"I Am About To See," I Said,
"Whether This Horse Has Any Of The Quality Which You Have
Described." "Do So," Said Antonio, And Spurred His Beast Onward,
Speedily Leaving Me Far Behind.
I jerked the horse with the bit,
endeavouring to arouse his dormant spirit, whereupon he stopped,
reared, and refused to proceed.
"Hold the bridle loose and touch
him with your whip," shouted Antonio from before. I obeyed, and
forthwith the animal set off at a trot, which gradually increased
in swiftness till it became a downright furious speedy trot; his
limbs were now thoroughly lithy, and he brandished his fore legs in
a manner perfectly wondrous; the mule of Antonio, which was a
spirited animal of excellent paces, would fain have competed with
him, but was passed in a twinkling. This tremendous trot endured
for about a mile, when the animal, becoming yet more heated, broke
suddenly into a gallop. Hurrah! no hare ever ran so wildly or
blindly; it was, literally, ventre a terre; and I had considerable
difficulty in keeping him clear of rocks, against which he would
have rushed in his savage fury, and dashed himself and rider to
atoms.
This race brought me to the foot of the hill, where I waited till
the Gypsy rejoined me: we left the hill, which seemed quite
inaccessible, on our right, passing through a small and wretched
village. The sun went down, and dark night presently came upon us;
we proceeded on, however, for nearly three hours, until we heard
the barking of dogs, and perceived a light or two in the distance.
"That is Trujillo," said Antonio, who had not spoken for a long
time. "I am glad of it," I replied; "I am thoroughly tired; I
shall sleep soundly in Trujillo." "That is as it may be," said the
Gypsy, and spurred his mule to a brisker pace. We soon entered the
town, which appeared dark and gloomy enough; I followed close
behind the Gypsy, who led the way I knew not whither, through
dismal streets and dark places, where cats were squalling. "Here
is the house," said he at last, dismounting before a low mean hut;
he knocked, no answer was returned; - he knocked again, but still
there was no reply; he shook the door and essayed to open it, but
it appeared firmly locked and bolted. "Caramba!" said he, "they
are out - I feared it might be so. Now what are we to do?"
"There can be no difficulty," said I, "with respect to what we have
to do; if your friends are gone out, it is easy enough to go to a
posada."
"You know not what you say," replied the Gypsy, "I dare not go to
the mesuna, nor enter any house in Trujillo save this, and this is
shut; well, there is no remedy, we must move on, and, between
ourselves, the sooner we leave this place the better; my own
planoro (brother) was garroted at Trujillo."
He lighted a cigar, by means of a steel and yesca, sprang on his
mule, and proceeded through streets and lanes equally dismal as
those which we had already traversed till we again found ourselves
out of the, town.
I confess I did not much like this decision of the Gypsy; I felt
very slight inclination to leave the town behind and to venture
into unknown places in the dark night: amidst rain and mist, for
the wind had now dropped, and the rain began again to fall briskly.
I was, moreover, much fatigued, and wished for nothing better than
to deposit myself in some comfortable manger, where I might sink to
sleep, lulled by the pleasant sound of horses and mules despatching
their provender. I had, however, put myself under the direction of
the Gypsy, and I was too old a traveller to quarrel with my guide
under the present circumstances. I therefore followed close at his
crupper; our only light being the glow emitted from the Gypsy's
cigar; at last he flung it from his mouth into a puddle, and we
were then in darkness.
We proceeded in this manner for a long time; the Gypsy was silent;
I myself was equally so; the rain descended more and more. I
sometimes thought I heard doleful noises, something like the
hooting of owls. "This is a strange night to be wandering abroad
in," I at length said to Antonio.
"It is, brother," said he, "but I would sooner be abroad in such a
night, and in such places, than in the estaripel of Trujillo."
We wandered at least a league farther, and appeared now to be near
a wood, for I could occasionally distinguish the trunks of immense
trees. Suddenly Antonio stopped his mule; "Look, brother," said
he, "to the left, and tell me if you do not see a light; your eyes
are sharper than mine." I did as he commanded me. At first I
could see nothing, but moving a little farther on I plainly saw a
large light at some distance, seemingly amongst the trees. "Yonder
cannot be a lamp or candle," said I; "it is more like the blaze of
a fire." "Very likely," said Antonio. "There are no queres
(houses) in this place; it is doubtless a fire made by durotunes
(shepherds); let us go and join them, for, as you say, it is
doleful work wandering about at night amidst rain and mire."
We dismounted and entered what I now saw was a forest, leading the
animals cautiously amongst the trees and brushwood. In about five
minutes we reached a small open space, at the farther side of
which, at the foot of a large cork tree, a fire was burning, and by
it stood or sat two or three figures; they had heard our approach,
and one of them now exclaimed Quien Vive? "I know that voice,"
said Antonio, and leaving the horse with me, rapidly advanced
towards the fire: presently I heard an Ola!
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 39 of 218
Words from 38959 to 39959
of 222596
