hervoice, which trembled, as well as her own frame, while she implored hiscompassion; he took the pipe from his mouth, and lifting up his stick,swore, with a terrible oath, that he pardoned his slave, not for the loveof Heaven, but of her who asked his forgiveness. Virginia made a sign tothe slave to approach her master, and instantly sprung away, followed byPaul.
"They climbed up the precipice they had descended; and, having gained thesummit, seated themselves at the foot of a tree, overcome with fatigue,hunger, and thirst. They had left their cottage fasting, and had walkedfive leagues since break of day. Paul said to Virginia, 'My dear sister, itis past noon, and I am sure you are thirsty and hungry; we shall find nodinner here; let us go down the mountain again, and ask the master of thepoor slave for some food.'--'Oh no,' answered Virginia; 'he frightens metoo much. Remember what mamma sometimes says, the bread of the wicked islike stones in the mouth.'--'What shall we do then?' said Paul: 'thesetrees produce no fruit; and I shall not be able to find even a tamarind ora lemon to refresh you.' Scarcely had he pronounced these words, when theyheard the dashing of waters which fell from a neighbouring rock. They ranthither, and having quenched their thirst at this crystal spring, theygathered a few cresses which grew on the border of the stream. While theywere wandering in the woods in search of more solid nourishment, Virginiaspied a young palm tree. The kind of cabbage which is found at the top ofthis tree, enfolded within its leaves, forms an excellent sustenance; but,although the stalk of the tree was not thicker than a man's leg, it wasabove sixty feet in height. The wood of this tree is composed of finefilaments; but the bark is so hard that it turns the edge of the hatchet,and Paul was not even furnished with a knife. At length he thought ofsetting fire to the palm tree, but a new difficulty occurred, he had nosteel with which to strike fire; and, although the whole island is coveredwith rocks, I do not believe it is possible to find a flint. Necessity,however, is fertile in expedients, and the most useful inventions havearisen from men placed in the most destitute situations. Paul determined tokindle a fire in the manner of the negroes. With the sharp end of a stonehe made a small hole in the branch of a tree that was quite dry, which heheld between his feet; he then sharpened another dry branch of a differentsort of wood, and afterwards placing the piece of pointed wood in the smallhole of the branch which he held with his feet, and turning it rapidlybetween his hands, in a few minutes smoke and sparks of fire issued fromthe points of contact. Paul then heaped together dried grass and branches,and set fire to the palm tree, which soon fell to the ground. The fire wasuseful to him in stripping off the long, thick and pointed leaves, withinwhich the cabbage was enclosed.
"Paul and Virginia ate part of the cabbage raw, and part dressed upon theashes, which they found equally palatable. They made this frugal repastwith delight, from the remembrance of the benevolent action they hadperformed in the morning: yet their joy was embittered by the thoughts ofthat uneasiness which their long absence would give their mothers. Virginiaoften recurred to this subject: but Paul, who felt his strength renewed bytheir meal, assured her that it would not be long before they reached home.
"After dinner they recollected that they had no guide, and that they wereignorant of the way. Paul, whose spirit was not subdued by difficulties,said to Virginia, 'The sun shines full upon our huts at noon: we must passas we did this morning, over that mountain with its three points, which yousee yonder. Come, let us go.' This mountain is called the Three Peaks. Pauland Virginia descended the precipice of the Black River, on the northernside; and arrived, after an hour's walk, on the banks of a large stream.
"Great part of this island is so little known, even now, that many of itsrivers and mountains have not yet received a name. The river, on the banksof which our travellers stood, rolls foaming over a bed of rocks. The noiseof the water frightened Virginia, and she durst not wade through thestream: Paul therefore took her up in his arms, and went thus loaded overthe slippery rocks, which formed the bed of the river, careless of thetumultuous noise of its waters. 'Do not be afraid,' cried he to Virginia;'I feel very strong with you. If the inhabitant of the Black River hadrefused you the pardon of his slave, I would have fought withhim.'--'What!' answered Virginia, 'with that great wicked man? To what haveI exposed you! Gracious heaven! How difficult it is to do good! and it isso easy to do wrong.'
"When Paul had crossed the river, he wished to continue his journey,carrying his sister, and believed he was able to climb in that way themountain of the Three Peaks, which was still at the distance of half aleague; but his strength soon failed, and he was obliged to set down hisburden, and to rest himself by her side. Virginia then said to him, 'Mydear brother the sun is going down: you have still some strength left, butmine has quite failed: do leave me here, and return home alone to ease thefears of our mothers.'--'Oh, no,' said Paul, 'I will not leave you. Ifnight surprises us in this wood, I will light a fire, and bring downanother palm-tree: you shall eat the cabbage; and I will form a covering ofthe leaves to shelter you.' In the mean time, Virginia being a littlerested, pulled from the trunk of an old tree, which hung over the bank ofthe river, some long leaves of hart's tongue, which grew near its root.With those leaves she made a sort of buskin, with which she covered herfeet, that were bleeding from the sharpness of the stony paths; for, in hereager desire to do good, she had forgot to put on her shoes. Feeling herfeet cooled by the freshness of the leaves, she broke off a branch ofbamboo, and continued her walk leaning with one hand on the staff, and withthe other on Paul.
"They walked on slowly through the woods, but from the height of the trees,and the thickness of their foliage, they soon lost sight of the mountain ofthe Tree Peaks, by which they had directed their course, and even of thesun, which was now setting. At length they wandered without perceiving it,from the beaten path in which they had hitherto walked, and foundthemselves in a labyrinth of trees and rocks, which appeared to have noopening. Paul made Virginia sit down, while he ran backwards and forwards,half frantic, in search of a path which might lead them out of this thickwood; but all his researches were in vain. He climbed to the top of a tree,from whence he hoped at least to discern the mountain of the Three Peaks;but all he could perceive around him were the tops of trees, some of whichwere gilded by the last beams of the setting sun. Already the shadows ofthe mountains were spread over the forests in the valleys. The wind ceased,as it usually does, at the evening hour. The most profound silence reignedin those awful solitudes, which was only interrupted by the cry of thestags, who came to repose in that unfrequented spot. Paul, in the hope thatsome hunter would hear his voice, called out as loud as he was able, 'Come,come to the help of Virginia.' But the echoes of the forests alone answeredhis call, and repeated again and again, 'Virginia--Virginia.' Paul atlength descended from the tree, overcome with fatigue and vexation, andreflected how they might best contrive to pass the night in that desert.But he could find neither a fountain, a palm-tree, nor even a branch of drywood to kindle a fire. He then felt, by experience, the sense of his ownweakness, and began to weep. Virginia said to him, 'Do not weep, my dearbrother, or I shall die with grief. I am the cause of all your sorrow, andof all that our mothers suffer at this moment. I find we ought to donothing, not even good, without consulting our parents. Oh, I have beenvery imprudent!' and she began to shed tears. She then said to Paul, 'Letus pray to God, my dear brother, and he will hear us.'
"Scarcely had they finished their prayer, when they heard the barking of adog. 'It is the dog of some hunter,' said Paul, 'who comes here at night tolay in wait for the stags.'
"Soon after the dog barked again with more violence. 'Surely,' saidVirginia, 'it is Fidele, our own dog; yes, I know his voice. Are we then sonear home? at the foot of our own mountain? a moment after Fidele was attheir feet, barking, howling, crying, and devouring them with his caresses.Before they had recovered their surprise, they saw Domingo running towardsthem. At the sight of this good old negro, who wept with joy, they began toweep too, without being able to utter one word. When Domingo had recovered
himself a little, 'Oh, my dear children,' cried he, 'how miserable have youmade your mothers! How much were they astonished when they returned frommass, where I went with them, and not finding you! Mary, who was at work ata little distance, could not tell us where you were gone. I ran backwardsand forwards about the plantation, not knowing where to look for you. Atlast I took some of your old clothes, and showing them to Fidele, the pooranimal, as if he understood me, immediately began to scent your path; andconducted me, continually wagging his tail, to the Black River. It wasthere a planter told me that you had brought back a negro woman, his slave,and that he had granted you her pardon. But what pardon! he showed her tome with her feet chained to a block of
Paul and Virginia from the French of J.B.H. de Saint Pierre Page 5
