The following morning Juan, or rather Hernan Daggerfeldt, was awoke by
the entrance of Senor Ribiera's black slave, with a basket of
provisions.
"Why does not your mistress come to me herself?" inquired Hernan, who
dreaded being abandoned by the only human being in whom he could trust.
"Donna Juanetta is with her father, and till he goes out she cannot come
to see you," answered the slave. "He is a stern man, and were he to
discover that you are here without his leave, and that his daughter
loved you, he would kill you without ceremony. Ah, senor! you do not
know what these Spanish gentlemen are capable of."
"Well, you must take care that he does not discover I am here till that
cursed ship in the harbour has sailed away; and now listen to me--what
is your name, though?"
"Mauro, at your service, senor," said the slave.
"There, Mauro--there is a piece of gold. You shall have a larger piece
by and by. It will go towards buying your freedom."
"My freedom!" muttered the African. "What does that mean?--Ah, yes, I
know. It would be of no value to me now. Had it come when I was yet
young, and could have returned to those I loved across the ocean, I
should have prized it. Now they are all dead, and those I love best are
in this house. My mistress told me to do your bidding. What is it you
require of me, senor?"
"First, I wish you to procure me a suit of Spanish clothes, fit for a
gentleman to appear in, and then you must take this uniform, coat, and
hat, and as soon as it is dark, carry them down to the seashore, and
place them as if the waves had thrown them there. They will certainly
be discovered, and it will appear that I have been drowned, and then no
further search will be made after me."
"A very good idea, senor," said Mauro, rubbing his hands with pleasure,
for he was delighted to be employed in a scheme by which those in
authority, whom he looked upon as oppressors, might be deceived. Such
is the feeling of slaves in general.
While her father took his siesta, Juanetta visited her prisoner, and
Hernan employed the time in endeavouring to convince her of his love for
her, and his innocence of the crime of which he was suspected. In both
he succeeded too well.
In the evening Mauro returned with the suit of clothes he had purchased;
and Hernan having exchanged them for his own, pierced the latter with
his sword, and deliberately drawing blood from his arm, soaked them in
it.
Mauro, who well understood what he was to do, wrapped them up in a
bundle, and as soon as it was dark carried them off.
We will pass over several days, during which Daggerfeldt remained
concealed without any one in the house suspecting that he was in the
garret.
At last one morning Mauro came in rubbing his hands with delight. "You
are free, senor, you are free!" he exclaimed; "the big ship with the
many guns is even now sailing out of the harbour, and all you have got
to do now is to come down to beg Senor Ribiera's pardon for living so
long in his house without his leave, and to marry his daughter."
"Curses go with her!" ejaculated Hernan, fiercely. "I will still wreak
my vengeance on some of those who sail on board her. But tell me,
Mauro, did your lady say I might venture into her father's presence?"
"Not exactly, senor, and perhaps it might be as well to prepare the old
gentleman for your appearance, as he yet believes, like the rest of the
world, that you are food for the sharks."
"Then, my good Mauro, go and urge her to come here to concert the best
way to release me. I pant once more to stretch my limbs on the open
shore, and to breathe the pure air of heaven."
Some time elapsed after the slave had gone to fulfil his mission before
Juanetta appeared. She then came with a sad countenance and tears in
her eyes.
"Oh, senor!" she said, "the ship has sailed, and I hoped that the news
would have made us both happy; but, alas! when I told my father what I
had done, and how I had preserved your life from those tyrants, he
stormed and raved, and declared that I had behaved very wickedly, and
that he would deliver you up to the authorities. Fortunately I did not
tell him that you were still here; but, as Mauro had cautioned me, I led
him to suppose that you had made your escape up the country."
"That was a happy idea of yours, my Juanetta," said Daggerfeldt. "Your
father must in some way be gained to our wishes. You are his only
child, and he is enormously rich, you say--plenty of gold stored up in
bars in his house. Stay, I must think over the subject. Sit down by
me, and I will unfold my plans."
He was silent for some time, and then he continued, while Juanetta, who
was incapable of fathoming the depths of his deceit, listened to him
without suspicion.
"Now, Juanetta, dear, you must not be startled by the plan I am going to
propose. From what you tell me, your father is prejudiced against me,
and will not willingly give his consent to our marriage, so we must
marry first, and ask his forgiveness afterwards. He will then, I have
no doubt, pardon us, and give us as much gold as we may require. Now,
as I have no money, and no priest will marry us without, we must
contrive to borrow some of his. We can return it afterwards, you know.
I propose, therefore, that you show me some night where he keeps his
gold, and then I will take a little of it, as much as we may require,
and then we will fly together to the nearest place where we can find a
priest to unite us. Shall we not do so, dearest? The plan may seem to
you dangerous and wrong, but let no fears alarm you. We will afterwards
explain our motives, and the old man will forgive you."
Poor Juanetta, had she known this world and the wickedness in it, would
have flown with horror from the betrayer; but she was ignorant of its
evil ways--she listened and hesitated. No arguments which sophistry
could invent were left untried. The deceiver was victorious.
That night the keys of the old man's money-chests were stolen from
beneath his pillow. The following morning he found them where he had
placed them, and, unsuspecting, did not think of counting his hoarded
gold.
His daughter dared not again speak to him of the stranger she had
preserved. He believed that he had long ago escaped into the interior,
and forbore to make further inquiries about him. Daggerfeldt was no
longer an inhabitant of his house.
A foreign merchant, of considerable wealth at command, had arrived, it
was said, from the interior, and had taken up his abode in the town. He
had become the purchaser of a large schooner, which was taking in a
cargo of goods for the African coast. Don Manuel Ribiera, on hearing
this, invited the stranger to his house, for he himself was a dealer in
slaves, and wished to make some arrangements respecting the return
cargo.
On the unexpected appearance of the stranger, Donna Juanetta started;
but her presence of mind quickly returned, for she felt the importance
of discretion. Her father observed her momentary confusion, and
apologised to his guest, attributing it to her being unaccustomed to
receive strangers.
Soon afterwards, some business called Senor Ribiera from the room, and
Juanetta was left alone with their guest.
"Oh, Juan, how could you venture here?" she exclaimed to the pretended
merchant, who was no other than Daggerfeldt. "My father will discover
you, and your ruin and mine must follow."
"No fear, dearest. He is blinded by the prospect of profit," answered
Hernan. "He has, too, scarcely seen me before, and then only in
uniform. It was also necessary to run some risks to gain our ends. I
have made all the necessary arrangements, and this night you are to be
mine. The cost, however, has been considerable, and we must borrow a
little more from your father's money-chests to pay the priest who is to
unite us."
Daggerfeldt had scarcely arranged his plans with his credulous dupe when
Senor Ribiera returned. As may be supposed, he was induced to arrange a
plan to dispose of his slaves on his return on terms highly advantageous
to the old slave-dealer; and after being entertained magnificently, he
was conducted to his sleeping apartment. Instead of retiring to rest,
Daggerfeldt employed himself in loading his pistols and listening
attentively for the arrival of some one apparently, but not a sound
disturbed the silence of the night. At last, losing patience, he opened
his door, and was met by Juanetta. The poor girl was pale and
trembling.
"Here are the keys," she said; "but, oh, senor, I do not like this
work--surely it is very wicked!"
"Pretty fool," he answered, abruptly, "it is too late to recede now.
There is nothing to alarm you. Wait in this room till I return."
Saying this, he was about to leave her, when footsteps were heard
approaching the house. He listened attentively.
"It is right," he observed; "those are some people I have engaged to
assist us in our flight."
Just then some men sprang into the room through the open window. Poor
Juanetta uttered a cry of terror, but it was instantly silenced by
Daggerfeldt, who ordered two of the men to take charge of her while the
rest followed him to the chamber of Don Ribiera. The unhappy girl
listened, horror-struck and bewildered. There was a cry and a groan,
and soon afterwards Daggerfeldt returned, accompanied by the men
carrying several heavy chests between them.
"Onward," said the traitor, "and you, my fair lady, must accompany us.
The ship is waiting to bear us to far-off lands, where you may become my
bride."
The next morning, the new slave schooner was seen in the offing, and
when people went to the house of Don Ribiera, he was found dead in his
bed, his money-chests were gone, and his daughter had fled, while his
slaves were only just awaking from a heavy sleep, for which none of them
could account. Mauro, too, had disappeared, and all the watch-dogs were
dead.