DEFEAT OF THE NATIVES
Bertie, who had joined Harry when he saw Dias approaching, had listened
silently to their talk, then said:
"Don't you think that, by loading the mules and moving towards the
mouth of the next gorge just as it is getting dark, we might induce the
Chincas to think that we are going that way, and so to follow along the
top of the hills. We might, as soon as night has fallen, come back
again and go down the stream. Of course there may be some of them left
to watch the mouth of the ravine, but we could drive them off easily
enough, and get a long start before the fellows on the hills know what
has happened."
None of the others spoke immediately; then Harry said:
"The idea is a good one as far as it goes. But you see at present we
are in a very strong position. If we leave this and they overtake us in
the woods, we shall not have the advantages that we have here."
"Yes, I see that, Harry; but almost anything is better than having to
wait here and lose our chance of finding that gold."
"We can't help that, Bertie. You know how much that gold would be to
me, but, as I said this morning, I will run no desperate risks to
obtain it. When I started upon this expedition I knew that the chances
of success were extremely slight, and that there might be a certain
amount of danger to encounter from wild beasts and perhaps brigands;
but I had never calculated upon such a risk as this, and certainly I am
not prepared to accept the responsibility of leading others into it."
There was again silence, which was broken at last by Dias.
"The proposal of the young señor is a very bold one; but, as you say,
Don Harry, after leaving our position we should be followed and
surrounded. In the forest that would be very bad. I should say let us
wait for at least a week; that will still give us time to reach the
gold valley. By then the savages may have left, and some other plan may
have occurred to us; at any rate, at the end of a week we shall see how
things go. The Indians may have made an attack, and may lose heart
after they are repulsed. They may find difficulty in procuring food,
though I hardly think that is probable. Still, many things may occur in
a week. If at the end of that time they are still here, we can decide
whether to try some such plan as the young señor has thought of, or
whether to wait until the Indians leave, and then return to Cuzco; for
I feel certain that the place cannot be found except by the help of the
star."
"Well, then," Bertie said, "could we not hit upon some plan to frighten
them?"
"What sort of plan, Bertie?"
"Well, of course we could not make a balloon--I mean a
fire-balloon--because we have no paper to make it with. If we could,
and could let it up at night, with some red and blue fires to go off
when it got up high, I should think it would scare them horribly."
"Yes; but it would be still better, Bertie, if we could make a balloon
big enough to carry us and the mules and everything else out of this
place, and drop us somewhere about the spot we want to get to."
"Oh, it is all very well to laugh, Harry! I said, I knew we could not
make a fire-balloon; I only gave that as an example. If we had powder
enough we might make some rockets, and I should think that would scare
them pretty badly."
"Yes, but we haven't got powder, Bertie. We have plenty of cartridges
for sporting purposes, or for fighting; but a rocket is a thing that
wants a lot of powder, besides saltpetre and charcoal, and so on."
"Yes, yes, I know that," Bertie said testily. "My suggestion was that
we might frighten them somehow, and I still don't see why we shouldn't
be able to do it. Let us try to hit upon something else."
"There is a good deal in what the young señor says," Dias said gravely.
"All the Indians are very superstitious, and think anything they don't
understand is magic. It is worth thinking over: but before we do
anything else we might find out how many of them there are at the other
end of the ravine. Only a few may be left, or possibly the whole tribe
may be gathered there at nightfall. To-night nothing will be settled,
but to-morrow night I will go down the torrent with José. I will carry
your double-barrelled guns with me, señor, if you will let me have
them. When we get to the other end I will take up my station there.
José is small and active. He could crawl forward and ascertain how many
of them there are. If he should be discovered, which is not likely, he
would run back to me. I should have four barrels ready to pour into
them. That would stop them, for they would think we were all there and
were going to attack them, and before they could recover from their
alarm we should be back here again."
"That seems a good plan, Dias; but I do not see why Bertie and I should
not go down with you."
"It would be better not, señor. In the first place, they may have men
posted at their end of the ravine, and though two of us might crawl
down without being seen, just as they crawled up here, they would be
more likely to see four; in the next place, they might chance to crawl
down the hillside above just as we were going down the ravine, and
Maria and the animals would be at their mercy."
"They are hardly likely to choose the exact moment when we are to be
away, but I quite agree with you that the risk must not be run."
"Well," Bertie said, returning to his former idea, "if Dias can go down
there, I still think that somehow we might get up a scare."
Harry laughed.
"Well, you think it over, Bertie. If you can suggest anything, I
promise you that Dias and I will do our best to carry it out."
"Very well," Bertie replied gravely, "I will think it over."
"Now," Harry said, "we had better sleep in watches at night; one must
be at the breast-work, and one must listen for noises on the cliffs. It
would be hardly possible for a number of men to crawl down without
exciting suspicion or putting in motion some small stones."
"I do not think, señor," Dias said, "that it will be necessary to keep
that watch, for, as we knew from the noise when you fired last night,
there are numbers of birds and at least one beast--I fancy it is a bear
from the sound of its roar--up there, and it would be strange if a
number of men making their way down did not disturb some of them;
indeed, if one bird gave the alarm, it would put them all in motion;
besides, there are certainly monkeys, for I heard their cries and
chattering when the birds flew up. Still, it is perhaps as well that
one of us should watch. Shall we divide, as we did last night? only, of
course, José takes his place with you."
"I quite agree with you, Dias. Bertie, you had better get three hours'
sleep at once, and then after dinner we will sit by the fire here,
smoke, and listen, and Dias will watch the gorge and keep one ear open
in this direction too. It is a comfort to know that if we cannot get
away by going up the stream, the Indians cannot get down to attack us
from that direction."
Two nights and days passed. The Indians were still on the hills, and
once or twice men came down some distance, but a shot from Harry's
rifle sent them speedily back again. The third night Bertie was on
watch; he saw nothing, but suddenly there came three sharp taps. He
discharged one barrel of his gun at random down the ravine, and then
held himself ready to fire the other as soon as he saw anyone
approaching. It was an anxious minute for him before the other three
ran up.
"What is it, Bertie; have you seen anything?"
"No, but three arrows tapped against the wall, so I fired one barrel to
call you up, and have been looking out for someone to take a shot at
with the other; but I have not seen anyone, though, as you may imagine,
I looked out sharply."
"It is probable that after the lesson they got the other night they did
not come so near, and that they merely shot their arrows to see if we
were still on guard. However, we may as well stay here for a bit to see
if anything comes of it."
Nothing happened, however, and they returned to the tents. Next morning
Bertie said to his brother:
"Look here, Harry, I have been thinking over that plan of mine. I
really think there is something to be done with it."
"Well, tell us your plan."
"In the first place, how much powder can you spare?"
"There is that great powder-horn José drags about with him to charge
his musket with. It will contain about a couple of pounds, I should
say."
"That ought to do, I think."
"Well, what is your plan, Bertie?"
"In the first place, do you think that burned wood would do for
charcoal?"
"It depends on what purpose you want it for."
"I want it to prevent the powder from going off with a bang."
"Oh, well, I should think that burned wood ground to a powder would be
just as good as charcoal. So you are still thinking of rockets? Your
two pounds of powder won't make many of them--not above two fair-sized
ones, and the betting is they would not go up."
"No, I am not thinking of rockets, but of squibs and crackers. I know
when I was at school I made a lot of these, and they worked very well.
My idea is that if we could crawl up close to where the Indians are
assembled, each carrying a dozen squibs and as many crackers, we could
light a lot of the crackers first and chuck them among them, and then
send the squibs whirling about over their heads, with a good bang at
the end. It would set them off running, and they would never stop till
they were back in their own forests."
"Well, I really do think that that is a fine idea--a splendid idea! The
only drawback is, that in order to carry it out we should want a lot of
strong cartridge-paper, and we have no paper except our note-books."
"I have thought of that, Harry, though it bothered me for a good long
time. You see, the cases are only to hold the powder and to burn
regularly as the powder does. At first I thought we might find some
wood like elder and get the pith out, just as we used to do for
pop-guns, but that unfortunately would not burn. We might, however,
make them of linen."
"But we have no linen."
"No, but our leather bed-bags are lined with that coarse sort of stuff
they cover mattresses with."
"Tick, you mean?"
"Yes, tick. Now, it struck me that this would do for the crackers. We
should have to cut it in strips three or four times the width of the
cracker. Then we could get Maria to make us some stiff paste; starch
would be better, but of course we have none. Then, taking a strip of
the cloth, we would turn over one side of it an inch from the edge to
make a sort of trough, pour in the gunpowder, carefully paste all the
rest of it and fold it over and over, and then, when it begins to dry,
double it up and tie it with string. We should then only have to add
touch-paper, which, of course, we could make out of anything, and put
into the end fold. We could break up a few of the cartridges, soak them
in wetted powder, and then cut them up into small pieces and stick them
into the ends of the crackers. I think that would do first-rate. I have
made dozens of crackers, and feel sure that I could turn out a good lot
of them now. The squibs will be easier; we should only have to paste
one side of the strips and roll them up so as to form suitable cases.
When these are dry we should put a thimbleful of powder into each, and
then fill them up with powder and charcoal. In order to make sure of a
loud bang we could undo a piece of rope and wind the strands round each
case for an inch and a half from the bottom. Of course, when we had
ground down the burned wood we would mix it with powder and try one or
two of the squibs, so as to find the proportions of charcoal to be
used."
"You have evidently thought it all out well, and I think it does you no
end of credit. I authorize you to begin the experiment at once. The
first thing, of course, will be to get some wood and char it. I should
think that you would require at least two pounds of that to two pounds
of powder; but you had better only do a little at first--just enough to
make an experiment. You know it will require ramming down well."
When Dias, who was on watch, returned he found Bertie at work burning
pieces of wood and scraping off the charred surface. Harry explained
the plan to him. As he had frequently seen fireworks at Lima, Dias
quickly grasped the idea.
"It is splendid, señor; those things will frighten them far more than
guns. They will think so many devils have got among them, and we will
heighten the effect by discharging every piece that we can among them.
In their confusion they will think it is the fireworks that are killing
them. That would be necessary, for otherwise when they recovered from
the panic and found that no one had been hurt, they might summon up
courage to return."
At noon the next day Bertie with assistance had four squibs and two
crackers ready for trial. The squibs contained respectively one, two,
three, and four parts of charcoal to one of powder.
"Don't hold them in your hand while you are trying the experiment,
Bertie. Lay them down on that stone one by one and touch them off with
a burning brand from the fire, and take care that you have a good long
one."
All, with the exception of José who was on watch, gathered round. The
first squib exploded with a bang, the second did the same, but with
less violence, the third went off in an explosive spurt, the fourth
burned as a squib should do, though a little fiercely, and gave a good
bang at the end.
"They go off rather too rapidly, Bertie," Harry said; "we should want
them to whiz about in a lively way as long as possible. I should put in
five parts of that burned wood next time."
"I will try at once," Bertie said. "I have got lots of cases made, and
enough burned stuff to make eight or ten more."
The mixture was soon made and another case charged, Bertie ramming down
the mixture with a stick which he had cut to fit exactly, and a heavy
stone as a hammer. This was done after each half-spoonful of the
mixture was poured in. Then he inserted a strip of his touch-paper.
"I will take this in my hand," he said, "there is no fear of its
exploding. I want to throw it into the air and see how it burns there."
The touch-paper was lit, and when the mixture started burning Bertie
waved the squib high above his head and threw it into the air. It flew
along some fifteen yards and then exploded.
"I don't think you can better that, Bertie. But you might make the
cases a bit stronger; it burned out a little too quickly. We shall
probably not be able to get very close to them."
The cracker was equally satisfactory, except that they agreed that a
somewhat larger charge of powder should be used to increase the noise
of the explosion.
"Now, Bertie," Harry said, "we will put all hands on to the business.
Donna Maria shall make a good stock of paste, and cut the tick into
strips for both widths. You shall make the cases for the squibs. Dias
and I will take charge of the manufacture of charcoal. That will be a
long job, for as you have two pounds of gunpowder we shall want ten of
this charred wood."
"Not quite as much as that, Harry, because we shall want the powder
alone for the crackers and the bangs of the squibs, and also for making
the touch-paper for all of them."
"Well, we will say ten pounds, anyhow. We have a big stock of
cartridges, and can spare a few of them for so good a purpose."
They were soon at work. By night the cases were all made and drying,
and were left near the fire so as to be ready for filling in the
morning.
Dias then said: "José will go down to-night, señor. Of course I shall
go with him. We must find out, in the first place, how near the mouth
of the ravine the savages are gathered, whether they keep any watch,
and what force they have. It will be well not to make ourselves known
to them until at least the greater part are gathered there. If we were
only to scare a small party, the others, when they came down, would
know nothing of the panic, and might take up the pursuit."
"I wish we had some means of driving them off the top of the hill,
Dias."
"I don't see how that can be done, señor. But probably in another day
or two they will all go down of their own accord. They must by this
time have satisfied themselves that there is no getting at us from
above, and that it would be too dangerous to attempt a descent here
under the fire of our guns. They will be very likely, instead, to go
down to-morrow or next day to hold a general council, and in that case
they may decide either to risk climbing down at night, or to make a
grand assault on the breast-work. Or, if they cannot bring themselves
to that, they may decide to leave half a dozen men to watch the
entrance, while the rest scatter themselves over the forests. In that
case the watchers would only have to go off and summon them when we
started again. As they might well imagine that we should not find
another position like this again, I expect that is what they will do.
If there are a hundred of them, they will find it difficult to feed
themselves long. Certainly the men on the hills will get little to eat
up there."
"Well, Dias, be sure you warn José to be careful. They may be posting
sentries at the mouth of the ravine, just as they are keeping them at
this end."
"They may be, but I do not think it is likely; they will know that we
could not abandon our animals, and that if we passed through they would
have no difficulty in over-taking us, and would then have us at their
mercy. The last thing they would want is to prevent us from leaving
this position. They certainly would not fear an attack from us, knowing
that there are but four of us and a woman. Therefore, I think it
probable that they will keep at some little distance from the entrance,
so as to tempt us to come out."
"I hope it is so, Dias. Still, José will have to be very careful."
"He will be careful, señor. He knows his own life will depend upon his
crawling along as noiselessly as a snake. If he is seen, of course he
will come at all speed back to me; and, unless he is hit by a chance
arrow, he will not run much risk, for by the time they are ready to
shoot he will be out of sight on such dark nights as these, and in the
shade of the mountains and trees. I shall be ready to send four barrels
of buck-shot among them when they come up. That is sure to stop them
long enough to allow us to get under the cover of your rifles before
they can overtake us.
"I don't think that you need be at all uneasy about him, señor. We will
start in an hour's time, so that José can get near them before they go
to sleep. They will probably have a fire burning, but if not the only
guide to their position will be the sound of their talking. He will
strip before he leaves me, so that if they catch sight of him, they
will suppose that he is one of themselves."
Bertie now relieved José, who came back and had a long talk with Dias.
"We are ready now, señor."
"Here is my fowling-piece. It is already loaded with buck-shot. Bertie
has taken down his rifle and gun, and will give you the latter as you
pass. I suppose José will take no weapons?"
"Only a long knife, señor, that may be useful if he comes upon one of
them suddenly."
At the barricade José stripped, retaining only a pair of sandals. These
were as noiseless as his bare feet, and would be needed, as in the dark
he might tread upon a thorny creeper, or strike against a projecting
rock.
"Good-bye, José!" Harry said. "Now, be careful. It would be a great
grief to us if anything happened to you."
"I will be careful, señor. The Indians won't catch me, never fear."
Harry and Bertie both shook hands with him, and then he and Dias
stepped into the water, and, keeping close along by the wall of rock,
started on their perilous expedition.
"I don't like it, Bert," Harry said as they lost sight of them. "It
seems a cowardly thing to let that lad go into danger while we are
doing nothing."
"That is just what I feel, Harry. I would have volunteered willingly,
but he will do it a great deal better than either you or I could."
"There is no doubt about that," Harry agreed. "Of course when he is out
with the mules he often travels at night, and certainly both he and
Dias can see in the dark a good deal better than we can."
There was suddenly a slight movement behind them, and they turned
sharply round. "It is I, señor. I am anxious about Dias, and I didn't
like staying there by myself. I thought you would not mind if I came up
and sat by you."
"Certainly not," Harry said. "Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I
do not think there is any fear for Dias. He cannot be taken by
surprise, for he will hear by their shouting if they discover José, and
you may be quite sure that he will bring them to a stand with the four
shots he will fire among them as they come near, and so will get a good
start. They might run faster than he can in the forest, but will
scarcely be better able to make their way up the torrent."
When Dias had been gone twenty minutes their conversation ceased, and
they sat listening intently. In another ten minutes, which seemed an
hour to them, Harry said, "The savages can keep no watch at their end
of the torrent, and José must have got safely away."
Very slowly the time passed.
"They must have been gone an hour," Bertie said at last.
"Quite that, I should think, Bertie. At any rate, we may feel assured
that all has gone well so far. For, though we might not hear the yells
of the savages over the rustle and roar of the torrent, we should
certainly hear gunshots."
Another half-hour passed, and then to their relief they heard Dias call
out, "All is well!" some little distance down. In three or four minutes
they could see the two figures approaching. "Give me your guns, Dias,"
Harry said, "and then I will help you up the rocks. They might go off
if you were to make a slip. Now, while José is putting on his clothes,
tell me what he has found out."
"I have not heard much, señor. As soon as he rejoined me we started
off, and, coming up the torrent, we had not much chance of talking. He
told me that there were many of them, and that they were camped at some
little distance from the stream, just as I thought they would be."
"I will stay here, Harry," Bertie said. "You can hear the news and then
come and tell me."
"Very well. I will be back before long."
Dias, his wife, and Harry walked down towards the tent, and Bertie
chatted with José while the latter was dressing.
"You must feel horribly cold, José," he said.
"I am cold, now I think of it. I did not notice it while I was watching
the savages. When I took to the water again I did feel it. Maria will
make me a cup of hot coffee, and then I shall be all right again. It
was good fun to look at them, and know that they had no idea that I was
so close. If I could have understood their language, I should have
learned something worth telling. I felt inclined to scare them by
giving a tremendous yell, and I know I could have got away all right.
They were sitting round a big fire and would not have been able to see
in the dark. I should have done it, only I thought Dias would have
blamed me for letting them know that one of us had come down the cañon."
"He would have been angry, José, and so would my brother, for they
would certainly have set a watch afterwards, which would have spoilt
all our plans. Now run along, your teeth are chattering, and the sooner
you get something warm and wrap yourself up in your blankets the
better."
The fire had burnt low when the others returned, but an armful of
sticks was thrown upon it at once. The kettle had been left in the
embers at its edge by Maria when she started, so that after it had hung
in the blaze for two or three minutes it began to boil, and coffee was
soon ready. At this point José ran in, and after he had drunk a large
mugful he told them what he had learned.
"When I left Dias at the mouth of the ravine," he said, "everything
seemed quiet. I walked along the edge of the stream for fifty yards,
keeping my ears open, you may be sure, and I saw a light glow close
under the rocks some distance on the other side of the river. I
followed the stream down till I came to a place where there was a quiet
pool, and there I swam across, then very carefully I made my way to
where I could see the light. It was quite three hundred yards from the
river. As I got near I could hear talking; I crawled along like a cat,
and took good care not to disturb a leaf, or to put a hand or a knee
upon a dried stick, for I could not tell whether they had anyone on
watch near the fire. I perceived no one, and at last came to a point
where I could see the flame. It was in an opening running a hundred
feet into the mountains, and perhaps forty feet across at the mouth.
"In this were sixty or seventy savages sitting or standing round a
fire, which had evidently been made there so that anyone coming down to
the mouth of the ravine should not see it. The fire was not a very
large one, and a good many of the men were gathered outside the little
hollow. Some of them were talking loudly, and it seemed to me that they
were quarrelling over something. Sometimes they pointed up to the top
of the hills, sometimes towards the mouth of our ravine. I would have
got close if I had understood their language. Presently I saw some of
them lying down, so that I could see that the quarrel, whatever it was
about, was coming to an end, and that they were going to lie down for
the night. As I could learn nothing further I crawled away and went
down to the place where I had swum the river before, and then crept
quietly up to Dias, who was on the look-out; for although I had seen no
one as I had passed before, there might still have been some of them on
the watch."
"You have done very well, José," Harry said. "We have learned two
things. First, that they are not keeping watch at the mouth of the
ravine, either because they feel sure that we will not try to escape,
or because they wish us to leave and are giving us the opportunity of
doing so. In the second place, you have learned what force they have
got down there, their exact position, and the fact that they were
evidently arguing how they had best attack us. Well, from what you say
there is every chance that we shall be able to come upon them without
being noticed till we are close enough to throw our fireworks among
them. Really the only thing for us to learn is whether many of them are
still at the top of the hill."
"I hardly think there can be many; only a few have shown themselves
to-day. They must know very well that we would not venture to climb up
during the day, and that it would be next to impossible for us to do so
in the dark, even if we made up our minds to abandon the animals and
all our stores."
"Well, I should say, Dias, there is no reason why we should put the
matter off. It will not take us long to load all the squibs to-morrow.
My opinion is that at dusk we had better saddle the mules and pack
everything on them in readiness for a start; then at ten o'clock we can
go down and attack the savages. The best moment for doing so will be
when they are just lying down. When we have sent them flying we will
come up the torrent again, and start with the mules as soon as it is
daylight. It would be next to impossible to get them down in the dark,
as they might very easily break their legs, or by rubbing against the
wall shift their packs and tumble them into the water."
"It would be a pity to waste time, señor. I will get some torches made
to-morrow. Some of the trees have resin, and by melting this I can make
torches that would do very well. By their aid we could get the mules
down without waiting for daylight. As they have already come up the
torrent, they will have less fear in going down, for the stream will
help them instead of keeping them back. I will go first with José and
his mule; she is as steady as a rock, and where she goes the others
will follow; and with five torches along the line they will be able to
see well enough."
"Four torches, Dias. Your wife rode coming up, and she had better ride
going down."
"She can hold a torch as she sits; it does not matter to us if we get
wet to the waist, but it would be very uncomfortable for her. We shall
have to put the largest burdens on to the mules. One of the riding
mules could carry the two llamas, or if you think that that is too
much, we can tie each across a separate mule. They were more trouble
coming up than all the mules put together. We had pretty nearly to
carry them through the deep places, though at other points they leapt
from rock to rock cleverly enough."
"I am not going to be left behind if you are going to the fight,
señor," Donna Maria said, "if you will give me one of your pistols."
"We could manage that, I should think," Harry said. "We can put you on
one of the steadiest mules when we first go down, and with one at each
side of you we can manage it very well. José must go on a hundred yards
ahead to see whether any of the savages are on the watch at their end,
and if so, you must wait till we have cleared them out. You see, we
shall have no hesitation in shooting any of them if necessary, and
though that would bring the rest of them down on us, yet when our
squibs and crackers begin to fly among them, you may be sure they won't
face us for an instant."
Dias grumbled that his wife had better stay where she was till they
went back for the mules; but Harry said: "I do think, Dias, that she
had better go with us. It would be cruel to leave her now that we are
going into a fight--leave her all alone to tremble for our lives, with
a knowledge that if things should go wrong with us the savages will
soon be up here."
"Well, señor, if you think so, there is no more to be said."
"I am not going to be made a trouble of," Maria said. "I shall go down
on foot like the rest of you. I will take some other clothes with me,
so that when you all come back for the mules I can change into them."
"Perhaps that would be the best plan," Harry agreed. "Now I will go
back and take Bertie's place. It is my turn to be on watch, and he will
be wanting to hear the news."
"Well, Harry, is it all right?" Bertie asked as he heard his brother
coming up to him.
"It couldn't be better! There are sixty or seventy of them in a sort of
little ravine three hundred yards away, on the left-hand side of the
river. They don't seem to be keeping guard at all, and if they are not
more careful to-morrow night we shall take them completely by surprise.
We are going to saddle all the mules directly it gets too dark for any
of the fellows on the hills to see us, then we must set to work and
pull down enough of the barricade here to allow them to pass. We
ourselves, when we go down, will cross at that shallow place above
here, and go down the river at that side, otherwise we sha'n't be able
to cross it except at some distance beyond the other end of the
torrent. Of course the mules must go down this side, as we shall want
to turn to the right when we get off. We shall make our attack about
ten o'clock."
Bertie went off, and three hours later Dias relieved Harry. As soon as
it was light the next morning Bertie and José set to work to fill the
cases--there were a hundred squibs and fifty large crackers.
Donna Maria after breakfast went out and returned with a number of
flexible sticks of about half an inch in diameter; these she carried
into her tent, where she shut herself up for the forenoon. When, at one
o'clock, she came out with the result of her work, it resembled a chair
without legs and with a back about a foot wide and three feet high.
"What in the world have you got there, Donna Maria?" Bertie asked.
"Don't you know?"
"No, I have never seen a thing like it before."
"This is the thing the porters use for carrying weights, and sometimes
people, over the Cordilleras. You see that strap near the top goes
round the man's forehead, and when there is a weight in the chair these
other straps pass over his shoulders and under his arms, and then round
whatever is on the seat."
"But what is going to be on the seat?"
"I am," she laughed. "Dias is so overbearing. It had all been arranged
nicely, as you know; and then when he spoke to me afterwards he said,
'The first thing to-morrow morning, Maria, you will set to work to make
a porter's chair, and I shall carry you down the stream. No words about
it, but do as you are told.' Generally Dias lets me have my own way,
señor, but when he talks like that, I know that it is useless to argue
with him. And perhaps it is best after all, for, as he said to me
afterwards, it is a nasty place for men to get along, but for a woman,
with her petticoats dragging and trailing round her, it would be almost
impossible for her to keep her footing."
"Well, I thought the same thing myself when we were talking about it
yesterday," Bertie said. "Of course I did not say anything, but I am
sure Dias is right. I found it very hard work to keep my footing, and I
really don't believe that I could have done it if I had been dressed as
a woman. And Dias can carry you like that?"
"Carry me, señor! he could carry three times that weight. He has cut
himself a staff seven or eight feet long this morning to steady
himself, but I don't think there was any need for it. Why, it is a
common thing for people to be carried over the Cordilleras so, and Dias
is stronger a great deal than many of the men who do it. As he said, if
I had been going through on foot you would all have been bothering
about me. And it is not as if two people could go abreast, and one help
the other. There is often only room between the rocks for one to pass
through, and it is just there where the rush of the water is strongest."