"The senhor knows that it is no distance at all," says he.
"Good," says I; "then, as our object is to get back to England rather than to trespass upon Dom Sebastian's hospitality, you shall carry us with you, for which service you shall be well paid. You shall have my bond for any reasonable sum."
He would have it that he needed no recompense, but I could see plainly that he was very well pleased with this turn, which did further convince me the matter was planned beforehand.
We pushed on till dusk, when we reached a collection of wooden huts, walled in with a palisade of stout wooden spikes, crossed in the manner of the letter X, and the spaces so stuffed with thorns and prickly herbs that no man (least of all a naked savage) could go either in or out, save by the postern gate at one side. In the midst of these huts stood a stone tower, pierced with little holes in the upper part, for the use of muskets in case of attack, as I thought.
We saw no women or children in this village, but only about a dozen wild, fierce Portugals, each with a long knife stuck in his girdle; and one, who seemed to have just returned from the chase, had his musket slung on behind to his bandeliero, and was dressed in a jerkin, breeches, and gaiters of leather. With their ragged beards, their sun-burnt skins, and savage air, they looked like so many brigands; yet were they as courteous as lackeys to us, helping us to dismount, and providing us with all that was necessary to our comfort. Most of the houses were mere sheds, used for the storing of powder, food, etc., for these Portugals, as I learnt, were hunters, who never slept under a roof except in the rainy season; but there was one well furnished and provided with sleeping-rooms to serve for the accommodation of the merchants, who came from time to time to truck their merchandise for the spoils brought hither by the hunters.
When we had supped, Lady Biddy, being fatigued with the day's journey, betook herself to her room, and I, having no inclination for society, lay myself down in a net hung from two beams in the roof, which is their manner of sleeping in these parts, and the first I had ever seen of such strange bed-places. There was a second net in this chamber for Lewis de Pino; but he, having business to do with the hunters, that we might start betimes the next morning, went out and joined them elsewhere, so that I was left alone to my meditations.
And here I took myself to task, as well I might, for having misbehaved myself in a very pitiful, paltry sort towards Lady Biddy from the first moment we set out on our journey. To make an honest confession, I had allowed myself once more to come under the dominion of that abominable jealousy which was my besetting vice. For this Lewis de Pino was one of those gallants we had discovered seated with Dom Sebastian on our arrival at Castello Lagos, and the most persistent in passing his addresses to my lady; nay, he was so smitten with her charms that his eyes did seem to devour her as often as he looked at her. I had observed him more than once talking apart with the governor very earnestly: once touching hands as if on a bargain; and from this I concluded that we had been sold in a manner by the governor to Lewis de Pino to further the amorous designs of the latter upon Lady Biddy. Now this conviction should have drawn me closer to her as a friend and protector, and so it would, but I took it into my head that she looked too kindly on him.
In crossing the champaign she took no notice of him whatever, being concerned for our safety, and fearing Rodrigues would get upon our track ere we got to a place of safety; and all this while she was very silent and preoccupied, turning in her saddle now and again to look back, and asking me if I thought we should yet escape, etc., all in a very troubled and grave manner; but being come into the wood, and greatly relieved of her anxiety, she grew, as it was natural she should, very suddenly gay and sprightly. Just at that time Lewis de Pino came to her side with a compliment in Italian, which, as I say, he spoke indifferently well, and this brought the smile to her cheek.
"She has not smiled on me since we bade each other good-morning," says I to myself. "Nay, she would scarcely accept for a truth my assurance of her safety; yet the moment this grinning Portugal comes to her side she forgets our peril and is blithe."
So we continued our way; he one side of my lady chatting and smiling, and I on the other glum and mumchance. Nor did I speak a single word for half an hour, when she says, turning to me with the smile Lewis de Pino had brought to her face: