CHAPTER IX
That afternoon with Rima in the forest under the mora tree had proved sodelightful that I was eager for more rambles and talks with her, but thevariable little witch had a great surprise in store for me. All her wildnatural gaiety had unaccountably gone out of her: when I walked inthe shade she was there, but no longer as the blithe, fantastic being,bright as an angel, innocent and affectionate as a child, tricksy as amonkey, that had played at hide-and-seek with me. She was now my shy,silent attendant, only occasionally visible, and appearing then likethe mysterious maid I had found reclining among the ferns who had meltedaway mist-like from sight as I gazed. When I called she would not nowanswer as formerly, but in response would appear in sight as if toassure me that I had not been forsaken; and after a few moments her greyshadowy form would once more vanish among the trees. The hope that asher confidence increased and she grew accustomed to talk with me shewould be brought to reveal the story of her life had to be abandoned, atall events for the present. I must, after all, get my information fromNuflo, or rest in ignorance. The old man was out for the greater partof each day with his dogs, and from these expeditions he brought backnothing that I could see but a few nuts and fruits, some thin bark forhis cigarettes, and an occasional handful of haima gum to perfume thehut of an evening. After I had wasted three days in vainly trying toovercome the girl's now inexplicable shyness, I resolved to give fora while my undivided attention to her grandfather to discover, ifpossible, where he went and how he spent his time.
My new game of hide-and-seek with Nuflo instead of with Rima beganon the following morning. He was cunning; so was I. Going out andconcealing myself among the bushes, I began to watch the hut. That Icould elude Rima's keener eyes I doubted; but that did not trouble me.She was not in harmony with the old man, and would do nothing to defeatmy plan. I had not been long in my hiding-place before he came out,followed by his two dogs, and going to some distance from the door,he sat down on a log. For some minutes he smoked, then rose, and afterlooking cautiously round slipped away among the trees. I saw that he wasgoing off in the direction of the low range of rocky hills south of theforest. I knew that the forest did not extend far in that direction, andthinking that I should be able to catch a sight of him on its borders,I left the bushes and ran through the trees as fast as I could to getahead of him. Coming to where the wood was very open, I found that abarren plain beyond it, a quarter of a mile wide, separated it from therange of hills; thinking that the old man might cross this open space,I climbed into a tree to watch. After some time he appeared, walkingrapidly among the trees, the dogs at his heels, but not going towardsthe open plain; he had, it seemed, after arriving at the edge of thewood, changed his direction and was going west, still keeping in theshelter of the trees. When he had been gone about five minutes, Idropped to the ground and started in pursuit; once more I caught sightof him through the trees, and I kept him in sight for about twentyminutes longer; then he came to a broad strip of dense wood whichextended into and through the range of hills, and here I quickly losthim. Hoping still to overtake him, I pushed on, but after strugglingthrough the underwood for some distance, and finding the forest growingmore difficult as I progressed, I at last gave him up. Turning eastward,I got out of the wood to find myself at the foot of a steep rough hill,one of the range which the wooded valley cut through at right angles. Itstruck me that it would be a good plan to climb the hill to get a viewof the forest belt in which I had lost the old man; and after walking ashort distance I found a spot which allowed of an ascent. The summit ofthe hill was about three hundred feet above the surrounding level anddid not take me long to reach; it commanded a fair view, and I now sawthat the belt of wood beneath me extended right through the range, andon the south side opened out into an extensive forest. "If that is yourdestination," thought I, "old fox, your secrets are safe from me."
It was still early in the day, and a slight breeze tempered the air andmade it cool and pleasant on the hilltop after my exertions. My scramblethrough the wood had fatigued me somewhat, and resolving to spend somehours on that spot, I looked round for a comfortable resting-place. Isoon found a shady spot on the west side of an upright block of stonewhere I could recline at ease on a bed of lichen. Here, with shouldersresting against the rock, I sat thinking of Rima, alone in her woodtoday, with just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts which made me hopethat she would miss me as much as I missed her; and in the end I fellasleep.
When I woke, it was past noon, and the sun was shining directly on me.Standing up to gaze once more on the prospect, I noticed a small wreathof white smoke issuing from a spot about the middle of the forest beltbeneath me, and I instantly divined that Nuflo had made a fire at thatplace, and I resolved to surprise him in his retreat. When I got downto the base of the hill the smoke could no longer be seen, but I hadstudied the spot well from above, and had singled out a large clump oftrees on the edge of the belt as a starting-point; and after a search ofhalf an hour I succeeded in finding the old man's hiding-place. First Isaw smoke again through an opening in the trees, then a small rude hutof sticks and palm leaves. Approaching cautiously, I peered through acrack and discovered old Nuflo engaged in smoking some meat over a fire,and at the same time grilling some bones on the coals. He had captureda coatimundi, an animal somewhat larger than a tame tom-cat, with a longsnout and long ringed tail; one of the dogs was gnawing at the animal'shead, and the tail and the feet were also lying on the floor, amongthe old bones and rubbish that littered it. Stealing round, I suddenlypresented myself at the opening to his den, when the dogs rose up with agrowl and Nuflo instantly leaped to his feet, knife in hand.
"Aha, old man," I cried, with a laugh, "I have found you at one of yourvegetarian repasts; and your grass-eating dogs as well!"
He was disconcerted and suspicious, but when I explained that I had seena smoke while on the hills, where I had gone to search for a curiousblue flower which grew in such places, and had made my way to it todiscover the cause, he recovered confidence and invited me to join himat his dinner of roast meat.
I was hungry by this time and not sorry to get animal food once more;nevertheless, I ate this meat with some disgust, as it had a rank tasteand smell, and it was also unpleasant to have those evil-looking dogssavagely gnawing at the animal's head and feet at the same time.
"You see," said the old hypocrite, wiping the grease from his moustache,"this is what I am compelled to do in order to avoid giving offence. Mygranddaughter is a strange being, sir, as you have perhaps observed--"
"That reminds me," I interrupted, "that I wish you to relate her historyto me. She is, as you say, strange, and has speech and faculties unlikeours, which shows that she comes of a different race."
"No, no, her faculties are not different from ours. They are sharper,that is all. It pleases the All-Powerful to give more to some than toothers. Not all the fingers on the hand are alike. You will find a manwho will take up a guitar and make it speak, while I--"
"All that I understand," I broke in again. "But her origin, herhistory--that is what I wish to hear."
"And that, sir, is precisely what I am about to relate. Poor child,she was left on my hands by her sainted mother--my daughter, sir--whoperished young. Now, her birthplace, where she was taught letters andthe Catechism by the priest, was in an unhealthy situation. It washot and wet--always wet--a place suited to frogs rather than to humanbeings. At length, thinking that it would suit the child better--for shewas pale and weakly--to live in a drier atmosphere among mountains, Ibrought her to this district. For this, senor, and for all I have donefor her, I look for no reward here, but to that place where my daughterhas got her foot; not, sir, on the threshold, as you might think, butwell inside. For, after all, it is to the authorities above, in spite ofsome blots which we see in their administration, that we must look forjustice. Frankly, sir, this is the whole story of my granddaughter'sorigin."
"Ah, yes," I returned, "your story explains why she can call a wild birdto her hand, and t
ouch a venomous serpent with her bare foot and receiveno harm."
"Doubtless you are right," said the old dissembler. "Living alone in thewood, she had only God's creatures to play and make friends with; andwild animals, I have heard it said, know those who are friendly towardsthem."
"You treat her friends badly," said I, kicking the long tail of thecoatimundi away with my foot, and regretting that I had joined in hisrepast.
"Senor, you must consider that we are only what Heaven made us. When allthis was formed," he continued, opening his arms wide to indicate theentire creation, "the Person who concerned Himself with this matter gaveseeds and fruitless and nectar of flowers for the sustentation of Hissmall birds. But we have not their delicate appetites. The more robuststomach which he gave to man cries out for meat. Do you understand? Butof all this, friend, not one word to Rima!"
I laughed scornfully. "Do you think me such a child, old man, as tobelieve that Rima, that little sprite, does not know that you are aneater of flesh? Rima, who is everywhere in the wood, seeing all things,even if I lift my hand against a serpent, she herself unseen."
"But, sir, if you will pardon my presumption, you are saying too much.She does not come here, and therefore cannot see that I eat meat. In allthat wood where she flourishes and sings, where she is in her house andgarden, and mistress of the creatures, even of the small butterfly withpainted wings, there, sir, I hunt no animal. Nor will my dogs chase anyanimal there. That is what I meant when I said that if an animal shouldstumble against their legs, they would lift up their noses and pass onwithout seeing it. For in that wood there is one law, the law that Rimaimposes, and outside of it a different law."
"I am glad that you have told me this," I replied. "The thought thatRima might be near, and, unseen herself, look in upon us feeding withthe dogs and, like dogs, on flesh, was one which greatly troubled mymind."
He glanced at me in his usual quick, cunning way.
"Ah, senor, you have that feeling too--after so short a time with us!Consider, then, what it must be for me, unable to nourish myself on gumsand fruitlets, and that little sweetness made by wasps out of flowers,when I am compelled to go far away and eat secretly to avoid givingoffence."
It was hard, no doubt, but I did not pity him; secretly I could onlyfeel anger against him for refusing to enlighten me, while making sucha presence of openness; and I also felt disgusted with myself for havingjoined him in his rank repast. But dissimulation was necessary, and so,after conversing a little more on indifferent topics, and thanking himfor his hospitality, I left him alone to go on with his smoky task.
On my way back to the lodge, fearing that some taint of Nuflo'sevil-smelling den and dinner might still cling to me, I turned aside towhere a streamlet in the wood widened and formed a deep pool, to takea plunge in the water. After drying myself in the air, and thoroughlyventilating my garments by shaking and beating them, I found an open,shady spot in the wood and threw myself on the grass to wait for eveningbefore returning to the house. By that time the sweet, warm air wouldhave purified me. Besides, I did not consider that I had sufficientlypunished Rima for her treatment of me. She would be anxious for mysafety, perhaps even looking for me everywhere in the wood. It was notmuch to make her suffer one day after she had made me miserable forthree; and perhaps when she discovered that I could exist without hersociety she would begin to treat me less capriciously.
So ran my thoughts as I rested on the warm ground, gazing up into thefoliage, green as young grass in the lower, shady parts, and aboveluminous with the bright sunlight, and full of the murmuring sounds ofinsect life. My every action, word, thought, had my feeling for Rimaas a motive. Why, I began to ask myself, was Rima so much to me? It waseasy to answer that question: Because nothing so exquisite had ever beencreated. All the separate and fragmentary beauty and melody andgraceful motion found scattered throughout nature were concentrated andharmoniously combined in her. How various, how luminous, how divine shewas! A being for the mind to marvel at, to admire continually, findingsome new grace and charm every hour, every moment, to add to the old.And there was, besides, the fascinating mystery surrounding her originto arouse and keep my interest in her continually active.
That was the easy answer I returned to the question I had asked myself.But I knew that there was another answer--a reason more powerful thanthe first. And I could no longer thrust it back, or hide its shiningface with the dull, leaden mask of mere intellectual curiosity. BECAUSEI LOVED HER; loved her as I had never loved before, never could loveany other being, with a passion which had caught something of herown brilliance and intensity, making a former passion look dim andcommonplace in comparison--a feeling known to everyone, something oldand worn out, a weariness even to think of.
From these reflections I was roused by the plaintive three-syllable callof an evening bird--a nightjar common in these woods; and was surprisedto find that the sun had set, and the woods already shadowed with thetwilight. I started up and began hurriedly walking homewards, thinkingof Rima, and was consumed with impatience to see her; and as I drew nearto the house, walking along a narrow path which I knew, I suddenly mether face to face. Doubtless she had heard my approach, and instead ofshrinking out of the path and allowing me to pass on without seeing her,as she would have done on the previous day, she had sprung forward tomeet me. I was struck with wonder at the change in her as she came witha swift, easy motion, like a flying bird, her hands outstretched as ifto clasp mine, her lips parted in a radiant, welcoming smile, her eyessparkling with joy.
I started forward to meet her, but had no sooner touched her hands thanher countenance changed, and she shrunk back trembling, as if the touchhad chilled her warm blood; and moving some feet away, she stood withdowncast eyes, pale and sorrowful as she had seemed yesterday. In vain Iimplored her to tell me the cause of this change and of the trouble sheevidently felt; her lips trembled as if with speech, but she made noreply, and only shrunk further away when I attempted to approach her;and at length, moving aside from the path, she was lost to sight in thedusky leafage.
I went on alone, and sat outside for some time, until old Nuflo returnedfrom his hunting; and only after he had gone in and had made the fireburn up did Rima make her appearance, silent and constrained as ever.