The Purple Land

  CHAPTER XIX

  Before it had been long dark, we had crossed the range and into thedepartment of Minas. Nothing happened till towards midnight, when ourhorses began to be greatly distressed. My companions hoped to reachbefore morning an _estancia_, still many leagues distant, where theywere known and would be allowed to lie in concealment for a few daystill the storm blew over; for usually shortly after an outbreak has beenput down an _indulto_, or proclamation of pardon, is issued, after whichit is safe for all those who have taken arms against the constitutedgovernment to return to their homes. For the time we were, of course,outlaws, and liable to have our throats cut at any moment. Our poorhorses at last became incapable even of a trot, and, dismounting, wewalked on, leading them by the bridles.

  About midnight we approached a watercourse, the upper part of the RioBarriga Negra--Black Belly River--and on coming near it the tinkling ofa bell attracted our attention. It is the usual thing for every manin the Banda Oriental to have one mare, called _madrina_, in his_tropilla_, or herd of geldings; the _madrina_ always carries a bellattached to her neck, and at night her forefeet are usually hobbled toprevent her wandering far from home; for the horses are always very muchattached to her and will not leave her.

  After listening for a few moments, we concluded that the sound camefrom the bell of a _madrina_, and that her forefeet were bound, forthe tinkle came in violent jerks, as from an animal laboriously hoppingalong. Proceeding to the spot, we found a _tropilla_ of eleven or twelvedun-coloured horses feeding near the river. Driving them very gentlytowards the bank, where a sharp bend in the stream enabled us to cornerthem, we set to work catching fresh horses. Fortunately they werenot very shy of strangers, and after we had caught and secured the_madrina_, they gathered whinnying round her, and we were not very longin selecting the five best-looking duns in the herd.

  "My friends, I call this stealing," I said, though at that very momentI was engaged in hastily transferring my saddle to the animal I hadsecured.

  "That is very interesting information," said one of my comrades.

  "A stolen horse will always carry you well," said another.

  "If you cannot steal a horse without compunction, you have not beenproperly brought up," cried the third.

  "In the Banda Oriental," said the fourth, "you are not looked upon as anhonest man unless you steal."

  We then crossed the river and broke into a swift gallop, which we keptup till morning, reaching our destination a little while before sunrise.There was here a fine plantation of trees not far from the house,surrounded by a deep ditch and a cactus hedge, and after we had taken_mate_ and then breakfast at the house, where the people received usvery kindly, we proceeded to conceal our horses and ourselves in theplantation. We found a comfortable little grassy hollow, partly shadedwith the surrounding trees, and here we spread our rugs, and, fatiguedwith our exertions, soon dropped into a deep sleep which lasted prettywell all day. It was a pleasant day for me, for I had waking intervalsduring which I experienced that sensation of absolute rest of mindand body which is so exceedingly sweet after a long period of toil andanxiety. During my waking intervals I smoked cigarettes and listened tothe querulous pipings of a flock of young black-headed siskins flyingabout from tree to tree after their parents and asking to be fed.

  Occasionally the long, clear cry of the venteveo, a lemon-colouredbird with black head and long beak like a kingfisher, rang through thefoliage; or a flock of pecho amarillos, olive-brown birds with brightyellow vests, would visit the trees and utter their confused chorus ofgay notes.

  I did not think very much about Santa Coloma. Probably he had escaped,and was once more a wanderer disguised in the humble garments of apeasant; but that would be no new experience to him. The bitter breadof expatriation had apparently been his usual food, and his periodicaldescents upon the country had so far always ended in disaster: he hadstill an object to live for. But when I remembered Dolores lamentingher lost cause and vanished peace of mind, then, in spite of thebright sunshine flecking the grass, the soft, warm wind fanning my faceandwhispering in the foliage overhead, and the merry-throated birds thatcame to visit me, a pang was in my heart, and tears came to my eyes.

  When evening came we were all wide awake, and sat till a very late hourround the fire we had made in the hollow, sipping _mate_ and conversing.We were all in a talkative mood that evening, and after the ordinarysubjects of Banda Oriental conversation had been exhausted, we driftedinto matters extraordinary--wild creatures of strange appearance andhabits, apparitions, and marvellous adventures.

  "The manner in which the lampalagua captures its prey is very curious,"said one of the company, named Rivarola, a stout man with an immense,fierce-looking black beard and moustache, but who was very mild-eyed andhad a gentle, cooing voice.

  We had all heard of the lampalagua, a species of boa found in thesecountries, with a very thick body and extremely sluggish in its motions.It preys on the larger rodents, and captures them, I believe, byfollowing them into their burrows, where they cannot escape from itsjaws by running.

  "I will tell you what I once witnessed, for I have never seen a strangerthing," continued Rivarola. "Riding one day through a forest I saw somedistance before me a fox sitting on the grass watching my approach.Suddenly I saw it spring high up into the air, uttering a great screamof terror, then fall back upon the earth, where it lay for some timegrowling, struggling, and biting as if engaged in deadly conflictwithsome visible enemy. Presently it began to move away through thewood, but very slowly and still frantically struggling. It seemed to begetting exhausted, its tail dragged, the mouth foamed, and the tonguehung out, while it still moved on as if drawn by an unseen cord. Ifollowed, going very close to it, but it took no notice of me. Sometimesit dug its claws into the ground or seized a twig or stalk with itsteeth, and it would then remain resting for a few moments till the twiggave away, when it would roll over many times on the ground, loudlyyelping, but still dragged onwards. Presently I saw in the direction wewere going a huge serpent, thick as a man's thigh, its head lifted highabove the grass, and motionless as a serpent of stone. Its cavernous,blood-red mouth was gaping wide, and its eyes were fixed on thestruggling fox. When about twenty yards from the serpent the fox beganmoving very rapidly over the ground, its struggles growing feebler everymoment, until it seemed to fly through the air, and in an instant was inthe serpent's mouth. Then the reptile dropped its head and began slowlyswallowing its prey."

  "And you actually witnessed this yourself?" said I.

  "With these eyes," he returned, indicating the orbs in question bypointing at them with the tube of the _mate_-cup he held in his hand."This was the only occasion on which I have actually seen the lampalaguatake its prey, but its manner of doing it is well known to everyone fromhearsay. You see, it draws an animal towards it by means of its power ofsuction. Sometimes, when the animal attacked is very strong or very faroff--say two thousand yards--the serpent becomes so inflated with thequantity of air inhaled while drawing the victim towards it----"

  "That it bursts?" I suggested.

  "That it is obliged to stop drawing to blow the wind out. When thishappens, the animal, finding itself released from the drawing force,instantly sets off at full speed. Vain effort! The serpent has no soonerdischarged the accumulated wind with a report like a cannon----"

  "No, no, like a musket! I have heard it myself," interrupted Blas Aria,one of the listeners.

  "Like a musket, than it once more brings its power of suction to bear;and in this manner the contest continues until the victim is finallydrawn into the monster's jaws. It is well known that the lampalagua isthe strongest of all God's creatures, and that if a man, stripped tothe skin, engages one, and conquers it by sheer muscular strength, theserpent's power goes into him, after which he is invincible."

  I laughed at this fable, and was severely rebuked for my levity.

  "I will tell you the strangest thing that ever befell me," said BlasAria. "I happened to be travelling alone--fo
r reasons--on the northernfrontier. I crossed the River Yaguaron into Brazilian territory, and fora whole day rode through a great marshy plain, where the reeds were deadand yellow, and the water shrunk into muddy pools. It was a place tomake a man grow weary of life. When the sun was going down, and I beganto despair of getting to the end of this desolation, I discovered a lowhovel made of mud and thatched with rushes. It was about fifteen yardslong, with only one small door, and seemed to be uninhabited, forno person answered me when I rode round it shouting aloud. I heard agrunting and squealing within, and by and by a sow, followed by a litterof young pigs, came out, looked at me, then went in again. I would haveridden on, but my horses were tired; besides, a great storm with thunderand lightning was coming up, and no other shelter appeared in sight. Itherefore unsaddled, loosed my horses to feed, and took my gear intothe hovel. The room I entered was so small that the sow and her youngoccupied all the floor; there was, however, another room, and, openingthe door, which was closed, I went into it, and found that it was verymuch larger than the first; also, that it contained a dirty bed made ofskins in one corner, while on the floor was a heap of ashes and a blackpot. There was nothing else except old bones, sticks, and other rubbishlittering the floor. Afraid of being caught unawares by the owner ofthis foul den, and finding nothing to eat in it, I returned to the firstroom, turned the pigs out of doors, and sat down on my saddle to wait.It was beginning to get dark when a woman, bringing in a bundle ofsticks, suddenly appeared at the door. Never, sirs, have I beheld afouler, more hideous object than this person. Her face was hard, dark,and rough like the bark of the _nandubuy_ tree, while her hair, whichcovered her head and shoulders in a tangled mass, was of a dry, earthycolour. Her body was thick and long, yet she looked like a dwarf,for she scarcely had any legs, only enormous knees and feet; and hergarments were old ragged horse-rugs tied round her body with thongsof hide. She stared at me out of a pair of small black rat eyes, then,setting down her bundle, asked me what I wanted. I told her I was atired traveller, and wanted food and shelter. 'Shelter you can have:food there is none,' she said; then, taking up her sticks, she passedto the inner room and secured it with a bolt on the inside. She had notinspired me with love, and there was little danger of my attempting tointrude on her there. It was a black, stormy night, and very soon therain began to fall in torrents. Several times the sow, with her youngpigs loudly squealing, came in for shelter, and I was forced to get upand beat them out with my whip. At length, through the mud partitionseparating the two rooms, I heard the crackling of a fire which thevile woman was lighting; and, before long, through the chinks camethe savoury smell of roast meat. That surprised me greatly, for I hadsearched the room and failed to find anything to eat in it. I concludedthat she had brought in the meat under her garments, but where she hadgot it was a mystery. At length I began to doze. There were many soundsin my ear as of thunder and wind, the pigs grunting at the door, andthe crackling of the fire in the hag's room. But by and by othersounds seemed to mingle with these--voices of several persons talking,laughing, and singing. At length I became wide awake, and found thatthese voices proceeded from the next room. Some person was playing aguitar and singing, then others were loudly talking and laughing. Itried to peep through the cracks in the door and partition, but couldnot see through them. High up in the middle of the wall there was onelarge crack through which I was sure the interior could be seen, somuch red firelight streamed through it. I placed my saddle against thepartition, and all my rugs folded small, one above the other, until Ihad heaped them as high as my knees. Standing on my toes on this pile,and carefully clinging to the wall with my finger-nails, I managed tobring my eyes to a level with the crack, and peeped through it. The roominside was brightly lighted by a big wood fire burning at one end, whileon the floor a large crimson cloak was spread, on which the people Ihad heard were sitting with some fruit and bottles of wine beforethem. There was the foul hag, looking almost as tall sitting as she hadappeared when standing; she was playing on a guitar and singing a balladin Portuguese. Before her on the cloak lay a tall, well-formed negrowoman, wearing only a narrow white cloth round her loins, and broadsilver armlets on her round black arms. She was eating a banana, andagainst her knees, which were drawn up, sat a beautiful girl aboutfifteen years old, with a dark pale face. She was dressed in white, herarms were bare, and round her head she wore a gold band keeping back herblack hair, which fell unbound on her back. Before her, on his knees onthe cloak, was an old man with a face brown and wrinkled as a walnut,and beard white as thistle-down. With one of his hands he was holdingthe girl's arm, and with the other offering her a glass of wine. Allthis I saw at one glance, and then all of them together turned theireyes up at the crack as if they knew that someone was watching them. Istarted back in alarm, and fell with a crash to the ground. Then I heardloud screams of laughter, but I dared not attempt to look in on themagain, I took my rugs to the farther side of the room, and sat downto wait for morning. The talking and laughter continued for about twohours, then it gradually died away, the light faded from the chinks, andall was dark and silent. No person came out; and at last, overcome withdrowsiness, I fell asleep. It was day when I woke. I rose and walkedround the hovel, and, finding a crack in the wall, I peered into thehag's room. It looked just as I had seen it the day before; there wasthe pot and pile of ashes, and in the corner the brutish woman lyingasleep in her skins. After that I got on to my horse and rode away. MayI never again have such an experience as I had that night."

  Something was then said about witchcraft by the others, all looking verysolemn.

  "You were very hungry and tired that night," I ventured to remark, "andperhaps after the woman locked her door you went to sleep and dreamedall that about people eating fruit and playing on the guitar."

  "Our horses were tired and we were flying for our lives yesterday,"returned Blas contemptuously. "Perhaps it made us dream that we caughtfive dun horses to carry us."

  "When a person is incredulous, it is useless arguing with him," saidMariano, a small dark grey-haired man. "I will now tell you a strangeadventure I had when I was a young man; but remember I do not put ablunderbuss to any man's breast to compel him to believe me. For whatis, is; and let him that disbelieves shake his head till he shakes itoff, and it falls to the ground like a cocoanut from the tree.

  "After I got married I sold my horses, and, taking all my money,purchased two ox-carts, intending to make my living by carrying freight.One cart I drove myself, and to drive the other I hired a boy whom Icalled Mula, though that was not the name his godfathers gave him, butbecause he was stubborn and sullen as a mule. His mother was a poorwidow, living near me, and when she heard about the ox-carts she cameto me with her son and said, 'Neighbour Mariano, for your mother's sake,take my son and teach him to earn his bread, for he is a boy that lovesnot to do anything.' So I took Mula and paid the widow for his servicesafter each journey. When there was no freight to be had I sometimes wentto the lagoons to cut rushes, and, loading the carts with them, we wouldgo about the country to sell the rushes to those who required them tothatch their houses. Mula loved not this work. Often when we were allday wading up to our thighs in the water, cutting the rushes down closeto their roots, then carrying them in large bundles on our shoulders toland, he would cry, complaining bitterly of his hard lot. Sometimes Ithrashed him, for it angered me to see a poor boy so fastidious: then hewould curse me and say that some day he would have his revenge. 'When Iam dead,' he often told me, 'my ghost will come to haunt and terrify youfor all the blows you have given me.' This always made me laugh.

  "At last, one day, while crossing a deep stream, swollen with rains, mypoor Mula fell down from his perch on the shaft and was swept away bythe current into deep water and drowned. Well, sirs, about a year afterthat event I was out in search of a couple of strayed oxen when nightovertook me a long distance from home. Between me and my house there wasa range of hills running down to a deep river, so close that there wasonly a narrow passage to get through, a
nd for a long distance there wasno other opening. When I reached the pass I fell into a narrow path withbushes and trees growing on either side; here, suddenly, the figure of ayoung man stepped out from the trees and stood before me. It was allin white--_poncho, chiripa_, drawers, even its boots, and wore abroad-brimmed straw hat on its head. My horse stood still trembling; norwas I less frightened, for my hair rose up on my head like bristles ona pig's back; and the sweat broke out on my face like raindrops. Not aword said the figure; only itremained standing still with arms folded onits breast, preventing me from passing. Then I cried out, 'In Heaven'sname, who are you, and what do you want with Mariano Montes de Oca, thatyou bar his path?' At this speech it laughed; then it said, 'What, doesmy old master not know me? I am Mula; did I not often tell you that someday I should return to pay you out for all the thrashings you gave me?Ah, Master Mariano, you see I have kept my word!' Then it began to laughagain. 'May ten thousand curses light on your head!' I shouted. 'If youwish for my life, Mula, take it and be for ever damned; or else let mepass, and go back to Satan, your master, and tell him from me to keep astricter watch on your movements; for why should the stench of purgatorybe brought to my nostrils before my time! And now, hateful ghost, whatmore have you got to say to me?' At this speech the ghost shouted withlaughter, slapping its thighs, and doubling itself up with mirth. Atlast, when it was able to speak, it said, 'Enough of this fooling,Mariano. I did not intend frightening you so much; and it is no greatmatter if I have laughed a little at you now, for you have often mademe cry. I stopped you because I had something important to say. Go tomy mother and tell her you have seen and spoken with me; tell her to payfor another mass for my soul's repose, for after that I shall be out ofpurgatory. If she has no money lend her a few dollars for the mass, andI will repay you, old man, in another world.'

  "This it said and vanished. I lifted my whip, but needed not to strikemy horse, for not a bird that has wings could fly faster than he nowflew with me on his back. No path was before me, nor did I know wherewe were going. Through rushes and through thickets, over burrows of wildanimals, stones, rivers, marshes, we flew as if all the devils that areon the earth and under it were at our heels; and when the horse stoppedit was at my own door. I stayed not to unsaddle him, but, cutting thesurcingle with my knife, left him to shake the saddle off; then with thebridle I hammered on the door, shouting to my wife to open. I heard herfumbling for the tinder-box. 'For the love of Heaven, woman, strike nolight,' I cried. '_Santa Barbara bendita_! have you seen a ghost?' sheexclaimed, opening to me. 'Yes,' I replied, rushing in and bolting thedoor, 'and had you struck a light you would now have been a widow.'

  "For thus it is, sirs, the man who after seeing a ghost is confrontedwith a light immediately drops down dead."

  I made no sceptical remarks, and did not even shake my head. Thecircumstances of the encounter were described by Mariano with suchgraphic power and minuteness that it was impossible not to believe hisstory. Yet some things in it afterwards struck me as somewhat absurd;that straw hat, for instance, and it also seemed strange that a personof Mula's disposition should have been so much improved in temper by hissojourn in a warmer place.

  "Talking of ghosts----" said Laralde, the other man--but proceeded nofurther, for I interrupted him. Laralde was a short, broad-shoulderedman, with bow legs and bushy grey whiskers; he was called by hisfamiliars Lechuza (owl) on account of his immense, round, tawny-colouredeyes, which had a tremendous staring power in them.

  I thought we had had enough of the supernatural by this time.

  "My friend," I said, "pardon me for interrupting you; but there will beno sleep for us to-night if we have any more stories about spirits fromthe other world."

  "Talking of ghosts----" resumed Lechuza, without noticing my remark, andthis nettled me; so I cut in once more:

  "I protest that we have heard quite enough about them," I said. "Thisconversation was only to be about rare and curious things. Now, visitorsfrom the other world are very common. I put it to you, my friends--haveyou not all seen more ghosts than lampalaguas drawing foxes with theirbreath?"

  "I have seen that once only," said Rivarola gravely. "I have often seenghosts."

  The others also confessed to having seen more than one ghost apiece.

  Lechuza sat inattentive, smoking his cigarette, and when we had all donespeaking began again.

  "Talking of ghosts----"

  Nobody interrupted him this time, though he seemed to expect it, for hemade a long, deliberate pause.

  "Talking of ghosts," he repeated, staring around him triumphantly, "Ionce had an encounter with a strange being that was _not_ a ghost. I wasa young man then--young and full of the fire, strength, and courage ofyouth--for what I am now going to relate happened over twenty years ago.I had been playing cards at a friend's house, and left it at midnight toride to my father's house, a distance of five leagues. I had quarrelledthat evening and left a loser, burning with anger against the man whohad cheated and insulted me, and with whom I was not allowed to fight.Vowing vengeance on him, I rode away at a fast gallop; the night beingserene, and almost as light as day, for the moon was at its full.Suddenly I saw before me a huge man sitting on a white horse, whichstood perfectly motionless directly in my path. I dashed on till I camenear him, then shouted aloud. 'Out of my path, friend, lest I ride overyou'; for I was still raging in my heart.

  "Seeing that he took no notice of my words, I dug my spurs into my horseand hurled myself against him; then at the very moment my horse struckhis with a tremendous shock, I brought down my iron whip-handle with allthe force that was in me upon his head. The blow rang as if I had struckupon an anvil, while at the same moment he, without swerving, clutchedmy cloak with both hands. I could feel that they were bony, hard hands,armed with long, crooked, sharp talons like an eagle's, which piercedthrough my cloak into my flesh. Dropping my whip, I seized him by thethroat, which seemed scaly and hard, between my hands, and thus, lockedtogether in a desperate struggle, we swayed this way and that, eachtrying to drag the other from his seat till we came down together witha crash upon the earth. In a moment we were disengaged and on our feet.Quick as lightning flashed out his long, sharp weapon, and, finding Iwas too late to draw mine, I hurled myselfagainst him, seizing his armedhand in both mine before he could strike.

  "For a few moments he stood still, glaring at me out of a pair of eyesthat shone like burning coals; then, mad with rage, he flung me off myfeet and whirled me round and round like a ball in a sling, and finallycast me from him to a distance of a hundred yards, so great was hisstrength. I was launched with tremendous force into the middle of somethorny bushes, but had no sooner recovered from the shock than out Iburst with a yell of rage and charged him again. For, you will hardlybelieve it, sirs, by some strange chance I had carried away his weapon,firmly grasped in my hands. It was a heavy two-edged dagger, sharp as aneedle, and while I grasped the hilt I felt the strength and fury ofa thousand fighting-men in me. As I advanced he retreated before me,until, seizing the topmost boughs of a great thorny bush, he swung hisbody to one side and wrenched it out of the earth by the roots. Swingingthe bush with the rapidity of a whirlwind round his head, he advancedagainst me and dealt a blow that would have crushed me had it descendedon me; but it fell too far, for I had dodged under it to close with him,and delivered a stab with such power that the long weapon was buriedto its hilt in his bosom. He uttered a deafening yell, and at the samemoment a torrent of blood spouted forth, scalding my face like boilingwater, and drenching my clothes through to the skin. For a moment I wasblinded; but when I had dashed the blood from my eyes and looked roundhe had vanished, horse and all.

  "Then, mounting my horse, I rode home and told everyone what hadhappened, showing the knife, which I still carried in my hand. Next dayall the neighbours gathered at my house, and we rode in company to thespot where the fight had taken place. There we found the bush torn up bythe roots, and all the earth about it ploughed up where we had fought.The ground was also dyed with
blood for several yards round, and whereit had fallen the grass was withered up to the roots, as if scorchedwith fire. We also picked up a cluster of hairs--long, wiry, crookedhairs, barbed at the ends like fish-hooks; also three or four scaleslike fish-scales, only rougher, and as large as doubloons. The spotwhere the fight took place is now called _La Canada del Diablo,_ and Ihave heard that since that day the devil has never appeared corporeallyto fight any man in the Banda Oriental."

  Lechuza's narrative gave great satisfaction. I said nothing, feelinghalf stupid with amazement, for the man apparently told it in the fullconviction that it was true, while the other listeners appeared toaccept every word of it with the most implicit faith. I began to feelvery melancholy, for evidently they expected something from me now, andwhat to tell them I knew not. It went against my conscience to be theonly liar amongst these exceedingly veracious Orientals, and so I couldnot think of inventing anything.

  "My friends," I began at length, "I am only a young man; also a nativeof a country where marvellous things do not often happen, so that I cantell you nothing to equal in interest the stories I have heard. I canonly relate a little incident which happened to me in my own countrybefore I left it. It is trivial, perhaps, but will lead me to tell yousomething about London--that great city you have all heard of."

  "Yes, we have heard of London; it is in England, I believe. Tell us yourstory about London," said Blas encouragingly.

  "I was very young--only fourteen years old," I continued, flatteringmyself that my modest introduction had not been ineffective, "when oneevening I came to London from my home. It was in January, in the middleof winter, and the whole country was white with snow."

  "Pardon me, Captain," said Blas, "but you have got the cucumber by thewrong end. We say that January is in summer."

  "Not in my country, where the seasons are reversed," I said.

  "When I rose next morning it was dark as night, for a black fog hadfallen upon the city."

  "A black fog!" exclaimed Lechuza.

  "Yes, a black fog that would last all days and make it darker thannight, for though the lamps were lighted in the streets they gave nolight."

  "Demons!" exclaimed Rivarola; "there is no water in the bucket. I mustgo to the well for some or we shall have none to drink in the night."

  "You might wait till I finish," I said.

  "No, no, Captain," he returned. "Go on with your story; we must not bewithout water." And, taking up the bucket, he trudged off.

  "Finding it was going to be dark all day," I continued, "I determined togo a little distance away, not out of London, you will understand, butabout three leagues from my hotel to a great hill, where I thought thefog would not be so dark, and where there is a palace of glass."

  "A palace of glass!" repeated Lechuza, with his immense round eyes fixedsternly on me.

  "Yes, a palace of glass--is there anything so wonderful in that?"

  "Have you any tobacco in your pouch, Mariano?" said Blas.

  "Pardon, Captain, for speaking, but the things you are telling require acigarette, and my pouch is empty."

  "Very well, sirs, perhaps you will now allow me to proceed," I said,beginning to feel rather vexed at these constant interruptions. "Apalace of glass large enough to hold all the people in this country."

  "The Saints assist us! Your tobacco is dry as ashes, Mariano," exclaimedBlas.

  "That is not strange," said the other, "for I have had it three days inmy pocket. Proceed, Captain. A palace of glass large enough to hold allthe people in the world. And then?"

  "No, I shall not proceed," I returned, losing my temper. "It is plain tosee that you do not wish to hear my story. Still, sirs, from motives ofcourtesy you might have disguised your want of interest in what I wasabout to relate; for I have heard it said that the Orientals are apolite people."

  "There you are saying too much, my friend," broke in Lechuza. "Rememberthat we were speaking of actual experiences, not inventing tales ofblack fogs and glass palaces and men walking on their heads, and I knownot what other marvels."

  "Do you know that what I am telling you is untrue?" I indignantly asked.

  "Surely, friend, you do not consider us such simple persons in the BandaOriental as not to know truth from fable?"

  And this from the fellow who had just told us of his tragical encounterwith Apollyon, a yarn which quite put Bunyan's narrative in theshade! It was useless talking; my irritation gave place to mirth, and,stretching myself out on the grass, I roared with laughter. The more Ithought of Lechuza's stern rebuke the louder I laughed, until I yelledwith laughter, slapping my thighs and doubling myself up after themanner of Mariano's hilarious visitor from purgatory. My companionsnever smiled. Rivarola came back with the bucket of water, and, afterstaring at me for some time, said, "If the tears, which they say alwaysfollow laughter, come in the same measure, then we shall have to sleepin the wet."

  This increased my mirth.

  "If the whole country is to be informed of our hiding-place," saidBlas the timid, "we were putting ourselves to an unnecessary trouble byrunning away from San Paulo."

  Fresh screams of laughter greeted this protest.

  "I once knew a man," said Mariano, "who had a most extraordinary laugh;you could hear it a league away, it was so loud. His name was Aniceto,but we called him El Burro on account of his laugh, which sounded likethe braying of an ass. Well, sirs, he one day burst out laughing, likethe Captain here, at nothing at all, and fell down dead. You see, thepoor man had aneurism of the heart."

  At this I fairly yelled, then, feeling quite exhausted, I lookedapprehensively at Lechuza, for this important member of the quartet hadnot yet spoken.

  With his immense, unspeakably serious eyes fixed on me, he remarkedquietly, "And this, my friends, is the man who says it is wrong to stealhorses!"

  But I was past shrieking now. Even this rich specimen of topsy-turvyBanda Oriental morality only evoked a faint gurgling as I rolled abouton the grass, my sides aching, as if I had received a good bruising.