CHAPTER XII.
A LONELY RIDE.
Ronie and Jack were crossing the vast plain which extends westward andsouthward along the shore of Lake Maracaibo, upon the border of whichstands that beautiful city by the same name, and which is the capitalof the State of Zulia. The climate of this region is warm, but cooledby the lake breezes, as well as by the breath of old ocean, it becomesvery enjoyable. Thus they rode on under conditions that must have beenpleasant had it not been for the shadows of war which overhung everystep of their journey.
The road, if the trampled path at places overgrown with rankvegetation, and at others smooth and bare as an open floor, deservedthe dignity of the name, soon after leaving the sand belt of the coast,wound across broad fields of sugar cane, indigo and tobacco, or throughgreat plantations given over to the cultivation of cacao trees, whichyield those luscious beans that have been described as affording foodfor gods. These trees to flourish well have to be protected by sometaller species of tree, and for this purpose the tall, over-arching_Erithynas_ is raised, giving the scene the appearance at a distance ofbeing a huge forest, rather than a cultivated field.
Frequently the progress of our heroes was checked, if not quitestopped, by growths of weeds which had sprung up on desertedplantations. In Venezuela land is so cheap that it is moreadvantageous to abandon a tract of land when it becomes worn out bycultivation, and clear a new territory, than it is to reclaim the old.The latter thus soon becomes a forest of weeds, which, insignificant atfirst, soon develop into trees with branches, so that by the secondseason these overtop the head of a man on horseback. These hugetree-weeds afford support for dense masses of creepers, among whichRonie noticed the convolvulus, begonias and passion flowers. These atplaces hung their flowering heads so as to form graceful festoons, oranon lifted them proudly to the breeze, forming picturesque bowers andfloral archways.
If displaying beauty and magnificence in their bountiful offerings,these jungles were anything but pleasant paths to follow, and itrequired skillful management on the part of the rider to save himselffrom being pulled from his seat, or escape that fate he might expect atthe hands of the hangman. The native riders show wonderful ability torun these gantlets, which the newcomer must naturally lack. Nowhanging by one leg down the side of his horse, or stretching himselfalong its back, he would escape the blows a novice would be sure toreceive while continuing his flight with speed scarcely abated.
By and by, however, Ronie and Jack came out into a more thicklypopulated country. The sun was beginning to crimson the easternhorizon with its early beams, and the two drew rein for a shortconsultation.
"I am afraid we have kept too far to our right," said Jack. "Manuelspoke of leaving the mountains over our shoulder, and we seem to beapproaching them."
"If the country is becoming more broken, it has the appearance of beingmore thickly populated. Do you think, Jack, we need to stand in muchfear of the insurgents in this vicinity?"
"Manuel spoke of a victory for his side recently at Barquisimete, andif I am not mistaken, we shall pass near that city--certainly nearenough to be within range of the revolutionists. In fact, I feelpretty sure that the revolution is mainly centered in this part of therepublic."
"I almost wish we had taken the route to Valencia."
"No doubt, whichever we had taken we should wish we had taken the otherbefore we reached our destination. But that is not the right way tolook at it. We must put on a bold front and push ahead."
"In order to do that we must see that our horses have sufficient foodto enable them to keep moving, even if we go hungry ourselves."
"Right, my lad, and if there is an inn in yonder village I suggest westop there long enough to allow them rest and feed."
"I agree to that. Shall you claim to be a revolutionist or a followerof Castro?"
"At present that must depend on circumstances. Ha! as I thought, weare approaching a coffee planter's little republic, with the liberty ofhis followers left out. Look beyond that ridge, and in the valleyformed by the twin ranges of foothills you will see a typical peasantsettlement, which certainly denotes that not far ahead we shall comeupon some wealthy planter. These peons of Venezuela are to all intentsand conditions slaves, resulting from the debts, it may be, contractedby their remote ancestors, as generation after generation have beendoomed to work to satisfy the laws and customs of a country which neveroutlaws its debts, when those debts have been contracted by a weakerparty. The consequence is that the poor of these South American Statesare destined to remain poor until some radical change has been made inthis direction. It is true, Venezuela is not as bad off in thisrespect as some of the other republics, but it is bad enough here. Ay,in South America the word 'republic' loses the significance of libertythat it bears in other lands. It is natural a people condemned tolifelong poverty, for no fault of their own in most cases, should beever ready to listen to the call to arms as a summons to a holiday. Soyou see it is easy to raise an army of this sort, and it is smallwonder Venezuela has been bothered with so many outbreaks against itspeace and progress. But here we are close upon the spacious abode ofthe coffee planter, who is the principal man of this vicinity, unlessthere happens to be another of his class."
After having seen the pyramidal structures of the peasants or peons,with roofs slanting to within a few feet of the ground, and thatchedwith palm leaves, the collection looking like a colony of beehives,Ronie was somewhat surprised to find now a dwelling that closelyresembled the houses of his native land. It was, in fact, a fineresidence, standing back several rods from the road, and reached by abroad avenue running under rows of stately trees resembling theAmerican elms. He was to learn that these were known here as the_Alcornoque_, lifting as graceful heads, and as tall, tapering trunksas their northern cousins. Everything about this home of the coffeeplanter denoted wealth and comfort, in marked contrast to the humblehuts scarcely beyond the vision, and of a style of architecturepeculiar to the country.
"Whoever lives here must be a man of importance," remarked Ronie.
"True, lad, and being such a rich man, we are running little risk inassuming him to be a follower of Castro at this time. The cultivationof coffee is, in fact, a more certain way of earning a competence, andit may be, something above a living, than any other calling inVenezuela. For this reason nearly all others have been neglected.Sugar cane can be raised profitably, but that requires more capital tostart with, and more manual labor to carry it on. To cultivate sugarsuccessfully one must fertilize it, so to speak, with gold. But anyman, if he is poor, can have a coffee estate if he has courage to workand wait for a short season. The day his bushes yield their first redberries he finds something coming into his pockets. The berries areworth as high as thirty dollars a hundred pounds, and cost less thanone-third to raise. So you see a poor man, who may have hired the useof a piece of land, which he pays for on long instalments, may plant acoffee farm with the aid of his family, living on products that matureearlier on the same land, until at the end of three years he gathershis first crop of berries, followed by a full crop the next year. Weshall doubtless meet with more of these small coffee plantations afterthis. If I mistake not, here comes the planter himself. Let us riskit in claiming to be friendly to the government."
Their approach had evidently attracted the owner of the estate, forRonie had already seen a small, wiry-framed man, of a very darkcomplexion and dashing dress, coming, toward them. He now stopped toallow them to come forward, saying in a tone of apparent friendliness:
"Good-morning, senors," somewhat to their surprise speaking in theirlanguage.
"Good-morning," replied both in unison.
"You must have taken an early start, senors."
"It is because our journey is a long one, senor," replied Jack, whoacted as spokesman. "Our horses are tired, and we would bespeak forthem food and rest at your hospitality."
"Dismount, gentlemen. My men will look after them, while I entertainyou."
While Jack and Ronie did as they were told, a couple of peons appearedon the scene, to lead the tired animals away, as the hospitable planterrequested his visitors to follow him to his favorite morning retreatunder one of the beautiful shade trees standing in his yard withinsight of his house. If he had shown a friendly spirit in his tone sofar, his next words, as the three sank upon the rustic benchesencircling the tree, showed that he was not free from concern in regardto the character of his early callers:
"You say your journey is a long one, sirs; no man travels a longjourney without an urgent purpose. Especially is this true on anoccasion like this."
Jack, who could see no good likely to result from appearing mysterious,replied frankly and promptly:
"We are bound for Caracas, though it may not be well for every idle earto catch the word."
"Right, sir. Who would you see in Caracas?"
"President Castro."
"Then your journey will be in vain, for the President is unavoidablykept away from the capital. You might have traveled much quicker byrail."
"Possibly. But as you say the President is not in Caracas, that wouldnot have helped us. Can you tell if Minister Bowen is at the capital?"
"If he is, he would hardly be accessible at this time. Come,strangers, throw off your cloak of reticence and let us be frank witheach other. My name is Jose Pelado, and having lived several years inyour country, I am free to confess I have imbibed some of your Yankeespirit."
Our Americans immediately gave their names, adding that it was toobtain assistance in securing the freedom of a companion that they wereon their way to the capital.
"I expected something of this kind. It is fortunate that you have comethus far without molestation, and I will assure you you cannot go asfar on your next stage without falling into the hands of the guerillahordes that infest the jungles. But, pardon me for keeping you fromthe rest and food that you must need. Partake of such refreshments asI can offer you, then we will discuss the situation."
Ronie and Jack were not loathe to do this, though while they ate, theirhost related to them much they had not known of the situation in thecountry. He showed that he was not only an educated man, but that hewas well posted upon affairs, while he was very pronounced in hisadmiration for Castro.
"Venezuela has had revolutions and shades of revolutions, but not onemore unwarranted than this. Castro is a patriot, and the uprising thathe led a few years since, and which placed him at the head of thegovernment, is no more to be compared to this than the snarling of acowardly cur seeking to rob a bigger dog of his breakfast because he istoo lazy to hunt for his own, is to the good, honest bark of a mastiffthat seeks to defend his master's property. Andrade's administration,following Crespo's, was grossly dishonest, and would have drained therepublic of its healthy interest, had it not been for the mountainpatriot, Castro, who fought his way straight from the Venezuelanfrontier, a good thousand miles, to Caracas, the capital. In atwinkling Andrade went out and Castro went in. He lost no time insetting about to clear up the clouded system of government. Itrequired a masterly hand to guide the current of affairs. He soonfound it difficult to know whom to trust.
"Among those who had rebelled with apparent honesty against Crespo andthen his successor, Andrade, was the hunchback warrior, ManuelHernandez, called by friends and foes alike as 'El Mocho.' His forceswere scattered about in this region, he having rallied them byinflammable speeches against Andrade, whom he declared had beenselected by fraud. Finally two thousand men, under the command of arelative of Crespo, met his band of scarcely five hundred nearValencia. In this unequal fight Crespo was killed and his men utterlyrouted by the hunchback, who instantly sprang into wild favor. Hislittle army was swiftly increased by recruits. The people in generalrejoiced at the fate of Crespo, who had made himself obnoxious to many.But the military prestige of Hernandez suffered an early frost.Andrade sent his minister of war to treat with him, and in the nextbattle he was defeated, his troops utterly routed, and he himself putinto prison.
"Then Castro's triumph completely changed this. Andrade fled, and manyof the followers of El Mocho joined the new ruler, who soon freedHernandez, and offered him a place in his cabinet. Hernandez accepted,though it proved that he had not stifled his ambition to becomepresident. He improved his new opportunity to inflate some of Castro'sfollowers with his wild dreams. He believed he had had the experiencenow to enable him to overthrow the ruling power, so he stole out of thecapital between two days, leading a small army at his heels.
"El Mocho made a desperate fight for his cause, but he misjudged theability of his rival. Castro did not worry over his escapades, butwhen the favorable opportunity came he caught the hunchback rebel andreturned him to the prison where he is likely to remain for a goodlytime. Castro is the last man to be baffled where so much is at stake.What can be on foot now?"