CHAPTER NINE.
TELLS OF A TREMENDOUS CATASTROPHE.
San Ambrosio was, at the period of which we write, a small and thrivingplace--though what may be styled a mushroom town, which owed itsprosperity to recently discovered silver-mines. All things considered,it was a town of unusual magnificence on a small scale.
Being built with straight streets, cutting each other at right angles,Lawrence and his man had no difficulty in finding the principal square,or market-place, which was crowded with people selling and buyingvegetables, milk, eggs, fruit, etcetera, brought in from the surroundingdistricts. The people presented all the picturesque characteristics ofthe land in profusion--peons, with huge Spanish spurs, mounted on gailycaparisoned mules; Gauchos, on active horses of the Pampas;market-women, in varied costumes more or less becoming, and dark-eyedsenhoras on balconies and verandas sporting the graceful mantilla andthe indispensable fan.
The carts and donkeys, and dogs and fowls, and boys had the curiouseffect of reducing the babel of voices and discordant sounds tosomething like a grand harmony.
Besides these, there was a sprinkling of men of free-and-easy swagger,in long boots, with more or less of villainy in their faces--adventurersthese, attracted by the hope of "something turning up" to theiradvantage, though afflicted, most of them, with an intense objection totake the trouble of turning up anything for themselves. Dangerousfellows, too, who would not scruple to appropriate the turnings up ofother people when safe opportunity offered.
A clear fountain played in the centre of the square--its cool,refreshing splash sounding very sweet in the ears of Lawrence, whoserecent sojourn in the cold regions of the higher Andes had rendered himsensitive to the oppressive heat of the town. Besides this, a clearrivulet ran along one side of the square, near to which was thegovernor's house. A line of trees threw a grateful shade over thefootpath here. On the opposite side stood the barracks, where a fewill-clad unsoldierly men lounged about with muskets in their hands. Allthe houses and church walls and spires, not only in the square, but inthe town, bore evidence, in the form of cracked walls and twistedwindows and doorways, of the prevalence of earthquakes; and there was ageneral appearance of dilapidation and dirt around, which was anythingbut agreeable to men who had just come from the free, grand,sweet-scented scenery of the mountains.
"They seem to have had some severe shakings here," said Lawrence,pointing with his stick to a crack in the side of one of the houseswhich extended from the roof to the ground.
We may remark here that, on entering the town, our travellers had laidaside their arms as being useless encumbrances, though Lawrence stillcarried his oaken cudgel, not as a weapon but a walking-stick.
"Yes, massa," replied Quashy, "got lots ob eart' quaks in dem diggins.Ebery day, more or less, dey hab a few. Jest afore you come down dismornin' I hab some conv'sashin' wid de landlord, an' he say he don' likede look ob t'ings."
"Indeed, Quashy. Why not?"
"'Cause it's gittin' too hot, he say, for de time ob year--sulfry, hecalled it."
"Sultry, you mean?"
"Well, I's not 'zactly sure what I means, but _he_ said sulfry. An'dey've bin shook more dan ornar ob late. An' dere's a scienskrificgen'leman in our inn what's bin a-profisyin' as there'll be a grandbust-up afore long."
"I hope he'll turn out to be a false prophet," said Lawrence. "What ishis name?"
"Dun' know, massa. Look dar!" exclaimed Quashy, with a grin, pointingto a fat priest with a broad-brimmed white hat on a sleek mule, "he dolook comf'rable."
"More comfortable than the poor beast behind him," returned Lawrence,with a laugh, as he observed three little children cantering along onone horse.
There was no lack of entertainment and variety in that town, for peoplegenerally seemed to a great extent to have cast off the trammels ofsocial etiquette, both in habits and costume. Many of the horses thatpassed were made to carry double. Here would ride past a man with awoman behind him; there a couple of girls, or two elderly females.Elsewhere appeared a priest of tremendous length and thinness, with feetmuch too near the ground, and further on a boy, so small as to resemblea monkey, with behind him a woman so old as to suggest the idea he hadtaken his great-grandmother out for a ride, or--_vice versa_!
For some hours master and man wandered about enjoying themselvesthoroughly in spite of the heat, commenting freely on all they saw andheard, until hunger reminded them of the flight of time. Returning totheir hotel, Lawrence, to his surprise, found a note awaiting him. Itwas from Pedro, saying that he had found his friend in a village aboutthree miles from San Ambrosio, describing the route to the place, andasking him to send Quashy out immediately, as he wanted his assistancethat night for a few hours.
"I wonder what he wants with you?" said Lawrence.
"To help him wid de mischif!" replied the negro, in a half-sulky tone.
"Well, you'll have to go, but you'd better eat something first."
"No, massa; wid you's leave I'll go off at once. A hunk ob bread in depocket an' lots o' fruit by de way--das 'nuff for dis nigger."
"Off with you, then, and tell Pedro that you left Manuela and me quitecomfortable."
"O Massa Lawrie!--'scuse me usin' de ole name--it _am_ so nice to hearyou speak jolly like dat. 'Minds me ob de ole times!"
"Get along with you," said Lawrence, with a laugh, as the warm-heartedblack left the hotel.
Thus these two parted. Little did they imagine what singularexperiences they should encounter before meeting again.
Soon after Quashy's departure Lawrence went to the door of Manuela'sroom, and, tapping gently, said--
"Dinner is ready, Manuela."
"I kom queek," replied the girl, with a hearty laugh.
It had by that time become an established little touch of pleasantrybetween these two that Lawrence should teach the Indian girl English--atleast to the extent of familiar phrases--while she should do the samefor him with Spanish. There was one thing that the youth liked much inthis, and it also surprised him a little, namely, that it seemed to drawthe girl out of her Indian reticence and gravity, for she laughed withchildlike delight at the amazing blunders she made in attemptingEnglish. Indeed, she laughed far more at herself than at him, althoughhis attempts at Spanish were even more ridiculous.
A few minutes later Manuela entered the room, and, with a modest yetgracious smile, took a seat opposite her pupil-teacher.
"Dignity," thought the latter--"native dignity and grace! Being thedaughter of a great chief of the Incas--a princess, I suppose--shecannot help it. An ordinary Indian female, now, would have come intothe room clumsily, looked sheepish, and sat down on the edge of herchair--perhaps on the floor!"
But as he gazed at her short, black, curly hair, her splendid blackeyebrows, her pretty little high-bred mouth, beautiful white teeth, andhorribly brown skin, he sighed, and only said--
"Ay, ay! Well, well! _What_ a pity!"
"What ees dat?" inquired the girl, with a look of grave simplicity.
"Did I speak?" returned Lawrence, a little confused.
"Yes--you say, `Ay, ay. Well, well. _What_ a pittie!'"
"Oh!--ah!--yes--I was only _thinking_, Manuela. What will you have?"
"Som muttin," replied the girl, with a pursing of the little mouth thatindicated a tendency to laugh.
"It is not mutton. It's beef, I think."
"Well, bee-eef very naice--an' som' gravvie too, plee-ese."
She went off at this point into a rippling laugh, which, beinginfectious in its nature, also set her companion off, but the entranceof the landlord checked them both. He sat down at a small table near tothem, and, being joined by a friend, called for a bottle of wine.
"Hotter than ever," he remarked to Lawrence.
"Yes, very sultry indeed."
"Shouldn't wonder if we was to have a sharpish touch or two to-night."
To which his friend, who was also an American if not an Englishman, andappeared to be sceptical in his
nature, replied, "Gammon!"
This led to a conversation between the two which is not worthy ofrecord, as it was chiefly speculative in regard to earthquakes ingeneral, and tailed off into guesses as to social convulsions present,past or pending. One remark they made, however, which attracted theattention of our hero, and made him wish to hear more. It had referenceto some desperate character whose name he failed to catch, but who wassaid to be in the neighbourhood again, "trying to raise men to join hisband of robbers," the landlord supposed, to which the landlord's friendreplied with emphasis that he had come to the right place, for, as faras his experience went, San Ambrosio was swarming with men that seemedfit for anything--from "pitch-and-toss to manslaughter."
Not wishing, apparently, to hear anything more about such disagreeablecharacters and subjects, Manuela rose at the conclusion of the meal andretired to her apartment, while Lawrence continued to sip his coffee ina balcony which overlooked the vineyard behind the hotel.
It was evening, and, although unusually warm, the weather was veryenjoyable, for a profound calm reigned around, and the hum of themultitudes in the distant square seemed hushed as the church bells rangthe hour for evening prayers. As the twilight deepened, and the starscame faintly into sight in the dark-blue vault above, the thoughts ofLawrence became strangely saddened, and, gradually quitting the scene ofpeaceful beauty on which he gazed, sped over the Cordillera of the Andesto that home of his boyhood which now lay in ashes. The frame of mindthus induced naturally led him to dwell on past scenes in which hismother had taken a part, and he was still meditating, more than halfasleep, on the joys which were never to return, when he was roused intosudden and thorough consciousness by something--he could not tell what--a sort of sensation--which caused him to leap from his chair.
At the same moment there arose from the streets a cry, or wail.Suddenly a rumbling noise was heard. Lawrence bounded towards thenearest door. Full well he knew what it meant. Before he could escapethere was a tremendous upheaval of the solid earth, and in one instant,without further warning, the entire town fell with one mighty crash!Lawrence just saw the walls and roof collapsing--then all was dark, andconsciousness forsook him.