CHAPTER V
After making a hasty meal at the house, I started, full of pleasinganticipations, for the wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in!What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodiousness it possessed aboveall forests, because of that mystery that drew me to it! And it wasmine, truly and absolutely--as much mine as any portion of earth'ssurface could belong to any man--mine with all its products: theprecious woods and fruits and fragrant gums that would never betrafficked away; its wild animals that man would never persecute; norwould any jealous savage dispute my ownership or pretend that it waspart of his hunting-ground. As I crossed the savannah I played with thisfancy; but when I reached the ridgy eminence, to look down once more onmy new domain, the fancy changed to a feeling so keen that it pierced tomy heart and was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to rush tomy eyes. And caring not in that solitude to disguise my feelings frommyself, and from the wide heaven that looked down and saw me--for thisis the sweetest thing that solitude has for us, that we are free in it,and no convention holds us--I dropped on my knees and kissed the stonyground, then casting up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being forthe gift of that wild forest, those green mansions where I had found sogreat a happiness!
Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the wood not long afternoon but no melodious voice gave me familiar and expected welcome; nordid my invisible companion make itself heard at all on that day, or, atall events, not in its usual bird-like warbling language. But on thisday I met with a curious little adventure and heard something veryextraordinary, very mysterious, which I could not avoid connecting in mymind with the unseen warbler that so often followed me in my rambles.
It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, but windy, and findingmyself in a rather open part of the wood, near its border, where thebreeze could be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a largebranch, which was half broken, but still remained attached to the trunkof the tree, while resting its terminal twigs on the ground. Just beforeme, where I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with broad,round, polished leaves; and the roundness, stiffness, and perfectlyhorizontal position of the upper leaves made them look like a collectionof small platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a level. Throughthe leaves, to the height of a foot or more above them, a slender deadstem protruded, and from a twig at its summit depended a broken spider'sweb. A minute dead leaf had become attached to one of the loose threadsand threw its small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves below;and as it trembled and swayed in the current of air, the black spottrembled with it or flew swiftly over the bright green surfaces, and wasseldom at rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and the smalldancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what I was looking at, I noticed asmall spider, with a flat body and short legs, creep cautiously out onto the upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred with velvetblack first drew my attention to it, for it was beautiful to the eye;and presently I discovered that this was no web-spinning, sedentaryspider, but a wandering hunter, that captured its prey, like a cat, bystealing on it concealed and making a rush or spring at the last. Themoving shadow had attracted it and, as the sequel showed, was mistakenfor a fly running about over the leaves and flitting from leaf to leaf.Now began a series of wonderful manoeuvres on the spider's part, withthe object of circumventing the imaginary fly, which seemed speciallydesigned to meet this special case; for certainly no insect had everbefore behaved in quite so erratic a manner. Each time the shadow flewpast, the spider ran swiftly in the same direction, hiding itself underthe leaves, always trying to get near without alarming its prey; andthen the shadow would go round and round in a small circle, and some newstrategic move on the part of the hunter would be called forth. I becamedeeply interested in this curious scene; I began to wish that the shadowwould remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to give the hunter achance. And at last I had my wish: the shadow was almost motionless, andthe spider moving towards it, yet seeming not to move, and as itcrept closer I fancied that I could almost see the little striped bodyquivering with excitement. Then came the final scene: swift and straightas an arrow the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, thenwiggled round and round, evidently trying to take hold of his prey withfangs and claws; and finding nothing under him, he raised the forepart of his body vertically, as if to stare about him in search of thedelusive fly; but the action may have simply expressed astonishment. Atthis moment I was just on the point of giving free and loud vent to thelaughter which I had been holding in when, just behind me, as if fromsome person who had been watching the scene over my shoulder and was asmuch amused as myself at its termination, sounded a clear trill of merrylaughter. I started up and looked hastily around, but no living creaturewas there. The mass of loose foliage I stared into was agitated, as iffrom a body having just pushed through it. In a moment the leaves andfronds were motionless again; still, I could not be sure that a slightgust of wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced that I hadheard close to me a real human laugh, or sound of some living creaturethat exactly simulated a laugh, that I carefully searched the groundabout me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I found nothing,and going back to my seat on the hanging branch, I remained seated fora considerable time, at first only listening, then pondering on themystery of that sweet trill of laughter; and finally I began to wonderwhether I, like the spider that chased the shadow, had been deluded, andhad seemed to hear a sound that was not a sound.
On the following day I was in the wood again, and after a two or threehours' ramble, during which I heard nothing, thinking it useless tohaunt the known spots any longer, I turned southwards and penetratedinto a denser part of the forest, where the undergrowth made progressdifficult. I was not afraid of losing myself; the sun above and my senseof direction, which was always good, would enable me to return to thestarting-point.
In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on for over half anhour, finding it no easy matter to make my way without constantlydeviating to this side or that from the course I wished to keep, when Icame to a much more open spot. The trees were smaller and scantier here,owing to the rocky nature of the ground, which sloped rather rapidlydown; but it was moist and overgrown with mosses, ferns, creepers, andlow shrubs, all of the liveliest green. I could not see many yards aheadowing to the bushes and tall fern fronds; but presently I began to heara low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced twenty or thirtyyards further, I made out to be the gurgling of running water; and atthe same moment I made the discovery that my throat was parched and mypalms tingling with heat. I hurried on, promising myself a cool draught,when all at once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the water, Icaught yet another sound--a low, warbling note, or succession ofnotes, which might have been emitted by a bird. But it startled menevertheless--bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so much tome--and pausing, I listened intently. It was not repeated, and finally,treading with the utmost caution so as not to alarm the mysteriousvocalist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with a quantity offeathery foliage of a shrub growing about its roots, I saw that justbeyond the tree the ground was more open still, letting in the sunlightfrom above, and that the channel of the stream I sought was in this openspace, about twenty yards from me, although the water was still hiddenfrom sight. Something else was there, which I did see; instantly mycautious advance was arrested. I stood gazing with concentrated vision,scarcely daring to breathe lest I should scare it away.
It was a human being--a girl form, reclining on the moss among the fernsand herbage, near the roots of a small tree. One arm was doubledbehind her neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm was heldextended before her, the hand raised towards a small brown bird perchedon a pendulous twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be playingwith the bird, possibly amusing herself by trying to entice it on toher hand; and the hand appeared to tempt it greatly, for it persistentlyhopped up and down, turning rapidly about this way and that, flirtingits wings and tail, and always appearin
g just on the point of droppingon to her finger. From my position it was impossible to see herdistinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out that she was small,not above four feet six or seven inches in height, in figure slim, withdelicately shaped little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and heronly garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress reaching below her knees,of a whitish-gray colour, with a faint lustre as of a silky material.Her hair was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and seemedwavy or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoulders and arms. Dark itappeared, but the precise tint was indeterminable, as was that of herskin, which looked neither brown nor white. All together, near to me asshe actually was, there was a kind of mistiness in the figure which madeit appear somewhat vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed theprevailing colour. This tint I presently attributed to the effect ofthe sunlight falling on her through the green foliage; for once, for amoment, she raised herself to reach her finger nearer to the bird, andthen a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on her hair and arm, and the armat that moment appeared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, justwhere the light touched it, had a strange lustre and play of iridescentcolour.
I had not been watching her more than three seconds before the bird,with a sharp, creaking little chirp, flew up and away in sudden alarm;at the same moment she turned and saw me through the light leafy screen.But although catching sight of me thus suddenly, she did not exhibitalarm like the bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised lookin them, remained immovably fixed on my face. And then slowly,imperceptibly--for I did not notice the actual movement, so gradual andsmooth it was, like the motion of a cloud of mist which changes itsform and place, yet to the eye seems not to have moved--she rose to herknees, to her feet, retired, and with face still towards me, and eyesfixed on mine, finally disappeared, going as if she had melted away intothe verdure. The leafage was there occupying the precise spot where shehad been a moment before--the feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, andstems and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an aquatic plant, and slim,drooping fern fronds, and they were motionless and seemed not to havebeen touched by something passing through them. She had gone, yet Icontinued still, bent almost double, gazing fixedly at the spot whereI had last seen her, my mind in a strange condition, possessed bysensations which were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid wasthe image left on my brain that she still seemed to be actually beforemy eyes; and she was not there, nor had been, for it was a dream, anillusion, and no such being existed, or could exist, in this grossworld; and at the same time I knew that she had been there--thatimagination was powerless to conjure up a form so exquisite.
With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for although I remained forsome hours at that spot, I saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiarmelodious sound. For I was now convinced that in this wild solitary girlI had at length discovered the mysterious warbler that so often followedme in the wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, I took adrink from the stream and slowly and reluctantly made my way out of theforest and went home.
Early next day I was back in the wood full of delightful anticipations,and had no sooner got well among the trees than a soft, warbling soundreached my ears; it was like that heard on the previous day just beforecatching sight of the girl among the ferns. So soon! thought I, elated,and with cautious steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping againto catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; and only after beginning todoubt that I had heard anything unusual, and had sat down to rest ona rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, very near anddistinct. Nothing more was heard at this spot, but an hour later, inanother place, the same mysterious note sounded near me. During myremaining time in the forest I was served many times in the same way,and still nothing was seen, nor was there any change in the voice.
Only when the day was near its end did I give up my quest, feeling verykeenly disappointed. It then struck me that the cause of the elusivecreature's behaviour was that she had been piqued at my discovery of herin one of her most secret hiding-places in the heart of the wood, andthat it had pleased her to pay me out in this manner.
On the next day there was no change; she was there again, evidentlyfollowing me, but always invisible, and varied not from that one mockingnote of yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her a secondtime. In the end I was vexed, and resolved to be even with her by notvisiting the wood for some time. A display of indifference on my partwould, I hoped, result in making her less coy in the future.
Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accompanied Kua-ko and two othersto a distant spot where they expected that the ripening fruit on acashew tree would attract a large number of birds. The fruit, however,proved still green, so that we gathered none and killed few birds.Returning together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by and by, fallingbehind our companions, he complimented me on my good shooting, although,as usual, I had only wasted the arrows I had blown.
"Soon you will be able to hit," he said; "hit a bird as big as a smallwoman"; and he laughed once more immoderately at the old joke. At last,growing confidential, he said that I would soon possess a zabatana of myown, with arrows in plenty. He was going to make the arrows himself,and his uncle Otawinki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. Itreated it all as a joke, but he solemnly assured me that he meant it.
Next morning he asked me if I was going to the forest of evil fame, andwhen I replied in the negative, seemed surprised and, very much to mysurprise, evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade me to go,where before I had been earnestly recommended not to go, until, findingthat I would not, he took me with him to hunt in the woods. By and by hereturned to the same subject: he could not understand why I would not goto that wood, and asked me if I had begun to grow afraid.
"No, not afraid," I replied; "but I know the place well, and am gettingtired of it." I had seen everything in it--birds and beasts--and hadheard all its strange noises.
"Yes, heard," he said, nodding his head knowingly; "but you have seennothing strange; your eyes are not good enough yet."
I laughed contemptuously and answered that I had seen everything strangethe wood contained, including a strange young girl; and I went on todescribe her appearance, and finished by asking if he thought a whiteman was frightened at the sight of a young girl.
What I said astonished him; then he seemed greatly pleased, and, growingstill more confidential and generous than on the previous day, he saidthat I would soon be a most important personage among them, and greatlydistinguish myself. He did not like it when I laughed at all this, andwent on with great seriousness to speak of the unmade blowpipe thatwould be mine--speaking of it as if it had been something very great,equal to the gift of a large tract of land, or the governorship of aprovince, north of the Orinoco. And by and by he spoke of something elsemore wonderful even than the promise of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore,and this was that young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid ofabout sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather lean and dirty; notugly, nor yet prepossessing. And this copper-coloured little drab of thewilderness he proposed to bestow in marriage on me! Anxious to pump him,I managed to control my muscles and asked him what authority he--ayoung nobody, who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wifefor himself--could have to dispose of a sister in this offhand way?He replied that there would be no difficulty: that Runi would give hisconsent, as would also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations; and last,and LEAST, according to the matrimonial customs of these latitudes,Oalava herself would be ready to bestow her person--queyou, wornfigleaf-wise, necklace of accouri teeth, and all--on so worthy a suitoras myself. Finally, to make the prospect still more inviting, he addedthat it would not be necessary for me to subject myself to any voluntarytortures to prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the purgatorialstate of matrimony. He was a great deal too considerate, I said, and,with all the gravity I could command, asked him what kind of torture hewould recommend. For me--so valorous a person--"no torture," he answeredmagnanimously. But he--Kua-ko--had ma
de up his mind as to the form oftorture he meant to inflict some day on his own person. He would preparea large sack and into it put fire-ants--"As many as that!" he exclaimedtriumphantly, stooping and filling his two hands with loose sand. Hewould put them in the sack, and then get into it himself naked, andtie it tightly round his neck, so as to show to all spectators thatthe hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in his flesh could beendured without a groan and with an unmoved countenance. The poor youthhad not an original mind, since this was one of the commonest formsof self-torture among the Guayana tribes. But the sudden wonderfulanimation with which he spoke of it, the fiendish joy that illumined hisusually stolid countenance, sent a sudden disgust and horror through me.But what a strange inverted kind of fiendishness is this, which delightsat the anticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not on an enemy!And towards others these savages are mild and peaceable! No, I could notbelieve in their mildness; that was only on the surface, when nothingoccurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. I could have laughed atthe whole matter, but the exulting look on my companion's face had mademe sick of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more about it.
But he would talk still--this fellow whose words, as a rule, I had totake out of his mouth with a fork, as we say; and still on the samesubject, he said that not one person in the village would expect tosee me torture myself; that after what I would do for them all--afterdelivering them from a great evil--nothing further would be expected ofme.
I asked him to explain his meaning; for it now began to appear plainthat in everything he had said he had been leading up to some veryimportant matter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake tosuppose that my savage was offering me a blow-pipe and a marketablevirgin sister from purely disinterested motives.
In reply he went back to that still unforgotten joke about my being ableeventually to hit a bird as big as a small woman with an arrow. Out ofit all came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious girl I hadseen in the wood was not of a size to suit me as a target when I had gotmy hand in with a little more practice. That was the great work I wasasked to do for them--that shy, mysterious girl with the melodiouswild-bird voice was the evil being I was asked to slay with poisonedarrows! This was why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to becomemore and more familiar with her haunts and habits, to overcome allshyness and suspicion in her; and at the proper moment, when it would beimpossible to miss my mark, to plant the fatal arrow! The disgust he hadinspired in me before, when gloating over anticipated tortures, was aweak and transient feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him ina sudden transport of rage, and in a moment would have shattered on hishead the blow-pipe I was carrying in my hand, but his astonished look ashe turned to face me made me pause and prevented me from committingso fatal an indiscretion. I could only grind my teeth and struggle toovercome an almost overpowering hatred and wrath. Finally I flung thetube down and bade him take it, telling him that I would not touch itagain if he offered me all the sisters of all the savages in Guayana forwives.
He continued gazing at me mute with astonishment, and prudence suggestedthat it would be best to conceal as far as possible the violentanimosity I had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat scornfullyif he believed that I should ever be able to hit anything--bird or humanbeing--with an arrow. "No," I almost shouted, so as to give vent to myfeelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, "this is the white man'sweapon but he kills men with it--men who attempt to kill or injurehim--but neither with this nor any other weapon does he murder innocentyoung girls treacherously." After that we went on in silence for sometime; at length he said that the being I had seen in the wood and wasnot afraid of was no innocent young girl, but a daughter of the Didi, anevil being; and that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood theycould not go there to hunt, and even in other woods they constantly wentin fear of meeting her. Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went onin silence; and when we reached the stream near the village, I threw offmy clothes and plunged into the water to cool my anger before going into the others.