and we shall get into one of them wonderful valleys you read of in the
_'Rabian Nights_, where the precious stones lies about so thick, you can
scoop 'em up."
"Oh, nonsense!"
"Do you know what the next country is to this?"
"Well, I suppose, if you went far enough over the mountains, you'd come
to Brazil."
"Zackley, sir; and what comes from Brazil?"
"Nuts," said Perry, laughing. "Hard-shelled, oily nuts, that are
horribly nasty to eat."
"Yes, sir, and di'monds. So don't you say it ain't likely that we may
come to a valley of precious stones, because it strikes me that's what
it means."
Onward and upward, along paths partly natural, partly cut in the sides
of the gorge where the stream ran, and about mid-day Perry began to
realise how high the mountains were, for, upon reaching an opening where
he could look up and down, he saw that they had been climbing up and up
for about seven hours, and were able to look down at a wonderful
panorama of mountain-side and valley; but upon looking upward, the great
snowy peak appeared to be as far away as when they started.
Just then the guide spoke to the leading mule, his voice echoing back
from across the gorge, for they had reached a slope where the sun shone,
and there were patches of grass and green shrub which promised pasture
for the animals. They all stopped at once, waited patiently to be
relieved of their burdens; and then, when the packs were neatly arranged
in a circle, the patient beasts threw themselves down, had a good roll,
tossing their legs high in the air, so as to balance themselves for a
few moments upon their spines, and then rose again, to begin nibbling at
such herbage as they could find.
John Manning busied himself at once and started a fire, while, taking a
tin, the second Indian went down the steep slope to the bottom of the
gorge, and toiled up again with his load of clear icily-cold water, into
which, when it boiled, a small handful of tea was thrown, the tin
removed from the fire, and the provisions the colonel's servant had
taken from a basket were served out.
The Indians took what was given to them, and sat down by themselves,
while the others partook of their portions with great gusto.
Then, upon looking round, Perry found that the Indians were fast asleep,
and asked his father whether he ought not to go and wake them up.
"No, boy; they'll take their mid-day nap and wake up soon."
And so it proved, for at the end of a couple of hours, the two men
suddenly sprang up, caught the leading mule and led him back to the
path, the others following and standing patiently to be laden.
Then onward again till dark, when the guides halted at a spot like the
last, the fire was lit, the evening meal prepared, and, well tired out,
Perry lay down to pass the first night in the awful solitude to which
they had climbed, and gazed up at the brilliant stars seen between large
walls of rock. He wondered what Cyril was doing; felt that it would be
impossible to sleep cushioned on that hard rock, and fell asleep
directly, as a matter of course.
The night was cold up there beneath the glittering stars, but when Perry
woke up, warmly rolled in his blanket, there was a sight before him that
was as new to him as it was grand.
Right away, apparently at the head of a long narrow valley, and high up
toward the heavens, there was a huge peak that might have been the mass
of glittering rock from which broke away the diamonds, emeralds,
sapphires, rubies, opals, and amethysts, which went to form the valleys
of precious stones of which John Manning had spoken. For it was all
dark below, but up there one of the gigantic Andean peaks was bathed in
the full blaze of the rising sun.
The boy lay gazing up, enraptured, thinking of the delight of climbing
up into such a world of glory, and then rolling himself out of his
blanket, he leaped up, with the stiffness and uneasiness of the past
night quite gone, for the colonel's voice reached him:
"Now, my lad, jump up; breakfast."
At the same moment he heard the crackling sound of burning wood, and in
a nook of the great wall of rock, where otherwise it would have been
quite dark, the glow of a bright fire shone upon the intent, hard face
of John Manning, who was baking a bread cake upon a disc of iron, while
the two plump, effeminate-looking Indians watched him complacently.
Just below, the mules were cropping the green herbage, and from below
them came the rush, roar, and splash of falling water.
"That's right," cried the colonel, holding out his hand. "Slept well?
Find your bedroom draughty?"
"I don't know, father," said Perry. "I was looking at the stars one
minute, and the next I was staring at that glorious peak."
"Glorious indeed, my boy. Hah! There's nothing like a tramp in the
mountains, and a night's rest in the beautiful, crisp, fresh air. Come
along down to the dressing-room."
"Where?" said Perry, staring.
"Down yonder for a wash," said the colonel merrily; and, leading the
way, they descended the precipitous slope to where the stream ran
thundering by, reaching first a place where it was not above a couple of
yards across.
"Why, I thought it would be bigger than this," said Perry, "from the
noise it makes."
"Bigger than you think, my lad," said the colonel. "There is an
enormous amount of water going by here. I daresay that crack is a
hundred feet deep. Look at the speed at which it runs."
"Yes, it seems to run fast."
"Seems!" cried the colonel. "Here, give me your hand. Don't be afraid.
Stop a moment; roll up your sleeve above your elbow. That's it. Set
your feet fast, and trust to me."
The boy obeyed, and after making sure of his own footing, the colonel
let his son sink down sidewise till he was nearly horizontal, and could
plunge his arm right into the stream above the elbow.
It was a strange sensation for the boy to be sinking lower and lower,
gazing in the gloom at that rushing, glassy water, which, as it darted
along, carried with it another stream--one of air, which blew his hair
about and felt icily-cold, but nothing to compare with the water into
which he plunged his arm.
The shock was electric. It was as if he received a blow from a mass of
ice which numbed him, and gave his limb a sudden snatch and drag to draw
it from the socket.
Perry gave a gasp, and pulled his arm out of the torrent.
"Ugh!" he ejaculated. "It's freezing."
"Yes; would you like a plunge in?"
"What! there, father? It would sweep me away."
"Yes, if you were a thousand times as strong, my lad. The force is
tremendous. Come along here."
He led the way upwards to where there was a fall of some few feet, and
at the side a shallow pool of the water, wonderfully round, and forming
a basin, giving them ample room for their ablutions; after which, fresh
and glowing, they climbed up past the mules to where the breakfast was
waiting, the hot coffee, bread, and frizzled charqui, or dried beef,
being partaken of with an appetite Perry had never felt before.
Then the remains were packed up, the squealing mules loaded, and they
started once more; now rising a thousand feet, now descending, but
always following the stream deeper and deeper into the mountains, till
the grandeur and weird sternness of the gorge's defiles through which
they passed grew monotonous, so that at the end of two days Perry began
to long for some change and the open sunshine, away from the tremendous
precipices which closed them in, and, in spite of the elasticity of the
air, had sometimes a strangely depressing effect.
John Manning felt it, evidently, and sought every opportunity of keeping
Perry by his side, so as to have a good grumble about the colonel.
"I don't know what he could be thinking about, Master Perry, to come to
such a place as this. It's the world's end, I say. We shan't have a
bit o' shoe to our foot when we've gone a bit farther."
"Why don't you ride more, then?" said Perry. "You've got a mule on
purpose."
"What!" said John Manning, turning sharply round, "ride that mule? No,
thankye, sir. I've seen him kick. I'm not going to give him a chance
to send me over his head down into one of them cracks. I believe some
of them go right through the world. Look at this one now. I can't see
no bottom to it--can you?"
He pointed down into the deep chasm along one of whose sides the rough
path led.
"No, not from here," said Perry, glancing down, and wondering at the
absence of giddiness.
"Nor from anywhere else, sir," grumbled the man. "Why, if any one told
me that if you dropped down there, you'd come out somewhere by Simla, I
should believe him, for I know they go right through."
"Nonsense!" said Perry, laughing. "There, father's beckoning to me."
It was evening once more, and they were coming again to an opening among
the lower mountains, where they would halt for the night. In fact, half
an hour later the leading Indian checked his mule in a bowl-shaped
hollow, where there was a dense little wood of goodly-sized trees, and a
thread-like fall of water came curving down into a mossy basin, while
the whole place was brightened by the reflection from the mountains,
made dazzling now by the setting sun.
The preparations were made for the evening meal with quite military
precision; the arms were placed near the fire, and, as if in imitation,
the two Indians placed together their long stave-like blowpipes and bows
and arrows, before helping to unload the mules, and then sitting down
patiently to administer snuff to each other, and wait to be asked to
join the meal.
"It's very awkward, Perry, my lad," said the colonel suddenly. "We
ought to have had a guide who could understand us more easily."
"It _is_ awkward, father," said Perry.
"Come and help me now, and between us we may make the man comprehend."
Perry followed to where the Indians were squatting down in their loose
cotton smock-frock-like garments, and at a sign the leader rose.
"The other man--where is the other man?" said the colonel in Spanish;
but the Indian gazed at him vacantly, till in a fit of inspiration Perry
repeated his father's words as nearly as he could, and then began to
count, laughing as he said in Spanish, "One--two"--and gave an inquiring
tone to the word "three," as if asking for it.
The man smiled and pointed to the ground as he answered, and then closed
his eyes and let his head fall over upon one hand.
"What does he mean by that, father?" said Perry.
"I can't tell, my boy, unless he wants to show us that the other man is
coming while we sleep."
They tried again, but could get no farther. The Indian grew excited at
last and voluble, making gestures too, pointing forward and then at the
ground, ending by pointing at them in turn, throwing himself down and
pretending to sleep.
"I give it up," said the colonel, turning away towards the fire; "but we
must try to learn their language as fast as we can, or we shall never
get through our journey."
A good meal near the fire, whose glow was comfortable enough up at the
height they now were, and then father and son strolled a little way
about their camp, the wood proving very attractive; but the darkness
soon closed in, and they began to return toward the fire, which glowed
brightly and cast the shadows of the Indians against the rock-wall as
they sat prolonging their meal.
"What is John Manning doing eating with them?" said the colonel
suddenly. "I told him he was to keep those men in their places. They
are my paid servants while--"
"He's over yonder," said Perry, interrupting his father, "stacking guns
together, I think."
"Nonsense!" said the colonel; "there he is, sitting with the Indians,
eating."
"He can't be, father; I can see him over there."
"But look, boy, there are three shadows against the cliff."
"One--two--yes, there are three shadows," said Perry dubiously; "but it
is something to do with the fire."
"Absurd, my lad; there are three shadows cast by three men sitting
there."
"I know," cried Perry excitedly; "that is what the Indian meant--that
the third fellow would be here to-night to sleep, or while we slept."
"To be sure," cried the colonel, in a tone full of satisfaction. "I'm
glad of it, not but what we could have got on without him, for the mules
go well enough, but because it proves the guide to be trusty and a man
of his word."
CHAPTER FIVE.
PERRY IS STARTLED.
The guide came to the colonel smiling as soon as he saw him seated, and
pointed to; the other side of the fire, as he spoke words which
evidently announced the coming of the promised assistant.
The colonel replied in Spanish, and the Indian went back to his
companions. Soon after, the smell from John Manning's pipe rose on the
cool night-air, and Perry sat talking to his father in a questioning
mood.
"When are we going over the top of one of the snow-mountains, father?"
he said.
"I have no intention of going over the top of either of the mountains,"
replied the colonel. "We have nothing to gain but hard labour up there.
We want to get through the first ridge, and on to the rich tablelands,
or among the beautiful valleys."
Perry said "Oh!" in a tone of voice which suggested "Do we? I did not
know." Then aloud: "How high up are we now?"
"About eight thousand feet, I should say; perhaps a little more, for it
is rather cold. There, let's get to sleep; I want to start early and be
well on our way soon after sunrise."
The colonel had his desire, for, long before the lower part of the ridge
was quite light, the mules were all loaded, and the party made their
start, with Diego the Indian leading, the new arrival second, and the
other man right in the rear as before.
Perry had one glance at the new-comer, and made out that he was a more
stunted fellow than the others. In other respects he seemed to be
similar in aspect, but wore a good deal of radiating paint upon his
cheeks, from which it was drawn along in lines right up to his brows,
and downward toward the jaws. He wore the same loose, many-folded gown,
reaching just to his knees, and carried a bow, arrows, and a long
blowpipe, but he was wanting in his friends' plumpness and breadth of
shoulder.
"Looking at the new mule-driver, Perry?" said the colonel. "Yes? Seems
to be quite a stripling. But so long as he does his work well enough,
it does not matter."
He did do his work and well, as it proved, trudging along by the mules,
helping to unload and load again, managing those under his charge
admirably, and proving to be most industrious in fetching water. But he
was timid and distant to a degree, shrinking away when either of the
English party approached him, and on one occasion showing so evident an
intention to hurry away into the mountains, that the colonel checked his
son when next he saw him making for the Indian lad.
"Let him be," said the colonel; "he's wild as a hawk, and he doesn't
look particularly clean."
"No," said Perry, laughing, "he is a grub. Those fellows don't wash, I
suppose, for fear of spoiling their paint."
They ceased then to take much notice of their fresh follower all through
that day and the next; and the Indian trudged on beside the luggage
mules, with his shoulders up and his head bent, as if he were carefully
watching where he should next place his feet, speaking to nobody but
Diego, when the guide left the leading mule for a few minutes to stop
and look right along the line, inspecting the loads as the mules passed
him, smiling at the colonel and Perry, and exchanging rather a fierce
look with John Manning; for, somehow, these two did not seem to be the
best of friends. Then he would let his companion who guarded the rear
come right up, walk beside him, talking for a few minutes, and then
start forward again at a trot, passing them once more till he had
reached the leading mule.
There was little change that day, always a constant succession of
precipitous walls to right and left, their way being along a narrow
shelf, with the stream they followed thundering beneath them, sometimes
a hundred feet beneath, at others perhaps a thousand, and quite
invisible, but making itself evident by the echoing roar of the rushing
waters.
They passed nobody, neither did they see a single animal to tempt them
to use rifle or gun that hung by its sling across their backs, till late
in the afternoon, when, just as they turned the corner of a great
buttress of rock, a huge bird suddenly swept by, gazing wonderingly at
them. By one consent, father and son paused to watch the ease with
which the great-winged creature glided along the gorge, half-way between
the top and the stream below, turned suddenly and came back, as if to
renew their acquaintance, and then curved round again, sweeping along
for a short distance, and again wheeling round, not in a series of
circles, but ellipses, each turn sending it almost without effort higher
and higher, till it had reached a sufficient elevation, when it passed
out of sight over the wall on their left.
"Eagle?" said Perry.
"Vulture," replied the colonel. "There you have seen one of the biggest
birds that fly. Didn't you notice its naked head?"
"Yes; and it had quite a comb over the top, and a ruff round its neck.
I thought it was an eagle from its great hooked beak."
"The featherless head is a general mark of the vultures," said the
colonel. "I wish I had had a shot at it; but I don't know: I don't want
to be burdened with bird-skins, especially of such a size as that."
"What a monster to skin!" said Perry thoughtfully. "Why, its wings must
have been six or seven feet from point to point."
"Double the length--say fourteen or fifteen, my boy," replied the
colonel. "It must have been that. Old travellers used to make them out
to be twenty-five or thirty feet from wing-tip to wing-tip; but they do
reach the size I say. Hallo! what are we stopping for?"
"Why, there's a bridge," cried Perry; "and the path goes along on the
other side of the gorge."
"And what a bridge," muttered the colonel.
He might well exclaim, for it was formed in the narrowest part of the
gloomy gorge, and though not more than five-and-thirty feet in length,
it looked perilous in the extreme, being formed merely of a couple of
thick ropes of twisted fibre, secured at either side round masses of
rock, and with a roadway made by rough pieces of wood laid across and
firmly bound to the ropes.
"A suspension bridge with a vengeance," continued the colonel. "We
shall never get the mules to cross that."
And he had perfect warrant for his words. For some forty yards below,
the water foamed along in a perfect torrent, falling heavily from a
shelf above, and sending up quite a thick mist, which magnified the
surrounding objects and added to the gloom of the place.
Perry felt appalled, but the halt was of short duration, for after
turning to them and shouting something which was almost inaudible in the
roar of the torrent, the Indian stepped on to the bridge, and walked
coolly across, half hidden by the mist; while the mule which played the
part of leader bent its head, sniffed at the stout boards which formed
the flooring, stepped on and walked carefully across, with the bridge
swaying heavily beneath its weight.
"Not so bad as it looked, my lad," said the colonel, as the next mule
followed without hesitation. Then, after a pause, their new Indian
crossed, followed with the mule by which he had walked, and then the
rest, including those from which the travellers had dismounted, for no
one thought of venturing to ride across the chasm.
"Our turns now, Perry," said the colonel. "How do you feel?"
"Don't like it," said Perry huskily.
"Summon up your nerve, my lad; forget that there is any torrent beneath
you, and walk boldly across. Here, I'll go first."
"No, no, please don't," cried Perry, setting his teeth. "I'll go."
"Go on, then," said the colonel.
The boy descended from the few yards of loose stony way to where the wet
rough-hewn boards began, drew a deep breath, and stepped on to the
bridge, conscious that the guide was looking back, and that the new
Indian was at the other end, watching him earnestly, with his lips
slightly parted and his teeth bared.
To Perry it was a sign that their attendant felt the danger of the
place, and was watching to see him fall. And if he did, he felt nothing
could save him, for he would be swept away in an instant down that
narrow chasm full of rushing water, where it was impossible for any one
to climb down and stretch out a helping hand.
One step, two steps, three steps, all descending, for the middle of the
bridge hung far lower than the ends, and Perry could feel it vibrato
beneath him, and his nervous dread increased. And yet it was so short a
distance to where the Indians were waiting, as he stepped cautiously on
till he was well past the middle, when all at once the sky above him
seemed to be darkened over his head, there was a peculiar, whistling,
rushing sound, and looking up sharply, Perry saw that the huge bird
which had passed out of sight had wheeled round and was flying so close
above him, that it seemed as if its object were to strike at him with
its powerful talons.
As a matter of fact, the bird swept by five-and-twenty feet above his
head, but it was near enough to destroy the lad's balance as he started
and bent down to avoid the fancied blow. The colonel uttered a loud cry
of warning, and Perry made an effort to recover himself, but this
stagger caused the bridge to sway, and in another moment or two he would
have been over into the torrent had not the bridge vibrated more heavily
as a guttural voice whispered to him:
"Quick! _mano_--hand!"
It was accompanied by a sharp drag as his own was seized, and,
recovering his balance, he half ran--was half pulled--up the slope into
safety on the other side.
Perry felt giddy and dazed as the Indian loosed his hold and hurried
away among the mules, while before he had half recovered himself, his
father had crossed and was at his side.
"Perry, my lad, you sent my heart into my mouth."
"Yes," faltered the boy. "It was very horrid. That bird."
"It was startling, my lad, but you ought to be able to walk boldly
across a place like that."
"Ahoy! colonel!" came from the other side, as John Manning hailed them.
"What is it?" shouted back the colonel.
"Hadn't I better go back, sir?"
"Back? No. Come over!"
John Manning took off his hat and scratched his head, looking down at
the hanging bridge and then up at his master.
Just then there was a shout from Diego and some words in the Indian
tongue, which resulted in the other Indian offering his hand to the
colonel's servant, who resented it directly.
"No," he growled; "I'll do it alone. One must be safer by one's self;"
and stretching out his arms like a tight-rope dancer, he came down
cautiously, stepped on to the bridge and slowly walked across, the
Indian following at a trot, as if astonished at any body finding so good
a pathway difficult.
"I hope there ain't many more o' them spring playthings, sir," said John
Manning gruffly. "I thought Master Perry was gone."
"Nonsense!" said the colonel shortly. "That great bird startled him.
Forward again; the men are going on.--Perry, my boy, you must give that
Indian lad a knife, or something as a present: he saved your life."
"Yes, father," said the boy, looking dazed and strange. "I--I'm better
now."
"Yes, of course you are. Pish! we mustn't dwell upon every slip we
have. There, think no more about it," he continued, as he noticed the
boy's blank, pale face. "Go on, and mount your mule."
"I think I would rather walk," said Perry.
"Walk, then," said the colonel shortly, and he went on and mounted his
mule.
"Quick! _mano_--hand!" buzzed in Perry's ear, and at the same time he
seemed to hear the booming roar of the torrent beneath his feet, and the
rush of the huge bird's wings just above his head--"Quick! _mano_--
hand!"
"I say, Master Perry, sir, don't look that how," said John Manning in a
low voice; "you're as white as taller candle. You're all right now."
"Yes," said Perry, trying hard to recover his natural balance. "I'm all
right now."
"You've made the colonel look as black as thunder, and it wasn't our
fault. They've no business to have such bridges in a Christian country.
But it was enough to scare any one, my lad. I thought that there bird
meant to have you."
"That was fancy," said Perry hastily. "I ought to have known better."
"No, it wasn't fancy, my lad. I think he'd have had you, only seeing us
all about made him give you up. But it's all right."
"All right?"
"Yes, sir, we're on the c'rect track."