The Rover of the Andes

The Rover of the Andes, by R.M.
Ballantyne

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Title: The Rover of the Andes A Tale of Adventure on South America
Author: R.M. Ballantyne
Release Date: June 6, 2007 [EBook #21699]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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ROVER OF THE ANDES ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

The Rover of the Andes
a Tale of Adventure in South America
by R.M. Ballantyne.

CHAPTER ONE.
A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA.
AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGE.
Towards the close of a bright and warm day, between fifty and sixty
years ago, a solitary man might have been seen, mounted on a mule,
wending his way slowly up the western slopes of the Andes.
Although decidedly inelegant and unhandsome, this specimen of the
human family was by no means uninteresting. He was so large, and his
legs were so long, that the contrast between him and the little mule
which he bestrode was ridiculous. He was what is sometimes styled
"loosely put together;" nevertheless, the various parts of him were so
massive and muscular that, however loosely he might have been built
up, most men would have found it rather difficult to take him down.
Although wanting in grace, he was by no means repulsive, for his face,
which was ornamented with a soft flaxen beard and moustache of
juvenile texture, expressed wonderful depths of the milk of human
kindness.
He wore boots with the trousers tucked into them, a grey tunic, or
hunting coat, belted at the waist, and a broad-brimmed straw hat, or
sombrero.
Evidently the times in which he travelled were troublous, for, besides
having a brace of large pistols in his belt, he wore a cavalry sabre at his
side. As if to increase the eccentricity of his appearance, he carried a
heavy cudgel, by way of riding-whip; but it might have been observed
that, however much he flourished this whip about, he never actually
applied it to his steed.
On reaching a turn of the road at the brow of an eminence the mule
stopped, and, letting its head droop till almost as pendent as its tail,
silently expressed a desire for repose. The cavalier stepped off. It would
convey a false impression to say that he dismounted. The mule heaved
a sigh.

"Poor little thing!" murmured the traveller in a soft, low voice, and in a
language which even a mule might have recognised as English; "you
may well sigh. I really feel ashamed of myself for asking you to carry
such a mass of flesh and bone. But it's your own fault--you know it
is--for you won't be led. I'm quite willing to walk if you will only
follow. Come--let us try!"
Gently, insinuatingly, persuasively, the traveller touched the reins, and
sought to lead the way. He might as well have tried to lead one of the
snow-clad peaks of the mighty Cordillera which towered into the sky
before him. With ears inclining to the neck, a resolute expression in the
eyes, his fore-legs thrown forward and a lean slightly backward, the
mule refused to move.
"Come now, do be amiable; there's a good little thing! Come on," said
the strong youth, applying more force.
Peruvian mules are not open to flattery. The advance of the fore-legs
became more decided, the lean backward more pronounced, the ears
went flat down, and incipient passion gleamed in the eyes.
"Well, well, have it your own way," exclaimed the youth, with a laugh,
"but don't blame me for riding you so much."
He once more re-m-; no, we forgot--he once more lifted his right leg
over the saddle and sat down. Fired, no doubt, with the glow of
conscious victory the mule moved on and up at a more lively pace than
before.
Thus the pair advanced until they gained a rocky eminence, whence the
rich Peruvian plains could be seen stretching far-away toward the
glowing horizon, where the sun was about to dip into the Pacific.
Here again the mule stopped, and the rider getting off sat down on a
rock to take a look at the level horizon of the west--for he had reached a
spot where the next turn in the road would partially shut out the plains
and enclose him among the giant mountains.

As he sat there meditating, while the mule cropped the herbage at his
side, he observed two riders a considerable