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That night was a dreadful one for the poor sickwoman.
She suffered atrocious pain, which rung from hershrieks that were enough to burst her veins, andrendered her delirious at times.
The women waited on her. She lost her head. Hermistress ran in, from time to time, in a fright.
All began to fear that, even if she had decided toallow herself to be operated on, the doctor, whowas not to come until the next day, would havearrived too late.
During the moments when she was not raving,however, it was evident that her most terribletorture arose not from her bodily pains, but fromthe thought of her distant family.
Emaciated, wasted away, with changed visage, shethrust her hands through her hair, with a gestureof desperation, and shrieked.
My God! My God! To die so far away, to die withoutseeing them again.
My poor children, who will be left without amother, my poor little creatures, my poor darlings.
My Marco, who is still so small. Only as tall asthis, and so good and affectionate.
You do not know what a boy he was. If you onlyknew, Signora.
I could not detach him from my neck when I setout.
He sobbed in a way to move your pity, he sobbed,it seemed as though he knew that he would neverbehold his poor mother again.
Poor Marco, my poor baby. I thought that my heartwould break.
Ah, if I had only died then, died while they werebidding me farewell. If I had but dropped dead.
Without a mother, my poor child, he who loved meso dearly, who needed me so much.
Without a mother, in misery, he will be forced tobeg.
He, Marco, my Marco, will stretch out his hand,famishing.
Oh eternal God! No! I will not die.
The doctor. Call him at once I let him come, lethim cut me, let him cleave my breast, let himdrive me mad, but let him save my life.
I want to recover, I want to live, to depart, toflee, tomorrow, at once.
The doctor. Help! Help!
And the woman seized her hands and soothed her,and made her calm herself little by little, andspoke to her of God and of hope.
And then she fell back again into a mortal dejection, whooped with her hands clutched in her greyhair, moaned like an infant,
uttering a prolonged lament, and murmuring fromtime to time.
Oh my Genoa! My house! All that sea! Oh my Marco,my poor Marco! Where is he now, my poor darling?
It was midnight, and her poor Marco, after havingpassed many hours on the brink of a ditch, hisstrength exhausted,
was then walking through a forest of gigantictrees, monsters of vegetation, huge bowls like thepillars of a cathedral,
which interlace their enormous crests, silvered bythe moon, at a wonderful height.
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Vaguely, amid the half gloom, he caught glimpsesof myriads of trunks of all forms, upright,inclined, contorted,
crossed in strange postures of menace and ofconflict, some overthrown on the earth, liketowers which had fallen bodily,
and covered with a dense and confused mass ofvegetation, which seemed like a furious throng,disputing the ground span by span,
others collected in great groups, vertical and serrated, like trophies of titanic lances, whose tipstouched the clouds,
a superb grandeur, a prodigious disorder of colossal forms, the most majestically terrible spectaclewhich vegetable nature ever presented.
At times he was overwhelmed by a great stupor. Buthis mind instantly took flight again towards hismother.
He was worn out, with bleeding feet, alone in themiddle of this formidable forest, where it wasonly at long intervals that he saw tiny humanhabitations,
which at the foot of these trees seemed like theanthills, or some buffalo asleep beside the road.
He was exhausted, but he was not conscious of hisexhaustion, he was alone, and he felt no fear.
The grandeur of the forest rendered his soulgrand, his nearness to his mother gave him thestrength and the hardyhood of a man,
the memory of the ocean, of the alarms and thesufferings which he had undergone and vanquished,of the toil which he had endured,
of the iron constancy which he had displayed,caused him to uplift his brow.
All his strong and noble Genoese blood flowed backto his heart in an ardent tide of joy and audacity.
And a new thing took place within him, while hehad, up to this time, born in his mind an image ofhis mother, dimmed and paled somewhat by the twoyears of absence,
at that moment the image grew clear, he again beheld her face, perfect and distinct, as he had notbeheld it for a long time,
he beheld it close to him, illuminated, speaking,he again beheld the most fleeting motions of hereyes, and of her lips, all her attitudes,
all the shades of her thoughts, and urged on bythese pursuing recollections, he hastened hissteps, and a new affection, an unspeakable tenderness, grew in him, grew in his heart,
making sweet and quiet tears to flow down hisface, and as he advanced through the gloom hespoke to her,
he said to her the words which he would murmur inher ear and a little while more.
I am here, my mother, behold me here. I will neverleave you again, we will return home together, andI will remain always beside you on board the ship,close beside you, and no one shall ever part mefrom you again, no one, never more, so long as Ihave life.
And in the meantime he did not observe how the silvery light of the moon was dying away on the summits of the gigantic trees in the delicate whiteness of the dawn.
At eight o'clock on that morning, the doctor fromTucumán, a young Argentine, was already by the bedside of the sick woman, in company with anassistant, endeavoring, for the last time, topersuade her to permit herself to be operated on,
and the engineer Mequines and his wife added theirwarmest persuasions to those of the former. Butall was in vain.
The woman, feeling her strength exhausted, had nolonger any faith in the operation, she wasperfectly certain that she should die under it, orthat she should only survive it a few hours.
After having suffered in vain pains that were moreatrocious than those of which she should die inany case. The doctor lingered to tell her oncemore.
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But the operation is a safe one, your safety iscertain, provided you exercise a little courage.And your death is equally certain if you refuse.It was a sheer waste of words.
No, she replied in a faint voice, I still havecourage to die, but I no longer have any to sufferuselessly. Leave me to die in peace.
The doctor desisted in discouragement. No one saidanything more. Then the woman turned her facetowards her mistress, and addressed to her herlast prayers in a dying voice.
Dear, good Signora, she said with a great effort,sobbing, you will send this little money and mypoor effects to my family, through the consul. Ihope that they may all be alive.
My heart presages well in these, my last moments.You will do me the favor to write, that I havealways thought of them, that I have always toiledfor them, for my children, that my sole grief wasnot to see them once more, but that I died courageously, with resignation, blessing them.
And that I recommend to my husband, and to myelder son, the youngest, my poor Marco, that Ibore him in my heart until the last moment.
And suddenly she became excited, and shrieked, asshe clasped her hands, my Marco, my baby, my baby.My life, but on casting her tearful eyes roundher, she perceived that her mistress was no longerthere, she had been secretly called away.
She sought her master, he had disappeared. No oneremained with her except the two nurses and theassistant. She heard in the adjoining room thesound of hurried footsteps, a murmur of hasty andsubdued voices, and repressed exclamations. Thesick woman fixed her glazing eyes on the door, inexpectation.
At the end of a few minutes she saw the doctorappear with an unusual expression on his face,then her mistress and master, with their countenances also altered. All three gazed at her with asingular expression, and exchanged a few words ina low tone. She fancied that the doctor said toher mistress, better let it be at once. She didnot understand.
Josefa, said her mistress to the sick woman, in atrembling voice, I have some good news for you.Prepare your heart for good news. The womanobserved her intently. News, pursued the lady,with increasing agitation, which will give yougreat joy. The sick woman's eyes dilated. Prepareyourself, continued her mistress, to see a person,of whom you are very fond.
The woman raised her head with a vigorousmovement, and began to gaze in rapid succession,first at the lady and then at the door, withflashing eyes. A person, added the lady, turningpale, who has just arrived, unexpectedly.
Who is it? shrieked the woman, with a strange andchoked voice, like that of a person in terror. Aninstant later she gave vent to a shrill scream,sprang into a sitting posture in her bed, andremained motionless, with starting eyes, and herhands pressed to her temples, as in the presenceof a supernatural apparition. Marco, tattered anddusty, stood there on the threshold, held back bythe doctor's hand on one arm. The woman utteredthree shrieks, God! God! My God!
Marco rushed forward, she stretched out to him herfleshless arms, and straining him to her heartwith the strength of a tiger, she burst into aviolent laugh, broken by deep, tearless sobs,which caused her to fall back suffocating on herpillow.
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But she speedily recovered herself, and mad withjoy, she shrieked as she covered his head withkisses, How do you come here? Why? Is it you? Howyou have grown? Who brought you? Are you alone?You are not ill? It is you, Marco! It is not adream! My God! Speak to me!
Then she suddenly changed her tone, No! Be silent!Wait! And turning to the doctor, she said withprecipitation, Quick, doctor! This instant! I wantto get well! I am ready! Do not lose a moment!Take Marco away, so that he may not hear! Marco,my love, it is nothing! I will tell you about it!One more kiss! Go! Here I am, doctor!
Marco was taken away. The master, mistress, andwomen retired in haste, the surgeon and hisassistant remained behind, and closed the door.Senior Mequines attempted to lead Marco to adistant room, but it was impossible, he seemedrooted to the pavement. What is it? he asked. Whatis the matter with my mother? What are they doingto her? And then Mequines said softly, stilltrying to draw him away, Here! Listen to me! Iwill tell you now! Your mother is ill,
she must undergo a little operation, I willexplain it all to you, come with me! No, repliedthe lad, resisting, I want to stay here! Explainit to me here! The engineer heaped words on words,as he drew him away, the boy began to growterrified and to tremble.
Suddenly an acute cry, like that of one wounded tothe death, rang through the whole house. The boyresponded with another desperate shriek, My motheris dead!
The doctor appeared on the threshold and said,Your mother is saved! The boy gazed at him for amoment, and then flung himself at his feet, sobbing, Thanks, doctor! But the doctor raised himwith a gesture, saying, Rise! It is you, youheroic child, who have saved your mother!
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