Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: Capítulo 5 Seguinte: Capítulo 7
CAPÍTULO 6.
HIS sleep
in the bracing air of those wild uplands was light and refreshing to Noel after
his experience of the hot and reeking lower country. From the window of his
bedroom he saw the sun rise red and clear, and inhaled the cool fresh air that
it seemed to breathe over the world’s expanse. Already the sounds arose from the
workers in the valley below, and even within the house every one was awake and
stirring. The morning and the evening were the real times for living and
enjoying life under
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a sun
that ever glowed too fiercely at midday. Maynard’s house was itself unshaded by trees, but its exposure to the direct action of
the sun was compensated by the free access of the currents of air which
circulated round it. All the paths which radiated from it were shrouded in deep
shade, and none passing to and from the house could be seen until they emerged
into the little clearing immediately around it.
It was thus, nestled among pines, and overlooking a wilderness of mountain peaks
and ridges, that Margaret had dwelt since her arrival on the scene of her
husband’s occupation; and it appeared to Noel that if either of them ought to be
depressed by the changeless solitude of the locality, it was far less likely to
be Maynard, to whom his home was a pleasant relief from the daily bustle and
toil of the mines, than to Margaret, who had no such variation of scene and
engrossment. Their visitors were very few, and consisted almost exclusively of
superintendents of other mines, who, hearing of the success of Maynard’s method
of working, came to seek information from him. Some of these were men of
education and good standing; and all, whether French, English, Spanish, or
American, had manifested the liveliest admiration for Margaret, and had carried
her fame far and wide under a name which accorded alike with the genius of the
country, and the habitual thoughtfulness of her countenance. It was quite as
much owing to this latter cause as to Maynard’s being manager of the Dolóres mine, that Margaret was generally spoken of as ‘
Shortly after they were settled in their new dwelling, James had held a festival
in honour of the occasion, at which the governor of the province had been
entertained in the house, and the surrounding clearing filled with tents for the
numerous guests. Though the occasion was a convivial one, it had a politic
purpose and result; for it enabled the various mining managers present to make
arrangements with the governor for ensuring the safe conduct of their treasure
to the coast.
This grandee, it may be here mentioned, had not fully comprehended the merits of
the question, until enlightened on this occasion. He admitted that he had always
been under the impression that these foreign proprietors were little else than
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robbers of his
country, who came and carried off its treasures without giving any compensation
in return; wherefore, he did net grudge their bars of falling into the hands of
the brigands, who not only were good Catholics, but who moreover spent their
gains in the country, and that chiefly among the poor.
Maynard, however, managed both to amuse and’ convince him by his way of
representing that the only valuable thing either in Mexico or in the rest of
heaven or earth is work, whether mental or physical; and that even the precious
metals do not constitute wealth until intelligent labour has been bestowed upon
them; so that he might as well call the mere uncultivated soil treasure, as
bestow the name upon substances hidden in the earth. Wherefore lie ought, on the
contrary, to be grateful to those who came from afar to enrich the country with
their energy and skill. He added, too, that he would venture to guarantee him a
warm welcome in
Acting on a suggestion previously made by Maynard, the various directors had
brought with them curious and valuable specimens of in many of which the virgin
metal and its associated substances had assumed fantastic forms and colours.
These were exhibited to the governor, and upon his expressing his admiration,
they were delicately and spontaneously pressed upon him for acceptance; so that
when he returned home it was with a handsome fee in possession, and no
misgivings on the score of his having been deliberately bribed to do his duty.
Maynard’s address on this occasion, added to his previous repute for high
station, scholarship, and ability, won for him an excellent position in the
country, and he was regarded by the foreign population as one of their most
capable and influential advisers. For the last two years, whatever communication
he had held with the world lying beyond his mine was by letter. Neither he nor
Margaret had ever left their home, except once when, on the death of the
governor, Maynard went to Guanaxuato to pay his
respects to his successor.
As Noel gazed from his eyrie over the wilderness towards the radiant morning
sky, and thought of the new day that within the last few hours had dawned upon
the souls of himself and of her whose heart had at first sight recognised and
claimed him as her near and sole of kin, he called to mind her previous history,
and the long night of unconsciousness as to the possibilities
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of her
nature in which she had hitherto slumbered; for he understood all this now.
And as the sun rapidly left the edge of the horizon, and rose towards its
zenith, he scarcely distinguished in his thoughts between the overpowering heat
of the growing day, and the fervent emotions which were rising in his own
breast. The first sensations of love were by no means new to Edmund, but they
had never before been excited by any who were capable of sustaining and
nurturing them into maturity; and he knew that the woman who could attract and
fulfil his whole nature bad hitherto been hidden in the regions of the
undiscovered.
Would the morning light bring repentance to Margaret for her hasty confidence? or reveal her to him as other than the eve bad shown her? If
ever nature rose to steadfastness in woman’s soul, surely in her it shone
pre-eminent. Her face, her voice, her manner, her form, her colouring, her very
silence, betokened her the
perfectest
realisation of his loftiest ideal. ‘She is too good to let herself love me
knowingly,’ he thought to himself; and how long can she continue in
unconsciousness? The awakening must never come, if I can help it. Friend and
sister are what James and Margaret must ever be to me.’
She met him when he came down to breakfast, her whole being suffused with calm
gladness as for a great mercy received and appreciated. James, too, was cordial,
but no one was talkative. After breakfast Noel played awhile with the children,
and then Maynard took him off to the works for the rest of the morning, giving
him the choice of walking or riding.
Maynard smiled on his choosing the former, and said, as they descended the hill,
that it was one of the points on which he had had to combat the prejudices of
the country. It had been seriously urged upon him, when he first arrived, that
no Mexican who had any self-respect, ever used his own legs when he could use
those of a horse or mule, and that his practice of walking might seriously
impair his authority with his employees. He had, however, followed his own
feelings in the matter, and retained his freedom to walk or ride as he pleased;
and he thought that the independence he had exhibited in that and in other
matters had impressed his people rather favourably than otherwise.
‘I suppose, however,’ said Noel, ‘that in everything that affects themselves you
have to conform to usage?’
‘Oh, yes. I rather take a pride in showing them that I
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respect them
sufficient]y to encourage their doing as they please; but I always impress upon
them at the same time that on the same principle they must be careful not to
infringe on the liberties of others. You have no conception of the trouble I had
at first in preventing quarrels between my Mexicans and the labourers I imported
from home. And I am sorry to say that I found the latter rather the worse of the
two, for there were some among them who thought it their duty to try and convert
the natives to their own way of thinking in religion. It is only by taking them
in hand myself, and getting the padre to help me with the natives, that I have
got them to live without constant quarrelling and fighting.’
‘And how do you and the priest get on together?’
‘Capitally, for I leave him full liberty to deal with his own people as he
likes, and as they are accustomed to. They are for the most part such savages,
that I am rather glad to be saved having much to do with them in their mental
relations. We have the common ground of our humanity, upon which we meet freely;
and I believe that I have completely won them there by simple kindness and
justice.’
‘Are they of Indian, or Spanish blood?’
‘A few have some Spanish blood, but the vast majority, as of all the Mexican
population, are either aboriginal Indians, or mixed with the various conquering
races which have come down upon them in succession from the north, and been
finally absorbed in their turn. It appears as if the aboriginal race is only to
be got rid of by extirpation. To let them live at all is to consent to their
future resurrection.’
‘And their religion? Have they any?’
‘Oh dear yes! plenty. The
inhabitants of this country were always an excessively religious people. It was
their addiction to human sacrifices, accompanied by certain rites resembling
those of Moloch and Ashtoreth, that led Lord
Kingsborough to claim a Jewish origin for them.’
‘For the aborigines?’
‘Rather for their Aztec and other conquerors, whose own legends point to an
Asiatic derivation. However, the padre claims
them all as Catholic now; and I must allow that they take as kindly to the
religion of their Spanish, as they seem to have taken to those of their
previous, invaders. It is not easy, however, to ascertain the particulars; but
the pure Indians, who come from the North, get a holiday once a year, and go off
to
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‘Have you been able to ferret out any particulars about them?’
Maynard asked Noel if he remembered their researches at
‘What!
and have you discovered similar traces in
‘Yes, and not in
Índice Geral das Seções Índice da Seção Atual Índice da Obra Atual Anterior: Capítulo 5 Seguinte: Capítulo 7
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