Latitude 19 degree Part 64

I raised my eyes to the small opening in the wall, and began to wonder how I could reach it. As it was, I could see only the deep blue, and the trade-wind clouds drifting, drifting, drifting across my vision. One sees that which he longs for in the clouds brought by the trade wind, and as I watched there pa.s.sed before my eyes a long procession of s.h.i.+ps, full-rigged s.h.i.+ps, with swelling sails; s.h.i.+ps, high up on whose stern and prow stood, marked against the background of blue, guns of enormous calibre. The bows of these vessels were all pointed toward the north.

They meant life and freedom.

"Bo's'n," said I, "you will see that there is no furniture of any kind in this cell. I should like very much to look from that little window up there. I can reach it very well with my hands, but I can't see out.

Would you mind letting me have the use of your back for a few minutes, Bo's'n?"

"Certainly not, sir," said the Bo's'n with the greatest politeness.

Whereupon he crouched down upon the floor and I stood upon his back.

From the open port I had a splendid and extensive view. It was quite large enough for me to put my head out and look all about me, but I found, with regret, that my shoulders would not go through the opening.

Of course, my jailers knew this before I was placed in the casemate. I looked abroad, I looked to right, to left, and then I looked downward. I found that we were in a sort of square tower or bastion, and that we were, so to speak, in the second story. And as I gazed beneath me I saw a hand protrude from another port, perhaps, or some other opening. It was a woman's hand, and on the wedding finger I saw the ring that I had given to Cynthia. The hand grasped a handkerchief, which it waved as if to attract attention. The hand, I saw, was Cynthia's own. So she was incarcerated below me! I called softly, "Cynthia! Cynthia!" and then getting no response, I called louder. There was no one near. Indeed, there was no esplanade or terrace surrounding our side of the fortress; only a sheer wall, which fell away to the depth of a hundred feet or more, until it reached the slope of the mountain where its foundation had been built. The fortress had been begun by the French upon the mountain-top called the "Bishop's Hat," and for the erection of the citadel they had selected the very crown and apex of the summit, where the land slopes steeply away on every side.

"Cynthia!" again I called. "Do speak to me. It is I--Hiram."

Whereupon the hand was withdrawn and Cynthia's head emerged from the opening below. She turned her face to me as well as she could, and looked upward.

"Oh, is that you? How glad I am!" she exclaimed. "How strange that we should be so near each other!"

"Are you alone?" I asked anxiously.

"Yes, and likely to be. It seems that we were overheard last evening, and when I went back to speak to you for a moment I was seized upon. I did not dream that you were here. I thought that I was alone. Your presence gives me hope, Hiram."

"Dearest," said I, "it all seems rather hopeless to me, but there must be some way out of this."

"Zalee has returned," said Cynthia. "Lacelle told me after I left you.

An American s.h.i.+p has started for Manzanillo Bay. It seems that is the name of the place where we were s.h.i.+pwrecked. It will wait there as long as possible, perhaps until we can make our escape."

"Our escape!" I echoed, "our escape from such walls as these!"

"It seems that Christophe takes the ground that we have come to start a revolution," said Cynthia.

"He is full of those excuses," said I. "Start a revolution! Three men, a young girl, and a boy!" I had wondered how he had dared throw Americans, natives of so powerful a country as ours, into prison. I knew that he was very little informed with regard to our country, but I had thought that our representative at Le Cap would have rescued us in a very short time.

"Zalee found great disturbances down at the coast," said Cynthia. "Some of the mobs are shouting 'A bas Christophe!' Others are crying, 'Vi'

Boyer!' General Boyer is in town, and they are flocking to his standard.

Zalee tried to find the 'consite,' as he calls him, but he was at Port au Prince. But he saw an American bark in the harbour, and he swam off to her. Her captain--Bartlett is his name--seemed very kind and much interested in us. He told Zalee that we could come down from the plateau to the sh.o.r.e when we saw the sails coming into the harbour, and that he would train his guns on the beach to protect his long boat, which he would send in for us. He thinks we are down there at the plateau now. He does not dream that we are up here on this terrible height, imprisoned by Christophe. When Zalee returned and found us gone, he understood at once what had happened, and came up to the palace, trusting to the torch bearer and the kitchen maid to protect him. Zalee happened to know the cook on board the Jenny Bartlett. He is a Hatien, and through him Zalee told the captain about our being secreted at the plateau. He is getting a cargo of sugar on board--the captain, I mean--and as soon as he is ready he will sail for the bay. He says that we must come as soon as we sight his vessel. He may be there in a day or two. O Hiram! do you suppose that we can get away, and that if we do that we can get to the coast in time?"

"You have given me a new hope," said I. "There must be some way found."

"And, O Hiram! I have such a strange thing to tell you----"

b.u.mp! I fell to the floor of my cell.

"You're getting pretty heavy, Mr. Jones, sir," said the Bo's'n; "besides which, I hear footsteps coming along the corridor." I heard them myself, and arose and stood straight against the wall as the door was rudely opened and a small parcel was flung into the room. I recognised my handkerchief, and felt, as I picked the parcel up from the floor, that the lamp, blowpipe, and materials for making the ring had been sent after me. The soldier who looked in at the door said something in his mongrel tongue which I did not comprehend. Then some food, consisting of ca.s.sava bread and coffee, was pushed in at the crack which was made by the opening, the door was closed, and we were alone again.

I can not tell you how the days pa.s.sed. Suspense and misery were my portion. I wondered each day what the next would have in store for me, and each night what another night would bring. I feared, above all, for Cynthia, and dreaded that those brutal soldiers would force some insult upon her or cause her some injury. My only happiness was in talking with her, and, as often as I could persuade him to do so, I stood upon the Bo's'n's shoulders and conversed with her. I paid for this privilege by making over to the Bo's'n each time a small share of my part in the great diamond. And I paid also in many a b.u.mp and bruise, for just as Cynthia and I had come to the most interesting part of our conversation, and she had said to me, "O Hiram! I always forget to tell you----" the Bo's'n would let me fall, and would under no persuasion whatsoever allow me to remount his unwilling back. This, however, I took as a matter of course, and I would have gone through with much more than that to get speech, even once a day, with Cynthia. You can imagine what a welcome diversion it made in the monotonous hours which comprised the days of our wretched existence.

After some days of imprisonment, I asked to be allowed to take a bath.

To a man who has had his plunge in the lovely rivers of the North or the salt waves of the sea every day of his life, the close confinement, with but a teacupful of water to bathe in, becomes unendurable. My jailer looked at me with surprise when I asked this favour, and, as he could speak a little English, he informed me that he could not understand my wis.h.i.+ng to put my whole body into water; that for him it made him ill!

However, he went off to proffer my request to the proper authorities, and, to my great joy, I was allowed the privilege that I asked--probably because it was thought that such an unusual method of procedure would end my life, and that they might as well get rid of me in that way as any other. Imagine my joy when my guide informed me that I was to be allowed to bathe myself in the horse trough! He looked upon me as quite insane, but seemed to think that such mental failure was common to all English-speaking people, which I a.s.sured him was true. In his broken English he informed me that once an English admiral had come up from the coast to the palace to remain over night, and that he had brought his bath-tub with him. This was looked upon as a strange piece of infatuation. Imagine my delight and pleasure when the guide opened my cell door and conducted me to the stable yard! I can not describe the numberless pa.s.sages, corridors, apartments, and barracks through and by which we pa.s.sed. It seemed to me to be the journey of a half hour. It would have been most interesting had I not been br.i.m.m.i.n.g over all the time with my plans for escape and wondering how we could manage to get to the sea. How often I regretted the leaving of the cave. The American captain could have taken us off in a half hour's time, and now, perhaps, when we reached the sh.o.r.e, he would have gone away. I suppose that I was ten minutes walking through the different hallways, but at last we came out into a rough, uneven yard, where there were mules, horses, hay in abundance under cover and in the open, and in the centre of the inclosure was a great trough of water, where I saw that the horses were allowed to drink. The stable yard was some distance below the crest of the hill, and I recalled that we had descended several flights of steps.

I threw off my slight clothing and plunged into the trough, the soldiers looking on with astonishment, as much, perhaps, at my white skin as at my evident enjoyment of the delicious bath. They were, for the most part, dirty and ill dressed in soiled white linen, and I recommended to them in choice English not only a bath for themselves, but for their clothes as well. I dried myself in the sun, and then dressed again. As we mounted a flight of steps in the wall, before entering the fortress--or perhaps, I should say, its inclosed portion--I turned for a moment to look once again down into the smiling valley which stretched between me and liberty. Below me, almost embowered in trees, lay the palace of Sans Souci, and winding along, with curves and turnings, ran the white and dusty road which led to Le Cap. As I stopped for a moment to breathe G.o.d's air, for perhaps the last time, I was surprised to see flames far below there in the fields, and now I found that the plains were ablaze, cotton as well as sugar fields. The cane sent up a thick smoke, and there came to us on a desultory breeze the rich, odourous smell of the burning sugar. I pointed this out to the guard who had brought me down to the stable yard. He nodded his head, and told me, as well as I could understand, that the fields had been burning for some days, that the rebels were encroaching from the coast, and that if they succeeded in reaching the citadel we should all be burned or shot. So this was the death reserved for us. Capture by rebels no better than Christophe himself! I took my last look at the melancholy but beautiful sight, and turned again toward what I now felt was to be my tomb. I had kept up my courage until that moment, but now, alas! it had flown in a breath. We walked again through many dark corridors, and I saw that we took this time a different turning. I was about to remonstrate with my guard as to this, when there was a sudden beating of a drum and a call to arms. He quickly opened a door and pushed me hurriedly into a room, the door slammed, and I looked up to find that I was confronting Cynthia. I met her with a most disheartening sentence.

"We can at least die together," said I.

"Why should we die at all?" asked Cynthia, running to me with a little cry of joy.

"The rebels are attacking Christophe, and they will treat us even worse than he has."

"How do you know?" asked Cynthia.

"I have just heard so from the guard who put me in here. Of course, my being here is a mistake. He has brought me a story too low, but it is all the same now. We can die together."

"I don't believe we shall die at all," said Cynthia. "I'm dreadfully sorry now that I sent that diamond to the King."

"What diamond?" asked I, almost knowing what she would say.

"Why, the morning that they brought me here I was kneeling there in the corner, praying that we might be saved if it was G.o.d's will. I had prayed long and earnestly, and was just rising from my knees, when I heard a curious little chick and rattle, and the most wonderful jewel that I ever imagined rolled out from that crack in the ceiling. It dropped almost into my hands. I have wanted to tell you every day, but you have always gone away so suddenly----"

"So the Bo's'n is doubly paid for his weak, unwilling back!" said I.

Cynthia, of course, did not understand these words, but continued:

"I looked upon this as a special interposition of Providence in my behalf, and when the young Prince Geffroy came up here two days ago I sent the diamond to the King, hoping that he would save us in exchange for it."

I gasped in distress.

"I don't believe he would keep his written pledge," said I, "and certainly if he had not promised you he would not save your life on account of the jewel if he wished to take it. Why did Geffroy come up here?"

"He came to collect all the troops that could be spared. There has been an uprising----"

"Yes, yes, I know," said I. While I had been talking I heard distant sounds of firing, the sounds of shouts were borne upon the breeze, and then suddenly the boom of one of the guns of the citadel itself spoke out to remind those in the valley below, perhaps, that the stupendous fortress was still there, still faithful, still impregnable. I climbed up on the low seat which had been given Cynthia, and found that I could just look over the ledge of the port.

"How did you get up so high as to put your head out of the window?"

asked I.

"Turned the bench on one end, of course," said Cynthia. Woman's wit again! I set the bench on end and looked out with ease. The valley was all aflame now. I should not have thought that the fires would spread so rapidly. At that very moment, had I but known it, Christophe was seated under the great camaito tree, and as all the troops who remained faithful defiled before him he gave to each one a piece of money, and told them to go and fight the rebels for G.o.d and for King Henry of the North. We spent the day thus and the long watches of the night. I watched while Cynthia slept, and she watched while I took some rest.

It was early morning when our cell door was thrown open and we were told to come out at once. We ran along the black and dingy halls, and, following the faint light which showed itself, as well as the sound of voices, we at last found ourselves upon the great esplanade. Even though all was excitement and anxiety, I could not help taking in the wondrous beauty of the view. I seemed all at once to be perched in midair. I know now that I saw that grand body of water, Manzanillo Bay, stretching to the northward. To the right, in the dim distance, were La Grange and Monte Cristo in their infancy; to the left, the stretch of land that led toward Le Cap. Below us the fires were raging, and beyond the gate I saw a body of men advancing, not by the perilous path over which I had come, but along a fine road, which led winding down through the woods to Sans Souci itself. These soldiers had just emerged from the forest. They were of the rebel party. They swarmed up the hill and began their attack on the great gates of the fortress. It seemed hopeless to me, but I had no time to surmise anything, for I was there to aid, and I asked for instructions at once. All was excitement on the terrace. All the great cannon which could be moved had been wheeled across the esplanade, and their muzzles turned downward upon the advancing enemy. I now understood why we had been released. Many of the soldiery had been called away to protect Sans Souci and the towns of the valley, so that every man in the fortress was needed to load and fire those eighteen- and twenty-four-pounders. They stood upon their mahogany carriages as firmly as if those carriages were made of iron. And here, among the defenders of the place, I came upon the Skipper, the Smith, and the Bo's'n.

Cynthia rushed to her Uncle's arms, and for a moment the two could not speak. Then the old man said:

"You must hide yourself, Cynthy, girl."

"No, Uncle," she answered, "I can bring fire, or do anything that a man can, and so save you the time of a soldier. Perhaps if we fight for Christophe he will let us go."

Poor girl! The cry of the captive since the days of Pharaoh, no greater tyrant than Christophe himself!

How shall I describe the confusion which reigned in the fortress? The wheeling of the guns into place, the belching forth of their loads of shot and sh.e.l.l, the shrieks of the wounded below the gate and under the walls, the hammering upon the masonry from the outside, the shouts of "They are here!" or, "They are attacking that sally port!" The rush of our handful of men to aid in the repulse, then the surging back as the attack came from another quarter. Can you imagine anything so strange as the sight of a young girl among those rough soldiers of all shades, running here and there, bringing water to the overheated gunners, carrying fire to light the powder at the vent, encouraging her friends by words of cheer, even jumping upon the parapet in sight of all on both sides, and calling in her clear voice, "They are making a rush toward the southern gate, Uncle!" or, "Hiram, they are falling back!

Fire down the hill, and you will have them on this side!"

All day long the sound of battle came to us. It rose from those plains of Paradise which were being turned from gardens into shambles. Gardens where in the past, the rose and the Sangre de Cristo lily had borrowed from the soil, watered with the blood of Christophe's enemies, a colour as vivid as that of the streams which ran again to-day in crimson rivers adown the plain.