CHAPTER XXXVIII.
I AM OVERCOME AND CLAPPED UP IN ONE OF THOSE STRONG TOWERS.
We set out from that station the next morning about seven o'clock withanother pole of six slaves added to our number, and, toiling upwards, inabout two hours we came out of the woods into a very wild, rockycountry, where scarcely any herb grew for the height and abundance ofstone. Sometimes the path wound along the edge of horrid precipices, andsometimes between prodigious high rocks, and this way I counted wecrossed over a low chain of mountains; for about noon we began todescend again, but the road so steep and foul with loose stones that'twas as much as the mules could do to keep their feet at times. As forthe poor slaves, their pain was great indeed, by reason of being yokedto the poles one behind the other; for if one slipped she was as good asstrangled in her collar; and if those behind could not keep pace withthose before, they were like all to be thrown down. To see the sweatpouring down their dusky skins, the agony in their faces, the blood ontheir feet and legs cut by the sharp stones, was enough to melt anyheart of stone. Yet that which did move me was their silence in themidst of their suffering; no herd of spent cattle could have shown morepatient endurance.
An hour of sliding and stumbling brought us to a station at the bottomof this rocky valley; but it was unlike the other two, in having notrees around it, and a stone wall in place of a stockade; besides that,it was twice as big. The tower also was greater and stronger here, andthe men had not that same aspect, but looked ten times more cruel andbrutal. Every man of them carried arms, as if he mistrusted his fellows,and all had a very hang-dog look in their sullen faces. This, I take it,came partly of their living always in that grim, barren valley, wherethe sun never shone; and partly of their occupation, which was to goadon and watch over the slaves who worked mines in that region; for Iobserved that men's looks do take on the aspect of the surroundings andthe character of the company they keep; and truly these fellows lookedas sullen and forbidding as the rocks, with something of that dull,hopeless expression that marked the faces of their slaves.
After I had eaten my dinner (Lady Biddy having gone to her chamber torest until it was time to set out again) I went to the door of the hut,and looking up saw Lewis de Pino in close conversation with a fellow whoseemed to be the chief of the gang. When I saw how they lay their headstogether, speaking low so that not a sound of their voices could I hear,my mind misgave me; but presently the rogue whom I called the chief goesup to the slaves and examines them, opening their eyes and pinchingtheir flesh, as if to know if they were healthy or not; and then hetakes Lewis de Pino to a box and shows him some pieces of metal, so thatI concluded they were only trafficking their wares. Wherefore, beingdisgusted with the whole business, I turned my back on them, and flungmyself on the net that hung in the hut, where I presently fell asleep.
How long I had lain there I know not (nor is it any great matter), but Iwas awoke rudely enough by four sturdy rascals laying hands on me at thesame time that a fifth did cram a filthy clout in my mouth by way ofgag. Seeing they meant to do me mischief, I put out all my strength toget free of their hands, and out of that accursed net on to the firmground, where I might better defend myself; but all to no purpose, forthe net gave no hold to my feet or vantage-point of any kind, so that Ipresently found myself bound hand and foot to my bed, with no more powerto get out of it than if it had been my skin. And all this was donewithout so much as a word or any perceptible sound, for their feet werebare.
Seeing I was secure, they cut the cords that fastened the two ends ofthe net to the roof, and one fellow shouldering the end at my head andanother that at my heels, they carried me out of the hut, and so joggedalong pretty briskly till they reached the tower. Here the stairs beingnarrow and awkward, they flung me on the ground till they had tied along cord to my feet, when four of them went to the head of the stairs,and pulling on to the cord with a will, they dragged me to the upperstory like any bag of malt. From the landing they hauled me into a dimchamber, and there they left me to get out of my bonds as I might; goingout by the door, which they barred and bolted close.
For a few moments I lay there stupefied by the rough usage I had beenput to (for being dragged up heels foremost in the way I have describedhad thrown the blood into my head), but as my intelligence returned Isaw that I had been clapped up in order that Lewis de Pino might carryoff my Lady Biddy without opposition from me. No sooner did this ideacome into my mind than I set to like a madman struggling to burst thecords that bound me; but this rash endeavor only drew the knots tighter,without breaking a strand of those hard ropes; yet was I made so franticby the image of harm coming to my dear lady that I never paused toconsider whether my strength might be better employed than in these vainefforts, nor heeded the wounds I inflicted on my own flesh, but stilltore at the bonds with my bleeding wrists, as if my life depended ongetting free; nay, I do believe that had a tiger been in that chamber,drawing near to tear me with his bloody fangs, I could have looked uponhim with greater calm than I could support the image of my lady beingborne away from me. So in a frenzy that grew with the conviction of myimpotency rather than diminished, I labored as though I would tear myhands off to free my arms, until all my strength was spent, and I laymotionless, but for the throbbing of my chest, as I panted for breath.This brought me to a more reasonable state of mind, and as I got out ofmy faintness I began to wriggle my hands about without strainingovermuch, and, thanks to the rope being made somewhat slippery with theblood from my wrists, I presently got one hand loose, and after that itwas but a trifling matter (when I had freed my mouth from that beastlything they had crammed in to gag me withal) to free the other, and afterthat my legs and ankles.
And now, seeing that I had done more to get my freedom by a ten minutes'patient endeavor than I had come, at in furiously struggling for thebest part of an hour (and that without doing myself any mischief), Imade up my mind to go about my business in a reasonable fashionhenceforth. So getting on my legs I looked about me to find what part ofmy prison it was easiest to break through; and this gave me but littlecomfort, for no part seemed weaker than the rest, but all alikeprodigious stout and strong.
The four walls were of solid stone, with no opening save the door, andsix narrow slits, no bigger than rifts for shooting arrows, to admitlight, and they higher up than I could get at with my hand, standing onmy toes. The roof sprang from the walls about fifteen feet from thefloor, and the cross-beams were boarded over. But casting my eye thisway and that way, I saw a chink of light here and there, which led me tothink these boards were not nailed down, but laid loosely down for theconvenience of making a cock-loft there, and also that the roof musthave some opening for the light thus to creep through.
Now I thought that if I could once get into the cock-loft the affairwould be best part done; for if there were no dormer window, yet might Ishift the shingles or the tiles of the roof, and so make an opening wideenough to creep through; and I counted that those cords which had boundme, tied together with the net-bed, which might be cut into threestrips, and yet have strength to bear my weight, would serve to let medown some part of the way to the ground. What I should do after I got tothe ground I did not trouble myself to consider; the main thing was toget out of the tower safely.
The more I looked at the chinks above, the more I liked my project; buthow to make my way up into the cock-loft, as I call it, was the plague.I passed my hands carefully over every part of the walls within reach,hoping to find some hole or cranny to climb up by; but the stones wereall smooth and flush, so that a cat could not have climbed up them. Norwas there anything in the shape of furniture that I might build up for aladder. There was naught within these four walls but myself and the netI had been trussed up in. Taking up one of the cords from the ground,and weighing it in my hand, I asked myself if I could by any means turnit to my purpose; after thinking some little while, it came into my mindthat if I made a big knot at one end, and thrust it through one of therifts so that it would hitch on the outer side of the wall
, I might thenmake a loop or two in the loose end, by which I could raise myselfagainst the wall to the height of the said rift, and so reach up to theloose boards, if loose they were, above. The scheme was wild enough, butas I saw no better I began at once to put it into execution.
First of all I chose the longer of the cords, and made two loops in itto serve me as stirrups; then, taking a piece of the net, I rolled itinto a hard ball, about as big as I might thrust through the rift; and,having bound this about with another cord, I fastened it securely to mystirrups, with length enough, as I judged, to allow the ball to passthrough to the outer edge of the wall, where I hoped it would hitch.
When I had done this to my satisfaction, I began to cast about how I wasto get it through the rift, which was a difficulty I had not foreseen.
"If I had only a pole," says I to myself--"a pole about two yards long!"But, Lord! while I was about it I might just as well have wished for astep-ladder of three yards to carry me at once into the cock-loft.However, growing a little desperate to find myself thus baulked for wantof a stick, I made a spring upward, and, getting my hand in the rift, Icontrived to hang there some while; but as to dragging myself up so thatI could get my knot through with my other hand, that I could not do,strive as I might; nor do I think it possible that any man, though hewere lusty as Samson, could have compassed that business.
Now was I pretty well at my wits' end; yet, being of a stubborn nature,I would not allow myself to be beaten, and still clung to the notion ofscaling the wall with my precious rope stirrups. But it was clear that Icould do nothing without some sort of hold for my foot to rest on as Ihung from the rift, and so once more I began to feel about the wall fora hole to set my toes in.
There was a joint in the stonework about four feet from the ground,where the mortar gave way under my nail, but the crack was not as wideas my finger. However, I had a clasp-knife in my pocket, which DomSebastian had given me (for the Portugals do never go about without suchweapons for their defense), and with this I determined to cut away thestone if I might. So at it I went without more ado.
I had scarcely begun this toil when I heard some one ascending thestairs that led to my prison.
"Now," thinks I, "am I undone. For if they come in here and see myknotted rope, they will certainly take it from me, and there will be anend of my only hope."
The steps came nearer and stopped; then I heard the bar being takendown. Upon this, with the hope of exciting fear, I set up a most violentshout, as if I were beside myself with rage, and rushing to the doorbeat it furiously with my fists and feet, whereupon there was a silenceoutside, as if the fellow was considering whether he had not best leaveme alone for the present; and that he had come to this conclusion wasmade evident presently by his clapping up the bar again. After this Iheard a shuffling on the ground, and the next minute his steps, as hedescended the stairs.
I was mightily pleased with myself at the success of my stratagem, and,going back to the wall, set to work again at cutting the stone with myknife.
I ground and scraped till the blade of my knife was as hot as fire, butwhen I examined the stone with my finger, to see if the hole wereanything like big enough yet, I found that I had made no perceptibledifference in it whatever, which did so vex me that I was ready to tearmy hair, or commit any other extravagance. Then, casting my eyes at thewall where the light from the rift fell, I was terrified to observe howthe shadow had shifted since I first began, so that I concluded it mustbe getting towards sundown, by which I reckoned I must have been four orfive hours at this business, and was pretty near as far as ever frommaking my escape. Whereupon I was beset with a kind of rage, and,accusing myself of indolence, cut again at the stone with redoubledenergy. The result of this mad haste was that the blade of my knifesnapped in half before I had worked a couple of minutes. Then I flung itdown on the ground, and, resting my arm against the wall, I laid my facethere, and could have wept for vexation.
But this was not to be endured for any time. Glancing again at the wall,it seemed to me the shadow had traveled a foot further.
"Every moment," says I to myself, "puts my lady further from me. Cowardor fool! are you content to do nothing? Will you give up the hope ofsaving her because of a trifle? Have you no more heart and hardihoodthan this?"
With this, I picked up my knife again, and finding yet a couple ofinches left of the blade, I once more set to work, but with moreprudence. Yet every now and then would I turn to watch the shadow,saying to myself, "Now she is a league further away--she has beencarried a full mile since last I looked," etc.
Sometimes my heart would grow heavy as stone with despair, as I notedthe little effect I made; and then, that I might not lose courage, Iwould not feel what progress I had made, but ground on steadily, likethe movement of a clock. But, though I did not tax my strength, thesweat streamed down my face and body, so that my shirt clung cold to mybody with the wet from my skin, by reason of my anxiety.
After a while, when the light was sensibly fading, a faintness came uponme, and I felt dried up with thirst. Resting for strength to come, Ibethought me that perhaps my jailer had no intention but to give me foodwhen he came to the door. Then the hope led me to think that perhaps hehad come back softly, and, hearing no sound, had ventured to open thedoor quietly, and slip a pitcher of water within for my comfort.
I went to the door, and, groping on the ground (for in that part it wasvery dark), I laid my hand on a loose piece of paper. It occurred to mein an instant (so quickly do our wishes summon conjecture) that LadyBiddy had found means to send me a message, and that the man who wascharged with it, fearing to enter, had slid it beneath the door, whichexplained the shuffling sound I had heard before he went down.
I rushed back with the precious treasure, and, holding it as near thelight from the rift as I could, read the inscription on the outside: "Tomy dear Cousin Benet."
And then, laughing like a fool for joy, I claps it to my mouth andkisses it.
The Admirable Lady Biddy Fane Page 38
