often milreas intended for the hermit himself, the very great holiness ofwhose character he could not, however, help doubting,--he was about totake the taper from the altar, with the intention of finding his way tothe month of the cave.--"Hold! impious man!" exclaimed the voice of theHermit; though, from what quarter it came it was impossible to tell."Take thy sacrilegious hands from off that candle, which must remaintill I have counted thy gifts. Retire the way by which you came."
Don Luis, though not particularly well pleased at this address, thoughtit would be of no avail either to answer or to disobey the order; andaccordingly endeavoured so to direct his course as to reach the entranceof the cavern, hoping soon to see the light of day streaming in from theopening in the rock. Holding his sword in its scabbard before him, toprevent himself from running suddenly against the side of the cave,should he miss the right course, he slowly groped his way onward, buthad not advanced far when he found the value of his precaution by itsstriking against the rock. He looked round, intending to take a freshdeparture from the light, when he found that it had been extinguished,and that he was in utter darkness. He now felt convinced that sometrick was being played off against him, at the bottom of which hestrongly suspected was the holy Fre Diogo; though, had robbery beenintended, it might have been committed at once, without delivering thecasket or packet. It must be confessed that he was in a verydisagreeable position; shut up in a dark cavern, and, for aught he couldtell to the contrary, surrounded by robbers, or, at the best, in thepower of some daring impostors. He was inclined, as well he might be,to be very angry; but he knew that losing his temper would not at allaid him to get out of the trap; besides, utter darkness, such assurrounded him, has generally a very soothing effect on the mind. Theground on which he stood was still hard and damp, so that he knew hecould not yet have reached the passage by which he entered, and for somemoments he could not resolve to proceed, fearful of becoming moreconfused, and of perhaps falling into some deep cavity, through whichthe water he heard must find its way. He determined, however, ifviolence was intended, not to be taken without a stroke for life;silently, therefore, drawing his sword, he grasped it firmly in hisright hand, while with the scabbard he felt around on his left side. Hefancied that he could hear the breathing of some one near him, but, ashe swept his sword round, it met nought but the empty air. Now Luiswas, as he had often proved, possessed of as much of that quality calledcourage as most men; but there are many who will face danger withoutshrinking in open daylight, and when they see and know the strength oftheir foe, who would feel very uncomfortable when shut up in the dark,and not at all knowing what to expect, which was exactly his case atpresent. His patience, also, was quickly worn out. "I beg, most holyhermit, that you will not consider me like a mole, with eyes to see, orclaws to work my way out of this cave; but, as I am anxious to returnhome, that you will throw a light upon my path to enable me to do so,"he exclaimed, with some degree of anger in his tone.
"Turn, then, to the left as you face the rock, and you will soon see thebright light which shines on all men alike, the light of day;" said avoice at some little distance.
"If he does, he will plunge into the deep hole through which the streamflows; his feet are close to it already," answered another voice.
"Then he is not where I thought he was," said the first; "but let himturn to the right then, and he will be free."
"I beg you will finish this mummery," exclaimed Don Luis, "and show methe way out of this place."
"Beware that you utter no blasphemy," said the voice. "Now, look moreearnestly, and you will behold the light before you."
At that moment a small flame burst forth, towards which he immediatelyadvanced, and found himself treading on the soft sand in the narrowpassage. The light was again extinguished, but in its stead he saw, atsome distance, the sunshine gleaming through the mouth of the cavern.Glad to escape from the place, he was hurrying towards it, when a loudnoise resounded through the rocky vault, and he found himself again incomplete darkness, and could distinctly hear a suppressed chuckle oflaughter.
This was trying his patience too much. "Whether saint or devil," heexclaimed, "let me go free from your abode."
"Blaspheme not, my son," answered the voice; "but your temper shall nolonger be tried; only, remember in future to cast no reflections on thecharacter of my esteemed friend, the holy Fre Diogo;" and a loud peal oflaughter resounded through the vault, whose echoes had no sooner diedaway, than a door he had not before perceived was thrown open, and thesunshine again streamed in, when he saw, standing on one side, thevenerable form of the hermit.
"Farewell, my son," said the latter personage. "My devotions have beensadly disturbed by sounds of unwonted merriment, in which the spirits ofdarkness have indulged, even as they did in the hermitage of the mostholy Saint Anthony. Ah! I see you were prepared to combat with theweapons of carnal warfare; but those avail not against the inhabitantsof the infernal regions. 'Twas with his crosier and breviary, not tomention the pair of red-hot tongs, that the great saint put to flightthe Prince of Darkness; and such are the weapons with which I fight. Iwill detain you no longer: again, farewell, my son. Your shortest wayhome is to mount the path by which you came here, and to descend on theother side of the hill. Above all things, do not speak ill of the holyFre Diogo."
"Farewell, most holy hermit," answered Luis; "though, I suspect, if youallow such proceedings in your hermitage, its character for sanctitywill be somewhat damaged."
"No fear of that, my son," said the venerable personage; "there is nocharacter in the world so quickly gained, or so easily maintained, asthat of sanctity, which is the reason so many people assume it who havelost all claim to any other. Remember that, my son, for I have fullcause to know the truth of what I say. Now Heaven speed you, for youare a good youth!"
With these words, the hermit retired into the recesses of the cave, andLuis issued into the open air. As advised, he climbed up the hill bythe steep path he had descended, which he found far less difficulty indoing; and crossing to the other side, he was happy to perceive hishorse quietly grazing in a field below, somewhat impeded in theoperation by the bit in his mouth, while the boy had gone to sleep byhis side, wondering when the fidalgo would return.
Luis roused the boy, and gave him a piece of silver, probably a largeramount than he had ever before possessed, while he threw the reins overhis horse's neck and prepared to mount. The lad's eyes glistened withdelight, and in a moment he appeared to be brisk and intelligent enough."A thousand thanks, for your charity to a poor lad, senhor," he said;"and I have something to tell you. Some time after you were gone away,while I was lying down on the grass, thinking of going to sleep, somestrange men came up to your horse, and, without saying a word, took yourpistols out of the holsters, threw out the priming, and returned themquickly back again. They looked so fierce, that I was afraid to sayanything; so I snored away, pretending to be fast asleep, and the mendirectly afterwards went away; but I forgot all about it till you gaveme the piece of silver."
Luis immediately examined his pistols, and found that they had beentampered with; then, carefully reloading them, and giving the boyanother piece of money for his information, he mounted his horse, andregained the road, and had just done so when he saw a horseman gallopingalong to meet him, in whom he was by no means sorry to recognise hisservant Pedro.
"Oh, senhor!" exclaimed the honest fellow, when he came up to him, "I amdelighted to see you safe and sound; for my mind misgave me, ever sinceyou told me you were going to meet an acquaintance of that rascallyfriar;--Heaven forgive me if I wrong him;--so at last I determined totake a horse and follow you; but now I have found you, it is all right,and I hope you will forgive me my fears for your safety."
While Pedro was speaking, their path was leading them a little way roundthe base of the hill; and before his master had time to answer, severalmen sprung out from behind some large rocks, which lay scattered around,and seizing their bridles, attempted to drag them from their hors
es.Pedro, who was armed only with a thick stick, laid about him mostmanfully, keeping the robbers, for such they appeared to be, at bay; andDon Luis drew a pistol from his holster, threatening to shoot the mannearest him; but the fellow only laughed, daring him to fire, which heimmediately did, and the man dropped. Upon this, the others, undaunted,rushed on him with loud cries of vengeance, and before he could draw hissword or use his other pistol, they grasped him by the arms, dragginghim from his horse to the ground. Pedro fought on some time longer,proving that a good oak stick in the hand is better than a sword by theside, and had very nearly succeeded in rescuing his master, when therobbers, fearing that such would be the case, made a rush on him alltogether, and pinioned his arms behind him.
The report of
The Prime Minister Page 46