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 http://www.archive.org/details/greenmansionsromhuds 
 
BY 
 
 W. H. HUDSON 
 
 "[He] has a supreme gift of disclosing not only the 
 thing he sees but the spirit of his vision." 
 
 — John Galsworthy 
 
 A LITTLE BOY LOST 
 AFOOT IN ENGLAND 
 BIRDS AND MEN 
 GREEN MANSIONS 
 RALPH HERNE 
 
 These are Borzoi Books, published by 
 
 ALFRED A. KNOPF 
 
Green Mansions: a Romance o/ 
 
 the Tropical Forest by W. H. Hudson 
 
I 
 
Green Mansions: A Romance of 
 
 the Tropical Forest by W, H. Hudson 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 
 John Galsworthy 
 
 New York ^gg ^^ 535 ^ Mcmxxxvii 
 
 Alfred A. Knopf 
 
Copyright 1916 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 
 
 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be re- 
 produced in any form without permission in writing 
 from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may 
 quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a 
 magazine or newspaper. 
 
 Published March 10, 1916 
 
 Reprinted Nineteen Times 
 
 Twenty-first Printing, January 1937 
 
 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF 
 AMERICA 
 
FOREWORD 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 I take up pen for this foreword with the fear of 
 one who knows that he cannot do justice to his sub- 
 ject, and the trembling of one who would not, for a 
 good deal, set down words unpleasing to the eye of 
 him who wrote " Green Mansions," " The Purple 
 Land," and all those other books which have meant so 
 much to me. For of all living authors — now that 
 Tolstoi has gone — I could least dispense with W. H. 
 Hudson. Why do I love his writing so ? I think be- 
 cause he is, of living writers that I read, the rarest 
 spirit, and has the clearest gift of conveying to me 
 the nature of that spirit. Writers are to their read- 
 ers little new worlds to be explored ; and each traveller 
 in the realms of literature must needs have a favourite 
 hunting ground, which, in his good will — or perhaps 
 merely in his egoism — he would wish others to share 
 with him. 
 
 The great and abiding misfortunes of most of us 
 writers are twofold : We are, as worlds, rather com- 
 mon tramping ground for our readers, rather tame 
 territory ; and as guides and dragomans thereto 
 we are too superficial, lacking clear intimacy of ex- 
 
viii FOREWORD 
 
 pression ; in fact, — like guide or dragoman — we can- 
 not let folk into the real secrets, or show them the 
 spirit, of the land. 
 
 Now Hudson, whether in a pure romance like this 
 " Green Mansions," or in that romantic piece of real- 
 ism " The Purple Land," or in books like " Idle Days 
 in Patagonia," " Afoot in England," " The Land's 
 End," " Adventures Among Birds," " A Shepherd's 
 Life " and all his other nomadic records of com- 
 munings with men, birds, beasts, and Nature, has a 
 supreme gift of disclosing not only the thing he sees 
 but the spirit of his vision. Without apparent effort 
 he takes you with him into a rare, free, natural world, 
 and always you are refreshed, stimulated, enlarged, 
 by going there. 
 
 He is of course a distinguished naturalist, probably 
 the most acute, broad-minded, and understanding ob- 
 server of Nature, living. And this, in an age of spe- 
 cialism, which loves to put men into pigeon-holes and 
 label them, has been a misfortune to the reading pub- 
 lic, who seeing the label Naturalist, pass on and take 
 down the nearest novel. Hudson has indeed the gifts 
 and knowledge of a Naturalist, but that is a mere 
 fraction of his value and interest. A really great 
 writer such as this is no more to be circumscribed by 
 a single word than America by the part of it called 
 
FOREWORD ix 
 
 New York. The expert knowledge which Hudson has J 
 of Nature gives to all his work backbone and surety / 
 of fibre, and to his sense of beauty an intimate actu- ) 
 ality. But his real eminence and extraordinary at- 
 traction lie in his spirit and philosophy. We feel 
 from his writings that he is nearer to Nature than 
 other men, and yet more truly civilised. The com- 
 petitive, towny culture, the queer up-to-date com- 
 mercial knowingness with which we are so busy coat- 
 ing ourselves, simply will not stick to him. A pas- 
 sage in his " Hampshire Days " describes him better 
 than I can : " The blue sky, the brown soil beneath, 
 the grass, the trees, the animals, the wind, and rain, 
 and stars are never strange to me; for I am in and 
 of and am one with them ; and my flesh and the soil 
 are one, and the heat in my blood and in the sun- 
 shine are one, and the winds and the tempests and 
 my passions are one. I feel the 4 strangeness ' only 
 with regard to my fellow men, especially in towns, 
 where they exist in conditions unnatural to me, but 
 congenial to them. ... In such moments we some- 
 times feel a kinship with, and are strangely drawn to, 
 the dead, who were not as these ; the long, long dead, 
 the men who knew not life in towns, and felt no 
 strangeness in sun and wind and rain." This un- 
 spoiled unity with Nature pervades all his writings ; 
 
x FOREWORD 
 
 they are remote from the fret and dust and pettiness 
 of town life ; they are large, direct, free. It is not 
 quite simplicity, for the mind of this writer is subtle 
 and fastidious, sensitive to each motion of natural 
 and human life; but his sensitiveness is somehow 
 different from, almost inimical to, that of us others, 
 who sit indoors and dip our pens in shades of feeling. 
 Hudson's fancy is akin to the flight of the birds that 
 are his special loves — it never seems to have entered 
 a house, but since birth to have been roaming the 
 air, in rain and sun, or visiting the trees and the grass. 
 I not only disbelieve utterly, but intensely dislike, the 
 doctrine of metempsychosis, which, if I understand 
 it aright, seems the negation of the creative impulse, 
 an apotheosis of staleness — nothing quite new in 
 the world, never anything quite new — not even the 
 soul of a baby; and so I am not prepared to en- 
 tertain the whim that a bird was one of his remote 
 incarnations ; still, in sweep of wing, quickness of 
 eye, and natural sweet strength of song he is not 
 unlike a super-bird — which is a horrid image. 
 
 And that reminds me: This, after all, is a fore- 
 word to " Green Mansions " — the romance of the 
 bird-girl Rima — a story actual yet fantastic, which 
 immortalises, I think, as passionate a love of all 
 beautiful things as ever was in the heart of man. 
 
FOREWORD xi 
 
 Somewhere Hudson says : " The sense of the beau- 
 tiful is God's best gift to the human soul." So it 
 is ; and to pass that gift on to others, in such meas- 
 ure as herein is expressed, must surely have been 
 happiness to him who wrote " Green Mansions." In 
 form and spirit the book is unique, a simple romantic 
 narrative transmuted by sheer glow of beauty into a 
 prose poem. Without ever departing from its qual- 
 ity of a tale, it symbolises the yearning of the human 
 soul for the attainment of perfect love and beauty 
 in this life — that impossible perfection which we 
 must all learn to see fall from its high tree and be 
 consumed in the flames, as was Rima the bird-girl, 
 but whose fine white ashes we gather that they may be 
 mingled at last with our own, when we too have been 
 refined by the fire of death's resignation. The book 
 is soaked through and through with a strange beauty. 
 I will not go on singing its praises, or trying to 
 make it understood, because I have other words to 
 say of its author. 
 
 Do we realize how far our town life and culture 
 have got away from things that really matter; how 
 instead of making civilisation our handmaid to free- 
 dom we have set her heel on our necks, and under it 
 bite dust all the time? Hudson, whether he knows 
 it or not, is now the chief standard-bearer of another 
 
xii FOREWORD 
 
 faith. Thus he spake in " The Purple Land " : 
 " Ah, yes, we are all vainly seeking after happiness 
 in the wrong way. It was with us once and ours, 
 but we despised it, for it was only the old common 
 happiness which Nature gives to all her children, and 
 we went away from it in search of another grander 
 kind of happiness which some dreamer — Bacon or 
 another — assured us we should find. We had only 
 to conquer Nature, find out her secrets, make her 
 our obedient slave, then the Earth would be Eden, 
 and every man Adam and every woman Eve. We 
 are still marching bravely on, conquering Nature, but 
 how weary and sad we are getting! The old joy in 
 life and gaiety of heart have vanished, though we 
 do sometimes pause for a few moments in our long 
 forced march to watch the labours of some pale 
 mechanician, seeking after perpetual motion, and in- 
 dulge in a little, dry, cackling laugh at his expense." 
 And again : " For here the religion that languishes 
 in crowded cities or steals shame-faced to hide itself 
 in dim churches, flourishes greatly, filling the soul 
 with a solemn joy. Face to face with Nature on 
 the vast hills at eventide, who does not feel himself 
 near to the Unseen? 
 
 " Out of his heart God shall not pass 
 His image stamped is on every grass." 
 
FOREWORD xiii 
 
 All Hudson's books breathe this spirit of revolt 
 against our new enslavement by towns and machinery, 
 and are true Oases in an Age so dreadfully resigned 
 to the " pale mechanician." 
 
 But Hudson is not, as Tolstoi was, a conscious 
 prophet; his spirit is freer, more wilful, whimsical 
 ■ — almost perverse — and far more steeped in love of 
 beauty. If you called him a prophet he would stamp 
 his foot at you — as he will at me if he reads these 
 words ; but his voice is prophetic, for all that, crying 
 in a wilderness, out of which, at the call, will spring 
 up roses here and there, and the sweet-smelling grass. 
 I would that every man, woman, and child in Eng- 
 land were made to read him; and I would that you 
 in America would take him to heart. He is a tonic, 
 a deep refreshing drink, with a strange and wonderful 
 flavour; he is a mine of new interests, and ways of 
 thought instinctively right. As a simple narrator he 
 is well-nigh unsurpassed; as a stylist he has few, if 
 any, living equals. And in all his work there is an 
 indefinable freedom from any thought of after-bene- 
 fit — even from the desire that we should read him. 
 He puts down what he sees and feels, out of sheer 
 love of the thing seen, and the emotion felt; the 
 smell of the lamp has not touched a single page that 
 he ever wrote. That alone is a marvel to us who 
 
xiv FOREWORD 
 
 know that to write well, even to write clearly, is a 
 woundy business, long to learn, hard to learn, and 
 no gift of the angels. Style should not obtrude be- 
 tween a writer and his reader; it should be servant, 
 not master. To use words so true and simple, that 
 they oppose no obstacle to the flow of thought and 
 feeling from mind to mind, and yet by juxtaposition 
 of word-sounds set up in the recipient continuing 
 emotion or gratification — this is the essence of style ; 
 and Hudson's writing has preeminently this dou- 
 ble quality. From almost any page of his books an 
 example might be taken. Here is one no better than 
 a thousand others, a description of two little girls on 
 a beach : " They were dressed in black frocks and 
 scarlet blouses, which set off their beautiful small 
 dark faces ; their eyes sparkled like black diamonds, 
 and their loose hair was a wonder to see, a black mist 
 or cloud about their heads and necks composed of 
 threads fine as gossamer, blacker than jet and shin- 
 ing like spun glass — hair that looked as if no comb 
 or brush could ever tame its beautiful wildness. And 
 in spirit they were what they seemed: such a wild, 
 joyous, frolicsome spirit, with such grace and fleet- 
 ness, one does not look for in human beings, but 
 only in birds or in some small bird-like volatile 
 
FOREWORD xv 
 
 mammal — a squirrel or a spider-monkey of the 
 tropical forest, or the chinchilla of the desolate moun- 
 tain slopes; the swiftest, wildest, loveliest, most airy 
 and most vocal of small beasties." Or this, as the 
 quintessence of a sly remark : " After that Manuel 
 got on to his horse and rode away. It was black 
 and rainy, but he had never needed moon or lantern 
 to find what he sought by night, whether his own 
 house, or a fat cow — also his own, perhaps." So 
 one might go on quoting felicity for ever from this 
 writer. He seems to touch every string with fresh 
 and uninked fingers ; and the secret of his power lies, 
 I suspect, in the fact that his words : " Life being 
 /nore than all else to me . . ." are so utterly true. 
 
 I do not descant on his love for simple folk and 
 simple things, his championship of the weak, and the 
 revolt against the cagings and cruelties of life, 
 whether to men or birds or beasts, that springs out 
 of him as if against his will; because, having spoken 
 of him as one with a vital philosophy or faith, I 
 don't wish to draw red herrings across the main trail 
 of his worth to the world. His work is a vision of 
 natural beauty and of human life as it might be, 
 quickened and sweetened by the sun and the wind and 
 the rain, and by fellowship with all the other forms 
 
xvi FOREWORD 
 
 of life — the truest vision now being given to us, who 
 are more in want of it than any generation has ever 
 been. A very great writer ; and — to my thinking 
 — the most valuable our Age possesses. 
 
 John Galsworthy. 
 
 September, 1915. 
 Manaton: Devon. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 IT is a cause of very great regret to me that this 
 task has taken so much longer a time than I had 
 expected for its completion. It is now many months 
 — over a year, in fact — since I wrote to George- 
 town announcing my intention of publishing, in a 
 very few months, the whole truth about Mr. Abel. 
 Hardly less could have been looked for from his near- 
 est friend, and I had hoped that the discussion in 
 the newspapers would have ceased, at all events, 
 until the appearance of the promised book. It has 
 not been so ; and at this distance from Guiana I was 
 not aware of how much conjectural matter was being 
 printed week by week in the local press, some of 
 which must have been painful reading to Mr. Abel's 
 friends. A darkened chamber, the existence of 
 which had never been suspected in that familiar 
 house in Main Street, furnished only with an ebony 
 stand on which stood a cinerary urn, its surface 
 ornamented with flower and leaf and thorn, and wind- 
 ing through it all the figure of a serpent ; an inscrip- 
 
2 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tion, too, of seven short words which no one could 
 understand or rightly interpret ; and finally, the dis- 
 posal of the mysterious ashes — that was all there 
 was relating- to an untold chapter in a man's life for 
 imagination to work on. Let us hope that now, at 
 last, the romance-weaving will come to an end. It 
 was, however, but natural that the keenest curiosity 
 should have been excited ; not only because of that 
 peculiar and indescribable charm of the man, which 
 all recognised and which won all hearts, but also be- 
 cause of that hidden chapter — that sojourn in the 
 desert, about which he preserved silence. It was 
 felt in a vague way by his intimates that he had met 
 with unusual experiences which had profoundly af- 
 fected him and changed the course of his life. To 
 me alone was the truth known, and I must now tell, 
 briefly as possible, how my great friendship and close 
 intimacy with him came about. 
 
 When, in 1887, I arrived in Georgetown to take 
 up an appointment in a public office, I found Mr. 
 Abel an old resident there, a man of means and a fa- 
 vourite in society. Yet he was an alien, a Venezue- 
 lan, one of that turbulent people on our border whom 
 the colonists have always looked on as their natural 
 enemies. The story told to me was that about 
 twelve years before that time he had arrived at 
 Georgetown from some remote district in the in- 
 terior; that he had journeyed alone on foot across 
 half the continent to the coast, and had first ap- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 3 
 
 peared among them, a young stranger, penniless, in 
 rags, wasted almost to a skeleton by fever and mis- 
 ery of all kinds, his face blackened by long exposure 
 to sun and wind. Friendless, with but little Eng- 
 lish, it was a hard struggle for him to live; but he 
 managed somehow, and eventually letters from Cara- 
 cas informed him that a considerable property of 
 which he had been deprived was once more his own, 
 and he was also invited to return to his country to 
 take Iris part in the government of the republic. But 
 Mr. Abel, though young, had already outlived po- 
 litical passions and aspirations, and, apparently, 
 even the love of his country ; at all events, he elected 
 to stay where he was — his enemies, he would say 
 smilingly, were his best friends — and one of the 
 first uses he made of his fortune was to buy that 
 house in Main Street which was afterwards like a 
 home to me. 
 
 I must state here that my friend's full name was 
 Abel Guevez de Argensola, but in his early days in 
 Georgetown he was called by his christian name only, 
 and later he wished to be known simply as " Mr, 
 Abel." 
 
 I had no sooner made his acquaintance than I 
 ceased to wonder at the esteem and even affection 
 with which he, a Venezuelan, was regarded in this 
 British colony. All knew and liked him, and the rea- 
 son of it was the personal charm of the man, his 
 kindly disposition, his manner with women, whi^ 
 
4 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 pleased them and excited no man's jealousy — not 
 even the old hot-tempered planter's, with a very 
 young and pretty and light-headed wife — his love of 
 little children, of all wild creatures, of nature, and 
 of whatsoever was furthest removed from the com- 
 mon material interests and concerns of a purely com- 
 mercial community. The things which excited other 
 men — politics, sport, and the price of crystals — 
 were outside of his thoughts ; and when men had done 
 with them for a season, when like the tempest they 
 had " blown their fill " in office and club-room and 
 house and wanted a change, it was a relief to turn to 
 Mr. Abel and get him to discourse of his world — the 
 world of nature and of the spirit. 
 
 It was, all felt, a good thing to have a Mr. Abel 
 in Georgetown. That it was indeed good for me I 
 quickly discovered. I had certainly not expected to 
 meet in such a place with any person to share my 
 tastes — that love of poetry which has been the chief 
 passion and delight of my life; but such an one I 
 had found in Mr. Abel. It surprised me that he, 
 suckled on the literature of Spain, and a reader of 
 only ten or twelve years of English literature, pos- 
 sessed a knowledge of our modern poetry as intimate 
 as my own, and a love of it equally great. This feel- 
 ing brought us together, and made us two — the nerv- 
 ous olive-skinned Hispano-American of the tropics 
 and the phlegmatic blue-eyed Saxon of the cold north 
 — one in spirit and more than brothers. Many were 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 5 
 
 the daylight hours we spent together and " tired the 
 sun with talking " ; many, past counting, the pre- 
 cious evenings in that restful house of his where I was 
 an almost daily guest. I had not looked for such 
 happiness ; nor, he often said, had he. A result of 
 this intimacy was that the vague idea concerning his 
 hidden past, that some unusual experience had pro- 
 foundly affected him and perhaps changed the whole 
 course of his life, did not diminish, but, on the con- 
 trary, became accentuated, and was often in my 
 mind. The change in him was almost painful to 
 witness whenever our wandering talk touched on the 
 subject of the aborigines, and of the knowledge he 
 had acquired of their character and languages when 
 living or travelling among them; all that made his 
 conversation most engaging — the lively, curious 
 mind, the wit, the gaiety of spirit tinged with a ten- 
 der melancholy — appeared to fade out of it ; even the 
 expression of his face would change, becoming hard 
 and set, and he would deal you out facts in a dry 
 mechanical way as if reading them in a book. It 
 grieved me to note this, but I dropped no hint of 
 such a feeling, and would never have spoken about it 
 but for a quarrel which came at last to make the one 
 brief solitary break in that close friendship of years. 
 I got into a bad state of health, and Abel was not 
 only much concerned about it, but annoyed, as if I 
 had not treated him well by being ill, and he would 
 even say that I could get well if I wished to. I did 
 
6 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 not take this seriously, but one morning, when call- 
 ing to see me at the office, he attacked me in a way 
 that made me downright angry with him. He told 
 me that indolence and the use of stimulants was the 
 cause of my bad health. He spoke in a mocking 
 way, with a pretence of not quite meaning it, but the 
 feeling could not be wholly disguised. Stung by his 
 reproaches, I blurted out that he had no right to talk 
 to me, even in fun, in such a way. Yes, he said, get- 
 ting serious, he had the best right — that of our 
 friendship. He would be no true friend if he kept 
 his peace about such a matter. Then, in my haste, 
 I retorted that to me the friendship between us did 
 not seem so perfect and complete as it did to him. 
 One condition of friendship is that the partners in it 
 should be known to each other. He had had my 
 whole life and mind open to him, to read it as in a 
 book. His life was a closed and clasped volume to 
 me. 
 
 His face darkened, and after a few moments' silent 
 reflection he got up and left me with a cold good-bye, 
 and without that hand-grasp which had been cus- 
 tomary between us. 
 
 After his departure I had the feeling that a great 
 loss, a great calamity, had befallen me, but I was still 
 smarting at his too candid criticism, all the more be- 
 cause in my heart I acknowledged its truth. And 
 that night, lying awake, I repented of the cruel re- 
 tort I had made, and resolved to ask his forgiveness 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 7 
 
 and leave it to him to determine the question of our 
 future relations. But he was beforehand with me, 
 and with the morning came a letter begging my for- 
 giveness and asking me to go that evening to dine 
 with him. 
 
 We were alone, and during dinner and afterwards, 
 when we sat smoking and sipping black coffee in the 
 verandah, we were unusually quiet, even to gravity, 
 which caused the two white-clad servants that waited 
 on us — the brown-faced subtle-eyed old Hindoo but- 
 ler and an almost blue-black young Guiana negro — 
 to direct many furtive glances at their master's face. 
 They were accustomed to see him in a more genial 
 mood when he had a friend to dine. To me the 
 change in his manner was not surprising: from the 
 moment of seeing him I had divined that he had de- 
 termined to open the shut and clasped volume of 
 which I had spoken — that the time had now come for 
 him to speak. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 NOW that we are cool, he said, and regret that 
 we hurt each other, I am not sorry that it hap- 
 pened. I deserved jour reproach: a hundred times 
 I have wished to tell you the whole story of my trav- 
 els and adventures among the savages, and one of the 
 reasons which prevented me was the fear that it 
 would have an unfortunate effect on our friendship. 
 That was precious, and I desired above everything 
 to keep it. But I must think no more about that 
 now. I must think only of how I am to tell you my 
 story. I will begin at a time when I was twenty- 
 three. It was early in life to be in the thick of poli- 
 tics, and in trouble to the extent of having to fly my 
 country to save my liberty, perhaps my life. 
 
 Every nation, someone remarks, has the govern- 
 ment it deserves, and Venezuela certainly has the one 
 it deserves and that suits it best. We call it a re- 
 public, not only because it is not one, but also be- 
 cause a thing must have a name ; and to have a good 
 name, or a fine name, is very convenient — especially 
 when you want to borrow money. If the Venezue- 
 lans, thinly distributed over an area of half a million 
 square miles, mostly illiterate peasants, half-breeds, 
 
10 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 and indigenes, were educated, intelligent men, zealous 
 only for the public weal, it would be possible for 
 them to have a real republic. They have instead a 
 government by cliques, tempered by revolution ; and 
 a very good government it is, in harmony with the 
 physical conditions of the country and the national 
 temperament. Now it happens that the educated 
 men, representing your higher classes, are so few 
 that there are not many persons unconnected by ties 
 of blood or marriage with prominent members of the 
 political groups to which they belong. By this you 
 will see how easy and almost inevitable it is that we 
 should become accustomed to look on conspiracy and 
 revolt against the regnant party — the men of an- 
 other clique — as only in the natural order of things. 
 In the event of failure such outbreaks are punished, 
 but they are not regarded as immoral. On the con- 
 trary, men of the highest intelligence and virtue 
 among us are seen taking a leading part in these ad- 
 ventures. Whether such a condition of things is in- 
 trinsically wrong or not, or would be wrong in some 
 circumstances and is not wrong, because inevitable, 
 in others, I cannot pretend to decide; and all this 
 tiresome prolusion is only to enable you to under- 
 stand how I — a young man of unblemished character, 
 not a soldier by profession, not ambitious of political 
 distinction, wealthy for that country, popular in so- 
 ciety, a lover of social pleasures, of books, of nature 
 — actuated, as I believed, by the highest motives, al- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 11 
 
 lowed myself to be drawn very readily by friends and 
 relations into a conspiracy to overthrow the govern- 
 ment of the moment, with the object of replacing it 
 by more worthy men — ourselves, to wit. 
 
 Our adventure failed because the authorities got 
 wind of the affair and matters were precipitated. 
 Our leaders at the moment happened to be scattered 
 over the country — some were abroad ; and a few hot- 
 headed men of the party, who were in Caracas just 
 then, and probably feared arrest, struck a rash blow : 
 the President was attacked in the street and 
 wounded. But the attackers were seized, and some 
 of them shot on the following day. When the news 
 reached me I was at a distance from the capital, 
 staying with a friend on an estate he owned on the 
 River Quebrada Honda, in the State of Guarico, 
 some fifteen to twenty miles from the town of Zaraza. 
 My friend, an officer in the army, was a leader in the 
 conspiracy ; and as I was the only son of a man who 
 had been greatly hated by the Minister of War, it 
 became necessary for us both to fly for our lives. 
 In the circumstances we could not look to be par- 
 doned, even on the score of youth. 
 
 Our first decision was to escape to the sea-coast; 
 but as the risk of a journey to La Guayra, or any 
 other port of embarkation on the north side of the 
 country, seemed too great, we made our way in a 
 contrary direction to the Orinoco, and downstream 
 to Angostura. Now, when we had reached this com- 
 
12 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 paratively safe breathing-place — safe, at all events, 
 for the moment — I changed my mind about leaving 
 or attempting to leave the country. Since boyhood 
 I had taken a very peculiar interest in that vast and 
 almost unexplored territory we possess south of the 
 Orinoco, with its countless unmapped rivers and 
 trackless forests ; and in its savage inhabitants, with 
 their ancient customs and character, unadulterated 
 by contact with Europeans. To visit this primitive 
 wilderness had been a cherished dream; and I had to 
 some extent even prepared myself for such an ad- 
 venture by mastering more than one of the Indian 
 dialects of the northern states of Venezuela. And 
 now, finding myself on the south side of our great 
 river, with unlimited time at my disposal, I deter- 
 mined to gratify this wish. My companion took his 
 departure towards the coast, while I set about mak- 
 ing preparations and hunting up information from 
 those who had travelled in the interior to trade with 
 the savages. I decided eventually to go back up- 
 stream, and penetrate to the interior in the western 
 part of Guayana, and the Amazonian territory bor- 
 dering on Colombia and Brazil, and to return to An- 
 gostura in about six months' time. I had no fear of 
 being arrested in the semi-independent, and in most 
 part savage region, as the Guayana authorities con- 
 cerned themselves little enough about the political 
 upheavals at Caracas. 
 
 The first five or six months I spent in Guayana, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 13 
 
 after leaving the city of refuge, were eventful enough 
 to satisfy a moderately adventurous spirit. A com- 
 plaisant Government employe at Angostura had pro- 
 vided me with a passport, in which it was set down 
 (for few to read) that my object in visiting the in- 
 terior was to collect information concerning the na- 
 tive tribes, the vegetable products of the country, 
 and other knowledge which would be of advantage to 
 the Republic; and the authorities were requested to 
 afford me protection and assist me in my pursuits. 
 
 I ascended the Orinoco, making occasional expe- 
 ditions to the small Christian settlements in the 
 neighbourhood of the right bank, also to the Indian 
 villages ; and travelling in this way, seeing and learn- 
 ing much, in about three months I reached the River 
 Meta. During this period I amused myself by keep- 
 ing a journal, a record of personal adventures, im- 
 pressions of the country and people, both semi-civi- 
 lised and savage; and as my journal grew, I began 
 to think that on my return at some future time to 
 Caracas, it might prove useful and interesting to the 
 public, and also procure me fame ; which thought 
 proved pleasurable and a great incentive, so that I 
 began to observe things more narrowly and to study 
 expression. But the book was not to be. 
 
 From the mouth of the Meta I journeyed on, in- 
 tending to visit the settlement of Atahapo, where the 
 great River Guaviare, with other rivers, empty them- 
 selves into the Orinoco. But I was not destined to 
 
14 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 reach it, for at the small settlement of Manapuri I 
 fell ill of a low fever; and here ended the first half- 
 year of my wanderings, about which no more need be 
 told. 
 
 A more miserable place than Manapuri for a man 
 to be ill of a low fever in could not well be imagined. 
 The settlement, composed of mean hovels, with a 
 few large structures of mud, or plastered wattle, 
 thatched with palm leaves, was surrounded by water, 
 marsh, and forest, the breeding-place of myriads of 
 croaking frogs and of clouds of mosquitoes ; even to 
 one in perfect health existence in such a place would 
 have been a burden. The inhabitants mustered 
 about eighty or ninety, mostly Indians of that de- 
 generate class frequently to be met with in small 
 trading outposts. The savages of Guayana are 
 great drinkers, but not drunkards in our sense, since 
 their fermented liquors contain so little alcohol that 
 inordinate quantities must be swallowed to produce 
 intoxication ; in the settlements they prefer the white 
 man's more potent poisons, with the result that in a 
 small place like Manapuri one can see enacted, as on 
 a stage, the last act in the great American tragedy. 
 To be succeeded, doubtless, by other and possibly 
 greater tragedies. My thoughts at that period of 
 suffering were pessimistic in the extreme. Some- 
 times, when the almost continuous rain held up for 
 half a day, I would manage to creep out a short dis- 
 tance; but I was almost past making any exertion, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 15 
 
 scarcely caring to live, and taking absolutely no in- 
 terest in the news from Caracas, which reached me 
 at long intervals. At the end of two months, feeling 
 a slight improvement in my health, and with it a re- 
 turning interest in life and its affairs, it occurred to 
 me to get out my diary and write a brief account of 
 my sojourn at Manapuri. I had placed it for safety 
 in a small deal box, lent to me for the purpose by a 
 Venezuelan trader, an old resident at the settlement, 
 by name Pantaleon — called by all Don Panta — one 
 who openly kept half a dozen Indian wives in his 
 house, and was noted for his dishonesty and greed, 
 but who had proved himself a good friend ta> me. 
 The box was in a corner of the wretched palm- 
 thatched hovel I inhabited; but on taking it out I 
 discovered that for several weeks the rain had been 
 dripping on it, and that the manuscript was reduced 
 to a sodden pulp. I flung it upon the floor with a 
 curse, and threw myself back on my bed with a groan. 
 In that desponding state I was found by my friend 
 Panta, who was constant in his visits at all hours ; 
 and, when in answer to his anxious inquiries I pointed 
 to the pulpy mass on the mud floor, he turned it over 
 with his foot, and then, bursting into a loud laugh, 
 kicked it out, remarking that he had mistaken the ob- 
 ject for some unknown reptile that had crawled in 
 out of the rain. He affected to be astonished that I 
 should regret its loss. It was all a true narrative, 
 he exclaimed ; if I wished to write a book for the stay- 
 
16 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 at-homes to read, I could easily invent a thousand 
 lies far more entertaining than any real experiences. 
 He had come to me, he said, to propose something. 
 He had lived twenty years at that place, and had got 
 accustomed to the climate, but it would not do for 
 me to remain any longer if I wished to live. I must 
 go away at once to a different country — to the moun- 
 tains, where it was open and dry. " And if you 
 want quinine when you are there," he concluded, 
 " smell the wind when it blows from the south-west, 
 and you will inhale it into your system, fresh from 
 the forest." When I remarked despondingly that in 
 my condition it would be impossible to quit Mana- 
 puri, he went on to say that a small party of Indians 
 was now in the settlement ; that they had come, not 
 only to trade, but to visit one of their own tribe, who 
 was his wife, purchased some years ago from her 
 father. " And the money she cost me I have never 
 regretted to this day," said he, " for she is a good 
 wife — not jealous," he added, with a curse on all the 
 others. These Indians came all the way from the 
 Queneveta mountains, and were of the Maquiritari 
 tribe. He, Panta, and, better still, his good wife, 
 would interest them on my behalf, and for a suitable 
 reward they would take me by slow, easy stages to 
 their own country, where I would be treated well and 
 recover my health. 
 
 This proposal, after I had considered it well, pro- 
 duced so good an effect on me, that I not only gave a 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 17 
 
 glad consent, but, on the following day, I was able 
 to get about and begin the preparations for my jour- 
 ney with some spirit. 
 
 In about eight days I bade good-bye to my gener- 
 ous friend Panta, whom I regarded, after having seen 
 much of him, as a kind of savage beast that had 
 sprung on me, not to rend, but to rescue from death : 
 for we know that even cruel savage brutes and evil 
 men have at times sweet, beneficent impulses, during 
 which they act in a way contrary to their natures, 
 like passive agents of some higher power. It was a 
 continual pain to travel in my weak condition, and 
 the patience of my Indians was severely taxed; but 
 they did not forsake me ; and, at last, the entire dis- 
 tance, which I conjectured to be about sixty-five 
 leagues, was accomplished; and at the end I was 
 actually stronger and better in every way than at the 
 start. From this time my progress towards com- 
 plete recovery was rapid. The air, with or without 
 any medicinal virtue blown from the cinchona trees 
 in the far-off Andean forest, was tonic ; and when I 
 took my walks on the hillside above the Indian village, 
 or later, when able to climb to the summits, the world 
 as seen from those wild Queneveta mountains had a 
 largeness and varied glory of scenery peculiarly re- 
 freshing and delightful to the soul. 
 
 With the Maquiritari tribe I passed some weeks, 
 and the sweet sensations of returning health made me 
 happy for a time ; but such sensations seldom outlast 
 
18 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 convalescence. I was no sooner well again than I be- 
 gan to feel a restless spirit stirring in me. The mo- 
 notony of savage life in this place became intolerable. 
 After my long listless period the reaction had come, 
 and I wished only for action, adventure — no matter 
 how dangerous ; and for new scenes, new faces, new 
 dialects. In the end I conceived the idea of going on 
 to the Casiquiare river, where I would find a few small 
 settlements, and perhaps obtain help from the au- 
 thorities there which would enable me to reach the 
 Rio Negro. For it was now in my mind to follow 
 that river to the Amazons, and so down to Para and 
 the Atlantic coast. 
 
 Leaving the Queneveta range, I started with two 
 of the Indians as guides and travelling companions ; 
 but their journey ended only half-way to the river I 
 wished to reach; and they left me with some friendly 
 savages living on the Chunapay, a tributary of the 
 Cunucumana, which flows to the Orinoco. Here I 
 had no choice but to wait until an opportunity of at- 
 taching myself to some party of travelling Indians, 
 going south-west, should arrive; for by this time I 
 had expended the whole of my small capital in orna- 
 ments and calico brought from Manapuri, so that I 
 could no longer purchase any man's service. And 
 perhaps it will be as well to state at this point just 
 what I possessed. For some time I had worn noth- 
 ing but sandals to protect my feet ; my garments 
 consisted of a single suit, and one flannel shirt, which 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 19 
 
 I washed frequently, going shirtless while it was dry- 
 ing. Fortunately I had an excellent blue cloth 
 cloak, durable and handsome, given to me by a friend 
 at Angostura, whose prophecy on presenting it, that 
 it would outlast me, very nearly came true. It 
 served as a covering by night, and to keep a man 
 warm and comfortable when travelling in cold and 
 wet weather no better garment was ever made. I 
 had a revolver and metal cartridge-box in my broad 
 leather belt, also a good hunting-knife with strong 
 buckhorn handle and a heavy blade about nine iuches 
 long. In the pocket of my cloak I had a pretty sil- 
 ver tinder-box, and a match-box — to be mentioned 
 again in this narrative — and one or two other trifling 
 objects: these I was determined to keep until they 
 could be kept no longer. 
 
 During the tedious interval of waiting on the Chu- 
 napay I was told a flattering tale by the village In- 
 dians, which eventually caused me to abandon the 
 proposed journey to the Rio Negro. These Indians 
 wore necklets, like nearly all the Guayana savages ; 
 but one, I observed, possessed a necklet unlike that 
 of the others, which greatly aroused my curiosity. 
 It was made of thirteen gold plates, irregular in 
 form, about as broad as a man's thumb-nail, and 
 linked together with fibres. I was allowed to exam- 
 ine it, and had no doubt that the pieces were of pure 
 gold, beaten flat by the savages. When questioned 
 about it they said it was originally obtained from the 
 
20 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 Indians of Parahuari, and Parahuari, they further 
 said, was a mountainous country west of the Orinoco. 
 Every man and woman in that place, they assured 
 me, had such a necklet. This report inflamed my 
 mind to such a degree that I could not rest by night 
 or day for dreaming golden dreams, and considering 
 how to get to that rich district, unknown to civilised 
 men. The Indians gravely shook their heads when I 
 tried to persuade them to take me. They were far 
 enough from the Orinoco, and Parahuari was ten, 
 perhaps fifteen, days' journey further on — a country 
 unknown to them, where they had no relations. 
 
 In spite of difficulties and delays, however, and not 
 without pain and some perilous adventures, I suc- 
 ceeded at last in reaching the upper Orinoco, and, 
 eventually, in crossing to the other side. With my 
 life in my hand I struggled on westward through an 
 unknown difficult country, from Indian village to vil- 
 lage, where at any moment I might have been mur- 
 dered with impunity for the sake of my few belong- 
 ings. It is hard for me to speak a good word for 
 the Guayana savages ; but I must now say this of 
 them, that they not only did me no harm when I was 
 at their mercy during this long journey, but they 
 gave me shelter in their villages, and fed me when I 
 was hungry, and helped me on my way when I could 
 make no return. You must not, however, run away 
 with the idea that there is any sweetness in their dis- 
 position, any humane or benevolent instincts such as 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 81 
 
 are found among the civilised nations : far from it. I 
 regard them now, and, fortunately for me, I regarded 
 them then, when, as I have said, I was at their mercy, 
 as beasts of prey, plus a cunning or low kind of in- 
 telligence vastly greater than that of the brute ; and, 
 for only morality, that respect for the rights of 
 other members of the same family, or tribe, without 
 which even the rudest communities cannot hold to- 
 gether. How, then, could I do this thing, and dwell 
 and travel freely, without receiving harm, among 
 tribes that have no peace with and no kindly feelings 
 towards the stranger, in a district where the white 
 man is rarely or never seen? Because I knew them 
 so well. Without that knowledge, always available, 
 and an extreme facility in acquiring new dialects, 
 which had increased by practice until it was almost 
 like intuition, I should have fared badly after leaving 
 the Maquiritari tribe. As it was, I had two or three 
 very narrow escapes. 
 
 To return from this digression. I looked at last 
 on the famous Parahuari mountains, which, I was 
 greatly surprised to find, were after all nothing but 
 hills, and not very high ones. This, however, did not 
 impress me. The very fact that Parahuari possessed 
 no imposing feature in its scenery seemed rather to 
 prove that it must be rich in gold: how else could 
 its name and the fame of its treasures be familiar to 
 people dwelling so far away as the Cunucumana? 
 
 But there was no gold. I searched through the 
 
22 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 whole range, which was about seven leagues long, and 
 visited the villages, where I talked much with the In- 
 dians, interrogating them, and they had no necklets 
 of gold, nor gold in any form ; nor had they ever 
 heard of its presence in Parahuari, nor in any other 
 place known to them. 
 
 The very last village where I spoke on the subject 
 of my quest, albeit now without hope, was about a 
 league from the western extremity of the range, in the 
 midst of a high broken country of forest and savan- 
 nah and many swift streams ; near one of these, called 
 the Curicay, the village stood, among low scattered 
 trees — a large building, in which all the people, num- 
 bering eighteen, passed most of their time when not 
 hunting, with two smaller buildings attached to it. 
 The head, or chief, Runi by name, was about fifty 
 years old, a taciturn, finely formed, and somewhat 
 dignified savage, who was either of a sullen disposi- 
 tion or not well pleased at the intrusion of a white 
 man. And for a time I made no attempt to concili- 
 ate him. What profit was there in it at all? Even 
 that light mask, which I had worn so long and with 
 such good effect, incommoded me now : I would cast 
 it aside and be myself — silent and sullen as my bar- 
 barous host. If any malignant purpose was taking 
 form in his mind, let it, and let him do his worst ; for 
 when failure first stares a man in the face it has so 
 dark and repellent a look that not anything that can 
 be added can make him more miserable ; nor has he 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 23 
 
 any apprehension. For weeks I had been searching 
 with eager, feverish eyes in every village, in every 
 rocky crevice, in every noisy mountain streamlet, for 
 the glittering yellow dust I had travelled so far to 
 find. And now all my beautiful dreams — all the 
 pleasure and power to be — had vanished like a mere 
 mirage on the savannah at noon. 
 
 It was a day of despair which I spent in this place, 
 sitting all day indoors, for it was raining hard, im- 
 mersed in my own gloomy thoughts, pretending to 
 doze in my seat, and out of the narrow slits of my 
 half-closed eyes seeing the others, also sitting or mov- 
 ing about, like shadows or people in a dream ; and I 
 cared nothing about them, and wished not to seem 
 friendly, even for the sake of the food they might 
 offer me by-and-by. 
 
 Towards evening the rain ceased ; and rising up I 
 went out a short distance to the neighbouring stream, 
 where I sat on a stone, and casting off my sandals, 
 laved my bruised feet in the cool running water. 
 The western half of the sky was blue again with that 
 tender lucid blue seen after rain, but the leaves still 
 glittered with water, and the wet trunks looked al- 
 most black under the green foliage. The rare loveli- 
 ness of the scene touched and lightened my heart. 
 Away back in the east the hills of Parahuari, with 
 the level sun full on them, loomed with a strange 
 glory against the grey rainy clouds drawing off on 
 that side, and their new mystic beauty almost made 
 
24 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 me forget how these same hills had wearied, and hurt, 
 and mocked me. On that side, also to the north and 
 south, there was open forest, but to the west a differ- 
 ent prospect met the eye. Beyond the stream and 
 the strip of verdure that fringed it, and the few scat- 
 tered dwarf trees growing near its banks, spread a 
 brown savannah sloping upwards to a long, low, 
 rocky ridge, beyond which rose a great solitary hill, 
 or rather mountain, conical in form, and clothed in 
 forest almost to the summit. This was the mountain 
 Ytaioa, the chief landmark in that district. As the 
 sun went down over the ridge, beyond the savannah, 
 the whole western sky changed to a delicate rose- 
 colour that had the appearance of rose-coloured 
 smoke blown there by some far off-wind, and left 
 suspended — a thin, brilliant veil showing through it 
 the distant sky beyond, blue and ethereal. Flocks of 
 birds, a kind of troupial, were flying past me over- 
 head, flock succeeding fleck, on their way to their 
 roosting-place, uttering as they flew a clear, bell-like 
 chirp; and there was something ethereal too in those 
 drops of melodious sound, which fell into my heart 
 like raindrops falling into a pool to mix their fresh 
 heavenly water with the water of earth. 
 
 Doubtless into the turbid tarn of my heart some 
 sacred drops had fallen — from the passing birds, 
 from that crimson disc which had now dropped below 
 the horizon, the darkening hills, the rose and blue of 
 infinite heaven, from the whole visible circle ; and I 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 25 
 
 felt purified and had a strange sense and apprehen- 
 sion of a secret innocence and spirituality in na- 
 ture — a prescience of some bourn, incalculably dis- 
 tant perhaps, to which we are all moving; of a time 
 when the heavenly rain shall have washed us clean 
 from all spot and blemish. This unexpected peace 
 which I had found now seemed to me of infinitely 
 greater value than that yellow metal I had missed 
 finding, with all its possibilities. My wish now was 
 to rest for a season at this spot, so remote and lovely 
 and peaceful, where I had experienced such unusual 
 feelings, and such a blessed disillusionment. 
 
 This was the end of my second period in Guayana ; 
 the first had been filled with that dream of a book to 
 win me fame in my country, perhaps even in Europe : 
 the second, from the time of leaving the Queneveta 
 mountains, with the dream of boundless wealth — the 
 old dream of gold in this region that has drawn so 
 many minds since the days of Alonzo Pizarro. But 
 to remain I must propitiate Runi, sitting silent 
 with gloomy brows over there indoors ; and he did 
 not appear to me like one that might be won with 
 words, however flattering. It was clear to me 
 that the time had come to part with my one remain- 
 ing valuable trinket — the tinder-box of chased 
 silver. 
 
 I returned to the house, and going in seated myself 
 on a log by the fire, just opposite to my grim host, 
 who was smoking and appeared not to have moved 
 
26 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 since I left him. I made myself a cigarette, then 
 drew out the tinder-box, with its flint and steel at- 
 tached to it by means of two small silver chains. 
 His eyes brightened a little as they curiously watched 
 my movements, and he pointed without speaking to 
 the glowing coals of fire at my feet. I shook my 
 head, and striking the steel, sent out a brilliant 
 spray of sparks, then blew on the tinder and lit my 
 cigarette. This done, instead of returning the box 
 to my pocket I passed the chain through the button- 
 hole of my cloak and let it dangle on my breast as 
 an ornament. When the cigarette was smoked I 
 cleared my throat in the orthodox manner, and fixed 
 my eyes on Runi, who, on his part, made a slight 
 movement to indicate that he was ready to listen to 
 what I had to say. 
 
 My speech was long, lasting at least half an hour, 
 delivered in a profound silence ; it was chiefly occu- 
 pied with an account of my wanderings in Guayana; 
 and being little more than a catalogue of names of 
 all the places I had visited, and the tribes and chief 
 or head men with whom I had come in contact, I was 
 able to speak continuously, and so to hide my ig- 
 norance of a dialect which was still new to me. The 
 Guayana savage judges a man for his staying pow- 
 ers. To stand as motionless as a bronze statue for 
 one or two hours watching for a bird; to sit or lie 
 still for half a day ; to endure pain, not seldom self- 
 inflicted, without wincing; and when delivering a 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 27 
 
 speech to pour it out in a copious stream, without 
 pausing to take breath or hesitating over a word — to 
 be able to do all this is to prove yourself a man, an 
 equal, one to be respected and even made a friend of. 
 What I really wished to say to him was put in a few 
 words at the conclusion of my well-nigh meaningless 
 oration. Everywhere, I said, I had been the In- 
 dian's friend, and I wished to be his friend, to live 
 with him at Parahuari, even as I had lived with other 
 chiefs and heads of villages and families ; to be looked 
 on by him, as these others had looked on me, not as 
 a stranger or a white man, but as a friend, a brother, 
 an Indian. 
 
 I ceased speaking, and there was a slight murmur- 
 ous sound in the room, as of wind long pent up in 
 many lungs suddenly exhaled; while Runi, still un- 
 moved, emitted a low grunt. Then I rose, and 
 detaching the silver ornament from my cloak pre- 
 sented it to him. He accepted it ; not very gra- 
 ciously, as a stranger to these people might have 
 imagined ; but I was satisfied, feeling sure that I had 
 made a favourable impression. After a little he 
 handed the box to the person sitting next to him, 
 who examined it and passed it on to a third, and in 
 this way it went round and came back once more to 
 Runi. Then he called for a drink. There hap- 
 pened to be a store of casserie in the house ; probably 
 the women had been busy for some days past in mak- 
 ing it, little thinking that it was destined to be pre- 
 
28 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 maturely consumed. A large jarful was produced; 
 Runi politely quaffed the first cup ; I followed ; then 
 the others ; and the women drank also, a woman 
 taking about one cupful to a man's three. Runi 
 and I, however, drank the most, for we had our posi- 
 tions as the two principal personages there to main- 
 tain. Tongues were loosened now; for the alcohol, 
 small as the quantity contained in this mild liquor 
 is, had begun to tell on our brains. I had not their 
 pottle-shaped stomach, made to hold unlimited quan- 
 tities of meat and drink ; but I was determined on 
 this most important occasion not to deserve my 
 host's contempt — to be compared, perhaps, to the 
 small bird that delicately picks up six drops of water 
 in its bill and is satisfied. I would measure my 
 strength against his, and if necessary drink myself 
 into a state of insensibility. At last I was scarcely 
 able to stand on my legs. But even the seasoned 
 old savage was affected by this time. In vino Veri- 
 tas, said the ancients ; and the principle holds good 
 where there is no vinum, but only mild casserie. 
 Runi now informed me that he had once known 
 a white man, that he was a bad man, which had 
 caused him to say that all white men were bad; 
 even as David, still more sweepingly, had proclaimed 
 that all men were liars. Now he found that it was 
 not so, that I was a good man. His friendliness in- 
 creased with intoxication. He presented me with a 
 curious little tinder-box, made from the conical tail 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 29 
 
 of an armadillo, hollowed out, and provided with a 
 wooden stopper ; — this to be used in place of the box 
 I had deprived myself of. He also furnished me 
 with a grass hammock, and had it hung up there and 
 then, so that I could lie down when inclined. There 
 was nothing he would not do for me. And at last, 
 when many more cups had been emptied, and a third 
 or fourth jar brought out, he began to unburthen 
 his heart of its dark and dangerous secrets. He 
 shed tears — for the " man without a tear " dwells 
 not in the woods of Guayana: tears for those who 
 had been treacherously slain long years ago ; for his 
 father, who had been killed by Tripica, the father of 
 Managa, who was still above ground. But let him 
 and all his people beware of Runi. He had spilt their 
 blood before, he had fed the fox and vulture with 
 their flesh, and would never rest while Managa lived 
 with his people at Uritay — the five hills of Uritay, 
 which were two days' journey from Parahuari. 
 While thus talking of his old enemy he lashed him- 
 self into a kind of frenzy, smiting his chest and 
 gnashing his teeth; and finally seizing a spear, he 
 buried its point deep into the clay floor, only to 
 wrench it out and strike it into the earth again and 
 again, to show how he would serve Managa, and any 
 one of Managa's people he might meet with — man, 
 woman, or child. Then he staggered out from the 
 door to flourish his spear; and looking to the north- 
 west, he shouted aloud to Managa to come and slay 
 
30 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 his people and burn down his house, as he had so 
 often threatened to do. 
 
 " Let him come ! Let Managa come ! " I cried, 
 staggering out after him. " I am your friend, your 
 brother ; I have no spear and no arrows, but I have 
 this — this ! " And here I drew out and flourished 
 my revolver. " Where is Managa ? " I continued. 
 " Where are the hills of Uritay ? " He pointed to 
 a star low down in the south-west. " Then," I 
 shouted, " let this bullet find Managa, sitting by the 
 fire among his people, and let him fall and pour out 
 his blood on the ground!" And with that I dis- 
 charged my pistol in the direction he had pointed to. 
 A scream of terror burst out from the women and 
 children, while Runi at my side, in an access of fierce 
 delight and admiration, turned and embraced me. 
 It was the first and last embrace I ever suffered from 
 a naked male savage, and although this did not seem 
 a time for fastidious feelings, to be hugged to his 
 sweltering body was an unpleasant experience. 
 
 More cups of casserie followed this outburst ; and 
 at last, unable to keep it up any longer, I staggered 
 to my hammock; but being unable to get into it, 
 Runi, overflowing with kindness, came to my assist- 
 ance, whereupon we fell and rolled together on the 
 floor. Finally, I was raised by the others and tum- 
 bled into my swinging bed, and fell at once into a 
 deep, dreamless sleep, from which I did not awake 
 until after sunrise on the following morning. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 IT is fortunate that casserie is manufactured by 
 an extremely slow, laborious process, since the 
 women, who are the drink-makers, in the first place 
 have to reduce the material (cassava bread) to a pulp 
 by means of their own molars, after which it is wa- 
 tered down and put away in troughs to ferment. 
 Great is the diligence of these willing- slaves; but, 
 work how they will, they can only satisfy their lords' 
 love of a big drink at long intervals. Such a func- 
 tion as that at which I had assisted is therefore the 
 result of much patient mastication and silent fer- 
 mentation — the delicate flower of a plant that has 
 been a long time growing. 
 
 Having now established myself as one of the fam- 
 ily, at the cost of some disagreeable sensations and 
 a pang or two of self-disgust, I resolved to let noth- 
 ing further trouble me at Parahuari, but to live the 
 easy, careless life of the idle man, joining in hunt- 
 ing and fishing expeditions when in the mood; at 
 other times enjoying existence in my own way, apart 
 from my fellows, conversing with wild nature in that 
 solitary place. 
 
 Besides Runi, there were, in our little community, 
 31 
 
32 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 two oldish men, his cousins I believe, who had wives 
 and grown-up children. Another family consisted 
 of Piake, Runi's nephew, his brother Kua-ko — about 
 whom there will be much to say — and a sister 
 Oalava. Piake had a wife and two children ; Kua-ko 
 was unmarried and about nineteen or twenty years 
 old; Oalava was the youngest of the three. Last of 
 all, who should perhaps have been first, was Runi's 
 mother, called Cla-cla, probably in imitation of the 
 cry of some bird, for in these latitudes a person is 
 rarely, perhaps never, called by his or her real name, 
 which is a secret jealously preserved, even from near 
 relations. I believe that Cla-cla herself was the only 
 living being who knew the name her parents had be- 
 stowed on her at birth. She was a very old woman, 
 spare in figure, brown as old sun-baked leather, her 
 face written over with innumerable wrinkles, and 
 her long coarse hair perfectly white; yet she was 
 exceedingly active, and seemed to do more work than 
 any other woman in the community ; more than that, 
 when the day's toil was over and nothing remained 
 for the others to do, then Cla-cla's night work would 
 begin ; and this was to talk all the others, or at all 
 events all the men, to sleep. She was like a self- 
 regulating machine, and punctually every evening, 
 when the door was closed, and the night-fire made up, 
 and every man in his hammock, she would set herself 
 going, telling the most interminable stories, until the 
 last listener was fast asleep: later in the night, if 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 33 
 
 any man woke with a snort or grunt, off she would 
 go again, taking up the thread of the tale where she 
 had dropped it. 
 
 Old Cla-cla amused me very much, by night and 
 day, and I seldom tired of watching her owlish coun- 
 tenance as she sat by the fire, never allowing it to 
 sink low for want of fuel; always studying the pot 
 when it was on to simmer, and at the same time at- 
 tending to the movements of the others about her, 
 ready at a moment's notice to give assistance or to 
 dart out on a stray chicken or refractory child. 
 
 So much did she amuse me, although without in- 
 tending it, that I thought it would be only fair, in 
 my turn, to do something for her entertainment. I 
 was engaged one day in shaping a wooden foil with 
 my knife, whistling and singing snatches of old melo- 
 dies at my work, when all at once I caught sight of 
 the ancient dame looking greatly delighted, chuck- 
 ling internally, nodding her head, and keeping time 
 with her hands. Evidently she was able to appre- 
 ciate a style of music superior to that of the aborig- 
 inals, and forthwith I abandoned my foils for the 
 time and set about the manufacture of a guitar, 
 which cost me much labour, and brought out more in- 
 genuity than I had ever thought myself capable of. 
 To reduce the wood to the right thinness, then to 
 bend and fasten it with wooden pegs and with gums, 
 to add the arm, frets, keys, and finally the catgut 
 strings — those of another kind being out of the ques- 
 
34 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tion — kept me busy for some days. When com- 
 pleted it was a rude instrument, scarcely tunable ; 
 nevertheless when I smote the strings, playing lively 
 music, or accompanied myself in singing, I found 
 that it was a great success, and so was as much 
 pleased with my own performance as if I had had the 
 most perfect guitar ever made in old Spain. I also 
 skipped about the floor, strum-strumming at the same 
 time, instructing them in the most lively dances of 
 the whites, in which the feet must be as nimble as the 
 player's fingers. It is true that these exhibitions 
 were always witnessed by the adults with a profound 
 gravity, which would have disheartened a stranger 
 to their ways. They were a set of hollow bronze 
 statues that looked at me, but I knew that the liv- 
 ing animals inside of them were tickled at my sing- 
 ing, strumming, and pirouetting. Cla-cla was, how- 
 ever, an exception, and encouraged me not infre- 
 quently by emitting a sound, half cackle and half 
 screech, by way of laughter ; for she had come to her 
 second childhood, or, at all events, had dropped the 
 stolid mask which the young Guayana savage, in imi- 
 tation of his elders, adjusts to his face at about the 
 age of twelve, to wear it thereafter all his life long, 
 or only to drop it occasionally when very drunk. 
 The youngsters also openly manifested their pleas- 
 ure, although, as a rule, they try to restrain their 
 feelings in the presence of grown-up people, and with 
 them I became a great favourite. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 35 
 
 By-and-by I returned to my foil-making, and gave 
 them fencing lessons, and sometimes invited two or 
 three of the biggest boys to attack me simultane- 
 ously, just to show how easily I could disarm and 
 kill them. This practice excited some interest in 
 Kua-ko, who had a little more of curiosity and geni- 
 ality and less of the put-on dignity of the others, 
 and with him I became most intimate. Fencing with 
 Kua-ko was highly amusing : no sooner was he in 
 position, foil in hand, than all my instructions were 
 thrown to the winds, and he would charge and attack 
 me in his own barbarous manner, with the result that 
 I would send his foil spinning a dozen yards away, 
 while he, struck motionless, would gaze after it in 
 open-mouthed astonishment. 
 
 Three weeks had passed by not unpleasantly when, 
 one morning, I took it into my head to walk by my- 
 self across that somewhat sterile savannah west of 
 the village and stream, which ended, as I have said, 
 in a long, low, stony ridge. From the village there 
 was nothing to attract the eye in that direction ; but 
 I wished to get a better view of that great solitary 
 hill or mountain of Ytaioa, and of the cloud-like sum- 
 mits beyond it in the distance. From the stream 
 the ground rose in a gradual slope, and the highest 
 part of the ridge for which I made was about two 
 miles from the starting-point — a parched brown 
 plain, with nothing growing on it but scattered tus- 
 socks of sere hair-like grass 
 
36 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 When I reached the top and could see the country 
 beyond, I was agreeably disappointed at the discov- 
 ery that the sterile ground extended only about a 
 mile and a quarter on the further side, and was suc- 
 ceeded by a forest — a very inviting patch of wood- 
 land covering five or six square miles, occupying a 
 kind of oblong basin, extending from the foot of 
 Ytaioa on the north to a low range of rocky hills on 
 the south. From the wooded basin long narrow 
 strips of forest ran out in various directions like the 
 arms of an octopus, one pair embracing the slopes of 
 Ytaioa, another much broader belt extending along a 
 valley which cut through the ridge of hills on the 
 south side at right angles, and was lost to sight be- 
 yond; far away in the west and south and north dis- 
 tant mountains appeared, not in regular ranges, but 
 in groups or singly, or looking like blue banked-up 
 clouds on the horizon. 
 
 Glad at having discovered the existence of this for- 
 est so near home, and wondering why my Indian 
 friends had never taken me to it, or ever went out on 
 that side, I set forth with a light heart to explore it 
 for myself, regretting only that I was without a 
 proper weapon for procuring game. The walk from 
 the ridge over the savannah was easy, as the barren, 
 stony ground sloped downward the whole way. The 
 outer part of the wood on my side was very open, 
 composed in most part of dwarf trees that grow on 
 stony soil, and scattered thorny bushes bearing a yel- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 37 
 
 low pea-shaped blossom. Presently I came to 
 thicker wood, where the trees were much taller and 
 in greater variety ; and after this came another ster- 
 ile strip, like that on the edge of the wood, where 
 stone cropped out from the ground and nothing grew 
 except the yellow-flowered thorn bushes. Passing 
 this sterile ribbon, which seemed to extend to a con- 
 siderable distance north and south, and was fifty to 
 a hundred yards wide, the forest again became dense 
 and the trees large, with much undergrowth in places 
 obstructing the view and making progress difficult. 
 
 I spent several hours in this wild paradise, which 
 was so much more delightful than the extensive 
 gloomier forests I had so often penetrated in Gua- 
 yana: for here, if the trees did not attain to such 
 majestic proportions, the variety of vegetable forms 
 was even greater; as far as I went it was nowhere 
 dark under the trees, and the number of lovely para- 
 sites everywhere illustrated the kindly influence of 
 light and air. Even where the trees were largest the 
 sunshine penetrated, subdued by the foliage to ex- 
 quisite greenish-golden tints, filling the wide lower 
 spaces with tender half-lights, and faint blue-and- 
 grey shadows. Lying on my back and gazing up, I 
 felt reluctant to rise and renew my ramble. For 
 what a roof was that above my head! Roof I call 
 it, just as the poets in their poverty sometimes de- 
 scribe the infinite ethereal sky by that word; but it 
 was no more roof-like and hindering to the soaring 
 
38 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 spirit than the higher clouds that float in changing 
 forms and tints, and like the foliage chasten the in- 
 tolerable noonday beams. How far above me seemed 
 that leafy cloudland into which I gazed I Nature, 
 we know, first taught the architect to produce by 
 long colonnades the illusion of distance; but the 
 light-excluding roof prevents him from getting the 
 same effect above. Here Nature is unapproachable 
 with her green, airy canopy, a sun-impregnated cloud 
 — cloud above cloud ; and though the highest may be 
 unreached by the eye, the beams yet filter through, 
 illuming the wide spaces beneath — chamber succeeded 
 by chamber, each with its own special lights and 
 shadows. Far above me, but not nearly so far as it 
 seemed, the tender gloom of one such chamber or 
 space is traversed now by a golden shaft of light fall- 
 ing through some break in the upper foliage, giving 
 a strange glory to everything it touches — projecting 
 leaves, and beard-like tuft of moss, and snaky bush- 
 rope. And in the most open part of that most open 
 space, suspended on nothing to the eye, the shaft 
 reveals a tangle of shining silver threads — the web of 
 some large tree-spider. These seemingly distant, yet 
 distinctly visible threads, serve to remind me that 
 the human artist is only able to get his horizontal 
 distance by a monotonous reduplication of pillar and 
 arch, placed at regular intervals, and that the least 
 departure from this order would destroy the effect. 
 But Nature produces her effects at random, and 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 39 
 
 seems only to increase the beautiful illusion by that 
 infinite variety of decoration in which she revels, 
 binding tree to tree in a tangle of anaconda-like 
 lianas, and dwindling down from these huge cables 
 to airy webs and hair-like fibres that vibrate to the 
 wind of the passing insect's wing. 
 
 Thus in idleness, with such thoughts for company, 
 I spent my time, glad that no human being, savage 
 or civilised, was with me. It was better to be alone 
 to listen to the monkeys that chattered without of- 
 fending; to watch them occupied with the unserious 
 business of their lives. With that luxuriant tropical 
 nature, its green clouds and illusive aerial spaces, 
 full of mystery, they harmonised well in language, 
 appearance and motions; — mountebank angels, liv- 
 ing their fantastic lives far above earth in a half-way 
 heaven of their own. 
 
 I saw more monkeys on that morning than I usu- 
 ally saw in the course of a week's rambling. And 
 other animals were seen; I particularly remember 
 two accouries I startled, that after rushing away a 
 few yards stopped and stood peering back at me as 
 if not knowing whether to regard me as friend or 
 enemy. Birds, too, were strangely abundant; and 
 altogether this struck me as being the richest hunt- 
 ing-ground I had seen, and it astonished me to think 
 that the Indians of the village did not appear to 
 visit it. 
 
 On my return in the afternoon I gave an enthusi- 
 
40 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 astic account of my day's ramble, speaking not of 
 the things that had moved my soul, but only to those 
 which move the Guayana Indian's soul — the animal 
 food he craves, and which, one would imagine, Nature 
 would prefer him to do without, so hard he finds it 
 to wrest a sufficiency from her. To my surprise 
 they shook their heads and looked troubled at what I 
 said ; and finally, my host informed me that the wood 
 I had been in was a dangerous place; that if they 
 went there to hunt a great injury would be done to 
 them; and he finished by advising me not to visit it 
 again. 
 
 I began to understand from their looks and the old 
 man's vague words that their fear of the wood was 
 superstitious. If dangerous creatures had existed 
 there — tigers, or camoodis, or solitary murderous 
 savages — they would have said so; but when I 
 pressed them with questions they could only repeat 
 that " something bad " existed in the place, that ani- 
 mals were abundant there because no Indian who 
 valued his life dared venture into it. I replied that 
 unless they gave me some more definite information 
 I should certainly go again, and put myself in the 
 way of the danger they feared. 
 
 My reckless courage, as they considered it, sur- 
 prised them; but they had already begun to find out 
 that their superstitions had no effect on me, that I 
 listened to them as to stories invented to amuse a 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 41 
 
 child, and for the moment they made no further at- 
 tempt to dissuade me. 
 
 Next day I returned to the forest of evil report, 
 which had now a new and even greater charm — the 
 fascination of the unknown and the mysterious ; still, 
 the warning I had received made me distrustful and 
 cautious at first, for I could not help thinking about 
 it. When we consider how much of their life is 
 passed in the woods, which become as familiar to them 
 as the streets of our native town to us, it seems al- 
 most incredible that these savages have a supersti- 
 tious fear of all forests, fearing them as much, even 
 in the bright light of day, as a nervous child with 
 memory filled with ghost-stories fears a dark room. 
 But, like the child in the dark room, they fear the 
 forest only when alone in it, and for this reason al- 
 ways hunt in couples or parties. What, then, pre- 
 vented them from visiting this particular wood, which 
 offered so tempting a harvest? The question trou- 
 bled me not a little; at the same time I was ashamed 
 of the feeling, and fought against it; and in the 
 end I made my way to the same sequestered spot 
 where I had rested so long on my previous visit. 
 
 In this place I witnessed a new thing, and had a 
 strange experience. Sitting on the ground in the 
 shade of a large tree, I began to hear a confused 
 noise as of a coming tempest of wind mixed with 
 shrill calls and cries. Nearer and nearer it came, 
 
42 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 and at last a multitude of birds of many kinds, but 
 mostly small, appeared in sight swarming through 
 the trees, some running on the trunks and larger 
 branches, others flitting through the foliage, and 
 many keeping on the wing, now hovering and now 
 darting this way or that. They were all busily 
 searching for and pursuing the insects, moving on at 
 the same time, and in a very few minutes they had 
 finished examining the trees near me, and were gone ; 
 but not satisfied with what I had witnessed, I jumped 
 up and rushed after the flock to keep it in sight. All 
 my caution and all recollection of what the Indians 
 had said was now forgot, so great was my interest 
 in this bird-army ; but as they moved on without 
 pause they quickly left me behind, and presently my 
 career was stopped by an impenetrable tangle of 
 bushes, vines, and roots of large trees extending like 
 huge cables along the ground. In the midst of this 
 leafy labyrinth I sat down on a projecting root to 
 cool my blood before attempting to make my way 
 back to my former position. After that tempest of 
 motion and confused noises the silence of the forest 
 seemed very profound; but before I had been resting 
 many moments it was broken by a low strain of ex- 
 quisite bird-melody, wonderfully pure and expressive, 
 unlike any musical sound I had ever heard before. 
 It seemed to issue from a thick cluster of broad 
 leaves of a creeper only a few yards from where I 
 sat. With my eyes fixed on this green hiding-place 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 43 
 
 I waited with suspended breath for its repetition, 
 wondering whether any civilised being had ever lis- 
 tened to such a strain before. Surely not, I thought, 
 else the fame of so divine a melody would long ago 
 have been noised abroad. I thought of the rialejo, 
 the celebrated organ-bird or flute-bird, and of the 
 various ways in which hearers are affected by it. 
 To some its warbling is like the sound of a beautiful 
 mysterious instrument, while to others it seems like 
 the singing of a blithe-hearted child with a highly 
 melodious voice. I had often heard and listened with 
 delight to the singing of the rialejo in the Guayana 
 forests, but this song, or musical phrase, was utterly 
 unlike it in character. It was pure, more expressive, 
 softer — so low that at a distance of forty yards I 
 could hardly have heard it. But its greatest charm 
 was its resemblance to the human voice — a voice 
 purified and brightened to something almost angelic. 
 Imagine, then, my impatience as I sat there straining 
 my sense, my deep disappointment when it was not 
 repeated! I rose at length very reluctantly and 
 slowly began making my way back; but when I had 
 progressed about thirty yards, again the sweet voice 
 sounded just behind me, and turning quickly I stood 
 still and waited. The same voice, but not the same 
 song — not the same phrase ; the notes were different, 
 more varied and rapidly enunciated, as if the singer 
 had been more excited. The blood rushed to my 
 heart as I listened ; my nerves tingled with a strange 
 
41 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 new delight, the rapture produced bj such music 
 heightened by a sense of mystery. Before many mo- 
 ments I heard it again, not rapid now, but a soft 
 warbling, lower than at first, infinitely sweet and ten- 
 der, sinking to lisping sounds that soon ceased to be 
 audible; the whole having lasted as long as it would 
 take me to repeat a sentence of a dozen words. This 
 seemed the singer's farewell to me, for I waited and 
 listened in vain to hear it repeated ; and after get- 
 ting back to the starting-point I sat for upwards of 
 an hour, still hoping to hear it once more ! 
 
 The westering sun at length compelled me to quit 
 the wood, but not before I had resolved to return the 
 next morning and seek for the spot where I had met 
 with so enchanting an experience. After crossing 
 the sterile belt I have mentioned within the wood, and 
 just before I came to the open outer edge where the 
 stunted trees and bushes die away on the border of 
 the savannah, what was my delight and astonishment 
 at hearing the mysterious melody once more! It 
 seemed to issue from a clump of bushes close by ; 
 but by this time I had come to the conclusion that 
 there was a ventriloquism in this woodland voice 
 which made it impossible for me to determine its exact 
 direction. Of one thing I was, however, now quite 
 convinced, and that was that the singer had been fol- 
 lowing me all the time. Again and again as I stood 
 there listening it sounded, now so faint and appar- 
 ently far off as to be scarcely audible ; then all at 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 45 
 
 once it would ring out bright and clear within a few 
 yards of me, as if the shy little thing had suddenly 
 grown bold; but, far or near, the vocalist remained 
 invisible, and at length the tantalising melody ceased 
 altogether. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 I WAS not disappointed on my next visit to the 
 forest, nor on several succeeding visits ; and this 
 seemed to show that if I was right in believing that 
 these strange, melodious utterances proceeded from 
 one individual, then the bird or being, although still 
 refusing to show itself, was always on the watch for 
 my appearance, and followed me wherever I went. 
 This thought only served to increase my curiosity ; 
 I was constantly pondering over the subject, and at 
 last concluded that it would be best to induce one 
 of the Indians to go with me to the wood on the 
 chance of his being able to explain the mystery. 
 
 One of the treasures I had managed to preserve in 
 my sojourn with these children of nature, who were 
 always anxious to become possessors of my belong- 
 ings, was a small prettily fashioned metal match-box, 
 opening with a spring. Remembering that Kua-ko, 
 among others, had looked at this trifle with covetous 
 eyes — the covetous way in which they all looked at 
 it had given it a fictitious value in my own — I tried 
 to bribe him with the offer of it to accompany me to 
 my favourite haunt. The brave young hunter re- 
 fused again and again ; but on each occasion he of* 
 
 46 
 
GREEN MANSIONS Vt 
 
 fered to perform some other service or to give me 
 something in exchange for the box. At last I told 
 him that I would give it to the first person who should 
 accompany me, and fearing that someone would be 
 found valiant enough to win the prize, he at length 
 plucked up a spirit, and on the next day, seeing me 
 going out for a walk, he all at once offered to go with 
 me. He cunningly tried to get the box before start- 
 ing — his cunning, poor youth ! was not very deep. 
 I told him that the forest we were about to visit 
 abounded with plants and birds unlike any I had seen 
 elsewhere, that I wished to learn their names, and 
 everything about them, and that when I had got the 
 required information the box would be his — not 
 sooner. Finally we started, he, as usual, armed with 
 his zabatana, with which, I imagined, he would pro- 
 cure more game than usually fell to his little poisoned 
 arrows. When we reached the wood I could see that 
 he was ill at ease: nothing would persuade him to go 
 into the deeper parts ; and even where it was very 
 open and light he was constantly gazing into bushes 
 and shadowy places, as if expecting to see some 
 frightful creature lying in wait for him. This be- 
 haviour might have had a disquieting effect on me 
 had I not been thoroughly convinced that his fears 
 were purely superstitious, and that there could be no 
 dangerous animal in a spot I was accustomed to walk 
 in every day. My plan was to ramble about with 
 an unconcerned air, occasionally pointing out an un- 
 
48 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 common tree or shrub or vine, or calling his atten- 
 tion to a distant bird cry and asking the bird's name, 
 in the hope that the mysterious voice would make 
 itself heard, and that he would be able to give me 
 some explanation of it. But for upwards of two 
 hours we moved about, hearing nothing except the 
 usual bird-voices, and during all that time he never 
 stirred a yard from my side nor made an attempt to 
 capture anything. At length we sat down under a 
 tree, in an open spot close to the border of the wood. 
 He sat down very reluctantly, and seemed more trou- 
 bled in his mind than ever, keeping his eyes continu- 
 ally roving about, while he listened intently to every 
 sound. The sounds were not few, owing to the abun- 
 dance of animal and especially of bird life in this 
 favoured spot. I began to question my companion 
 as to some of the cries we heard. There were notes 
 and cries familiar to me as the crowing of the cock — 
 parrot screams and yelping of toucans, the distant 
 wailing calls of maam and duraquara ; and shrill 
 laughter-like notes of the large tree-climber as it 
 passed from tree to tree ; the quick whistle of cotin- 
 gas ; and strange throbbing and thrilling sounds, as 
 of pigmies beating on metallic drums, of the skulking 
 pitta-thrushes ; and with these mingled other notes 
 less well known. One came from the treetops, where 
 it was perpetually wandering amid the foliage — a low 
 note, repeated at intervals of a few seconds, so thin 
 and mournful and full of mystery, that I half ex- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 49 
 
 pected to hear that it proceeded from the restless 
 ghost of some dead bird. But no ; he only said it 
 was uttered by a " little bird " — too little presum- 
 ably to have a name. From the foliage of a neigh- 
 bouring tree came a few tinkling chirps, as of a small 
 mandolin, two or three strings of which had been 
 carelessly struck by the player. He said that it 
 came from a small green frog that lived in trees ; 
 and in this way my rude Indian — vexed perhaps at 
 being asked such trivial questions — brushed away the 
 pretty fantasies my mind had woven in the woodland 
 solitude. For I often listened to this tinkling music, 
 and it had suggested the idea that the place was fre- 
 quented by a tribe of fairy-like troubadour monkeys, 
 and that if I could only be quick-sighted enough I 
 might one day be able to detect the minstrel sitting, 
 in a green tunic perhaps, cross-legged on some high, 
 swaying bough, carelessly touching his mandolin sus- 
 pended from his neck by a yellow ribbon. 
 
 By-and-by a bird came with low, swift flight, its 
 great tail spread open fan-wise, and perched itself on 
 an exposed bough not thirty yards from us. It was 
 all of a chestnut-red colour, long-bodied, in size like 
 a big pigeon: its actions showed that its curiosity 
 had been greatly excited, for it jerked from side to 
 side, eyeing us first with one eye, then the other, while 
 its long tail rose and fell in a measured way. 
 
 " Look, Kua-ko," I said in a whisper, " there is a 
 bird for you to kill." 
 
50 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 But he only shook his head, still watchful. 
 
 " Give me the blow-pipe, then," I said, with a 
 laugh, putting out my hand to take it. But he re- 
 fused to let me take it, knowing that it would only be 
 an arrow wasted if I attempted to shoot anything. 
 
 As I persisted in telling him to kill the bird, he at 
 last bent his lips near me and said in a half-whisper, 
 as if fearful of being overheard, " I can kill nothing 
 here. If I shot at the bird the daughter of the Didi 
 would catch the dart in her hand and throw it back 
 and hit me here," touching his breast just over his 
 heart. 
 
 I laughed again, saying to myself, with some 
 amusement, that Kua-ko was not such a bad compan- 
 ion after all — that he was not without imagination. 
 But in spite of my laughter his words roused my in- 
 terest, and suggested the idea that the voice I was 
 curious about had been heard by the Indians, and 
 was as great a mystery to them as to me ; since not 
 being like that of any creature known to them, it 
 would be attributed by their superstitious minds to 
 one of the numerous demons or semi-human monsters 
 inhabiting every forest, stream, and mountain ; and 
 fear of it would drive them from the wood. In this 
 case, judging from my companion's words, they had 
 varied the form of the superstition somewhat, in- 
 venting a daughter of a water-spirit to be afraid of. 
 My thought was that if their keen, practised eyes 
 had never been able to see this flitting woodland crea- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 51 
 
 ture with a musical soul, it was not likely that I 
 would succeed in ray quest. 
 
 I began to question him, but he now appeared less 
 inclined to talk and more frightened than ever, and 
 each time I attempted to speak he imposed silence, 
 with a quick gesture of alarm, while he continued to 
 stare about him with dilated eyes. All at once he 
 sprang to his feet as if overcome with terror, and 
 started running at full speed. His fear infected me, 
 and, springing up, I followed as fast as I could, but 
 he was far ahead of me, running for dear life ; and 
 before I had gone forty yards my feet were caught 
 in a creeper trailing along the surface, and I meas- 
 ured my length on the ground. The sudden, violent 
 shock almost took away my senses for a moment, but 
 when I jumped up and stared round to see no un- 
 speakable monster — Curupita or other — rushing on 
 to slay and devour me there and then, I began to 
 feel ashamed of my cowardice; and in the end I 
 turned and walked back to the spot I had just quit- 
 ted and sat down once more. I even tried to hum a 
 tune, just to prove to myself that I had completely 
 recovered from the panic caught from the miserable 
 Indian; but it is never possible in such cases to get 
 back one's serenity immediately, and a vague suspi- 
 cion continued to trouble me for a time. After sit- 
 ting there for half an hour or so, listening to distant 
 bird sounds, I began to recover my old confidence, 
 and even to feel inclined to penetrate further into 
 
52 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 the wood. All at once, making me almost jump, so 
 sudden it was, so much nearer and louder than I had 
 ever heard it before, the mysterious melody began. 
 Unmistakably it was uttered by the same being heard 
 on former occasions ; but to-day it was different in 
 character. The utterance was far more rapid, with 
 fewer silent intervals, and it had none of the usual 
 tenderness in it, nor ever once sunk to that low, whis- 
 per-like talking, which had seemed to me as if the 
 spirit of the wind had breathed its low sighs in syl- 
 lables and speech. Now it was not only loud, rapid, 
 and continuous, but, while still musical, there was an 
 incisiveness in it, a sharp ring as of resentment, which 
 made it strike painfully on the sense. 
 
 The impression of an intelligent unhuman being 
 addressing me in anger took so firm a hold on my 
 mind that the old fear returned, and, rising, I began 
 to walk rapidly away, intending to escape from the 
 wood. The voice continued violently rating me, as 
 it seemed to my mind, moving with me, which caused 
 me to accelerate my steps ; and very soon I would 
 have broken into a run, when its character began to 
 change again. There were pauses now, intervals of 
 silence, long or short, and after each one the voice 
 came to my ear with a more subdued and dulcet, 
 sound — more of that melting, flute-like quality it 
 had possessed at other times ; and this softness of 
 tone, coupled with the talking-like form of utterance, 
 gave me the idea of a being no longer incensed, ad- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 53 
 
 dressing me now in a peaceable spirit, reasoning 
 away my unworthy tremors, and imploring me to 
 remain with it in the wood. Strange as this voice 
 without a body was, and always productive of a 
 slightly uncomfortable feeling on account of its mys- 
 tery, it seemed impossible to doubt that it came to 
 me now in a spirit of pure friendliness ; and when I 
 had recovered my composure I found a new delight 
 in listening to it — all the greater because of the fear 
 so lately experienced, and of its seeming intelligence. 
 For the third time I reseated myself on the same 
 spot, and at intervals the voice talked to me there 
 for some time, and to my fancy expressed satisfac- 
 tion and pleasure at my presence. But later, with- 
 out losing its friendly tone, it changed again. It 
 seemed to move away and to be thrown back from a 
 considerable distance; and, at long intervals, it 
 would approach me again with a new sound, which 
 I began to interpret as of command, or entreaty. 
 Was it, I asked myself, inviting me to follow? And 
 if I obeyed, to what delightful discoveries or fright- 
 ful dangers might it lead? My curiosity, together 
 with the belief that the being — I called it being, not 
 bird, now — was friendly to me, overcame all timidity, 
 and I rose and walked at random towards the in- 
 terior of the wood. Very soon I had no doubt left 
 that the being had desired me to follow ; for there was 
 now a new note of gladness in its voice, and it contin- 
 ued near me as I walked, at intervals approaching 
 
54. GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 me so closely as to set me staring into the surround- 
 ing shadowy places like poor scared Kua-ko. 
 
 On this occasion, too, I began to have a new fancy, 
 for fancy or illusion I was determined to regard 
 it, that some swift-footed being was treading the 
 ground near me ; that I occasionally caught the faint 
 rustle of a light footstep, and detected a motion in 
 leaves and fronds and thread-like stems of creepers 
 hanging near the surface, as if some passing body 
 had touched and made them tremble; and once or 
 twice that I even had a glimpse of a grey, misty ob- 
 ject moving at no great distance in the deeper shad- 
 ows. 
 
 Led by this wandering tricksy being, I came to a 
 spot where the trees were very large and the damp 
 dark ground almost free from undergrowth ; and 
 here the voice ceased to be heard. After patiently 
 waiting and listening for some time I began to look 
 about me with a slight feeling of apprehension. It 
 was still about two hours before sunset; only in this 
 place the shade of the vast trees made a perpetual 
 twilight: moreover, it was strangely silent here, the 
 few bird cries that reached me coming from a long 
 distance. I had flattered myself that the voice had 
 become to some extent intelligible to me ; its outburst 
 of anger caused no doubt by my cowardly flight after 
 the Indian; then its recovered friendliness which had 
 induced me to return ; and, finally, its desire to be 
 followed. Now that it had led me to this place of 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 55 
 
 shadow and profound silence, and had ceased to 
 speak and to lead, I could not help thinking that this 
 was my goal, that I had been brought to this spot 
 with a purpose, that in this wild and solitary retreat 
 some tremendous adventure was about to befall me. 
 
 As the silence continued unbroken there was time 
 to dwell on this thought. I gazed before me and 
 listened intently, scarcely breathing, until the sus- 
 pense became painful — too painful at last, and I 
 turned and took a step with the idea of going back 
 to the border of the wood, when close by, clear as a 
 silver bell, sounded the voice once more, but only for 
 a moment — two or three syllables in response to my 
 movement, then it was silent again. 
 
 Once more I was standing still, as if in obedience 
 to a command, in the same state of suspense; and 
 whether the change was real or only imagined I know 
 not, but the silence every minute grew more profound 
 and the gloom deeper. Imaginary terrors began to 
 assail me. Ancient fables of men allured by beauti- 
 ful forms and melodious voices to destruction all at 
 once acquired a fearful significance. I recalled some 
 of the Indian beliefs, especially that of the mis- 
 shapen, man-devouring monster who is said to be- 
 guile his victims into the dark forest by mimicking 
 the human voice — the voice sometimes of a woman in 
 distress — or by singing some strange and beautiful 
 melody. I grew almost afraid to look round lest I 
 should catch sight of him stealing towards me on his 
 
56 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 huge feet with toes pointing backwards, his mouth 
 snarling horribly to display his great green fangs. 
 It was distressing to have such fancies in this wild, 
 solitary spot — hateful to feel their power over me 
 when I knew that they were nothing but fancies and 
 creations of the savage mind. But if these super- 
 natural beings had no existence, there were other 
 monsters, only too real, in these woods which it would 
 be dreadful to encounter alone and unarmed, since 
 against such adversaries a revolver would be as in- 
 effectual as a popgun. Some huge camoodi, able to 
 crush my bones like brittle twigs in its constricting 
 coils, might lurk in these shadows, and approach me 
 stealthily, unseen in its dark colour on the dark 
 ground. Or some jaguar or black tiger might steal 
 towards me, masked by a bush or tree-trunk, to 
 spring upon me unawares. Or worse still, this way 
 might suddenly come a pack of those swift-footed, 
 unspeakably terrible hunting-leopards, from which 
 every living thing in the forest flies with shrieks of 
 consternation or else falls paralysed in their path 
 to be instantly torn to pieces and devoured. 
 
 A slight rustling sound in the foliage above me 
 made me start and cast up my eyes. High up, 
 where a pale gleam of tempered sunlight fell through 
 the leaves, a grotesque human-like face, black as eb- 
 ony and adorned with a great red beard, appeared 
 staring down upon me. In another moment it was 
 gone. It was only a large araguato, or howling 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 5T 
 
 monkey, but I was so unnerved that I could not get 
 rid of the idea that it was something more than a 
 monkey. Once more I moved, and again, the instant 
 I moved my foot, clear, and keen, and imperative, 
 sounded the voice ! It was no longer possible to 
 doubt its meaning. It commanded me to stand still 
 — to wait — to watch — to listen ! Had it cried 
 " Listen ! Do not move ! " I could not have under- 
 stood it better. Trying as the suspense was, I now 
 felt powerless to escape. Something very terrible, 
 I felt convinced, was about to happen, either to de- 
 stroy or to release me from the spell that held me. 
 
 And while I stood thus rooted to the ground, the 
 sweat standing in large drops on my forehead, all at 
 once close to me sounded a cry, fine and clear at first, 
 and rising at the end to a shriek so loud, piercing, 
 and unearthly in character that the blood seemed to 
 freeze in my veins, and a despairing cry to heaven 
 escaped my lips ; then, before that long shriek ex- 
 pired, a mighty chorus of thunderous voices burst 
 forth around me ; and in this awful tempest of sound 
 I trembled like a leaf; and the leaves on the trees 
 were agitated as if by a high wind, and the earth 
 itself seemed to shake beneath my feet. Indescrib- 
 ably horrible were my sensations at that moment ; I 
 was deafened, and would possibly have been mad- 
 dened had I not, as by a miracle, chanced to see a 
 large araguato on a branch overhead, roaring with 
 open mouth and inflated throat and chest. 
 
58 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 It was simply a concert of howling monkeys which 
 had so terrified me ! But my extreme fear was not 
 strange in the circumstances ; since everything that 
 had led up to the display, the gloom and silence, the 
 period of suspense and my heated imagination, had 
 raised my mind to the highest degree of excitement 
 and expectancy. I had rightly conjectured, no 
 doubt, that my unseen guide had led me to that spot 
 for a purpose; and the purpose had been to set me 
 in the midst of a congregation of araguatos to en- 
 able me for the first time fully to appreciate their 
 unparalleled vocal powers. I had always heard 
 them at a distance: here they were gathered in 
 scores, possibly hundreds — the whole araguato popu- 
 lation of the forest, I should think — close to me ; and 
 it may give some faint conception of the tremendous 
 power and awful character of the sound thus pro- 
 duced by their combined voices when I say that this 
 animal — miscalled " howler " in English — would out- 
 roar the mightiest lion that ever woke the echoes of 
 an African wilderness. 
 
 This roaring concert, which lasted three or four 
 minutes, having ended, I lingered a few minutes 
 longer on the spot, and not hearing the voice again, 
 went back to the edge of the wood, and then started 
 on my way back to the village. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 >ERHAPS I was not capable of thinking quite 
 coherently on what had just happened until I 
 was once more fairly outside of the forest shadows 
 — out in that clear open daylight, where things seem 
 what they are, and imagination, like a juggler de- 
 tected and laughed at, hastily takes itself out of 
 the way. As I walked homewards I paused midway 
 on the barren ridge to gaze back on the scene I had 
 left, and then the recent adventure began to take a 
 semi-ludicrous aspect in my mind. All that circum- 
 stance of preparation, that mysterious prelude to 
 something unheard of, unimaginable, surpassing all 
 fables ancient and modern, and all tragedies — to end 
 at last in a concert of howling monkeys ! Certainly 
 the concert was very grand, indeed one of the most 
 astounding in nature, but still — I sat down on a 
 stone and laughed freely. 
 
 The sun was sinking behind the forest, its broad 
 red disc still showing through the topmost leaves, and 
 the higher part of the foliage was of a luminous 
 green, like green flame, throwing off flakes of quiver- 
 ing, fiery light, but lower down the trees were in pro- 
 found shadow. 
 
 59 
 
60 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 I felt very light-hearted while I gazed on this 
 scene! for how pleasant it was just now to think of 
 the strange experience I had passed through — to 
 think that I had come safely out of it, that no human 
 eye had witnessed my weakness, and that the mys- 
 tery existed still to fascinate me ! For, ludicrous as 
 the denouement now looked, the cause of all, the voice 
 itself, was a thing to marvel at more than ever. 
 That it proceeded from an intelligent being I was 
 firmly convinced; and although too materialistic in 
 my way of thinking to admit for a moment that it 
 was a supernatural being, I still felt that there was 
 something more than I had at first imagined in Kua- 
 ko's speech about a daughter of the Didi. That the 
 Indians knew a great deal about the mysterious voice, 
 and had held it in great fear, seemed evident. But 
 they were savages, with ways that were not mine; 
 and however friendly they might be towards one of a 
 superior race, there was always in their relations 
 with him a low cunning, prompted partly by suspi- 
 cion, underlying their words and actions. For the 
 white man to put himself mentally on their level is 
 not more impossible than for these aborigines to be 
 perfectly open, as children are, towards the white. 
 Whatever subject the stranger within their gates 
 exhibits an interest in, that they will be reticent 
 about; and their reticence, which conceals itself un- 
 der easily invented lies or an affected stupidity, in- 
 variably increases with his desire for information. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 61 
 
 It was plain to them that some very unusual interest 
 took me to the wood, consequently I could not ex- 
 pect that they would tell me anything they might 
 know to enlighten me about the matter; and I con- 
 cluded that Kua-ko's words about the daughter of 
 the Didi, and what she would do if he blew an arrow 
 at a bird, had accidentally escaped him in a moment 
 of excitement Nothing, therefore, was to be gained 
 by questioning them, or, at all events, by telling them 
 how much the subject attracted me. And I had 
 nothing to fear; my independent investigations had 
 made this much clear to me ; the voice might proceed 
 from a very frolicsome and tricksy creature, full of 
 wild fantastic humours, but nothing worse. It was 
 friendly to me, I felt sure ; at the same time it might 
 not be friendly towards the Indians ; for, on that 
 day, it had made itself heard only after my compan- 
 ion had taken flight ; and it had then seemed incensed 
 against me, possibly because the savage had been in 
 my company. 
 
 That was the result of my reflections on the day's 
 events, when I returned to my entertainer's roof, and 
 sat down among my friends to refresh myself with 
 stewed fowl and fish from the household pot, into 
 which a hospitable woman invited me with a gesture 
 to dip my fingers, 
 
 Kua-ko was lying in his hammock, smoking, I 
 think — certainly not reading. When I entered he 
 lifted his head and stared at me, probably surprised 
 
62 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 to see me alive, unharmed, and in a placid temper. 
 I laughed at the look, and somewhat disconcerted, 
 he dropped his head down again. After a minute or 
 two I took the metal match-box and tossed it on to 
 his breast. He clutched it, and starting up, stared 
 at me in the utmost astonishment. He could 
 scarcely believe his good fortune; for he had failed 
 to carry out his part of the compact and had re- 
 signed himself to the loss of the coveted prize. 
 Jumping down to the floor, he held up the box tri- 
 umphantly, his joy overcoming the habitual stolid 
 look; while all the others gathered about him, each 
 trying to get the box into his own hands to admire 
 it again, notwithstanding that they had all seen it a 
 dozen times before. But it was Kua-ko's now and 
 not the stranger's, and therefore more nearly their 
 own than formerly, and must look different, more 
 beautiful, with a brighter polish on the metal. 
 And that wonderful enamelled cock on the lid — fig- 
 ured in Paris probably, but just like a cock in Gua- 
 yana, the pet bird which they no more think of kill- 
 ing and eating than we do our purring pussies and 
 lemon-coloured canaries — must now look more strik- 
 ingly valiant and cock-like than ever, with its crim- 
 son comb and wattles, burnished red hackles, and 
 dark green arching tail-plumes. But Kua-ko, while 
 willing enough to have it admired and praised, would 
 not let it out of his hands, and told them pompously 
 that it was not theirs for them to handle, but his — 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 63 
 
 Kua-ko's — for all time ; that he had won it by accom- 
 panying me — valorous man that he was ! — to that evil 
 wood into which they — timid, inferior creatures that 
 they were ! — would never have ventured to set foot. 
 I am not translating his words, but that was what 
 he gave them to understand pretty plainly, to my 
 great amusement. 
 
 After the excitement was over, Runi, who had 
 maintained a dignified calm, made some roundabout 
 remarks, apparently with the object of eliciting an 
 account of what I had seen and heard in the forest 
 of evil fame. I replied carelessly that I had seen a 
 great many birds and monkeys — monkeys so tame 
 that I might have procured one if I had had a blow- 
 pipe, in spite of my never having practised shooting 
 with that weapon. 
 
 It interested them to hear about the abundance 
 and tameness of the monkeys, although it was 
 scarcely news: but how tame they must have been 
 when I, the stranger not to the manner born — not 
 naked, brown-skinned, lynx-eyed, and noiseless as an 
 owl in his movements — had yet been able to look 
 closely at them! Runi only remarked, apropos of 
 what I had told him, that they could not go there to 
 hunt; then he asked me if I feared nothing. 
 
 " Nothing," I replied carelessly. " The things 
 you fear hurt not the white man, and are no more 
 than this to me," saying which I took up a little 
 white wood-ash in my hand and blew it away with my 
 
64 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 breath. " And against other enemies I have this," 
 I added, touching my revolver. A brave speech, 
 just after that araguato episode ; but I did not make 
 it without blushing — mentally. 
 
 He shook his head, and said it was a poor weapon 
 against some enemies ; also — truly enough — that it 
 would procure no birds and monkeys for the stew- 
 pot. 
 
 Next morning my friend Kua-ko, taking his zaba- 
 tana, invited me to go out with him, and I consented 
 with some misgivings, thinking he had overcome his 
 superstitious fears, and, inflamed by my account of 
 the abundance of game in the forest, intended going 
 there with me. The previous day's experience had 
 made me think that it would be better in the future 
 to go there alone. But I was giving the poor youth 
 more credit than he deserved : it was far from his in- 
 tention to face the terrible unknown again. We 
 went in a different direction, and tramped for hours 
 through woods where birds were scarce and only of 
 the smaller kinds. Then my guide surprised me a 
 second time by offering to teach me to use the zaba- 
 tana. This, then, was to be my reward for giving 
 him the box ! I readily consented, and with the long 
 weapon, awkward to carry, in my hand, and imitat- 
 ing the noiseless movements and cautious, watchful 
 manner of my companion, I tried to imagine myself 
 a simple Guayana savage, with no knowledge of that 
 artificial social state to which I had been born, de- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 65 
 
 pendent on my skill and little roll of poison-darts 
 for a livelihood. By an effort of the will I emptied 
 myself of my life experience and knowledge — or as 
 much of it as possible — and thought only of the 
 generations of my dead imaginary progenitors, who 
 had ranged these woods back to the dim forgotten 
 years before Columbus ; and if the pleasure I had in 
 the fancy was childish, it made the day pass quickly 
 enough. Kua-ko was constantly at my elbow to as- 
 sist and give advice ; and many an arrow I blew from 
 the long tube, and hit no bird. Heaven knows what 
 I hit, for the arrows flew away on their wide and 
 wild career to be seen no more, except a few which 
 my keen-eyed comrade marked to their destination 
 and managed to recover. The result of our day's 
 hunting was a couple of birds, which Kua-ko, not I, 
 shot, and a small opossum his sharp eyes detected 
 high up a tree lying coiled up on an old nest, over the 
 side of which the animal had incautiously allowed his 
 snaky tail to dangle. The number of darts I wasted 
 must have been a rather serious loss to him, but he 
 did not seem troubled at it, and made no remark. 
 
 Next day, to my surprise, he volunteered to give 
 me a second lesson, and we went out again. On this 
 occasion he had provided himself with a large bundle 
 of darts, but — wise man ! — they were not poisoned, 
 and it therefore mattered little whether they were 
 wasted or not. I believe that on this day I made 
 some little progress ; at all events, my teacher re- 
 
66 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 marked that before long I would be able to hit a bird. 
 This made me smile and answer that if he could place 
 me within twenty yards of a bird not smaller than a 
 small man I might manage to touch it with an arrow. 
 
 This speech had a very unexpected and remark- 
 able effect. He stopped short in his walk, stared at 
 me wildly, then grinned, and finally burst into a 
 roar of laughter, which was no bad imitation of the 
 howling monkey's performance, and smote his naked 
 thighs with tremendous energy. At length recover- 
 ing himself, he asked whether a small woman was 
 not the same as a small man, and being answered in 
 the affirmative, went off into a second extravagant 
 roar of laughter. 
 
 Thinking it was easy to tickle him while he contin- 
 ued in this mood, I began making any number of 
 feeble jokes — feeble, but quite as good as the one 
 which had provoked such outrageous merriment — for 
 it amused me to see him acting in this unusual way. 
 But they all failed of their effect — there was no hit- 
 ting the bull's-eye a second time ; he would only stare 
 vacantly at me, then grunt like a peccary — not ap- 
 preciatively — and walk on. Still, at intervals he 
 would go back to what I said about hitting a very 
 big bird, and roar again, as if this wonderful joke 
 was not easily exhausted. 
 
 Again on the third day we were out together prac- 
 tising at the birds — frightening, if not killing them ; 
 but before noon, finding that it was his intention to 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 67 
 
 go to a distant spot where he expected to meet with 
 larger game, I left him and returned to the village. 
 The blow-pipe practice had lost its novelty, and I 
 did not care to go on all day and every day with it ; 
 more than that, I was anxious after so long an inter- 
 val to pay a visit to my wood, as I began to call it, 
 in the hope of hearing that mysterious melody, which 
 I had grown to love and to miss when even a single 
 day passed without it. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 AFTER making a hasty meal at the house, I 
 started, full of pleasing anticipations, for the 
 wood; for how pleasant a place it was to be in! 
 What a wild beauty and fragrance and melodious- 
 ness it possessed above all forests, because of that 
 mystery that drew me to it ! And it was mine, truly 
 and absolutely — as much mine as any portion of 
 earth's surface could belong to any man — mine with 
 all its products; the precious woods and fruits and 
 fragrant gums that would never be trafficked away ; 
 its wild animals that man would never persecute; 
 nor would any jealous savage dispute my ownership 
 or pretend that it was part of his hunting-ground. 
 As I crossed the savannah I played with this fancy; 
 but when I reached the ridgy eminence, to look down 
 once more on my new domain, the fancy changed to 
 a feeling so keen that it pierced to my heart, and 
 was like pain in its intensity, causing tears to rush 
 to my eyes. And caring not in that solitude to dis- 
 guise my feelings from myself, and from the wide 
 heaven that looked down and saw me — for this is the 
 sweetest thing that solitude has for us, that we are 
 
 free in it, and no convention holds us — I dropped on 
 
 68 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 69 
 
 my knees and kissed the stony ground, then casting 
 up my eyes, thanked the Author of my being for the 
 gift of that wild forest, those green mansions where 
 I had found so great a happiness ! 
 
 Elated with this strain of feeling, I reached the 
 wood not long after noon ; but no melodious voice 
 gave me familiar and expected welcome; nor did my 
 invisible companion make itself heard at all on that 
 day, or, at all events, not in its usual bird-like war- 
 bling language. But on this day I met with a curi- 
 ous little adventure, and heard something very ex- 
 traordinary, very mysterious, which I could not 
 avoid connecting in my mind with the unseen warbler 
 that so often followed me in my rambles. 
 
 It was an exceedingly bright day, without cloud, 
 but windy, and finding myself in a rather open part 
 of the wood, near its border, where the breeze could 
 be felt, I sat down to rest on the lower part of a large 
 branch, which was half broken, but still remained at- 
 tached to the trunk of the tree, while resting its 
 terminal twigs on the ground. Just before me, where 
 I sat, grew a low, wide-spreading plant, covered with 
 broad, round, polished leaves ; and the roundness, 
 stiffness, and perfectly horizontal position of the 
 upper leaves made them look like a collection of small 
 platforms or round table-tops placed nearly on a 
 level. Through the leaves, to the height of a foot 
 or more above them, a slender dead stem protruded, 
 and from a twig at its summit depended a broken 
 
70 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 spider's web. A minute dead leaf had become at- 
 tached to one of the loose threads, and threw its 
 small but distinct shadow on the platform leaves be- 
 low: and as it trembled and swayed in the current of 
 air the black spot trembled with it or flew swiftly 
 over the bright green surfaces, and was seldom at 
 rest. Now, as I sat looking down on the leaves and 
 the small dancing shadow, scarcely thinking of what 
 I was looking at, I noticed a small spider, with a flat 
 body and short legs, creep cautiously out on to the 
 upper surface of a leaf. Its pale red colour barred 
 with velvet black first drew my attention to it, for 
 it was beautiful to the eye ; and presently I discov- 
 ered that this was no web-spinning, sedentary spider, 
 but a wandering hunter, that captured its prey, like 
 a cat, by stealing on it concealed and making a rush 
 or spring at the last. The moving shadow had at- 
 tracted it, and, as the sequel showed, was mistaken 
 for a fly running about over the leaves, and flitting 
 from leaf to leaf. Now began a series of wonderful 
 manoeuvres on the spider's part, with the object of 
 circumventing the imaginary fly, which seemed spe- 
 cially designed to meet this special case ; for cer- 
 tainly no insect had ever before behaved in quite so 
 erratic a manner. Each time the shadow flew past, 
 the spider ran swiftly in the same direction, hiding 
 itself under the leaves, always trying to get near 
 without alarming its prey ; and then the shadow 
 would go round and round in a small circle, and some 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 71 
 
 new strategic move on the part of the hunter would 
 be called forth. I became deeply interested in this 
 curious scene ; I began to wish that the shadow would 
 remain quiet for a moment or two, so as to give the 
 hunter a chance. And at last I had my wish: the 
 shadow was almost motionless, and the spider mov- 
 ing towards it, yet seeming not to move, and as it 
 crept closer I fancied that I could almost see the 
 little striped body quivering with excitement. Then 
 came the final scene: swift and straight as an arrow 
 the hunter shot himself on to the fly-like shadow, 
 then wiggled round and round,, evidently trying to 
 take hold of his prey with fangs and claws ; and find- 
 ing nothing under him, he raised the fore part of his 
 body vertically, as if to stare about him in search 
 of the delusive fly ; but the action may have simply 
 expressed astonishment. At this moment I was just 
 on the point of giving free and loud vent to the 
 laughter which I had been holding in, when, just be- 
 hind me, as if from some person who had been watch- 
 ing the scene over my shoulder and was as much 
 amused as myself at its termination, sounded a clear 
 trill of merry laughter. I started up and looked 
 hastily around, but no living creature was there 
 The mass of loose foliage I stared into was agitated, 
 as if from a body having just pushed through it. 
 In a moment the leaves and fronds were motionless 
 again ; still, I could not be sure that a slight gust of 
 wind had not shaken them. But I was so convinced 
 
72 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 that I had heard close to me a real human laugh, or 
 sound of some living creature that exactly simulated 
 a laugh, that I carefully searched the ground about 
 me, expecting to find a being of some kind. But I 
 found nothing, and going back to my seat on the 
 hanging branch, I remained seated for a considerable 
 time, at first only listening, then pondering on the 
 mystery of that sweet trill of laughter ; and finally I 
 began to wonder whether I, like the spider that 
 chased the shadow, had been deluded, and had seemed 
 to hear a sound that was not a sound. 
 
 On the following day I was in the wood again, and 
 after a two or three hours' ramble, during which I 
 heard nothing, thinking it useless to haunt the known 
 spots any longer, I turned southwards and pene- 
 trated into a denser part of the forest, where the un- 
 dergrowth made progress difficult. I was not afraid 
 of losing myself; the sun above and my sense of di- 
 rection, which was always good, would enable me to 
 return to the starting-point. 
 
 In this direction I had been pushing resolutely on 
 for over half an hour, finding it no easy matter to 
 make my way without constantly deviating to this 
 side or that from the course I wished to keep, when I 
 came to a much more open spot. The trees were 
 smaller and scantier here, owing to the rocky nature 
 of the ground, which sloped rather rapidly down ; 
 but it was moist and overgrown with mosses, ferns, 
 creepers, and low shrubs, all of the liveliest green. I 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 73 
 
 could not see many yards ahead owing to the bushes 
 and tall fern fronds ; but presently I began to hear a 
 low, continuous sound, which, when I had advanced 
 twenty or thirty yards further, I made out to be 
 the gurgling of running water; and at the same mo- 
 ment I made the discovery that my throat was 
 parched and my palms tingling with heat. I hurried 
 on, promising myself a cool draught, when all at 
 once, above the soft dashing and gurgling of the 
 water, I caught yet another sound — a low, warbling 
 note, or succession of notes, which might have been 
 emitted by a bird. But it startled me nevertheless 
 — bird-like warbling sounds had come to mean so 
 much to me — and pausing, I listened intently. It 
 was not repeated, and finally, treading with the ut- 
 most caution so as not to alarm the mysterious vo- 
 calist, I crept on until, coming to a greenheart with 
 a quantity of feathery foliage of a shrub growing 
 about its roots, I saw that just beyond the tree the 
 ground was more open still, letting in the sunlight 
 from above, and that the channel of the stream I 
 sought was in this open space, about twenty yards 
 from me, although the water was still hidden from 
 sight. Something else was there, which I did see ; 
 instantly my cautious advance was arrested. I 
 stood gazing with concentrated vision, scarcely dar- 
 ing to breathe lest I should scare it away. 
 
 It was a human being — a girl form, reclining on 
 the moss among the ferns and herbage, near the roots 
 
74) GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 of a small tree. One arm was doubled behind her 
 neck for her head to rest upon, while the other arm 
 was held extended before her, the hand raised to- 
 wards a small brown bird perched on a pendulous 
 twig just beyond its reach. She appeared to be 
 playing with the bird, possibly amusing herself by 
 trying to entice it on to her hand ; and the hand ap- 
 peared to tempt it greatly, for it persistently hopped 
 up and down, turning rapidly about this way and 
 that, flirting its wings and tail, and always appear- 
 ing just on the point of dropping on to her finger. 
 From my position it was impossible to see her dis- 
 tinctly, yet I dared not move. I could make out 
 that she was small, not above four feet six or seven 
 inches in height, in figure slim, with delicately shaped 
 little hands and feet. Her feet were bare, and her 
 only garment was a slight chemise-shaped dress 
 reaching below her knees, of a whitish-grey colour, 
 with a faint lustre as of a silky material. Her hair 
 was very wonderful; it was loose and abundant, and 
 seemed wavy or curly, falling in a cloud on her shoul- 
 ders and arms. Dark it appeared, but the precise 
 tint was indeterminable, as was that of her skin, 
 which looked neither brown nor white. Altogether, 
 near to me as she actually was. there was a kind of 
 mistiness in the figure which made it appear some- 
 what vague and distant, and a greenish grey seemed 
 the prevailing colour. This tint I presently attrib- 
 uted to the effect of the sunlight falling on her 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 75 
 
 through the green foliage ; for once, for a moment, 
 she raised herself to reach her finger nearer to the 
 bird, and then a gleam of unsubdued sunlight fell on 
 her hair and arm, and the arm at that moment ap- 
 peared of a pearly whiteness, and the hair, just 
 where the light touched it, had a strange lustre and 
 play of iridescent colour. 
 
 I had not been watching her more than three sec- 
 onds before the bird, with a sharp, creaking little 
 chirp, flew up and away in sudden alarm ; at the same 
 moment she turned and saw me through the light 
 leafy screen. But although catching sight of me 
 thus suddenly, she did not exhibit alarm like the 
 bird; only her eyes, wide open, with a surprised look 
 in them, remained immovably fixed on my face. And 
 then slowly, imperceptibly — for I did not notice the 
 actual movement, so gradual and smooth it was, like 
 the motion of a cloud of mist which changes its form 
 and place, yet to the eye seems not to have moved — 
 she rose to her knees, to her feet, retired, and with 
 face still towards me, and eyes fixed on mine, finally 
 disappeared, going as if she had melted away into 
 the verdure. The leafage was there occupying the 
 precise spot where she had been a moment before — 
 the feathery foliage of an acacia shrub, and stems 
 and broad, arrow-shaped leaves of an aquatic plant, 
 and slim, drooping fern fronds, and they were mo- 
 tionless, and seemed not to have been touched by 
 something passing through them. She had gone, yet 
 
76 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 I continued still, bent almost double, gazing fixedly 
 at the spot where I had last seen her, my mind in 
 a strange condition, possessed by sensations which 
 were keenly felt and yet contradictory. So vivid 
 was the image left on my brain that she still seemed 
 to be actually before my eyes ; and she was not there, 
 nor had been, for it was a dream, an illusion, and 
 no such being existed, or could exist, in this gross 
 world : and at the same time I knew that she had been 
 there — that imagination was powerless to conjure 
 up a form so exquisite. 
 
 With the mental image I had to be satisfied, for 
 although I remained for some hours at that spot I 
 saw her no more, nor did I hear any familiar melo- 
 dious sound. For I was now convinced that in this 
 wild solitary girl I had at length discovered the 
 mysterious warbler that so often followed me in the 
 wood. At length, seeing that it was growing late, 
 I took a drink from the stream and slowly and re- 
 luctantly made my way out of the forest, and went 
 home. 
 
 Early next day I was back in the wood full of de- 
 lightful anticipations, and had no sooner got well 
 among the trees than a soft, warbling sound reached 
 my ears ; it was like that heard on the previous day 
 just before catching sight of the girl among the 
 ferns. So soon ! thought I, elated, and with cautious 
 steps I proceeded to explore the ground, hoping 
 again to catch her unawares. But I saw nothing; 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 77 
 
 and only after beginning to doubt that I had heard 
 anything unusual, and had sat down to rest on a 
 rock, the sound was repeated, soft and low as before, 
 very near and distinct. Nothing more was heard 
 at this spot, but an hour later, in another place, the 
 same mysterious note sounded near me. During my 
 remaining time in the forest I was served many times 
 in the same way, and still nothing was seen, nor was 
 there any change in the voice. 
 
 Only when the day was near its end did I give up 
 my quest, feeling very keenly disappointed. It then 
 struck me that the cause of the elusive creature's 
 behaviour was that she had been piqued at my dis- 
 covery of her in one of her most secret hiding-places 
 in the heart of the wood, and that it had pleased her 
 to pay me out in this manner. 
 
 On the next day there was no change ; she was 
 there again, evidently following me, but always invis- 
 ible, and varied not from that one mocking note of 
 yesterday, which seemed to challenge me to find her 
 a second time. In the end I was vexed, and resolved 
 to be even with her by not visiting the wood for some 
 time. A display of indifference on my part would, I 
 hoped, result in making her less coy in the future. 
 
 Next day, firm in my new resolution, I accom- 
 panied Kua-ko and two others to a distant spot 
 where they expected that the ripening fruit on a 
 cashew tree would attract a large number of birds. 
 The fruit, however, proved still green, so that we 
 
78 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 gathered none and killed few birds. Returning 
 together, Kua-ko kept at my side, and by-and-by, 
 falling behind our companions, he complimented me 
 on my good shooting, although, as usual, I had only 
 wasted the arrows I had blown. 
 
 " Soon you will be able to hit," he said ; " hit a 
 bird as big as a small woman " ; and he laughed once 
 more immoderately at the old joke. At last, grow- 
 ing confidential, he said that I would soon possess a 
 zabatana of my own, with arrows in plenty. He was 
 going to make the arrows himself, and his uncle Ota- 
 winki, who had a straight eye, would make the tube. 
 I treated it all as a joke, but he solmenly assured me 
 that he meant it. 
 
 Next morning he asked me if I was going to the 
 forest of evil fame, and when I replied in the negative 
 seemed surprised and, very much to my surprise, 
 evidently disappointed. He even tried to persuade 
 me to go, where before I had been earnestly recom- 
 mended not to go, until, finding that I would not, he 
 took me with him to hunt in the woods. By-and-by 
 he returned to the same subject: he could not under- 
 stand why I would not go to that wood, and asked 
 me if I had begun to grow afraid. 
 
 "No, not afraid," I replied; "but I know the 
 place well, and am getting tired of it." I had seen 
 everything in it — birds and beasts — and had heard 
 all its strange noises. 
 
 " Yes, heard," he said, nodding his head know- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 79 
 
 ingly ; " but you have seen nothing strange ; your 
 eyes are not good enough yet." 
 
 I laughed contemptuously, and answered that I 
 had seen everything strange the wood contained, in- 
 cluding a strange young girl; and I went on to de- 
 scribe her appearance, and finished by asking if he 
 thought a white man was frightened at the sight of 
 a young girl. 
 
 What I said astonished him ; then he seemed 
 greatly pleased, and, growing still more confidential 
 and generous than on the previous day, he said that 
 I would soon be a most important personage among 
 them, and greatly distinguish myself. He did not 
 like it when I laughed at all this, and went on with 
 great seriousness to speak of the unmade blow-pipe 
 that would be mine — speaking of it as if it had been 
 something very great, equal to the gift of a large 
 tract of land, or the governorship of a province, 
 north of the Orinoco. And by-and-by he spoke of 
 something else more wonderful even than the promise 
 of a blow-pipe, with arrows galore, and this was that 
 young sister of his, whose name was Oalava, a maid 
 of about sixteen, shy and silent and mild-eyed, rather 
 lean and dirty; not ugly, nor yet prepossessing. 
 And this copper-coloured little drab of the wilder- 
 ness he proposed to bestow in marriage on me ! Anx- 
 ious to pump him, I managed to control my muscles, 
 and asked him what authority he — a young nobody, 
 who had not yet risen to the dignity of buying a wife 
 
SO GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 for himself — could have to dispose of a sister in this 
 offhand way ? He replied that there would be no dif- 
 ficulty: that Runi would give his consent, as would 
 also Otawinki, Piake, and other relations ; and last, 
 and least, according to the matrimonial customs of 
 these latitudes, Oalava herself would be ready to be- 
 stow her person — queyou, worn figleaf-wise, necklace 
 of accouri teeth, and all — on so worthy a suitor as 
 myself. Finally, to make the prospect still more in- 
 viting, he added that it would not be necessary for 
 me to subject myself to any voluntary tortures to 
 prove myself a man and fitted to enter into the pur- 
 gatorial state of matrimony. He was a great deal 
 too considerate, I said, and, with all the gravity I 
 could command, asked him what kind of torture he 
 would recommend. For me — so valorous a person 
 — " no torture," he answered magnanimously. But 
 he — Kua-ko — had made up his mind as to the form 
 of torture he meant to inflict some day on his own 
 person. He would prepare a large sack and into it 
 put fire-ants — " As many as that ! " he exclaimed 
 triumphantly, stooping and filling his two hands with 
 loose sand. He would put them in the sack, and 
 then get into it himself naked, and tie it tightly 
 round his neck, so as to show to all spectators that 
 the hellish pain of innumerable venomous stings in 
 his flesh could be endured without a groan, and with 
 an unmoved countenance. The poor youth had not 
 an original mind, since this was one of the common- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 81 
 
 est forms of self-torture among the Guayana tribes. 
 But the sudden wonderful animation with which he 
 spoke of it, the fiendish joy that illumined his usu- 
 ally stolid countenance, sent a sudden disgust and 
 horror through me. But what a strange inverted 
 kind of fiendishness is this, which delights at the an- 
 ticipation of torture inflicted on oneself and not on 
 an enemy ! And towards others these savages are 
 mild and peaceable ! No, I could not believe in their 
 mildness; that was only on the surface, when noth- 
 ing occurred to rouse their savage, cruel instincts. 
 I could have laughed at the whole matter, but the ex- 
 ulting look on my companion's face had made me sick 
 of the subject, and I wished not to talk any more 
 about it. 
 
 But he would talk still — this fellow whose words, 
 as a rule, I had to take out of his mouth with a fork, 
 as we say; and still on the same subject, he said that 
 not one person in the village would expect to see me 
 torture myself ; that after what I would do for them 
 all — after delivering them from a great evil — noth-> 
 ing further would be expected of me. 
 
 I asked him to explain his meaning ; for it now be- 
 gan to appear plain that in everything he had said 
 he had been leading up to some very important mat- 
 ter. It would, of course, have been a great mistake 
 to suppose that my savage was offering me a blow- 
 pipe and a marketable virgin sister from purely dis- 
 interested motives. 
 
82 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 In reply he went back to that still unforgotten 
 joke about my being able eventually to hit a bird as 
 big as a small woman with an arrow. Out of it all 
 came, when he went on to ask me if that mysterious 
 girl I had seen in the wood was not of a size to suit 
 me as a target when I had got my hand in with a lit- 
 tle more practice. That was the great work I was 
 asked to do for them — that shy, mysterious girl with 
 the melodious wild-bird voice was the evil being I 
 was asked to slay with poisoned arrows ! This was 
 why he now wished me to go often to the wood, to be- 
 come more and more familiar with her haunts and 
 habits, to overcome all shyness and suspicion in her; 
 and at the proper moment, when it would be impossi- 
 ble to miss my mark, to plant the fatal arrow ! The 
 disgust he had inspired in me before, when gloating 
 over anticipated tortures, was a weak and transient 
 feeling to what I now experienced. I turned on him 
 in a sudden transport of rage, and in a moment 
 would have shattered the blowpipe I was carrying 
 in my hand on his head, but his astonished look as he 
 turned to face me made me pause, and prevented me 
 from committing so fatal an indiscretion. I could 
 only grind my teeth and struggle to overcome an al- 
 most overpowering hatred and wrath. Finally, I 
 flung the tube down and bade him take it, telling 
 him that I would not touch it again if he offered me 
 all the sisters of all the savages in Guayana for 
 wives. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 83 
 
 He continued gazing at me mute with astonish- 
 ment, and prudence suggested that it would be best 
 to conceal as far as possible the violent animosity I 
 had conceived against him. I asked him somewhat 
 scornfully if he believed that I should ever be able 
 to hit anything — bird or human being — with an ar- 
 row. " No," I almost shouted, so as to give vent to 
 my feelings in some way, and drawing my revolver, 
 " this is the white man's weapon ; but he kills men 
 with it — men who attempt to kill or injure him — but 
 neither with this nor any other weapon does he mur- 
 der innocent young girls treacherously." 
 
 After that we went on in silence for some time; 
 at length he said that the being I had seen in the 
 wood and was not afraid of was no innocent young 
 girl, but a daughter of the Didi, an evil being; and 
 that so long as she continued to inhabit the wood 
 they could not go there to hunt, and even in other 
 woods they constantly went in fear of meeting her. 
 Too much disgusted to talk with him, I went on in 
 silence ; and when we reached the stream near the vil- 
 lage I threw off my clothes and plunged into the 
 water to cool my anger before going in to the others. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THINKING about the forest girl while lying 
 awake that night, I came to the conclusion that 
 I had made it sufficiently plain to her how little her 
 capricious behaviour had been relished, and had 
 therefore no need to punish myself more by keeping 
 any longer out of my beloved green mansions. Ac- 
 cordingly, next day, after the heavy rain that fell 
 during the morning hours had ceased, I set forth 
 about noon to visit the wood. Overhead the sky was 
 clear again ; but there was no motion in the heavy 
 sultry atmosphere, while dark blue masses of banked- 
 up clouds on the western horizon threatened a fresh 
 downpour later in the day. My mind was, however, 
 now too greatly excited at the prospect of a possible 
 encounter with the forest nymph to allow me to pay 
 any heed to these ominous signs. 
 
 I had passed through the first strip of wood, and 
 was in the succeeding stony sterile space, when a 
 gleam of brilliant colour close by on the ground 
 caught my sight. It was a snake lying on the bare 
 earth; had I kept on without noticing it, I should 
 most probably have trodden upon or dangerously 
 near it. Viewing it closely, I found that it was a 
 
 coral snake, famed as much for its beauty and singu- 
 
 84 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 85 
 
 larity as for its deadly character. It was about 
 three feet long, and very slim ; its ground colour 
 a brilliant vermilion, with broad jet-black rings at 
 equal distances round its body, each black ring or 
 band divided by a narrow yellow strip in the middle. 
 The symmetrical pattern' and vividly contrasted col- 
 ours would have given it the appearance of an arti- 
 ficial snake made by some fanciful artist, but for 
 the gleam of life in its bright coils. Its fixed eyes, 
 too, were living gems, and from the point of its dan- 
 gerous arrowy head the glistening tongue flickered 
 ceaselessly as I stood a few yards away regarding it. 
 
 " I admire you greatly, Sir Serpent," I said, or 
 thought, " but it is dangerous, say the military au- 
 thorities, to leave an enemy or possible enemy in the 
 rear ; the person who does such a thing must be either 
 a bad strategist or a genius, and I am neither." 
 
 Retreating a few paces, I found and picked up a 
 stone about as big as a man's hand, and hurled it at 
 the dangerous-looking head with the intention of 
 crushing it ; but the stone hit upon the rocky ground 
 a little on one side of the mark, and being soft flew 
 into a hundred small fragments. This roused the 
 creature's anger, and in a moment with raised head 
 he was gliding swiftly towards me. Again I re- 
 treated, not so slowly on this occasion: and finding 
 another stone, I raised and was about to launch it 
 when a sharp, ringing cry issued from the bushes 
 growing near, and, quickly following the sound, forth 
 
86 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 stepped the forest girl ; no longer elusive and shy, 
 vaguely seen in the shadowy wood, but boldly chal- 
 lenging attention, exposed to the full power of the 
 meridian sun, which made her appear luminous and 
 rich in colour beyond example. Seeing her thus, all 
 those emotions of fear and abhorrence invariably ex- 
 cited in us by the sight of an active venomous serpent 
 in our path vanished instantly from my mind: I 
 could now only feel astonishment and admiration at 
 the brilliant being as she advanced with swift, easy, 
 undulating motion towards me; or rather towards 
 the serpent, which was now between us, moving more 
 and more slowly as she came nearer. The cause of 
 this sudden wonderful boldness, so unlike her former 
 habit, was unmistakable. She had been watching my 
 approach from some hiding-place among the bushes, 
 ready no doubt to lead me a dance through the wood 
 with her mocking voice, as on previous occasions, 
 when my attack on the serpent caused that outburst 
 of wrath. The torrent of ringing and to me inar- 
 ticulate sounds in that unknown tongue, her rapid 
 gestures, and above all her wide-open sparkling eyes 
 and face aflame with colour, made it impossible to 
 mistake the nature of her feeling. 
 
 In casting about for some term or figure of speech 
 in which to describe the impression produced on me 
 at that moment, I think of waspish, and, better still, 
 avispada — literally the same word in Spanish, not 
 having precisely the same meaning nor ever applied 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 87 
 
 contemptuously — only to reject both after a mo- 
 ment's reflection. Yet I go back to the image of an 
 irritated wasp as perhaps offering the best illustra- 
 tion; of some large tropical wasp advancing angrily 
 towards me, as I have witnessed a hundred times, not 
 exactly flying, but moving rapidly, half running and 
 half flying, over the ground, with loud and angry 
 buzz, the glistening wings open and agitated; beau- 
 tiful beyond most animated creatures in its sharp 
 but graceful lines, polished surface, and varied bril- 
 liant colouring, and that wrathfulness that fits it so 
 well and seems to give it additional lustre. 
 
 Wonder-struck at the sight of her strange beauty 
 and passion, I forgot the advancing snake until she 
 came to a stop at about five yards from me; then to 
 my horror I saw that it was beside her naked feet. 
 Although no longer advancing, the head was still 
 raised high as if to strike ; but presently the spirit 
 of anger appeared to die out of it ; the lifted head, 
 oscillating a little from side to side, sunk down lower 
 and lower to rest finally on the girl's bare instep ; 
 and lying there motionless, the deadly thing had the 
 appearance of a gaily coloured silken garter just 
 dropped from her leg. It was plain to see that she 
 had no fear of it, that she was one of those excep- 
 tional persons to be found, it is said, in all countries, 
 who possess some magnetic quality which has a 
 soothing effect on even the most venomous and irri- 
 table reptiles. 
 
88 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 Following the direction of my eyes, she too glanced 
 down, but did not move her foot ; then she made her 
 voice heard again, still loud and sharp, but the anger 
 was not now so pronounced. 
 
 " Do not fear, I shall not harm it," I said in the 
 Indian tongue. 
 
 She took no notice of my speech, and continued 
 speaking with increasing resentment. 
 
 I shook my head, replying that her language was 
 unknown to me. Then by means of signs I tried to 
 make her understand that the creature was safe from 
 further molestation. She pointed indignantly at the 
 stone in my hand, which I had forgotten all about. 
 At once I threw it from me, and instantly there was 
 a change ; the resentment had vanished, and a tender 
 radiance lit her face like a smile. 
 
 I advanced a little nearer, addressing her once 
 more in the Indian tongue ; but my speech was evi- 
 dently unintelligible to her, as she stood now glanc- 
 ing at the snake lying at her feet, now at me. Again 
 I had recourse to signs and gestures ; pointing to the 
 snake, then to the stone I had cast away, I endeav- 
 oured to convey to her that in the future I would for 
 her sake be a friend to all venomous reptiles, and that 
 I wished her to have the same kindly feelings to- 
 wards me as towards these creatures. Whether or 
 not she understood me, she showed no disposition to 
 go into hiding again, and continued silently regard- 
 ing me with a look that seemed to express pleasure at 
 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 89 
 
 finding herself at last thus suddenly brought face to 
 face with me. Flattered at this, I gradually drew 
 nearer until at the last I was standing at her side, 
 gazing down with the utmost delight into that face 
 which so greatly surpassed in loveliness all human 
 faces I had ever seen or imagined. 
 
 And yet to you, my friend, it probably will not 
 seem that she was so beautiful, since I have, alas ! 
 only the words we all use to paint commoner, coarser 
 things, and no means to represent all the exquisite 
 details, all the delicate lights, and shades, and swift 
 changes of colour and expression. Moreover, is it 
 not a fact that the strange or unheard of can never 
 appear beautiful in a mere description, because that 
 which is most novel in it attracts too much attention 
 and is given undue prominence in the picture, and 
 we miss that which would have taken away the effect 
 of strangeness — the perfect balance of the parts and 
 harmony of the whole? For instance, the blue eyes 
 of the northerner would, when first described to the 
 black-eyed inhabitants of warm regions, seem un- 
 beautiful and a monstrosity, because they would 
 vividly see with the mental vision that unheard-of 
 blueness, but not in the same vivid way the accom- 
 panying flesh and hair tints with which it harmonises. 
 
 Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint 
 it in words than of the feeling its original inspired 
 in me, when looking closely for the first time on that 
 rare loveliness, trembling with delight I mentally 
 
90 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 cried: "Oh, why has Nature, maker of so many 
 types and of innumerable individuals of each, given 
 to the world but one being like this ? " 
 
 Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind 
 before I dismissed it as utterly incredible. No, this 
 exquisite being was without doubt one of a distinct 
 race which had existed in this little-known corner of 
 the continent for thousands of generations, albeit 
 now perhaps reduced to a small and dwindling rem- 
 nant. 
 
 Her figure and features were singularly delicate, 
 but it was her colour that struck me most, which in- 
 deed made her differ from all other human beings. 
 The colour of the skin would be almost impossible to 
 describe, so greatly did it vary with every change of 
 mood — and the moods were many and transient — 
 and with the angle on which the sunlight touched it, 
 and the degree of light. 
 
 Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a 
 somewhat dim white or pale grey ; near in the strong 
 sunshine it was not white, but alabastrian, semi- 
 pellucid, showing an underlying rose-colour; and 
 at any point where the rays fell direct this col- 
 our was bright and luminous, as we see in our fin- 
 gers when held before a strong firelight. But that 
 part of her skin that remained in shadow appeared 
 of a dimmer white, and the underlying colour varied 
 from dim, rosy purple to dim blue. With the skin 
 the colour of the eyes harmonised perfectly. At 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 91 
 
 first, when lit with anger, they had appeared flame- 
 like; now the iris was of a peculiar soft or dim and 
 tender red, a shade sometimes seen in flowers. But 
 only when looked closely at could this delicate hue be 
 discerned, the pupils being large, as in some grey 
 eyes, and the long, dark, shading lashes at a short 
 distance made the whole eye appear dark. Think not, 
 then, of the red flower, exposed to the light and sun 
 in conjunction with the vivid green of the foliage; 
 think only of such a hue in the half-hidden iris, bril- 
 liant and moist with the eye's moisture, deep with the 
 eye's depth, glorified by the outward look of a bright, 
 beautiful soul. Most variable of all in colour was 
 the hair, this being due to its extreme fineness and 
 glossiness, and to its elasticity, which made it lie 
 fleecy and loose on head, shoulders, and back ; a cloud 
 with a brightness on its surface made by the freer 
 outer hairs, a fit setting and crown for a countenance 
 of such rare, changeful loveliness. In the shade> 
 viewed closely, the general colour appeared a slate, 
 deepening in places to purple; but even in the shade 
 the nimbus of free flossy hairs half veiled the darker 
 tints with a downy pallor ; and at a distance of a few 
 yards it gave the whole hair a vague, misty appear- 
 ance. In the sunlight the colour varied more, look- 
 ing now dark, sometimes intensely black, now of a 
 light uncertain hue, with a play of iridescent colour 
 on the loose surface, as we see on the glossed plumage 
 of some birds ; and at a short distance, with the sun 
 
92 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 shining full on her head, it sometimes looked white as 
 a noonday cloud. So changeful was it and ethereal 
 in appearance with its cloud colours, that all other 
 human hair, even of the most beautiful golden shades, 
 pale or red, seemed heavy and dull and dead-looking 
 by comparison. 
 
 But more than form and colour and that enchant- 
 ing variability was the look of intelligence, which at 
 the same time seemed complementary to and one with 
 the all-seeing, all-hearing alertness appearing in her 
 face; the alertness one remarks in a wild creature, 
 even when in repose and fearing nothing ; but seldom 
 in man, never perhaps in intellectual or studious 
 man. She was a wild, solitary girl of the woods, 
 and did not understand the language of the country 
 in which I had addressed her. What inner or mind 
 life could such a one have more than that of any wild 
 animal existing in the same conditions? Yet look- 
 ing at her face it was not possible to doubt its in- 
 telligence. This union in her of two opposite quali- 
 ties, which, with us, cannot or do not exist together, 
 although so novel, yet struck me as the girl's prin- 
 cipal charm. Why had Nature not done this before 
 — why in all others does the brightness of the mind 
 dim that beautiful physical brightness which the wild 
 animals have? But enough for me that that which 
 no man had ever looked for or hoped to find existed 
 here ; that through that unfamiliar lustre of the wild 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 93 
 
 life shone the spiritualising light of mind that made 
 us kin. 
 
 These thoughts passed swiftly through my brain 
 as I stood feasting my sight on her bright, piquant 
 face ; while she on her part gazed back into my eyes, 
 not only with fearless curiosity, but with a look of 
 recognition and pleasure at the encounter so unmis- 
 takably friendly that, encouraged by it, I took her 
 arm in my hand, moving at the same time a little 
 nearer to her. At that moment a swift, startled ex- 
 pression came into her eyes ; she glanced down and 
 up again into my face ; her lips trembled and slightly 
 parted as she murmured some sorrowful sounds in a 
 tone so low as to be only just audible. 
 
 Thinking she had become alarmed and was on the 
 point of escaping out of my hands, and fearing, 
 above all things, to lose sight of her again so soon, 
 I slipped my arm around her slender body to detain 
 her, moving one foot at the same time to balance 
 myself; and at that moment I felt a slight blow and 
 a sharp burning sensation shoot into my leg, so sud- 
 den and intense that I dropped my arm, at the same 
 time uttering a cry of pain, and recoiled one or two 
 paces from her. But she stirred not when I released 
 her ; her eyes followed my movements ; then she 
 glanced down at her feet. I followed her look, and 
 figure to yourself my horror when I saw there the 
 serpent I had so completely forgotten, and which 
 
94 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 even that sting of sharp pain had not brought back 
 to remembrance ! There it lay, a coil of its own 
 thrown round one of her ankles, and its head, raised 
 nearly a foot high, swaying slowly from side to side, 
 while the swift forked tongue flickered continuously. 
 Then — only then — I knew what had happened, and 
 at the same time I understood the reason of that sud- 
 den look of alarm in her face, the murmuring sounds 
 she had uttered, and the downward startled glance. 
 Her fears had been solely for my safety, and she had 
 warned me ! Too late ! too late ! In moving I had 
 trodden on or touched the serpent with my foot, and 
 it had bitten me just above the ankle. In a few mo- 
 ments I began to realise the horror of my position. 
 " Must I die ! must I die ! Oh, my God, is there 
 nothing that can save me? " I cried in my heart. 
 
 She was still standing motionless in the same 
 place: her eyes wandered back from me to the snake; 
 gradually its swaying head was lowered again, and 
 the coil unwound from her ankle ; then it began to 
 move away, slowly at first, and with the head a little 
 raised, then faster, and in the end it glided out of 
 sight. Gone ! — but it had left its venom in my blood 
 — O cursed reptile! 
 
 Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned 
 to her face, now strangely clouded with trouble ; her 
 eyes dropped before mine, while the palms of her 
 hands were pressed together, and the ringers clasped 
 and unclasped alternately. How different she 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 95 
 
 seemed now; the brilliant face grown so pallid and 
 vague-looking! But not only because this tragic 
 end to our meeting had pierced her with pain: that 
 cloud in the west had grown up and now covered half 
 the sky with vast lurid masses of vapour, blotting 
 out the sun, and a great gloom had fallen on the 
 earth. 
 
 That sudden twilight and a long roll of approach- 
 ing thunder, reverberating from the hills, increased 
 my anguish and desperation. Death at that mo- 
 ment looked unutterably terrible. The remembrance 
 of all that made life dear pierced me to the core — 
 all that nature was to me, all the pleasures of sense 
 and intellect, the hopes I had cherished — all was re- 
 vealed to me as by a flash of lightning. Bitterest 
 of all was the thought that I must now bid everlast- 
 ing farewell to this beautiful being I had found in the 
 solitude — this lustrous daughter of the Didi — just 
 when I had won her from her shyness — that I must 
 go away into the cursed blackness of death, and never 
 know the mystery of her life! It was that which 
 utterly unnerved me, and made my legs tremble under 
 me, and brought great drops of sweat to my fore- 
 head, until I thought that the venom was already 
 doing its swift, fatal work in my veins. 
 
 With uncertain steps I moved to a stone a yard or 
 two away and sat down upon it. As I did so the 
 hope came to me that this girl, so intimate with na- 
 ture, might know of some antidote to save me. 
 
96 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 Touching my leg, and using other signs, I addressed 
 her again in the Indian language. 
 
 " The snake has bitten me," I said. " What shall 
 I do? Is there no leaf, no root you know that would 
 save me from death? Help me ! help me ! " I cried in 
 despair. 
 
 My signs she probably understood if not my 
 words, but she made no reply ; and still she remained 
 standing motionless, twisting and untwisting her fin- 
 gers, and regarding me with a look of ineffable grief 
 and compassion. 
 
 Alas! It was vain to appeal to her: she knew 
 what had happened, and what the result would most 
 likely be, and pitied, but was powerless to help me. 
 Then it occurred to me that if I could reach the In- 
 dian village before the venom overpowered me some- 
 thing might be done to save me. Oh, why had I 
 tarried so long, losing so many precious minutes ! 
 Large drops of rain were falling now, and the gloom 
 was deeper, and the thunder almost continuous. 
 With a cry of anguish I started to my feet, and was 
 about to rush away towards the village when a daz- 
 zling flash of lightning made me pause for a moment. 
 When it vanished I turned a last look on the girl, and 
 her face was deathly pale, and her hair looked blacker 
 than night; and as she looked she stretched out her 
 arms towards me and uttered a low, wailing cry. 
 " Good-bye for ever ! " I murmured, and turning once 
 more from her, rushed away like one crazed into the 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 97 
 
 wood. But in my confusion I had probably taken 
 the wrong direction, for instead of coming out in a 
 few minutes into the open border of the forest, and 
 on to the savannah, I found myself every moment 
 getting deeper among the trees. I stood still, per- 
 plexed, but could not shake off the conviction that I 
 had started in the right direction. Eventually I re- 
 solved to keep on for a hundred yards or so, and then, 
 if no opening appeared, to turn back and retrace my 
 steps. But this was no easy matter. I soon became 
 entangled in a dense undergrowth, which so confused 
 me that at last I confessed despairingly to myself 
 that for the first time in this wood I was hopelessly 
 lost. And in what terrible circumstances ! At inter- 
 vals a flash of lightning would throw a vivid blue 
 glare down into the interior of the wood and only 
 serve to show that I had lost myself in a place where 
 even at noon in cloudless weather progress would be 
 most difficult; and now the light would only last a 
 moment, to be followed by thick gloom; and I could 
 only tear blindly on, bruising and lacerating my flesh 
 at every step, falling again and again only to strug- 
 gle up and on again, now high above the surface 
 climbing over prostrate trees and branches, now 
 plunged to my middle in a pool or torrent of water. 
 Hopeless — utterly hopeless seemed all my mad ef- 
 forts ; and at each pause, when I would stand ex- 
 hausted, gasping for breath, my throbbing heart al- 
 most suffocating me, a dull* continuous, teasing pain 
 
98 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 in my bitten leg served to remind me that I had but 
 a little time left to exist — that by delaying at first I 
 had allowed my only chance of salvation to slip by. 
 
 How long a time I spent fighting my way through 
 this dense black wood I know not; perhaps two or 
 three hours, only to me the hours seemed like years 
 of prolonged agony. At last, all at once, I found 
 that I was free of the close undergrowth, and walking 
 on level ground: but it was darker here — darker than 
 the darkest night; and at length, when the lightning 
 came and flared down through the dense roof of foli- 
 age overhead, I discovered that I was in a spot that 
 had a strange look, where the trees were very large 
 and grew wide apart, and with no undergrowth to 
 impede progress beneath them. Here, recovering 
 breath, I began to run, and after a while found that 
 I had left the large trees behind me, and was now in a 
 more open place, with small trees and bushes : and 
 this made me hope for a while that I had at last 
 reached the border of the forest. But the hope 
 proved vain; once more I had to force my way 
 through dense undergrowth, and finally emerged on 
 to a slope where it was open, and I could once more 
 see for some distance around me by such light as 
 came through the thick pall of clouds. Trudging on 
 to the summit of the slope, I saw that there was open 
 savannah country beyond, and for a moment rejoiced 
 that I had got free from the forest. A few steps 
 more, and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 99 
 
 a precipice not less than fifty feet deep. I had never 
 seen that bank before, and therefore knew that I 
 could not be on the right side of the forest. But 
 now my only hope was to get completely away from 
 the trees and then to look for the village, and I began 
 following the bank in search of a descent. No break 
 occurred, and presently I was stopped by a dense 
 thicket of bushes. I was about to retrace my steps 
 when I noticed that a tall slender tree growing at 
 the foot of the precipice, its green top not more than 
 a couple of yards below my feet, seemed to offer a 
 means of escape. Nerving myself with the thought 
 that if I got crushed by the fall I should probably 
 escape a lingering and far more painful death, I 
 dropped into the cloud of foliage beneath me and 
 clutched desperately at the twigs as I fell. For a 
 moment I felt myself sustained; but branch after 
 branch gave way beneath ray weight, and then I only 
 remember, very dimly, a swift flight through the air 
 before losing consciousness. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 WITH the return of consciousness, I at first 
 had a vague impression that I was lying 
 somewhere, injured, and incapable of motion; that it 
 was night, and necessary for me to keep my eyes fast 
 shut to prevent them from being blinded by almost 
 continuous vivid flashes of lightning. Injured, and 
 sore all over, but warm and dry — surely dry : nor was 
 it lightning that dazzled, but firelight. I began to 
 notice things little by little. The fire was burning 
 on a clay floor a few feet from where I was lying. 
 Before it, on a log of wood, sat or crouched a human 
 figure. An old man, with chin on breast and hands 
 clasped before his drawn-up knees ; only a small por- 
 tion of his forehead and nose visible to me. An In- 
 dian I took him to be, from his coarse, lank, grey 
 hair and dark brown skin. I was in a large hut, 
 falling at the sides to within two feet of the floor: 
 but there were no hammocks in it, nor bows and 
 spears, and no skins, not even under me, for I was 
 lying on straw mats. I could hear the storm still 
 raging outside; the rush and splash of rain, and, at 
 intervals, the distant growl of thunder. There was 
 
 wind, too; I listened to it sobbing in the trees, and 
 
 100 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 101 
 
 occasionally a puff found its way in, and blew up the 
 white ashes at the old man's feet, and shook the yel- 
 low flames like a flag. I remembered now how the 
 storm began, the wild girl, the snake-bite, my violent 
 efforts to find a way out of the woods, and, finally, 
 that leap from the bank where recollection ended. 
 That I had not been killed by the venomous tooth, 
 nor the subsequent fearful fall, seemed like a miracle 
 to me. And -in that wild, solitary place, lying in- 
 sensible, in that awful storm and darkness, I had 
 been found by a fellow-creature — a savage, doubt- 
 less, but a good Samaritan all the same — who had 
 rescued me from death ! I was bruised all over and 
 did not attempt to move, fearing the pain it would 
 give me ; and I had a racking headache ; but these 
 seemed trifling discomforts after such adventures and 
 such perils. I felt that I had recovered or was re- 
 covering from that venomous bite; that I would live 
 and not die — live to return to my country ; and the 
 thought filled my heart to overflowing, and tears of 
 gratitude and happiness rose to my eyes. 
 
 At such times a man experiences benevolent feel- 
 ings, and would willingly bestow some of that over- 
 plus of happiness on his fellows to lighten other 
 hearts ; and this old man before me, who was prob- 
 ably the instrument of my salvation, began greatly 
 to excite my interest and compassion. For he 
 seemed so poor in his old age and rags, so solitary 
 and dejected as he sat there with knees drawn up, 
 
102 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 his great, brown, bare feet looking almost black by 
 contrast with the white wood-ashes about them ! 
 What could I do for him? What could I say to 
 cheer his spirits in that Indian language, which has 
 few or no words to express kindly feelings? Unable 
 to think of anything better to say, I at length sud- 
 denly cried aloud, " Smoke, old man ! Why do you 
 not smoke? It is good to smoke." 
 
 He gave a mighty start, and, turning, fixed his 
 eyes on me. Then I saw that he was not a pure In- 
 dian, for although as brown as old leather, he wore a 
 beard and moustache. A curious face had this old 
 man, which looked as if youth and age had made it 
 a battling ground. His forehead was smooth, ex- 
 cept for two parallel lines in the middle running its 
 entire length, dividing it in zones ; his arched eye- 
 brows were black as ink, and his small black eyes 
 were bright and cunning, like the eyes of some wild 
 carnivorous animal. In this part of his face youth 
 had held its own, especially in the eyes, which looked 
 young and lively. But lower down age had con- 
 quered, scribbling his skin all over with wrinkles, 
 while moustache and beard were white as thistle- 
 down. 
 
 " Aha, the dead man is alive again ! " he exclaimed, 
 with a chuckling laugh. This in the Indian tongue ; 
 then in Spanish he added, " But speak to me in the 
 language you know best, senor ; for if you are not a 
 Venezuelan call me an owl." 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 103 
 
 "And you, old man?" said I. 
 
 " Ah, I was right ! Why, sir, what I am is plainly 
 written on my face. Surely you do not take me for 
 a pagan! I might be a black man from Africa, or 
 an Englishman, but an Indian — that, no! But a 
 minute ago you had the goodness to invite me to 
 smoke. How, sir, can a poor man smoke who is 
 without tobacco?" 
 
 " Without tobacco — in Guayana ! " 
 
 " Can you believe it ? But, sir, do not blame 
 me ; if the beast that came one night and destroyed 
 my plants when ripe for cutting had taken pump- 
 kins and sweet potatoes instead, it would have been 
 better for him, if curses have any effect. And the 
 plant grows slowly, sir — it is not an evil weed to 
 come to maturity in a single day. And as for other 
 leaves in the forest, I smoke them, yes; but there is 
 no comfort to the lungs in such smoke." 
 
 " My tobacco-pouch was full," I said. " You will 
 find it in my coat, if I did not lose it." 
 
 " The saints forbid ! " he exclaimed. " Grandchild 
 — Rima, have you got a tobacco-pouch with the other 
 things? Give it to me." 
 
 Then I first noticed that another person was in the 
 hut, a slim young girl, who had been seated against 
 the wall on the other side of the fire, partially hid 
 by the shadows. She had my leather belt, with the 
 revolver in its case, and my hunting-knife attached, 
 and the few articles I had had in my pockets, on her 
 
104 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 lap. Taking up the pouch, she handed it to him, 
 and he clutched it with a strange eagerness. 
 
 " I will give it back presently, Rima," he said. 
 " Let me first smoke a cigarette — and then another." 
 
 It seemed probable from this that the good old 
 man had already been casting covetous eyes on my 
 property, and that his granddaughter had taken 
 care of it for me. But how the silent, demure girl 
 had kept it from him was a puzzle, so intensely did 
 he seem now to enjoy it, drawing the smoke vigor- 
 ously into his lungs, and after keeping it ten or fif- 
 teen seconds there, letting it fly out again from 
 mouth and nose in blue jets and clouds. His face 
 softened visibly, he became more and more genial 
 and loquacious, and asked me how I came to be in 
 that solitary place. I told him that I was staying 
 with the Indian Runi, his neighbour. 
 
 " But, senor," he said, " if it is not an imperti- 
 nence, how is it that a young man of so distinguished 
 an appearance as yourself, a Venezuelan, should be 
 residing with these children of the devil? " 
 
 " You love not your neighbours, then? " 
 
 " I know them, sir — how should I love them ? " 
 He was rolling up his second or third cigarette by 
 this time, and I could not help noticing that he took 
 a great deal more tobacco than he required in his 
 fingers, and that the surplus on each occasion was 
 conveyed to some secret receptacle among his rags. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 105 
 
 " Love them, sir ! They are infidels, and therefore 
 the good Christian must only hate them. They are 
 thieves — they will steal from you before your ver} r 
 face, so devoid are they of all shame. And -also 
 murderers ; gladly would they burn this poor thatch 
 above my head, and kill me and my poor grandchild, 
 who shares this solitary life with me, if they had the 
 courage. But they are all arrant cowards, and fear 
 to approach me — fear even to come into this wood. 
 You would laugh to hear what they are afraid of — 
 a child would laugh to hear it ! " 
 
 " What do they fear? " I said, for his words had 
 excited my interest in a great degree. 
 
 " Why, sir, would you believe it ? They fear this 
 child — my granddaughter, seated there before you. 
 A poor innocent girl of seventeen summers, a Chris- 
 tian who knows her Catechism, and would not harm 
 the smallest thing that God has made — no, not a 
 fly, which is not regarded on account of its small- 
 ness. Why, sir, it is due to her tender heart that 
 you are safely sheltered here, instead of being left 
 out of doors in this tempestuous night." 
 
 " To her — to this girl ? " I returned in astonish- 
 ment. " Explain, old man, for I do not know how I 
 was saved." 
 
 " To-day, senor, through your own heedlessness 
 you were bitten by a venomous snake." 
 
 " Yes, that is true, although I do not know how it 
 
106 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 came to your knowledge. But why am I not a dead 
 man, then — have you done something to save me from 
 the effects of the poison?" 
 
 " Nothing. What could I do so long after you 
 were bitten? When a man is bitten by a snake in a 
 solitary place he is in God's hands. He will live 
 or die as God wills. There is nothing to be done. 
 But surely, sir, you remember that my poor grand- 
 child was with you in the wood when the snake bit 
 you ? " 
 
 " A girl was there — a strange girl I have seen and 
 heard before when I have walked in the forest. But 
 not this girl — surely not this girl ! " 
 
 " No other," said he, carefully rolling up another 
 cigarette. 
 
 " It is not possible ! " I returned. 
 
 " 111 would you have fared, sir, had she not been 
 there. For after being bitten, you rushed away into 
 the thickest part of the wood, and went about in a 
 circle like a demented person for Heaven knows how 
 long. But she never left you; she was always close 
 to you — you might have touched har with your hand. 
 And at last some good angel who was watching you, 
 in order to stop your career, made you mad alto- 
 gether and caused you to jump over a precipice and 
 lose your senses. And you were no sooner on the 
 ground than she was with you — ask me not how she 
 got down! And when she had propped you up 
 against the bank she came for me. Fortunately the 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 107 
 
 spot where you had fallen is near — not five hundred 
 yards from the door. And I, on my part, was will- 
 ing to assist her in saving you ; for I knew it was no 
 Indian that had fallen, since she loves not that breed, 
 and they come not here. It was not an easy task, 
 for you weigh, senor ; but between us we brought you 
 in." 
 
 While he spoke the girl continued sitting in the 
 same listless attitude as when I first observed her, 
 with eyes cast down and hands folded in her lap. 
 Recalling that brilliant being in the wood that had 
 protected the serpent from me, and calmed its rage, 
 I found it hard to believe his words, and still felt a 
 little incredulous. 
 
 " Rima — that is your name, is it not ? " I said. 
 " Will you come here and stand before me, and let 
 me look closely at you ? " 
 
 " Si, senor," she meekly answered ; and removing 
 the things from her lap she stood up; then, passing 
 behind the old man, came and stood before me, 
 her eyes still bent on the ground — a picture of humil- 
 ity. " 
 
 She had the figure of the forest girl, but wore now 
 a scanty faded cotton garment, while the loose cloud 
 of hair was confined in two plaits and hung down 
 her back. The face also showed the same delicate 
 lines, but of the brilliant animation and variable 
 colour and expression there appeared no trace. 
 Gazing at her countenance, as she stood there silent, 
 
108 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 shy, and spiritless before me, the image of her 
 brighter self came vividly to my mind, and I could 
 not recover from the astonishment I felt at such a 
 contrast. 
 
 Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving 
 about in an aerial dance among the flowers — a liv- 
 ing prismatic gem that changes its colour with every 
 change of position — how in turning it catches the 
 sunshine on its burnished neck and gorget plumes — 
 green and gold and flame-coloured, the beams chang- 
 ing to visible flakes as they fall, dissolving into noth- 
 ing, to be succeeded by others and yet others? In 
 its exquisite form, its changeful splendour, its swift 
 motions and intervals of aerial suspension, it is a 
 creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all 
 description. And have you seen this same fairy-like 
 creature suddenly perch itself on a twig, in the shade, 
 its misty wings and fanlike tail folded, the irides- 
 cent glory vanished, looking like some common dull- 
 plumaged little bird sitting listless in a cage? Just 
 so great was the difference in the girl, as I had seen 
 her in the forest and as she now appeared under the 
 smoky roof in the firelight. 
 
 After watching her for some moments I spoke: 
 " Rima, there must be a good deal of strength in 
 that frame of yours, which looks so delicate; will 
 you raise me up a little? " 
 
 She went down on one knee, and placing her arms 
 round me assisted me to a sitting posture. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 109 
 
 " Thank you, Rima — O misery ! " I groaned. " Is 
 there a bone left unbroken in my poor body? " 
 
 " Nothing broken," cried the old man, clouds of 
 smoke flying out with his words. " I have examined 
 you well — legs, arms, ribs. For this is how it was, 
 senor. A thorny bush into which you fell saved you 
 from being flattened on the stony ground. But you 
 are bruised, sir, black with bruises ; and there are 
 more scratches of thorns on your skin than letters 
 on a written page." 
 
 " A long thorn might have entered my brain," I 
 said, " from the way it pains. Feel my forehead, 
 Rima ; is it very hot and dry ? " 
 
 She did as I asked, touching me lightly with her 
 little cool hand. " No, senor, not hot, but warm and 
 moist," she said. 
 
 "Thank Heaven for that!" I said. "Poor girl! 
 And you followed me through the wood in all that 
 terrible storm ! Ah, if I could lift my bruised arm 
 I would take your hand to kiss it in gratitude for so 
 great a service. I owe you my life, sweet Rima — 
 what shall I do to repay so great a debt? " 
 
 The old man chuckled as if amused, but the girl 
 lifted not her eyes nor spoke. 
 
 " Tell me, sweet child," I said, " for I cannot re- 
 alize it yet ; was it really you that saved the serpent's 
 life when I would have killed it — did }^ou stand by 
 me in the wood with the serpent lying at your feet? " 
 
 " Yes, senor," came her gentle answer. 
 
110 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " And it was you I saw in the wood one day, lying 
 on the ground playing with a small bird? " 
 
 " Yes, seiior." 
 
 " And it was you that followed me so often among 
 the trees, calling to me, yet always hiding so that I 
 could never see you? " 
 
 " Yes, senor." 
 
 " Oh, this is wonderful ! " I exclaimed ; whereat the 
 old man chuckled again. 
 
 " But tell me this, my sweet girl," I continued. 
 " You never addressed me in Spanish ; what strange 
 musical language was it you spoke to me in? " 
 
 She shot a timid glance at my face and looked 
 troubled at the question, but made no reply. 
 
 " Senor," said the old man, " that is a question 
 which you roust excuse my child from answering. 
 Not, sir, from want of will, for she is docile and obe- 
 dient, though I say it, but there is no answer beyond 
 what I can tell you. And this is, sir, that all crea- 
 tures, whether man or bird, have the voice that God 
 has given them ; and in some the voice is musical and 
 in others not so." 
 
 " Very well, old man," said I to myself ; " there let 
 the matter rest for the present. But, if I am des- 
 tined to live and not die, I shall not long remain sat- 
 isfied with your too simple explanation." 
 
 " Rima," I said, " you must be fatigued ; it is 
 thoughtless of me to keep you standing here so long." 
 
 Her face brightened a little, and bending down she 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 111 
 
 replied in a low voice, " I am not fatigued, sir. Let 
 me get you something to eat now." 
 
 She moved quickly away to the fire, and presently 
 returned with an earthenware dish of roasted pump- 
 kin and sweet potatoes, and kneeling at my side fed 
 me deftly with a small wooden spoon. I did not feel 
 grieved at the absence of meat and the stinging con- 
 diments the Indians love, nor did I even remark that 
 there was no salt in the vegetables, so much was I 
 taken up with watching her beautiful delicate face 
 while she ministered to me. The exquisite fragrance 
 of her breath was more to me than the most delicious 
 viands could have been ; and it was a delight each 
 time she raised the spoon to my mouth to catch a 
 momentary glimpse of her eyes, which now looked 
 dark as wine when we lift the glass to see the ruby 
 gleam of light within the purple. But she never for 
 a moment laid aside the silent, meek, constrained man- 
 ner; and when I remembered her bursting out in her 
 brilliant wrath on me, pouring forth that torrent of 
 stinging invective in her mysterious language, I was 
 lost in wonder and admiration at the change in her, 
 and at her double personality. Having satisfied my 
 wants she moved quietly away, and raising a straw 
 mat disappeared behind it into her own sleeping- 
 apartment, which was divided off by a partition from 
 the room I was in. 
 
 The old man's sleeping-place was a wooden cot or 
 stand on the opposite side of the room, but he was in 
 
112 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 no hurry to sleep, and after Rima had left us put a 
 fresh log on the blaze, and lit another cigarette. 
 Heaven knows how many he had smoked by this time. 
 He became very talkative and called to his side his 
 two dogs, which I had not noticed in the room before, 
 for me to see. It amused me to hear their names — 
 Susio and Goloso: Dirty and Greedy. They were 
 surly-looking brutes, with rough yellow hair, and 
 did not win my heart, but according to his account 
 they possessed all the usual canine virtues ; and he 
 was still holding forth on the subject when I fell 
 asleep. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 WHEN morning came I was too stiff and sore 
 to move, and not until the following day was 
 I able to creep out to sit in the shade of the trees. 
 My old host, whose name was Nuflo, went off with 
 his dogs, leaving the girl to attend to my wants. 
 Two or three times during the day she appeared to 
 serve me with food and drink, but she continued silent 
 and constrained in manner as on the first evening of 
 seeing her in the hut. 
 
 Late in the afternoon old Nuflo returned, but did 
 not say where he had been ; and shortly afterwards 
 Rima reappeared, demure as usual, in her faded cot- 
 ton dress, her cloud of hair confined in two long 
 plaits. My curiosity was more excited than ever, 
 and I resolved to get to the bottom of the mystery of 
 her life. The girl had not shown herself responsive, 
 but now that Nuflo was back I was treated to as much 
 talk as I cared to hear. He talked of many things, 
 only omitting those which I desired to hear about; 
 but his pet subject appeared to be the divine govern- 
 ment of the world — " God's politics " — and its mani- 
 fest imperfections, or in other words, the manifold 
 
 abuses which from time to time had been allowed to 
 
 113 
 
114 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 creep into it. The old man was pious, but like many 
 of his class in my country, he permitted himself to 
 indulge in very free criticisms of the powers above, 
 from the King of Heaven down to the smallest saint 
 whose name figures in the calendar. 
 
 " These things, senor," he said, " are not properly 
 managed. Consider my position. Here am I com- 
 pelled for my sins to inhabit this wilderness with my 
 poor granddaughter " 
 
 " She is not your granddaughter ! " I suddenly in- 
 terrupted, thinking to surprise him into an admis- 
 sion. 
 
 But he took his time to answer. " Senor, we are 
 never sure of anything in this world. Not absolutely 
 sure. Thus, it may come to pass that you will one 
 day marry, and that your wife will in due time pre- 
 sent you with a son — one that will inherit your for- 
 tune and transmit your name to posterity. And yet, 
 sir, in this world, you will never know to a certainty 
 that he is your son." 
 
 " Proceed with what you were saying," I returned, 
 with some dignity. 
 
 " Here we are," he continued, " compelled to in- 
 habit this land and do not meet with proper protec- 
 tion from the infidel. Now, sir, this is a crying evil, 
 and it is only becoming in one who has the true faith, 
 and is a loyal subject of the All-Powerful, to point 
 out with due humility that He is growing very remiss 
 in His affairs, and is losing a good deal of His pres- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 115 
 
 tige. And what, senor, is at the bottom of it? 
 Favoritism. We know that the Supreme cannot 
 Himself be everywhere, attending to each little trike- 
 traka that arises in the world — matters altogether 
 beneath His notice ; and that He must, like the Presi- 
 dent of Venezuela or the Emperor of Brazil, appoint 
 men — angels if you like — to conduct His affairs and 
 watch over each district. And it is manifest that for 
 this country of Guayana the proper person has not 
 been appointed. Every evil is done and there is no 
 remedy, and the Christian has no more consideration 
 shown him than the infidel. Now, senor, in a town 
 near the Orinoco I once saw on a church the arch- 
 angel Michael, made of stone, and twice as tall as a 
 man, with one foot on a monster shaped like a cay- 
 man, but with bat's wings, and a head and neck like a 
 serpent. Into this monster he was thrusting his spear. 
 That is the kind of person that should be sent to rule 
 these latitudes — a person of firmness and resolution, 
 with strength in his wrist. And yet it is probable 
 that this very man — this St. Michael — is hanging 
 about the palace, twirling his thumbs, waiting for 
 an appointment, while other weaker men, and — ■ 
 Heaven forgive me for sajnng it — not above a bribe, 
 perhaps, are sent out to rule over this province." 
 
 On this string he would harp by the hour; it was 
 a lofty subject on which he had pondered much in his 
 solitary life, and he was glad of an opportunity of 
 ventilating his grievance and expounding his views. 
 
116 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 At first it was a pure pleasure to hear Spanish again, 
 and the old man, albeit ignorant of letters, spoke 
 well ; but this, I may say, is a common thing in our 
 country, where the peasant's quickness of intelligence 
 and poetic feeling often compensate for want of in- 
 struction. His views also amused me, although they 
 were not novel. But after a while I grew tired of 
 listening, yet I listened still, agreeing with him, and 
 leading him on to let him have his fill of talk, always 
 hoping that he would come at last to speak of per- 
 sonal matters and give me an account of his history 
 and of Rima's origin. But the hope proved vain ; 
 not a word to enlighten me would he drop, however 
 cunningly I tempted him. 
 
 " So be it," thought I ; " but if you are cunning, 
 old man, I shall be cunning too — and patient ; for all 
 things come to him who waits." 
 
 He was in no hurry to get rid of me. On the con- 
 trary, he more than hinted that I would be safer 
 under his roof than with the Indians, at the same 
 time apologising for not giving me meat to eat. 
 
 " But why do you not have meat? Never have 
 I seen animals so abundant and tame as in this 
 wood." 
 
 Before he could reply Rima, with a jug of water 
 from the spring in her hand, came in ; glancing at 
 me he lifted his finger to signify that such a subject 
 must not be discussed in her presence ; but as soon as 
 she quitted the room he returned to it. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 117 
 
 " Seiior," he said, " have you forgotten your ad- 
 venture with the snake? Know, then, that my 
 grandchild would not live with me for one day longer 
 if I were to lift my hand against any living creature. 
 For us, senor, every day is fast-day — only without 
 the fish. We have maize, pumpkin, cassava, pota- 
 toes, and these suffice. And even of these cultivated 
 fruits of the earth she eats but little in the house, 
 preferring certain wild berries and gums, which are 
 more to her taste, and which she picks here and there 
 in her rambles in the wood. And I, sir, loving her 
 as I do, whatever my inclination may be, shed no 
 blood and eat no flesh." 
 
 I looked at him with an incredulous smile. 
 
 "And your dogs, old man?" 
 
 " My dogs ? Sir, they would not pause or turn 
 aside if a coatimundi crossed their path — an animal 
 with a strong odour. As a man is, so is his dog. 
 Have you not seen dogs eating grass, sir, even in 
 Venezuela, where these sentiments do not prevail? 
 And when there is no meat — when meat is forbidden 
 — these sagacious animals accustom themselves to a 
 vegetable diet." 
 
 I could not very well tell the old man that he was 
 lying to me — that would have been bad policy — and 
 so I passed it off. " I have no doubt that you are 
 right," I said. " I have heard that there are dogs 
 in China that eat no meat, but are themselves eaten 
 by their owners after being fattened on rice. I 
 
118 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 should not care to dine on one of jour animals, old 
 man." 
 
 He looked at them critically and replied, " Cer- 
 tainly they are lean." 
 
 " I was thinking less of their leanness than of their 
 smell," I returned. " Their odour when they ap- 
 proach me is not flowery, but resembles that of other 
 dogs which feed on flesh, and have offended my too 
 sensitive nostrils even in the drawing-rooms of Ca- 
 racas. It is not like the fragrance of cattle when 
 they return from the pasture." 
 
 " Every animal," he replied, " gives out that odour 
 which is peculiar to its kind " ; an incontrovertible 
 fact which left me nothing to say. 
 
 When I had sufficiently recovered the suppleness 
 of my limbs to walk with ease I went for a ramble in 
 the wood, in the hope that Rima would accompany 
 me, and that out among the trees she would cast 
 aside that artificial constraint and shyness which was 
 her manner in the house. 
 
 It fell out just as I had expected; she accompanied 
 me in the sense of being always near me, or within 
 earshot, and her manner was now free and uncon- 
 strained as I could wish ; but little or nothing was 
 gained by the change. She was once more the tan- 
 talising, elusive, mysterious creature I had first 
 known through her wandering, melodious voice. The 
 only difference was that the musical, inarticulate 
 sounds were now less often heard, and that she was 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 119 
 
 no longer afraid to show herself to me. This for 
 a short time was enough to make me happy, since 
 no lovelier being was ever looked upon, nor one whose 
 loveliness was less likely to lose its charm through 
 being often seen. 
 
 But to keep her near me or always in sight was, I 
 found, impossible : she would be free as the wind, free 
 as the butterfly, going and coming at her wayward 
 will, and losing herself from sight a dozen times every 
 hour. To induce her to walk soberly at my side or 
 sit down and enter into conversation with me seemed 
 about as impracticable as to tame the fiery-hearted 
 little humming-bird that flashes into sight, remains 
 suspended motionless for a few seconds before your 
 face, then, quick as lightning, vanishes again. 
 
 At length, feeling convinced that she was most 
 happy when she had me out following her in the 
 wood, that in spite of her bird-like wildness she had 
 a tender, human heart, which was easily moved, I 
 determined to try to draw her closer by means of a 
 little innocent stratagem. Going out in the morn- 
 ing, after calling her several times to no purpose, I 
 began to assume a downcast manner, as if suffering 
 pain or depressed with grief; and at last, finding a 
 convenient exposed root under a tree, on a spot 
 where the ground was dry and strewn with loose yel- 
 low sand, I sat down and refused to go any further. 
 For she always wanted to lead me on and on, and 
 whenever I paused she would return to show herself, 
 
120 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 or to chide or encourage me in her mysterious lan- 
 guage. All her pretty little arts were now practised 
 in vain: with cheek resting on my hand I still sat, 
 my eyes fixed on that patch of yellow sand at my 
 feet, watching how the small particles glinted like 
 diamond dust when the sunlight touched them. A 
 full hour passed in this way, during which I encour- 
 aged myself by saying mentally : " This is a con- 
 test between us, and the most patient and the strong- 
 est of will, which should be the man, must conquer. 
 And if I win on this occasion it will be easier for me 
 in the future — easier to discover those things which 
 I am resolved to know, and the girl must reveal to 
 me, since the old man has proved impracticable." 
 
 Meanwhile she came and went and came again; 
 and at last, finding that I was not to be moved, she 
 approached and stood near me. Her face, when I 
 glanced at it, had a somewhat troubled look — both 
 troubled and curious. 
 
 " Come here, Rima," I said, " and stay with me for 
 a little while — I cannot follow you now." 
 
 She took one or two hesitating steps, then stood 
 still again; and at length, slowly and reluctantly, 
 advanced to within a yard of me. Then I rose from 
 my seat on the root, so as to catch her face better, 
 and placed my hand against the rough bark of the 
 tree. 
 
 " Rima," I said, speaking in a low, caressing tone, 
 " will you stay with me here a little while and talk 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 121 
 
 to me, not in your language, but in mine, so that I 
 may understand? Will you listen when I speak to 
 you, and answer me? " 
 
 Her lips moved, but made no sound. She seemed 
 strangely disquieted, and shook back her loose hair, 
 and with her small toes moved the sparkling sand at 
 her feet, and once or twice her eyes glanced shyly at 
 my face. 
 
 " Rima, you have not answered me," I persisted. 
 " Will you not say ' yes ' ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Where does your grandfather spend his day 
 when he goes out with his dogs ? " 
 
 She shook her head slightly, but would not speak. 
 
 " Have you no mother, Rima? Do you remember 
 your mother? " 
 
 " My mother ! My mother ! " she exclaimed in a 
 low voice, but with a sudden, wonderful animation. 
 Bending a little nearer she continued : " Oh, she is 
 dead ! Her body is in the earth and turned to dust. 
 Like that," and she moved the loose sand with her 
 foot. " Her soul is up there, where the stars and 
 the angels are, grandfather says. But what is that 
 to me? I am here — am I not? I talk to her just 
 the same. Everything I see I point out, and tell 
 her everything. In the daytime — in the woods, when 
 we are together. And at night when I lie down I 
 cross my arms on my breast — so, and say, ' Mother, 
 mother, now you are in my arms ; let us go to sleep 
 
122 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 together.' Sometimes I say, ' Oh, why will you never 
 answer me when I speak and speak? ' Mother — 
 mother — mother ! " 
 
 At the end her voice suddenly rose to a mournful 
 cry, then sunk, and at the last repetition of the word 
 died to a low whisper. 
 
 "Ah, poor Rima! she is dead and cannot speak 
 to you — cannot hear you ! Talk to me, Rima ; I am 
 living and can answer." 
 
 But now the cloud, which had* suddenly lifted from 
 her heart, letting me see for a moment into its 
 mysterious depths — its fancies so childlike and feel- 
 ings so intense — had fallen again ; and my words 
 brought no response, except a return of that troubled 
 look to her face. 
 
 "Silent still?" I said. "Talk to me, then, of 
 your mother, Rima. Do you know that you will 
 see her again some day ? " 
 
 " Yes, when I die. That is what the priest said." 
 
 "The priest?" 
 
 " Yes, at Voa — do you know? Mother died there 
 when I was small — it is so far away ! And there are 
 thirteen houses by the side of the river — just here; 
 and on this side — trees, trees." 
 
 This was important, I thought, and would lead to 
 the very knowledge I wished for; so I pressed her to 
 tell me more about the settlement she had named, 
 and of which I had never heard. 
 
 " Everything have I told you," she returned, sur- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 123 
 
 prised that I did not know that she had exhausted 
 the subject in those half-dozen words she had spoken. 
 
 Obliged to shift my ground, I said at a venture: 
 " Tell me, what do you ask of the Virgin Mother 
 when you kneel before her picture? Your grand- 
 father told me that you had a picture in your little 
 room." 
 
 " You know ! " flashed out her answer, with some- 
 thing like resentment. " It is all there — in there," 
 waving her hand towards the hut. " Out here in the 
 wood it is all gone — like this," and stooping quickly 
 she raised a little yellow sand on her palm, then let 
 it run away through her fingers. 
 
 Thus she illustrated how all the matters she had 
 been taught slipped from her mind when she was 
 out-of-doors, out of sight of the picture. After an 
 interval she added, " Only mother is here — always 
 with me." 
 
 " Ah, poor Rima ! " I said ; " alone without a 
 mother, and only your old grandfather! He is old 
 — what will you do when he dies and flies away to 
 the starry country where your mother is ? " 
 
 She looked inquiringly at me, then made answer 
 in a low voice, " You are here." 
 
 " But when I go away? " 
 
 She was silent ; and not wishing to dwell on a sub- 
 ject that seemed to pain her, I continued: "Yes, 
 I am here now, but you will not stay with me and talk 
 freely ! Will it always be the same if I remain with 
 
124 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 you? Why are you always so silent in the house, so 
 cold with your old grandfather? So different — so 
 full of life, like a bird, when you are alone in the 
 woods? Rima, speak to me! Am I no more to you 
 than your old grandfather? Do you not like me to 
 talk to you? " 
 
 She appeared strangely disturbed at my words. 
 " Oh, you are not like him," she suddenly replied. 
 " Sitting all day on a log by the fire — all day, all 
 day ; Goloso and Susio lying beside him — sleep, sleep. 
 Oh, when I saw you in the wood I followed you, and 
 talked and talked ; still no answer. Why will you 
 not come when I call? To me!" Then, mocking 
 my voice, " Rima, Rima ! Come here ! Do this ! 
 Say that ! Rima ! Rima ! It is nothing, nothing — 
 it is not you," pointing to my mouth; and then, as 
 if fearing that her meaning had not been made clear, 
 suddenly touching my lips with her finger. " Why 
 do you not answer me? — speak to me — speak to me, 
 like this ! " And turning a little more towards me, 
 and glancing at me with eyes that had all at once 
 changed, losing their clouded expression for one of 
 exquisite tenderness, from her lips came a succession 
 of those mysterious sounds which had first attracted 
 me to her, swift and low and bird-like, yet with some- 
 thing so much higher and more soul-penetrating 
 than any bird music. Ah, what feeling and fancies, 
 what quaint turns of expression, unfamiliar to my 
 mind, were contained in those sweet, wasted symbols ! 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 125 
 
 I could never know — never come to her when she 
 called, or respond to her spirit. To me they would 
 always be inarticulate sounds, affecting me like a 
 tender spiritual music — a language without words, 
 suggesting more than words to the soul. 
 
 The mysterious speech died down to a lisping 
 sound, like the faint note of some small bird falling 
 from a cloud of foliage on the topmost bough of a 
 tree; and at the same time that new light passed 
 from her eyes, and she half averted her face in a dis- 
 appointed way. 
 
 " Rima," I said at length, a new thought coming 
 to my aid, " it is true that I am not here," touch- 
 ing my lips as she had done, '* and that my words 
 are nothing. But look into my eyes, and you will 
 see me there — all, all that is in my heart." 
 
 " Oh, I know what I should see there ! " she re- 
 turned quickly. 
 
 " What would you see — tell me? " 
 
 " There is a little black ball in the middle of your 
 eye ; I should see myself in it no bigger than that," 
 and she marked off about an eighth of her little finger- 
 nail. " There is a pool in the wood, and I look 
 down and see myself there. That is better. Just 
 as large as I am — not small and black like a small, 
 small fly." And after saying this a little disdain- 
 fully she moved away from my side and out into the 
 sunshine; and then, half turning towards me, and 
 glancing first at my face and then upwards, she 
 
126 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 raised her hand to call my attention to something 
 there. 
 
 Far up, high as the tops of the tallest trees, a 
 great blue-winged butterfly was passing across the 
 open space with loitering flight. In a few moments 
 it was gone over the trees ; then she turned once more 
 to me with a little rippling sound of laughter — the 
 first I had heard from her, and called, " Come, 
 
 come 
 
 i » 
 
 I was glad enough to go with her then; and for 
 the next two hours we rambled together in the wood ; 
 that is, together in her way, for though always near 
 she contrived to keep out of my sight most of the 
 time. She was evidently now in a gay, frolicsome 
 temper; again and again, when I looked closely into 
 some wide-spreading bush, or peered behind a tree, 
 when her calling voice had sounded, her rippling 
 )aughter would come to me from some other spot. 
 At length, somewhere about the centre of the wood, 
 she led me to an immense mora tree, growing al- 
 most isolated, covering with its shade a large space 
 of ground entirely free from undergrowth. At this 
 spot she all at once vanished from my side ; and after 
 listening and watching some time in vain I sat down 
 beside the giant trunk to wait for her. Very soon 
 I heard a low, warbling sound which seemed quite 
 near. 
 
 " Rima ! Rima ! " I called, and instantly my call 
 was repeated like an echo. Again and again I called, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 127 
 
 and still the words flew back to me, and I could not 
 decide whether it was an echo or not. Then I gave 
 up calling; and presently the low, warbling sound 
 was repeated, and I knew that Rima was somewhere 
 near me. 
 
 " Rima, where are you? " I called. 
 
 " Rima, where are you? " came the answer. 
 
 " You are behind the tree." 
 
 " You are behind the tree." 
 
 " I shall catch you, Rima." And this time, in- 
 stead of repeating my words, she answered, " Oh 
 no." 
 
 I jumped up and ran round the tree, feeling sure 
 that I should find her. It was about thirty-five or 
 forty feet in circumference ; and after going round 
 two or three times I turned and ran the other way, 
 but failing to catch a glimpse of her I at last sat 
 down again. 
 
 " Rima, Rima ! " sounded the mocking voice as 
 soon as I had sat down. " Where are you, Rima? 
 I shall catch you, Rima ! Have you caught Rima ? " 
 
 " No, I have not caught her. There is no Rima 
 now. She has faded away like a rainbow — like a 
 drop of dew in the sun. I have lost her; I shall go 
 to sleep." And stretching myself out at full length 
 under the tree, I remained quiet for two or three 
 minutes. Then a slight rustling sound was heard, 
 and I looked eagerly round for her. But the sound 
 was overhead and caused by a great avalanche of 
 
128 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 leaves which began to descend on to me from that 
 vast leafy canopy above. 
 
 '* Ah, little spider-monkey — little green tree-snake 
 — you are there ! " But there was no seeing her in 
 that immense aerial palace hung with dim drapery 
 of green and copper-coloured leaves. But how had 
 she got there? Up the stupendous trunk even a 
 monkey could not have climbed, and there were no 
 lianas dropping to earth from the wide horizontal 
 branches that I could see; but by-and-by, looking 
 further away, I perceived that on one side the longest 
 lower branches reached and mingled with the shorter 
 boughs of the neighbouring trees. While gazing up 
 I heard her low, rippling laugh, and then caught 
 sight of her as she ran along an exposed horizontal 
 branch, erect on her feet ; and my heart stood still 
 with terror, for she was fifty to sixty feet above the 
 ground. In another moment she vanished from sight 
 in a cloud of foliage, and I saw no more of her for 
 about ten minutes, when all at once she appeared at 
 my side once more, having come round the trunk of 
 the mora. Her face had a bright, pleased expres- 
 sion, and showed no trace of fatigue or agitation. 
 
 I caught her hand in mine. It was a delicate, 
 shapely little hand, soft as velvet, and warm — a real 
 human hand: only now when I held it did she seem 
 altogether like a human being, and not a mocking 
 spirit of the wood, a daughter of the Didi. 
 
 " Do you like me to hold your hand, Rima? " 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 129 
 
 :< Yes," she replied, with indifference. 
 
 "Is it I?" 
 
 " Yes." This time as if it was small satisfaction 
 to make acquaintance with this purely physical part 
 of me. 
 
 Having her so close gave me an opportunity of 
 examining that light sheeny garment she wore al- 
 ways in the woods. It felt soft and satiny to the 
 touch, and there was no seam nor hem in it that I 
 could see, but it was all in one piece, like the cocoon 
 of the caterpillar. While I was feeling it on her 
 shoulder and looking narrowly at it, she glanced at 
 me with a mocking laugh in her eyes. 
 
 " Is it silk? " I asked. Then, as she remained si- 
 lent, I continued, " Where did you get this dress, 
 Rima? Did you make it yourself? Tell me." 
 
 She answered not in words, but in response to my 
 question a new look came into her face; no longer 
 restless and full of change in her expression, she was 
 now as immovable as an alabaster statue ; not a silken 
 hair on her head trembled ; her eyes were wide open, 
 gazing fixedly before her; and when I looked into 
 them they seemed to see and yet not to see me. 
 They were like the clear, brilliant eyes of a bird, 
 which reflect as in a miraculous mirror all the visible 
 world but do not return our look, and seem to see us 
 merely as one of the thousand small details that make 
 up the whole picture. Suddenly she darted out her 
 hand like a flash, making me start at the unexpected 
 
130 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 motion, and quickly withdrawing it, held up a finger 
 before me. From its tip a minute gossamer spider, 
 about twice the bigness of a pin's head, appeared 
 suspended from a fine, scarcely visible line three or 
 four inches long. 
 
 " Look ! " she exclaimed, with a bright glance at 
 my face. 
 
 The small spider she had captured, anxious to be 
 free, was falling, falling earthward, but could not 
 reach the surface. Leaning her shoulder a little 
 forward, she placed the finger-tip against it, but 
 lightly, scarcely touching, and moving continuously, 
 with a motion rapid as that of a fluttering moth's 
 wing; while the spider, still paying out his line, re- 
 mained suspended, rising and falling slightly at 
 nearly the same distance from the ground. After 
 a few moments she cried, " Drop down, little spider." 
 Her finger's motion ceased, and the minute captive 
 fell, to lose itself on the shaded ground. 
 
 " Do you not see ? " she said to me, pointing to her 
 shoulder. Just where the finger-tip had touched the 
 garment a round shining spot appeared, looking like 
 a silver coin on the cloth ; but on touching it with 
 my finger it seemed part of the original fabric, only 
 whiter and more shiny on the grey ground, on ac- 
 count of the freshness of the web of which it had 
 just been made. 
 
 And so all this curious and pretty performance, 
 which seemed instinctive in its spontaneous quick- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 131 
 
 ness and dexterity, was merely intended to show me 
 how she made her garments out of the fine floating 
 lines of small gossamer spiders ! 
 
 Before I could express my surprise and admira- 
 tion she cried again, with startling suddenness, 
 " Look ! " 
 
 A minute shadowy form darted by, appearing like 
 a dim line traced across the deep glossy mora foli- 
 age, then on the lighter green foliage further away. 
 She waved her hand in imitation of its swift, curv- 
 ing flight, then dropping it exclaimed, " Gone — oh, 
 little thing!" 
 
 " What was it ? " I asked, for it might have been 
 a bird, a bird-like moth, or a bee. 
 
 "Did you not see? And you asked me to look 
 into your eyes ! " 
 
 " Ah, little squirrel Sakawinki, you remind me of 
 that ! " I said, passing my arm round her waist and 
 drawing her a little closer. " Look into my eyes now 
 and see if I am blind, and if there is nothing in them 
 except an image of Rima like a small, small fly." 
 
 She shook her head and laughed a little mockingly, 
 but made no effort to escape from my arm. 
 
 " Would you like me always to do what you wish, 
 Rima — to follow you in the woods when you say 
 ' Come ' — to chase you round the tree to catch you, 
 and lie down for you to throw leaves on me, and to be 
 glad when you are glad? " 
 
 " Oh yes." 
 
132 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Then let us make a compact. I shall do every- 
 thing to please you, and you must promise to do 
 everything to please me." 
 
 " Tell me." 
 
 " Little things, Rima — none so hard as chasing you 
 round a tree. Only to have you stand or sit by me 
 and talk will make me happy. And to begin you 
 must call me by my name — Abel." 
 
 " Is that your name ? Oh, not your real name ! 
 Abel, Abel — what is that? It says nothing. I have 
 called you by so many names — twenty, thirty — and 
 no answer." 
 
 "Have you? But, dearest girl, every person has 
 a name — one name he is called by. Your name, for 
 instance, is Rima, is it not? " 
 
 "Rima! only Rima — to you? In the morning, in 
 the evening . . . now in this place and in a little 
 while where know I ? ... in the night when you wake 
 and it is dark, dark, and you see me all the same. 
 Only Rima — oh, how strange ! " 
 
 " What else, sweet girl? Your grandfather Nuflo 
 calls you Rima." 
 
 " Nuflo? " She spoke as if putting a question to 
 herself. " Is that an old man with two dogs that 
 lives somewhere in the wood? " And then, with sud- 
 den petulance, " And you ask me to talk to } t ou 1 " 
 
 " Oh, Rima, what can I say to you ? Listen " 
 
 " No, no," she exclaimed, quickly turning and put- 
 ting her fingers on my mouth to stop my speech, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 133 
 
 while a sudden merry look shone in her eyes. " You 
 shall listen when I speak, and do all I say. And tell 
 me what to do to please you with your eyes — let me 
 look in your eyes that are not blind." 
 
 She turned her face more towards me, and with 
 head a little thrown back and inclined to one side, 
 gazing now full into my eyes as I had wished her to 
 do. After a few moments she glanced away to the 
 distant trees. But I could see into those divine orbs, 
 and knew that she was not looking at any particular 
 object. All the ever-varying expressions — inquisi- 
 tive, petulant, troubled, shy, frolicsome — had now 
 vanished from the still face, and the look was inward 
 and full of a strange, exquisite light, as if some new 
 happiness or hope had touched her spirit. 
 
 Sinking my voice to a whisper I said, " Tell me 
 what you have seen in my eyes, Rima ? " 
 
 She murmured in reply something melodious and 
 inarticulate, then glanced at my face in a question- 
 ing way ; but only for a moment, then her sweet eyes 
 were again veiled under those drooping lashes. 
 
 " Listen, Rima," I said. " Was that a humming- 
 bird we saw a little while ago? You are like that, 
 now dark, a shadow in the shadow, seen for an in- 
 stant, and then — gone, oh, little thing! And now 
 in the sunshine standing still, how beautiful ! — a 
 thousand times more beautiful than the humming- 
 bird. Listen, Rima, you are like all beautiful things 
 in the wood — flower, and bird, and butterfly, and 
 
134 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 green leaf, and frond, and little silky-haired monkey 
 high up in the trees. When I look at you I see 
 them all — all and more, a thousand times, for I see 
 Rima herself. And when I listen to Rima's voice, 
 talking in a language I cannot understand, I hear 
 the wind whispering in the leaves, the gurgling run- 
 ning water, the bee among the flowers, the organ- 
 bird singing far, far away in the shadows of the trees. 
 I hear them all, and more, for I hear Rima. Do you 
 understand me now? Is it I speaking to you — have 
 I answered you — have I come to you ? " 
 
 She glanced at me again, her lips trembling, her 
 eyes now clouded with some secret trouble. " Yes," 
 she replied in a whisper, and then, " No, it is not 
 you," and after a moment, doubtfully, " Is it you? " 
 
 But she did not wait to be answered: in a moment 
 she was gone round the mora ; nor would she return 
 again for all my calling. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THAT afternoon with Rima in the forest under 
 the mora tree had proved so delightful that I 
 was eager for more rambles and talks with her, but 
 the variable little witch had a great surprise in store 
 for me. All her wild natural gaiety had unaccount- 
 ably gone out of her: when I walked in the shade she 
 was there, but no longer as the blithe, fantastic be- 
 ing, bright as an angel, innocent and affectionate as 
 a child, tricksy as a monkey, that had played at 
 hide-and-seek with me. She was now my shy, silent 
 attendant, only occasionally visible, and appearing 
 then like the mysterious maid I had found reclining 
 among the ferns who had melted away mist-like from 
 sight as I gazed. When I called she would not now 
 answer as formerly, but in response would appear 
 in sight as if to assure me that I had not been for- 
 saken; and after a few moments her grey shadowy 
 form would once more vanish among the trees. The 
 hope that as her confidence increased and she grew 
 accustomed to talk with me she would be brought to 
 reveal the story of her life had to be abandoned, 
 at all events for the present. I must, after all, get 
 
 my information from Nuflo, or rest in ignorance. 
 
 135 
 
136 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 The old man was out for the greater part of each 
 day with his dogs, and from these expeditions he 
 brought back nothing that I could see but a few nuts 
 and fruits, some thin bark for his cigarettes, and an 
 occasional handful of haima gum to perfume the hut 
 of an evening. After I had wasted three days in 
 vainly trying to overcome the girl's now inexplicable 
 shyness, I resolved to give for a while my undivided 
 attention to her grandfather to discover, if possible, 
 where he went and how he spent his time. 
 
 My new game of hide-and-seek with Nuflo instead 
 of with Rima began on the following morning. He 
 was cunning: so was I. Going out and concealing 
 myself among the bushes, I began to watch the hut. 
 That I could elude Rima's keener eyes I doubted; 
 but that did not trouble me. She was not in har- 
 mony with the old man, and would do nothing to de- 
 feat my plan. I had not been long in my hiding- 
 place before he came out, followed by his two dogs, 
 and going to some distance from the door he sat 
 down on a log. For some minutes he smoked, then 
 rose, and after looking cautiously round slipped 
 away among the trees. I saw that he was going off 
 in the direction of the low range of rocky hills south 
 of the forest. I knew that the forest did not extend 
 far in. that direction, and thinking that I should be 
 able to catch a sight of him on its borders, I left the 
 bushes and ran through the trees as fast as I could 
 to get ahead of him. Coming to where the wood 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 137 
 
 was very open, I found that a barren plain beyond 
 it, a quarter of a mile wide, separated it from the 
 range of hills ; thinking that the old man might cross 
 this open space I climbed into a tree to watch. 
 After some time he appeared, walking rapidly among 
 the trees, the dogs at his heels, but not going towards 
 the open plain; he had, it seemed, after arriving at 
 the edge of the wood, changed his direction, and was 
 going west, still keeping in the shelter of the trees. 
 When he had been gone about five minutes I dropped 
 to the ground and started in pursuit; once more I 
 caught sight of him through the trees, and I kept 
 him in sight for about twenty minutes longer; then 
 he came to a broad strip of dense wood which ex- 
 tended into and through the range of hills, and here 
 I quickly lost him. Hoping still to overtake him, 1 
 pushed on, but after struggling through the under- 
 wood for some distance, and finding the forest grow- 
 ing more difficult as I progressed, I at last gave him 
 up. Turning eastward I got out of the wood to find 
 myself at the foot of a steep rough hill, one of the 
 range which the wooded valley cut through at right 
 angles. It struck me that it would be a good plan 
 to climb the hill to get a view of the forest belt in 
 which I had lost the old man ; and after walking 
 a short distance I found a spot which allowed of an 
 ascent. The summit of the hill was about three hun- 
 dred feet above the surrounding level, and did not 
 take me long to reach; it commanded a fair view, 
 
138 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 and I now saw that the belt of wood beneath me ex- 
 tended right through the range, and on the south 
 side opened out into an extensive forest. " If that 
 is your destination," thought I, " old fox, jour se- 
 crets are safe from me." 
 
 It was still early in the day, and a slight breeze 
 tempered the air and made it cool and pleasant 
 on the hilltop after my exertions. My scramble 
 through the wood had fatigued me somewhat, and 
 resolving to spend some hours on that spot, I looked 
 round for a comfortable resting-place. I soon found 
 a shady spot on the west side of an upright block 
 of stone where I could recline at ease on a bed of 
 lichen. Here, with shoulders resting against the 
 rock, I sat thinking of Rima, alone in her wood to- 
 day, with just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts 
 which made me hope that she would miss me as much 
 as I missed her; and in the end I fell asleep. 
 
 When I woke it was past noon, and the sun was 
 shining directly on me. Standing up to gaze once 
 more on the prospect, I noticed a small wreath of 
 white smoke issuing from a spot about the middle 
 of the forest belt beneath me, and I instantly di- 
 vined that Nuflo had made a fire at that place, and 
 I resolved to surprise him in his retreat. When I 
 got down to the base of the hill the smoke could no 
 longer be seen, but I had studied the spot well from 
 above, and had singled out a large clump of trees on 
 the edge of the belt as a starting-point ; and after 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 139 
 
 a search of half an hour I succeeded in finding the 
 old man's hiding-place. First I saw smoke again 
 through an opening in the trees, then a small rude 
 hut of sticks and palm-leaves. Approaching cau- 
 tiously, I peered through a crack and discovered 
 old Nuflo engaged in smoking some meat over a fire, 
 and at the same time grilling some bones on the 
 coals. He had captured a coatimundi, an animal 
 somewhat larger than a tame torn cat, with a long 
 snout and long ringed tail : one of the dogs was gnaw- 
 ing at the animal's head, and the tail and the feet 
 were also lying on the floor, among the old bones and 
 rubbish that littered it. Stealing round I suddenly 
 presented myself at the opening to his den, when the 
 dogs rose up with a growl and Nuflo instantly leaped 
 to his feet, knife in hand. 
 
 " Aha, old man," I cried, with a laugh, " I have 
 found you at one of your vegetarian repasts ; and 
 your grass-eating dogs as well ! " 
 
 He was disconcerted and suspicious, but when I 
 explained that I had seen a smoke while on the hills, 
 where I had gone to search for a curious blue flower 
 which grew in such places, and had made my way 
 to it to discover the cause, he recovered confidence 
 and invited me to join him at his dinner of roast 
 meat. 
 
 I was hungry by this time and not sorry to get ani- 
 mal food once more; nevertheless, I ate this meat 
 with some disgust, as it had a rank taste and smell, 
 
140 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 and it was also unpleasant to have those evil-looking 
 dogs savagely gnawing at the animal's head and 
 feet at the same time. 
 
 " You see," said the old hypocrite, wiping the 
 grease from his moustache, " this is what I am com- 
 pelled to do in order to avoid giving offence. My 
 granddaughter is a strange being, sir, as you have 
 perhaps observed " 
 
 " That reminds me," I interrupted, " that I wish 
 you to relate her history to me. She is, as you say, 
 strange, and has speech and faculties unlike ours, 
 which shows that she comes of a different race." 
 
 " No, no, her faculties are not different from ours. 
 They are sharper, that is all. It pleases the All- 
 Powerful to give more to some than to others. Not 
 all the fingers on the hand are alike. You will find 
 a man who will take up a guitar and make it speak, 
 while I " 
 
 " All that I understand," I broke in again. " But 
 her origin, her history — that is what I wish to hear." 
 
 " And that, sir, is precisely what I am about to 
 relate. Poor child, she was left on my hands by her 
 sainted mother — my daughter, sir — who perished 
 young. Now her birthplace, where she was taught 
 letters and the Catechism by the priest, was in an 
 unhealthy situation. It was hot and wet — always 
 wet — a place suited to frogs rather than to human 
 beings. At length, thinking that it would suit the 
 child better — for she was pale and weakly — to live 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 141 
 
 in a drier atmosphere among mountains, I brought 
 her to this district. For this, senor, and for all I 
 have done for her, I look for no reward here, but to 
 that place where my daughter has got her foot ; not, 
 sir, on the threshold, as you might think, but well 
 inside. For, after all, it is to the authorities above, 
 in spite of some blots which we see in their adminis- 
 tration, that we must look for justice. Frankly, 
 sir, this is the whole story of my granddaughter's 
 origin." 
 
 " Ah, yes," I returned, " your story explains why 
 she can call a wild bird to her hand, and touch a 
 venomous serpent with her bare foot and receive no 
 harm." 
 
 " Doubtless you are right," said the old dissem- 
 bler. " Living alone in the wood she had only God's 
 creatures to play and make friends with ; and wild 
 animals, I have heard it said, know those who are 
 friendly towards them." 
 
 " You treat her friends badly," said I, kicking the 
 long tail of the coatimundi away with my foot, and 
 regretting that I had joined in his repast. 
 
 " Senor, you must consider that we are only what 
 Heaven made us. When all this was formed," he con- 
 tinued, opening his arms wide to indicate the entire 
 creation, " the Person who concerned himself with 
 this matter gave seeds and fruitlets and nectar of 
 flowers for the sustentation of His small birds. But 
 we have not their delicate appetites. The more ro- 
 
142 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 bust stomach which he gave to man cries out for 
 meat. Do you understand? But of all this, friend, 
 not one word to Rima ! " 
 
 I laughed scornfully. " Do you think me such a 
 child, old man, as to believe that Rima, that little 
 sprite, does not know that you are an eater of flesh? 
 Rima, who is everywhere in the wood, seeing all 
 things, even if I lift my hand against a serpent, she 
 herself unseen." 
 
 " But, sir, if you will pardon my presumption, you 
 are saying too much. She does not come here, and 
 therefore cannot see that I eat meat. In all that 
 wood where she flourished and sings, where she is in 
 her house and garden, and mistress of the creatures, 
 even of the small butterfly with painted wings, there, 
 sir, I hunt no animal. Nor will my dogs chase any 
 animal there. That is what I meant when I said 
 that if an animal should stumble against their legs, 
 they would lift up their noses and pass on without 
 seeing it. For in that wood there is one law, the law 
 that Rima imposes, and outside of it a different law." 
 
 " I am glad that you have told me this," I re- 
 plied. " The thought that Rima might be near, and, 
 unseen herself, look in upon us feeding with the dogs 
 and, like dogs, on flesh, was one which greatly trou- 
 bled my mind." 
 
 He glanced at me in his usual quick, cunning way. 
 
 " Ah, senor, you have that feeling too — after so 
 short a time with us ! Consider, then, what it must 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 143 
 
 be for me, unable to nourish myself on gums and 
 fruitlets, and that little sweetness made by wasps 
 out of flowers, when I am compelled to go far away 
 and eat secretly to avoid giving offence." 
 
 It was hard, no doubt, but I did not pity him ; se- 
 cretly I could only feel anger against him for re- 
 fusing to enlighten me, while making such a pretence 
 of openness ; and I also felt disgusted with myself 
 for having joined him in his rank repast. But dis- 
 simulation was necessary, and so, after conversing 
 a little more on indifferent topics, and thanking him 
 for his hospitality, I left him alone to go on with 
 his smoky task. 
 
 On my way back to the lodge, fearing that some 
 taint of Nuflo's evil-smelling den and dinner might 
 still cling to me, I turned aside to where a streamlet 
 in the wood widened and formed a deep pool, to take 
 a plunge in the water. After drying myself in the 
 air, and thoroughly ventilating my garments by 
 shaking and beating them, I found an open, shady 
 spot in the wood and threw myself on the grass to 
 wait for evening before returning to the house. By 
 that time the sweet, warm air would have purified me. 
 Besides, I did not consider that I had sufficiently 
 punished Rima for her treatment of me. She would 
 be anxious for my safety, perhaps even looking for 
 me everywhere in the wood. It was uot much to 
 make her suffer one day after she had made me mis- 
 erable for three; and perhaps when she discovered 
 
144 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 that I could exist without her society she would be- 
 gin to treat me less capriciously. 
 
 So ran my thoughts as I rested on the warm 
 ground, gazing up into the foliage, green as young 
 grass in the lower, shady parts, and above luminous 
 with the bright sunlight, and full of the murmuring 
 sounds of insect life. My every action, word, 
 thought, had my feeling for Rima as a motive. 
 Why, I began to ask myself, was Rima so much to 
 me ? It was easy to answer that question : Because 
 nothing so exquisite had ever been created. All the 
 separate and fragmentary beauty and melody and 
 graceful motion found scattered throughout nature 
 were concentrated and harmoniously combined in 
 her. How various, how luminous, how divine she 
 was ! A being for the mind to marvel at, to admire 
 continually, finding some new grace and charm every 
 hour, every moment, to add to the old. And there 
 was, besides, the fascinating mystery surrounding 
 her origin to arouse and keep my interest in her con- 
 tinually active. 
 
 That was the easy answer I returned to the ques- 
 tion I had asked myself. But I knew that there was 
 another answer — a reason more powerful than the 
 first. And I could no longer thrust it back, or hide 
 its shining face with the dull, leaden mask of mere 
 intellectual curiosity. Because I loved her; loved 
 her as I had never loved before, never could love any 
 other being, with a passion which had caught some- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 145 
 
 thing of her own brilliance and intensity, making a 
 former passion look dim and commonplace in com- 
 parison — a feeling known to everyone, something old 
 and worn out, a weariness even to think of. 
 
 From these reflections I was roused by the plaintive 
 three-syllable call of an evening bird — a nightjar 
 common in these woods ; and was surprised to find 
 that the sun had set, and the woods already shadowed 
 with the twilight. I started up and began hurriedly 
 walking homewards, thinking of Rima, and was con- 
 sumed with impatience to see her ; and as I drew near 
 to the house, walking along a narrow path which I 
 knew, I suddenly met her face to face. Doubtless 
 she had heard my approach, and instead of shrink- 
 ing out of the path and allowing me to pass on with- 
 out seeing her, as she would have done on the previ- 
 ous day, she had sprung forward to meet me. I was 
 struck with wonder at the change in her as she came 
 with a swift, easy motion, like a flying bird, her hands 
 outstretched as if to clasp mine, her lips parted in a 
 radiant, welcoming smile, her eyes sparkling with joy. 
 
 I started forward to meet her, but had no sooner 
 touched her hands than her countenance changed, 
 and she shrunk back trembling, as if the touch had 
 chilled her warm blood; and moving some feet away, 
 she stood with downcast eyes, pale and sorrowful as 
 she had seemed yesterday. In vain I implored her to 
 tell me the cause of this change and of the trouble 
 she evidently felt ; her lips trembled as if with speech. 
 
146 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 but she made no reply, and only shrunk further away 
 when I attempted to approach her; and at length, 
 moving aside from the path, she was lost to sight in 
 the dusky leafage. 
 
 I went on alone, and sat outside for some time, un- 
 til old Nuflo returned from his hunting; and only 
 after he had gone in and had made the fire burn up 
 did Rima make her appearance, silent and con- 
 strained as ever. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 k N the following day Rima continued in the same 
 inexplicable humour; and feeling my defeat 
 keenly, I determined once more to try the effect of 
 absence on her, and to remain away on this occasion 
 for a longer period. Like old Nuflo, I was secret in 
 going forth next morning, waiting until the girl was 
 out of the way, then slipping off among the bushes 
 into the deeper wood; and finally quitting its shel- 
 ter I set out across the savannah towards my old 
 quarters. Great was my surprise on arriving at the 
 village to find no person there. At first I imagined 
 that my disappearance in the forest of evil fame had 
 caused them to abandon their home in a panic ; but 
 on looking round I concluded that my friends had 
 only gone on one of their periodical visits to some 
 neighbouring village. For when these Indians visit 
 their neighbours they do it in a very thorough man- 
 ner; they all go, taking with them their entire stock 
 of provisions, their cooking utensils, weapons, ham- 
 mocks, and even their pet animals. Fortunately in 
 this case they had not taken quite everything; my 
 hammock was there, also one small pot, some cassava 
 
 bread, purple potatoes, and a few ears of maize. I 
 
 147 
 
148 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 concluded that these had been left for me in the event 
 of my return ; also that they had not been gone very 
 many hours, since a log of wood buried under the 
 ashes of the hearth was still alight. Now as their 
 absences from home usually last many days, it was 
 plain that I would have the big naked barn-like house 
 to myself for as long as I thought proper to remain, 
 with little food to eat ; but the prospect did not dis- 
 turb me, and I resolved to amuse myself with music. 
 In vain I hunted for my guitar; the Indians had 
 taken it to delight their friends by twanging its 
 strings. At odd moments during the last day or two 
 I had been composing a simple melody in my brain, 
 fitting it to ancient words ; and now, without an in- 
 strument to assist me, I began softly singing to my- 
 self:— 
 
 Muy mas clara que la luna 
 
 Sola una 
 
 en el mundo vos nacistes. 
 
 After music I made up the fire and parched an ear 
 of maize for my dinner, and while laboriously crunch- 
 ing the dry hard grain I thanked Heaven for having 
 bestowed on me such good molars. Finally, I slung 
 my hammock in its old corner, and placing myself in 
 it in my favourite oblique position, my hands clasped 
 behind my head, one knee cocked up, the other leg 
 dangling down, I resigned myself to idle thought. I 
 felt very happy. How strange, thought I, with a 
 little self-flattery, that I, accustomed to the agreeable 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 149 
 
 society of intelligent men and charming women, and 
 of books, should find such perfect contentment here! 
 But I congratulated myself too soon. The profound 
 silence began at length to oppress me. It was not 
 like the forest, where one has wild birds for company, 
 where their cries, albeit inarticulate, have a meaning 
 and give a charm to solitude. Even the sight and 
 whispered sounds of green leaves and rushes trem- 
 bling in the wind have for us something of intelli- 
 gence and sympathy; but I could not commune with 
 mud walls and an earthen pot. Feeling my loneli- 
 ness too acutely, I began to regret that I had left 
 Rima, then to feel remorse at the secrecy I had prac- 
 tised. Even now, while I inclined idly in my ham- 
 mock, she would be roaming the forest in search of 
 me, listening for my footsteps, fearing perhaps that 
 I had met with some accident where there was no per- 
 son to succour me. It was painful to think of her in 
 this way, of the pain I had doubtless given her by 
 stealing off without a word of warning. Springing 
 to the floor, I flung out of the house and went down 
 to the stream. It was better there, for now the 
 greatest heat of the day was over, and the westering 
 sun began to look large, and red, and rayless through 
 the afternoon haze. 
 
 I seated myself on a stone within a yard or two of 
 the limpid water: and now the sight of nature and 
 the warm, vital air and sunshine infected my spirit, 
 and made it possible for me to face the position 
 
150 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 calmly, even hopefully. The position was this: for 
 some days the idea had been present in my mind, 
 and was now fixed there, that this desert was to be 
 my permanent home. The thought of going back 
 to Caracas, that little Paris in America, with its 
 old-world vices, its idle political passions, its empty 
 round of gaieties, was unendurable. I was changed, 
 and this change — so great, so complete — was proof 
 that the old artificial life had not been and could not 
 be the real one, in harmony with my deeper and truer 
 nature. I deceived myself, you will say, as I have 
 often myself said. I had and I had not. It is too 
 long a question to discuss here; but just then I felt 
 that I had quitted the hot, tainted atmosphere of the 
 ballroom, that the morning air of heaven refreshed 
 and elevated me, and was sweet to breathe. Friends 
 and relations I had who were dear to me ; but I could 
 forget them, even as I could forget the splendid 
 dreams which had been mine. And the woman I had 
 loved, and who perhaps loved me in return — I could 
 forget her too. A daughter of civilisation and of 
 that artificial life, she could never experience such 
 feelings as these and return to nature as I was do- 
 ing. For women, though within narrow limits more 
 plastic than men, are yet without that larger adap- 
 tiveness which can take us back to the sources of life, 
 which they have left eternally behind. Better, far 
 better for both of us that she should wait through the 
 long, slow months, growing sick at heart with hope 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 151 
 
 deferred; that, seeing me no more, she should weep 
 my loss, and be healed at last by time, and find 
 love and happiness again in the old way, in the old 
 place. 
 
 And while I thus sat thinking, sadly enough, but 
 not despondingly, of past and present and future, 
 all at once on the warm, still air came the resonant, 
 far-reaching Jcling-Mang of the campanero from some 
 leafy summit half a league away. Kling-klang fell 
 the sound again, and often again, at intervals, af- 
 fecting me strangely at that moment, so bell-like, so 
 like the great wide-travelling sounds associated in 
 our minds with Christian worship. And yet so un- 
 like. A bell, yet not made of gross metal dug out 
 of earth, but of an ethereal, sublimer material that 
 floats impalpable and invisible in space — a vital bell 
 suspended on nothing, giving out sounds in harmony 
 with the vastness of blue heaven, the unsullied purity 
 of nature, the glory of the sun, and conveying a mys- 
 tic, a higher message to the soul than the sounds that 
 surge from tower and belfry. 
 
 O mystic bell-bird of the heavenly race of the swal- 
 low and dove, the quetzal and the nightingale! 
 When the brutish savage and the brutish white man 
 that slay thee, one for food, the other for the benefit 
 of science, shall have passed away, live still, live to tell 
 thy message to the blameless spiritualised race that 
 shall come after us to possess the earth, not for a 
 thousand years, but for ever; for how much shall thy 
 
152 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 voice be our clarified successors when even to my dull, 
 unpurged soul, thou canst speak such high things, 
 and bring it a sense of an impersonal, all-compromis- 
 ing One who is in me and I in him, flesh of his flesh 
 and soul of his soul. 
 
 The sounds ceased, but I was still in that exalted 
 mood, and, like a person in a trance, staring fixedly 
 before me into the open wood of scattered dwarf trees 
 on the other side of the stream, when suddenly on the 
 field of vision appeared a grotesque human figure 
 moving towards me. I started violently, astonished 
 and a little alarmed, but in a very few moments I 
 recognised the ancient Cla-cla, coming home with a 
 large bundle of dry sticks on her shoulders, bent al- 
 most double under the burden, and still ignorant of 
 my presence. Slowly she came down to the stream, 
 then cautiously made her way over the line of step- 
 ping-stones by which it was crossed ; and only when 
 within ten yards did the old creature catch sight of 
 me sitting silent and motionless in her path. With a 
 sharp cry of amazement and terror she straightened 
 herself up, the bundle of sticks dropping to the 
 ground, and turned to run from me. That, at all 
 events, seemed her intention, for her body was thrown 
 forward, and her head and arms working like those 
 of a person going at full speed, but her legs seemed 
 paralysed and her feet remained planted on the same 
 spot. I burst out laughing; whereat she twisted 
 her neck until her wrinkled, brown old face appeared 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 153 
 
 over her shoulder staring at me. This made me 
 laugh again, whereupon she straightened herself up 
 once more and turned round to have a good look at 
 me. 
 
 " Come, Cla-cla," I cried ; " can you not see that I 
 am a living man and no spirit? I thought no one 
 had remained behind to keep me company and give 
 me food. Why are you not with the others ? " 
 
 " Ah, why ! " she returned tragically. And then 
 deliberately turning from me and assuming a most 
 unladylike attitude, she slapped herself vigorously 
 on the small of the back, exclaiming, " Because of my 
 pain here ! " 
 
 As she continued in that position with her back 
 towards me for some time, I laughed once more and 
 begged her to explain. 
 
 Slowly she turned round and advanced cautiously 
 towards me, staring at me all the time. Finally, 
 still eyeing me suspiciously, she related that the oth- 
 ers had all gone on a visit to a distant village, she 
 starting with them : that after going some distance a 
 pain had attacked her in her hind quarters 3 so sud- 
 den and acute that it had instantly brought her to a 
 full stop ; and to illustrate how full the stop was she 
 allowed herself to go down, very unnecessarily, with a 
 flop to the ground. But she no sooner touched the 
 ground than up she started to her feet again, with 
 an alarmed look on her owlish face, as if she had sat 
 down on a stinging-nettle. 
 
154 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " We thought you were dead," she remarked, still 
 thinking that I might be a ghost after all. 
 
 " No, still alive," I said. " And so because you 
 came to the ground with your pain they left you 
 behind! Well, never mind, Cla-cla, we are two now 
 and must try to be happy together." 
 
 By this time she had recovered from her fear and 
 began to feel highly pleased at my return, only 
 lamenting that she had no meat to give me. She 
 was anxious to hear my adventures, and the reason of 
 my long absence. I had no wish to gratify her cu- 
 riosity, with the truth at all events, knowing very 
 well that with regard to the daughter of the Didi 
 her feelings were as purely savage and malignant as 
 those of Kua-ko. But it was necessary to say some- 
 thing, and, fortifying myself with the good old Span- 
 ish notion that lies told to the heathen are not re- 
 corded, I related that a venomous serpent had bitten 
 me ; after which a terrible thunderstorm had sur- 
 prised me in the forest, and night coming on pre- 
 vented my escape from it ; then, next day, remember- 
 ing that he who is bitten by a serpent dies, and not 
 wishing to distress my friends with the sight of my 
 dissolution, I elected to remain, sitting there in the 
 wood, amusing myself by singing songs and smoking 
 cigarettes ; and after several days and nights had 
 gone by, finding that I was not going to die after 
 all, and beginning to feel hungry, I got up and came 
 back. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 155 
 
 Old Cla-cla looked very serious, shaking and nod- 
 ding her head a great deal, muttering to herself; 
 finally, she gave it as her opinion that nothing ever 
 would or could kill me ; but whether my story had 
 been believed or not she only knew. 
 
 I spent an amusing evening with my old savage 
 hostess. She had thrown off her ailments, and 
 pleased at having a companion in her dreary soli- 
 tude, she was good-tempered and talkative, and much 
 more inclined to laugh than when the others were 
 present, when she was on her dignity. 
 
 We sat by the fire, cooking such food as we had, 
 and talked and smoked; then I sang her songs in 
 Spanish with that melody of my own — 
 
 Muy mas clara que la luna; 
 
 and she rewarded me by emitting a barbarous chant 
 in a shrill, screechy voice; and, finally, starting up, 
 I danced for her benefit polka, mazurka, and valse, 
 whistling and singing to my motions. 
 
 More than once during the evening she tried to 
 introduce serious subjects, telling me that I must al- 
 ways live with them, learn to shoot the birds and catch 
 the fishes, and have a wife ; and then she would speak 
 of her granddaughter Oalava, whose virtues it was 
 proper to mention, but whose physical charms needed 
 no description since they had never been concealed. 
 Each time she got on this topic I cut her short, vow- 
 ing that if I ever married she only should be my wife. 
 
156 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 She informed me that she was old and past her fruit- 
 ful period ; that not much longer would she make cas- 
 sava-bread, and blow the fire to a fiame with her 
 wheezy old bellows, and talk the men to sleep at 
 night. But I stuck to it that she was young and 
 beautiful, that our descendants would be more nu- 
 merous than the birds in the forest. I went out to 
 some bushes close by, where I had noticed a passion 
 plant in bloom, and gathering a few splendid scarlet 
 blossoms with their stems and leaves, I brought them 
 in and wove them into a garland for the old dame's 
 head; then I pulled her up, in spite of screams and 
 struggles, and waltzed her wildly to the other end 
 of the room and back again to her seat beside the fire. 
 And as she sat there, panting and grinning with 
 laughter, I knelt before her, and with suitable pas- 
 sionate gestures, declaimed again the old delicate 
 lines sung by Mena before Columbus sailed the 
 seas : — 
 
 Muy mas clara que la luna 
 Sola una 
 
 en el mundo vos nacistes 
 tan gentil, que no vecistes 
 ni tuvistes 
 
 competedora ninguna 
 Desdi niiiez en la cuna 
 cobrastes fama, beldad, 
 con tanta graciosidad, 
 que vos dotd la fortuna. 
 
 Thinking of another all the time ! O poor old Cla- 
 cla, knowing not what the jingle meant nor the secret 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 157 
 
 of my wild happiness, now when I recall you sitting 
 there, your old grey owlish head crowned with scarlet 
 passion flowers, flushed with firelight, against the 
 background of smoke-blackened walls and rafters, 
 how the old undying sorrow comes back to me ! 
 
 Thus our evening was spent, merrily enough; then 
 we made up the fire with hard wood that would last 
 all night, and went to our hammocks, but wakeful 
 still. The old dame, glad and proud to be on duty 
 once more, religiously went to work to talk me to 
 sleep ; but although I called out at intervals to en- 
 courage her to go on, I did not attempt to follow 
 the ancient tales she told, which she had imbibed 
 in childhood from other white-headed grandmothers 
 long, long turned to dust. My own brain was busy 
 thinking, thinking, thinking now of the woman I had 
 once loved, far away in Venezuela, waiting and weep- 
 ing and sick with hope deferred ; now of Rima, wake- 
 ful and listening to the mysterious night-sounds of 
 the forest — listening, listening for my returning 
 footsteps. 
 
 Next morning I began to waver in my resolution 
 to remain absent from Rima for some days: and 
 before evening my passion, which I had now ceased to 
 struggle against, coupled with the thought that I had 
 acted unkindly in leaving her, that she would be a 
 prey to anxiety, overcame me, and I was ready to 
 return. The old woman, who had been suspiciously 
 
158 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 watching my movements, rushed out after me as I 
 left the house, crying out that a storm was brewing, 
 that it was too late to go far, and night would be full 
 of danger. I waved my hand in good-bye, laugh- 
 ingly reminding her that I was proof against all per- 
 ils. Little she cared what evil might befall me, I 
 thought ; but she loved not to be alone ; even for her, 
 low down as she was intellectually, the solitary 
 earthen pot had no " mind stuff " in it, and could 
 not be sent to sleep at night with the legends of long 
 ago. 
 
 By the time I reached the ridge I had discovered 
 that she had prophesied truly, for now an ominous 
 change had come over nature. A dull grey vapour 
 had overspread the entire western half of the heav- 
 ens ; down, beyond the forest, the sky looked black 
 as ink, and behind this blackness the sun had van- 
 ished. It was too late to go back now; I had been 
 too long absent from Rima, and could only hope to 
 reach Nuflo's lodge, wet or dry, before night closed 
 round me in the forest. 
 
 For some moments I stood still on the ridge, struck 
 by the somewhat weird aspect of the shadowed scene 
 before me — the long strip of dull uniform green, 
 with here and there a slender palm lifting its feathery 
 crown above the other trees, standing motionless, in 
 strange relief against the advancing blackness. 
 Then I set out once more at a run, taking advantage 
 of the downward slope to get well on my way before 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 159 
 
 the tempest should burst. As I approached the 
 wood there came a flash of lightning, pale, but cov- 
 ering the whole visible sky, followed after a long 
 interval by a distant roll of thunder, which lasted 
 several seconds, and ended with a succession of deep 
 throbs. It was as if Nature herself, in supreme an- 
 guish and abandonment, had cast herself prone on 
 the earth, and her great heart had throbbed audibly, 
 shaking the world with its beats. No more thunder 
 followed, but the rain was coming down heavily now 
 in huge drops that fell straight through the gloomy, 
 windless air. In half a minute I was drenched to the 
 skin ; but for a short time the rain seemed an advan- 
 tage, as the brightness of the falling water lessened 
 the gloom, turning the air from dark to lighter grey. 
 This subdued rain-light did not last long: I had not 
 been twenty minutes in the wood before a second and 
 greater darkness fell on the earth, accompanied by 
 an even more copious downpour of water. The sun 
 had evidently gone down, and the whole sky was now 
 covered with one thick cloud. Becoming more nerv- 
 ous as the gloom increased, I bent my steps more to 
 the south, so as to keep near the border and more 
 open part of the wood. Probably I had already 
 grown confused before deviating and turned the 
 wrong way, for instead of finding the forest eas- 
 ier, it grew closer and more difficult as I advanced. 
 Before many minutes the darkness so increased that 
 I could no longer distinguish objects more than five 
 
160 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 feet from my eyes. Groping blindly along, I became 
 entangled in a dense undergrowth, and after strug- 
 gling and stumbling along for some distance in vain 
 endeavours to get through it, I came to a stand at 
 last in sheer despair. All sense of direction was now 
 lost : I was entombed in thick blackness — blackness 
 of night and cloud and rain and of dripping foliage 
 and network of branches bound with bush-ropes and 
 creepers in a wild tangle. I had struggled into a 
 hollow, or hole, as it were, in the midst of that mass 
 of vegetation, where I could stand upright and turn 
 round and round without touching anything; but 
 when I put out my hands they came into contact 
 with vines and bushes. To move from that spot 
 seemed folly ; yet how dreadful to remain there stand- 
 ing on the sodden earth, chilled with rain, in that 
 awful blackness in which the only luminous thing one 
 could look to see would be the eyes, shining with their 
 own internal light, of some savage beast of prey. 
 Yet the danger, the intense physical discomfort, and 
 the anguish of looking forward to a whole night spent 
 in that situation, stung my heart less than the 
 thought of Rima's anxiety and of the pain I had 
 carelessly given by secretly leaving her. 
 
 It was then, with that pang in my heart, that I 
 was startled by hearing, close by, one of her own low, 
 warbled expressions. There could be no mistake ; 
 if the forest had been full of the sounds of animal life 
 and songs of melodious birds, her voice would have 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 161 
 
 been instantly distinguished from all others. How 
 mysterious, how infinitely tender it sounded in that 
 awful blackness ! — so musical and exquisitely modu- 
 lated, so sorrowful, yet piercing my heart with a sud- 
 den, unutterable joy. 
 
 " Rima ! Rima ! " I cried. " Speak again. Is it 
 you? Come to me here." 
 
 Again that low, warbling sound, or series of 
 sounds, seemingly from a distance of a few yards. I 
 was not disturbed at her not replying in Spanish : she 
 had always spoken it somewhat reluctantly, and 
 only when at my side; but when calling to me from 
 some distance she would return instinctively to her 
 own mysterious language, and call to me as bird calls 
 to bird. I knew that she was inviting me to follow 
 her, but I refused to move. 
 
 " Rima," I cried again, " come to me here, for I 
 know not where to step, and cannot move until you 
 are at my side, and I can feel your hand." 
 
 There came no response, and after some moments, 
 becoming alarmed, I called to her again. 
 
 Then close by me, in a low, trembling voice, she 
 returned, " I am here." 
 
 I put out my hand and touched something soft and 
 wet; it was her breast, and moving my hand higher 
 up, I felt her hair, hanging now and streaming with 
 water. She was trembling, and I thought the rain 
 had chilled her. 
 
 " Rima — poor child ! How wet you are ! How 
 
162 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 strange to meet you in such a place ! Tell me, dear 
 Rima, how did you find me? " 
 
 " I was waiting — watching — all day. I saw you 
 coming across the savannah, and followed at a dis- 
 tance through the wood." 
 
 " And I had treated you so unkindly ! Ah, my 
 guardian angel, my light in the darkness, how I hate 
 myself for giving you pain ! Tell me, sweet, did you 
 wish me to come back and live with you again? " 
 
 She made no reply. Then, running my fingers 
 down her arm, I took her hand in mine. It was hot, 
 like the hand of one in a fever. I raised it to my 
 lips, and then attempted to draw her to me, but she 
 slipped down and out of my arms to my feet. I felt 
 her there, on her knees, with head bowed low. 
 Stooping and putting my arm round her body, I 
 drew her up and held her against my breast, and felt 
 her heart throbbing wildly. With many endearing 
 words I begged her to speak to me; but her only 
 reply was, " Come — come," as she slipped again out 
 of my arms, and holding my hand in hers, guided 
 me through the bushes. 
 
 Before long we came to an open path or glade, 
 where the darkness was not profound; and releas- 
 ing my hand she began walking rapidly before me, 
 always keeping at such a distance as just enabled 
 me to distinguish her grey, shadowy figure, and with 
 frequent doublings to follow the natural paths and 
 openings which she knew so well. In this way we 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 163 
 
 kept on nearly to the end, without exchanging a 
 word, and hearing no sound except the continuous 
 rush of rain, which to our accustomed ears had 
 ceased to have the effect of sound, and the various 
 gurgling noises of innumerable runnels. All at once, 
 as we came to a more open place, a strip of bright 
 firelight appeared before us, shining from the half- 
 open door of Nuflo's lodge She turned round as 
 much as to say, " Now you know where you are," 
 then hurried on, leaving me to follow as best I could. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THERE was a welcome change in the weather 
 when I rose early next morning; the sky was 
 without cloud, and had that purity in its colour and 
 look of infinite distance seen only when the atmos- 
 phere is free from vapour. The sun had not yet 
 risen, but old Nuflo was already among the ashes, on 
 his hands and knees, blowing the embers he had un- 
 covered to a flame. Then Rima appeared only to 
 pass through the room with quick light tread to go 
 out of the door without a word or even a glance at 
 my face. The old man, aiter watching at the door 
 for a few minutes, turned and began eagerly ques- 
 tioning me about my adventures on the previous 
 evening. In reply I related to him how the girl had 
 found me in the forest lost and unable to extricate 
 myself from the tangled undergrowth. 
 
 He rubbed his hands on his knees and chuckled. 
 " Happy for you, senor," he said, " that my grand- 
 daughter regards you with such friendly eyes, other- 
 wise you might have perished before morning. Once 
 she was at your side, no light, whether of sun or 
 moon or lantern, was needed, nor that small instru- 
 ment which is said to guide a man aright in the des- 
 
 164 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 165 
 
 ert, even in the darkest night — let him that can be- 
 lieve such a thing ! " 
 
 " Yes, happy for me," I returned. " I am filled 
 with remorse that it was all through my fault that 
 the poor child was exposed to such weather." 
 
 " O senor," he cried airily, ** let not that distress 
 you! Rain and wind and hot suns, from which we 
 seek shelter, do not harm her. She takes no cold, 
 and no fever, with or without ague." 
 
 After some further conversation I left him to steal 
 away unobserved on his own account, and set out for 
 a ramble in the hope of encountering Rima and win- 
 ning her to talk to me. 
 
 My quest did not succeed: not a glimpse of her 
 delicate shadowy form did I catch among the trees ; 
 and not one note from her melodious lips came to 
 gladden me. At noon I returned to the house, where 
 I found food placed ready for me, and knew that she 
 had come there during my absence and had not been 
 forgetful of my wants. " Shall I thank you for 
 this? " I said. " I ask you for heavenly nectar for 
 the sustentation of the higher winged nature in me, 
 and you give me a boiled sweet potato, toasted strips 
 of sun-dried pumpkins, and a handful of parched 
 maize ! Rima ! Rima ! my woodland fairy, my sweet 
 saviour, why do you yet fear me? Is it that love 
 struggles in you with repugnance? Can you discern 
 with clear spiritual eyes the grosser elements in me, 
 and hate them ; or has some false imagination made 
 
166 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 me appear all dark and evil, but too late for your 
 peace, after the sweet sickness of love has infected 
 
 you 
 
 But she was not there to answer me, and so after a 
 time I went forth again and seated myself listlessly 
 on the root of an old tree not far from the house. 
 I had sat there a full hour, when all at once Rima 
 appeared at my side. Bending forward she touched 
 my hand, but without glancing at my face ; " Come 
 with me," she said, and turning, moved swiftly to- 
 wards the northern extremity of the forest. She 
 seemed to take it for granted that I would follow, 
 never casting a look behind, nor pausing in her rapid 
 walk; but I was only too glad to obey, and starting 
 up, was quickly after her. She led me by easy wa} T s, 
 familiar to her, with many doublings to escape the 
 undergrowth, never speaking or pausing until we 
 came out from the thick forest, and I found myself 
 for the first time at the foot of the great hill or 
 mountain Ytaioa. Glancing back for a few mo- 
 ments, she waved a hand towards the summit, and 
 then at once began the ascent. Here too it seemed 
 all familiar ground to her. From below the sides 
 had presented an exceedingly rugged appearance — a 
 wild confusion of huge jagged rocks, mixed with a 
 tangled vegetation of trees, bushes, and vines ; but 
 following her in all her doublings it became easy 
 enough, although it fatigued me greatly owing to our 
 rapid pace. The hill was conical, but I found that 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 167 
 
 it had a flat top ; an oblong or pear-shaped area, 
 almost level, of a soft, crumbly sandstone, with a 
 few blocks and boulders of a harder stone scattered 
 about; and no vegetation, except the grey mountain 
 lichen and a few sere-looking dwarf shrubs. 
 
 Here Rima, at a distance of a few yards from me, 
 remained standing still for some minutes, as if to give 
 me time to recover my breath ; and I was right glad 
 to sit down on a stone to rest. Finally she walked 
 slowly to the centre of the level area, which was about 
 two acres in extent ; rising I followed her, and climb- 
 ing on to a huge block of stone, began gazing at the 
 wide prospect spread out before me. The day was 
 windless and bright, with only a few white clouds 
 floating at a great height above and casting travel- 
 ling shadows over that wild, broken country, where 
 forest, marsh, and savannah were only distinguish- 
 able by their different colours, like the greys and 
 greens and yellows on a map. At a great distance 
 the circle of the horizon was broken here and there 
 by mountains, but the hills in our neighbourhood 
 were all beneath our feet. 
 
 After gazing all round for some minutes, I jumped 
 down from my stand, and leaning against the stone, 
 stood watching the girl, waiting for her to speak. 
 I felt convinced that she had something of the very 
 highest importance (to herself) to communicate, and 
 that only the pressing need of a confidant, not Nuflo, 
 had overcome her shyness of me ; and I determined 
 
168 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 to let her take her own time to say it in her own way. 
 For a while she continued silent, her face averted, 
 but her little movements and the way she clasped 
 and unclasped her fingers showed that she was anx- 
 ious and her mind working. Suddenly, half turn- 
 ing to me, she began speaking eagerly and rapidly. 
 
 " Do you see," she said, waving her hand to indi- 
 cate the whole circuit of earth, "how large it is? 
 Look ! " pointing now to mountains in the west. 
 " Those are the Vahanas — one, two, three — the high- 
 est — I can tell you their names — Vahana-Chara, 
 Chumi, Aranoa. Do you see that water? It is a 
 river, called Guaypero. From the hills it comes 
 down, Inaruna is their name, and you can see them 
 there in the south — far, far." And in this way she 
 went on pointing out and naming all the mountains 
 and rivers within sight. Then she suddenly dropped 
 her hands to her sides, and continued, " That is all. 
 Because we can see no further. But the world is 
 larger than that! Other mountains, other rivers. 
 Have I not told you of Voa, on the River Voa, where 
 I was born, where mother died, where the priest 
 taught me, years, years ago? All that you cannot 
 see, it is so far away — so far." 
 
 I did not laugh at her simplicity, nor did I smile 
 or feel any inclination to smile. On the contrary, I 
 only experienced a sympathy so keen that it was like 
 pain, while watching her clouded face, so changeful 
 in its expression, yet in all changes so wistful. I 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 169 
 
 could not yet form any idea as to what she wished 
 to communicate or to discover, but seeing that she 
 paused for a reply I answered, " The world is so 
 large, Rima, that we can only see a very small por- 
 tion of it from any one spot. Look at this," and 
 with a stick I had used to aid me in my ascent I 
 traced a circle six or seven inches in circumference 
 on the soft stone and in its centre placed a small 
 pebble. " This represents the mountain we are 
 standing on," I continued, touching the pebble ; 
 " and this line encircling it encloses all of the earth 
 we can see from the mountain-top. Do you under- 
 stand? — the line I have traced is the blue line of the 
 horizon beyond which we cannot see. And outside 
 of this little circle is all the flat top of Ytaioa repre- 
 senting the world. Consider, then, how small a por- 
 tion of the world we can see from this spot ! " 
 
 " And do you know it all? " she returned excitedly. 
 "All the world?" waving her hand to indicate the 
 little stone plain. " All the mountains, and rivers, 
 and forests — all the people in the world? " 
 
 " That would be impossible, Rima ; consider how 
 large it is." 
 
 " That does not matter. Come, let us go together 
 — we two and grandfather, and see all the world ; all 
 the mountains and forests, and know all the people." 
 
 " You do not know what you are saying, Rima. 
 You might as well say, £ Come, let us go to the sun 
 and find out everything in it.' " 
 
170 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " It is you who do not know what you are say- 
 ing," she retorted, with brightening eyes which for a 
 moment glanced full into mine. " We have no wings 
 like birds to fly to the sun. Am I not able to walk 
 on the earth, and run? Can I not swim? Can I not 
 climb every mountain? " 
 
 " No, you cannot. You imagine that all the earth 
 is like this little portion you see. But it is not all 
 the same. There are great rivers which you cannot 
 cross by swimming; mountains you cannot climb; 
 forests you cannot penetrate — dark, and inhabited 
 by dangerous beasts, and so vast that all this space 
 your eyes look on is a mere speck of earth in com- 
 parison." 
 
 She listened excitedly. " Oh, do you know all 
 that? " she cried, with a strangely brightening look; 
 and then half turning from me, she added, with sud-- 
 den petulance, " Yet only a minute ago you knew 
 nothing of the world— because it is so large ! Is 
 anything to be gained by speaking to one who says 
 such contrary things ? " 
 
 I explained that I had not contradicted myself, 
 that she had not rightly interpreted my words. I 
 knew, I said, something about the principal features 
 of the different countries of the world, as, for in- 
 stance, the largest mountain ranges, and rivers, and 
 the cities. Also something, but very little, about 
 the tribes of savage men. She heard me with impa- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 171 
 
 tience, which made me speak rapidly, in very general 
 terms ; and to simplify the matter I made the world 
 stand for the continent we were in. It seemed idle 
 to go beyond that, and her eagerness would not have 
 allowed it. 
 
 " Tell me all you know," she said the moment I 
 ceased speaking. " What is there — and there — and 
 there?" pointing in various directions. "Rivers 
 and forests — they are nothing to me. The villages, 
 the tribes, the people everywhere ; tell me, for I must 
 know it all." 
 
 " It would take long to tell, Rima." 
 
 " Because you are so slow. Look how high the 
 sun is ! Speak, speak ! What is there ? " pointing 
 to the north. 
 
 " All that country," I said, waving my hands from 
 east to west, " Is Guayana ; and so large is it that 
 you could go in this direction, or in this, travelling 
 for months, without seeing the end of Guayana. 
 Still it would be Guayana ; rivers, rivers, rivers, with 
 forests between, and other forests and rivers beyond. 
 And savage people, nations and tribes — Guahibo, 
 Aguaricoto, Ayano, Maco, Piaroa, Quiriquiripo, 
 Tuparito — shall I name a hundred more? It would 
 be useless, Rima ; they are all savages, and live 
 widely scattered in the forests, hunting with bow 
 and arrow and the zabatana. Consider, then s how 
 large Guayana is ! " 
 
172 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Guayana — Guayana ! Do I not know all this is 
 Guayana? But beyond, and beyond, and beyond? 
 Is there no end to Guayana? " 
 
 " Yes ; there northwards it ends at the Orinoco, a 
 mighty river, coming from mighty mountains, com- 
 pared with which Ytaioa is like a stone on the ground 
 on which we have sat down to rest. You must know 
 that Guayana is only a portion, a half, of our coun- 
 try, Venezuela. Look," I continued, putting my 
 hand round my shoulder to touch the middle of my 
 back, " there is a groove running down my spine 
 dividing my body into equal parts. Thus does the 
 great Orinoco divide Venezuela, and on one side of 
 it is all Guayana ; and on the other side the countries 
 or provinces of Cumana, Maturin, Barcelona, Boli- 
 var, Guarico, Apure, and many others." I then 
 gave a rapid description of the northern half of 
 the country, with its vast llanos covered with herds 
 in one part, its plantations of coffee, rice, and sugar- 
 cane in another, and its chief towns ; last of all 
 Caracas, the gay and opulent little Paris in America. 
 
 This seemed to weary her; but the moment I 
 ceased speaking, and before I could well moisten my 
 dry lips, she demanded to know what came after 
 Caracas — after all Venezuela. 
 
 " The ocean — water, water, water," I replied. 
 
 " There are no people there — in the water ; only 
 fishes," she remarked; then suddenly continued, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 173 
 
 " Why are you silent — is Venezuela, then, all the 
 world? " 
 
 The task I had set myself to perform seemed only 
 at its commencement yet. Thinking how to pro- 
 ceed with it my eyes roved over the level area we 
 were standing on, and it struck me that this little 
 irregular plain, broad at one end, and almost pointed 
 at the other, roughly resembled the South American 
 continent in its form. 
 
 " Look, Rima," I began, " here we are on this 
 small pebble — Ytaioa; and this line round it shuts 
 us in — we cannot see beyond. Now let us imagine 
 that we can see beyond — that we can see the whole 
 flat mountain-top ; and that, you know, is the whole 
 world. Now listen while I tell you of all the coun- 
 tries, and principal mountains, and rivers, and cities 
 of the world." 
 
 The plan I had now fixed on involved a great deal 
 of walking about and some hard work in moving 
 and setting up stones and tracing boundary and 
 other lines ; but it gave me pleasure, for Rima was 
 close by all the time, following me from place to 
 place, listening to all I said in silence but with keen 
 interest. At the broad end of the level summit I 
 marked out Venezuela, showing by means of a long 
 line how the Orinoco divided it, and also marking 
 several of the greater streams flowing into it. I also 
 marked the sites of Caracas and other large towns 
 
174 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 with stones; and rejoiced that we are not like the 
 Europeans, great city builders, for the stones proved 
 heavy to lift. Then followed Colombia and Ecuador 
 on the west ; and, successively, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, 
 ending at last in the south with Patagonia, a cold 
 arid land, bleak and desolate. I marked the lit- 
 toral cities as we progressed on that side, where 
 earth ends and the Pacific Ocean begins, and infini- 
 tude. 
 
 Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration, I described 
 the Cordilleras to her — that world-long, stupendous 
 chain ; its sea of Titicaca, and wintry, desolate 
 Paramo, where lie the ruins of Tiahuanaco, older 
 than Thebes. I mentioned its principal cities — 
 those small inflamed or festering pimples that at- 
 tract much attention from appearing on such a body. 
 Quito, called — not in irony, but by its own people — 
 the Splendid and the Magnificent; so high above the 
 earth as to appear but a little way removed from 
 heaven — " de Quito al cielo," as the saying is. But 
 of its sublime history, its kings and conquerors, Hay- 
 mar Capac the Mighty, and Huascar, and Ata- 
 hualpa the Unhappy, not one word. Many words 
 — how inadequate ! — of t;he summits, white with 
 everlasting snows, above it — above this navel of the 
 world, above the earth, the ocean, the darkening 
 tempest, the condor's flight. Flame-breathing Co- 
 topaxi, whose wrathful mutterings are audible two 
 hundred leagues away, and Chimborazo, Antisana, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 175 
 
 Sarata, Illimani, Aconcagua — names of mountains 
 that affect us like the names of gods, implacable 
 Pachacamac and Viracocha, whose everlasting gran- 
 ite thrones they are. At the last I showed her 
 Cuzco, the city of the sun, and the highest dwelling- 
 place of men on earth. 
 
 I was carried away by so sublime a theme; and 
 remembering that I had no critical hearer, I gave 
 free reins to fancy, forgetting for the moment that 
 some undiscovered thought or feeling had prompted 
 her questions. And while I spoke of the mountains 
 she hung on my words, following me closely in my 
 walk, her countenance brilliant, her frame quivering 
 with excitement. 
 
 There yet remained to be described all that un- 
 imaginable space east of the Andes ; the rivers — 
 what rivers ! — the green plains that are like the sea 
 — the illimitable waste of water where there is no 
 land — and the forest region. The very thought of 
 the Amazonian forest made my spirit droop. If I 
 could have snatched her up and placed her on the 
 dome of Chimborazo she would have looked on an 
 area of ten thousand square miles of earth, so vast 
 is the horizon at that elevation. And possibly her 
 imagination would have been able to clothe it all 
 with an unbroken forest. Yet how small a portion 
 this would be of the stupendous whole — of a forest 
 region equal in extent to the whole of Europe! All 
 loveliness, all grace, all majesty are there; but we 
 
176 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 cannot see, cannot conceive — come away ! From 
 this vast stage, to be occupied in the distant future 
 by millions and myriads of beings, like us of upright 
 form, the nations that will be born when all the 
 existing dominant races on the globe and the civilisa- 
 tions they represent have perished as utterly as those 
 who sculptured the stones of old Tiahuanaco — from 
 this theatre of palms prepared for a drama unlike 
 any which the Immortals have yet witnessed — I hur- 
 ried away; and then slowly conducted her along the 
 Atlantic coast, listening to the thunder of its great 
 waves, and pausing at intervals to survey some mari- 
 time city. 
 
 Never probably since old Father Noah divided 
 the earth among his sons had so grand a geographi- 
 cal discourse been delivered; and having finished, J 
 sat down, exhausted with my efforts, and mopped 
 my brow, but glad that my huge task was over, and 
 satisfied that I had convinced her of the futility of 
 her wish to see the world for herself. 
 
 Her excitement had passed away by now. She 
 was standing a little apart from me, her eyes cast 
 down and thoughtful. At length she approached 
 me and said, waving her hand all round, " What is 
 beyond the mountains over there, beyond the cities 
 on that side — beyond the world? " 
 
 " Water, only water. Did I not tell you ? " I 
 returned stoutly ; for I had, of course, sunk the 
 Isthmus of Panama beneath the sea. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 177 
 
 "Water! All round?" she persisted. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Water, and no beyond? Only water — always 
 water? " 
 
 I could no longer adhere to so gross a lie. She 
 was too intelligent, and I loved her too much. 
 Standing up, I pointed to distant mountains and 
 isolated peaks. 
 
 " Look at those peaks," I said. " It is like that 
 with the world — this world we are standing on. 
 Beyond that great water that flows all round the 
 world, but far away, so far that it would take 
 months in a big boat to reach them, there are islands, 
 some small, others as large as this world. But., 
 Rima, they are so far away, so impossible to reach, 
 that it is useless to speak or to think of them. They 
 are to us like the sun and moon and stars, to which 
 we cannot fly. And now sit down and rest by mj 
 side, for you know everything." 
 
 She glanced at me with troubled eyes. 
 
 " Nothing do I know — nothing have you told me. 
 Did I not say that mountains and rivers and forests 
 are nothing? Tell me about all the people in the 
 world. Look ! there is Cuzco over there, a city like 
 no other in the world — did you not tell me so? Of 
 the people nothing. Are they also different from all 
 others in the world ? " 
 
 " I will tell you that if you will first answer me 
 one Question, Rima." 
 
178 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 She drew a little nearer, curious to hear, but was 
 silent. 
 
 " Promise that you will answer me," I persisted, 
 and as she continued silent I added, " Shall I not 
 ask you, then? " 
 
 " Say," she murmured. 
 
 " Why do you wish to know about the people of 
 Cuzco?" 
 
 She flashed a look at me, then averted her face. 
 For some moments she stood hesitating, then coming 
 closer, touched me on the shoulder, and said softly, 
 " Turn away, do not look at me." 
 
 I obeyed, and bending so close that I felt her warm 
 breath on my neck, she whispered, " Are the people 
 in Cuzco like me? Would they understand me — the 
 things you cannot understand? Do you know?" 
 
 Her tremulous voice betrayed her agitation, and 
 her words, I imagined, revealed the motive of her ac- 
 tion in bringing me to the summit of Ytaioa, and of 
 her desire to visit and know all the various peoples in- 
 habiting the world. She had begun to realise, after 
 knowing me, her isolation and unlikeness to others, 
 and at the same time to dream that all human beings 
 might not be unlike her and unable to understand 
 her mysterious speech and to enter into her thoughts 
 and feelings. 
 
 " I can answer that question, Rima," I said. 
 " Ah, no, poor child, there are none there like you — 
 not one, not one. Of all there — priests, soldiers, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 179 
 
 merchants, workmen, white, black, red, and mixed ; 
 men and women, old and young, rich and poor, ugly 
 and beautiful — not one would understand the sweet 
 language you speak." 
 
 She said nothing, and glancing round, I discovered 
 that she was walking away, her fingers clasped be- 
 fore her, her eyes cast down, and looking profoundly 
 dejected. Jumping up, I hurried after her. " Lis- 
 ten 1 " I said, coming to her side. " Do you know 
 that there are others in the world like you who would 
 understand your speech? " 
 
 " Oh, do I not ! Yes — mother told me. I was 
 young when you died, but, O mother, why did you 
 not tell me more? " 
 
 "But where?" 
 
 " Oh, do you not think that I would go to them if 
 I knew — that I would ask? " 
 
 " Does Nuflo know? " 
 
 She shook her head, walking dejectedly along. 
 
 " But have you asked him ? " I persisted. 
 
 " Have I not ! Not once — not a hundred times." 
 
 Suddenly she paused. " Look," she said, " now 
 we are standing in Guayana again. And over there 
 in Brazil, and up there towards the Cordilleras it is 
 unknown. And there are people there. Come, let 
 us go and seek for my mother's people in that place. 
 With grandfather, but not the dogs ; they would 
 frighten the animals and betray us by barking to 
 cruel men who would slay us with poisoned arrows." 
 
180 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " O Rima, can you not understand? It is too 
 far. And your grandfather, poor old man, would 
 die of weariness and hunger and old age in some 
 strange forest." 
 
 "Would he die — old grandfather? Then we 
 could cover him up with palm leaves in the forest 
 and leave him. It would not be grandfather; only 
 his body that must turn to dust. He would be 
 away — away where the stars are. We should not 
 die, but go on, and on, and on." 
 
 To continue the discussion seemed hopeless. I 
 was silent, thinking of what I had heard — that there 
 were others like her somewhere in that vast green 
 world, so much of it imperfectly known, so many 
 districts never yet explored by white men. True, it 
 was strange that no report of such a race had 
 reached the ears of any traveller ; yet here was Rima 
 herself at my side, a living proof that such a race 
 did exist. Nuflo probably knew more than he would 
 say ; I had failed, as we have seen, to win the secret 
 from him by fair means, and could not have recourse 
 to foul — the rack and thumbscrew — to wring it from 
 him. To the Indians she was only an object of su- 
 perstitious fear — a daughter of the Didi — and to 
 them nothing of her origin was known. And she, 
 poor girl, had only a vague remembrance of a few 
 words heard in childhood from her mother, and 
 probably not rightly understood. 
 
 While these thoughts had been passing through 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 181 
 
 my mind Rima had been standing silent by, waiting, 
 perhaps, for an answer to her last words. Then 
 stooping, she picked up a small pebble and tossed 
 it three or four yards away. 
 
 " Do you see where it fell ? " she cried, turning 
 towards me. " That is on the border of Guayana — 
 is it not? Let us go there first. " 
 
 " Rima, how you distress me ! We cannot go 
 there. It is all a savage wilderness, almost unknown 
 to men — a blank on the map " 
 
 " The map ? — speak no word that I do not under- 
 stand." 
 
 In a very few words I explained my meaning ; even 
 fewer would have sufficed, so quick was her appre- 
 hension. 
 
 " If it is a blank," she returned quickly, " then you 
 know of nothing to stop us — no river we cannot 
 swim, and no great mountains like those where Quito 
 is." 
 
 " But I happen to know, Rima, for it has been re- 
 lated to me by old Indians, that of all places that is 
 the most difficult of access. There is a river there, 
 and although it is not on the map, it would prove 
 more impassable to us than the mighty Orinoco and 
 Amazon. It has vast malarious swamps on its bor- 
 ders, overgrown with dense forest, teeming with 
 savage and venomous animals, so that even the In- 
 dians dare not venture near it. And even before the 
 river is reached there is a range of precipitous moun- 
 
182 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tains called by the same name — just there where 
 your pebble fell — the mountains of Riolama " 
 
 Hardly had the name fallen from my lips before a 
 change swift as lightning came over her counten- 
 ance; all doubt, anxiety, petulance, hope, and des- 
 pondence, and these in ever-varying degrees, chasing 
 each other like shadows, had vanished, and she was 
 instinct and burning with some new powerful emotion 
 which had flashed into her soul. 
 
 " Riolama ! Riolama ! " she repeated so rapidly 
 and in a tone so sharp that it tingled in the brain. 
 " That is the place I am seeking ! There was my 
 mother found — there are her people and mine ! 
 Therefore was I called Riolama — that is my name ! " 
 
 *' Rima ! " I returned, astonished at her words. 
 
 " No, no, no — Riolama. When I was a child, and 
 the priest baptised me, he named me Riolama — the 
 place where my mother was found. But it was long 
 to say, and they called me Rima." 
 
 Suddenly she became still, and then cried in a ring- 
 ing voice — 
 
 " And he knew it all along — that old man — he 
 knew that Riolama was near — only there where the 
 pebble fell — that we could go there ! " 
 
 While speaking she turned towards her home, 
 pointing with raised hand. Her whole appearance 
 now reminded me of that first meeting with her when 
 the serpent bit me ; the soft red of her irides shone 
 like fire, her delicate skin seemed to glow with an 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 183 
 
 intense rose-colour, and her frame trembled with her 
 agitation, so that her loose cloud of hair was in 
 motion as if blown through by the wind. 
 
 " Traitor ! Traitor ! " she cried, still looking 
 homewards and using quick, passionate gestures. 
 " It was all known to you, and you deceived me all 
 these years; even to me, Rima, you lied with your 
 lips! Oh, horrible! Was there ever such a scandal 
 known in Guayana? Come, follow me, let us go at 
 once to Riolama." And without so much as casting 
 a glance behind to see whether I followed or no, she 
 hurried away, and in a couple of minutes disappeared 
 from sight over the edge of the flat summit. 
 
 " Rima ! Rima ! Come back and listen to me ! 
 Oh, you are mad ! Come back ! Come back ! " 
 
 But she would not return or pause and listen ; 
 and looking after her I saw her bounding down 
 the rocky slope like some wild, agile creature pos- 
 sessed of padded hoofs and an infallible instinct ; 
 and before many minutes she vanished from sight 
 among crags and trees lower down. 
 
 " Nuflo, old man," said I, looking out towards his 
 lodge, "are there no shooting pains in those old 
 bones of yours to warn you in time of the tempest 
 about to burst on your head? " 
 
 Then I sat down to think. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 TO follow impetuous, bird-like Rima in her 
 descent of the hill would have been impossible, 
 nor had I any desire to be a witness of old Nuflo's 
 discomfiture at the finish. It was better to leave 
 them to settle their quarrel themselves, while I occu- 
 pied myself in turning over these fresh facts in my 
 mind to find out how they fitted into the speculative 
 structure I had been building during the last two or 
 three weeks. But it soon struck me that it was 
 getting late, that the sun would be gone in a couple 
 of hours ; and at once I began the descent. It was 
 not accomplished without some bruises and a good 
 many scratches. After a cold draught, obtained 
 by putting my lips to a black rock from which the 
 water was trickling, I set out on my walk home, 
 keeping near the western border of the forest for 
 fear of losing myself. I had covered about half the 
 distance from the foot of the hill to Nuflo's lodge 
 when the sun went down. Away on my left the 
 evening uproar of the howling monkeys burst out, 
 and after three or four minutes ceased ; the after 
 silence was pierced at intervals by screams of birds 
 going to roost among the trees in the distance, and 
 
 by many minor sounds close at hand, of small bird, 
 
 184 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 185 
 
 frog, and insect. The western sky was now like 
 amber-coloured flame, and against that immeasur- 
 ably distant luminous background the near branches 
 and clustered foliage looked black; but on my left 
 hand the vegetation still appeared of a uniform 
 dusky green. In a little while night would drown 
 all colour, and there would be no light but that of 
 the wandering lantern-fly, always unwelcome to the 
 belated walker in a lonely place, since, like the ignis 
 fatuus, it is confusing to the sight and sense of 
 direction. 
 
 With increasing anxiety I hastened on, when all 
 at once a low growl issuing from the bushes some 
 yards ahead of me brought me to a stop. In a 
 moment the dogs, Susio and Goloso, rushed out 
 from some hiding-place furiously barking; but they 
 quickly recognised me and slunk back again. Re- 
 lieved from fear, I walked on for a short distance ; 
 then it struck me that the old man must be about 
 somewhere, as the dogs scarcely ever stirred from 
 his side. Turning back I went to the spot where 
 they had appeared to me; and there, after a while, 
 I caught sight of a dim, yellow form, as one of the 
 brutes rose up to look at me. He had been lying on 
 the ground by the side of a wide-spreading bush, 
 dead and dry, but overgrown by a creeping plant 
 which had completely covered its broad, flat top like 
 a piece of tapestry thrown over a table, its slender 
 terminal stems and leaves hanging over the edge like 
 
186 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 a deep fringe. But the fringe did not reach to the 
 ground, and under the bush, in its dark interior, I 
 caught sight of the other dog; and after gazing in 
 for some time I also discovered a black, recumbent 
 form, which I took to be Nuflo. 
 
 " What are you doing there, old man? " I cried. 
 " Where is Rima — have you not seen her ? Come 
 out." 
 
 Then he stirred himself, slowly creeping out on all 
 fours ; and, finally, getting free of the dead twigs 
 and leaves, he stood up and faced me. He had a 
 strange, wild look, his white beard all disordered, 
 moss and dead leaves clinging to it, his eyes staring 
 like an owl's, while his mouth opened and shut, the 
 teeth striking together audibly, like an angry pec- 
 cary's. After silently glaring at me in this mad way 
 for some moments he burst out : " Cursed be the 
 day when I first saw you, man of Caracas ! Cursed 
 be the serpent that bit you and had not sufficient 
 power in its venom to kill ! Ha ! you come from 
 Ytaioa, where you talked with Rima? And you 
 have now returned to the tiger's den to mock that 
 dangerous animal with the loss of its whelp. Fool, 
 if you did not wish the dogs to feed on your flesh it 
 would have been better if you had taken your evening 
 walk in some other direction." 
 
 These raging words did not have the effect of 
 alarming me in the least, nor even of astonishing me 
 very much, albeit up till now the old man had always 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 187 
 
 shown himself suave and respectful. His attack did 
 not seem quite spontaneous. In spite of the wildness 
 of his manner and the violence of his speech, he 
 appeared to be acting a part which he had rehearsed 
 beforehand. I was only angry, and stepping for- 
 ward I dealt him a very sharp rap with my knuckles 
 on his chest. " Moderate your language, old man," 
 I said ; " remember that you are addressing a supe- 
 rior." 
 
 "What do you say to me?" he screamed in a 
 shrill, broken voice, accompanying his words with 
 emphatic gestures. " Do you think you are on the 
 pavement of Caracas? Here are no police to pro- 
 tect you — -here we are alone in the desert where names 
 and titles are nothing, standing man to man." 
 
 " An old man to a young one," I returned. " And 
 in virtue of my youth I am your superior. Do you 
 wish me to take you by the throat and shake your 
 insolence out of you? " 
 
 "What, do you threaten me with violence?" he 
 exclaimed, throwing himself into a hostile attitude. 
 " You, the man I saved, and sheltered, and fed, and 
 treated like a son ! Destroyer of my peace, have 
 you not injured me enough? You have stolen my 
 grandchild's heart from me ; with a thousand inven- 
 tions you have driven her mad ! My child, my angel, 
 Rima, my saviour! With your lying tongue you 
 have changed her into a demon to persecute me! 
 And you are not satisfied, but must finish your evil 
 
188 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 work by inflicting blows on my worn body! All, 
 all is lost to me! Take my life if you wish it, for 
 now it is worth nothing, and I desire not to keep it ! " 
 And here he threw himself on his knees, and tearing 
 open his old, ragged mantle, presented his naked 
 breast to me. " Shoot ! Shoot ! " he screeched. 
 " And if you have no weapon take my knife and 
 plunge it into this sad heart, and let me die ! " And 
 drawing his knife from its sheath, he flung it down at 
 my feet. 
 
 All this performance only served to increase my 
 anger and contempt ; but before I could make any 
 reply I caught sight of a shadowy object at some 
 distance moving towards us — something grey and 
 formless, gliding swift and noiseless, like some great 
 low-flying owl among the trees. It was Rima, and 
 hardly had I seen her before she was with us, facing 
 old Nuflo, her whole frame quivering with passion, 
 her wide-open eyes appearing luminous in that dim 
 light. 
 
 " You are here ! " she cried in that quick, ringing 
 tone that was almost painful to the sense. " You 
 thought to escape me ! To hide yourself from my 
 eyes in the wood ! Miserable ! Do you not know 
 that I have need of you — that I have not finished 
 with you yet? Do you then wish to be scourged to 
 Riolama with thorny twigs — to be dragged thither 
 by the beard? " 
 
 He had been staring open-mouthed at her, still on 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 189 
 
 his knees, and holding his mantle open with his skinny 
 hands. " Rima ! Rima ! have mercy on me ! " he 
 cried out piteously. " Oh, my child, I cannot go to 
 Riolama, it is so far — so far. And I am old and 
 should meet my death. Oh, Rima, child of the 
 woman I saved from death, have you no compassion? 
 I shall die, I shall die ! " 
 
 " Shall you die? Not until you have shown me 
 the way to Riolama. And when I have seen Riolama 
 with my eyes then you may die, and I shall be glad 
 at your death ; and the children and the grand- 
 children and cousins and friends of all the animals 
 you have slain and fed on shall know that you are 
 dead and be glad at your death. For you have de- 
 ceived me with lies all these years — even me — and 
 are not fit to live ! Come now to Riolama ; rise 
 instantly, I command you ! " 
 
 Instead of rising he suddenly put out his hand and 
 snatched up the knife from the ground. " Do you 
 then wish me to die? " he cried. " Shall you be glad 
 at my death? Behold, then I shall slay myself be- 
 fore your e}'es. By my own hand, Rima, I am now 
 about to perish, striking the knife into my heart ! " 
 
 While speaking he waved the knife in a tragic 
 manner over his head, but I made no movement; I 
 was convinced that he had no intention of taking 
 his own life — that he was still acting. Riwa, in- 
 capable of understanding such a thing, to«*k it differ- 
 ently. 
 
190 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Oh, you are going to kill yourself ! " she cried. 
 " Oh, wicked man, wait until you know what will hap- 
 pen to you after death. All shall now be told to my 
 mother. Hear my words, then kill yourself." 
 
 She also now dropped on to her knees, and lifting 
 her clasped hands and fixing her resentful sparkling 
 eyes on the dim blue patch of heaven visible beyond 
 the tree-tops, began to speak rapidly in clear, vibrat- 
 ing tones. She was praying to her mother in heaven ; 
 and while Nuflo listened absorbed, his mouth open, 
 his eyes fixed on her, the hand that clutched the 
 knife dropped to his side. I also heard with the 
 greatest wonder and admiration. For she had been 
 shy and reticent with me, and now, as if oblivious of 
 my presence, she was telling aloud the secrets of her 
 inmost heart, 
 
 " O mother, mother, listen to me, to Rima, your 
 beloved child ! " she began. " All these years I have 
 been wickedly deceived by grandfather — Nuflo — the 
 old man that found you. Often have I spoken to 
 him of Riolama, where you once were, and your 
 people are, and he denied all knowledge of such a 
 place. Sometimes he said that it was at an immense 
 distance, in a great wilderness full of serpents larger 
 than the trunks of great trees, and of evil spirits 
 and savage men, slayers of all strangers. At other 
 times he affirmed that no such place existed; that it 
 was a tale told by the Indians ; such false things 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 191 
 
 did he say to me — to Rima, your child. mother, 
 can you believe such wickedness? 
 
 " Then a stranger, a white man from Venezuela, 
 came into our woods : this is the man that was bitten 
 by a serpent, and his name is Abel: only I do not 
 call him by that name, but by other names which I 
 have told you. But perhaps you did not listen, or 
 did not hear, for I spoke softly and not as now, on 
 my knees, solemnly. For I must tell you, O mother, 
 that after you died the priest at Voa told me repeat- 
 edly that when I prayed, whether to you or to any 
 of the saints, or to the Mother of Heaven, I must 
 speak as he had taught me, if I wished to be heard 
 and understood. And that was most strange, since 
 you had taught me differently ; but you were living 
 then, at Voa, and now that you are in Heaven per- 
 haps you know better. Therefore listen to me now, 
 O mother, and let nothing I say escape you. 
 
 " When this white man had been for some days 
 with us a strange thing happened to me, which made 
 me different, so that I was no longer Rima, although 
 Rima still — so strange was this thing; and I often 
 went to the pool to look at myself and see the change 
 in me, but nothing different could I see. In the first 
 place it came from his eyes passing into mine, and 
 filling me just as the lightning fills a cloud at sunset: 
 afterwards it was no longer from his eyes only, but 
 it came into me whenever I saw him, even at a dis- 
 
192 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tance, when I heard his voice, and most of all when 
 he touched me with his hand. When he is out of 
 my sight I cannot rest until I see him again ; and 
 when I see him then I am glad, yet in such fear and 
 trouble that I hide myself from him. mother, it 
 could not be told ; for once when he caught me in his 
 arms and compelled me to speak of it he did not 
 understand; yet there was need to tell it; then it 
 came to me that only to our people could it be told, 
 for they would understand, and reply to me, and tell 
 me what to do in such a case. 
 
 " And now, mother, this is what happened next. 
 I went to grandfather and first begged and then com- 
 manded him to take me to Riolama ; but he would 
 not obey, nor give attention to what I said, but when- 
 ever I spoke to him of it he rose up and hurried from 
 me ; and when I followed he flung back a confused and 
 angry reply, saying in the same breath that it was so 
 long since he had been to Riolama that he had for- 
 gotten where it was, and that no such place existed. 
 And which of his words were true and which false 
 I knew not: so that it would have been better if he 
 had returned no answer at all ; and there was no help 
 to be got from him. And having thus failed, and 
 there being no other person to speak to except this 
 stranger, I determined to go to him, and in his com- 
 pany seek through the whole world for my people. 
 This will surprise you, mother, because of that 
 fear which came on me in his presence, causing me 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 193 
 
 to hide from his sight ; but my wish was so great that 
 for a time it overcame my fear; so that I went to 
 him as he sat alone in the wood, sad because he could 
 not see me, and spoke to him, and led him to the sum- 
 mit of Ytaioa to show me all the countries of the 
 world from the summit. And you must also know 
 that I tremble in his presence, not because I fear him 
 as I fear Indians and cruel men; for he has no evil 
 in him, and is beautiful to look at, and his words are 
 gentle, and his desire is to be always with me, so that 
 he differs from all other men I have seen, just as I 
 differ from all women, except from you only, O sweet 
 mother. 
 
 " On the mountain-top he marked out and named 
 all the countries of the world, the great mountains, 
 the rivers, the plains, the forests, the cities ; and told 
 me also of the peoples, whites and savages, but of our 
 people nothing. And beyond where the world ends 
 there is water, water, water. And when he spoke of 
 that unknown part on the borders of Guayana, on 
 the side of the Cordilleras, he named the mountains 
 of Riolama, and in that way I first found out where 
 my people are. I then left him on Ytaioa, he re- 
 fusing to follow me, and ran to grandfather and 
 taxed him with his falsehoods ; and he, finding I knew 
 all, escaped from me into the woods, where I have 
 now found him once more, talking with the stranger. 
 And now, O mother, seeing himself caught and un- 
 able to escape a second time, he has taken up a knife 
 
194 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 to kill himself, so as not to take me to Riolama ; and 
 he is only waiting until I finish speaking to you, for 
 I wish him to know what will happen to him after 
 death. Therefore, mother, listen well and do 
 what I tell you. When he has killed himself, and has 
 come into that place where you are, see that he does 
 not escape the punishment he merits. Watch well 
 for his coming, for he is full of cunning and deceit, 
 and will endeavour to hide himself from your eyes. 
 When you have recognised him — an old man, brown 
 as an Indian, with a white beard — point him out to 
 the angels, and say, ' This is Nuflo, the bad man that 
 lied to Rima.' Let them take him and singe his 
 wings with fire, so that he may not escape by flying ; 
 and afterwards thrust him into some dark cavern 
 under a mountain, and place a great stone that a 
 hundred men could not remove over its mouth, and 
 leave him there alone and in the dark for ever ! " 
 
 Having ended, she rose quickly from her knees, 
 and at the same moment Nuflo, dropping the knife, 
 cast himself prostrate at her feet. 
 
 " Rima — my child, my child, not that ! " he cried 
 out in a voice that was broken with terror. He tried 
 to take hold of her feet with his hands, but she 
 shrank from him with aversion ; still he kept on 
 crawling after her like a disabled lizard, abjectly 
 imploring her to forgive him, reminding her that he 
 had saved from death the woman whose enmity had 
 now been enlisted against him, and declaring that he 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 195 
 
 would do anything she commanded him, and gladly 
 perish in her service. 
 
 It was a pitiable sight, and moving quickly to her 
 side I touched her on the shoulder and asked her to 
 forgive him. 
 
 The response came quickly enough. Turning to 
 him once more she said : " I forgive you, grand- 
 father. And now get up and take me to Riolama." 
 
 He rose, but only to his knees. " But you have 
 not told her! " he said, recovering his natural voice, 
 although still anxious, and jerking a thumb over his 
 shoulder. " Consider, my child, that I am old and 
 shall doubtless perish on the way. What would be- 
 come of my soul in such a case? For now you have 
 told her everything, and it will not be forgotten." 
 
 She regarded him in silence for a few moments, 
 then moving a little way apart, dropped on to her 
 knees again, and with raised hands and eyes fixed on 
 the blue space above, already sprinkled with stars, 
 prayed again. 
 
 " O mother, listen to me, for I have something 
 fresh to say to you. Grandfather has not killed 
 himself, but has asked my forgiveness and has 
 promised to obey me. O mother, I have forgiven 
 him, and he will now take me to Riolama, to our 
 people. Therefore, O mother, if he dies on the way 
 to Riolama let nothing be done against him, but re- 
 member only that I forgave him at the last; and 
 when he comes into that place where you are, let him 
 
196 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 be well received, for that is the wish of Rima, your 
 child." 
 
 As soon as this second petition was ended she was 
 up again and engaged in an animated discussion with 
 him, urging him to take her without further delay 
 to Riolama ; while he, now recovered from his fear, 
 urged that so important an undertaking required a 
 great deal of thought and preparation ; that the 
 journey would occupy about twenty days, and un- 
 less he set out well provided with food he would 
 starve before accomplishing half the distance; and 
 his death would leave her worse off than before: he 
 concluded by affirming that he could not start in less 
 time than seven or eight days. 
 
 For a while I listened with keen interest to this 
 dispute, and at length interposed once more on the 
 eld man's side. The poor girl in her petition had 
 unwittingly revealed to me the power I possessed, 
 and it was a pleasing experience to exercise it. 
 Touching her shoulder again, I assured her that 
 seven or eight days was only a reasonable time in 
 which to prepare for so long a journey : she instantly 
 yielded, and after one glance at my face she moved 
 swiftly away into the darker shadows, leaving me 
 alone with the old man. 
 
 As we returned together through the now pro- 
 foundly dark wood I explained to him how the sub- 
 ject of Riolama had first come up during my con- 
 versation with Rima, and he then apologised for the 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 197 
 
 violent language he had used to me. This personal 
 question disposed of, he spoke of the pilgrimage be- 
 fore him, and informed me in confidence that he in- 
 tended preparing a quantity of smoke-dried meat 
 and packing it in a bag, with a layer of cassava 
 bread, dried pumpkin slips, and such innocent trifles 
 to conceal it from Rima's keen sight and delicate 
 nostrils. Finally, he made a long rambling state- 
 ment, which, I vainly imagined, was intended to lead 
 up to an account of Rima's origin, with something 
 about her people at Riolama; but it led to nothing 
 except an expression of opinion that the girl was 
 afflicted with a maggot in the brain, but that as she 
 had interest with the powers above, especially with 
 her mother, who was now a very important person 
 among the celestials, it was good policy to submit to 
 her wishes. Turning to me, doubtless to wink (only 
 I missed the sign owing to the darkness), he added 
 that it was a fine thing to have a friend at court. 
 With a little gratulatory chuckle he went on to say 
 that for others it was necessary to obey all the ordi- 
 nances of the Church, to contribute to its support, 
 hear mass, confers from time to time, and receive 
 absolution : consequently those who went out into 
 the wilderness, where there were no churches and no 
 priests to absolve them, did so at the risk of losing 
 their souls. But with him it was different: he ex- 
 pected in the end to escape the fires of purgatory, 
 and go directly in all his uncleanness to heaven — 
 
198 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 a thing, he remarked, which happened to very few; 
 and he, Nuflo, was no saint, and had first become a 
 dweller in the desert, as a very young man, in order 
 to escape the penalty of his misdeeds. 
 
 I could not resist the temptation of remarking 
 here that to an unregenerate man the celestial coun- 
 try might turn out a somewhat uncongenial place 
 for a residence. He replied airily that he had con- 
 sidered the point and had no fear about the future ; 
 that he was old, and from all he had observed of the 
 methods of government followed by those who ruled 
 over earthly affairs from the sky, he had formed a 
 clear idea of that place, and believed that even 
 among so many glorified beings he would be able to 
 meet with those who would prove companionable 
 enough, and would think no worse of him on account 
 of his little blemishes. 
 
 How he had first got this idea into his brain about 
 Rima's ability to make things smooth for him after 
 death I cannot say ; probably it was the effect of the 
 girl's powerful personality and vivid faith acting 
 on an ignorant and extremely superstitious mind. 
 While she was making that petition to her mother 
 in heaven it did not seem in the least ridiculous to 
 me : I had felt no inclination to smile, even when 
 hearing all that about the old man's wings being 
 singed to prevent his escape by flying. Her rapt 
 look ; the intense conviction that vibrated in her ring- 
 ing, passionate tones ; the brilliant scorn with which 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 199 
 
 she, a hater of bloodshed, one so tender towards all 
 living things, even the meanest, bade him kill himself, 
 and only hear first how her vengeance would pursue 
 his deceitful soul into other worlds ; the clearness with 
 which she had related the facts of the case, disclos- 
 ing the inmost secrets of her heart — all this had had 
 a strange, convincing effect on me. Listening to 
 her I was no longer the enlightened, the creedless 
 man. She herself was so near to the supernatural 
 that it seemed brought near me ; indefinable feelings, 
 which had been latent in me, stirred into life, and 
 following the direction of her divine, lustrous eyes, 
 fixed on the blue sky above, I seemed to see there an- 
 other being like herself, a Rima glorified, leaning her 
 pale, spiritual face to catch the winged words ut- 
 tered by her child on earth. And even now, while 
 hearing the old man's talk, showing as it did a mind 
 darkened with such gross delusions, I was not yet 
 altogether free from the strange effect of that 
 prayer. Doubtless it was a delusion ; her mother 
 was not really there above listening to the girl's 
 voice. Still, in some mysterious way, Rima had be- 
 come to me, even as to superstitious old Nuflo, a 
 being apart and sacred, and this feeling seemed to 
 mix with my passion, to purify and exalt it and make 
 it infinitely sweet and precious. 
 
 After we had been silent for some time I said, 
 " Old man, the result of the grand discussion you 
 have had with Rima is that you have agreed to take 
 
200 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 her to Riolama, but about my accompanying you not 
 one word has been spoken by either of you." 
 
 He stopped short to stare at me, and although it 
 was too dark to see his face, I felt his astonishment. 
 " Senor ! " he exclaimed, " we cannot go without you. 
 Have you not heard my granddaughter's words — 
 that it is only because of you that she is about to 
 undertake this crazy journey? If you are not with 
 us in this thing, then, senor, here we must remain. 
 But what will Rima say to that? " 
 
 " Very well, I will go, but only on one condition." 
 
 " What is it ? " he asked, with a sudden change 
 of tone, which warned me that he was becoming cau- 
 tious again. 
 
 " That you tell me the whole story of Rima's 
 origin, and how you came to be now living with her 
 in this solitary place, and who these people are she 
 wishes to visit at Riolama." 
 
 " Ah, senor, it is a long story, and sad. But you 
 shall hear it all. You must hear it, senor, since you 
 are now one of us ; and when I am no longer here to 
 protect her then she will be yours. And although 
 you will never be able to do more than old Nuflo for 
 her, perhaps she will be better pleased ; and you, 
 senor, better able to exist innocently by her side, 
 without eating flesh, since you will always have that 
 rare flower to delight you. But the story would 
 take long to tell. You shall hear it all as we jour- 
 ney to Riolama. What else will there be to talk 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 201 
 
 about when we are walking that long distance, and 
 when we sit at night by the fire? " 
 
 " No, no, old man, I am not to be put off in that 
 way. I must hear it before I start." 
 
 But he was determined to reserve the narrative 
 until the journey, and after some further argument 
 I yielded the point. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THAT evening by the fire old Nuflo, lately so 
 miserable, now happy in his delusions, was 
 more than usually gay and loquacious. He was like 
 a child, who by timely submission has escaped a 
 threatened severe punishment. But his lightness of 
 heart was exceeded by mine; and, with the exception 
 of one other yet to come, that evening now shines in 
 memory as the happiest my life has known. For 
 Rima's sweet secret was known to me ; and her very 
 ignorance of the meaning of the feeling she expe- 
 rienced, which caused her to fly from me as from an 
 enemy, only served to make the thought of it more 
 purely delightful. 
 
 On this occasion she did not steal away like a 
 timid mouse to her own apartment, as her custom 
 was, but remained to give that one evening a special 
 grace, seated well away from the fire in that same 
 shadowy corner where I had first seen her indoors, 
 when I had marvelled at her altered appearance. 
 
 From that corner she could see my face, with the 
 
 firelight full upon it, she herself in shadow, her eyes 
 
 veiled by their drooping lashes. Sitting there the 
 
 202 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 203 
 
 vivid consciousness of my happiness was like 
 draughts of strong, delicious wine, and its effect was 
 like wine, imparting such freedom to fancy, such 
 fluency, that again and again old Nuflo applauded, 
 crying out that I was a poet, and begging me to put 
 it all into rhyme. I could not do that to please him, 
 never having acquired the art of improvisation — 
 that idle trick of making words jingle which men of 
 Nuflo's class in my country so greatly admire: yet 
 it seemed to me on that evening that my feelings 
 could be adequately expressed only in that sub- 
 limated language used by the finest minds in their 
 inspired moments ; and, accordingly, I fell to recit- 
 ing. But not from any modern, nor from the poets 
 of the last century, nor even from the greater seven- 
 teenth century. I kept to the more ancient ro- 
 mances and ballads, the sweet old verse that, whether 
 glad or sorrowful, seems always natural and spon- 
 taneous as the song of a bird, and so simple that 
 even a child can understand it. 
 
 It was late that night before all the romances I 
 remembered or cared to recite were exhausted, and 
 not until then did Rima come out of her shaded 
 corner and steal silently away to her sleeping-place. 
 
 Although I had resolved to go with them, and had 
 set Nuflo's mind at rest on the point, I was bent on 
 getting the request from Rima's own lips; and the 
 next morning the opportunity of seeing her alone 
 
204 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 presented itself, after old Nuflo had sneaked off with 
 his dogs. From the moment of his departure I kept 
 a close watch on the house, as one watches a bush 
 in which a bird he wishes to see has concealed itself, 
 and out of which it may dart at any moment and 
 escape unseen. 
 
 At length she came forth, and seeing me in the 
 way, would have slipped back into hiding ; for, in 
 spite of her boldness on the previous day, she now 
 seemed shyer than ever when I spoke to her. 
 
 " Rima," I said, " do you remember where we first 
 talked together under a tree one morning, when you 
 spoke of your mother, telling me that she was 
 dead?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I am going now to that spot to wait for you. 
 I must speak to you again in that place about this 
 journey to Riolama." As she kept silent, I added, 
 " Will you promise to come to me there? " 
 
 She shook her head, turning half away. 
 
 " Have you forgotten our compact, Rima? " 
 
 " No," she returned ; and then, suddenly coming 
 near, spoke in a low tone, " I will go there to please 
 you, and you must also do as I tell you." 
 
 " What do you wish, Rima? " 
 
 She came nearer still. " Listen ! You must not 
 look into my eyes, you must not touch me with your 
 hands." 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 205 
 
 " Sweet Rima, I must hold your hand when I speak 
 with you." 
 
 " No, no, no," she murmured, shrinking from me ; 
 and finding that it must be as she wished, I reluct- 
 antly agreed. 
 
 Before I had waited long she appeared at the 
 trysting-place, and stood before me, as on a former 
 occasion, on that same spot of clean yellow sand, 
 clasping and unclasping her fingers, troubled in 
 mind even then. Only now her trouble was different 
 and greater, making her shyer and more reticent. 
 
 " Rima, your grandfather is going to take you to 
 Riolama. Do you wish me to go with you? " 
 
 " Oh, do you not know that? " she returned, with 
 a swift glance at my face. 
 
 " How should I know ? " 
 
 Her eyes wandered away restlessly. " On Ytaioa 
 you told me a hundred things which I did not know," 
 she replied in a vague way, wishing, perhaps, to 
 imply that with so great a knowledge of geography 
 it was strange I did not know everything, even her 
 most secret thoughts. 
 
 " Tell me, why must you go to Riolama ? " 
 
 " You have heard. To speak to my people. " 
 
 "What will you say to them? Tell me." 
 
 " What you do not understand. How tell you." 
 
 " I understand you when you speak in Spanish." 
 
 " Oh, that is not speaking." 
 
206 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Last night you spoke to your mother in Spanish. 
 Did you not tell her everything? " 
 
 " Oh no — not then. When I tell her everything 
 I speak in another way, in a low voice — not on my 
 knees and praying. At night, and in the woods, and 
 when I am alone I tell her. But perhaps she does 
 not hear me ; she is not here, but up there — so far ! 
 She never answers, but when I speak to my people 
 they will answer me." 
 
 Then she turned away as if there was nothing 
 more to be said. 
 
 " Is this all I am to hear from you, Rima — these 
 few words ? " I exclaimed. " So much did you say 
 to your grandfather, so much to your dead mother, 
 but to me you say so little ! " 
 
 She turned again, and with eyes cast down re- 
 plied — 
 
 " He deceived me — I had to tell him that, and 
 then to pray to mother. But to you that do not 
 understand, what can I say? Only that you are not 
 like him and all those that I knew at Voa. It is so 
 different — and the same. You are you, and I am 
 I; why is it — do you know? " 
 
 " No ; yes — I know, but cannot tell you. And if 
 you find your people what will you do — leave me to 
 go to them? Must I go all the way to Riolama only 
 to lose you? " 
 
 " Where I am there you must be." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 207 
 
 " Do I not see it there ? " she returned, with a 
 quick gesture to indicate that it appeared in my 
 face. 
 
 " Your sight is keen, Rima — keen as a bird's. 
 Mine is not so keen. Let me look once more into 
 those beautiful wild eyes, then perhaps I shall see 
 in them as much as you see in mine." 
 
 " Oh no, no, not that ! " she murmured in distress, 
 drawing away from me; then with a sudden flash of 
 brilliant colour cried — 
 
 " Have you forgotten the compact — the promise 
 you made me ? " 
 
 Her words made me ashamed, and I could not 
 reply. But the shame was as nothing in strength 
 compared to the impulse I felt to clasp her beautiful 
 body in my arms and cover her face with kisses. 
 Sick with desire, I turned away, and sitting on a 
 root of the tree, covered my face with my hands. 
 
 She came nearer: I could see her shadow through 
 my fingers ; then her face and wistful, compassionate 
 eyes. 
 
 " Forgive me, dear Rima," I said, dropping my 
 hands again. " I have tried so hard to please you 
 in everything! Touch my face with your hand — 
 only that, and I will go to Riolama with you, and 
 obey you in all things." 
 
 For a while she hesitated, then stepped quickly 
 aside so that I could not see her; but I knew that 
 she had not left me, that she was standing just be- 
 
208 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 hind me. And after waiting a moment longer I felt 
 her fingers touching my skin, softly, trembling over 
 my cheek as if a soft-winged moth had fluttered 
 against it ; then the slight aerial touch was gone, and 
 she, too, moth-like, had vanished from my side. 
 
 Left alone in the wood I was not happy. That 
 fluttering, flattering touch of her finger-tips had 
 been to me like spoken language, and more eloquent 
 than language, yet the sweet assurance it conveyed 
 had not given perfect satisfaction ; and when I asked 
 myself why the gladness of the previous evening had 
 forsaken me — why I was infected with this new sad- 
 ness when everything promised well for me, I found 
 that it was because my passion had greatly increased 
 during the last few hours ; even during sleep it had 
 been growing, and could no longer be fed by merely 
 dwelling in thought on the charms, moral and physi- 
 cal, of its object, and by dreams of future fruition. 
 
 I concluded that it would be best for Rima's sake 
 as well as my own to spend a few of the days before 
 setting out on our journey, with my Indian friends, 
 who would be troubled at my long absence ; and, 
 accordingly, next morning I bade good-bye to the 
 old man, promising to return in three or four days, 
 and then started without seeing Rima, who had quit- 
 ted the house before her usual time. After getting 
 free of the woods, on casting back my eyes I caught 
 sight of the girl standing under an isolated tree 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 209 
 
 watching me with that vague, misty, greenish ap- 
 pearance she so frequently had when seen in the light 
 shade at a short distance. 
 
 " Rima ! " I cried, hurrying back to speak to her, 
 but when I reached the spot she had vanished; and 
 after waiting some time, seeing and hearing nothing 
 to indicate that she was near me, I resumed my walk, 
 half thinking that my imagination had deceived me. 
 
 I found my Indian friends home again, and was 
 not surprised to observe a distinct change in their 
 manner towards me. I had expected as much; and 
 considering that they must have known very well 
 where and in whose company I had been spending my 
 time, it was not strange. Coming across the savan- 
 nah that morning I had first begun to think seriously 
 of the risk I was running. But this thought only 
 served to prepare me for a new condition of things ; 
 for now to go back and appear before Rima, and 
 thus prove myself to be a person not only capable of 
 forgetting a promise occasionally, but also of a weak, 
 vacillating mind, was not to be thought of for a 
 moment. 
 
 I was received — not welcomed — quietly enough; 
 not a question, not a word, concerning my long ab- 
 sence fell from anyone; it was as if a stranger had 
 appeared among them, one about whom they knew 
 nothing, and consequently regarded with suspicion, 
 if not actual hostility. I affected not to notice the 
 change, and dipped my hand uninvited in the pot to 
 
210 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 satisfy my hunger, and smoked and dozed away the 
 sultry hours in my hammock. Then I got my guitar 
 and spent the rest of the day over it, tuning it, 
 touching the strings so softly with my finger-tips 
 that to a person four yards off the sound must have 
 seemed like the murmur or buzz of an insect's wings ; 
 and to this scarcely audible accompaniment I mur- 
 mured in an equally low tone a new song. 
 
 In the evening, when all were gathered under the 
 roof and I had eaten again, I took up the instrument 
 once more, furtively watched by all those half-closed 
 animal eyes, and swept the strings loudly, and sang 
 aloud. I sang an old simple Spanish melody, to 
 which I had put words in their own language — a 
 language with no words not in everyday use, in which 
 it is so difficult to express feelings out of and above 
 the common. What I had been constructing and 
 practising all the afternoon sotto voce was a kind of 
 ballad, an extremely simple tale of a poor Indian 
 living alone with his young family in a season of 
 dearth : how day after day he ranged the voiceless 
 woods to return each evening with nothing but a 
 few withered sour berries in his hand, to find his lean, 
 large-eyed wife still nursing the fire that cooked 
 nothing, and his children crying for food, showing 
 their bones more plainly through their skins every 
 day ; and how, without anything miraculous, any- 
 thing wonderful, happening, that barrenness passed 
 from earth, and the garden once more yielded them 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 211 
 
 pumpkin and maize, and manioc, the wild fruits ri- 
 pened, and the birds returned, filling the forest with 
 their cries ; and so their long hunger was satisfied, 
 and the children grew sleek, and played and laughed 
 in the sunshine ; and the wife, no longer brooding over 
 the empty pot, wove a hammock of silk grass, deco- 
 rated with blue-and-scarlet feathers of the macaw ; 
 and in that new hammock the Indian rested long from 
 his labours, smoking endless cigars. 
 
 When I at last concluded with a loud note of joy, 
 a long, involuntary suspiration in the darkening 
 room told me that I had been listened to with pro- 
 found interest; and, although no word was spoken, 
 though I was still a stranger and under a cloud, it 
 was plain that the experiment had succeeded, and 
 that for the present the danger was averted. 
 
 I went to my hammock and slept, but without un- 
 dressing. Next morning I missed my revolver and 
 found that the holster containing it had been de- 
 tached from the belt. My knife had not been taken, 
 possibly because it was under me in the hammock 
 while I slept. In answer to my inquiries I was in- 
 formed that Runi had borrowed my weapon to take 
 it with him to the forest, where he had gone to hunt, 
 and that he would return it to me in the evening. 
 I affected to take it in good part, although feeling 
 secretly ill at ease. Later in the day I came to the 
 conclusion that Runi had had it in his mind to mur- 
 der me, that I had softened him by singing that In- 
 
212 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 dian story, and that by taking possession of the 
 revolver he showed that he now only meant to keep 
 me a prisoner. Subsequent events confirmed me in 
 this suspicion. On his return he explained that he 
 had gone out to seek for game in the woods ; and, 
 going without a companion, he had taken my re- 
 volver to preserve him from dangers — meaning those 
 of a supernatural kind ; and that he had had the 
 misfortune to drop it among the bushes while in 
 pursuit of some animal. I answered hotly that he 
 had not treated me like a friend ; that if he had asked 
 me for the weapon it would have been lent to him ; 
 that as he had taken it without permission he must 
 pay me for it. After some pondering, he said that 
 when he took it I was sleeping soundly ; also, that it 
 would not be lost; he would take me to the place 
 where he had dropped it, when we could search to- 
 gether for it. 
 
 He was in appearance more friendly towards me 
 now, even asking me to repeat my last evening's 
 song, and so we had that performance all over again 
 to everybody's satisfaction. But when morning 
 came he was not inclined to go to the woods: there 
 was food enough in the house, and the pistol would 
 not be hurt by lying where it had fallen a day longer. 
 Next day the same excuse; still I disguised my im- 
 patience and suspicion of him and waited, singing 
 the ballad for the third time that evening. Then 
 I was conducted to a wood about a league and a half 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 213 
 
 away and we hunted for the lost pistol among the 
 bushes, I with little hope of finding it, while he at- 
 tended to the bird voices and frequently asked me 
 to stand or lie still when a chance of something of- 
 fered. 
 
 The result of that wasted day was a determination 
 on my part to escape from Runi as soon as possible, 
 although at the risk of making a deadly enemy of 
 him and of being compelled to go on that long jour- 
 ney to Riolama with no better weapon than a hunt- 
 ing-knife. I had noticed, while appearing not to do 
 so, that outside of the house I was followed or 
 watched by one or other of the Indians, so that great 
 circumspection was needed. On the following day I 
 attacked my host once more about the revolver, tell- 
 ing him with well-acted indignation that if not found 
 it must be paid for. I went so far as to give a list 
 of the articles I should require, including a bow and 
 arrows, zabatana, two spears, and other things which 
 I need not specify, to set me up for life as a wild 
 man in the woods of Guayana. I was going to add 
 a wife, but as I had already been offered one it did 
 not appear to be necessary. He seemed a little 
 taken aback at the value I set upon my weapon, and 
 promised to go and look for it again. Then I 
 begged that Kua-ko, in whose sharpness of sight I 
 had great faith, might accompany us. He con- 
 sented, and named the next day but one for the ex- 
 pedition. Very well, thought I, to-morrow their 
 
214 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 suspicion will be less, and my opportunity will come ; 
 
 then taking up my rude instrument, I gave them an 
 
 old Spanish song — 
 
 i, 
 
 Desde aquel doloroso momento: 
 
 but this kind of music had lost its charm for them, 
 and I was asked to give them the ballad they under- 
 stood so well, in which their interest seemed to in- 
 crease with every repetition. In spite of anxiety 
 it amused me to see old Cla-cla regarding me fixedly 
 with owlish eyes and lips moving. My tale had no 
 wonderful things in it, like hers of the olden time, 
 which she told only to send her hearers to sleep. 
 Perhaps she had discovered by now that it was the 
 strange honey of melody which made the coarse, 
 common cassava-bread of everyday life in my story 
 so pleasant to the palate. I was quite prepared to 
 receive a proposal to give her music and singing les- 
 sons, and to bequeath a guitar to her in my last will 
 and testament. For, in spite of her hoary hair and 
 million wrinkles, she, more than any other savage 
 I had met with, seemed to have taken a draught from 
 Ponce de Leon's undiscovered fountain of eternal 
 youth. Poor old witch ! 
 
 The following day was the sixth of my absence 
 from Rima, and one of intense anxiety to me, a feel- 
 ing which I endeavored to hide by playing with the 
 children, fighting our old comic stick fights, and by 
 strumming noisily on the guitar. In the afternoon, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 215 
 
 when it was hottest, and all the men who happened to 
 be indoors were lying in their hammocks, I asked 
 Kua-ko to go with me to the stream to bathe. He 
 refused — I had counted on that — and earnestly ad- 
 vised me not to bathe in the pool I was accustomed 
 to, as some little caribe fishes had made their ap- 
 pearance there and would be sure to attack me. I 
 laughed at his idle tale, and taking up my cloak 
 swung out of the door, whistling a lively air. He 
 knew that I always threw my cloak over my head 
 and shoulders as a protection from the sun and 
 stinging flies when coming out of the water, and so 
 his suspicion was not aroused, and I was not fol- 
 lowed. The pool was about ten minutes' walk from 
 the house ; I arrived at it with palpitating heart, and 
 going round to its end, where the stream was shallow, 
 sat down to rest for a few moments and take a few 
 sips of cool water dipped up in my palm. Presently 
 I rose, crossed the stream, and began running, keep- 
 ing among the low trees near the bank until a dry 
 gully, which extended for some distance across the 
 savannah, was reached. By following its course the 
 distance to be covered would be considerably in- 
 creased, but the shorter way would have exposed me 
 to sight and made it more dangerous. I had put 
 forth too much speed at first, and in a short time my 
 exertions, and the hot sun, together with my intense 
 excitement, overcame me. I dared not hope that my 
 flight had not been observed ; I imagined that the 
 
216 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 Indians, unencumbered by any heavy weight, were 
 already close behind me, and ready to launch their 
 deadly spears at my back. With a sob of rage and 
 despair I fell prostrate on my face in the dry bed of 
 the stream, and for two or three minutes remained 
 thus exhausted and unmanned, my heart throbbing 
 so violently that my whole frame was shaken. If 
 my enemies had come on me then disposed to kill 
 me, I could not have lifted a hand in defence of my 
 life. But minutes passed, and they came not. I 
 rose and went on, at a fast walk now, and when the 
 sheltering stream-bed ended, I stooped among the 
 sere dwarfed shrubs scattered about here and there 
 on its southern side; and now creeping and now 
 running, with an occasional pause to rest and look 
 back, I at last reached the dividing ridge at its 
 southern extremity. The rest of the way was over 
 comparatively easy ground, inclining downwards ; 
 and with that glad green forest now full in sight, 
 and hope growing stronger every minute in my 
 breast, my knees ceased to tremble, and I ran on 
 again, scarcely pausing until I had touched and lost 
 myself in the welcome shadows. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AH that return to the forest where Rima dwelt, 
 after so anxious a day, when the declining sun 
 shone hotly still, and the green woodland shadows 
 were so grateful! The coolness, the sense of secur- 
 ity, allayed the fever and excitement I had suffered 
 on the open savannah; I walked leisurely, pausing 
 often to listen to some bird voice or to admire some 
 rare insect or parasitic flower shining star-like in 
 the shade. There was a strangely delightful sensa- 
 tion in me. I likened myself to a child that, startled 
 at something it had seen while out playing in the 
 sun, flies to its mother to feel her caressing hand on 
 its cheek and forget its tremors. And describing 
 what I felt in that way, I was a little ashamed and 
 laughed at myself; nevertheless the feeling was very 
 sweet. At that moment Mother and Nature seemed 
 one and the same thing. As I kept to the more open 
 part of the wood, on its southernmost border, the 
 red flame of the sinking sun was seen at intervals 
 through the deep humid green of the higher foliage. 
 How every object it touched took from it a new 
 wonderful glory! At one spot, high up where the 
 
 foliage was scanty, and slender bush ropes and moss 
 
 217 
 
218 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 depended like broken cordage from a dead limb — 
 just there, bathing itself in that glory-giving light, 
 I. noticed a fluttering bird, and stood still to watch 
 its antics. Now it would cling, head downwards, to 
 the slender twigs, wings and tail open ; then, righting 
 itself, it would flit from waving line to line, dropping 
 lower and lower; and anon soar upwards a distance 
 of twenty feet and alight to recommence the flitting 
 and swaying and dropping towards the earth. It 
 was one of those birds that have a polished plumage, 
 and as it moved this way and that, flirting its feath- 
 ers, they caught the beams and shone at moments 
 like glass or burnished metal. Suddenly another 
 bird of the same kind dropped down to it as if from 
 the sky, straight and swift as a falling stone ; and 
 the first bird sprang up to meet the comer, and after 
 rapidly wheeling round each other for a moment they 
 fled away in company, screaming shrilly through the 
 wood, and were instantly lost to sight, while their 
 jubilant cries came back fainter and fainter at each 
 repetition. 
 
 I envied them not their wings : at that moment 
 earth did not seem fixed and solid beneath me, nor 
 I bound by gravity to it. The faint, floating clouds, 
 the blue infinite heaven itself, seemed not more ethe- 
 real and free than I, or the ground I walked on. The 
 low, stony hills on my right hand, of which I caught 
 occasional glimpses through the trees, looking now 
 blue and delicate in the level rays, were no more than 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 219 
 
 the billowy projections on the moving cloud of earth: 
 the trees of unnumbered kinds — great mora, 
 cecropia, and greenheart, bush and fern and sus- 
 pended lianas, and tall palms balancing their feath- 
 ery foliage on slender stems — all was but a fantastic 
 mist embroidery covering the surface of that floating 
 cloud on which my feet were set, and which floated 
 with me near the sun. 
 
 The red evening flame had vanished from the sum- 
 mits of the trees, the sun was setting, the woods in 
 shadow, when I got to the end of my walk. I did not 
 approach the house on the side of the door, yet by 
 some means those within became aware of my pres- 
 ence, for out they came in a great hurry, Rima lead- 
 ing the way, Nuflo behind her, waving her arms and 
 shouting. But as I drew near the girl dropped be- 
 hind and stood motionless regarding me, her face 
 pallid and showing strong excitement. I could 
 scarcely remove my eyes from her eloquent counte- 
 nance: I seemed to read in it relief and gladness 
 mingled with surprise and something like vexation. 
 She was piqued perhaps that I had taken her by 
 surprise, that after much watching for me in the 
 wood I had come through it undetected when she was 
 indoors. 
 
 " Happy the eyes that see you ! " shouted the old 
 man, laughing boisterously. 
 
 " Happy are mine that look on Rima again," I 
 answered. " I have been long absent." 
 
220 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Long — you may say so," returned Nuflo. " We 
 had given you up. We said that, alarmed at the 
 thought of the journey to Riolama, you had aban- 
 doned us." 
 
 " We said ! " exclaimed Rima, her pallid face sud- 
 denly flushing. " I spoke differently." 
 
 " Yes, I know — I know ! " he said airily, waving 
 his hand. " You said that he was in danger, that he 
 was kept against his will from coming. He is pres- 
 ent now — let him speak." 
 
 " She was right," I said. " Ah, Nuflo, old man, 
 you have lived long, and got much experience, but 
 not insight — not that inner vision that sees further 
 than the eyes." 
 
 " No, not that — I know what you mean," he an- 
 swered. Then, tossing his hand towards the sky, he 
 added, " The knowledge you speak of comes from 
 there." 
 
 The girl had been listening with keen interest, 
 glancing from one to the other. " What ! " she 
 spoke suddenly, as if unable to keep silence, " do you 
 think, grandfather, that she tells me — when there is 
 danger — when the rain will cease — when the wind 
 will blow — everything? Do I not ask and listen, ly- 
 ing awake at night? She is always silent, like the 
 stars." 
 
 Then, pointing to me with her finger, she finished — 
 
 " He knows so many things ! Who tells them to 
 hvm?" 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 221 
 
 " But distinguish, Rima. You do not distinguish 
 the great from the little," he answered loftily. " We 
 know a thousand things, but they are things that 
 any man with a forehead can learn. The knowledge 
 that comes from the blue is not like that — it is more 
 important and miraculous. Is it not so, senor? " 
 he ended, appealing to me. 
 
 " Is it, then, left for me to decide? " said I, ad- 
 dressing the girl. 
 
 But though her face was towards me she refused 
 to meet my look and was silent. Silent, but not sat- 
 isfied: she doubted still, and had perhaps caught 
 something in my tone that strengthened her doubt. 
 
 Old Nuflo understood the expression. " Look at 
 me, Rima," he said, drawing himself up. " I am 
 old, and he is young — do I not know best? I have 
 spoken and have decided it." 
 
 Still that unconvinced expression, and her face 
 turned expectant to me. 
 
 " Am I to decide ? " I repeated. 
 
 " Who, then? " she said at last, hex voice scarcely 
 more than a murmur; yet there was reproach in the 
 tone, as if she had made a long speech and I had 
 tyrannously driven her to it. 
 
 " Thus, then, I decide," said I. (i To each of us, 
 as to every kind of animal, even to small birds and 
 insects, and to every kind of plant, there is given 
 something peculiar — a fragrance, a melody, a spe- 
 cial instinct, an art, a knowledge, which no other has. 
 
%%% GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 And to Kima has been given this quickness of mind 
 and power to divine distant things ; it is hers, just 
 as swiftness and grace and changeful, brilliant col- 
 our are the humming-bird's ; therefore she need not 
 that anyone dwelling in the blue should instruct her." 
 The old man frowned and shook his head ; while 
 she, after one swift, shy glance at my face, and with 
 something like a smile flitting over her delicate lips, 
 turned and reentered the house. 
 
 I felt convinced from that parting look that she 
 had understood me, that my words had in some sort 
 given her relief; for, strong as was her faith in the 
 supernatural, she appeared as ready to escape from 
 it, when a way of escape offered, as from the limp 
 cotton gown and constrained manner worn in the 
 house. The religion and cotton dress were evidently 
 remains of her early training at the settlement of 
 Voa. 
 
 Old Nuflo, strange to say, had proved better than 
 his word. Instead of inventing new causes for de- 
 lay, as I had imagined would be the case, he now in- 
 formed me that his preparations for the journey 
 were all but complete, that he had only waited for 
 my return to set out. 
 
 Rima soon left us in her customary way, and then, 
 talking by the fire, I gave an account of my deten- 
 tion by the Indians and of the loss of my revolver, 
 which I thought very serious. 
 
 " You seem to think little of it," I said, observing 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 223 
 
 that he took it very coolly. " Yet I know not how 
 I shall defend myself in case of an attack." 
 
 " I have no fear of an attack," he answered. " It 
 seems to me the same thing whether you have a re- 
 volver or many revolvers and carbines and swords, or 
 no revolver — no weapon at all. And for a very sim- 
 ple reason. While Rima is with us, so long as we 
 are on her business, we are protected from above. 
 The angels, sefior, will watch over us by day and 
 night. What need of weapons, then, except to pro- 
 cure food? " 
 
 " Why should not the angels provide us with food 
 also ? " said I. 
 
 " No, no, that is a different thing," he returned. 
 " That is a small and low thing, a necessity common 
 to all creatures, which all know how to meet. You 
 would not expect an angel to drive away a cloud of 
 mosquitoes, or to remove a bush-tick from your per- 
 son. No, sir, you may talk of natural gifts, and 
 try to make Rima believe that she is what she is, and 
 knows what she knows, because, like a humming- 
 bird or some plants with a peculiar fragrance, she 
 has been made so. It is wrong, sefior, and pardon 
 me for saying it, it ill becomes you to put such fables 
 into her head." 
 
 I answered, with a smile, " She herself seems to 
 doubt what you believe." 
 
 " But, sefior, what can you expect from an igno- 
 rant girl like Rima ? She knows nothing, or very lit- 
 
224 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tie, and will not listen to reason. If she would only 
 remain quietly indoors, with her hair braided, and 
 pray and read her Catechism, instead of running 
 about after flowers and birds and butterflies and such 
 unsubstantial things, it would be better for both of 
 us." 
 
 " In what way, old man? " 
 
 " Why, it is plain that if she would cultivate the 
 acquaintance of the people that surround her — I 
 mean those that come to her from her sainted mother 
 — and are ready to do her bidding in everything, she 
 could make it more safe for us in this place. For 
 example, there is Runi and his people, why should 
 they remain living so near us as to be a constant 
 danger when a pestilence of small-pox or some other 
 fever might easily be sent to kill them off? " 
 
 " And have you ever suggested such a thing to 
 your grandchild? " 
 
 He looked surprised and grieved at the question. 
 M Yes, many times, senor," he said. " I should have 
 been a poor Christian had I not mentioned it. But 
 when I speak of it she gives me a look and is gone,, 
 and I see no more of her all daj^, and when I see her 
 she refuses even to answer me ; — so perverse, so fool- 
 ish is she in her ignorance ; for, as you can see for 
 yourself, she has no more sense or concern about 
 what is most important than some little painted fly 
 that flits about all day long without any object." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE next day we were early at work. Nuflo 
 had already gathered, dried, and conveyed to 
 a place of concealment the greater portion of his 
 garden produce. He was determined to leave noth- 
 ing to be taken by any wandering party of savages 
 that might call at the house during our absence. 
 He had no fear of a visit from his neighbours ; they 
 would not know, he said, that he and Rima were out 
 of the wood. A few large earthen pots, filled with 
 shelled maize, beans, and sun-dried strips of pump- 
 kin, still remained to be disposed of. Taking up 
 one of these vessels and asking me to follow with 
 another, he started off through the wood. We went 
 a distance of five or six hundred yards ; then made 
 our way down a very steep incline, close to the border 
 of the forest on the western side; arrived at the bot- 
 tom, we followed the bank a little further, and I then 
 found myself once more at the foot of the precipice 
 over which I had desperately thrown myself on the 
 stormy evening after the snake had bitten me. Nu- 
 flo, stealing silently and softly before me through the 
 bushes, had observed a caution and secrecy in ap- 
 proaching this spot resembling that of a wise old hen 
 
 when she visits her hidden nest to lay an egg. And 
 
 225 
 
226 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 here was his nest, his most secret treasure-house, 
 which he had probably not revealed even to me with- 
 out a sharp inward conflict, notwithstanding that our 
 fates were now linked together. The lower portion 
 of the bank was of rock; and in it, about ten or 
 twelve feet above the ground, but easily reached from 
 below, there was a natural cavity large enough to 
 contain all his portable property. Here, besides the 
 food-stuff, he had already stored a quantity of dried 
 tobacco leaf, his rude weapons, cooking utensils, 
 ropes, mats, and other objects. Two or three more 
 journeys were made for the remaining pots, after 
 which we adjusted a slab of sandstone to the open- 
 ing, which was fortunately narrow, plastered up the 
 crevices with clay, and covered them over with moss 
 to hide all traces of our work. 
 
 Towards evening, after we had refreshed ourselves 
 with a long siesta, Nuflo brought out from some 
 other hiding-place two sacks ; one weighing about 
 twenty pounds and containing smoke-dried meat, 
 also grease and gum for lighting purposes, and a few 
 other small objects. This was his load; the other 
 sack, which was smaller and contained parched corn 
 and raw beans, was for me to carry. 
 
 The old man, cautious in all his movements, al- 
 ways acting as if surrounded by invisible spies, de- 
 layed setting out until an hour after dark. Then, 
 skirting the forest on its west side, we left Ytaioa 
 on our right hand, and after travelling over rough, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 227 
 
 difficult ground, with only the stars to light us, we 
 saw the waning moon rise not long before dawn. 
 Our course had been a north-easterly one at first ; 
 now it was due east, with broad, dry savannahs and 
 patches of open forest as far as we could see before 
 us. It was weary walking on that first night, and 
 weary waiting on the first day when we sat in the 
 shade during the long, hot hours, persecuted by small 
 stinging flies ; but the days and nights that succeeded 
 were far worse, when the weather became bad with 
 intense heat and frequent heavy falls of rain. The 
 one compensation I had looked for, which would have 
 outweighed all the extreme discomforts we suffered, 
 was denied me. Rima was no more to me or with 
 me now than she had been during those wild days in 
 her native woods, when every bush and bole and tan- 
 gled creeper or fern-frond had joined in a con- 
 spiracy to keep her out of my sight. It is true that 
 at intervals in the daytime she was visible, some- 
 times within speaking distance, so that I could ad- 
 dress a few words to her, but there was no compan- 
 ionship, and we were fellow-travellers only like birds 
 flying independently in the same direction, not so 
 widely separated but that they can occasionally hear 
 and see each other. The pilgrim in the desert is 
 sometimes attended by a bird, and the bird, with its 
 freer motions, will often leave him a league behind 
 and seem lost to him, but only to return and show its 
 form again; for it has never lost sight nor recollec- 
 
228 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tion of the traveller toiling slowly over the surface. 
 Rima kept us company in some such wild erratic way 
 as that. A word, a sign from Nuflo was enough for 
 her to know the direction to take ; the distant forest 
 or still more distant mountain near which we should 
 have to pass. She would hasten on and be lost to 
 our sight, and when there was a forest in the way she 
 would explore it, resting in the shade and finding her 
 own food ; but invariably she was before us at each 
 resting or camping place. 
 
 Indian villages were seen during the journey, but 
 only to be avoided: and in like manner, if we caught 
 sight of Indians travelling or camping at a distance, 
 we would alter our course, or conceal ourselves to 
 escape observation. Only on one occasion, two days 
 after setting out, were we compelled to speak with 
 strangers. We were going round a hill, and all at 
 once came face to face with three persons travelling 
 in an opposite direction — two men and a woman, 
 and, by a strange fatality, Rima at that moment 
 happened to be with us. We stood for some time talk- 
 ing to these people, who were evidently surprised at 
 our appearance, and wished to learn who we were; 
 but Nuflo, who spoke their language like one of them- 
 selves, was too cunning to give any true answer. 
 They, on their side, told us that they had been to 
 visit a relative at Chani, the name of a river three 
 da}^s ahead of us, and were now returning to their 
 own village at Baila-baila, two days beyond Para- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 229 
 
 huari. After parting from them Nuflo was much 
 troubled in his mind for the rest of that day. These 
 people, he said, would probably rest at some Para- 
 huari village, where they would be sure to give a de- 
 scription of us, and so it might eventually come to 
 the knowledge of our unneighbourly neighbour Runi 
 that we had left Ytaioa. 
 
 Other incidents of our long and wearisome journey 
 need not be related. Sitting under some shady tree 
 during the sultry hours, with Rima only too far out 
 of earshot, or by the nightly fire, the old man told me 
 little by little and with much digression, chiefly on 
 sacred subjects, the strange story of the girl's origin. 
 
 About seventeen years back — Nuflo had no sure 
 method to compute time by — when he was already 
 verging on old age, he was one of a company of nine 
 men, living a kind of roving life in the very part of 
 Guayana through which we were now travelling; the 
 others, much younger than himself, were all equally 
 offenders against the laws of Venezuela, and fugitives 
 from justice. Nuflo was the leader of this gang, for 
 it happened that he had passed a great portion of 
 his life outside the pale of civilisation, and could talk 
 the Indian language, and knew this part of Guayana 
 intimately. But according to his own account he 
 was not in harmony with them. They were bold, 
 desperate men, whose evil appetites had so far only 
 been whetted by the crimes they had committed; 
 while he, with passions worn out, recalling his many 
 
230 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 bad acts, and with a vivid conviction of the truth of 
 all he had been taught in early life — for Nuflo was 
 nothing if not religious — was now grown timid and 
 desirous only of making his peace with Heaven. 
 This difference of disposition made him morose and 
 quarrelsome with his companions ; and they would, 
 he said, have murdered him without remorse if he had 
 not been so useful to them. Their favourite plan 
 was to hang about the neighbourhood of some small 
 isolated settlement, keeping a watch on it, and, when 
 most of the male inhabitants were absent, to swoop 
 down on it and work their will. Now shortly after 
 one of these raids it happened that a woman they 
 had carried off, becoming a burden to them, was flung 
 into a river to the alligators ; but when being 
 dragged down to the waterside she cast up her eyes, 
 and in a loud voice cried to God to execute venge- 
 ance on her murderers. Nuflo affirmed that he took 
 no part in this black deed: nevertheless, the woman's 
 dying appeal to Heaven preyed on his mind; he 
 feared that it might have won a hearing, and the 
 " person " eventually commissioned to execute venge- 
 ance — after the usual days, of course — might act 
 on the principle of the old proverb — Tell me whom 
 you are with, and I will tell you what you are — and 
 punish the innocent (himself to wit) along with the 
 guilty. But while thus anxious about his spiritual 
 interests he was not yet prepared to break with his 
 companions. He thought it best to temporise, and 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 231 
 
 succeeded in persuading them that it would be un- 
 safe to attack another Christian settlement for some 
 time to come ; that in the interval they might find 
 some pleasure, if no great credit, by turning their 
 attention to the Indians. The infidels, he said, were 
 God's natural enemies and fair game to the Christian. 
 To make a long story short, Nuflo's Christian band, 
 after some successful adventures, met with a reverse 
 which reduced their number from nine to five. Fly- 
 ing from their enemies they sought safety at Rio- 
 lama, an uninhabited place, where they found it pos- 
 sible to exist for some weeks on game, which was 
 abundant, and wild fruits. 
 
 One day at noon, while ascending a mountain at 
 the southern extremity of the Riolama range, in or- 
 der to get a view of the country beyond the summit, 
 Nuflo and his companions discovered a cave ; and 
 finding it dry, without animal occupants, and with a 
 level floor, they at once determined to make it their 
 dwelling-place for a season. Wood for firing and 
 water were to be had close by ; they were also well 
 provided with smoked flesh of a tapir they had slaugh- 
 tered a day or two before, so that they could afford 
 to rest for a time in so comfortable a shelter. At a 
 short distance from the cave they made a fire on the 
 rock to toast some slices of meat for their dinner; 
 and while thus engaged all at once one of the men 
 uttered a cry of astonishment, and casting up his 
 eyes Nuflo beheld, standing near and regarding them 
 
232 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 with surprise and fear in her wide-open eyes, a 
 woman of a most wonderful appearance. The one 
 slight garment she had on was silky and white as the 
 snow on the summit of some great mountain, but of 
 the snow when the sinking sun touches and gives it 
 some delicate changing colour which is like fire. Her 
 dark hair was like a cloud from which her face 
 looked out, and her head was surrounded by an aure- 
 ole like that of a saint in a picture, only more beau- 
 tiful. For, said Nuflo, a picture is a picture, and 
 the other was a reality, which is finer. Seeing her 
 he fell on his knees and crossed himself; and all the 
 time her eyes, full of amazement and shining with 
 such a strange splendour that he could not meet 
 them, were fixed on him and not on the others ; and 
 he felt that she had come to save his soul, in danger 
 of perdition owing to his companionship with men 
 who were at war with God and wholly bad. 
 
 But at this moment his comrades, recovering from 
 their astonishment, sprang to their feet, and the 
 heavenly woman vanished. Just behind where she 
 had stood, and not twelve yards from them, there 
 was a huge chasm in the mountain, its jagged precip- 
 itous sides clothed with thorny bushes ; the men now 
 cried out that she had made her escape that way, 
 and down after her they rushed, pell-mell. 
 
 Nuflo cried out after them that they had seen a 
 saint and that some horrible thing would befall them 
 if they allowed any evil thought to enter their hearts ; 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 233 
 
 but they scoffed at his words, and were soon far down 
 out of hearing, while he, trembling with fear, re- 
 mained praying to the woman that had appeared to 
 them, and had looked with such strange eyes at him, 
 not to punish him for the sins of the others. 
 
 Before long the men returned, disappointed and 
 sullen, for they had failed in their search for the 
 woman ; and perhaps Nuflo's warning words had 
 made them give up the chase too soon. At all events, 
 they seemed ill at ease, and made up their minds to 
 abandon the cave: in a short time they left the place 
 to camp that night at a considerable distance from 
 the mountain. But they were not satisfied: they 
 had now recovered from their fear, but not from the 
 excitement of an evil passion ; and finally, after com- 
 paring notes, they came to the conclusion that they 
 had missed a great prize through Nuflo's cowardice ; 
 and when he reproved them they blasphemed all the 
 saints in the calendar and even threatened him with 
 violence. Fearing to remain longer in the company 
 of such godless men, he only waited until they slept, 
 then rose up cautiously, helped himself to most of 
 the provisions, and made his escape, devoutly hoping 
 that after losing their guide they would all speedily 
 perish. 
 
 Finding himself alone now and master of his own 
 actions, Nuflo was in terrible distress, for while his 
 heart was in the utmost fear, it yet urged him im- 
 periously to go back to the mountain, to seek again 
 
£34 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 for that sacred being who had appeared to him, and 
 had been driven away by his brutal companions. If 
 he obeyed that inner voice, he would be saved ; if he 
 resisted it then there would be no hope for him, and 
 along with those who had cast the woman to the alli- 
 gators he would be lost eternally. Finally, on the 
 following day, he went back, although not without 
 fear and trembling, and sat down on a stone just 
 where he had sat toasting his tapir meat on the pre- 
 vious day. But he waited in vain, and at length that 
 voice within him, which he had so far obeyed, began 
 urging him to descend into the valley-like chasm down 
 which the woman had escaped from his comrades, 
 and to seek for her there. Accordingly he rose and 
 began cautiously and slowly climbing down over the 
 broken jagged rocks and through a dense mass of 
 thorny bushes and creepers. At the bottom of the 
 chasm a clear, swift stream of water rushed with 
 foam and noise along its rocky bed ; but before 
 reaching it, and when it was still twenty yards lower 
 down, he was startled by hearing a low moan among 
 the bushes, and looking about for the cause, he found 
 the wonderful woman — his saviour, as he expressed 
 it. She was not now standing nor able to stand, but 
 half reclining among the rough stones, one foot, 
 which she had sprained in that headlong flight down 
 the ragged slope, wedged immovably between the 
 rocks ; and in this painful position she had remained 
 a prisoner since noon on the previous day. She now 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 235 
 
 gazed on her visitor in silent consternation ; while he, 
 casting himself prostrate on the ground, implored 
 her forgiveness and begged to know her will. But 
 she made no reply; and at length, finding that she 
 was powerless to move, he concluded that, though a 
 saint and one of the beings that men worship, she 
 was -also flesh and liable to accidents while sojourn- 
 ing on earth ; and perhaps, he thought, that accident 
 which had befallen her had been specially designed 
 by the powers above to prove him. With great la- 
 bour, and not without causing her much pain, he 
 succeeded in extricating her from her position ; and 
 then finding that the injured foot was half crushed 
 and blue and swollen, he took her up in his arms and 
 carried her to the stream. There, making a cup of 
 a broad green leaf, he offered her water, which she 
 drank eagerly; and he also laved her injured foot 
 in the cold stream and bandaged it with fresh aquatic 
 leaves ; finally he made her a soft bed of moss and 
 dry grass and placed her on it. That night he spent 
 keeping watch over her, at intervals applying fresh 
 wet leaves to her foot as the old ones became dry 
 and wilted from the heat of the inflammation. 
 
 The effect of all he did was that the terror with 
 which she regarded him gradually wore off ; and next 
 day, when she seemed to be recovering her strength, 
 he proposed by signs to remove her to the cave higher 
 up, where she would be sheltered in case of rain. 
 She appeared to understand him, and allowed herself 
 
236 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 to be taken up in his arms, and carried with much 
 labour to the top of the chasm. In the cave he 
 made her a second couch, and tended her assiduously. 
 He made a fire on the floor and kept it burning night 
 and day, and supplied her with water to drink and 
 fresh leaves for her foot. There was little more that 
 he could do. From the choicest and fattest bits of 
 toasted tapir flesh he offered her she turned away 
 with disgust. A little cassava-bread soaked in water 
 she would take, but seemed not to like it. After a 
 time, fearing that she would starve, he took to hunt- 
 ing after wild fruits, edible bulbs and gums, and on 
 these small things she subsisted during the whole time 
 of their sojourn together in the desert. 
 
 The woman, although lamed for life, was now so 
 far recovered as to be able to limp about without 
 assistance, and she spent a portion of each day out 
 among the rocks and trees on the mountains. Nuflo 
 at first feared that she would now leave him, but be- 
 fore long he became convinced that she had no such 
 intentions. And yet she was profoundly unhappy. 
 He was accustomed to see her seated on a rock, as if 
 brooding over some secret grief, her head bowed, and 
 great tears falling from half-closed eyes. 
 
 From the first he had conceived the idea that she 
 was in the way of becoming a mother at no distant 
 date? — an idea which seemed to accord badly with 
 the suppositions as to the nature of this heavenly 
 being he was privileged to minister to and so win 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 237 
 
 salvation ; but he was now convinced of its truth, and 
 he imagined that in her condition he had discovered 
 the cause of that sorrow and anxiety which preyed 
 continually on her. By means of that dumb lan- 
 guage of signs which enabled them to converse to- 
 gether a little, he made it known to her that at a 
 great distance from the mountains there existed a 
 place where there were beings like herself, women, 
 and mothers of children, who would comfort and ten- 
 derly care for her. When she had understood, she 
 seemed pleased and willing to accompany him to that 
 distant place; and so it came to pass that they left 
 their rocky shelter and the mountains of Riolama 
 far behind. But for several days, as they slowly 
 journeyed over the plain, she would pause at inter- 
 vals in her limping walk to gaze back on those blue 
 summits, shedding abundant tears. 
 
 Fortunately the village Voa, on the river of the 
 same name, which was the nearest Christian settle- 
 ment to Riolama, whither his course was directed, 
 was well known to him; he had lived there in former 
 years, and what was of great advantage, the inhabit- 
 ants were ignorant of his worst crimes, or, to put it 
 in his own subtle way, of the crimes committed by 
 the men he had acted with. Great was the astonish- 
 ment and curiosity of the people of Voa when, after 
 many weeks' travelling, Nuflo arrived at last with 
 his companion. But he was not going to tell the 
 truth, nor even the least particle of the truth, to a 
 
238 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 gaping crowd of inferior persons. For these, in- 
 genious lies : only to the priest he told the whole 
 story, dwelling minutely on all he had done to rescue 
 and protect her; all of which was approved by the 
 holy man, whose first act was to baptise the woman 
 for fear that she was not a Christian. Let it be said 
 to Nuflo's credit that he objected to this ceremony, 
 arguing that she could not be a saint, with an aureole 
 in token of her sainthood, yet stand in need of being 
 baptised by a priest. A priest — he added, with a 
 little chuckle of malicious pleasure — who was often 
 seen drunk, who cheated at cards, and was some- 
 times suspected of putting poison on his fighting- 
 cock's spur to make sure of the victory ! Doubtless 
 the priest had his faults ; but he was not without hu- 
 manity, and for the whole seven years of that un- 
 happy stranger's sojourn at Voa he did everything 
 in his power to make her existence tolerable. Some 
 weeks after arriving she gave birth to a female child, 
 and then the priest insisted on naming it Riolama, 
 in order, he said, to keep in remembrance the strange 
 story of the mother's discovery at that place. 
 
 Rima's mother could not be taught to speak either 
 Spanish or Indian ; and when she found that the 
 mysterious and melodious sounds that fell from her 
 own lips were understood by none she ceased to utter 
 them, and thereafter preserved an unbroken silence 
 among the people she lived with. But from the pres- 
 ence of others she shrank, as if in disgust or fear, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 239 
 
 excepting only Nuflo and the priest, whose kindly 
 intentions she appeared to understand and appreci- 
 ate. So far her life in the village was silent and 
 sorrowful. With her child it was different; and 
 every day that was not wet, taking the little thing 
 by the hand, she would limp painfully out into the 
 forest, and there, sitting on the ground, the two 
 would commune with each other by the hour in their 
 wonderful language. 
 
 At length she began to grow perceptibly paler and 
 feebler week by week, day by day, until she could no 
 longer go out into the wood, but sat or reclined, 
 panting for breath in the dull hot room, waiting for 
 death to release her. At the same time little Rima, 
 who had always appeared frail, as if from sj^mpathy, 
 now began to fade and look more shadowy, so that 
 it was expected she would not long survive her par- 
 ent. To the mother death came slowly, but at last 
 it seemed so near that Nuflo and the priest were to- 
 gether at her side waiting to see the end. It was 
 then that little Rima, who had learnt from infancy 
 to speak in Spanish, rose from the couch where her 
 mother had been whispering to her, and began with 
 some difficulty to express what was in the dying 
 woman's mind. Her child, she had said, could not 
 continue to live in that hot wet place, but if taken 
 away to a distance where there were mountains and 
 a cooler air she would survive and grow strong again. 
 
 Hearing this, old Nuflo declared that the child 
 
240 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 should not perish ; that he himself would take her 
 away to Parahuari, a distant place where there were 
 mountains and dry plains and open woods ; that he 
 would watch over her and care for her there as he 
 had cared for her mother at Riolama. 
 
 When the substance of this speech had been made 
 known by Rima to the dying woman, she suddenly 
 rose up from her couch, which she had not risen from 
 for many days, and stood erect on the floor, her 
 wasted face shining with joy. Then Nuflo knew that 
 God's angels had come for her, and put out his arms 
 to save her from falling; and even while he held her 
 that sudden glory went out from her face, now of a 
 dead white like burnt-out ashes ; and murmuring 
 something soft and melodious, her spirit passed 
 away. 
 
 Once more Nuflo became a wanderer, now with the 
 fragile-looking little Rima for companion, the sacred 
 child who had inherited the position of his intercessor 
 from a sacred mother. The priest, who had prob- 
 ably become infected with Nuflo's superstitions, did 
 not allow them to leave Voa empty-handed, but gave 
 the old man as much calico as would serve to buy 
 hospitality and whatsoever he might require from the 
 Indians for many a day to come. 
 
 At Parahuari, where they arrived safely at last, 
 they lived for some little time at one of the villages. 
 But the child had an instinctive aversion to all sav- 
 ages, or possibly the feeling was derived from her 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 241 
 
 mother, for it had shown itself early at Voa, where 
 she had refused to learn their language; and this 
 eventually led Nuflo to go away and live apart from 
 them, in the forest by Ytaioa, where he made himself 
 a house and garden. The Indians, however, contin- 
 ued friendly with him and visited him with frequency. 
 But when Rima grew up, developing into that mys- 
 terious woodland girl I found her, they became sus- 
 picious, and in the end regarded her with danger- 
 ously hostile feeling. She, poor child, detested them 
 because they were incessantly at war with the wild 
 animals she loved, her companions ; and having no 
 fear of them, for she did not know that they had it 
 in their minds to turn their little poisonous arrows 
 against herself, she was constantly in the woods frus- 
 trating them ; and the animals, in league with her, 
 seemed to understand her note of warning and hid 
 themselves or took to flight at the approach of dan- 
 ger. At length their hatred and fear grew to such 
 a degree that they determined to make away with 
 her, and one day, having matured a plan, they went 
 to the wood and spread themselves two and two about 
 it. The couples did not keep together, but moved 
 about or remained concealed at a distance of forty 
 or fifty yards apart, lest she should be missed. Two 
 of the savages, armed with blow-pipes, were near the 
 border of the forest on the side nearest to the vil- 
 lage, and one of them, observing a motion in the 
 foliage of a tree, ran swiftly and cautiously towards 
 
M2 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 it to try and catch a glimpse of the enemy. And he 
 did see her no doubt, as she was there watching both 
 him and his companions, and blew an arrow at her, 
 but even while in the act of blowing it he was himself 
 struck by a dart that buried itself deep in his flesh 
 just over the heart. He ran some distance with the 
 fatal barbed point in his flesh and met his comrade, 
 who had mistaken him for the girl and shot him. 
 The wounded man threw himself down to die, and 
 dying related that he had fired at the girl sitting up 
 in a tree and that she had caught the arrow in her 
 hand only to hurl it instantly back with such force 
 and precision that it pierced his flesh just over the 
 heart. He had seen it all with his own eyes, and his 
 friend who had accidentally slain him believed his 
 story and repeated it to the others. Rima had seen 
 one Indian shoot the other, and when she told her 
 grandfather he explained to her that it was an acci- 
 dent, but he guessed why the arrow had been fired. 
 
 From that day the Indians hunted no more in the 
 wood ; and at length one day Nuflo, meeting an In- 
 dian who did not know him and with whom he had 
 some talk, heard the strange story of the arrow, and 
 that the mysterious girl who could not be shot was 
 the offspring of an old man and a Didi who had be- 
 come enamoured of him ; that, growing tired of her 
 consort, the Didi had returned to her river, leaving 
 her half-human child to play her malicious pranks in 
 the wood. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 243 
 
 This, then, was Nuflo's story, told not in Nuflo's 
 manner, which was infinitely prolix ; and think not 
 that it failed to move me — that I failed to bless him 
 for what he had done, in spite of his selfish motives. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 "E were eighteen days travelling to Riolama, 
 on the last two making little progress, on 
 account of continuous rain, which made us miserable 
 beyond description. Fortunately the dogs had 
 found, and Nuflo had succeeded in killing, a great 
 ant-eater, so that we were well supplied with excel- 
 lent, strength-giving flesh. We were among the Rio- 
 lama mountains at last, and Rima kept with us, ap- 
 parently expecting great things. I expected noth- 
 ing, for reasons to be stated by-and-by. My belief 
 was that the only important thing that could hap- 
 pen to us would be starvation. 
 
 The afternoon of the last day was spent in skirt- 
 ing the foot of a very long mountain, crowned at its 
 southern extremity with a huge, rocky mass resem- 
 bling the head of a stone sphinx above its long, 
 couchant body, and at its highest part about a thou- 
 sand feet above the surrounding level. It was late 
 in the day, raining fast again, yet the old man still 
 toiled on, contrary to his usual practice, which was 
 to spend the last daylight hours in gathering fire- 
 wood and in constructing a shelter. At length, 
 
 when we were nearly under the peak, he began to 
 
 244 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 245 
 
 ascend. The rise in this place was gentle, and the 
 vegetation, chiefly composed of dwarf thorn trees 
 rooted in the clefts of the rock, scarcely impeded our 
 progress ; yet Nuflo moved obliquely, as if he found 
 the ascent difficult, pausing frequently to take breath 
 and look round him. Then we came to a deep, 
 ravine-like cleft in the side of the mountain, which 
 became deeper and narrower above us, but below it 
 broadened out to a valley; its steep sides as we 
 looked down were clothed with dense, thorny vegeta- 
 tion, and from the bottom rose to our ears the dull 
 sound of a hidden torrent. Along the border of this 
 ravine Nuflo began toiling upwards, and finally 
 brought us out upon a stony plateau on the moun- 
 tain-side. Here he paused, and turning and re- 
 garding us with a look as of satisfied malice in his 
 eyes, remarked that we were at our journey's end, 
 and he trusted the sight of that barren mountainside 
 would compensate us for all the discomforts we had 
 suffered during the last eighteen days. 
 
 I heard him with indifference. I had already 
 recognised the place from his own exact description 
 of it, and I now saw all that I had looked to see — a 
 big, barren hill. But Rima, what had she expected 
 that her face wore that blank look of surprise and 
 pain? " Is this the place where mother appeared 
 to you? " she suddenly cried. " The very place — 
 this ! this ! " Then she added, " The cave where 
 you tended her — where is it ? " 
 
UQ GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Over there," he said, pointing across the plateau, 
 which was partially overgrown with dwarf trees and 
 bushes, and ended at a wall of rock, almost vertical 
 and about forty feet high. 
 
 Going to this precipice, we saw no cave until Nuflo 
 had cut away two or three tangled bushes, revealing 
 an opening behind, about half as high and twice as 
 wide as the door of an ordinary dwelling-house. 
 
 The next thing was to make a torch, and aided by 
 its light we groped our way in and explored the in- 
 terior. The cave, we found, was about fifty feet 
 long, narrowing to a mere hole at the extremity ; but 
 the anterior portion formed an oblong chamber, 
 very lofty, with a dry floor. Leaving our torch 
 burning, we set to work cutting bushes to supply our- 
 selves with wood enough to last us all night. Nuflo, 
 poor old man, loved a big fire dearly ; a big fire and 
 fat meat to eat (the ranker its flavour the better he 
 liked it) were to him the greatest blessings that man 
 could wish for: in me also the prospect of a cheerful 
 blaze put a new heart, and I worked with a will in 
 the rain, which increased in the end to a blinding 
 downpour. By the time I dragged my last load in, 
 Nuflo had got his fire well alight, and was heaping 
 on wood in a most lavish way. " No fear of burning 
 our house down to-night," he remarked, with a 
 chuckle — the first sound of that description he had 
 emitted for a long time. 
 
 After we had satisfied our hunger, and had smoked 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 247 
 
 one or two cigarettes, the unaccustomed warmth, and 
 dryness, and the firelight affected us with drowsiness, 
 and I had probably been nodding for some time ; but 
 starting at last and opening my eyes, I missed Rima. 
 The old man appeared to be asleep, although still in 
 a sitting posture close to the fire. I rose and hur- 
 ried, out, drawing my cloak close around me to pro- 
 tect me from the rain ; but what was my surprise on 
 emerging from the cave to feel a dry, bracing wind in 
 my face and to see the desert spread out for leagues 
 before me in the brilliant white light of a full moon! 
 The rain had apparently long ceased, and only a 
 few thin white clouds appeared moving swiftly over 
 the wide blue expanse of heaven. It was a welcome 
 change, but the shock of surprise and pleasure was 
 instantly succeeded by the maddening fear that Rima 
 was lost to me. She was nowhere in sight beneath, 
 and running to the end of the little plateau to get 
 free of the thorn trees, I turned my eyes towards the 
 summit, and there, at some distance above me, 
 caught sight of her standing motionless and gazing 
 upwards. I quickly made my way to her side, call- 
 ing to her as I approached ; but she only half turned 
 to cast a look at me and did not repty. 
 
 " Rima," I said, " why have you come here? Are 
 you actually thinking of climbing the mountain at 
 this hour of the night? " 
 
 " Yes — why not? " she returned, moving one or 
 two steps from me. 
 
248 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Rima — sweet Rima, will you listen to me ? " 
 
 "Now? Oh, no — why do you ask that? Did I 
 not listen to you in the wood before we started, and 
 you also promised to do what I wished? See, the 
 rain is over and the moon shines brightly. Why 
 should I wait? Perhaps from the summit I shall 
 see my people's country. Are we not near it now? " 
 
 " Oh, Rima, what do you expect to see? Listen — 
 you must listen, for I know best. From that summit 
 you would see nothing but a vast dim desert, moun- 
 tain and forest, mountain and forest, where you 
 might wander for years, or until you perished of 
 hunger, or fever, or were slain by some beast of prey 
 or by savage men ; but oh, Rima, never, never, never 
 would you find your people, for they exist not. You 
 have seen the false water of the mirage on the savan- 
 nah, when the sun shines bright and hot ; and if one 
 were to follow it he would at last fall down and perish, 
 with never a cool drop to moisten his parched lips. 
 And your hope, Rima — this hope to find j^our people 
 which has brought you all the way to Riolama — is a 
 mirage, a delusion, which will lead to destruction if 
 you will not abandon it." 
 
 She turned to face me with flashing eyes. " You 
 know best ! " she exclaimed. " You know best, and 
 tell me that ! Never until this moment have you 
 spoken falsely. Oh, why have you said such things 
 to me — named after this place, Riolama? Am I 
 also like that false water you speak of — no divine 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 249 
 
 Rima, no sweet Rima? My mother, had she no 
 mother, no mother's mother? I remember her, at 
 Voa, before she died, and this hand seems real — like 
 yours ; you have asked to hold it. But it is not he 
 that speaks to me — not one that showed me the whole 
 world on Ytaioa. Ah, you have wrapped yourself 
 in a stolen cloak, only you have left your old grey 
 beard behind ! Go back to the cave and look for it, 
 and leave me to seek my people alone ! " 
 
 Once more, as on that day in the forest when she 
 prevented me from killing the serpent, and as on the 
 occasion of her meeting with Nuflo after we had been 
 together on Ytaioa, she appeared transformed and 
 instinct with intense resentment — a beautiful human 
 wasp, and every word a sting. 
 
 "Rima," I cried, "you are cruelly unjust to say 
 such words to me. If you know that I have never 
 deceived you before, give me a little credit now. 
 You are no delusion — no mirage, but Rima, like no 
 other being on earth. So perfectly truthful and 
 pure I cannot be, but rather than mislead you with 
 falsehoods I would drop down and die on this rock, 
 and lose you and the sweet light that shines on us for 
 ever." 
 
 As she listened to my words, spoken with passion, 
 she grew pale and clasped her hands : " What have 
 I said? What have I said? " She spoke in a low 
 voice charged with pain, and all at once she came 
 nearer, and with a low, sobbing cry sank down at my 
 
250 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 feet, uttering, as on the occasion of finding me lost 
 at night in the forest near her home, tender, sorrow- 
 ful expressions in her own mysterious language. 
 But before I could take her in my arms she rose 
 again quickly to her feet and moved away a little 
 space from me. 
 
 " Oh no, no, it cannot be that you know best ! " 
 she began again. " But I know that you have never 
 sought to deceive me. And now, because I falsely 
 accused you I cannot go there without you " — point- 
 ing to the summit — " but must stand still and listen 
 to all you have to say." 
 
 " You know, Rima, that your grandfather has now 
 told me your history — how he found your mother at 
 this place, and took her to Voa, where you were born ; 
 but of your mother's people he knows nothing, and 
 therefore he can now take you no further." 
 
 " Ah, you think that ! He says that now ; but he 
 deceived me all these years, and if he lied to me in 
 the past, can he not still lie, affirming that he knows 
 nothing of my people, even as he affirmed that he 
 knew not Riolama? " 
 
 " He tells lies and he tells truth, Rima, and one 
 can be distinguished from the other. He spoke 
 truthfully at last, and brought us to this place, be- 
 yond which he cannot lead you." 
 
 " You are right ; I must go alone." 
 
 " Not so, Rima, for where you go there we must 
 go ; only you will lead and we follow, believing only 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 251 
 
 that our quest will end in disappointment, if not in 
 death." 
 
 " Believe that and yet follow ! Oh no ! Why did 
 he consent to lead me so far for nothing? " 
 
 " Do you forget that you compelled him ? You 
 know what he believes ; and he is old and looks with 
 fear at death, remembering his evil deeds, and is 
 convinced that only through your intercession and 
 your mother's, he can escape from perdition. Con- 
 sider, Rima, he could not refuse, to make you more 
 angry and so deprive himself of his only hope." 
 
 My words seemed to trouble her, but very soon 
 she spoke again with renewed animation. " If my 
 people exist, why must it be disappointment and 
 perhaps death? He does not know; but she came 
 to him here — did she not? The others are not here, 
 but perhaps not far off. Come, let us go to the sum- 
 mit together to see from it the desert beneath us — 
 mountain and forest, mountain and forest. Some- 
 where there ! You said that I had knowledge of dis- 
 tant things. And shall I not know which moun- 
 tain — which forest ? " 
 
 " Alas ! no, Rima ; there is a limit to your far- 
 seeing; and even if that faculty were as great as 
 you imagine it would avail you nothing, for there 
 is no mountain, no forest, in whose shadow your 
 people dwell." 
 
 For a while she was silent, but her eyes and clasp- 
 ing fingers were restless and showed her agitation. 
 
252 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 She seemed to be searching in the depths of her mind 
 for some argument to oppose to my assertions. 
 Then in a low, almost despondent voice, with some- 
 thing of reproach in it, she said, " Have we come 
 so far to go back again? You were not Nuflo to 
 need my intercession, yet you came too." 
 
 " Where you are there I must be — you have said 
 it yourself. Besides, when we started I had some 
 hope of finding your people. Now I know better, 
 having heard Nuflo's story. Now I know that your 
 hope is a vain one." 
 
 " Why ? Why ? Was she not found here — 
 mother? Where, then, are the others? " 
 
 " Yes, she was found here, alone. You must re- 
 member all the things she spoke to you before she 
 died. Did she ever speak to you of her people — 
 speak of them as if they existed, and would be glad 
 to receive you among them some day? ' 5 
 
 " No. Why did she not speak of that? Do you 
 know — can you tell me? " 
 
 " I can guess the reason, Rima. It is very sad — 
 so sad that it is hard to tell it. When Nuflo tended 
 her in the cave and was ready to worship her and 
 do everything she wished, and conversed with her 
 by signs, she showed no wish to return to her people. 
 And when he offered her, in a way she understood, 
 to take her to a distant place, where she would be 
 among strange beings, among others like Nuflo, she 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 253 
 
 readily consented, and painfully performed that long 
 journey to Voa. Would you, Rima, have acted 
 thus — would you have gone so far away from your 
 beloved people, never to return, never to hear of 
 them or speak to them again? Oh no, you could 
 not; nor would she, if her people had been in exist- 
 ence. But she knew that she had survived them, 
 that some great calamity had fallen upon and de- 
 stroyed them. They were few in number, perhaps, 
 and surrounded on every side by hostile tribes, and 
 had no weapons, and made no war. They had been 
 preserved because they inhabited a place apart, some 
 deep valley perhaps, guarded on all sides by lofty 
 mountains and impenetrable forests and marshes; 
 but at last the cruel savages broke into this retreat 
 and hunted them down, destroying all except a few 
 fugitives, who escaped singly like your mother, and 
 fled away to hide in some distant solitude.'* 
 
 The anxious expression on her face deepened as 
 she listened to one of anguish and despair ; and then, 
 almost before I concluded, she suddenly lifted her 
 hands to her head, uttering a low, sobbing cry, and 
 would have fallen on the rock had I not caught her 
 quickly in my arms. Once more in my arms 
 — against my breast, her proper place! But now 
 all that bright life seemed gone out of her; her head 
 fell on my shoulder, and there was no motion in her 
 except at intervals a slight shudder in her frame 
 
254 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 accompanied by a low, gasping sob. In a little while 
 the sobs ceased, the eyes were closed, the face still 
 and deathly white, and with a terrible anxiety in 
 my heart I carried her down to the cave. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AS I re-entered the cave with my burden Nuflo 
 sat up and stared at me with a frightened look 
 in his eyes. Throwing my cloak down I placed the 
 girl on it and briefly related what had happened. 
 
 He drew near to examine her ; then placed his hand 
 on her heart. " Dead ! — she is dead ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 My own anxiety changed to an irrational anger 
 at his words. " Old fool ! She has only fainted," 
 I returned. " Get me some water, quick." 
 
 But the water failed to restore her, and my 
 anxiety deepened as I gazed on that white, still face. 
 Oh, why had I told her that sad tragedy I had 
 imagined with so little preparation? Alas! I had 
 succeeded too well in my purpose, killing her vain 
 hope and her at the same moment. 
 
 The old man, still bending over her, spoke again. 
 " No, I will not believe that she is dead yet ; but, sir, 
 if not dead, then she is dying." 
 
 I could have struck him down for his words. 
 " She will die in my arms, then," I exclaimed, thrust- 
 ing him roughly aside, and lifting her up with the 
 cloak beneath her. 
 
 And while I held her thus, her head resting on my 
 
 arm, and gazed with unutterable anguish into her 
 
 255 
 
256 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 strangely white face, insanely praying to Heaven to 
 restore her to me, Nuflo fell on his knees before her, 
 and with bowed head, and hands clasped in suppli- 
 cation, began to speak. 
 
 " Rima ! Grandchild ! " he prayed, his quivering 
 voice betraying his agitation. " Do not die just 
 yet: you must not die— not wholly die — until you 
 have heard what I have to say to you. I do not ask 
 you to answer in words — you are past that, and I 
 am not unreasonable. Only, when I finish, make 
 some sign — a sigh, a movement of the eyelid, a twitch 
 of the lips, even in the small corners of the mouth; 
 nothing more than that, just to show that you have 
 heard, and I shall be satisfied. Remember all the 
 years that I have been your protector, and this long 
 journey that I have taken on your account; also 
 all that I did for your sainted mother before she 
 died at Voa, to become one of the most important of 
 those who surround the Queen of Heaven, and who, 
 when they wish for any favour, have only to say half 
 a word to get it. And do not cast in oblivion that 
 at the last I obeyed your wish and brought you 
 safely to Riolama. It is true that in some small 
 things I deceived you ; but that must not weigh with 
 you, because it is a small matter and not worthy of 
 mention when you consider the claims I have on you. 
 In your hands, Rima, I leave everything, relying on 
 the promise you made me, and on my services. Only 
 one word of caution remains to be added. Do not 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 257 
 
 let the magnificence of the place you are now about 
 to enter, the new sights and colours, and the noise 
 of shouting, and musical instruments and blowing of 
 trumpets, put these things out of your head- Nor 
 must you begin to think meanly of yourself and be 
 abashed when you find yourself surrounded by saints 
 and angels ; for you are not less than they, although 
 it may not seem so at first when you see them in their 
 bright clothes, which, they say, shine like the sun. 
 I cannot ask you to tie a string round your finger: 
 I can only trust to your memory, which was always 
 good, even about the smallest things ; and when you 
 are asked, as no doubt you will be, to express a 
 wish, remember before everything to speak of your 
 grandfather, and his claims on you, also on your 
 angelic mother, to whom you will present my humble 
 remembrances." 
 
 During this petition, which in other circumstances 
 would have moved me to laughter but now only irri- 
 tated me, a subtle change seemed to come to the ap- 
 parently lifeless girl to make me hope. The small 
 hand in mine felt not so icy cold, and though no 
 faintest colour had come to the face, its pallor had 
 lost something of its deathly waxen appearance ; and 
 now the compressed lips had relaxed a little and 
 seemed ready to part. I laid my finger-tips on her 
 heart and felt, or imagined that I felt, a faint flut- 
 tering; and at last I became convinced that her 
 heart was really beating. 
 
258 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 I turned my eyes on the old man, still bending 
 forward, intently watching for the sign he had asked 
 her to make. My anger and disgust at his gross 
 earthy egoism had vanished. " Let us thank God, 
 old man," I said, the tears of joy half choking my 
 utterance. " She lives — she is recovering from her 
 fit." 
 
 He drew back, and on his knees, with bowed head, 
 murmured a prayer of thanks to Heaven. 
 
 Together we continued watching her face for half 
 an hour longer, I still holding her in my arms, which 
 could never grow weary of that sweet burden, waiting 
 for other, surer signs of returning life ; and she 
 seemed now like one that had fallen into a profound, 
 death-like sleep which must end in death. Yet when 
 I remembered her face as it had looked an hour ago, 
 I was confirmed in the belief that the progress to 
 recovery, so strangely slow, was yet sure. So slow, 
 so gradual was this passing from death to life that 
 we had hardly ceased to fear when we noticed that 
 the lips were parted, or almost parted, that they were 
 no longer white, and that under her pale, transparent 
 skin a faint, bluish-rosy colour was now visible. 
 And at length, seeing that all danger was past and 
 recovery so slow, old Nuflo withdrew once more to 
 the fireside, and stretching himself out on the sandy 
 floor, soon fell into a deep sleep. 
 
 If he had not been lying there before me in the 
 strong light of the glowing embers and dancing 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 259 
 
 flames, I could not have felt more alone with Rima — 
 alone amid those remote mountains, in that secret 
 cavern, with lights and shadows dancing on its grey 
 vault. In that profound silence and solitude the 
 mysterious loveliness of the still face I continued to 
 gaze on, its appearance of life without consciousness, 
 produced a strange feeling in me, hard, perhaps 
 impossible, to describe. 
 
 Once, when clambering among the rough rocks, 
 overgrown with forest, among the Queneveta moun- 
 tains, I came on a single white flower which was new 
 to me, which I have never seen since. After I had 
 looked long at it, and passed on, the image of that 
 perfect flower remained so persistently in my mind 
 that on the following day I went again, in the hope 
 of seeing it still untouched by decay. There was no 
 change ; and on this occasion I spent a much longer 
 time looking at it, admiring the marvellous beauty 
 of its form, which seemed so greatly to exceed that 
 of all other flowers. It had thick petals, and at 
 first gave me the idea of an artificial flower, cut 
 by a divinely inspired artist from some unknown 
 precious stone, of the size of a large orange and 
 whiter than milk, and yet, in spite of its opacity, 
 with a crystalline lustre on the surface. Next day 
 I went again, scarcely hoping to find it still un- 
 withered; it was fresh as if only just opened; and 
 after that I went often, sometimes at intervals of 
 several days, and still no faintest sign of any change, 
 
260 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 the clear, exquisite lines still undimmed, the purity 
 and lustre as I had first seen it. Why, I often asked, 
 does not this mystic forest flower fade and perish 
 like others? That first impression of its artificial 
 appearance had soon left me ; it was, indeed, a flower, 
 and, like other flowers, had life and growth, only 
 with that transcendent beauty it had a different kind 
 of life. Unconscious, but higher; perhaps immortal. 
 Thus it would continue to bloom when I had looked 
 my last on it ; wind and rain and sunlight would 
 never stain, never tinge, its sacred purity ; the savage 
 Indian, though he sees little to admire in a flower, 
 yet seeing this one would veil his face and turn back ; 
 even the browsing beast crashing his way through 
 the forest, struck with its strange glory, would 
 swerve aside and pass on without harming it. 
 Afterwards I heard from some Indians, to whom I 
 described it, that the flower I had discovered was 
 called Hata; also that they had a superstition con- 
 cerning it — a strange belief. They said that only 
 one Hata flower existed in the world ; that it bloomed 
 in one spot for the space of a moon; that on the 
 disappearance of the moon in the sky the Hata dis- 
 appeared from its place, only to reappear blooming 
 in some other spot, sometimes in some distant forest. 
 And they also said that whosoever discovered the 
 Hata flower in the forest would overcome all his 
 enemies and obtain all his desires, and finally outlive 
 other men by many years. But, as I have said, all 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 261 
 
 this I heard afterwards, and my half-superstitious 
 feeling for the flower had grown up independently in 
 my own mind. A feeling like that was in me while 
 I gazed on the face that had no motion, no con- 
 sciousness in it, and yet had life, a life of so high 
 a kind as to match with its pure, surpassing love- 
 liness. I could almost believe that, like the forest 
 flower, in this state and aspect it would endure for 
 ever ; endure and perhaps give of its own immortality 
 to everything around it — to me, holding her in my 
 arms and gazing fixedly on the pale face framed in 
 its cloud of dark, silken hair; to the leaping flames 
 that threw changing lights on the dim stony wall of 
 rock; to old Nuflo and his two yellow dogs stretched 
 out on the floor in eternal, unawakening sleep. 
 
 This feeling took such firm possession of my mind 
 that it kept me for a time as motionless as the form 
 I held in my arms. I was only released from its 
 power by noting still further changes in the face I 
 watched, a more distinct advance towards conscious 
 life. The faint colour, which had scarcely been more 
 than a suspicion of colour, had deepened percep- 
 tibly ; the lids were lifted so as to show a gleam of the 
 crystal orbs beneath; the lips, too, were slightly 
 parted. 
 
 And, at last, bending lower down to feel her breath, 
 the beauty and sweetness of those lips could no longer 
 be resisted, and I touched them with mine. Having 
 once tasted their sweetness and fragrance, it was 
 
262 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 impossible to keep from touching them again and 
 again. She was not conscious — how could she be 
 and not shrink from my caress? Yet there was a 
 suspicion in my mind, and drawing back I gazed into 
 her face once more. A strange new radiance had 
 overspread it. Or was this only an illusive colour 
 thrown on her skin by the red firelight? I shaded 
 her face with my open hand, and saw that her pallor 
 had really gone, that the rosy flame on her cheeks 
 was part of her life. Her lustrous eyes, half open, 
 were gazing into mine. Oh, surely consciousness had 
 returned to her! Had she been sensible of those 
 stolen kisses? Would she now shrink from another 
 caress? Trembling I bent down and touched her 
 lips again, lightly, but lingeringly, and then again, 
 and when I drew back and looked at her face the 
 rosy flame was brighter, and the eyes, more open 
 still, were looking into mine. And gazing with those 
 open, conscious eyes, it seemed to me that at last, at 
 last, the shadow that had rested between us had 
 vanished, that we were united in perfect love and 
 confidence, and that speech was superfluous. And 
 when I spoke it was not without doubt and hesita- 
 tion: our bliss in those silent moments had been so 
 complete, what could speaking do but make it less ! 
 " My love, my life, my sweet Rima, I know that 
 you will understand me now as you did not before, 
 on that dark night — do you remember it, Rima? — 
 when I held you clasped to my breast in the wood. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 263 
 
 How it pierced my heart with pain to speak plainly 
 to you as I did on the mountain to-night — to kill the 
 hope that had sustained and brought you so far from 
 home ! But now that anguish is over ; the shadow 
 has gone out of those beautiful eyes that are looking 
 at me. It is because loving me, knowing now what 
 love is, knowing, too, how much I love you, that you 
 no longer need to speak to any other living being of 
 such things? To tell it, to show it, to me is now 
 enough — is it not so, Rima? How strange it 
 seemed, at first, when you shrank in fear from me ! 
 But, afterwards, when you prayed aloud to your 
 mother, opening all the secrets of your heart, I 
 understood it. In that lonely, isolated life in the 
 wood you had heard nothing of love, of its power 
 over the heart, its infinite sweetness ; when it came to 
 you at last it was a new, inexplicable thing, and filled 
 you with misgivings and tumultuous thoughts, so that 
 you feared it and hid yourself from its cause. Such 
 tremors would be felt if it had always been night, 
 with no light except that of the stars and the pale 
 moon, .°s we saw it a little while ago on the moun- 
 tain; and, at last, day dawned, and a strange, un- 
 heard-of rose and purple flame kindled in the eastern 
 sky, foretelling the coming sun. It would seem 
 beautiful beyond anything that night had shown to 
 you, yet you would tremble, and your heart beat fast 
 at that strange sight ; you would wish to fly to those 
 who might be able to tell you its meaning, and 
 
264 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 whether the sweet things it prophesied would ever 
 really come. That is why you wished to find your 
 people, and came to Riolama to seek them : and when 
 you knew — when I cruelly told you — that they would 
 never be found, then you imagined that that strange 
 feeling in your heart must remain a secret for ever > 
 and you could not endure the thought of your lone- 
 liness. If you had not fainted so quickly, then I 
 should have told you what I must tell you now. 
 They are lost, Rima — your people — but I am with 
 you, and know what you feel, even if you have no 
 words to tell it. But what need of words ? It shines 
 in your eyes, it burns like a flame in your face ; I 
 can feel it in your hands. Do you not also see it in 
 my face — all that I feel for you, the love that makes 
 me happy? For this is love, Rima, the flower and 
 the melody of life, the sweetest thing, the sweet 
 miracle that makes our two souls one." 
 
 Still resting in my arms, as if glad to rest there, 
 still gazing into my face, it was clear to me that she 
 understood my every word. And then, with no trace 
 of doubt or fear left, I stooped again, until my lips 
 were on hers; and when I drew back once more, 
 hardly knowing which bliss was greatest — kissing 
 her delicate mouth or gazing into her face — she all 
 at once put her arms about my neck and drew herself 
 up until she sat on my knee. 
 
 " Abel — shall I call you Abel now — and always ? " 
 she spoke, still with her arms round my neck. " Ah, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 265 
 
 why did you let me come to Riolama ? I would come ! 
 I made him come — old grandfather, sleeping there: 
 he does not count, but you — you ! After you had 
 heard my story, and knew that it was all for nothing ! 
 And all I wished to know was there — in you. Oh, 
 how sweet it is ! But a little while ago, what pain ! 
 When I stood on the mountain when you talked to 
 me, and I knew that you knew best, and tried and 
 tried not to know. At last I could try no more; 
 they were all dead like mother; I had chased the 
 false water on the savannah. * Oh, let me die too,' 
 I said, for I could not bear the pain. And after- 
 wards, here in the cave, I was like one asleep, and 
 when I woke I did not really wake. It was like 
 morning with the light teasing me to open my eyes 
 and look at it. Not yet, dear light; a little while 
 longer, it is so sweet to lie still. But it would not 
 leave me, and stayed teasing me still, like a small 
 shining green fly; until, because it teased me so, I 
 opened my lids just a little. It was not morning, 
 but the firelight, and I was in your arms, not in my 
 little bed. Your eyes looking, looking into mine. 
 But I could see yours better. I remembered every- 
 thing then, how you once asked me to look into your 
 eyes. I remembered so many things — oh, so many ! " 
 " How many things did you remember, Rima ? " 
 " Listen, Abel, do you ever lie on the dry moss and 
 look straight up into a tree and count a thousand 
 leaves ? " 
 
266 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " No, sweetest, that could not be done, it is so 
 many to count. Do you know how many a thousand 
 are?" 
 
 " Oh, do I not ! When a humming-bird flies close 
 to my face and stops still in the air, humming like 
 a bee, and then is gone, in that short time I can count 
 a hundred small round bright feathers on its throat. 
 That is only a hundred ; a thousand are more, ten 
 times. Looking up I count a thousand leaves ; then 
 stop counting, because there are thousands more be- 
 hind the first, and thousands more, crowded together 
 so that I cannot count them. Lying in your arms, 
 looking up into your face, it was like that ; I could 
 not count the things I remembered. In the wood, 
 when you were there, and before ; and long, long ago 
 at Voa, when I was a child with mother. " 
 
 " Tell me some of the things you remembered, 
 Rima." 
 
 " Yes, one — only one now. When I was a child at 
 Voa mother was very lame — you know that. When- 
 ever we went out, away from the houses, into the 
 forest, walking slowly, slowly, she would sit under 
 a tree while I ran about playing. And every time 
 I came back to her I would find her so pale, so sad, 
 crying — crying. That was when I would hide and 
 come softly back so that she would not hear me com- 
 ing. ' Oh, mother, why are you crying? Does your 
 lame foot hurt you? ' And one day she took me in 
 her arms and told me truly why she cried. " 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 267 
 
 She ceased speaking, but looked at me with a 
 strange new light coming into her eyes. 
 
 " Why did she cry, my love? " 
 
 " Oh, Abel, can you understand — now — at last ! " 
 And putting her lips close to my ear, she began to 
 murmur soft, melodious sounds that told me nothing. 
 Then drawing back her head, she looked again at 
 me, her eyes glistening with tears, her lips half 
 parted with a smile, tender and wistful. 
 
 Ah, poor child! in spite of all that had been said, 
 all that had happened, she had returned to the old 
 delusion that I must understand her speech. I could 
 only return her look, sorrowfully and in silence. 
 
 Her face became clouded with disappointment, 
 then she spoke again with something of pleading in 
 her tone. " Look, we are not now apart, I hiding 
 in the wood, you seeking, but together, saying the 
 same things. In your language — yours and now 
 mine. But before you came I knew nothing, nothing, 
 for there was only grandfather to talk to. A few 
 words each day, the same words. If yours is mine, 
 mine must be yours. Oh, do you not know that mine 
 is better? " 
 
 " Yes, better ; but alas ! Rima, I can never hope 
 to understand your sweet speech, much less to speak 
 it. The bird that only chirps and twitters can never 
 sing like the organ-bird." 
 
 Crying, she hid her face against my neck, mur- 
 muring sadly between her sobs, " Never — never ! " 
 
268 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 How strange it seemed, in that moment of joy, 
 such a passion of tears, such despondent words ! 
 
 For some minutes I preserved a sorrowful silence, 
 realising for the first time, so far as it was possible 
 to realise such a thing, what my inability to under- 
 stand her secret language meant to her — that finer 
 language in which alone her swift thoughts and vivid 
 emotions could be expressed. Easily and well as 
 she seemed able to declare herself in my tongue, I 
 could well imagine that to her it would seem like the 
 merest stammering. As she had said to me once 
 when I asked her to speak in Spanish, " That is not 
 speaking." And so long as she could not commune 
 with me in that better language, which reflected her 
 mind, there would not be that perfect union of soul 
 she so passionately desired. 
 
 By-and-by, as she grew calmer, I sought to say 
 something that would be consoling to both of us. 
 " Sweetest Rima," I spoke, " it is so sad that I can 
 never hope to talk with you in your way ; but a 
 greater love than this that is ours we could never feel, 
 and love will make us happy, unutterably happy, in 
 spite of that one sadness. And perhaps, after a 
 while, you will be able to say all you wish in my 
 language, which is also yours, as you said some time 
 ago. When we are back again in the beloved wood, 
 and talk once more under that tree where we first 
 talked, and under the old mora, where you hid your- 
 self and threw down leaves on me, and where you 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 269 
 
 caught the little spider to show me how you made 
 yourself a dress, you shall speak to me in your own 
 sweet tongue, and then try to say the same things in 
 mine. . . . And in the end, perhaps, you will find 
 that it is not so impossible as you think." 
 
 She looked at me, smiling again through her tears, 
 and shook her head a little. 
 
 " Remember what I have heard, that before your 
 mother died you were able to tell Nuflo and the priest 
 what her wish was. Can you not, in the same way, 
 tell me why she cried? " 
 
 " I can tell you, but it will not be telling you." 
 
 " I understand. You can tell the bare facts. I 
 can imagine something more, and the rest I must 
 lose. Tell me, Rima." 
 
 Her face became troubled ; she glanced away and 
 let her eyes wander round the dim, firelit cavern; 
 then they returned to mine once more. 
 
 " Look," she said, " grandfather lying asleep by 
 the fire. So far away from us — oh, so far ! But if 
 we were to go out from the cave, and on and on to 
 the great mountains where the city of the sun is, 
 and stood there at last in the midst of great crowds 
 of people, all looking at us, talking to us, it would 
 be just the same. They would be like the trees and 
 rocks and animals — so far ! Not with us nor we with 
 them. But we are everywhere alone together, apart 
 — we two. It is love ; I know it now, but I did not 
 know it before because I had forgotten what she 
 
270 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 told me. Do you think I can tell you what she said 
 when I asked her why she cried ? Oh no ! Only this, 
 she and another were like one, always, apart from the 
 others. Then something came — something came ! 
 
 Abel, was that the something you told me about 
 on the mountain? And the other was lost for ever, 
 and she was alone in the forests and mountains of 
 the world. Oh, why do we cry for what is lost? 
 Why do we not quickly forget it and feel glad again? 
 Now only do I know what you felt, O sweet mother, 
 when you sat still and cried, while I ran about and 
 played and laughed ! O poor mother ! Oh, what 
 pain ! " And hiding her face against my neck, she 
 sobbed once more. 
 
 To my eyes also love and sympathy brought the 
 tears ; but in a little while the fond, comforting words 
 
 1 spoke and my caresses recalled her from that sad 
 past to the present ; then, lying back as at first, her 
 head resting on my folded cloak, her body partly 
 supported by my encircling arm and partly by the 
 rock we were leaning against, her half-closed eyes 
 turned to mine expressed a tender assured happiness 
 — the chastened gladness of sunshine after rain ; a 
 soft delicious languor that was partly passionate 
 with the passion etherealised. 
 
 " Tell me, Rima," I said, bending down to her, " in 
 all those troubled days with me in the woods had you 
 no happy moments? Did not something in your 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 271 
 
 heart tell you that it was sweet to love, even before 
 you knew what love meant ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and once — Abel, do you remember that 
 night, after returning from Ytaioa, when you sat so 
 late talking by the fire — I in the shadow, never 
 stirring, listening, listening ; you by the fire with the 
 light on your face, saying so many strange things? 
 I was happy then — oh, how happy ! It was black 
 night and raining, and I a plant growing in the dark, 
 feeling the sweet rain-drops falling, falling on my 
 leaves. Oh, it will be morning by-and-by and the 
 sun will shine on my wet leaves ; and that made me 
 glad till I trembled with happiness. Then suddenly 
 the lightning would come, so bright, and I would 
 tremble with fear, and wish that it would be dark 
 again. That was when you looked at me sitting in 
 the shadow, and I could not take my eyes away 
 quickly and could not meet yours, so that I trembled 
 with fear." 
 
 " And now there is no fear — no shadow ; now you 
 are perfectly happy ? " 
 
 " Oh, so happy ! If the way back to the wood was 
 longer, ten times, and if the great mountains, white 
 with snow on their tops, were between, and the great 
 dark forest, and rivers wider than Orinoco, still I 
 would go alone without fear, because you would come 
 after me, to join me in the wo^d, to be with me at 
 last and always." 
 
272 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " But I should not let you go alone, Rima — your 
 lonely days are over now." 
 
 She opened her eyes wider, and looted earnestly 
 into my face. " I must go back alone, Abel," she 
 said. " Before day comes I must leave you. Rest 
 here, with grandfather, for a few days and nights, 
 then follow me." 
 
 I heard her with astonishment. " It must not be, 
 Rima," I cried. " What, let you leave me — now 
 you are mine — to go all that distance, through all 
 that wild country where you might lose yourself and 
 perish alone ? Oh, do not think of it ! " 
 
 She listened, regarding me with some slight trouble 
 in her eyes, but smiling a little at the same time. 
 Her small hand moved up my arm and caressed my 
 cheek ; then she drew my face down to hers until our 
 lips met. But when I looked at her eyes again I 
 saw that she had not consented to my wish. " Do 
 I not know all the way now," she spoke, " all the 
 mountains, rivers, forests — how should I lose my- 
 self? And I must return quickly, not step by step, 
 walking — resting, resting — walking, stopping to 
 cook and eat, stopping to gather firewood, to make 
 a shelter — so many things ! Oh, I shall be back in 
 half the time ; and I have so much to do." 
 
 " What can you have to do, love ? — everything can 
 be done when we are in the wood together." 
 
 A bright smile with a touch of mockery in it flitted 
 over her face as she replied, " Oh, must I tell you 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 273 
 
 that there are things you cannot do? Look, Abel," 
 and she touched the slight garment she wore, thinner 
 now than at first, and dulled by long exposure to sun 
 and wind and rain. 
 
 I could not command her, and seemed powerless 
 to persuade her; but I had not done yet, and pro- 
 ceeded to use every argument I could find to bring 
 her round to my view; and when I finished she put 
 her arms around my neck and drew herself up once 
 more. " O Abel, how happy I shall be ! " she said, 
 taking no notice of all I had said. " Think of me 
 alone, days and days, in the wood, waiting for you, 
 working all the time ; saying, i Come quickly, Abel ; 
 come slow, Abel. O Abel, how long you are! Oh, 
 do not come until my work is finished ! ' And when 
 it is finished and you arrive you shall find me, but 
 not at once. First you will seek for me in the house, 
 then in the wood, calling, ' Rima ! Rima ! ' And she 
 will be there, listening, hid in the trees, wishing to be 
 in your arms, wishing for your lips — oh, so glad, 
 yet fearing to show herself. Do you know why? 
 He told you — did he not? — that when he first saw 
 her she was standing before him, all in white — a dress 
 that was like snow on the mountain-tops, when the 
 sun is setting and gives it rose and purple colour. 
 I shall be like that, hidden among the trees, saying, 
 ' Am I different — not like Rima ? Will he know me 
 — will he love me just the same? ' Oh, do I not know 
 that you will be glad, and love me, and call me beau- 
 
274 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tif ul ? Listen ! Listen ! " she suddenly exclaimed, 
 lifting her face. 
 
 Among the bushes not far from the cave's mouth a 
 small bird had broken out in song, a clear, tender 
 melody soon taken up by other birds further away. 
 
 " It will soon be morning," she said, and then 
 clasped her arms about me once more and held me 
 in a long, passionate embrace ; then slipping away 
 from my arms and with one swift glance at the sleep- 
 ing old man, passed out of the cave. 
 
 For a few moments I remained sitting, not yet 
 realising that she had left me, so suddenly and 
 swiftly had she passed from my arms and my sight ; 
 then, recovering my faculties, I started up and 
 rushed out in hopes of overtaking her. 
 
 It was not yet dawn, but there was still some light 
 from the full moon, now somewhere behind the moun- 
 tains. Running to the verge of the bush-grown 
 plateau, I explored the rocky slope beneath without 
 seeing her form, and then called, " Rima ! Rima ! " 
 
 A soft, warbling sound, uttered by no bird, came 
 up from the shadowy bushes far below ; and in that 
 direction I ran on ; then pausing called again. The 
 sweet sound, was repeated once more, but much lower 
 down now, and so faintly that I scarcely heard it. 
 And when I went on further, and called again and 
 again, there was no reply, and I knew that she had 
 indeed gone on that long journey alone. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 WHEN Nuflo at length opened his eyes he 
 found me sitting alone and despondent by 
 the fire, just returned from my vain chase. I had 
 been caught in a heavy mist on the mountain-side, 
 and was wet through as well as weighed down by fa- 
 tigue and drowsiness, consequent upon the previous 
 day's laborious march and my night-long vigil ; yet I 
 dared not think of rest. She had gone from me, and 
 I could not have prevented it; yet the thought that 
 I had allowed her to slip out of my arms, to go away 
 alone on that long, perilous journey, was as intoler- 
 able as if I had consented to it. 
 
 Nuflo was at first startled to hear of her sudden 
 departure ; but he laughed at my fears, affirming that 
 after having once been over the ground she could 
 not lose herself; that she would be in no danger 
 from the Indians, as she would invariably see them 
 at a distance and avoid them, and that wild beasts, 
 serpents, and other evil creatures would do her no 
 harm. The small amount of food she required to 
 sustain life could be found anywhere; furthermore, 
 her journey would not be interrupted by bad 
 
 weather, since rain and heat had no effect on her. 
 
 275 
 
276 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 In the end he seemed pleased that she had left us, 
 saying that with Rima in the wood the house and 
 cultivated patch and hidden provisions and imple- 
 ments would be safe, for no Indian would venture to 
 come where she was. His confidence reassured me, 
 and casting myself down on the sandy floor of the 
 cave, I fell into a deep slumber, which lasted until 
 evening; then I only woke to share a meal with the 
 old man, and sleep again until the following day. 
 
 Nuflo was not ready to start yet ; he was enam- 
 oured of the unaccustomed comforts of a dry sleep- 
 ing-place and a fire blown about by no wind and into 
 which fell no hissing rain-drops. Not for two days 
 more would he consent to set out on the return 
 journey, and if he could have persuaded me our stay 
 at Riolama would have lasted a week. 
 
 We had fine weather at starting; but before long 
 it clouded, and then for upwards of a fortnight we 
 had it wet and stormy, which so hindered us that it 
 took us twenty-three days to accomplish the return 
 journey, whereas the journey out had only taken 
 eighteen. The adventures we met with and the pains 
 we suffered during this long march need not be re- 
 lated. The rain made us miserable, but we suffered 
 more from hunger than from any other cause, and 
 on more than one occasion were reduced to the verge 
 of starvation. Twice we were driven to beg for food 
 at Indian villages, and as we had nothing to give in 
 exchange for it, we got very little. It is possible 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 277 
 
 to buy hospitality from the savage without fish- 
 hooks, nails, and calico ; but on this occasion I found 
 myself without that impalpable medium of exchange, 
 which had been so great a help to me on my first 
 journey to Parahuari. Now I was weak and miser- 
 able and without cunning. It is true that we could 
 have exchanged the two dogs for cassava-bread and 
 corn, but we should then have been worse off than 
 ever. And in the end the dogs saved us by an oc- 
 casional capture — an armadillo surprised in the open 
 and seized before it could bury itself in the soil, or 
 an iguana, opossum, or labba, traced by means of 
 their keen sense of smell to its hiding-place. Then 
 Nuflo would rejoice and feast, rewarding them with 
 the skin, bones, and entrails. But at length one of 
 the dogs fell lame, and Nuflo, who was very hungry, 
 made its lameness an excuse for despatching it, which 
 he did apparently without compunction, notwith- 
 standing that the poor brute had served him well in 
 its way. He cut up and smoke-dried the flesh, and 
 the intolerable pangs of hunger compelled me to 
 share the loathsome food with him. We were not 
 only indecent, it seemed to me, but cannibals to feed 
 on the faithful servant that had been our butcher. 
 " But what does it matter? " I argued with myself. 
 " All flesh, clean and unclean, should be, and is, 
 equally abhorrent to me, and killing animals a kind 
 of murder. But now I find myself constrained to 
 do this evil thing that good may come. Only to live 
 
278 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 I take it now — this hateful strength-giver that will 
 enable me to reach Rima, and the purer, better life 
 that is to be." 
 
 During all that time, when we toiled onwards 
 league after league in silence, or sat silent by the 
 nightly fire, I thought of many things ; but the past, 
 with which I had definitely broken, was little in my 
 mind. Rima was still the source and centre of all 
 my thoughts ; from her they rose, and to her re- 
 turned. Thinking, hoping, dreaming, sustained me 
 in those dark days and nights of pain and privation. 
 Imagination was the bread that gave me strength, 
 the wine that exhilarated. What sustained old 
 Nuflo's mind I know not. Probably it was like a 
 chrysalis, dormant, independent of sustenance; the 
 bright-winged image to be called at some future time 
 to life by a great shouting of angelic hosts and noises 
 of musical, instruments slept secure, coffined in that 
 dull, gross nature. 
 
 The old beloved wood once more ! Never did his 
 native village in some mountain valley seem more 
 beautiful to the Switzer, returning, war-worn, from 
 long voluntary exile, than did that blue cloud on the 
 horizon- — the forest where Rima dwelt, my bride, my 
 beautiful — and towering over it the dark cone of 
 Ytaioa, now seem to my hungry eyes ! How near at 
 last — how near! And yet the two or three inter- 
 vening leagues to be traversed so slowly, step by 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 279 
 
 step — how vast the distance seemed! Even at far 
 Riolama, when I set out on my return, I scarcely 
 seemed so far from my love. This maddening im- 
 patience told on my strength, which was small, and 
 hindered me. I could not run nor even walk fast; 
 old Nuflo, slow, and sober, with no flame consuming 
 his heart, was more than my equal in the end, and to 
 keep up with him was all I could do. 
 
 At the finish he became silent and cautious, first 
 entering the belt of trees leading away through the 
 low range of hills at the southern extremity of the 
 wood. For a mile or upwards we trudged on in the 
 shade; then I began to recognise familiar ground, 
 the old trees under which I had walked or sat, and 
 knew that a hundred yards further on there would be 
 a first glimpse of the palm-leaf thatch. Then all 
 weakness forsook me ; with a low cry of passionate 
 longing and joy I rushed on ahead; but I strained 
 my eyes in vain for a sight of that sweet shelter ; no 
 patch of pale yellow colour appeared amidst the uni- 
 versal verdure of bushes, creepers, and trees — trees 
 beyond trees, trees towering above trees. 
 
 For some moments I could not realise it. No, I 
 had surely made a mistake, the house had not stood 
 on that spot ; it would appear in sight a little further 
 on. I took a few uncertain steps onwards, and then 
 again stood still, my brain reeling, my heart swell- 
 ing nigh to bursting with anguish. I was still stand- 
 ing motionless, with hand pressed to my breast, when 
 
280 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 Nuflo overtook me. "Where is it — the house?" I 
 stammered, pointing with my hand. All his stolidity 
 seemed gone now ; he was trembling too, his lips 
 silently moving. At length he spoke : " They have 
 come — the children of hell have been here, and have 
 destroyed everything ! " 
 
 "Rima! What has become of Rima?" I cried; 
 but without replying he walked on, and I followed. 
 
 The house, we soon found, had been burnt down. 
 Not a stick remained. Where it had stood a heap of 
 black ashes covered the ground — nothing more. 
 Eut on looking round we could discover no sign of 
 human beings having recently visited the spot. A 
 rank growth of grass and herbage now covered the 
 once clear space surrounding the site of the dwelling, 
 and the ash heap looked as if it had been lying there 
 for a month at least. As to what had become of 
 Rima the old man could say no word. He sat down 
 on the ground overwhelmed at the calamity: Runi's 
 people had been there, he could not doubt it, and 
 they would come again, and he could only look for 
 death at their hands. The thought that Rima had 
 perished, that she was lost, was unendurable. It 
 could not be ! No doubt the Indians had come and 
 destroyed the house during our absence ; but she had 
 returned, and they had gone away again to come 
 no more. She would be somewhere in the forest, 
 perhaps not far off, impatiently waiting our return. 
 The old man stared at me while I spoke ; he appeared 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 281 
 
 to be in a kind of stupor, and made no reply : and at 
 last, leaving him still sitting on the ground, I went 
 into the wood to look for Rima. 
 
 As I walked there, occasionally stopping to peer 
 into some shadowy glade or opening, and to listen, I 
 was tempted again and again to call the name of her 
 I sought aloud ; and still the fear that by so doing I 
 might bring some hidden danger on myself, perhaps 
 on her, made me silent. A strange melancholy 
 rested on the forest, a quietude seldom broken by a 
 distant bird's cry. How, I asked myself, should I 
 ever find her in that wide forest while I moved about 
 in that silent, cautious way? My only hope was 
 that she would find me. It occurred to me that 
 the most likely place to seek her would be some 
 of the old haunts known to us both, where we had 
 talked together. I thought first of the mora tree, 
 where she had hidden herself from me, and thither I 
 directed my steps. About this tree, and within its 
 shade, I lingered for upwards of an hour; and., 
 finally, casting my eyes up into the great dim cloud 
 of green and purple leaves, I softly called, " Rima, 
 Rima, if you have seen me, and have concealed your- 
 self from me in your hiding-place, in mercy answer 
 me — in mercy come down to me now ! " Rut Rima 
 answered not, nor threw down any red glowing leaves 
 to mock me : only the wind, high up, whispered some- 
 thing low and sorrowful in the foliage ; and turning 
 I wandered away at random into the deeper shadows. 
 
282 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 By-and-by I was startled by the long, piercing cry 
 of a wild fowl, sounding strangely loud in the silence ; 
 and no sooner was the air still again than it struck 
 me that no bird had uttered that cry. The Indian 
 is a good mimic of animal voices, but practice had 
 made me able to distinguish the true from the false 
 bird note. For a minute or so I stood still, at a loss 
 what to do, then moved on again with greater 
 caution, scarcely breathing, straining my sight to 
 pierce the shadowy depths. All at once I gave a 
 great start, for directly before me, on the projecting 
 root in the deeper shade of a tree, sat a dark, motion- 
 less human form. I stood still, watching it for some 
 time, not yet knowing that it had seen me, when all 
 doubts were put to flight by the form rising and 
 deliberately advancing — a naked Indian with a zaba- 
 tana in his hand. As he came up out of the deeper 
 shade I recognised Piake, the surly elder brother of 
 my friend Kua-ko. 
 
 It was a great shock to meet him in the wood, but 
 I had no time to reflect just then. I only remem- 
 bered that I had deeply offended him and his people, 
 that they probably looked on me as an enemy, and 
 would think little of taking my life. It was too late 
 to attempt to escape by flight ; I was spent with my 
 long journey and the many privations I had suffered, 
 while he stood there in his full strength with a deadly 
 weapon in his hand. 
 
 Nothing was left but to put a bold face on, greet 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 283 
 
 him in a friendly way, and invent some plausible 
 story to account for my action in secretly leaving the 
 village. 
 
 He was now standing still, silently regarding me, 
 and glancing round I saw that he was not alone: 
 at a distance of about forty yards on my right hand 
 two other dusky forms appeared watching me from 
 the deep shade. 
 
 " Piake ! " I cried, advancing three or four steps. 
 
 " You have returned," he answered, but without 
 moving. " Where from? " 
 
 " Riolama." 
 
 He shook his head, then asked where it was. 
 
 " Twenty days towards the setting sun," I said. 
 As he remained silent I added, " I heard that I could 
 find gold in the mountains there. An old man told 
 me, and we went to look for gold." 
 
 "What did you find?" 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 " Ah ! " 
 
 And so our conversation appeared to be at an end. 
 But after a few moments my intense desire to dis- 
 cover whether the savages knew aught of Rima or not 
 made me hazard a question. 
 
 " Do you live here in the forest now ? " I asked. 
 
 He shook his head, and after a while said, " We 
 come to kill animals." 
 
 " You are like me now," I returned quickly ; " you 
 fear nothing." 
 
284 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 He looked distrustfully at me, then came a little 
 nearer and said — 
 
 " You are very brave. I should not have gone 
 twenty days' journey with no weapons and only an 
 old man for companion. What weapons did you 
 have? " 
 
 I saw that he feared me, and wished to make sure 
 that I had it not in my power to do him some injury. 
 " No weapon except my knife," I replied, with as- 
 sumed carelessness. With that I raised my cloak so 
 as to let him see for himself, turning my body round 
 before him. " Have you found my pistol? " I added. 
 
 He shook his head ; but he appeared less suspicious 
 now and came close up to me. " How do you get 
 food? Where are you going? " he asked. 
 
 I answered boldly, " Food ! I am nearly starving. 
 I am going to the village to see if the women have 
 got any meat in the pot, and to tell Runi all I have 
 done since I left him." 
 
 He looked at me keenly, a little surprised at my 
 confidence perhaps, then said that he was also going 
 back and would accompany me. One of the other 
 men now advanced, blow-pipe in hand, to join us, 
 and, leaving the wood, we started to walk across the 
 savannah. 
 
 It was hateful to have to recross that savannah 
 again, to leave the woodland shadows where I had 
 hoped to find Rima ; but I was powerless : I was a 
 prisoner once more, the lost captive recovered and 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 285 
 
 not yet pardoned, probably never to be pardoned. 
 Only by means of my own cunning could I be saved, 
 and Nuflo, poor old man, must take his chance. 
 
 Again and again as we tramped over the barren 
 ground, and when we climbed the ridge, I was com- 
 pelled to stand still to recover breath, explaining to 
 Piake that I had been travelling day and night, with 
 no meat during the last three days, so that I was 
 exhausted. This was an exaggeration, but it was 
 necessary to account in some way for the faintness 
 I experienced during our walk, caused less by fatigue 
 and want of food than by anguish of mind. 
 
 At intervals I talked to him, asking after all the 
 other members of the community by name. At last, 
 thinking only of Rima, I asked him if any other per- 
 son or persons besides his people came to the wood 
 now or lived there. 
 
 He said no. 
 
 " Once," I said, " there was a daughter of the 
 Didi, a girl you all feared: is she there now? " 
 
 He looked at me with suspicion and then shook his 
 head. I dared not press him with more questions ; 
 but after an interval he said plainly, " She is not 
 there now." 
 
 And I was forced to believe him; for had Rima 
 been in the wood they would not have been there. 
 She was not there, this much I had discovered. Had 
 she, then, lost her way, or perished on that long 
 journey from Riolama? Or had she returned only 
 
286 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 to fall into the hands of her cruel enemies? My 
 heart was heavy in me ; but if these devils in human 
 shape knew more than they had told me, I must, I 
 said, hide my anxiety and wait patiently to find it 
 out, should they spare my life. And if they spared 
 me and had not spared that other sacred life inter- 
 woven with mine, the time would come when they 
 would find, too late, that they had taken to their 
 bosom a worse devil than themselves. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Y arrival at the village created some excite- 
 ment; but I was plainly no longer regarded 
 as a friend or one of the family. Runi was absent, 
 and I locked forward to his return with no little 
 apprehension; he would doubtless decide my fate. 
 Kua-ko was also away. The others sat or stood 
 about the great room, staring at me in silence. I 
 took no notice, but merely asked for food, then for 
 my hammock, which I hung up in the old place, and 
 lying down I fell into a doze. Runi made his ap- 
 pearance at dusk. I rose and greeted him, but he 
 spoke no word, and, until he went to his hammock, 
 sat in sullen silence, ignoring my presence. 
 
 On the following day the crisis came. We were 
 once more gathered in the room — all but Kua-ko and 
 another of the men, who had not yet returned from 
 some expedition — and for the space of half an hour 
 not a word was spoken by anyone. Something was 
 expected; even the children were strangely still, and 
 whenever one of the pet birds strayed in at the open 
 door, uttering a little plaintive note, it was chased 
 out again, but without a sound. At length Runi 
 
 straightened himself on his seat and fixed his eyes 
 
 287 
 
288 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 on me; then cleared his throat and began a long 
 harangue, delivered in the loud, monotonous sing- 
 song which I knew so well and which meant that the 
 occasion was an important one. And as is usual in 
 such efforts, the same thought and expressions were 
 used again and again, and yet again, with dull, angry 
 insistence. The orator of Guayana to be impressive 
 must be long, however little he may have to say. 
 Strange as it may seem, I listened critically to him, 
 not without a feeling of scorn at his lower intelli- 
 gence. But I was easier in my mind now. From the 
 very fact of his addressing such a speech to me I was 
 convinced that he wished not to take my life, and 
 would not do so if I could clear myself of the sus- 
 picion of treachery. 
 
 I was a white man, he said, they were Indians ; 
 nevertheless they had treated me well. They had 
 fed me and sheltered me. They had done a great 
 deal for me : they had taught me the use of the zaba- 
 tana, and had promised to make one for me, asking 
 for nothing in return. They had also promised me 
 a wife. How had I treated them? I had deserted 
 them, going away secretly to a distance, leaving 
 them in doubt as to my intentions. How could they 
 tell why I had gone, and where? They had an 
 enemy. Managa was his name; he and his people 
 hated them ; I knew that he wished them evil ; I knew 
 where to find him, for they had told me. That was 
 what they thought when I suddenly left them. Now 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 289 
 
 I returned to them, saying that I had been to Rio- 
 lama. He knew where Riolama was, although he 
 had never been there: it was so far. Why did I go 
 to Riolama? It was a bad place. There were In- 
 dians there, a few; but they were not good Indians 
 like those of Parahuari, and would kill a white man. 
 Had I gone there? Why had I gone there? 
 
 He finished at last, and it was my turn to speak, 
 but he had given me plenty of time, and my reply 
 was ready " I have heard you," I said. " Your 
 words are good words. They are the words of a 
 friend. I am the white man's friend, you say : is he 
 my friend? He went away secretly, saying no 
 word: why did he go without speaking to his friend 
 who had treated him well ? Has he been to my enemy 
 Managa? Perhaps he is a friend of my enemy? 
 Where has he been? I must now answer these 
 things, saying true words to my friend. You are an 
 Indian, I am a white man. You do not know all the 
 white man's thoughts. These are the things I wish 
 to tell you. In the white man's country are two 
 kinds of men. There are the rich men, who have all 
 that a man can desire — houses made of stone, full of 
 fine things, fine clothes, fine weapons, fine ornaments ; 
 and they have horses, cattle, sheep, dogs — everything 
 they desire. Because they have gold, for with gold 
 the white man buys everything. The other kind of 
 white men are the poor, who have no gold and cannot 
 buy or have anything: they must work hard for the 
 
290 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 rich man for the little food he gives them, and a 
 rag to cover their nakedness ; and if he gives them 
 shelter they have it ; if not they must lie down in the 
 rain out of doors. In my own country, a hundred 
 days from here, I was the son of a great chief, who 
 had much gold, and when he died it was all mine, and 
 I was rich. But I had an enemy, one worse than 
 Managa, for he was rich and had many people. And 
 in a war his people overcame mine, and he took my 
 gold, and all I possessed, making me poor. The In- 
 dian kills his enemy, but the white man takes his 
 gold, and that is worse than death. Then I said: 
 I have been a rich man and now I am poor, and 
 must work like a dog for some rich man, for the 
 sake of the little food he will throw me at the end 
 of each day. No, I cannot do it ! I will go away 
 and live with the Indians, so that those who have 
 seen me a rich man shall never see me working like 
 a dog for a master, and cry out and mock at me. 
 For the Indians are not like white men: they hav<; 
 no gold; they are not rich and poor; all are alike. 
 One roof covers them from the rain and sun. All 
 have weapons which they make ; all kill birds in the 
 forest and catch fish in the rivers ; and the women 
 cook the meat and all eat from one pot. And with 
 the Indians, I will be an Indian, and hunt in the 
 forest and eat with them and drink with them. Then 
 I left my country and came here, and lived with you, 
 Runi, and was well treated. And now, why did I 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 291 
 
 go away? This I have now to tell you. After I 
 had been here a certain time I went over there to the 
 forest. You wished me not to go, because of an 
 evil thing, a daughter of the Didi, that lived there ; 
 but I feared nothing and went. There I met an 
 old man, who talked to me in the white man's 
 language. He had travelled and seen much, and told 
 me one strange thing. On a mountain at Riolama 
 he told me that he had seen a great lump of gold, as 
 much as a man could carry. And when I heard this 
 I said, * With the gold I could return to my country, 
 and buy weapons for myself and all my people and 
 go to war with my enemy and deprive him of all his 
 possessions and serve him as he served me.' I asked 
 the old man to take me to Riolama ; and when he 
 had consented I went away from here without saying 
 a word, so as not to be prevented. It is far to Rio- 
 lama, and I had no weapons ; but I feared nothing. 
 I said, * If I must fight I must fight, and if I must 
 be killed I must be killed.' But when I got to Rio- 
 lama I found no gold. There was only a yellow 
 stone which the old man had mistaken for gold. It 
 was yellow, like gold, but it would buy nothing. 
 Therefore I came back to Parahuari again, to my 
 friend; and if he is angry with me still because I 
 went away without informing him, let him say, * Go 
 and seek elsewhere for a new friend, for I am your 
 friend no longer.' " 
 
 I concluded thus boldly, because I did not wish 
 
292 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 him to know that I had suspected him of harbouring 
 any sinister designs, or that I looked on our quarrel 
 as a very serious one. When I had finished speaking 
 he emitted a sound which expressed neither approval 
 nor disapproval, but only the fact that he had heard 
 me. But I was satisfied. His expression had un- 
 dergone a favourable change; it was less grim. 
 After a while he remarked, with a peculiar twitching 
 of the mouth which might have developed into a 
 smile, " The white man will do much to get gold. 
 You walked twenty days to see a yellow stone that 
 would buy nothing." It was fortunate that he took 
 this view of the case, which was flattering to his In- 
 dian nature, and perhaps touched his sense of the 
 ludicrous. At all events, he said nothing to discredit 
 my story, to which they had all listened with pro- 
 found interest. 
 
 From that time it seemed to be tacitly agreed to 
 let bygones be bygones ; and I could see that as the 
 dangerous feeling that had threatened my life di- 
 minished the old pleasure they had once found in my 
 company returned. But my feelings towards them 
 did not change, nor could they while that black and 
 terrible suspicion concerning Rima was in my heart. 
 I talked again freely with them, as if there had been 
 no break in the old friendly relations. If they 
 watched me furtively whenever I went out of doors I 
 affected not to see it. I set to work to repair my 
 rude guitar, which had been broken in my absence, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 293 
 
 and studied to show them a cheerful countenance. 
 But when alone, or in my hammock, hidden from their 
 eyes, free to look into my own heart, then I was con- 
 scious that something new and strange had come into 
 my life; that a new nature, black and implacable, 
 had taken the place of the old. And sometimes it 
 was hard to conceal this fury that burnt in me; 
 sometimes I felt an impulse to spring like a tiger on 
 one of the Indians, to hold him fast by the throat 
 until the secret I wished to learn was forced from 
 his lips, then to dash his brains out against the stone. 
 But they were many, and there was no choice but to 
 be cautious and patient if I wished to outwit them 
 with a cunning superior to their own. 
 
 Three days after my arrival at the village, Kua-ko 
 returned with his companion. I greeted him with 
 affected warmth, but was really pleased that he was 
 back, believing that if the Indians knew anything of 
 Rima he among them all would be most likely to 
 tell it. 
 
 Kua-ko appeared to have brought some important 
 news, which he discussed with Runi and the others ; 
 and on the following day I noticed that preparations 
 for an expedition were in progress. Spears and 
 bows and arrows were got ready, but not blow-pipes, 
 and I knew by this that the expedition would not be 
 a hunting one. Having discovered so much, also 
 that only four men were going out, I called Kua-ko 
 aside and begged him to let me go with them. He 
 
294 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 seemed pleased at the proposal, and at once repeated 
 it to Runi, who considered for a little and then con- 
 sented. 
 
 By-and-by he said, touching his bow, " You cannot 
 fight with our weapons ; what will you do if we meet 
 an enemy? " 
 
 I smiled and returned that I would not run away. 
 All I wished to show him was that his enemies were 
 my enemies, that I was ready to fight for my friend. 
 
 He was pleased at my words, and said no more and 
 gave me no weapons. Next morning, however, when 
 we set out before daylight, I made the discovery that 
 he was carrying my revolver fastened to his waist. 
 He had concealed it carefully under the one simple 
 garment he wore, but it bulged slightly, and so the 
 secret was betrayed. I had never believed that he 
 had lost it, and I was convinced that he took it now 
 with the object of putting it into my hands at the 
 last moment in case of meeting with an enemy. 
 
 From the village we travelled in a north-westerly 
 direction, and before noon camped in a grove of 
 dwarf trees, where we remained until the sun was 
 low, then continued our walk through a rather barren 
 country. At night we camped again beside a small 
 stream, only a few inches deep, and after a meal of 
 smoked meat and parched maize prepared to sleep 
 till dawn on the next da}\ 
 
 Sitting by the fire I resolved to make a first at- 
 tempt to discover from Kua-ko anything concerning 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 295 
 
 Rima which might be known to him. Instead of 
 lying down when the others did I remained seated, 
 my guardian also sitting — no doubt waiting for me 
 to lie down first. Presently I moved nearer to him 
 and began a conversation in a low voice, anxious not 
 to rouse the attention of the other men. 
 
 " Once you said that Oalava would be given to 
 me for a wife," I began. " Some day I shall want a 
 wife." 
 
 He nodded approval, and remarked sententiously 
 that the desire to possess a wife was common to all 
 men. 
 
 " What has been left to me ? " I said despondingly 
 and spreading out my hands. " My pistol gone, 
 and did I not give Runi the tinder-box, and the little 
 box with a cock painted on it to you? I had no re- 
 turn — not even the blow-pipe. How, then, can I 
 get me a wife ? " 
 
 He, like the others — dull-witted savage that he 
 was — had come to the belief that I was incapable of 
 the cunning and duplicity they practised. I could 
 not see a green parrot sitting silent and motionless 
 amidst the green foliage as they could; I had not 
 their preternatural keenness of sight; and, in like 
 manner, to deceive with lies and false seeming was 
 their faculty and not mine. He fell readily into the 
 trap. My return to practical subjects pleased him. 
 He bade me hope that Oalava might yet be mine 
 in spite of my poverty. It was not always necessary 
 
296 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 to have things to get a wife: to be able to maintain 
 her was enough ; some day I would be like one of 
 themselves, able to kill animals and catch fish. Be- 
 sides, did not Runi wish to keep me with them for 
 other reasons? But he could not keep me wifeless. 
 I could do much: I could sing and make music; I 
 was brave and feared nothing; I could teach the 
 children to fight. 
 
 He did not say, however, that I could teach any- 
 thing to one of his years and attainments. 
 
 I protested that he gave me too much praise, that 
 they were just as brave. Did they not show a cour- 
 age equal to mine by going every day to hunt in that 
 wood which was inhabited by the daughter of the 
 Didi? 
 
 I came to this subject with fear and trembling, 
 but he took it quietly. He shook his head, and then 
 all at once began to tell me how they first came to 
 go there to hunt. He said that a few days after I 
 had secretly disappeared, two men and a woman, re- 
 turning home from a distant place where they had 
 been on a visit to a relation, stopped at the village. 
 These travellers related that two days' journey from 
 Ytaioa they had met three persons travelling in an 
 opposite direction: an old man with a white beard, 
 followed by two yellow dogs, a young man in a big 
 cloak, and a strange-looking girl. Thus it came to 
 be known that I had left the wood with the old man 
 and the daughter of the Didi. It was great news to 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 297 
 
 them, for they did not believe that we had any inten- 
 tion of returning, and at once they began to hunt 
 in the wood, and went there every day, killing birds, 
 monkeys, and other animals in numbers. 
 
 His words had begun to excite me greatly, but I 
 studied to appear calm, and only slightly interested, 
 so as to draw him on to say more. 
 
 " Then we returned," I said at last. " But only 
 two of us, and not together. I left the old man on 
 the road, and she left us in Riolama. She went away 
 from us into the mountains — who knows whither ! " 
 
 " But she came back ! " he returned, with a gleam 
 of devilish satisfaction in his eyes that made the 
 blood run cold in my veins. 
 
 It was hard to dissemble still, to tempt him to say 
 something that would madden me ! " No, no," I an- 
 swered, after considering his words. " She feared 
 to return ; she went away to hide herself in the great 
 mountains beyond Riolama. She could not come 
 back." 
 
 " But she came back ! " he persisted, with that tri- 
 umphant gleam in his eyes once more. Under my 
 cloak my hand had clutched my knife-handle, but I 
 strove hard against the fierce, almost maddening im- 
 pulse to pluck it out and bury it, quick as lightning, 
 in his accursed throat. 
 
 He continued : " Seven days before you returned 
 we saw her in the wood. We were always expecting, 
 watching, always afraid; and when hunting we were 
 
298 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 three and four together. On that day I and three 
 others saw her. It was in an open place, where the 
 trees are big and wide apart. We started up and 
 chased her when she ran from us, but feared to shoot. 
 And in one moment she climbed up into a small tree, 
 then, like a monkey, passed from its highest branches 
 into a big tree. We could not see her there, but she 
 was there in the big tree, for there was no other tree 
 near — no way of escape. Three of us sat down to 
 watch, and the other went back to the village. He 
 was long gone; we were just going to leave the tree, 
 fearing that she would do us some injury, when he 
 came back, and with him all the others, men, women, 
 and children. They brought axes and knives. 
 Then Runi said, ' Let no one shoot an arrow into the 
 tree thinking to hit her, for the arrow would be 
 caught in her hand and thrown back at him. We 
 must burn her in the tree ; there is no way to kill 
 her except by fire.' Then we went round and round 
 looking up, but could see nothing; and someone said, 
 She has escaped, flying like a bird from the tree; 
 but Runi answered that fire would show. So we cut 
 down the small tree, and lopped the branches off and 
 heaped them round the big trunk. Then, at a dis- 
 tance, we cut down ten more small trees, and after- 
 wards, further away, ten more, and then others, and 
 piled them all round, tree after tree, until the pile 
 reached as far from the trunk as that," and here he 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 299 
 
 pointed to a bush forty to fifty yards from where we 
 sat. 
 
 The feeling with which I had listened to this recital 
 had become intolerable. The sweat ran from me in 
 streams ; I shivered like a person in a fit of ague, and 
 clenched my teeth together to prevent them from rat- 
 tling. " I must drink," I said, cutting him short 
 and rising to my feet. He also rose, but did not 
 follow me, when, with uncertain steps, I made my way 
 to the waterside, which was ten or twelve yards away. 
 Lying prostrate on my chest, I took a long draught 
 of clear cold water, and held my face for a few mo- 
 ments in the current. It sent a chill through me, 
 drying my wet skin, and bracing me for the conclud- 
 ing part of the hideous narrative. Slowly I stepped 
 back to the fireside and sat down again, while he re- 
 sumed his old place at my side. 
 
 " You burnt the tree down," I said. " Finish tell- 
 ing me now and let me sleep — my eyes are heavy." 
 
 " Yes. While the men cut and brought trees, the 
 women and children gathered dry stuff in the forest 
 and brought it in their arms and piled it round. 
 Then they set fire to it on all sides, laughing and 
 shouting, ' Burn, burn, daughter of the Didi ! ' At 
 length all the lower branches of the big tree were on 
 fire, and the trunk was on fire, but above it was still 
 green, and we could see nothing. But the flames 
 went up higher and higher with a great noise ; and 
 
800 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 at last from the top of the tree, out of the green 
 leaves, came a great cry, like the cry of a bird, ' Abel ! 
 Abel ! ' and then looking we saw something fall ; 
 through leaves and smoke and flame it fell like a 
 great white bird killed with an arrow and falling to 
 the earth, and fell into the flames beneath. And it 
 was the daughter of the Didi, and she was burnt to 
 ashes like a moth in the flames of a fire, and no one 
 has ever heard or seen her since." 
 
 It was well for me that he spoke rapidly, and fin- 
 ished quickly. Even before he had quite concluded 
 I drew my cloak round my face and stretched myself 
 out. And I suppose that he at once followed my 
 example, but I had grown blind and deaf to outward 
 things just then. My heart no longer throbbed vio- 
 lently ; it fluttered and seemed to grow feebler and 
 feebler in its action: I remember that there was a 
 dull, rushing sound in my ears, that I gasped for 
 breath, that my life seemed ebbing away. After 
 these horrible sensations had passed, I remained 
 quiet for about half an hour ; and during this time the 
 picture of that last act in the hateful tragedy grew 
 more and more distinct and vivid in my mind, until 
 I seemed to be actually gazing on it, that my ears 
 were filled with the hissing and crackling of the fire, 
 the exultant shouts of the savages, and above all the 
 last piercing cry of " Abel ! Abel ! " from the cloud 
 of burning foliage. I could not endure it longer, 
 and rose at last to my feet. I glanced at Kua-k6 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 301 
 
 lying two or three yards away, and he, like the others, 
 was, or appeared to be, in a deep sleep ; he was lying 
 on his back, and his dark firelit face looked as still 
 and unconscious as a face of stone. Now was my 
 chance to escape — if to escape was my wish. Yes ; 
 for I now possessed the coveted knowledge, and noth- 
 ing more was to be gained by keeping with my deadly 
 enemies. And now, most fortunately for me, they 
 had brought me far on the road to that place of the 
 five hills where Managa lived — Managa, whose name 
 had been often in my mind since my return to Para- 
 huari. Glancing away from Kua-ko's still stone- 
 like face, I caught sight of that pale solitary star 
 which Runi had pointed out to me low down in the 
 northwestern sky when I had asked him where his 
 enemy lived. In that direction we had been travel- 
 ling since leaving the village ; surely if I walked all 
 night by to-morrow I could reach Managa's hunting- 
 ground, and be safe and think over what I had heard 
 and on what I had to do. 
 
 I moved softly away a few steps, then thinking 
 that it would be well to take a spear in my hand, I 
 turned back, and was surprised and startled to notice 
 that Kua-ko had moved in the interval. He had 
 turned over on his side, and his face was now towards 
 me. His eyes appeared closed, but he might be only 
 feigning sleep, and I dared not go back to pick up 
 the spear. After a moment's hesitation I moved on 
 again, and after a second glance back and seeing 
 
303 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 that he did not stir, I waded cautiously across the 
 stream, walked softly twenty or thirty yards, and 
 then began to run. At intervals I paused to listen 
 for a moment ; and presently I heard a pattering 
 sound as of footsteps coming swiftly after me. I 
 instantly concluded that Kua-ko had been awake all 
 the time watching my movements, and that he was 
 now following me. I now put forth my whole speed, 
 and while thus running could distinguish no sound. 
 That he would miss me, for it was very dark, al- 
 though with a starry sky above, was my only hope; 
 for with no weapon except my knife my chances 
 would be small indeed should he overtake me. Be- 
 sides, he had no doubt roused the others before start- 
 ing, and they would be close behind. There were no 
 bushes in that place to hide myself in and let them 
 pass me ; and presently, to make matters worse, the 
 character of the soil changed, and I was running 
 over level clayey ground, so white with a salt efflores- 
 cence that a dark object moving on it would show 
 conspicuously at a distance. Here I paused to look 
 back and listen, when distinctly came the sound of 
 footsteps, and the next moment I made out the vague 
 form of an Indian advancing at a rapid rate of speed 
 and with his uplifted spear in his hand. In the brief 
 pause I had made he had advanced almost to within 
 hurling distance of me, and turning, I sped on again, 
 throwing off my cloak to ease my flight. The next 
 time I looked back he was still in sight, but not so 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 303 
 
 near; he had stopped to pick up my cloak, which 
 would be his now, and this had given me a slight 
 advantage. I fled on, and had continued running 
 for a distance perhaps of fifty yards when an object 
 rushed past me, tearing through the flesh of my left 
 arm close to the shoulder on its way ; and not know- 
 ing that I was not badly wounded nor how near my 
 pursuer might be, I turned in desperation to meet 
 him, and saw him not above twenty-five yards away, 
 running towards me with something bright in his 
 hand. It was Kua-ko, and after wounding me with 
 his spear he was about to finish me with his knife. 
 O fortunate young savage, after such a victory, and 
 with that noble blue cloth cloak for trophy and cov- 
 ering, what fame and happiness will be yours ! A 
 change swift as lightning had come over me, a sudden 
 exultation. I was wounded, but my right hand was 
 sound and clutched a knife as good as his, and we 
 were on an equality. I waited for him calmly. All 
 weakness, grief, despair had vanished, all feelings ex- 
 cept a terrible raging desire to spill his accursed 
 blood; and my brain was clear and my nerves like 
 steel, and I remembered with something like laugh- 
 ter our old amusing encounters with rapiers of wood. 
 Ah, that was only making believe and childish play ; 
 this was reality. Could any white man, deprived of 
 his treacherous, far-killing weapon, meet the resolute 
 savage, face to face and foot to foot and equal him 
 with the old primitive weapons? Poor youth, this 
 
304 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 delusion will cost you dear ! It was scarcely an 
 equal contest when he hurled himself against me, 
 with only his savage strength and courage to match 
 my skill; in a few moments he was lying at my feet, 
 pouring out his life blood on that white thirsty plain. 
 From his prostrate form I turned, the wet, red knife 
 in my hand, to meet the others, still thinking that 
 they were on the track and close at hand. Why had 
 he stooped to pick up the cloak if they were not fol- 
 lowing — if he had not been afraid of losing it? I 
 turned only to receive their spears, to die with my 
 face to them ; nor was the thought of death terrible 
 to me ; I could die calmly now after killing my first 
 assailant. But had I indeed killed him? I asked, 
 hearing a sound like a groan escape from his lips. 
 Quickly stooping I once more drove my weapon to 
 the hilt in his prostrate form, and when he exhaled a 
 deep sigh, and his frame quivered, and the blood 
 spurted afresh, I experienced a feeling of savage joy. 
 And still no sound of hurrying footsteps came to my 
 listening ears and no vague forms appeared in the 
 darkness. I concluded that he had either left them 
 sleeping or that they had not followed in the right 
 direction. Taking up the cloak, I was about to 
 walk on, when I noticed the spear he had thrown at 
 me lying where it had fallen some yards away, and 
 picking that up also, I went on once more, still keep- 
 ing the guiding star before me. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THAT good fight had been to me like a draught 
 of wine, and made me for a while oblivious of 
 my loss and of the pain from my wound. But the 
 glow and feeling of exultation did not last: the lac- 
 erated flesh smarted; I was weak from loss of blood, 
 and oppressed with sensations of fatigue. If my 
 foes had appeared on the scene they would have made 
 an easy conquest of me ; but they came not, and I 
 continued to walk on, slowly and painfully, pausing 
 often to rest. 
 
 At last, recovering somewhat from my faint con- 
 dition, and losing all fear of being overtaken, my 
 sorrow revived in full force, and thought returned to 
 madden me. 
 
 Alas ! this bright being, like no other in its divine 
 brightness, so long in the making, now no more than 
 a dead leaf, a little dust, lost and forgotten for ever 
 — O pitiless ! O cruel ! 
 
 But I knew it all before — this law of nature and of 
 necessity, against which all revolt is idle: often had 
 the remembrance of it filled me with ineffable melan- 
 choly ; only now it seemed cruel beyond all cruelty. 
 
 Not nature the instrument, not the keen sword 
 305 
 
306 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 that cuts into the bleeding tissues, but the hand that 
 wields it — the unseen unknown something, or person, 
 that manifests itself in the horrible workings of na- 
 ture. 
 
 " Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that in- 
 tolerable heat, in that moment of supreme anguish, 
 that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, that 
 you cried not to him? To me was your cry: 
 but your poor, frail fellow-creature was not there to 
 save, or, failing that, to cast himself into the flames 
 and perish with you, hating God." 
 
 Thus, in my insufferable pain, I spoke aloud ; alone 
 in that solitary place, a bleeding fugitive in the dark 
 night, looking up at the stars I cursed the Author of 
 my being and called on Him to take back the ab- 
 horred gift of life. 
 
 Yet, according to my philosophy, how vain it was ! 
 All my bitterness and hatred and defiance were as 
 empty, as ineffectual, as utterly futile, as are the 
 supplications of the meek worshipper, and no more 
 than the whisper of a leaf, the light whirr of an in- 
 sect's wing. Whether I loved Him who was over all, 
 as when I thanked Him on my knees for guiding me 
 to where I had heard so sweet and mysterious a mel- 
 ody, or hated and defied Him as now, it all came from 
 Him — love and hate, good and evii. 
 
 But I know — I knew then — that in one thing my 
 philosophy was false, that it was not the whole truth ; 
 that though my cries did not touch nor come nea>- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 307 
 
 Him they would yet hurt me ; and, just as a prisoner 
 maddened at his unjust fate beats against the stone 
 walls of his cell until he falls back bruised and bleed- 
 ing to the floor, so did I wilfully bruise my own soul, 
 and knew that those wounds I gave myself would not 
 heal. 
 
 Of that night, the beginning of the blackest period 
 of my life, I shall say no more; and over subsequent 
 events I shall pass quickly. 
 
 Morning found me at a distance of many miles 
 from the scene of my duel with the Indian, in a 
 broken, hilly country, varied with savannah and open 
 forest. I was well-nigh spent with my long march, 
 and felt that unless food was obtained before many 
 hours my situation would be indeed desperate. 
 With labour I managed to climb to the summit of a 
 hill about three hundred feet high, in order to survey 
 the surrounding country, and found that it was one 
 of a group of five, and conjectured that these were 
 the five hills of Uritay, and that I was in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Managa's village. Coming down I pro- 
 ceeded to the next hill, which was higher ; and before 
 reaching it came to a stream in a narrow valley divid- 
 ing the hills, and proceeding along its banks in search 
 of a crossing-place, I came full in sight of the settle- 
 ment sought for. As I approached people were seen 
 moving hurriedly about; and by the time I arrived, 
 walking slowly and painfully, seven or eight men were 
 standing before the village, some with spears in their 
 
308 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 hands, the women and children behind them, all star- 
 ing curiously at me. Drawing near I cried out in a 
 somewhat feeble voice that I was seeking for Ma- 
 naga; whereupon a grey-haired man stepped forth, 
 spear in hand, and replied that he was Managa, and 
 demanded to know why I sought him. I told him a 
 part of my story, enough to show that I had a deadly 
 feud with Runi, that I had escaped from him after 
 killing one of his people. 
 
 I was taken in and supplied with food ; my wound 
 was examined and dressed ; and then I was permitted 
 to lie down and sleep, while Managa, with half a dozen 
 of his people, hurriedly started to visit the scene of 
 my fight with Kua-k.6, not only to verify my story, 
 but partly with the hope of meeting Runi. I did 
 not see him again until the next morning, when he in- 
 formed me that he had found the spot where I had 
 been overtaken, that the dead man had been discov- 
 ered by the others and carried back towards Para- 
 huari. He had followed the trace for some distance, 
 and he was satisfied that Runi had come thus far in 
 the first place only with the intention of spying on 
 him. 
 
 My arrival, and the strange tidings I had brought, 
 had thrown the village into a great commotion; it 
 was evident that from that time Managa lived in con- 
 stant apprehension of a sudden attack from his old 
 enemy. This gave me great satisfaction ; it was mj 
 study to keep the feeling alive, and, more than that, 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 309 
 
 to drop continual hints of his enemy's secret mur- 
 derous purpose, until he was wrought up to a kind of 
 frenzy of mingled fear and rage. And being of a 
 suspicious and somewhat truculent temper, he one 
 day all at once turned on me as the immediate cause 
 of his miserable state, suspecting perhaps that I only 
 wished to make an instrument of him. But I was 
 strangely bold and careless of danger then, and only 
 mocked at his rage, telling him proudly that I feared 
 him not; that Runi, his mortal enemy and mine, 
 feared not him but me ; that Runi knew perfectly well 
 where I had taken refuge and would not venture to 
 make his meditated attack while I remained in his vil- 
 lage, but would wait for my departure. " Kill me, 
 Managa," I cried, smiting my chest as I stood facing 
 him. " Kill me, and the result will be that he will 
 come upon you unawares and murder you all, as he 
 has resolved to do sooner or later." 
 
 After that speech he glared at me in silence, then 
 flung down the spear he had snatched up in his sud- 
 den rage and stalked out of the house and into the 
 wood, but before long he was back again seated in 
 his old place, brooding on my words with a face black 
 as night. 
 
 It is painful to recall that secret dark chapter of 
 my life — that period of moral insanity. But I wish 
 not to be a hypocrite, conscious or unconscious, 
 to delude myself or another with this plea of insan- 
 ity. My mind was very clear just then; past and 
 
810 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 present were clear to me; the future clearest of all: 
 I could measure the extent of my action and speculate 
 on its future effect, and my sense of right or wrong — 
 of individual responsibility — was more vivid than at 
 any other period of my life. Can I even say that I 
 was blinded by passion? Driven, perhaps, but cer- 
 tainly not blinded. For no reaction, or submission, 
 had followed on that furious revolt against the un- 
 known being, personal or not, that is behind nature, 
 in whose existence I believed. I was still in revolt: 
 T would hate Him, and show my hatred by being like 
 Him, as He appears to us reflected in that mirror of 
 Nature. Had He given me good gifts — the sense of 
 right and wrong and sweet humanity? The beauti- 
 ful sacred flower He had caused to grow in me I 
 would crush ruthlessly; its beauty and fragrance and 
 grace would be dead for ever ; there was nothing evil, 
 nothing cruel and contrary to my nature, that I 
 would not be guilty of, glorying in my guilt. This 
 was not the temper of a few days : I remained for 
 close upon two months at Managa's village, never 
 repenting nor desisting in my efforts to induce the 
 Indians to join me in that most barbarous adventure 
 on which my heart was set. 
 
 I succeeded in the end : it would have been strange 
 if I had not. The horrible details need not be given. 
 Managa did not wait for his enemy, but fell on him 
 unexpectedly, an hour after nightfall in his own vil- 
 lage. If I had really been insane during those two 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 311 
 
 months, if some cloud had been on me, some demonia- 
 cal force dragging me on, the cloud and insanity van- 
 ished and the constraint was over in one moment, 
 when that hellish enterprise was completed. It was 
 the sight of an old woman, lying where she had been 
 struck down, the fire of the blazing house lighting 
 her wide-open glassy eyes and white hair dabbled in 
 blood, which suddenly, as by a miracle, wrought this 
 change in my brain. For they were all dead at last, 
 old and young, all who had lighted the fire round that 
 great green tree in which Rima had taken refuge, who 
 had danced round the blaze, shouting, " Burn ! 
 burn ! " 
 
 At the moment my glance fell on that prostrate 
 form, I paused and stood still, trembling like a per- 
 son struck with a sudden pang in the heart, who 
 thinks that his last moment has come to him una- 
 wares. After a while I slunk away out of the great 
 circle of firelight into the thick darkness beyond. 
 Instinctively I turned towards the forests across the 
 savannah — my forest again; and fled away from the 
 noise and the sight of flames, never pausing until I 
 found myself within the black shadow of the trees. 
 Into the deeper blackness of the interior I dared 
 not venture: on the border I paused to ask myself 
 what I did there alone in the night time. Sitting 
 down I covered my face with my hands as if to hide 
 it more effectually than it could be hidden by night 
 and the forest shadows. What horrible thing — what 
 
312 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 calamity that frightened my soul to think of, had 
 fallen on me? The revulsion of feeling, the unspeak- 
 able horror, the remorse, was more than I could bear. 
 I started up with a cry of anguish, and would have 
 slain myself to escape at that moment ; but Nature is 
 not always and utterly cruel, and on this occasion 
 she came to my aid. Consciousness forsook me, and 
 I lived not again until the light of early morning was 
 in the east ; then found myself lying on the wet herb- 
 age — wet with rain that had lately fallen. My phys- 
 ical misery was now so great that it prevented me 
 from dwelling on the scenes witnessed on the previous 
 evening. Nature was again merciful in this. I only 
 remembered that it was necessary to hide myself, in 
 case the Indians should be still in the neighbourhood 
 and pay the wood a visit. Slowly and painfully I 
 crept away into the forest, and there sat for several 
 hours, scarcely thinking at all, in a half-stupefied 
 condition. At noon the sun shone out and dried the 
 wood. I felt no hunger, only a vague sense of bodily 
 misery, and with it the fear that if I left my hiding- 
 place I might meet some human creature face to face. 
 This fear prevented me from stirring until the twi- 
 light came, when I crept forth and made my way to 
 the border of the forest, to spend the night there. 
 Whether sleep visited me during the dark hours or 
 not I cannot say : day and night my condition seemed 
 the same ; I experienced only a dull sensation of utter 
 misery which seemed in spirit and flesh alike, an in- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 318 
 
 ability to think clearly, or for more than a few 
 moments consecutively, about anything. Scenes in 
 which I had been principal actor came and went, as 
 in a dream when the will slumbers : now with devilish 
 ingenuity and persistence I was working on Managa's 
 mind ; now standing motionless in the forest listening 
 for that sweet, mysterious melody ; now staring 
 aghast at old Cla-cla's wide-open glassy eyes and 
 white hair dabbled in blood; then suddenly, in the 
 cave at Riolama, I was fondly watching the slow 
 return to life and colour to Xtima's still face. 
 
 When morning came again I felt so weak that a 
 vague fear of sinking down and dying of hunger at 
 last roused me and sent me forth in quest of food. 
 I moved slowly and my eyes were dim to see, but I 
 knew so well where to seek for small morsels — small 
 edible roots and leaf-stalks, berries, and drops of 
 congealed gum — that it would have been strange in 
 that rich forest if I had not been able to discover 
 something to stay my famine. It was little, but it 
 sufficed for the day. Once more Nature was merciful 
 to me; for that diligent seeking among the conceal- 
 ing leaves left no interval for thought; every chance 
 morsel gave a momentary pleasure, and as I pro- 
 longed my search my steps grew firmer, the dimness 
 passed from my eyes. I was more forgetful of self, 
 more eager, and like a wild animal with no thought or 
 feeling beyond its immediate wants. Fatigued at the 
 end, I fell asleep as soon as darkness brought my 
 
314 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 busy rambles to a close, and did not wake until an- 
 other morning dawned. 
 
 M j hunger was extreme now. The wailing notes 
 of a pair of small birds, persistently flitting round 
 me, or perched with gaping bills and wings trembling 
 with agitation, served to remind me that it was now 
 breeding-time ; also that Rima had taught me to find 
 a small bird's-nest. She found them only to delight 
 her eyes with the sight; but they would be food for 
 me ; the crystal and yellow fluid in the gem-like, white 
 or blue or red-speckled shells would help to keep me 
 alive. All day I hunted, listening to every note and 
 cry, watching the motions of every winged thing, and 
 found, besides gums and fruits, over a score of nests 
 containing eggs, mostly of small birds, and although 
 the labour was great and the scratches many, I was 
 well satisfied with the result. 
 
 A few days later I found a supply of Haima gum, 
 and eagerly began picking it from the tree ; not that 
 it could be used, but the thought of the brilliant light 
 it gave was so strong in my mind that mechanically I 
 gathered it all. The possession of this gum, when 
 night closed round me again, produced in me an in- 
 tense longing for artificial light and warmth. The 
 darkness was harder than ever to endure. I envied 
 the fireflies their natural lights, and ran about in the 
 dusk to capture a few and hold them in the hollow of 
 my two hands, for the sake of their cold, fitful flashes. 
 On the following day I wasted two or three hour* 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 315 
 
 trying to get fire in the primitive method with dry 
 wood, but failed, and lost much time, and suffered 
 more than ever from hunger in consequence. Yet 
 there was fire in everything; even when I struck at 
 hard wood with my knife sparks were emitted. If I 
 could only arrest those wonderful heat and light- 
 giving sparks! And all at once, as if I had just 
 lighted upon some new, wonderful truth, it occurred 
 to me that with my steel hunting-knife and a piece of 
 flint fire could be obtained. Immediately I set about 
 preparing tinder with dry moss, rotten wood, and wild 
 cotton; and in a short time I had the wished fire, 
 and heaped wood dry and green on it to make it large. 
 I nursed it well, and spent the night beside it ; and it 
 also served to roast some huge white grubs which I 
 had found in the rotten wood of a prostrate trunk. 
 The sight of these great grubs had formerly dis- 
 gusted me; but they tasted good to me now, and 
 stayed my hunger, and that was all I looked for in 
 my wild forest food. 
 
 For a long time an undefined feeling prevented me 
 from going near the site of Nuflo's burnt lodge. I 
 went there at last ; and the first thing I did was to go 
 all round the fatal spot, cautiously peering into the 
 rank herbage, as if I feared a lurking serpent ; and at 
 length, at some distance from the blackened heap, I 
 discovered a human skeleton, and knew it to be Nu- 
 flo's. In his day he had been a great armadillo 
 hunter, and these quaint carrion eaters had no doubt 
 
316 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 revenged themselves by devouring his flesh when they 
 found him dead — killed by the savages. 
 
 Having once returned to this spot of many memo- 
 ries, I could not quit it again ; while my wild wood- 
 land life lasted here must I have my lair, and being 
 here I could not leave that mournful skeleton above 
 ground. With labour I excavated a pit to bury it, 
 careful not to cut or injure a broad-leafed creeper 
 that had begun to spread itself over the spot; and 
 after refilling the hole I drew the long, trailing stems 
 over the mound. 
 
 " Sleep well, old man," said I, when my work was 
 done ; and these few words, implying neither censure 
 nor praise, was all the burial service that old Nuflo 
 had from me. 
 
 I then visited the spot where the old man, assistea 
 by me, had concealed his provisions before starting 
 for Riolama, and was pleased to find that it had not 
 been discovered by the Indians. Besides the store of 
 tobacco-leaf, maize, pumpkin, potatoes, and cassava- 
 bread, and the cooking utensils, I found among other 
 things a chopper — a great acquisition, since with it 
 I would be able to cut down small palms and bamboos 
 to make myself a hut. 
 
 The possession of a supply of food left me time 
 for many things : time in the first place to make my 
 own conditions ; doubtless after them there would be 
 further progression on the old lines — luxuries added 
 to necessaries ; a healthful, fruitful life of thought 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 317 
 
 and action combined ; and at last a peaceful, contem- 
 plative old age. 
 
 I cleared away ashes and rubbish, and marked out 
 the very spot where Rima's separate bower had been 
 for my habitation, which I intended to make small. 
 In five days it was finished ; then after lighting a fire, 
 I stretched myself out in my dry bed of moss and 
 leaves with a feeling that was almost triumphant. 
 Let the rain now fall in torrents, putting out the 
 firefly's lamp ; let the wind and thunder roar their 
 loudest, and the lightnings smite the earth with in- 
 tolerable light, frightening the poor monkeys in their 
 wet, leafy habitations, little would I heed it all on 
 my dry bed, under my dry, palm-leaf thatch, with 
 glorious fire to keep me company and protect me 
 from my ancient enemy, Darkness. 
 
 From that first sleep under shelter I woke re- 
 freshed, and was not driven by the cruel spur of hun- 
 ger into the wet forest. The wished time had come 
 of rest from labour, of leisure for thought. Resting 
 here, just where she had rested, night by night clasp- 
 ing a visionary mother in her arms, whispering ten- 
 derest words in a visionary ear, I too now clasped her 
 in my arms — a visionary Rima. How different the 
 nights had seemed when I was without shelter, before 
 I had rediscovered fire! How had I endured it? 
 That strange ghostly gloom of the woods at night- 
 time full of innumerable strange shapes ; still and 
 dark, yet with something seen at times moving amidst 
 
318 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 them, dark and vague and strange also — an owl, per- 
 haps, or bat, or great winged moth, or nightjar. 
 Nor had I any choice then but to listen to the night- 
 sounds of the forest; and they were various as the 
 day-sounds, and for every day-sound, from the faint- 
 est lisping and softest trill to the deep boomings and 
 piercing cries, there was an analogue ; always with 
 something mysterious, unreal in its tone, something 
 proper to the night. They were ghostly sounds, ut- 
 tered by the ghosts of dead animals ; they were a 
 hundred different things by turns, but always with a 
 meaning in them, which I vainly strove to catch — 
 something to be interpreted only by a sleeping fac- 
 ulty in us, lightly sleeping, and now, now on the very 
 point of awaking! 
 
 Now the gloom and the mystery was shut out ; now 
 I had that which stood in the place of pleasure to 
 me, and was more than pleasure. It was a mournful 
 rapture to lie awake now, wishing not for sleep and 
 oblivion, hating the thought of daylight that would 
 come at last to drown and scare away my vision. To 
 be with Rima again — my lost Rima recovered — mine, 
 mine at last ! No longer the old vexing doubt now — 
 " You are you and I am I — why is it ? " — the ques- 
 tion asked when our souls were near together, like two 
 raindrops side by side, drawing irresistibly nearer, 
 ever nearer: for now they had touched and were not 
 two, but one inseparable drop, crystallised beyond 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 319 
 
 change, not to be disintegrated by time, nor shattered 
 by death's blow, nor resolved by any alchemy. 
 
 I had other company besides this unfailing vision, 
 and the bright dancing fire that talked to me in its 
 fantastic fire language. It was my custom to secure 
 the door well on retiring: grief had perhaps chilled 
 my blood, for I suffered less from heat than from cold 
 at this period, and the fire seemed grateful all night 
 long; I was also anxious to exclude all small winged 
 and creeping night-wanderers. But to exclude them 
 entirely proved impossible: through a dozen invisible 
 chinks they would find their way to me ; also some 
 entered by day to lie concealed until after nightfall. 
 A monstrous hairy hermit spider found an asylum in 
 a dusky corner of the hut, under the thatch, and day 
 after day he was there, all day long, sitting close 
 and motionless ; but at dark he invariably disap- 
 peared — who knows on what murderous errand ! His 
 hue was a deep dead-leaf yellow, with a black and 
 grey pattern, borrowed from some wild cat; and so 
 large was he that his great outspread hairy legs, ra- 
 diating from the flat disc of his body, would have 
 covered a man's open hand. It was easy to see him 
 in my small interior ; often in the night-time my eyes 
 would stray to his corner, never to encounter that 
 strange hairy figure ; but daylight failed not to bring 
 him. He troubled me ; but now, for Rima's sake, I 
 could slay no living thing except from motives of 
 
320 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 hunger. I had it in my mind to injure him — to 
 strike off one of his legs, which would not be missed 
 much, as they were many — so as to make him go 
 away and return no more to so inhospitable a place. 
 But courage failed me. He might come stealthily 
 back at night to plunge his long, crooked falces into 
 my throat, poisoning my blood with fever and delir- 
 ium and black death. So I left him alone, and 
 glanced furtively and fearfully at him, hoping that 
 he had not divined any thoughts ; thus we lived on 
 unsocially together. More companionable, but still 
 in an uncomfortable way, were the large crawling, 
 running insects — crickets, beetles, and others. They 
 were shapely and black and polished, and ran about 
 here and there on the floor, just like intelligent little 
 horseless carriages ; then they would pause with their 
 immovable eyes fixed on me, seeing, or in some mys- 
 terious way divining my presence ; their pliant horns 
 waving up and down, like delicate instruments used 
 to test the air. Centipedes and millipedes in dozens 
 came too, and were not welcome. I feared not their 
 venom, but it was a weariness to see them; for they 
 seemed no living things, but the vertebrae of snakes 
 and eels and long slim fishes, dead and desiccated^ 
 made to move mechanically over walls and floor by 
 means of some jugglery of nature. I grew skilful at 
 picking them up with a pair of pliant green twigs, to 
 thrust them into the outer darkness. 
 
 One night a moth fluttered in and alighted on my 
 
GREEN MANSIONS S21 
 
 hand as I sat by the fire, causing me to hold my 
 breath as I gazed on it. Its fore wings were pale 
 grey, with shadings dark and light written all over in 
 finest characters with some twilight mystery or leg- 
 end; but the round underwings were clear amber- 
 yellow, veined like a leaf with red and purple veins ; a 
 thing of such exquisite chaste beauty that the sight 
 of it gave me a sudden shock of pleasure. Very soon 
 it flew up circling about, and finally lighted on the 
 palm-leaf thatch directly over the fire. The heat, I 
 thought, would soon drive it from the spot ; and, ris- 
 ing, I opened the door, so that it might find its way 
 out again into its own cool, dark, flowery world. 
 And standing by the open door I turned and ad- 
 dressed it : " O night-wanderer of the pale, beauti- 
 ful wings, go forth, and should you by chance meet 
 her somewhere in the shadowy depths, revisiting her 
 
 old haunts, be my messenger " Thus much had 
 
 I spoken, when the frail thing loosened its hold to fall 
 without a flutter, straight and swift, into the white 
 blaze beneath. I sprang forward with a shriek, and 
 stood staring into the fire, my whole frame trembling 
 with a sudden, terrible emotion. Even thus had 
 Rima fallen — fallen from the great height — into the 
 flames that instantly consumed her beautiful flesh 
 and bright spirit ! O cruel Nature ! 
 
 A moth that perished in the flame; an indistinct 
 faint sound ; a dream in the night ; the semblance of a 
 shadowy form moving mist-like in the twilight gloom 
 
m% GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 of the forest, would suddenly bring back a vivid mem- 
 ory, the old anguish, to break for a while the calm of 
 that period. It was calm then after the storm. 
 Nevertheless, my health deteriorated. I ate little 
 and slept little and grew thin and weak. When I 
 looked down on the dark, glassy forest pool, where 
 Rima would look no more to see herself so much bet- 
 ter than in the small mirror of her lover's pupil, it 
 showed me a gaunt, ragged man with a tangled mass 
 of black hair falling over his shoulders, the bones of 
 his face showing through the dead-looking, sun- 
 parched skin, the sunken eyes with a gleam in them 
 that was like insanity. 
 
 To see this reflection had a strangely disturbing 
 effect on me. A torturing voice would whisper in 
 my ear : " Yes, you are evidently going mad. By- 
 and-by you will rush howling through the forest, 
 only to drop down at last and die: and no person 
 will ever find and bury your bones. Old Nuflo was 
 more fortunate in that he perished first." 
 
 " A lying voice ! " I retorted in sudden anger. 
 " My faculties were never keener than now. Not a 
 fruit can ripen but I find it. If a small bird darts 
 by with a feather or straw in its bill I mark its flight, 
 and it will be a lucky bird if I do not find its nest in 
 the end. Could a savage born in the forest do more? 
 He would starve where I find food ! " 
 
 " Ay, yes, there is nothing wonderful in that," 
 answered the voice. " The stranger from a cold 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 323 
 
 country suffers less from the heat, when days are 
 hottest, than the Indian who knows no other climate. 
 But mark the result! The stranger dies, while the 
 Indian, sweating and gasping for breath, survives. 
 In like manner the low-minded savage, cut off from 
 all human fellowship, keeps his faculties to the end, 
 while you** finer brain proves your ruin." 
 
 I cut from a tree a score of long, blunt thorns, 
 tough and black as whalebone, and drove them 
 through a strip of wood in which I had burnt a row 
 of holes to receive them, and made myself a comb, 
 and combed out my long, tangled hair to improve my 
 appearance. 
 
 " It is not the tangled condition of your hair," 
 persisted the voice, " but your eyes, so wild and 
 strange in their expression, that show the approach 
 of madness. Make your locks as smooth as you like, 
 and add a garland of those scarlet, star-shaped blos- 
 soms hanging from the bush behind you — crown 
 yourself as you crowned old Cla-cla — but the crazed 
 look will remain just the same." 
 
 And being no longer able to reply, rage and des- 
 peration drove me to an act which only seemed to 
 prove that the hateful voice had prophesied truly. 
 Taking up a stone I hurled it down on the water to 
 shatter the image I saw there, as if it had been no 
 faithful reflection of myself, but a travesty, cun- 
 ningly made of enamelled clay or some other material, 
 and put there by some malicious enemy to mock me. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 "ANY days had passed since the hut was made 
 — how many may not be known, since I 
 notched no stick and knotted no cord — yet never in 
 my rambles in the wood had I seen that desolate ash- 
 heap where the fire had done its work. Nor had I 
 looked for it. On the contrary, my wish was never 
 to see it, and the fear of coming accidentally upon it 
 made me keep to the old familiar paths. But at 
 length, one night, without thinking of Rima's fear- 
 ful end, it all at once occurred to me that the hated 
 savage, whose blood I had shed on the white savan- 
 nah, might have only been practising his natural de- 
 ceit when he told me that most pitiful story. If that 
 were so — if he had been prepared with a fictitious 
 account of her death to meet my questions — then 
 Rima might still exist: lost, perhaps, wandering in 
 some distant place, exposed to perils day and night, 
 and unable to find her way back, but living still ! 
 Living! her heart on fire with the hope of reunion 
 with me, cautiously threading her way through the 
 undergrowth of immeasurable forests ; spying out the 
 distant villages and hiding herself from the sight of 
 all men, as she knew so well how to hide ; studying 
 
 the outlines of distant mountains, to recognise some 
 
 324 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 325 
 
 familiar landmark at last, and so find her way back 
 to the old wood once more! Even now, while I sat 
 there idly musing, she might be somewhere in the 
 wood — somewhere near me; but after so long an ab- 
 sence full of apprehension, waiting in concealment 
 for what to-morrow's light might show. 
 
 I started up and replenished the fire with trem- 
 bling hands, then set the door open to let the wel- 
 coming stream out into the wood. But Rima had 
 done more; going out into the black forest in the 
 pitiless storm, she had found and led me home. 
 Could I do less! I was quickly out in the shadows 
 of the wood. Surely it was more than a mere hope 
 that made my heart beat so wildly ! How could a 
 sensation so strangely sudden, so irresistible in its 
 power, possess me unless she were living and near? 
 Can it be, can it be that we shall meet again? To 
 look again into your divine eyes — to hold you again 
 in my arms at last! I so changed — so different! 
 But the old love remains ; and of all that has hap- 
 pened in your absence I shall tell you nothing — not 
 one word; all shall be forgotten now — sufferings, 
 madness, crime, remorse ! Nothing shall ever vex 
 you again — not Nuflo, who vexed you every day ; for 
 he is dead now — murdered, only I shall not say that 
 — and I have decently buried his poor old sinful 
 bones. We alone together in the wood — our wood 
 now ! The sweet old days again ; for I know that 
 you would not have it different, nor would I. 
 
326 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 Thus I talked to myself, mad with the thoughts 
 of the joy that would soon be mine; and at intervals 
 I stood still and made the forest echo with my calls. 
 " Rima ! Rima ! " I called again and again, and 
 waited for some response ; and heard only the famil- 
 iar night-sounds — voices of insect and bird and tin- 
 kling tree-frog, and a low murmur in the topmost foli- 
 age, moved by some light breath of wind unfelt below. 
 I was drenched with dew, bruised and bleeding from 
 falls in the dark, and from rocks and thorns and 
 rough branches, but had felt nothing; gradually the 
 excitement burnt itself out ; I was hoarse with shout- 
 ing and ready to drop down with fatigue, and hope 
 was dead: and at length I crept back to my hut, to 
 cast myself on my grass bed and sink into a dull, 
 miserable, desponding stupor. 
 
 But on the following morning I was out once more, 
 determined to search the forest well ; since, if no evi- 
 dence of the great fire Kua-ko had described to me 
 existed, it would still be possible to believe that he 
 had lied to me, and that Rima lived. I searched all 
 day and found nothing; but the area was large, and 
 to search it thoroughly would require several days. 
 
 On the third day I discovered the fatal spot, and 
 knew that never again would I behold Rima in the 
 flesh, that my last hope had indeed been a vain one. 
 There could be no mistake: just such an open place 
 as the Indian had pictured to me was here, with giant 
 trees standing apart; while one tree stood killed and 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 827 
 
 blackened by fire, surrounded by a huge heap, sixty 
 or seventy yards across, of prostrate charred tree- 
 trunks and ashes. Here and there slender plants 
 had sprung up through the ashes, and the omnipres- 
 ent small-leaved creepers were beginning to throw 
 their pale green embroidery over the blackened 
 trunks. I looked long at the vast funeral tree that 
 had a buttressed girth of not less than fifty feet, and 
 rose straight as a ship's mast, with its top about a 
 hundred and fifty feet from the earth. What a dis- 
 tance to fall, through burning leaves and smoke, like 
 a white bird shot dead with a poisoned arrow, swift 
 and straight into that sea of flame below! How 
 cruel imagination was to turn that desolate ash-heap, 
 in spite of feathery foliage and embroidery of creep- 
 ers, into roaring leaping flames again — to bring 
 those dead savages back, men, women, and children 
 — even the little ones I had played with — to set them 
 yelling around me, " Burn ! burn ! " Oh, no this 
 damnable spot must not be her last resting-place! 
 If the fire had not utterly consumed her, bones as well 
 as sweet tender flesh, shrivelling her like a frail white- 
 winged moth into the finest white ashes, mixed insep- 
 arably with the ashes of stems and leaves innumera- 
 ble, then whatever remained of her must be conveyed 
 elsewhere to be with me, to mingle with my ashes at 
 last. 
 
 Having resolved to sift and examine the entire 
 heap, I at once set about my task. If she had 
 
328 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 climbed into the central highest branch, and had 
 fallen straight, then she would have dropped into the 
 flames not far from the roots ; and so to begin I made 
 a path to the trunk, and when darkness overtook me 
 I had worked all round the tree, in a width of three 
 to four yards, without discovering any remains. At 
 noon on the following day I found the skeleton, or, at 
 all events, the larger bones, rendered so fragile by 
 the fierce heat they had been subjected to, that they 
 fell to pieces when handled. But I was careful — how 
 careful ! — to save these last sacred relics, all that was 
 now left of Rima ! — kissing each white fragment as I 
 lifted it, and gathering them all in my old frayed 
 cloak, spread out to receive them. And when I had 
 recovered them all, even to the smallest, I took my 
 treasure home. 
 
 Another storm had shaken my soul, and had been 
 succeeded by a second calm, which was more complete 
 and promised to be more enduring than the first. 
 But it was no lethargic calm ; my brain was more 
 active than ever ; and by-and-by it found a work for 
 my hands to do, of such a character as to distinguish 
 me from all other forest hermits, fugitives from their 
 fellows, in that savage land. The calcined bones I 
 had rescued were kept in one of the big, rudely 
 shaped, half-burnt earthen jars, which Nuflo had 
 used for storing grain and other food-stuff. It was 
 of a wood-ash colour; and after I had given up my 
 search for the peculiar fine clay he had used in its 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 329 
 
 manufacture — for it had been in my mind to make a 
 more shapely funeral urn myself — I set to work to 
 ornament its surface. A portion of each day was 
 given to this artistic labour; and when the surface 
 was covered with a pattern of thorny stems, and a 
 trailing creeper with curving leaf and twining ten- 
 dril, and pendent bud and blossom, I gave it colour. 
 Purples and black only were used, obtained from the 
 juices of some deeply coloured berries; and when a 
 tint, or shade, or line failed to satisfy me I erased it, 
 to do it again ; and this so often that I never com- 
 pleted my work. I might, in the proudly modest 
 spirit of the old sculptors, have inscribed on the vase 
 the words, Abel was doing this. For was not my 
 ideal beautiful like theirs, and the best that my art 
 could do only an imperfect copy — a rude sketch? 
 A serpent was represented wound round the lower 
 portion of the jar, dull-hued, with a chain of irregu- 
 lar black spots or blotches extending along its body : 
 and if any person had curiously examined these spots 
 he would have discovered that every other one was a 
 rudely shaped letter, and that the letters, by being 
 properly divided, made the following words : — 
 
 Sin vos y siu dios y mi. 
 
 Words that to some might seem wild, even insane in 
 their extravagance, sung by some ancient forgotten 
 poet ; or possibly the motto of some love-sick knight- 
 errant, whose passion was consumed to ashes long cen- 
 
330 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 turies ago. But not wild nor insane to me, dwelling 
 alone on a vast stony plain in everlasting twilight, 
 where there was no motion, nor any sound; but all 
 things, even trees, ferns, and grasses, were stone. 
 And in that place I had sat for many a thousand 
 years, drawn up and motionless, with stony fingers 
 clasped round my legs, and forehead resting on my 
 knees ; and there would I sit, unmoving, immovable, 
 for many a thousand years to come — I, no longer I, 
 in a universe where she was not, and God was not. 
 
 The days went by, and to others grouped them- 
 selves into weeks and months ; to me they were only 
 days — not Saturday, Sunday, Monday, but nameless. 
 They were so many and their sum so great, that all 
 my previous life, all the years I had existed before 
 this solitary time, now looked like a small island im- 
 measurably far away, scarcely discernible, in the 
 midst of that endless desolate waste of nameless days. 
 
 My stock of provisions had been so long consumed 
 that I had forgotten the flavour of pulse and maize 
 and pumpkins and purple and sweet potatoes. For 
 Nuflo's cultivated patch had been destroyed by the 
 savages — not a stem, not a root had they left : and I, 
 like the sorrowful man that broods on his sorrow and 
 the artist who thinks only of his art, had been im- 
 provident, and had consumed the seed without put- 
 ting a portion into the ground. Only wild food, and 
 too little of that, found with much seeking and got 
 with many hurts. Birds screamed at and scolded 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 331 
 
 me ; branches bruised and thorns scratched me ; and 
 still worse were the angry clouds of waspish things 
 no bigger than flies. Buzz — buzz! Sting* — sting! 
 A serpent's tooth has failed to kill me ; little do I 
 care for your small drops of fiery venom so that I get 
 at the spoil — grubs and honey. My white bread and 
 purple wine! Once my soul hungered after knowl- 
 edge ; I took delight in fine thoughts finely expressed ; 
 I sought them carefully in printed books : now only 
 this vile bodily hunger, this eager seeking for grubs 
 and honey, and ignoble war with little things ! 
 
 A bad hunter I proved after larger game. Bird 
 and beast despised my snares, which took me so many 
 waking hours at night to invent, so many daylight 
 hours to make. Once, seeing a troop of monkeys 
 high up in the tall trees, I followed and watched them 
 for a long time, thinking how royally I should feast 
 if by some strange unheard-of accident one were to 
 fall disabled to the ground and be at my mercy. 
 But nothing impossible happened, and I had no meat. 
 What meat did I ever have except an occasional fledg- 
 ling, killed in its cradle, or a lizard, or small tree- 
 frog detected, in spite of its green colour, among the 
 foliage? I would roast the little green minstrel on 
 the coals. Why not? Why should he live to tinkle 
 on his mandolin and clash his airy cymbals with no 
 appreciative ear to listen? Once I had a different 
 and strange kind of meat ; but the starved stomach 
 is not squeamish. I found a serpent coiled up in my 
 
332 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 way in a small glade, and arming myself with a long 
 stick, I roused him from his siesta, and slew him 
 without mercy. Rima was not there to pluck the 
 rage from my heart and save his evil life. No coral 
 snake this, with slim, tapering body, ringed like a 
 wasp with brilliant colour; but thick and blunt, with 
 lurid scales, blotched with black ; also a broad, flat, 
 murderous head, with stony, ice-like, whity-blue eyes, 
 cold enough to freeze a victim's blood in its veins and 
 make it sit still, like some wide-eyed creature carved 
 in stone, waiting for the sharp, inevitable stroke — 
 so swift, at last, so long in coming. " O abominable 
 flat head, with icy-cold, humanlike, fiend-like eyes, I 
 shall cut you off and throw you away ! " And away 
 I flung it, far enough in all conscience; yet I walked 
 home troubled with a fancy that somewhere, some- 
 where down on the black, wet soil where it had fallen, 
 through all that dense, thorny tangle and millions 
 of screening leaves, the white, lidless, living eyes were 
 following me still, and would always be following me 
 in all my goings and comings and windings about in 
 the forest. And what wonder? For were we not 
 alone together in this dreadful solitude, I and the 
 serpent, eaters of the dust, singled out and cursed 
 above all cattle? He would not have bitten me, and 
 I — faithless cannibal ! — had murdered him. That 
 cursed fancy would live on, worming itself into every 
 crevice of my mind ; the severed head would grow and 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 333 
 
 grow in the night-time to something monstrous at 
 last, the hellish white lidless eyes increasing to the 
 size of two full moons. " Murderer ! murderer ! " 
 they would say ; " first a murderer of your own fel- 
 low-creatures — that was a small crime ; but God, 
 our enemy, had made them in His image, and he 
 cursed you; and we two were together, alone and 
 apart — you and I, murderer ! you and I, murderer ! " 
 
 I tried to escape the tyrannous fancy of thinking 
 of other things and by making light of it. " The 
 starved, bloodless brain," I said, " has strange 
 thoughts." I fell to studying the dark, thick, blunt 
 body in my hands ; I noticed that the livid, rudely 
 blotched, scaly surface showed in some lights a lovely 
 play of prismatic colours. And growing poetical, I 
 said, " When the wild west wind broke up the rain- 
 bow on the flying grey cloud and scattered it over the 
 earth, a fragment doubtless fell on this reptile to give 
 it that tender celestial tint. For thus it is Nature 
 loves all her children, and gives to each some beauty, 
 little or much; only to me, her hated stepchild, she 
 gives no beauty, no grace. But stay, am I not 
 wronging her? Did not Rima, beautiful above all 
 things, love me well? said she not that I was beauti- 
 ful? " 
 
 " Ah, yes, that was long ago," spoke the voice that 
 mocked me by the pool when I combed out my tangled 
 hair. " Long ago, when the soul that looked from 
 
334 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 your eyes was not the accursed thing it is now. Now 
 Rima would start at the sight of them ; now she would 
 fly in terror from their insane expression." 
 
 " O spiteful voice, must you spoil even such appe- 
 tite as I have for this fork-tongued spotty food? 
 You by day and Rima by night — what shall I do — ■ 
 what shall I do?" 
 
 For it had now come to this, that the end of each 
 day brought not sleep and dreams, but waking vi- 
 sions. Night by night, from my dry grass bed I 
 beheld Nuflo sitting in his old doubled-up posture, his 
 big brown feet close to the white ashes — sitting silent 
 and miserable. I pitied him ; I owed hira hospitality ; 
 but it seemed intolerable that he should be there. It 
 was better to shut my eyes; for then Rima's arms 
 would be round my neck ; the silky mist of her hair 
 against my face, her flowery breath mixing with my 
 breath. What a luminous face was hers ! Even 
 with close-shut eyes I could see it vividly, the translu- 
 cent skin showing the radiant rose beneath, the lus- 
 trous eyes, spiritual and passionate, dark as purple 
 wine under their dark lashes. Then my eyes would 
 open wide. No Rima in my arms ! But over there, 
 a little way back from the fire, just beyond where old 
 Nuflo had 6at brooding a few minutes ago, Rima 
 would be standing, still and pale and unspeakably 
 sad. Why does she come to me from the outside 
 darkness to stand there talking to me, yet never once 
 lifting her mournful eyes to mine? " Do not believe 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 335 
 
 it, Abel ; no, that was only a phantom of your brain, 
 the What-I-was that you remember so well. For 
 do you not see that when I come she fades away and 
 is nothing? Not that — do not ask it. I know that 
 I once refused to look into your eyes, and afterwards, 
 in the cave at Riolama, I looked long and was happy 
 • — unspeakably happy ! But now — oh, you do not 
 know what you ask ; you do not know the sorrow that 
 has come into mine; that if you once beheld it for 
 very sorrow you would die. And you must live. 
 But I will wait patiently, and we shall be together in 
 the end, and see each other without disguise. Noth- 
 ing shall divide us. Only wish not for it soon ; think 
 not that death will ease your pain, and seek it not. 
 Austerities? Good works? Prayers? They are 
 not seen ; they are not heard, they are less than noth- 
 ing, and there is no intercession. I did not know 
 it then, but you knew it. Your life was your own; 
 you are not saved nor judged! acquit yourself — undo 
 that which you have done, which Heaven cannot 
 undo — and Heaven will say no word nor will I. You 
 cannot, Abel, you cannot. That which you have 
 done is done, and yours must be the penalty and the 
 sorrow — yours and mine — yours and mine — yours 
 and mine." 
 
 This, too, was a phantom, a Rima of the mind, one 
 of the shapes the ever-changing black vapours of re- 
 morse and insanity would take ; and all her mournful 
 sentences were woven out of my own brain. I was 
 
336 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 not so crazed as not to know it; only a phantom, an 
 illusion, jet more real than reality — real as my crime 
 and vain remorse and death to come. It was, indeed, 
 Rima returned to tell me that I that loved her had 
 been more cruel to her than her cruellest enemies ; for 
 they had but tortured and destroyed her body with 
 fire, while I had cast this shadow on her soul — this 
 sorrow transcending all sorrows, darker than death, 
 immitigable, eternal. 
 
 If I could only have faded gradually, painlessly, 
 growing feebler in body and dimmer in my senses 
 each day, to sink at last into sleep ! But it could 
 not be. Still the fever in my brain, the mocking 
 voice by day, the phantoms by night; and at last I 
 became convinced that unless I quitted the forest 
 before long, death would come to me in some terrible 
 shape. But in the feeble condition I was now in, and 
 without any provisons, to escape from the neighbour- 
 hood of Parahuari was impossible, seeing that it was 
 necessary at starting to avoid the villages where the 
 Indians were of the same tribe as Runi, who would 
 recognise me as the white man who was once his guest 
 and afterwards his implacable enemy. I must wait, 
 and in spite of a weakened body and a mind diseased, 
 struggle still to wrest a scanty subsistence from wild 
 nature. 
 
 One day I discovered an old prostrate tree, buried 
 under a thick growth of creeper and fern, the wood of 
 which was nearly or quite rotten, as I proved by 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 337 
 
 thrusting my knife to the haft in it. No doubt it 
 would contain grubs — those huge, white wood-borers 
 which now formed an important item in my diet. On 
 the following day I returned to the spot with a 
 chopper and a bundle of wedges to split the trunk up, 
 but had scarcely commenced operations when an ani- 
 mal, startled at my blows, rushed or rather wriggled 
 from its hiding-place under the dead wood at a dis- 
 tance of a few yards from me. It was a robust, 
 round-headed, short-legged creature, about as big 
 as a good-sized cat, and clothed in a thick, greenish- 
 brown fur. The ground all about was covered with 
 creepers, binding the ferns, bushes, and old dead 
 branches together; and in this confused tangle the 
 animal scrambled and tore with a great show of en- 
 ergy, but really made very little progress ; and all at 
 once it flashed into my mind that it was a sloth — a 
 common animal, but rarely seen on the ground — with 
 no tree near to take refuge in. The shock of joy 
 this discovery produced was great enough to unnerve 
 me, and for some moments I stood trembling, hardly 
 able to breathe ; then recovering I hastened after it, 
 and stunned it with a blow from my chopper on its 
 round head. 
 
 " Poor sloth ! " I said as I stood over it. " Poor 
 old lazy-bones ! Did Rima ever find you fast asleep 
 in a tree, hugging a branch as if you loved it, and 
 with her little hand pat your round, human-like 
 head ; and laugh mockingly at the astonishment in 
 
338 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 your drowsy, waking eyes ; and scold you tenderly for 
 wearing your nails so long, and for being so ugly? 
 Lazy-bones, your death is revenged ! to be out of 
 this wood — away from this sacred place — to be any- 
 where where killing is not murder ! " 
 
 Then it came into my mind that I was now in pos- 
 session of the supply of food which would enable me 
 to quit the wood. A noble capture ! As much to me 
 as if a stray, migratory mule had rambled into the 
 wood and found me, and I him. Now I would be my 
 own mule, patient, and long-suffering, and far-going, 
 with naked feet hardened to hoofs, and a pack of 
 provender on my back to make me independent of the 
 dry, bitter grass on the sunburnt savannahs. 
 
 Part of that night and the next morning was spent 
 in curing the flesh over a smoky fire of green wood 
 and in manufacturing a rough sack to store it in, for 
 I had resolved to set out on my journey. How 
 safely to convey Rima's treasured ashes was a sub- 
 ject of much thought and anxiety. The clay vessel 
 on which I had expended so much loving, sorrowful 
 labour had to be left, being too large and heavy to 
 carry; eventually I put the fragments into a light 
 sack ; and in order to avert suspicion from the people 
 I would meet on the way, above the ashes I packed a 
 la}rer of roots and bulbs. These I would say con- 
 tained medicinal properties, known to the white doc- 
 tors, to whom I would sell them on my arrival at a 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 339 
 
 Christian settlement, and with the money buy myself 
 clothes to start life afresh. 
 
 On the morrow I would bid a last farewell to that 
 forest of many memories. And my journey would 
 be eastwards, over a wild savage land of mountains, 
 rivers, and forests, where every dozen miles would be 
 like a hundred of Europe ; but a land inhabited by 
 tribes not unfriendly to the stranger. And perhaps 
 it would be my good fortune to meet with Indians 
 travelling east who would know the easiest routes ; 
 and from time to time some compassionate voyager 
 would let me share his wood-skin, and many leagues 
 would be got over without weariness, until some great 
 river, flowing through British or Dutch Guiana, 
 would be reached; and so on, and on, by slow or swift 
 stages, with little to eat perhaps, with much labour 
 and pain, in hot sun and in storm, to the Atlantic at 
 last, and towns inhabited by Christian men. 
 
 In the evening of that day, after completing my 
 preparations, I supped on the remaining portions of 
 the sloth, not suitable for preservation, roasting bits 
 of fat on the coals and boiling the head and bones 
 into a broth; and after swallowing the liquid I 
 crunched the bones and sucked the marrow, feeding 
 like some hungry carnivorous animal. 
 
 Glancing at the fragments scattered on the iloor, I 
 remembered old Nuflo, and how I had surprised him 
 at his feast of rank coatimundi in his secret retreat. 
 
340 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 " Nuflo, old neighbour," said I, " how quiet you are 
 under your green coverlet, spangled just now with 
 yellow flowers ! It is no sham sleep, old man, I know. 
 If any suspicion of these curious doings, this feast of 
 flesh on a spot once sacred, could flit like a small 
 moth into your mouldy hollow skull, you would soon 
 thrust out your old nose to sniff the savour of roast- 
 ing fat once more." 
 
 There was in me at that moment an inclination to 
 laughter: it came to nothing, but affected me 
 strangely, like an impulse I had not experienced since 
 boyhood — familiar, yet novel. After the good-night 
 to my neighbour, I tumbled into my straw and slept 
 soundly, animal-like. No fancies and phantoms that 
 night: the lidless, white, implacable eyes of the ser- 
 pent's severed head were turned to dust at last: no 
 sudden dream-glare lighted up old Cla-cla's wrinkled 
 dead face and white, blood-dabbled locks: old Nuflo 
 stayed beneath his green coverlet ; nor did my mourn- 
 ful spirit-bride come to me to make my heart faint at 
 the thought of immortality. 
 
 But when morning dawned again it was bitter to 
 rise up and go away for ever from that spot where I 
 had often talked with Rima — the true and the vision- 
 ary. The sky was cloudless and the forest wet as if 
 rain had fallen ; it was only a heavy dew, and it made 
 the foliage look pale and hoary in the early night. 
 And the light grew, and a whispering wind sprung 
 as I walked through the wood; and the fast-evaporat- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 341 
 
 ing moisture was like a bloom on the feathery fronds 
 and grass and rank herbage; but on the higher foli- 
 age it was like a faint iridescent mist — a glory above 
 the trees. The everlasting beauty and freshness of 
 nature was over all again, as I had so often seen it 
 with joy and adoration before grief and dreadful 
 passions had dimmed my vision. And now as I 
 walked, murmuring my last farewell, my eyes grew 
 dim again with the tears that gathered to them. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 BEFORE that well-nigh hopeless journey to the 
 coast was half over I became ill — so ill that 
 anyone who had looked on me might well have imag- 
 ined that I had come to the end of my pilgrimage. 
 That was what I feared. For days I remained sunk 
 in the deepest despondence ; then, in a happy mo- 
 ment, I remembered how, after being bitten by the 
 serpent, when death had seemed near and inevitable, 
 I had madly rushed away through the forest in 
 search of help, and wandered lost for hours in the 
 storm and darkness, and in the end escaped death, 
 probably by means of these frantic exertions. The 
 recollection served to inspire me with a new des- 
 perate courage. Bidding good-bye to the Indian vil- 
 lage where the fever had smitten me, I set out once 
 more on that apparently hopeless adventure. Hope- 
 less, indeed, it seemed to one in my weak condition. 
 My legs trembled under me when I walked, while hot 
 sun and pelting rain were like flame and stinging ice 
 to my morbidly sensitive skin. 
 
 For many days my sufferings were excessive, so 
 that I often wished myself back in that milder pur- 
 gatory of the forest, from which I had been so anx- 
 
 342 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 343 
 
 ious to escape. When I try to retrace my route on 
 the map there occurs a break here — a space on the 
 chart where names of rivers and mountains call up 
 no image to my mind, although, in a few cases, they 
 were names I seem to have heard in a troubled dream. 
 The impressions of nature received during that sick 
 period are blurred, or else so coloured and exagger- 
 ated by perpetual torturing anxiety, mixed with half- 
 delirious night-fancies, that I can only think of that 
 country as an earthly inferno, where I fought against 
 every imaginable obstacle, alternately sweating and 
 freezing, toiling as no man ever toiled before. Hot 
 and cold, cold and hot, and no medium. Crystal 
 waters ; green shadows under coverture of broad, 
 moist leaves ; and night with dewy fanning winds — 
 these chilled but did not refresh me ; a region in which 
 there was no sweet and pleasant thing; where even 
 the Ita palm and mountain glory and airy epiphyte 
 starring the woodland twilight with pendent blossoms 
 had lost all grace and beauty ; where all brilliant col- 
 ours in earth and heaven were like the unmitigated 
 sun that blinded my sight and burnt my brain. 
 Doubtless I met with help from the natives, other- 
 wise I do not see how I could have continued my 
 journey: yet, in my dim mental picture of that pe- 
 riod I see myself incessantly dogged by hostile sav- 
 ages. They flit like ghosts through the dark forest; 
 they surround me and cut off all retreat, until I 
 burst through them, escaping out of their very 
 
344 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 hands, to fly over some wide, naked savannah, hear- 
 ing their shrill, pursuing yells behind me, and feeling 
 the sting of their poisoned arrows in my flesh. 
 
 This I set down to the workings of remorse in a 
 disordered mind and to clouds of venomous insects 
 perpetually shrilling in my ears and stabbing me 
 with their small, fiery needles. 
 
 Not only was I pursued by phantom savages and 
 pierced by phantom arrows, but the creations of the 
 Indian imagination had now become as real to me as 
 anything in nature. I was persecuted by that su- 
 perhuman man-eating monster supposed to be the 
 guardian of the forest. In dark, silent places he is 
 lying in wait for me: hearing my slow, uncertain 
 footsteps he starts up suddenly in my path, out-yell- 
 ing the bearded aguaratos in the trees ; and I stand 
 paralysed, my blood curdled in my veins. His huge, 
 hairy arms are round me ; his foul, hot breath is on 
 my skin ; he will tear my liver out with his great green 
 teeth to satisfy his raging hunger. Ah, no, he can- 
 not harm me ! For every ravening beast, every cold- 
 blooded, venomous thing, and even the frightful Cu- 
 rupita, half brute and half devil, that shared the for- 
 est with her, loved and worshipped Rima, and that 
 mournful burden I carried, her ashes, was a talis- 
 man to save me. He has left me, the semi-human 
 monster, uttering such wild, lamentable cries as he 
 hurries away into the deeper, darker woods, that hor- 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 345 
 
 tot changes to grief, and I, too, lament Rima for the 
 first time: a memory of all the mystic, unimaginable 
 grace and loveliness and joy that had vanished smites 
 on my heart with such sudden, intense pain that I 
 cast myself prone on the earth and weep tears that 
 are like drops of blood. 
 
 Where, in the rude savage heart of Guiana was this 
 region where the natural obstacles and pain and hun- 
 ger and thirst and everlasting weariness were terri- 
 ble enough without the imaginary monsters and le- 
 gions of phantoms that peopled it, I cannot say. 
 Nor can I conjecture how far I strayed north or 
 south from my course. I only know that marshes 
 that were like Sloughs of Despond, and barren and 
 wet savannahs, were crossed ; and forests that seemed 
 infinite in extent and never to be got through ; and 
 scores of rivers that boiled round the sharp rocks, 
 threatening to submerge or dash in pieces the frail 
 bark canoe — black and frightful to look on as rivers 
 in hell; and nameless mountain after mountain to be 
 toiled round or toiled over. I may have seen Ro- 
 raima during that mentally clouded period. I 
 vaguely remember a far-extending gigantic wall of 
 stone that seemed to bar all further progress — a 
 rocky precipice rising to a stupendous height, seen 
 by moonlight, with a huge sinuous rope of white mist 
 suspended from its summit; as if the guardian ca- 
 moodi of the mountain had been a league-long spec- 
 
346 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tral serpent which was now dropping its coils from 
 the mighty stone table to frighten away the rash in- 
 truder. 
 
 That spectral moonlight camoodi was one of many 
 serpent fancies that troubled me. There was an- 
 other, surpassing them all, which attended me many 
 days. When the sun grew hot overhead and the way 
 was over open savannah country I would see some- 
 thing moving on the ground at my side and always 
 keeping abreast of me. A small snake, one or two 
 feet long. No, not a small snake, but a sinuous 
 mark in the pattern on a huge serpent's head, five 
 or six yards long, always moving deliberately at my 
 side. If a cloud came over the sun, or a fresh breeze 
 sprang up, gradually the outline of that awful head 
 would fade and the well-defined pattern would resolve 
 itself into the motlings on the earth. But if the sun 
 grew more and more hot and dazzling as the day pro- 
 gressed, then the tremendous ophidian head would 
 become increasingly real to my sight, with glistening 
 scales and symmetrical markings ; and I would walk 
 carefully not to stumble against or touch it ; and 
 when I cast my eyes behind me I could see no end to 
 its great coils extending across the savannah. Even 
 looking back from the summit of a high hill I could 
 see it stretching leagues and leagues away through 
 forests and rivers, across wide plains, valleys and 
 mountains, to lose itself at last in the infinite blue 
 distance. 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 347 
 
 How or when this monster left me — washed away 
 by cold rains perhaps — I do not know. Probably it 
 only transformed itself into some new shape, its long 
 coils perhaps changing into those endless processions 
 and multitudes of pale-faced people I seem to remem- 
 ber having encountered. In my devious wanderings 
 I must have reached the shores of the undiscovered 
 great White Lake, and passed through the long shin- 
 ing streets of Manoa, the mysterious city in the wil- 
 derness. I see myself there, the wide thoroughfare 
 filled from end to end with people, gaily dressed as if 
 for some high festival, all drawing aside to let the 
 wretched pilgrim pass, staring at his fever and fam- 
 ine-wasted figure, in its strange rags, with its strange 
 burden. 
 
 A new Ahasuerus, cursed by inexpiable crime, yet 
 sustained by a great purpose. 
 
 But Ahasuerus prayed ever for death to come to 
 him and ran to meet it, while I fought against it with 
 all my little strength. Only at intervals, when the 
 shadows seemed to lift and give me relief, would I 
 pray to Death to spare me yet a little longer; but 
 when the shadows darkened again and hope seemed 
 almost quenched in utter gloom, then I would curse 
 it and defy its power. 
 
 Through it all I clung to the belief that my will 
 would conquer, that it would enable me to keep off 
 the great enemy from my worn and suffering body 
 until the wished goal was reached ; then only would I 
 
348 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 cease to fight and let death have its way. There 
 would have been comfort in this belief had it not been 
 for that fevered imagination which corrupted every- 
 thing that touched me and gave it some new hateful 
 character. For soon enough this conviction that the 
 will would triumph grew to something monstrous, a 
 parent of monstrous fancies. Worst of all, when I 
 felt no actual pain, but only unutterable weariness 
 of body and soul, when feet and legs were numb so 
 that I knew not whether I trod on dry hot rock or in 
 slime, was the fancy that I was already dead, so 
 far as the body was concerned — had perhaps been 
 dead for days — that only the unconquerable will sur- 
 vived to compel the dead flesh to do its work. 
 
 Whether it really was will — more potent than the 
 bark of barks and wiser than the physicians — or 
 merely the vis medicatrix with which nature helps our 
 weakness even when the will is suspended, that saved 
 me I cannot say ; but it is certain that I gradually 
 recovered health, physical and mental, and finally 
 reached the coast comparatively well, although m}' 
 mind was still in a gloomy, desponding state when I 
 first walked the streets of Georgetown, in rags, half- 
 starved and penniless. 
 
 But even when well, long after the discovery that 
 my flesh was not only alive, but that it was of an 
 exceedingly tough quality, the idea born during the 
 darkest period of my pilgrimage, that die I must, 
 persisted in my mind. I had lived through that 
 
GREEN MANSIONS 349 
 
 which would have killed most men — lived only to ac- 
 complish the one remaining purpose of my life. 
 Now it was accomplished; the sacred ashes brought 
 so far, with such infinite labour, through so many and 
 such great perils, were safe and would mix with mine 
 at last. There was nothing more in life to make me 
 love it or keep me prisoner in its weary chains. This 
 prospect of near death faded in time; love of life 
 returned, and the earth had recovered its everlasting 
 freshness and beauty : only that feeling about Rima's 
 ashes did not fade or change, and is as strong now 
 as it was then. Say that it is morbid — call it super- 
 stition if you like ; but there it is, the most powerful 
 motive I have known, always in all things to be taken 
 into account — a philosophy of life to be made to fit 
 it. Or take it as a symbol, since that may come to 
 be one with the thing symbolised. In those darkest 
 days in the forest I had her as a visitor — a Rima of 
 the mind, whose words when she spoke reflected my 
 despair. Yet even then I was not entirely without 
 hope. Heaven itself, she said, could not undo that 
 which I had done ; and she also said that if I forgave 
 myself Heaven would say no word, nor would she. 
 That is my philosophy still : prayers, austerities, good 
 works — they avail nothing, and there is no interces- 
 sion, and outside of the soul there is no forgiveness 
 in heaven or earth for sin. Nevertheless there is a 
 way, which every soul can find out for itself — even 
 the most rebellious, the most darkened with crime and 
 
350 GREEN MANSIONS 
 
 tormented by remorse. In that way I have walked; 
 and, self-forgiven and self-absolved, I know that if 
 she were to return once more and appear to me — even 
 here where her ashes are — I know that her divine eyes 
 would no longer refuse to look into mine, since the 
 sorrow which seemed eternal and would have slain me 
 to see would not now be in them. 
 
 THE END 
 
A NOTE ON THE TYPE IN 
 WHICH THIS BOOK IS SET 
 
 This book is composed (on the Linotype), in Scotch. 
 There is a divergence of opinion regarding the exact 
 origin of this face, some authorities holding that it 
 •was first cut by Alexander Wilson § Son, of Glasgow, 
 in 1837 j others trace it back to a modernized Caslon 
 old style brought out by Mrs. Henry Caslon in 1796 
 to meet the demand for modern faces brought about 
 by the popularity of the Bodoni types. Whatever its 
 origin, it is certain that the face was widely used in 
 Scotland, where it was called Modern Roman, and 
 since its introduction into America it has been known 
 as Scotch. The essential characteristics of the 
 Scotch face are its sturdy capitals, its full rounded 
 lower case, the graceful fillet of its serifs and the 
 funeral effect of crispness. 
 
 COMPOSED BY VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., 
 
 BINGHAMTON, N. Y. PRINTED AND 
 
 BOUND BY H. WOLFF ESTATE, NEW 
 
 YORK. PAPER MADE BY S. D. 
 
 WARREN CO., BOSTON.