CHAPTER XIV
WINTER IN THE MOUNTAINS
Neither Agathemer nor I knew anything about bread-making. He tried, butmerely wasted flour. And both of us hated the wearisome labor of grindinggrain in either of the rough hand-mills which were in the store-house. Hefound a means of keeping us well fed, satisfied and looking forward to thenext meal with pleasure. He screened a peck or so of barley, put it tosoak in a crock, and then, when it was swelled, put it in a crock or flat-bottomed jar, with just enough water to cover it, and bedded this in thehot coals by the edge of the fire. There, under a tight lid, it stewed andswelled and steamed all day, unless he judged it done sooner. When it wascooked to his taste he mixed through it cheese, raisins, and several sortsof flavorings, also a little honey. The porridge-like product he baked, asit were, by turning a larger crock over the crock containing it. Theresult was always tasty and relishable.
I asked him why he used barley, not wheat, of which there was quite asupply. He said barley was supposed to be heating, and we certainly neededall the heating we could get.
The old smoked cheeses, of which an amazing number hung in the hut andstore-houses, were, to me, very appetizing, used in this way, though toostrongly flavored for me to eat any quantity of any sort as one would eatnormal cheese. Agathemer said they had all been smoked too soon, while thecheese was yet soft, so that the smoke had penetrated all through thecheese. Certainly the outside of each cheese was mere soot to the depth ofan inch, so that we had to throw it away. Even Hylactor would not eat it.
Soon after the first hard freeze we found, one morning, one of the goatswith a leg broken. Agathemer, with me to help him, got her out into one ofthe buildings, out of sight or hearing of the other animals; and, therelater, butchered her. We had, by this time, found butchering knives andkitchen knives, to the number of a score, but each hidden by itself, andin the oddest places, one under a sill of the cowshed, another under awine-jar, several between the rafters and thatch, most buried in thethatch itself, as if they had been hidden on purpose. They were all rusty,but we soon had them bright and sharp. With some of these we butchered andcut up the goat. The offal we fed to Hylactor, not much at a time. Most ofthe rest of her we ate, a little at a time, as the frost kept the meatfrom spoiling.
The kidneys Agathemer used first. He washed them, soaked them, parboiledthem, cut them into bits, fried the bits in olive oil, and then, when theywere crisp, stirred some of them through one of his crocks of cookedbarley. The result was delicious. The kidneys sufficed for two or threecrocks of barley. Then he did something similar with the liver with aresult almost as appetizing.
We had some chops, broiled over the hot coals; also collops, spitted, withbits of fat bacon between. But neither of us cared much for goat's meat,and Agathemer's attempt at a broth made of the tougher meat was not asuccess. It had a repulsive smell and a more repulsive taste, though itseemed nourishing. He made only one pot of broth. After that we fed thecoarser parts, little by little, to Hylactor.
This loss of one goat led Agathemer to do some thinking. There was apretty large supply of hay, but not enough to keep in good milk allthrough the winter, until grass grew next spring, two cows, eight ewes andtwenty goats. We talked the matter over. The ram and the he-goat weremanifestly of choice breeding stock, probably carefully selected andcherished. We judged their owner would be angry if he did not find them onhis return. So Agathemer considered which of the ewes gave the least milkand promised least as a breeder, and, after all the goat's meat was usedup, we killed her. Sheep's-kidneys and sheep's-liver are better eatingthan goat's-kidneys and goat's-liver. We both agreed on that and we likedmutton chops and mutton cutlets. Hylactor got only the offal and thecoarser bits, the rest Agathemer made into a relishable broth flavoredwith marjoram, bay-leaves and other herbs.
During the winter he killed six more goats and one more ewe, so that wefed, all winter, six ewes and twelve goats. For these the hay sufficed andnot a little was left when we departed.
For ourselves, while we wasted nothing, we were lavish with the foodstores. The bitter cold and our unremitting toil all day long, at athousand other tasks and always at preparing fire-wood, contributed tokeep us ravenous. We ate heartily twice a day, never taking anythingbetween meals except all the milk we chose to drink, and I found ewes'milk and goats' milk, yet warm, or milked that morning, good to drink incold weather. Often we mixed hot water with the goats' milk and drank themixture while warm.
One intensely cold and brilliantly clear day, as I was riving a log,panting and glowing with the labor, yet with fingers numb and feet achingwith the cold, I heard a yell from Agathemer. Axe in hand, my left handmaking sure that my knife was loose in its sheath, where I wore it stuckin my belt, I raced to the store-house. There I found Agathemer alone,unhurt, standing by an olive-jar, staring into it.
"What is wrong?" I queried.
"Nothing wrong," he said, "but something amazing."
He fumbled in the jar, reaching his arm down into it as far as he could,his arm-pit tight down on the rim. After some straining he held up hishand, all dripping with dregs, and, between his thumb and forefinger,exhibited an unmistakable gold coin. How many there were in that jar wenever knew; there were too many to count. We turned the jar over on itsside, with some labor, and made sure that there were enough gold coins init to weigh more than either I or Agathemer weighed and we were aboutnormal-sized men, in every way.
We discussed this find a good deal. We agreed that the coins were of nouse to us and could be of no use to us. As we meant to pass ourselves offfor Sabine cattle-buyers until we were out of Umbria, as we meant to presson to Aquileia, as soon as the weather was warm enough, as we meant topass ourselves off for runaway slaves, if we were arrested and questionedgold coins in our possession would have been most dangerous to us. Weagitated the idea of sewing a few into the hems of our tunics and into theends of our belts; but we came to the conclusion that any attempt toexchange a gold coin for silver would be very dangerous and much too riskya venture.
We also agreed that if the master of the place returned he must notsuspect that we knew of his hoard. So we replaced the jar as it had stood,effaced all signs of its having been moved and refilled it with olives,taking them from another jar, which proved to contain olives only, all theway to the bottom.
This find led Agathemer to investigate every jar on the place, running along rod of tough wood down into each as a sounder. In another jar ofolives he found a similar hoard of silver denarii. Of these we took asmany as were necessary to replenish the store of coins Chryseros hadfurnished us with. Even of silver we dared not carry too much. The hoardwas so large that the handful of coins we took was unlikely ever to bemissed.
The little girls, early in our stay, became entirely accustomed to us andutterly trustful of us. In the chests Agathemer found other tunics, warmerthan those they had on when we came, which were suited to them. But therewere no cloaks small enough for them to wear. With our precious scissorsAgathemer cut in two the smallest warm cloak he could find and, with theneedles and thread Chryseros had given us, he roughly hemmed the cut edge.The two awkwardly-shaped cloaks, thus made, the children wore till spring.
We could find no shoes for the children and they went barelegged andbarefooted all the winter. They did not seem to mind it, except on themost bitterly cold days, when the wind howled about the hut, roaringthrough the pines and naked-boughed oaks, blowing before it the snow insilver dust. Then they kept inside the hut all day. But, on sunny andwindless days, they ran about barefoot in the snow and seemed entirelyindifferent to the cold, though they always appeared glad to dry and warmtheir little pink toes at the fire, after they returned to the hut.Agathemer, more knowing than I, would not let them approach the fire untilthey had bathed their feet in a crock of water he kept standing readyinside the hut door and had partially dried them afterwards. He said thatotherwise their feet would puff and swell and perhaps inflame. They seemedhappy-hearted little beings and Secunda was bright. But Prim
a was verydull and less intelligent than her younger sister. We concluded that shewas, while not anything like an idiot, certainly a very backward child,lacking the wit of a normal child of her age.
After the first snow fell we had no more trouble with violent outbreaksfrom the sick woman; or, at least, very little. Her next fit of ravingcame about ten days after the first snowfall and began in the daytime,when both Agathemer and I were in the hut. We forced her back into her bedand then Agathemer had an inspiration. He bade me hold her where she wasand he took down his flageolet, from where it hung on a high peg on thepartition, and began to play it.
The woman quieted at once and seemed to sink to sleep. After that herfits, which recurred at frequent intervals, took up little of our time, asupon each we had only to get her back into her bed and compose her bymeans of Agathemer's music.
It was well along towards spring, certainly far towards the end of thewinter, when Agathemer made his most astonishing discovery. By that timethe animals gave no more milk than sufficed for the five of us; there wasno surplus to feed back to the best milkers. Also we had a little reserveof firewood and did not have to drive ourselves so unremittingly to escapedeath by freezing if our fuel gave out.
I was chopping wood in a leisurely way, and enjoying the exercise. Thelittle girls were inside the hut at the moment, after playing about mostof the morning. Agathemer came out of the store-house, glanced around, andbeckoned to me: together we went inside. There he showed me where he, ledby a very slight difference of color, had dug into the earth floor andcome upon a small maple-wood chest, like a temple treasure-box. It was,outside, perhaps a foot wide and about as high, and not over a foot and ahalf long. He had forced it open with the hatchet and a heavy knife, likea Spartan wood-knife. The wood of the chest was so thick that the insidecavity was comparatively small. But it was big enough to have held, say,two quarts of wine. And it was almost full of jewels; opals, turquoises,topazes, amethysts, rubies, emeralds and sapphires.
Agathemer shut the store-house door and fastened it so the little girlscould not open it if they should chance to try. Then he spread his cloakon the earth floor and dumped the contents of the chest on it. Most of thegems were small, at least two score were very large, and there were many,of notable, though moderate, size. We could see them fairly well, thoughthe store-house was dim, since, with the door shut, the only light waswhat came through chinks. We ran our fingers through the heap of jewels,picked up the largest and held them to the light and gained a general ideaof the value of the hoard. We put them all back into the chest, shut it,and reburied it. It showed no marks of Agathemer's dexterous attempts atopening it, for the lid was held down only by a clasp outside, and by theswelling of the inside flange of wood against the overlapping rim of thelid.
We went out to the woodpile and I resumed my chopping, while Agathemer setto riving logs with the wedges and maul. We had always kept the littlegirls away from the woodpile and so were sure of being alone. Also wetalked Greek as an extra precaution.
Agathemer, resting between assaults on a very big log, said:
"I am of the same opinion I have held since we found the gold. This placebelongs to some Umbrian farmer who is in partnership with a bandit chiefor the leader of a gang of footpads. Just as the King of the Highwaymen issaid to have a brother in Rome, important among the Imperial spies, somost outlaws have some anchor somewhere with associates apparently honestand respectable. The owner of this place may be brother of a brigand, orrelated to one in some other way or merely a trusted friend. At any rate Iam of the opinion that this fastness is used as a repository for robbers'loot. Everything points to it. The gems and the coins make it certain, tomy thinking, but even if we had found none of these it is pretty plainfrom everything else. There is no sign that there ever was a pig anywhereabout here: yet the store of fine old bacon surpasses anything any merefarm ever kept on hand; there is not a square yard of ground hereaboutsthat ever has been plowed, spaded or hoed: yet the place is crammed withall sorts of farm produce. Manifestly it was all brought here, where thereare no pigeons to reveal the place by their flight above it, nor any cockto call attention to it by his crowing. This is not a farm, it is atreasure-house, lavishly provided with everything portable.
"The absence of the man and the flight of the slaves puzzles me. As forthe slaves, I can form no conjecture. But I am inclined to think itpossible that the man was betrayed somehow to the authorities and is inprison or has been executed. We must assume, however, that he is alive andwill return and must comport ourselves accordingly.
"Now I tell you what I mean to do. In such a hoard of gems a few of mediumsize could never be missed, even if missed, their abstraction could neverbe proved. I'm going to select the best of the medium-sized emeralds,topazes, rubies and sapphires; enough to fill the leather amulet-bagsChryseros gave us. All slaves wear amulet-bags, if they can get them; oursare old, worn and soiled and will make unsurpassable hiding places for asmany gems as they will hold. I'll take out the amulets and sew them intothe hems of our tunics, at the corners. I'll fill the bags as full of gemsas is possible without making them look unusually plump. Then, if we reachAquileia, we shall have a source of cash enough to last us years; for Ican sell the jewels one at a time at high prices."
"Are you sure that the stones are worth all that care?" I cavilled. "Mayyou not be mistaken as to their value or even as to their genuineness?"
"Not I," Agathemer bragged. "I am one of the foremost gem experts alive.Your uncle, as you know, held it a wicked waste of money for a sicklybachelor to buy gems; but he was a natural-born gem fancier. He knew everyfamous jewel in Rome: every one of the Imperial regalia, every one everworn by anyone at any festival or entertainment, every one in everyfancier's collection of jewels. From him I learned all I know: I myselfpossess the faculties to profit by my training. I know more of gems thanmost, I tell you!"
I agreed, and, during the nest few days, he selected the stones he judgedmost valuable, enough to fill the hollow of one of my hands and as muchfor him, and sewed the two batches up in our emptied amulet-bags. Theamulets, which were two Egyptian scarabs and two Babylonian seals, verycrude in workmanship and of the meanest glazed pottery, he sewed into thecorners of our tunics.
Soon after this came the first thaw of the spring; a mild sunny daycleared every bough of every tree of the last vestiges of clinging snow orice. Then we had two days of warm rain, sometimes a drizzle, sometimes adownpour. Then, on the fourth day, the sky was clear again and thesunshine strong.
As usual after my morning duties, I went in to take a look at ourinsensible hostess. She lay, as she had mostly lain all winter, breathingalmost imperceptibly, her eyes closed. As I bent over her, her eyesopened.
She sat up, wide-eyed, startled, the picture of amazement and it came overme that she was no peasant woman, but a lady.
"Who are you?" she demanded, supporting herself on one elbow. "I do notknow you; what are you doing here?"
"I have been helping to nurse you," I said. "You have been ill a long timeand have needed much care. Lie down; you will hinder your recovery if youexert yourself too soon."
She lay back, but propped herself up on her pillows, and in no weak voiceinsisted on knowing who I was.
At that instant Agathemer entered. He, far more diplomatic than I, tookcharge of the situation. The woman, instead of losing consciousness againat once, as I expected, appeared possessed of much more strength thananyone would have anticipated and asked searching questions.
Agathemer, tactfully but without any attempt at beating about the bush,told her the whole truth, as to her illness, our finding her alone withthe two children, our care of her, and the length of our stay. He saidafterwards that he hoped the shock would cure her.
"Am I to understand you to say," she asked, "that I have been in this bedsince the middle of the autumn and that it is now almost spring?"
"Just that," said Agathemer simply.
"And that you two men have been, practically, in possessi
on of this entireplace all that time?"
"That is true also," I said.
Agathemer and I looked at each other. We had used our one pair of scissorsmutually and our hair and beards were not shaggy or bushy. But we were arough, rather fierce-looking, pair.
"This," she said, "is terrible, terrible! Where are my daughters?"
"Playing about out in the sunshine," I said. "Plump and well-fed, andhealthy and cheerful."
"This," she repeated, "is terrible, terrible! May I not see them, may Inot speak to them, will you not bring them to me?"
"Indeed we will," I said and motioned to Agathemer. While he was gone thewoman and I regarded each other without speaking. When Agathemer returnedwith the children I said:
"We will leave you to talk to your daughters alone. When you wish us toreturn send one of the children for us."
The joy of the two at the sight of their mother, sensible and able torecognize them, was pathetic. Sobbing and laughing, they flung themselveson the bed and embraced her, kissing her and she kissing each.
We went out and set to chopping and riving wood.
Before very long Secunda came out and said her mother wanted to speak tome. Leaving Agathemer plying his maul I went in.
The woman was now well propped up against a heap of pillows. She told thechildren to run off and play till she sent for them. Then she motioned meto seat myself on the chest. I did so.
She regarded me fixedly, as she had while Agathemer had gone for thechildren. When she spoke she asked:
"What god do you worship?"
I was amazed at this unusual and unexpected question and hesitated amoment before I answered:
"Mercury, chiefly. Of course, Jupiter and Juno; Dionysius, Apollo,Minerva. But most of all Mercury."
She sighed.
"I had expected a very different answer," she said. "But, whatever god orgods you worship, you are a good man and your servant is a good man. I amamazed. My children were truthful till I fell ill. I am sure they couldnot have changed in one winter. In any case Secunda's precocity andPrima's vacuity seem equally incapable of any deception. What they tell meis all but incredible, yet I believe it. You two men have acted to me andmine as if you had been my blood kin. If you two had been my own brothersyou could have done no more for us. I shall always be grateful. What areyour names?"
Agathemer and I had agreed to use the names Sabinus Felix and BruttiusAsper. These names, common enough in Sabinum, we, in fact, had given atthe farms where Agathemer's flageolet-playing won us entertainment in theautumn. I gave them now. I added:
"It seems best to me that you should not ask either whence we came orwhither we are bound."
"I understand," she said.
"And now," said I, "since you have our names, tell us how we shouldaddress the mother of Prima and Secunda."
"My name," she said, "is Nona. [Footnote: Ninth.] My mother had a largerfamily than I am ever likely to be blest with."
Nona recovered with marvellous rapidity. The weather continued fair andwarm, with no strong winds, only steady, gentle breezes. This aided her,as it dried out the hut. She slept well at night, she said, and heavily inthe afternoons. When awake she ate heartily and was almost alert. Shequestioned me again and again as to the condition in which we had foundthe place. I told her the exact truth, except as to finding the hoards ofcoins and jewels, to the smallest detail. I also told her of ourstewardship and of our having killed and eaten a brace of ewes and eightgoats. She approved.
I asked her about the children's tale of the slaves running away.
She sighed.
"I should have trusted any one of the seven," she said. "I believed thatany one of them would have been faithful. I suppose almost all slaves arealike, after all. Hermes died about midsummer. He was the oldest of themand the best. I suppose that, in past winters, he had kept the others totheir duty. But then, I was never ill before. Without Hermes to lead them,without me to order them, I suppose what they did was natural."
I told her of the great cold and abundant snow of the winter. Shequestioned me and said:
"Evidently you have had more cold and snow in one winter than I have hadin ten."
On the third day after her revival she was able to get out of bed and,leaning heavily on me, to reach the door of the hut. There she sat baskingin the sun, Secunda on one side of her, Prima on the other, Hylactor ather feet.
Hylactor had proved himself a perfect watchdog that winter. We had neverallowed him to sleep in the hut, as he would have done if permitted, andas he tried to do at first. Agathemer had fashioned him a tiny shelter andinto it he crawled nightly. Out of it, also, he dashed, if any sound orscent roused him. Tracks of wolves were frequent in the snow out in theforest, and not a few approached our clearing. But we lost not one sheepor goat to any wolf. Hylactor frightened off most and killed three, amedium-sized female and two full-grown young males, at the acme of theirfighting powers. We rated Hylactor a paragon among dogs.
The warm weather held on, though unseasonable so early in the year. Nonarecovered so rapidly that she was able to visit each of the outbuildings.Just when she was well enough to walk alone and firmly came a sharp spellof cold, as unseasonable as had been the heat. It began about noon, oneclear day, with a high wind. By sunset everything was frozen.
Nona said:
"You two have had more than your share of sleeping on the earth floor bythe fire. My bed will hold me and my girls, for a few nights. You two taketheir bed. It will be cold on the floor tonight."
That night, therefore, Agathemer and I enjoyed a sound night's sleep in adeep, soft bed. It was our first night in a Gallic bed, and we liked it.Since our crawl through the drain we had slept abed but four times, atfarms in the Umbrian mountains. This was best of all. And we had asuccession of nights of it, for the cold held on and, even when it abated,Nona insisted on our continuing to sleep so.
During the cold she mixed a batch of bread, and Agathemer baked it. Shehad praised his cookery, especially his savory messes of steamed barley,flavored with cheese, raisins and what not. But when the cold snap cameafter the thaws she suggested that we grind some wheat and she make bread.We acceded with alacrity. The bread tasted unbelievably good.
As soon as the weather was again warm it was plain that spring was comingin earnest. Nona stood out of doors after sunset, went out again afterdark, staring up at the sky.
Next morning, while the children were at play, she said to me:
"Felix, you and Asper must leave this place at once and be on your way. Myhusband will return soon. He may return any day now. He is a terrible man.He will come with too many men for you to resist and he will not ask anyquestions until after he has killed you both. I know him. If I could besure of telling him before he saw you what manner of men you are and howdeeply I am in your debt he would repay you lavishly, for he is liberaland generous. But, being what he is, if he finds you here, you will bedead before I can explain. You must go. Prepare to set off at dawntomorrow."
I told Agathemer and he agreed with me that we had best do as Nona said.She was, as she averred, well enough to care for herself and the children.But we lingered next day. By dusk she was frantic, begging, imploring usto depart at dawn. I feared a recurrence of her illness and gave her mypromise.
We set off, actually, not at dawn, but about an hour after sunrise, thebroad brims of our travelling hats flapping in the wind, our cloaks closeabout us, our wallets slung over our shoulders, our staffs in our hands.At the hut door Nona, Prima and Secunda bade us farewell, Nona thankingand blessing us. Hylactor was for following us: we had to order him back,for he paid more attention to us than to Nona.
With a last backward glance at the edge of the clearing we plunged intothe forest by the track leading northward.
We had not gone a hundred paces when I thought I heard a scream andstopped. Agathemer declared he had heard nothing. But, listening, we didhear twigs snapping and Hylactor bounded into sight. He did not fawn onus, but seized my cloak in his teet
h and tugged, growling and snarling.
"That dog," said Agathemer, "is asking for help. He knows what is too muchfor him to fight."
We threw off our shoes, wallets and cloaks, tucked up our tunics and,staffs in one hand and sheathless knives in the other, barefoot, racedback along the track after the guiding dog.
From that entrance of the clearing the outbuildings hid the hut from us.When our rush brought us in sight of the hut door we were not six pacesfrom it and just in time to see Hylactor spring on and bear to the earth aman who stood before it. Leaving him to Hylactor we dashed inside, urgedby indubitable shrieks.
In the dim interior we made out each child struggling with a man and Nonawith two. Before they could turn our knives had slaughtered the children'sassailants. One of the survivors Agathemer cracked over the head with hisstaff. I stabbed the other. Whereupon Agathemer cut the throat of the manhe had downed, and dashing outside, finished the man Hylactor wasworrying. Quicker than it takes to tell it the five were dead.
Nona had fainted, as we rescued her. But Agathemer revived her with a dashof cold water in her face and some strong wine poured between her lips. Welaid her on her bed and told the children to watch her. Then we draggedout the corpses, laid them in a row and considered them. All five werepattern ruffians; black-haired, burly, brutal and fierce. We had hadamazing luck to dispose of them so easily. Five lucky flukes, Agathemercalled it, and we without a scratch.
One by one we picked them up and carried them off, down the slope, to asoft bit of soil among some beeches. There we laid them in a row. On themwe found a few silver coins, five daggers, five knives, five amulet-bags,nothing else. Their tunics and cloaks were old and of poor material.
Back to the hut we went and found Nona revived and at the door.
"Begone!" she said. "Flee! Hasten! That man was my husband's bitterestenemy. He was intent on revenge. But he could never have found this placesave by tracking my husband and conjecturing his destination. My husbandmust have camped last night less than a day's journey from here. He willbe here today, he may be here any moment. Save yourselves. Begone!"
Agathemer and I looked at each other.
"We shall not set off," I said, "until we have buried the five corpses.I'm not going to be haunted on my way and perhaps for life by any suchspooks as the ghosts of those five ruffians. We shall make sure that theyare safely buried."
Agathemer agreed with me and we set about the task. During the winter wehad found mattocks, pickaxes, hoes, spades and shovels hid in the mostunlikely places, each by itself, and had hafted them; with these we dug abig pit and in it laid the five corpses, and buried them too deep for anywolf, badger or other creature to be at all likely to smell them and digthem out or dig down to them.
When the men were buried it was past noon. We went back to the hut, dranka second draught of the strongest and sweetest wine and drank it unmixed,as we had drunk our first before we set about carrying the corpses intothe forest. Nona renewed her adjurations to begone.
But neither I nor Agathemer would listen to her. I said I was far tootired to travel until after a night's sleep and that after having savedher and her daughters, it was no more than fair that she should standwatch over us while we slept all the afternoon: she could easily watch atthe hut door and explain matters to her terrible husband if he came andwere as terrible as she averred.
We retrieved our wallets, cloaks and shoes, threw them down in a corner ofthe hut, ate some bread with plenty of milk to wash it down, and went tosleep in the children's bed, as we had slept the night before. We wokebefore sunset, did what was needful about the place, ate a hearty dinnerof bread, bacon, olives, raisins and wine and at once went to bed for thenight. After dark Nona ceased adjuring us to begone; she said that, if herhusband came, she would hear him at the hut door and make him aware of thefacts in time to prevent any trouble. We slept till sunrise. Then Nonadeclared that she and the children could milk the animals. We agreed withher, for they had little milk by then. We ate a hearty breakfast and setoff.
Andivius Hedulio: Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire Page 15
