Froth Part 45

And the voices below, more and more distinct, replying: "It cannot be done."

When they firmly believed that they were rus.h.i.+ng into the nether void the cage quietly stopped. They heard a peal of loud laughter, and their terrified eyes beheld, by the tremulous light of tallow candles, a party of miners whose grinning faces suddenly a.s.sumed an expression of the utmost alarm and dismay.

"What is all this? What is the meaning of this piece of foolery?" asked the manager, jumping out of the lift in a rage and going up to them.

The men respectfully took off their hats and one of them with a shame-faced smile stammered out:

"Begging your pardon, Senor, we thought it was a lot of the men, and we wanted to give 'em a fright."

"Did not you know that we were coming down?" he angrily asked.

"We thought the gentlefolks were going to stop at number nine, where all the fine doings are to be----"

"You thought, and you thought; you should not think such stupid things."

The Duke recovered the use of his tongue.

"But do you know, my good fellows, that you were playing a very rough and ready joke on your fellow workmen! Making them fancy they were rus.h.i.+ng to their death!"

"Their death!" echoed the miner who had first spoken.

"No, Senor Duque," said the manager, "if they had not put the breaks on we should only have been up to our waists in water."

"Is that all?"

"Would you have liked a bath in dirty water?"

"Well, of course it would not have been a pleasant dip. But to see you in such a state of frenzy made us all think we were being killed outright. What do you say, ladies?"

The ladies were relieving their minds by exclamations; some crying and some laughing. Two who had fainted received every attention, their temples were bathed with cold water, and the Condesa de Cotorraso's salts were brought into requisition. At last they recovered their senses, and the rest congratulated themselves on having escaped from such fearful peril, for they could not bear to think that there had been none. They looked forward to exciting the sympathy of their friends at home by the narrative of this horrible adventure, and believed themselves the heroines of a story in the style of Jules Verne.

The spectacle which presented itself to their eyes when they could bring themselves to look at it, was not less grand than fantastic. Huge vaulted arches diverged in every direction, lighted only by the pale light of a few candles placed at wide intervals. To and fro in these galleries, with incessant toil, a crowd of labourers were constantly moving, their gigantic shadows dancing in the dim, flickering light.

Their shouts echoed to the accompaniment of creaking trolley-wheels, and they seemed possessed with the idea of accomplis.h.i.+ng some mysterious task in a very short time. In some of the galleries the walls were lined with crystals of native mercury, glittering as though they were covered with silver. On the other side of these walls, dull regular blows might be heard, and on going a few yards into the openings which had been formed here and there, they could see at the end, in an illuminated cavern, four or five pale, melancholy men hewing out the ore with their pick-axes. Whenever they stopped to rest it could be seen that their limbs shook with the palsy, characteristic of mercurial poisoning.

It would have been easy to fancy oneself translated to the world of gnomes, and the scene of their mysterious labours. Man burrows in the earth with incessant toil like the mole, tunnelling it in every direction; but he poisons himself as he eats it away. The G.o.ds could get rid of the human rat without the aid of the cat.

Suddenly Lola gave a piercing shriek, which made every one look round, but she immediately burst out laughing. A driplet of water from the roof had trickled down her back. Every one laughed at the accident, but the mirth was not very genuine. At these depths every one was aware of a vague uneasiness, even fear, which they strove to conceal. The cage brought down another large party, but the third time it was almost empty, for the rest of the company had preferred to be deposited in the ninth gallery, feeling no particular interest in the mining operations.

Those who had come to the bottom were unfeignedly desirous of finding themselves as soon as possible in more commodious quarters. They asked the manager again and again whether they were safe, if there was no fear of the vault falling in.

"Oh, no," said the manager with a smile. "Only private mines fall in.

This was a Government concern, and everything was done with lavish security."

"I have been in mines where we have had to send a party of men down to dig the miners out," said one of the engineers.

"How shocking!" exclaimed the ladies in chorus.

At last they got into the cage again and were carried up to number nine.

Here the scene was very different. It was a long time since this gallery had been worked, and part of it had been enlarged to form a chamber, which had been enclosed, boarded, and carpeted; it might have been a room in a palace. The roof and walls were hung with waterproof cloth and adorned with trophies of mining. A table was magnificently laid for fifty or more, and the place was brilliantly illuminated by means of l.u.s.tres with hundreds of wax lights. In short every refinement of luxury and elegance had been lavished here, so that it was difficult to persuade oneself that this dining-room was in the depths of a mine, three hundred metres below the surface of the earth.

The guests took their seats with a sense of excitement, a combination of pleased admiration and vague alarm, which was written on their smiling but pale faces. The servants in livery stood in a row as if they had been at home in Madrid. As the first course was handed round, a band, hidden away in an adjoining gallery of the mine, struck up a charming waltz tune, and the sounds, softened by distance, had a delightful and soothing effect.

The ladies, their eyes glistening, tremulous with excitement, repeated again and again: "How original, how amusing, I am so glad I came, what a delightful idea of Clementina's!"

Then they tried to be calm and talk of indifferent subjects; but no one succeeded. The sense of so many tons of earth overhead weighed on their consciousness through it all. Nay, with some of the men it was the same, though some were perfectly calm.

Raimundo was, no doubt, the man who thought least of his immediate surroundings; he was entirely absorbed in his moral predicament.

Clementina, in spite of her professions and promises, was carrying on a hot flirtation with Escosura. They were placed side by side, exactly opposite to where he sat. He could see them talking eagerly, and laughing frequently; he saw him devoted, obsequious, lavish of compliments and attentions; he saw her complacent, smiling, and accepting his civilities with pleasure. And though from time to time she bestowed on Raimundo a loving look in compensation, he could only regard it as an alms--the crust bestowed on a beggar to save him from death.

What did he care whether he were on the face or in the centre of the earth, or even if it should fall in and crush him like a fly.

Another person to whom this geographical question was a matter of supreme indifference was Ramoncito, though from the opposite point of view. Esperanza was most amiable to him, perhaps because she thought she could thus the better endure the absence of Pepe Castro. The young deputy, beside himself with joy, never stirred an inch further from her side, or for a moment longer than appearances demanded. Triumphantly happy, he cast occasional glances of condescending grace on the rest of the company, and when his eyes fell on Calderon's financial face his emotion was visible; he could hardly forbear from addressing him as "Papa."

As the meal progressed, the superinc.u.mbent earth weighed less heavily on their souls. Heady wines warmed their blood, and talk revived their spirits. Every one had forgotten the mine as completely as if they had been sitting in an ordinary handsome dining-room. Rafael Alcantara was amusing himself by making Penalver drunk. Encouraged by the laughter of his companions, who looked on, he did his utmost to befool the philosopher, addressing him in a loud voice with extreme familiarity, winking at his allies each time he made some blunder, taking base advantage, in short, of the worthy gentleman's benevolent and unsuspicious temper. He had taken upon himself to avenge the whole body of ill.u.s.trious pipe-colouring youth for the intellectual pre-eminence for which the great thinker was noted.

When dessert was served Escosura rose to propose a toast. He was an object of respect to the "Savages," partly from his corpulence and his vehement temper, but chiefly by reason of his money. He considered himself an orator. In a strong, ringing voice, he p.r.o.nounced a panegyric on the Duke, whom he repeatedly designated as "that financial genius."

He enlarged on labour, capital, and production; and went on to politics--his strong point. From the depths of the quicksilver mine he shot terrific darts at the Ministry, which had failed to give him a portfolio at the last change of Cabinet.

Salabert replied with much hesitancy, thanking him with grovelling self-abas.e.m.e.nt. "No merit of his own beyond industry and honesty had raised him to the proud position he held (murmured applause). The nation, the sovereign who had enn.o.bled him, had enn.o.bled a son of toil.

By struggling all his life against a tide of difficulties, he had succeeded in collecting a handful of money. This money now enabled him to maintain some thousands of workmen. This was his best reward (applause). He begged to propose the health of the ladies, whose courage had brought down to this subterranean hole, and who would leave behind them, a fragrance of charity and joy, which would live for ever in the hearts of the mining-folk."

At this instant, simultaneously with the pop of several champagne corks, a tremendous detonation was heard, making the bravest turn pale.

"There is nothing to be alarmed at," said the manager. "They are exploding the borings. It is always done at this hour."

It was in truth an impressive moment. The noise of each explosion, multiplied and repeated by a thousand echoes, was enough to make the stoutest heart quake with faint alarms. Every one was suddenly silenced, listening for some seconds, with absorbed anxiety, to the rolling thunders which shook the earth. The table quivered, and the gla.s.ses and dishes rattled and tinkled.

At this moment, the doctor rose from his chair, and after steadily eyeing the guests all round with his dark gaze, he raised his gla.s.s and spoke:

"Our ill.u.s.trious host, the Duke of Requena, has just told us, with a modesty which does him credit, that the whole secret of his great fortune lies in industry and honesty. He must permit me to doubt it. The Duke de Requena represents something more than those vulgar qualities; he represents force. Force! the sustaining factor of the Universe.

"Force is very unequally distributed among organic beings; some have a larger and others a smaller share. And in the ceaseless struggle which goes on among them, the weakest perish, the fittest and strongest survive. Let us, then, adore in our Amphitryon the incarnation of Force.

Thanks to the force with which Nature has endowed him, he has been able to subjugate and utilise the smaller share of thousands of individuals who unconsciously serve his ends; thanks to that force, he has acc.u.mulated his vast capital.

"As I look round on this distinguished company, I observe with pleasure that all who compose it have also been endowed with a good proportion of this force, either congenital or inherited, and I can but congratulate them with all my heart. The only essential thing in the world we live in, is to have been born fit for the struggle. We must crush if we would escape being crushed. And, I may add, I also congratulate myself on standing here face to face with so many chosen of the G.o.ds on whom Providence has set the seal of happiness."

"Hear him, my dear!" whispered Pepa Frias to Clementina. "This is Mephistopheles' toast, I think."

Clementina smiled faintly. In fact, the doctor's pale, refined face, with the black hair brushed off his forehead, and, above all, his black eyes, in spite of an a.s.sumption of innocence, were full of a bitter irony not unworthy of Mephistopheles.

He went on:

"Slavery has existed in every age under one form or another. There have always been men designated by fate to live in the refined atmosphere of intellectual enjoyments, in the cultivation of the arts, in luxury and splendour, and the pleasure to be derived from the society of intelligent and educated persons; while others again are fated to procure them the means of such an existence by rude and painful toil.

The pariahs laboured for the Brahmins, the helots for the Spartans, the slaves for the Romans, the villeins for their feudal lords. And is it not the same to this day? Of what avail are laws to abolish slavery? The men who work in the depths of this mine, and inhale the poison which kills them, are slaves, though not by law--by want of bread. The result is the same. It is the law of Nature, and so no doubt a holy and venerable law, that some must suffer for others to enjoy life. You, ladies, are the descendants of the n.o.ble Roman ladies who sent their slaves to these mines to procure them vermilion to beautify their faces, and of the Arabs, who used it to decorate the minarets of their palaces at Cordova and Seville. Ladies, I drink to you, my soul possessed by admiration and respect, as the representatives of all that is choicest on earth--Love, Beauty, and Pleasure."

Though the pledge was gallant enough, it seemed uncanny; some muttered disapproval, and the hostile feeling against the young doctor visibly increased. There were one or two who hinted, in an undertone, that this low fellow was making game of them. Rafael Alcantara was eager to pick a quarrel with him, but he read in the doctor's eyes that he would not escape without some serious annoyance, and he preferred to pocket the affront. The ladies regarded him with more benevolence. They thought him "quite a character." The doctor's speech had certainly left an unpleasant impression, which Fuentes failed to dissipate, though he brought out his most original paradoxes.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said he, "I do not propose a toast because I am not an orator. I hope that ere long this will be recognised as an honourable distinction in Spain; that when such an individual goes by in the street it will be said of him with respect: 'he is not an orator;'

as we already say: 'he wears no order of merit.'"

The ladies applauded and laughed at the joke. But whether from the doctor's words, or whether they were again oppressed by vague fears, they were all conscious of an uneasy feeling. Every one was cheered when it was announced that the cage was ready to carry them up. Those who remained to the last, heard, as they started, a distant chorus, which came nearer as they rose, till it sounded close by them, and then mysteriously died away below them without their having seen any one. The effect was most whimsical. The words they heard were those of an Andalucian boat song: