Frona Eunice Wait

V

VERY far to the north of Lake Parima, is the celebrated Roraima, the "Mountain of Gold," one of the objects sought by the men who were looking for El Dorado.

"Let us set out on an expedition to see if we cannot solve the mystery of this mountain, that is not only rich in gold and precious stones, but grows the Plant of Life in abundance, which keeps one alive for hundreds of years," said some idle Cavaliers who had become reckless in their eagerness to acquire sudden riches.

"But they say Roraima is inaccessible, so what is the use of attempting the impossible?" said one of the party, who had been out hunting.

"I believe that the flat top of the mountain is inhabited, and that up there is the famous island city of El Dorado," responded the first speaker. "There is almost unlimited wealth to be had by finding it, and these cowardly Indians are afraid to go near it."

"It will be a long, tedious journey," said the hunter, "and I doubt if we can persuade the slaves to accompany us."

"They shall go," said the other, firmly, "and if there is any sign of rebellion we have a remedy," he continued, pointing to his gun with a smile that was not pleasant to see.

It was as the hunter feared. The Indian porters and servants were nearly frantic at the idea of being compelled to approach the dread mountain.

"The whole place is weird and uncanny," they declared, "and the demon mountain is surrounded by haunted woods, filled with camoodis and didis."

When asked what a camoodi was, they explained that it was a gigantic snake with a hood over its head, and whose breath killed whatever it touched, while the didis were man apes, ferocious and terrible to see.

"It is a foolish superstition," said the Spaniards, in derision, "and we will not listen to such idle tales."

"Roraima is an island, connected underground with the other mountains, and the lights you see on the tops are put there by the demons to lure us on to destruction."

"If it is inaccessible, how do these demons manage to get up there?" asked the Spaniards.

"There are huge white eagles, that fly so high we cannot see them; but they have very fine eyesight, and many a poor brave has been seized by them, and carried to the didis on the mountain."

"They must mean the big white birds we call condors, found in the highest peaks of the Andes," said the Spaniards, "but our good weapons are proof against any bird, and we need have no fear."

"As soon as it is dark in those terrible woods, blood-sucking vampires swoop down from the trees and fasten their long red bills in your throat," said the Indians, with a shudder, but no attention was paid to anything they told of the hardships to be endured.

"It is better for us to start at the beginning of the dry season," said Carino, the Indian guide, and in a short time the entire party was voyaging on one of the splendid rivers that span that country. In canoes they passed through untracked forests and grassy savannahs following the course of the river. Some places they were in great danger from cataracts and rapids, but finally landed in a place where there was a flock of red flamingos half hidden by tall pampas grass, and where there were hundreds of little wild ducks with tiny horns on their wings. In the trees were some rare and beautiful orchids, and when some of the party climbed up to pick the big perfumed blossoms, they were much surprised to find that what they thought was a flower was a perfumed butterfly.

"We must be near the enchanted wood," said the Spaniards, but just then they heard a sort of combination of whistle, snort and hiss that frightened them dreadfully:

"Carino! what is that?" they all said, huddling up close together, and listening intently.

"It is the cry of the Lost Souls, who have been slain by the camoodi," said Carino. "We have already seen their strange shapes flitting through the deep shadows. They are in league with the didi to guard this spot." As he spoke the Indian porters and slaves began a curious chant in a singsong tone:

Darkly from sunset to the rising sun,

A cry as of the pained heart of the wood,

The long despairing moan of solitude

And darkness and the absence of all good,

Startles the traveler with a sound so drear,

So full of hopeless agony and fear,

His heart stands still and listens with his ear,

The guide, as if he heard a death-bell toll,

Crosses himself and whispers "A Lost Soul."

The last words seemed to affect Carino deeply and falling on his knees before the leader of the expedition he said:

"My heart is heavy at the thought of your undertaking to fight the demons of the mountain. It is not good—this thing you are about to do. The didis may tempt you to enter these fatal woods, but they will trap you by closing the trail and you will never be seen again."

"We will encamp here for the night, and tomorrow at sunrise we will have a look at Roraima," said the leader, not feeling very comfortable over the doleful noise called the wail of a lost soul. "It may be that these Indians are not so far wrong," he said to himself when their backs were turned. "At any rate, I do not fancy going into the woods so near nightfall."

After a long parley Carino succeeded in persuading the porters and servants to venture a short distance to get some wood for cooking and other purposes. They had not been gone long when the Spaniards heard a loud roaring bark, almost like a trumpet, quickly followed by several more in the immediate vicinity. Soon the Indians came flying into camp terror-stricken.

"The Warracaba cats!" they shouted, and before the Spaniards could stop them, they had all piled into the canoes and were rowing for the middle of the river. The white men stood with guns raised as four screaming tigers sprang out of the woods in full pursuit of the Indians they had smelled, but not seen. Bang! bang! bang! went the guns in rapid succession, and three of the four tigers rolled on the ground dead or dying, while the other one made off into the woods as fast as he could go.

"That was a narrow escape, my masters," said Carino, shaking as if he had ague, "and the other Warracaba will come back and bring companions. These tigers hunt in packs like wolves, and are not afraid of anything except deep water."

"What are we to do?" asked the leader, gruffly, pale with fright. "Those dastardly slaves have gone off and left us without a single boat. Do you think you can call them back?" he asked eagerly.

"I fear to answer that question," faltered Carino. "I have warned you that my people fear these woods, and are never willing to go into them."

Then the Cavaliers began very foolishly to blame each other for coming to such a place, and were soon in high words—as if quarreling would help them out of their difficulty.

"If you had not been so greedy for gold you would never have undertaken such a journey," said one of them.

"And if you had been willing to work for an honest living you would not have been so eager to come with me," retorted the other angrily.

Carino realizing that something must be done at once, interrupted the dispute by saying:

"There is an old Manoan witch named Monella, who has lived at the edge of this wood for hundreds of years, and if you will follow me I will conduct you to her hut. The pathway is hung with bell-shaped flowers of many hues, and these give a dim light when the sun goes down. If we make haste we may reach it before dark."

Without a word the Spaniards picked up what things they needed for the night, and carrying them on their backs in separate bundles, moodily followed Carino. None but an Indian could have found the way through such a tangled mass of undergrowth. Suddenly Carino stopped and called out:

"Beware! here is one of the fierce lords of the wood, mouth open and bent upon attack." Being an agile, quick fellow, he jumped to one side barely in time to miss the venomous snake as it rushed toward him. The warning made the Spaniards ready, and with unerring aim one of them shot the reptile through the head.

"These are some of the guardians of Roraima," said Carino, solemnly. "They are not only poisonous, but show fight, and will not run from man."

By this time the Spaniards were beginning to lose heart.

"If the Holy Mother preserves me through this night I will give up this search for El Dorado," said the leader, and the other men agreed with him.

"The witch Monella has strange tales to tell of Roraima. She has been through the secret cavern in the side of the mountain, and up to the top," said Carino.

"Does she say that there is gold up there?" queried one of the Cavaliers. Before the guide could answer, a large yellow puma stood in the pathway, directly in front of them. A gun was leveled to shoot at her, when Carino sprang forward and said:

"Do not harm the puma. She belongs to Monella, and no red man ever kills one of these animals. They are always our friends, and to injure one is to bring bad luck on yourself and family."

They went forward eagerly now for the thought of a human habitation near by inspired them with courage, and they were soon rewarded by seeing a thin column of smoke issuing from an opening in the dense foliage. Nearing the hut they were met by a queer looking old Indian woman, who had no teeth, and whose face was so wrinkled that she could scarcely see out of her eyes. Carino approached her and said:

"We have come, good mother, to ask shelter and food for the night. We are a band of travelers who are left with no servants and must make our way the best we can."

"Your strange white masters come on a useless errand," said the old crone, blinking at them and grinning in a knowing way. "You think to find the hidden treasure of Roraima and to unearth its buried secrets, but you will fail. No one living, except myself, knows these things, and I will not tell you more than is good for you."

"Do not quarrel with the old hag," said the leader to Carino, "we need a place to sleep and are very hungry, so give her some gold and tell her we will do as she says."

"These are not Mellenda's men," said the old crone to Carino, as she eyed them suspiciously. "But the White Brotherhood would despise me if I refused to shelter them from the dangers of the forest at night. They are welcome to come and sup with me."

When they had all been given something to eat, and were sitting before the fire of pine knots, one of the Cavaliers said:

"Tell us, good mother, how you have managed to live so long. Carino says you are very old and very wise."

"Since I was a little child I have drank a tea made from the Plant of Life. Its juice is bitter-sweet, and unless one has the Falloa, or Don't Care Sickness, he can live always."

"Where did you get this wonderful plant?"

"It was given me by Ulama, the beautiful daughter of Mellenda," answered the old woman, proudly. "This is like her smiling face," she continued, going back to a cupboard and getting a curious old parchment roll from a shelf. As she unwound the figure the astonished Spaniards saw a fair representation of a yellow-haired girl with a circlet of gold set with gems on her head. On the breast of her flowing robe there was a golden star, and around the waist there was a jeweled girdle.

"Can you read this picture writing?" asked one of the Spaniards.

"It is the language of my forefathers, and as a child I could speak it well. Listen, and I will tell you what it says. Long years ago there was a rich and powerful white race living in these lands, and they built a wonderful city on the Mountain of Gold. But the Children of Darkness captured the city, and they enticed people up there so they could sacrifice them to the Devil-tree. There is never any thunder or lightning on top of Roraima, and its crest is a flat tableland edged with a high forest and guarded by white eagles. The mountains surrounding it were once islands in a great lake, and Mellenda was the ancient king of the Children of Light who lived there. The King was a man of peace and very great wisdom, and he had a wife and four beautiful children whom his enemies, the Children of Darkness, sacrificed to the Devil-tree while he was away in a distant part of the kingdom. He had a great fleet and could have punished the Children of Darkness."

The old crone ceased speaking, and seemed lost in deep study. Finally Carino roused her by asking:

"Did Mellenda do nothing for revenge?"

"No; he went away, but he promised he would come back again, and he will. Not long after his departure came the great sinking of the waters, and the lake of Parima has disappeared into another region of our country. For centuries after this the surrounding land was but a chaos of swamp and mud. By degrees vegetation grew up, and in time the trees became the thick tangled forest that cannot now be penetrated."

"Did this Mellenda take with him all the gold and silver?" asked a Cavalier, intent upon finding something worth carrying away.

"In the city on top of the mountain is kept a full suit of his gold armor, bright and ready, waiting to receive him."

"We will get it and take it home with us," said the Spaniards, now all eagerness.

"We, of Mellenda's race, firmly believe that he will come again, and none of us would dare touch any of his belongings," said the crone, earnestly.

"You need not touch it," began one of the Cavaliers. "We will bring it down the trail ourselves."

"There is no trail up the sides of Roraima. The entrance to its hidden passageway is guarded by a giant Devil-tree."

"Did you ever see this Devil-tree?" asked her visitors.

"Yes; a few years ago, I took my two pumas and went to the cave for a certain purpose. As we stood looking at the monstrous thing one of its long, horny branches crept toward us, and one of the pumas sprang forward to bite it. Instantly it curled around the body of the poor creature, dragging it until they came to the trunk of the tree. Here shorter and thicker limbs knotted together over the struggling puma, and finally all rose in the air and almost disappeared in the hollow trunk."

"Did you make no effort to rescue your pet?"

"I hacked the first branch with an axe until it bled a dark, crimson liquid that smelled so badly I was deathly sick. Every inch of the bark is covered with small mouths that pierce the flesh and suck the blood of its victims. I kept watch until the moon came out, and then the knots of limbs unrolled and out fell something. Each branch tossed it before it reached the ground, when I saw it was the crushed and lifeless puma. Out of a slimy pool near by rushed huge alligators, and in a few minutes they were eating what the Devil-tree left of the puma."

"Let us go away from here," said the Spaniards among themselves. "Instead of being an earthly paradise, this is an infernal region."

When they were bidding the old crone good-bye the next morning, she looked at them sharply and said:

"You came here searching for gold, and expected to find it ready for your use. My friends, the great blessings of life must be worked for and earned. You cannot cheat your way into Heaven, nor will you or your people ever find any more hidden treasures belonging to other races. You will earn all the fortunes you get after this adventure."