picnic?'
"`Is it safe?'
"`Yes, safe as anything. We'll take a few blue-jackets with us and abig hamper.'
"`Well, I'm with you,' said O'Brady, briskly.
"The spot looked so sweetly peaceful. Who could ever have dreamed thatdanger lurked in those lovely woods? The whole scene was more like onein our own delightful Devonshire than in the wilds of South America.
"Nor had the usual crowd of boats surrounded the vessel, and when thegig from the _Adelaide_ landed the supercargo and captain, so well cladwere the natives, and so peaceful did they seem, that Brackenbury felthalf inclined to apologise to them for his armed escort.
"Two padres met them and saluted, and when told the errand that hadbrought them on shore, at once agreed to escort them to the head of thevalley, where, the padres assured their illustrious visitors, there wasthe finest scenery in the world. This interpreter was a tall Chilian, aby-no-means prepossessing fellow either. He was enveloped in a kind ofblanket cloak, carried a pole in his hand, and wore a broad,peak-crowned sombrero of very greasy straw. His pointed beard and longblack locks were greasy also. In fact he was altogether grim andgreasy, and his speech was too oily to be pleasant.
"The coach that the padres had provided was apparently about a hundredyears old, but the four horses attached to it seemed fit for anything.
"They took their seats at last, the padres crowded in beside them, andthe great hamper was put up on top, the Chilian interpreter sat downbeside the driver, and away they rumbled and rattled.
"Rumbled? Yes, rumbled; that is the exact word. Brackenbury andO'Brady had never got such a shaking and jolting before. But the higherup the valley the coach went, the grander grew the scenery. Every nowand then at a turn of the road, away beneath them they caught glimpsesof the green glen basking in the summer sunshine, the river glidingthrough it like a silver thread, falling at last into the bright bluebay, where lay the ship with its little white boats floating peacefullyastern.
"But the scene grew wilder still, and oh! what a wealth of woodlandbeauty was all around them, covering the tops of the round hills,climbing halfway up the sides of precipitous mountains, clinging overcliffs and waterfalls, and fringing lovely lakes, the water of which wasso pellucid that the sandy bottom was seen yards and yards from theshore.
"Anon the coach would plunge into a wood of pines and mimosa, draped inthe most gorgeous of creeping flowers, while down beneath lovelysnow-white heather showed in charming contrast to the mantle of scarletand green, that half hid the sun from them.
"It was well into the afternoon before the coach drew up at the ruins ofan ancient monastery, and our pleasure-seekers descended. Close by wasa splendid waterfall; it came foaming down from a precipice in a gorge,and descended past them into a gloomy pool that looked dark as midnight,so far beneath was it.
"But the thunders of the falling cataract shook the ground on which thetwo sailors stood gazing almost awestruck. Far beneath was a forestglen that bore terrible evidence to the fury of a recent storm.
"And now the lunch was spread on the green grass, and the padres waxedquite merry over it. O'Brady had never seen priests drink wine before,as these fellows did, and he now began to entertain a suspicion thatthey were not quite what they pretended to be. He could not now helpwondering at their own folly in trusting themselves so far inlandwithout having brought the blue-jackets to protect them.
"`Why,' said Brackenbury, starting up at last, `the sun is almostsetting. We must be going. Where are the horses?'
"`The horses,' cried the Chilian, suddenly showing a pistol, `are roundthe corner, and our way now lies up the valley.'
"Both Brackenbury and O'Brady attempted to draw revolvers, but wereimmediately surrounded and disarmed by a crowd of cut-throat Chilians,who sprang from a neighbouring thicket.
"`What means this indignity?' shouted Brackenbury, purple with rage.
"`It means, gentlemen,' said the Chilian, `dat you are now de preesonersof Le Comte Pedro de Dolosa.'
"`Pedro de Dolosa!' cried O'Brady, aghast. `Curses on our folly! we areruined men! This count is a bandit.'
"`Your master shall live to rue this outrage!' cried Brackenbury, as heand his companion, with cords around their wrists, were dragged away andthrust into the carriage.
"Their companions, the two sham padres, had now quite altered in theirbearing towards their prisoners. They talked and laughed with eachother, and although neither Brackenbury nor O'Brady knew the exactmeaning of the words, their looks and smiles of derision were easilyenough translated.
"At sunset the carriage stopped, and the villainous-looking interpreterinformed the two officers that they were already in bed, and must remainthere all night.
"So they made the best of a bad job and slumbered away in theirrespective corners till daylight. If ever during the night any thoughtof escape rose in their minds, one glance out at the carriage windows,where the vigilant and fierce-looking armed sentries stood statue-likein the starlight, was enough to banish it.
"The journey was resumed at daybreak, and continued without intermissionuntil they arrived at this very place. Here the carriage was stopped,and they were ordered to descend.
"Standing like an equestrian statue at the edge of the forest was atall, dark, armed man on horseback. As soon as the officers alighted herode forward, and, taking off his sombrero, bowed until his face almosttouched his splendid horse's mane.
"The face was Dolosa's.
"`Is it really yourself, then, you robber chief?' cried the bold captainof the _Adelaide_.
"`It is I,' was the answer--`Le Comte Pedro de Dolosa. But let meadvise you to study civility while in my power. We know not the meaningof the term robber chief. Beware how you provoke me!'
"All the horses were now taken out of the carriage, except one. Thiswas blindfolded and led to the very brink of the terrible precipice.Then a shout was raised, the whip descended with force across the poordoomed animals' flanks, they made a plunge forward, and next momentcarriage and all had disappeared.
"Dolosa turned laughingly round to his prisoners.
"`Now, gentlemen,' he said, `you see what has happened; I'm sorry toinform you, you will have to walk all the rest of the way to my littlecottage among the mountains. Good-bye, my men will see you safe.'
"And away rode the robber chief.
"`What does the destruction of the carriage mean, I wonder?' saidO'Brady.
"`Without doubt,' replied Brackenbury, `it is to put our fellows off thescent.'
"Brackenbury was right for once in his lifetime.
"The march inland was soon resumed by the officers and their captors. Alittle distance farther on and the road ended in a series of narrowfootpaths, like the tracks of deer or other wild animals. These led indifferent directions into the forest, and one was chosen by the leaderof the band. They walked in single file, and care was apparently takento destroy all trail.
"All that day the journey was continued, through jungle and forest,across streams, and up through dreary glens, till, as night fell, theyfound themselves at the gate of an ancient wall. It was opened to admitthem, and immediately re-closed with a ponderous bang.
"In a quarter of an hour afterwards they were issued into a kind ofarmoury, and thence into a lofty and well-lighted supper-room.
"Tired and weary from wandering in forest wilds, here had they arrived,and suddenly found themselves plunged into the very midst of luxury of_every_ imaginable kind. A room with gilded cornices and hand-paintedroof, carpets soft as cushions, furniture as chaste and refined asmodern art could produce, servants in livery to wait on them, and asupper-table laid out with viands the most tempting, and wines fromevery part of the world.
"They fell to like wise and hungry men, and did justice to the goodthings set before them.
"They supped alone, the count never appeared.
"After a few hours a servant came to conduct them to their bed-chamber,and they followed him in silence.
&nb
sp; "The servant was as silent as they were.
"He showed them the room, pointed to the beds, and left them in thedark.
"This wasn't pleasant, nor was it pleasant to hear the key turned in thedoor.
"But there was no help for it."
Book 2--CHAPTER SIX.
THE SURGEON'S YARN CONTINUED--THE PLEASANT HOME OF A ROBBER CHIEF--FACETO FACE WITH DEATH.
"The poet Daniel calls sleep `son of the sable night,' and brother toDeath.
"`Care charmer sleep, son of the sable night, Brother to Death, in silent darkness born.'
"I might add that sleep is also the brother to sorrow and care, and akind and gentle brother he is.
"No sooner had Captain Brackenbury and his supercargo, O'Brady, beenshown to