In Search of the Castaways [50]
turned his head to look at Robert, and ever and anon gave him a shout of encouragement and approval, as he saw how well he rode. Certainly the boy deserved praise, for he was fast becoming an excellent cavalier. "Bravo! Robert," said Glenarvan. "Thalcave is evidently congratulating you, my boy, and paying you compliments." "What for, my Lord?" "For your good horsemanship." "I can hold firm on, that's all," replied Robert blushing with pleasure at such an encomium. "That is the principal thing, Robert; but you are too modest. I tell you that some day you will turn out an accomplished horseman." "What would papa say to that?" said Robert, laughing. "He wants me to be a sailor." "The one won't hinder the other. If all cavaliers wouldn't make good sailors, there is no reason why all sailors should not make good horsemen. To keep one's footing on the yards must teach a man to hold on firm; and as to managing the reins, and making a horse go through all sorts of movements, that's easily acquired. Indeed, it comes naturally." "Poor father," said Robert; "how he will thank you for saving his life." "You love him very much, Robert?" "Yes, my Lord, dearly. He was so good to me and my sister. We were his only thought: and whenever he came home from his voyages, we were sure of some SOUVENIR from all the places he had been to; and, better still, of loving words and caresses. Ah! if you knew him you would love him, too. Mary is most like him. He has a soft voice, like hers. That's strange for a sailor, isn't it?" "Yes, Robert, very strange." "I see him still," the boy went on, as if speaking to himself. "Good, brave papa. He put me to sleep on his knee, crooning an old Scotch ballad about the lochs of our country. The time sometimes comes back to me, but very confused like. So it does to Mary, too. Ah, my Lord, how we loved him. Well, I do think one needs to be little to love one's father like that." "Yes, and to be grown up, my child, to venerate him," replied Glenarvan, deeply touched by the boy's genuine affection. During this conversation the horses had been slackening speed, and were only walking now. "You will find him?" said Robert again, after a few minutes' silence. "Yes, we'll find him," was Glenarvan's reply, "Thalcave has set us on the track, and I have great confidence in him." "Thalcave is a brave Indian, isn't he?" said the boy. "That indeed he is." "Do you know something, my Lord?" "What is it, and then I will tell you?" "That all the people you have with you are brave. Lady Helena, whom I love so, and the Major, with his calm manner, and Captain Mangles, and Monsieur Paganel, and all the sailors on the DUNCAN. How courageous and devoted they are." "Yes, my boy, I know that," replied Glenarvan. "And do you know that you are the best of all." "No, most certainly I don't know that." "Well, it is time you did, my Lord," said the boy, seizing his lordship's hand, and covering it with kisses. Glenarvan shook his head, but said no more, as a gesture from Thalcave made them spur on their horses and hurry forward. But it was soon evident that, with the exception of Thaouka, the wearied animals could not go quicker than a walking pace. At noon they were obliged to let them rest for an hour. They could not go on at all, and refused to eat the ALFAFARES, a poor, burnt-up sort of lucerne that grew there. Glenarvan began to be uneasy. Tokens of sterility were not the least on the decrease, and the want of water might involve serious calamities. Thalcave said nothing, thinking probably, that it would be time enough to despair if the Guamini should be dried up--if, indeed, the heart of an Indian can ever despair. Spur and whip had both to be employed to induce the poor animals to resume the route, and then they only crept along, for their strength was gone. Thaouka, indeed, could have galloped swiftly enough, and reached the RIO in a few hours, but Thalcave would not leave his companions behind, alone in the midst of a desert. It was hard work, however, to get the animal to consent to walk quietly. He kicked, and reared,