CHAPTER VI.
At midday, the squadron, after having accomplished more than half thejourney, halted for rest and refreshment on the banks of a little river,under the shade of pleasant trees. The Tlameme threw down their bundles,and, apart from the rest, betook themselves to their frugal meal. Aplaintain, a cake of maize, or a morsel of some of the nameless butdelicious fruits of the clime, perhaps growing at their side, preparedthem for the enjoyment of slumber; while the Spaniards, grouped amongthe trees, added to this simple repast the more substantial luxury ofthe _tasajo_, or jerked beef of the islands.
As for the cavalier De Leste, not having bethought him to give ordersfor the preparation of such needful munitions, he was glad to accept theinvitation of the captain Salvatierra to share his meal; and this he didthe more readily, that, having entered into farther conversation withthe leader, after the affair of the lance, it was the good fortune ofthis gentleman to stumble upon no more offensive topics. In addition tothis, he observed with great satisfaction, that Salvatierra, preservingamong his subalterns the stateliness which he had vailed to theneophyte, did not mean to trouble him with their society; and it wasonly at his express desire that the secretary Fabueno was admitted topartake of their repast. The excellent taste of the worthy commander, orperhaps the wisdom of his attendants, several of whom, both Christianand pagan, being in constant waiting, gave him an appearance of greatrank and importance, had provided a stock of food, which, in variety andquantity, might have satisfied the hunger of half the squadron. Here,besides the heavenly anana, the grateful manioc, and other fruits androots with which the cavalier had become acquainted in the islands, hewas introduced to the royal chirimoya, the zapote, and other fruits asnew as they were delicious. But, above all these delights with whichProvidence has so bountifully enriched the lands of Mexico, did DonAmador admire the appearance of certain fowls, which, though neitherreeking nor smoking with their savoury juices, but drawn cold from theircovering of green leaves, were of so agreeable a character as to fillhis mind with transport.
"Either this land is the very paradise of earth," said he, "or, senorSalvatierra, you have the most goodly purveyors among your household,that ever loaded the table of man. I will be much beholden to yourfavour to know the name of this fowl I am eating, which, from its bulk,one might esteem a goose, but which, I am sure, is no such contemptiblecreature."
"That," said the leader, "is a sort of great pheasant, the name of whichI have not yet schooled my organs to pronounce, but which, being takenamong the hills and trained in the cottages of the Indians, becomes asfamiliar and loving as a dog; and is therefore always ready when itsmaster is hungry."
"By my life, then!" said Amador, "I am loath to eat it; for it seems tome, the creature that loves us is more worthy to be consecrated in theheart, than immolated to the cravings of the stomach. I will thereforedesire to know something of that other featherless monster at yourelbow, previous to determining upon its fitness for mastification."
"Your favour need entertain no scruples about this bird," said thecaptain; "for although domesticated, and kept by the Indians about theirhouses in great flocks, it hath too much affection for itself to troubleitself much about its masters. It is a kind of peacock, and withoutpossessing any of the resplendent beauty of that animal, it is endowedwith all its vanity and pride; so that, when strutting about with itsshaven head and long-gobbeted beard, its feathers ruffled in a majesticself-conceit, our soldiers have sometimes, for want of a better name,called it _el Turco_."
"A better name could not have been invented," said the neophyte; "for ifit be true, as is sometimes asserted by those who know better thanmyself, that heretics and infidels are the food of the devil, I know nomorsel should be more agreeable to his appetite than one of those samepagans that give name to this foolish and savoury creature."
The thoughts of Amador, as he sat testing the merits of the noble fowl,which is one among the many blessings America, in after days, scatteredover the whole world, wandered from Mexico to Rhodes, from the peacefulenjoyment of his dinner to the uproar and horror of a siege, from a deadfowl to the turbaned Turk; and then, by a similar vagary, jumped atonce from the magnificent infidel to the poor Morisco who had latelytrod the desert at his side. As the image of Abdoul al Sidi entered hisbrain, he looked round and beheld the proselyte sitting with his boy inthe shadow of a palm, remote from the rest; and a pang smote him, as heperceived, that, among the scores who sat glutting their appetitesaround, not one had dropped a morsel of food into the hands of theAlmogavar or his child.
"Hark'ee, Lazaro, thou gluttonous villain!" he cried, with a voice thatinstantly brought the follower, staring, to his side; "dost thou feedlike a pelican, and yet refuse to share thy meal, as a pelican would,with a helpless fellow of thy race? Take me this lump of a Turk to SidiAbdalla, and bid him feed his boy."
"I will suggest to your favour," said the captain Salvatierra, with agrin, "that Lazaro be directed to bring the urchin hither, with hislute, of which it is said he is no mean master; and before he eats heshall sing us a song, which, thus, he will doubtless execute with moreperfection than after he has gorged himself into stupidity or theasthma."
"I agree to that, with all my heart," said the neophyte. "The boy cansing while we are eating, provided the poor fellow be not too hungry."
Lazaro strode to the Moriscos; and in an instant, as they rose, Amadorbeheld the Sidi take the instrument from his own back where he hadcarried it, and put it into the hands of his offspring. The boy receivedit, and, as Amador thought, removed the gay covering, with a falteringhand. Nevertheless, in a few moments, this preparation was accomplished,and, with Abdalla, the stripling stood trembling from weariness ortimidity at the side of the group.
"Moor," said Salvatierra, before Amador had commenced his benevolentgreeting, "the noble and valiant cavalier hath charitably commanded thoushouldst eat thy dinner at our feet; which whilst thou art doing, wewill expect thy lad to entertain us with such sample of his skill inluting and singing as may make our own repast more agreeable."
"That is, if the boy be not too hungry," said the good-natured neophyte."I should blush to owe my pleasures to any torments of his own, howeverslight; and (as I know by some little famine wherewith we were afflictedat Rhodes,) there is no more intolerable anguish with which one can becursed, than this same unhumoured appetite."
"Jacinto will sing to my lord," said the Almogavar submissively.
But Jacinto was seized with such a fit of trembling, as seemed for atime to leave him incapable; and when, at last, he had sufficientlysubdued his terror, to begin tuning his instrument, he did it with soslow and so hesitating a hand, that Salvatierra lost patience, andreproved him harshly and violently.
It happened, unluckily for the young Moor, that, at that moment, the eyeof Amador wandered to Fogoso, and beheld him wallowing, with more of thespirit of a yeoman's hog than a warrior's charger, in a certain miryspot near to which he had been suffered to crop the green leaves. Hecalled hastily and wrathfully to Lazaro, and, in his indignation,entirely lost sight of his dinner, his host, and the musician.
"Whelp of a heathen!" said Salvatierra to the shrinking lad: "hast thouno more skill or manners, but to make this accursed jangling, to whichthere seems no end? Bestir thyself, or I will teach thee activity."
The boy, frightened at the violence of the soldier, rose to his feet,and dropping his instrument in alarm clung to Abdalla. The wrath of thehot-tempered Salvatierra exceeded the bounds of decorum and of humanity.He had a twig in his hand, and with this he raised his arm to strike theunfortunate urchin. But just then the neophyte turned round, and beheldthe act of tyranny.
"Senor!" he cried, with a voice even more harsh and angry than his own,and seizing the uplifted hand with no ceremonious grasp,--"Senor! youwill not so far forget your manhood as to do violence to the child? Knowthat I have taken him, for this journey, into my protection; know also,thou canst not inflict a stripe upon his feeble body, that will notdegrade thee into t
he baseness of a hind, and that will not especiallydraw upon thee the inconvenience of mine own displeasure!"
The heart of Salvatierra sunk before the flaming countenance of thecavalier: but observing that several of his nearest followers had takennote of the insult, and were grasping their arms, as if to avenge it, hesaid with an air of firmness,
"The senor De Leste has twice or thrice taken occasion to requite mycourtesies with such shame as is hard to be borne, and in particular byinterfering with the just exercise of my authority; and I have to assurehim, that when the duties of my office shall release me from restraint,his injuries shall not be unremembered."
"If thou art a hidalgo," said the cavalier sternly, "thou hast the rightto command me; if of ignoble blood, as from thy deportment to thistrembling child, I am constrained to believe, I have, nevertheless,eaten of thy bread and salt, and cannot refuse to meet thee with suchweapons and in such way as thou mayest desire; and to this obligation doI hold myself bound and fettered."
Some half-dozen followers of the captain had crowded round their leader,and were lowering ominously and menacingly on the neophyte. Lazaro andBaltasar beheld the jeopardy of their master, and silently butresolutely placed themselves at his side; nay, even the youthfulFabueno, though seemingly bewildered, as if doubting on which side toarray himself, had snatched up his bloodless sabre; and it seemed for aninstant as if this unlucky rupture might end in blows. The senorSalvatierra looked from his followers to the angry hidalgo; the flushfaded from his cheek; and it was remarked by some of his soldiers, not alittle to his dispraise, that when, as if conquering his passion, hemotioned them to retire, it was with a hurried hand and tremulous lip.
"The senor de Leste is right," he said, with a disturbed voice; "Ishould have done myself dishonour to harm the boy; and although thereproof was none of the most gentle and honeyed, I can still thank himthat it preserved me from the shame of giving too much rein to myill-temper. I therefore forget the injury, as one that was merited,discharge my anger as causeless, and desiring rather to devote my bloodto the subjugation of pagans, than to squander it in contest with afellow-Christian, offer the hand of reconciliation and of friendship toDon Amador de Leste."
There was an appearance of magnanimity in this confession of fault andoffer of composition, that won upon the good opinion of the neophyte;and he frankly gave his hand to the captain. Then turning to theinnocent cause of his trouble, who, during the time that there seemeddanger of a conflict, had exhibited the greatest dismay, he found himsobbing bitterly in the arms of Abdalla.
"Poor child!" said the benevolent cavalier, "thou art fitter to touchthy lute in the bower of a lady, than to wake it among these wild andtroubled deserts. It is enough, Abdalla: conduct thy son to some shade,where he may eat and sleep; and when we renew our march, I will think ofsome device to spare his tender feet the pain of trudging longer overthe sands."
The Moor laid his hand on his heart, bowed with the deepest submissionand gratitude, and led the boy away to a covert.