The Rover of the Andes Part 21

In that period the Indian hunter quite recovered from his wounds, and his little girl, Manca by name, began to show decided signs of amendment under Manuela's careful nursing. During that period, also, Spotted Tiger conducted his visitors to many scenes of beauty, where the young doctor not only shot a variety of game, large and small, feathered and furred, but made acquaintance with many quite new species of plants. He collected and preserved a few of the rarest of these, but owing to the style of travelling, both past and prospective, he had to deny himself much in that respect.

Likewise, during those three days, he made acquaintance with the numerous pets of Tiger's household--not the human pets, (although he became a great favourite with these also), but the lower-animal pets-- the turtle, and the noisy parrot already mentioned, a fat little guinea-pig, a most melancholy red monkey, a young jaguar, a very juvenile tapir, a flamingo, and other creatures.

The tapir was about the size of a six months' old pig. Instead of the blackish brown hair peculiar to the adult tapir, its coat was striped longitudinally with black, grey, and yellow, and was so brilliant in colour that the animal was quite a dazzling pet! besides which, it was an affectionate little thing, and particularly susceptible to the pleasure of being tickled.

The tame jaguar, however, was a very different style of animal. It did indeed like to be caressed, but it had gradually grown too large to be a safe plaything, and there was an occasional gleam in its eye which rendered Lawrence uneasy when he saw the Indian children playing with it. It was about the size of a small Newfoundland dog, but had grown up so gradually with the family that they appeared not to realise the danger attending its great strength. Spotted Tiger himself had indeed perceived something of it, for at the time we write of he had tied the animal to a stake with a stout rope, which was long enough to permit of his ranging in a wide circle.

Little did Lawrence dream of the part that peculiar pet was to play before the period of three days closed.

It was on the evening of the third day. They were all seated round a fire at supper, in front of the hut. Lawrence sat beside Manuela, as usual, and was taking much pains to teach her the correct p.r.o.nunciation of an English word, of which she made a wonderful bungle, and seemed to derive much amus.e.m.e.nt from the fact, to judge from her occasional peals of silvery laughter. We use the word advisedly, in deference to the feelings of our hero, who thought and called the laughter silvery!

Tiger sat on the girl's other side, and Quashy was seated opposite, with Little Cub and several of the lesser cubs beside him. The pet jaguar crouched close to its stake, glaring at them. There was nothing unusual either in the att.i.tude or the glare to cause anxiety, yet Lawrence did not like it, and while engaged in imparting the difficult lesson referred to, kept his eye on the brute.

Suddenly, without warning or roar, the dangerous pet sprang at Manuela!

Why it selected her we cannot imagine, unless it was that, being a brute of good taste, it chose her as the tenderest of the party. The strong cord by which it was fastened snapped like a piece of thread, but Lawrence threw himself in front of the girl, caught the animal by the throat, and held him with both hands, as if in a vice. Instantly every claw of the four paws was buried in the flesh of his legs and arms, and he would certainly have been fearfully rent by his powerful antagonist if Tiger had not, with lightning stroke, buried his long keen knife in the animal's heart.

So swiftly and effectually was the deed done, that the jaguar next moment hung limp and dead in our hero's grasp. Dropping it on the ground, he turned up his sleeves to examine the wounds.

"Deep enough, but not lacerated, thank G.o.d," he said. "They won't give me much trouble. Come, Quash, into the bush, and help me to look at the other scratches and dress them. I must appoint you a.s.sistant-surgeon for the occasion!"

Manuela murmured her thanks in a deep, tremulous voice that said much for her power of grat.i.tude, and, timidly taking the youth's hand as he pa.s.sed, humbly touched it with her lips.

The wounds were soon dressed, and, thanks to Tiger's prompt.i.tude, they did not afterwards give much trouble.

That night, as they were about to retire to their several hammocks, Lawrence went up to the Indian girl, and, for the first time, held out his hand for a shake in the white man's fashion.

"I'm glad, Manuela," he said, as she frankly grasped it, "that it has pleased G.o.d to make me the instrument of--of--protecting you."

"Twice," replied the girl quickly, and then paused, with a confused look,--"how you say, twice--or two times?"

"Say which you like," replied Lawrence, with a hearty laugh; "the words will sound equally well from _your_ lips, but `twice' is the right way."

"Well, twice you have save me. I am grat.i.tude. My father will be grat.i.tude."

"Tell me, Manuela," returned Lawrence, earnestly, "is your father a chief?"

"Yes,--a great chief."

There was a peculiar smile on the girl's lips as she said this that disconcerted him. We have said that he was naturally shy. He had intended to follow up his first question by asking if her father was descended from the Incas, but the peculiar smile checked him. He bade her good-night, and turned abruptly away.

While he was sitting by the fire meditating on this matter, he heard a step in the bushes. Tiger, who had already retired to his hammock, also heard it, and bounded to his feet. Next instant Pedro glided into the circle of light and saluted them.

He appeared to be worn out with exhaustion, for, flinging himself on the ground beside the fire, he rested his head in silence for a few minutes on a poncho. Then, observing a piece of manioca cake that had been dropped by some one at supper, he took it up and ate it almost ravenously.

"Why, you seem to be starving, Pedro," said Lawrence, earnestly

"Not so bad as that," returned Pedro with a faint smile. "A man can scarcely be said to starve with so many of the fruits of the earth around him. But I've been hard pressed since early morning, and--"

"Stay," interrupted Lawrence, "before you say another word, I will go and fetch you some food."

"No need, senhor. My old friend Spotted Tiger has forestalled you."

This was true. The Indian, having seen at a glance how matters stood, had gone up to the hut without speaking. He now returned with a bowl of boiled maize, a bunch of bananas, and a jar of water.

While his friend was busy with these, he asked a few questions, which Pedro answered briefly.

From the expression of the Indian's face, Lawrence gathered that these replies caused him some anxiety. As the guide's appet.i.te became gradually appeased his loquacity increased, but he made few remarks to Lawrence until the meal was finished. Then, turning to him with a sigh of contentment, he said--

"I've been slightly wounded, senhor, but I doubt not that you can soon put me all right."

Taking off his poncho as he spoke, and pushing aside his light cotton shirt, he revealed the fact that his left breast was bound with a piece of blood-stained calico.

Lawrence at once examined the wound.

"A slight wound, indeed," he said, "but vigorously dealt. I can see that,--and you've had a narrow escape, too. Half an inch higher up would have been fatal."

"Yes, it was meant to kill," was Pedro's quiet rejoinder; "but, thank G.o.d, I had a friend near who meant to save, and he turned the knife aside in time. Sit down now, I'll tell you how it happened.

"My business required me to visit a certain tribe of Indians at a considerable distance from here, where the country is somewhat disturbed, and the white inhabitants are threatening to cut each other's throats by way of mending political affairs. They took me for a spy.

It is not the first time that I have been taken for a spy, and I suppose it won't be the last," continued Pedro, with a grave smile. "Of course I protested my innocence, explained my object, and showed that my visit was one of peace. They would have let me go if an enemy had not been in the camp. You see, Senhor Armstrong, I have many enemies as well as friends everywhere."

"That is always the case with men who hold decided principles, and try to act up to them with vigour," returned Lawrence.

"So I have found it," rejoined Pedro, looking earnestly at his young friend. "You have had a more varied experience of life than I. Has that been your experience too?"

"It has. But I suspect that my experience of life has not been so much varied as yours, Pedro, for it has been chiefly among civilised communities until now. Still, I have observed that it is only those who swim with the current of public opinion, and jostle n.o.body, who manage to keep friends with everybody. When a man ventures to think for himself,--as he ought to do,--and take action, he is sure to have enemies as well as friends,--supposing, of course, that he is a man of any power or influence."

"Well, I suppose it is because I _try_ to have influence," rejoined Pedro, "that I manage to have plenty of friends and foes,--the last being sometimes unreasonably bitter."

"That proves your influence to be powerful," said Lawrence.

"H'm! it may be so. I know not. Time will show. At all events, this enemy of mine stirred up a number of men like himself in the camp to such an extent that they seized me, and carried me to the banks of their river, with the purpose of throwing me to the alligators. Some of those who were in my favour ran along with them, and among them I observed one man who I knew would be willing to risk his life for me. This gave me hope; but my enemy did not approve of the mode of my execution; he thought--rightly--that a chance of escape was involved in it; so, to make sure, I suppose, he came close up, and when they were on the point of throwing me into the river, he drew his knife and made a plunge at my heart. My friend must have suspected something of the sort, for he had also pushed close to me, and I saw him give the would-be murderer the jostle that turned his knife aside.

"Next moment I was in the river. I knew that it swarmed with alligators, and felt an uncomfortable thrill as I went in head foremost; but I knew also that I was a strong and swift swimmer, so I struck out for my life to the opposite bank, which was not more than forty yards off. I splashed as much as I could, for you know, senhor, that splashing tends to keep alligators off, though it is not always successful. Before I had made half a dozen strokes, however, I felt my flesh creep. Do you know what it feels like to have your flesh creep?"

"No, not exactly," replied Lawrence; "but I have a pretty good guess as to what you mean."

"Well," resumed the guide, "I felt my flesh creep, for I heard a most awful puffing and splashing close behind me. At the same time I heard a wild cheer on the bank, as if my foes were rejoicing at the prospect of my being eaten up! I looked back quickly, expecting to see the terrible jaws and the long rows of teeth; but, to my great surprise, I saw only my friend pursuing me with his knife in his teeth, as if he wanted to finish me. I understood the thing at once. The good fellow knew that two could make a better splashing than one, and he also hoped, no doubt, that his comrades would give him credit for extreme bravery in thus jumping into such danger for the sake--as they would suppose--of killing an enemy! The cheer they gave him showed what they thought on that point.

"We both gained the opposite bank--I a few yards in advance. You may be sure I was not slow in bounding up the bank. I could hear the howl of rage with which the villains saw the failure of their plan. What is more, I could both hear and see the arrows that were sent after me, but, through G.o.d's blessing, none of them touched me, and I was soon in the shelter of the woods. I could also hear my friend panting at my heels.

"I'm a pretty fair runner," continued Pedro, "but my friend is a better.

He pa.s.sed me like a deer. `Come on,' he cried, `you've no time to lose.' From which I knew he meant that the blackguards would cross the river in canoes and pursue me. He led me across a spit of jungle-land where the river took a sudden bend, and came out on the bank at the head of a long rapid. On reaching the bank he pulled out a small canoe which had been concealed there, and told me to jump in. `You'll have to run the rapid. It's not much of a chance, but it's your only one.' I squeezed his hand, thanked him hastily, and was soon paddling quickly with the current. In a few moments I heard my friend shouting with rage and brandishing his knife. He was acting, I knew. Looking back I saw that a number of men had joined him, and again the arrows began to drop around me, but I was soon beyond their reach and battling with the rapid.

"Well was it for me that I have been much used to canoeing, for the words of my friend, `It's not much of a chance,' were literally true.

For some minutes I was whirled about by eddies and shoots in such a way that it seems to me now a miracle that I escaped being dashed to pieces several times. I forgot all about my pursuers, so great was the danger; but when at last I ran out of the lowest shoot into the water below the rapids, I saw, on looking back, that they were still following me along the banks. I was going faster, however, than they were, so I felt easier in my mind, till I saw them jump into several canoes and push off in chase. By that time I had more than a mile of start, and the sun was setting. `Now, Pedro,' said I to myself, `it's a fair race for your life; so bend your back to it, my boy.' I went on till it grew so dark that I could hardly see twenty yards ahead of me. Then I put ash.o.r.e, hauled the canoe up among the reeds, climbed into a tree and went to sleep, for well I knew that it would be death both to them and me if we continued descending a stream like that in the dark.

"Well, I slept like a top, for I was dead beat; but two or three times I awoke with a tremendous start under the impression that I was falling.