Confessions Of Con Cregan Part 57

"So I suspect," said I, coolly. "I will content myself with depositing them with my banker for the present; to sell them here would be a needless sacrifice of them."

"And yet, Senhor, I would willingly be the purchaser of that gem," said he, as he stood, fascinated by the l.u.s.tre of the stone, from which he could not take his eyes. "If six thousand five hundred piastres--"

"I have said ten to a friend, my honest Israelite," interrupted I.

"I am but a poor man, your Excellency,--a poor struggling, hard-working man,--content if he but gain the humblest profit by his labor; say, then, seven thousand piastres, and I will sell my mules to make up the amount."

"I will say twelve, and not a doubloon less," Senhor Judio; "but a friend may have it for ten."

"Ah, if your 'Alteza' would but say eight! Eight thousand piastres counted down upon the table in honest silver," said he; and the tears stood in his eyes as he supplicated.

"Be it so," said I, "but upon one condition. Should you ever reveal this, or should you speak of the transaction in any way, there is no manner of evil and mischief I will not work you. If it cost me half my fortune, I will be your ruin; for I refused to part with that same to the Primate of Seville, and he would never forgive me if the story should reach his ears."

The Jew wished the Patriarchs to witness his oath of secrecy; and though each of us was well aware that the other was lying, somehow we seemed satisfied by the exchange of our false coinage. I suppose we acted on the same principle as the thieves who could not keep their hands out of each other's pockets, although they knew well there was nothing there.

Whatever the Jew's suspicion of the means by which I had become possessed of such wealth, he prudently thought that he might reap more profit by falling in with my plans than by needlessly scrutinizing my character; and, so far, he judged wisely.

The contract for the carriage I completed on the spot, and having engaged the servants and ordered their liveries,--plain suits of brown, with gold tags, aiguilettes,--I gave directions for my own wearing apparel, in a style of costly magnificence that confirmed me in the t.i.tle of "Alteza," given by all who came in contact with me. These occupations occupied the entire morning, and it was only late in the afternoon that I had spare time to recreate myself by a walk in the garden of the inn before dinner,--a promenade which, I am free to own, was heightened in its enjoyment by the rich rustling sounds of my heavy silk robe-de-chambre, and the soft, downy tread of my velvet slippers on the smooth turf. It was a delicious moment! the very birds seemed to sing a little paean of rejoicing at my good luck; the flowers put forth their sweetest odors as I pa.s.sed; and I felt myself in ecstasy with the whole creation, and in particular with that segment of it called Con Cregan. And there be folk in this world would call this egotism and vanity; ay, and by worse names too! As if it was not the very purest philanthropy--as if my self-content did not spring from the calm a.s.surance that the goods of fortune were bestowed in the right direction, and that the G.o.ddess whom men call "fickle" was in reality a most discriminating deity!

There are no two things in creation less alike than a rich man and a poor one! Not only do all their thoughts, feelings, and affections run in opposite channels, but their judgments are different; and from the habit of presenting particular aspects to the world, they come at last to conform to the impressions conceived of them by the public. The eccentricities of wealth are exalted into fas.h.i.+ons,--the peculiarities of poverty are degraded to downright vices.

"Oh, glorious metal!" exclaimed I, as I walked along, "that smooths the roughest road of life, that makes the toughest venison savory, and renders the rudest a.s.sociates civil and compliant, what insolence and contumely had I not met with here, in this poor 'Posada,' had I only been what my humble dress and mean exterior denoted; and now, what is there that I cannot exact, what demands can I make, and hear that they are impossible!"

"His Excellency's dinner is served," said the host, as he advanced, with many a low and obsequious salutation, to announce my dinner.

I suppose that the cookery of the "Mono" was not of the very highest order, and that if presented before me now, it would meet but sorry acceptance from my more educated palate; but at the time I speak of, it seemed actually delicious. There appeared to arise faint odors, of savory import, from dishes whose garlic would now almost suffocate me, and I luxuriated in the flavor of wine, every gla.s.s of which would, at this day, have put my teeth on edge. If my enjoyment was great, however, I took care not to let it appear too palpable; on the contrary, I criticised and condemned with all the fastidiousness of a spoiled nature, and only condescended to taste anything on the perpetual a.s.surance of the host that "though very different from what his Excellency was used to, it was exactly to the taste of the late 'Gobernador.'"

I felt all the swelling importance of wealth within me as I beheld the cringing lacqueys and the obsequious host, who never dared to carry himself erect in my presence; the very meats seemed to send up an incense to my nostrils. The gentle wind that shook the orange-blossoms seemed made to bear its odors to my senses; all Nature appeared tributary to my enjoyment. And only to think of it! all this adulation was for poor Con Cregan, the convict's son; the houseless street-runner of Dublin; the cabin-boy of the yacht; the flunkey at Quebec; the penniless wanderer in Texas; the wag of the "Noria," in Mexico. What a revulsion, and how sudden and unexpected!

It now became a matter of deep consideration within me how I should support this unlooked-for change of condition, without betraying too palpably what the French would call my "antecedents." As to my "relatives,"--forgive the poor pun,--they gave me little trouble. I had often remarked in life that vulgar wealth never exhibits itself in a more absurd and odious light than when indulging in pleasures of which the sole enjoyment is the amount of the cost. The upstart rich man may sit in a gallery of pictures where t.i.tian, Velasquez, and Vandyck have given him a company whose very countenances seem to despise him, while he thinks of nothing save the price. If he listen to Malibran, the only sense awakened is the cost of her engagement; and hence that stolid apathy, the l.u.s.treless gaze, the unrelieved weariness, he exhibits in society, where it is the metal of the "mind" is clinking, and not the metal of the "mint." To a certain extent I did not incur great danger on this head: Nature had done me some kind services, the chief of which was, she had made me an Irishman!

There may seem--alas! there is too great cause that there should seem--something paradoxical in this boast, now, when sorrow and suffering are so much our portion; but I speak only of the individuality which, above every other I have seen or heard of, invests a man with a spirit to enjoy whatever is agreeable in life. Now, this same gift is a great safeguard against the vulgarity of purse-pride, since the man who launches forth upon the open sea of pleasure is rarely occupied by thoughts of self.

As for me, I felt a kind of gluttony for every delight that gold can purchase. What palaces I would inhabit; what equipages I would drive; what magnificent fetes I would give; what inimitable little dinners, where beauty, wit, and genius alone should be gathered together; what music should I possess in "my private band;" what exotics in my conservatory; and how I should dispense these fascinations; what happiness would I diffuse in the circle in which I moved, and what a circle would that be! It was to this precise point my buoyant fancy had brought me, as the second flask of champagne, iced almost to a crystal, had warmed me into a glow of imaginative enthusiasm. I fancied myself in a gilded saloon, where, amid the glare of a thousand wax-lights, a brilliant company were a.s.sembled. I thought that at each opening of the folding-door a servant announced some name, ill.u.s.trious from position or great in reputation, and that around me, as I stood, a group was gathered of all that was distinguished in the world of fas.h.i.+on or celebrity. "Your Royal Highness has made this the proudest day of my life," said I, rising, and bowing reverentially before a faded old arm-chair. "May I offer your Eminence a seat," continued I to a red sofa-cus.h.i.+on I mistook for a cardinal. "Your Excellency is most heartily welcome," said I to an empty decanter. And so did I convert every adjunct of the chamber into some distinguished personage, even, to my fast expiring lamp, which, with a glimmering flame and a nauseous odor, was gradually dying away, and which I actually addressed as a great amba.s.sador!

After this, I conclude that I must have imagined myself in the East,--possibly taking a cup of sherbet with the Sultan, or a chibouk with the Khan of Tammerkabund; for when I became conscious once more, I found myself upon the hearthrug, where I had been enjoying a delicious sleep for some hours.

"Would his Excellency desire to see his chamber?" asked the landlord, as, with a branch of candles, he stood in the doorway.

I waved my hand in sign of a.s.sent, and followed him.

CHAPTER XXVII. GUAJUAQUALLA

There are few things in this world gold cannot buy: but one among their number a.s.suredly is--"a happy dream." Now, although I went to sleep in a great bed with damask hangings and a gilt crown upon it, my pillow fringed with deep lace, my coverlet of satin edged with gold, I dreamed the whole night through of strifes, combats, and encounters. At one time my enemy would be an Indian; at another, a half-breed; now, a negro; now, a jaguar or a rattlesnake: but with whom, or whatever the struggle, it was always for money! Nothing else seemed to have any hold upon my thoughts. Wealth, and wealth alone, appeared the guiding principle of my being; and, as the penalty, I was now to learn the ceaseless anxieties, the torturing dreads, this pa.s.sion begets.

With daylight, however, I awoke, and the bright sun, streaming in, brought the glorious reality of my happy lot before me, and reminded me of the various duties my high state imposed. My first care was to ascertain the amount and security of my riches; and I resolved to proceed regularly and in the most business-like manner in the matter.

To this end I ordered my carriage, and proceeded to pay my visit to the banker, Don Xafire.

I had devised and demolished full fifty ingenious narratives of myself when I drove into the courtyard where the banker resided, and found myself actually without one single satisfactory account of who I was, whence I came, and by what means I became possessed of the formidable papers I carried. "Let circ.u.mstances pilot the event" was my old maxim; and, so saying, I entered.

The rattling tramp of my six mules, the cracking of whips, and the crash of the wheels, brought many a head to the windows of the old jail-like palace when my carriage drove up to the door, and the two outriders stood in "a salute" at each side while I descended. "Sua Eccelenza El Conde de Cregano" resounded through the arched hall and pa.s.sages, as an old servant in a tawdry suit of threadbare livery led the way to Don Xafire's private apartment.

After a brief wait in a large but meagrely furnished chamber, an old man--or a middle-aged one, with a look of age--entered, and, with a profusion of ceremonial, in which he a.s.sured me that his house, his wife, his oxen, his mules, his a.s.ses, and in fact everything "that was his," stood at my disposal, asked to what fortunate event he owed the honor of my visit.

"I am the representative, Senhor Xafire," said I, "of the great house of Cregan and Company, of which doubtless you have heard, whose s.h.i.+ps walk the waters of the icy seas, and lay at anchor amid the perfumes of the spice islands, and whose traffic unites two hemispheres."

"May they always be prosperous!" said the polite Spaniard, bowing.

"They have hitherto enjoyed that blessing," responded I, almost thankfully. "Even as the youngest member of the firm, I have nothing to complain of on the score of prosperity." I smiled, took forth a most gorgeous snuff-box, all glittering with brilliants, and, presenting it to the Spaniard, laid it carelessly on the table. After a brief pause, to let the splendor settle down into his heart, I proceeded to inform him that in the course of commercial transactions a vast number of bills, receipts for deposits and other securities, had fallen into our hands, upon many of which we had advanced large sums, seeing that they bore the name of that most respectable house, the Bank of Don Xafire, of Guajuaqualla. "These would," I added, "have been dispersed through the various channels of trade, had it not been the wish of my partners to open distinct relations with your house, and consequently they have retained the papers until a favorable occasion presented itself of personally making the proposition. This happy opportunity has arisen by our recent purchase of the great gold mines of the 'Arguareche' for seventy millions of piastres, of which you may have read in the 'Faros de la Habanas.'"

He bowed a humble negative; and I went on to state that, our mining operations requiring co-operation and a.s.sistance, we desired to open relations with the great house of Don Xafire, whose good fame was well established on the 'Change of Liverpool.

"You spoke of paper securities and such like, Senhor; may I ask of what nature they are?"

"You shall see them, Don Xafire," said I, opening a very magnificent pocket-book, and presenting first a receipt, dated forty-eight years back, for the sum of twelve thousand piastres in silver, and four bags, weighing two hundred and eighty pounds of gold dust, from the hands of Menelaus Crick, of the mines of Hajoras, near Guajuaqualla. The Spaniard's dark cheek trembled, and a faint tinge of sickly yellow seemed to replace the dusky olive of his tint, as he said, "This is but waste paper, Senhor, and I trust your excellent house has advanced nothing on its credit."

"On the contrary, Senhor Banquiero," responded I, "we have given the full sum, being much advised thereto by competent counsel."

The battle was now opened, and the combat begun.

It is needless I should weary my reader by recapitulating the tissue of inventions in which, as in a garment, I wrapped myself. I saw quickly that if _I_ was a rogue, so was my antagonist, and that for every stratagem _I_ possessed, _he_ was equally ready with another. At last, pushed hard by his evasions, equivocations, and subterfuges, I was driven to utter a shadowy kind of menace, in which I artfully contrived to mix the name of the General Santa Anna,--a word, in those days, of more than talismanic power.

"And this reminds me," said I, "that one of my suite who lost his way, and was taken prisoner in the Rocky Mountains, committed to my charge a letter, in which I fancy the General is interested." This was a random shot, but it struck the bull's-eye through the very centre. The Senhora Dias's letter was enclosed in an envelope, in which a few words only were written; but these, few as they were, were sufficient to create considerable emotion in Don Xafire, who retired into a window to read and re-read them.

Another shot, thought I, and he's disabled! "It is needless, then, Don Xafire, to prolong an interview which promises so little. I will therefore take my leave; my next communication will reach you through the General Santa Anna."

"May I not crave a little time for consideration, Senhor?" said he, humbly. "These are weighty considerations; there may be other demands still heavier in store for us of the same kind."

"You are right, Senhor; there are other and still heavier claims, as you very properly opine. Some of them I have here with me; others are in the hands of our house; but all shall be forthcoming, I a.s.sure you."

"What may be the gross amount, Senhor?" said the banker, trying, but very ineffectually, to look at his ease.

"Without pretending to minute accuracy, I should guess the sum at something like seven hundred thousand piastres,--this, exclusive of certain claims for compensation usual in cases of inquiry. You understand me, I believe." The last menace was a shot in the very centre of his magazine, and so the little usurer felt it, as he fidgeted among his papers and concealed his face from me.

"Come, Senhor Xafire," said I, with the air of a man who means to deal mercifully, and not to crush the victim in his power, "I will be moderate with you. These bills and receipts shall be all placed in your hands on payment of the sums due, without any demand for interest whatever. We will not speak of the other claims at all. The transaction shall be strictly in honor between us, and nothing shall ever transpire to your disadvantage regarding it. Is this enough?"

The struggle in the banker's mind was a difficult one; but after several hours pa.s.sed in going over the papers, after much discussion, and some altercation, I gained the day; and when I arose to take my leave, it was with my pocket-book stuffed full of bills on Pernambuco, Mexico, Santa Cruz, and the Havannah, with letters of credit, bonds, and other securities; the whole amounting to four hundred thousand piastres. The remaining sum of three hundred thousand, I had agreed to leave in Don Xafire's hands at reasonable interest. In fact, I was but too happy in the possession of so much to think twice about what became of the remainder.

I presented my friend Xafire with my ruby brooch, as a souvenir,--not, indeed, that he needed anything to remind him of our acquaintance; and we parted with all the regrets of brothers about to separate.

"You will stay some days with us here, I hope?" said he, as he conducted me to my carriage.

"I intend a short visit to some of the old 'Placers' in your neighborhood," replied I, "after which I mean to return here;" and so, with a last embrace, we parted.

My next care was to pay a visit to Don Estaban, for I was burning with anxiety to see Donna Maria once more, and to open my campaign as a rich suitor for her hand. The day chosen for this expedition seemed a fortunate one, for the road, which led through a succession of vineyards, was thronged with townspeople and peasants in gay holiday dresses, all wending their way in the same direction with ourselves. I asked the reason, and heard that it was the _fete_ of the Virgin de los Dolores, whose chapel was on the estate of Don Estaban. I bethought me of the time when I had planned a pilgrimage to that same shrine,--little suspecting that I was to make it in my carriage, with six mules and two outriders!

In less than an hour's drive we came in sight of Don Estaban's villa, built on the side of a richly wooded mountain, and certainly not betraying any signs of the reduced fortune of which I had heard. A series of gardens, all terraced in the mountain, lay in front, among which fountains were playing and _jets d'eau_ springing. A small lake spread its calm surface beneath, reflecting the whole scene as in a mirror, with its feathery palm-trees and blossoming mimosas, beneath whose shade hundreds of visitors were loitering or sitting, while the tinkling sounds of guitar and mandolin broke the stillness.