Under the Chilian Flag Part 5

"Yes," Douglas agreed, "that time will suit me very well, Senor Montt; and I shall look forward to our expedition with great interest."

The conversation then turned upon other matters, and the subject was dropped; but the next evening, after dinner, Douglas reminded Montt of their arrangement; and the two men, dressing themselves in mufti, stepped off the _Covadonga_ on to the wharf, and made their way up into the town.

They walked along the sea-front, where the horse-trams were wont to ply before the electric cars were introduced, right away up to the north end of the promenade, until they came to the Hotel de Sucre, where they turned off to the right, up a very narrow and badly-lighted side-street, which conducted them into a part of the city very much resembling the place in Iquique into which Jim had been inveigled. Indeed Jim began to have some doubts as to the wisdom of their little adventure when he saw the evil glances and scowls of hatred which everywhere met them on their progress; for it was not so very long that the Chilians had occupied the place.

However, Montt betrayed not the slightest uneasiness, and a.s.sured his friend that the Bolivians always looked askance at strangers in the city, and as they were both dressed in mufti, so that their connection with the Chilians was not apparent, the young Englishman decided not to worry himself about the matter, but to trust entirely to his companion's discretion.

They traversed a number of narrow side-streets and gloomy alleys, and presently came out in the broad _Plaza de la Libertad_, where some patriotic orator was volubly holding forth about the rights of man and the iniquity of the Chilian invasion. Montt hurriedly seized Jim's arm as the Englishman was on the point of crossing the road to hear what the orator had to say, and guided him away to the left, so that they skirted the _plaza_ instead of crossing it.

"The people seem in rather an excitable mood to-night," said the lieutenant; "we had therefore better make ourselves as inconspicuous as possible. I wonder what has occurred? Possibly there may have been some battle, in which the Bolivians have been defeated. I would not have come ash.o.r.e had I thought that the city was likely to be in this state of unrest. However, as we are here we may as well go forward; so come along, and let us get away from this frothing volcano as soon as we can. We will turn down this side-street; it is not very much out of our way, and we shall be out of sight of the crowd all the sooner."

Jim readily acquiesced, as a good many of the people whom they met seemed to regard them with anything but friendly glances, and the two men hurried away down the Calle San Antonio, where they soon got out of range of the angry growling of the mob.

"Can't imagine what's wrong here to-night," muttered Montt, in a low voice, "but it must be either, as I said, that we have defeated their countrymen somewhere on land, or else that one of our ships has sunk or captured the _Huascar_; nothing less would, I imagine, have roused them to such a pitch of excitement. We Chilians are maintaining a ridiculously small army of occupation here; far too small for the purpose, in my opinion; and if the Bolivians were to turn restive, as they seem very much inclined to do, we should have rather a bad time of it, I am afraid. However, we are not far away from the house where this old Inca witch-woman, or whatever she calls herself, lives. It used to be in one of the small hovels on the right side of the street we are just coming to."

They turned into the street--or, rather, alley--indicated by Montt, and at once found themselves in a cobble-paved and exceedingly ill-lighted thoroughfare, flanked on either side by a curious a.s.sortment of huge, old-time houses, which were doubtless, at one period, the dwellings of high Government officials, and tiny, tumbledown hovels, which seemed to have sprung up, like fungi or some other evil growth, on the small s.p.a.ces of ground which had formerly been left vacant between the larger houses.

Half-way down this evil-looking, evil-smelling, and squalid alley Montt called a halt and, looking round carefully, remarked:

"Now, Senor Douglas, so far as I can remember--for it is a good many years since I was here before--this is the house; but as I see no sign of any light in the place, the old woman may have gone away, or died.

However, having come thus far, we will try our luck." And the lieutenant knocked softly upon the door.

The sound echoed dully through the little building, but otherwise the silence remained unbroken; it seemed as though the place was indeed deserted.

"_Caramba_!" exclaimed Montt, "I don't believe there is anybody here, after all; what a pity! I do not care to knock too loudly, either, for fear of attracting the attention of the neighbours. They are a queer lot down in this quarter, I can tell you. Hallo! did you hear anything moving inside there, just then, Douglas?"

Jim listened intently for a few seconds, then replied: "Yes, I think I _do_ hear something prowling about in there, but--upon my word, Montt, it sounds more like a--a--well, an animal than a human being; and--what a very curious smell there is; quite like--let me see--" here the young officer sniffed several times--"yes," he continued after a pause, "it is quite like the odour of a wild beast!"

"_Per Dios_! you are right," exclaimed the lieutenant, sniffing in turn.

"And I remember that last time I visited this place the old woman certainly seemed to carry with her an uncanny, musty, animal odour.

Therefore it is probably she. I will knock again."

Montt thereupon drew from his jacket pocket a revolver, which he had taken the precaution to bring with him, and tapped softly on the door with its b.u.t.t.

This time there followed a plainly perceptible "shuffle-shuffle" like the soft padding of a heavy animal's paws, and both men started violently when, directly afterward, and from the other side of the door, a whining voice inquired--

"Who knocks at my door? Go away, whoever you are. I am a poor, lone old woman, and if you dis--"

"Are you the Inca woman, Mama Huello?" broke in Montt; "for, if so, we wish to consult you. We are two naval officers who have heard of your wonderful powers of foretelling the future, and we should like to have a demonstration of them."

There was a pause, and then the whining voice replied: "Yes, I am the Mama Huello; wait ye there for a short time, while I prepare for your reception."

Again that curious shuffling sound was heard, and Jim somehow felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. It was only a disordered fancy, of course; but to him it certainly seemed as though the voice proceeded from an animal, rather than from a human being. Then Montt remarked:

"She must surely have a big dog, or some other pet animal with her, I should think, for I distinctly heard the 'pad-pad' of paws when the Mama turned away. I hope the creature will not attempt to worry us, under the impression that we mean harm to the old woman."

Jim did not reply. He felt instinctively that they would find no animal there when they entered the house; but he had no further time for reflection, for, at that moment, the door opened with startling suddenness, and a voice invited them to enter.

Montt stepped inside, and Jim followed close upon his heels. The door shut after them, of its own accord, apparently; and they found themselves in a narrow stone-flagged pa.s.sage, which was dimly lighted by an oil-lamp with a large red shade over it. The whitewashed walls were covered with all manner of hieroglyphs and drawings, the meaning of which Jim could not fathom. Nor had he much time to examine them, for the voice of the Mama, still proceeding from some unseen quarter, invited them to go forward, and they presently found themselves in a large apartment, built of stone, upon the walls of which hung rich silks and cloths made of vicuna-wool, together with a number of other articles, evidently of ancient native manufacture, the like of which the young Englishman had never seen before. To say that he was astonished at the barbaric splendour of the apartment is to put it very mildly; and he could not understand how it was that such an apparently diminutive house could contain a room of such large size as the one in which he now stood.

But he soon forgot his astonishment in watching the extraordinary owner of the place. She was a wizened little woman, of an age far beyond the allotted threescore years and ten, if appearances went for anything; but it was her face and hands that riveted Jim's attention and excited his disgust. Her features bore a strongly marked resemblance to those of an animal of the cat species, and her teeth were all pointed instead of being square; while her hands resembled claws, the fingers were hooked and skinny, and the nails were discoloured and extraordinarily long.

Taken altogether, it was a personality to excite repulsion and fear in any one brought in contact with it, and Douglas felt another strong shiver run down his back as he looked at her. She stood in the middle of the room, leaning upon a thick ebony stick, and peering out from beneath her overhanging eyebrows at the two young officers, with an expression which they could not quite fathom, and which seemed to be reading their very souls. Then Montt pulled himself together and remarked:

"We have heard of your powers, Mama, and we have come to ask you to foretell the future to us. As I said before, we are both naval officers in the service of--well--I won't say what country; and we are anxious to learn what may be in store for us. Will you read our lives?"

"Sit ye both down there," replied the old crone, pointing to a richly cushioned couch which was placed against one of the walls. "If ye really wish to know the future I can tell it ye. Oh yes, the Mama can tell ye. You, Don Jorge Montt, have visited me before--seven years ago; and I told you many things about your future. Have they yet come to pa.s.s?"

Montt started. He had not expected that she would again recognise him, for he was very much changed in appearance; and her remembrance of his name, and the date when he last visited her, seemed rather to savour of the uncanny.

"Yes, Mama," he replied, "I did visit you at the time you mention; and all that you told me has, so far, proved true. But men's actions govern their lives, and I thought that, perhaps, mine might have altered my future. You did not forecast a very prosperous career for me then, you know."

"You speak truth, Don Jorge," replied the woman. "Your brave deeds in the past have indeed influenced your future; and methinks I shall see great things in store for you. I will read your future first, my officer," she went on. "Come over here, and sit in this chair. Yes, that is it. Now do not speak until I give you permission; nor you either, Senor Englishman. Ha! You wonder how I know your nationality, do you not? I will show you stranger things than that, however, before you leave."

Montt having taken his seat in the chair, as directed, the Mama brought from a corner of the room a large copper brazier, on the top of which was a bowl of the same metal. Having filled the brazier with hot coals, which she took from a fire burning in the open hearth, she waited patiently for the metal bowl to become hot.

After the lapse of perhaps ten minutes the copper basin began to glow dully red, and the witch-woman thereupon poured into it some powder, which she took from a little gold casket.

Immediately a great cloud of smoke rushed up from the bowl, and, to Jim's unbounded amazement, hung suspended over it, without mingling with the air of the room, as he had expected it would. At the same time a delightful odour greeted his nostrils, and he began to experience a delicious sensation of drowsiness stealing over him, while to his ears there seemed to come a faint sound as of music being played at a distance. The outlines of the room began to vanish and fade away, little by little, until the only thing that remained before his eyes was the column, or rather ball, of smoke which now appeared gradually to a.s.sume larger dimensions, until at length he seemed to be looking into a dense mist, wherein he could at that moment discern nothing. And all the time his sensation of drowsiness was becoming stronger and still stronger, until he seemed to be in a state of semi-coma, very much like that induced by the use of opium.

Then, quite suddenly, his la.s.situde left him, his senses became preternaturally acute, and a sense of well-being and complete satisfaction pervaded his whole being. The mist into which he was gazing became faintly luminous, and strange shapes began to flit across it; shapes the like of which he had never seen in his life before. Then something approached him and rested its head upon his knee. He looked down and saw that the "something" was a huge jaguar or South American tiger; and it bore a striking resemblance to the woman, Mama Huello.

But, strange to say, Jim felt no sensation of fear; instead, his whole being seemed to be quivering with eagerness to see what was to be displayed upon the curtain of mist, still stretched before him.

The light became stronger and stronger, and the cloud more luminous, until it seemed to be a ma.s.s of living flame; and presently, out of the mist, pictures began to shape themselves one after another, in rapid succession.

Jim saw his friend, Montt, as the central figure in many battles, conducting himself with unexampled bravery, and covering himself with glory. Scenes occurred which Douglas knew, instinctively, related to the war at present in progress. He saw the lieutenant in command of a small gunboat fighting an action against a whole Peruvian fleet, and coming off victorious, though sorely wounded. Then many years seemed to elapse, during which Montt had apparently attained to a high position in the Chilian navy. The country was now divided against itself, was in the throes of revolution, and Montt was the leading spirit among the insurgents. He carried all before him by the magic of his consummate genius, and out of anarchy created concord. Then the scene changed again, and Jim beheld the representation of a broad _plaza_ in some city which he had never visited but which some sixth sense told him was Santiago de Chili. Montt, now supreme head of the Chilian navy, was just issuing from a building fronting on the square. It was night-time, and the man was clothed in a heavy black cloak which he had flung round his shoulders. Montt descended the steps leading from the house, and started to walk across the square, when suddenly, from behind the large fountain which played in the middle of the _plaza_, there sprang four men, all masked and armed with knives. There was a brief struggle, a shrill scream, and Montt fell pierced by the daggers of his enemies.

Then the scene vanished from before Jim's eyes, and he knew that his own future was about to be presented to him. He saw himself once more back on board the _Blanco_ _Encalada_, and knew that that ship, together with another Chilian vessel, was engaged in a fierce fight with a Peruvian ironclad, the name of which was hidden from him. The Chilians were victorious, although the carnage on both sides had been enormous, and Jim perceived that he himself had been wounded. Several other actions pa.s.sed across the screen of mist, in all of which Douglas took a leading part, distinguishing himself brilliantly, and receiving rapid promotion.

The scene then changed from sea to land, and Jim knew that he was detailed for sh.o.r.e service in some obscure town among the Bolivian mountains. He could distinctly see the whole picture laid out before him, and he knew instinctively that some great good fortune was awaiting him when the time should come for him to visit that place.

As he stood, or rather seemed to stand, gazing out over the scene, it vanished from before his eyes; and a voice, like that of the Mama Huello, spoke, saying:

"You, Senor Englishman, shall come to great honours through your own exertions and bravery; but I also see great riches before you, of which you shall obtain possession with but little trouble on your part. They are still under the earth, but in due time, and in a manner little suspected by you, their whereabouts shall be revealed to you, and you shall become a great man and a powerful chief in the land of your adoption."

The voice ceased, and a rumbling sound seemed to make itself heard in Jim's ears. Then the cloud of mist slowly dissolved, and the outlines of the room wherein he was seated gradually came back to his senses.

Yes, there was the copper brazier, but the glow had vanished from the coals, which were now black and cold. Montt was still seated in his chair, looking like a statue carved out of marble, and Jim found himself still on the couch whereon he had first placed himself. The curious feeling of drowsiness gradually left him, and the figure of Mama Huello appeared, still standing close to Montt and the copper brazier, apparently in the same position as she had taken up when the mist began to appear before his eyes, and she was laughing, a grim, noiseless chuckle that disclosed all her white, pointed teeth.

Suddenly the spell broke, and Montt and Jim rose to their feet simultaneously, the former wiping the cold perspiration from his brow, and smiling in a curiously strained manner.

"Well, Mama," he said, "you have shown us some very strange things, I must say. I only hope that the last part of your prophecy concerning myself will not come true. Here you are, Mama," he went on, feeling in his pockets for a coin, "here is a five-_peso_ piece for you. I hope you will consider the payment sufficient."

The old Inca woman grabbed the coin and hid it away in the recesses of her girdle. "Quite sufficient, gallant cavalier," she replied. "Your generosity has not withered with the years. You are a brave man; and I would that I might have shown you a more pleasant ending to your life; but fate is fate, and there is no changing it. _Adios, senores, adios_; I do not think we shall ever meet again. You, Senor Englishman, go forward to honour and fame; while you, Don Jorge Montt, go forward to honour and--death! But you will meet it with the brave heart; and it will not be very bitter when it comes."

By this time the two men had reached the door, which the Mama now opened, and a moment later Montt and Douglas were in the street, which was now illuminated by the rays of the full moon. As the door closed behind them Montt shivered, although the night was oppressively hot, and Jim could have sworn that he heard the sound of an animal's pads retreating down the pa.s.sage behind them.

The two men swiftly pulled themselves together, however, and started off for the _Covadonga_, which they reached just as the first faint flush of dawn made its appearance in the eastern sky.