most certainly be found that the foreigner has interested himself in the affairs of one or the other of the belligerent parties. But this applies only to life and limb. The circumstances affecting property have by no means been the same, least of all in stock-raising countries when armies of men, short of horses and hungry for beef, have been on the march. On such occasions the amount of livestock commandeered would depend largely on the tact and popularity of the breeder. These proceedings, although annoying enough, were seldom of serious consequence, and were generally taken in fairly good part. Indeed, in an era of political storm the estanciero was inclined to lump this risk in with that of locusts, drought, flood, and other visitations of the kind which it is necessary to endure with philosophy. So the shrewd ones made so signal a virtue of necessity that on more than one occasion their livestock was returned to them a hundredfold—in the shape of a concession or some similar privilege! Diplomatic representations were seldom of much avail, and appeals to this effect were frequently resented by the ministers, resident or plenipotentiary, of the aggrieved persons' country-diplomats who complained that it was beneath their dignity to assist in the chase after lost cattle! Perhaps this explains the answer which a British estanciero in Uruguay received from his minister in the early 1860's, on his explaining the fact that he had just suffered the loss of sixteen commandeered carriage horses, the claim for which he desired should be placed officially before the Uruguayan Government. The elderly representative of Great Britain eyed the estanciero for a time in surprise, whether real or feigned. "Why, Mr., " he asked at length, "what on earth can you require sixteen carriage horses for?" And there the matter remained. An English clergyman who landed in Montevideo in 1868 certainly obtained a glimpse of the traditional species of South American revolution. Here is his experience as related by himself: "Noticing from the house where I lived, several persons peeping round the corner of the street, I went out to see what was the matter. The balls were coming up this street from the soldiers who were advancing; and just then a gentleman on the opposite side of the street, was shot through the thigh, and taken into a house. A peon crossing the street at this spot was shot dead, picked up, placed on a shutter, and carried away. On this I thought it prudent to retire into the house." And at this period, to add to the political tragedy, a terrible epidemic of cholera was sweeping away the inhabitants of Montevideo by the thousand! It is this sort of incident that many people in Europe have accepted as being all in the normal South American day's work! This chapter may be concluded by an episode which, having received it from the late Admiral Hart-Dyke's own lips, I have already narrated in "The Romance of the River Plate." Nevertheless, the incident falls so completely within the scope of this book that it cannot well remain absent from these pages. The admiral—then a junior officer-was stationed in a British warship off Buenos Aires during one of the revolutionary outbursts at a period long before the present era of prosperity and peace. The Argentine fleet was likewise at anchor off the capital. As it happened, the naval force of the republic was opposed to the land powers which were in possession of Buenos Aires. Owing to this, the Argentine admiral suffered no little anxiety on account of his wife and two daughters, who were cut off from him in the city. This he confided to the officers of the British warship, with whom he appears to have been on friendly terms. Hart-Dyke volunteered to bring the ladies off from the shore, and set himself to prepare a somewhat daring plan. In fact the episode, modestly and simply as it was told, savors strongly of the genuine romance of the British sailor, and suggests Henty at his best. Behold, just before the fall of night, Hart-Dyke setting out for the shore in command of his boat's crew, two midshipmen's uniforms tucked comfortably away in the stern! On this point my memory does not serve me well; but it appears that the Argentine admiral was less anxious concerning his wife than his daughters. It is likely enough that the elder lady was very well able to look after herself. In any case she would have found it difficult to disguise herself as a midshipman. Hence the provision of two uniforms only. The boat reached the mole in the ordinary course of events, and a short time afterwards the young naval officer found himself at the Argentine admiral's house. His advent caused no little flutter, as may be imagined; but the admiral's wife appears to have been a lady of resource, who lent herself readily to the plot. So, after an interval, we see Hart-Dyke sailing along the street, accompanied by two very smooth-cheeked midshipmen. It was dark now, and the illumination in the thoroughfares sufficiently scanty. All went well for a while, and the trio, without exciting suspicion, passed by the side of the low square houses with the lamps shining from their patios on their way to the mole. At the foot of the steps waited the boat with its British crew; it was merely necessary to descend and to enter it. But there's many a slip -and in this case the slip was no metaphorical one. ill fortune would have it, the steps were greasy. One of the admiral's daughters lost her foothold, and bumped down on the unsympathetic stone. She did what nine women out of ten would have done under the circumstances: she emitted a treble scream. As The sound electrified the officials and the loafers on the pier. Amid the hubbub arose urgent commands to halt. This was the very last thing that the trio desired. The genuine officer bundled his two spurious juniors into the boat; the sailors bent lustily to their oars, and the small craft shot out into the night amid a wild fusillade from the mole. Fortunately no one was hit, although the boat itself was struck, and an oar or two splintered. But the adventures of the night were not yet at an end. In order to distinguish friends from foes it had been arranged that, as the party neared the Argentine admiral's ship, a flare should be burned in the boat. In the circumstances which had intervened, such a proceeding would have revealed the fugitives' whereabouts to those on shore who were still blazing away into the darkness. So the boat approached the Argentine vessel unannounced by its flare. The sentries were on the alert, and welcomed the suspicious craft with a volley almost as furious as had been those from the shore. But the shouted warning proved effective, and in the end the party stood in safety on the deck of the Argentine warship. Here they were received with profound thankfulness by the admiral, whose feelings may be imagined when he discovered that it was upon his own daughters that his men had fired! |