CHAPTER IX.

Clutha Leader, Volume VIII, Issue 415, 23 September 1881, Page 7

CHAPTER IX.

I know a lady fair to see, Take care ! She can both false and friendly be, Beware ! Beware ! Trust her not, She is fooling thee '. Sbe ha 3 two eyes, so soft and brown, Take care ! She gives a side glance and looks down, Beware ! beware ! Trust her not, She is fooling thee ! She has a bosom white as snow, Take care ! She knows how much it is best to show, Beware! beware! — Hyperion. There are few scenes more interesting to an observant mind than those which occur daily at the great wharfs where foreign ships are laden ; and we can imagine its picturesque effect at a tropical port, such as Carthagena, where several ships belonging to Alvaro are now lying. No longer those great dark floating fabrics beat back the ocean's continual assault; no longer those tapering masts bend and creak under the weight of the storm. But internal commotion succeeds ; the hold is thrown open to the warm air ; blocks creak and cranes groan beneath the weight of great bales dislodged from their long resting-place. Half-naked sailors heave at the wheel or windlass ; swarthy porters swagger to and fro with bended backs; yellow- faced clerks with broad-brimmed hats and nankeen jackets, note down the goods as they emerge from the ship, and are borne away. Scents of all kinds, with all their associations, fill the air j musky odours and briny smells — even iron, and silk, and leather, are thus invisibly announced, and insensibly excite attention. Within the narrowwindowed store- houses, also, there are sounds of life ; tramping feet, straining arms, commanding voices, scratching of pens ; there, though unseen, is also life and life's lot— work, taskmaster-snip, aud slavery.

In the most remote part of the storehouse sat a tall, pale noble-looking man— the master — The Merchant Prince. There was the living centre, the moviug spirit of all the busy crowd without : of many a ship srill far away, struggling 1 with distant seas ; of earnest bargains, at that moment being made, and grave arrangements, in many languages, and in many a remotpcity of the"Varth. The sun never set upon the business of his agents. In every hour of the twenty-four, -in some part or other of the world, men were writing or speaking the name of Alvaro, the princely merchant of Carthagpna. His house was always open to travellers. In the times we speak of, their visits were but few and far between* We do not often meet with accounts of amateur wanderers in the west in those days of danger. Among those whom accident first sent adrift there, and whom a natural love of travel instigated to presevere in its pursuit, the names of Wafer and Dam pier occupy a conspicuous place. The ' voyage 'of the former seems now more like a romance than most fictions that assume the title. This enterprising man was welcomed heartily by Alvaro, and Paterson seems to have formed a lasting friendship and esteem for him. In after years, when the publication of his travels had given him a name and fame, Wafer was consulted with respect to the details of the great Darien scheme, and he then bore out, to the letter, all the statements made .by Paterson. His arrival with Dampier was a great incident in Carthagena. Wafer bad lived for a long time among the native Indians ; Dampier had lately investigated the isthmus and declared it could even then be traversed in three days byiway of Chiapo and Santa Maria; The intelligence thus communicated gave a fresh impulse to the schemes of the partners. The great fair at Panama, held at the end of every eighteen months, at Portobello, was approaching, and Paterson resolved to take that opportunity of exploring the country between the Pacific and Atlantic seaports. He inquired of Wafer if he knew in what condition the buccaneers stood there, and whether they were likely to, attack the Spanish galleons then on: their voyage to Portobello. Wafer; replied — . , '■I think they are in a low condition: at present ; they have been denounced both by France and England, and many of them have given up the trade. One of their most daring and skilful leaders, too, vvas lately caught by the Indians and fly-blown", in revenge for some act? of violence he bad committed on their coasts. We saw him after that terrible execution a miserable sight. They had bound him and a companion of his to two cedar trees, and annointed them with honey, myriads, of flies soon settled upon them, blackening them, from head to foot ; these flies and other insects" slowly ate their skins away, and depositing'their eggs within, these were soon vivified, and the poor-fellows- died in fearfully prolonged suffering:. The one was- said to be the celebrated Laurence, or Laurent," as the French .call him, and the other was a Scotch sailor, who had only lately joined the' Brotherhood.'

Paterson 'was deeply moved with this intelligence, and inquired how it happened, that a man so powerful and subtle could have fallen into the Indian's hands.

* I heard the story very indistinctly,' Wafer replied, ' but I understood that Laurence had gone in a canoe to one of the Caxones, it was supposed in search of buried treasure : they were caught by a tornado and driven upon the coast where they were too well known. They say, however, that there were three of them, and as only two were put to death, one must have escaped.'

Paterson was shocked to find that a strange sense of pleasure mingled with, and, as it were, shone through the dark horror that this story inspired. But death is a sure shelter for the faults of those whom it has deprived of erring sense and senses ; and Paterson only thought of the murdered buccaneer as he appeared at Sandilee, brave, brilliant, generous, and full of life. He seemed to him, too, to have fallen in the attempt to discharge, a trust ; for he well guessed that it was in search of the fatal treasure that the pirate lost his life.

It was not till after a long debate with himself that he resolved to write to Alice. He informed , her as gently as he could that her betrothed was dead, and that he had died in endeavouring to discharge (he did not say how tardily) his promise to her father. He then added some few lines regarding himself and his own position. He aid not venture to make any suit to her, but he gave her to understand, as well as his timidity would permit, that his affection for her had never altered ; but that without presuming on any occurrences of the auld lang syne, he should always consider it as a first duty, no less than the highest privilege to render any service to her that his

utmost efforts could perform. And so he ended j and committed his letter to Wafer, who was waiting for the first opportunity to return to Europe.

Meanwhile, the house of Alvaro prospered, and advanced daily in wealth consideration, and power. The superior education and youthful energies of the two partners more than atoned for their want of experience. They could afford to commit some errors, and their talents often turned even mistakes ultimately to good account. 'I he great scheme concerning the isthmus was never allowed to slumber, but ie was necessary first thoroughly to explore the destined scene of its operation, and hence it was that Paterson had resolved to visit Portobello, and was now making preparations for his voyage. His even and regular mode of life presented a considerable contrast to that of his equally energetic but more mercurial friend.

Sometimes Alvaro would entirely

seclude himself from society, and devote all the great powers of his mind to private study ; at other times he applied himself solely to the advancement of his business, which he looked on rather as a curious problem than as a means to greater wealth. Sometimes, however, his restlessness would take a social turn and vent itself in festivals, whose magnificence was long remembered by the pale ladies of Carthagena with wonder and delight. In all his moods his staid friend and partner could so far sympathise as to prevent estrangement ; though at the same time he acted aa a sort of pendulum, to prevent excess on one hand or the other.

Jt was on the occasion of a marriage between a young Peruvian merchant and the daughter of his brother merchant, Don Felipo, that Alvaro gave an entertainment that invoked the young Scot in a romance that he little contemplated. The. bride was rich and fair but a mere child ; her kinswoman, who for some time had supplied the place of her lost mother, was also young, but she enjoyed the great privileges of a widow ; combining the independence of a matron with the. attractions of a maid. Marina Conzaga was her virgin name, which she had resumed after her very brief- and not very happy wedlock. This last, however, was presumed; for nothing was with certainty known of her earlier

days, except that she then lived with an old uncle at Campeachy ; on the sack of that city, by the buccaneers, she had escaped after long wanderings, by great courage arid ingenuity to Cartha-

gena. Her admirable beauty together with her romantic reputation, her. wit, and inaccessibility had grained her numerous admirers. The ladies of Carthagena were seldom accused of coldness, but Marina had hitherto kept at a distance every individual of the sex which her experience had perhaps warned to eschew. Alvaro himself, as well as most oi those who beheld her, • had: at , first been attracted by this superb and haughty beauty, but his very- superiority of mind and person seemed the more to pique her disdain. The Moresco, proud as herself and a good deal preoccupied, resigned her service with a careless . smile. During 1 his first acquaintance with the widow, he had offered, to, arrange some affairs for her at Pbvtobello, and he now recommended his grave friend. as his substitute in her confidence. The beautiful widow ac.cepted: thes change, with apparent pleasure, and Paterson was introduced to : her 'dan&erous -presence.- 1 ;i > ;.--■■ ; The young Scot had, perhaps malii ciousiy, been left uninformed by his

friend of the sort of person whom he was to serve. His secluded habits had kept him, a , stranger to society, and except the puzzling page of Alice Graeme,: hd utterly unread and inexperienced.in the mystic book of woman's nature. He. had simply understood from Don .Alvaro that he, might be . useful to a widow lady, in whom his friend had taken much interest, and it was with a mind full of philanthropy and attuned to sympathy with an elderly widow's woe, that he ascended , the white .marble steps which led to Marina's apartmentsi

Even the languid and dangerous climate of Carthagena had been rendered luxurious by the sensuous Spaniards of that time.. Wide spread verandahs, with gay coloured awnings shaded the windows, and left a space where the sea breeze might cool and become fragrant, tangled in the petals of a thousand flowers. •In the court yard a lofty fountain, flung its .spray into the sunshine, and the exaporation caused a gentle current of air to flow through the surrounding apartments. The palmetto spread its branches over the roof, and rustled with every breath of wind created by the musical fall of waters below.

Into this deliciously cool retreat the young 1 Scot passed from the scorching atmosphere without. A slave gijl, black and beautiful as an ebony statue, received his name and message ; and in a few minutes more a wide curtain of curiously woven cotton was drawn aside, and the man of business passed through a screen of myrtle and orange trees into the presence of his client. Her apartment resembled, a pavilion rather than a room ; being on three sides supported only by pillars of polished cedar. Facing that by which one. entered from the vestibule, rose the fountain before described, which shed its moisture on the white porcelain with which this parquet was paved. At each corner stood a crystal vase, containing gold and silver fish, and in the centre played a jet of perfnmed water. It was open towards the sea on one side and the court yard on the other. The upper end of the room was furnished with a small marble table, and a very low and wide couch, after the eastern fashion, placed against the only solid wall, and this was lined with a great mirror ; so that the occupant of the divan could behold the sea and all its shipping reflected without any glare, through the jalousies opposite. In that land of the sun, to overcome his tyranny and enjoy all the products of .his power, seemed the greatest exercise of taste and skill. Far different from his old haunts by the Solway's stormy shore were these scenes, and all the sensations they awakened in the young Scot. Even in Carthagena his own dwelling was of the simplest and least luxurious construction, and it was now, for the first time that he felt the enervating influences of such appeals to the sense, as surrounded him in Marina's fanciful abode. Every air he breathed was laden with odours, evsry sound was musical, every sight was beautiful. As he gazed around him a female figure glided in. It was enveloped in a cloud of white and almost transparent gauze, but the gracefulness of the form within was revealed by its ease and majesty of movement — the true Andalu9ian gait. It was Marina herself. ' As soon as she had sat down, tfr rather sunk into tLe cushions of the wide divan, she unveiled and fixed her brilliant eyes in astonishment on the Scot. She had expected to see an English merchant of the usual sort, with a bald head, wrinkled and sallow cheeks, and huge spectacles. Sbe found in her new adviser a figure tall and upright, crowned by a comely head, that had never been bowed even in thought by one unworthy consciousness. Abundant but fine hair fell away from a white expansive forehead, and finely-arched brovs shaded eyes of the clearest blue. Energy was legible in the nostril, but the almost feminine sweetness of the mouth showed that it wps. energy rather of a passive than of an active kind.

Such was the aspect of the young Scot, who stood for some moments gazing on the beautiful Spaniard with a simple and unaffected look of surprise and admiration, which was far more flattering to her than the most courtly compliments. But soon her. visitor's prepared expression of countenance changed to something like anxiety and, trouble. That woman's glowing beauty, fell on himiike a sun-stroke; a vague idea .of delightful danger, of painful pleasure seized him. He , averted his eyes) and with the blooci mounting- to his pale forehead, he expressed some faltering suspicion that he had made a mistakerrrthat it was with a widow lady .he sought the honour ot an interview on business connected with her bereaved situation. Marinasmiled half scpunfuHy, but seeing her guest still standing in embarrassed silence, she burst into a peal of laughter that rang like merry music in the young merchant's. ears, ' 3enpr< ; Esoocez ;.!' she .exclaimed at length ; ' you expected to find in me an old woman in black weeds ; I expected to behold in you, an . elderly: cavalier ; writh . bent back ; and horrible . bald head, or still more 'horrible' peruke. I suspect that your magnificent. -friend, Don Alvaro,' has:, prepared us for thismutual mistake ; let us revenge pur ! sel\«* on him by acting on our original belief, instead at our present discover-

ies. Draw near then kind old friend, and repose upon this sofa, my sense of heariqg is not what it used to be, and your venerablfi limbs no doubt : require rest.' : ,

The Scot for the first time in his life felt bewildered, but passively and in silence obeyed. After a short paus^, .the Senora tapped his arm with, her folded fan, and demanded abruptly — * When do you sail for that horrid Campeachy ?' " ;..-.' *As soon— as soon a* possible,' faltered the raerch'ant. •Nay, nonsense,' rejoined Marina; 'Don A.lvaro's< grand banquet and. my cousin's marriage are r not to take place for two days^ You can't go until after that.'

* Lady,' replied the Scot solemnly, • I have little to do with such things I am but a humble man of business, not of pleasure ; and I set myself certain tasks which it is my only and undivided object to, accomplish.' * And is it possible,. Senor Escocez, that you so young, have a heart so entirely devoted to the acquisition of mere wealth V

The Scot now looked up boldly into the SerioraV face. *I do not care for wealth, lady,' said; he; ' else, I were indeed unhappy. Even as that fountain is cold amidst the burning sunbeams, I am Door, though the medium of golden millions.' • : • Nay, now I Mow you jest, for -Don Alvaro told me that you were his dearest friend and only partner.'

' I will not force my confidence upon you, lady ; but what I say is true, whatever may be the generous and mistaken belief of Don Alvaro. J came to this Western World with far different views than those of avarice. I brought hither many hopes and many resolutions ; but the strongest of all these last was to touch no farthing of this damning gold, save such as had been purified by honest earning, and purchased by my own exertions,' 'Very strange!' exclaimed Marina, almost in soliloquy. 'He talks more like one of the qld romances than like a rational creature ; and yet it pleases me. Senor,' she added, with a short pause, and with some feeling, * have you left no one in your own country for v horn, if not for yourself you desire to win wealth V

'None, lady !' replied the Scot, with a sigh. l But I have left there thousands of my countrymen for whom f hope to obtain a nobler benefit — an honourable path from penury and care to prosperity and ease. But, r pardon me, [ have no right and do desire to intrude my private concerns upon your ear. I wait to learn your commands for Portobello, whither I must soon depart.' The lady sighed and was silent ; she Was not thinking of Portobello or of dollars just then. She had heard for the first time in her life, a man speak nobly, loftily, and earnestly of others' welfare.. In, the depths of her heart she found some echo to that strange language ; but still she felt more interested in the thinker than in his thoughts. '

' This climate is really too oppressive,' she said, ' for prolonged visits of ceremony. Excuse me if I try to obtain a little repose for my frame, while my mind attempts to grapple with busi-

ness.'

Try;,Tr.

So saying, as she arose, one of tibe Hying ebony statutes presented her polished shoulder for her to lean upon as she moved towards a sort of hammock, such as sailors use, but very different in texture, and richly fringed with silken tassels to divert the flies. Reclined at:full length on' that moving couch, and rocked by her slaves to and fro with an almost imperceptible motion, the Senora seemed >to iihd .the repose she sought ;, her Wvge lustrous eyes alone betrayed restlessness, as they sometimes pensivelyTgazejiCuppn the sea, but on the slightest pretext Reamed full on her embarrassed visittir. He stood with folded arms, leaning against an adjoining 1 pillar^ endeavouring to look upon thefltfor, though occasionally thinking himself obliged to turn his eyes tawards the undulating hammock, when its" fair occupant addressed him.;

'I think I can- now give some account of my affairs,' she/ said, languidly and carelessly. .'At ? the time that those terrible 1 buccaneers plundered Campeachy, about ; three. years, ago,- J was living. there ..wijfch, a.dear. old uncle, who: fell a. victim. : to . their;, barbai-ity.; When the assault., first took. place, and ; our troops wer.e... beaten, ,b#ck, we ,saw ; from our terrace the pirates pursuing! them.; .An ; attempt; to .par ley ".' wasj made, but it was -..too .late. The wild| sailors, begrimed with dust and b.lobfj.j wer e , already clarnberi ng o ver IHe ! wall's j with their sVords between, 7 their 'teetL Sly poor tincie exclaimed" ' " !; Satifa| Maria! it is all over— we are ;; lbsb!j My child, I have pnly life ?to Iqs6 j iandj not much of that. You) are in yetj greater danger, and I charge you -to- flyj by the' Vega gate, 4owards!<thß logwood stores ) they will • leave ,-the'm . to. the last.* -If '-you ever excape to ; Cartha-f gena, you ; will find;; some, property. of mine in Don., Felipp's h^dsj; ; , it, , is yours. : But ,. my, a.phief , ;Wealth :i L lies buried; at Portobelb,,. in:the. < jp i o l t.,j.n^ i i| .cated >byi.ithese jjablejis ; :i it^iekajgo, jyou^sj Now fiy, and leave nic Jo .my, players/ ■ j,:il> tried to s.tay *. with, .him, „but he

* This, in effect, the buccaneers did, and afterwards made a bonfire of the logwo'riipin tfieif • drutiken ; orgies,«in"!honau4" Jo£ ; Lpuis^rVj. This fuel wa» worth, half a millwi.a of money,. !

sternly drove me forth, and 1 soon found myself borrie along by a crowd of fugitives through the streets, and away into the country. Before we had got far, I could see the smoke and flames rising from the ruins that lately were our homes. I need not tell you through what trials and disasters I passed ; having been captured at last by the leader of the buccaneers. After a long detention, however, I escaped, and found the refuse I now enjoy with my good kinsman Felipo. 1

Here the Senora paused, as if she hesitated how to explain something. But she soon went on, and thus concluded : — ' I cared little for the buried treasure at Portobello as long as my property here lasted ; but it is now almost gone. Felipo recommended me to consult the all powerful Don Alvaro as to the recovery of my poor uncle's treasure, and he it seems has referred me to you. Now, therefore, my fortunes are in your hands : my kinsman would not, if he dared, go to that fatal place, where the demon of pestilence seems to guard its treasures. Not for worlds would I revisit those scenes of horror. There are few whom I could trust with unknown treasure ; but if you will generously undertake my cause, I need only to look in your countenance to be assured that it is Safe.' "•':."•.: : . , The Scot only bowed to the compliment, arid saying that he must then retire, begged . to know when, , the Senora would favour him with further information on the subject of his in^ tended search.

'At Don Alvaro's f§te,' replied the lady, with a languid voice but earnest eye ; and the merchant no longer objected to that arrangement.

(To be continued.)