CHAPTER XIV
It seemed but a few minutes afterwards, although it was really severalhours, before Archy knew anything more, and then it was a jolt of thecoach that waked him. His senses returned instantly, and he knew wherehe was. He kept perfectly still, and peeping through the crack in thecurtain, behind which he lay, still covered up, he saw that they weretravelling along the highway towards the dim mountain ranges. Day haddawned, and the sun was rising over a beautiful landscape, although itwas still December. Six stout mules drew the unwieldy vehicle along at aslashing gait.
Archy turned his head cautiously, so as to see without being seen, andperceived a stout, soldierly looking old man leaning back among thecushions and sleeping soundly, as his vociferous snores and snortsindicated unmistakably.
"This is Don Miguel de Lima," thought Archy. "He will wake up presently,and I can introduce myself better if I am sitting up and conductingmyself like an officer and a gentleman than in hiding here like abrigand."
Archy then quietly slipped to his feet, and, setting himself back in thecoach, calmly faced the old gentleman.
But Don Miguel did not wake up soon--he snored and snorted and slept fora couple of hours more, and the sun was high in the heavens before heopened his eyes, and saw, as he supposed, a handsome young peasant, whohad apparently dropped out of the sky, in the coach with him.
Don Miguel fully sustained Pedro's account of his _sang-froid_, andafter carefully examining Archy, and seeing at the first glance that itwas not a peasant, but a handsome and soft-handed young gentleman,dressed, for purposes of his own, in peasant's costume, he said, in atone of calm inquiry:
"Well, sir?"
Archy, giving the old gentleman a military salute, replied promptly inthe best Spanish he could muster:
"I believe I have the honor of addressing his Excellency Don Miguel deLima. I am Midshipman Archibald Baskerville, late of the continentalship _Bon Homme Richard_, and now a prisoner on parole"--and then headded, "Americano."
Archy got this far glibly enough, but when he wished to describe how hegot into his present rig his Spanish was totally inadequate, and he tookrefuge in French; but his acquirements in that line running short, hedropped into English, and gave Don Miguel a very animated account of hisadventures from the time he found himself in the boat until that moment.Don Miguel listened with the utmost courtesy and attention, and whenArchy stopped for want of breath, calmly remarked, in Spanish:
"Your narrative is very interesting, no doubt; but I have not understoodone word of it. I only know Spanish and French."
Archy, nothing discouraged, began again. He pulled out his watch andmoney, and that, with what he could tell about the boat and the loss ofhis clothes, and certain keen observations which Don Miguel madehimself, convinced him that the young man who had suddenly rolled outfrom among the cloaks and blankets in the coach was what he representedhimself to be. Archy could not but admire the cool courage of the oldman, who took so debonairly the society of an unknown, who might be arobber or a murderer.
Not a word more was spoken, while they rolled and bumped along thehigh-road, until twelve o'clock, when, reaching a little village amongthe hills, they stopped. Pedro sprang from the box, opened the door, andnearly fainted when Archy almost jumped into his arms.
Archy then, bowing low to Don Miguel, thanked him ceremoniously, andsaluted him as an officer. Don Miguel gravely returned the salute. Atthe inn Archy got something to eat, and, providing himself with a loafof bread and a lot of cheese, struck out gayly on the highway towardsMadrid. The day was bright, and the air, the space, the freedom, theexercise were exhilarating to Archy's active nature and sanguinetemperament. The only thing that troubled him was that his friends atGibraltar would be in distress about him. Probably at that very momentthey were in deep grief, supposing him to be drowned. He remembered,however, the courtesy of the Spanish authorities in regard to letters,and determined at the next posting-house to write to Don Martin deSoltomayer, inclosing a letter to General Eliot and another to CaptainCurtis. With this anxiety off his mind he trudged along cheerfullyenough, shrewdly calculating that Don Miguel would overtake him, andpossibly give him a lift. Many persons met and passed him, chieflypeasants in carts, and in about two hours he heard a tremendousclattering and jangling, and the coach with its six fine mules hove insight. Archy, walking along the pathway, was intensely disappointed whenit rattled on, with nothing more from Don Miguel except a bow inresponse to Archy's. But after it had passed it stopped, and Pedro camerunning back to say that his excellency desired to speak to these?or--for Pedro, too, had discerned the gentleman under the peasant'sdress.
Archy, secretly delighted, went up to the coach, and Don Miguel askedhim where he was bound.
"To Madrid, and thence to France."
"Get in," said Don Miguel, briefly, and Archy got in.
He thanked Don Miguel in his best French-Spanish, and then inquiredabout the next posting-house, where he could write a letter, mentioningthat he had once met Don Martin de Soltomayer, and would endeavor tonotify his friends of his safety, through Don Martin.
"I know him well," replied Don Miguel. "Has his deafness increased?"
"He was not deaf at all when I saw him," answered Archy.
"Ah. Perhaps it was his eye that was failing him--has he but one?"
"He had two when I saw him."
By which Don Miguel discovered that Archy really knew Don Martin.
They made no further stop until they halted for the night at an inn andposting-house. Archy wrote his letters, and finding that a courier forGibraltar was expected in the next two days, felt relieved in his mind.He dared not spend any of his small amount of money in a room, and sleptin the hay-loft. By sunrise he was on his way again, and, as on the daybefore, he was overtaken by the coach and given a lift. Stopping at alittle town that day, Archy bought a couple of shirts, and, finding abookstall, he invested a few copper coins in a Spanish dictionary andgrammar. Reduced entirely to Spanish and French, it was surprising tohim how magically he learned both, especially Spanish; and in a few dayshe found he could take care of himself very well in the Spanishlanguage. Don Miguel and he conversed much then, and Archy coulddescribe fluently, if ungrammatically, and interlarded with French, thefight of the _Bon Homme Richard_, and many other incidents whichestablished his identity as an officer and a gentleman with anexperienced man of the world like Don Miguel. He carefully avoided anyreference to Gibraltar, and when Don Miguel asked him how he got intothe open boat, Archy floundered so in his effort to tell about it inSpanish that Don Miguel could not make head or tail of it--which wasjust what Archy desired.
It cannot be said that either was bored with the other's company. DonMiguel retained a taste for adventure, and was secretly amazed atArchy's coolness, gayety, and boyish bravado, while Archy had senseenough to show both gratitude and respect to a man who had really helpedhim as had Don Miguel.
On the morning of the day when they expected to reach Madrid, Don Miguelasked Archy what his plans were.
"To go to the French Ambassador, declare myself, and ask to be sent toFrance."
"The French Embassy is closed on account of small-pox, so I have heardin the last few days. But I can easily introduce you to the Minister ofMarine, who will investigate your case."
"May I ask how long this would take, Excellency?"
Don Miguel shrugged his shoulders.
"A month--two months, perhaps. The Minister of Marine will not behurried."
Archy sat silent, and reflected. Presently he said:
"With these clothes, and the little money I have, I believe I could getto the French frontier in half the time."
"Do you expect to be taken for a Spanish peasant?" asked Don Miguel,with a suspicion of a smile.
"No," answered Archy, smiling very broadly.
Their last halt was at a large and flourishing village near Madrid. Somesort of a _festa_ was going on; everybody was out in holiday clothes,and a company of strolling mountebanks was giv
ing a performance. Therewere slack and tight rope walking, and dancing dogs, and a conjurer whoate fire.
Don Miguel, while the mules were baiting, sat in his coach in the littlepublic square, but Archy had to be in the midst of things. He wanderedabout, and mixed with the village people, who, in their turn, mixed withthe strollers, all being upon the most informal terms. After thetight-rope performance a trapeze was set up, and a harlequin, all intights and spangles, came out and gave an alleged athletic performancewhich delighted the audience, but sent Archy into fits of laughter. Themidshipmen on board the _Bon Homme Richard_ and those on the _RoyalGeorge_, who were accustomed to run all over the rigging a hundred andfifty feet from the deck, could discount this unambitious gentleman,thought Archy, and as he commonly gave expression to what was in hismind he said this out loud.
"Do you think so?" replied the person to whom he made this indiscreetremark. "Perhaps you will show us something much better than that whichwe like."
"No, I thank you," replied Archy. "It is not in my line to do suchthings in public."
A group had gathered round him, and a chorus of jeers and sneers wentup. The effect of this on Archy Baskerville may easily be imagined. Hetore off his green velvet jacket, kicked off his shoes, and, springingon the trapeze, began a performance which was certainly far superior tothe professional's, although not up to Archy's best form when on boardship. He swung by his feet, his knees, his chin; he made a spring andreached the wire, which was only a few feet above the trapeze. He workedrapidly along the wire by his feet and hands until he came to the end,which was fastened to the stone balcony of a tall building with achimney. By that time the people were applauding frantically. He shinnedup the front of the building by the windows and balconies, and, reachingthe chimney, climbed to the top and squared himself off astride of itwith his hands in his pockets. It was not nearly so high as themaintop-gallant yard of the _Royal George_, where he had often been.
The people at this went wild. Women shrieked and implored him to comedown, and when he turned to come down they shrieked louder than ever. Itwould have been a dangerous pastime for any one except a sailor; but ina few minutes Archy had dropped to the ground, and, putting on hisjacket and shoes, went up to Don Miguel, who still sat in the coach asunruffled as ever.
"You are a very venturesome young man," was his only comment.
"Oh no, sir," answered Archy; "that is the sort of thing we are taughtaboard ship. A fellow that couldn't run all over the rigging would be ina bad way. I wager my friend, the acrobat yonder, couldn't do it."
The crowd quite surrounded the coach then, much to Don Miguel's disgust,who ordered them away. All left except one man, who was the manager ofthis band of strolling acrobats. He could not be persuaded that Archywas not a professional acrobat, in spite of his evidently being on termswith the grandee in the coach. He beckoned Archy a little way from thedoor of the great lumbering vehicle, and whispered in his ear:
"What will you take to join us? We are on our way north, perhaps as faras the Basque Provinces. I see you have been in the business, and weshall do well in the North. What will you take, I say?"
Archy looked at the man as if he were crazy, but in half a minute hebegan to see the matter in a new light. To the North--to the Frenchfrontier; that would be quicker and better than waiting indefinitely inMadrid. And if it leaked out that he had come from Gibraltar he was sureto be regarded with suspicion by the Madrid authorities.
"How long do you expect to be on the road?" he asked, under theinfluence of these new ideas.
"About two weeks. We shall only give performances in the large villagesand towns. We want to reach Vitoria and St.-Jean-de-Luz by the middle ofJanuary, as they have _festas_ about that time; and then we can comesouthward again before the Carnival. What will you take, I say?"
"How many of you are there?"
"Myself and my wife--she tells fortunes; Juan, who does the tight-rope;and Luis and his wife--they are all. What will you take for yourservices?"
"One-eighth of the receipts," said Archy, not knowing in the leastwhether he was making a good bargain or not, except that here was achance to reach the frontier.
"Done!" cried the manager, joyfully.
Archy went up to Don Miguel and told him what he had done. Aninscrutable smile came into the old man's face.
"Do as you like," he said; "I shall not betray you. On the contrary, Iwill give you Spanish money for your English money, and this--for I seeyou have no weapon." He fumbled about in the coach and produced apistol, singularly small for those days. "This looks like a toy, but itis not; it was made and given me as a curiosity."
Archy thanked him feelingly, and found enough words in his vocabulary tosay that Don Miguel's confidence was even more gratifying to him thanthe kindness and generosity he had received. And sunset saw Don Miguelrolling along alone in his coach into Madrid, while Archy, duly enrolledas a member of Jos? Monza's company of wonderful acrobats, was trudgingalong, with a pack on his back, towards the tent in the fields whichmeant home to all of them.
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