidden treasure, you shall then pay me what
it pleases you. Is it a bargain?"
"The bargain you propose is ridiculously one-sided, Dias, and I don't
see how I could possibly accept the offer you make to me."
"Those are my terms, señor," Dias said simply, "to take or to leave."
"Then I cannot but accept them, and I thank you most heartily;" and he
held out his hand to Dias, and the Indian grasped it warmly.
"When do you propose we shall start?"
"Will this day week suit you, señor? There are the mules to buy, and
the tents to be made--they should be of vicuña skin with the wool still
on, which, with the leather kept well oiled, will keep out water. We
shall want them in the hills, but we shall sometimes find villages
where we can sleep in shelter."
"Not for us, Dias. Mr. Barnett has told me that the houses are for the
most part alive with fleas, and I should prefer to sleep in a tent,
however small, rather than lie in a bed on the floor of any one of
them. We don't want thick beds, you know--a couple of thicknesses of
well-quilted cotton, say an inch thick each, and two feet wide. You can
get these made for us, no doubt."
The Indian nodded.
"That would be the best for travel; the beds the Peruvian caballeros
use are very thick and bulky."
"You will want two for yourself and your wife, and two for José. By the
by, we shall want a tent for him."
Dias smiled. "It will not be necessary, señor; muleteers are accustomed
to sleep in the open air, and with two thick blankets, and a leathern
coverlet in case of rain, he will be more than comfortable. I shall
have five leather bags made to hold the beds and blankets. But the
making of the beds and tents will take some time--people do not hurry
in Lima,--and there will be the riding saddles and bridles to get, and
the provisions. I do not think we can be ready before another week. It
will be well, then, that you should, before starting away, visit the
ruins of Pachacamac. All travellers go there, and it will seem only
natural that you should do so, for there you will see the style of the
buildings, and also the explorations that were everywhere made by the
Spaniards in search of treasure."
"Very well, Dias; then this day week we shall be ready to start.
However, I suppose I shall see you every day, and learn how you are
getting on with your preparations."
Bertie had been sitting at the window looking down into the street
while this conversation was going on. "Well, what is it all about?" he
asked, turning round as the Indian left the room. "Is it satisfactory?"
"More than satisfactory," his brother answered. "In the first place his
nephew, a lad of fifteen, who is training as a mule-driver, is going
with us, which is much better than getting an outsider; in the next
place his wife is going with us."
"Good gracious!" Bertie exclaimed, "what in the world shall we do with
a woman?"
"Well, I think we shall do very well with her, Bertie; but well or ill
she has to go. She will not let her husband go without her, which is
natural enough, considering how long we shall be away, and that the
journey will be a dangerous one. But really I think she will be an
acquisition to the party. She is bright and pretty, as you no doubt
noticed, and what is of more importance, she is a capital cook."
"She certainly gave us a good meal yesterday," Bertie said, "and though
I could rough it on anything, it is decidedly pleasanter to have a
well-cooked meal."
"Well, you see, that is all right."
"And how many mules are we to take?"
"Five for baggage, and three for riding. I have no doubt Dias's wife
will ride behind him, and the boy, when he wants to ride, will perch
himself on one of the baggage mules. Dias has five mules, and we shall
only have to buy the three for riding."
"What is it all going to cost, Harry?" Bertie said when his brother had
told him all the arrangements that had been made. "That is the most
important point after all."
"Well, you will be astonished when I tell you, Bertie, that if we don't
succeed in finding a treasure of any kind I shall only have to pay for
the three riding mules, and the expenses of food and so on, and a
hundred dollars."
"Twenty pounds!" Bertie said incredulously; "you are joking!"
"No, it is really so; the man said that he considered that in going
with me he is only fulfilling the obligation he is under to Mr.
Barnett. Of course I protested against the terms, and would have
insisted upon paying the ordinary prices, whatever they might be, for
his services and the use of his mules; but he simply said that those
were the conditions on which he was willing to go with me, and that I
could take them or leave them, so I had to accept. I can only hope that
we may find some treasure, in which case only he consented to accept
proper payment for his services."
"Well, it is awfully good of him," Bertie said; "though really it
doesn't seem fair that we should be having the services of himself, his
wife, his boy, and his mules for nothing. There is one thing, it will
be an extra inducement to him to try and put us in the way of finding
one of those mines."
"I don't think so, Bertie; he said that not for any sum of money
whatever would he do what he is going to do, but simply from gratitude
to Barnett. It is curious how the traditions, or superstitions, or
whatever you like to call them, of the time of the Incas have continued
to impress the Indians, and how they have preserved the secrets
confided to their ancestors. No doubt fear that the Spaniards would
force them to work in the mines till they died has had a great effect
in inducing them to conceal the existence of these places from them.
Now that the Spaniards have been cleared out there is no longer any
ground for apprehension of that kind, but they may still feel that the
Peruvians would get the giant's share in any mine or treasure that
might be found, and that the Indians would, under one pretence or
another, be defrauded out of any share of it. It is not wonderful that
it should be so considering how these poor people have been treated by
the whites, and it would really seem that the way in which Spain has
gone to the dogs is a punishment for her cruelties in South America and
the Islands. It may be said that from the very moment when the gold
began to flow the descent of Spain commenced; in spite of the enormous
wealth she acquired she fell gradually from her position as the
greatest power in Europe.
"In 1525, after the battle of Pavia, Spain stood at the height of her
power. Mexico was conquered by Cortez seven years before, Peru in 1531,
and the wealth of those countries began to flow into Spain in enormous
quantities, and yet her decline followed speedily. She was bearded by
our bucaneers among the Islands and on the western coast; the
Netherlands revolted, and after fierce fighting threw off her yoke; the
battle of Ivry and the accession of Henry of Navarre all but destroyed
her influence in France; the defeat of the Armada and the capture of
Cadiz struck a fatal blow both to her power on the sea and to her
commerce, and within a century of the conquest of Peru, Spain was
already an enfeebled and decaying power. It would almost seem that the
discoveries of Columbus, from which such great things were hoped,
proved in the long run the greatest misfortune that ever befell Spain."
"It does look like it, Harry; however, we must hope that whatever
effect the discovery of America had upon Portugal or Spain, it will
make your fortune."
Harry laughed.
"I hope so, Bertie, but it is as well not to be too hopeful. Still, I
have great faith in Dias, at any rate I feel confident that he will do
all he can; but he acknowledges that he knows nothing for certain. I am
sure, however, that he will be a faithful guide, and that though we may
have a rough time, it will not be an unpleasant one. Now, you must
begin to turn to account what Spanish you have learned during the
voyage; I know you have worked regularly at it while you have not been
on duty."
"I have learned a good lot," Bertie said; "and I dare say I could ask
for anything, but I should not understand the answers. I can make out a
lot of that Spanish _Don Quixote_ you got for me, but when Dias was
talking to you I did not catch a word of what he was saying. I suppose
it will all come in time."
"But you must begin at once. I warn you that when I am fairly off I
shall always talk to you in Spanish, for it would look very unsociable
if we were always talking together in English. If you ride or walk by
the side of the boy you will soon get on; and there will be Donna Maria
for you to chat away with, and from what we saw of her I should say she
is sociably inclined. In three months I have no doubt you will talk
Spanish as well as I do."
"It will be a horrid nuisance," Bertie grumbled; "but I suppose it has
got to be done."
Three days later Dias said he thought they might as well start the next
day to Pachacamac.
"We shall only want the three riding mules and one for baggage. Of
course we shall not take José or my wife. By the time we return
everything will be ready for us."
"I shall be very glad to be off, Dias. We know no one here except Señor
Pasquez; and although he has been very civil and has begged us to
consider his house as our own, he is of course busy during the day, and
one can't do above a certain amount of walking about the streets. So by
all means let us start to-morrow morning. We may as well go this time
in the clothes we wear, it will be time enough to put on the things we
have bought when we start in earnest."
Starting at sunrise, they rode for some distance through a fertile
valley, and then crossed a sandy plain until they reached the little
valley of Lurin, in which stand the ruins of Pachacamac. This was the
sacred city of the natives of the coast before their conquest by the
Incas. During their forty-mile ride Dias had told them something of the
place they were about to visit. Pachacamac, meaning "the creator of the
world," was the chief divinity of these early people, and here was the
great temple dedicated to him. The Incas after their conquest erected a
vast Temple of the Sun, but they did not attempt to suppress the
worship of Pachacamac, and the two flourished side by side until the
arrival of the Spaniards. The wealth of the temple was great; the
Spaniards carried away among their spoils one thousand six hundred and
eighty-seven pounds of gold and one thousand six hundred ounces of
silver; but with all their efforts they failed to discover the main
treasure, said to have been no less than twenty-four thousand eight
hundred pounds of gold, which had been carried away and buried before
their arrival.
"If the Spaniards could not succeed in getting at the hiding-place,
although, no doubt, they tortured everyone connected with the temple to
make them divulge the secret, it is evident there is no chance for us,"
Harry said.
"Yes, señor, they made every effort; thousands of natives were employed
in driving passages through the terraces on which the temple stood. I
believe that they did find much treasure, but certainly not the great
one they were searching for. There is no tradition among our people as
to the hiding-place, for so many of the natives perished that all to
whom the secret was known must have died without revealing it to
anybody. Had it not been so, the Spaniards would sooner or later have
learned it, for although hundreds have died under torture rather than
reveal any of the hiding-places, surely one more faint-hearted than the
rest would have disclosed them. Certain it is that at Cuzco and other
places they succeeded in obtaining almost all the treasures buried
there, though they failed in discovering the still greater treasures
that had been carried away to be hidden in different spots. But
Pachacamac was a small one in comparison with Cuzco, and it was
believed that the treasures had not been carried far. Tradition has it
that they were buried somewhere between this town and Lima. Doubtless
all concerned in the matter fled before the Spaniards arrived, at any
rate with all their cruelty the invaders never discovered its position.
The report that it was buried near may have been set about to prevent
their hunting for it elsewhere, and the gold may be lying now somewhere
in the heart of the mountains."
Harry Prendergast and his brother looked in astonishment at the massive
walls that rose around the eminence on which the temple had stood. The
latter had disappeared, but its situation could be traced on the
plateau buttressed by the walls. These were of immense thickness, and
formed of huge adobe bricks almost as hard as stone; even the long
efforts of the Spaniards had caused but little damage to them. The
plateau rose some five hundred feet above the sea, which almost washed
one face of it. Half-way up the hill four series of these massive
walls, whose tops formed terraces, stood in giant steps some fifty feet
high. Here and there spots of red paint could be seen, showing that the
whole surface was originally painted. The ascent was made by winding
passages through the walls. On the side of the upper area facing the
sea could be seen the remains of a sort of walk or esplanade, with
traces of edifices of various kinds. On a hill a mile and a half away
were the remains of the Incas' temple and nunnery, the style differing
materially from that of the older building; it was still more damaged
than the temple on the hill by the searchers for treasure.
Pachacamac was the most sacred spot in South America, vast numbers of
pilgrims came here from all points. The city itself had entirely
disappeared, covered deeply in sand, but for a long distance round, it
had, like the neighbourhood of Jerusalem and Mecca, been a vast
cemetery, and a small amount of excavation showed the tombs of the
faithful, occupied in most cases by mummies.
"We will ride across to the Incas' temple. There is not much to see
there, but it is as well that you should look at the vaults in which
the treasures were hid. There are similar places at Cuzco and several
of the other ruins."
"It may certainly be useful to see them," Harry agreed, and they rode
across the plain. Leaving their mules outside they entered the ruins.
The Indian led them into some underground chambers. He had brought a
torch with him, and this he now lit.
"You have to be careful or you might otherwise tumble into one of these
holes and break a limb; and in that case, if you were here by
yourselves, you would certainly never get out again."
They came upon several of these places. The openings were sometimes
square and sometimes circular, and had doubtless been covered with
square stones. They were dug out of the solid ground. For about six
feet the sides of the pit were perpendicular; in some it swelled out
like a great vase with a broad shoulder, in others it became a square
chamber of some size.
"Some of these places were no doubt meant to store grain and other
provisions," the Indian said, "some were undoubtedly treasuries."
"Awkward places to find," Harry said; "one might spend a lifetime in
searching for them in only one of these temples."
"They were the last places we should think of searching," Dias said.
"For years the Spaniards kept thousands of men at work. I do not say
that there may not be some few places that have escaped the searchers,
but what they could not with their host of workers find certainly could
not be found by four or five men. It is not in the temples that the
Incas' wealth has been hidden, but in caves, in deep mountain gorges,
and possibly in ruins on the other side of the mountains where even the
Spaniards never penetrated. There are such places. I know of one to
which I will take you if our search fails elsewhere. It is near the
sea, and yet there are not half a dozen living men who have ever seen
it, so strangely is it hidden. Tradition says that it was not the work
of the Incas, but of the people before them. I have never seen it
close. It is guarded, they say, by demons, and no native would go
within miles of it. The traditions are that the Incas, when they
conquered the land, found the place and searched it, after starving out
the native chief who had fled there with his followers and family. Some
say that they found great treasure there, others that they discovered
nothing; all agree that a pestilence carried off nearly all those who
had captured it. Others went, and they too died, and the place was
abandoned as accursed, and in time its very existence became forgotten;
though some say that members of the tribe have always kept watch there,
and that those who carelessly or curiously approached it have always
met with their death in strange ways. Although I am a Christian, and
have been taught to disbelieve the superstitions of my countrymen, I
would not enter it on any condition."
"If we happen to be near it I shall certainly take a close look at it,"
Harry said with a laugh. "I don't fancy we should see anything that our
rifles and pistols would find invulnerable."
It was getting dark by the time they had finished their inspection of
the rooms, so, riding two or three miles away, they encamped in a grove
up the valley. Next morning they returned to Lima. Dias had given out
that the two white señors intended to visit all the ruined temples of
the Incas, and as other travellers had done the same their intention
excited neither surprise nor comment.
On the following evening after dark Harry and his brother were
returning from the house of Señor Pasquez.
"It is a pleasant house," Harry said; "the girls are pretty and nice,
they play and sing well, and are really charming. But what a contrast
it was the other morning when we went in there and accidentally ran
against them when we were going upstairs with their father, utterly
untidy, and, in fact, regular sluts--a maid of all work would look a
picture of neatness beside them."
Bertie was about to answer, when there was an outburst of shouts from a
wine-shop they were passing, and in a moment the door burst open and
half a dozen men engaged in a fierce conflict rushed out. Knives were
flashing, and it was evident that one man was being attacked by the
rest. By the light that streamed out of the open door they saw that the
man attacked was Dias. It flashed across Harry's mind that if this man
was killed there was an end to all hope of success in their expedition.
"Dash in to his rescue, Bertie," he cried; "but whatever you do, mind
their knives."
With a shout he sprang forward and struck to the ground a man who was
dodging behind Dias with uplifted knife, while Bertie leapt on to the
back of another, the shock throwing the man down face forward. Bertie
was on his feet in a moment, and brought the stick he carried with all
his force down on the man's head as he tried to rise. Then, springing
forward again, he struck another man a heavy blow on the wrist. The
knife dropped from the man's hand, and as he dashed with a fierce oath
upon Bertie the stick descended again, this time on his head, and
felled him to the ground. In the meantime one of the assailants had
turned fiercely on Harry and aimed a blow at him with his knife; but
with the ease of a practised boxer Harry stepped back, and before the
man could again raise the knife he leaped in and struck him a
tremendous blow on the point of his chin. The fifth man took to his
heels immediately. The other four lay where they had fallen, evidently
fearing they would be stabbed should they try to get on to their feet.
"Are you hurt, Dias?" Harry exclaimed.
"I have several cuts, señor, but none of them, I think, serious. You
have saved my life."
"Never mind that now, Dias. What shall we do with these fellows--hand
them over to the watch?"
"No, señor, that would be the last thing to do; we might be detained
here for months. I will take all their knives and let them go."
"Here are two of them," Bertie said, picking up those of the men he had
struck.
Dias stood over the man Harry had first knocked down, and with a fierce
whisper ordered him to give up his knife, which he did at once. The
other was still stupid from the effect of the blow and his fall, and
Dias had only to take his knife from his relaxed fingers.
"Now, señor, let us be going before anyone comes along."
"What was it all about, Dias?" Harry asked as he walked away.
"Many of the muleteers are jealous, señor, because I always get what
they consider the best jobs. I had gone into the wine-shop for a glass
of pulque before going round to see that the mules were all right. As I
was drinking, these men whispered together, and then one came up to me
and began to abuse me, and directly I answered him the whole of them
drew their knives and rushed at me. I was ready too, and wounded two of
them as I fought my way to the door. As I opened it one of them stabbed
me in the shoulder, but it was a slanting blow. Once out they all
attacked me at once, and in another minute you would have had to look
for another muleteer. 'Tis strange, señors, that you should have saved
my life as Mr. Barnett did. It was a great deed to risk your lives with
no weapons but your sticks against five ruffians with their knives."
"I did not use my stick," Harry said. "I am more accustomed to use my
fists than a stick, and can hit as hard with them, as you saw. But my
brother's stick turned out the most useful. He can box too, but cannot
give as heavy a blow as I can. Still, it was very lucky that I followed
your advice, and bought a couple of heavy sticks to carry with us if we
should go out after dark. Now you had better come to the hotel, and I
will send for a surgeon to dress your wound."
"It is not necessary, señor; my wife is waiting for me in my room, she
arrived this afternoon. Knife cuts are not uncommon affairs here, and
she knows quite enough to be able to bandage them."
"At any rate we shall have to put off our start for a few days."
"Not at all, señor; a bandage tonight and a few strips of plaster in
the morning will do the business. I shall be stiff for a few days, but
that will not interfere with my riding, and José will be able to load
and unload the mules, if you will give him a little assistance. Adios!
and a thousand thanks."
"That was a piece of luck, Bertie," Harry said when they had reached
their room in the hotel. "In the first place, because neither of us got
a scratch, and in the second, because it will bind Dias more closely to
us. Before, he was willing to assist us for Barnett's sake, now it will
be for our own also, and we may be quite sure that he will do his best
for us."
"It is my first scrimmage," Bertie said, "and I must say that I
thought, as we ran in, that it was going to be a pretty serious one. We
have certainly come very well out of it."
"It was short and sharp," Harry laughed. "I have always held that the
man who could box well was more than a match for one with a knife who
knew nothing of boxing. One straight hit from the shoulder is sure to
knock him out of time."
Next morning Dias and his wife came up early. The former had one arm in
a sling. As they entered, the woman ran forward, and, throwing her arms
round Bertie, she kissed him on both cheeks. The lad was too much
surprised at this unexpected salute to return it, as his brother did
when she did the same to him. Then, drawing back, she poured out her
thanks volubly, the tears running down her cheeks.
"Maria asked me if she might kiss you," Dias said gravely when she
stopped. "I said that it was right that she should do so, for do we not
both owe you my life?"
"You must not make too much of the affair, Dias; four blows were
struck, and there was an end to it."
"A small matter to you, señor, but a great one to us. A Peruvian would
not interfere if he saw four armed men attacking one. He would be more
likely to turn down the next street, so that he might not be called as
a witness. It is only your countrymen who would do such things."
"And you still think that you will be ready to start the day after
to-morrow?"
"Quite sure, señor. My shoulder will be stiff and my arm in a sling for
a week, but muleteers think nothing of such trifles,--a kick from a
mule would be a much more serious affair."
"You don't think those rascals are likely to waylay us on the road, and
take their revenge?"
"Not they, señor. If you could do such things unarmed, what could you
not do when you had rifles and pistols? The matter is settled. They
have not been seriously hurt. If one of them had been killed I should
be obliged to be careful the next time I came here; as it is, no more
will be said about it. Except the two hurt in the wine-shop they will
not even have a scar to remind them of it. In two years they will have
other things to think about, if it is true that Colombia means to go to
war with Chili."
"What is the quarrel about, Dias?"
"The Colombians helped us to get rid of the Spaniards, but ever since
they have presumed a right to manage affairs here."
"Perhaps nothing will come of it."
"Well, it is quite certain that there is no very good feeling between
Chili, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru."
"I suppose they will be fighting all round some day?"
"Yes, and it will interfere with my business. Certainly we are better
off than when the Spaniards were here; but the taxes are heavy, and
things don't go as people expected they would when we got rid of the
Spaniards. All the governments seem jealous of each other. I don't take
any interest in these matters except so far as they interfere with
trade. If every man would attend to his own affairs it would be better
for us all."
"I suppose so, Dias; but one can hardly expect a country that has been
so many years governed by a foreign power to get accustomed all at once
to governing itself."
"Now, señor, I shall be glad if you will go with me and look at the
stores that are already collected. I think you will find that
everything is ready."