CHAPTER VII
THE TRAIL
We made desperate efforts next morning to find somebody who knew theman, or at least could point out to us his effects; but in vain. All wasconfusion, and everybody was too busy getting away to pay us very muchattention. This, I am convinced, was not hardheartedness on the part ofmost; but merely that all men's minds were filled with a great desire.Our own transport men were impatient to be off; and we had finally toabandon the matter. Whether or not the man had a family or friends whowould never know what had become of him, we shall never find out. Laterin the gold rush there were many scores of such cases.
Having paid the _alcalde_ we set forth. Mercedes did not appear.Our good _padrone_ was on hand to say farewell to us at the edge oftown. He gave us a sort of cup made from coconut husk to which longcords had been attached. With these, he explained, we could dip up waterwithout dismounting. We found them most convenient.
Shortly after we had left town, and before we had really begun ourjourney in earnest, we passed a most astonishing caravan going the otherway. This consisted of sixteen mules and donkeys under sole charge ofthree men armed with antiquated and somewhat rusty muskets. On eitherside of each mule, slung in a rope and plain to see, hung a heavy ingotof gold! Fascinated, we approached and stroked the satiny beautifulmetal; and wondered that, on a road so crowded with travellers of allgrades, so precious a train should be freely entrusted to the threeragged lazy natives. So curious did this seem that Talbot inquired ofthe leader why it was allowed.
"Whither would a thief run to? How could he carry away these heavyingots?" the man propounded.
Often around subsequent campfires we have in idle curiosity attempted toanswer these two questions successfully, but have always failed. Thegold was safe.
Talbot insisted, with a good deal of heavy argument, that our effectsshould precede us on the trail. The wisdom of this was apparent beforewe had been out an hour. We came upon dozens of porters resting sprawledout by the side of their loads. I could hardly blame them; for these mencarried by means of a bamboo screen and straps across the shoulders andforehead the most enormous loads. But farther on we passed also severalmule trains, for whose stopping there could be no reason or excuseexcept that their natives were lazy. Our own train we were continuallyovertaking and prodding on, to its intense disgust. Thus Talbot'sforethought, or experience with people of this type, assured us ourgoods. Some of our shipmates were still waiting for their baggage whenwe sailed to the north.
We now entered a dense forest country. The lofty trees, thick foliage,swinging vines, and strange big leaves undoubtedly would have impressedus under other conditions. But just now we were too busy. The rains hadsoftened the trail, until it was of the consistency of very stiff mud.In this mud the first mule had left his tracks. The next mule trodcarefully in the first mule's footsteps; and all subsequent mules didlikewise. The consequence was a succession of narrow, deep holes in theclay, into which an animal's leg sank halfway to the shoulder. No poweron earth, I firmly believe, could have induced those mules to stepanywhere else. Each hole was full of muddy water. When the mule insertedhis hoof the water spurted out violently, as though from a squirt gun.As a result we were, I believe, the most muddied and bedraggled crew onearth. We tried walking, but could not get on at all. Occasionally wecame to a steep little ravine down and up the slippery banks of which weslid and scrambled. Yank and his mule once landed in a heap, plump inthe middle of a stream.
In the course of these tribulations we became somewhat separated. Johnnyand I found ourselves riding along in company, and much too busy totalk. As we neared a small group of natives under a tree, three of themstarted toward us on a run, shouting something. We stopped, and drewtogether.
One of the assailants seized Johnny's animal by the bit, and another'sgesture commanded him to dismount.
"Get out of that!" shouted Johnny threateningly; and as the men did notobey his emphatic tone, he snatched out his Colt's pistol. I closed innext him and did the same.
Our threatening attitude caused the men to draw back a trifle; but theyredoubled their vociferations. Johnny attempted to spur his muleforward; but all three threw themselves in his way. The rest of thenatives, four in number, joined the group. They pointed at Johnny'sanimal, motioned peremptorily for him to descend; and one of themventured again to seize his bridle.
"I don't believe it's robbery, anyhow," said I. "They seem to recognizeyour mule. Probably you're riding a stolen animal."
"I don't know anything about that," said Johnny, a trifle angrily, "butI do know I hired it to go to Panama with: and to Panama I'm going. Theycan settle their mule question afterward."
But when he gathered his reins again, he was prevented from going on.Johnny reached suddenly forward and struck with his pistol barrel at thehead of the man holding his rein. He missed by the fraction of an inch;and the man leaped back with a cry of rage. Everybody yelled and drewnear as though for a rush. Johnny and I cocked our weapons.
At this moment we heard Talbot Ward's voice from beyond. "Take 'em fromthat side!" yelled Johnny excitedly. "Give it to 'em, Tal!"
Talbot shouted again, in Spanish. Every brigand in the lot immediatelyturned in his direction, shouting perfect fountains of words. After amoment Talbot, afoot, emerged from the jungle and calmly picked his waythrough the mud toward us.
"Put up your shooting irons," he grinned at us. "These men tell me yoursaddle pad is on crooked and they want to straighten it for you."
Johnny, and I am sure myself, turned red; then everybody howled withglee. Johnny dismounted, and a dozen eager hands adjusted the harness.We shook hands all around, laughed some more, and resumed our verysloppy journey.
This to me was one of the most terrible days I ever spent. We passeddozens of dead mules, and vultures that sat in trees; and exhausted menlying flat as though dead; and sick men shaken with fever; and one poorwretch, whom we picked up and took with us, who had actually lain downto die. He was half raving with fever, and as near as we could make outhad had companions. We twisted him aboard a mule, and took turns walkingalongside and holding him on. Beyond the fact that he was a very smallindividual with light hair and an English accent, we could tell nothingabout him. He was suffering from cholera, although we did not know thatat the time. That night we spent at a wayside hut, where we left ourpatient.
Early the next morning we began to ascend a little; and so came to arocky tableland with palms, and beyond it another ridge of hills. Weclimbed that ridge and descended the other side. Another elevation laybefore us. This we surmounted, only to find a third. After we had put adozen such ranges behind us, we made the mistake of thinking the nextwas sure to be the last. We got up our hopes a number of times in thisfashion, then fell dully into a despair of ever getting anywhere. Theday was fearfully hot. The Indian who had stolidly preceded us as guideat last stopped, washed his feet carefully in a wayside mud hole and puton his pantaloons.
"That looks to me like an encouraging symptom," I remarked.
Shortly after we entered the city of Panama.
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