CHAPTER IV
THE VILLAGE BY THE LAGOON
In the early morning one day we came in sight of a round high bluff witha castle atop, and a low shore running away. The ship's man told us thiswas Chagres.
This news caused a curious disintegration in the ship's company. We hadheretofore lived together a good-humoured community. Now we immediatelydrew apart into small suspicious groups. For we had shortly to landourselves and our goods, and to obtain transportation across theIsthmus; and each wanted to be ahead of his neighbour.
Here the owners of much freight found themselves at a disadvantage. Ibegan to envy less the proprietors of those enormous or heavy machinesfor the separation of gold. Each man ran about on the deck collectingbusily all his belongings into one pile. When he had done that, he spentthe rest of his time trying to extract definite promises from theharassed ship's officers that he should go ashore in the first boat.
Talbot and I sat on our few packages and enjoyed the scene. The shipcame to anchor and the sailors swung the boat down from the davits. Thepassengers crowded around in a dense, clamouring mob. We arose,shouldered our effects, and quietly slipped around to the correspondingboat on the other side the ship. Sure enough, that also was beinglowered. So that we and a dozen who had made the same good guess, were,after all, the first to land.
The town proved to be built on low ground in a bay the other side thecastle and the hill. It must be remembered that I had never travelled.The cane houses or huts, with their high peaked roofs thatched with palmleaves, the straight palms in the background against the sky, themorasses all about, the squawk and flop of strange, long-legged marshbirds, the glare of light, the queer looking craft beached on the mud,and the dark-skinned, white-clad figures awaiting us--all these struckstrongly at my imagination.
We beached in the mud, and were at once surrounded by a host of little,brown, clamorous men. Talbot took charge, and began to shoot backSpanish at a great rate. Some of the little men had a few words ofEnglish. Our goods were seized, and promptly disappeared in a dozendirections. I tried to prevent this, but could only collar one man at atime. All the Americans were swearing and threatening at a great rate. Isaw Johnny, tearing up the beach after a fleet native, fall flat andfull length in the mud, to the vast delight of all who beheld.
Finally Talbot ploughed his way to me.
"It's all settled," said he. "I've made a bargain with my friend here totake us up in his boat to Cruces for fifteen dollars apiece for four ofus."
"Well, if you need two more, for heaven's sake rescue Johnny," Iadvised. "He'll have apoplexy."
We hailed Johnny and explained matters. Johnny was somewhat put to it toattain his desired air of imperturbable calm.
"They've got every blistered thing I own, and made off with it!" hecried. "Confound it, sir, I'm going to shoot every saddle-coloured houndin the place if I don't get back my belongings!"
"They've got our stuff, too," I added.
"Well, keep calm," advised Talbot. "I don't know the game down here, butit strikes me they can't get very far through these swamps, if they_do_ try to steal, and I don't believe they're stealing anyway; thewhole performance to me bears a strong family resemblance to hotelrunners. Here, _compadre_!"
He talked a few moments with his boatman.
"That's right," he told us, then. "Come on!"
We walked along the little crescent of beach, looking into each of theboats in the long row drawn up on the shore. They were queer craft, dugout from the trunks of trees, with small decks in bow and stern, andwith a low roof of palmetto leaves amidships. By the time we had reachedthe end of the row we had collected all our effects. Our own boatmanstowed them in his craft.
Thereupon, our minds at rest, we returned to the landing to enjoy thescene. The second ship's boat had beached, and the row was going on,worse than before. In the seething, cursing, shouting mass we caughtsight of Yank's tall figure leaning imperturbably on his rifle muzzle.We made our way to him.
"Got your boat yet?" Talbot shouted at him.
"Got nothin' yet but a headache in the ears," said Yank.
"Come with us then. Where's your plunder?"
Yank stooped and swung to his shoulder a small bundle tied with ropes.
"She's all thar," said he.
These matters settled, we turned with considerable curiosity to thelittle village itself. It was all exotic, strange. Everything wasdifferent, and we saw it through the eyes of youth and romance asepitomizing the storied tropics.
There were perhaps a couple of hundred of the cane huts arranged roughlyalong streets in which survived the remains of crude paving. All elsewas a morass. Single palm trees shot up straight, to burst like rocketsin a falling star of fronds. Men and women, clad in a single cottonshift reaching to the knees, lounged in the doorways or against thefrail walls, smoking cigars. Pot-bellied children, stark naked, playedeverywhere, but principally in the mudholes and on the offal dumps.Innumerable small, hairless dogs were everywhere about, a greatcuriosity to us, who had never even heard of such things. We looked intosome of the interiors, but saw nothing in the way of decent furniture.The cooking appeared to be done between two stones. A grand tropicalsmell hung low in the air. On the thresholds of the doors, inside thehouses, in the middle of the streets, anywhere, everywhere, were oldfish, the heads of cattle, drying hides, all sorts of carrion, most ofit well decomposed. Back of the town was a low, rank jungle of green,and a stagnant lake. The latter had a delicate border of greasy bluemud.
Johnny and I wandered about completely fascinated. Talbot and Yank didnot seem so impressed. Finally Talbot called a halt.
"This is all very well; if you kids like to look at yellow fever,blackjack, and corruption, all right," said he. "But we've got to startpretty soon after noon, and in the meantime where do we eat?"
We returned through the town. It was now filled to overflowing with ourcompatriots. They surged everywhere, full of comment and curiosity. Thehalf-naked men and women with the cigars, and the wholly naked childrenand dogs, seemed not in the least disturbed nor enlivened.
Talbot's earnest inquiries finally got us to the Crescent Hotel. It wasa hut exactly like all the rest, save that it had a floor. From its nameI suppose it must have been kept by a white man, but we never got nearenough through the crowd to find out. Without Talbot we should have gonehungry, with many others, but he inquired around until we found a nativewilling to feed us. So we ate on an upturned hencoop outside a nativehut. The meal consisted of pork, bread, and water.
We strolled to the beach at the hour appointed with our boatman. He wasnot there; nor any other boatman.
"Never mind," said Ward; "I'll know him if I see him. I'll go look himup. You fellows find the boat with our things in it."
He and I reentered the village, but a fifteen minutes' search failed todisclose our man. Therefore we returned to the beach. A crowd wasgathered close about some common centre in the unmistakable restlessmanner of men about a dog fight or some other kind of a row. We pushedour way in.
Johnny and Yank were backed up against the palmetto awning of one of theboats in an attitude of deadly and quiet menace. Not two yards awaystood four of our well-dressed friends. Nobody as yet displayed aweapon, except that Yank's long rifle lay across the hollow of his leftarm instead of butt to earth; but it was evident that lightnings wereplaying. The boatman, who had appeared, alone was saying anything, buthe seemed to be supplying language for the lot.
Johnny's tense, alert attitude relaxed a little when he saw us.
"Well?" inquired Ward easily. "What's the trouble?"
"Yank and I found our goods dumped out on the beach, and others in theirplace," said Johnny.
"So you proceeded to reverse matters? How about it?" he inquiredpleasantly of the four men.
"I know nothing about it," replied one of them shortly. "We hired thisboat, and we intend to have it; and no whipper-snapper is going to keepus from it."
"I see," said Talbot pleasantly. "Well,
excuse me a moment while I talkto our friend." He addressed the man in Spanish, and received short,sullen replies. "He says," Talbot explained to us, "that he never saw usbefore in his life, and never agreed to take us up the river."
"Well, that settles it," stated the other man.
"How much did you offer to pay him?" asked Talbot.
The man stared. "None of your business," he replied.
"They're askin' twenty dollars a head," volunteered one of theinterested spectators.
"Exactly. You see," said Talbot to us, "we got here a little too early.Our bargain was for only fifteen dollars; and now this worthy citizenhas made a better rate for himself."
"You should have had the bargain immediately registered before the_alcalde_, senor," spoke up a white-dressed Spaniard of the betterclass, probably from the castle.
"I thank you, senor," said Talbot courteously. "That neglect is due tomy ignorance of your charming country."
"And now if you'll move, young turkey cock, we'll just take our boat,"said another of the claimants.
"One moment!" said Talbot Ward, with a new edge to his voice. "This ismy boat, not yours; my baggage is in it, my boatman is on the ground.That he is forgetful has nothing to do with the merits of the case. Youknow this as well as I do. Now you can acknowledge this peacefully andget out, or you can fight. I don't care a continental red copper which.Only I warn you, the first man who makes a move with anything but histwo feet will be shot dead."
He stood, his hands hanging idly by his sides, and he spoke veryquietly. The four men were not cowards, that I'll swear; but one and allthey stared into Ward's eyes, and came individually to the sameconclusion. I do not doubt that dancing flicker of refraction--or ofdevilment--was very near the surface.
"Of course, if you are very positive, I should not dream of doubtingyour word or of interfering," said the tallest and quietest, who hadremained in the background. "We desire to do injustice to no man----"
Johnny, behind us, snorted loudly and derisively.
"If my knowledge of Spanish is of any value in assisting you to a boat,pray command me," broke in Ward.
The crowd moved off, the boatman with it. I reached out and collaredhim.
Talbot had turned on Johnny.
"Fairfax," said he icily, "one of the first things you must learn is notto stir things up again once a victory is gained. Those men were sore;and you took the best method possible of bringing on a real fight."
Poor Johnny flushed to the roots of his hair.
"You're right," said he in a stifled voice.
Talbot Ward thawed completely, and a most winning smile illumined hisface.
"Why, that's what I call handsome, Johnny!" he cried. "It's pretty hardto admit the wrong. You and Yank certainly looked bold and warlike whenhe came along. Where's that confounded _mozo_? Oh, you have him,Frank. Good boy! Come here, my amiable citizen. I guess you understandEnglish after all, or you couldn't have bargained so shrewdly with ourblackleg friends."
The flush slowly faded from Johnny's face. Yank's sole contribution tothe changed conditions was to spit with great care, and to shift thebutt of his rifle to the ground.
"Now," Talbot was admonishing the boatman, "that was very bad. When youmake a bargain, stick to it. But I'll tell you what I will do. I willask all people, _sabe_, everywhere, your people, my people, and ifeverybody pay twenty dollars, then we pay twenty dollars. _Sabe?_But we no pay twenty dollars unless you get us to Cruces _poco pronto,sabe_? Now we start."
The boatman broke into a torrent of talk.
"Says he's got to find his assistant," Talbot explained to us. "Come on,my son, I'll just go with you after that precious assistant."
We sat on the edge of our boat for half an hour, watching the mostcomical scenes. Everybody was afflicted with the same complaint--absenceof boatmen. Some took possession, and settled themselves patientlybeneath their little roofs. Others made forays and returned draggingprotesting natives by the arm. These generally turned out to be thewrong natives; but that was a mere detail. Once in a lucky while thefull boat's complement would be gathered; and then the craft would pullaway up the river to the tune of pistol shots and vociferous yells.
At the end of the period mentioned Talbot and the two men appeared. Theywere quite amicable; indeed, friendly, and laughed together as theycame. The "assistant" proved to be a tremendous negro, nearly naked,with fine big muscles, and a good-natured, grinning face. He wore largebrass ear circlets and bracelets of copper. We all pushed the canoe tothe very edge of the water and clambered aboard. The negro bent hismighty shoulders. We were afloat.
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