Jules Verne (15 page)

It followed, then, that ten minutes later the public were completely
won, and crowded round Fragoso, who was installed in a
"loja"
of the
place, a sort of serving-bar to the inn.

The
loja
belonged to a Brazilian settled at Tabatinga. There, for a
few vatems, which are the sols of the country, and worth about twenty
reis, or half a dozen centimes each, the natives could get drinks of the
crudest, and particularly assai, a liquor half-sold, half-liquid,
made of the fruit of the palm-tree, and drunk from a
"coui"
or
half-calabash in general use in this district of the Amazon.

And then men and women, with equal eagerness, took their places on the
barber's stool. The scissors of Fragoso had little to do, for it was not
a question of cutting these wealthy heads of hair, nearly all remarkable
for their softness and their quality, but the use to which he could
put his comb and the tongs, which were kept warming in the corner in a
brasier.

And then the encouragements of the artist to the crowd!

"Look here! look here!" said he; "how will that do, my friends—if you
don't sleep on the top of it! There you are, for a twelvemonth! and
these are the latest novelties from Belem and Rio de Janeiro! The
queen's maids of honor are not more cleverly decked out; and observe, I
am not stingy with the pomade!"

No, he was not stingy with it. True, it was only a little grease, with
which he had mixed some of the juices of a few flowers, but he plastered
it on like cement!

And as to the names of the capillary edifices—for the monuments reared
by the hands of Fragoso were of every order of architecture—buckles,
rings, clubs, tresses, crimpings, rolls, corkscrews, curls, everything
found there a place. Nothing false; no towers, no chignons, no shams!
These head were not enfeebled by cuttings nor thinned by fallings-off,
but were forests in all their native virginity! Fragoso, however, was
not above adding a few natural flowers, two or three long fish-bones,
and some fine bone or copper ornaments, which were brought him by the
dandies of the district. Assuredly, the exquisites of the Directory
would have envied the arrangement of these high-art coiffures, three and
four stories high, and the great Leonard himself would have bowed before
his transatlantic rival.

And then the vatems, the handfuls of reis—the only coins for which the
natives of the Amazon exchange their goods—which rained into the
pocket of Fragoso, and which he collected with evident satisfaction. But
assuredly night would come before he could satisfy the demands of
the customers, who were so constantly renewed. It was not only the
population of Tabatinga which crowded to the door of the loja. The news
of the arrival of Fragoso was not slow to get abroad; natives came to
him from all sides: Ticunas from the left bank of the river, Mayorunas
from the right bank, as well as those who live on the Cajuru and those
who come from the villages of the Javary.

A long array of anxious ones formed itself in the square. The happy ones
coming from the hands of Fragoso went proudly from one house to another,
showed themselves off without daring to shake themselves, like the big
children that they were.

It thus happened that when noon came the much-occupied barber had not
had time to return on board, but had had to content himself with a
little assai, some manioc flour, and turtle eggs, which he rapidly
devoured between two applications of the curling-tongs.

But it was a great harvest for the innkeeper, as all the operations
could not be conducted without a large absorption of liquors drawn
from the cellars of the inn. In fact, it was an event for the town of
Tabatinga, this visit of the celebrated Fragoso, barber in ordinary and
extraordinary to the tribes of the Upper Amazon!

AT FIVE O'CLOCK in the evening Fragoso was still there, and was asking
himself if he would have to pass the night on the spot to satisfy the
expectant crowd, when a stranger arrived in the square, and seeing all
this native gathering, advanced toward the inn.

For some minutes the stranger eyed Fragoso attentively with some
circumspection. The examination was obviously satisfactory, for he
entered the loja.

He was a man about thirty-five years of age. He was dressed in a
somewhat elegant traveling costume, which added much to his personal
appearance. But his strong black beard, which the scissors had not
touched for some time, and his hair, a trifle long, imperiously required
the good offices of a barber.

"Good-day, friend, good-day!" said he, lightly striking Fragoso on the
shoulder.

Fragoso turned round when he heard the words pronounced in pure
Brazilian, and not in the mixed idiom of the natives.

"A compatriot?" he asked, without stopping the twisting of the
refractory mouth of a Mayouma head.

"Yes," answered the stranger. "A compatriot who has need of your
services."

"To be sure! In a minute," said Fragoso. "Wait till I have finished with
this lady!"

And this was done in a couple of strokes with the curling-tongs.

Although he was the last comer, and had no right to the vacant place, he
sat down on the stool without causing any expostulation on the part of
the natives who lost a turn.

Fragoso put down the irons for the scissors, and, after the manner of
his brethren, said:

"What can I do for you, sir?"

"Cut my beard and my hair," answered the stranger.

"All right!" said Fragoso, inserting his comb into the mass of hair.

And then the scissors to do their work.

"And you come from far?" asked Fragoso, who could not work without a
good deal to say.

"I have come from the neighborhood of Iquitos."

"So have I!" exclaimed Fragoso. "I have come down the Amazon from
Iquitos to Tabatinga. May I ask your name?"

"No objection at all," replied the stranger. "My name is Torres."

When the hair was cut in the latest style Fragoso began to thin his
beard, but at this moment, as he was looking straight into his face, he
stopped, then began again, and then:

"Eh! Mr. Torres," said he; "I seem to know you. We must have seen each
other somewhere?"

"I do not think so," quickly answered Torres.

"I am always wrong!" replied Fragoso, and he hurried on to finish his
task.

A moment after Torres continued the conversation which this question of
Fragoso had interrupted, with:

"How did you come from Iquitos?"

"From Iquitos to Tabatinga?"

"Yes."

"On board a raft, on which I was given a passage by a worthy fazender
who is going down the Amazon with his family."

"A friend indeed!" replied Torres. "That is a chance, and if your
fazender would take me—"

"Do you intend, then, to go down the river?"

"Precisely."

"Into Para?"

"No, only to Manaos, where I have business."

"Well, my host is very kind, and I think he would cheerfully oblige
you."

"Do you think so?"

"I might almost say I am sure."

"And what is the name of this fazender?" asked Torres carelessly.

"Joam Garral," answered Fragoso.

And at the same time he muttered to himself:

"I certainly have seen this fellow somewhere!"

Torres was not the man to allow a conversation to drop which was likely
to interest him, and for very good reasons.

"And so you think Joam Garral would give me a passage?"

"I do not doubt it," replied Fragoso. "What he would do for a poor chap
like me he would not refuse to do for a compatriot like you."

"Is he alone on board the jangada?"

"No," replied Fragoso. "I was going to tell you that he is traveling
with all his family—and jolly people they are, I assure you. He is
accompanied by a crew of Indians and negroes, who form part of the staff
at the fazenda."

"Is he rich?"

"Oh, certainly!" answered Fragoso—"very rich. Even the timber which
forms the jangada, and the cargo it carries, constitute a fortune!"

"The Joam Garral and his whole family have just passed the Brazilian
frontier?"

"Yes," said Fragoso; "his wife, his son, his daughter, and Miss Minha's
betrothed."

"Ah! he has a daughter?" said Torres.

"A charming girl!"

"Going to get married?"

"Yes, to a brave young fellow," replied Fragoso—"an army surgeon in
garrison at Belem, and the wedding is to take place as soon as we get to
the end of the voyage."

"Good!" said the smiling Torres; "it is what you might call a betrothal
journey."

"A voyage of betrothal, of pleasure, and of business!" said Fragoso.
"Madame Yaquita and her daughter have never set foot on Brazilian
ground; and as for Joam Garral, it is the first time he has crossed the
frontier since he went to the farm of old Magalhaës."

"I suppose," asked Torres, "that there are some servants with the
family?"

"Of course," replied Fragoso—"old Cybele, on the farm for the last
fifty years, and a pretty mulatto, Miss Lina, who is more of a companion
than a servant to her mistress. Ah, what an amiable disposition! What
a heart, and what eyes! And the ideas she has about everything,
particularly about lianas—" Fragoso, started on this subject, would not
have been able to stop himself, and Lina would have been the object of
a good many enthusiastic declarations, had Torres not quitted the chair
for another customer.

"What do I owe you?" asked he of the barber.

"Nothing," answered Fragoso. "Between compatriots, when they meet on the
frontier, there can be no question of that sort."

"But," replied Torres, "I want to—"

"Very well, we will settle that later on, on board the jangada."

"But I do not know that, and I do not like to ask Joam Garral to allow
me—"

"Do not hesitate!" exclaimed Fragoso; "I will speak to him if you would
like it better, and he will be very happy to be of use to you under the
circumstances."

And at that instant Manoel and Benito, coming into the town after
dinner, appeared at the door of the loja, wishing to see Fragoso at
work.

Torres turned toward them and suddenly said: "There are two gentlemen I
know—or rather I remember."

"You remember them!" asked Fragoso, surprised.

"Yes, undoubtedly! A month ago, in the forest of Iquitos, they got me
out of a considerable difficulty."

"But they are Benito Garral and Manoel Valdez."

"I know. They told me their names, but I never expected to see them
here."

Torres advanced toward the two young men, who looked at him without
recognizing him.

"You do not remember me, gentlemen?" he asked.

"Wait a little," answered Benito; "Mr. Torres, if I remember aright;
it was you who, in the forest of Iquitos, got into difficulties with a
guariba?"

"Quite true, gentlemen," replied Torres. "For six weeks I have been
traveling down the Amazon, and I have just crossed the frontier at the
same time as you have."

"Very pleased to see you again," said Benito; "but you have not
forgotten that you promised to come to the fazenda to my father?"

"I have not forgotten it," answered Torres.

"And you would have done better to have accepted my offer; it would have
allowed you to have waited for our departure, rested from you fatigues,
and descended with us to the frontier; so many days of walking saved."

"To be sure!" answered Torres.

"Our compatriot is not going to stop at the frontier," said Fragoso, "he
is going on to Manaos."

"Well, then," replied Benito, "if you will come on board the jangada you
will be well received, and I am sure my father will give you a passage."

"Willingly," said Torres; "and you will allow me to thank you in
advance."

Manoel took no part in the conversation; he let Benito make the offer
of his services, and attentively watched Torres, whose face he scarcely
remembered. There was an entire want of frankness in the eyes, whose
look changed unceasingly, as if he was afraid to fix them anywhere.
But Manoel kept this impression to himself, not wishing to injure a
compatriot whom they were about to oblige.

"Gentlemen," said Torres, "if you like, I am ready to follow you to the
landing-place."

"Come, then," answered Benito.

A quarter of an hour afterward Torres was on board the jangada. Benito
introduced him to Joam Garral, acquainting him with the circumstances
under which they had previously met him, and asked him to give him a
passage down to Manaos.

"I am happy, sir, to be able to oblige you," replied Joam.

"Thank you," said Torres, who at the moment of putting forth his hand
kept it back in spite of himself.

"We shall be off at daybreak to-morrow," added Joam Garral, "so you had
better get your things on board."

"Oh, that will not take me long!" answered Torres; "there is only myself
and nothing else!"

"Make yourself at home," said Joam Garral.

That evening Torres took possession of a cabin near to that of the
barber. It was not till eight o'clock that the latter returned to
the raft, and gave the young mulatto an account of his exploits, and
repeated, with no little vanity, that the renown of the illustrious
Fragoso was increasing in the basin of the Upper Amazon.

AT DAYBREAK on the morrow, the 27th of June, the cables were cast off,
and the raft continued its journey down the river.

An extra passenger was on board. Whence came this Torres? No one exactly
knew. Where was he going to? "To Manaos," he said. Torres was careful to
let no suspicion of his past life escape him, nor of the profession that
he had followed till within the last two months, and no one would have
thought that the jangada had given refuge to an old captain of the
woods. Joam Garral did not wish to mar the service he was rendering by
questions of too pressing a nature.