CHAPTER XIV
HERRERO'S IMPRUDENCE
Though it was, at least, as hot as it usually is at San Roque and theheavy, stagnant atmosphere made exertion of any kind impossible to awhite man, Dom Erminio had not gone to sleep that afternoon, as hegenerally did. He had, after all, some shadowy notions of duty, andwould now and then rouse himself to carry them out; that is, at least,when he stood to obtain some advantage by doing so. In this he was,perhaps, not altogether singular, since it is possible that there areother men who recognize a duty most clearly under similarcircumstances. He lay in a low hung hammock where the veranda roofflung a grateful shadow over him, with a cigar in his hand,meditatively watching a row of half-naked negroes toiling in theburning sun, and the fashion in which he did so suggested that itafforded him a certain quiet satisfaction. He had grave objections tophysical exertion personally, and as a rule succeeded in avoiding it,for there are, as he recognized, advantages in being a white man, inthat country, at least. Dom Erminio invariably made the most of them.
It must be admitted that the negro is by no means addicted to toilingassiduously under scorching heat, especially when, as sometimeshappens, he works for a white man who requisitions his serviceswithout any intention of rewarding him for them, but though the bakedand trampled soil of the compound flung back an intolerable heat andglare, the half-naked men were diligent that afternoon. Dom Erminiohad his shifty black eyes on them, and certain dusky men with sticksstood ready to spur the laggards to fresh endeavor. So while the sweatof strenuous effort dripped from them some trotted to and fro withbaskets of soil upon their woolly heads and the rest plied saw andhammer persistently. They were strengthening the fort stockade anddigging a ditch, and incidentally riveting the shackles of the whiteman's bondage more firmly on their limbs. The Commandant, or Chefe ashe was usually called, appeared to recognize that fact, for he smileda little as he watched them.
By and by he turned and blinked at the forest which hemmed in thestockaded compound as with an impenetrable wall. It was dim andshadowy, even under that burning glare suggestively so, and he wasaware that just then whispers of a coming rising were flying throughits unlifting gloom, though the fact caused him no great concern. Afew white friends of his were playing a game that has been playedbefore in other regions, and he was quite willing to gain fresh renownas an administrator by the suppression of a futile rebellion. It isalso possible that his friends looked for more tangible advantages,and would have been willing to offer him a certain share of them.That, however, is not quite a matter of certainty, and there were, atleast, men in that country who said they regarded Dom Erminio as allan administrator ought to be. Perhaps he was, from their point ofview.
The Lieutenant Luiz, who had just come back from a native village witha handful of dusky soldiers and a band of carriers loaded with freshprovisions, sat in a basket chair close by, also regarding thestockade builders with a little smile. The natural reluctance ofcertain negroes to part with their possessions had occasioned him agood deal of trouble during the last few days. A negro who served asmessenger stood waiting a few paces behind him.
"It is an advantage when one can teach the trek-ox to harnesshimself," he said reflectively. "I do not think those men like whatthey are doing. Every pile that they are driving makes our rule alittle surer. It is not astonishing that some of them should be atrifle mutinous now and then."
"You had a difficulty about those provisions?" said Dom Erminio.
His companion laughed. "One would scarcely call it that. It was merelyadvisable to use the stick, and a hut or two was burnt. In times likethe present one profits by a little judicious firmness."
"I think one could even go a trifle further than that."
Lieutenant Luiz made a little gesture. He had a certain shrewdness,and the Chefe was only cunning, which is, after all, a different thingfrom being clever. It seemed that Dom Erminio failed to recognizethat it is always somewhat dangerous to play with fire. One can as arule start a conflagration without much difficulty, but it is now andthen quite another matter to put it out.
"I am not sure," he said. "There are men in this country who seem toenjoy scattering sparks, and they are rather busy just now. It is,perhaps, not very hazardous when it is done judiciously and one knowsthere is only a little tinder here and there, but when one flings thembroadcast it is possible that two or three may fall on powder." Heturned and stretched out a dainty, olive-tinted hand towards theforest. "After all, we do not know much about what goes on there."
"Bah!" said Dom Erminio, who had courage, at least, "if the blaze is alittle larger than one expected what does it matter? The stockade willbe a strong one."
His companion glanced at the gap in the row of well stiffened piles."It would certainly be difficult to storm that gate, but these bushmenwho are building the stockade will have the sense to realize it andtell their friends. If there is an attack it will not be made thatway."
"Exactly!" and the Chefe's eyes twinkled as he waved a yellow hand."It is a little idea that occurred to me while you were away. Thebushmen would come by the rear of the stockade which we leave lower,and when they do I think we shall also be ready for them there. Thereare certain defenses which will be substituted when their friendshave gone away again."
They both laughed at this and neither of them said anything furtherfor awhile until a negro swathed in white cotton strode out of theforest with a little stick in his hand. He was challenged by a sentrywho sent him on, and presently stood on the veranda holding out thestick. Dom Erminio glanced at it languidly.
"Our injudicious friend Herrero has some word for us," he said. "He isa man who lets his dislikes run away with him, and he is not alwayswise in his messages." He stopped a moment with a little reflectivesmile. "Still, a message is always a difficulty in this part ofAfrica. If one teaches the messenger what he is to say he may tell itto somebody else, and it happens now and then that to write is notadvisable. One must choose, however, and I wonder which our friend hasdone."
The man decided the question by holding out a strip of paper, and theChefe who took it from him nodded as he read.
"It appears that Herrero is not pleased with the doings of theEnglishman who is now in the bush country," he said. "Herrero seems toconsider that he and a few others are capable of rousing all the illwill against us among the natives that is desirable, and I am almosttempted to believe that he is right in this. He is, however, imprudentenough to supply me with a few particulars which might with advantagehave been made less explicit. He fancies we shall have a rebellion,and if we do not I almost think it will be no fault of his."
"There is no doubt a little more," observed Lieutenant Luiz. "Whenthat man writes a letter he has something to ask for."
The Commandant nodded. "It is in this case a thing we can oblige himin," he said. "It seems the crazy Englishman Ormsgill is causingtrouble up yonder and inciting the natives to mutiny. Further, it isevidently his intention to deprive Domingo of some of the boys whohave engaged themselves under him. The man is one who could, I think,be called dangerous. It is not a favor to Herrero, but a duty to placesome check on him."
They looked at one another, and Dom Luiz grinned. "Ah," he said, "ourimprudent friend no doubt mentions how it could most readily be done."
The Commandant raised one hand. "The thing is simple. You will start,we will say the day after to-morrow, with several men, and you willcome upon Ormsgill in a village in Cavalho's country. Domingo, itseems, is there now, and it is expected that Ormsgill will attempt totake the boys from him, but this will cause no difficulty. TheHeadman, who is a friend of Domingo's will, if it appears advisable,disarm Ormsgill. The latter will no doubt not permit this to be donequietly, and it is possible that there will be a disturbance in thevillage, as the result of which you will arrest him for raidingnatives under our protection. We shall know what to do when you bringhim here."
They had, after sending Herrero's messenger away, spoken in Portugueseof which the negro who remained on
the veranda understood no more thana word or two. He stood still, statuesque, with his white draperiesflowing about his dusky limbs, and as disregarded by the white men asthe native girl with the big bedizened fan who crouched in the shadowydoorway just behind them. Yet both had intelligence, and noticed thatthe Chefe instead of destroying the letter laid it carelessly on theedge of his hammock, from which it dropped when he raised himself alittle. The girl's eyes glistened, but she said nothing, and the manmoved slightly as though his pose had grown irksome. It wasunfortunate that Dom Erminio had considered it advisable to keep himthere waiting his pleasure, for when he stood still again he was afoot or two nearer the strip of paper than he had been a few momentsearlier.
Then the girl in the doorway rose, and the Chefe turned sharply in hishammock as a little haggard man in plain white duck walked quietly outof the house. He saw the question in the glance Dom Erminio flashed athis Lieutenant, and smiled as he seated himself in the nearest chair.Father Tiebout was always unobtrusive, and what he did was as a ruledone very quietly, but he was quite aware that neither of the twowhite men were exactly pleased to see him.
"I came in from the east by the rear of the stockade where they aremending it," he said. "It was a little nearer. One would suppose thatyou did not see me."
The residency veranda, as is usual in that country, ran round thebuilding, which had several doors and two stairways, and it wastherefore perfectly natural that the priest should have arrivedunnoticed, but the fact that he had done so was disconcerting justthen, and it left the question how long he might have been in thehouse. Still, there were reasons why the Chefe could not ask it ortreat his guest with any discourtesy.
"In any case you are welcome," he said. "There is presumably somethingI can do for you?"
Father Tiebout nodded. "A little matter," he said. "I was going to SanThome, and as my road led near the fort I thought I would mention it.My people have a complaint against the soldiers you lately sent intoour neighborhood under the Sergeant Orticho. Some of them have beenbeaten."
"Dom Luiz will go over and look into it," said the Chefe. "That is,presently."
"Ah," said Father Tiebout, "then Dom Luiz is busy now? He will, nodoubt, be at liberty in a day or two?"
It was not a question Dom Erminio wished to answer, and he waved hishand. "At the moment one cannot say. In the meanwhile you will makeyour complaint a little more definite."
He had apparently forgotten the messenger, but Father Tiebout had beenquietly watching him, and now saw him stretch out a dusky foot towardsthe strip of paper which lay not far away. He touched it with aprehensile toe, and in another moment it had vanished altogether,though the man did not stand exactly where he had stood before.Lieutenant Luiz, as it happened, sat with his back to him, and DomErminio lay in his hammock where he could not see, but two people hadnoticed every motion, and though neither of them made any sign thedusky man was quite aware that the girl who had retired to one of thewindows was watching him. About Father Tiebout he was far fromcertain, but he was a bold man, and turning a little away from him hestooped and apparently touched a scratch a thorn or broken grass stalkhad made on his foot. When he straightened himself again there was,however, something in his hand. Then the Chefe appeared to rememberhim.
"You will go back to the Lieutenant Castro," he said. "You can tellhim there is no answer. Start to-morrow."
"It is a long journey," said the man. "I go back now."
Dom Erminio made a little gesture which seemed to indicate that it wasa matter of indifference to him, and Father Tiebout put a check on hisimpatience. He had, as it happened, been in the house at least aminute before any one had noticed him, and was anxious for reasons ofhis own to discover what was in the letter. He did not know what themessenger meant to do with it, but he was aware that those entrustedwith authority in that country were frequently at variance and spiedon one another. It was possible that the man who could not read thenote might expect to sell it.
Still, the missionary was one who seldom spoiled anything by unduehaste, and he reflected that while he had traveled in a hammockleisurely the man was probably worn by a long journey, since San Roquelay at some distance from the camp where the officer the Chefe hadmentioned was stationed then. So he supplied his hosts withparticulars concerning his complaint, and then talked of other mattersfor an hour or more, and it was not until the comida was laid out thathe set out on his journey. This was a somewhat unusual course in thecase of a guest who had a long march still in front of him, butalthough the messenger, who might also have been expected to spend thenight there, had evinced the same desire to get on his way, it neveroccurred to Dom Erminio to put the two facts together. There are,however, other cunning men who now and then fail to see a very obviousthing.
Still, Father Tiebout did not go by the nearest way to San Thome,though he urged his hammock boys through the bush all night at theirutmost speed. The path was smoothly trodden, and they had no greatdifficulty in following it through the drifting steam, while when thered sun leapt up and here and there a ray of brightness streamed down,they came upon a weary man who turned and stood still when he sawthem. He made a little gesture of comprehension when the priestdropped from his hammock and looked at him.
Father Tiebout touched his shoulder and led him back a few paces intothe bush. The man was big and muscular, as well as a pagan, but thepriest had the letter when they came out again. He did not tell anyone how he induced the messenger to part with it, but, as he now andthen admitted, he was one who did not hesitate to use the meansavailable. It was, in fact, a favorite expression of his, and, thoughhe usually left the latter point an open question, in his case, atleast, the results generally justified the means. He spoke a word ortwo sharply to the hammock boys, and they left the man sitting wearilybeside the trail when they went on again.
It was three weeks later when the priest in charge of the San ThomeMission, who was a privileged person, sent on the letter to DomClemente Figuera by the hands of a Government messenger, but FatherTiebout, who requested him to do so, had made one or two otherarrangements in connection with it in the meanwhile. Ormsgill, as hehad once said, had a few good friends in Africa.