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diff --git a/old/28593-8.txt b/old/28593-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b820d1d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/28593-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10453 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of When Dreams Come True, by Ritter Brown + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: When Dreams Come True + +Author: Ritter Brown + +Illustrator: W. M. Berger + +Release Date: April 23, 2009 [EBook #28593] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: SHE GLIDED AND WHIRLED IN THE MOONLIGHT, GRACEFUL AS A +WIND-BLOWN ROSE. _PAGE 284_] + + + + + WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE + + BY + + RITTER BROWN + AUTHOR OF "MAN'S BIRTHRIGHT" + + ILLUSTRATED BY + W. M. BERGER + + New York + Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. + + + + + Copyright, 1912 + By Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. + + + + + TO + MY SON + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + "She glided and whirled in the moonlight, graceful + as a wind-blown rose" _Frontispiece_ + FACING + PAGE + "The picture which she presented was one he carried + with him for many a day" 130 + + "Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands" 272 + + "'Madre! Madre _mia_!' she cried and flung herself + into Chiquita's arms" 292 + + "They were startled by a low moan and saw Blanch + sink slowly to the bench" 330 + + + + + There is a tradition extant among the Indians of the Southwest, + extending from Arizona to the Isthmus of Panama, to the effect + that, Montezuma will one day return on the back of an eagle, + wearing a golden crown, and rule the land once more; typifying + the return of the Messiah and the rebirth and renewal of the race. + + + + +WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE + + + + +I + + +The beauty of midsummer lay upon the land--the mountains and plains of +Chihuahua. It was August, the month of melons and ripening corn. High +aloft in the pale blue vault of heaven, a solitary eagle soared in ever +widening circles in its flight toward the sun. Far out upon the plains +the lone wolf skulked among the sage and cactus in search of the rabbit +and antelope, or lay panting in the scanty shade of the yucca. + +By most persons this little known land of the great Southwest is +regarded as the one which God forgot. But to those who are familiar with +its vast expanse of plain and horizon, its rugged sierras, its wild +desolate _mesas_ and solitary peaks of half-decayed mountains--its tawny +stretches of desert marked with the occasional skeletons of animal and +human remains--its golden wealth of sunshine and opalescent skies, and +have felt the brooding death-like silence which seems to hold as in a +spell all things living as well as dead, this land becomes one of +mystery and enchantment--a mute witness of some unknown or forgotten +past when the children of men were young, whose secrets it still +withholds, and with whose dust is mingled not only that of unnumbered +and unknown generations of men, but that of Montezuma and the hardy +daring _Conquistadores_ of old Spain. + +But whatever may be the general consensus of opinion concerning this +land, such at least was the light in which it was viewed by Captain +Forest, as he and his Indian attendant, José, drew rein on the rim of a +broken, wind-swept _mesa_ in the heart of the Chihuahuan desert, a full +day's ride from Santa Fé whither they were bound, to witness the +_Fiesta_, the Feast of the Corn, which was celebrated annually at this +season. + +The point where they halted commanded a sweeping view of the surrounding +country. Just opposite, some five leagues distant, on the farther side +of the valley which lay below them, towered the sharp ragged crest of +the Mexican Sierras; their sides and foothills clothed in a thin growth +of chaparral, pine and juniper and other low-growing bushes. Deep, +rugged _arroyos_, the work of the rain and mountain torrents, cut and +scarred the foothills which descended in precipitous slopes to the +valley and plains below. Solitary giant cactus dotted the landscape, +adding to the general desolation of the scene, relieved only by the +glitter of the silvery sage, white poppy and yucca, and yellow and +scarlet cactus bloom which glistened in the slanting rays of the +afternoon sun and the intense radiation of heat in which was mirrored +the distant mirage; transforming the desert into wonderful lakes of +limpid waters that faded in turn on the ever receding horizon. + +Below them numerous Indian encampments of some half-wild hill tribe +straggled along the banks of the almost dry stream which wound through +the valley until lost in the thirsty sands of the desert beyond. + +"'Tis the very spot, _Capitan_--the place of the skull!" ejaculated +José, the first to break the silence. "See--yonder it lies just as we +left it!" and he pointed toward the foot of the _mesa_ where a spring +trickled from the rock, a short distance from which lay a human skull +bleached white by long exposure to the sun. + +Instinctively the Captain's thoughts reverted to the incidents of the +previous year when he lay in the desert sick unto death with fever and +his horse, Starlight, had stood over his prostrate body and fought the +wolves and vultures for a whole day and night until José returned with +help from the Indian _pueblo_, La Guna. Involuntarily his hand slipped +caressingly to the animal's neck, a chestnut with four white feet and a +white mane and tail that swept the ground and a forelock that hung to +his nostrils, concealing the star on his forehead; a magnificent animal, +lithe and graceful as a lady's silken scarf, untiring and enduring as a +Damascus blade. A horse that comes but once during twenty generations of +Spanish-Arabian stock, and then is rare, and which, through some trick +of nature or reversion, blossoms forth in all the beauty of an original +type, taking upon himself the color and markings of some shy, wild-eyed +dam, the pride of the Bedouin tribe and is known as the "Pearl of the +Desert." The type of horse that bore Alexander and Jenghis Khan and the +Prophet's War Chieftains to victory. As a colt he had escaped the +_rodeo_. No mark of the branding-irons scarred his shoulder or thin +transparent flanks. Again the Captain's thoughts traveled backward and +he beheld a band of wild horses driven past him in review by a troup of +Mexican _vaqueros_, and the beautiful chestnut stallion emerge from the +cloud of dust on their rim and tossing his great white mane in the +breeze, neigh loudly and defiantly as he swept by lithe and supple of +limb. + +"Bring me that horse!" he had cried. + +"That horse? _José y Maria, Capitan!_ He cannot be broken. Besides, it +will take ten men to tie him." + +"Then let ten men tie him!" he had replied, flinging a handful of golden +eagles among them. + +Many attempts had been made to steal the Arab since he had come into the +Captain's possession. It was a dangerous undertaking, for the horse had +the naïve habit of relegating man to his proper place, either by +ignoring his presence, or by quietly kicking him into eternity with the +same indifference that he would switch a fly with his tail. José might +feed and groom and saddle him, but not mount him. To one only would he +submit; to him to whom a common destiny had linked him--his master. + +"_Sangre de Dios, Capitan!_" began José again, breaking in upon the +latter's musings. "Is it not better that we rest yonder by the spring +than sit here in this infernal sun, gazing at nothing? 'Tis hot as the +breath of hell where the Padres tell us all heretics will go after +death!" The grim expression of the Captain's face relaxed for a moment +and he turned toward him with a laugh. + +"Aye, who knows," he replied, "we too, may go there some day," and +dismounting, he began to loosen his saddle girths. + +"The gods forbid!" answered José, making the sign of the cross, as if to +ward off the influence of some evil spell. "I do not understand you +_Americanos_," he continued, also dismounting and untying a small pack +at the back of his saddle. "You are strange--you are ever gay when you +should be sober. You laugh at the gods and the saints and frown at the +_corridos_, and yet toss alms to the most worthless beggar." + +The foregoing conversation was carried on in Spanish. Although José had +acquired a liberal smattering of English during his service with the +Captain, he nevertheless detested it; obstinately adhering to Spanish +which, though only his mother-tongue by adoption, was in his estimation +at least a language for _Caballeros_. + +The two men were superb specimens of their respective races. Their +rugged appearance, height and breadth of shoulder would have attracted +attention anywhere. The Captain wore a gray felt hat and a rough gray +suit of tweed--his trousers tucked in his long riding boots. José was +clad in the typical _vaquero's_ costume--buff leggins and jacket of +goat-skin, slashed and ornamented with silver threads and buttons, and a +red worsted sash about his middle in which he carried a knife and +pistol. From beneath the broad brim of his _sombrero_ peeped the knot of +the yellow silken kerchief which he wore bound about his head and under +which lay coiled his long black hair. + +Captain Forest was unusually tall and stalwart, deep chested and robust +in appearance, with not a superfluous ounce of flesh on his body, +hardened by the rigors of long months of camp-life. His head was large +and shapely, well poised and carried high on a full neck that sprang +from the great breadth of his shoulders. His face, smooth and sensitive, +and large and regular in feature with high cheek-bones and slightly +hollowed cheeks, was bronzed by long exposure to the sun and weather, +adding to the ruggedness of his appearance. The high arching forehead, +acquiline nose and firm set mouth and chin denoted alertness, action and +decision, while from his eyes, large and dark and piercing, shone that +strange light so characteristic of the dreamer and genius. And yet, in +spite of this alertness of mind and body and general appearance of +strength and power which his presence inspired, there lurked about him +an air of repose indicative of confidence in self and the full knowledge +of his powers. Sensitive to a degree, keen and alive at all times, the +strength of his personality, suggestive of his mastery over men, +impressed the most unobservant. Yet owing to his poise and self-control +those about him did not realize wholly his power until such moments when +justice was violated. Then the latent force within him asserted itself +and he became as inexorable as a law of nature in his demands. An +intense spirit of democracy oddly combined with fastidiousness made an +unusual and attractive personality in which the mundane and the +spiritual were strangely blended. Outwardly he was a man of the world, +yet inwardly he had advanced so far into the domain of sheer +spirituality he scarcely realized that others groped their way among the +most obvious material modes of expression. + +Having removed their saddles and turned their horses loose to find what +scant cropping the desert afforded, the two sought the shelter of the +narrow strip of shade beside the spring at the foot of the _mesa_. Here +they would rest until the heat of the day had passed, resuming their +journey that evening. José unwound his _zerape_ from his shoulders and +spreading it on the ground between them, deposited two tin cups and a +package of sandwiches upon it which, with the addition of a flask of +_aguardiente_ which the Captain drew from his pocket, formed their meal. + +Two years previous the Captain had rescued his companion from a street +mob in Hermosillo, the result of a feud that had broken out between her +citizens and the Yaqui Indians; José having been mistaken for one of the +latter. With his back against a wall and the blood streaming from his +wounds, he was making a desperate stand. Three citizens who had run upon +his knife, lay squirming at his feet; but the odds were too great. In +another moment all would have been over with him had it not been for the +Captain who chanced upon him in the nick of time. Snatching a club from +one of his assailants and accompanying each blow with a volley of +Spanish oaths, he rushed through the mob, scattering it in all +directions. Whether it was the oaths or the Captain's exhibition of his +fighting qualities that impressed José most it is difficult to say. Be +that as it may, from that hour he belonged to Captain Forest body and +soul. He was the grand señor, the _Hidalgo_, in comparison to whom +other men were as nothing. + +The meal over, José with head and shoulders on one end of the _zerape_, +stretched himself at full length upon the ground and, as was his wont, +fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Forest swallowed a last draught +of liquor. Then leisurely rolling a cigarette he lit it, and with back +against the cliff and gaze fixed abstractedly on the mountains opposite, +smoked in silence. + + + + +II + + +Jack Forest's life was rich and full to overflowing with the things of +this world which are generally considered to make for happiness and +culture. Into the measure of his life, the comparatively short span of +thirty-five years, had been crowded a wealth of incident and experience +that seldom falls to the lot of the most fortunate men in this +commercialized era whose tendency is to pull nations like individuals +down to a common level of mediocrity, and seems bent upon extinguishing +even their few remaining national traits and characteristics. + +Born in Washington and a graduate of Harvard, he had traveled to the +four corners of the earth, and hunted big game from the arctic circle to +the equator. During a winter's sojourn in Egypt he made the acquaintance +of Lord X----, then Consul-General of Egypt, upon whose advice he +entered the diplomatic service of his country. Five years were +subsequently spent as first Secretary of the American legations in +London and St. Petersburg. The enthusiasm with which he threw himself +into the work and the natural executive ability which he displayed soon +marked him as a coming man in diplomatic circles. But the speculations +of his friends concerning his future career were destined to be rudely +shattered by one of those inexplicable tricks of fate which, in the +twinkling of an eye, so often change the lives of individuals. + +The spirit of adventure which had lain dormant within him ever since his +decision to adopt diplomacy as a profession was suddenly awakened by the +outbreak of hostilities between Spain and the United States. Through the +influence of his father, General Forest, a Civil War veteran, and that +of his uncle, Colonel Van Ashton, retired, he received the appointment +of Second Lieutenant of Volunteers and shipped with his regiment for +Cuba. He was wounded at the battle of Santiago, though not seriously. At +the close of the campaign in the West Indies his regiment was ordered to +the Philippines, where, at the end of a year, he was promoted to a +captaincy in the regular army. At this juncture in his career the sudden +death of his father necessitated his return to America on leave of +absence. + +The estate to which he and his mother fell heirs was an unusually large +one, the administration of which demanded his immediate and entire +attention if they wished to keep their holdings intact. But as this was +clearly incompatible to the life of a soldier, he was forced to resign +from the army. He took this step without great reluctance, for brief +though his career as a soldier had been, it was a brilliant and +satisfactory one. It was not for the glory of the profession that he had +entered the army, but purely in the spirit of the patriot; and he had +fought his battles and returned with newly won laurels and a fund of +interesting experiences. Besides, campaigning in the Philippines had +convinced him that diplomacy, though perhaps not always so exciting, +was preferable to a life whose daily routine was enlivened only by +target practice, dress-parades and the occasional diversion of chasing +naked men about in the bush. + +As soon as the estate was settled it was his intention to reënter the +diplomatic service for which he knew himself to be better fitted than +before his two years experience in the army. + +The bulk of the fortune consisted of mines in Mexico, whither he was +called to superintend his interests. At the end of a year, however, he +received word from his uncle informing him that the Ministry to Greece +would be open to him if he chose to accept it. Jubilant over the +prospect of reëntering the world of Diplomacy so soon, he immediately +telegraphed his acceptance, and the following day addressed a letter to +the girl he had known from his youth, Blanch Lennox, whose character, +personal charm and ambition marked her as the one to share the future +with him. There was as little doubt in his mind that she would accept +him, as there was in hers that he would make the proposal; and when a +week later, he received a telegram confirming his conjecture, the answer +came as a matter of course. + +The business at the mines was settled, but Mexico and her people were a +new experience. Its vast expanse of plains, virgin forests and wild +sierras lured him on; and in the company of a friend whose acquaintance +he had made at the mines, he passed the remaining time left at his +disposal traveling in the interior of the country, gathering data and +visiting the wild tribes who, though of the same blood, were in +characteristics a distinct people from the slavish _peon_ classes. A +people that have never actually submitted to the rule of the White man, +and have held tenaciously to the ancient beliefs and customs of their +forefathers. + +He was impressed by the fact that, although living entirely independent +of the outside world, they were nevertheless self-supporting and in +certain instances had developed marked degrees of civilization. + +He saw how they tended their flocks and fields, made their own clothes +and articles of use, and wrought gold and silver ornaments embellished +with native stones, and used the bow and arrow in the chase. They knew +nothing of modern civilization. Their daily lives were sufficient unto +them, and they were therefore happy. God seemed infinite and dwelt in +their midst, and spoke to them from the dust as well as from the stars. +But why was this? Why was life for them, in the natural course of +events, so easy and simple, and so difficult and complicated for the +civilized man? + +His thoughts continually traveled back to the Eskimo of the frozen +North, and to Africa and her sun-parched deserts and star-strewn skies +with the roaming Bedouin in the background who regarded the earth as a +footstool to be used only as a means to an end and houses as habitations +fit only for slaves. + +The picture he saw was not the ideal one--the emancipated man of whom +men of all times have dreamed and to whose advent some men are still +looking forward. But the care-free life of the primitive man set him +thinking--opened his eyes to certain truths which, until now, he had +failed to observe. Longings for the unattainable began to stir within +him and take hold of him in a manner entirely new. Hazy, fragmentary +glimpses of hitherto undreamed possibilities began to shape themselves +in his mind. The immensity and profundity of the universe and the +mysterious growth of its hidden life held and enthralled him. + +The last word, he felt, had not yet been spoken. There was something +lacking in the so-called civilized man's economy--a lack which his +philosophy failed to account for, but which was not observable among +animals and primitive men. There, the economy of the infinite cosmic +mechanism which binds and holds all manifestations of life in one +harmonious whole was too apparent to even suggest the detachment of a +single form of life from this whole, but with the civilized man it was +different. He alone seemed to have detached himself from this harmonious +whole--his life stood out as a thing separate and apart from it. There +seemed to be no permanent place for him in the economy of nature. + +But how had this estrangement taken place? Why was he, the +intellectually developed man, incapable of living in harmony with the +universal law of life when it was so easy for the primitive man to do +so? It was evident that he had lost his way somewhere along the path of +normal development. Everything pointed to this--its signs were apparent +to all who wished to see. Nature voiced it on every hand, in the forests +and plains and on the mountain tops, and during the silence of night as +he lay on the ground gazing at the stars overhead. + +The wind that sighed among the ruined temples of the ancient races and +the mountains that looked down upon them seemed to speak to him in the +ever recurring refrain: "Behold the works and glories of men--we are +enduring! The same wind that sighs among them this day, sang to them +when their walls and pillars stood erect. The same mountains that +shadowed them in the past, will still stand guard over the valleys in +the days to come when the works of the present and future generations of +men have passed away forever!" + +He knew that these questions had been asked during countless +generations, and that men were still asking them to-day. He knew also +that man's situation in the universe was taking on a new aspect, and yet +it was strange that such thoughts should absorb him, a man of the world, +of the fighting type, whose wide experience with men and things had +hitherto convinced him that the world, though not perfect, was +good--that present progress made for good, and the best western +civilization had thus far attained was probably about all men of the +future could look forward to so far as happiness was concerned. These +views, however, were no longer tenable if our arts, philosophies and +scientific attainments fail to civilize and refine us. Clearly, modern +man's conception of ethical progress was as deficient in certain +respects as that of the great historic civilizations. The secret of +right living had not yet been discovered. History proved this, and +unless the trend of modern materialistic tendencies was supplanted by +something higher, the same fate that overtook the Ancients must +inevitably overtake us. + +But the date of their wedding had been set, and the time for their +departure for Athens was drawing nearer. Santa Fé lay a day's ride from +the railroad. Instead of performing the journey in a single ride, he +decided to pass the night at the _hacienda_ of a friend, Don Felix de +Tovar, some twelve miles distant from the old Spanish town. Thither he +would ride during the cool of the evening, completing the remainder of +the journey the following day. Between Santa Fé and Don Felix's +_hacienda_ lay the Indian _pueblo_, La Jara, situated some distance off +the main road. By following the trail that led past this village, José +explained, they would reduce the distance to Don Felix's _rancho_ by at +least two or three miles. + +The country through which they traveled was broken and rugged. Twilight +had descended upon the land, and as the two, following the trail that +skirted the foothills, rode to the crest of the _mesa_ upon which the +village was situated, they came suddenly upon a woman riding at full +gallop. The soft, sandy formation of the soil was such that neither +heard the approach of the other, and all three reined in their horses +with a jerk; the woman throwing hers well back upon its haunches; a +high-strung, black, wiry animal whose foam-flecked mouth and breast told +that she had been riding hard. + +How free and wild she looked! She was either a Spaniard or an Indian, +and rode astride. A bunch of red berries adorned her heavy black hair +which fell in masses about her shoulders, accentuating the curve of her +throat and well-formed, clear-cut features just discernible in the +waning light as she sat motionless and erect on her horse, gazing at +him in silence and evidently as much surprised as he was by their sudden +encounter. Then with a smile and a nod of the head by way of +acknowledgment, she lifted her reins and spurred past him; disappearing +in the gathering darkness on the trail below them. Her unexpected +appearance and grace and type of beauty, so different from that of the +woman who occupied his thoughts, thrilled him for the moment as he +listened to the soft, muffled hoof-beats of her horse which grew fainter +and fainter until all was silence, save for the sighing of the wind +among the _mesquit_ and _manzanita_ bushes that grew about them. All +trace of her was gone. She had vanished into the night as swiftly as she +had come. + +Then a strange thing happened. Something suddenly gripped his heart; +that indefinable something after which he had been groping and which had +been knocking so persistently at the portals of his inmost being, but +which until now had eluded him. The sight of that strange woman had +shown him that, to be beautiful is to be free and natural. That the +world he knew and revered was purely an artificial world of man's +invention, transitory and a thing apart from the universal life in the +midst of which he had been placed and apart from which it was impossible +for him to develop naturally. That nature is more perfect than all the +artificialities of civilization and a more efficient environment for the +normal development of man. That man's happiness and true relationship to +the universe were attainable only through direct contact and communion +with this life whose creations are the only great and lasting +realities. Thus only was it possible for him to quicken and vitalize +his powers to their fullest. That when creation finished its task, peace +and harmony reigned in the midst of the terrestrial garden, rendering +man's pursuit of happiness through diverse acts and infinite forms of +diversion quite unnecessary. + +He had discovered the wild man's secret--why the stars still sing to him +as of yore--why the winds and the waters, the animals and the rocks and +the trees still speak to him in harmonies long since forgotten by +civilized man. A great and secret joy, such as he had never before +experienced, filled his soul; uplifting, consuming and mastering him.... +But what would Blanch Lennox say? She with whose inner life he felt in +perfect accord? She who was his ideal, the inspiration of his eager +youth and well-spring of his ambitions of later years? The woman who +always met his problems with quick sympathy and comprehending interest? +Could she understand him now, sympathize with his new views of life? He +knew a battle royal would ensue between them, but felt confident of his +power to convince her. He found, however, upon his return to Newport +where she awaited him, that he had reckoned without his host. She +attributed his enthusiasm and changed convictions to his ardent love of +nature and the roving spirit that animated him, but could not be +convinced that the world of society in which she moved and shone and for +whose adulation she lived, was the lesser world. She refused to +relinquish their present life so full of the things of this world, the +only realities which she knew or recognized, for some vague +uncertainty. Surely the _wanderlust_, the love of the primitive, had +gotten into his blood! + +At first she laughed scornfully, then hysterically. + +"Was he mad to suggest such folly--imagine that she could even dream of +participating in such a life? He might give up the ambition of a +lifetime, fling aside a brilliant career to follow the path of his mad +fancy if he chose, but she would not be a partner to his folly!" + +Again he noted her set lips and the pallor that succeeded the flush on +her cheeks after her first furious outburst. Again he saw her as she +rose, pale and trembling, her eyes blazing. + +"And you dare come to me with this after all the years I have waited for +you? Go back to your deserts--your wild woman and her land of savages!" +she had cried in a voice of suppressed indignation and contempt. After +all he could not blame her, knowing as he did the world in which she had +been reared. She was right. And yet, as he sat there in the desert with +his back to the cliff and smoked in silence, living over again the +poignant memories of the past, the bitterness he experienced at the +moment was even keener than on that memorable night when they had +parted. + +Could he ever forget her? The memory of that night clung to him in spite +of every effort to banish it from his mind. + +Above them shone the stars, golden as the apples of Hesperides. He heard +again the rhythmic sound of the sea and the plashing of the fountain +near at hand, and noted the rose petals which the breeze had shaken from +the bushes to the path where they stood; filling the soft night air +with their fragrance, and she, with the white moonlight in her face and +the pink rose in the golden wreath of her hair, fair as the woman of +Eden. + +The vision passed before him in kaleidoscopic review, warm and living +and tempting and haunting, and then faded from his sight. + +The shadows of evening began to lengthen. Close at hand a lizard that +had been sunning itself all day against the cliff raised its head for an +instant, then slipped noiselessly away with the shadows into a crevice +in the rock. The Indian camp-fires flickered in the valley below, their +slender, ghostlike columns of smoke, rising heavenward straight as the +flight of a flock of cranes, floated away in a pale, blue white cloud on +the evening. The soft, plaintive notes of the night-hawk and prairie-owl +mingled with the prolonged cry of the wolf in the distant foothills. The +night breeze sprang up, fanning the parched desert with its cool breath. +The stars came forth and the silver rim of the moon emerged above the +dark towering mass of the Sierra Madres, outlining their crests in +broken silvery lines as its full white disk swept into view; flooding +the valley and plains with strange ethereal light. + +José's sleep seemed troubled. He moved uneasily and muttered +incoherently. + +Where was she now--what was she doing? The woman he still loved in spite +of himself? And whither was he drifting--what was the real end in view? +What subtle, irresistible influence was it that impelled him to take the +step, sacrifice all that men prize and hold dear? During such moments +he questioned the seemingly blind destiny by which he felt himself +impelled. A thousand miles he had ridden in search of the realization of +his dreams, but had not found it. That which at first had lured him on, +now seemed to mock him. The vision that beckoned to him still maintained +a sphinx-like attitude toward his questioning. + +Where was the new life he had promised himself? Was it only a vision he +had conjured up in his mind? Either he had overlooked something in his +calculations, or his logic was at fault. + +Was this all? Had the human race attained its zenith--was there nothing +beyond, nothing to look forward to, and he merely the latest dreamer and +enthusiast who was pursuing the same will-o'-the-wisp that others had +sought through the ages? If so, then what fatality was it that +encompassed him and continually urged him on? Doubt counseled him to +return, but pride and confidence in self still cried forward. Come what +would, he either must go on to the end or accept the humiliation that +awaits him who turns back. But why was the realization withheld from one +so willing--from one who had dared face the world alone? + +For the first time the loneliness and isolation of his life was borne in +upon him as he reviewed the past, step by step, and thought of the woman +he had chosen to share the future with him and whom it was impossible to +disassociate from his plans. + +Fortune seemed to have deserted him. A sudden revulsion and sickening +sense of failure swept over him, crushing and overwhelming him. Would +the voices never break silence? Must he forever ride alone with the sun +in his face? Save for a cricket that chirped dreamily in a cleft of the +rock close at hand, and the distant, subdued sounds of voices and +barking of dogs in the Indian camps below him, there was no response to +his query. + +Strange that he, Jack Forest, the possessor of twenty millions, the +associate of the great people of this world, and who was never referred +to by his family and friends as other than the Magnificent, the man who +did things, should find himself in the heart of the Mexican deserts +apparently as far from his goal as when he started. It was incredible, +but true, nevertheless. For was he not there in the midst of the +wilderness with the scent of the sage in his nostrils and the alkali +dust on his boots? + +He closed his eyes and let his head sink forward on his breast, wearied +by the oft-repeated endeavor to solve that which was fast becoming a +riddle, a chimera to him, and he probably would have fallen asleep had +he not been startled suddenly into a consciousness of his surroundings +by a low whinny; soft and plaintive as a child's voice. Looking up, he +saw Starlight standing before him with ears erect and pointed forward, +gazing inquiringly into his face. + +Again the Chestnut whinnied, and lowering his head, caressed his +shoulder affectionately with his nose. Then raising his head, he began +to paw the ground impatiently, indicating as plainly as words that it +was time to resume their journey. + +The night wind sighed across the desert and there was a chill in the +air as the moon mounted higher in the heavens; an ideal night for +travel. José awoke with a start and sitting bolt upright on the ground, +gazed about him with a dazed, bewildered air, trying to collect his +scattered senses. + +"_Capitan!_" he cried, regarding him intently. "I have just dreamt that +the shadow of a man came between you and a woman! I can't see their +faces, but they are there!" + +"Bah!" returned the Captain, rising to his feet and stretching wide his +arms, preparatory to saddling his horse. "'Tis only the _aguardiente_, +José!" + +"Ah! do not jest, _Capitan_! Three times have I dreamed this dream--the +shadow comes ever nearer!" + + + + +III + + +The _Fiesta_, the "Feast of the Corn," had been declared, and there was +dancing and feasting, and song and laughter on the lips of men as +Captain Forest and José rode into Santa Fé late the following morning +and turned their horses' heads in the direction of the _Posada de las +Estrellas_, the Inn of the Stars, which was situated just outside the +principal entrance to the town. + +The low gray adobe walls of the houses fronting directly upon the narrow +winding streets leading to and from the plaza were gay with the blossoms +of the pink and scarlet geranium, honeysuckle, and gorgeous magenta of +the bougainvilléa and golden cups of the trumpet-vine. + +Pigeons fluttered from the house-tops to the streets, or hovered about +the plaza and bosky _alamedas_ of poplar, pepper and eucalyptus trees in +search of stray grains of corn. Humming-birds and butterflies flashed +their wings and gorgeous plumage in the sunshine as they darted in and +out among the foliage in the _patios_ and gardens at the rear of the +houses, luxuriant with fruit and flowers as was attested by the orange +and lemon, pomegranate and fig trees, heavy with ripening fruit and the +delicately mingled perfume of orange and lemon blossoms, hyacinth, +jasmine and Castilian rose. + +Through the center of the town, beneath the walls of the half-ruined +convent, flowed the little river, Santa Maria, at whose banks young +girls and women were wont to wash their linen and beat it out on the +large, smooth stones which lay strewn along the water's edge. The notes +of the wood-dove and oriole mingling with the silvery voice of the +river, fell in rhythmical cadences upon the ears of the inhabitants who +rested in the shady seclusion of their _patios_ and gardens during the +hour of the _siesta_; rolling and smoking _cigarillos_ as they leisurely +discussed the latest bit of news or gossip over their black coffee, +_mescal_ and _tequila_, or engaged in a game of _moles_. + +There had been much rain that season, the best of reasons why the people +should give thanks to the heavens and the fields receive the blessing of +the Church as well as that of the gods of the _Indios_ at whose altars +the Red men still worship and upon which still is written "blood for +blood," as in the days when the White men first came from the South, +bearing the fire and thunderbolts of heaven with which they overthrew +them. This was in fulfillment of the curse which the people had brought +upon themselves. The fate which their ancient Sachems had foretold would +overtake them in those days when they should forget the commands of the +gods and neglect the land, and the hand of brother be lifted against +brother until the coming of a Fair Child with a face like the sun unto +whose words all men would hearken and their hearts be united in love. + +According to custom, runners had been sent forth to the north, east, +south and west to proclaim the annual _Fiesta_. For this ceremony the +choicest ears were selected from the new harvest, and, after being +borne aloft in the procession that took place during the benediction of +the fields, were placed in the churches where they remained until the +following year. The golden ears represented the sunrise, the red, the +sunset, the blue, the sky, the white, the clouds, and all together, +their Mother, the Earth, from which they sprang. + +As the season for rejoicing drew near, the _rancheros_ of the +neighboring _haciendas_, together with the Indians of the distant +_pueblos_ and half-wild hill tribes, chance strangers and adventurers, +streamed toward Santa Fé and swarmed within her walls; some eager for +trade and barter, but most of them bent upon pleasure. Her streets and +plazas became a surging mass of struggling humanity, bright with the gay +costumes of men and women. In her market-booths were displayed +innumerable commodities; animals, fruit, vegetables, fowl--flowers, +goldfish, caged finches, canaries--jewelry, rugs, stamped leathers and +drawn-linen work--bright cloths, blankets, baskets and pottery--wines, +laces, silks, satins, cigarettes and cigars. + +Bidding was brisk and at times vehement, but always good humored. +Sellers of lottery-tickets, writers of love-letters, jugglers and +mountebanks plied their trades. The cries of the water-carrier and +vender of sweet-meats mingled with those of the inevitable beggar who +asked alms for the love of God; invoking blessings or curses upon the +head of him who gave or refused him a _centavo_. Babel reigned. Donkies +brayed, geese and turkeys hissed and gobbled, chickens cackled and +fighting-cocks, tethered by the leg, strutted and crowed, while brown +children of all sizes and ages laughed and screamed as they chased one +another in and out among the crowds or rolled in the dust beneath the +pedestrian's feet. + +Old Santa Fé, christened by the early Franciscan Friars, "City of the +Blessed Faith," but in reality a fair wanton, a veritable Sodom and +Gomorrha of iniquity with her _corridos_, her cock-pits and dance and +gambling-halls, threw wide her gates and bade the stranger welcome; and +if he did not receive the worth of his gold in pleasure and substance, +surely it was no fault of Santa Fé's. Besides, it was only a step from a +gaming-table to a Father Confessor. + +The soul of old Spain still lived in the land. The click of castanettes +was heard daily in her plazas and streets where the _fandango_ and +_jotta_ were gayly danced; while at night the soft sounds of guitars and +voices issued from out the deep shadow of her walls. Soft hands drew the +latches of casements, and slender figures stepped out upon moonlit +balconies or beneath purple black heavens studded with myriads of golden +stars, and passionate words and vows were exchanged under the cover of +night. + +Having passed the day at the Inn of the Stars, where they had been +resting after the fatigues of the long night's ride, the Captain and +José again directed their steps toward the town in the cool of the +evening; José making for Pedro Romero's gambling-hall, the Captain for +Carlos Moreno's theater, the _Theatro Mexicano_. + +Owing to the tardiness of his arrival, he found the house packed to the +doors. The performance, vaudeville in character, had already begun, and +it was only after much elbowing and crowding that he finally succeeded +in making his way to Carlos' private box where the latter awaited him. + +A tall, dark woman had just ceased dancing, and as she paused before the +footlights amid a burst of musical accompaniment, the audience with one +impulse rose to its feet and gave vent to prolonged salvos of applause. +Showers of glittering gold and silver coins, bouquets and wreaths of +flowers were flung upon the stage, burying her feet in a wealth and +suffusion of color as she stood smiling and bowing before the audience, +vainly endeavoring to still the tumultuous applause which continued with +deafening uproar until she consented to repeat the performance. + +"Delicious--divine--'tis the Chiquita, _amigo mio_!" cried Carlos; +pausing in the midst of his _vivas_ to greet the Captain. + +"You shall know her and fall in love with her like all the rest of the +world--" but his speech was cut short by a fresh burst of applause from +the audience. The floral tributes that had been showered upon her were +hastily removed to one side of the stage and piled high against the +wings. The musicians struck up their accompaniment and the dance began +again. + +It was evident that she was a favorite of the audience which perhaps +partially accounted for the remarkable demonstration with which her +performance was received. But be this as it may, Captain Forest felt +that he had never witnessed such a remarkable exhibition of subtle grace +and beauty and extraordinary execution and dash as she displayed in the +dance. He recalled the names of the famous dancers he had known, but +none of them had risen to such heights--succeeded in vitalizing and +inspiring their art with so much poetry and life. + +To all appearance she was either Spanish or of Indian extraction, and +yet there was a foreign touch about her that seemed to set her apart +from the women of Santa Fé. + +Who was she, this unknown genius, this master of the terpsichorean art, +living in this far away Mexican town? Such talent could not remain in +obscurity for long. Another great Spanish dancer was about to burst +unheralded upon the world. It only remained for her to dance into it--to +captivate and conquer it. + +This then, was the surprise Carlos had promised him if he came to the +theater that evening. His curiosity was aroused, and he turned to him +for an explanation, but he was no longer by his side; he had rushed +behind the scenes to felicitate the dancer on her remarkable success. + +The air was hot and stifling, and not caring to witness the remaining +numbers on the programme, he took advantage of the intermission that +followed the dance and left the theater. + +Outside the air was deliciously cool. The moonlight and myriads of +artificial lights strung across the streets and on the façades of the +houses, together with the flaming torches in front of the many booths, +lent the appearance of day to night as he slowly made his way through +the surging crowds in the direction of Pedro Romero's gambling-hall +where Carlos had agreed to join him after the performance. + +Pedro's establishment was the chief and only respectable place of its +kind of which the town could boast. It was the resort of the better +element of Santa Fé, and if one were looking for a friend or +acquaintance, he was usually to be found there. The hall was spacious +and well lighted with electricity and resplendent in gilt and mirrors. + +The gay strains of a string band enlivened the scene as he entered. +Clouds of tobacco smoke hung over the throngs that crowded round the +gaming-tables to try their luck with the Goddess Chance. + +José was playing roulette, and judging by the satisfied expression of +his face which the Captain noted in passing, he rightly conjectured that +luck was on his side. + +Like Carlos, Pedro had taken a great fancy to the Captain, and had +generously placed his private stock of wines and cigars at the latter's +disposal. Many an evening had the three passed together smoking and +drinking and chatting; Pedro and Carlos listening with rapt attention to +the Captain's anecdotes and adventures of which he seemed to possess an +inexhaustible store. The hall was greatly overcrowded, rendering it +difficult to find an acquaintance, but as the Captain paused in the +midst of the tables in order to obtain a better view of the faces about +him, he felt a touch on the shoulder from behind and turning, saw Pedro, +the object of his search. + +"_Por Dios!_ but I'm glad to see you again, _amigo_!" exclaimed the +proprietor, a dark little man with a kindly face pitted by the smallpox. +He grasped and shook the Captain warmly by the hand. + +"How are you--when did you return?" he inquired; leading him to a table +in one corner of the hall around which were seated a number of his +friends who, on the appearance of the Captain, rose and greeted him +effusively. + +"_Mozo--mozo!_" shouted Pedro to the waiter, "a glass for the Captain!" + +The others also had been to the theater, and like him, had left during +the intermission following the dance. Naturally the dancer formed the +sole topic of conversation. + +"Had the Señor _Capitan_ seen the Chiquita--had he ever seen such +dancing before--what did he think of her?" And by the time Carlos +appeared on the scene, all agreed that the latter's fortune was +made--that he would soon desert the sleepy old town for a tour of the +world with his newly found star of the footlights. + +"A tour of the world--with the Chiquita?" echoed Carlos, a fat, +broad-shouldered little man of mixed blood, pausing and pulling back a +chair in the act of seating himself at the table. + +"_Dios!_ if such a thing were possible," he exclaimed, pushing his hat +on the back of his head and surveying his companions with critical eyes, +"I would not exchange it for the richest gold mine in Mexico! But," he +added, seating himself at the table, "you don't know the Chiquita, _mis +amigos_. She is made of different stuff than that of the women who dance +for a living." + +To this last remark the company agreed. + +"_Caramba_--how she danced!" he continued, taking a sip of _pulque_. +"Had the house been as large as the plaza and the price of the seats +doubled, there would not have been standing room left to accommodate the +spectators." + +"Aye!" broke in Miguel Torreno, a dark, wizened old Mexican with a face +resembling a monkey's, "they say a thousand people were turned away at +the doors." + +"A thousand? Half the town, you mean!" returned Carlos, rolling a +_cigarillo_ between the tips of his stubby fingers. + +"A pretty penny this dance of the Chiquita's must have cost you, Carlos +Moreno," continued Miguel, his head cocked knowingly on one side, while +he squinted over the rim of his glass between puffs of cigarette smoke. + +"Three thousand _pesos d'oro_," answered Carlos. "But by the Virgin, it +was worth it!" + +"Three thousand _pesos d'oro_!" ejaculated his auditors with one breath. +Old Miguel dropped his glass which fell with a crash, scattering its +contents and fragments over the floor. + +"Three thousand _pesos d'oro_!" he gasped. "_Alma de mi vida!_ Soul of +my life! 'tis the salary of a Bishop! Are you mad, Carlos Moreno?" + +"Perhaps. But only Carlos Moreno can afford to pay such salaries during +the _Fiesta_," he answered complacently, taking a fresh sip of +_pulque_. + +"How did you ever persuade her to dance?" asked Pedro. "It's not the +first time you have made overtures to her." + +"Ah, that's the mystery! I'd give something to know why she danced. You +know," he continued, "it's the first time she has ever appeared in +public." + +"The first time?" interrupted the Captain in surprise. "Why--she +possesses the composure of a veteran of the footlights." + +"Just so," rejoined Carlos. "Nothing is more characteristic of her; +she's at home everywhere. When I first saw her dance three years ago in +the garden of the old _Posada_ at the birthday fête of Señora Fernandez, +I knew instantly that she was either possessed of the devil or the +ancient muse of dance; also, why Don Felipe Ramirez went mad over her. + +"_Dios!_ she's a strange woman--almost mysterious at times!" he added +reflectively, with a shrug of the shoulders and gesture of the hands. "I +thought, of course, that it was the money she wanted when she finally +consented to dance, but I'm not so sure of it now." + +"What reason have you for supposing otherwise?" asked Pedro. + +"Every reason. What do you think she did with the heap of gold and +silver that was showered upon her by the audience?" + +"What?" excitedly demanded old Miguel, who by this time had fortified +himself with a fresh glass of _aguardiente_. + +"Why, after it had been gathered up and handed to her, she, without so +much as looking at it, tossed it lightly into the center of the stage +and bade the musicians and stage-hands remember her when they drank to +their sweethearts to-night." + +Captain Forest's interest began to be aroused. + +"_Caramba_--'tis strange!" muttered old Miguel, eyeing his glass +meditatively; his head nodding slightly from the effects of too much +liquor. "But what will Padre Antonio say when he hears of it? How +fortunate he wasn't here to witness a sight that must have caused him +the deepest humiliation. Poor man," he continued, assuming a sympathetic +tone, "it is already the scandal of the town." + +"Bah! what of that?" returned Carlos. + +It was evident to all that the delights of the _Fiesta_ were beginning +to tell on the old man. Already it had been noted on previous occasions +that an overindulgence in _aguardiente_ usually invoked a religious +frame of mind in him, but which in Miguel's case resembled rather the +groping of a lost soul than the prophetic vision of the seer. + +"What of that?" echoed Miguel, an ominous light flashing from his eyes. +"Those golden _pesos_ so lightly earned will just about pay for a +thousand masses in order to avert excommunication and enable the Church +to snatch the soul of the Chiquita from the fires of purgatory as a +punishment for conduct unbecoming the ward of a priest." + +"Bah! you talk like an infant, Miguel! What a sad, weary world this +would be if there were only priests and churches in it and men did +nothing all day long but say aves and burn candles on altars," and +Carlos lightly blew a ring of smoke toward the ceiling. + +"Ah, yes, perhaps--_quien sabe, amigo mio_?" answered the old man dryly. +"But the Church is the Church." + +"Miguel, you are growing old," said Pedro, slapping him lightly on the +back. "Have another glass!" + +"I'm not old. I'm no older than the rest of you, and neither will I have +another glass," retorted Miguel hotly, greatly irritated by the others' +laughter. + +"Ah!" he continued, wagging his head, and in a tone of bravado and +offended dignity, "you think I can't get home alone, do you? I'll show +you that Miguel Torreno is still as young as the rest of you!" And +supporting himself with one hand on the table and the other on his +stick, he rose from his seat with great difficulty. + +"Miguel Torreno old, is he? A thousand devils!" A chorus of laughter +greeted this last outburst as he turned unsteadily and swaying to and +fro, slowly made his way through the crowd toward the door. + +Just then a man at the next table rose with an oath. It was Juan Ramon, +Major-domo of the Inn of the Stars. Juan Ramon, the handsome, the hawk, +the gambler--the greatest _vaquero_ in Chihuahua. The man who took +delight in riding horses that other men feared--the man in whose hand +the _riata_ became a magic wand, a hissing serpent, and who could +stretch a bull at full length upon the ground at a given spot within a +given time. + +"Has the blessed _Fiesta_ brought you no luck, Juan?" inquired Carlos, +tilting himself back in his chair and smiling up in the other's face. + +"Luck--blessed _Fiesta_? The devil take them both!" exclaimed Juan, the +look of disgust on his face gradually changing to one of +resignation--that serene expression of the born gambler whom experience +has taught that days of famine are certain to follow those of plenty. + +"Look!" he repeated. "The cards are bewitched--not a _centavo_! My +pockets are empty as Lazarus' stomach! Only a month ago I picked out a +beautiful little _hacienda_ with the fairest acreage to which I intended +to retire and live like a _Caballero_--to-day I parted with my only +horse at a loss--to-morrow," and he shrugged his shoulders +indifferently, "if this sort of thing continues, I'll be forced to pawn +the buttons on my breeches. + +"_Mercedes Dios_, blessed be the _Fiesta_!" And flinging the end of his +_zerape_ over one shoulder and across the lower half of his face, he +stalked toward the door; the laughter of his friends ringing in his +ears. + + + + +IV + + +Ten years previous to the events just related, Padre Antonio, his +parochial duties over for the day, was slowly retracing his steps +homeward. + +It was a mild, serene summer evening, and he paused before the massive +iron gates set in the high adobe wall surrounding his garden for a last +look at the sunset before entering his house. + +It had been a strenuous day for Padre Antonio. Early that morning, +Miguel Torreno while beating his mule, had been kicked half way across +his corral by that stubborn though sensible animal, breaking Miguel's +right arm and fracturing three of his ribs. But no sooner had it been +ascertained that old Miguel would not die as he obstinately insisted +that he would, calling frantically upon the Saints the while as the +vision of purgatorial fires which he knew awaited him loomed before his +distracted imagination, than the wives of Pedro Torlone and José +Alvarez, neighbors and friends, quarreled over a cheap blue and white +striped _ribosa_, embroiling their husbands who, without the Padre's +intercession, would have come to blows. + +Then the last sacrament had been administered to Don Juan Otero, one of +Santa Fé's oldest and most respected citizens. + +In a vain effort to banish the unpleasant recollections of the day from +his thoughts, Padre Antonio turned with a sigh from the glories of the +sunset which he had been contemplating, and was on the point of entering +the garden when his quick ear caught the sound of horse's hoofs on the +road, causing him to pause with his hand on the latch of the gate. + +His house being situated in an unfrequented quarter of the town, he +decided to await the coming of the animal; the bearer perchance of some +friend or acquaintance. He had not long to wait. The sounds drew nearer +and nearer, and presently, greatly to his astonishment, a tall, gaunt, +half-starved gray horse with a _riata_ fastened to his lower jaw, and +upon whose back sat an equally gaunt and haggard Indian woman with +disheveled hair and clothes tattered and dust begrimed, came into view +around the sharp angle of the wall and stopped directly before him. + +Never in all his long and varied experience had he witnessed such a +pitiable spectacle as the woman presented. The wild, hollow eyes and +wasted, emaciated form and features gave her more the appearance of some +wild beast than a human being. She did not appear to be conscious of his +presence; and before he had time to recover from his surprise or utter a +word, she stretched both arms out before her as if toward the sun, and +uttering a wild, harsh, inarticulate cry, dropped unconscious from the +horse's back into his arms. + +Experience had taught Padre Antonio to act quickly in cases of +emergency, and with the assistance of his gardener and Manuela, his old +Indian housekeeper, he carried her into the house and laid her upon his +own bed. For days she lay in a delirium, the result of the terrible +privations she had evidently endured. She raved and talked incoherently +in a language which neither he nor Manuela understood. + +The doctors whom he summoned at the outset, only shook their heads, and +after a lengthy consultation informed him with the stoicism +characteristic of the profession that, the patient would either die or +recover. But Padre Antonio did not despair. In his extremity he turned +to heaven, nor did his petition pass unheeded. At length, after many +days of anxious watching, the fever left her and she sank into a deep, +refreshing sleep from which she did not awaken for many hours. + +It was toward the dawn of a Sabbath, and as the calm and peace of sleep +settled upon her, her wasted and emaciated features began gradually to +assume their normal outline. Nature asserted herself, and when the large +dark eyes finally opened once more, it was into the face of a beautiful +girl that Padre Antonio found himself gazing as he knelt by her bedside +in prayer. + +"Be quiet, my daughter," he involuntarily murmured as her eyes rested +upon his, without considering whether she understood him. But the faint +semblance of a smile that lit up her countenance in response to his +words told him she comprehended. Then, during the long days of +convalescence that ensued, she imparted her history to him in broken +Spanish. + +She was a Tewana; the daughter of their War Chief, the Whirlwind, who +had been killed recently in battle with another Indian tribe, the +Ispali. Just previous to this, her people who had long been at war with +the Government, had been defeated by the Mexican troops. After the +battle the entire tribe with the exception of the Whirlwind's band made +peace with the Government; the remnant of the latter with which she +remained, escaping into the mountains. But fate had doomed the little +fleeing band to extermination. It was surprised and annihilated by the +Ispali Chieftain, the White Wolf, and his followers whose territory they +had invaded; she being the only one spared--the White Wolf signifying +his intention of making her one of his wives. But that same night when +the Chieftain entered the lodge he had set apart for her and began to +make advances to her, she suddenly snatched a brand from the fire which +burned in the center of the lodge and struck him over the head, knocking +him senseless. + +Then, stealing forth from the lodge, she mounted the Chieftain's horse +which stood tethered just outside the door and fled under cover of the +night. For days she fled across the deserts and mountains, concealing +herself during the daytime and traveling at night; subsisting as best +she could upon the wild roots and berries which she was able to find. +But the privations which she was forced to endure--the lack of food and +water, night vigils and exposure to the weather, began to tell on her. +She became delirious, and no longer able to guide her horse, was obliged +to let him choose his own course, and--Padre Antonio knew the rest. + +Surely God had led this fair heathen child to his very door in order +that he, Padre Antonio, might snatch her soul from the flames of hell by +directing her in the way of the true faith. There could be no doubt of +it; God's handiwork was too apparent. + +Padre Antonio was a liberal, broad-minded man. Having experienced most +things that fall to the lot of men, he did not believe in restraining +her against her will in order that her conversion might be accomplished +as many a zealous priest might have considered justifiable in her case. +But should she manifest a desire to remain with him, she would be reared +in the very lap of Mother Church. With this project in mind, it was with +the greatest solicitude that he watched her recovery, and when she was +informed that she would be permitted to return to her own people if she +so desired, he won her confidence completely. + +The last vestige of that barrier of restraint and suspicion which the +strangeness of her position had reared between them was swept away. + +From that moment the wild little nomad of the desert evinced the keenest +interest in her new surroundings. Her childish delight was unbounded on +beholding for the first time in her life the strange flowers and fruits +in the garden. They were all so new and wonderful to her, and she +wandered for hours among them; touching and plucking them and tasting +and inhaling their fragrance. + +Whether it was the novelty of her position, or her sudden and passionate +attachment to Padre Antonio whom she regarded in the light of a +new-found father that caused her to forget for the time her former wild +life and consent to remain with him, is difficult to determine. + +Padre Antonio who had lived many years among the wild tribes of the +country and knew them as few men did, their insatiable love of liberty +and intense dislike of the White man's civilization, looked upon her +conversion and decision to remain with him as another direct +intervention of Providence; for that which usually required years had +been accomplished in as many weeks in her case. It was little short of a +miracle, and he rejoiced exceedingly and began gradually to unfold his +plans to her concerning her future. + +The curriculum of the Convent of Saint Claire in Santa Fé did not seem +adequate, and nothing would do, but that he should accompany her to the +City of Mexico, where he placed her in charge of the Sisters of Saint +Ursula. There she would have not only the educational, but the social +advantages which the city offered. + +Before their departure he christened her, Chiquita Pia Maria Roxan +Concepcion Salvatore; a name which, out of gratitude and obedience to +her benefactor, she accepted without question concerning either its +origin or his reason for giving it to her. + +Six years passed, during which she traveled for three summers in Europe +with friends of the Padre. Interminably long years they seemed to him. +Each year he had planned to visit her, but each time something +intervened to prevent his going. He was a busy man. His duties required +annual visits to the outlying _pueblos_ and distant Indian Missions, +consuming his entire time. However, he at length received word from the +Sisters of Saint Ursula that Chiquita had completed her course of +studies and had started on her return journey to Santa Fé. + +It was evident from the reports which he had received at regular +intervals from the Sisters that she did not care for the Church as he +had fondly hoped she might. But after all, what did it really matter? + +One so young and gay could not be expected to take life so seriously. +When one grew old, one became serious enough for this world; and he +smiled as he thought of his wild little Indian girl. + +In his fond imagination, he saw her large, mischievous, dark eyes snap, +and heard the merry peals of her laughter as she flitted about the +garden in former years. Surely it was better thus--that she should +remain blithe and happy like the birds, as God had created her. + +The years had begun to tell on the aged Manuela. She was beginning to +show signs of failing, and he decided that Chiquita, his ward, should +live with him and rule his household in Manuela's stead. His wants were +so few and simple that she would have little to do and old Manuela would +be able to sun herself in the garden during the remaining years of her +life; a reward for her long and faithful service. Nor was Manuela +adverse to this new arrangement which must eventually deprive her of all +authority in the household; a position she had guarded so jealously +through the years and which had raised her in the estimation of the +community. Although of a different people, the common racial blood bond +had drawn the two women together from the first; besides, she could +always assist in the lighter work of the household if she chose. + +The Padre never tired of meditating upon this fond dream during his +leisure moments. What a perpetual source of joy and satisfaction the +presence and sunshine of this child of his own molding would be to him +in his old age! Besides he would always be near her to administer +spiritual council and guidance. + +So, when the day of her arrival finally dawned, he and old Manuela rose +with the sun, and gathering the freshest and brightest flowers the +garden contained, they arranged them in the room she was to occupy; +transforming it into a veritable bower of fragrance and color. + +The prospect of seeing his protegée so soon again, filled Padre Antonio +with the most conflicting emotions of longing and impatience. + +He could think of nothing else--could neither sit nor stand, but fretted +and bustled about the house with the impatience of a child. Fearful lest +he should be too late, he hurried through his simple breakfast, +consisting of black coffee and a roll, without so much as glancing at +the local paper as was his wont; and then, quite forgetting to pull on +his black silk gloves which Manuela thrust into his hands together with +his hat and stick, he hastened to the station which he reached an hour +before the time scheduled for the arrival of the stage. + +Of course she must have changed somewhat during the long interval of her +absence, he argued, more as a concession to reason than to desire or +sentiment. But in spite of this possibility, his mental picture of her +still remained that of the little Indian girl he had confided to the +care of the good Sisters of Saint Ursula six years before. + +What if the stage were late, and could she make the long journey alone +and in safety, he asked himself a thousand times as he impatiently paced +up and down the platform of the station; the tap of his gold-headed cane +marking the time of his steps on the boards beneath him. + +"Saints! but the stage was slow! A snail could crawl--" Suddenly he +stopped short. A flush of joy suffused his countenance--his heart began +to beat rapidly and his right hand with which he grasped his cane +trembled perceptibly as he gazed intently down the long dusty highroad. + +"At last!" he cried. Another intense moment of suspense and the distant +cracking of a whip and sounds of wheels and hoof-beats on the road +announced the approach of the stage. Presently it hove in sight and a +few minutes later, as it drew up before the station and came to a full +stop, the door was hastily flung open and a tall, closely veiled woman +sprang lightly to the platform. + +Her striking appearance would have commanded attention anywhere, but +without noticing her, he brushed hastily past her and gazed eagerly into +the interior of the coach. It was empty. + +_Dios!_ what had happened? There must be some mistake! With a note of +keenest disappointment in his voice he turned sharply on the driver and +impatiently demanded what had become of the little Indian girl that had +been placed in his charge. + +"Little Indian girl? _Caramba!_" A look of bewilderment accompanied by a +shrug of the shoulders and a "_no sabe_, Señor Padre," was the only +answer he received. Consternation seized Padre Antonio. + +Merciful heaven! what had become of her--Chiquita, his little girl? His +voice choked, while tears of bitter disappointment welled to his eyes. +"Ah, yes, there had been a mistake--she would come by the next stage," +he said, addressing the driver, and was on the point of turning away +when a silvery peal of laughter fell upon his ears. He felt a soft touch +on his shoulder and a voice close to him said: + +"Padre Antonio, don't you know your little Chiquita?" The veil had +slipped from her face, displaying the features of a beautiful Spanish +woman. Confounded and speechless with amazement, Padre Antonio could +only gaze in silence upon the apparition before him. + +Was it possible, or was he only dreaming? What a transformation! Was +this mature woman, this tall and supple and refined and graceful +creature his Chiquita, his wild little Indian girl of former years? He +rubbed his eyes in bewilderment and gazed again. Holy Maria! but she was +beautiful--fair as the starry jasmine blossoms which she wore at her +breast and in the dark folds of her hair. + +In that hour the world suddenly became filled with exquisite harmony for +Padre Antonio, and he seemed to grow younger by many years. + +The radiant beauty of her face with the poetry of sunshine and laughter +in her eyes and her grace and charm of personality affected him like +some wonderfully attuned chime of silver bells. Surely this was worth +waiting for. His prayers had been answered richly and abundantly, far +beyond anything his imagination had pictured during those long years of +waiting. + + + + +V + + +The _Posada de las Estrellas_ was situated on the western side of the +town within a stone's throw of Padre Antonio's house. It stood well back +from the highroad from which it was screened by a thick hedge-like +growth of cedar, manzanita, tamarisk and lilac bushes. + +A short distance east of the _Posada_, the highroad entered the long +_Alameda_ which led to the plaza in the center of the town, overlooked +by the old _Precedio_ or Governor's palace. + +The widespreading branches of two immense cottonwood trees, the trunk of +one of which was encircled by a rustic bench, cast an inviting shade in +front of the house and wide veranda which stretched its length along two +sides of the low, one storied adobe structure. Honeysuckle and white +clematis and pink and scarlet passion vines clambered up its slender +pillars and hung in fragrant flowering festoons from the low balustrades +above. The fresh green leaves of the nasturtium, bright with variegated +blossoms, ranging from deep scarlet to gold and pale yellow, trailed +along the ground at the foot of the veranda and skirted the narrow +pathway which led to the rear of the _Posada_ whose _patio_ looked out +upon a garden interspersed with innumerable flowers and shrubs, fruit +and cedar trees, and whose soft green lawn was intersected by narrow +gravel pathways. Just back of the garden lay the vegetable patches which +intervened between it and the stables and corrals, whence came the +cackling of hens and cooing of pigeons in the early morning. + +Originally the _Posada_ had been one of the large _haciendas_ adjoining +Santa Fé, but its mistress, Señora Fernandez, had transformed it into an +Inn after the death of her husband who had been killed accidentally by +the fall of his horse. Finding herself in reduced circumstances incurred +by her husband's gambling propensities, she resolved upon the change. +His chief legacy consisting of debts, she was obliged to part with the +greater portion of the estate, but her natural executive ability stood +her in good stead. + +The new enterprise prospered, and the Inn became widely known throughout +the country as a place at which to stop if only for a cup of chocolate +or a chat with the Señora who always knew the latest gossip. + +In her youth she had been noted for her beauty, and even now, in spite +of middle-age and somewhat faded features, the latter the result of the +struggle she had undergone to reestablish herself in the world, she was +still considered buxom and fair to look upon by the majority of men. She +carried her head high and with a coquettish air which plainly showed she +had by no means relinquished her hold upon life. + +On this particular morning she looked unusually well as she moved about +the _patio_ engaged with her women in assorting a huge basket of freshly +laundered household linen. Not a strand of silver was visible in her +jet black hair, adorned with a large tortoise-shell comb and a single +Castilian rose. Her gay, low-necked, short sleeved bodice, exposing her +shapely neck and arms, harmonized well with her short, black silken +_saya_ which rustled with every movement she made and from beneath which +protruded a small pair of high instepped feet encased in black slippers +ornamented with large quaint silver buckles. + +It was the Señora's birthday. She had risen earlier than usual prepared +to receive the congratulations of her friends who, she knew, would be +sure to call during the day in honor of the occasion. A few of them +would be asked to remain and dine with her in the evening. + +It was on a similar occasion that Chiquita had danced in the _patio_ +before her guests. + +The innate vanity of the woman might have led one to suppose that she +would let the years pass unnoticed, but not so. The old, time-honored +custom of the country must be observed lest her friends might say: +Señora Fernandez is already laying by for a ripe old age, the mere +suggestion of which on the part of the world would have been enough to +throw her into one of those uncontrollable fits of rage for which she +was noted. + +Artful, shrewd and scheming though she was, her susceptibility to +flattery was her weak point, amounting almost to a mania. To be told +that she still looked as young and handsome as in the days when the +years justified the statement, was to win her immediate esteem. The lack +of this servile attitude and cringing civility on Chiquita's part, +together with the knowledge of her own superiority which she never +hesitated to show when occasion required, had drawn down the Señora's +enmity upon her. Whereas, an occasional soft word or smile of +acquiescence--she demanded so little--would have smoothed her ruffled +spirit and taken the edge off her tongue, the sharpest in Santa Fé. + +It was not easy for the inveterate coquette and one time reigning belle +to resign the position she had held so long and undisputed, especially +to an alien--one whom the full blooded Spaniard inwardly despises, +regards as of an inferior race. + +How she hated the dark woman, envied the glances and flatteries and +attentions which she always received wherever she went. It was said, +that on Chiquita's return from school, Señora Fernandez suddenly grew +cold and haughty toward the world, but finding that a proud exterior +availed her little, she sulked and pouted for a time like a spoiled +child, only to warm again to the world which she loved so passionately, +which she felt slipping from her and without whose adulation she could +not live. + +_Dios de mi vida!_ but it was terrible to grow old! Not since the death +of her husband, Don Carlos, had she endured so bitter a pang. The fact +that she had never had any children accounted perhaps for a certain +harshness in her nature. + +It was a busy day for the Señora. Besides the care of her guests, the +preparing of freshly killed fowl and baking of cakes and _tortillas_, +there was the garden which must be hung with lanterns where there would +be the usual dancing and merrymaking during the evening. All this and +much more the Señora must superintend, but she was equal to the task. + +As she issued her orders to the retinue of servants that came and went, +she carried on a lively, though interrupted, conversation with her +sister, Señora Rosario Sanchez, and her niece, Dolores, who had come to +assist her in the preparations. + +"It has come at last--I always said it would--I never trusted that +double nature of hers!" she exclaimed triumphantly, pausing for an +instant in her work of assorting the linen. The expression and gesture +of Señora Sanchez plainly bespoke the shock she also had experienced. + +"To think of it," she gasped. "How Padre Antonio can overlook such a +breach of confidence and offense to the Church is more than I can +understand!" + +"Ah! that shows the extent of her influence over him," answered Señora. +"She has bewitched him with her wild ways--he simply dotes on her!" + +"It's scandalous!" broke in her sister. + +"To my mind, it shows signs of the Padre's failing," rejoined the Señora +sharply. + +"It does indeed--poor man!" sighed her sister. "And what's more--it +never did seem proper that so handsome a woman should live with a priest +even though she be his ward and he an old man." + +"Handsome?" sneered the Señora, drawing herself together as though she +had received an electric shock; the pleased and animated expression of +her face changing suddenly to one of utmost frigidity. "I never could +understand why people considered that Indian good looking," and her +black eyes snapped as she turned to resume her work, plainly betraying +the jealousy aroused. Señora Sanchez, knowing her sister's temper only +too well, hastened to change the subject. + +Strange to say, Padre Antonio did not share the public's sentiment, or +rather that of his own particular flock, concerning Chiquita's latest +escapade. Instead of being overwhelmed, broken in spirit and utterly +cast down by grief and shame as had been confidently predicted, he, much +to the disgust of his congregation, went calmly about his duties as +though nothing unusual had occurred, referring jocosely to this lark of +his madcap ward as he was pleased to term it. + +Lark? Heavens! had the Padre lost his senses? Excommunication might be a +little too severe, but a year's solitary confinement in a convent as a +penance for her sin was the least penalty she could expect. + +But Padre Antonio knew what the rest of the world did not. That his +charming, irrepressible protegée would have snapped her fingers lightly +at the mere suggestion of either. The days of mediæval suppression of +females had come to an end even in Mexico. Moreover, there existed a +perfect understanding between the two. + +During his long years of missionary work he had learned that the heathen +often stood higher in the sight of Heaven than many a zealous devotee of +the Church. Besides, dancing was not only a national pastime of the +Spaniard, but among Indians, a part of their religion as well. + +That Chiquita had some very good reason for dancing in public, he knew +well enough. They understood one another perfectly, and he did not ask +her her reason for dancing, knowing full well that some day she would +tell him of her own accord. + +Although Chiquita had accommodated herself marvelously well to the new +conditions, imbibing the best civilization had to offer, she +nevertheless remained the freeborn woman--the descendant of a freeborn +race of men. The wild, free nomad whom experience and direct contact +with nature had early taught to recognize the simple underlying truths +and realities of life and their relations to one another, was not to be +measured by the conventions or limited standards of a tamer race of men +hedged about by superficial traditions and born and reared remote from +the heart of nature beneath the roofs of houses. It was the cold, hard +earth and equally cold and unrelenting stars that had nurtured Chiquita +from earliest childhood, and to apply the petty restraints and +conventions of modern society to her was like clipping the wings of an +eagle and then expecting it to fly. + +Ordinarily, life is dull enough without civilized man's efforts to +reduce it to positive boredom, and although Chiquita's escapades had +acted like a slap in the face, they had nevertheless done much to arouse +the spirit of the otherwise sleepy old town. Her presence was fresh and +invigorating as the north wind. Moreover, the very ones who criticised +her most in secret, were usually the first to come to her for advice +when in trouble. For who was so wise as the strange, beautiful woman? + +True, it cost something to be hated as cordially as one was admired, +nevertheless, Padre Antonio rightly conjectured that there was not a +woman in Santa Fé who would not willingly exchange places with his ward +were she able to. So, like the sensible man that he was, he only smiled +at idle gossip and continued to watch with increasing interest the +transformation of his protegée. + + + + +VI + + +Captain Forest had taken quarters at the _Posada_ for an indefinite +period; at least until he learned the whereabouts of his friend, Dick +Yankton, who had accompanied him on his former expeditions. + +He had been aroused at an early hour by the cackling of affrighted fowl +and the voices and footsteps of _peons_ as they came and went in the +_patio_, their jests and laughter mingling with snatches of song. Not +being able to sleep, he arose, and after a hasty toilet, stepped out +upon the veranda, bright with the morning sunlight. Save for his +presence, the place was deserted; the empty chairs standing about just +as their occupants of the previous evening had left them, a proof that +he was the first of the guests to be abroad. + +"I wonder where Dick is?" he soliloquized, leisurely descending the +veranda steps and turning into the pathway that led to the garden at the +rear of the house and thence to the corrals, whither he directed his +steps for a look at his horse to see whether he had been properly cared +for during the night. As he disappeared around the corner of the house, +a woman turned in from the highroad and paused before the Inn beneath +the great cottonwood encircled by the bench. + +She was tall and slender and on one arm carried a basket of eggs +concealed beneath a layer of freshly cut roses; Padre Antonio's annual +birthday tribute to the Señora. Her heavy blue-black hair, loosely +caught up at the back of the neck and adorned with a bunch of pink +passion flowers nestled about her neck and shoulders, on one of which +was perched a small white dove that fluttered and cooed. From out the +midst of the passion flowers shone a faint glint of silver. + +Her dull white shirt waist, low at the neck and with sleeves rolled back +to the elbows, exposed her long, slender neck and well rounded forearms +which, like her face, were a rich red bronze. A faded orange kerchief, +loosely knotted, encircled her neck; the ends thrust carelessly into her +breast. Her soft mauve _saya_, worn and patched and looped up at one +side, disclosing a faded blue petticoat underneath, fell to her ankles, +displaying a pair of small feet encased in dull blue stockings and low +black shoes. + +Depositing the basket on the bench, she extended her right hand upon the +back of which the dove immediately hopped, cooing and fluttering as +before. + +"_Cara mia!_" she murmured fondly, raising it to her lips, kissing it +and caressing it gently against her cheek. + +"What wouldst thou--thou greedy little Jaquino? Knowest not thou hast +had one more berry than thy sweet little Jaquina?" But the dove only +continued to flutter and coo on her hand. + +"Hearest thou not," she continued, "she already calls thee!" And +extending her lips, between which she had inserted a fresh berry, the +dove eagerly seized and devoured it. + +"Ah, _querida mia_!" she murmured softly, kissing it again. "Now fly +away quickly like a good little Jaquino before some wicked señor comes +to catch thee for his breakfast!" And tossing the dove lightly into the +air with an "_á Dios_," it hovered over her head for an instant, then +flew straight away over the old _Posada_ back to Padre Antonio's garden +where its mate awaited it. + +A sigh escaped her as she watched the flight of the bird. How free of +the cares and responsibilities of the world the winged creatures seemed. +She turned to the bench once more and was in the act of picking up her +basket, when her attention was suddenly arrested by the sound of +footsteps close at hand, and wheeling around, she came face to face with +Captain Forest. + +The little cry of surprise that escaped her interrupted the Captain's +meditations who, with eyes cast on the ground, might otherwise have +walked straight into her. + +"A thousand pardons, Señorita!" he exclaimed in Spanish, stopping +abruptly and raising his hat. + +"I--" He paused as her full gaze met his which to his surprise was +almost on a level with his own. What a face! Could his sensations have +been analyzed, they might have coincided with those of Padre Antonio's +on beholding his protegée when she stepped from the stagecoach on her +return from the convent. + +The broad sweep of her brow, her penetrating gaze, her straight nose, +high cheek bones and delicately molded lips and chin and grace of her +supple, sinuous body, together with the picturesqueness of her costume, +presented a picture of striking beauty. + +"Why," he continued abruptly, "you are the woman that danced at Carlos +Moreno's! The Señorita Chiquita about whom the whole town is talking!" + +"Ah! you saw me dance, Señor?" she asked, betraying a slight +embarrassment. + +"I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Such a performance--I--" again +he paused, regarding her intently. "Do you know, Señorita, all the while +I watched you dance there seemed to be something familiar about you. It +seemed as though I had seen you somewhere before." + +"Yes?" she queried, her dark eyes glowing and a faint flush mounting to +her cheeks. + +"Yes," he answered. "Ever since then I have been trying to think where +it could have been. Ah!" he exclaimed, stepping backwards and eyeing her +critically. "Just turn your head that way again. There, that's it! I +knew I had seen you before! Do you remember the night we met a year ago +on the trail below La Jara?" + +A smile parted her full rose-red lips, displaying her pearly teeth. "I +remember it well, Señor," she answered, casting down her eyes for an +instant. "I recognized you the instant I saw you." + +"Strange," he muttered half to himself. Then, after a rather +embarrassing silence, he said: "That was a fine horse you rode. Do you +live here at the _Posada_, Señorita?" + +"No. I live with Padre Antonio." + +"Padre Antonio? Ah, yes!" he exclaimed, recalling the conversation at +Pedro Romero's gambling hall. "Tell me," he continued, "who is Padre +Antonio?" + +"Ah! I see you have not been long in Santa Fé, Señor, else you must have +heard something about him. Everybody knows Padre Antonio--he is our +priest." + +"Both you and he must have been absent when I was here before, otherwise +I must have met you," he answered. + +At this moment the tall figure of a man, dressed in a suit of light gray +material with a soft felt hat to match, appeared in the doorway of the +Inn. His eyes, like his hair and mustache, were dark brown. His hands +were long and slender and delicate as a woman's, yet there was nothing +effeminate in his appearance. His strong, sensitive features and roving, +piercing eyes and alert carriage indicated courage and energy. + +He paused as he caught sight of the two figures before him. Then, with +an exclamation of surprise, he stepped quickly out on to the veranda. +"Jack!" he exclaimed. "When did you get here?" + +Turning swiftly, Captain Forest saw Dick Yankton standing before him. +"Dick!" he cried, and rushing up the veranda steps, seized him by both +hands. "I've been wondering where I would find you! You evidently didn't +get my letter?" + +"No," replied his companion. "I only returned from the mountains late +last night. It's probably waiting for me here." + +"The Señores know one another?" interrupted Chiquita, also ascending the +veranda. + +"Know one another? Señorita, we are brothers," said Dick. + +"Brothers?" she echoed, surprised and perplexed. + +"Yes, Señorita, all but in name," interposed the Captain. + +"Ah! I see. Brothers in fortune!" + +"Exactly," replied Dick. "But what is all this I hear concerning your +doings, Señorita? I'd have given my best horse to have seen you dance, +but, as you see, I'm too late. A pretty nest of hornets you've stirred +up in the old place," he continued. "Why, last evening I met the Navaros +on the road on their way home and they wouldn't let me pass until they +had told me how wicked you were. Señora Navaro even crossed herself and +said an ave at the first mention of your name." + +"Ah," she sighed, then laughed unconcernedly. "I'm afraid I've been very +naughty, Señor." Then suddenly recollecting her mission, she exclaimed: +"I almost forgot why I came here this morning. I'm the bearer of Padre +Antonio's gift and greetings to the Señora. It's her birthday, you +know." + +"Her birthday? I wonder she still dares have them!" exclaimed Dick. + +"She does, nevertheless," laughed Chiquita; and brushing back the roses +in her basket with a sweep of the hand, she disclosed the eggs beneath. +"Look," she continued. "Padre Antonio's gift! Are they not +beautiful--just fresh from the hens! You had better have some for your +breakfast, Señor," she added. + +"By all the Saints in the calendar, they are pearls, every one of +them!" returned Dick enthusiastically, eyeing the contents of the +basket. "Thrice blessed be thy hens, Señorita! We'll have eggs with our +chocolate out here on the veranda!" + +"I thought so!" came a sharp voice from the other side of the doorway +just behind them, "as usual, talking with the Señores!" and Señora +Fernandez, with flushed cheeks and a spiteful gleam in her eyes which +she took no pains to conceal, stepped from the door into the light. + +"_Buenas dias_, Doña Fernandez!" said Chiquita, unabashed by the +Señora's sudden appearance and onslaught, "may the day bring you many +blessings! Look! Padre Antonio's greetings," and she held up the basket +for the Señora's benefit. Then, with a subtle sarcasm which she knew +would avenge her amply for the Señora's unprovoked attack, she said: "I +stopped to inquire what the Señores would have for their breakfast. They +say they will have eggs with their chocolate." + +"Indeed! Eggs and chocolate--chocolate and eggs!" angrily retorted the +Señora, "just as though one didn't know what everybody takes for +breakfast!" But without waiting for her to finish, Chiquita vanished +through the doorway with her basket; her low laughter, followed by a +snatch of song just audible from within, serving to increase the +Señora's irritation. + +"Holy God! I sometimes think the devil is inside of that girl!" she +exclaimed, vexed beyond measure. + +"Ah, but what a sweet one!" laughed Dick. "I wouldn't mind being +possessed of the same myself." + +"Bah, Señor! you talk like a fool!" she retorted. "I pray you, do not +think too poorly of us, Señor _Capitan_," she continued in an apologetic +tone, turning to Captain Forest. "I assure you, all the women in Santa +Fé are not so bold as the Señorita Chiquita." + +"No, most of them are a tame lot!" broke in Dick, secretly enjoying the +Señora's discomfiture. + +"_Caramba!_ your speech grows more foolish as you talk, Señor!" returned +the Señora in a tone of intense disgust. "I see, you too have fallen +under her spell. They say she has the evil-eye, Señor _Capitan_," she +went on, addressing the Captain again. + +"Evil-eye--ha, ha! What next?" laughed Dick. + +"Blood of the Saints! I'll no longer waste my time with you, Señor!" and +with an angry swish of her skirt, she turned and disappeared in the +house. + + + + +VII + + +"What does she mean by the evil-eye?" asked the Captain after the sounds +of the Señora's footsteps had died away in the corridor within the +house. + +"Nothing--it's only jealousy. Chiquita being the acknowledged belle of +the town, most of the other women, especially those of pure Spanish +blood, are jealous as cats of her, and seldom miss an opportunity of +saying spiteful things about her. That's why her dancing has caused such +a row. And yet," he continued, seating himself on the veranda rail, his +back against one of its wooden pillars, "I can't see why. It's race +hatred of course, but there's really no reason for it because she's the +best educated woman between here and the City of Mexico. Padre Antonio +saw to it that she received the best Mexico had to give. Why, she speaks +French and English almost as well as she does Spanish. If she were a +_mestiza_ or half-caste, things would go hard with her, but being a +full-blood, she's easily a match for them all." + +"She's certainly an unusual woman," said the Captain; "one you would +hardly expect to find in this out-of-the-way place." + +"Oh, that's one of the many paradoxes in life," answered Dick. "I've met +many a remarkable personality in the most remote regions during my +wanderings. But," he continued, abruptly changing the topic of +conversation, "what brings you back here? I always felt you would come +back to this country again. Civilization isn't all it's cracked up to +be, is it?" + +"It was a hard wrench just the same," returned the Captain, "especially +when one--" + +"Did you hear that?" suddenly interrupted Dick, rising from his seat on +the veranda rail and gazing intently down the highroad. The sounds of a +vehicle and hoof-beats on the hard road, mingled with the shouts of a +driver, the crack of a whip and tinkle of bells, were distinctly heard, +and presently, a heavy lumbering stagecoach enveloped in a cloud of +white dust and drawn by four mules was seen coming down the road at full +gallop. + +The sounds had also aroused the household. Señora Fernandez at the head +of a troop of _peons_ and women rushed out of the house, talking and +gesticulating excitedly as they swarmed over the veranda and down the +steps in front of the _Posada_, for all the world like a distracted +colony of ants. + +"_Dios!_ what can have happened to the stage that it comes in the +morning instead of the evening?" she cried breathlessly, quite +forgetting her recent ill humor in the excitement. + +"There's no stage at this hour," said Dick. + +"But there it comes!" answered the Captain. + +"It's not the regular stage," returned Dick; "a party of tourists, most +likely! I see a lot of women!" he added, as the occupants on the outside +of the stage came more clearly into view. + +Suddenly Captain Forest started, gasped, and gripped one of the veranda +pillars with his right hand. "No--it can't be!" he muttered, passing his +free hand across his eyes as though to dispel an illusion. + +"What's the matter, Jack?" asked Dick. + +"God in heaven! what can have brought them here?" he cried, ignoring his +companion's question and leaning out over the veranda rail, his gaze +riveted on the stage. + +"Friends of yours?" asked Dick again. + +"Friends? It's the whole family!" + +Dick gave a prolonged whistle. + +The women and _peons_, clamoring vociferously, instantly surrounded the +stage as it drew up before the _Posada_ with a great clatter of wheels +and hoofs; assisting its occupants to alight and carrying the luggage +into the house. + +On the box beside the driver sat Blanch Lennox, looking a trifle pale +the Captain thought, and Bessie Van Ashton, his cousin, a pretty blond +with large violet eyes and small hands and feet that matched her +slender, willowy figure. + +"Is this the infernal place?" came a voice from the interior of the +coach that sounded more like a snarl of a wild beast than a human voice. +"If ever I pass another night in such a damned ark--" came the voice +again, as its possessor, Colonel Van Ashton, enveloped in a much +wrinkled traveling coat, stepped with difficulty from the coach to the +ground. "I'm so stiff I can hardly walk! Ough!" he cried, and his right +hand went to his back as a fresh spasm of pain seized him. + +"It's just what I told you it would be like! The country's +beastly--beastly!" and Mrs. Forest, white with dust and completely +exhausted by the journey, followed the Colonel, supported on either side +by her maid and her brother's valet. + +"Merciful God! they must be very grand people to talk so foolish!" +ejaculated the Señora who knew enough English to grasp the import of +Mrs. Forest's words. Although she had never devoted much time to the +study of the language, she had picked up a smattering of English from +the Americans and Englishmen who annually stopped at the _Posada_ on +their way to the mines in the interior of the country in which much +foreign capital was invested. + +"Why, there's Jack!" cried Bessie, dropping lightly from the box into +the arms of two _peons_ who stood below to assist her to the ground. + +"Hello, Jack!" she continued, advancing, "I'll wager you didn't expect +to see us this morning, did you?" + +The Captain noted the ring of sarcasm in her voice as she concluded. + +"I confess I did not, Cousin," he answered, descending the veranda to +meet them. "What in the world brought you here?" he asked, taking his +cousin's hand. + +"Oh! we thought we'd like to see a little more of the world before we +became too old to enjoy traveling," she answered, with a peculiar little +laugh that was all her own and which usually conveyed a sense of +uneasiness to those toward whom it was directed. + +"How much longer are you going to stand there asking idiotic questions?" +broke in Mrs. Forest with a furious glance at her son. "Can't you see, +I'm nearly dead?" + +"Really, Mother, I'm very sorry," returned the Captain, "but it's all +your own fault, you know. Why did you come?" + +"Our fault--why did we come? It's your fault--your fault, sir!" she +almost screamed, and ended by laughing hysterically. + +Colonel Van Ashton who had been nursing his wrath all night long while +being bumped over a rough road in an old broken-down stagecoach, +required but the sight of his nephew to cause an explosion. He had not +closed his eyes during the entire night, and like his sister, Mrs. +Forest, was in a state of collapse. His usually florid complexion had +turned to a brilliant crimson, giving him the appearance of an +overheated furnace. + +He regarded himself as a martyr, nay, worse--an innocent victim of fate +who, entirely against his will, had been cruelly dragged into the +present intolerable situation by the caprice of his accursed nephew. + +He had suffered long and patiently all that mortal flesh and blood could +endure. But, thank God, there were compensations in this life after +all--the object of his wrath stood before him at last. + +"So this, sir, is what you call returning to nature, is it?" he cried in +a hoarse roar, controlling his voice with difficulty and glaring +savagely at his nephew. + +"It's evidently not to your liking, Uncle," replied the Captain quietly, +doing his best to keep from laughing in his face. + +"Liking!"--roared the Colonel again, his voice raised to the breaking +pitch--"I never thought I'd get to hell so soon! Why, sir," he +continued, knocking a cloud of dust from his hat, "this isn't nature, +this is geology! I don't see how you ever discovered the damned country! +The wind-swept wastes of Dante's Inferno are verdant in comparison! +You're mad, there's no doubt of it!" he fumed, stamping up and down. + +"Do you know," he went on, stopping abruptly before his nephew, "they +say that, before you left Newport, you ran your touring-car over the +cliff into the sea--a machine that must have cost you fifteen thousand +at least!" + +"Well, what if I did? It served me right for deserting my horse for the +devil's toy. Thank God, I'm rid of the infernal machine!" + +"Look here, Jack Forest--" but the Colonel's voice broke in a violent +fit of coughing. + +It required but little discernment on the part of the Mexicans to +perceive that the meeting between Captain Forest and his family was not +what might be termed particularly felicitous. Even Señora Fernandez was +quick enough to perceive that things were going from bad to worse, and +in an effort to smooth matters, she stepped forward and in her best +English said: "Señor _Capitan_, why did you tell me not zat ze ladies +were coming? I might 'ave prepared been for zem." + +"My good Señora," responded the Captain, regarding her with a look of +extreme compassion, "I never dreamt of such a misfortune." + +"Just the sort of answer one might expect from you! Not a word of +welcome or sympathy! I always said you were the most selfish mortal +alive!" cried Mrs. Forest bitterly. + +"Señoras, I pray for you, come into ze house at once!" spoke up the +Señora again, turning entreatingly to the ladies. "I you promess, zat +wen you an orange an' cup of coffee 'ave 'ad, you will yourselves better +feel." + +"The Señora's right," broke in the Captain. "Come into the house and +when you've--" but his sentence was cut short by the sharp report of a +pistol, followed in quick succession by two other shots, and a moment +later a man, breathless and without coat or hat, and his shirt and +trousers in tatters, rushed among them. + +"Hide me quick, somebody!" he cried. "For God's sake--the posse--" but +before he could finish, a troop of men, armed with six-shooters and +Winchester rifles, burst from the cover of bushes that lined the +highroad. + +"There he is yonder, boys, behind that man!" cried their leader +excitedly, a small, thick-set, broad-shouldered man with sandy hair and +beard and florid complexion. The others, following the direction +indicated by him, seized the fugitive who had taken refuge behind +Captain Forest and dragged him hurriedly beneath one of the cottonwood +trees, over a lower branch of which they flung a rope. Their work was so +expeditious that, before the spectators could realize what was +happening, they had bound his hands behind his back and fastened one end +of the rope about his neck. + +"Stand clear, everybody!" commanded the leader, his gaze sweeping the +throng. Then turning to his men, he said: "When I give the word, boys, +let him swing!" + +"Don't, boys--don't!" cried the prisoner in a despairing, supplicating +voice, dropping on his knees. "For God's sake--give me a chance--" but a +jerk of the rope cut short his words which ended in an inarticulate +gurgle in his throat. + +"They are going to hang him--it's murder!" gasped Mrs. Forest, clinging +to her trembling, terrified maid who was already on the verge of +fainting. + +"Gentlemen," said the Colonel, stepping forward, "I object to such an +unheard-of proceeding! You have no right to hang a man without a trial." + +"Say, old punk," cried the leader, turning savagely on the Colonel, +"who's a runnin' this show?" The well-delivered blow of a sledge-hammer +could not have been more crushing in its effect on the Colonel than were +the words of the leader; he was completely silenced. Greatly to his +credit, however, he stood his ground. He was no coward, for he had faced +death and been wounded more than once in his younger days on the field +of battle, and had he possessed a weapon at the moment, he would have +snuffed out the leader's life as deliberately as he would have blown out +the light of a candle, regardless of consequences. But recognizing the +carrion with which he had to deal, and the futility of further +interference, he quietly shrugged his shoulders, smiled and pulled the +end of his mustache. The hanging might proceed so far as he was +concerned. + +"Gentlemen," spoke up the Captain, "what has this man done?" + +"You'll learn that when we're through with him!" replied the leader. + +Even were there no doubt of the prisoner's guilt and hanging a +well-deserved punishment, Captain Forest, nevertheless, liked fair play. +The blood surged to his face. His fighting instincts and spirit of +resentment were thoroughly aroused. He had seen men hanged and shot down +before in the most summary manner, some of them afterward proving to +have been victims of gross error and brute passion. He also knew how +futile it was to argue with men whose passions were roused to the +fighting pitch. The Colonel's interference was an instance of how little +such men could be influenced. It was absurd to look for moderation under +the circumstances. There was only one way to save the prisoner--the use +of the same means employed by the lynchers, namely, force. Whence could +such interference come? How could a man single-handed cope with a +well-armed body of men of their type? Only a miracle could save the +prisoner and the intervention of a miracle is always a slender prop upon +which to lean. + +"Now, boys," continued the leader, turning to his men, "get ready--" but +his voice was drowned by a chorus of cries and screams from the women. + +"Silence!" he roared. "Stop that damn noise!" + +"I would like to know, sir, who gave you authority to shut our mouths?" +and Blanch Lennox planted herself squarely before him. So astonished was +he by her sudden appearance and outburst, that he fell back a pace. He +seemed to have lost his voice, and only after much hemming and hawing, +managed to stammer an awkward apology while vainly endeavoring to +conceal his embarrassment. + +"Ladies," he finally began, removing his hat in an attempt at +politeness, "I'm powerful sorry to be obliged to perform this painful +duty contrary to your wishes, but the law must be obeyed. We've been a +chasin' this feller, who's the most notorious scoundrel in the country, +through the mountains for the last three weeks, and now we've got him, I +reckon we ain't a goin' ter let him get away. Is we, boys?" and he +turned confidently to his men. + +"You bet we ain't!" they responded. + +"No, ladies," echoed their leader in turn, "not if we know it. Besides, +we've got permission from the Mexican authorities to do with him as we +like. I guess," he added, "they'll be about as glad to be rid of him as +we are. And now, ladies," he continued, "if you don't want to witness as +pretty a hanging as ever took place in these parts, you'll take my +advice and retire into the house as soon as possible." + +But no one stirred. The tall handsome woman still stood before him +unmoved, and he was beginning to realize that her gaze was becoming more +difficult to meet. Somewhat disconcerted, he began again in his most +persuasive tone. + +"Ladies, please don't interrupt the course of the law by staying around +here any longer than's necessary--for hang he will!" he added. + +Still no one showed the slightest sign of complying with his wishes. The +situation was becoming intolerable. + +"Ladies," he began again, and this time rather peremptorily, "you'll +greatly oblige us by retiring at once." + +"We'll not move a step until you take the rope from that man's neck," +said Blanch firmly and unabashed, still holding her ground. Her words +acted like a challenge. His temper was thoroughly roused, it being a +question whether he or a lot of women should have their way. He, Jim +Blake, overpowered by a mob of sentimental, hysterical women--not while +he lived! + +"Then, ladies," he answered curtly, placing his hat firmly on his head, +"if you won't go into the house, you'll have to see him swing, that's +all!" and quickly detailing half his men who lined up before the +spectators with cocked rifles, he shouted to the others behind them +holding the rope: "Boys, when I count three, do your work!" There was no +mistaking his words. The prisoner uttered a half-articulate groan. + +"One--" slowly counted Blake. + +The Mexicans crossed themselves and began to mutter prayers. Women +screamed. + +"Two--three--" but simultaneously with the word three, was heard the +report of a pistol, and the men pulling on the rope rolled on the +ground, a hopelessly entangled mass of arms and legs. The rope had been +severed just above the prisoner's head, and when the smothered oaths of +the men mingled with the screams of the women had subsided, Dick Yankton +with pistol in hand was seen leaning out over the veranda rail. + +"I reckon there won't be any hanging at the old _Posada_ this morning, +Jim Blake," he said, calmly covering the latter with his weapon. + +"Well, darn my skin!" gasped Blake. "Where did you come from?" + +"Oh, I just dropped around," replied Dick, unconcernedly. + +"Now, gentlemen," he continued, addressing the men, "I've got the drop +on Blake, and if any one of you moves hand or foot I'll send him to a +warmer place than this in pretty quick time." + +"Don't mind me, boys--turn loose on him!" cried Blake pluckily, but +nobody seemed inclined to obey. + +"It won't do, Jim," spoke up one of his men. "We ain't a going to see +you killed before our eyes. Besides, it's Dick Yankton." + +"Jack!" called out Dick, "free the prisoner and be quick about it!" + +"You're interfering with the law!" roared Blake, as the Captain +proceeded to obey Dick's command. + +"I know it," replied Dick; "it isn't the first time I've interfered with +it either. Besides, I don't see why I haven't got as good a right to it +as you or any other man." Blake sputtered and squirmed helplessly as he +faced Dick's weapon, not daring to lift a hand. + +"What objection have you got to our ridding the earth of this damned +scoundrel, I'd like to know?" he asked, choking with rage. + +"Oh, as to that, I've got several, Jim Blake, and one of them is--I +don't like to see a man hanged before breakfast. It sort of takes away +one's appetite, you know," he added, coolly eyeing his adversary over +the barrel of his pistol. + +"Well, if you ain't the most impudent cuss I ever seen!" cried Blake, by +this time almost on the point of exploding. + +"Perhaps I am," answered Dick, the faintest smile playing about the +corners of his mouth. "You're putting up a pretty big bluff, Jim, but I +happen to be holding the cards in this game and I rather think you'll +stay and see it out. + +"Bob Carlton," he continued, addressing the prisoner whom the Captain +had freed, "there's a black horse in the corral back of the house; jump +on him just as he is and make tracks out of here as almighty fast as you +know how!" + +"Thank you, Dick, I'll not forget you!" cried Carlton, starting in the +direction of the corral but, catching sight of Miss Van Ashton, he +stopped short. "I--I beg your pardon, Madame," he stammered, "but would +you mind telling me your name?" + +"I can't see what business that is of yours!" replied Bessie curtly and +with a toss of the head, turning her back upon him. + +"I meant no offense, Madame--I--" + +"Van Ashton's her name," said the Captain. + +"Van Ashton!" he exclaimed. + +"You had better be moving, Carlton--you damn fool!" came Dick's angry +voice. "The next time you're in for a funeral I may not be around to +stop it!" + +Carlton needed no further urging. The sound of a horse going at full +speed was presently heard on the road beyond the _Posada_. + +"Don't any one move," said Dick quietly, as all listened in silence to +the sounds which grew fainter and fainter until they ceased altogether +in the distance. + +"He's got a good mile start by this time," said Dick at length, coolly +lowering his pistol and returning it to his pocket. "Gentlemen," he +continued, leisurely descending the veranda, "you're at liberty to +follow him if you like." + +"After him, boys!" yelled Blake, suddenly aroused to fresh action. + +"It's no use, Jim," said one of his men, "our hosses is cleaned blowed." + +"Damnation!" growled Blake, tugging nervously at his beard. "And now, +Dick Yankton," he continued, confronting him squarely with both feet +spread wide apart and his hands thrust to his elbows in his trouser +pockets, "the question is, what's to be done with you? I just guess +we'll make an example of you for interfering with the law." + +"And I guess you won't do anything of the kind, Jim Blake, because there +isn't a white man in the country that will help you do it." + +"The devil!" ejaculated Blake, completely taken aback by Dick's +coolness. + +"I guess Dick's about right there, Jim," spoke up another of his men. + +Blake was about to continue the argument, but realizing that the +sentiment of his men was not with him and that his position was growing +momentarily more ridiculous, he ceased abruptly. Rough though he was +and of the swash-buckler type, he was neither insensible to the humor of +the situation nor to the nerve it had taken on Dick's part to hold +twenty armed men at bay single-handed. It is usually a difficult matter +to pocket one's pride, especially if one sees ridicule lurking just +around the corner, but few men were capable of resisting the charm of +Dick's personality for long. + +"Come, Jim, be reasonable," he said, laying his hand familiarly on +Blake's shoulder; "Bob Carlton saved my life once and now we're quits." + +"He did? Well, that's the only good thing the sneakin' skunk ever done! +Why didn't you tell us that before?" + +"Because you didn't give me time. You would have hung him first and then +listened to what I had to say afterwards." + +"Hum!" ejaculated Blake, "I guess you're about right there." + +"Boys," continued Dick, turning to the others, "I'm mighty sorry to have +spoiled your fun, but I'll see that you don't regret your visit to Santa +Fé. Come into the house and I'll tell how it happened. The cigars and +the drinks are on me!" + +"Well, as I said before, Dick," exclaimed Blake, "you're the cussedest, +most contrariest feller I ever seen. You got the best of us this time, +but I guess we'll about get even with you on the drinks before we're +through--won't we, boys?" and amid a chorus of laughter and good-humored +exclamations, the men, followed by Dick and Blake, crowded into the +house. + +"What a country!" gasped Mrs. Forest after the last of them had +disappeared. "Have people here nothing to do but murder one another?" +she asked in a despairing voice, sniffing vigorously at the bottle of +salts her maid handed her. + +"Ze Saints be praised, zey do not!" cried the Señora who by this time +had regained her composure. "Such a zing 'as happened nevair before." + +"They are a little more free-handed out here than we are," remarked the +Captain. "Where we come from, people allow a man to go free after +exhausting all the resources of the law, while here, they quietly hang a +scoundrel when they catch him without making any fuss about it. It's +much simpler, you know." + +"Beautiful!" echoed the Colonel. + + + + +VIII + + +After much persuasion and further caustic remarks on the country and a +people whose chief occupation seemed to be that of shooting and hanging +one another, Mrs. Forest was finally induced to enter the house, leaving +Blanch and Bessie seated on the bench beneath the cottonwood tree where +they had collapsed, the result of the shock their nerves had sustained. + +Their presence seemed as incongruous with their surroundings as that of +some delicate hot-house flower blooming in the midst of the desert. + +"Could you have believed it if you hadn't seen it?" asked Bessie, the +first to break the silence. "Is it all real, or are we still dreaming? I +wish somebody would pinch me, my wits are so scattered," and she passed +her hand across her eyes as though to dispel some dreadful nightmare. + +"I never imagined," replied her companion in a vague uncertain tone of +voice, like one laboring under the influence of a narcotic, "that such +people existed anywhere outside of books, and yet the samples to which +we have just been introduced make characters of fiction look tame in +comparison. Oh, dear!" she burst forth, "who could have imagined it?" + +"What a transition--I can't understand it!" said Bessie. "I feel like +one who has just dropped from the sky to earth." + +"No wonder! I, too, am still seeing stars. Jack certainly must be mad, +else how could he have ever picked out such a forsaken land whose +inhabitants seem to consist chiefly of ruffians and black women?" + +"It's simply incomprehensible after all he's seen of the world," replied +Bessie. "Did you notice how he enjoyed our discomfiture? How it was all +he could do to keep from laughing in our faces?" + +"The brute!" cried Blanch. + +"If we had only realized to what we were coming--" Bessie began. + +"Oh, it's too late to say that!" interrupted Blanch. "Now that I'm here, +I'm not going to turn back; I'm going to see this thing through. And +what's more," she added with unmistakable emphasis, "I'm going to see +that woman! Have you noticed any one that looks like her?" she asked +cautiously, lowering her voice and looking about suspiciously, as she +rose from her seat. + +"Pshaw!" laughed Bessie, also rising and shaking the dust from her +skirt. "You've scarcely talked of anything else since we left home. Why, +I really believe you are beginning to be jealous of this creature of +your imagination. It's too absurd to suppose that Jack--" + +"Is it any more impossible than the people and things we have just +encountered?" + +"Nonsense! Jack in love with some half-breed--that dusky beauty in +breeches who rides astride, and whom he happened to mention to us? It's +preposterous!" + +"My dear," resumed Blanch calmly, "don't deceive yourself. My woman's +intuition tells me that I'm right. Jack's notion of beginning a new life +is all nonsense--there's a deeper reason than that for this change in +him. Take my word for it, there's a woman at the bottom of it for what +possible attraction could this horrid country and its people have for a +civilized being?" + +"I can't believe it," answered Bessie; "you know how fastidious Jack is. +Besides it was only a fleeting glance that he caught of the woman he +mentioned--and that in the twilight." + +"A glance is quite enough for a fool to fall in love with a phantom," +retorted Blanch warmly, thrusting the ground vigorously with the point +of her sunshade. + +"They say," she went on, "that these dark beauties of the South possess +a peculiar fascination of their own--that they have a way of captivating +men before they realize what's happening. They sort of hypnotize them, +you know." + +"But not a man of Jack's type!" + +"Oh, I don't mean to infer that she's beautiful," continued Blanch. +"Attractive she may be, but how could anything so common be really +beautiful? It's not that which worries me--it's the state of his mind. +He has evidently reached a crisis. As long as I can keep him in sight +he's safe, but should he be left here alone with one of these women in +his present frame of mind, there's no knowing what might happen. Any +woman if fairly attractive and a schemer, can marry almost any man she +has a mind to. You know," she added, "he's not given to talking without +a purpose and usually acts even though he lives to repent of it +afterwards. Why, if he were left here, he might marry from _ennui_, who +knows? One hears of such things." + +"Heavens!" ejaculated Bessie, "it makes one shudder to think of it! +Hush!" she added, nodding in the direction of the house where the +Captain appeared in the doorway and halted, regarding them with a mixed +expression of curiosity and amusement. + +"Well," he said at length, descending to where they stood, "how do first +impressions of the place strike you? It's not so dull, after all, is +it?" he added, concealing his mirth with difficulty. + +"It's charming," replied Blanch in her richest vein of sarcasm, +addressing him for the first time since her arrival. "What delightful +surroundings, and what congenial people one meets here!" + +The Captain burst into an uproarious fit of laughter. The sight of +Blanch had sent a sudden thrill through him that told him plainly enough +how deeply rooted had been his love and that he had not yet succeeded in +eradicating it entirely from his heart as he had supposed. + +The spark of the old love still smoldered within him, and would she +succeed again in fanning it into flame? He had not forgotten, however, +that he had suffered, and her presence acted like some wonderful balm to +his wounded soul. It was his turn now and he could afford to humor her. +Though there was nothing triumphant in his manner, he, nevertheless, +enjoyed that sneaking feeling of satisfaction which most of us +experience on beholding the discomfiture of those who have treated us +lightly. Moreover, he thoroughly realized what the coming of Blanch and +his family meant. They had come to laugh at him and his surroundings--to +ridicule his ideas. The great harlot world had come to pooh-pooh--to +scoff and laugh him out of his convictions, and no one knew better than +he did what the mighty power and influence of the great civilized guffaw +meant. For had he not, during his diplomatic career, seen the primitive +man laughed out of his cool, naked blessedness into a modern, cheap pair +of sweltering pantaloons? But things were now equal, and this promised +to be the most exciting diplomatic game in which he had yet engaged. The +defeat of Spain and the annexation of the Philippines were trifles in +comparison. And he decided then and there to make the most of it--that +come what might, all who entered this game would pay the price to the +last farthing. Time and circumstances would prove who was right--they or +he. + +"Do you know," he said at length, "I don't pity you a bit; it serves you +right for coming." + +"Pity?" retorted Bessie. "Do we look like a pair of beggars that have +come two thousand miles to crave pity at the feet of the high and mighty +Captain Forest? Your condescension, Cousin, is insufferable," she added. + +"I was just thinking," he resumed, thoroughly enjoying his cousin's +wrath, "that you had better drop your silly affectations and spoiled +ways while here." + +"Really!" burst out Bessie again, her face flushing with growing +indignation. + +"I do," he returned placidly, "for somehow, the people about here don't +seem to appreciate such things." + +"I can readily believe it," answered Blanch with a contemptuous laugh +and hauteur of manner that were almost insulting. "I don't wonder you +feel uneasy on our account considering that we have never enjoyed the +advantages their social standards offer. We trust, however, for the sake +of old friendship, that you will overlook our shortcomings. A lesson in +manners might not be lost on us," she added with a withering glance and +tone that would have reduced any other man to a sere and yellow leaf. + +She paused, her delicately gloved hand resting lightly on the handle of +her sunshade on which she leaned, throwing the graceful outline of her +tall slender figure into clear relief against the green background of +trees and shrubs. A strange light came into her beautiful blue eyes, +softening the expression of her face; a face that had been the hope and +despair of many a man; a face that was not alone beautiful but alive and +interesting; a face into which all men longed to gaze and once seen +could never be forgotten. + +Only one man had ever resisted the power and fascination of that face; +the man whom she had flung from her in an ungovernable fit of passion; +the man whom she either had come to claim as her own again, or to +humiliate as he had humiliated her. Who could guess the real motive that +prompted her to humble her pride so far as to follow him? Was it love or +hatred? Who could say? Her delicate, coral lips curled with just the +suggestion of a sneer as she raised her eyes to his again and said in a +tone of contempt: "So this is the place where your wild woman lives--" +but the words died on her lips. Her head came up with a jerk and her +figure suddenly straightened and stiffened as her gaze became riveted on +the face of Chiquita who stood just opposite on the veranda lightly +poised with one foot on the steps. + +It would have been interesting to have read the thoughts of these two +women as they stood silently confronting one another, each taking the +measure of the other. + +The contrast between the two could not have been more striking. The +soft, delicate, well-groomed figure of Blanch, the accomplished woman of +the world, with eyes intoxicating as wine and a glowing wealth of golden +hair, tempting and alluring as the luxuriance of old Rome at the height +of her triumphs before her decadence set in--the last fair breath of her +ancient glory--the best and fairest that modern civilization had +produced. She had no need of the artificial head-gear and upholstery +with which the modern society belle is wont to bolster up herself. There +was not the slightest trace of rouge on her lips or cheeks. She had +learned that simple food, fresh air and sleep and exercise were the only +preservatives for the form and complexion. Spoiled though she was, she +was genuine to the core. + +On the other hand, what the symmetrical well-rounded lines of Chiquita's +figure lost by the unfair comparison of her worn and faded dress with +that of the latest Parisian creation, was more than compensated for by +the heavy luxuriant masses of blue-black hair, straight nose, large, +dark piercing eyes that shone from beneath delicately penciled, broad +arching brows, and the mysterious hawk-like wildness of her gaze and +appearance and general air of strength and power, baffling and +inscrutable as the origin of her race; a face and figure which +exemplified the perfect type of a race that carried one back to the +forgotten days of ancient Egypt and India. + +Truly, twice blessed or cursed by the gods was he to be loved by two +such women; the one fashion's, the other nature's child. + +The look of embarrassment on Captain Forest's face, together with the +ludicrousness of the situation, caused Bessie to burst into a sudden fit +of laughter into which Blanch, in spite of herself, was irresistibly +drawn. Fortunately for the Captain, he did not entirely lose his +presence of mind as one is apt to do who unexpectedly finds himself +between two tigers about to spring. He did the only sensible thing a man +could do under the circumstances. He retired precipitately, leaving the +field to whomsoever wished it most. + +"The Señoritas laugh," said Chiquita at length, the first to speak. +There was a strange light in her eyes as she slowly descended the +veranda and came toward them. The sound of her full, rich, musical +voice, colored with a soft accent that was pleasing to the ear, +instantly brought Blanch and Bessie to themselves. + +"Perhaps," she began again calmly, "it is because I am poor?" + +"Oh, no, Señorita, how could you imagine--" exclaimed Blanch, recovering +her breath. + +"Then perhaps it is because I am an Indian and red, not white like +yourselves?" + +"Are you an Indian, Señorita?" asked Blanch. "I thought you were a +Mexican." + +"And if I were, I would not be ashamed of it!" + +"What a strange creature!" thought Bessie. + +"But why did the Señoritas laugh when they saw me?" persisted Chiquita, +her expression softening a bit, a faint smile illumining her face. + +"Believe me, Señorita," replied Blanch, "we were not laughing at you at +all. We were laughing at Captain Forest." + +"Ah, the Señor!" ejaculated Chiquita. + +"Yes," continued Blanch, "we had already heard of you through Captain +Forest, and--I--" she hesitated, "I really can't explain because you +wouldn't understand, you know." + +"But I do understand, Señorita," answered Chiquita quietly. "You do not +deceive me, and since you refuse to tell me why you laughed, I shall be +obliged to tell you. I think I can guess the truth." + +"Really, I'm curious!" and Blanch smiled compassionately. + +"Ah, you think I can't read your face," and Chiquita smiled in turn. +"Señorita," she continued with sudden emphasis, "you love the Señor!" +Blanch started, the attack was so sudden, her face coloring in spite of +her endeavor to conceal her confusion. + +"Yes, Señorita, you love him." + +"How do you know I love him?" laughed Blanch lightly in turn, by this +time thoroughly mistress of herself. "Why, you have only met me for the +first time!" + +"How do I know? Because I am a woman. I saw you as you spoke to him. +Your whole manner betrayed you--your voice, your eyes. Yes, Señorita," +she added with growing passion, fixing her dark piercing eyes on those +of Blanch, "you laughed because a poor girl like me of a different race +and color, a race despised by you white people, should have imagined +that Captain Forest might possibly cast his eyes upon her--" + +"Señorita!" cried Blanch protestingly. + +"It is the truth," continued Chiquita passionately, "and what is more, I +will tell you frankly that I--I, too, love the Señor!" + +"I thought so!" exclaimed Blanch. + +"Yes, I love him--love him as you do--love him as you can never love +him, Señorita!" + +"What makes you think so?" asked Blanch, endeavoring to stifle the +emotion Chiquita's passionate words aroused within her. + +"I know it," she answered quietly; "something tells me so. And should he +not love me as I love him, my life will go out of me swiftly and +silently like the waters of the streams in summer when the rains cease; +my soul will become barren and parched like the desert, and I shall +wither and die." + +"Die?" echoed Blanch. "Nobody dies of love nowadays, Señorita," and she +laughed lightly. + +"Perhaps not among your people, but with Indians it is different. When +we love it is terrible--our passion becomes our life, our whole +existence! Such a confession sounds absurd perhaps, but you assumed an +air of superiority--racial superiority, I mean--a thing which I know to +be as false as it is presumptuous. I might assume the airs and attitude +of one of your race if I chose, but you laughed, and the race-pride in +me cries out that I should be to you what I really am--an Indian, not +that which I have learned and borrowed from the white race." + +"How extraordinary!" thought Blanch. Surely such passion was short lived +and a weak admission on the part of her rival. She was a true character +of melodrama--one which she had seen a hundred times on the stage. The +battle was hers already--she would win. She heaved a sigh of relief, and +drawing herself up to her full height, assumed an attitude of ease, an +air of patronage and condescension that only Blanch Lennox could adopt. +She could afford to be generous to a child, treat with lenience this +clever _ingenue_ who in this age could die, or at least imagine herself +dying of love. + +"Perhaps," resumed Chiquita, with an air of naïveté that seemed +perfectly natural to her, "you women do not love as passionately as your +darker sisters?" + +"Oh, I don't know about that, Señorita," answered Blanch with warmth. +"At any rate, you in all probability will have an opportunity to judge +that for yourself." + +Chiquita gave a little laugh, then said: "Señorita, you love Captain +Forest and so do I. Let it, therefore, be a fair fight between us, and +in order that you may know you can trust me, I give you this," and +drawing a small silver-mounted dagger from out her hair, she handed it +to Blanch who took it wonderingly. + +"It is often safer," she added, "for a man to go unarmed in this land +than for a woman. But as I said, I shall henceforth be to you what I +am--an Indian. It is what a woman of my people would do were she to +meet you in my country under similar circumstances; what I would have +done had I met you before I came here. The knife signifies that, with it +goes the sharp edge of my tongue--that I shall take no unfair advantage +of you." + +Blanch toyed musingly with the pretty two-edged knife, admiring its +richly carved silver handle. Surely she was right after all. Chiquita +was a true child of the South whose passions subsided as quickly as they +burst into flame. And as for the knife, it would make an excellent +paper-cutter. + +"Oh, dear, this is too absurd!" she exclaimed. And no longer able to +control herself, she burst into a peal of laughter in which was easily +detected the scorn, good humor and pity she felt for her would-be rival. + +Perhaps Chiquita was as much puzzled by Blanch's behavior as the latter +was by hers, for all the while Blanch laughed, she also regarded her +with an expression of mingled curiosity and amusement. + +"Señorita," said Blanch at length, heaving a sigh, "who are you?" + +The latter did not reply immediately. Her face took on an earnest +expression and for some moments she stood silent, gazing straight out +before her as though oblivious to her surroundings. Then, suddenly +recollecting herself, she said: + +"I am a Tewana, and am called the Chiquita. My father was the Whirlwind, +the War Chief of my people." + +"The Whirlwind?" echoed Blanch. "What an appropriate name for a +savage!" + +"Ah, but you should have seen him! He was the tallest man of the tribe." + +"Do you know," said Blanch musingly, "I fancy you must be something like +him, Señorita." + +"In spirit perhaps, but only a little," she answered. "I often wish that +I were more like him, for although he was a child in many things, he was +a man nevertheless--civilization had not spoilt him." + +Again that dreamy, far-away look came into her eyes and again she seemed +to forget for the moment the presence of the two girls as her thoughts +reverted to the past. + +"Señorita," she said at last, "when one like me stands on the threshold +midway between savagery and civilization and compares the crudities and +at times barbarities of the one with the luxuries and vices of the +other, he often asks himself which is preferable, civilization and its +few virtues, or the simple life of the savage. Which, I ask, is the +greater--the man who tells the time by the sun and the stars or he who +gauges it with the watch? I have listened to your music and gazed upon +your art and read your books, but what harmonies compare to +nature's--what book contains her truths and hidden mysteries? When I +came here I was taught to revere your civilization and I did for a time +until the disillusionment came, when I was introduced to the great world +of men and discovered how shallow and inadequate it was. Your mechanical +devices are wonderful, but as regards your philosophies, the least said +of them the better. Spiritually, you stand just where you began +centuries ago, and I found that I should be obliged to deny the +existence of God if I continued to revere your institutions. + +"Believe me, Señorita, for I speak as one who knows both worlds +intimately, nature's and man's, that the great symphony of nature, the +throb of our Mother Earth, the song of the forest, the voices of the +winds and the waters, the mountains and plains, and the glory of the +stars and the daily life of man in the fields, are grander by far, and +more satisfying and enduring than all the foolish fancies and artificial +harmonies ever created by civilized man." + +Her words struck home. For the first time Blanch became thoroughly alive +to the danger of the situation. This passionate child of the South had +changed suddenly to a mature woman, and a chill seized Blanch's heart as +she began to realize her depth and power. Again she was all at sea, and +in a vain effort to say something, she stammered: + +"Señorita, you are certainly the strangest person I ever met!" + +"Not strange, only different," laughed Chiquita, throwing back her head +and meeting Blanch's full gaze. "Señorita," she continued, "you are +beautiful--more beautiful than any woman I have ever beheld. My heart +stands still with fear and admiration when I look at you, for men are +often foolish enough to love the beautiful women best. I fear this is +going to be a bitter struggle, but let us bear one another no malice in +order that we may both know that she who triumphs is the better woman." +Frank though her words were, they caused Blanch to wince, while a flood +of passion which she could ill conceal dyed her cheeks a deep crimson. + +"Life's usually as tragic as it is comic," laughed Chiquita lightly, +slowly moving in the direction of the highroad. "It's strange, isn't +it," she exclaimed, pausing and looking back, "that a queen and a beggar +should dispute the affections of the same man? Such things occur in the +fairy-tales one reads in the books in the old Mission, but seldom in +real life," and she was gone. + + + + +IX + + +Considering an all-night ride over a rough road in a lumbering old +Spanish stagecoach, and the thrilling, harrowing events that succeeded +their arrival at the _Posada_, it is little wonder that Mrs. Forest took +to her bed early in the day on the verge of a nervous collapse, or that +Colonel Van Ashton, contrary to his habit, retired early in the evening +firmly convinced that his nephew was suffering from an acute attack of +lunacy which took the form of a mania for everything that was wild and +bizarre; everything in fact that was contrary to the Colonel's views of +life. + +How unfortunate that his nephew had not shown signs of madness earlier! +It would have been so easy with the assistance of the family physician +and lawyer to have confined him in a private sanitarium. And the Colonel +fondly pictured his nephew wandering distractedly through a long suite +of padded cells--but, alas! the bird had flown. Such things were always +expedited with such felicitous despatch in those parts of the earth +inhabited by civilized men, but here where everybody was equally mad, +where chaos reigned, and nobody either recognized or respected beings of +a superior order, what could be done to check the headlong career of his +nephew who with twenty millions was rushing straight to destruction? + +No wonder God had long since abandoned this land to his majesty, the +devil who, as in the days of Scripture, roamed and roared at will. No +one having passed twenty-four hours in the country could possibly doubt +that his cup of joy was running over. Where his nephew had concealed his +fortune was also a source of mystery to him. He certainly had displayed +the diabolical cunning that is characteristic of the mentally deranged. +Possibly he had concealed it in Mexico, but to combat the institutions +of that land was like attempting to stem the tides. + +The thought of those twenty millions tortured the Colonel's mind almost +beyond endurance, and he groaned aloud as his imagination pictured them +rolling in a bright, glittering stream of gold and silver coins into the +gutter for the swine that waited to devour them. + +Such were the Colonel's reflections as he sat on the edge of his bed in +his shirt sleeves and wearily removed his tight fitting, dust-begrimed, +patent-leather shoes with the assistance of his valet. + +How his feet and back ached! He wanted sympathy, but got none, the +others being too much occupied with their own woes to think of his +comfort. On the walls of the room were hung numerous cheap biblical +prints--the very things he abominated most. Among them, just over the +foot of the bed, on the very spot where first his gaze would alight on +opening his eyes in the morning, hung a small colored print of the +Madonna. No wonder the people of this land spent so much time crossing +themselves and calling upon her for protection--they certainly had cause +to. The room, in his opinion, was a veritable rat-hole; the place +little better than what one might expect to find in a suburb of hell. + +The exertions of the last two days had been more than mortal could +endure. Never had he felt so completely fagged, and it was with no +little concern that he contemplated the reflection of his face in the +small oval mirror which hung on the rough gray plaster wall opposite, +just over the small, cheap, brown-stained wooden bureau. The sight of +his countenance, as is the case with most of us who have not yet entered +the limbo of senile decrepitude and still dare look ourselves in the +face, was always a source of extreme satisfaction to him. He held it in +the highest esteem as though it were the head of some beautiful antique +Apollo, and in his, the Colonel's estimation, was the handsomest face on +earth. + +Indeed it was a handsome face, and like many others both in and outside +of his particular set, he devoted hours to its preservation. + +What was John, his valet, for? To press his clothes and run errands? Not +at all. He was there to massage that precious face and drive away all +harassing signs of care and age by means of a liberal use of cold cream +and enamel. In the present instance, barring a sun-scorched nose, his +delicately rouged cheeks like his exquisitely manicured finger tips +blushed with rose of vermilion like those of the daughters of Judea of +old, contrasting favorably with his dark eyes, wavy white hair, and +mustache and eyebrows dyed a jet black. His regular features, long +slender white hands, and tall erect figure betokened the born aristocrat +of the spoiled, luxurious type. + +In spite of his determination not to sleep a wink, this overindulged +child and arch hypocrite, fell asleep almost the instant his tired head +touched the pillow, and would have slept to a comparatively late hour +had it not been for the ceaseless crowing of a cock in the barnyard, +awakening him at daybreak. + +What a land, where people were not even permitted to sleep! Vague +apprehensions for the future went flitting through his mind, and, as he +lay in bed moodily contemplating through the window the first sunrise he +had witnessed in years, he cursed fate and his nephew, and secretly +vowed that he would wring that infernal bird's neck at the first +opportunity. + +Mrs. Forest's mental attitude resembled that of her brother's, but with +Blanch and Bessie it was different. The strangeness and novelty of the +situation so different from anything they had hitherto experienced, +began to interest them in spite of their previous determination to be +bored. That evening they had visited the plaza with the Captain and Dick +Yankton and had witnessed the dances beneath the great _alamos_ or +poplar trees that surrounded the square, braving the risk of +contamination which Mrs. Forest had vainly protested would be sure to +ensue should they mingle with the populace--the Mexican-Indian rabble of +which it was composed--a distinction which only she and the Colonel +seemed able to divine, for had it been a garlic-tainted Egyptian or +Neapolitan mob, little objection would have been raised to their going. +The sights amused and interested them, and after an hour's mild +dissipation, they returned to the _Posada_ in time to meet a few of the +Señora's guests in the garden, among whom was Padre Antonio. The quaint, +inborn courtesy of the well-bred Spaniard was a revelation to them; +something they imagined did not exist outside of Spain. + +The charm of the Padre's simple manner and ways proved no less +irresistible to them than to the rest of the world, and they marveled +that he spoke English so well. His intimate knowledge of the people and +the customs of the country threw a new light on them, reconciling the +girls to many things that had seemed incomprehensible. + +The Señora, out of consideration for the ladies, by whose presence she +was greatly honored, had relinquished her rooms to them; the best and +most comfortably furnished which the _Posada_ afforded. + +It was a late hour before the girls retired for the night. There was so +much to talk over, and when they did finally lay themselves down to +rest, it was with the conviction that Captain Forest was not quite so +mad as they had supposed. He was at least a harmless lunatic and in no +danger of running amuck. + +As for Bessie, the gentle hand of sleep soon closed her eyes, and she +slept the sleep of a tired child. With Blanch it was otherwise. + +How could she sleep with the face of Chiquita constantly before her and +the pangs of jealousy gnawing at her heart? How stupid to have imagined +her to be one of those bovine women with large liquid eyes who, +figuratively speaking, pass the major portion of their lives standing +knee-deep in a pond, gazing stolidly out upon the world; a fat brown +wench upon whose hip a man might confidently expect to hang his hat by +the time she has attained the age of forty. + +Nothing could have been farther from the mark. She might have known that +Jack could not have been caught with so thin a bait. All night long she +tossed on her pillow, or silently rose to gaze at the stars from the +window. + +"Oh, if she only were not so beautiful!" she moaned as the first pale +streaks of light in the east told her that day had finally dawned, and +she crept stealthily back to bed again. Of course Jack, the wretch, was +sleeping peacefully--that was the irony of fate! What did he know of +suffering? But he would pay for this! + +Their rooms overlooked the _patio_, and from behind an angle of a screen +she could look straight across it into the garden beyond as she lay in +bed. The bright shafts of the morning sun sifted down through the +branches of the trees and lay in patches of gold on the grass and +flowers beneath and flooded the _patio_ with light. Above the tops of +the trees and one corner of the low roof, the clear, pale blue skyline +was just visible. Butterflies and humming-birds darted in and out among +the fragrant white clematis and honeysuckle and passion vines that hung +from the arcades surrounding the court, or hovered over the fountain and +basin of gold fish in its center, edged with grasses and ferns. The +notes of the golden oriole and cooing of pigeons and wood-doves mingling +with the silvery jingle of an occasional _vaquero's_ spurs, came from +the garden beyond. + +How peaceful it was! After all, why was the place so unusual, so +different from the rest of the world? But forget where one was, and the +scene might have been one in Algiers or Egypt, or in a town in Spain or +Northern Italy. And why, she asked herself, as her thoughts reverted to +Chiquita, was this Indian woman so very different from themselves? + +Dress her as they were dressed, and place her in the proper +surroundings, and she would easily pass for a Gypsy or a Spaniard. Was +there any reason to believe that the queens of Sheba and Semiramis with +their tawny skins were any less fair than she, Blanch Lennox, with her +rosy, soft white complexion? Or Chiquita a shade darker than Cleopatra, +the witch of the Nile, whose beauty caused the downfall of Antony and +with it the waning power and splendor of ancient Egypt? + +Was her lineage superior to Chiquita's, the descendant of a long line of +rulers whose ancestry stretched back into the dim, remote past as +ancient as the hills, the record of whose lives and deeds stood +inscribed on the ruined temples and palaces scattered throughout the +land where they once dwelt at a time when her European ancestors roamed +the wilderness half naked and clad in the skins of wild beasts? + +White men of eminence had married Indians and their descendants were +proud of their lineage. True, Chiquita was an exception just as she +towered above most women of her race. And who were they, that they +should criticize--vaunt their superiority in the face of the universal +scheme of things? Were they really any better? The same passions, +longings and aspirations that swayed them, swayed the Red man as well. + +Their daily lives were different--their aspirations were directed in +different channels, that was all. What was true civilization and +culture, any way? Who had ever succeeded in defining them? The so-called +civilized world might prattle of culture. Its ideas compared with those +of mankind as a whole were purely relative and of a local origin and +color, and could not be gauged by a uniform standard of ethics. What +pleases the one fails to attract the other. The man in power who talks +of culture may be taken seriously by those of his own race who stand by +and applaud his words, but remove him from his home surroundings and +place him on a footing of equality with those of a different race and +environment and his arguments fail to convince. + +Did the harangues of Louis the Sixteenth's tormentors convince him of +the ethical standards of universal justice, or John Brown's sacrifice +the representatives of a slave-holding population? + +Which is the most convincing--the example set by the early Spartans, or +that of the man who surrounds himself with every luxury and convenience +of modern life; the man who reads books and lives in a house and travels +by train and automobile, or he who dwells in a tent, who is ignorant of +letters, and prefers the slower locomotion of horse and foot? Who is the +arbiter of fashion? The sun shines alike on the just and the unjust, the +great world still continues to laugh and goes on its way in spite of +men's philosophies, but tear up the map, as the French say, and where +are our standards and codes? + +Prove it if you can, that the wild flower in the meadow is less +beautiful than the one reared beneath the hand of the gardener. Argue +and theorize as we will, our sophistries count for little when we are +brought face to face with the realities of life. The law of compensation +and certainty of facts still hold the balance when the bed-rock of human +existence is reached. One might as well expect the mountains to slip +into the sea, or the stars to pause in their courses to hearken to the +voice of a modern Joshua as a man in love with a vision of beauty, to +listen to ethics. + +It was quite evident that somebody had lied. In fact, all men of her +race had been lying from the beginning of time, for what, after all, did +civilization amount to if it were not convincing? Did it ever soothe a +wounded heart, stifle the pangs of jealousy, or was it ample +compensation for the loss of the great prize of life--happiness? + +Civilization and blindness were fast becoming synonymous terms, and +there were even moments when one almost fancied one heard the laughter +of the gods. Let the dull brute civilized herd sweep by, all its +moralizing and sophistries could not arouse so much as a single +heart-beat where sentiment was concerned. + +The truth of these convictions surged in upon her with overwhelming +force. Had Jack also noted them, she asked herself. + +Possibly, but not, perhaps, with the keener intuition of the woman. She +breathed hard. Hot tears of rage, jealousy and disappointment surged to +her eyes. She could endure it no longer--she felt as though she would +stifle. Suddenly she sat bolt upright in bed and then sprang to the +floor, noticing for the first time the pretty little Mexican girl, +Rosita, who at Bessie's summons, had entered and deposited a tray +containing oranges, chocolate and _tortillas_ on the table in the center +of the room. + +The dark circles beneath Blanch's eyes and her general appearance of a +disheveled Eve told Bessie how little she had slept. + +"I knew you were thinking of her," she said, throwing herself back in +the pillows and stretching her arms. Her eyelids drooped for a moment +over her great violet eyes and she laughed lightly with the contentment +of one whose heart is free. + +"Of course I am," returned Blanch, coloring and biting her lip. "What +else should I be thinking of?" + +"Do you know, I rather like her," continued Bessie, raising on one elbow +and stretching herself again with the delicious satisfaction of one who +has slept soundly and well. + +"And I hate her!" cried Blanch. And seizing Chiquita's dagger which lay +on the table beside the tray, she plunged it viciously into an orange. + + + + +X + + +Things began to assume a more favorable aspect. Even Mrs. Forest had +plucked up enough courage to venture beyond the confines of the +_Posada's_ garden. + +Late one afternoon as she with Blanch and Bessie descended the veranda +steps, preparatory to a stroll through the town, a horseman, dressed in +the height of Mexican fashion, shot suddenly round the curve in the road +at full gallop and drew rein before them, tossing the dust raised by his +animal's hoofs into their faces. + +Dust and a horse's nose thrust suddenly into Mrs. Forest's face could +hardly improve a temper already strained to the breaking point. + +"Are people beasts--mere cattle of the fields to be trampled upon by a +horse?" she gasped, as soon as she had recovered sufficiently from her +surprise. + +"A thousand pardons--I did not see you!" replied the horseman, his +English colored with a slight accent. + +"What are people's eyes for?" returned Mrs. Forest, making no attempt to +conceal her irritation. + +"Mrs. Forest, I see you do not recognize me," answered the horseman, +smiling and raising his broad-brimmed _sombrero_ which partially +concealed his features. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez!" cried Blanch and Bessie in the same breath. +"How," exclaimed Blanch, "could you expect us to recognize you in that +costume? Why are you masquerading in such a disguise?" Don Felipe +laughed as he swung himself lightly from the saddle. + +"It's the costume of our people," he answered, shaking them cordially by +the hand. "It's the one they prefer, without which one cannot always +command their respect. They detest modern innovations and cling to the +customs of their ancestors. It's a bit of old Mexico, that's all. But +what brings you here?" he asked, changing the topic of conversation. +"Did you drop from the clouds? I would as soon have thought of finding +oranges growing on the cactus as seeing you here." + +"Only a pleasure trip combined with a little exploration on our own +account," answered Blanch indifferently. "We hope," she continued, "to +emulate the example of the old Spanish _Conquistadores_--some of your +ancestors perhaps?" + +"Then may your wanderings lead you southward. My _hacienda_ lies but +twenty miles from here, and from this moment, it is placed at your +disposition. Not in the polite terms of the proverbial Spanish etiquette +which presents the visitor with everything and yet nothing at all, but +actually. Indeed, I shall expect to see you there soon. The life will +interest you, I know." + +"We certainly shall avail ourselves of the rare privilege, Don Felipe," +said Bessie. "Do you intend stopping here?" she asked. + +"For a few days, yes. A room is always waiting for me here." + +"How delightful!" exclaimed Blanch. "We shall expect to see a great deal +of you. In the meantime, we shall visit the town and shall see you this +evening. Until then, _á Dios_, as you Spaniards say. You observe, we are +making rapid progress in the language," she added, smiling and glancing +back at him over her shoulder as they moved away in the direction of the +highroad. + +"What a strange costume for a man like Don Felipe to wear! It's as gay +and extravagant as a woman's!" said Bessie as soon as they were out of +hearing. + +"It's becoming though," answered Blanch. "This is truly the land of +surprises. I wonder what will happen next?" + +"What can have brought them here, to this out-of-the-way place?" mused +Don Felipe, throwing one arm lightly over the neck of his horse as he +leaned gently against the animal. + +Don Felipe Ramirez was young and handsome--the handsomest and wealthiest +man in all Chihuahua. One who measured his lands not by acres, but by +hundreds of square miles, over which roamed vast herds of horses, cattle +and sheep, and of which Chiquita might have been mistress had she so +chosen. Within this vast domain were situated numerous villages of +Mexican and Indian populations, subject in a measure to his command. His +word, where it did not conflict with the central Government, was law; +but Don Felipe, selfish and unprincipled though he was by nature, was +too easy going ever to think of making unscrupulous use of such power. +So long as things went smoothly, he was the last man to exercise his +almost unlimited authority for the mere pleasure of dominating others as +many men might were they placed in his position. + +His leniency in governing, his lavish manner of living, and a way he had +of fraternizing with his people on occasions--the latter prompted not +from motives of generosity, but purely from those of vanity and a love +of popularity--made him fairly popular among his subjects. It was when +Don Felipe wanted something in particular that he became dangerous, +especially if that something lay within his jurisdiction. Then indeed, +was he one to be feared. + +His appearance was striking; a swarthy complexion, thick, shiny, black +curly hair and mustache, lustrous black eyes and delicate features, and +a lithe sinewy body, every movement of which was cat-like and expressive +of treachery. + +His high-crowned, broad-brimmed _sombrero_ of gray felt was richly +embroidered with gold and silver. A slender, pale yellow satin tie +adorned his soft white, heavily frilled shirt front. His soft gray +jacket and leggins of goat skin, also ornamented with gold and silver +buttons and embroidery, were slashed at the sleeves below the elbow and +knee and interlaced with filmy gold cords from beneath which shone a +pale yellow satin facing embroidered with tiny red flowers. A gay +scarlet silken _banda_ from beneath which peeped the silver hilt of a +knife, encircled his slender waist, while his feet were encased in +russet tanned boots adorned with spurs inlaid with gold and silver and +which tinkled like fairy bells with every step he took. The trappings of +his horse were also heavily inlaid with silver. Theatrical though his +costume was, it became him well and harmonized perfectly with his +surroundings, completing the picture of a Spanish Don, the +representative of a past era. A costume that was only to be seen in the +remoter parts of the country--one which was becoming rarer each day. + +Four years had elapsed since he had last looked upon the familiar scenes +about him. Nothing appeared to have changed during that time as his gaze +wandered from the old _Posada_ to the garden beyond. He sighed, and a +momentary expression of pain and weariness passed across his countenance +as he silently surveyed the scene which recalled memories whose +bitterness was enough to overwhelm a man of maturer character and years. + +In the Indian _pueblo_, La Jara, had lived the beautiful _mestiza_ girl, +Pepita Delaguerra, with whom he had fallen in love in early youth. + +The gentle, confiding nature of Pepita was ill suited to that of the +passionate, impulsive Felipe, and proved her undoing. For, when old Don +Juan, Felipe's father, heard of his son's infatuation, he immediately +packed him off to the City of Mexico with the injunction not to return +under a year. An obscure half-caste for a daughter-in-law! Holy Maria! +the thought was enough to cause his hair to stand on end. No, the old +Don had other plans for his son. Maria Dolores, Felipe's cousin, was the +woman he had picked out for his wife, and marry her he should if he +wished to inherit his father's vast estates. In case he disregarded the +latter's wish and married Pepita, the estates were to go to the Church, +so it was stipulated in Don Juan's will. But neither the Church nor old +Don Juan, as it afterwards proved, were a match for the clever Felipe. +The handsome scapegrace had already secretly married Pepita. + +The strangest of all things is perhaps the irony of fate. Before the +year was up during which Felipe was charged to remain in the City of +Mexico, both his father, Don Juan, and the priest who had performed the +marriage ceremony for Felipe and Pepita, died. During his absence from +home, the observant and quick-witted Felipe had learned not only many +new things, but had made the acquaintance of other women as well. At its +best, the love of the passionate, hot-blooded Felipe and the gentle +Pepita could have endured only for a time. The attractions and +fascinations of the Capitol opened his eyes to many things which he had +hitherto overlooked, especially, that there are many beautiful women in +the world, and always one who is just a little more beautiful than the +others if one took the trouble to look for her. And so it happened that +he forgot not only his honor, but his obligations to Pepita, and +destroying the record of their marriage which he managed to secure with +the assistance of a confederate, he turned a deaf ear to her pleadings +and went his way. + +What had he, Don Felipe Ramirez, who lived and ruled like a prince on +his vast estates, to fear from a pretty little half-caste Indian girl? + +But Don Felipe was young and still had much to learn in the world. The +avenging angel that inevitably awaits us all at some turn or other in +the lane, stood nearer to him than he realized, and the vengeance which +followed was swift and complete. + +Pepita took poison and died, but she died not alone--she died in the +arms of Chiquita who had but recently returned from the convent. + +The latter frequently accompanied Padre Antonio on his charitable +missions and thus it chanced that she made Pepita's acquaintance and +learned her story. Time passed and all went well with Felipe until the +day he chanced to meet Chiquita. + +We may deaden our souls to the voice of conscience, disavow a belief in +destiny and shut our eyes to those forces of the Invisible which, in +spite of ourselves, we know to exist, but how is it, that no man ever +succeeds in escaping his fate? + +When Don Felipe Ramirez looked for the first time into the two dark +lustrous worlds of Chiquita's eyes, he beheld the height and depth of +his existence. From that moment he fell at her feet and worshiped her +with a passion that consumed and mastered him. Waking and dreaming she +was ever in his thoughts--he could not live without her. But not until +he was mad, ravished with desire, did she consent to become his wife. A +smile, or a gentle pressure of the hand were the only caresses she +deigned to bestow upon him; not until they were married would he be +permitted to embrace and kiss her, give rein to his passion. A strange +attitude for one of her nature to assume, and, as he looked back upon +it, he wondered how he had endured it--that he had not suspected +something. + +At length the day set for the wedding arrived, and Chiquita with Señora +Fernandez drove in state to the old Mission church where Padre Antonio +awaited them to perform the marriage ceremony. + +Don Felipe, in a state of exultation that lifted his soul to the clouds, +stood waiting for her on the steps of the church as had been agreed +between them; but as the two advanced, Chiquita suddenly paused before +the door, and turning, tore the bridal-veil and wreath of orange +blossoms from her brow and flung them into his face, crying: "Pepita +Delaguerra is avenged!" Then turning, she deliberately descended the +church steps and reëntering her carriage, drove home, leaving Don Felipe +dazed and speechless before the crowd of spectators that had gathered to +witness the passing of the bride and groom. + +Later she confessed the reason for her motives to Padre Antonio, but one +circumstance she withheld even from him, the nature of which Don Felipe +did not suspect, but which he would have given worlds to know. + +Chiquita's conduct became the scandal of the country for miles around, +and as is invariably the case, the majority of the women sided with +Felipe. In more refined circles of society, her act would have been +considered highly reprehensible and Felipe overwhelmed with sympathy. +His base ingratitude would have been lightly censured in the familiar, +sugared terms of the most approved fashion. He would have been forgiven, +and petted, and even lauded as a martyr--and then, the world would have +forgotten. With the Indian woman, however, it was different. + +On the altars of her people was still written, "blood for blood," the +same as in the ancient days. + +Crushed, humiliated, his pride humbled to the dust, Don Felipe left the +country and for four years sought to forget his shame and the taunts of +his enemies in the distractions of the world. He traveled everywhere, +was presented at the different Courts of Europe, and it was in +Washington where his uncle was the Mexican Minister to the United +States, that he met Blanch and Mrs. Forest and her niece. In vain did he +try to forget. In vain did he search for another woman to supplant his +love for Chiquita. He plunged into the wildest dissipation, but to no +effect. The beautiful face of the dark woman followed him everywhere, +stood between him and the world, lured him, fascinated him still as +nothing else could, tortured him day and night and he knew no rest. + +A thousand times he resolved to return and kill her, and a thousand +times he relented, for he loved her as madly as ever and could not carry +out his resolve. A prey to alternate fits of remorse and hatred, and +tortured constantly by the knowledge of an unrequited love, the soul of +Don Felipe Ramirez suffered the torments of the damned. His +unconquerable love for Chiquita devoured him, gnawed constantly at his +heart, and he cursed her--cursed her as only one of his temperament who +had suffered as he suffered, could curse. + +What could he do? Anguish succeeded anguish until he was at length +drawn back again as irresistibly as the magnet is drawn to the north, to +the woman he both loved and hated. He would throw himself at her feet. +He, the proud, arrogant Don Felipe of former years, and bowed in the +dust, implore forgiveness. Nothing was too hard. Any sacrifice she might +demand of him, he would make. Surely, when she saw his remorse, his +contrite humbled spirit, understood his suffering and realized that he +could not forget her, could not live without her, that he loved her +still through all the years of suffering, that his life was irrevocably +linked to hers, she would relent, forgive him--become his wife. + +His wife! The thought electrified, elated his being to an extent that it +was lifted for the moment from out the black depths of his despondency. +If not, well then, there would be time for the fulfillment of that which +must inevitably follow--either his death or hers. + + + + +XI + + +"Holy Mother! but I am glad to see you again, Don Felipe Ramirez! What +blessed chance has brought you back to us again?" Don Felipe started +like one in a dream, and turning in the direction whence came the sound +of the voice, he beheld Señora Fernandez standing on the veranda +regarding him intently. + +"Doña Fernandez!" he exclaimed with genuine pleasure, advancing to meet +her, and extending his hand which she eagerly seized and held between +both her own. + +"_Muchacho--muchacho!_" she cried, clapping her hands as she released +her hold on Don Felipe's. "Carlos, the _Caballero's_ horse!" she +continued, addressing the _vaquero_ that appeared in the doorway of the +Inn at her summons and who advancing, took possession of Don Felipe's +horse and led him away to the stables. + +"Let me look at you, Don Felipe," she continued, regarding him closely. +"Why, you have not changed a hair! It might have been but yesterday that +you left us." + +"And you, Doña Fernandez are still the charming, handsome mistress of +the _Posada de las Estrellas_ to whom all men are irresistibly drawn." + +"Flatterer!" retorted Señora, laughing gayly and blushing like a girl +of sixteen. How sweet it was to hear such words from a handsome +_Caballero_ like Don Felipe! It reminded her of the old days when all +men thought her beautiful and went out of their way to tell her so. + +"It was unkind of you to remain away so long, Don Felipe. Your friends +have missed you sadly and have prayed for the day of your return." + +"Friends?" echoed Felipe with a sneer. + +"Aye, friends. You will find that you have more friends now than when +you left us." + +"I can scarcely believe it. And yet," he added, "I wish it might be so." + +"You shall learn shortly for yourself," returned Señora. + +"How long," interrupted Felipe, eager to change the drift of the +conversation, "have the American ladies been here?" + +"Ah, you have seen them?" + +"Yes, they were just going out for a walk when I arrived. It was a +pleasant surprise to see them here. They are friends of mine." + +"You know them?" + +"Yes. I met them a year ago in Washington." + +"_Dios!_ to think of it!" she exclaimed. + +"But what are they doing here?" he asked. + +"Ah! that is just what I would like to know myself," replied Señora. +"_Caramba!_ but they are grand ladies! They say," she went on, "that +they are traveling for pleasure, but what pleasure can such delicate, +refined ladies possibly find in the desert, I should like to know? +Judging from their talk and actions they can not have seen very much of +the world. _Dios!_ you should have witnessed the scene they created the +day they arrived. And yet," she continued, "I like them and am glad they +are here. They have brought new life into the place. God knows it is no +longer what it used to be in the old days when Don Carlos, my husband, +was alive," she added with a sigh. + +Don Felipe smiled at the Señora's provincialism. What a great world lay +outside that of her own, of which she was entirely ignorant. + +A trip to the City of Mexico during her honeymoon was the only journey +she had ever taken beyond the confines of Chihuahua. + +"And then there is Mrs. Forest's brother, Col-on-el Van Ash-ton," she +continued, pronouncing the latter's name slowly and with difficulty. + +"Holy Maria! but he has caused us trouble! Nothing seems to suit him." + +"Colonel Van Ashton?" repeated Felipe. "Ah, yes, I remember him." + +"But that is not all," interrupted Señora. "There is also Captain +Forest, Mrs. Forest's son. He came here before the others and seemed +very much surprised and put out by their unexpected appearance." + +"Captain Forest?" repeated Don Felipe slowly, as if trying to recall a +chance meeting. "I have never met him. What is he like?" + +"Ah, he's a grand Señor," answered Señora with enthusiasm. "A +_Caballero_ every inch, and rides a horse that's the devil himself. Why, +only yesterday the brute kicked out the side of the corral, and after +chasing the men off the place who had been teasing him, calmly walked +into the garden and rolled in my choicest flower-bed." + +"He must be a thoroughbred at any rate," laughed Felipe. + +"Thoroughbred? He's the devil, I say! Captain Forest and his man, José, +are the only ones that dare go near him." Don Felipe drew a gold +cigarette-case thickly studded with diamonds and rubies from the inner +pocket of his jacket, and lighted a cigarette. + +"As I was saying," Señora went on, "Captain Forest is a fine gentleman. +He's a great friend of Señor Yankton, and--" she stopped abruptly. + +"And what?" asked Felipe suspiciously, closely scanning her face as he +tossed away the burnt end of the match. + +"Oh, nothing," answered Señora evasively. "Only much has transpired +during your absence, Don Felipe." She hesitated as though uncertain how +to proceed, then said: "I might speak of certain things, but perhaps I +had better not. They would not interest you, anyway." + +"Ah!" he said at length, endeavoring to conceal the emotion her words +aroused. "I--I think I understand. You--you refer to her, I suppose?" +There was a slight tremor in his voice and his hand trembled as he +raised his cigarette to his lips for a fresh puff. + +"Yes," she answered quietly. "I--I was about to say that she appears to +be interested in this Captain Forest. But of course, that's nothing to +you," she added hastily, watching him narrowly the while. Her words +acted like fire to tinder. + +"Interested in him?" he cried, starting violently and letting his +cigarette fall to the ground. His face grew ashen pale and his right +hand involuntarily went to the knife in his sash. "No, no, it cannot +be!" he muttered excitedly. "Are you sure of what you say, Doña +Fernandez? Tell me that it is not true--that it is a lie!" he almost +hissed, his eyes glowing with the fires of passion and jealousy. + +"Why, what has come over you, Don Felipe Ramirez?" cried Señora in +alarm. "Surely you cannot--she can be nothing to you any more?" + +"Nothing to me? Why do you suppose I am here?" he answered. + +"_Madre de Dios!_" muttered Señora. + +"Doña Fernandez," he began after a pause, his voice trembling in spite +of himself, "God knows I have tried to forget her, but I--I cannot!" and +his voice broke. + +"What?" cried Señora excitedly. "You don't really mean to say that you +still--love her?" + +"I do," answered Felipe fiercely, driving his heel furiously into the +ground. For some moments neither spoke. Then a flush of anger mounted to +Señora's brow and she cried: + +"Fie! Don Felipe! Have you forgotten your self-respect? The handsomest, +richest man in all Chihuahua running after an Indian--the woman who +treated you so shamefully--an ingrate who is unworthy of a love like +yours? If I could have had my way, she would have been whipped +publicly! What would Don Juan, your father, peace be to his soul, say if +he were alive? Love her!" she cried in a frenzy of hatred and jealousy. +"How can you possibly love her, Don Felipe Ramirez?" + +"How can I love her?" retorted Felipe fiercely. "Why does the grass +grow? Why do the birds sing? Why do the streams run to the ocean? Why do +the flowers turn to the sun? Tell me that, Doña Fernandez," he cried in +agony and bitterness, "and I will tell you why I love her in spite of +myself, in spite of what she did, in spite of every effort I have made +to resist her fascination! God!" and he struck his breast with his +clenched hand, "I wonder I did not kill her then and there, but I could +not, I could not; I loved her so!" + +"_Dios_, but this is strange!" gasped Señora, raising both hands for an +instant and then crossing herself devoutly as if to avert the power of +some evil--the spell which seemed to cling to Don Felipe and bind him as +with hoops of steel. She did not realize that Chiquita belonged to that +rare type of beings who seem immortal; that it was impossible to imagine +her other than young, that the years could work no change within her, +and although Felipe had not yet seen her, his soul must flame up at the +sight of her as of yore. + +Felipe was silent, his eyes cast on the ground. His face wore a +malignant expression of pain and hatred, and he trembled in every limb. + +The revelation of his anguish startled her. She stepped close up to him +and laying her hand gently on his shoulder, said in a voice full of +compassion, almost of pity: "I understand, Don Felipe! You still see her +as she was when you last knew her--it is but natural. Of course you +could not know, but she has changed since then. In the opinion of every +one, she has fallen, degraded herself." + +"Degraded herself? What do you mean?" asked Felipe, turning his +searching gaze upon her. + +"Only a fortnight ago," answered Señora, "on the great day of the +_Fiesta_, she danced publicly in Carlos Moreno's theater." + +"Chiquita danced in Carlos Moreno's hall? Impossible!" + +"Don Felipe," replied Señora with just the suggestion of a smile, "all +things are possible with a woman." + +"But why did she dance?" he asked. + +"I don't know; neither does any one else. They say she received three +thousand _pesos_ in gold." + +"Three thousand _pesos_?" echoed Felipe. "What did she do with them?" + +"Ah! that's the mystery! What did she do with them?" answered Señora. + +"It was not so much her dancing that scandalized the community, for we +all know what a wonderful dancer she is. Nobody ever danced as she does, +and we are willing to give her credit for it, but what did she do with +the money? That's the scandal of it! I have noticed no change in her +dress," she continued, "nor is it known that she has spent a single +_peso_ as yet." + +"Strange," he murmured. "I cannot understand it." + +"No more can I nor any one else," answered Señora. "But I have been +forgetting my duty; I must prepare a room for you, Don Felipe. In the +meantime," she added, ascending the veranda and pausing for an instant, +"be assured of the hearty welcome of your friends when they learn of +your return." + +"Chiquita danced in public? I can't understand it!" he said aloud after +Señora Fernandez had disappeared in the house. "And she interested in +this Captain Forest?" His face grew livid and then black with hatred as +a fresh wave of rage and jealousy swept over him. + +"No, no; it cannot be!" he gasped, his left hand resting over his heart +as though in pain. For some time he remained motionless as a statue, +lost in thought with his eyes fixed on the ground. Suddenly he raised +his head with a quick jerk. His face no longer wore an expression of +pain and anguish, but one of settled, calm determination. + +"I have come just in time," he said quietly. He smiled, and drawing +forth his cigarette-case once more, he opened it and lit a fresh +cigarette. + + + + +XII + + +Doña Fernandez could not sleep. All night long she tossed on her bed, +repeating her conversation with Don Felipe and revolving what course to +pursue. She instinctively felt that a great tragedy of some kind was +imminent. Unless some plan of concerted action were immediately adopted, +nothing could prevent it. + +She knew her people too well. A reckless, hot-blooded man like Don +Felipe in his present mood could not be trusted for long, but must +sooner or later provoke a quarrel with Captain Forest, who she knew, +would be equally dangerous if aroused. Since her conversation with +Felipe she had noted the attitude of Blanch toward the Captain and her +woman's instinct had half guessed the truth. But beautiful and +irresistible though Blanch appeared, there was Chiquita, more beautiful +and attractive than when Felipe had last seen her, and also quite as +dangerous. + +She knew that Felipe's passion was hopeless--that Chiquita would not +hesitate to show her dislike and contempt for him anew--that should +Captain Forest be attracted to her also, she would act like a fire-brand +between the two men. If only one of them might be persuaded to leave the +place, the clash which must inevitably occur, might be averted for a +time at least, but this was clearly impossible. There was only one +thing to be done for the present--advise Chiquita of Felipe's return and +warn her of the danger that threatened them all if she provoked him +unnecessarily. + +Hopeless though this plan seemed, Chiquita might for the Captain's sake, +if she really cared for him, act more discreetly than was her wont. But +what could be expected from a woman in love? Who could tell how she +would act? Besides, she argued, all men are fools. They seem to be born +only to become the playthings of women, the majority of whom are +invariably deceived by them in the end. + +How she hated her! To think of Don Felipe running after her, eating out +his heart, throwing away his young life for one like her! A love like +his going begging! Merciful God! was there no justice in this world? And +for the moment, she was quite carried away by a paroxysm of fury. + +Ah, if only she, Doña Fernandez, were but ten years younger! But the +chosen birds of Venus, the white doves of matrimony, were not destined +to hover over her head a second time. Tears of longing and vexation +dimmed her eyes as she thought of the golden, halcyon days of youth that +would never return. At any rate, Felipe and Chiquita must not meet until +after she had warned the latter. Blanch must be used as a foil as long +as possible. + +And so it happened that, when breakfast was over, Señora adroitly +arranged that Felipe should conduct the two girls for a morning's ramble +to the pretty little cañon of the river which lay but a mile distant +from the town where the foothills began; a plan that suited Blanch +perfectly. She, too, had been doing some thinking over night and had +recognized the possibility of using Don Felipe as a foil against Jack; +he was certainly handsome and clever enough to serve the purpose +admirably. + +Captain Forest had gone for a ride an hour before for the purpose of +giving his horse a short run to the foothills and back. So, when Señora +had seen the others safely off, she slipped quietly away in the +direction of Padre Antonio's house. + +It lacked a quarter of eleven when she left the house. She knew that +Chiquita would have long since returned from the market and would be at +home. So occupied was she with her thoughts as she hurried forward +intent upon her mission, she did not look up until she turned into the +road leading directly past Padre Antonio's gate, when she suddenly +stopped short. Before her she beheld Captain Forest standing in front of +the gate holding his horse, and Chiquita handing him a red rose. Another +instant, and Chiquita vanished through the gate into the garden and +Captain Forest, remounting his horse, came riding leisurely down the +road at a walk, inhaling the rose with evident pleasure. She drew back +into the shadow of the old wall and pressed close into the thick bushy +mass of white clematis vine which hung over it from above and waited +until he passed. + +It is the unexpected that always happens. The meeting between Chiquita +and the Captain was purely accidental. While returning from his ride, he +had been attracted by the beauty and luxuriance of Padre Antonio's +garden as he rode by. He wheeled his horse about and drew rein before +the open iron grating of the gate in order to obtain a better view of +it. Its flowers consisted chiefly of roses of different varieties and +colors. The air was spicy with their perfume and, as he inhaled their +fragrance in deep breaths, his attention was presently attracted by the +figure of Chiquita who appeared in the pathway before him, pausing +beside a luxuriant bush of blood-red blossoms and apparently quite +unconscious of his presence. The picture which she presented was one he +carried with him for many a day afterward. + +[Illustration: "The picture which she presented was one he carried with +him for many a day."] + +A small white dove strutted and cooed on the ground before her, while +another flew down from the house-top and after circling above her head, +also settled down beside its mate in the pathway. + +She was dressed in a short pale green skirt and bodice, the latter cut +low at the neck before and behind. The sleeves were short, reaching to +the elbow and terminating in a narrow frill of deep saffron, their sides +open and interlaced with silvery cords. Two richly embroidered silken +shawls of a pale red color with long fringe and worn in Spanish style, +adorned her dress. The one, pinned at the waist at the back and +following the outline of the bodice, passed up over her left shoulder +and down in front to her breast where it was fastened with a golden +brooch, the end falling in a graceful length of fringe. The other, also +fastened at the back of her waist, passed around her right hip and +diagonally down across the front of her skirt. Golden poppies adorned +the heavy masses of her lustrous black hair, worn high and held in place +by a silver comb. A saffron lace mantilla of the same deep shade as that +of the frill on her sleeves, fell in graceful folds from the comb to her +shoulders, while her feet were clothed in silk stockings of the same +shade and soft brown beaded slippers of undressed leather. + +To complete this costume which only a Gypsy or one of Chiquita's tawny +complexion would have dared essay to wear, a small pale red silken fan +ornamented with gold and silver spangles, hung suspended from her wrist +by a satin ribbon of deep orange which flashed in the sunlight like a +splash of gold on a humming-bird's throat. + +It was not by some happy chance that the Captain found her arrayed in +such finery, as is so often the case with heroines of romance, but the +result of much premeditation and studied effect. Ever since her meeting +with Blanch she had dressed herself daily with terrible deliberation and +nicety of precision, the same as every woman of flesh and blood would +have done under the circumstances, on the chance of Captain Forest +finding her at home when he came to pay his respects to the Padre as he +had intimated he would do. + +The thought of the innumerable dresses possessed by her rival, and the +scantiness of her own wardrobe, composed though it was of the richest +laces, silks and satins in the style of a past era, was something +appalling; enough to turn a stouter heart than hers. And had she been +anything else than an Indian, she would have sat down on the floor of +her room in the midst of her finery and wept copious and bitter tears +like the daughters of Babylon of old. The thought of the old dress which +she had worn on the day of their meeting was not alone mortifying--it +was excruciating. One of those things which we hasten to forget. + +_Dios!_ how she must have looked to him in the regal presence of Blanch, +gowned in her stylish traveling costume! + +Don Felipe Ramirez would have kissed the dust from off the hem of such +an old garment, but would Captain Forest do the same? She could not +afford to take any more risks with a rival like Blanch in the field. + +There is no knowing how long Captain Forest would have remained a silent +spectator of the charming picture she presented, had not her attention +been attracted by the sound of Starlight's hoofs as he began to paw the +ground impatiently. She raised her head from the bush over which she was +bending and turned her gaze in the direction of the gate. + +"Oh!" she cried with a little start, silently regarding the Captain for +some moments. Then a smile slowly wreathed her lips and she broke into a +light laugh. Her right hand involuntarily sought her fan which slowly +opened across the lower half of her face and she shot a glance at him +over its rim with an ease and grace which only Spanish women have ever +succeeded in mastering. The effect of this deft bit of coquetry, simple +and natural as were all her actions, was not lost upon the Captain. + +"I don't know whether I love you or not," it said plainly as words, +"but henceforth you shall be my slave." + +"How long have you been there?" she asked at length, slowly lowering her +fan. + +"Only an instant, Señorita," he replied, raising his hat. "I was +wondering," he continued, "whether it would be too much to ask you for +one of those roses? One would not be missed among so many." + +"Ah, but they are precious, Señor _Capitan_--these especially; they are +my favorites," and she swept her hand caressingly over the bush beside +which she was standing. + +"For that reason I shall prize it all the more, Señorita." + +"Ah! you men have a way of using flattery to women whenever you want +anything of them. And yet," she continued with just the suggestion of a +frown, "a woman would be hard hearted to refuse--" Her eyes dropped for +an instant, then looking up again, she said hesitatingly: "I wonder if I +can trust you?" + +"Try me," he pleaded. + +"I know it's foolish, but rather than have you think me less generous +than the women you have known, I shall give you one little one, Captain +Forest, that is, on condition you never ask me for another," and +breaking off one of the largest half-blown blossoms, she held it in her +hand as though loath to part with it. + +"I promise," said the Captain solemnly, dismounting and holding his +horse by the rein. "I dare not leave my horse, Señorita," he added in a +tone of embarrassment, "he is unaccustomed to a town and feels strange, +and should he take it into his head to bolt, he might do the first +person he met an injury." + +"Indeed? I have often thought of your horse and wondered where you got +him. But," she continued reluctantly, "since you cannot come to me, I +suppose I must come to you," and passing through the gate, she stood +before him, rose in hand. + +"A truly magnificent animal," she said, running her hand gently along +Starlight's neck. "I've been accustomed to horses from childhood and +can't help admiring a good one when I see it." + +Much to the Captain's surprise, the Chestnut did not resent her touch, +but whinnied softly instead and laid his nose on her shoulder. Any one +else but José and himself he would have seized with his teeth. Perhaps +it was her way of approaching and handling him, or was it the subtle +influence of that mysterious kinship which exists between the wild +things--strange and inexplicable to all but themselves? + +"I thought I possessed the only pure Arab in Mexico," she continued. +"He's a small black horse with a white star in his forehead, and has +never been beaten. You should look at the Raven some time--he would +interest you," she added. + +"I should like to. Arabs are rare on this side of the Atlantic. Where +did you get him?" + +"He was a present from Count Don Louis de Ortega, of the City of +Mexico." + +"Count Louis de Ortega?" + +"Yes. He is the most charming old gentleman I know. He is Padre +Antonio's great friend." + +"Ah!" ejaculated the Captain as though relieved. + +"I once spent a summer traveling in Europe with the Ortega family. But +here is your rose, Captain Forest. I almost believe you forgot it. +Horses are so much more interesting than flowers," and handing him the +rose, she was back again in the garden before he could thank her. + +"_Á Dios, Capitan_ Forest," she continued with the softest accent +imaginable, lingering unconsciously on his name as she paused on the +other side of the gate. Again the little fan opened, and looking back +over it with a bewitching smile and arched eyebrows and her head held +coquettishly on one side, she said as if to herself: "I wonder how long +he will keep it?" + +His heart gave a great throb as he gazed upon that subtle, bewitching +vision before him, "Forever, Señorita!" he was about to reply, but she +was gone. + +It might be argued that a woman of Chiquita's metal would not have shown +her hand thus lightly. Let his infernal beast bolt and trample the whole +town in the dust and himself in the bargain. If he wanted the rose, let +him come and get it; not a step would she move! Possibly, but let it not +be forgotten that she was in love--desperately in love; that the time +for quibbling had passed, that another woman equally fair would have +unhesitatingly waded through a river to deliver that rose to the Captain +had he asked for it. Destiny had placed Captain Forest in the saddle, +just as it had decreed that Don Felipe Ramirez should pass the remainder +of his days pursuing an illusive vision. If nature and convention now +swarmed at the Captain's saddle-bow, surely it was no fault of his. Had +he not burnt his last bridge, snapped his fingers in the face of the +world, and turned his back upon it and ridden forth in search of the +lost kingdom of Earth? + + + + +XIII + + +"The jade--coquetting openly on the highroad!" cried the Señora +furiously, stepping out from the shadow of the wall after the Captain +had disappeared down the road. + +"Will she stop at nothing? It's true, she loves him! What would Don +Felipe do had he witnessed what she had just seen?" and she shuddered as +she paused breathlessly before the high iron gate, her cheeks aglow and +her eyes flashing with indignation. Cautiously pushing open the gate +which stood ajar, she paused for an instant on the inside, casting her +eyes nervously about her in search of Chiquita, but seeing no one, she +advanced slowly along the walk leading in the direction of the house. +She had not far to go before she came upon the object of her quest, +seated on a rough stone bench in the shade of a thick cluster of +tamarisk bushes which grew close to the wall. + +The surprise Chiquita felt on seeing the Señora standing before her so +unexpectedly, caused her to let fall the book which she was vainly +endeavoring to read--an action which the Señora regarded as an admission +of her guilt; and she exulted in her evident embarrassment. + +The episode of the rose had caused her to quite forget her mission for +the moment. From her general air of excitement, flushed face and +flashing eyes, Chiquita rightly conjectured that something unusual had +happened and that an outburst of some sort or other was imminent. It +came like an explosion. + +"Holy Virgin!" she cried, eyeing Chiquita critically. "What is the +meaning of this; dressed in your very best? Is this the Sabbath, or one +of the blessed Saints' days, or perhaps a Palm-Sunday that you should +array yourself thus? Mother of God! when has it become the fashion for +young ladies to disport themselves in their best clothes on common, +ordinary week days? Why, 'tis not even a Fish-Friday! Merciful Heaven! +to what are we coming?" she gasped between breaths, clasping her hands +and glancing heavenward. "Do such dresses grow upon bushes that they are +so easily obtained? Doubtless," she concluded with withering sarcasm, +"when they are worn threadbare as they soon will be owing to such +constant usage, you will purchase others with those golden _pesos_ which +you earned so recently." + +Chiquita, accustomed to the Señora's outbursts, did not deign an +immediate reply, but sat quietly fanning herself, a faint smile +wreathing her lips; she was thoroughly enjoying the Señora's discomfort. +What would not the latter give to know something concerning those +_pesos_? Chiquita's composure under the fire of her words only tended to +increase her irritation. + +"Oh, I know why you have thus suddenly turned the peacock! You do not +deceive me! You have arrayed yourself thus for the grand +Señor--_Capitan_ Forest." + +"Bah!" ejaculated Chiquita composedly, as though nothing unusual were +taking place. "Is that all you have to say Doña Fernandez?" + +"All! Is that not enough? Holy God!" she cried with increasing vexation. +"You are in love--in love, I say!" A ripple of laughter bubbled over the +two rosy petals of Chiquita's lips, revealing the pearly whiteness of +her teeth. Now that she realized the real cause of the Señora's anger, +it was impossible to become angry herself. The Señora, however, was by +no means abashed by Chiquita's indifference, and vigorously renewed the +attack. + +"So our little ring-dove is in love, is she?" she continued mockingly, +strutting back and forth before her. "You think _Capitan_ Forest will +notice you in that finery--that he will fall in love with you and will +marry you, and that you will become a grand lady like the Señorita +Lennox and ride in a fine carriage for the rest of your days. _Mercedes +Dios!_ and all because you have succeeded in turning the heads of a few +country bumpkins that hang about the place casting sheep's-eyes at you. +Ha, ha, ha!" she laughed derisively. "Believe me, when _Capitan_ Forest +makes up his mind to marry, he will not stoop so low to pick up so +little." + +"Doña Fernandez!" said Chiquita sharply rising from the bench with an +ominous look in her eyes. + +"Foolish child," Señora went on without heeding her, "to imagine that +some day your hands will be white like a lady's! I suppose you have +nothing further to do to-day but to pick flowers?" she added, pausing +for breath. + +"I have never worried about my color, Doña Fernandez," replied Chiquita +indignantly. "Indeed, I sometimes think it holds its own better than +that of some persons I might mention." + +"Holy Mother! how your tongue runs on! Am I not to be allowed to say +anything? Oh, you do not deceive me! I saw you give him the rose as I +came here. If he's sensible, he'll throw it away." + +Chiquita laughed derisively. "Perhaps it is well for the world that all +people are not so sensible as you are, Doña Fernandez," and her fan +closed with a sudden snap. "So this is the advice you came to give me, +Doña Fernandez? How very considerate of you!" + +Her words recalled the Señora to the purpose of her coming. For some +time she paced up and down before Chiquita without replying. Then +stopping and facing her, and watching closely for the effect her words +would have upon her, she said: "I came to tell you--that Don Felipe +Ramirez has returned." + +Chiquita started. "Don Felipe here?" + +"Aye. He's stopping at my house, and I came to warn you that perhaps it +would be well to be cautious and exercise a little more self-control +than is your wont when in his and _Capitan_ Forest's presence." + +The Señora was satisfied with her morning's work; her words had had +their effect. Besides, had she not had her say--unburdened her soul of +many things which she had long been dying to give utterance to? All +things considered she had scored. + +"_Á Dios_, Señorita," she added sarcastically, her black eyes gleaming +with malicious satisfaction as with mock courtesy she bowed and turned, +leaving Chiquita silent and motionless, her eyes cast on the ground and +lost in thought. + + + + +XIV + + +"Don Felipe here? The coward, the cur! How dare he return?" she cried +with a sudden outburst, her words ringing with indignation and +resentment. She impatiently tapped the palm of her hand with her fan as +she began to realize what his return might mean to her. + +She knew that Señora had come to warn her not on her own account, but +solely on Don Felipe's. Knowing as she did the reckless character of the +man, she thoroughly realized the danger, and knew that she must be on +her guard, not only for her own sake, but for Captain Forest's as well. +Like the bird of ill omen that he was, his presence boded no good to +her. Already she felt his baleful shadow fall across her path. + +The unusual attention which Chiquita had begun to pay to her personal +appearance did not escape the observant eye of Padre Antonio. Knowing +the nature of woman as few men did, he was wise enough not to question +her, experience having taught him that the majority of women can only +keep a secret for a certain length of time. He smiled and admired, or +twitted her with the simple remark: "For whom are we dressing this +morning, Chiquita _mia_?" But she only laughed in reply, or shaking her +finger at him with a mysterious air, would say: "What woman would not +dress for Padre Antonio?" But Padre Antonio was not so innocent as he +tried to appear. Instinct, reënforced by long experience, told him that +these were the first real symptoms of love which his wild little Indian +girl, as he chose to call her, had shown. + +He had always suspected that she never really cared for Don Felipe, and +had done his best to break off the engagement before the catastrophe had +overtaken the latter; but this was different. That of which he was loath +to think, yet which he knew must inevitably happen, had come to pass. + +His knowledge of human nature told him that she had at last met the man +worthy of her love, but, he asked himself, would Captain Forest, of a +different race and reared under totally different conditions, +reciprocate that love? He could not endure the thought that his little +girl might be made unhappy should the Captain fail to respond to her +love. + +He, too, had seen Chiquita give him the rose from his study window which +overlooked the garden. So, when the sermon upon which he was engaged was +completed, he quietly descended to the garden with the intention of +administering to her a gentle admonition as well as giving her a little +wholesome advice. Chiquita, hearing the sound of his measured tread on +the gravel as he approached along the pathway, reseated herself on the +bench and began to fan herself unconcernedly. + +What a picture she made against the pale plumy branches of the tamarisk, +thought Padre Antonio. + +"I thought I heard voices," he said, seating himself beside her. "Has +any one been here?" + +"Doña Fernandez has just gone," replied Chiquita absently. "She has been +giving me some of her advice." + +"Advice?" echoed Padre Antonio, realizing the moment of his arrival to +be most opportune. "That's just what I have come to give you, my +child--advice!" + +"What! You, too, Padre?" she exclaimed petulantly, looking at him +inquiringly. "_Dios!_ what have I done that everybody comes to give me +advice when I have so many other things to think of?" + +"Chiquita," slowly began Padre Antonio, laying his hand gently on her +own, "I have always known you to be wiser than most women, the result no +doubt, of your early life and training in the wilds where people must +live by their wits for self-preservation if for nothing else." He paused +that he might the better collect his thoughts. She guessed what was +coming and began toying with her fan, an arch smile playing about her +delicate, sensitive mouth as she regarded him out of the corners of her +large dark eyes. + +"Chiquita," he continued, "I do not like your extravagance. Have a care, +child, lest you become addicted to vanity." + +"Again, just what the Señora said! Am I so vain as all that, Padre +_mio_, that you should be obliged to remind me of it?" + +"Then why this continual display?" he asked pointedly. "You never used +to show such consideration for your admirers." She felt that it would +be not only foolish, but worse than useless to attempt to fence about +the truth with him. + +"Ah, Padre _mio_," she sighed softly, blushing and laying her hand +lightly on his shoulder and looking up into his face with deep lustrous +eyes that softened with her words, "you--you forget--that I have never +been in love before." + +"In love!" echoed Padre Antonio in turn. "Ah! I knew it was that," and +into his eyes there came an expression of tenderness and a far-away look +as though the word recalled memories of other days. Memories which music +or the glories of the sunset, or the cooing of the wood-dove at eventide +might awaken within the soul. The sunlight played along the path at +their feet. The breeze wafted the fragrance of the roses about them and +a linnet, perched on the swaying branch of a tree overhead, gave voice +to his song, singing of the joy of life. Again he sighed, and Chiquita +looking up quickly, saw in his eyes that which she had never suspected. + +"Padre _mio_," she said at length, lowering her eyes and slowly opening +and shutting her fan, "have--have you ever been in love?" + +"My child!" he cried with a start, suddenly recollecting where he was. +"You forget what I am! What are you thinking of?" + +"Oh, nothing, nothing!" she returned quietly. "Only it's so--so sweet to +be in love, Padre _mio_. And yet so--" + +"So what, my child?" he interrupted hurriedly, as if to get through +with the subject as quickly as possible. + +"So terrible," she answered. + +"So terrible?" + +"Yes, terrible, Padre _mio_, for I never knew before how ugly I am." + +"My poor child, you have quite lost your head!" he answered +sympathetically. + +"Ah, no," she said rising and facing him, "you do not understand; I have +a most dangerous rival. To win the Señor I am compelled to use every +means and strategy within my power. Can you not see?" she continued +passionately; "she has everything; I have nothing. She is not only +beautiful, but rich, and Blessed Virgin, what dresses she has, and +jewels enough to cover an altar-cloth!" + +"My child!" he cried. "You are merely jealous of the Señorita's beauty. +For shame, that you should set such store upon worldly things!" + +"Padre _mio_, you would not have your little Chiquita unhappy, would +you?" she went on without heeding his words, a beseeching tone in her +voice. "Should I fail to win Captain Forest's love, my heart will +break!" She stood with downcast eyes before him, an expression of pain +on her face. + +"Ah, yes, my child, I understand," he answered compassionately, also +rising from the bench. "Your temptation is great. Beware of pride and +the vanities of this world, for he that exalteth himself shall be +humbled. + +"Chiquita," he continued earnestly, "my greatest care in bringing you up +has ever been to keep you the pure and simple being that you were when +you came to me. Do not forget--God demandeth that the souls which he +gave into our keeping should be returned unto him again in the same pure +unblemished state that we received them. Therefore, take heed, my child, +for although God has endowed you with great beauty of both mind and +body, do not foolishly imagine that, by arraying yourself in the +vanities of this world, you can add an atom to the natural beauty He has +bestowed upon you already. Be but pleasing in God's sight and it must +follow that you will please all men as well." + +"Oh! you really do think me beautiful, Padre?" she cried, a radiant look +on her face. + +"My child, my child, you do not listen to what I have to say!" he +groaned despairingly. + +"Oh, yes, I do, Padre _mio_! But you forget that, when God endowed woman +with a soul, he gave her a heart as well. Willingly we render our souls +unto God, but our hearts belong to men." The logic of her argument was +too much for Padre Antonio, and he laughed as she had never seen him +laugh before. + +"Verily," he said at length, wiping the tears from his eyes and +reseating himself on the bench, "the spirit and flesh must ever contend +for the mastery of the soul on earth; it is our fate--the good Lord +intended that it should be so." + +"Ah, yes," she returned. "It's not always the good that seems to please +us most in this world." + +"Aye, verily!" he rejoined, relapsing into silence. Again the linnet +gave voice to his song, and the cooling breeze sighed among the tamarisk +plumes that waved about their heads. + +"Do you remember when you first came to me, Chiquita _mia_?" he asked at +last. + +"That was ten years ago, Padre." + +"I then thought," he went on, "that the good Lord had sent you to me to +make a little angel out of you, but--" + +"Ah, Padre _mio_," she interrupted, "it's too bad! I'm afraid I'm still +the little devil that I was!" and laughing, she rose from her seat and +passing around to his end of the bench, stood beside him and began to +pull the leaves from a rose-bush. + +"Padre _mio_," she said softly, looking down at him with mischievous +lights dancing in her eyes, "you don't really regret that I have +remained what I am, do you?" + +"Oh, I didn't mean to infer that, my child!" he answered with a note of +reproach in his voice, looking up into her shadowy, downcast face. She +gave a little laugh, and tapping him gently on one shoulder with her +fan, said: "Do you know what you are, Padre _mio_?" + +"What, my child?" he asked innocently, his face brightening at the +question. + +"You're the dearest old goose that ever lived!" and bending over him, +she kissed him lightly on the crown of his head before he could prevent +it. + +"Chiquita, my child--you're too impulsive! Have I not repeatedly forbade +you--" but the sound of her laughter and retreating footsteps on the +pathway leading to the house was the only response his words invoked. +"_Dios!_" he exclaimed, recovering his breath. "I sometimes think that +God created man, but woman--the devil! They never listen to anything one +has to tell them!" + +Chiquita went quietly to her room, walked straight to her bureau and +opening the lower drawer, took out a small pistol which lay concealed +beneath a chemise in one corner. Examining it carefully with the +practiced eye and hand of one who has been accustomed to the use of +firearms all her life, she loaded it and then placed it inside her +breast. She knew Don Felipe as no one else did, and thoroughly realized +the danger that threatened her. From that hour, waking or sleeping, the +weapon must never leave her. + + + + +XV + + +Who was Richard Yankton? Many had asked that question, foremost of whom +was Dick himself; but years of unremitting search had failed to reveal +his origin. + +In the spring of 1870 Colonel Yankton, who with his regiment of cavalry +was stationed in Arizona, came one day upon the smoldering remains of an +immigrant train--the work of the Apache Indians. + +The scalped and mutilated remains of men, women and children lay +scattered over the plain where they had fallen. It was a melancholy +sight; one with which the Colonel had long become familiar during years +of campaigning against the Red man. His scouts had picked up the trail +and just as he was about to start in pursuit of the depredators, he +fancied he heard a cry, causing him to pause and listen. + +Presently the cry was repeated, and riding in the direction whence the +sound proceeded, he came upon a little child of about two and a half +years of age sitting on the ground among the sage-brush; the sole +survivor of the disaster. It was a pretty, rosy-cheeked, dark-eyed +baby--a boy. He was frightened at being left alone so long and was +crying bitterly. But when he saw the Colonel looking down at him from +the back of his horse, the little fellow brightened up. He forgot his +troubles, and ceasing to cry, began to laugh and stretch out his tiny +hands, and in his incoherent baby way, began to babble. + +"Horsie, horsie, widie!" he cried, in the most beseeching, irresistible +manner, just as he must have been accustomed to ask the men of the camp +for a ride whenever they appeared with a horse. In an instant the +Colonel was on the ground and had the little fellow in his arms. As no +clew to the child's parents or relatives was ever found, the Colonel +adopted him, giving him his own name. + +Dick received an excellent schooling up to his sixteenth year and +probably would have entered West Point had not his benefactor suddenly +died. Strange to say, the life of a soldier with which he had become +familiar during the years spent at the different posts assigned to the +Colonel, did not appeal to him. The restraint and routine of the life +appeared irksome, and a year later the then great undeveloped West +numbered him among her sons. + +Indeed, as subsequent events proved, it was fortunate that he had +renounced the life of a soldier. The success which later attended his +efforts in the search for wealth far overshadowed that which he probably +would have attained in the army, especially as his heart was not in the +life. + +Dick was a born miner and prospector, and passed successively through +New Mexico, Arizona and California in his search for the precious +metals, finally drifting into old Mexico where he met with his first +important success. + +It seemed as though he were directed by an invisible power. For weeks +and months at a time he would idle--read and smoke and ride or travel. +Then suddenly the spirit would move him, and without saying a word to +any one, he would quietly slip away into the mountains by himself in +whichever direction he seemed most impelled to go. Where other men +paused and lingered in the hope of finding gold, he passed on and +discovered the metal where others least expected to find it. + +Perhaps one of the chief reasons for his success lay in the fact that he +did not assert his own will by planning a systematic search for the +metal, but allowed himself to be drawn by that mysterious, attractive +affinity that existed between him and the precious metals. Dick became +aware of the existence of this strange affinity early in his career and +acted upon it. Already at the age of thirty he possessed two of the +greatest gold and silver mines in the world and began to find it +difficult to know what to do with his income. + +The fact that he cared nothing for money beyond the simple comforts of +life which it afforded, was perhaps another inscrutable reason why he +was permitted during the course of the next eight years to add two more +rich mines to his possessions. + +At thirty-eight he owned four mines, the possession of any one of which +would have caused the average man to see visions. For example, Dick +would have regarded Colonel Van Ashton's fortune, handsome though it +was, as mere loose change in his pocket. + +But this modern young Croesus was not unworthy of the fortune that +had been showered upon him so bountifully as the majority of men who +acquire great wealth invariably become. He not only constantly strove to +improve his mind, but maintained a pension-roll and list of public +charities and beneficiaries that would have done credit to a small +European Principality. In short, he thoroughly realized what the +responsibility of great wealth entailed. + +True to his supersensitive nature and fastidious taste, he always +dressed in the height of fashion. This was the only extravagance he +allowed himself which, considering his fortune, was reasonable enough. + +Experience had taught him that the majority of men and women were fakirs +pure and simple, whose chief motives were prompted solely by +self-interest; and any suggestion to reform the world he invariably +greeted with laughter. In fact, the world in his opinion, was not worth +reforming; yet, in spite of this melancholy truth, he had remained human +to the core, and took a live interest in that world of men which he knew +to be nothing more nor less than a great gamble. And therein lay the +chief distinction between him and Captain Forest, for they were +otherwise strangely alike. Dick was still more or less interested in +molding the clay--the Captain had done with it. Possibly because the +latter had fallen heir to that which Dick had acquired through effort +and, therefore, set less store upon it. + +There were few countries which he had not visited. After making his +first rich strike, he attempted to settle in New York, but was unable to +do so. To use his own words, "he was only able to sit down, but there +wasn't room enough for him to stretch his arms and legs." + +During his travels he had collected numerous works of art; tapestries, +paintings, marbles and bronzes by the best modern masters, which he +placed in a beautiful Spanish _hacienda_ especially designed by one of +the foremost architects of the day. The house occupied the site of an +old Spanish _rancho_ situated in a beautiful valley about ten miles from +Santa Fé and was generally conceded to be the most attractive estate in +Chihuahua, though not the largest and most valuable; Don Felipe Ramirez +possessed that. Both house and garden were a living monument to Dick's +natural refinement and good taste. There were no jarring notes or +lavish, tawdry display, the pitfalls into which the parvenue and petit +bourgeois invariably fall. This was his only hobby, and just why he +indulged it, he himself would have found it difficult to answer, for in +reality, he cared but little for it. + +He regarded it chiefly as a precaution against old age. He would +continue to improve and beautify the place until the day arrived when he +would retire from the world to pass the few remaining years of life amid +the quiet and seclusion which the country afforded. And he often +pictured himself when alone and musing over his cigar, as a lonely, +white-haired patriarch, without offspring to perpetuate his name, seated +in the center of his _patio_, smiling benignly upon the frolicsome +little brown children of his Indian retainers as they laughed and +disported themselves about him. + +"Ah!" cries the world. "Mr. Yankton has a history!" Of course. What man +or woman has not, even though they dare not admit it? Had he loved too +much or too little? There were even some who attributed that exquisite +vein of melancholy in his nature to the shadow of a married woman. Was +he haunted by the fear that some fair, false one might marry him for his +fortune, not for himself? Or, was his aversion to marriage due solely to +the fact that the right woman had not yet arrived? + +These and many other questions had been asked and thoroughly discussed +by the matrons and daughters of Santa Fé, especially by the latter, to +all of whom he had made love and sent flowers and serenaded in turn +until, out of sheer desperation, they called alternately upon God and +the devil to keep or punish this gay Lothario who loved all and yet +none, and who gave such exquisite _fiestas_ in his beautiful _hacienda_. + +Now it so chanced that, at the same hour Don Felipe was conducting +Blanch and Bessie to the cañon, Dick was returning to Santa Fé on +horseback from his _hacienda_ where he had passed the night. As there +was no particular reason why he should reach the _Posada_ before noon, +he decided to indulge his fancy by lingering in the cooling shade of the +cañon close to the river's edge, where he might listen to the voices of +the waters as they went singing by him on their way to the old town and +thence to the sea. + +He accordingly dismounted, and after lighting a fresh cigar, stretched +himself at full length upon the grass which grew on the river's bank, +allowing his horse to graze at will. Just behind him rose the abrupt +wall of the cañon some thirty or forty feet in height which, at this +hour of the morning, cast a deep shadow over the spot where he lay and +halfway across the river in front of him. It was just the sort of place +for an Indian or one of Dick's nature to linger in and dream and muse. +The tips of the tall grass and reeds which grew close to the water's +edge, swayed gently in the fresh morning breeze. The song of the finch +and linnet issued from the thick, low willow copse growing along the +river's banks. + +How peaceful it was, and how sweetly the waters sang! No wonder the +Indian prized the peace and beauty of nature above all else. What was +his _hacienda_ to this? He was never really happy when the roof of a +house intervened between himself and the sky. + +Suddenly his attention was attracted by a noise overhead, and glancing +upward, he sprang to his feet just in time to avoid a mass of earth and +stones that came rolling down over the face of the cliff and fell on the +very spot where he had been lying. The next instant, before he had time +to realize what was happening, a soft, fluffy mass dropped into his arms +with an impact that nearly brought him to his knees. For some seconds +Dick looked hard at the object in his arms in order to assure himself +that he really was awake and not still dreaming in the grass by the side +of the river. + +There was no doubt about it; the woman had arrived. + +Miss Van Ashton lay quite still in his arms; she had fainted. For the +first time in his life, a panic seized him. + +"Miss Van Ashton!" he cried excitedly, bending over her. She seemed like +nothing, as light as a feather as she lay so still and pale in his +strong arms. It seemed as though he could have held her thus forever, +and he was almost beginning to wish that he might as he watched the +pallor of her face slowly give way to its natural pink and white glow, +delicate as the lining of a conch-shell. Strange that he had not noted +this peculiarly piquant and attractive face before. + +"Miss Van Ashton!" he cried once more. But again there was no response. +He lowered her gently on one knee in order that she might breathe more +freely. As he did so, one of her hands came into sudden contact with his +own. Instinctively his hand closed over it and held it captive; it was +so soft and warm, just like a little bird. His soul was sorely tempted, +and sad to relate, he raised it to his lips and held it there, at which +juncture Bessie Van Ashton slowly opened her eyes. + +With a cry, she was on her feet--flushed and furious. + +"Don't be alarmed, Miss Van Ashton!" he exclaimed, quite unconscious of +the cause of her sudden fright. "You're not hurt a bit; you didn't touch +the ground. You only fainted." + +"How dare you hold me in your arms?" she cried. + +"I couldn't help it, Miss Van Ashton; you dropped right into them." + +"How dare you kiss me, sir?" + +"I couldn't help that either," stammered Dick, covered with confusion +and blushing like a school-boy. + +"Insolence!" cried Bessie with increased vehemence, stamping her small +foot furiously on the ground. + +"Miss Van Ashton," stammered Dick again, "I apologize! I--I beg your +pardon--" + +"For taking advantage of a helpless woman while in an unconscious +state!" she interrupted. "A most gentlemanly act!" she added +contemptuously. Her words cut him like the lash of a whip, causing him +to wince, his face turning a deep red. + +"I'm sorry--" he began. + +"You know you're not sorry at all!" she broke in again with unabated +fury. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said again, with increasing embarrassment, "when +you fell into my arms I was so surprised and frightened--" + +"Frightened?" She laughed in his face. "A man who single handed held a +furious crowd of men at bay as you did--frightened? You mean that you +were so overcome with weakness and the joy at finding a helpless woman +in your power you could think of nothing better to do than to kiss her," +she answered with all the sarcasm she could command. + +A twinkle came into Dick's dark eyes as he regarded her for some time in +silence. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said, "if you only knew it, you are far more +dangerous than a tame mob of boys." + +"Pshaw!" she exclaimed, turning her back upon him, and tapping the +ground nervously with her daintily shod foot. Dick regarded her narrowly +during the pause that ensued. She seemed taller than he at first had +thought her, and was as slender as a birch. The sun, which by this time +had begun to peep over the top of the cañon wall, cast a golden aureole +about her head. Again he heard the waters sing and the notes of the +birds issuing from the willow copse. + +"Well! how much longer are you going to stand there? Why don't you say +something?" she snapped, still keeping her back turned toward him. Her +words inspired him with fresh confidence. He recognized in them a faint +glimmer of interest which even her fierce spirit of resentment had not +entirely succeeded in overcoming. + +"Miss Van Ashton, ignore me, trample me in the dust if you like, but do +you know, if it had been any other woman than yourself, I should have +laid her quietly down upon the ground and left her to regain +consciousness as best she could!" She wheeled around abruptly, looking +him straight in the eyes. There was no mistaking the sincerity of his +words, or the look that accompanied them. And she instinctively felt +that an impulsive, passionate nature like his could not have helped +doing what he did. + +"I don't believe a word you say," she said, softening somewhat, a faint +smile lurking about the corners of her mouth. Then, as the ludicrousness +of the situation came over her, she burst into fit after fit of laughter +until the tears rolled down her cheeks. + +"Oh, dear!" she sighed at length. + +"You do forgive me!" he pleaded, picking up her dainty straw hat which +lay on the ground close by and handing it to her. + +"No, I don't forgive you. I don't think I ever shall," she answered in +the severest tone she could command. "It was foolish of me to wander +away from the others," she continued. "I might have known that something +would happen, because something is always happening in this country. +It's perfectly marvelous!" Then, after a pause, during which she placed +her hat rakishly on one side of her head, she added: "As a punishment, +Mr. Yankton, I'll allow you to accompany me back to the _Posada_." Her +words caused his heart to jump. + +"I don't deserve it," he answered, assuming an air and tone of humility. + +"I'm glad you realize that," she returned. "I suppose I'm indebted to +you for saving my life," she went on. "And I don't want you to think me +ungrateful. Perhaps it would have been better though--" She broke off +abruptly, and then laughed a strange little laugh that puzzled him +greatly. She had at least grown communicative again, and he heaved a +sigh of relief. He had gotten off so much easier than he expected. + +"One moment, Miss Van Ashton," he said, as she was about to take the +lead. He turned and gave a shrill whistle. His horse which had been +feeding quietly the while on the grass a short distance from them, +raised his head at the sound, and giving a low whinny, came trotting up +to them. + +"Won't you ride?" he asked, turning to her. "He's quite gentle." + +"No," she answered rather curtly, "I prefer to walk." + +"Just as you say," he answered in a tone of complete submission, taking +his place quietly by her side. + +"No--not that way!" she said. "We'll keep the horse's head between us." + + + + +XVI + + +There had been no more shooting or attempts at murder. The mail began to +arrive from home, and Colonel Van Ashton and Mrs. Forest began to +breathe easier. + +Life at the old _Posada_ had settled down once more to its accustomed +calm and routine. The sun shone benignly and the birds sang daily in the +garden where the guests were wont to pass the greater part of the day. +The gay little songsters were a veritable revelation to them--especially +to the Colonel. How could such gentle creatures go on singing with such +indifference to the future in a land where life was held so cheap and +all things so uncertain? + +Blanch had turned a deaf ear to the others' entreaties to return home at +once. The more they talked, the firmer she became, and finally, taking +matters into her own hands, settled the question by telegraphing home +for the twenty trunks of clothes she left there on her departure. + +"Can't you see," she said by way of explanation, "how disastrous it +would be to leave Jack alone in this country with that--" + +"Don't mention her!" interrupted Mrs. Forest. + +"I don't see how we can help it," replied Blanch, "since fate has thrust +her unbidden into our lives. We might as well recognize facts first as +last since we are no longer in a position to choose either our +surroundings or the persons with whom we are to associate. There is only +one way to avert the catastrophe threatening us, and that is--by my +marrying Jack." + +Chiquita's beauty filled Mrs. Forest with a vague and nameless terror. +But a glimpse of that dark siren was enough to apprise her of her son's +peril, and she unhesitatingly implored Blanch not to let him out of her +sight--to go off with him alone as often as possible and flirt with him +to any length; a tremendous concession on Mrs. Forest's part--nothing +less than a complete surrender, she being one of those proud but insipid +mortals whose temperature could be easily gauged by the inclination of +her long, slender, slightly upturned nose which seemed to be forever +pointing toward a better world. For her, it was not enough that one's +appearance and innate refinement marked one as a lady or a gentleman, +but it must be proven by a long deduction beginning with some obscure +ancestor of whom the world has never heard and whose shortcomings have +been happily buried in the oblivion of time. Could she have had her way, +the world would have been long since wrapped in pink tissue paper, tied +with blue ribbon and labeled safe. How she ever came by her dauntless +son remains a mystery; it certainly was no fault of hers. + +Somebody of a pessimistic turn of mind once remarked that, if the human +race were suddenly stripped naked, it would be impossible to distinguish +the refined from the vulgar. A truly inspired utterance. For as Captain +Forest viewed his family from his plane of vantage, especially after +the leveling process had set in, they strangely reminded him of a flock +of tame geese rioting in a pond. They made a great noise and stir, but +convinced nobody. + +Everybody having reached his level and been shorn of airs and +affectations, it no longer remained a question of what one was, but what +one could do. Consequently, it became daily more and more difficult to +distinguish between personalities. It is true there were occasional +flashes suggestive of submerged, latent faculties, but only flashes; +stupidity and the commonplace were the dominating notes. + +It was a wonderful study in human nature, and hopeless though the +general outlook appeared, the future was not entirely without its +promise. The souls of Blanch and Chiquita shone like radiant twin stars +from out the gloomy, abysmal depths of the Egyptian darkness that had +settled over the world. + +Perhaps the most remarkable and amusing feature of it all was that, with +the exception of Blanch, the others still seemed able to take themselves +seriously. They regarded the Captain's new outlook upon life as a +complete reversion to the primitive type, but luckily for them, he had +not yet lost his sense of compassion. + +Recognizing the deplorable mental state to which his uncle was fast +sinking, he kept him supplied with wines and cigars, obtained from his +friend, Pedro Romero, the gambler. No man can partake of excellent wines +and cigars for any length of time without feeling his oats, as the +saying goes; and the Colonel proved no exception to the rule. + +He had just finished a bottle of Burgundy and, as he sat in the garden +with his sister, sipping his _demitasse_ and inhaling the fragrant aroma +of a Havana, he began to feel the return of his nerve. In fact, had he +been approached on the subject, he would have admitted that he felt like +a fighting-cock, in just the proper condition to quarrel with his +nephew. Happily for the Colonel, the subject of his thoughts came +sauntering into view at this juncture, and he squared himself, assuming +an aggressive attitude preparatory to the encounter which he intended to +precipitate with all possible dispatch. + +The disgusting complacency with which his nephew had taken to wearing +long trousers over his riding-boots in place of those precious balloon +breeches originally designed for lackeys but since adopted as a becoming +apparel for a gentleman, affected the Colonel's tender susceptibilities +to an extent almost inducing nausea. He quite forgot that he had been +guilty of a similar offense during his campaigning in the Civil War, and +naïvely imagined that his nephew had acquired this vulgar habit from his +friend, Mr. Yankton; a person whose lack of etiquette and easy-going +ways were enough to set his teeth on edge. + +The Captain was looking for Blanch whom he had seen entering the garden +with his mother and the Colonel, but whose return to the house he had +not noticed, and he, therefore, walked unsuspectingly into the arms of +his uncle. + +"I wish you would get rid of that infernal horse of yours," began the +Colonel by way of a preliminary to the skirmish, while his nephew +seated himself unconcernedly in a chair opposite him, tilting it +backwards and leisurely crossing his legs. "He positively threatened to +devour me bodily as I passed the corral this morning." + +"I suppose it's because he has not yet learned that you are my uncle," +replied the Captain, suppressing a smile. "It's strange what dislikes he +takes to certain persons when one considers that he's as gentle as a +kitten when children are around; but I'll try to teach him to +distinguish members of the family in the future." + +"Look here, Jack! I've had enough of this beating about the bush. It's +time we came to an understanding." + +"There's nothing to prevent it that I can see," answered the Captain +with maddening coolness. "I was merely apologizing for an ill-mannered +horse." + +"Damn your horse, sir!" cried the Colonel with increasing choler. + +"Any time you are ready, dear Uncle," replied the Captain calmly, taking +a cigarette from his case and lighting it. The Colonel ground his teeth +in silence. His first encounter with his nephew could hardly be called +satisfactory and he did not wish a repetition of it. He had come to +argue his nephew out of his folly through sheer force of logic and it +behooved him to remain as calm as possible during the interview, for his +nephew had a most surprising way of answering back and turning the +argument against one. + +"Tell me," he began, "what possible attraction this country can have for +you?" + +"It would be quite as impossible to explain that satisfactorily to you +as to make my reasons clear for being here at all. But since you again +ask me for those reasons, I can only answer as I did before. I have +exhausted that felicitous state called civilization. I want to be free." + +"Rot!" cried the Colonel, literally snorting and bounding into the air. +"You've no right to be free! Only savages and criminals want to be free! +If that's all you have to say--" but his voice choked and he resumed his +seat in silence. + +"I've never heard anything quite so silly!" exclaimed Mrs. Forest who up +to this point had maintained a discreet silence. + +"It's true nevertheless," continued the Captain composedly, blowing a +ring of blue smoke into the air. "Civilization, you know, is practically +the same the world over. I have seen and heard everything, read +everything, and met everybody that's worth meeting, and I'm tired of +seeing and hearing them over and over again, year in and year out, with +always the dead certainty of their return to look forward to. Our lives +have become too stilted, too artificial--we lack poise, we live in +grooves. Everything is overdone--there is nothing left for us to +enjoy--our finer sensibilities have become dulled--the simplicity and +refinements of life have been swallowed up by luxury, tawdry display and +prudism." + +"Bosh!" cried the Colonel. + +"Everybody," the Captain went on, "knows exactly what his neighbor +thinks and is going to say, and should anybody by any chance begin to +think differently and seriously on life, society instantly brands that +person as stupid, if not a little queer. We have lost our independence." + +"Nonsense!" said Mrs. Forest. + +"Granted for the sake of argument," broke in the Colonel, flipping the +ash from off his cigar. "But what about art, science and literature, the +real things which stand for civilization?" + +"Oh! as to them, they are all right in themselves. It is fortunate that +man has an outlet through these manifold channels of expression. + +"They are the best part of our lives so far as they go, but all art and +science and no nature, and what becomes of man? Have they made the world +happy, and is there any immediate prospect of their ever doing so? Did +the Greeks, who attained the supreme heights in art, find happiness in +their art? Their history is the record of one long struggle; and so it +was with the renaissance of the Middle Ages, and so it is with us; our +sciences and arts can never change the complicated conditions in which +we live. They have never developed the sympathy and brotherly love which +should exist between man and man; we are still barbarians. + +"The most miserable wretches that ever lived were the very ones that +passed their lives creating and theorizing. They all forgot and are +still forgetting like the rest of the world to-day that, these things, +no matter how great, amuse and interest for a time only; that once they +are absorbed, their original charm and novelty are gone forever. They +become worn and threadbare like all of man's inventions, and humanity is +ever left searching for the great panacea of life. + +"The God-inspired sing and talk of the great life, but they do not live +it themselves, and that is why they never really succeed in delivering +their messages. And they may continue to write books and compose music, +to paint pictures and build temples and hew statues so long as this +planet is habitable, but these things are merely an imitation of the +reality--a reflection of the ideal in man. The delivered man must stand +above his art and science. He must recognize that he himself is the +well-spring, the source of his inspiration and is greater than his +emotional expressions. The true message can never be delivered to the +world until the life for which these things stand is actually lived out, +becomes a part of man's daily life." + +"And you intend to deliver that message, I suppose?" observed the +Colonel sarcastically, smiling compassionately and twirling the end of +his mustache. + +"In my own humble way, yes, but I ask no man to follow me!" A chorus of +laughter, in which were mingled the voices of Blanch and Bessie who had +just joined the group, greeted this confession. + +"Did you ever hear the like of the conceit?" exclaimed Mrs. Forest as +the laughter subsided. + +"Excuse my frankness, Jack, but you're an ass," said the Colonel tartly. + +"You set an example to the world? Why, you're as spoiled as the rest of +us!" cried Bessie. + +"Quite true, Cousin, but with this difference, I realize that fact and +the rest of you do not." + +"What a charming pedestal you have placed yourself upon, Jack," said +Blanch, seating herself beside Mrs. Forest. + +"Perhaps," returned the Captain dryly, "but of one thing I am certain. +Few people are better prepared to speak on this matter than I am." + +"What an interesting lot we women must be in your eyes," broke in +Bessie, digressing from the subject. Captain Forest smiled. + +"Don't misunderstand me," he went on. "You are trumps, every one of you, +if you only knew it, but unfortunately you do not. You are the most +attractive women in the world, but you are spoiled--utterly spoiled. You +are the well-groomed, lovely curled and pampered darlings of society, +but alas! utterly superficial, just like those brilliant women of the +great French revolutionary period." + +"I admire your frankness, Jack; but what do you really intend doing? +What sort of a life do you intend to lead?" asked Blanch. + +"Cease chasing will-o'-the-wisps about in the vain pursuit of happiness, +and live as man was intended to live by substituting nature's realities +for man's creations; those things which we prize most--which please for +a time, but which in the end leave us as empty handed as the day we +first started in quest of the _golden fleece_. Live as close as possible +to nature; cultivate the soil, watch the fruit and the flowers and the +grain grow, and roam throughout the length and breadth of the land when +the longing seizes me." + +"What!" cried the Colonel, unable to contain himself any longer. "Is +this the inane, prosaic existence for which you have given up one of the +most brilliant careers the world had to offer a man? It's bad enough to +have wrecked that, but for one possessing the wealth you do to waste his +life after such fashion; it's simply disgusting! Think of what you might +do in the financial world!" + +"That's just the sort of answer one might expect from you," replied the +Captain, taking a fresh pull at his cigarette. "You talk like a +stockbroker. That phase of labor brings no real happiness to any one. +Besides, it would be absurd for one possessing the money I do to spend +his days earning more. Of course as things are constituted to-day, it is +difficult to get along without money, but in reality I don't consider it +has anything to do with happiness. Lasting pleasure and peace can only +be found in the verities of nature; her beauties and realities are the +only satisfying and enduring things. + +"What can you who pass your days amid the noise and dirt of cities, +breathing their tainted atmosphere, and your intellects nourished upon +artificialities and the creations of men's minds, know of nature? How +many of you have ever gazed long enough at the stars to appreciate their +beauty and mystery, or listened to the sound of the wind and tried to +guess its meaning?" + +"Bah! you are as sentimental as a school-girl!" ejaculated the Colonel. +"You talk like one who has just taken a short course in Thoreau or +Rousseau." + +The Captain only laughed in return. He rose from his seat and began +striding up and down before them with his hands clasped behind his back +and his gaze fixed on the ground. + +"Who are you," he continued passionately, stopping abruptly before them, +"to assume that others should live according to your lackadaisical, +sensuous sentimentality--your divan, boudoir conceptions of life? +Thoreau and Rousseau and Emerson and Ruskin were great men, but had they +talked less and actually lived out the life they preached, the world +might possibly have been aroused to a consciousness of something higher +by this time; but they were too small for the task. It requires a man +cast in a bigger mold to perform the work--it is only in men like me +that the future hope of the race lies. I must _live_ the life they +preached. Do you understand? Why, I could crush you and the world you +represent in the hollow of my hand! You seek happiness in the evanescent +wine and laughter of the illusive, superficial life. I, too, sought it +there, but like you, I did not find it." + +His words sank deep into the soul of Blanch. She admired his strength +and yet hated him for it. Why, she asked herself again, as she did on +the day he first imparted his new views of life to her, was she not +moved? Why was she still unable to thrill at the sound of his words? + +She could not understand it. There seemed to be something lacking either +in him or in her. + +"What assurance have you," she asked, "that you will find happiness in +this new life which you propose to lead?" + +"The consciousness which tells me I exist, voices the fulfillment of +that promise. There can be no doubt of it. The traditions that have come +down to us from the past from all nations that once men were free, is no +myth. The true poetry of life, I repeat, is not found in the epics men +have created, but in the sources that inspired them. In the glories of +the earth and the air, in the stars and mountains and forests and fields +and streams, in man, in the birds and animals, in the turning of the +soil with the plow and the spade, and in the growing corn. These are the +things which, before all else, add to the spiritual growth of man and +inspire him to pray and hope, to sing and to love, and draw him close to +the invisible world because they are a part of the life of man, not +imitations of life. The instant man realizes this he will be free. + +"I know you cannot understand this," he continued with a shade of +impatience in his voice, "for what can a lot of slaves like you, the +brick and mortar type of man, know of freedom, all that is best and +noble in life? You are so bound to the world of your own creating that +it has become as meaningless as a fancy to you. Your souls run on the +dead level; the great song of life sweeps by you unheeded, and is gone +forever." + + + + +XVII + + +Señora Fernandez erred in her judgment of Don Felipe, which was but +natural. She still regarded him as the impetuous, hot-headed youth of +former days, not what he really was--the mature man, sobered by years of +experience and suffering which had taught him the value of self-control. + +He understood the nature, knew as never before the mettle of the woman +with whom he had to deal, and on no account would he foolishly +precipitate a quarrel with the Captain. He would bide his time and +strike only when the moment seemed propitious. The vague rumors which +were current concerning Chiquita must have some foundation, else why the +continual gossip on every tongue? He would investigate the matter for +himself, in his own time and way; meanwhile he would reinstate himself +in the good graces of the community by making himself as agreeable and +popular as possible, a thing not difficult for one of his wealth and +accomplishments. + +He had doffed his Mexican costume for the more prosaic attire of the +modern man which became him equally well and which was more to his +liking. To the cosmopolitan that he had become, the place and the people +had shrunk terribly during his absence, and there seemed to be little +left in common between him and them. The presence of the Americans was +a godsend to him, while he in turn was like a fresh breeze from the +outer world to them. + +He instinctively recognized a confederate in Blanch. They possessed a +common interest and spent much time together. Strange that the same fate +which had overtaken him was now threatening her! Those who deny a fixed +destiny and can therefore afford to ignore the laughter of the gods, may +answer with some assurance that the lives of most people, especially the +marked ones, are tragic--perhaps. But why had Colonel Van Ashton, the +bon-vivant and habitué of clubs, the adored of pretty young women and +confidant of duennas, taken the one road which led to the wilderness +when it is well known that all roads lead to Rome, especially when the +Colonel had about as much interest in his present surroundings as a +polar bear might reasonably expect to find on the equator? Possibly it +was for the same reason that the Colonel also watched with increasing +alarm the sudden and growing interest which his daughter began to take +in the man he detested most on earth. + +Reveal the cause, the hidden well-spring of destiny, and the effect may +be predicted with comparative accuracy. Can the lamb lie down with the +lion? Were there ever substantial grounds for the assertion, or was it +only metaphor--mere poetical allusion? The world has been on the _qui +vive_ for the fulfillment of prophecy ever since the expulsion of our +common ancestry from Eden. The actual motives and reasons which underlie +the workings of destiny are usually about as clear as those which bereft +Samson of his locks or left the lone figure of Marius seated amid the +ruins of Carthage. And yet, even in the face of time-worn contradictions +apparent to the most superficial and credulously minded, pretty, +distracting Bessie Van Ashton had begun to cast her eyes in the +direction of Dick Yankton, the handsome, open-handed, devil-may-care son +of nature who regarded the world of fashion to which she belonged with +about as much concern as he did the dust on his boots. + +Possibly _ennui_ prompted this willful bit of womanhood to make a +plaything of that picturesque child of nature, just as loneliness caused +him to open his eyes to the existence of that, which in the logical and +ordinary course of events, he would have entirely overlooked. But since +life is made up almost entirely of contraries, it is not so much with +reasons that we have to deal as with facts--things as they are. Clothe +human nature in whatever garb you like, at heart it remains the same. +Time and place and condition make little difference; the real man within +is sure to assert himself at some time or other by throwing off the +disguise. + +Was Bessie, the spoilt, pampered child of fashion with her soft, white +body, any more fit for a life lived close to nature than Blanch who was +naturally strong, sinuous and supple, though so softened by luxury and +the overrefinements of civilization? To all appearances, no. And yet, +the very things which seemed to pass by Blanch unheeded, began +imperceptibly to impress themselves upon Bessie. Possibly because Blanch +was so strong and individualized that, having once given herself up +wholly to the present life, she was enslaved irrevocably by it--held +fast by it with a power that had grown with her strength day by day--so +that while a weaker woman might slip through the meshes and escape, she +was held irresistibly bound through her own force and strength of +character. + +The spell and magic of the land seemed to hold like an unseen hand all +things as in the grip of a vice, and were no less potent in the present +than they were in the past. The plaintive notes of the wood-dove found a +response within Bessie's soul. The winds seemed laden with new voices +and unconsciously interrupted the train of her thoughts and caused her +to pause and listen and wonder. The wild, forbidding landscape from +which her stronger companion involuntarily shrank, for some unknown +reason attracted her. The broad expanse of heaven and earth, the far +horizon, the hazy, mysterious silhouetted peaks of distant mountains +aroused vague longings within her--emotions which she did not understand +and concerning which she failed in her attempts to analyze. + +Had she been at home, she would have regarded these new sensations as +sentimental enthusiasm and laughed at them, denying them a permanent +place in her nature. But here, it was different. They seemed to have a +hold upon one and were as irresistible as those vague longings that come +with the awakening of spring. There was music everywhere in the world +about her. Flowers of the imagination sprang from the desert on every +hand. Voices and hands called and beckoned to her from out the unseen. +The quickening and awakening within her gave promise of a new life, and +her feet became light as sunbeams. The fact of being alive and the +increasing desire to live filled her with a new joy and vigor that +darted through her soul like tongues of flame, causing her blood to +surge and tingle as never before since the days of childhood. + +A genuine interest in the new life and the lives of those about her, +took the place of the apathy and indifference with which she regarded +the sated pleasures of that jaded world from which she had departed so +recently. She had come to be bored--fully resigned for Blanch's sake to +endure the _ennui_ of mere vegetation until the prodigal Jack had been +safely gathered within the fold once more. After the rude shock of first +impressions had passed and she had found time to pause and breathe, she +began to cast her eyes about her for something more real and tangible +than the memories of the world she had left behind her, but had failed +to find anything of interest until the occurrence of that unfortunate +episode with Dick. + +His arms still clung to her in spite of the persistent efforts she made +to shake them off. And stranger still, no amount of scrubbing seemed to +remove the sting of those burning kisses he had impressed upon her hand. +That unpardonable piece of impudence was unprecedented. Men had made +love to her, adored her, and completely lost their heads over her; and +one man in particular, as she well knew, was scouring the ends of the +earth in an effort to obtain news of her present whereabouts. Much to +her astonishment, however, and contrary to her preconceived notions +concerning men, she found that she had suddenly lost interest in this +particular man for another. + +But why? What was the cause of this newly awakened interest in Dick? Was +it because he was so different from the men she had known, or was it +that strong touch of the feminine in him which certain sensitive +masculine natures possess; that rare, distinguishing characteristic +which is so attractive to men and women alike? Did any real affinity +exist between them? How could it, considering the different conditions +and environment in which they had been reared and the width of the gulf +that divided them? What then was the cause of this attraction which in +spite of her efforts to check it, was beginning to become a source of +vexation to a woman of the world who had always prided herself on being +able to keep herself well in hand? + +That it might be love, or even the dawning of love, she refused to +admit. She shuddered at the mere thought of such a catastrophe. The +thing, however, was becoming annoying. Like any thought which we hold +too long in our minds, it was bound to absorb all others in time, and +she resolved to make an end of it. She would play with him. One could +not maintain a serious interest in that which one treated as a +jest--held up to ridicule. She would play with him like an expert angler +plays with a fish, and when landed, would walk over him +rough-shod--trample him back into the dust of that coarser clay from +which he sprang. + +Ah, yes, the country was not so dull after all! It would be a royal +lark; a holiday long to be remembered. They were so far from the great +world that, when it was all over, not even the slightest rumor or +breath of scandal would remain to remind her of the flirtation upon +which she had decided to embark. + +With these thoughts running through her mind, the fascinating, +violet-eyed daughter of Colonel Van Ashton lightly dipped the tips of +her dainty fingers into a rouge-pot, glanced into the mirror and drew +them across her lips, and then deliberately attired herself in one of +her smartest gowns preparatory to flinging the first bones of +condescension to the rustic Yankton; the preliminaries of a series of +expectations and hopes deferred that were intended to reduce him to a +state of submission suitable to receive the final kick which was to +leave Mr. Yankton a wiser but a sadder man. + + + + +XVIII + + +Blanch stood before a long mirror that adorned one of the walls of her +room, trying the effect of a new tea-gown. + +The mirror was an ancient piece of furniture consisting of a faded gilt +frame and six separate rows of large, unevenly fitting squares of glass; +the style that was in vogue two centuries ago. As she regarded herself +in it, she saw herself reflected in sections, probably with much the +same effect as Marie Antoinette saw her reflection at Versailles. + +"Coronada must have brought this mirror with him on his first +expedition," she remarked to Bessie who lounged on the sofa on the +opposite side of the room amid a heap of florid cushions. "I feel as +though I had a personal grudge against that man," she continued, vainly +endeavoring to catch an unbroken outline of herself in the glass. + +"It's stunning, Blanch!" broke in Bessie from the sofa. "What is it--a +Worth?" + +"No--a Doucet. Isn't it absurd that I should array myself in these +gorgeous gowns to compete with that Indian in her few flimsy calicoes +and silks? The contrast is out of all proportion. It's the sublime and +the ridiculous. And yet she looks well in anything! Dress her in rags +and she is picturesque; robe her in silks and she is fascinating." + +"That's just what I can't understand," said Bessie. "We couldn't wear +her clothes, but she can wear ours. Why is it?" + +"It's quite simple. We have been handicapped from the start because we +have been forced to compete with them on their own ground. They are +perfectly natural; they have nothing and aspire to nothing, while we are +wholly artificial--have everything and aspire to more." + +"Why, to hear you, one would think that Jack was talking!" exclaimed +Bessie in genuine surprise. + +"Oh! I don't pretend to agree with his views, but as regards us, he's +about right. I was never able to see ourselves as some others see us +until we came here. And I have come to the conclusion that our views of +life are about as distorted as the cracked reflection of myself in the +mirror yonder. We have unconsciously lived a life antagonistic to nature +and consequently find ourselves ridiculous in our simplest endeavors to +be natural. Of course," she added, "they would appear the same if things +were reversed and we had them on our ground. + +"With us," she went on, "marriage is more a game of intrigue than love; +here it is purely one of sentiment. Aside from my intrinsic value, what +weapon have I to employ against this Indian woman? The things which +count for so much with us, fall flat here. + +"Why, I'm not even in a position to make Jack jealous! If I were at +home, I would have a dozen men at my feet and as many more as I wished +to play off against him, not to mention the thousand opportunities for +neglect. In fact, all the weapons which we women are so fond of +employing against men. Whereas, here I am at the feet of my Lord +Jack--his indifference is insufferable! Oh! I'll pay him back for this!" +she cried, pale with anger. + +"Men are brutes--all of them!" remarked Bessie laconically, rising to a +sitting posture on the sofa. + +"I hate him--hate him!" continued Blanch in a fresh paroxysm of passion. +"To think that he of all men should have been the one chosen to show me +myself--the only one of us who was strong enough to break away! Why was +I not able to hold him? Why am I not able to come to him now? There is +something wrong somewhere. We seem to have lost our grip on things. I +can't understand it!" Just then the old, gilt French clock on the white +marble mantelpiece slowly chimed the hour of five. The sound of the +clock caused Blanch to pause. "Five o'clock," she said, calming herself. +"Don Felipe will be waiting for us in the garden." + +"That's so," answered Bessie, rising from the sofa and crossing the room +to the window which looked out over the _patio_ into the garden. "There +he is now, pacing back and forth beneath the trees. What a restless man +he is!" + +"After the first cup, you might disappear, Bess," said Blanch. "I want +to try to find out if he still cares for that Indian?" + +"That was the most romantic thing I ever heard!" exclaimed Bessie. + +"I wonder he ever returned," answered Blanch, opening the door and +leading the way across the _patio_ in the direction of the garden. The +tinkle of a guitar attracted their attention to a group of _peons_ and +women squatted on their heels on one side of the court, in the shade of +the arcades, smoking and chatting. A little beyond them, in the shadow +of the doorway, stood the major-domo, Juan Ramon and the pretty +housekeeper, Rosita. + +"_Dios!_ but she is _magnifico_--the tall one!" whispered Juan to Rosita +as the girls passed them, nodding and smiling in response to Juan's deep +salutation and Rosita's courtesy. + +"And the little one," said Rosita in turn. "Is she not like a half-blown +pink rose?" + +"Aye! 'tis a feast for the eyes to look at them!" answered Juan. "There +has not been so much life in the place since the old days when the +Master was alive." + +"If Don Felipe doesn't marry one of them he's a fool," added Rosita. + +"That's just what I have been saying to myself," returned Juan. + +"What else can he be doing here if he doesn't intend to take one of them +back to his _hacienda_ with him?" continued Rosita. "I've noticed that +he and the tall one spend much time together." + +"Aye!" ejaculated Juan. "It must be lonely at the old _rancho_ without a +woman to keep him company." + +"The tall Señorita would be just the one for the place!" exclaimed +Rosita enthusiastically. + +"Rosita _mia_," began Juan confidentially after a short silence, during +which his gaze rested pensively on the retreating figures of the girls, +"I've just been thinking that there is no happiness for a man, still +less for a woman, in a single life. What say you, Rosita _mia_," he went +on, patting her familiarly on the cheek. + +"Juan Ramon," interrupted Rosita with an angry flush, "if you don't want +to get your face slapped, you had better behave like a _Caballero_!" + +"_Caramba!_ what a little spitfire!" returned Juan, pulling the end of +his thin mustache, yet not in the least disconcerted by her show of +temper. "But supposing, my pearl of a housekeeper, that I bought a neat +little _rancheria_--do you know of any one who might care to look after +it?" + +"Bah! First pay your gambling debts, Juan Ramon. There will then be time +enough to look for some one who will allow herself to be beaten on +feast-days when you have drunk more _pulque_ than is good for you. But +_Dios!_ why am I wasting words with you? The Señoritas will begin to +wonder what has become of their chocolate and _tortillas_ if I don't +hurry." + +"Ungrateful woman," responded Juan, assuming an injured tone. "Would you +leave me without a kiss?" + +"Holy Mother! what has come over you, Juan Ramon--has the sunshine gone +to your head? A kiss, indeed!" and she tossed her head. "Go to +Petronita, the cook! She is old; doubtless she will give you a plenty!" +and laughing, she hurried into the dining-room in search of a tray with +which to serve the ladies. The mere mention of the ancient, withered +Petronita, with the parchment-like face, caused Juan's mouth to pucker +as though he had bitten into an unripe persimmon. + +"_Diablos!_ if the luck would only change!" he muttered. "Rosita would +be the very one--" The sound of light footsteps and the tinkle of spurs +caused Juan to turn. + +"Ah! _buenas dias_, Señorita!" he exclaimed, lifting his hat and bowing +before Chiquita, who had entered the _patio_ from the opposite side of +the house. Her riding-habit, her boots and gloves and gray felt hat +beneath which were twisted her thick braids of hair, were covered with +thin white particles of dust. + +"Where is your mistress, Doña Fernandez, Juan?" she asked. + +"I will call her, Señorita," answered Juan, replacing his hat on his +head and starting for the hallway. + +"Never mind, Juan," called Chiquita, catching sight of Blanch and Bessie +in the distance. "I will first speak with the Señoritas," and she turned +toward the garden. + +Juan's beady black eyes followed her tall figure as she moved toward the +girls. Ever since the arrival of the Americans there had been much +discussion in the household as to which was the more beautiful, Blanch +or Chiquita. The Señora's dislike for the latter was well known, but in +spite of this prejudice, opinion was pretty evenly divided concerning +the merits of the two. It was a vexing question, and the opportunity of +comparing the two women as they met in the garden was too tempting to +be missed. So, with one end of his _zerape_ slung carelessly over his +shoulder, Juan strolled casually past the little group of women in the +direction of the corrals, where he could observe them at his leisure +from the recesses of the garden without attracting attention. + +Notwithstanding the fact that the dark woman was at a disadvantage in +her dust-covered riding-habit, he could not for the life of him tell +which was the more beautiful of the two as he passed behind a thicket of +lilac bushes, and seated himself on a rustic bench and began rolling a +_cigarillo_ between his long slim fingers. + +Juan was a born gambler, and like all of his tribe, was usually in want +of money. To-day he needed it more than ever, for that very morning his +mistress had taunted him and threatened to leave him if he did not pay +for the new dresses she had recently purchased, and for which she was +now being dunned by her creditors. Never had he had such a run of bad +luck. During the great week of the _Fiesta_ he had tried everything from +roulette to monte, but fortune's wheel had turned steadily against him. +It was truly the devil's own luck and no mistake. If only the luck would +turn, he would quit the game of chance forever--cast off the ungrateful +Dolores, and.... He drew a much-worn pack of cards from his breast +pocket and began cutting them with a dexterity acquired through long +years of practice. + +Like all of his race, and the majority of mankind for that matter, he +was intensely superstitious. Three times in succession he cut and dealt +the cards, and three times the ace of hearts, the luckiest card in the +pack, turned face upwards on the bench. + +"_Santa Maria!_ 'tis a miracle--the luck has changed at last!" he +muttered excitedly, as with dilated eyes and trembling hands he gathered +up the cards and replaced them carefully in his pocket. His dream of the +_hacienda_ and the fair Rosita might yet come true. But how? The cards +were too fickle to trust for long. Just then the rich, deep voice of +Chiquita fell upon his ears. Without knowing why, yet intuitively he +seemed to connect her with the turn in his fortune--and it set him +thinking. + +Ever since the _Fiesta_, curiosity had prompted him to learn something +concerning Chiquita's motive for dancing; and whenever the opportunity +presented itself, he had shadowed her. His patience was soon rewarded by +learning that she made frequent visits to the Indian _pueblo_, Onava, +often riding there in the late evening under cover of the dusk. On one +occasion he saw an Indian ride forth from the village and meet her on +the plain where she awaited him. They engaged in long and earnest +conversation, at the end of which he fancied he saw Chiquita draw nearer +to her companion and hand him something, and then the darkness shut them +from view. He did not dare follow her farther or enter the village, for +fear of attracting suspicion to himself; but surely this was a clew to +something, to the mystery, perhaps. + +At this juncture, Juan rolled a fresh _cigarillo_ as he listened to the +voices of the women, his eyes resting on Captain Forest's horse in the +corral beyond the garden. The animal fascinated him; never had he laid +eyes on such a superb creature. Each day he visited the corral for a +look at him, and each time the Chestnut would rush at him with ears laid +flat on his neck and mouth wide open, displaying his formidable teeth. + +"_Caramba!_ what an animal to stock a _rancho_ with, if only--" Juan +sighed, and for some moments roundly cursed the past run of cards. The +afternoon sun was pleasantly warm, and the shade sleep inviting. He +threw the burnt end of his _cigarillo_ on the ground, and, drawing up +his feet, stretched himself at full length on the bench--the upper half +of his fox-like face appearing just above the edge of his _zerape_. + +_Dios!_ was it not better to sleep and even dream bad dreams, than +waking, meditate upon the misfortunes of life? + + + + +XIX + + +When Chiquita entered the garden, she had just returned from an Indian +Mission School for girls, some ten miles distant from Santa Fé, whither +she rode once a week to instruct its pupils in the art of blanket and +basket weaving; an art which she had practiced from her earliest days. + +Her affair with Don Felipe was bad enough, and though she had been +generally condemned for it, her woman's prerogative was recognized +nevertheless. But for a lady, and ward of a priest, to dance in public +and for money, was a thing unheard of; and gossip was fast giving her an +unenviable reputation. This latest escapade, as it was generally termed, +had nearly cost her her position in the school. When, however, it was +taken into consideration that her services were gratuitous and that it +would be impossible to replace her by any one else half as competent, +the directors of the institution discreetly demurred, deciding that it +would be better to humor the caprices of this fair barbarian who ruled +supreme in her department. + +The greeting which took place between her and Blanch was cordial enough +to all outward appearances. Considering the tension and delicacy of the +situation, the volcanic nature of the two and the intense longing of +each to fly at the other and settle their differences then and there, +the self-control of the two was commendable in the extreme. + +"Do you ride much, Señorita?" asked Blanch, eyeing critically her +riding-skirt and wondering how it was that such an antiquated cut could +sit her so well. + +"I don't think I could live without a horse," replied Chiquita. "I often +think I must have been born on one; at least, I can't remember the day +when I first learned to ride. It was good to get back here after my six +years at school for the sake of riding, if for nothing else. I don't +believe either of you know what the real joys of riding are," she went +on, pulling the glove from her right hand and sipping the chocolate +which Bessie had handed her. + +"Not until one has passed weeks and months in the saddle at a time does +one thoroughly realize what riding means, or appreciate the worth and +companionship of a horse." She paused, and a look of longing came into +her large, lustrous eyes, as the memory of her early life came back to +her, when she, with her people, roamed free through the land. + +"_Dios!_ but I have been unhappy ever since you came, Señorita," she +resumed, changing the subject abruptly and addressing Blanch. "The +knowledge that you are constantly near him almost drives me mad at +times. And your dresses--they haunt me in my dreams! I never before +imagined that dress was of so much importance in this world." She was so +outspoken and withal so natural, that both Blanch and Bessie burst into +a peal of good-natured laughter in which Chiquita joined. + +"We women," she continued, taking another sip of chocolate, "have +nothing to fall back upon except our old antiquated Spanish +costumes--you can imagine what we would look like in the modern clothes +we procured here. I have never been placed in such a ridiculous position +before, and if I only knew that you were as miserable as I am, I think I +might begin to enjoy the humor of the situation." Again all three +laughed. + +"Ah, love, what a thing is love!" she sighed, placing her slender gloved +hand over her heart. "It makes one as miserable as it does happy." Then +suddenly turning to Blanch, she asked: "Have you always dressed like +that?" + +"I have always tried to live up to a certain standard," replied Blanch. + +"And how long have you known him?" + +"Oh! as long as I can remember--twenty years, perhaps." + +"Twenty years, and always looked like that and not married to him? Sweet +Mother of God!" she cried in the quaintest tone imaginable, sinking back +in her chair. "Had I known him as many weeks I had either married him or +killed myself!" + +"Nobody takes love so seriously as that!" laughed Blanch. + +"Ah! you have never loved him!" she said, after a short silence. + +"Why do you suppose I am here?" returned Blanch. + +"Then how could you have lived near him all these years without marrying +him?" + +"It was a mistake, I admit," answered Blanch good-humoredly. "But you +must understand that we don't regard love in quite the same light as you +do. We don't make a great fuss about it and talk of killing ourselves, +and that sort of thing. We get married when we find it convenient." + +"Ah, yes, I know," answered Chiquita, "but I'm sure you can never be as +much to him as I can. What have you endured, what have you suffered to +make you feel and realize the full significance of love?" + +"Do you imagine," asked Blanch in surprise, "that there is any less of +the woman in me because I have been spared the things which you perhaps +have been forced to endure, or that one must first suffer before one is +capable of loving?" + +"No, I don't think that, for love is a thing like sleep, it comes upon +us unawares. But it seems to me I am better fitted for him than you are; +that my love, tempered by my life's experience, must be fuller and +deeper and richer than that which you have to offer him. What," she +continued, "do you really know of life? Not the social side of it, of +which your life has been so full, but life as it really is? Were you +born under the open heavens? Have you slept on the hard, cold ground, +exposed to the weather, or nearly perished of hunger and thirst? Could +you feed and clothe yourself from the naked earth without the assistance +of others? Have you seen men, women and children starve, or ruthlessly +struck down by your side, or nursed them through some terrible scourge +like the smallpox? + +"All your life you have been protected and cared for, while all my life +I have been obliged to face the reality of things, forced to work, to +procure the simple necessities of life. I have carried wood and water, +cooked, and fed and clothed myself and others with the materials +provided by my own hands. And yet, when I look back upon my life, I +would not surrender one hour of the true happiness the day's work +brought with it could I thereby have escaped the suffering and +bitterness it often entailed. Barren though my life may appear from your +point of view, I know it to be infinitely rich in comparison to yours, +for, as I have said, you have never known what life really means--never +experienced its hardships, never beheld the bright face of danger, nor +tasted the joys of the great free life in the open, the simple daily +life devoid of the cares of civilized men, without which the life of a +man can never be complete, be he what he may. + +"'Where the foot rests, that is home,' is a saying among my people; a +truth, that so far as my experience goes, has never been gainsaid." + +In spite of themselves and the fact that they could not wholly +comprehend the weight and significance of her words, they were +fascinated by her discourse, emphasized and illustrated as it was by the +dramatic intensity of her gestures and expression. + +"Señorita," said Blanch at last, breaking the silence that ensued, "I +believe you are still at heart the savage, or better, the nomad you were +when you lived in the wilderness." + +"When I lived in the Garden of Eden, in God's world, not man's, is what +you mean," she replied. + +"Do you never have a desire to return to it?" asked Bessie. + +"The old days can never be effaced," answered Chiquita. "My thoughts +continually revert to them when, as a little girl, I used to set meat +and drink before my father and his guests as they sat in a circle about +the fire in the center of his lodge or in our house and smoked the long +red clay pipes, or, after the crops were harvested, roamed through the +land during the hunting season; sometimes afoot, at other times in +canoes or on horseback. There are times when such an insatiable longing +for the old life seizes me that I become almost unmanageable. I long to +throw myself down in the open--lie close in the embrace of Mother Earth, +and breathe the smoke of the camp-fire. My unrest is like that of the +birds when the spell of the spring and the autumn comes upon them and +the migratory instinct seizes them, or like that of the great herds of +reindeer in the North which travel each year to the sea to drink of its +salty waters, and which, if prevented, die." + +"Do you know," said Bessie to Blanch a little later, when they were +alone in their room, "she's fascinating when she talks like that." + +"Ah! that's just where the danger lies," answered Blanch. "Think of what +might happen if she starts talking like that to Jack--it's just what +he's waiting to hear." + + + + +XX + + +Juan must have fallen asleep. As he lay stretched upon the bench, he was +awakened suddenly by the sound of vehement, passionate words. + +Peering cautiously through the bushes, he beheld Chiquita and Don Felipe +standing facing one another in the same spot where the three women had +been but a short time before. He was not near enough to overhear the +conversation, but judging from the vehemence of their gestures and +high-pitched voices, he rightly conjectured that their meeting was +anything but an amicable one. + +On seeing Chiquita with Blanch and Bessie, Don Felipe had discreetly +refrained from joining them as he had promised; he would make his +apologies to them in the evening. The opportunity for which he had been +waiting since his return had come--he must see Chiquita alone. So he +withdrew to a far corner of the garden, where he could observe the women +without being seen, and when Blanch and Bessie returned to the house, he +intercepted her. Although she had hourly expected to meet him ever since +she had been apprised of his return, his appearance was so sudden she +was taken unawares. She had reseated herself after Blanch and Bessie +left and sat leaning with one elbow on the table and her head resting in +her hand, lost in thought. She did not hear his approach from behind, +but at the first sound of his voice she started to her feet, turning +like a flash and facing him. Her movement was so sudden and unexpected +that he too was taken aback. + +"You evidently did not expect to see me this afternoon," he began with +some hesitancy. + +"I did not," she replied coldly. "I should have thought," she continued, +looking him full in the eyes, "that the manhood in you would have +forever prevented your return." Felipe winced under her words. A dark +flush of anger suffused his face, and his lips quivered in an effort to +frame the hot words he was about to utter in reply, but he checked +himself. + +"One is sometimes forced to follow the bidding of an instinct or desire +even against one's will," he said, controlling himself with difficulty. +She drew her glove on her right hand without replying and took a step in +the direction of the _patio_, as though to depart. + +"Chiquita!" he exclaimed, stepping quickly in front of her and barring +her way, "I have tried my best to remain away, but in spite of myself, +I've been drawn irresistibly back to you--I could not help it. Besides," +he added, "you must realize what it costs me." + +"Better had you spared yourself the humiliation, Don Felipe," she +answered. + +"Listen, Chiquita, to what I have to say!" + +"Spare yourself the pain, Don Felipe Ramirez. Nothing you can say can +alter my attitude toward you," she interrupted. + +"You must hear what I have to say!" he cried passionately, without +heeding her impatience. "Ever since we parted, I have done nothing but +travel, travel, over the face of the earth, in the vain hope of +forgetting you. And if, during that time, I have committed excesses, it +was the love of you that drove me to it in order that I might efface you +from my memory forever. But, as you see, I cannot do it, and--I have +come back again." It was easy to read the agony in his heart, divine the +suffering which his humiliation caused him, and yet his words did not +move her; not an atom of pity did they arouse within her, knowing as she +did the arrogant, selfish being that he was. + +"Chiquita, I love you still!" he burst forth. + +"How dare you speak of love to me?" she cried. "Have you forgotten +Pepita Delaguerra, whom you ruined, for whose death you are responsible? +You laughed and went on your way; she was only a flower to be broken and +tossed aside. Well, I've not forgotten the day on which I found her +alone and deserted, nor the hour of her death." + +"Chiquita," he interrupted, "if suffering can atone for that misdeed--" + +"Ah! not so fast, Don Felipe Ramirez," she answered, cutting him short. +"Let us understand one another once and for all! She forgave you with +her dying breath, but as I knelt over her dead body, I vowed that if +ever you crossed my path and made advances to me that, as sure as +there's a God in heaven, I would encourage you, lead you on until you +were mad, and then fling you from me like the dog that you are in order +that you, too, might learn what it is to live without the one you +love!" + +Had she spat in his face, she could not have aroused the tiger in him +more effectually. + +"Chiquita!" he cried, gasping, his face livid with rage, "you're a +devil!" + +"No, I'm only a woman who had the courage to avenge another woman's +wrong," she answered quietly. "Don't imagine that a wrong committed can +ever be atoned for. It may be condoned by the world, or even forgiven by +the one who was wronged, but that is all; the deed stands forever +written against one." She watched him as he paced back and forth with +clenched hands and teeth, his face ashen, his lips quivering, his whole +being convulsed with emotion and remorse. For some minutes he was quite +unable to speak, the longing to scream and seize her by the throat and +throttle her was so overpowering. + +"I understand," he said at length, in the calmest tone he could command, +"you love Captain Forest; you think to marry him." + +"That's no concern of yours!" she retorted, hotly. + +"Listen, Chiquita," he said, fiercely. "The cold blood that flows in his +veins can never satisfy the warm passion of the South--a woman of your +nature. I am richer than he is; I can strew your path with gold. I will +make amends for the past; I was young, then. My one desire in life will +be to fulfill your slightest wish, to live for your happiness only. Any +sacrifice you name, I will make. I will make over my entire fortune to +you if you will consent to our marriage." + +"It makes me sick to hear you talk of love and marriage," she answered. +"Your idea of love is solely that of possession. What sort of love +could one like you give me in comparison to his?" + +"Ah! you do love him! But you will never marry him," he retorted +furiously. "If I do not possess you, no one else shall!" + +"Ah! you will kill me, perhaps?" she said, divining his thought. "Well, +then, be it so! What greater felicity could there be for me than to die +in the knowledge that he loves me--perhaps in his arms?" She drew back a +pace and placing both hands on her breast, said: "Strike, Don Felipe, +when and where the moment pleases you best!" + +"Ha! ha! ha!" he laughed. "How could you take me to be so simple, so +foolish? Oh, no, Señorita, not until the hour that you have exchanged +vows and, intoxicated by love's first kiss, he presses you to his heart, +then--then, Señorita, will I lay him dead at your feet in order that you +also may realize what it is to live without the one you love," he said +with a sneer, a faint smile wreathing his cruel lips as he watched the +effect his words had upon her. There was a malicious gleam of exultation +in his eyes as he saw her draw herself together suddenly and shudder as +though struck by a knife. + +"What say you to that, Señorita?" and he laughed in her face. + +"What, dead at my feet? Such a one as you come between me and my +happiness?" The rich red bronze of her face faded to a livid hue, almost +white in its intensity. A strange, terrible light came into her eyes +and, as she glided close up to him, he recoiled from her in terror as +though from a panther about to spring. Don Felipe had never stood so +near to death before. She halted and raised her right hand as if to +strike him across the face, then paused and lowered it. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez," she hissed in an almost inaudible voice, "if you +so much as harm a hair of his head, I'll tear you limb from limb!" + +"Bah!" he replied, recovering his equilibrium. "Do you think I fear a +woman?" + +"Don Felipe," she began slowly, controlling with effort the violent +emotions that swept over her, "it is no idle boast if I remind you that +no one in Chihuahua shoots better than I do." + +"Ha!" he laughed, snapping his fingers. "You think to kill me?" + +"And if I did," she replied slowly, her voice vibrant with passion, "you +would not be the first man I have killed, Don Felipe Ramirez. And what's +more, if it comes to a question of you or him, I'll kill you as I would +a snake or sage-rabbit." He started. He began to see her in a new light. +With her subtle wit, her grace and alluring beauty, she was far more +dangerous than a man; but he was not intimidated. Craven though his soul +might be, he could not be accused of cowardice in the face of danger. +Besides, what had he to live for? Better be dead than forced to live +without her. + +"Hearken, Don Felipe Ramirez," she continued calmly, her eyes riveted on +his face. "I have ridden many times in battle by the side of my father +before his death. The last time came very near being my end; it was when +the Government sent troops against my people, and we were surrounded in +the hills. That day my horse was killed under me twice. All day long we +fought and charged the enemy's lines, but to no avail--we could not +break them. The young officer in command of the Government's troops not +only outgeneraled all our maneuvers, but his life seemed charmed, for, +fire at him as often as we liked, we could not hit him. Finally +realizing that there was no hope of escape so long as he remained in +command, I rode forth alone between the lines and challenged him to +single combat. He accepted the challenge, but when he drew near and saw +that I was a woman, he refused to fight, for he was gallant as he was +brave. But I was too quick for him; I forced him to fight. His bullet +went through my shoulder, mine through his heart." She paused for an +instant, then resumed. "So, just as we that day passed over that brave +young officer's body, so shall I pass over yours, Don Felipe Ramirez, if +you persist in standing in my way." + +For the first time he saw her in her true light--the Amazon, the woman +who had been trained to fight as men fight, and who had fought shoulder +to shoulder with men. He was silent. Never had she appeared so +beautiful, so terrible, so alluring and irresistible as during her +recital. The hour had come; the circle of death had closed about them, +and he knew now for a certainty that it meant either his life or hers; +that there was no longer any hope of a reconciliation, no longer room +for them both in this life. + +"Do you imagine that I fear the threats of a woman?" he said at last, in +the same sneering tone as before, in which she, too, read his +unmistakable answer. + +"You have been warned," she answered quietly, and giving him a last +searching look, she turned and left him abruptly. Had ever mortal drunk +deeper of the cup of humiliation than he? The sound of her footsteps and +tinkle of her spurs died away along the pathway as she disappeared +around the corner of the house. He noted that she carried herself as +erect as ever; every movement bespoke the unconquerable pride of her +race. God! how he hated her! What would he not give to break that +pride--that pride which seemed to enable her to surmount every obstacle. +It was not enough to kill Captain Forest. No, she must be broken +completely, humiliated in the eyes of the world, humbled to the dust as +he had been humbled; nothing short of that could satisfy him now. But +how, how was her ruin to be accomplished? he asked himself as he paced +back and forth, almost suffocating with rage. Suddenly an idea flashed +through his mind, causing him to stop short. + +"Ah!" he cried aloud, "why did she dance; why has she concealed her +motive so carefully from the world? It must be the clew to some mystery +in her life! God! if I could but learn the reason--" + +"What would Don Felipe Ramirez give to know?" came a voice from behind +him, causing him to start and turn around just in time to see Juan +emerge from the lilac bushes. + +"Juan Ramon!" he exclaimed. + +"Aye, _Caballero_!" replied Juan lightly, raising his _sombrero_ as he +advanced. + +"What do you know?" asked Felipe, half contemptuously, regarding him +with keen, searching eyes. + +"Don't worry about what I know; leave that to me for the present," +answered Juan, his peculiarly cold smile lighting up his face. "But what +will you give to know, Don Felipe Ramirez?" he continued, with the keen +air of the tradesman who beholds a sure customer before him and is +determined to drive a sharp bargain. + +"What will I give?" repeated Felipe, slowly, relapsing into thought. For +some time he was silent, during which he regarded Juan's features +intently, as if to assure himself of the latter's good faith. Then +suddenly and impetuously he cried: "I'll tell you, Juan Ramon! I'll give +you gold enough to keep you drunk and your mistress clothed in silks and +satins for the rest of your days! Aye, the finest pair of horses in all +Mexico shall draw your carriage, and you shall have money to gamble." + +"Then have patience for but a little while longer, Don Felipe Ramirez," +replied Juan, rubbing the palms of his long, slim hands together, as +though he already felt the magic touch of the gold and heard its musical +clink in his ears. + +"I hear that fortune has played you false of late, Juan Ramon," said +Felipe. + +"'Tis the very devil, Señor!" answered Juan with an oath. + +"Here, take this," continued Felipe, handing him a roll of bank notes +which he drew from his pocket. "You shall have as many men and horses to +assist you in the work as you want," he added. + +"Horses I will need, but no men, Don Felipe," replied Juan, jubilant +over the return of fortune. The bargain was better than he had +anticipated. + + + + +XXI + + +Dick Yankton had taken on a new lease of life. He no longer walked--he +flew. Like Hermes of old his feet seemed to have become suddenly endowed +with wings, with the result that his head was coming into dangerous +proximity to the clouds. + +"_Dios!_ what had come over Señor Dick, who was on the best of terms +with every man, woman and child and dog in Santa Fé?" So potent was the +draught which he had imbibed, that he appeared to have been stricken +suddenly with blindness and the loss of memory at one and the same +instant. The salutations of his friends and acquaintances who greeted +him when he walked abroad were left unnoticed; his gaze fixed dreamily +on space before him. What had happened? Had he come into possession of a +new mine, or was he engaged in locating one through means of that +psychic sense or inner vision of the seer which he seemed to possess? +Had the real cause of his perturbation been guessed--that a woman's +smile had suddenly opened heaven's gates to him, a ripple of laughter +would have gone the rounds of Santa Fé. The mere suggestion that the +Señor Dick could be seriously in love was too absurd; his friends were +too well acquainted with the flirtatious side of his nature ever to +credit such a possibility. And yet, when Anita, his Indian housekeeper +and wife of his overseer and general factotum, Concho, saw the amazing +quantities of flowers, still wet with the morning's dew, that were daily +transported to the _Posada_, her suspicions became aroused. She began to +question Concho concerning them, and when he finally admitted that a +woman was the recipient of them, she raised her eyebrows with the +knowing look of a woman who has guessed the truth. + +"I thought so," she answered quietly, a peculiar smile illumining her +dark countenance as she seated herself in the doorway of the refectory +which opened on the _patio_, and disposed herself comfortably, +preparatory to the interesting bit of gossip which she intended to screw +out of her husband. + +She was of medium height, of the spare, slender type, and must have been +attractive in her youth, for even now, in spite of middle age, she was +comely to look upon. She wore a red rose in her black hair, while a +partially drooping eyelid gave a piquant, coquettish expression to her +face. + +"Holy Virgin! but this is interesting!" she went on after a pause. "The +Señor in love, really in love!" and she laughed quietly to herself, +while she took a pinch of tobacco and a leaf of brown paper from the +pocket of her apron and began rolling a cigarette. + +"Bah!" said Concho, accompanying the exclamation with a shrug of the +shoulders. "You women are always imagining things which do not exist. +Have we not often seen the Señor like this before? Has he not completely +spoiled the Señoritas of the town with his flowers? He's bored. He's +trying to amuse himself, that's all." + +"And didst thou not say," continued Anita, without heeding his remarks, +regarding him out of the corners of her eyes while lighting her +cigarette, "that she is not quite so tall as the other one, but equally +beautiful in her way; that she is pink and white at one and the same +moment, just like a half-blown rose, and soft and satiny as the down on +a swan's neck?" + +"It is all true, Anita _mia_, she is even that and more!" responded +Concho with warmth. "She is worth a journey to the _Posada_ to see, but +then, what is that--what are a few wisps of flowers?" + +"Wisps? Armfuls, thou meanest, Concho! When did the Señor ever lavish so +many flowers upon one woman before? He told me they were for the +hospital," she chuckled, "but I have always been able to tell whether +the Señor was speaking the truth or not. Thou knowest the way he has of +saying the opposite to that which he means," and she blew a ring of +smoke into the still air and watched it as it floated upwards. + +"Concho," she said after some moments' reflection, "thou art a fool! I +always said thou wert, and now I know it. The hospital--bah! How could +he have ever thought me so simple?" she exclaimed in a tone of mingled +sarcasm and disgust. "I tell thee, Concho, all women are the same either +on this side of the world or the other. The one thou hast just described +to me is the most dangerous of all women for a man like the Señor to +meet. That is, if she is clever," she added. "But have we not all heard +how clever and beautiful the _Americana_ Señoritas are?" + +"Aye, there is nothing to compare with them in the whole land, with the +exception of the Chiquita, of course," replied Concho. + +"Exactly; just what I have been saying, Concho _mio_," Anita went on, +surveying her spouse with a look of pitying superiority. "Why, only +yesterday, when he was here, I knew instantly by his air of distraction +that something unusual had happened. Never has he been so particular +before. He went all over the place, inspecting everything to the +minutest detail, just like a woman. Nothing pleased him; and when he +came to the flowers, which everybody knows are the finest in all +Chihuahua, he declared they were not fit for a dog to sniff at, and +rated the gardeners soundly for their negligence. + +"Ah!" she sighed, the expression of her countenance softening, "the +place needs a mistress badly--it is the one thing it lacks. There was a +time when I hoped it might be the Chiquita, but since fate has ordained +that it should be otherwise, let us pray that it may be this one. In +fact," she exclaimed, looking up and emphasizing her words, "from what +thou hast told me of her, I know it will be she or none, and may heaven +grant that it please the Saints either to give her to him or protect him +from her, for the Señor is a man who can really love but once. Take a +woman's word for it, Concho, these are the true symptoms of love." +Having delivered herself thus forcibly, she tossed aside the end of her +cigarette and rose from the doorsill. + +"Thou wert always a fool, Concho," she added, regarding him +compassionately with a smile and patting him on the cheek. Then turning, +she disappeared in the house, leaving Concho to marvel at her +astuteness, a thing he had never suspected. + +Meanwhile, the subject under discussion was pacing the floor of his room +in the _Posada_ like a caged lion. For one whole week Bessie Van Ashton +had seemingly thrown wide the portals of her heart and bade him enter, a +privilege of which he was not slow to avail himself. Never had woman +flirted to better advantage or succeeded more effectually in turning a +man's head in so short a time as had this distracting, fair-haired +witch. The only regret experienced by Mr. Yankton during these hours of +unalloyed happiness, was the thought of the days he had lost--days which +might have been spent in her society had he only known. How blind he had +been not to have recognized her the instant he had set eyes on her, +instead of compelling the Almighty to remind him that she was the woman +that had been reserved for him by dropping her down out of a clear sky +into his arms! How stupid of him, and how patient Providence was with +some of us at times! + +During the few short days which followed that happy accident--days that +seemed like so many swift, fleeting seconds, Dick floated on a summer +sea whose surface was unmarred by shadow or ripple. All the world had +changed. He felt as though he had only just begun to live, and he spun a +golden web of fancies out of the reality of things which, for one so +deeply versed in the game of life, was a marvel of beauty, fair as a +poet's dream, yet more substantial. And why not? Had not his life been +one replete with adventure and romance from the cradle? His meeting with +Bessie was no more remarkable than many other things that had occurred +during his lifetime. It was now perfectly clear to him why he had built +the _hacienda_ in the face of adverse judgment. It was for her, of +course. A place in which to enshrine and worship her during the years to +come; for what else could it be? + +That insane notion of a white-haired patriarch enjoying the solitude of +the place was too absurd--a morbid fancy born of loneliness and +melancholy. The walk back to the _Posada_ on the day of their startling +encounter and the hours spent in Bessie's society since then--strolling +and chatting in the garden, or going for long rides over the plains +together, had convinced him it was not intended that man should live +alone. He had taken good care that she should learn nothing of the +existence of the _hacienda_ or of his wealth, and as little as possible +concerning himself, except that he was an agreeable young man with fair +prospects; and thus far, thanks to the Captain's silence and her +ignorance of Spanish, he had succeeded admirably. + +Fair prospects! The secret was almost too good to keep, and he laughed +softly to himself as he mused upon it. It was truly an inspiration; just +the sort of thing to hand out to one of Newport's smart-set. Although he +had not yet proposed to her, he regarded their marriage as a foregone +conclusion; an event of the near future. She certainly had led him to +infer as much, and the plan he had conceived regarding it was highly +ingenious--one worthy of his fertile imagination. Directly they were +married, they would spend the first fortnight of their honeymoon camping +in the mountains in a style worthy of a grand Mogul, after which he +would suggest that they pass the night at a near-by _rancho_ belonging +to a friend, and in this wise introduce her to her future home. + +The rapture of the picture fairly dazzled him, and he lay awake whole +nights contemplating it--the _patio_ palely illumined by the moonlight, +the murmur of the fountain in its center, the perfume of flowers, the +melodious voices of the dark-skinned Indian attendants, bearing flaming +torches, and chanting the time-honored welcome to their new mistress, +and her insistent demands to be introduced to their host; and then the +delightful dénouement, the surprise she must experience when the truth +finally dawned upon her. Truly poet never dreamed a fairer dream. It had +taken him a whole week to conceive the idea in detail, and on the +morning of the seventh day on which he had decided to ask her to become +his wife, he stood with the horses before the _Posada_ expectantly +awaiting her appearance to take the ride they had agreed upon the night +before. At the end of an hour, during which he fretted over the undue +delay with the same impatience as did the horses, Rosita appeared and +informed him that the Señorita Van Ashton would not ride that morning; +she was not feeling well. A wild alarm seized him. The thought that she +might have been stricken suddenly with some serious illness, quite +unnerved him for the moment. "_Caramba!_" he cried, quite forgetting his +English. "What has happened? Is it serious? Is anything being done?" But +all inquiries concerning the actual state of the Señorita's health +proving fruitless, he was left to pass the remainder of the day +wandering aimlessly about the garden in the vain hope of finding +something to divert his mind. Had he been in possession of his usual +calm, he might have noticed the amused expression on Rosita's face, but +the extent of one's concern being the measure of one's love for a +person, he saw only the vivid mental picture of his consuming passion, +Bessie, suffering Bessie! + +It was the first jarring note in that state of uninterrupted bliss which +he had been enjoying, and as the day wore painfully on he began to +realize how much she had become to him. He was haunted by misgivings, +and finally, late in the afternoon, having convinced himself that he had +exhausted the resources of the garden, he decided to pass the time until +the dinner hour upon the veranda on the other side of the house. Thither +he repaired, but oddly enough and greatly to his astonishment, as he +stepped out upon the veranda, he came face to face with Miss Van Ashton +returning from a walk in the town. She was charmingly gowned in a soft, +clinging creation of pale lavender and white lace, with long white suède +gloves and low lavender shoes and silk stockings, an inch or so of which +she flashed before his eyes, proclaiming the society belle's +prerogative. She carried a parasol of the same color and material as her +dress, while her head was crowned with a sweeping, rakishly plumed +Rembrandtesque hat worn at a killing angle. The gold in her hair and the +exquisite pink and white of her throat and cheeks blended perfectly with +a color scheme, the attractiveness of which was greatly enhanced by her +natural charm and the delicate scent of lavender and rose leaves which +emanated from her person, the combined effects of which were not lost +upon an over-wrought imagination. + +To use the current vernacular of the times, so familiar to the world in +which she moved, Miss Van Ashton's appearance was decidedly fetching, +and strongly suggestive of the things of which poets, in their madness, +are continually harping--flower gardens flooded with moonlight and the +song of nightingales. Although not modeled on heroic lines, she +nevertheless possessed the qualifications which most men seek in women +and therefore became quite as formidable as Delilah when she chose to +assert herself. To say that Mr. Yankton was dazzled but mildly expresses +his feelings; he was ravished, though in no mood for banter. Had their +meeting occurred under more auspicious circumstances, he undoubtedly +would have complimented her on her charming appearance; but for one who +had been eating his heart out during eight consecutive hours solely on +her account, it was hardly to be expected. The sight of her, though a +relief to his mind, gave rise to thoughts the nature of which he found +it difficult to conceal. + +"What!" he cried, furious and aghast, scarcely believing his eyes as the +truth slowly began to dawn upon him. "They told me you were ill--that +you couldn't appear to-day!" + +"Ill? How very strange!" she answered in feigned surprise, with a far +away, vacant look in her eyes, as though she had just met him for the +first time, rendering him quite speechless. "Really, Mr. Yankton," she +continued in the coldest, most distant manner she could command, "I +never felt better in my life!" And without allowing him time to catch +his breath, she passed by him and slammed the door in his face, from the +other side of which he fancied he heard her silvery, rippling laughter, +the nature of which sounded suspiciously like a titter. + +Woman never delivered a more crushing blow. In that instant Mr. Yankton +saw more stars than the firmament contains. It was like being thrown +suddenly into a river on a cold morning. Miss Van Ashton's methods might +be regarded as somewhat harsh by certain persons, but realizing that +heroic measures were the only cure for the dangerous distemper that +threatened her peace of mind, she had acted without hesitancy. Besides, +was she not in a measure justified in wishing to even up their scores? + +Oh, the fickleness of woman! How cleverly she had deceived him, and what +an ass he had been! She had been playing with him all the while, and as +he paced the floor, revolving what course to pursue, he wondered how he +could have been so simple. True, she was different from any woman he had +ever met, but dazed though he was by her sudden change of front, he was +not disheartened. On the contrary, she had become more attractive than +ever. His blood fairly boiled at the thought of his defeat, but he would +profit by the experience--change his tactics completely. The more she +avoided him, the more persistent he would become. If she did not see +him, she would be kept a prisoner in the house. He would give her no +peace, day or night. He would dog her footsteps, confront her at every +turn, pursue her with the most reckless and relentless ardor and utter +disregard of what the world might think; treat her as he would an +unbroken horse--give her no rest, but keep her on the jump until he had +worn her out, and then close with her. + + + + +XXII + + +The situation was becoming intolerable. Something must be done and done +at once to clear the atmosphere. Captain Forest's apparent indifference +to all things, including herself, aroused Blanch to a pitch of +exasperation which might best be likened to that of a high-strung, +thoroughbred horse that has been ignominiously hitched to a plow and +compelled to drag it. At the end of a week he either drops dead in the +furrow or becomes a broken-spirited hack for the rest of his days. + +Nothing short of love or hatred could satisfy her. It was a new +experience. Never had she suffered such ignominy. It was like being +coerced. One could respect an enemy, but this exasperating indifference +was unendurable. The more she thought of it, the more convinced she +became, that it was just such an antagonistic attitude which had +prompted the beautiful, though wicked Borgia, to administer certain love +potions to numerous unappreciative gallants. Deliberate, cold-blooded +murder committed under such extenuating circumstances began to appear +more in the light of justice than of crime. + +Captain Forest offered an entirely new front. Not that he had changed so +much, she knew better than that, but she marveled at his self-control. +The dash and spirit of the soldier, which every one admired so much in +him, had given way to the most insulting, good-humored complacency; the +frame of mind one looks for in an aged sinner whose terror of an +uncertain future has driven him to prepare for heaven. She knew well +enough that his attitude was assumed for a purpose only, until he had +made up his mind what to do; waiting to make up his mind as to which of +them, she or Chiquita, was preferable. This, of course, was merely a +jealous supposition on her part. + +She had hoped to arouse his jealousy, or, failing in that, at least his +enthusiasm. Thus far she had failed to accomplish either and she could +not understand it. Surely he was flesh and blood like other men, yet +nothing seemed to move him. He appeared like one at peace with all the +world, calm and serene as a summer's day, and smoked incessantly. She +could endure it no longer. The depression from which she suffered was +crushing her slowly and irresistibly to earth. She was at her wits' end +to know what to do to relieve the tension, until she finally hit upon +the idea of giving an old-fashioned Spanish _fandango_--a _fiesta_. + +The thought was a happy one. It was not only one of those things she had +always wanted to see, but it would be a break--something to relieve the +strain of her daily existence; she pursuing, he avoiding her. The +novelty of the scene--the bright, gay costumes of the Mexicans, music +and twinkling lights, dancing and wine and laughter and song, and the +stars overhead, mellowed by the light of the full moon, must infuse new +life into them all--recall memories of other days to him. With such a +setting, a woman of her beauty, refinement and attraction, and an adept +at the game of flattery and intrigue, must shine with new luster--become +doubly dangerous and irresistible to a man. Though this was her chief +motive for giving the _fiesta_, she had still another in view. + +The fame of Chiquita's dancing had naturally aroused her curiosity. She +would ask her to dance; not that she believed the half of what she heard +concerning it, but it would be a satisfaction to see it. Besides, she +had a certain motive of her own for so doing which she imparted to no +one; the subtlest of a woman's thoughts which only the intuition of a +woman could have prompted. She laughed to herself at the thought which +invariably aroused within her a feeling akin to triumph. Why had she not +thought of it before? She knew the Captain had already seen her dance, +but then that was before he knew who she was. It had been in a theater, +and his enthusiasm must have been prompted in a measure by that of the +audience about him. The emotion of a large assembly was always +contagious--sweeping the individual along with it. Whereas, in private, +her dancing, lacking the glamour and artificiality of the stage, would +be a very different thing. It would appear in a more realistic, +commonplace light. Any faults which the atmosphere of the stage might +have concealed would immediately become apparent in the light of natural +surroundings and her performance sink to the level of the commonplace. + +Her dancing could only be amateurish at its best, for where could she +possibly have learned to dance? What instruction could she, living in +this out-of-the-way corner of the world, have received in the art? As +for local enthusiasm, it counted for little--amateurs were always so +popular at home. And after all was said, what did the achievements of +the great dancers really amount to? Their creations were not ranked with +those of other artistic achievements. In fact, dancing could scarcely be +ranked with the legitimate branches of art at all. At its best, it was +only a pastime; something to amuse. This, of course, was the light in +which she viewed one of the greatest arts which few ever succeed in +mastering. Possibly because the world has really seen no dancing to +speak of since the days of the great Taglioni, until the Pavlowa +appeared. Even parts of the latter's art were questionable, but then, +she was the Pavlowa! + +Chiquita's dancing differed from anything Captain Forest had ever seen. +As a matter of fact, much of it would not have been called dancing at +all by many people, so different has the modern conception of the art +become since the days of the ancients. But where had she received her +instruction? The ability to dance, like any other talent, is born in +one, not acquired. True, it must be developed through constant practice +just like any other talent, if ever it is to amount to anything; but +even then, great dancers are born just as great painters, poets and +musicians are born. + +The Indian's greatest pastime and amusement is dancing, and Chiquita had +danced almost daily from earliest childhood to her sixteenth year when +fate had led her to Padre Antonio's door. Then she went to the City of +Mexico and also had visited Europe. In both places she had had the +opportunity of seeing some of the greatest dancers of the day and was +able to draw comparisons between their conceptions of the art and hers. +But when she began the study of ancient history her attention was called +to the Greeks' conception of the art, and she soon discovered that +modern dancing was a direct violation of that which was most plastic in +art, and consisted chiefly of contortions, high kicking and pirouetting +on the toes. She also discovered that the conceptions of her own people +regarding the art stood nearer that of the ancients than did modern +man's. To her it was an interesting discovery. It was as natural for her +to dance as to breathe, and from that hour she began to study and +practice the art with renewed interest. + +Shortly after her admittance to the convent, it was also discovered that +she possessed a voice of unusual quality and range; and, as Padre +Antonio had instructed the Sisters to do their utmost to develop any +natural talent she might possess to a marked degree, the best teacher in +voice culture which the city afforded was procured for her. These were +Padre Antonio's wishes and they had been obeyed conscientiously by the +Sisters who recognized Chiquita's strong dramatic ability. + +The years passed, and, as the day finally arrived on which she was to +leave school, the performances which marked the closing exercises were +given as usual by the pupils. The last number on the programme +represented an ancient Greek festival arranged by Padre Alesandro, the +instructor in classic literature, in which Chiquita took the leading +part, and in which, at her request, she was permitted to introduce a +dance of her own creation. Among the many guests that had been invited +to attend the closing ceremonies was one Signor Tosti, a ballet-master, +who at the time was visiting the Capitol with an Italian opera company. +A friend whose daughter took part in the exercises had persuaded him, +much against his will, to attend; for what possible interest could a +veteran of the ballet take in such amateurish exhibitions? + +Touring the world with a troup of quarrelsome artists was arduous work +for a tired old gentleman at its best. So, like the sensible man that he +was, he promptly went to sleep at the opening of the performance and +probably would have slept through the entire evening, had he not been +aroused from his slumbers in the midst of the last number on the +programme by the sound of a glorious voice--a deep mezzo-soprano of the +richest contralto quality. Opening his eyes, he saw an assembly of +beautifully clad, flower-bedecked Grecian youths and maidens drawn up +across the back of the stage, chanting the chorus, and in their midst, +in the foreground, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He +drew himself up with a start and rubbed his eyes to assure himself that +he was really awake. And then, considering the occasion and the time and +the place, he witnessed a performance that fairly took his breath away. + +His Southern temperament became thoroughly aroused, and at the +conclusion of the dance, he suddenly rose from his seat and without +waiting for an introduction, rushed to the stage and springing upon it, +bowed low before Chiquita and seizing her hand, kissed it in view of the +audience. No one knew better than he did that, in his profession, a new +star had just fallen from heaven to earth. The following day he and the +director of his company waited upon Chiquita and offered her any sum she +might choose to name if she would consent to join the company and return +to Europe with them. But they did not know what Chiquita's past had +been--that she was still the Amazon as of old--that the woman who had +been trained to battle in her early youth the same as the men of her +people had been trained, regarded as mere pastime that which they +considered one of the heights of earthly attainment. The woman who at +sunrise had listened daily to the song of the Memnon, who had +experienced the shock of battle, whose life lived close to nature had +taught her the meaning of the ethics of the dust and instilled into her +veins the rippling laughter of water and sunshine and the song of the +winds, and whose every breath had been the rapturous breath of freedom, +viewed life from a different standpoint than that of men debased by +centuries of servitude. The world of their creation was trifling in +comparison to that of God's which to her was all sufficing and enabled +her to look upon their doings with the same equanimity and indulgence as +that with which the parent regards the frolicsome gambols of the child. + +Twenty years of almost uninterrupted practice had kept her body and +limbs supple and pliant, but this Blanch did not know. + + + + +XXIII + + +True to his resolve, Dick rose to the exigency of the occasion by laying +stubborn siege to Miss Van Ashton's heart. During the day he bombarded +her with flowers and books and bonbons, and gentle but passionate +missives; all of which the fair recipient as promptly hurled back into +his face. At night relays of musicians serenaded her uninterruptedly +until the glowing cast announced the coming of a new day. He took the +whole household into his confidence, rendering it impossible for her to +set foot outside her door without meeting him. + +The first day she laughed at his eccentricities; on the second, she grew +furious, and on the third, not having closed her eyes for two whole days +and nights, she felt herself on the verge of a nervous collapse. There +being no rest for any one, Colonel Van Ashton suddenly appeared before +his daughter on the morning of the fourth day and gave her to understand +that if the infernal nuisance did not cease instantly he would shoot the +first person who entered the garden that evening after he had retired. +And to back his threat, he displayed a new automatic pistol which he had +purchased in the town the day before; the shopkeeper having assured him +that, for a running fire, it was the most convenient and effective +weapon on the market. The Colonel was in a reckless mood and seemed in +imminent danger of losing in a moment the self-control which years of +civilization had instilled within him. Having been literally goaded to +madness, little wonder that he too was on the verge of succumbing to the +customs of the land, and was beginning to feel a secret longing to shoot +and swear and swagger and destroy. Knowing her father to be as good as +his word, and to possess the courage of a lion when aroused, Bessie +found herself forced to capitulate a day earlier than she otherwise +would have, for, incensed though she was, not even a woman of her grit +and spirit could possibly have held out much longer under conditions +that turned night into day. + +It was galling in the extreme to be compelled to surrender so soon, but +there being no alternative, she was obliged to accept the humiliation +with the best grace possible. Accordingly, she appeared in the garden +late on the afternoon of the fourth day where she espied the object of +her wrath and annoyance seated comfortably on the grass at the foot of a +pear tree, and as usual--smoking. The sight of him was hardly conducive +to soothe the feelings of one who inwardly was a seething volcano, and +she vowed that she would pay him out to the full before she was done +with him. + +He seemed greatly surprised by her appearance, and hastily throwing away +his cigar, rose to his feet with the intention of speaking to her, but +without noticing him, she made her way to the farthest corner of the +garden and seated herself in a large rustic chair that stood in the +shadow of the high wall which surrounded the garden. She knew he would +not be long in renewing his persecutions. And angry though she was, she +could not help wondering at the novelty of the situation. She, Bessie +Van Ashton, placed at the mercy of an obscure person, a rustic nobody! +Like every other woman, she had dreamed of such a man as this, one that +would seize and carry her off; but then the time and place were other +than the present, and he resembled more closely the type of man with +which she had been familiar all her life. The spirit of antagonism which +he aroused was due rather to pique than to dislike, for in spite of his +audacity she could not help admiring his spirit. + +Her sense of injury was poignantly enhanced by the fact that she +recognized herself to be the true cause of her trouble. Had she not led +him on this thing might never have happened; and yet, she was neither +sorry nor repentant for what she had done. Had any other man dared take +the liberties he had taken with her, she would have despised him, but +with him, though she was unable to explain it, things were somehow +different. She was furious with him for kissing her, and yet deep down +in her inner consciousness she was not so certain that she was sorry he +had done so. The things he did, which would have branded any other man +as a cad, were the very things the man of her dreams might have done +under similar circumstances. Yet she shuddered as she daily foresaw the +consequences that might ensue should she encourage him further. +Flirting with a man whose high-handed, arbitrary methods dazed rather +than offended her, was becoming dangerous. + +Self-preservation being always our first thought, she had decided to +fly, but the presence of Blanch rendered such a course impossible. The +only alternative left her was to extricate herself as swiftly and +gracefully as possible from her dilemma by making herself as +disagreeable as possible in his eyes. In this wise she hoped to +disillusion him, and it was with this intention she had come forth to +meet him. She could not see him from where she sat, having turned her +back upon him; but, judging from the length of time it took him to +approach, she rightly conjectured that he had been walking in a circle, +doubtless at a loss what course to pursue. The silence that ensued when +he paused behind her was broken only by the sound of his labored +breathing and a nervous cough, plainly betraying the embarrassment he +felt on finding himself once more in her presence. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said at length, "it is extremely gratifying to +know that you have at last decided to leave the oppressive walls of your +inhospitable abode for the world of sunshine without, where the essence +and being of all things fill one with a desire to live." Nothing he +could have said at the moment could have aroused her resentment more +than this idiotic speech. She had expected him to eat humble pie, to +throw himself at her feet and implore forgiveness; but, no! She sprang +to her feet and facing him, turned a pair of beautiful blazing eyes upon +him. She was so furious she choked, and for some moments was quite +unable to speak. + +"I suppose," she said at last, her voice trembling with suppressed +indignation, "that you take pleasure in pursuing a helpless woman like a +hunted beast. It's so manly," she added scathingly, looking in vain for +some sign of contrition in his face. "Why," she went on, "if a man where +I live had done the hundredth part of what you have done, society would +shun him as it would a pariah!" + +"Or a leper," he added good humoredly, quick to recognize the +disadvantage at which the loss of her temper placed her. "They must be a +poor lot where you live," he continued. "I think we had better pass them +by without further comment." She was suffocated--she could have bitten +her tongue off! + +"Have you no consideration for others' feelings--for what they might +want?" she cried. + +"Ah! I see, Miss Van Ashton," he answered, regarding her +compassionately. "You quite overlook the true facts of the case. This is +not at all a question of what you may want, but of what is best for you. +I have merely been trying to tell you in my awkward way that it is not +good for one to live alone." She laughed hysterically. The colossal +impudence of the man took her breath away. She gasped--attempted to +speak, but words failing her, turned her back upon him and began tearing +into shreds the end of the silken gauze Indian scarf which she wore over +her shoulders. + +"Can't you think of what you want, Miss Van Ashton?" he asked gently, +in the tone of one addressing a refractory child. + +"No!" she screamed, without at all realizing what she was saying. To +think that this man was able to play with her like a worm on the end of +a pin! It was too much! "How dare you! I--I hate you!" she cried, +without turning round and quite beside herself. There was no mistaking +her attitude; he had gone far enough. The limit of her endurance had +been reached, and he suddenly became serious. Again there was silence +between them. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said, drawing himself up, "it really doesn't +matter what you or the rest of the world may think of me so long as I +can see you. Can you imagine what it would be like if you were never to +see the sun again? What could be more absurd than to allow such a trifle +as convention to come between you and me? Three feet of wretched adobe +wall between me and heaven!" he burst forth. "The idea's preposterous! +Why, if you shut yourself up in that miserable hovel again, I'll set +fire to the place!" She knew he would. + +"Can't you understand," he went on, his voice softening, "that your +attitude has aroused the savage, the primeval man in me--that, had I met +you here fifty or a hundred years ago, I would have picked you up and +quietly carried you away? I know I've been a brute by driving you into +the open like this, but that's not me, myself--the man who loves you, +who would pass through fire for you, who has dreamed of you and watched +and waited through the long years for your coming; and now that you +have come, you surely can't blame me for what I cannot help--for loving +you and telling you so in my own way?" + +She tried in vain to stifle the emotion his words aroused. She had set +out with the intention of wringing this avowal from him in jest, but how +differently it affected her now that she heard it. She forgot her anger, +everything, in fact, as she listened to the flow of his passion and +longed to hear him continue. Every note of his voice thrilled her as it +did on the day she first saw him. She remembered that she experienced a +peculiar sensation at the time; that his appearance reminded her of the +heroic type of manhood which the ancients had sought to depict in their +marbles. In him she had unconsciously recognized the true spirit of the +Argonaut on whose brow rests the star of empire. She did not idealize +him; she simply recognized him for what he was--a man; one in whose soul +the sentiment and enthusiasm of youth still sat enthroned, not smothered +by the crushing process of modern civilization which was the case with +the men she knew. A terror seized her as she compared the latter to him, +and beheld how small they appeared beside him. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he continued passionately, "you wouldn't thank me if +I continued to bandy words with the woman I love, whose presence has +become the sunshine of life to me. The whole world has become filled +with song since you came into my life. Music and laughter have taken the +place of loneliness and despair. Flowers spring from the earth where +your feet rest! Don't imagine that you can ever estrange yourself from +me. Wherever you are, by day or by night, waking or dreaming, I also +will be there and ever whispering: 'Bessie Van Ashton, I love you--you +have filled my life so completely I can't live without you!'" + +Had her face been turned toward him, he would have seen that it was +radiant, that her eyes shone with unusual brilliancy, that her hands +trembled beneath the folds of her scarf where she had concealed them. + +"Bessie, sweet--" + +"Stop!" she cried, almost in a voice of terror. "I've not given you +permission to speak to me, thus--to call me by name--" + +"Then turn round and say you will be human once more! That you will talk +and walk and ride again! If you don't, I'll begin all over again by +telling you that you are the sweetest--" + +"Hush!" she said softly, turning round abruptly with a gesture of +protest, looking up into his face, and then down at the ground to +conceal her confusion. "I think we understand one another," she said at +length, and raising her eyes to his again, she held out both her hands +which he seized and held in his own. + +"Let us be friends again," she continued, gently withdrawing her hands +from his. + +"No, don't say that!" he interrupted. "We can't be that! Let it rest as +it is!" + + + + +XXIV + + +"When you love, you love," runs a gypsy proverb. + +Bessie wore the despairing look of one who clings to a last vain hope. +How had it happened? Why had everything gone contrary to her +expectations? Why was Mr. Yankton dragging her at the wheels of his +chariot instead of she him? According to her social standards he had +seen but little, and yet he had the _savoir faire_ of a man of the +world. Her preconceived ideas on certain subjects were so upset that she +no longer appeared to have a hold on anything; the very ground seemed to +be slipping away beneath her. + +Strange that one could care for the person whom one least expected to, +that the most humiliating moment in one's life might be the happiest as +well. If any one had suggested such a possibility to her six months +previously, she would have laughed at the mere thought. How could she +relinquish the life she knew for his? She fought against his influence +with all her powers of resistance. And yet, what woman in her right mind +would hesitate to follow the man of her choice to the sunlit valleys of +our dreams? Weaker women than she had done so and been happy, while +stronger ones had hesitated, as was the case with Blanch, and lived to +regret it. She secretly prayed that she might be spared the torture +which Blanch was suffering and the despair which must inevitably +overtake her should she fail to win back the man she had let slip from +her; for what, after all, could life be to one without the true +comradeship of love? She began to feel and realize the ineffable +sweetness of life's fullness as the days of her awakening continued, +while the ache at her heart told her plainly enough that the decisive +moment of her life had arrived--that she must choose between happiness +and ambition. The one, rich and full though accompanied perhaps by pain +and even denial at times; the other fraught with uncertainty. + +She understood now the meaning of Chiquita's passionate longing for the +man she loved; a thing which the worldliness of the life she had lived +hitherto had taught her to be too extravagant to exist anywhere outside +of books, but which was true nevertheless. Her intuition told her this +in the face of all the world might say to the contrary. As she looked +back over the years and thought of her friends, she realized that she +like them had submerged her life in the superficial pleasures of the +world; but had they filled her cup of happiness? Until now she had not +felt the lack of life's crowning joy, for the reason that youth is +buoyant and full of hope, and the grand passion had not yet entered into +her life. These and a thousand other thoughts ran through her mind that +night as she recalled Dick's words. + +She could not sleep. From where she lay she could see the moonlight in +the _patio_ and hear the murmur of the fountain in its center. The night +seemed to beckon and whisper to her to come outside. So she arose and +silently dressed herself in the dimly moonlit room without disturbing +Blanch, who murmured incoherently in her sleep of the things she was +thinking of. She slipped noiselessly through the low window to the +_patio_ without and stealthily made her way in the shadow of the +overhanging arcades to the garden beyond. + +The hour was late--close on to dawn. The silvery half-moon hung low in +the west accompanied by great cohorts of stars that shone with a +brilliancy she had never before seen, and which seemed to be waiting +with the moon to usher in the new dawn. All was silence and mystery--all +earthly ties seemed severed. Under the cover of the night all things +seemed equal. There were no high, no low, no eyes to see, no ears to +hear, no towns, no cities, no conventions. All things that hold and bind +us had slipped away into the shadows and she seemed to breathe again the +primeval freshness of life. + +She knew that she must decide between Dick and her family. Her father +had given her plainly to understand as much, and this she knew meant the +loss of her fortune--the giving up of all for him. Her father +threatened, raged and fumed with the petulance of a spoiled child, his +paternal displeasure taking that uncompromising form of obstinacy with +which the world has long been familiar. She was amazed at herself for +being able to take his displeasure with so little concern; a thing +which, had it occurred at home, would have caused her to pause and +reflect and probably would have been the deciding factor in her life. +Her removal from the old life and the glimpses of the new had +unconsciously wrought a change within her. She began to see things as +they really are when shorn of their glamour. The life she hitherto had +known, she realized, was purely a superficial condition, not only +foreign to the realities of things, but superfluous to man himself. +Never had Captain Forest appeared so sane and her father so superficial +as the hour in which she grasped that truth. It is not what the world +makes of you, but what you make of yourself that counts, the beauteous, +seductive night kept whispering to her. Why, then, if this be true, +should the world about her appear so remote? It was not the actual +world--the world as it really is that she would be called upon to give +up, but merely the world of that particular set of men and women in +which she hitherto had moved. + +The same earth rolled beneath her feet--the same stars that looked down +upon her in the past still glittered in the heavens overhead--the same +winds that crept through the garden and sighed among the trees, wafting +the spicy, fragrant odors of the flowers into her face, were the same +that had fanned her cheek in the past. All things remained practically +the same, only the people were different. But could the old interests +and friendships and associations compensate her for the loss of the man +that had come into her life to remain for the rest of her days whether +she chose to keep him or not? These new and perplexing questions she was +forced to ask herself for the first time, and she knew that there could +be but one answer forthcoming. + +Love was knocking at the portals of her heart as it had never knocked +before. It had come to her warm and living, deep and subtle and +indefinable, leaving nothing to be said or desired. She saw clearly +that principle, as the world conceives it, was not involved. Affection +recognizes no such principle--only virtuous longing and desire which is +a principle in itself--the fulfillment of creation's grandest purpose; +and it rested with her to accept this truth or pass it by. + +The chill of the early morning caused her to draw her wrap more closely +about her shoulders. A deep sigh of relief escaped her as she glanced +upwards once more for a last look at the paling stars. How satisfactory +it was to know even though the knowledge pained her! + +She had entered the garden a girl, she returned to the house a woman, +hugging her secret close to her heart. + + + + +XXV + + +Success had crowned Juan Ramon's efforts. The pretty little _hacienda_ +of which he had dreamed so long was no longer a vision of the future, +but a reality. It was actually in his possession, purchased with a part +of the money he had received from Don Felipe for his work. It now only +remained for the pretty Rosita to consent to become the mistress of the +place and he, Juan Ramon, would bid farewell to the old _Posada_ and the +gaming-tables forever. This Juan naïvely promised himself as his +thoughts dwelt upon the bright picture of domestic felicity which his +imagination conjured up before him. + +The attractive presence of Rosita was undoubtedly the source of this +inspiration which actually led him to believe in the possibility of the +sudden and complete reformation of an inveterate gambler whose desire +for play was like the toper's insatiable thirst for liquor. And then, +there was Captain Forest's horse. Juan had an idea regarding that +animal. When everybody's attention was occupied with the festivities +during the night of the _fandango_, and he had succeeded in filling José +with the proper amount of _aguardiente_, he would slip quietly away with +the horse and conceal him at his _hacienda_. _Caramba!_ what a +horse--the like of which there was not in all Mexico! And Juan Ramon, +the champion _vaquero_ of Chihuahua, was the man to ride him! And he +rolled and smoked innumerable _cigarillos_ as he sauntered about the +garden and corrals, or lounged in the _patio_, musing on these and many +other things. + +To say that Don Felipe was elated by what he had discovered but mildly +describes his state of exultation. At last the woman who had ruined his +life was in his power. Not for years had he experienced such delicious +transports of rapture. How sweet a thing is revenge! He was like one +born anew. The expression of melancholy faded from his countenance, his +eyes shone with renewed luster and he smiled upon all the world. There +was no more escape for her than there had been for him when she so +treacherously thrust the knife into his heart. What he had discovered +was different from anything his imagination had pictured in connection +with her. Nothing could be more compromising, and the marvel of it was +that she had been able to keep the facts concealed from the world so +long. Only a woman could have done it, and only the cleverest of women +at that. No wonder she had danced in public. She had reason to! + +Never had he dreamed that he would live to enjoy this hour. When he +first imparted his information to Blanch, she refused to believe it; but +the proofs were too convincing to leave so much as the shadow of a doubt +in her mind. How fortunate that he had discovered her secret at this +time; just before the _fandango_. What an opportunity to confront her +with the truth; force her to make a public confession of her guilt. +Nothing could be more propitious for the execution of his plans; the +annihilation of the woman who had wrecked his life. It was not enough +that she should be exposed. She must be humiliated publicly as he had +been. + +He did not entirely reveal his plans to Blanch, knowing that the woman +in her and her consideration for the Captain would cause her to shrink +from inflicting so cruel a revenge even upon a rival. He was far too +clever for that. So, without going into details concerning his plans, he +led her to believe that, at a prearranged signal from her, he would +confront Chiquita personally and compel her to acknowledge the truth +before himself and the Captain. Her nature revolted at that which Don +Felipe told her, cried out for justice, for the exposure of the +impostor; nevertheless, she disliked a scene, and for the Captain's +sake, made Don Felipe promise to do nothing unless she gave the signal. + +One week hence and their scores would be even. The thought thrilled him +as he paced the length of his room, his hands clasping and unclasping +nervously behind his back; his mind actively engaged in rehearsing the +events of the last few days which led to the discovery, and the details +of the plan he had formulated, the carrying out of which was to be +deferred until that eventful evening when the principal families of the +town and neighborhood, her friends and acquaintances, would be gathered +together to witness her shame--the same as they had witnessed his. Her +disgrace would be far worse than his had been. She would be an outcast; +for let a man transgress and the world may forgive him, but let a woman +fall and she is damned forever so far as the world is concerned. He +would make no mistake this time. He carefully weighed every detail of +his plan, considered every eventuality that might arise. Subtle and +resourceful though he knew her to be, there would be no loophole of +escape for her. + +It was almost too good to be true. He was beside himself. He talked and +laughed aloud repeatedly when alone, scarcely able to retain himself, so +rapturously sweet was the thought of her humiliation. Suddenly a new +thought flashed through his mind. He had sworn that he would kill +Captain Forest--lay him dead at her feet; but that, thanks to +circumstances, would not now be necessary. The thought of killing a man +in cold blood was not pleasant even to one of Don Felipe's temperament +in his present state of mind. But should circumstances compel him to do +so to complete his revenge, he would stop at nothing, let the +consequences be what they might. + +That he had received his just deserts for his betrayal of a woman, did +not enter his thoughts. Had he not atoned for that misdeed through years +of suffering? Had ever mortal been humiliated as he had been? That fact +alone decided him. The memory of his transgression had been effaced long +since by his intense longing for revenge. Nothing short of revenge could +satisfy him now. + +A grim smile lit up his countenance as he pondered upon what he knew. +And yet, he reflected, who could tell? Infatuation might blind the +Captain to the truth. It was best to be prepared for all emergencies. +Stepping to his dresser, he opened the top drawer from which he took a +knife which lay concealed beneath the numerous articles it contained. +Drawing the blade from its leathern sheath, he ran his thumb lightly +over its double edge to assure himself that it had lost none of its +keenness. He always carried a pistol, but considering the circumstances +a knife would be better. It would make no noise, create less +disturbance. It would be so easy, in some secluded part of the garden, +to thrust it home and get away quietly before the deed was discovered. +One quick thrust, a stifled cry, that would be all. As a youth he could +have placed that blade at ten paces in the center of a mark no larger +than a silver dollar at every cast. But he had no thought of employing +such a method now even if he were able to. Striking the Captain would be +like sinking the blade in Chiquita's heart; for did he not hate the +Captain, because she loved him, almost as much as he hated her? No, he +would not forego that exquisite sense of pleasure and satisfaction, born +of jealousy and his insatiable thirst for revenge. + +For some time he toyed absently with the knife. Then, from sheer +exuberance of spirits, he began tossing it aloft; watching with +sparkling eyes the glittering blade as it turned over and over in the +air and catching it deftly by the hilt in his right hand as it +descended. His hand and wrist were firm and supple as of old; they had +lost none of their vigor during the long years he had wandered aimlessly +about the world. Again that cold smile, cruel and cutting as the edge +of his knife, lit up his face as he at length sheathed the blade in its +leathern case and returned it to its resting place in the drawer of his +dresser. + + + + +XXVI + + +Conviction is one thing, decision another. Any one who has been taught +from earliest childhood to regard black as white could hardly be +expected to distinguish in a moment the virtue of the latter. + +Daily Bessie resolved to follow the promptings of her heart; usually at +the close of the day when the cool of the evening set in, when the stars +again took up their procession across the heavens and she walked and +chatted with Dick in the garden. But when morning dawned and she thought +of her father's awful prognostications and the dire consequences which +must inevitably ensue should she take the step, her ardor cooled and she +as often changed her mind. Her father spent hours arguing with her, +trying to impress her with the importance of the duty she owed society +which consisted in obeying to the letter the behests of the set in which +she had always moved. + +Greatly to the Colonel's astonishment and disgust, his daughter seemed +strangely lacking in this particular moral quality. How had her insight +become so obtuse? He could not understand it, especially as he had taken +particular pains while bringing her up to steel her heart against the +insidious longings of maudlin sentiment and to teach her to despise +everything outside of her particular world. He and his wife had not +regarded love the chief essential to marriage, so why should his +daughter? That she, under the circumstances, should hesitate between +happiness and a life of regret, was a thing unique, almost +incomprehensible to him. That she should question his authority, his +right to choose for her, and his superior knowledge of the world, was +still more surprising. Her disaffection was strongly suggestive of +disrespect, a lack of faith in his infallibility in which he, the +Colonel, firmly believed, if nobody else did. + +The thought that the efforts of years might come to naught was bitter as +wormwood to him. It was bad enough that his nephew should besmirch the +family escutcheon, but that his daughter should deliberately contract a +mesalliance in the face of his objections, was too much. It was the last +straw. The country was going to the dogs. He argued, pleaded, stormed +and swore and beat his head against the wall of indifference and +obstinacy which his daughter reared between them with the unremitting +fury of a wasp that finds itself on the wrong side of a windowpane. This +new turn in affairs rendered Mrs. Forest so furious that she snapped +right and left regardless of persons like a dog possessed of the rabies, +rendering herself the most disagreeable person in the house. + +The alarming rapidity with which event succeeded event, whirling them +onward to some unseen end, was more than sufficient to convince them all +that life was fast becoming a very uncertain quantity. No one knew what +the morrow might bring forth; and all, with the exception of the +Captain, were wrought up to a pitch of nervous tension that threatened +the breaking point. Don Felipe shadowed Chiquita and the +Captain--Chiquita and Blanch regarded one another with increasing +suspicion--Dick pressed his suit with the ardor of desperation; while +the Colonel and Mrs. Forest nagged on all sides. Even Señora wore an +anxious, worried look. It was evident to all that things, as they were, +could not continue much longer. Only the Captain seemed capable of +keeping his head above water; for him the future held no terrors. The +more complicated matters became, the more serene he grew; for had he not +vowed that he would see things through to the end? They would all have +an opportunity of judging who it would be that would laugh last. + +The _fandango_ would relieve the tension. Blanch's inspiration was truly +a stroke of genius, for anything was better than a continuance of the +present state of affairs. Ever since Dick's declaration of love, Bessie +had fought and struggled against the tide of events which was +overwhelming her by making herself as disagreeable as possible in his +eyes. But what could she do to thwart the machinations of a man who +laughed at her moods, who encouraged her with each fresh outburst? + +Scarcely an hour elapsed after parting from him, than a note was slipped +into her hand by some one of the many Mexican attendants, telling her +how he adored her moods. That a frown from her was sweeter than the +perpetual smile of another woman; that he loved a woman of spirit; that +she would find him on the morrow in the dust at her feet as usual; that +the sensation he experienced while being trampled upon could only be +likened unto that of being borne aloft on wings, etc. She grew hot and +cold by turns as she read these missives, and sulked and softened and +flew into fits of passion, and tore them into bits, thoroughly disgusted +with her weakness and her inability to remedy matters, and invariably +ended by wishing to see him again. Clearly, her only hope of delivery +lay in the alternatives of instant flight, or of ridding herself of his +importunities by marrying him; either of which she found equally +difficult and impossible to execute. She did not know that Dick was +putting on a bold front; that his attitude was assumed; that, like her, +he was at his wits' end; that, if she suffered, he suffered tenfold. Her +annoyance was insignificant in comparison to the cyclonic outbursts that +swept over him. + +Ah, yes, Anita, Concho's wife, had predicted events with fair accuracy. +When he sought to take her, she was not there, but somewhere +else--everywhere. Just like a kitten that frisks among the leaves in +autumn when they are whirled about by the wind; now here, now there, now +up a tree. Though each had taken the measure of the other with fair +accuracy, each had misjudged the other's strength; and it was becoming +problematical just how much longer he would be able to hold out. Nothing +had ever daunted him. All his life long he had never failed to +accomplish the things of real importance. No undertaking had ever proved +too great. Colonel Yankton, his foster-father, had taught him the value +of perseverance, and he had learned his lesson well. He instinctively +felt that the great crisis of his life was at hand; that all his +efforts, his successes in life must count for naught so far as he +personally was concerned, should he fail to win her. He knew that his +fate hung in the balance, that the morrow would practically decide +whether the one thing his life lacked would be added unto it, or that he +would go on to the end alone. + +He had gone for a stroll in the town after the customary gathering in +the _patio_ in the evening. The others had long since retired for the +night when he returned to the _Posada_. Feeling no inclination to sleep, +he seated himself on the veranda in front of the house, and lighting a +fresh cigar, smoked and mused; his gaze fixed on the tall moonlit hedge +which separated the _Posada_ from the highroad; his thoughts reverting +to the days of his boyhood. Again he saw the Colonel, tall and erect, +the personification of manhood, indomitable will and courage, seated +upon his horse at the head of his regiment, and heard the ringing, +clarion notes of the bugle--the signal for the charge. Yes, he would +make one more supreme effort, and if that failed, well.... His cigar had +burned low. He tossed it over the veranda rail and rose with the +intention of retiring, when his attention was arrested by the faint +sound of a horse's hoofs on the highroad in the distance. Something +seemed to tell him to wait, and acting on the impulse, he paused and +listened. The sounds drew nearer, increasing in volume as the animal +approached, until a horseman finally turned in from the road at an easy +canter and drew rein before the _Posada_. Both man and horse were +covered with dust which shone white as snow in the moonlight; a proof +that they had traveled far during the day. + +"_Buenas noches_, Señor," said the rider, a Mexican, swinging himself +from the saddle and ascending the steps to where Dick stood. + +"Good evening," replied the latter in Spanish, eyeing the man curiously. + +"I wish," continued the stranger, "to speak with one Señor Yankton who, +I was told, lives in Santa Fé. Perhaps, Señor, you can tell me where I +may find him?" + +"I am Señor Yankton. What do you want?" + +"Ah!" exclaimed the man, stepping back a pace and regarding Dick +critically. "Your appearance answers the description well, Señor, but +that is not enough--I must have proof." Just then a _vaquero_ on night +duty who had been lounging in the deep shadow at the far end of the +veranda came forward on hearing the sounds of voices. + +"Diego," said Dick, addressing the latter, "tell this gentleman whether +I be Señor Yankton or not. He says he wishes to see him." + +"Of a truth, Señor, here is the man you seek," answered Diego, +addressing the stranger. + +"_Bueno_--good!" ejaculated the Mexican, pulling a sealed packet from +the inner pocket of his jacket. "I come from the Rio Plata, six days' +journey toward the west. I have been commissioned to deliver this to +you, Señor," and he handed the packet to Dick who, taking it, gave +instructions to Diego that the man and his horse be properly housed for +the night. Then, with an "_hasta la vista_," and "God be with you until +the morrow, Señor," he retired to his room. There, by the dim light of a +candle, he carefully scrutinized the address on the packet, but did not +recognize the writing. Nevertheless, he instinctively felt as he turned +it over in his hands before breaking the seal, that, in some manner or +other, it was intimately concerned with his fate. + + + + +XXVII + + +The preparations for the _fandango_ were complete. The men and women of +the household, under Juan Ramon's supervision, had worked hard since +sunrise, stringing gayly colored lanterns and arranging tables and +chairs, palms and potted flowers and shrubs in the _patio_. It was close +on to five o'clock and they now rested in the _patio_ in the shade of +its arcades, smoking cigarettes and sipping black coffee, and chatting +and laughing as they viewed with satisfaction the results of their +handiwork. The day gave promise of a perfect night. It was to be a +typical Spanish _fiesta_, and in order that the illusion might be +complete, both the Whites and the Indians were to appear in their +national costumes. All the leading Spanish families of the town and the +neighborhood would be present. Not an invitation had been refused. + +Captain Forest had agreed to take tea with Blanch in the garden, and, +true to his word, he appeared punctually, almost on the minute. The +pretty Rosita, the only one of the household excepting Señora Fernandez +and Juan Ramon who understood and spoke English after a fashion, +withdrew reluctantly after depositing her tray containing tea and +_tortillas_ upon the table. She adored the beautiful _Americana_, and +had been doing a great deal of thinking of late. The reason for her +coming might not be Don Felipe at all, but Captain Forest, the grand +Señor. Who could say? The ways of the Americano, the _gringo_, were so +different from theirs. Everything they did was exactly opposite to their +way of thinking and doing things. No well-bred, unmarried Spanish woman +would dare take tea alone with a man unless they were engaged. + +The signs of autumn were visible on every hand. The long, languid, +summer travail had ceased and the season of dreams begun. Though the sky +was a clear steel-blue overhead, the horizon was veiled in a thin blue +haze into which the landscape and distant objects seemed to fade and +lose themselves. Filmy threads of gossamer floated through the air, +suffused with a soft golden glow. Most of the birds had ceased to sing +and the drone of insects became less persistent, as if fearful to +disturb the hush and calm that pervaded the land. + +Captain Forest noticed, as he seated himself at the table opposite +Blanch, that the golden glow in her hair was almost a perfect match to +the shafts of sunlight which sifted down upon her through the branches +of the trees overhead. And he wondered at his resisting powers--why the +spell of her fascination no longer held him as of old, not realizing +that his love for her had waned in the same proportion that he had grown +beyond her. The air of restraint which existed between them would have +been apparent even to a stranger, but Blanch had decided to dissipate +this feeling if possible. She laughed and chatted as though entirely at +her ease, as though nothing had ever come between them; making sarcastic +remarks on the customs of the country; calling into requisition all the +blandishments and fascinations which a woman of her intelligence and +attraction was capable of exercising upon a man. Every word, every look +and gesture fell upon him like a caress. She flattered, cajoled and +contradicted him, employing that subtle, deceptive art of refined +coquetry to which a sensitive nature like the Captain's was most +susceptible. Nor were its effects lost upon him; they were soon both at +their ease. She was the old Blanch again; the girl and companion of his +youth--the woman of yesterday. + +The struggle that was being fought out inch by inch between her and +Chiquita was drawing swiftly to its close, and must end as abruptly as +it began. She had only begun to realize what the full significance of +love meant in the hour that she felt the loneliness occasioned by the +lack of it. She had miscalculated. She thought she was stronger than +Captain Forest, but could she have cared for him had he been a weaker +man? It was his strength which she both loved and hated, and deep down +in her heart she knew full well that, were he weaker than herself, she +must have ended by despising him. She, like Chiquita, was fighting for +her life, her very existence so to speak; but of course he did not +divine the full significance of the struggle--what it meant to them +both; no man could. + +"Does the charm of this land still continue to hold you, Jack?" she +asked carelessly, passing him a cup of tea. + +"More than ever," he answered, lighting a cigarette and wondering what +she was leading up to. + +"Don't you think you have had about enough of it?" she continued, with +just a shade of sarcasm in her voice. "You have had a royal vacation and +I'm glad you have enjoyed yourself so thoroughly, but, honestly, don't +you think it's about time you were returning to your work again, to the +world to which you belong, of which you are a part and from which, in +spite of all effort and argument, you cannot possibly separate yourself? +You know, I never could take your idea seriously, Jack," she added, with +increasing confidence, addressing him as one would a naughty child. He +only smiled by way of reply, and quietly blew a ring of smoke into the +air. + +"I see you are as obstinate and determined as ever," she continued +rather petulantly. "Don't be overconfident though; you might fail, you +know, and failure is always discouraging--it involves such a waste of +time." + +"If I do, it will be the first time I have failed." He was about to +continue, but checked himself. They were getting on dangerous ground. +She understood his inference and colored and smiled. For some time +neither spoke. A gold leaf, one of the first heralds of autumn, dropped +silently down from the bough overhead to the center of the table. He +took another sip of tea. + +"Jack," she said at length, raising her eyes from her hands in her lap +where she toyed with her fan, "supposing a position were offered you, +one quite worth your while, would you return? Not immediately, but +later on, when you have grown a little tired of playing at the game of +life? In six months, say--or even a year if you like?" Her whole +attitude and expression had changed, and a look of pleading and +expectancy shone from her eyes. Again he smiled. What was she driving +at? he asked himself. + +"I'm afraid it will be longer than that, Blanch," he answered. "Besides, +what position could possibly be open to me? You know, my name is struck +from the lists. At least, it ought to be if it isn't." + +"Possibly," she answered. "But, if you cared enough, there might be +another chance!" + +"What do you mean?" he interrupted, regarding her curiously. In reply, +she quietly drew an official document from her bosom and handed it to +him across the table without a word. He colored, and she saw that his +hand trembled slightly, betraying the emotion he felt as he opened the +envelope and glanced hastily over its contents. "The Ministry to +Turkey--Blanch!" he gasped, regarding her in astonishment. + +"Yes," she answered nervously, watching closely the effect the news had +upon him. "I received it a week ago. The President knows how clever you +are, Jack, and has promised to keep the position open for you if you +will consent to accept it. You know, he always had a warm place in his +heart for you." + +"Blanch!" he said again, overcome by emotion. And laying the document +down upon the table in front of him he rose to his feet. + +"Turkey, Jack, is but a step to London, St. Petersburg, Berlin or +Paris," she said softly, looking up at him and catching her breath in +the effort to conceal her excitement. "It is yours, Jack, if you wish +it. Understand," she resumed, lowering her gaze and running her slender +white hand slowly back and forth over the edge of her half-open fan, +"that it is yours without reservation. You are under no obligations. +Turkey and--I are two different things," she added slowly and with +difficulty, without looking up; her neck and face turning a deep +scarlet. She felt the intensity of his blazing eyes upon her. + +"Blanch!" he cried, and this time there was a note of anger in his +voice. "Don't think me ungrateful, I beg of you. I appreciate what you +have done, and I thank you with my whole heart, but--I can't do it, +Blanch!" + +"Jack!" she cried, throwing off the mask and springing to her feet. "I +can't stand it any longer! I can't see you wreck your life in this way! +Can't you see the folly you are committing? Don't think me presumptuous; +that I am trying to meddle, interfere in your life. I am merely trying +to save you from yourself! It's your last chance, Jack. Go back again +and never mind me; I've nothing to do with it! I can easily understand +how this life can have a certain fascination for you, but only for a +time; it can't last. The more I see of it, the more I'm convinced that +I'm right. What's the use of mincing words, fencing about the truth any +longer? I understand--I've seen it from the first. It's not this life, +but the woman that holds you!" she cried abruptly and passionately, +almost fiercely, betraying her jealousy. + +"Don't wreck your life and happiness before it is too late. You must +tire of her as inevitably as you will tire of this life, and what then? +Can't you see that, when you have exhausted the glamour, and the +fascination of things is gone, she would no longer be a companion to +you? The difference between you--your lives, your world and hers, is too +great. It is insurmountable--impassable! What can she know of the world +which you and I know, to which you belong? Of another race, another +blood, she must ever remain an alien, a thing apart from yourself; there +can never be a true affinity between you. She is a savage--an aborigine +sprung from the soil. The tinsel and veneer of civilization which she +has acquired doesn't change her and can't endure. She is still a savage +in spite of it, the product of savage ancestry living close to the soil. +The simplicity and glamour and freedom of this life casts a spell over +one and attracts one of your adventurous nature, sated with the +pleasures and luxuries of our world, but will the spell last? Once you +have exhausted the simple, elemental joys of such a life, it must become +irksome, mere animal existence, unbearable, positive boredom to you. +That in her which attracts you now must inevitably become commonplace in +time and repel you. You could not endure that, Jack; you who are evolved +through thousands of generations from a higher, superior race. Your +reason and instinct must tell you that. + +"Jack!" she cried in a fresh outburst, "we were made for one another! +How can she, an Indian, the product of savagery, understand you who are +of a different race, the product of civilization? Your soul can never +find the full response in hers that it can in mine. I know I was +foolish--call it willful rather than foolish--the instinct that is born +in me to command. I should not have let you go. I should have consented +to share the life you proposed, but I did not believe you were in +earnest; I did not think it would last. Besides, how could you have +expected me to understand? It was too much; you had no right to ask it +of me then. I thought, of course, you would come back to me again, Jack; +I waited for that. Can't you understand? But you didn't come back, and I +repented of my mistake a thousand times. We all make mistakes, Jack!" + +His manhood revolted against being compelled to listen to her +confession, her pleading. It was undignified, cowardly. It disgusted him +and he hated himself for it, but what could he do? + +"Don't say that, Blanch," he answered gently. "It is I who should ask +forgiveness. I know it was too much to ask you to share such a life with +me, but I did not realize it at the time. I wronged you, I know. I would +gladly make reparation if I knew how." + +"Oh! none of that virtuous, good-humored acquiescence, Jack! I want you +to forget everything, all but the days before it happened, when you +loved me--when you swore that your love was as constant as the stars! +Have you forgotten your oath? To be true to yourself, Jack, you must +forget!" She paused. It was the first frank utterance she had made since +her coming; and, for the time being, she seemed to have forgotten her +resentment toward him. + +"I have not changed, Jack," she went on. "I am the same as then; I only +did not understand you. How could I have guessed that which lay buried +within you, those latent ideals and conceptions of life which you +yourself were ignorant of? But I understand you now, Jack. It was the +foolish conceit of the girl's heart that caused me to forget what I owed +you; but now it is the woman who speaks, who bares her soul to you, +brimming full of love and passion and tenderness for the man she loves +and longs to protect--the woman who loves as the girl could never have +loved, Jack." + +The light that shone from her eyes bespoke the voice of her conscience; +told him that she at least spoke the truth. Never had she appeared more +beautiful, more fascinating and alluring than at this moment, as she +stood before him, flushed and radiant and trembling with passion, +confused and indignant and ashamed; the woman rebelling within her at +being thus forced to lay bare her soul, make confession before the man +she loved. It was cruel and he knew it. Her words were like +knife-thrusts at his heart, filling his soul to its depths with sympathy +and compassion for her, and bitterness and loathing for himself. + +The vision of yesterday with its gay scenes which he had cast aside, +rose before him again. Its seductive allurements swept over him with +redoubled force like a great compelling wave, filled with music and +light and laughter, the false, seductive charms of which their present +surroundings knew naught. The magic of her voice, her face, her touch +had lost none of its charm. He felt her fascination still, in spite of +himself and the bitterness of former days which he had cherished in his +heart against her. The lure of the old life was strong upon him. He +felt the hot blood rush to his face and heart; his being surged. She had +been a part of his life, they had grown up together, and do what he +would, her presence brought him face to face again with certain +realities, with the old life which he thought was dead but which was not +yet buried. When he looked upon her, he heard the old familiar sounds of +the sea, of music and siren-voices of civilizations in their +decay--breathed again the intoxicating atmosphere of that exotic, +voluptuous, sensuous existence in which he had been reared and had +lived, and with which he was saturated and from which he was striving to +escape. But when he thought of Chiquita, he heard the murmur of forests +and waters and saw the broad expanse of the plains and the wild crags +and peaks that rear their heads heavenward, above which the eagles soar. +Nature beckoned with widespread arms to her child to come--the manhood +within him cried for release, for the recognition of the individual's +right to self-assertion. + +Poets have sung of the raptures of first love, but was Blanch really his +first love? The true first love is only that man or woman who can cause +one to forget oneself. Somewhere deep down in our souls there's a +something which sleeps until that hour when it suddenly bursts into +flame, as it were, and the new man is born within us; and this is what +had happened to him, though all unknown to himself, at the time when he +first beheld Chiquita riding alone in the hills. In an instant his soul +was aflame. He thrilled at the sight of her as she turned and rode away +in the dusk, and felt like crying out to her to stop; that she was his, +that she had been his from the beginning of time and he likewise hers; +that he had been searching for her down the ages and had found her at +last. All this and much more flashed through his mind as he gazed upon +the beautiful vision of Blanch before him and felt the charm of her +presence slowly creeping over him and fastening itself upon him in spite +of his resistance like the subtle, mysterious influence of music or rich +old wine. + +For some time he seemed uncertain how to act or what to say. She noted +it. His hesitation inspired her with fresh courage, causing her face and +eyes to shine with the radiance of hope, dazzlingly beautiful. Her +breath came quick and fast as she drew nearer to him and then seemed to +cease altogether as she waited for his answer. All this he too noticed, +and felt himself weakening under her spell. The suspense was as terrible +for him as for her. A thousand memories rose from out the past and began +pulling at his heart-strings. Inch by inch he felt himself slowly +slipping back into the old life again, like a boat that has slipped her +moorings and glides silently and almost imperceptibly out into the +easy-flowing current. The struggle grew more intense within him as the +minutes passed. Great beads of perspiration broke out upon his brow as +he listened to those voices whose sweetness and intensity increased with +his hesitancy--those voices beneath whose charm and spell the strongest +men have succumbed in the past. + +"Blanch," he said at last, hoarsely and almost in a whisper, "it takes a +better man than I to say 'no' to you, and I don't say it. But I have +changed." The mere fact of speaking and the sound of his voice seemed +to recall him to himself, to the realization of where he was and what he +was doing. He felt that he was still master of himself and his +confidence slowly returned. "I know you can't understand," he continued. +"But somehow, I seem to have grown beyond you." + +"Jack," she said, drawing still closer and laying her hand upon his arm +and looking up into his face, "I know you have had more experience than +I have had, but don't imagine that you have grown beyond me. Your ideas +have caused me to think. I, too, have grown since we last parted. If you +can give up the world, so can I. If you will not return again to the +world with me, I'll remain here with you. I'll do anything you say!" she +cried in passionate surrender. "My body is soft perhaps in comparison to +hers, but I'm strong. I'll soon be as strong as you or she and be all +the more to you, infinitely more to you than she can ever be. I know I +did you a great wrong in the past, Jack, but let me make up for it now. +It is my privilege, my debt to you, and your duty to let me do it. You +have no right to break your promise to me, Jack. You can't. Your manhood +must tell you that it is as sacred now as the day you gave it to me, and +I hold you to it. I'll show you a love you have never known--can never +know without me!" She drew still closer, laying her other hand upon his +shoulder caressingly; her arm almost encircling his neck. He felt her +warm, fragrant breath upon his lips and the thrilling, magnetic touch of +her body, vibrating and pulsating with passion and emotion. How soft and +voluptuous and tempting and alluring that body and presence were! It +was as though the spices and perfumes and sunshine of far away, mythical +Cathay had suddenly descended upon him and enveloped him. + +"Jack," she continued, "we have always been comrades, pals; we were made +for one another! We are one in thought now as much as we ever were--more +than we ever have been!" + +He knew this to be false; that he possessed a grip on life which she did +not; that he had passed far beyond her since they had last parted. She +had had her opportunity and had thrown it away. It was too late. She +could not follow him now, she had missed the psychological moment. Even +had she cast her lot with his in the beginning, he knew that she never +could have followed him. She was immeshed; her feet were caught in the +net. The blandishments of life had taken too deep root in her soul for +her to cast them forth as he had done. And yet his conscience smote him +for her sake, for what she suffered, that she was thus forced to +humiliate herself before him. Sentiment and old memories surged up +within him and urged him to keep her. What, after all, did it matter +where or how they lived? The world would go on its way the same as it +had always done; it didn't wish to be reformed and wasn't worth +reforming. + +"Take her! take her!" cried those voices more persistently than ever. +"Don't be a fool and miss this opportunity which, once gone, shall pass +out of your life forever. She's as beautiful and as brilliant as the +other woman; one of your own race and, after all, will wear as well. +Besides, you know her and you don't know the other woman, and if +disappointed in the latter--what then? Take her!" + +The vision of Glaire's wonderful conception, "The Lost Illusions," rose +before him. He saw again that exquisite figure of the Egyptian, strong +and sensitive, in the prime of manhood, seated upon the shore of the +Nile, watching the bark of destiny laden with the fair illusions of +youth, draw slowly away from him and grow fainter and fainter in the +soft, mellow light of age, as it floated away on the evening tide of +life. He, too, stood in the prime of manhood. Was this to be his end, +mocked and laughed at by fate--the price he must pay for daring to lift +his eyes from the dust to the stars to fulfill the dream of the ages? +God knew how he had fought against the invisible power that had driven +him on step by step to his present state. He looked down into the +beautiful upturned face of the woman before him whom he had known so +long, whom he had loved and adored; gazed deep into those soft, azure +eyes, limpid as two crystal pools, saw those full red upturned lips +waiting to be kissed--kissed. Again her lips parted. + +"Jack, Jack, Sweetheart, I'm waiting--" she murmured softly, encircling +his neck completely with her arm and drawing his face gently down to her +own. Just then the rhythmic silvery whir of wings caused them to look +upward. Through the boughs of the tree they saw the indistinct form of a +white dove that fluttered overhead for an instant and then was gone. At +the same moment Captain Forest distinctly recognized the scent of +Castilian roses, as though their fragrance had been wafted full in his +face by a breeze, and yet there was no breeze, nor were there any roses +close at hand; the season of roses had passed. + +No man could have resisted for long the fascinations of a woman like +Blanch Lennox if she chose to make love to him. It was the sound of +those wings and the fragrance of the roses that upheld Captain Forest's +resolution; especially the fragrance of the roses. Whence it came or how +it originated, who could say? For it came and passed like a mere breath. +Perhaps the invisible angel who, it is said, presides over the destiny +of the individual, caused it; for with it flashed the vision of Chiquita +before his eyes as he had seen her on that day in the garden among the +roses and had silently watched her from the back of his horse and +breathed deep drafts of the flowery fragrance. The same subtle, +invisible something that has changed the destiny of individuals and of +nations through all the ages, caused him to remember, recalled him to +himself. The manhood surged up within him, asserting its supremacy, and +he drew himself up with a sudden impulse. She noted the change, and in a +fierce, passionate voice, almost of terror, cried: "Jack, you are mine, +you have always been mine! I will not give you up--I claim my own!" and +she flung her arms passionately about his neck in an endeavor to draw +his lips down to her own. + +"I can't--I can't do it, Blanch!" he said, and shook himself free. With +a cry, terrible in its intensity and despair, she sank across the +table. + + + + +XXVIII + + +Pale and trembling and humiliated, Blanch pulled herself together with +an effort and stood for some time as one dazed where the Captain had +left her. Then, she remembered, she had smiled and bowed absently to the +men and women in the _patio_ on the way back to her room, where she +flung herself down upon the couch in a frenzy, burying her face in the +cushions; her frame shaking with passionate, convulsive sobs as she +writhed in paroxysms of untold grief and pain. + +He had refused her, dared to refuse her--her! She had failed! Was this, +then, the end, the reward for righteous ambition, conscientious +endeavor? For years she had worked and schemed for the realization of +her ideal, and this was the end. How proud she always had been of him, +and how perfectly her beauty and brilliancy would have crowned his +career--their lives! And now, when ambition's goal was attained, that +rare cup of earthly joys of which few men drink, had been rudely dashed +from her lips. + +So this was the reward that had been reserved for her who had been +endowed with wealth and position, and who was the fairest and best this +civilization could produce? Fate had been kind to her merely in order +that she might realize to the utmost the bitterness and emptiness of +life. + +Life--what did it mean, what did it hold for her now? She knew as well +as Captain Forest did that, strong though she was, she was nevertheless +too weak to share with him the life he had chosen. Civilization and +culture had prepared her for everything but that; the one vital +essential which nature alone can give to man was lacking. After all she +was but a poor, helpless creature, incapable of meeting and being +satisfied with the simple demands occasioned by the natural conditions +of man's surroundings. Neither could she return to the old life again, +now that it was shorn of its vital interest, and year after year cast +her bread upon the waters in the uncertain pursuit of happiness, only to +reap the harvest of dead-sea fruit that is ever borne in on the shallow +tides of worldliness. + +She recognized in herself the victim of a system of lies and frauds, a +world of artificiality, deceit and tawdry tinsel, a life which, in spite +of the good it contains, makes weaklings of men. Thanks to her +bringing-up, the sunland of love, that valley of the earthly paradise, +was closed to her forever. She cursed this world of hypocrisy and +deception and all it contained--her friends and acquaintances and the +memory of her father and mother, who unabashed, had perverted the pure, +unsullied gaze of the child, directed its steps in the paths trodden by +its degenerate forefathers, taught it to regard falsehood in the light +of truth. + +Let the world cry out in protest--say they did their best. The world +lies, and knows it lies. They did not do their best. They followed the +dictates of selfishness, despicable, inherent weakness. But why had +this come to her who had been a willing instrument, who had lent +herself to the dictates of this world and who, of all others, was the +most fit to grace it? + +"I curse you--curse you!" she cried aloud, springing to her feet in a +fresh paroxysm and frenzy, flinging her clenched hands aloft, her +features livid with rage. But what did her mingled transports of grief +and pain and anger avail her? There was no redress, no appeal from the +decision of destiny. It was fate, and she had been singled out for the +sacrifice. Again she cried out in agony of heart and soul. Had she been +strong like the other woman, he must have loved her--his love never +could have died! + +The thought of Chiquita brought her to herself in a measure, and as she +slowly began to pace the floor, Don Felipe's words came back to her. If +she did not possess Jack, no other woman should. Besides, she knew what +he did not know--that even if he wished to, he could not marry Chiquita. +A grim smile flitted across her countenance as the knowledge of this +fact flashed through her mind, the only ray of light in the chaos into +which she had been plunged by that misguided, luckless decision on her +part--her refusal to follow the Captain while he was still hers. + +She knew it was purely revenge that had prompted Don Felipe to run her +rival's secret to earth, and she despised him for it. It was not so with +her--the thought of revenge had not entered into her calculations. But +neither Chiquita nor the Captain would escape. It was justice, nothing +more nor less; for they, too, like her, stood before the tribunal of +destiny and must bow to its decrees the same as she had been forced to +bow to them. Yes, she would give the signal to Don Felipe that night; it +was the only right thing to do. + +She was calmer now, and when Rosita knocked lightly at her door and +entered the room to assist her in dressing for the evening, no one would +have suspected the ache at her heart or the storm-swept soul which her +calm exterior concealed. + + + + +XXIX + + +Padre Antonio sat before the open window in his living-room in a large, +comfortable chair, enjoying the beauty of the evening and the fragrance +of the last flowers in the garden, waiting for Chiquita to complete her +toilet. + +It was one of those soft, balmy autumnal evenings, and gave promise of a +night of majesty and serenity when the moon rose in her full glory to +hold her silent watch over the earth once more. It was sweet to live on +such a day as this, when all the world seemed at peace; and what a +perfect night for the _fandango_. Presently the sound of light footsteps +and the soft rustle of a dress interrupted the train of his thoughts, +causing him to turn from the window to Chiquita, who, attired in her +ball dress, entered the room and paused before him. + +There was not an inharmonious touch in her attire of soft creamy satin +and lace, richly embroidered with golden flowers. Delicate filmy threads +of gold intersected the heavy white Valenciennes lace mantilla attached +to her high silver comb, etched in gold and studded with diminutive +diamonds, which sparkled in the light like dew in the sunshine. Her +white satin slippers and silk stockings, like her corsage and _saya_, +were also delicately worked in gold. A sheaf of golden poppies adorned +one side of her head, nestling close down upon her neck and shoulder in +the folds of her jet black hair. She presented a truly striking +appearance, and Padre Antonio gazed long and silently at her, his keen +eyes scanning her critically from head to foot in an effort to detect a +fault. + +How he loved his little girl! It almost seemed as though she were +endowed with something more than earthly beauty. In her the strength and +grace of the deer and panther were blended with the ethereal delicacy +and beauty of the flower. But it was her face that bespoke the luminous +nature of the soul which dwelt within her. So close was the bond of +sympathy and mutual understanding between them, that she instinctively +half divined his thoughts and it gave her courage. + +"Will I do, Padre _mio_?" she asked with a slight hesitancy, smiling and +looking down at him inquiringly. The question was so characteristic of +her that he could only smile in response. + +"Chiquita _mia_--there's one thing lacking," he said at length, the +far-away, dreamy look fading from his eyes. + +"Something lacking?" she repeated in surprise, turning and casting an +involuntary glance at the small mirror on the wall opposite in a vain +effort to catch a full view of herself. + +"Yes, Señorita," he answered knowingly, almost mysteriously. "But it's +not your fault. It sometimes takes the discerning eye of a man to +perceive what a woman's toilet lacks." + +What can it be, she asked herself, looking wonderingly and inquiringly +up into his face, and then turning to follow him with her gaze as, +without further comment, he left the room and slowly ascended the stairs +to his study on the floor above. He paused for an instant on entering +the room, then walked straight to his desk at the other end; a large +upright piece of furniture of ancient pine made in the mission style and +stained dark to represent oak, which, owing to its age, it closely +resembled. Pulling out the middle drawer, he pushed back a secret panel +on the inside, disclosing an opening in the back of the desk from which +he drew a small sandalwood box which, on being opened, contained a +silver casket, richly chased and of an antique design. + +Years had elapsed since he last looked upon it, and he regarded it +curiously for some moments as he held it in his hands. Then setting it +down upon the desk, he turned the small key which unlocked it and raised +the lid, disclosing its contents, which consisted of a fan, a bracelet +of six strands of large pearls with a diamond clasp in the shape of a +crown, and a long, magnificent necklace of still larger pearls, also +composed of six strands, like the bracelet, and a large diamond slide +also in the shape of a crown. The fan was one of those exquisite, +daintily hand-painted French creations of ivory, lace and vellum of a +century gone by. On one of the outer ribs was also a small diamond crown +and on the other was traced a name in letters of gold. A delicate +fragrance like that of withered rose leaves escaped the casket, and, as +he silently contemplated its contents, his gaze fell upon the name on +the fan--Chiquita Pia Maria Roxan Concepcion Salvatore--the name was +much longer, but his eyes dimmed--he could read no further. + +Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands and was in the act of +pressing his lips to its contents, when he caught sight of a crucifix on +the desk in front of him, causing him to pause, cross himself reverently +and lower the casket again. + +[Illustration: "Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands."] + +Who was Padre Antonio? Involuntarily his thoughts traveled back over the +stream of years when, as a youth of twenty, he bade farewell to old +Spain forever and with a heavy heart set forth alone to find God and +peace in the wilderness of the new world. Fifty years had passed since +then and with them, the secret and tragedy of his life lay buried. + +He heaved a deep sigh and, picking up the casket, turned toward the +door. Chiquita listened to the sound of his footsteps as he slowly +descended the stairs, and gazed in wonderment at the casket he held in +his hand when he reëntered the room. Without a word, he deposited it +upon the table in the center of the room and, raising the lid, displayed +its contents to the dazzled eyes of his ward. Never had she beheld such +wonderful jewels--what did it mean? + +"Padre _mio_!" she gasped, her eyes wandering questioningly from the +casket to his face, which appeared a little paler than when he left the +room but a few minutes before. + +"I never imagined that another woman would ever be created worthy to +wear them," he said quietly, picking up the bracelet and fastening it +about her left wrist, and winding the necklace twice round her throat, +the ends falling down over her bosom to her waist. "May God's blessing +forever rest upon you, my child," he added, making the sign of the cross +above her, and stooping, he kissed her lightly on the forehead. + +Involuntarily her hand went out for the fan, and as her eyes fell on the +name upon it, her woman's instinct told her all. + +"Padre--Padre _mio_!" she cried, and throwing her arms about his neck, +burst into a passionate flood of tears on his breast. + +"There, there, my child!" he said at last, regaining his accustomed +composure. "I now know why I was never able to part with them--not even +to the Church. I was keeping them for you." + +"But I'm not worthy to wear them, Padre!" she exclaimed. + +"Tut, tut!" he replied. "The ways of God are past all understanding. +When I think of how you came to me unsought and unbidden, and now, how +Captain Forest of a different race--" + +"Oh, Padre, do you think I stand a chance of winning him?" she +interrupted, looking inquiringly up into his face as if to read the +answer there. + +"Ah! that is a difficult question, my child. Love and intrigue are such +uncertain quantities to deal with, you know. Yet it seems strange that +he should have come into your life at this juncture. Captain Forest," he +went on after a pause, "is a great man. As you know, we have talked much +together of late on that most interesting of all topics--life. And it +seems to me that if ever God had plainly indicated his wish, you have +been reserved for one another to perform his will. Of course, I can not +say this for a certainty, but it appears so to me, and to see your hands +and hearts joined together will be the crowning joy of my life--" +Suddenly his left hand went to his heart, where he experienced a sharp +pain. A dizziness seized him, causing him to lean heavily upon her for +support. + +"Padre _mio_--what is it?" she cried in alarm. "You are not well! We'll +not go to the _fiesta_ to-night--'tis better we remain at home!" + +"It's nothing--nothing, my child," he answered, after the dizziness had +passed. "It's only a slight attack of indigestion, like the one I had +last summer while engaged in the mission work. You know," he added +lightly, "I'm no longer as young as I was--such things must be +expected." All day long she had experienced a dread of impending +disaster which she could not shake off, and which she naturally +connected with Don Felipe. But why go to the _Posada_ that evening if +Padre Antonio was not feeling well--there would be other days. + +Again she protested and urged him to remain at home, but in vain--he +would not hear of it. + +"It will do me good to go," he said, helping her on with her long white +silk Spanish mantle, embroidered with gold and lace to match her dress. +Then, drawing on his black silk gloves, he picked up his hat and stick, +and they passed out into the garden and through the tall iron gate, +turning their steps in the direction of the _Posada_. + + + + +XXX + + +The garden and _patio_ of the _Posada_ were hung with many lanterns +whose light, in addition to that of the stars and the full moon, made +them appear as bright as day. + +Mrs. Forest maintained a frigid attitude toward the world throughout the +evening. Inwardly she longed to be gay like the others, but prudery and +short-sightedness, the fruits of her training, prevailed, effectually +debarring her from all enjoyment and leaving her cold and isolated like +one afflicted with the plague. Could she have followed the dictates of +her wishes, she would have remained within the seclusion of her room +during the entire evening, but not being able to reconcile such a course +with the duties of a chaperon, she was obliged to appear. If _noblesse +oblige_ demanded that she should sacrifice herself, suffer the martyred +isolation of patience on a monument, then be it so! + +As for Colonel Van Ashton, he had suffered long enough. He secretly +despised his sister's prudery though he dared not acknowledge it. +Anything to break the infernal monotony! He welcomed this occasion of +mild revelry with sensations akin to those of a boy's during the advent +of a circus in his town. Of all the State and grand social functions in +which he had participated, not one, so far as he could remember, had +ever inspired him with such anticipations. An indescribable joy and +spirit of recklessness, born of desperation, filled him, and he silently +vowed that he would drink to the moon that night even though there might +perchance be blood upon it. + +Owing to the attack of dizziness which had occasioned a slight delay, +Padre Antonio and his ward were the last of the guests to arrive. Low +murmurs and suppressed exclamations escaped the Spanish element of the +assembly as Chiquita entered the _patio_ on the padre's arm. If they had +been enraptured by the beauty of Blanch and Bessie and loud in their +praises of their jewels and exquisite gowns, they were crushed by +Chiquita's appearance, clad as she was in white and gold, a dress they +had never seen before, and adorned with jewels, the magnificence of +which they had not dreamed. + +At last the mystery of the golden _pesos_ was solved--the jewels of +course! A great weight slipped from the souls of the Spanish women as +they gazed in envy and amazement upon the person they hated most in all +the world. + +Happy, blissful ignorance--thrice blessed by the gods were they! Those +golden _pesos_ would not have purchased a single strand in her bracelet, +while as to the necklace, its value would have purchased the entire +_Posada_ and many broad acres besides. Don Felipe and the Americans had +seen such jewels before in the world of fashion, but how came Chiquita +by them? Who was she? Blanch and Bessie began asking themselves. That +she had timed her entrance well, all admitted; though in reality she had +thought nothing about it--chance had favored her, that was all. +Interesting though the subject under discussion had become, there was +little time left the company for further speculation before Juan Ramon, +the major-domo, announced supper. + +The musicians struck up a lively Spanish air. The night was mild and +soft, the stars and moon glittered overhead, the wine flowed and the +sounds of laughter and gay, merry voices echoed throughout the _patio_. +The company sat long at the tables, tempted by innumerable dainties, and +encouraged and soothed by the wine, the night and soft strains of music. +Not even in the old days had the _Posada_ witnessed a gayer scene. +Indeed, for the time being, they had returned like a far-off echo of +those times when Doña Fernandez reigned supreme in her beauty and men +admired and flattered and paid homage to her. Little wonder she sighed +in the midst of the gayety and alternately flushed and paled as her +thoughts traveled back over the years. + +Don Felipe was in an exultant mood. That morning his horse had stumbled +and later, while dressing for the evening, a bat flitted in and out of +his room through the open window. The fact that these two signs of ill +omen did not affect a mind ordinarily subject to the influence of +superstition, showed the state of his confidence. He drank freely of the +wine and laughed and talked incessantly. What an opportunity to spring +the trap he had laid for Chiquita! + +"If Captain Forest proposes to her to-night, she'll never lift her eyes +to the world again," he whispered to Blanch beside whom he sat. + +"What do you propose doing?" she asked. + +"Have patience," he answered, his face lighting up with an expression of +malicious joy. "Of course, it all depends whether you give the signal or +not." + +"I came here with the intention of doing so," she confessed. "But +everybody seems so happy. Why not let the evening pass pleasantly? It +would be a pity to mar its harmony." + +"Mere sentiment!" he replied. "Do you think she would show you such +consideration? I assure you, to-night is the time of all times!" There +was something so malicious, so weird in his tone and manner that she +shuddered as she listened to his words. In spite of her humiliation, her +bitterness and suffering, and her desire for retribution, she never +realized that one could find such sweet satisfaction in revenge as did +Don Felipe. The prospect of it filled him with a joy that seemed almost +devilish at times. + +At length the tables were cleared, and coffee, liqueurs, cigars and +cigarettes served, Blanch and Bessie, like the Spanish women, indulging +in the latter. In fact, everybody, with the exception of Mrs. Forest, +smoked. The musicians were ranged in a semicircle across the upper end +of the _patio_ opposite the garden and continued to render national and +Spanish airs upon their instruments while the company smoked and sipped +coffee and liqueurs. And by the time the men had finished their first +cigars, the different artists, dancers and singers, who had been engaged +for the occasion, came forward and began to display their talent, +adding to the novelty and gayety of the evening. Considering the time +and the place, they did well enough in their way and were quite +picturesque and pleasing as a whole, but at no time did their +performance rise above the level of mediocrity, such as one was +accustomed to see anywhere in the world on the vaudeville stage. At the +end of an hour, Blanch felt that the moment had arrived to ask Chiquita +to dance. So, without imparting her intention to any one, she rose from +her chair and walked over to where Chiquita sat conversing with the +Captain and Don Agusto Revera, Alcalde of Santa Fé. + +"We have heard so much about your dancing, Señorita," she began, +interrupting the conversation. "Won't you favor us with a dance +to-night?" + +"A dance?" repeated Chiquita with a little start of surprise, the +request coming from Blanch was so unexpected. She seemed confused, and +her face wore a troubled look. "I would rather not," she said at length, +glancing nervously about her at the company. She had heard the cruel +things that had been said of her of late and knew how ready those +present would be to criticize her anew. + +"Do dance, Señorita; just to please me, if for nothing else," persisted +Blanch. + +"To please you?" repeated Chiquita. A peculiar light came into her eyes +and she smiled as though pleased by the request. + +"I hope I'm not asking too much?" continued Blanch. Again Chiquita +smiled. + +"Do you know," she answered with warmth, "there's only one thing in this +world I wouldn't do for you?" and she laughed lightly, nervously opening +and closing her fan the while. Again she glanced around at the company, +wavering between assent and refusal. In the faces of the women she read +the jealousy and envy which filled their hearts toward her, and it was +perhaps that, not Blanch's request, which decided her to dance. + +"Yes, Señorita," she said at length. "I'll dance for you this night--for +you only!" she repeated with emphasis. Yes, she would dance as she had +never danced before; for would not the most critical eye in the world be +watching her? It was worth while. Blanch gave a little laugh as she +returned to her seat by the side of Don Felipe. + +Ah! the wiles of woman--subtle and illusive as a breath or a shadow--the +one thing her own sex fears most! Blanch knew that if there was a common +streak in her rival, it would be brought out in the glaring reality of +the dance, and the Captain should see it. She knew he could never marry +any one but a lady, and this was her reason for asking Chiquita to +dance. She had in mind, of course, the performances she had just +witnessed, or, to be more exact, the contortions of the ballet and the +modern music-hall artist with which we are all so familiar; the inane +balancing and pirouetting on the toes, the heavy hip and protruding +stomach, quivering breasts and bellowing and frothing at the mouth, and +colored light effects and _risque_ posing in scant attire, coupled with +a display of attractive lingerie. But Blanch forgot, or rather did not +know, that she had to do with genius over whose individuality most men +are prone to trip. + +Chiquita's conception of plastic art was something different from vulgar +Salome creations and the cheap spring-song and lolling and capering of +the fatted calf just alluded to. Had Don Felipe cherished a ray of hope +of reinstating himself in Chiquita's eyes, he would have done all in his +power to prevent her dancing, but, as matters stood, he welcomed it with +enthusiasm, for he knew that she would be irresistible--that Captain +Forest would be ravished by her enchanting creation and alluring beauty +as she glided through the intricate mazes of the dance in the moonlight. +He had felt that spell, and knew its irresistible charm. + +The announcement that Chiquita was going to dance caused a stir among +the company. A large dark blue Indian rug which shone black in the +moonlight, was brought from the living-room of the house by the servants +and spread out upon the _patio's_ pavement. A murmur of approbation +arose from the Mexicans when the first bars of music announced the dance +she had chosen. It was the famous "Andalusia"--the most difficult and +intricate of all Spanish-Moorish dances; the one in which few dancers +have ever excelled for the reason that its beauty lies not so much in +its intricacy of form as in the poetic conception and free +interpretation of the artist. Besides, the dance called for two parts, +obliging her to execute the part of her supposed partner as well. The +dance opened with the song of a Torero who had repaired in the dusk to +the hills overlooking Granada where dwelt his sweetheart. + +With a coquettish little laugh and toss of the head, she tossed her fan +to Captain Forest who caught it and held it in his hand as he would a +flower. Then, after some words of direction to the musicians, she +stepped upon the end of the rug nearest them, and to the amazement of +the Americans, lightly kicked off her slippers, displaying a pair of +small, slender, exquisitely formed feet and ankles. Only amateurs have +the courage to dance in shoes. Even that strict and stilted institution, +the ballet, was forced generations ago to break through its time-honored +traditions by abandoning heels as useless appendages. Had she been on +the stage, she would have danced in her bare feet as she had done on the +night of the _fiesta_ when Captain Forest had seen her. + +A smile rested on her face and she nodded her head lightly to the time +of the music as she stood erect in the full flood of moonlight, tall and +slender as a lily. + +"Thy face, Sweetheart, haunts me amid the dust and glare of the arena!" +she began in her deep rich contralto voice, at the first notes of which +everybody sat up straight and listened to the volume of swelling sounds +which filled the court and garden and floated away on the night. There +was no mistaking the fact, they were in the presence of an artist. + +"I await thee, Beloved, in the hills, in the hour of our tryst!" came +the far-away answer of the woman's voice, faint and plaintive as an +echo, soft and sweet and clear as the notes of the skylark, falling in +silvery, rippling cadences of melody from out the gold, blue vault of +heaven above. + + "Nearer and nearer love guideth our steps, + On the hills we shall dance, chant our song of + Delight 'neath the silvery stars and the + Mellow gold horn of the soft shining moon. + +"'Neath the silvery stars, and the mellow gold horn of the soft shining +moon," echoed the musical refrain and chorus of musicians. Nearer and +nearer drew the answering echoes of the lovers' voices until they met in +the hills and the dancing began. + +So realistic and dramatic was her rendering of the song, that the +listeners saw the progress of the lovers and felt the thrill and rapture +of their meeting. Up to this point she had held herself in abeyance, but +with the opening bars of the dance, she suddenly became transformed, +electrified. Her whole being became suffused with the vibrant, +passionate intensity of the South, and then they witnessed an exhibition +that was beautiful and wonderful in its poetic conception. + +A thrill of rapturous, exquisite emotion swept over them, as suddenly +and without warning, she threw back her head and sprang to the center of +the rug with a swift, whirling motion, the effect of which was like a +shower of sparks or a jet of glittering spray tossed unexpectedly into +the air from a fountain, expressive of the abandon and exuberance felt +by the lovers as they met in the dance. + +Again, without warning, she paused as abruptly as she began, and with +short, interluding snatches of song, slowly began to sway to the soft +rhythm of the music and sharp click of her castanets. First slowly, then +swifter and swifter she glided and whirled noiselessly in the +moonlight, graceful as a wind-blown rose, or suddenly paused, languid +and sensuous, according to the rhapsodic character of the dance when the +music ceased altogether and naught was heard save the plashing of the +fountain in the _patio_, the click of her castanets and the soft swish +of her silken _saya_ which seemed to whisper and sigh like a living +thing, like the mythical voices of Lilith's hair. Like a musician +transposing upon a theme, she introduced new and elaborate motives of +her own until, at a sign from her, the music took up the principal theme +of the dance once more. + +Captain Forest had seen practically all the great dancers of our time, +the Geisha and Nautch girls of the East, the Gypsies from Granada to St. +Petersburg, and the Bedouin women dance naked on the sands of the Sahara +beneath the stars while celebrating the sacred rites of their festivals, +but it soon became apparent that, all with few exceptions, were mere +novices in comparison, and stood in about the same relation to her as a +dilettante does to an artist. + +She lifted the dance above the portrayal of sensuous emotion into +the realms of poetry. The wild spirit of the Gypsy, captivating, +fresh and invigorating and compelling as the winds of the mighty +Sierras and plains of the land she inhabited, enveloped and animated +her. The rushing, whirling climaxes up to which she worked were +startling--tremendous. The subtle, hypnotic influence and witchery of +her presence filled her entire surroundings and so held and dominated +the spectators that they were swept irresistibly along with her as the +rhythm of the dance increased. She swayed and enthralled the +imagination and emotions with a supremacy akin to that of music or the +noblest landscape. The mastery of every motion, every fleeting +expression but increased the impression she endeavored to convey--the +intensity of life, vibrant, joyous life. + +The soft, rhythmic undulations of her graceful, sinuous body, vibrating +and pulsating with the ecstatic, rapturous emotion inspired by the music +and the dance, were a revelation of beauty. She became the living +expression of rhythm and grace as she paused for an instant before them, +scintillating and quivering like an aspen leaf, or glided and whirled +wraith-like, fragile and delicate and ethereal, wondrously lithe and +airy like films of gossamer or foam tossed up by the sea. The dance +itself seemed to fade into the background as their attention became +riveted upon her, and visions and vistas of life rose before the +imagination instead. + +She danced with her soul, not with her feet; became the living +incarnation of the ancients' conception of plastic creation, enchanting, +intoxicating. They heard the myriad voices of spring, the voices of +birds and insects and the sound of falling waters; beheld the Elysian, +flower-strewn fields of youth, recalling the immortal, fairy days of +childhood and with them their golden dreams, and experienced the +sweetness and bitterness of unfulfilled longings and aspirations of +later years. All felt that it was an event of a lifetime--one of those +hours that would never again return. + +The company gave vent to its emotion in alternate exclamations of +enthusiasm or sighs as it was swept irresistibly along by the buoyancy +and captivating creation of the dancer. Two bright tears stood in +Padre Antonio's eyes as he gazed upon the object of his love and pride. +Don Felipe forgot his hatred for the moment and gazed enraptured, +drinking in with eyes and soul the enchanting vision before him. The +heart of Blanch grew cold as ice as she, like the rest, looked on +entranced in spite of herself by the witchery of her rival, for she +knew she had blundered again, that she had lost, that Chiquita was +transformed--irresistible. The blood seemed to freeze in her veins as +the truth was borne in upon her. She longed to scream, to rush forward +and stop her--anything to break the spell, but in vain. Helpless and +immovable she was forced to look on; see the prize of life slip slowly +from her grasp. + +Again Captain Forest beheld the mighty expanse of mountain and plain, +heard the lashing of the sea and the myriad voices of the singing stars +as they whirled in their courses through space--listened to the chant of +life. Yes, she was the ideal, the living incarnation of nature, the +Golden Girl with the white starry flower on her breast who was awaiting +his coming, the woman of José's dream to whom he had been guided +unconsciously by the hand of the Unseen. No wonder he had failed to find +the place of his dreams; without knowing it, he had been waiting for +her. But now all was changed. The earth had become their footstool; the +old life had come to an end. + + + + +XXXI + + +A sigh of regret escaped the company as the dance ceased. Blanch turned +to speak to Don Felipe, but he was no longer by her side--he had +vanished. The musicians struck up a waltz. It was now the turn of the +guests to dance if they chose; a privilege of which they were not slow +to avail themselves. + +Captain Forest crossed over to where Chiquita sat, resting after the +exertion of the dance. + +"I'm sure you've had enough dancing this evening, Señorita," he said, +handing her her fan. "Let us go into the garden; it's quieter there." +His words filled her with a tumult of emotion. She realized that the +moment for which she had been waiting had arrived. She looked up at him +without replying, then rose from her seat, and the two quietly left the +_patio_, disappearing among the shrubbery and the shadows. + +Neither spoke. Each guessed the other's thoughts, and they walked on in +silence until they came to an open circular space surrounded by trees +and flooded by moonlight, where, as if moved by a common impulse, they +halted. Without a word he turned and silently folded her in his arms. + +"Jack--" she murmured. + +"Chiquita _mia_," he said at length, gazing down into her upturned face +where the dusk and the moon-fire met and blended in a radiance of +unearthly beauty, "is it not wonderful that, all unwittingly and +unconscious of each other's existence, we have been brought together +from the ends of the earth?" She was about to reply when a voice, close +at hand, cut her short. It was Don Felipe's. + +"A pretty sentiment, Captain Forest," he said, stepping out into the +light before them. "I wish I might congratulate you, but you will never +marry her." + +"How dare you!" cried the Captain furiously, advancing toward him with +flushed face and clenched hands. Chiquita started violently at the sound +of Don Felipe's voice. The apprehension of an impending catastrophe that +had oppressed her during the day, but which she had forgotten during the +excitement of the dance, again took possession of her. + +"I apologize most humbly for intruding on your privacy," answered Don +Felipe, meeting the Captain's gaze unflinchingly, "but as one who wishes +you well, I could not stand quietly by and see a man like you cunningly +tricked by this woman." + +"What do you mean?" asked the Captain, his eyes blazing and his voice +almost beyond control. + +"Chance or fortune, which ever you may choose to call it, has recently +placed certain information in my possession which will entirely preclude +any thought on your part of marrying her." What can he mean, Chiquita +asked herself. She had expected an attack on the Captain and was +prepared for it, but this--what was it? + +"You perhaps already know," continued Don Felipe coolly, "that this +woman and I were once betrothed to one another, but had I at that time +known what I now know of her, such a thing as a betrothal would have +been out of the question." + +"And this information?" interrogated the Captain. + +"It is very simple, Captain Forest," replied Don Felipe, slowly and +firmly. "The Señorita Chiquita is--the mother of a child." + +"The mother of a child?" cried Chiquita in astonishment. "You lie!" His +words were like a blow in the face to the Captain. For an instant the +world seemed to swim before his eyes, but only for an instant. Had he +rushed upon Don Felipe then and there as he felt impelled, it would have +been what the latter most wished him to do. He would have then had +sufficient provocation to kill him on the spot. But a lion never springs +before he has taken the measure of his leap. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez," said Captain Forest at length, in a hoarse, +half-audible voice, "unless you give me instant proof of what you say, +either you or I shall never leave this place alive! Understand," he +continued, "that when I ask you for proof, it is not because I doubt +this woman, but that your life and mine are at stake." + +"Well spoken, Captain Forest," returned Don Felipe. "'Tis the answer I +expected; the utterance of a gentleman, a _Caballero_! You shall have +the proof you desire--the living proof, Captain Forest," he added with +emphasis. + +"Proof?" exclaimed Chiquita in amazement. "Are you bereft of your +senses, Don Felipe Ramirez?" + +"Ah! you have played your part well these many years, Señorita. It is +now my turn to cut the cards. If you will return to the _patio_--" he +continued, turning to the Captain. + +"Why not here?" asked the latter. + +"Because the proof which you desire awaits you there." The Captain was +about to protest further, when Chiquita interposed. + +"Come!" she said, and without further words, turned and silently led the +way back to the _patio_ followed by Don Felipe and the Captain, the +latter scarcely able to control his desire to seize Don Felipe by the +throat and choke the breath out of his body. She knew that Don Felipe +had laid a most ingenious trap for her; that was to be expected. But +what form it would take, she was at a loss to divine until they reached +the _patio_; then it all came over her at once. She was to be publicly +accused. Don Felipe was capable of that, and she shuddered as she +pictured to herself the scene it would be certain to create. + +There was a pause in the dancing. The musicians were playing an +interlude, and as the three reëntered the _patio_, the eyes of all +present immediately became centered upon them. Just opposite to where +they halted sat Blanch and Padre Antonio, conversing together. + +"I would much prefer to spare you a public humiliation," said Don +Felipe, addressing the Captain in a low tone. "It is not too late. But +if you still insist on having the proof at this time--" + +"The proof by all means!" exclaimed Chiquita without giving the Captain +time to answer, her eyes blazing with indignation. + +"Very well, since you insist," replied Don Felipe, glancing for an +instant in the direction of Blanch. As he did so, both the Captain and +Chiquita noticed that she let fall, as if by accident, the pink rose she +held in her hand. Instantly Don Felipe turned and clapped his hands, +whereupon, an old Indian woman, bowed with age and supporting herself +with a stick, and accompanied by a pretty little Indian girl of five or +six years of age, emerged from one of the doors of the house and paused, +bewildered by the unusual sight that greeted their eyes; the lights and +flowers, the music and gayly dressed men and women. Chiquita started and +uttered a low cry as her gaze fell upon the old woman and the child. +Captain Forest noted the ashen hue of her face and felt her hand tremble +as she involuntarily clutched at his arm as if for support. Then she +suddenly seemed to recover her composure. + +"That?" she exclaimed, and began to laugh, almost hysterically. It was +evident to the others that something unusual had occurred. The music +suddenly ceased, and save for the murmur of the fountain in the center +of the court, not a sound was to be heard. All eyes were now turned upon +the old woman and the child who still stood silent and motionless, +gazing in bewilderment upon the strange scene before them. Suddenly the +child uttered a cry of joy. + +"Madre! Madre _mia_!" she cried, and running across the court, flung +herself into Chiquita's arms. Then it was that the latter grasped the +full significance and gravity of the situation. What could have been +more compromising and humiliating for her? + +[Illustration: "'Madre! Madre _mia_!' she cried, and flung herself into +Chiquita's arms."] + +"Marieta, _niña mia_!" she exclaimed, stooping and kissing the child, +without realizing that her words and action only compromised her the +more. + +"Is this the beautiful garden you told me of, Mother--which you said you +would one day take me to see?" asked the child, gazing delightedly about +her. + +"Yes, yes, _cara mia_!" she answered hastily, holding the child close to +her. Instinctively the others began to draw near the little group. + +"What brings you here, Juana?" she asked sternly of the old woman who by +this time had crossed the court and stood before her, leaning on her +stick. + +"They said you sent for us, Señorita, and compelled us to come." + +"I never sent for you!" answered Chiquita. + +"Do you wish for further proof?" asked Don Felipe, addressing the +Captain. "You see, the child found no difficulty in recognizing its +mother," he added sarcastically. + +"'Tis a lie!" cried Chiquita. Captain Forest was speechless, stunned. As +for Don Felipe, he only laughed at Chiquita's impotent rage. + +"Between five and six years ago," he began, "the Señorita and one +Joaquin Flores brought this child late one night to the Indian _pueblo_, +Onava, and placed it in charge of this woman with whom it has lived ever +since. Is it not so?" he asked, turning to the old Indian woman. + +"It is, Señor," she answered in confusion. + +"And has not the Señorita visited the child each month and provided for +its wants ever since the day it was given into your charge?" Again the +old woman answered in the affirmative. "And has not the child," +continued Don Felipe, "always called her mother ever since it has been +able to speak, and have you not always thought her to be its mother?" +The old woman hesitated and glanced nervously about her as though +seeking a way of escape. + +"Speak, Juana!" commanded Don Felipe sharply. "Onava lies within my +domain. Unless you speak the truth, I'll have you and the rest of your +family driven to the desert to starve." + +"It is so, Señor!" sobbed the old woman, thoroughly frightened by Don +Felipe's threat, yet not daring to raise her eyes to those of Chiquita. + +"You now know why the Señorita Chiquita danced in public during the +_Fiesta_. It was to provide for the wants of her child," he added with a +sneer. + +"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Captain Forest contemptuously, breaking +the long silence he had preserved. "The introduction of this child and +woman doesn't prove anything that I can see." + +"Every Indian in the village," interrupted Don Felipe, "will +substantiate what you have just heard. Why, the Señorita herself taught +this child to call her mother. But there are still other things which +you shall learn in due time." + +"Chiquita," said the Captain without heeding Don Felipe's words, "speak! +I know you can explain." She glanced up at him for a moment and then +cast her eyes down at the child. + +"I must first send to La Jara for Joaquin and Manuelita Flores," she +answered. "When they come, I shall be able to tell something definite +concerning this child." + +"You can spare yourself the trouble," broke in Don Felipe. "They are +both dead." + +"Dead?" she cried, starting violently. "Joaquin and Manuelita dead?" + +"Their bodies, together with those of their horses and wagon, were +discovered early this morning at the foot of the _mesa_ which lies +between here and La Jara, directly below the point where the road winds +along the rim of the cliff. Doubtless their horses became frightened in +the dark and jumped over the cliff before they could save themselves." + +Chiquita uttered a low cry. "You've done your work well, Don Felipe +Ramirez," she said at length, suddenly straightening and stiffening as +she faced him, the expression on her face changing to one of hatred and +contempt. + +"It was no easy task to run you to earth, I'll admit," he retorted with +the same sneering look of triumph on his countenance. + +The only two persons upon whom she could rely, who could corroborate +what she had to say concerning the child, were dead. No, there was one +other, a man, but he too was gone--no one knew where. She saw the +hopelessness of her plight. Nothing she could say or do could alter the +opinion of the world toward her. She might continue to deny the charge, +protest her innocence, accuse others, but to what avail? Without the +actual proof, all must believe that which they were so ready and willing +to believe. Had not the child recognized her, called her mother before +the world? Even though the charge might never be actually proven, and +Captain Forest refuse to believe it, there would always be this thing +between them which she could never explain satisfactorily. It was not +natural to suppose that he could possibly forget it or continue to +believe in her protestations of innocence without the corroboration of +others. The hour must surely come in which he would be assailed by +doubts. She felt she had lost him, and with the knowledge of her +failure, was seized with a sickening sensation and an acute pain at the +heart. A misty veil rose between her and the world and she swayed +unsteadily as though about to fall. She knew she must not faint. She +drew her hand across her eyes, then, putting all her remaining strength +into the effort, she slowly drew herself up. + +Strange, that she and Don Felipe should have been created to become the +nemesis of one another! The child, awed by the silence and grave faces +of the bystanders, instinctively divined that there was something wrong +between her and them, and clung mutely to Chiquita's skirt, a frightened +look on her face. + +Chiquita, meanwhile, stood gazing straight out before her, her head +slightly inclined forwards, her face white and set, her heart burning +with shame. It was not so much the question of guilt or innocence that +affected her now, but the shame of it all. What must the Americans +think of her? She felt the burning, searching gaze of those about her +and the joy they experienced at her discomfiture. Never had she been at +a loss to know which way to turn to extricate herself from a difficulty; +but now, how helpless she was. She nervously tapped the palm of her left +hand with her fan, vainly racking her brain in an effort to find a +solution. Dick, who had been watching her narrowly the while, saw a +strange light begin to play in her eyes in which he read Don Felipe's +death as plainly as though it were written across the heavens in letters +of flame. + +"Chiquita, you must say something," said Captain Forest. "I tell you +again, I don't believe it, but for your own sake--speak!" + +"Yes, my child, speak!" entreated Padre Antonio, stepping before her. +"Can't you see your silence is condemning you?" She looked up at him and +saw that his face was ashen, colorless like the Captain's--that he +seemed to have suddenly aged. Notwithstanding, there was the same kindly +expression in his eyes she had always known, and she felt that, even +though the world refused to believe in her, he might; he might even +forgive her. She saw in her present humiliation and shame, a direct +punishment for the betrayal of the Padre's confidence. Had she confided +her secret to him, this could not have come upon her. Now, however, it +was too late. She had no right to expect sympathy even from him. + +"Chiquita, for the last time, I ask you to speak!" pleaded Captain +Forest, racked between doubt and belief in the woman he loved. Just +then, little Marieta began to cry. + +"Madre, madre!" she gasped between her sobs. "I'm afraid of these +people. Take me away--take me home again!" + +"Be not afraid, my little one, they cannot harm you," she answered, +drawing the child closer to her and laying one hand on its shoulder. +Another embarrassing silence, broken only by the low sobs of Marieta, +followed. + +"Chiquita," demanded Padre Antonio at length, "has this child the right +to call you mother?" There was a stern ring in his voice and she knew +her last moment of grace had come; that it was useless to hesitate +longer. She glanced at the Captain, then at the Padre and then down at +the pretty, tear-stained face of the clinging child. Again she felt that +peculiar pain at the heart and thought she was going to faint as she +struggled with herself between honor, her love and respect for Captain +Forest and Padre Antonio and her devotion to the child whose life, she +knew, depended upon her answer. Up to that moment she had been +completely at a loss to know what to say or how to act, but that +invisible something which until then had deprived her of speech, now +seemed to impel her to answer in the affirmative. + +It was the supreme moment of her life. After all the years she could not +abandon the child now; the woman in her forbade it. She must go on to +the end. Again she glanced down at Marieta, and then raising her head +and looking into Padre Antonio's eyes, said quietly: "Yes, she has that +right." + +"It's not true; I don't believe it!" cried Captain Forest in a tone in +which was expressed all the shame and disgust he experienced on seeing +the woman he loved dragged into the mire before his eyes. + +"Captain Forest, you have heard the truth," answered Chiquita. + +"Then there is nothing further to be said!" broke in Padre Antonio who +was anxious to end a scene that was growing more painful each moment. +Without a word, the Captain whirled on his heel and walked toward the +garden. Clearly, the effects of the drop of poison instilled so adroitly +into their lives by Don Felipe were beginning to be felt. + +It is doubtful whether Blanch would have given Don Felipe the signal +could she have foreseen the consequences. Her rival could have been +exposed without being publicly humiliated. Nevertheless, an ineffable +joy filled her soul. She knew now that Jack either must return to her, +or he would never marry. His sensitive, overwrought mind frenzied and +made desperate by despair might even drive him to kill himself in the +end, but what did it really matter so long as no other woman possessed +him? + +Don Felipe fairly reveled in his revenge and took no pains to conceal +it. It was the sweetest moment of his life. At last she too knew what it +was to be struck to earth, to lie prone with one's face in the dust, the +jeers of the world ringing in her ears. Of a truth, to quote Dick's +words, "Had the devil raked hell with a fine-tooth comb, he could not +have produced a more accomplished villain than Don Felipe Ramirez." + + + + +XXXII + + +As Chiquita and Padre Antonio left the _patio_, accompanied by Marieta +and old Juana, the women drew back from her as though from some unclean +thing. Gladly would they have spared Padre Antonio's feelings, but their +hatred and jealousy were too intense and the opportunity to cast a stone +at her too tempting for flesh and blood to resist. + +Greatly to the astonishment of every one, it was noted that Padre +Antonio carried his head quite as high while leaving, as when he entered +the _patio_ during the early part of the evening. They expected him to +limp away, a crushed and broken old man; but they had yet to learn the +unbending spirit of the Padre. Although humble in the sight of God, +experience had taught him that the only way to command the respect of +men was to hold one's head high while among them. + +What must he think of her now, to be requited thus after all he had +done for her? Chiquita asked herself as she, with Marieta and Juana, +followed him homeward. The opinion of the world concerning her, and +the loss of Captain Forest's love, seemed little in comparison to the +thought that he should believe she had betrayed his confidence. She +could endure anything but that. Had she but told him all in the +beginning, he might have been spared the shame of this disgrace. +Perhaps it was not yet too late; she would tell him all that night. +True, she could not make amends for the pain she had caused him, but +perhaps he would understand--forgive her. + +She knew that a continuance of her residence in Santa Fé was no longer +possible. Strange that it should have ended thus, and what was before +her now? She knew the world only waited to shower wealth and distinction +upon her should she choose the stage for a career; or, she might return +to her people. But what would life be to her under any conditions +without Padre Antonio's respect and the Captain's love? + +Strong and versatile and capable though she was to cope with the world, +her lot was not an enviable one. It was with Godspeed, not the +maledictions of one's neighbors, that she had hoped to leave the place +which had sheltered her so long. And Padre Antonio--how could she part +from him thus? + +Captain Forest's last words were her only solace; he had tried to +believe in her to the end. Let come what might, they would remain with +her always like a benediction, a tower of strength in some future hour +of trial. And then there was Don Felipe. Ah, yes, Don Felipe! Her teeth +came together with a snap, for she knew that, even after what had +transpired, he would follow her. + +Padre Antonio walked silently homeward without so much as turning round +once to look at the others. Not even after arriving at the great iron +gate before the garden did he pause to allow the others to pass in ahead +of him as he otherwise would have done, but walked straight on to the +house and entered the living-room without so much as looking round, +leaving Chiquita to dispose of old Juana and the child for the night. + +Padre Antonio was no fool. Perplexed though he was by what had occurred, +he knew there was a time for silence as well as a time for speech. He +also knew that Chiquita would join him as soon as the others were +settled for the night, and that she would then tell him her story. + +Outside, the garden was almost as light as during the day, and the room, +though partially in shadow, was illumined by the moonlight to an extent +that rendered objects within it distinctly visible. The events of the +evening had sorely taxed his strength. He was thoroughly tired, and with +a sigh he threw himself into his large leathern chair to rest until +Chiquita returned. + +"What was the mystery in connection with the child?" he asked himself, +closing his eyes in thought. Don Felipe's story could not be true. "It +was absurd, preposterous!" he cried aloud, opening his eyes with a +start. As he did so, his gaze fell upon a picture on the wall opposite, +gleaming conspicuously in the full flood of moonlight. It was that +beautiful illustration of what human faith may accomplish; the familiar +representation of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia meekly displaying the +contents of her apron before her lord, the Landgrave--that heavy, +sporadic type of whiskered ass whose only mission in life seems to be +that of pulling the stars and all else down about his wassail-soaked +head and ears through sheer avoirdupois and stupidity. Padre Antonio +experienced a sudden thrill as he gazed at the picture. Clearly, it was +the hand of God directing him. So did Saint Elizabeth deliberately deny +the truth, and yet the bread in her apron was turned to roses. + +Instinctively he recalled Captain Forest's last words. And then, putting +two and two together, he also recalled the fact that he had noted +something during the scene which nobody else seemed to have noticed, +namely: that the face of the child, Marieta, was the living image of Don +Felipe's. Like a flash all became clear to him, and he smiled and nodded +as the truth dawned upon him, and he wondered greatly at Chiquita's +discretion. Yet why should he be astonished? Was it not like her? + +Chiquita also wondered in turn, and was much perplexed by his attitude, +the quiet, benign expression of his face, when she entered the room +after bidding Juana and Marieta good night. She had expected exactly the +reverse. What did it mean, did he know anything? But she did not stop to +question him. Before unburdening her soul, she must first divest herself +of the jewels which, ever since the terrible scene at the _Posada_, she +felt she had dishonored. Their touch seemed to burn her flesh. + +"Padre _mio_," she said quietly, as though nothing unusual had occurred, +"you know I said it would not be necessary to wear these jewels longer +than to-night. I really never should have worn them at all. It was not +right, for, as you see, I am not worthy of them." She began to unclasp +the bracelet on her arm, but hastily putting forth his hand, he checked +her. + +"No, my child!" he said, rising from the chair. "You must keep +them--they are yours. Besides, they are so becoming to you! Again I +say--you are the only woman in this world worthy to wear them." + +"Padre, Padre _mio_!" she cried, starting backward and gazing full in +his face. "You--you believe in me?" + +"How could you have imagined anything else, my child?" he answered +quietly. Without attempting a reply, she threw herself upon his breast, +convulsed with sobs and trembling in every limb, telling him plainer +than words how terribly shaken she had been by the ordeal through which +she had just passed. He did not attempt to soothe or pacify her with +words, knowing how useless it would be, but waited quietly for her +passionate outburst to subside. + +"Ah! Padre _mio_, how good you are, and how have I requited you!" she +said at length, looking up at him through her tears and slowly +disengaging herself from his arms. "You know," she continued between +convulsive sobs, and slowly drying her tears, "that little Marieta is +the child of Don Felipe and Pepita Delaguerra." Padre Antonio started at +the mention of the latter's name. + +"Pepita Delaguerra?" he repeated. "I felt all along that she was Don +Felipe's child, the resemblance is so striking, and I wonder the others +did not notice it, but I never connected her with Pepita; perhaps +because it is so long since she died. How strange that he should have +introduced his own child without knowing it!" + +"Yes," returned Chiquita. "And yet it is not so strange after all. +Persons of his character invariably blunder in the end, clever though +they be. Another strange coincidence is that they were married just six +years ago to-day in the little Mission church of San Isidor at Onava." + +"Why, that was before Don Juan's death, and in direct opposition to the +stipulations of his will!" exclaimed Padre Antonio excitedly. + +"Just so," answered Chiquita. "That's what caused the trouble. The +entire property should have gone to the Church, but Felipe destroyed the +record of his marriage before his father's death and the birth of his +child." + +"The scoundrel!" cried the Padre. + +"But that is not all," continued Chiquita. "Everything seemed to be in +league with him to further his plans. Father Danuncio, who secretly +married them, also died before Don Juan did, without divulging the +secret." + +"Strange!" ejaculated Padre Antonio. + +"There were three witnesses to the marriage--Joaquin and Manuelita +Flores, whom Don Felipe has cleverly put out of the way, and Bob +Carlton, the gambler, who, at that time, was Don Felipe's intimate +friend; but he, too, is gone and never dare return." + +"The clever scoundrel!" interrupted the Padre. + +"Yes," answered Chiquita. "When it comes to deviltry, Don Felipe has yet +to meet his match. But as I was about to say: Six months after the +marriage, Don Felipe deserted Pepita, then the child was born, and +knowing that he would unhesitatingly make way with it should he learn of +its existence, Joaquin and I took it to Onava, where we knew it would +be hid effectually from the world. Of course old Juana and all the other +Indians in the village thought the child was mine, and I let them think +so in order that its identity might the better be concealed until we +were able to prove to whom it belonged." + +"But why did you not tell me this in the beginning, my child?" he asked +with a note of reproach in his voice. "I might have--" + +"Ah, that was to protect you, Padre _mio_! It might have been wiser had +I done so, and yet I think not. I felt impelled to keep you in ignorance +of the facts, for I knew that Don Felipe would stop at nothing. What +would your life have been to him, had you come between him and his +position? His wealth is too vast. I knew that, as surely as you raised +your voice against him, as you would have been obliged to in the +interests of the Church, you one day would have been found dead in some +lonely pass in the mountains while engaged in your Mission work." + +Padre Antonio was too astute an observer of men not to perceive the +force of her words. + +"I marvel at your sagacity, my child; but think what it has cost you!" + +"Ah! that is the marvelous part of it!" she replied. "Whoever would have +imagined that, unconscious of the true facts, he would have succeeded in +turning my own weapons against me? It's fate, Padre _mio_." + +He paced back and forth for some time in silence, then suddenly pausing +before her, said: "This cloud must not rest upon you, Chiquita _mia_. We +must find that blackleg, Carlton, if we have to raise heaven and earth +to do it." + +"That is easier said than done, Padre _mio_," she answered quietly. + +"God never wholly abandons his children to the evil of the world," he +returned firmly. "Don Felipe has deceived the Church once, but he shall +not do so a second time. God has allowed him to triumph thus far in +order that his punishment may be all the greater in the end when it +comes upon him. Carlton must be somewhere just across the border--in +Texas or Arizona or New Mexico. Within twenty-four hours after the word +has been flashed over the wires, runners will have passed through all +our remote Missions along the border, and if he is no longer in Mexico, +then the word shall be passed across the frontier into the United +States. If he still be alive, he can not escape us. We will find him and +bring him back again. No, the Church is not so powerless as many, strong +in worldly possessions, imagine. The Church of Rome has never yet failed +to find the man or woman she has set out to find. Don Felipe will be +stripped of his possessions and his child restored to its rightful +position. + +"Again I say, God's ways are past all understanding. You have been His +unconscious instrument. Think of what you were and how you came to me, +and what your life has been since then! Have you endured all for naught? +Are God's plans to be frustrated by a man, a dastardly craven like Don +Felipe? No, my child, I see things clearer now than I ever have seen +them before. You and Captain Forest have not been brought together from +the ends of the earth only to be mocked by the world of evil. God +demands that we all shall pass through the fire in order that we may be +fitted to bear the burden He lays upon us. You both have endured the +trial; proved yourselves worthy of the mission He has entrusted to you." + +He paused. Then, suddenly recollecting the all-important question, he +exclaimed: "I forget, we are wasting time; we must find Carlton! This +very night word shall go forth!" and hastily snatching up his hat and +stick, he hurried out into the night. + + + + +XXXIII + + +Captain Forest's feelings are better imagined than described. His brain +was in a whirl, on fire. For the second time a woman had treated his +confidence lightly. The whole world seemed to spin round him in chaotic +confusion as he sought to lay hold of a single, tangible thought that +might temper his judgment, steady his nerves and check the fierce +outbursts of passion which were fast sweeping him beyond self-control. +He had reached a state of recklessness that renders a man of his +temperament most dangerous, and unless his judgment soon got the better +of his passions, he would, as likely as not, either kill Chiquita or Don +Felipe, or both of them. + +The company had broken up shortly after the departure of Chiquita and +Padre Antonio, leaving the _patio_ silent and deserted, save for the +presence of the Captain, who paced silently back and forth; the moon +flooding the _patio_ with broad sheets of white light, causing objects +to appear almost as sharp and distinct as before the lights of the +lanterns were extinguished. + +Blanch, who was the last to leave, would have offered him her sympathy, +but on approaching him, he gave her a look so terrifying that even she +dared not speak to him. She accordingly retired to her room and seated +herself before the open window from which she commanded a view of the +court and could observe him at her leisure. Perhaps he will come to his +senses now, she thought. At any rate, he now knew what she suffered. She +experienced a feeling of cruel satisfaction and exultation while calmly +watching the struggle going on within him as he paced slowly back and +forth. + +How strange that they should be there in that out-of-the-way place! In +spite of the terrible ordeal through which she had passed and the +dramatic climax in which the struggle had just culminated, it still +appeared so unreal, so unnatural to her, that she wondered whether she +was not still dreaming and must soon awaken to find herself back in the +old life again and Jack near her, as in the old days. Who could have +foreseen this tragedy, this end to their lives? But a few months +previous all things appeared so clear and defined, so definitely +ordained for them. + +Truly the future was veiled--a sealed book for man! Had she been +permitted to dip for but an instant beneath the cover of that book, or +lift the veil ever so little, the catastrophe that had overtaken them +and the suffering it entailed might have been averted. + +But no. The strange nemesis that had pursued them step by step had been +permitted to wreck their lives completely. And for what end--what +purpose? Was there no justice, no recompense for them? The answer, she +somehow felt, lay not here, but with the stars--in the great universal +scheme of things, and was quite beyond her reasoning powers. + +She felt the utter hopelessness of longer struggling against the unseen, +and in that hour she became a fatalist. Better drift from day to day +without purpose, than living, behold one's dreams and ambitions come to +naught. She was like a strong, self-confident swimmer who had been +caught by the tide and was being swept irresistibly out to sea. Blurred +though her vision was, she seemed to see things clearer than she had +ever seen them before, and she somehow felt that the fate which had +overtaken her was the result of self-aggrandizement--that she in a +measure typified the passing or end of a condition out of whose decay +the new life must spring. + +Submit she must, and yet a fierce resentment against all things filled +her soul. She rebelled at the apparent injustice which she felt had been +done her. Why had she, the most fit, been chosen? What had she really +done to merit such an end? She realized that her trouble was +unalterable; that it had its root in the social scheme of things and +nothing she could do could alter it. That in reality it was no fault of +hers, but the fault of her bringing up; that the world which she had +been taught to respect as a thing representing truth and beauty, all +that is best in man, was only a mocking illusion. + +The injustice of it amazed, appalled, stunned her. She seemed to think +and move like one in a dream, struggling with shadowy, intangible forces +with which she was incapable to cope. The thought that it was not her +fault only added to her bitterness and agony, and she longed for +death--the death that knows no awakening--to be blotted out utterly, and +forever. Her life was devoid of hope, there was nothing to look forward +to, the future had become a blank. + +A low moan, in which was expressed the despair and agony of men since +the beginning of time, escaped her. She pressed her cold hands to her +burning, throbbing temples and prayed that, whatever her end might be, +it would come swiftly. + +Again she raised her head and glanced through the open window. To her +surprise she saw the tall form of Dick Yankton leaning against one of +the pillars of the arcade that ran round the _patio_. He was smoking +quietly and observing the Captain, who still strode back and forth +apparently unaware of his presence. Suddenly the Captain stopped short +as if he had come to a decision. As he did so, he turned half round and +saw Dick, whom he regarded for some moments in silence. Then, going over +to where he stood, she heard him exclaim: "It's not true, Dick, I don't +believe it. I'm going to her now and tell her so!" At the same instant +she also saw Don Felipe glide noiselessly and stealthily from one of the +doors opening on to the _patio_ and pause in the deep shadow of the +arcade next to the wall, close to where they stood. Instantly she was on +her feet and leaning forward, breathless and eager to catch all that was +said. + +"Neither do I believe it," answered Dick. "But I wouldn't have told you +so. I wanted you to make up your mind first, and if you hadn't said so +just now, I wouldn't show you this, either," he continued, drawing from +his inner coat pocket a large envelope from which he took a letter and +handed it to the Captain. + +She saw the sheet of paper tremble in the Captain's hands as he read its +contents. Again Dick handed him another sheet somewhat larger and +darker than the first. He seized it eagerly, glancing hurriedly over its +contents, his hands trembling more violently than before. + +"Marvelous!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking at Dick. "And yet," he +added, "it's not so strange after all; it's so natural!" + +Blanch uttered a suppressed cry. She felt that her last chance of +winning back the Captain was gone forever. It was a last stab at her +heart. At this juncture José appeared from out the shadows of the garden +beyond the _patio_ and hurriedly approached them. She heard him say +something in Spanish which she did not understand. Then, all became +blurred before her eyes. She felt herself begin to sway and totter--she +fainted. + + * * * * * + +Following José, the Captain and Dick came upon Starlight, quietly +cropping the grass in the garden, just outside the corral. On hearing +their approach, the Chestnut raised his head, and, seeing his master, +gave a low whinny of recognition. Close beside him on the grass lay a +dark, shapeless object which, on closer inspection, proved to be the +remains of Juan Ramon, trampled almost beyond recognition by the +stallion's terrible hoofs. + +While Chiquita was being confronted by Don Felipe and the attention of +every one was occupied by the scene that followed, Juan seized the +opportunity for which he had been waiting. Stealing quietly away to the +corrals, he deftly flung a _riata_ over the stallion's head, and, +looping it about the animal's nose, was on his back with a bound. + +There was no question of Juan's ability to ride him. Once on a horse's +back, he had never yet been unseated. He had expected the Chestnut to +rear and plunge, to fight desperately on finding a stranger on his back +and he was prepared for it, but greatly to his surprise, the horse +showed no signs of fight and went meekly out of the corral at his +bidding. All went well until they reached the garden, and Juan was +beginning to congratulate himself on making his escape so easily, when +suddenly and without warning, the Chestnut stopped short, reached round +with his head, and seizing Juan by the leg with his teeth, jerked him to +the ground. Juan heard the stallion's fierce cry of rage, and--that was +the end. + +The luck had changed again for Juan, and with it vanished his fair dream +of life on the little _hacienda_ with the pretty Rosita. + +José had long been aware of Juan's intentions regarding the horse, and +laughed quietly to himself as he thought of the trap Juan was laying for +himself. That afternoon he appeared to be drinking heavily, and early in +the evening feigned intoxication in order that Juan might go to his +death which he knew awaited him should he so much as lay his hand on the +horse. + +When Blanch regained consciousness once more, she found herself in a +half sitting and kneeling posture before the window with one arm resting +on the sill. She must have been unconscious for some time, for when she +came to herself, she again saw Captain Forest and Dick standing in the +_patio_ conversing in low tones. They soon separated, Dick going into +the house, and the Captain making his way through the garden. She knew +he was on his way to Chiquita. She also saw Don Felipe steal from the +shadow of his concealment and follow him. + +A great fear seized her. She felt the imminence of a disaster greater +than that which had already occurred. Something terrible was about to +happen. The thought aroused her to action and she hurriedly rose to her +feet. If possible, she would prevent that final catastrophe which her +intuition told her was imminent--which she knew must overtake either one +or all three of them should Don Felipe and the Captain meet again that +night in Chiquita's presence. + +There was not a moment to lose, and seizing a light wrap which lay on a +chair beside her, she flung it about her shoulders and hurriedly left +the room. + + + + +XXXIV + + +Before leaving the _patio_, Bessie promised to meet Dick in the garden +after the company dispersed for the night. After the Captain's +departure, Dick returned to the _patio_ and took his stand in the shadow +of the nearest trees, where he awaited her. + +Never had her mood appeared so distracted and evasive as that evening. +She had avoided him as much as possible. He was quite at a loss to know +how to take her, and wondered what would be the outcome of their +interview which, he felt, might possibly be their last. + +Notwithstanding this melancholy prospect, he still experienced the same +spirit of buoyancy which possessed him during the day. He had caught her +regarding him several times during the evening with what he thought to +be a look of tenderness in her eyes, and this, perhaps, accounted in a +measure for his present elation. + +She, in turn, had wondered greatly at the change that had come over him. +How could he possibly be so gay when everybody else was so miserable, +and she thoroughly resented it. + +During the interval that had elapsed after the breaking up of the +company, she had participated in a stormy interview with her father and +aunt; the latter endeavoring to point out to her the danger incurred by +holding intercourse with obscure, low-born persons, as had just been +demonstrated in the Captain's case. + +She was surprised on returning to her room not to find Blanch there, +but, on second thought, felt it was only natural after what had occurred +that she should want to be alone, and thought she must be somewhere in +the garden. She had seen Dick leave the _patio_ and disappear in the +shadow beyond, whither she directed her steps, passing out and around +the front of the house, as she did not wish to incur the risk of being +seen by her father or aunt. + +Dick, who had tossed aside his hat on the grass and stood leaning +against the trunk of a tree, was presently aroused from his meditations +by the object of his thoughts, who stood close beside him. + +"Well, I'm here," she said, by way of beginning, looking up into his +face. + +"I was looking for you in the other direction," he replied, throwing +away his half-burnt cigar. "I ought to have known better. You are always +doing the opposite of that which one expects." + +A smile lit up her face for a moment, as she flashed her beautiful wide +eyes upon him. She seemed a part of that beauteous night, elfish and +delicate as a moonbeam or a flower, fragile as the song of a bird. He +could not speak, but stood drinking her in with his eyes and soul, his +face wearing a mixed expression of rapture and pain. She knew what he +felt, and like him, she, too, struggled with herself for the mastery of +her emotion. + +"Do you know," she said at length, "this is the first time I have ever +been guilty of a clandestine meeting with a man. If my father knew I was +here, he would be beside himself." + +"Then you did want to come!" he exclaimed. + +"Of course. Otherwise, why should I be here?" she responded shyly, +raising her eyes to his for an instant and then lowering them again. + +"Bessie!" he cried, starting toward her. + +"Hush!" she said, raising her hand in protest and checking him. Had he +taken her in his arms then and there, she would have surrendered without +a struggle, for she was in that soft, languid mood of a woman in love in +spite of herself. But he dared not give way to his impulse. He loved her +too much, and feared lest his impetuosity might ruin forever his chance +of winning her. + +"I know it was foolish of me to come, especially when there was no +reason for it," she continued with assumed indifference, casting a +sidelong glance at him out of the corners of her eyes. In spite of the +pain she knew she inflicted, she could not resist flirting with him just +a little even at such a moment. It filled her with such exquisite joy to +feel anew the power she exercised over him and the unfathomable depth of +his love which each fresh thrust at his heart revealed to her. + +"I came here," she slowly resumed, "to ask what you think of Chiquita?" + +"Think!" he burst forth savagely, aroused almost to a pitch of +desperation by her irritating manner. "Do you take me for as big a fool +as Don Felipe, or--" your father? he was about to add, but checked +himself just in time. "When one has known Chiquita as long as I have, +you don't think things about her, you know. Don Felipe," he went on, +"reminds me of the naughty little boy who one day, while playing in a +park, threw mud on a swan, imagining that he had besmirched the bird +forever until it dived under the water and reappeared again as white as +before. Why, even if I at this moment did not possess the absolute proof +of her innocence, nobody could ever persuade me to believe that story. +You don't know the Indian as I do, Miss Van Ashton. The high-caste +Indian women are quite as incapable of such things as you are. It was a +devilishly clever stroke on Don Felipe's part, I'll admit, but he has +deceived himself as thoroughly as the rest of the world." + +"What proof have you?" she asked with a surprised and mystified look, +her woman's curiosity thoroughly aroused. Dick chuckled softly in reply. + +"What are you laughing at?" she demanded, not a little nettled by his +manner. + +"I'm not laughing," he answered. "I'm merely trying to smother the rage +you have aroused in me by dallying with me in this manner when you know +perfectly well that I asked you to come here to tell you that I--" + +"Stop!" she commanded authoritatively. "I wish to see that proof before +anything further passes between us." + +"Will you never become serious?" he asked, drawing an envelope from his +pocket, the contents of which he had shown Captain Forest. "It's +strange," he continued, "that this document should concern you as well +as Don Felipe and Chiquita." + +"What do you mean?" she asked in astonishment. Again he laughed softly +by way of reply. + +"It's funny you should get mixed up in their affairs!" + +"I don't understand you," she interrupted, more mystified and irritated +than ever. "Give me that letter, Mr. Yankton!" she demanded, holding out +her hand. + +"Then step out into the light, please, you lovely, tantalizing witch," +he answered, drawing the papers from the envelope and handing them to +her. "If I didn't love you to distraction, I wouldn't stand this sort of +thing a minute longer. God!" he cried, glancing heavenward, "you'll be +the death of me yet." + +"Have you forgotten, Mr. Yankton?" she asked calmly, her face turning a +delicate crimson. + +"Then read--read!" he cried in desperation, scarcely able to control +himself. She knew it could not last much longer. She slowly unfolded the +large sheets of paper and began to read their contents in the moonlight. + +"Aloud, please," he said. + +"Why aloud?" + +"Oh, just as you please!" + +"Very well, if you wish it. 'Dear Dick,' she began with a slight +hesitancy. 'When this reaches you I shall have passed over the border to +that unknown range from whence nobody ever returns. Enclosed you will +find the record of Don Felipe Ramirez's and Pepita Delaguerra's +marriage which, at Don Felipe's instigation, I stole from the register +in the church at Onava, giving him a copy of the same which he +destroyed, believing it to be the original. I did this with the +intention of extorting money from him later on. I and Joaquin Flores and +his wife were the only witnesses to the marriage. But there is a sequel. +Pepita gave birth to a child, a girl, after Felipe deserted her. I +learned later that Chiquita and the two Flores concealed it somewhere in +one of the Indian _pueblos_ near La Jara, as they feared Don Felipe +would make way with the child should he learn of its existence.' + +"How strange!" exclaimed Bessie excitedly. "Why, that was Don Felipe's +own child which he introduced this evening and said was Chiquita's." + +"Exactly," said Dick, quietly. + +"But I don't see what all this has to do with me," she added. + +"Proceed, please," he answered. "That's not the only surprise his letter +contains." + +Glancing down at the sheets once more she resumed: + +"'You will also be greatly surprised to learn that the young lady who +was present on the day you saved my life and whose name I asked, is my +sister.' + +"The insinuation is infamous!" she cried, letting the papers fall to the +ground. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he interrupted, calmly stooping and picking up the +papers and handing them to her again, "you forget--you are reading the +confession of a dying man." + +"His sister!" she continued indignantly. "It can't be possible--I never +had a brother!" + +"Please proceed, Miss Van Ashton," he replied. Amazed and bewildered, +Bessie excitedly resumed the reading of the strange letter. + +"'My sister never knew me because I left home shortly after she was +born; but, notwithstanding, I recognized her the instant I set eyes on +her, not only owing to the presence of my father that day, but to the +remarkable resemblance she bears to my mother. She is the living image +of her.'" Bessie paused, overcome with agitation. + +"How very remarkable," she said, as if to herself. "Every one who knew +my mother says we resemble one another very closely in manner as well as +in looks. My father always keeps our photographs placed side by side on +his desk at home. Except for the difference in the style of dress, it is +almost impossible to tell which is which. What he says does sound true," +she admitted. "Yet--" + +"There can be no doubt of it," broke in Dick. Again Bessie looked down +at the papers and resumed: + +"'Before I breathe my last, Dick, I want to tell you that I have +discovered the lead to the old Esmeralda mine; the enclosed chart will +guide you to it. Tell my sister that half of it belongs to her and the +other half to Pepita's child if you are able to find her. Perhaps this +one and only generous act of my selfish life will atone somewhat for my +many misdeeds. Good-by, Dick, and God bless you.'" + +"You needn't read that!" he interrupted. But without heeding him, she +continued: + +"'You are the best and bravest fellow alive. Good-by, Dick, again, for +the last time. + +"'Harry Van Ashton, better known to the world as Bob Carlton, gambler +and--'" The letter ended abruptly. A sob broke from Bessie. Two bright +tears glistened like jewels in the moonlight on her long lashes and then +stole silently down her cheeks. + +"Don't take it so hard, Miss Van Ashton," he said. "Your brother was +wild, but not so bad as the world thought him." + +"My poor brother!" she murmured. + +"I am sure," he resumed after a little, "that when your brother looked +into your eyes that day, his manhood reasserted itself; that he repented +and threw off his past life like an old garment, and from that moment, +stood prepared to enter the presence of his Maker." + +"You are very good to say that," she answered, looking up at him with +shining eyes. + +"No, it's not good of me at all," he returned. "I love you too much to +say anything but what I know to be true." She did not reply, but +remained lost in thought, her eyes cast on the ground. + +"Bessie!" he exclaimed passionately, drawing nearer to her. "Why do you +hesitate? You know that I understand you better than any one else ever +could. You know you love me!" She knew her moment had come; that she +must answer him for all time, and strive as she would, she could not +conceal her confusion. He did not know how intense was the struggle +going on within her, nor realize what it meant to her to give up the +life she had known always. + +"And what if I told you," she said at length, her eyes still downcast, +"that I care more for you than anything else in this world, Dick?" +pronouncing his name aloud for the first time. "What would you say +then?" + +"That I will love you for all time, Sweetheart! That I will make you the +happiest woman in the world!" he cried, his arms closing about her, and +kissing her full on the lips. + +"When we are married," he said at last, "we'll start in search of the +Esmeralda, the famous old Spanish mine that was destroyed by the +earthquake, and if, as your brother said, he really found the lead +again, you and Don Felipe's child will be the two richest women in +Chihuahua." + +"Then let it be soon, Dick!" she answered. "Oh! I know I've been +perfectly horrid!" she cried, flinging her arms about his neck in a +fresh outburst, and kissing him again and again. "But I'll make it up to +you, Dick! I'll show you how Bessie Van Ashton can love!" There was +another long silence, during which each could hear the beating of the +other's heart. Then looking up with a pained, disheartened expression on +her face, she said: "I'm sorry I can't come to you with a fortune, Dick. +My father will cast me off, and all I now possess in this world are you +and the clothes on my back." + +"Why, you sweet, pathetic little beggar!" he exclaimed, sealing her lips +with a kiss. + +"He said he would rather see me dead at his feet than married to you," +she went on. "Of course, if you were immensely wealthy, he might learn +to tolerate you in time. We're all like that, you know, but as things +are, we'll have to shift as best we can." + +"Well, I don't lay claim to much," he said, restraining his mirth with +difficulty. "There's the Esmeralda, you know, but even if that fails us, +there's no cause for immediate worry. We'll find a modest little hovel +somewhere that is large enough to contain our love." And then he laughed +long and loud, laughed as he had never laughed before. + +"What are you laughing at?" she inquired, with a dawning suspicion that +he was keeping something from her. + +"Oh, nothing," he answered at length. "You'll forgive me, I'm sure, when +I say, that I can't help thinking what an ass your father is!" And +Bessie Van Ashton stepped into a bigger life than she had ever known. + + + + +XXXV + + +Perhaps all was not yet lost. The Padre's words and attitude acted like +a wonderful elixir upon Chiquita. They buoyed her up, lifted her soul +from the dust where it had been flung and trampled upon. + +The house oppressed her, and sleep being impossible, she opened the door +and stepped out into the garden and wandered along the paths that led in +and out among the flowers and shrubs, inhaling the delicious night air, +faintly perfumed with the delicate fragrance of mignonette and +heliotrope and a few last roses. + +The fresh air and the beauty and quiet of the night soothed her. She +felt her strength return, and a great calm took possession of her as she +moved to and fro in the moonlight, now casting her eyes toward the +stars, now downward at the wan, drooping heads of the flowers which +swayed gently in the faint night breeze. Her face radiantly beautiful, +her jewels flashing against the pale white setting of her dress and her +tawny skin, she resembled more the lovely ghost of some long-departed +Spanish woman that had returned to earth to revisit familiar haunts, +than one still among the living. + +What was he doing now? she asked herself. It was impossible that he +should continue to believe in her. It was more than could be expected; +no one but Padre Antonio was capable of that. Just then she heard the +sound of footsteps on the walk outside the wall and a moment later, the +click of the latch on the gate as it swung open. She thought it must be +Padre Antonio come back again, and she turned to meet him. A faint, +suppressed cry escaped her, for there, just inside the gate, stood +Captain Forest. + +He had evidently not yet seen her and paused as if uncertain whether to +advance. She stood in the open space beside the bench, just off the +pathway leading from the gate to the house, along which he must advance +should he decide to proceed farther. A pale, plumy spray of tamarisk +intervened between them, otherwise he must have seen her. For some time +he stood silent and motionless as if uncertain what to do, then he began +to advance slowly in her direction. + +What did he want? Why had he come at this hour? Her heart beat high and +she began to tremble with excitement as she watched him coming toward +her. + +Her wan, pale dress so closely resembled the moonlight in the shadow of +the tamarisk that he might have passed her unnoticed had she not +unconsciously closed her half-open fan which she was nervously clasping +in both hands. It shut with a soft, faint snap, causing him to stop and +turn in her direction. + +"Chiquita!" he cried, and springing forward, had her in his arms before +she could prevent it. + +"No, no; you must not!" she cried, overcome by his suddenness and vainly +struggling to free herself. + +"Chiquita," he went on without heeding her, "I could not wait until +morning, and came to tell you again that I believe in you--that I love +you--that nothing but death can separate us in this life!" + +She saw and felt the uselessness of struggling against his great +strength and will, so she relaxed her efforts and became quite passive +in his arms, her face cast down. Besides, it seemed as though all her +strength had left her. She trembled so violently and felt so weak that +she must have sunk to the ground had he not supported her. + +"Sweetheart!" he cried more passionately than ever. "What do we care for +the world? Look up and say you will come with me!" Her soul thrilled +with the rapture his words caused her. + +"Jack," she said at length, raising her head and looking up into his +face, "I love you too much to do that. Not until my name has been +cleared--" They heard a rustling sound on the other side of the +tamarisk. Another moment, and the long, plumy sprays parted and Don +Felipe stepped into the pathway. His face was ashen pale and wore the +look of a thoroughly desperate man. + +"Captain Forest," he began, breaking the painful silence that ensued, "I +have vowed that you shall never marry her. I give you one more chance," +and he raised his right arm and pointed toward the gate. "Go, while +there is yet time!" he commanded, his voice vibrant with passion. "Go +back to the _Posada_ at once and saddle your horse and leave the country +this very night. If you do not--" + +"You think to intimidate me?" interrupted the Captain, quietly +releasing Chiquita from his arms and confronting him. + +"Once more--will you go?" demanded Don Felipe in a harsh, fierce voice. + +"No!" answered the Captain. + +"Then your blood be upon your own head!" he cried, and without a +moment's warning, he drew a long knife from his inner breast pocket and +rushed furiously upon him. + +"Coward, to attack an unarmed man!" cried the Captain, springing aside +just in time to avoid his thrust. Without replying, Don Felipe whirled +with the swiftness of a cat and rushed at him again. The Captain glanced +hurriedly about him in search of some weapon of defense. Close at hand +he espied a small, fragile, gilt chair that had been left there by +chance during the day. Seizing it by the back with both hands he raised +it aloft and aimed a swift blow at his adversary, but the latter +cleverly dodged it by dropping on one knee. The chair crashed to the +ground with terrific force, its fragments flying in all directions. + +Captain Forest was a wonderfully active man for his size. Before Don +Felipe was on his feet again, he sprang forward and seized his right +arm. The two men grappled desperately for some moments, but what was Don +Felipe in the hands of a giant. Suddenly the knife went whirling back +over the Captain's shoulder, forming a glittering half-circle in the +moonlight as it fell among the flowers. Then Captain Forest lifted Don +Felipe with both hands as easily as he would have lifted a child and +hurled him violently to the ground several feet away. A smothered cry of +pain escaped him. + +"Lie there, dog!" said the Captain, contemptuously. + +"Not so, Captain Forest--we're not done yet!" answered Don Felipe, +rising with difficulty on one knee. From his hip pocket he drew a +pistol. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez!" came Chiquita's voice, ringing clear; but he did +not heed the warning. Instantly her hand went to her breast and there +were two almost simultaneous shots. Don Felipe sprang into the air with +a loud cry, alighting upright upon both feet. He gasped, staggered +forward a pace, and then sank down on his knees. Again he gasped, +clutched desperately at his heart with his left hand, and then, with a +last supreme effort, slowly raised his weapon with his trembling hand +and once more took aim at the Captain. There was another quick flash and +report, and Don Felipe Ramirez lay dead on the ground between them. + +In silence they gazed at one another across Don Felipe's body. The +Captain was about to speak when they were startled by a low moan just +behind them, and, turning, they saw Blanch sink slowly to the bench in a +sitting posture, her head resting on her arm across the back of the +bench. In an instant they were at her side. + +[Illustration: "They were startled by a low moan and saw Blanch sink +slowly to the bench."] + +"Blanch!" cried the Captain in consternation at the sight of the blood +that was oozing slowly from her left side, and which Chiquita was vainly +endeavoring to stanch with her handkerchief. At the sound of his voice, +she slowly opened her eyes. + +"Forgive me," she whispered in an almost inaudible tone, as they knelt +on either side of her, supporting her. For some moments she lay quite +motionless, then a slight tremor passed through her and with a little +sigh like that of a child's, her head slipped down upon Chiquita's +breast. The bullet which Don Felipe had intended for the Captain had +passed through her heart; the penalty she paid for giving the signal in +the _patio_. + +The moonlight fell full across her face, which, contrary to what one +might suppose, wore an expression of peace and calm, almost a smile, +like one in a dream. + +"How beautiful she is!" murmured Chiquita, holding her tenderly in her +arms. + +"Would to God she had been spared!" answered the Captain, his voice +choking with emotion. Yet each felt as they gazed on her upturned face, +whose expression was rather that of sleep than of death, that she was +better off thus; for what did life hold for her? + + + + +XXXVI + + +For most men death ends all things, but for those whose souls are +illumined by the unquenchable flame of faith, death is but the beginning +of life. + +The news of the tragedy, following swift upon that of Juan Ramon's +death, spread like wildfire, fairly taking the people's breath away, and +throwing the community into a tumult of excitement. Not since the days +when the victorious American armies had entered Mexico and laid waste +the land, had there been such a commotion in the old town. + +The community was shaken to its center. What would happen next? Old +women paused in the midst of their chatter and, crossing themselves, +said an extra _ave_ as a protection against the Evil One; for no one +knew who would be taken next. + +Don Felipe Ramirez, the handsomest and wealthiest and most influential +man in Chihuahua, dead--at the hand of a woman--an Indian! + +Most people admitted that he had merited death. That his end was a just +punishment for his misdeeds, but then, had it not been for the woman who +had wrecked his life, how different his end might have been! + +Juan Ramon would be missed for a day at the gaming tables, but the +beautiful American Señorita--why should she have paid the price of +blood? It was too much. The popular outburst was tremendous, quite +beyond Padre Antonio's influence or control. The evil and tragedy which +the witch seemed to draw with her in her train far outweighed the good +she had accomplished since her advent in the town. And if the grand +Señor, Captain Forest, of an alien race, still chose to remain in the +place, why, let him look to his personal safety if he still set store +upon his life. + +Such was popular sentiment, and out of the countless maledictions that +were heaped upon the dark woman and the man she had bewitched, there +grew that sullen and ominous silence of presentiment like that preceding +a storm, and which boded but one end to them both--death. + +José and Dick were the first to apprise the Captain of the true state of +affairs, although he had not remained insensible to the threatening +looks and dark, sullen faces that greeted him on every hand. + +"The place has become too hot to hold you, old man," said Dick. "You and +Chiquita had better go somewhere for a little _pasear_. You'll find the +air in the mountains more salubrious than here; in fact--_vamos_, as the +Spaniards say. Go to Padre Antonio's house at once," he continued. "It's +a sort of a sanctuary, you know; you'll be safe there to-day. If you +value your life, don't set foot outside the place, and I'd even be chary +about picking flowers in the garden," he added in his droll way. +"To-night, José and I will have your horses ready and waiting for you in +the cañon at the foot of the trail which leads to the top of the _mesa_ +overlooking the valley. You must get away under cover of the dusk +before the moon rises. Old Manuela will give you the signal when to +depart." + +"Dick, you are the most ingenious mortal in the world," answered the +Captain. "You are as good as a mother to me. How did you ever think of +it?" + +"Oh! don't thank me," returned Dick. "I didn't think of it; I never have +any ideas. It's José's plan entirely." + +"The deuce! It does sound like you, _camarada_!" he ejaculated, turning +to José who had smoked his _cigarillo_ in silence while listening to +Dick's words. "The scheme sounds well," he continued after some moments' +reflection. "And yet it seems to me you have overlooked something--the +most important thing of all." + +"What?" asked Dick. + +"How are you going to get the horses there without attracting attention? +It's just possible that the entire populace might escort you there and +then hang all four of us when Chiquita and I arrive." + +"Ah! I never thought of that," replied Dick, flicking the ash from his +cigar and exchanging glances with José. "I always said you had the +imagination of a poet, Jack. But it takes an Indian to think of such +things; the horses are concealed already in the cañon, a quarter of a +mile from the trail." + +"_Si, Capitan._ I took them there last night," said José. + +"Last night?" + +"Yes. You see, it was this way. I saw the fight last night--" + +"You did?" + +"_Si, Capitan._ It was a glorious fight, the greatest fight I ever saw. +I followed Don Felipe last night and surely would have killed him had I +not seen the Señorita draw her weapon. I knew that it was her right to +kill him." + +"You observe José's exquisite sense of discrimination," interrupted +Dick. "It's the etiquette of the land," he added with a twinkle in his +eye, his face betraying not so much as the suggestion of a smile. +Captain Forest could have laughed at Dick's irresistible humor were it +not for the terrible tragedy which rested heavily upon him. + +"Well," continued José, "while you and the Señorita stood beside the +beautiful _Americana_, I bethought me that it was about time we were +leaving this place. You did not know that the two women, Manuela and +Juana, and the Padre's gardener, Sebastiano, also witnessed the +shooting. I told Sebastiano to get the Señorita's horse out of the +stable at once and wait outside in the shadow of the wall on the far +side of the garden until I returned. I then hurried back here and got +away unobserved with our horses, picking up the Señorita's and +Sebastiano on the way to the cañon where I left them in the latter's +charge. They will hardly be missed to-day, I think," he added; "the +excitement is too great. Go now quietly to Padre Antonio's and wait +there until Manuela gives you the word to depart." José paused. Then +casting a quick glance about him, he took a fresh puff at his +_cigarillo_ and said: "Until then, _á Dios_, Señor _Capitan_!" and +assuming an indifferent air, as though nothing unusual had occurred, he +sauntered quietly away. + +"That man's a genius!" said Dick, looking after him until he disappeared +around the corner of the house. + +"It was a lucky day for you when you picked him up. If you get away at +all to-night, you'll owe your lives to him. Nothing but his wits could +have saved you. You had better be going now," he added. "Go directly to +the Padre's and attract as little attention as possible on the way. + +"_Este noche, amigo mio_--to-night, my friend," he concluded in Spanish, +and turning, lounged carelessly through the doorway into the house. + + + + +XXXVII + + +"I hear nothing," said José, rising from the ground where he had been +lying flat with his ear close to the earth. + +"They have given us up!" exclaimed the Captain, turning in the saddle +and addressing Chiquita who also had been scanning their back trail in +the effort to discover a sign of their lost pursuers. + +"We have tired them out," she answered, lowering her hand from her eyes. + +They had escaped--they were free. Padre Antonio had married them on the +afternoon of the previous day. + +"If I am still alive, and God grant that it may be so," he said on +parting, "I shall see you next spring when I visit the Missions in the +North." + +The flight had been a swift and perilous one. They had traveled the +entire night and day, pausing only long enough to allow their horses +short breathing spells and time to slake their thirst at the springs and +streams they encountered in their flight. Like their horses, all three +were thoroughly tired, and their clothes torn and dust begrimed. + +"We'll camp yonder, José," said the Captain, pointing to a thick group +of pines that grew on the opposite side of the stream on whose bank they +had halted. They had arrived at the foot of the Sierra Madres from +whose side the stream burst and along whose banks their trail led to +the upper world where it dropped down again on the other side of the +great mountainous divide into Sonora. + +"It's like the old days!" cried Chiquita, laughing as they splashed +through the stream to the opposite bank, the water rising to their +saddle-girths. Drawing rein at the outer rim of the pines, they +dismounted and removed their saddles and packs, the latter consisting of +a pair of blankets apiece and a week's rations equally distributed among +them; coffee, sugar, bacon, beans and flour and a few necessary +utensils. These they carried into the center of the grove and deposited +in a circle on the ground. + +José led away the horses and while he was occupied in picketing them, +the Captain gathered an armful of dry wood for the fire, and then +picking up a canvas bucket, strolled to the river and filled it with +water. + +Chiquita had already lit the fire when he returned. She filled the +coffee pot with water, cut some slices of bacon and tossed them into a +pan which she placed on the fire and then began to mix some flour and +water. The Captain leaned against the trunk of one of the trees and +rolling a cigarette, lit it, watching her the while. Chiquita laughed +softly, but said nothing while engaged in the process of bread-making. +This homely touch of camp-life told plainer than words how thoroughly +they had come down to earth and again were facing the wholesome +realities of life. When the dough was of the right consistency, she +molded it into biscuits, placed them in a deep pan, and raking some +coals from the fire, set the pan upon them, also depositing some coals +on the top of the cover. After giving the bacon a final turn in the pan, +she set it to one side close to the fire where it would keep warm. + +She then rose to her feet and stood erect. As she did so, one of the +great strands of her hair which had become loosened during their flight, +fell in a soft curling mass of blue jet down her back to within a few +inches of her ankles. Captain Forest did not know then that it was a +sign of her royal lineage. + +Once upon a time in the dim past, so far back that nobody could remember +when it had occurred, a Tewana woman had given birth to a beautiful girl +child with wonderful hair in the same year that a wandering star with a +great tail had appeared in the heavens. The coincidence seemed nothing +short of miraculous to the people. The Sachems of the tribe pronounced +the child to be consecrated and chosen to rule over them by the gods. So +it had been decreed, and ever since then, all Tewana women who had ruled +over the people had possessed this distinctive mark of their royal +lineage and bore the name, "Flaming Star." + +Chiquita crossed over to where the Captain still stood leaning against +the tree and, pausing before him, looked up into his face and said: +"What are you thinking of, Sweetheart?" He flung his arms about her and +kissed her. + +"I am still wondering," he answered, "how it all happened. It seems so +strange, and yet so natural." + +"Just what I, too, have been thinking," she returned. "And yet it is no +more remarkable than what our entire lives have been. It could not be +otherwise." + +"No," he replied. "I would not have it different for worlds. It's just +as it should be--just as it has been decreed." + +"Come!" she said, leading him over to where her pack lay on the ground. +"I've got something for you," and kneeling on the ground, she began +unrolling her blankets, out of which she took a small package which, on +being opened, contained two pairs of beautifully beaded moccasins; one +pair of which she handed to him. + +"It's just like you, Chiquita _mia_!" he exclaimed. "I always wear them +in camp, but in the hurry to get away, I forgot mine. I'm glad I forgot +them though," he added, holding up the moccasins and admiring them. "How +did you come to think of them?" + +"I can't say," she answered. "One afternoon about a month ago while at +the _Posada_, I noticed your footprint in the gravel path in the garden +where you had been talking to the girls but a few moments before. +Things, as you know, were rather uncertain then, nevertheless, something +impelled me to take the measure and make them; thinking that possibly +you might want them some day. Besides, it was such sweet work, you +know," she added with a little laugh. + +"Chiquita--you're a wonderful woman! You not only seem to be able to do +everything, but you think of everything as well," and kneeling on the +ground before her, he drew off her riding boots and slipped her +moccasins on her feet. + +"It is the bridal gift of an Indian girl to her husband," she said +caressingly. "And signifies that they shall tread the same path together +through life." + +"What could be more beautiful!" he returned, pulling off his boots and +drawing on his own. "Ah!" he continued, "it was worth waiting for you +Chiquita _mia_! The long years of uncertainty and suffering seem as +nothing, now that I look back upon them and you have come into my life." + +Just then José returned from the work of picketing the horses and the +three sat down to supper. + + + + +XXXVIII + + +"Isn't it strange how easily one can return to the natural life if one +has known it before?" said Chiquita later in the evening, as the three +lay stretched on their blankets around the small fire which José had +kindled in the center of the grove, and watched the flickering flames +and dancing shadows against the dark pine boughs surrounding them. + +"The life of yesterday has fallen from me," she continued, gazing +pensively into the fire whose red glare illumined her beautiful bronze +features. + +"Yes, you are an Indian once more, Chiquita _mia_," said the Captain. + +"Ah! you are as much of an Indian as José or myself!" she retorted +gayly. "What a pity you didn't know the life before the land was +conquered and tamed by the White man! Verily, a glory has passed from +this earth!" A peculiar light shone in José's eyes as he listened to her +words. He seemed on the point of speaking, but did not. He smiled and +rolled a fresh _cigarillo_, lighting it with a pine twig which he took +from the fire. + +"Tell me why you insisted on our coming this way, Chiquita?" asked the +Captain, disposing himself comfortably on his blanket. + +"Because I want to see my people again. They are the strongest and most +advanced people in Mexico, and we will be safe with them until things +have quieted down. Because I wanted you to see where I came from and how +I lived before Padre Antonio introduced me to a new world and made of me +a woman that you could love. Besides, we can start from their country on +our camping trip as well as from any other place. My people are not +quite the savages you probably think them. But there is something else," +she continued after a pause. "I was impelled, drawn this way. Why, I can +not say, but something always kept pointing me toward the northwest. I +feel as though the climax of our lives is yet to come; that we are on +the verge of something great; that our work in life may begin with +them." + +"Perhaps it may be so!" interrupted José, no longer able to conceal the +agitation her words aroused in him. "That is, if the vision of the White +Cloud prove to be true. At any rate, my people await your coming," he +added. At the mention of the White Cloud, Chiquita sat bolt upright, +regarding José intently the while--then rose to her feet. + +"The White Cloud? Your people?" she repeated excitedly. "Then you are a +Tewana?" José also had risen from his sitting posture, and dropping on +one knee with face downward and both arms extended straight out before +him with the palms of the hands turned downward, he exclaimed in the +Tewana tongue: "Princess, Flaming Star--I greet you! I am Onakipo, the +Pine Tree, son of Ixlao, the Swan!" José's attitude and manner of speech +formed a most striking picture. He had not even revealed his true +identity to the Captain. + +Chiquita had noticed the furtive, stolen glances he had cast at her from +time to time during the journey, a thing strange in an Indian, and it +caused her some uneasiness, but now she understood. He had just +acknowledged her by his attitude of submission and the salute common to +his people, as their tribal head. + +"You and I, Princess, were the sole survivors of that last battle in +which your father's band was annihilated," continued José in Spanish, +seating himself once more on the ground on the other side of the fire +opposite Chiquita who again had taken her place beside the Captain. + +"I do not wonder that you did not recognize me," he went on after a +pause, during which he rolled and lit a fresh _cigarillo_. "I was a mere +boy at the time. The battle, you will remember, took place just before +sunset, and when the enemy charged our camp, I was struck on the head, +as you see by the scar over my left eye. I fell over a ledge of rock +into a gully below, alighting in a thick clump of bushes, breaking my +fall and saving my life. Fortunately the bushes concealed me from view, +causing the enemy to overlook me, else they certainly had finished me +before departing. I lay unconscious all that night until noon of the +following day, when I awoke. For a long time after awakening I was too +weak to rise, but finally I managed to crawl to the little stream that +ran at the bottom of the gully just below me. There I slaked my thirst +and washed my face and wound and bound it up as best I could. All that +afternoon I lay by the stream, drinking and dipping my head in the water +until evening, when I regained sufficient strength to crawl back to the +top of the great rock where we made our last stand. + +"There, a ghastly sight met my eyes. With his back against a large +bowlder where the enemy had placed him, sat your father, the Whirlwind, +still dressed in his war regalia and around him, just as they had +fallen, lay our dead comrades. I counted them. There were forty-eight in +all, and as you were not among the dead, I rightly conjectured, as it +soon afterward proved, that you had been taken prisoner. Three weeks +later I succeeded in reaching our people and told the news. A war party +was organized immediately, and I guided it back to the land of the +Ispali where after a battle, we learned of your capture and escape from +several of the Ispali whom we succeeded in capturing. + +"That was ten years ago, and ever since then, we have sent out runners +each year to visit the towns and villages throughout the land in the +hope of finding you and bringing you back again to rule over us; for as +you know, Princess, you are the last of the royal blood. But in vain. In +spite of the fact that the White Cloud, our great Sachem, said you were +still alive, that he repeatedly saw you among the living in his visions +and predicted your return, we found no trace of you. That was because we +had overlooked Santa Fé. It lies so far east of our country that it +escaped our notice. We never imagined that you had crossed the Sierra +Madres in your flight, and had I not chanced to enter the Captain's +service, we probably never would have heard of you again. + +"But now I understand that it was so intended--that the time was not yet +ripe. That the Great Spirit had ordained you should not return to your +people until you had become worthy of the charge which is about to be +conferred upon you, and which, as you shall presently learn, goes to +prove the truth of the subsequent prophecies the White Cloud made +concerning you." He paused and for some minutes gazed silently into the +fire. He had accompanied his narrative with intense, dramatic gestures +and expressions illustrative of its incidents; a characteristic common +to his race. Presently a smile lit up his face and looking up once more, +he resumed. + +"You remember, Princess, how the White Cloud counseled us to accept the +terms of the Government, bad though they were, and make peace, and +prophesied that disaster would befall us if we refused. Well, then as +now, events have proved the truth of his words. As the years went by and +no further trace of you could be found, the people lost hope of ever +seeing you again and said you were dead. But the White Cloud maintained +that you were still alive; that the day of your return was drawing ever +nearer; that he heard the song of birds and the sound of laughing waters +and beheld the desert carpeted with flowers in his vision and you in +their midst coming towards them, which typified the renewal of life and +rebirth of the nation. But when he announced that he always saw you in +the company of a white man who later should rule over us, they laughed +at his prophecies. + +"'A white man rule over the Tewana? How absurd--impossible!' They shook +their heads and said: 'The White Cloud is old--his vision has become +dim, impaired through age!'" + +The Captain and Chiquita were too amazed by José's words to venture a +reply, and sat gazing alternately at one another and then at the +speaker. + +"When I first met the Captain," continued José, "I wondered greatly why +I was so drawn toward him. True, he was a man to my liking and I was +doubly grateful to him for saving my life, but that did not wholly +account for my attachment. I was drawn to him irresistibly as by an +invisible power. I could not leave him; and when I again saw you, +Princess, on the day that you and the beautiful Señorita met for the +first time and heard from your own lips who you were as well as your +avowal of love for my Master, I knew then that the White Cloud had read +rightly the future; that my Master, the Grand Señor, had been chosen by +the Great Spirit to rule with you over our people. + +"It was then that I learned how you had come to Padre Antonio, after +which I returned to our people and told them what I knew; that I had +found not only you, but also the White Chief whom the White Cloud had +seen in his vision, and that, if you returned to them at all, it would +surely be as his bride. At first they would not believe me, but when I +persisted and reminded them of the disasters that had befallen us in the +past for our failure to heed the White Cloud's councils, they at last +yielded and called a grand council and decided to send a deputation +composed of the leading men of the nation to verify my statements. + +"It was not so much the news that you were still alive that was so +difficult for them to believe, but that a white man should rule over +them--a thing impossible and past all belief; besides, they would not +have it. However, when I conducted the deputation, consisting of six of +our leading men, to Santa Fé and they secretly beheld you, Princess, +they one and all exclaimed as with one breath: ''Tis she, the +Princess--the Flaming Star! How like her father, the Whirlwind, she is!' + +"They wanted to disclose their identity to you then and there and exhort +you to return with them to your people, but I persuaded them to wait, +reminding them that the White Cloud's prophecy was not yet entirely +fulfilled. I then showed you to them, Master," he went on, addressing +the Captain, "and although they acknowledged that you were a magnificent +specimen of a man and had the appearance of one born to command, they +shook their heads and said it was impossible--that a White Chief could +never rule over the Tewana. + +"'Of a truth,' I answered, 'the black-robed Padres are right! You are a +stiff-necked people who persist in following in the footsteps of our +forefathers who, we all know, were unable to lead the people to the +light. Only the White Cloud was able to foresee the future; grasp the +significance of both the Padres' and our ancient Sachems' teachings. +That the old order of things had come to an end. That the time had come +when strife must cease among men; that the tidings were now to be +fulfilled which the White Child with a face like the sun had brought to +the world, and whose coming our ancient Sachems had predicted in the +ancient days. Know also, that the Princess has seen the great world +which you have not seen; that in many ways she is more like a white +woman than one of our race; that she is wiser than you are; that the +Great Spirit has shown her the things that are good for us, and if she +becomes the wife of the White Chief, you must accept him if you accept +her, for without him she will never return to you. Besides, the White +Chief is the wisest of us all. In his sight both we and most of the men +of his own race are as children.' + +"They could not find a fitting answer to my words and returned to our +people. Ever since then runners have been coming and going constantly +between us. They have been apprised of our coming and await us." José +ceased speaking and sat gazing meditatively into the fire where he +watched the pink and violet flames leap upward and lose themselves in +the thin wreath of white smoke which slowly ascended and floated away +over the tree tops. For some time no one spoke, then Captain Forest +finally broke the silence. + +"What you say, José, is truly wonderful; but know, that we have no more +desire to rule the Tewana than to rule other men. But should they, like +the rest of the world, fail to heed our example, they shall perish in +their ignorance." He leaned forward and tossed some fresh sticks of wood +on the fire. + +"It is time for the first watch, José," he continued, rising to his +feet and glancing up at the stars visible above the tree tops. "Call me +when the Great Bear has half circled the Pole Star. I'll keep the second +watch." + + + + +XXXIX + + +José brought in the horses and he and the Captain saddled and packed +them; after which they silently broke camp in the light of the stars and +the waning moon. José took his place at the head of the little +cavalcade, Chiquita following him and the Captain bringing up the rear; +he and Chiquita casting a last look at their first camp as they rode +away. + +No one spoke. Save for the measured tread of the horses and noise of the +rushing stream along which the trail led upwards, no sounds disturbed +the silence of the night. Now and then an occasional spark, struck from +the horses' iron-rimmed hoofs, flashed for an instant in the darkness +along the trail. + +The Captain's gaze was riveted upon Chiquita's tall, erect figure in +front of him who ever and anon turned in the saddle and smiled, her +beautiful, lustrous eyes flashing like stars in the moon-fire. + +Higher and higher they mounted, pausing occasionally to allow the horses +time to draw breath, until they at length drew rein on the summit of the +Sierra Madres. Here a wonderful sight met their eyes, poised as they +were upon the rim of the earth and gazing off into star-strewn space. +Dawn was just breaking, suffusing the long line of the eastern horizon +with a soft, rosy glow which crept swiftly towards them over the +gray-green, purple plains that swept away from the mountains' base like +vast undulating stretches of ocean; the golden shafts of the on-coming +dawn driving the paling stars before them like a shepherd his flocks to +the hills. North and south, as far as the eye could reach, stretched the +broken and many crested length of the great Sierra Madre range; its +sides clothed with dark forests of cedar and pine and chaparral, its +secluded recesses obscured in the gloom; its highest peaks glowing with +golden, pink and violet tints. In the west, surrounded by a host of +golden stars that still glittered in the purple black depths of +vanishing night, the silver moon hung half-way dipped as it slowly sank +behind the towering crest of the Sahuaripa range, an isolated spur of +the Sierra Madres. A vast plain intervened between them and the distant +Sierras at whose foot dwelt the Tewana. + +Far below them, from out the shadowy depths on either side of the range, +arose faint sounds of awakening life. The breeze began to sigh among the +tree tops, while high above them they heard the wild scream of eagles +that soared in great circles with widespread pinions in their morning +flight to greet the sun. Great waves of indefinable melody, more subtle +and exquisite than music, swept over them, causing their souls to +quicken and tingle in the freshening dawn as the Day Star rose to hold +again his sway over earth. His mighty splendor and effulgence swept +through and over them, their souls vibrating with renewed life and vigor +as they felt and recognized God's sign and immanence as in the days +when man first walked with Him in the cool of the morning. + +They realized that they had entered upon the new life. The promise was +fulfilled--the veil was lifted. The scroll of human destiny seemed to +unroll itself from out the dim traditions of the past, and they beheld +as in a dream the life that was when first the children of men roamed +the earth and established the Kingdom of God which was intended from the +beginning. In the picture of the golden childhood of the race, they +beheld reflected in the new light of the future, the vision of the +emancipated, delivered man, guided by the lessons still to be learned +from the great Book of Nature lying open before him, and the accumulated +wisdom of past ages, handed down to him by his forefathers through +travail and suffering and in legend and song from those ancient days of +suns and nights of stars when the earth and man were young. A freeborn +race of men who are joint tenants of the soil, sharing all things in +common with which their bountiful Mother, the Earth, has provided them. +A race of men, athletic in body as they are able in mind, and spiritual +and courageous, recognizing no laws but those of Nature's or God's. + +In silence and with bared heads they gazed upon the grandeur of the +scene that lay spread out before them. It was as though they looked back +upon the old life from another world. It lay so far behind them that it +seemed but a memory; not a vestige of it clung to them, so filled were +they with new hopes and aspirations. + +"Behold!" cried José excitedly, pointing toward the west. And looking in +the direction indicated by his outstretched arm, they beheld in the dim +distance numerous columns of smoke rising heavenward in the clear +morning air from the tops of the _mesas_ that dotted the plain. + +"'Tis the sign of your coming, Princess!" he continued. "The people have +bowed to the will of the White Cloud--acknowledged the authority of the +White Chief." + +Parrakeets began to twitter among the branches of the trees on every +hand during their descent of the western slope. Ravens croaked and +called from the heart of the forest, and the owl flitted by on silent +wing. Black birds with orange heads and throats and splashed with +scarlet on their wings, greeted them at the foot of the mountain among +the reeds which grew along the stream they were following. Deer broke +from the willow copse and bounded away, while grouse rose on whirring +wings from under the horses' hoofs as they emerged upon the plain where +the wild cry of the curlew rang clear and sharp on the morning. They +were free and breathed deep of the spirit of freedom; listened to the +old primeval song of nature's myriad voices; gazed long upon the +pristine loveliness of earth. + +All that day and the three following, the columns of smoke continued to +rise heavenward as they pursued their journey. At night, pillars of fire +took the place of the smoke, and all the while, save for an occasional +glimpse in the distance of a solitary horseman who faded specterlike +from view on their approach, they saw not a soul. + +The Spirit of the Great Mystery brooded over the land, and they rode as +in a dream. The fragrant cedar and piñon-scented smoke mingled with the +soft, thin haze of the Indian summer which veiled the land in its golden +glow of mystery; the sacred incense, the Red men say, of the gods, +burned on their altars in ancient days; a sign to the people to gather +each year on the hilltops and _mesas_, and in the forests and plains +during the moon of falling leaves, and celebrate in prayer and sacred +dance and song, the advent of the gods. + +The wind was hushed and all things seemed to sleep and dream, and they +seemed to draw nearer to the heart of things. The great change that had +come into their lives was, after all, no more wonderful than the changes +which they saw had taken place in nature about them. A luxuriant growth +of tropical vegetation, succeeded by vast forests of conifers, a remnant +of which still survived upon the mountains, once flourished in the +semi-desert through which they traveled. An occasional broken, +half-buried pillar, or the remains of a crumbling wall that had +witnessed the passing of the ages and listened to the tales borne on the +winds, marked the existence of vanished civilizations of which men +to-day know naught. All things appeared to change and fade, nothing +seemed permanent, not even the ideal; the morrow was but a forgetting. + +Beneath them they felt the Earth, ponderous and weighty and crushing in +its immensity to the imagination, and whose existence seemed of little +moment in comparison to the countless worlds that filled the universe +about them. Yet, insignificant though it appeared, was it not a link in +the great universal scheme of matter, and did it not stand in the same +relation to the universe as their individual lives to the human race? + +Like two stars their souls had rushed together from the uttermost +confines of space. She had been led into his world, and he compelled to +retrace his steps to almost primitive conditions in order that they +might find one another and together take up the thread of their common +destiny. Clearly, they were children of destiny upon whose brows God had +set His seal. They realized that the path which lay before them was not +one entirely strewn with flowers. That between the chosen ones, life +meant something more than the love of a man for a woman, or a woman's +for a man. That they still stood with their feet in the flame; that +earth's cup of joy for them must still remain one of bitter-sweet; that +they must go on to the end in order that men might see and hear; that +the new order of things must spring from them. + +Gay was the Princess. She laughed and talked and related incidents of +her life and her people; the silvery tinkle of the bells on her spurs, +accompanying every movement of her horse, chimed sweetly with her mood. +In the raven folds of her blue-black hair, she wore again the red +berries as on the day when first he beheld her. She seemed a part of +that tawny landscape, splashed with great patches of crimson and gold +and gray and purple--the spirit and incarnation of the Indian summer. + +As he gazed upon her and listened to her words, the wild refrain of +those familiar lines recurred to him: + + "I will wed some savage woman; she shall rear my dusky race: + Iron-jointed, supple-sinewed, they shall dive and they shall run, + Catch the wild goat by the hair, and hurl their lances in the sun, + Whistle back the parrot's call,--leap the rainbows of the brooks,--" + +The woman of the ages had come back again. Lilith and Eve and Isis and +Venus, the foam-kissed, and Erda, the dreaming one. The vision of the +ancient world rose before him; virgin forests and plains and mighty +rivers and mountains; the ancient temples of the Nile and the Ganges, +Hellas' fanes and Druidic monoliths and sacred groves, and voices of +strange peoples mingled with the soft notes of reed and lute. + +Within the unending circle of life and death, of love and hatred, of joy +and sorrow and remorse which mark the rise and passing of the +civilizations, he beheld the sacred ash and pine, and starry lotus +afloat upon the face of moonlit waters in which were mirrored the palm +and papyrus and acanthus, and stood face to face with the serpent and +wolf, the winged horse and sphinx, and the dragon and the griffin when +their secret origins and significance were known unto men. The sounds of +harps and cymbals and lyres and timbrels blended with those of +conch-shells and antelope horns. Sighs and laughter and curses and +weeping mingled with the wild strains of Homeric song and mystic rites +of Chaldea and Babylon, and the sacred chant of Isis. The Voodoo danced +to the rattle of shells and antelope hoofs before the shrines of +Ethiopia's dark woman, crowned with the sickle moon, and vast multitudes +knelt and lay prostrate before the car of Juggernaut and the passing +image of Pracriti of Asia, the many-breasted, the Goddess of Abundance. + +Sun and Fire worshipers tore the hearts and scalps from living victims +and held them aloft to the rising sun, and men and wild beasts fought in +arenas amid the acclamations of the people. + +He beheld the milk-white bullocks of the Druid, garlanded with flowers, +heading the procession that entered the dark groves in search of the +sacred mistletoe-bearing oak; the processions of Pan and Odin, and Siva +and Vishnu and Baal, and Venus and Bacchus. Nymphs and fauns and dryads +and hamadryads called from the depths of the forest, and youths and +maidens and shepherds with vine-wreathed brows danced in the sunlit +glades and on the hills where the white flocks roamed, to the plaintive +notes of the mystic pipes of Pan. He beheld the flaunting banners and +flashing steel of victorious hosts and heard the wild, weird chants of +wandering, barbaric hordes that conquered and destroyed. The flash and +roar of artillery of recent times but intensified the gloom that brooded +over the world. The struggle was unending. Men still remained the +victims and slaves of passion and desire. Their sighs and curses and +groans and cries of hatred and despair increased with the years; the +smoke of their torment blackened the face of the sun. + +The waves of human harmony and discord swept over him like the sounds of +mighty rushing winds and waters, and he beheld the race to-day, as in +the past, in the plains and on the high tops, prostrate and erect with +hands outstretched toward the heavens, crying for release. And yet +through it and beneath it and above it all, he heard a ringing note of +triumph that swelled onward and upward until the vision shone clear, and +the true import of their lives stood revealed. They had overcome the +world; broken the fiery chains of desire. + +The heavens of the old world rolled together like a scroll, and the sun +and the moon and the stars and the earth fell into the burning sea of +man's worldliness, but out of the chaos that followed, the earth emerged +once more, green and beautiful, and grain waved upon its face, and the +voice of the Angel rang clear, crying aloud and mightily: + +"Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen! Babylon, the woman mounted upon +the scarlet beast and arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked +with gold and precious stones and pearls, and having a golden cup in her +hand full of abominations.... Babylon upon whose forehead is written, +'Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of +the Earth.' Babylon drunk with wine and the blood of those who stood for +the truth. Babylon, of whose wine and delights all men have drunk and +with whom all the nations of the Earth have committed fornication. +Babylon whose sins have reached unto heaven; who hath glorified herself +and lived deliciously and who said in her heart: 'I sit a queen, and am +no widow, and shall know no sorrow; my joy shall continue forever!' + +"Her plagues shall come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and +she shall be utterly burned with fire. And the kings and the rulers of +earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the mighty men, and the +chief Captains, and the bondsmen, and the free-men who have lived +deliciously with her and who bear the mark of the beast in their hands +and upon their foreheads shall bewail her and lament for her, crying: + +"'Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city!' + +"And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no +man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold and +silver and precious stones, and of pearls and fine linen, and purple, +and silk and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of +ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass and +iron and marble. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and +frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, +and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.... + +"The fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all +things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou +shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things which were +made rich by her shall stand afar off ... weeping and wailing and +saying: 'Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and +purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and +pearls....' And every ship master and all the company in ships, and +sailors, and as many as trade by sea ... shall cry when they see the +smoke of her burning, saying: 'What city is like unto this great city?' +And they shall cast dust on their heads, and weeping and wailing, cry: +'Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships +in the sea by reason of her costliness!' + +"Babylon, Babylon, thine idols and graven images of gods shall be cast +down and shattered utterly and forever! The voice of harpers, and +musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all +in thee; and no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be shall be found any +more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all +in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; +and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more +at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for +by thy sorceries were all nations of the earth deceived!" + +Babylon, Babylon, thou fair city, thou proud world, thou wonderful +emanation of men's minds, thou fair wanton, thou beauteous licentious +harlot of gold and gems, and white linen, and silks, and of henna, and +myrrh, and frankincense, and sweet-smelling herbs, no more shall thy +sons and daughters rejoice in thee and worship thee! Thy grass shall be +withered and thy fig trees shall cast their figs, and thy gold and +silver, and thy diamonds, and rubies, and sapphires, and turquoise, and +emeralds, and opals, and pearls, and topaz, shall lie scattered and in +heaps for him to take who wisheth them, but none shall desire them. + +No more shall thy daughters sit in the shadow of thy vines where nesteth +the dove, and glorify thee in idle jest and laughter and song, and +longingly wait for the coming of the night, for they shall be bereft of +their silks, and their girdles, and anklets, and bracelets of gold and +jewels. Thy songs and pæans of triumph and victory shall cease with the +tainted stream of thy desires, and the walls of thy temples shall +crumble to dust. Thy stars shall pale, and the sun and the moon shall +illumine thee no longer, for the day approacheth when thy blandishments +shall fail to allure. + +Babylon, Babylon, thou proud city, thou who sitteth upon many waters, +thou whose sway encompasseth the earth, how hast thou fallen! + + + + +XL + + +On the afternoon of the fifth day they drew rein on a high, shelving, +terracelike stretch of ground overlooking a broad valley, and almost +opposite the chief Tewana village which nestled at the foot of the +Sahuaripa range, running north and south until lost on the horizon. + +Back of the village a cataract flung itself downward over the mountain's +side into the valley, its clouds of spray reflecting innumerable rainbow +tints in the sunshine. Great forests, abounding in wild animal life, +clothed the mountain's slopes. + +It was a peaceful, fruitful valley upon which they gazed; the land where +Chiquita formerly dwelt. The grass grew knee-deep in the meadows. +Willows and water-birch and sycamore and alders and poplars, +interspersed with pines and oaks, grew in clusters along the banks of +the broad, rushing stream that ran between them and the distant village +whose low, vine-clad walls glowed golden and rose and purple and gray in +the rays of the afternoon sun. The diminutive city was a mass of trees +and foliage and seemed a part of the landscape; so small were the houses +and so harmonious its setting. Fields of flax and melons, and beans and +squash, and corn and tobacco, and small orchards and vineyards already +harvested, dotted the valley close to the meadows which bordered the +tree-fringed stream. Herds of horses and cattle and flocks of sheep and +goats, intermingled with wild herds of deer and antelope, browsed on the +meadows and slopes above the river where they stood. Wild ducks and +geese and swan swam in the river, and grouse and wild turkeys and quail +and plover roamed the forests and uplands. There was no promiscuous +killing of wild animals allowed among the Tewana; they were shared in +common like the domesticated animals. Innumerable canoes, used for +fishing, were drawn up on the banks of the river. + +The Tewana were an independent, self-supporting people. At all seasons +of the year were heard the sounds of the hand-loom and the smith's +anvil--the fashioners of iron and precious metals. The weavers of cloth +and baskets, and potters and tanners fashioned their wares in the open +in the shade of their walls and trees. + +The life these people led, free from the harassing cares and anxieties +of the White man, was almost ideal. During the spring and summer months +they tended their fields, and after the harvests were gathered in the +autumn and the surplus produce stored in public granaries, they engaged +in the chase; hunting only with the bow and spear--camping in the open, +in the forests and plains until the advent of winter. During the ensuing +months, until the coming of spring, the children were instructed by +their parents in the industrial arts; taught the traditions of their +people, and how to read and write, and to observe the courses of the +stars and to forecast the weather and predict the nature of the seasons. +With the coming of the seedtime, they entered the fields with their +elders and learned to sow and tend and reap the crops. + +Thus, by the time the child had attained the age of sixteen, he was +thoroughly conversant with all that was necessary to meet the demands of +life. He became an independent, self-supporting unit, while his constant +contact with nature not only revealed the latter's secrets and the laws +governing natural phenomena, but developed him physically and +spiritually as only nature can. All orphaned children were adopted by +the different families, and consequently, there were no outcasts or poor +and ignorant among the people. + +Every house was surrounded by a small plot of ground sufficient to +supply the family with fruit, poultry, grain and vegetables; from two to +three acres in extent. Their herds were held in common and permitted to +run at will like the deer; requiring but little care. + +The Tewana only produced enough to feed and clothe themselves. The use +of money was forbidden among them, and trade and barter limited +practically to the individual who, desiring something particular from +his neighbor, procured the latter an equivalent in return. + +They regarded material things as merely a means to an end, and +considered it a disgrace for any one to accumulate wealth; for it was +noted that one's spiritual development declined in the same ratio that +his material possessions increased. Like the land, they held the forests +and minerals and waters and animals in common. These were the sacred +things, the gift of nature, and could not be bartered or sold. In their +eyes, only the depraved soul of a peddler ever could have conceived the +idea of turning them into merchandise. Naturally it had taken centuries +of evolution to create this attitude--but they had attained. There was, +however, no need of wealth. Since they enjoyed the earth's natural +resources in common, there was enough and an abundance for all; placing +the high and the low on a footing of material equality. + +Four months' energetic labor was all that was required to produce the +annual necessities of life, allowing the individual the greater portion +of his days to devote to the development of his natural capacities. +There were no idlers, the women sharing the responsibilities of life the +same as the men. All contributed their services to that which was +required for the good of the community; the maintenance of aqueducts and +roads in the towns and the guarding of the herds. Aside from these +slight duties, the individual was free to follow the bent of his +desires. Those who refused to contribute such services were driven from +the community and became nomads, but such instances were rare; all +preferring to enjoy the benefits which civilization, combined with the +greatest amount of liberty, bestowed upon the individual. + +Opposite the chief _pueblo_, on the same side of the river occupied by +themselves, stood the ruins of another town in a fair state of +preservation. It differed greatly in appearance from the one opposite. +It was compactly built, resembling more a modern Mexican town than the +pure type of Indian _pueblo_. In answer to the Captain's inquiries +concerning it, Chiquita smiled and said: "Originally there were sixty +_pueblos_, averaging from two to three thousand inhabitants each; the +number of inhabitants to which the size of our towns are limited. Owing +to the new ideas that were introduced among us by the priests and +traders that were permitted to visit us from time to time, many of our +people sought to establish a new order of things; like that prevailing +throughout the greater part of the world to-day. But in order that I may +make clear what I am about to say, I must first tell you, that the +Tewana are as quick to recognize and encourage talent and genius as were +the ancient Greeks--that there are many artists among my people who have +developed their arts to a high degree of perfection--poets, painters, +sculptors and musicians. + +"These artists, especially, became imbued with the new ideas, and +instead of continuing to create for art's sake only, as had been the +custom of their fathers, embellishing their houses and articles of use +with their artistic creations, or spreading their poetry and music and +national sagas abroad after the manner of the Minnesingers of old, they, +with the others who had become affected, began to adopt new customs--to +build churches and temples in which to worship and preserve their arts, +and sought to introduce money and taxation and all that they entail +among the people in order that the new institutions might be maintained. + +"The disaffection became widespread, affecting about half the people. +The White Cloud and my father did all in their power to persuade the +renegades, as they were called, to return to the old ways again; +maintaining that God dwelt in the open, not in temples, and that the +works of man which entailed the burden of taxation for their +maintenance, depriving man of his freedom, were not worth retaining. +That it was not economy, but extravagance to maintain them, and an +unnecessary waste of energy; for the instant man, in his material +evolution, goes beyond the procuring of the necessities of life, he +becomes immeshed in the creations of his own world and a slave to them. +But in vain. They refused to listen to the wisdom of their words and +only laughed in answer to their pleadings. Whereupon, the most terrible +battles ensued; costing the lives of fifty thousand of our best fighting +men and women; for among us, the women, like the men, are warriors, and +quite as capable of self-defense. They likewise take part in all our +games. In fact, they receive the same training in all things as the men +in order that they may be equally fitted to bear the responsibilities of +citizenship. + +"Our women are trained for battle, not particularly to make warriors of +them, but for the same reason that the Greeks placed athletics before +all else. Not that they considered athletics superior to the other arts +and sciences, but without physical perfection, they realized there could +be no proper mental poise, no balance between mind and body. When you +see our youth, our young men and women, contest for the honors in our +games and military exercises you'll realize the truth of this. The +entire nation gathers together once a year to witness these sports and +exercises and judge the skill of the contestants. No Olympic games ever +surpassed them. You shall see wonderfully beautiful men and women, the +result of their training. Men and women who grow naturally from the +ground up, like the tree or the flower. Believe me, your people don't +know what it is to really live, to taste of the true joys of life; they +only exist. + +"Owing to the terrific loss we sustained during the rebellion, we were +forced to make terms with the Mexican Government and pay an annual +tribute like the rest of her people. It was my first introduction to +battle. I don't think I shall ever forget those terrible days of +slaughter. No quarter was shown, for we knew that defeat meant the +extermination of our race. There ought to be about a hundred thousand of +us left," she continued. "Twenty _pueblos_, in all were destroyed, and +may their ruins long continue to stand as monuments of the folly of +men!" + +"But how about your schools and hospitals and asylums and prisons?" +asked the Captain. + +"Men who lead natural lives have no need of such things," she answered. +"Nature is all sufficient and has provided all things for man's proper +development. The man or woman who can not instruct a child in the things +that are worth knowing and necessary to meet the demands of life, is a +barbarian and only half civilized. Once a man becomes civilized, the +civilizing process ends. A man's spiritual growth is not dependent upon +his inventions, his sciences or his arts, but is a thing apart from +mental growth. If this were not so, his hope of ultimate deliverance +would be a delusion. Contagious diseases were unknown to us until +introduced among us by white men. As for criminals, they are very rare +among us. When all men have an equal opportunity in life there is no +incentive to commit crime. Acts that are the result of sudden fits of +passion, are not the acts of criminals, but the righting of a supposed +wrong done the individual. But even these are rare. Should any one +transgress the law, he is punished, not imprisoned. Only a fool would go +to the trouble and expense of keeping a man imprisoned. A delinquent is +punished so severely that he will not transgress the law a second time; +for a second serious offense against society is punished usually with +death. From what I have told you, you can gather that we are not the +savages the world imagines men to be who lead a natural existence. You +can see how easily we, with our knowledge and theirs, could lead them to +the light." + +"Is there nothing between the picture your people present and the world +we know?" + +"Nothing! What else could there be? After the final appraisement of +things has been taken and they have been weighed in the balance and +adjudged, this is the condition that must confront mankind, for no other +condition offers man such unlimited scope for the development of his +higher nature. What you see is the true picture of the delivered man. +The Golden Age, or the Garden of Eden is no myth. Men once were free and +remained so until they gave way to desire and established for themselves +a world of delusion in which there is no permanency either of thought or +possession. The traditions of all nations and all peoples, from time +immemorial, tell of this state when men were free. They also predict +the destruction of present-day society. The Utopias and Golden Ages +depicted by poets and dreamers, though beautiful to dwell upon in fancy, +are of the tissue of dreams. They will not bear analysis. They are +merely other names for different forms of bondage; the same old romantic +fallacies which we are forever meeting in works of fiction." + +"And how long shall the world we know continue until the new +dispensation comes to pass?" + +"Until men overcome the fear of death! Then shall they be born anew and +come into their rightful heritage. Then shall they grasp the spiritual +significance of the Golden Age as voiced by the Prophet: When first the +foundations of the Earth were laid; when the morning stars sang together +and all the Sons of God shouted for joy, for we are they!" + + + + +XLI + + +On either side of the village, forming a vast semicircle, stood +innumerable lodges and hogans, temporary structures erected by the +inhabitants of the other villages, who had come to show homage to the +Princess and the White Chief, as the Captain was called. + +While gazing in the direction of the village which was too far distant +for them to distinguish more than an indistinct outline of objects, they +beheld two dark columns of horsemen issue forth from the center of the +great semicircle of lodges and move slowly in their direction. Chiquita +guessed their meaning. As a child she had witnessed the ceremony when +her father, the Whirlwind, was proclaimed Chief of the nation. + +Without pausing, they came trailing across the valley in two separate +columns, thousands of horsemen and women, the men on the right hand, the +women on the left; all riding bareback with simple _riatas_ twisted +around the horse's lower jaw. Save for their sandals and the skins of +the panther and ocelot and jaguar, the Mexican leopard, which they wore +clasped at the left shoulder by a golden, jeweled clasp, and which fell +diagonally down across the body to the right knee, leaving the arms and +shoulders and the greater part of the body bare and the left leg exposed +to the hip, the women were as naked as the men who wore sandals and +loin-skins only. Heavy clasps and bracelets and girdles of gold and +silver, set with pearls and opals, and turquoise and topaz, and emeralds +and sapphires, adorned their arms and waists. + +Among the Tewana there was no distinction in authority between man and +woman. Like the Amazons of old, the women carried long steel-tipped +lances and shields and bows and quivers of arrows slung across their +backs as did the men. The head of each Cacique or Chieftain of a hundred +warriors or Amazons was adorned with a circlet of gold with a clasp of +precious stones on the left side of the head holding a single eagle's +feather that slanted downward across the left shoulder. + +On they came, the half-wild horses prancing and plunging and snorting +and neighing, their manes and the long black hair and braids of the men +and women flying in the breeze; the lance tips and jewels and their +naked, bronze bodies flashing and glistening in the sun; a wonderful, +wild, picturesque, barbaric pageant, a voice from the past; magnificent +specimens of manhood and womanhood; free men, exemplifying the fullness +of life--the life that is worth living. The jewels and precious metals +which they wore represented incredible wealth, but were regarded by them +as objects of beauty only, for these were the Tewana, the people, who +for the sake of freedom, had trampled material wealth under foot; had +held Montezuma in check and resisted the encroachments of the Spaniard +ever since the days of Cortez, knowing themselves to be a superior +people and of more ancient origin. + +A wild, weird chant that rolled and swelled in great undulatory waves of +melody down the long lines of warriors, was borne to them on the breeze. +The whole valley was filled with the song, the hills and mountains, +reverberating and resounding, echoed back the refrain. + +"'Tis the ancient chant of the kings!" explained Chiquita. "Of course we +no longer go to war thus. Nevertheless, it is the ancient rite that must +be performed so long as the Tewana remain a nation." + +Nearer and nearer drew the advancing host, the volume of sound swelling +and increasing, until splashing through the river and sweeping up the +slope to where they stood, the leaders drew rein before them, and +raising their lances on high, a mighty shout burst from the throats of +the warriors, interrupting the song. Again and again the valley and +mountains echoed and reverberated with the prolonged shouts and +acclamations until the chant was taken up once more. + +An eagle with widespread wings soared above them in the blue of heaven +and seemed to accompany them as they swept along between the lines in +the direction of the village; each company of warriors and Amazons, +without interrupting the chant, raising their lances in salute as they +passed. There was no doubt in the minds of the Tewana regarding Captain +Forest's ability to rule as they gazed upon the man and the horse he +rode. He was as tall and deep chested as the Whirlwind, while his +piercing, hawklike gaze and face shone with the strength and +determination of one born to command. The Chestnut tossed his great +white mane in the air and neighed and plunged and curveted between the +lines. + +Truly the White Cloud had read the future well--the White Chief had come +with the Princess. + +On they rode, the song and acclamations of the warriors ringing in their +ears, their gaze now scanning the faces of these wonderful people, now +lifted heavenward to the eagle which floated overhead and continued to +accompany them. Their souls thrilled with the exquisite joy of living +which the scene and the surroundings inspired in them. A scene which men +have dreamed of during moments of spiritual uplift, and have longed to +behold and imitate and become a part of, and escape from the sordidness +and pettiness of mundane existence and live the life of men where life +is life and every breath is freedom; where the desire to live is +dominant and the future holds no terrors, and each new day and sun and +moon and procession of the stars are greeted with the joy that is born +of living and hailed as emblems of the creative force that marks and +animates the passing of the seasons. + +At the end of the lines, on a slight eminence before the village, in +front of a great gathering of aged men and women and children, stood the +tall, erect figure of an ancient warrior and patriarch with long, +snow-white hair that fell over his shoulders. Like the Amazons, he was +clad in a jaguar's skin held in place by a golden girdle and clasps +studded with jewels, and wore sandals on his feet. A circlet of gold +wrought with runic symbols, to the left side of which was attached a +raven's wing, encircled his head, while in his right hand he held a +long willow staff or wand to which were attached seven eagle feathers +that fluttered in the breeze. + +It was the great Sachem, the White Cloud. A hundred winters sat upon his +clear, broad arching brow, and yet the years seemed to rest lightly upon +him. His benign, beaming countenance shone with an almost supernatural +radiance that bespoke the gift of the seer. Without altering his +position, he quietly signed to Chiquita and the Captain to dismount and +approach. Meanwhile the warriors had gathered in a great semicircle in +front of them. For some time the White Cloud continued to gaze at them +in silent scrutiny, his large, dark, piercing eyes roving from +Chiquita's face to the Captain's, in the seeming effort to fathom their +thoughts and the very depths of their souls, as though to reassure +himself of the truth of his prophecy. + +"It is done. You have come at last, my children--the prophecy is +fulfilled!" he began at length. Then, raising the staff which he held in +his right hand and pointing directly upward to where the eagle continued +to soar in great circles, he cried in a deep sonorous voice that all +might hear: "Behold the sacred bird, God's sign and symbol; the sacred +witness to the consecration of His chosen ones! For was it not written +in the ancient runes that, after the coming of the White Child with a +face like the sun, the ancient spirit of Hiawatha, the Red Man's +Messiah, would revisit the world of men once more upon the back of an +eagle to verify the truth of those words uttered by the White Child? + +"Since the dawn of man's birth the centuries have waited for this day! +Henceforth," he continued, addressing the Captain, "you shall be known +unto all men as Soaring Eagle, the Winged Spirit! And you, Flaming Star, +as the Giver of Life!" Then, planting the wand upright in the ground +between them, he bade them take hold of it; Chiquita with the left hand +and the Captain with the right, his hand above hers. + +"By the power and sacred symbolism represented by this staff," he +continued, "I invest you both with the supreme authority. And further, I +call all men to witness that, the hand of Soaring Eagle rests above that +of the Giver of Life, which signifies that his word shall outweigh all +others in the Councils of the People." He ceased speaking and turned to +the Captain as if awaiting his reply. + +A prolonged silence ensued, during which the latter's gaze swept the +vast conclave of horsemen and forest of lances that glittered in the +sunlight and the wild mountains beyond which towered above the valley +and had looked down upon the Tewana in the ancient days when _his_ race +was in the cradle of its infancy. Beside him stood the beauteous woman +who seemed endowed with all the wit and graces the poets of the ages had +attributed to the ideal woman. An inspiring, uplifting spectacle, far +surpassing in its reality the vision of his dreams. + +He had attained the goal. The responsibility had been laid upon him, and +without hesitation he accepted the charge, and spake; his words being +translated by Chiquita, were repeated in turn to the multitude by the +White Cloud. + +"Tewana, we accept the charge which you have imposed in us," he began +quietly. "But understand, we come not to rule you; we come to guide you. +It is time that you should learn to rule yourselves. + +"The days of rulers have passed. Woe unto them that seek to rule, and +woe unto the people that bows its neck to rulers! The message which we +have come to deliver unto you, we deliver likewise unto all men and it +shall go forth unto the uttermost confines of the earth." He paused, +then raising his voice on high once more, he continued: + +"Tewana, do you accept the terms? We come to guide you, not to rule +you!" + +A profound silence followed his speech. No sound was heard save the +sighing of the wind among the warriors' lance tips and shields and their +arrow-filled quivers, and the rustling of the seven eagle feathers +attached to the White Cloud's staff. + +"Tewana," he asked again. "Do you accept the terms?" + +Again all was silence. Then, all of a sudden, a vibrant, ringing note, +audible to all, the scream of the eagle, came floating downward, clear +and bell-like, from out the sky. + +"'Tis the warning voice of the bird; the wisdom of the Ancient Ones!" +cried the White Cloud. "The spirit of the Great Mystery has spoken once +more! + +"We accept--we accept!" And seizing the staff with his right hand, he +raised it and made the sign of the cross above their heads. Then turning +and facing the warriors, he raised the staff on high once more and cried +in a loud voice: + +"Tewana, earth-born Children of the Sun, salute your Chieftains!" A +mighty shout went up from the entire multitude. Ten thousand bow-strings +twanged on the air, and ten thousand arrows flew upward toward the sun. + +Again and again the shouts of acclamation broke from the assembled +multitude and swept over them in great waves of sound until valley and +hills and mountains resounded with the cry, and then the people again +took up the ancient chant of the kings whose refrain, filling the +valley, swelled ever outward and upward to the great sacred bird that +soared high aloft with widespread pinions in the pale azure of heaven. + +"It is done--it is done!" echoed and reëchoed the refrain. Few there are +to whom the vision has been given, and fewer still that heed it. + + + THE END + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical corrections are documented in the associated +HTML version. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of When Dreams Come True, by Ritter Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE *** + +***** This file should be named 28593-8.txt or 28593-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/9/28593/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: When Dreams Come True + +Author: Ritter Brown + +Illustrator: W. M. Berger + +Release Date: April 23, 2009 [EBook #28593] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<a name="frontis"></a><div class="figcenter newpg"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" border="1" + width="700" height="439" ALT="" title="Frontispiece" > + +<p class="captioncenter">SHE GLIDED AND WHIRLED IN THE MOONLIGHT, GRACEFUL AS A WIND-BLOWN ROSE. <i><a href="#frontis_image"><i>PAGE 284</i></a></i></p></div> + +<div id="titlepage" class="newpg"> + +<h1>WHEN DREAMS COME<br> +TRUE</h1> +<p> </p> +<h2 class="byline">BY +<br> +<span class="docAuthor">RITTER BROWN</span> +<br> +<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF "MAN'S BIRTHRIGHT"</span> +</h2> + +<p> </p> + +<h3 class="Art">ILLUSTRATED BY<br> + +<span class="Illustrator">W. M. BERGER</span> +</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>New York<br> +Desmond FitzGerald, Inc.</h3> +</div> + +<p class="newpg center">Copyright, 1912<br> +By Desmond FitzGerald, Inc.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" class="newpg"> + +<p style="font-size: 1.25em; font-weight: bold;line-height:1.44em;" class="center">TO<br> +MY SON</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" class="newpg"> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table border="0" style="width: 35em;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="3" summary="Illustrations" align="center"> + +<tr valign="top"> + <td align="left" valign="top" style="width: 75%; padding-bottom: 0!important;"> +<span class="tocillus">"She glided and whirled in the moonlight, graceful as a wind-blown rose"</span></td> + + <td align="right" valign="bottom" style="width: 16.67%; padding-bottom: 0!important;"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> +</tr> +<tr valign="bottom"> + <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> +<td align="right" valign="bottom"><span class="smaller">FACING<br>PAGE</span></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align="left" valign="top"><span class="tocillus"> +"The picture which she presented was one he carried with him for many a day"</span></td> + +<td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#image1">130</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align="left" valign="top"><span class="tocillus"> +"Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands"</span></td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#image2">272</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align="left" valign="top"><span class="tocillus">"'Madre! Madre <i>mia</i>!' she cried and flung herself +into Chiquita's arms"</span></td> + + <td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#image3">292</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> + <td align="left" valign="top"><span class="tocillus">"They were startled by a low moan and saw Blanch +sink slowly to the bench"</span></td> + + <td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#image4">330</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" class="newpg"> +<div class="blockquot">There is a tradition extant among the Indians +of the Southwest, extending from Arizona to the +Isthmus of Panama, to the effect that, Montezuma +will one day return on the back of an eagle, wearing +a golden crown, and rule the land once more; +typifying the return of the Messiah and the rebirth +and renewal of the race.</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="WHEN_DREAMS_COME" id="WHEN_DREAMS_COME"></a>WHEN DREAMS COME<br> +TRUE</h2> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> beauty of midsummer lay upon the land—the +mountains and plains of Chihuahua. It was August, +the month of melons and ripening corn. High +aloft in the pale blue vault of heaven, a solitary eagle +soared in ever widening circles in its flight toward the sun. +Far out upon the plains the lone wolf skulked among the +sage and cactus in search of the rabbit and antelope, or +lay panting in the scanty shade of the yucca.</p> + +<p>By most persons this little known land of the great +Southwest is regarded as the one which God forgot. +But to those who are familiar with its vast expanse +of plain and horizon, its rugged sierras, its wild desolate +<i>mesas</i> and solitary peaks of half-decayed mountains—its +tawny stretches of desert marked with the occasional +skeletons of animal and human remains—its golden +wealth of sunshine and opalescent skies, and have felt +the brooding death-like silence which seems to hold as +in a spell all things living as well as dead, this land becomes +one of mystery and enchantment—a mute witness +of some unknown or forgotten past when the children +of men were young, whose secrets it still withholds,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +and with whose dust is mingled not only that of unnumbered +and unknown generations of men, but that of +Montezuma and the hardy daring <i>Conquistadores</i> of +old Spain.</p> + +<p>But whatever may be the general consensus of opinion +concerning this land, such at least was the light +in which it was viewed by Captain Forest, as he and +his Indian attendant, José, drew rein on the rim of a +broken, wind-swept <i>mesa</i> in the heart of the Chihuahuan +desert, a full day's ride from Santa Fé whither they +were bound, to witness the <i>Fiesta</i>, the Feast of the Corn, +which was celebrated annually at this season.</p> + +<p>The point where they halted commanded a sweeping +view of the surrounding country. Just opposite, some +five leagues distant, on the farther side of the valley +which lay below them, towered the sharp ragged crest +of the Mexican Sierras; their sides and foothills clothed +in a thin growth of chaparral, pine and juniper and +other low-growing bushes. Deep, rugged <i>arroyos</i>, the +work of the rain and mountain torrents, cut and scarred +the foothills which descended in precipitous slopes to the +valley and plains below. Solitary giant cactus dotted +the landscape, adding to the general desolation of the +scene, relieved only by the glitter of the silvery sage, +white poppy and yucca, and yellow and scarlet cactus +bloom which glistened in the slanting rays of the afternoon +sun and the intense radiation of heat in which was +mirrored the distant mirage; transforming the desert +into wonderful lakes of limpid waters that faded in turn +on the ever receding horizon.</p> + +<p>Below them numerous Indian encampments of some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +half-wild hill tribe straggled along the banks of the +almost dry stream which wound through the valley +until lost in the thirsty sands of the desert beyond.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the very spot, <i>Capitan</i>—the place of the +skull!" ejaculated José, the first to break the silence. +"See—yonder it lies just as we left it!" and he +pointed toward the foot of the <i>mesa</i> where a spring +trickled from the rock, a short distance from which lay +a human skull bleached white by long exposure to the +sun.</p> + +<p>Instinctively the Captain's thoughts reverted to the +incidents of the previous year when he lay in the desert +sick unto death with fever and his horse, Starlight, +had stood over his prostrate body and fought the wolves +and vultures for a whole day and night until José returned +with help from the Indian <i>pueblo</i>, La Guna. +Involuntarily his hand slipped caressingly to the animal's +neck, a chestnut with four white feet and a white +mane and tail that swept the ground and a forelock +that hung to his nostrils, concealing the star on his forehead; +a magnificent animal, lithe and graceful as a +lady's silken scarf, untiring and enduring as a Damascus +blade. A horse that comes but once during twenty +generations of Spanish-Arabian stock, and then is rare, +and which, through some trick of nature or reversion, +blossoms forth in all the beauty of an original type, +taking upon himself the color and markings of some shy, +wild-eyed dam, the pride of the Bedouin tribe and is +known as the "Pearl of the Desert." The type of horse +that bore Alexander and Jenghis Khan and the Prophet's +War Chieftains to victory. As a colt he had es<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>caped +the <i>rodeo</i>. No mark of the branding-irons +scarred his shoulder or thin transparent flanks. Again +the Captain's thoughts traveled backward and he beheld +a band of wild horses driven past him in review by a +troup of Mexican <i>vaqueros</i>, and the beautiful chestnut +stallion emerge from the cloud of dust on their rim and +tossing his great white mane in the breeze, neigh loudly +and defiantly as he swept by lithe and supple of limb.</p> + +<p>"Bring me that horse!" he had cried.</p> + +<p>"That horse? <i>José y Maria, Capitan!</i> He cannot +be broken. Besides, it will take ten men to tie him."</p> + +<p>"Then let ten men tie him!" he had replied, flinging +a handful of golden eagles among them.</p> + +<p>Many attempts had been made to steal the Arab +since he had come into the Captain's possession. It +was a dangerous undertaking, for the horse had the +naïve habit of relegating man to his proper place, either +by ignoring his presence, or by quietly kicking him into +eternity with the same indifference that he would switch +a fly with his tail. José might feed and groom and +saddle him, but not mount him. To one only would +he submit; to him to whom a common destiny had linked +him—his master.</p> + +<p>"<i>Sangre de Dios, Capitan!</i>" began José again, +breaking in upon the latter's musings. "Is it not better +that we rest yonder by the spring than sit here +in this infernal sun, gazing at nothing? 'Tis hot as +the breath of hell where the Padres tell us all heretics +will go after death!" The grim expression of the Captain's +face relaxed for a moment and he turned toward +him with a laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Aye, who knows," he replied, "we too, may go +there some day," and dismounting, he began to loosen +his saddle girths.</p> + +<p>"The gods forbid!" answered José, making the sign +of the cross, as if to ward off the influence of some +evil spell. "I do not understand you <i>Americanos</i>," he +continued, also dismounting and untying a small pack +at the back of his saddle. "You are strange—you +are ever gay when you should be sober. You laugh +at the gods and the saints and frown at the <i>corridos</i>, +and yet toss alms to the most worthless beggar."</p> + +<p>The foregoing conversation was carried on in Spanish. +Although José had acquired a liberal smattering +of English during his service with the Captain, he +nevertheless detested it; obstinately adhering to Spanish +which, though only his mother-tongue by adoption, +was in his estimation at least a language for <i>Caballeros</i>.</p> + +<p>The two men were superb specimens of their respective +races. Their rugged appearance, height and +breadth of shoulder would have attracted attention anywhere. +The Captain wore a gray felt hat and a rough +gray suit of tweed—his trousers tucked in his long +riding boots. José was clad in the typical <i>vaquero's</i> +costume—buff leggins and jacket of goat-skin, slashed +and ornamented with silver threads and buttons, and a +red worsted sash about his middle in which he carried +a knife and pistol. From beneath the broad brim of +his <i>sombrero</i> peeped the knot of the yellow silken kerchief +which he wore bound about his head and under +which lay coiled his long black hair.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>Captain Forest was unusually tall and stalwart, deep +chested and robust in appearance, with not a superfluous +ounce of flesh on his body, hardened by the rigors +of long months of camp-life. His head was large and +shapely, well poised and carried high on a full neck that +sprang from the great breadth of his shoulders. His +face, smooth and sensitive, and large and regular in +feature with high cheek-bones and slightly hollowed +cheeks, was bronzed by long exposure to the sun and +weather, adding to the ruggedness of his appearance. +The high arching forehead, acquiline nose and firm set +mouth and chin denoted alertness, action and decision, +while from his eyes, large and dark and piercing, shone +that strange light so characteristic of the dreamer and +genius. And yet, in spite of this alertness of mind and +body and general appearance of strength and power +which his presence inspired, there lurked about him +an air of repose indicative of confidence in self and +the full knowledge of his powers. Sensitive to a degree, +keen and alive at all times, the strength of his personality, +suggestive of his mastery over men, impressed +the most unobservant. Yet owing to his poise and self-control +those about him did not realize wholly his power +until such moments when justice was violated. Then +the latent force within him asserted itself and he became +as inexorable as a law of nature in his demands. +An intense spirit of democracy oddly combined with +fastidiousness made an unusual and attractive personality +in which the mundane and the spiritual were +strangely blended. Outwardly he was a man of the +world, yet inwardly he had advanced so far into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +domain of sheer spirituality he scarcely realized that +others groped their way among the most obvious material +modes of expression.</p> + +<p>Having removed their saddles and turned their horses +loose to find what scant cropping the desert afforded, +the two sought the shelter of the narrow strip of shade +beside the spring at the foot of the <i>mesa</i>. Here they +would rest until the heat of the day had passed, resuming +their journey that evening. José unwound his +<i>zerape</i> from his shoulders and spreading it on the +ground between them, deposited two tin cups and a +package of sandwiches upon it which, with the addition +of a flask of <i>aguardiente</i> which the Captain drew from +his pocket, formed their meal.</p> + +<p>Two years previous the Captain had rescued his companion +from a street mob in Hermosillo, the result of a +feud that had broken out between her citizens and the +Yaqui Indians; José having been mistaken for one of +the latter. With his back against a wall and the blood +streaming from his wounds, he was making a desperate +stand. Three citizens who had run upon his knife, lay +squirming at his feet; but the odds were too great. In +another moment all would have been over with him had +it not been for the Captain who chanced upon him in +the nick of time. Snatching a club from one of his assailants +and accompanying each blow with a volley of +Spanish oaths, he rushed through the mob, scattering it +in all directions. Whether it was the oaths or the Captain's +exhibition of his fighting qualities that impressed +José most it is difficult to say. Be that as it may, from +that hour he belonged to Captain Forest body and soul.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +He was the grand señor, the <i>Hidalgo</i>, in comparison to +whom other men were as nothing.</p> + +<p>The meal over, José with head and shoulders on one +end of the <i>zerape</i>, stretched himself at full length upon +the ground and, as was his wont, fell asleep almost immediately. +Captain Forest swallowed a last draught of +liquor. Then leisurely rolling a cigarette he lit it, and +with back against the cliff and gaze fixed abstractedly +on the mountains opposite, smoked in silence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Jack Forest's</span> life was rich and full to overflowing +with the things of this world which are generally +considered to make for happiness and culture. Into +the measure of his life, the comparatively short span of +thirty-five years, had been crowded a wealth of incident +and experience that seldom falls to the lot of the most +fortunate men in this commercialized era whose tendency +is to pull nations like individuals down to a common level +of mediocrity, and seems bent upon extinguishing even +their few remaining national traits and characteristics.</p> + +<p>Born in Washington and a graduate of Harvard, he +had traveled to the four corners of the earth, and hunted +big game from the arctic circle to the equator. During +a winter's sojourn in Egypt he made the acquaintance +of Lord X——, then Consul-General of Egypt, +upon whose advice he entered the diplomatic service of +his country. Five years were subsequently spent as first +Secretary of the American legations in London and St. +Petersburg. The enthusiasm with which he threw himself +into the work and the natural executive ability +which he displayed soon marked him as a coming man +in diplomatic circles. But the speculations of his friends +concerning his future career were destined to be rudely +shattered by one of those inexplicable tricks of fate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +which, in the twinkling of an eye, so often change the +lives of individuals.</p> + +<p>The spirit of adventure which had lain dormant within +him ever since his decision to adopt diplomacy as a profession +was suddenly awakened by the outbreak of hostilities +between Spain and the United States. Through +the influence of his father, General Forest, a Civil War +veteran, and that of his uncle, Colonel Van Ashton, retired, +he received the appointment of Second Lieutenant +of Volunteers and shipped with his regiment for Cuba. +He was wounded at the battle of Santiago, though not +seriously. At the close of the campaign in the West Indies +his regiment was ordered to the Philippines, where, +at the end of a year, he was promoted to a captaincy +in the regular army. At this juncture in his career +the sudden death of his father necessitated his return +to America on leave of absence.</p> + +<p>The estate to which he and his mother fell heirs was +an unusually large one, the administration of which demanded +his immediate and entire attention if they wished +to keep their holdings intact. But as this was clearly +incompatible to the life of a soldier, he was forced to +resign from the army. He took this step without great +reluctance, for brief though his career as a soldier had +been, it was a brilliant and satisfactory one. It was +not for the glory of the profession that he had entered +the army, but purely in the spirit of the patriot; and +he had fought his battles and returned with newly won +laurels and a fund of interesting experiences. Besides, +campaigning in the Philippines had convinced him that +diplomacy, though perhaps not always so exciting, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +preferable to a life whose daily routine was enlivened +only by target practice, dress-parades and the occasional +diversion of chasing naked men about in the bush.</p> + +<p>As soon as the estate was settled it was his intention +to reënter the diplomatic service for which he knew +himself to be better fitted than before his two years +experience in the army.</p> + +<p>The bulk of the fortune consisted of mines in Mexico, +whither he was called to superintend his interests. At +the end of a year, however, he received word from his +uncle informing him that the Ministry to Greece would +be open to him if he chose to accept it. Jubilant over +the prospect of reëntering the world of Diplomacy so +soon, he immediately telegraphed his acceptance, and +the following day addressed a letter to the girl he had +known from his youth, Blanch Lennox, whose character, +personal charm and ambition marked her as the one to +share the future with him. There was as little doubt +in his mind that she would accept him, as there was +in hers that he would make the proposal; and when a +week later, he received a telegram confirming his conjecture, +the answer came as a matter of course.</p> + +<p>The business at the mines was settled, but Mexico +and her people were a new experience. Its vast expanse +of plains, virgin forests and wild sierras lured +him on; and in the company of a friend whose acquaintance +he had made at the mines, he passed the remaining +time left at his disposal traveling in the interior +of the country, gathering data and visiting the +wild tribes who, though of the same blood, were in +characteristics a distinct people from the slavish <i>peon</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +classes. A people that have never actually submitted to +the rule of the White man, and have held tenaciously +to the ancient beliefs and customs of their forefathers.</p> + +<p>He was impressed by the fact that, although living +entirely independent of the outside world, they were +nevertheless self-supporting and in certain instances had +developed marked degrees of civilization.</p> + +<p>He saw how they tended their flocks and fields, made +their own clothes and articles of use, and wrought gold +and silver ornaments embellished with native stones, and +used the bow and arrow in the chase. They knew nothing +of modern civilization. Their daily lives were sufficient +unto them, and they were therefore happy. God +seemed infinite and dwelt in their midst, and spoke to +them from the dust as well as from the stars. But why +was this? Why was life for them, in the natural course +of events, so easy and simple, and so difficult and complicated +for the civilized man?</p> + +<p>His thoughts continually traveled back to the Eskimo +of the frozen North, and to Africa and her sun-parched +deserts and star-strewn skies with the roaming Bedouin +in the background who regarded the earth as a footstool +to be used only as a means to an end and houses +as habitations fit only for slaves.</p> + +<p>The picture he saw was not the ideal one—the +emancipated man of whom men of all times have dreamed +and to whose advent some men are still looking forward. +But the care-free life of the primitive man set him thinking—opened +his eyes to certain truths which, until +now, he had failed to observe. Longings for the unattainable +began to stir within him and take hold of him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +in a manner entirely new. Hazy, fragmentary glimpses +of hitherto undreamed possibilities began to shape themselves +in his mind. The immensity and profundity of +the universe and the mysterious growth of its hidden life +held and enthralled him.</p> + +<p>The last word, he felt, had not yet been spoken. There +was something lacking in the so-called civilized man's +economy—a lack which his philosophy failed to account +for, but which was not observable among animals +and primitive men. There, the economy of the infinite +cosmic mechanism which binds and holds all manifestations +of life in one harmonious whole was too apparent +to even suggest the detachment of a single form of life +from this whole, but with the civilized man it was different. +He alone seemed to have detached himself from +this harmonious whole—his life stood out as a thing +separate and apart from it. There seemed to be +no permanent place for him in the economy of nature.</p> + +<p>But how had this estrangement taken place? Why +was he, the intellectually developed man, incapable of +living in harmony with the universal law of life when it +was so easy for the primitive man to do so? It was +evident that he had lost his way somewhere along the +path of normal development. Everything pointed to this—its +signs were apparent to all who wished to see. Nature +voiced it on every hand, in the forests and plains +and on the mountain tops, and during the silence of +night as he lay on the ground gazing at the stars overhead.</p> + +<p>The wind that sighed among the ruined temples of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +the ancient races and the mountains that looked down +upon them seemed to speak to him in the ever recurring +refrain: "Behold the works and glories of men—we +are enduring! The same wind that sighs among them +this day, sang to them when their walls and pillars +stood erect. The same mountains that shadowed them +in the past, will still stand guard over the valleys +in the days to come when the works of the present +and future generations of men have passed away forever!"</p> + +<p>He knew that these questions had been asked during +countless generations, and that men were still asking +them to-day. He knew also that man's situation in the +universe was taking on a new aspect, and yet it was +strange that such thoughts should absorb him, a man of +the world, of the fighting type, whose wide experience +with men and things had hitherto convinced him that the +world, though not perfect, was good—that present +progress made for good, and the best western civilization +had thus far attained was probably about all men +of the future could look forward to so far as happiness +was concerned. These views, however, were no longer +tenable if our arts, philosophies and scientific attainments +fail to civilize and refine us. Clearly, modern +man's conception of ethical progress was as deficient in +certain respects as that of the great historic civilizations. +The secret of right living had not yet been discovered. +History proved this, and unless the trend of modern +materialistic tendencies was supplanted by something +higher, the same fate that overtook the Ancients must +inevitably overtake us.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the date of their wedding had been set, and the +time for their departure for Athens was drawing nearer. +Santa Fé lay a day's ride from the railroad. Instead +of performing the journey in a single ride, he decided +to pass the night at the <i>hacienda</i> of a friend, Don Felix +de Tovar, some twelve miles distant from the old Spanish +town. Thither he would ride during the cool of +the evening, completing the remainder of the journey the +following day. Between Santa Fé and Don Felix's +<i>hacienda</i> lay the Indian <i>pueblo</i>, La Jara, situated some +distance off the main road. By following the trail that +led past this village, José explained, they would reduce +the distance to Don Felix's <i>rancho</i> by at least two or +three miles.</p> + +<p>The country through which they traveled was broken +and rugged. Twilight had descended upon the land, and +as the two, following the trail that skirted the foothills, +rode to the crest of the <i>mesa</i> upon which the village +was situated, they came suddenly upon a woman riding +at full gallop. The soft, sandy formation of the soil +was such that neither heard the approach of the other, +and all three reined in their horses with a jerk; the +woman throwing hers well back upon its haunches; a +high-strung, black, wiry animal whose foam-flecked +mouth and breast told that she had been riding hard.</p> + +<p>How free and wild she looked! She was either a +Spaniard or an Indian, and rode astride. A bunch of +red berries adorned her heavy black hair which fell in +masses about her shoulders, accentuating the curve of +her throat and well-formed, clear-cut features just discernible +in the waning light as she sat motionless and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +erect on her horse, gazing at him in silence and evidently +as much surprised as he was by their sudden encounter. +Then with a smile and a nod of the head by way of +acknowledgment, she lifted her reins and spurred past +him; disappearing in the gathering darkness on the trail +below them. Her unexpected appearance and grace and +type of beauty, so different from that of the woman +who occupied his thoughts, thrilled him for the moment +as he listened to the soft, muffled hoof-beats of her horse +which grew fainter and fainter until all was silence, save +for the sighing of the wind among the <i>mesquit</i> and +<i>manzanita</i> bushes that grew about them. All trace of +her was gone. She had vanished into the night as swiftly +as she had come.</p> + +<p>Then a strange thing happened. Something suddenly +gripped his heart; that indefinable something after +which he had been groping and which had been knocking +so persistently at the portals of his inmost being, +but which until now had eluded him. The sight of that +strange woman had shown him that, to be beautiful is +to be free and natural. That the world he knew and revered +was purely an artificial world of man's invention, +transitory and a thing apart from the universal life in +the midst of which he had been placed and apart from +which it was impossible for him to develop naturally. +That nature is more perfect than all the artificialities +of civilization and a more efficient environment for the +normal development of man. That man's happiness and +true relationship to the universe were attainable only +through direct contact and communion with this life +whose creations are the only great and lasting realities.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +Thus only was it possible for him to quicken and vitalize +his powers to their fullest. That when creation finished +its task, peace and harmony reigned in the midst of the +terrestrial garden, rendering man's pursuit of happiness +through diverse acts and infinite forms of diversion quite +unnecessary.</p> + +<p>He had discovered the wild man's secret—why the +stars still sing to him as of yore—why the winds and +the waters, the animals and the rocks and the trees +still speak to him in harmonies long since forgotten +by civilized man. A great and secret joy, such as he +had never before experienced, filled his soul; uplifting, +consuming and mastering him.... But what would +Blanch Lennox say? She with whose inner life he felt +in perfect accord? She who was his ideal, the inspiration +of his eager youth and well-spring of his ambitions +of later years? The woman who always met his problems +with quick sympathy and comprehending interest? +Could she understand him now, sympathize with his new +views of life? He knew a battle royal would ensue +between them, but felt confident of his power to convince +her. He found, however, upon his return to Newport +where she awaited him, that he had reckoned +without his host. She attributed his enthusiasm and +changed convictions to his ardent love of nature and the +roving spirit that animated him, but could not be convinced +that the world of society in which she moved and +shone and for whose adulation she lived, was the lesser +world. She refused to relinquish their present life so +full of the things of this world, the only realities which +she knew or recognized, for some vague uncertainty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +Surely the <i>wanderlust</i>, the love of the primitive, had +gotten into his blood!</p> + +<p>At first she laughed scornfully, then hysterically.</p> + +<p>"Was he mad to suggest such folly—imagine that +she could even dream of participating in such a life? +He might give up the ambition of a lifetime, fling aside +a brilliant career to follow the path of his mad fancy +if he chose, but she would not be a partner to his folly!"</p> + +<p>Again he noted her set lips and the pallor that succeeded +the flush on her cheeks after her first furious +outburst. Again he saw her as she rose, pale and +trembling, her eyes blazing.</p> + +<p>"And you dare come to me with this after all the +years I have waited for you? Go back to your deserts—your +wild woman and her land of savages!" she had +cried in a voice of suppressed indignation and contempt. +After all he could not blame her, knowing as he did the +world in which she had been reared. She was right. +And yet, as he sat there in the desert with his back to +the cliff and smoked in silence, living over again the +poignant memories of the past, the bitterness he experienced +at the moment was even keener than on that +memorable night when they had parted.</p> + +<p>Could he ever forget her? The memory of that +night clung to him in spite of every effort to banish +it from his mind.</p> + +<p>Above them shone the stars, golden as the apples of +Hesperides. He heard again the rhythmic sound of the +sea and the plashing of the fountain near at hand, and +noted the rose petals which the breeze had shaken from +the bushes to the path where they stood; filling the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +soft night air with their fragrance, and she, with the +white moonlight in her face and the pink rose in +the golden wreath of her hair, fair as the woman of +Eden.</p> + +<p>The vision passed before him in kaleidoscopic review, +warm and living and tempting and haunting, and then +faded from his sight.</p> + +<p>The shadows of evening began to lengthen. Close +at hand a lizard that had been sunning itself all day +against the cliff raised its head for an instant, then +slipped noiselessly away with the shadows into a +crevice in the rock. The Indian camp-fires flickered +in the valley below, their slender, ghostlike columns +of smoke, rising heavenward straight as the flight of +a flock of cranes, floated away in a pale, blue white +cloud on the evening. The soft, plaintive notes of the +night-hawk and prairie-owl mingled with the prolonged +cry of the wolf in the distant foothills. The night +breeze sprang up, fanning the parched desert with its +cool breath. The stars came forth and the silver rim +of the moon emerged above the dark towering mass of +the Sierra Madres, outlining their crests in broken +silvery lines as its full white disk swept into view; flooding +the valley and plains with strange ethereal light.</p> + +<p>José's sleep seemed troubled. He moved uneasily +and muttered incoherently.</p> + +<p>Where was she now—what was she doing? The +woman he still loved in spite of himself? And whither +was he drifting—what was the real end in view? +What subtle, irresistible influence was it that impelled +him to take the step, sacrifice all that men prize and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +hold dear? During such moments he questioned the +seemingly blind destiny by which he felt himself impelled. +A thousand miles he had ridden in search of the +realization of his dreams, but had not found it. That +which at first had lured him on, now seemed to mock him. +The vision that beckoned to him still maintained a +sphinx-like attitude toward his questioning.</p> + +<p>Where was the new life he had promised himself? +Was it only a vision he had conjured up in his mind? +Either he had overlooked something in his calculations, +or his logic was at fault.</p> + +<p>Was this all? Had the human race attained its +zenith—was there nothing beyond, nothing to look +forward to, and he merely the latest dreamer and enthusiast +who was pursuing the same will-o'-the-wisp that +others had sought through the ages? If so, then what +fatality was it that encompassed him and continually +urged him on? Doubt counseled him to return, but +pride and confidence in self still cried forward. Come +what would, he either must go on to the end or accept +the humiliation that awaits him who turns back. But +why was the realization withheld from one so willing—from +one who had dared face the world alone?</p> + +<p>For the first time the loneliness and isolation of his +life was borne in upon him as he reviewed the past, +step by step, and thought of the woman he had chosen +to share the future with him and whom it was impossible +to disassociate from his plans.</p> + +<p>Fortune seemed to have deserted him. A sudden +revulsion and sickening sense of failure swept over him, +crushing and overwhelming him. Would the voices<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +never break silence? Must he forever ride alone with +the sun in his face? Save for a cricket that chirped +dreamily in a cleft of the rock close at hand, and +the distant, subdued sounds of voices and barking of +dogs in the Indian camps below him, there was no response +to his query.</p> + +<p>Strange that he, Jack Forest, the possessor of twenty +millions, the associate of the great people of this world, +and who was never referred to by his family and friends +as other than the Magnificent, the man who did things, +should find himself in the heart of the Mexican deserts +apparently as far from his goal as when he started. +It was incredible, but true, nevertheless. For was he +not there in the midst of the wilderness with the scent +of the sage in his nostrils and the alkali dust on his +boots?</p> + +<p>He closed his eyes and let his head sink forward on +his breast, wearied by the oft-repeated endeavor to +solve that which was fast becoming a riddle, a chimera +to him, and he probably would have fallen asleep had +he not been startled suddenly into a consciousness of +his surroundings by a low whinny; soft and plaintive +as a child's voice. Looking up, he saw Starlight standing +before him with ears erect and pointed forward, +gazing inquiringly into his face.</p> + +<p>Again the Chestnut whinnied, and lowering his head, +caressed his shoulder affectionately with his nose. +Then raising his head, he began to paw the ground impatiently, +indicating as plainly as words that it was +time to resume their journey.</p> + +<p>The night wind sighed across the desert and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +was a chill in the air as the moon mounted higher in +the heavens; an ideal night for travel. José awoke with +a start and sitting bolt upright on the ground, gazed +about him with a dazed, bewildered air, trying to collect +his scattered senses.</p> + +<p>"<i>Capitan!</i>" he cried, regarding him intently. "I +have just dreamt that the shadow of a man came between +you and a woman! I can't see their faces, +but they are there!"</p> + +<p>"Bah!" returned the Captain, rising to his feet and +stretching wide his arms, preparatory to saddling his +horse. "'Tis only the <i>aguardiente</i>, José!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! do not jest, <i>Capitan</i>! Three times have I +dreamed this dream—the shadow comes ever nearer!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> <i>Fiesta</i>, the "Feast of the Corn," had been declared, +and there was dancing and feasting, and +song and laughter on the lips of men as Captain Forest +and José rode into Santa Fé late the following morning +and turned their horses' heads in the direction of the +<i>Posada de las Estrellas</i>, the Inn of the Stars, which was +situated just outside the principal entrance to the town.</p> + +<p>The low gray adobe walls of the houses fronting +directly upon the narrow winding streets leading to and +from the plaza were gay with the blossoms of the pink +and scarlet geranium, honeysuckle, and gorgeous magenta +of the bougainvilléa and golden cups of the trumpet-vine.</p> + +<p>Pigeons fluttered from the house-tops to the streets, +or hovered about the plaza and bosky <i>alamedas</i> of poplar, +pepper and eucalyptus trees in search of stray grains +of corn. Humming-birds and butterflies flashed their +wings and gorgeous plumage in the sunshine as they +darted in and out among the foliage in the <i>patios</i> and +gardens at the rear of the houses, luxuriant with fruit +and flowers as was attested by the orange and lemon, +pomegranate and fig trees, heavy with ripening fruit and +the delicately mingled perfume of orange and lemon +blossoms, hyacinth, jasmine and Castilian rose.</p> + +<p>Through the center of the town, beneath the walls<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +of the half-ruined convent, flowed the little river, Santa +Maria, at whose banks young girls and women were +wont to wash their linen and beat it out on the large, +smooth stones which lay strewn along the water's edge. +The notes of the wood-dove and oriole mingling with +the silvery voice of the river, fell in rhythmical cadences +upon the ears of the inhabitants who rested in the shady +seclusion of their <i>patios</i> and gardens during the hour of +the <i>siesta</i>; rolling and smoking <i>cigarillos</i> as they +leisurely discussed the latest bit of news or gossip over +their black coffee, <i>mescal</i> and <i>tequila</i>, or engaged in a +game of <i>moles</i>.</p> + +<p>There had been much rain that season, the best of +reasons why the people should give thanks to the heavens +and the fields receive the blessing of the Church as +well as that of the gods of the <i>Indios</i> at whose altars +the Red men still worship and upon which still is written +"blood for blood," as in the days when the White +men first came from the South, bearing the fire and +thunderbolts of heaven with which they overthrew them. +This was in fulfillment of the curse which the people +had brought upon themselves. The fate which their ancient +Sachems had foretold would overtake them in those +days when they should forget the commands of the +gods and neglect the land, and the hand of brother +be lifted against brother until the coming of a Fair +Child with a face like the sun unto whose words all +men would hearken and their hearts be united in love.</p> + +<p>According to custom, runners had been sent forth +to the north, east, south and west to proclaim the annual +<i>Fiesta</i>. For this ceremony the choicest ears were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +selected from the new harvest, and, after being borne +aloft in the procession that took place during the benediction +of the fields, were placed in the churches where +they remained until the following year. The golden +ears represented the sunrise, the red, the sunset, the +blue, the sky, the white, the clouds, and all together, +their Mother, the Earth, from which they sprang.</p> + +<p>As the season for rejoicing drew near, the <i>rancheros</i> +of the neighboring <i>haciendas</i>, together with the Indians +of the distant <i>pueblos</i> and half-wild hill tribes, chance +strangers and adventurers, streamed toward Santa Fé +and swarmed within her walls; some eager for trade and +barter, but most of them bent upon pleasure. Her +streets and plazas became a surging mass of struggling +humanity, bright with the gay costumes of men and +women. In her market-booths were displayed innumerable +commodities; animals, fruit, vegetables, fowl—flowers, +goldfish, caged finches, canaries—jewelry, +rugs, stamped leathers and drawn-linen work—bright +cloths, blankets, baskets and pottery—wines, laces, +silks, satins, cigarettes and cigars.</p> + +<p>Bidding was brisk and at times vehement, but always +good humored. Sellers of lottery-tickets, writers of love-letters, +jugglers and mountebanks plied their trades. +The cries of the water-carrier and vender of sweet-meats +mingled with those of the inevitable beggar who asked +alms for the love of God; invoking blessings or curses +upon the head of him who gave or refused him a <i>centavo</i>. +Babel reigned. Donkies brayed, geese and turkeys hissed +and gobbled, chickens cackled and fighting-cocks, tethered +by the leg, strutted and crowed, while brown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +children of all sizes and ages laughed and screamed as +they chased one another in and out among the crowds +or rolled in the dust beneath the pedestrian's feet.</p> + +<p>Old Santa Fé, christened by the early Franciscan +Friars, "City of the Blessed Faith," but in reality a +fair wanton, a veritable Sodom and Gomorrha of iniquity +with her <i>corridos</i>, her cock-pits and dance and +gambling-halls, threw wide her gates and bade the +stranger welcome; and if he did not receive the worth +of his gold in pleasure and substance, surely it was +no fault of Santa Fé's. Besides, it was only a step +from a gaming-table to a Father Confessor.</p> + +<p>The soul of old Spain still lived in the land. The +click of castanettes was heard daily in her plazas and +streets where the <i>fandango</i> and <i>jotta</i> were gayly danced; +while at night the soft sounds of guitars and voices +issued from out the deep shadow of her walls. Soft +hands drew the latches of casements, and slender figures +stepped out upon <!-- TN: original reads "moon-lit" -->moonlit balconies or beneath purple +black heavens studded with myriads of golden stars, +and passionate words and vows were exchanged under +the cover of night.</p> + +<p>Having passed the day at the Inn of the Stars, where +they had been resting after the fatigues of the long +night's ride, the Captain and José again directed their +steps toward the town in the cool of the evening; José +making for Pedro Romero's gambling-hall, the Captain +for Carlos Moreno's theater, the <i>Theatro Mexicano</i>.</p> + +<p>Owing to the tardiness of his arrival, he found the +house packed to the doors. The performance, vaude<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>ville +in character, had already begun, and it was only +after much elbowing and crowding that he finally succeeded +in making his way to Carlos' private box where +the latter awaited him.</p> + +<p>A tall, dark woman had just ceased dancing, and +as she paused before the footlights amid a burst of +musical accompaniment, the audience with one impulse +rose to its feet and gave vent to prolonged salvos of +applause. Showers of glittering gold and silver coins, +bouquets and wreaths of flowers were flung upon the +stage, burying her feet in a wealth and suffusion of +color as she stood smiling and bowing before the audience, +vainly endeavoring to still the tumultuous applause +which continued with deafening uproar until +she consented to repeat the performance.</p> + +<p>"Delicious—divine—'tis the Chiquita, <i>amigo mio</i>!" +cried Carlos; pausing in the midst of his <i>vivas</i> to greet +the Captain.</p> + +<p>"You shall know her and fall in love with her like +all the rest of the world—" but his speech was cut short +by a fresh burst of applause from the audience. The +floral tributes that had been showered upon her were +hastily removed to one side of the stage and piled high +against the wings. The musicians struck up their accompaniment +and the dance began again.</p> + +<p>It was evident that she was a favorite of the audience +which perhaps partially accounted for the remarkable +demonstration with which her performance was received. +But be this as it may, Captain Forest felt that he had +never witnessed such a remarkable exhibition of subtle +grace and beauty and extraordinary execution and dash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +as she displayed in the dance. He recalled the names +of the famous dancers he had known, but none of them +had risen to such heights—succeeded in vitalizing and +inspiring their art with so much poetry and life.</p> + +<p>To all appearance she was either Spanish or of Indian +extraction, and yet there was a foreign touch +about her that seemed to set her apart from the women of +Santa Fé.</p> + +<p>Who was she, this unknown genius, this master of +the terpsichorean art, living in this far away Mexican +town? Such talent could not remain in obscurity for +long. Another great Spanish dancer was about to burst +unheralded upon the world. It only remained for her +to dance into it—to captivate and conquer it.</p> + +<p>This then, was the surprise Carlos had promised him +if he came to the theater that evening. His curiosity +was aroused, and he turned to him for an explanation, +but he was no longer by his side; he had rushed behind +the scenes to felicitate the dancer on her remarkable +success.</p> + +<p>The air was hot and stifling, and not caring to witness +the remaining numbers on the programme, he took +advantage of the intermission that followed the dance +and left the theater.</p> + +<p>Outside the air was deliciously cool. The moonlight +and myriads of artificial lights strung across the streets +and on the façades of the houses, together with the +flaming torches in front of the many booths, lent the +appearance of day to night as he slowly made his way +through the surging crowds in the direction of Pedro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +Romero's gambling-hall where Carlos had agreed to join +him after the performance.</p> + +<p>Pedro's establishment was the chief and only respectable +place of its kind of which the town could boast. +It was the resort of the better element of Santa Fé, +and if one were looking for a friend or acquaintance, +he was usually to be found there. The hall was spacious +and well lighted with electricity and resplendent +in gilt and mirrors.</p> + +<p>The gay strains of a string band enlivened the scene +as he entered. Clouds of tobacco smoke hung over +the throngs that crowded round the gaming-tables to +try their luck with the Goddess Chance.</p> + +<p>José was playing roulette, and judging by the satisfied +expression of his face which the Captain noted in +passing, he rightly conjectured that luck was on his +side.</p> + +<p>Like Carlos, Pedro had taken a great fancy to the +Captain, and had generously placed his private stock +of wines and cigars at the latter's disposal. Many an +evening had the three passed together smoking and +drinking and chatting; Pedro and Carlos listening with +rapt attention to the Captain's anecdotes and adventures +of which he seemed to possess an inexhaustible +store. The hall was greatly overcrowded, rendering it +difficult to find an acquaintance, but as the Captain +paused in the midst of the tables in order to obtain +a better view of the faces about him, he felt a touch +on the shoulder from behind and turning, saw Pedro, +the object of his search.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<i>Por Dios!</i> but I'm glad to see you again, <i>amigo</i>!" +exclaimed the proprietor, a dark little man with a kindly +face pitted by the smallpox. He grasped and shook +the Captain warmly by the hand.</p> + +<p>"How are you—when did you return?" he inquired; +leading him to a table in one corner of the hall +around which were seated a number of his friends who, +on the appearance of the Captain, rose and greeted him +effusively.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mozo—mozo!</i>" shouted Pedro to the waiter, "a +glass for the Captain!"</p> + +<p>The others also had been to the theater, and like +him, had left during the intermission following the +dance. Naturally the dancer formed the sole topic of +conversation.</p> + +<p>"Had the Señor <i>Capitan</i> seen the Chiquita—had +he ever seen such dancing before—what did he think +of her?" And by the time Carlos appeared on the +scene, all agreed that the latter's fortune was made—that +he would soon desert the sleepy old town for +a tour of the world with his newly found star of the +footlights.</p> + +<p>"A tour of the world—with the Chiquita?" echoed +Carlos, a fat, broad-shouldered little man of mixed +blood, pausing and pulling back a chair in the act +of seating himself at the table.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> if such a thing were possible," he exclaimed, +pushing his hat on the back of his head and surveying +his companions with critical eyes, "I would not exchange +it for the richest gold mine in Mexico! But," +he added, seating himself at the table, "you don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +know the Chiquita, <i>mis amigos</i>. She is made of different +stuff than that of the women who dance for a +living."</p> + +<p>To this last remark the company agreed.</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba</i>—how she danced!" he continued, taking +a sip of <i>pulque</i>. "Had the house been as large +as the plaza and the price of the seats doubled, there +would not have been standing room left to accommodate +the spectators."</p> + +<p>"Aye!" broke in Miguel Torreno, a dark, wizened +old Mexican with a face resembling a monkey's, "they +say a thousand people were turned away at the doors."</p> + +<p>"A thousand? Half the town, you mean!" returned +Carlos, rolling a <i>cigarillo</i> between the tips of his stubby +fingers.</p> + +<p>"A pretty penny this dance of the Chiquita's must +have cost you, Carlos Moreno," continued Miguel, his +head cocked knowingly on one side, while he squinted over +the rim of his glass between puffs of cigarette smoke.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand <i>pesos d'oro</i>," answered Carlos. +"But by the Virgin, it was worth it!"</p> + +<p>"Three thousand <i>pesos d'oro</i>!" ejaculated his auditors +with one breath. Old Miguel dropped his glass +which fell with a crash, scattering its contents and fragments +over the floor.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand <i>pesos d'oro</i>!" he gasped. "<i>Alma +de mi vida!</i> Soul of my life! 'tis the salary of a Bishop! +Are you mad, Carlos Moreno?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. But only Carlos Moreno can afford to +pay such salaries during the <i>Fiesta</i>," he answered complacently, +taking a fresh sip of <i>pulque</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How did you ever persuade her to dance?" asked +Pedro. "It's not the first time you have made overtures +to her."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that's the mystery! I'd give something to +know why she danced. You know," he continued, "it's +the first time she has ever appeared in public."</p> + +<p>"The first time?" interrupted the Captain in surprise. +"Why—she possesses the composure of a +veteran of the footlights."</p> + +<p>"Just so," rejoined Carlos. "Nothing is more +characteristic of her; she's at home everywhere. When +I first saw her dance three years ago in the garden +of the old <i>Posada</i> at the birthday fête of Señora Fernandez, +I knew instantly that she was either possessed +of the devil or the ancient muse of dance; also, why Don +Felipe Ramirez went mad over her.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> she's a strange woman—almost mysterious +at times!" he added reflectively, with a shrug of the +shoulders and gesture of the hands. "I thought, of +course, that it was the money she wanted when she +finally consented to dance, but I'm not so sure of it +now."</p> + +<p>"What reason have you for supposing otherwise?" +asked Pedro.</p> + +<p>"Every reason. What do you think she did with +the heap of gold and silver that was showered upon +her by the audience?"</p> + +<p>"What?" excitedly demanded old Miguel, who by +this time had fortified himself with a fresh glass of +<i>aguardiente</i>.</p> + +<p>"Why, after it had been gathered up and handed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +to her, she, without so much as looking at it, tossed +it lightly into the center of the stage and bade the +musicians and stage-hands remember her when they +drank to their sweethearts to-night."</p> + +<p>Captain Forest's interest began to be aroused.</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba</i>—'tis strange!" muttered old Miguel, +eyeing his glass meditatively; his head nodding slightly +from the effects of too much liquor. "But what will +Padre Antonio say when he hears of it? How fortunate +he wasn't here to witness a sight that must have caused +him the deepest humiliation. Poor man," he continued, +assuming a sympathetic tone, "it is already the +scandal of the town."</p> + +<p>"Bah! what of that?" returned Carlos.</p> + +<p>It was evident to all that the delights of the <i>Fiesta</i> +were beginning to tell on the old man. Already it had +been noted on previous occasions that an overindulgence +in <i>aguardiente</i> usually invoked a religious frame of mind +in him, but which in Miguel's case resembled rather +the groping of a lost soul than the prophetic vision +of the seer.</p> + +<p>"What of that?" echoed Miguel, an ominous light +flashing from his eyes. "Those golden <i>pesos</i> so lightly +earned will just about pay for a thousand masses in +order to avert excommunication and enable the Church +to snatch the soul of the Chiquita from the fires of purgatory +as a punishment for conduct unbecoming the +ward of a priest."</p> + +<p>"Bah! you talk like an infant, Miguel! What a +sad, weary world this would be if there were only priests +and churches in it and men did nothing all day long but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +say aves and burn candles on altars," and Carlos lightly +blew a ring of smoke toward the ceiling.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, perhaps—<i>quien sabe, amigo mio</i>?" answered +the old man dryly. "But the Church is the +Church."</p> + +<p>"Miguel, you are growing old," said Pedro, slapping +him lightly on the back. "Have another glass!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not old. I'm no older than the rest of you, +and neither will I have another glass," retorted Miguel +hotly, greatly irritated by the others' laughter.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he continued, wagging his head, and in a +tone of bravado and offended dignity, "you think I +can't get home alone, do you? I'll show you that Miguel +Torreno is still as young as the rest of you!" And +supporting himself with one hand on the table and the +other on his stick, he rose from his seat with great +difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Miguel Torreno old, is he? A thousand devils!" +A chorus of laughter greeted this last outburst as he +turned unsteadily and swaying to and fro, slowly made +his way through the crowd toward the door.</p> + +<p>Just then a man at the next table rose with an oath. +It was Juan Ramon, Major-domo of the Inn of the +Stars. Juan Ramon, the handsome, the hawk, the +gambler—the greatest <i>vaquero</i> in Chihuahua. The +man who took delight in riding horses that other men +feared—the man in whose hand the <i>riata</i> became a +magic wand, a hissing serpent, and who could stretch +a bull at full length upon the ground at a given spot +within a given time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Has the blessed <i>Fiesta</i> brought you no luck, Juan?" +inquired Carlos, tilting himself back in his chair and +smiling up in the other's face.</p> + +<p>"Luck—blessed <i>Fiesta</i>? The devil take them +both!" exclaimed Juan, the look of disgust on his face +gradually changing to one of resignation—that serene +expression of the born gambler whom experience has +taught that days of famine are certain to follow those +of plenty.</p> + +<p>"Look!" he repeated. "The cards are bewitched—not +a <i>centavo</i>! My pockets are empty as Lazarus' +stomach! Only a month ago I picked out a beautiful +little <i>hacienda</i> with the fairest acreage to which I intended +to retire and live like a <i>Caballero</i>—to-day I +parted with my only horse at a loss—to-morrow," +and he shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "if this +sort of thing continues, I'll be forced to pawn the buttons +on my breeches.</p> + +<p>"<i>Mercedes Dios</i>, blessed be the <i>Fiesta</i>!" And flinging +the end of his <i>zerape</i> over one shoulder and across +the lower half of his face, he stalked toward the door; +the laughter of his friends ringing in his ears.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Ten</span> years previous to the events just related, +Padre Antonio, his parochial duties over for the +day, was slowly retracing his steps homeward.</p> + +<p>It was a mild, serene summer evening, and he paused +before the massive iron gates set in the high adobe +wall surrounding his garden for a last look at the +sunset before entering his house.</p> + +<p>It had been a strenuous day for Padre Antonio. +Early that morning, Miguel Torreno while beating his +mule, had been kicked half way across his corral by that +stubborn though sensible animal, breaking Miguel's +right arm and fracturing three of his ribs. But no +sooner had it been ascertained that old Miguel would +not die as he obstinately insisted that he would, calling +frantically upon the Saints the while as the vision of +purgatorial fires which he knew awaited him loomed +before his distracted imagination, than the wives of +Pedro Torlone and José Alvarez, neighbors and friends, +quarreled over a cheap blue and white striped <i>ribosa</i>, +embroiling their husbands who, without the Padre's intercession, +would have come to blows.</p> + +<p>Then the last sacrament had been administered to +Don Juan Otero, one of Santa Fé's oldest and most +respected citizens.</p> + +<p>In a vain effort to banish the unpleasant recollections<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +of the day from his thoughts, Padre Antonio turned +with a sigh from the glories of the sunset which he +had been contemplating, and was on the point of entering +the garden when his quick ear caught the sound +of horse's hoofs on the road, causing him to pause with +his hand on the latch of the gate.</p> + +<p>His house being situated in an unfrequented quarter +of the town, he decided to await the coming of the +animal; the bearer perchance of some friend or acquaintance. +He had not long to wait. The sounds drew +nearer and nearer, and presently, greatly to his astonishment, +a tall, gaunt, half-starved gray horse with a +<i>riata</i> fastened to his lower jaw, and upon whose back sat +an equally gaunt and haggard Indian woman with disheveled +hair and clothes tattered and dust begrimed, +came into view around the sharp angle of the wall +and stopped directly before him.</p> + +<p>Never in all his long and varied experience had he +witnessed such a pitiable spectacle as the woman presented. +The wild, hollow eyes and wasted, emaciated +form and features gave her more the appearance of +some wild beast than a human being. She did not appear +to be conscious of his presence; and before he had +time to recover from his surprise or utter a word, she +stretched both arms out before her as if toward the +sun, and uttering a wild, harsh, inarticulate cry, +dropped unconscious from the horse's back into his +arms.</p> + +<p>Experience had taught Padre Antonio to act quickly +in cases of emergency, and with the assistance of his +gardener and Manuela, his old Indian housekeeper, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +carried her into the house and laid her upon his own +bed. For days she lay in a delirium, the result of +the terrible privations she had evidently endured. She +raved and talked incoherently in a language which +neither he nor Manuela understood.</p> + +<p>The doctors whom he summoned at the outset, only +shook their heads, and after a lengthy consultation +informed him with the stoicism characteristic of the +profession that, the patient would either die or recover. +But Padre Antonio did not despair. In his extremity +he turned to heaven, nor did his petition pass unheeded. +At length, after many days of anxious watching, +the fever left her and she sank into a deep, refreshing +sleep from which she did not awaken for many +hours.</p> + +<p>It was toward the dawn of a Sabbath, and as the +calm and peace of sleep settled upon her, her wasted +and emaciated features began gradually to assume their +normal outline. Nature asserted herself, and when the +large dark eyes finally opened once more, it was into +the face of a beautiful girl that Padre Antonio found +himself gazing as he knelt by her bedside in prayer.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet, my daughter," he involuntarily murmured +as her eyes rested upon his, without considering whether +she understood him. But the faint semblance of a +smile that lit up her countenance in response to his +words told him she comprehended. Then, during the +long days of convalescence that ensued, she imparted +her history to him in broken Spanish.</p> + +<p>She was a Tewana; the daughter of their War Chief, +the Whirlwind, who had been killed recently in battle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +with another Indian tribe, the Ispali. Just previous +to this, her people who had long been at war with +the Government, had been defeated by the Mexican +troops. After the battle the entire tribe with the exception +of the Whirlwind's band made peace with the +Government; the remnant of the latter with which she +remained, escaping into the mountains. But fate had +doomed the little fleeing band to extermination. It was +surprised and annihilated by the Ispali Chieftain, the +White Wolf, and his followers whose territory they had +invaded; she being the only one spared—the White +Wolf signifying his intention of making her one of +his wives. But that same night when the Chieftain +entered the lodge he had set apart for her and began to +make advances to her, she suddenly snatched a brand +from the fire which burned in the center of the lodge +and struck him over the head, knocking him senseless.</p> + +<p>Then, stealing forth from the lodge, she mounted +the Chieftain's horse which stood tethered just outside +the door and fled under cover of the night. For days +she fled across the deserts and mountains, concealing +herself during the daytime and traveling at night; +subsisting as best she could upon the wild roots and +berries which she was able to find. But the privations +which she was forced to endure—the lack of food and +water, night vigils and exposure to the weather, began +to tell on her. She became delirious, and no longer +able to guide her horse, was obliged to let him choose +his own course, and—Padre Antonio knew the rest.</p> + +<p>Surely God had led this fair heathen child to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +very door in order that he, Padre Antonio, might snatch +her soul from the flames of hell by directing her in the +way of the true faith. There could be no doubt of +it; God's handiwork was too apparent.</p> + +<p>Padre Antonio was a liberal, broad-minded man. +Having experienced most things that fall to the lot of +men, he did not believe in restraining her against her +will in order that her conversion might be accomplished +as many a zealous priest might have considered justifiable +in her case. But should she manifest a desire to +remain with him, she would be reared in the very lap +of Mother Church. With this project in mind, it was +with the greatest solicitude that he watched her recovery, +and when she was informed that she would be +permitted to return to her own people if she so desired, +he won her confidence completely.</p> + +<p>The last vestige of that barrier of restraint and suspicion +which the strangeness of her position had reared +between them was swept away.</p> + +<p>From that moment the wild little nomad of the desert +evinced the keenest interest in her new surroundings. +Her childish delight was unbounded on beholding for +the first time in her life the strange flowers and fruits +in the garden. They were all so new and wonderful +to her, and she wandered for hours among them; touching +and plucking them and tasting and inhaling their +fragrance.</p> + +<p>Whether it was the novelty of her position, or her +sudden and passionate attachment to Padre Antonio +whom she regarded in the light of a new-found father +that caused her to forget for the time her former wild<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +life and consent to remain with him, is difficult to determine.</p> + +<p>Padre Antonio who had lived many years among +the wild tribes of the country and knew them as few +men did, their insatiable love of liberty and intense +dislike of the White man's civilization, looked upon +her conversion and decision to remain with him as +another direct intervention of Providence; for that +which usually required years had been accomplished +in as many weeks in her case. It was little short of +a miracle, and he rejoiced exceedingly and began gradually +to unfold his plans to her concerning her future.</p> + +<p>The curriculum of the Convent of Saint Claire in +Santa Fé did not seem adequate, and nothing would +do, but that he should accompany her to the City of +Mexico, where he placed her in charge of the Sisters +of Saint Ursula. There she would have not only the +educational, but the social advantages which the city +offered.</p> + +<p>Before their departure he christened her, Chiquita Pia +Maria Roxan Concepcion Salvatore; a name which, +out of gratitude and obedience to her benefactor, she +accepted without question concerning either its origin +or his reason for giving it to her.</p> + +<p>Six years passed, during which she traveled for +three summers in Europe with friends of the Padre. +Interminably long years they seemed to him. Each +year he had planned to visit her, but each time something +intervened to prevent his going. He was a busy +man. His duties required annual visits to the outlying +<i>pueblos</i> and distant Indian Missions, consuming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +his entire time. However, he at length received word +from the Sisters of Saint Ursula that Chiquita had completed +her course of studies and had started on her return +journey to Santa Fé.</p> + +<p>It was evident from the reports which he had received +at regular intervals from the Sisters that she did not +care for the Church as he had fondly hoped she might. +But after all, what did it really matter?</p> + +<p>One so young and gay could not be expected to +take life so seriously. When one grew old, one became +serious enough for this world; and he smiled +as he thought of his wild little Indian girl.</p> + +<p>In his fond imagination, he saw her large, mischievous, +dark eyes snap, and heard the merry peals of her laughter +as she flitted about the garden in former years. +Surely it was better thus—that she should remain blithe +and happy like the birds, as God had created her.</p> + +<p>The years had begun to tell on the aged Manuela. +She was beginning to show signs of failing, and he +decided that Chiquita, his ward, should live with him +and rule his household in Manuela's stead. His wants +were so few and simple that she would have little to do +and old Manuela would be able to sun herself in the +garden during the remaining years of her life; a reward +for her long and faithful service. Nor was Manuela +adverse to this new arrangement which must eventually +deprive her of all authority in the household; a +position she had guarded so jealously through the +years and which had raised her in the estimation of +the community. Although of a different people, the +common racial blood bond had drawn the two women<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +together from the first; besides, she could always assist +in the lighter work of the household if she chose.</p> + +<p>The Padre never tired of meditating upon this fond +dream during his leisure moments. What a perpetual +source of joy and satisfaction the presence and sunshine +of this child of his own molding would be to +him in his old age! Besides he would always be near +her to administer spiritual council and guidance.</p> + +<p>So, when the day of her arrival finally dawned, he +and old Manuela rose with the sun, and gathering the +freshest and brightest flowers the garden contained, +they arranged them in the room she was to occupy; +transforming it into a veritable bower of fragrance +and color.</p> + +<p>The prospect of seeing his protegée so soon again, +filled Padre Antonio with the most conflicting emotions +of longing and impatience.</p> + +<p>He could think of nothing else—could neither sit +nor stand, but fretted and bustled about the house with +the impatience of a child. Fearful lest he should be +too late, he hurried through his simple breakfast, consisting +of black coffee and a roll, without so much as +glancing at the local paper as was his wont; and then, +quite forgetting to pull on his black silk gloves which +Manuela thrust into his hands together with his hat +and stick, he hastened to the station which he reached +an hour before the time scheduled for the arrival of +the stage.</p> + +<p>Of course she must have changed somewhat during +the long interval of her absence, he argued, more as +a concession to reason than to desire or sentiment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +But in spite of this possibility, his mental picture of +her still remained that of the little Indian girl he had +confided to the care of the good Sisters of Saint Ursula +six years before.</p> + +<p>What if the stage were late, and could she make the +long journey alone and in safety, he asked himself a +thousand times as he impatiently paced up and down the +platform of the station; the tap of his gold-headed cane +marking the time of his steps on the boards beneath +him.</p> + +<p>"Saints! but the stage was slow! A snail could +crawl—" Suddenly he stopped short. A flush of joy +suffused his countenance—his heart began to beat +rapidly and his right hand with which he grasped his +cane trembled perceptibly as he gazed intently down +the long dusty highroad.</p> + +<p>"At last!" he cried. Another intense moment of +suspense and the distant cracking of a whip and sounds +of wheels and hoof-beats on the road announced the +approach of the stage. Presently it hove in sight and +a few minutes later, as it drew up before the station +and came to a full stop, the door was hastily flung open +and a tall, closely veiled woman sprang lightly to the +platform.</p> + +<p>Her striking appearance would have commanded attention +anywhere, but without noticing her, he brushed +hastily past her and gazed eagerly into the interior of +the coach. It was empty.</p> + +<p><i>Dios!</i> what had happened? There must be some mistake! +With a note of keenest disappointment in his +voice he turned sharply on the driver and impatiently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +demanded what had become of the little Indian girl that +had been placed in his charge.</p> + +<p>"Little Indian girl? <i>Caramba!</i>" A look of bewilderment +accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders and +a "<i>no sabe</i>, Señor Padre," was the only answer he received. +Consternation seized Padre Antonio.</p> + +<p>Merciful heaven! what had become of her—Chiquita, +his little girl? His voice choked, while tears of bitter +disappointment welled to his eyes. "Ah, yes, there had +been a mistake—she would come by the next stage," +he said, addressing the driver, and was on the point +of turning away when a silvery peal of laughter fell upon +his ears. He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and a +voice close to him said:</p> + +<p>"Padre Antonio, don't you know your little Chiquita?" +The veil had slipped from her face, displaying +the features of a beautiful Spanish woman. +Confounded and speechless with amazement, Padre Antonio +could only gaze in silence upon the apparition +before him.</p> + +<p>Was it possible, or was he only dreaming? What a +transformation! Was this mature woman, this tall and +supple and refined and graceful creature his Chiquita, +his wild little Indian girl of former years? He rubbed +his eyes in bewilderment and gazed again. Holy Maria! +but she was beautiful—fair as the starry jasmine blossoms +which she wore at her breast and in the dark folds +of her hair.</p> + +<p>In that hour the world suddenly became filled with +exquisite harmony for Padre Antonio, and he seemed +to grow younger by many years.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>The radiant beauty of her face with the poetry of +sunshine and laughter in her eyes and her grace and +charm of personality affected him like some wonderfully +attuned chime of silver bells. Surely this was worth +waiting for. His prayers had been answered richly +and abundantly, far beyond anything his imagination +had pictured during those long years of waiting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> <i>Posada de las Estrellas</i> was situated on the +western side of the town within a stone's throw of +Padre Antonio's house. It stood well back from the +highroad from which it was screened by a thick hedge-like +growth of cedar, manzanita, tamarisk and lilac +bushes.</p> + +<p>A short distance east of the <i>Posada</i>, the highroad +entered the long <i>Alameda</i> which led to the plaza in the +center of the town, overlooked by the old <i>Precedio</i> or +Governor's palace.</p> + +<p>The widespreading branches of two immense cottonwood +trees, the trunk of one of which was encircled by +a rustic bench, cast an inviting shade in front of the +house and wide veranda which stretched its length +along two sides of the low, one storied adobe structure. +Honeysuckle and white clematis and pink and scarlet +passion vines clambered up its slender pillars and hung +in fragrant flowering festoons from the low balustrades +above. The fresh green leaves of the nasturtium, +bright with variegated blossoms, ranging from deep +scarlet to gold and pale yellow, trailed along the ground +at the foot of the veranda and skirted the narrow pathway +which led to the rear of the <i>Posada</i> whose <i>patio</i> +looked out upon a garden interspersed with innumerable +flowers and shrubs, fruit and cedar trees, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +whose soft green lawn was intersected by narrow gravel +pathways. Just back of the garden lay the vegetable +patches which intervened between it and the stables and +corrals, whence came the cackling of hens and cooing +of pigeons in the early morning.</p> + +<p>Originally the <i>Posada</i> had been one of the large +<i>haciendas</i> adjoining Santa Fé, but its mistress, Señora +Fernandez, had transformed it into an Inn after the +death of her husband who had been killed accidentally +by the fall of his horse. Finding herself in reduced +circumstances incurred by her husband's gambling propensities, +she resolved upon the change. His chief +legacy consisting of debts, she was obliged to part +with the greater portion of the estate, but her natural +executive ability stood her in good stead.</p> + +<p>The new enterprise prospered, and the Inn became +widely known throughout the country as a place at +which to stop if only for a cup of chocolate or a chat +with the Señora who always knew the latest gossip.</p> + +<p>In her youth she had been noted for her beauty, and +even now, in spite of middle-age and somewhat faded +features, the latter the result of the struggle she had +undergone to reestablish herself in the world, she was +still considered buxom and fair to look upon by the +majority of men. She carried her head high and with +a coquettish air which plainly showed she had by no +means relinquished her hold upon life.</p> + +<p>On this particular morning she looked unusually +well as she moved about the <i>patio</i> engaged with her +women in assorting a huge basket of freshly laundered +household linen. Not a strand of silver was visible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +in her jet black hair, adorned with a large tortoise-shell +comb and a single Castilian rose. Her gay, low-necked, +short sleeved bodice, exposing her shapely neck +and arms, harmonized well with her short, black silken +<i>saya</i> which rustled with every movement she made and +from beneath which protruded a small pair of high +<!-- TN: original reads "insteped" -->instepped feet encased in black slippers ornamented with +large quaint silver buckles.</p> + +<p>It was the Señora's birthday. She had risen earlier +than usual prepared to receive the congratulations of +her friends who, she knew, would be sure to call during +the day in honor of the occasion. A few of them +would be asked to remain and dine with her in the +evening.</p> + +<p>It was on a similar occasion that Chiquita had danced +in the <i>patio</i> before her guests.</p> + +<p>The innate vanity of the woman might have led one +to suppose that she would let the years pass unnoticed, +but not so. The old, time-honored custom of the country +must be observed lest her friends might say: +Señora Fernandez is already laying by for a ripe old +age, the mere suggestion of which on the part of the +world would have been enough to throw her into one +of those uncontrollable fits of rage for which she was +noted.</p> + +<p>Artful, shrewd and scheming though she was, her +susceptibility to flattery was her weak point, amounting +almost to a mania. To be told that she still looked +as young and handsome as in the days when the years +justified the statement, was to win her immediate esteem. +The lack of this servile attitude and cringing civility<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +on Chiquita's part, together with the knowledge of her +own superiority which she never hesitated to show when +occasion required, had drawn down the Señora's enmity +upon her. Whereas, an occasional soft word or smile +of acquiescence—she demanded so little—would have +smoothed her ruffled spirit and taken the edge off her +tongue, the sharpest in Santa Fé.</p> + +<p>It was not easy for the inveterate coquette and one +time reigning belle to resign the position she had held +so long and undisputed, especially to an alien—one +whom the full blooded Spaniard inwardly despises, regards +as of an inferior race.</p> + +<p>How she hated the dark woman, envied the glances +and flatteries and attentions which she always received +wherever she went. It was said, that on Chiquita's +return from school, Señora Fernandez suddenly +grew cold and haughty toward the world, but finding +that a proud exterior availed her little, she sulked and +pouted for a time like a spoiled child, only to warm +again to the world which she loved so passionately, +which she felt slipping from her and without whose +adulation she could not live.</p> + +<p><i>Dios de mi vida!</i> but it was terrible to grow old! +Not since the death of her husband, Don Carlos, had +she endured so bitter a pang. The fact that she had +never had any children accounted perhaps for a certain +harshness in her nature.</p> + +<p>It was a busy day for the Señora. Besides the care +of her guests, the preparing of freshly killed fowl and +baking of cakes and <i>tortillas</i>, there was the garden +which must be hung with lanterns where there would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +be the usual dancing and merrymaking during the +evening. All this and much more the Señora must +superintend, but she was equal to the task.</p> + +<p>As she issued her orders to the retinue of servants +that came and went, she carried on a lively, though +interrupted, conversation with her sister, Señora Rosario +Sanchez, and her niece, Dolores, who had come to assist +her in the preparations.</p> + +<p>"It has come at last—I always said it would—I +never trusted that double nature of hers!" she exclaimed +triumphantly, pausing for an instant in her +work of assorting the linen. The expression and gesture +of Señora Sanchez plainly bespoke the shock she also +had experienced.</p> + +<p>"To think of it," she gasped. "How Padre Antonio +can overlook such a breach of confidence and offense +to the Church is more than I can understand!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that shows the extent of her influence over +him," answered Señora. "She has bewitched him with +her wild ways—he simply dotes on her!"</p> + +<p>"It's scandalous!" broke in her sister.</p> + +<p>"To my mind, it shows signs of the Padre's failing," +rejoined the Señora sharply.</p> + +<p>"It does indeed—poor man!" sighed her sister. +"And what's more—it never did seem proper that so +handsome a woman should live with a priest even though +she be his ward and he an old man."</p> + +<p>"Handsome?" sneered the Señora, drawing herself +together as though she had received an electric shock; +the pleased and animated expression of her face changing +suddenly to one of utmost frigidity. "I never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +could understand why people considered that Indian +good looking," and her black eyes snapped as she turned +to resume her work, plainly betraying the jealousy +aroused. Señora Sanchez, knowing her sister's temper +only too well, hastened to change the subject.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, Padre Antonio did not share the +public's sentiment, or rather that of his own particular +flock, concerning Chiquita's latest escapade. Instead of +being overwhelmed, broken in spirit and utterly cast +down by grief and shame as had been confidently predicted, +he, much to the disgust of his congregation, +went calmly about his duties as though nothing unusual +had occurred, referring jocosely to this lark of his madcap +ward as he was pleased to term it.</p> + +<p>Lark? Heavens! had the Padre lost his senses? +Excommunication might be a little too severe, but a +year's solitary confinement in a convent as a penance +for her sin was the least penalty she could expect.</p> + +<p>But Padre Antonio knew what the rest of the world +did not. That his charming, irrepressible protegée +would have snapped her fingers lightly at the mere suggestion +of either. The days of mediæval suppression +of females had come to an end even in Mexico. <!-- TN: original reads "More-ever"-->Moreover, +there existed a perfect understanding between the +two.</p> + +<p>During his long years of missionary work he had +learned that the heathen often stood higher in the sight +of Heaven than many a zealous devotee of the Church. +Besides, dancing was not only a national pastime of +the Spaniard, but among Indians, a part of their religion +as well.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>That Chiquita had some very good reason for dancing +in public, he knew well enough. They understood one +another perfectly, and he did not ask her her reason +for dancing, knowing full well that some day she would +tell him of her own accord.</p> + +<p>Although Chiquita had accommodated herself marvelously +well to the new conditions, imbibing the best +civilization had to offer, she nevertheless remained the +freeborn woman—the descendant of a freeborn race +of men. The wild, free nomad whom experience and +direct contact with nature had early taught to recognize +the simple underlying truths and realities of life and +their relations to one another, was not to be measured +by the conventions or limited standards of a tamer race +of men hedged about by superficial traditions and born +and reared remote from the heart of nature beneath the +roofs of houses. It was the cold, hard earth and equally +cold and unrelenting stars that had nurtured Chiquita +from earliest childhood, and to apply the petty restraints +and conventions of modern society to her was +like clipping the wings of an eagle and then expecting +it to fly.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, life is dull enough without civilized man's +efforts to reduce it to positive boredom, and although +Chiquita's escapades had acted like a slap in the face, +they had nevertheless done much to arouse the spirit +of the otherwise sleepy old town. Her presence was +fresh and invigorating as the north wind. Moreover, +the very ones who criticised her most in secret, were +usually the first to come to her for advice when in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +trouble. For who was so wise as the strange, beautiful +woman?</p> + +<p>True, it cost something to be hated as cordially as +one was admired, nevertheless, Padre Antonio rightly +conjectured that there was not a woman in Santa Fé +who would not willingly exchange places with his ward +were she able to. So, like the sensible man that he +was, he only smiled at idle gossip and continued to watch +with increasing interest the transformation of his +protegée.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain Forest</span> had taken quarters at the +<i>Posada</i> for an indefinite period; at least until he +learned the whereabouts of his friend, Dick Yankton, +who had accompanied him on his former expeditions.</p> + +<p>He had been aroused at an early hour by the cackling +of affrighted fowl and the voices and footsteps of <i>peons</i> +as they came and went in the <i>patio</i>, their jests and +laughter mingling with snatches of song. Not being +able to sleep, he arose, and after a hasty toilet, stepped +out upon the veranda, bright with the morning sunlight. +Save for his presence, the place was deserted; +the empty chairs standing about just as their occupants +of the previous evening had left them, a proof that he +was the first of the guests to be abroad.</p> + +<p>"I wonder where Dick is?" he soliloquized, leisurely +descending the veranda steps and turning into the pathway +that led to the garden at the rear of the house +and thence to the corrals, whither he directed his steps +for a look at his horse to see whether he had been +properly cared for during the night. As he disappeared +around the corner of the house, a woman turned +in from the highroad and paused before the Inn beneath +the great <!-- TN: original reads "cotton-wood" -->cottonwood encircled by the bench.</p> + +<p>She was tall and slender and on one arm carried a +basket of eggs concealed beneath a layer of freshly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +cut roses; Padre Antonio's annual birthday tribute to +the Señora. Her heavy blue-black hair, loosely caught +up at the back of the neck and adorned with a bunch +of pink passion flowers nestled about her neck and +shoulders, on one of which was perched a small white +dove that fluttered and cooed. From out the midst of +the passion flowers shone a faint glint of silver.</p> + +<p>Her dull white shirt waist, low at the neck and with +sleeves rolled back to the elbows, exposed her long, +slender neck and well rounded forearms which, like her +face, were a rich red bronze. A faded orange kerchief, +loosely knotted, encircled her neck; the ends thrust +carelessly into her breast. Her soft mauve <i>saya</i>, worn +and patched and looped up at one side, disclosing a +faded blue petticoat underneath, fell to her ankles, displaying +a pair of small feet encased in dull blue stockings +and low black shoes.</p> + +<p>Depositing the basket on the bench, she extended her +right hand upon the back of which the dove immediately +hopped, cooing and fluttering as before.</p> + +<p>"<i>Cara mia!</i>" she murmured fondly, raising it to +her lips, kissing it and caressing it gently against her +cheek.</p> + +<p>"What wouldst thou—thou greedy little Jaquino? +Knowest not thou hast had one more berry than thy +sweet little Jaquina?" But the dove only continued +to flutter and coo on her hand.</p> + +<p>"Hearest thou not," she continued, "she already +calls thee!" And extending her lips, between which +she had inserted a fresh berry, the dove eagerly seized +and devoured it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, <i>querida mia</i>!" she murmured softly, kissing it +again. "Now fly away quickly like a good little +Jaquino before some wicked señor comes to catch thee +for his breakfast!" And tossing the dove lightly into +the air with an "<i>á Dios</i>," it hovered over her head +for an instant, then flew straight away over the old +<i>Posada</i> back to Padre Antonio's garden where its mate +awaited it.</p> + +<p>A sigh escaped her as she watched the flight of +the bird. How free of the cares and responsibilities of +the world the winged creatures seemed. She turned to +the bench once more and was in the act of picking up +her basket, when her attention was suddenly arrested +by the sound of footsteps close at hand, and wheeling +around, she came face to face with Captain Forest.</p> + +<p>The little cry of surprise that escaped her interrupted +the Captain's meditations who, with eyes cast on the +ground, might otherwise have walked straight into her.</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons, Señorita!" he exclaimed in +Spanish, stopping abruptly and raising his hat.</p> + +<p>"I—" He paused as her full gaze met his which +to his surprise was almost on a level with his own. +What a face! Could his sensations have been analyzed, +they might have coincided with those of Padre Antonio's +on beholding his protegée when she stepped from +the stagecoach on her return from the convent.</p> + +<p>The broad sweep of her brow, her penetrating gaze, +her straight nose, high cheek bones and delicately +molded lips and chin and grace of her supple, sinuous +body, together with the picturesqueness of her costume, +presented a picture of striking beauty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why," he continued abruptly, "you are the woman +that danced at Carlos Moreno's! The Señorita Chiquita +about whom the whole town is talking!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you saw me dance, Señor?" she asked, betraying +a slight embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Such a +performance—I—" again he paused, regarding her intently. +"Do you know, Señorita, all the while I +watched you dance there seemed to be something familiar +about you. It seemed as though I had seen you +somewhere before."</p> + +<p>"Yes?" she queried, her dark eyes glowing and a +faint flush mounting to her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered. "Ever since then I have been +trying to think where it could have been. Ah!" he +exclaimed, stepping backwards and eyeing her critically. +"Just turn your head that way again. There, that's +it! I knew I had seen you before! Do you remember +the night we met a year ago on the trail below La +Jara?"</p> + +<p>A smile parted her full rose-red lips, displaying her +pearly teeth. "I remember it well, Señor," she answered, +casting down her eyes for an instant. "I recognized +you the instant I saw you."</p> + +<p>"Strange," he muttered half to himself. Then, after +a rather embarrassing silence, he said: "That was +a fine horse you rode. Do you live here at the <i>Posada</i>, +Señorita?"</p> + +<p>"No. I live with Padre Antonio."</p> + +<p>"Padre Antonio? Ah, yes!" he exclaimed, recall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>ing +the conversation at Pedro Romero's gambling hall. +"Tell me," he continued, "who is Padre Antonio?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I see you have not been long in Santa Fé, +Señor, else you must have heard something about him. +Everybody knows Padre Antonio—he is our priest."</p> + +<p>"Both you and he must have been absent when +I was here before, otherwise I must have met you," he +answered.</p> + +<p>At this moment the tall figure of a man, dressed +in a suit of light gray material with a soft felt hat +to match, appeared in the doorway of the Inn. His +eyes, like his hair and mustache, were dark brown. His +hands were long and slender and delicate as a woman's, +yet there was nothing effeminate in his appearance. +His strong, sensitive features and roving, piercing eyes +and alert carriage indicated courage and energy.</p> + +<p>He paused as he caught sight of the two figures before +him. Then, with an exclamation of surprise, he +stepped quickly out on to the veranda. "Jack!" he exclaimed. +"When did you get here?"</p> + +<p>Turning swiftly, Captain Forest saw Dick Yankton +standing before him. "Dick!" he cried, and rushing +up the veranda steps, seized him by both hands. "I've +been wondering where I would find you! You evidently +didn't get my letter?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied his companion. "I only returned +from the mountains late last night. It's probably waiting +for me here."</p> + +<p>"The Señores know one another?" interrupted +Chiquita, also ascending the veranda.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Know one another? Señorita, we are brothers," +said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Brothers?" she echoed, surprised and perplexed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señorita, all but in name," interposed the Captain.</p> + +<p>"Ah! I see. Brothers in fortune!"</p> + +<p>"Exactly," replied Dick. "But what is all this I hear +concerning your doings, Señorita? I'd have given my +best horse to have seen you dance, but, as you see, +I'm too late. A pretty nest of hornets you've stirred +up in the old place," he continued. "Why, last evening +I met the Navaros on the road on their way home +and they wouldn't let me pass until they had told me +how wicked you were. Señora Navaro even crossed +herself and said an ave at the first mention of your +name."</p> + +<p>"Ah," she sighed, then laughed unconcernedly. +"I'm afraid I've been very naughty, Señor." Then +suddenly recollecting her mission, she exclaimed: "I almost +forgot why I came here this morning. I'm the +bearer of Padre Antonio's gift and greetings to the +Señora. It's her birthday, you know."</p> + +<p>"Her birthday? I wonder she still dares have +them!" exclaimed Dick.</p> + +<p>"She does, nevertheless," laughed Chiquita; and +brushing back the roses in her basket with a sweep of +the hand, she disclosed the eggs beneath. "Look," +she continued. "Padre Antonio's gift! Are they not +beautiful—just fresh from the hens! You had better +have some for your breakfast, Señor," she added.</p> + +<p>"By all the Saints in the calendar, they are pearls,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +every one of them!" returned Dick enthusiastically, +eyeing the contents of the basket. "Thrice blessed +be thy hens, Señorita! We'll have eggs with our chocolate +out here on the veranda!"</p> + +<p>"I thought so!" came a sharp voice from the other +side of the doorway just behind them, "as usual, +talking with the Señores!" and Señora Fernandez, +with flushed cheeks and a spiteful gleam in her eyes +which she took no pains to conceal, stepped from the +door into the light.</p> + +<p>"<i>Buenas dias</i>, Doña Fernandez!" said Chiquita, unabashed +by the Señora's sudden appearance and onslaught, +"may the day bring you many blessings! +Look! Padre Antonio's greetings," and she held up +the basket for the Señora's benefit. Then, with a subtle +sarcasm which she knew would avenge her amply for +the Señora's unprovoked attack, she said: "I stopped +to inquire what the Señores would have for their breakfast. +They say they will have eggs with their chocolate."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! Eggs and chocolate—chocolate and +eggs!" angrily retorted the Señora, "just as though +one didn't know what everybody takes for breakfast!" +But without waiting for her to finish, Chiquita vanished +through the doorway with her basket; her low +laughter, followed by a snatch of song just audible from +within, serving to increase the Señora's irritation.</p> + +<p>"Holy God! I sometimes think the devil is inside +of that girl!" she exclaimed, vexed beyond measure.</p> + +<p>"Ah, but what a sweet one!" laughed Dick. "I +wouldn't mind being possessed of the same myself."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bah, Señor! you talk like a fool!" she retorted. +"I pray you, do not think too poorly of us, Señor +<i>Capitan</i>," she continued in an apologetic tone, turning +to Captain Forest. "I assure you, all the women +in Santa Fé are not so bold as the Señorita Chiquita."</p> + +<p>"No, most of them are a tame lot!" broke in Dick, +secretly enjoying the Señora's discomfiture.</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba!</i> your speech grows more foolish as you +talk, Señor!" returned the Señora in a tone of intense +disgust. "I see, you too have fallen under her +spell. They say she has the evil-eye, Señor <i>Capitan</i>," +she went on, addressing the Captain again.</p> + +<p>"Evil-eye—ha, ha! What next?" laughed Dick.</p> + +<p>"Blood of the Saints! I'll no longer waste my time +with you, Señor!" and with an angry swish of her +skirt, she turned and disappeared in the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"What</span> does she mean by the evil-eye?" asked +the Captain after the sounds of the Señora's +footsteps had died away in the corridor within the house.</p> + +<p>"Nothing—it's only jealousy. Chiquita being the +acknowledged belle of the town, most of the other women, +especially those of pure Spanish blood, are jealous as +cats of her, and seldom miss an opportunity of saying +spiteful things about her. That's why her dancing has +caused such a row. And yet," he continued, seating +himself on the veranda rail, his back against one of its +wooden pillars, "I can't see why. It's race hatred of +course, but there's really no reason for it because she's +the best educated woman between here and the City of +Mexico. Padre Antonio saw to it that she received the +best Mexico had to give. Why, she speaks French and +English almost as well as she does Spanish. If she +were a <i>mestiza</i> or half-caste, things would go hard with +her, but being a full-blood, she's easily a match for +them all."</p> + +<p>"She's certainly an unusual woman," said the Captain; +"one you would hardly expect to find in this out-of-the-way +place."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's one of the many paradoxes in life," +answered Dick. "I've met many a remarkable personality +in the most remote regions during my wanderings.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +But," he continued, abruptly changing the topic of conversation, +"what brings you back here? I always felt +you would come back to this country again. Civilization +isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it?"</p> + +<p>"It was a hard wrench just the same," returned the +Captain, "especially when one—"</p> + +<p>"Did you hear that?" suddenly interrupted Dick, +rising from his seat on the veranda rail and gazing intently +down the highroad. The sounds of a vehicle and +hoof-beats on the hard road, mingled with the shouts of +a driver, the crack of a whip and tinkle of bells, were +distinctly heard, and presently, a heavy lumbering stagecoach +enveloped in a cloud of white dust and drawn by +four mules was seen coming down the road at full gallop.</p> + +<p>The sounds had also aroused the household. Señora +Fernandez at the head of a troop of <i>peons</i> and women +rushed out of the house, talking and gesticulating excitedly +as they swarmed over the veranda and down the +steps in front of the <i>Posada</i>, for all the world like a distracted +colony of ants.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> what can have happened to the stage that it +comes in the morning instead of the evening?" she cried +breathlessly, quite forgetting her recent ill humor in +the excitement.</p> + +<p>"There's no stage at this hour," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"But there it comes!" answered the Captain.</p> + +<p>"It's not the regular stage," returned Dick; "a +party of tourists, most likely! I see a lot of women!" +he added, as the occupants on the outside of the stage +came more clearly into view.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Captain Forest started, gasped, and gripped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +one of the veranda pillars with his right hand. "No—it +can't be!" he muttered, passing his free hand across +his eyes as though to dispel an illusion.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Jack?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"God in heaven! what can have brought them here?" +he cried, ignoring his companion's question and leaning +out over the veranda rail, his gaze riveted on the +stage.</p> + +<p>"Friends of yours?" asked Dick again.</p> + +<p>"Friends? It's the whole family!"</p> + +<p>Dick gave a prolonged whistle.</p> + +<p>The women and <i>peons</i>, clamoring vociferously, instantly +surrounded the stage as it drew up before the +<i>Posada</i> with a great clatter of wheels and hoofs; assisting +its occupants to alight and carrying the luggage +into the house.</p> + +<p>On the box beside the driver sat Blanch Lennox, looking +a trifle pale the Captain thought, and Bessie Van +Ashton, his cousin, a pretty blond with large violet eyes +and small hands and feet that matched her slender, willowy +figure.</p> + +<p>"Is this the infernal place?" came a voice from the +interior of the coach that sounded more like a snarl of +a wild beast than a human voice. "If ever I pass another +night in such a damned ark—" came the voice +again, as its possessor, Colonel Van Ashton, enveloped +in a much wrinkled traveling coat, stepped with difficulty +from the coach to the ground. "I'm so stiff I can +hardly walk! Ough!" he cried, and his right hand +went to his back as a fresh spasm of pain seized him.</p> + +<p>"It's just what I told you it would be like! The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +country's beastly—beastly!" and Mrs. Forest, white +with dust and completely exhausted by the journey, followed +the Colonel, supported on either side by her maid +and her brother's valet.</p> + +<p>"Merciful God! they must be very grand people to +talk so foolish!" ejaculated the Señora who knew enough +English to grasp the import of Mrs. Forest's words. +Although she had never devoted much time to the study +of the language, she had picked up a smattering of English +from the Americans and Englishmen who annually +stopped at the <i>Posada</i> on their way to the mines in the +interior of the country in which much foreign capital +was invested.</p> + +<p>"Why, there's Jack!" cried Bessie, dropping lightly +from the box into the arms of two <i>peons</i> who stood below +to assist her to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Jack!" she continued, advancing, "I'll +wager you didn't expect to see us this morning, did +you?"</p> + +<p>The Captain noted the ring of sarcasm in her voice +as she concluded.</p> + +<p>"I confess I did not, Cousin," he answered, descending +the veranda to meet them. "What in the world +brought you here?" he asked, taking his cousin's hand.</p> + +<p>"Oh! we thought we'd like to see a little more of the +world before we became too old to enjoy traveling," she +answered, with a peculiar little laugh that was all her +own and which usually conveyed a sense of uneasiness +to those toward whom it was directed.</p> + +<p>"How much longer are you going to stand there asking +idiotic questions?" broke in Mrs. Forest with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +furious glance at her son. "Can't you see, I'm nearly +dead?"</p> + +<p>"Really, Mother, I'm very sorry," returned the Captain, +"but it's all your own fault, you know. Why did +you come?"</p> + +<p>"Our fault—why did we come? It's your fault—your +fault, sir!" she almost screamed, and ended by +laughing hysterically.</p> + +<p>Colonel Van Ashton who had been nursing his wrath +all night long while being bumped over a rough road in +an old broken-down stagecoach, required but the sight +of his nephew to cause an explosion. He had not closed +his eyes during the entire night, and like his sister, Mrs. +Forest, was in a state of collapse. His usually florid +complexion had turned to a brilliant crimson, giving him +the appearance of an overheated furnace.</p> + +<p>He regarded himself as a martyr, nay, worse—an +innocent victim of fate who, entirely against his will, +had been cruelly dragged into the present intolerable +situation by the caprice of his accursed nephew.</p> + +<p>He had suffered long and patiently all that mortal +flesh and blood could endure. But, thank God, there +were compensations in this life after all—the object of +his wrath stood before him at last.</p> + +<p>"So this, sir, is what you call returning to nature, +is it?" he cried in a hoarse roar, controlling his voice +with difficulty and glaring savagely at his nephew.</p> + +<p>"It's evidently not to your liking, Uncle," replied the +Captain quietly, doing his best to keep from laughing +in his face.</p> + +<p><!-- TN: exclamation mark added after "Liking"-->"Liking!"—roared the Colonel again, his voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +raised to the breaking pitch—"I never thought I'd get +to hell so soon! Why, sir," he continued, knocking +a cloud of dust from his hat, "this isn't nature, this is +geology! I don't see how you ever discovered the +damned country! The wind-swept wastes of Dante's +Inferno are verdant in comparison! You're mad, there's +no doubt of it!" he fumed, stamping up and down.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," he went on, stopping abruptly before +his nephew, "they say that, before you left +Newport, you ran your touring-car over the cliff into +the sea—a machine that must have cost you fifteen +thousand at least!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what if I did? It served me right for deserting +my horse for the devil's toy. Thank God, I'm rid +of the infernal machine!"</p> + +<p>"Look here, Jack Forest—" but the Colonel's voice +broke in a violent fit of coughing.</p> + +<p>It required but little discernment on the part of the +Mexicans to perceive that the meeting between Captain +Forest and his family was not what might be termed +particularly felicitous. Even Señora Fernandez was +quick enough to perceive that things were going from +bad to worse, and in an effort to smooth matters, she +stepped forward and in her best English said: "Señor +<i>Capitan</i>, why did you tell me not zat ze ladies were +coming? I might 'ave prepared been for zem."</p> + +<p>"My good Señora," responded the Captain, regarding +her with a look of extreme compassion, "I never +dreamt of such a misfortune."</p> + +<p>"Just the sort of answer one might expect from you! +Not a word of welcome or sympathy! I always said you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +were the most selfish mortal alive!" cried Mrs. Forest +bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Señoras, I pray for you, come into ze house at +once!" spoke up the Señora again, turning entreatingly +to the ladies. "I you promess, zat wen you an orange +an' cup of coffee 'ave 'ad, you will yourselves better +feel."</p> + +<p>"The Señora's right," broke in the Captain. "Come +into the house and when you've—" but his sentence +was cut short by the sharp report of a pistol, followed +in quick succession by two other shots, and a moment +later a man, breathless and without coat or hat, and +his shirt and trousers in tatters, rushed among them.</p> + +<p>"Hide me quick, somebody!" he cried. "For God's +sake—the posse—" but before he could finish, a troop +of men, armed with six-shooters and Winchester rifles, +burst from the cover of bushes that lined the highroad.</p> + +<p>"There he is yonder, boys, behind that man!" cried +their leader excitedly, a small, thick-set, broad-shouldered +man with sandy hair and beard and florid complexion. +The others, following the direction indicated +by him, seized the fugitive who had taken refuge behind +Captain Forest and dragged him hurriedly beneath one +of the cottonwood trees, over a lower branch of which +they flung a rope. Their work was so expeditious that, +before the spectators could realize what was happening, +they had bound his hands behind his back and fastened +one end of the rope about his neck.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear, everybody!" commanded the leader, +his gaze sweeping the throng. Then turning to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +men, he said: "When I give the word, boys, let him +swing!"</p> + +<p>"Don't, boys—don't!" cried the prisoner in a despairing, +supplicating voice, dropping on his knees. +"For God's sake—give me a chance—" but a jerk of +the rope cut short his words which ended in an inarticulate +gurgle in his throat.</p> + +<p>"They are going to hang him—it's murder!" gasped +Mrs. Forest, clinging to her trembling, terrified maid +who was already on the verge of fainting.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said the Colonel, stepping forward, +"I object to such an unheard-of proceeding! You have +no right to hang a man without a trial."</p> + +<p>"Say, old punk," cried the leader, turning savagely +on the Colonel, "who's a runnin' this show?" The well-delivered +blow of a sledge-hammer could not have been +more crushing in its effect on the Colonel than were the +words of the leader; he was completely silenced. Greatly +to his credit, however, he stood his ground. He was +no coward, for he had faced death and been wounded +more than once in his younger days on the field of battle, +and had he possessed a weapon at the moment, he +would have snuffed out the leader's life as deliberately as +he would have blown out the light of a candle, regardless +of consequences. But recognizing the carrion with +which he had to deal, and the futility of further interference, +he quietly shrugged his shoulders, smiled and +pulled the end of his mustache. The hanging might +proceed so far as he was concerned.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," spoke up the Captain, "what has this +man done?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You'll learn that when we're through with him!" +replied the leader.</p> + +<p>Even were there no doubt of the prisoner's guilt and +hanging a well-deserved punishment, Captain Forest, +nevertheless, liked fair play. The blood surged to his +face. His fighting instincts and spirit of resentment +were thoroughly aroused. He had seen men hanged and +shot down before in the most summary manner, some of +them afterward proving to have been victims of gross +error and brute passion. He also knew how futile it +was to argue with men whose passions were roused to +the fighting pitch. The Colonel's interference was an +instance of how little such men could be influenced. It +was absurd to look for moderation under the circumstances. +There was only one way to save the prisoner—the +use of the same means employed by the lynchers, +namely, force. Whence could such interference come? +How could a man single-handed cope with a well-armed +body of men of their type? Only a miracle could save +the prisoner and the intervention of a miracle is always +a slender prop upon which to lean.</p> + +<p>"Now, boys," continued the leader, turning to his +men, "get ready—" but his voice was drowned by a +chorus of cries and screams from the women.</p> + +<p>"Silence!" he roared. "Stop that damn noise!"</p> + +<p>"I would like to know, sir, who gave you authority +to shut our mouths?" and Blanch Lennox planted herself +squarely before him. So astonished was he by +her sudden appearance and outburst, that he fell back a +pace. He seemed to have lost his voice, and only after +much hemming and hawing, managed to stammer an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +awkward apology while vainly endeavoring to conceal +his embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"Ladies," he finally began, removing his hat in an +attempt at politeness, "I'm powerful sorry to be obliged +to perform this painful duty contrary to your wishes, +but the law must be obeyed. We've been a chasin' this +feller, who's the most notorious scoundrel in the country, +through the mountains for the last three weeks, and now +we've got him, I reckon we ain't a goin' ter let him get +away. Is we, boys?" and he turned confidently to +his men.</p> + +<p>"You bet we ain't!" they responded.</p> + +<p>"No, ladies," echoed their leader in turn, "not if +we know it. Besides, we've got permission from the +Mexican authorities to do with him as we like. I guess," +he added, "they'll be about as glad to be rid of him as +we are. And now, ladies," he continued, "if you don't +want to witness as pretty a hanging as ever took place +in these parts, you'll take my advice and retire into the +house as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>But no one stirred. The tall handsome woman still +stood before him unmoved, and he was beginning to realize +that her gaze was becoming more difficult to meet. +Somewhat disconcerted, he began again in his most persuasive +tone.</p> + +<p>"Ladies, please don't interrupt the course of the law +by staying around here any longer than's necessary—for +hang he will!" he added.</p> + +<p>Still no one showed the slightest sign of complying +with his wishes. The situation was becoming intolerable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ladies," he began again, and this time rather peremptorily, +"you'll greatly oblige us by retiring at +once."</p> + +<p>"We'll not move a step until you take the rope from +that man's neck," said Blanch firmly and unabashed, still +holding her ground. Her words acted like a challenge. +His temper was thoroughly roused, it being a question +whether he or a lot of women should have their way. +He, Jim Blake, overpowered by a mob of sentimental, +hysterical women—not while he lived!</p> + +<p>"Then, ladies," he answered curtly, placing his hat +firmly on his head, "if you won't go into the house, +you'll have to see him swing, that's all!" and quickly +detailing half his men who lined up before the spectators +with cocked rifles, he shouted to the others behind them +holding the rope: "Boys, when I count three, do your +work!" There was no mistaking his words. The prisoner +uttered a half-articulate groan.</p> + +<p>"One—" slowly counted Blake.</p> + +<p>The Mexicans crossed themselves and began to mutter +prayers. Women screamed.</p> + +<p>"Two—three—" but simultaneously with the word +three, was heard the report of a pistol, and the men pulling +on the rope rolled on the ground, a hopelessly entangled +mass of arms and legs. The rope had been severed +just above the prisoner's head, and when the smothered +oaths of the men mingled with the screams of the women +had subsided, Dick Yankton with pistol in hand was +seen leaning out over the veranda rail.</p> + +<p>"I reckon there won't be any hanging at the old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +<i>Posada</i> this morning, Jim Blake," he said, calmly covering +the latter with his weapon.</p> + +<p>"Well, darn my skin!" gasped Blake. "Where did +you come from?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just dropped around," replied Dick, unconcernedly.</p> + +<p>"Now, gentlemen," he continued, addressing the men, +"I've got the drop on Blake, and if any one of you +moves hand or foot I'll send him to a warmer place than +this in pretty quick time."</p> + +<p>"Don't mind me, boys—turn loose on him!" cried +Blake pluckily, but nobody seemed inclined to obey.</p> + +<p>"It won't do, Jim," spoke up one of his men. "We +ain't a going to see you killed before our eyes. Besides, +it's Dick Yankton."</p> + +<p>"Jack!" called out Dick, "free the prisoner and be +quick about it!"</p> + +<p>"You're interfering with the law!" roared Blake, as +the Captain proceeded to obey Dick's command.</p> + +<p>"I know it," replied Dick; "it isn't the first time +I've interfered with it either. Besides, I don't see why +I haven't got as good a right to it as you or any other +man." Blake sputtered and squirmed helplessly as he +faced Dick's weapon, not daring to lift a hand.</p> + +<p>"What objection have you got to our ridding the +earth of this damned scoundrel, I'd like to know?" he +asked, choking with rage.</p> + +<p>"Oh, as to that, I've got several, Jim Blake, and one +of them is—I don't like to see a man hanged before +breakfast. It sort of takes away one's appetite, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +know," he added, coolly eyeing his adversary over the +barrel of his pistol.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you ain't the most impudent cuss I ever +seen!" cried Blake, by this time almost on the point of +exploding.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I am," answered Dick, the faintest smile +playing about the corners of his mouth. "You're putting +up a pretty big bluff, Jim, but I happen to be holding +the cards in this game and I rather think you'll stay +and see it out.</p> + +<p>"Bob Carlton," he continued, addressing the prisoner +whom the Captain had freed, "there's a black +horse in the corral back of the house; jump on him +just as he is and make tracks out of here as almighty +fast as you know how!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Dick, I'll not forget you!" cried Carlton, +starting in the direction of the corral but, catching +sight of Miss Van Ashton, he stopped short. "I—I +beg your pardon, Madame," he stammered, "but would +you mind telling me your name?"</p> + +<p>"I can't see what business that is of yours!" replied +Bessie curtly and with a toss of the head, turning her +back upon him.</p> + +<p>"I meant no offense, Madame—I—"</p> + +<p>"Van Ashton's her name," said the Captain.</p> + +<p>"Van Ashton!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"You had better be moving, Carlton—you damn +fool!" came Dick's angry voice. "The next time +you're in for a funeral I may not be around to stop it!"</p> + +<p>Carlton needed no further urging. The sound of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +horse going at full speed was presently heard on the +road beyond the <i>Posada</i>.</p> + +<p>"Don't any one move," said Dick quietly, as all listened +in silence to the sounds which grew fainter and +fainter until they ceased altogether in the distance.</p> + +<p>"He's got a good mile start by this time," said Dick +at length, coolly lowering his pistol and returning it to +his pocket. "Gentlemen," he continued, leisurely descending +the veranda, "you're at liberty to follow him +if you like."</p> + +<p>"After him, boys!" yelled Blake, suddenly aroused +to fresh action.</p> + +<p>"It's no use, Jim," said one of his men, "our hosses +is cleaned blowed."</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" growled Blake, tugging nervously at +his beard. "And now, Dick Yankton," he continued, +confronting him squarely with both feet spread wide +apart and his hands thrust to his elbows in his trouser +pockets, "the question is, what's to be done with you? +I just guess we'll make an example of you for interfering +with the law."</p> + +<p>"And I guess you won't do anything of the kind, Jim +Blake, because there isn't a white man in the country +that will help you do it."</p> + +<p>"The devil!" ejaculated Blake, completely taken +aback by Dick's coolness.</p> + +<p>"I guess Dick's about right there, Jim," spoke up +another of his men.</p> + +<p>Blake was about to continue the argument, but realizing +that the sentiment of his men was not with him +and that his position was growing momentarily more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +ridiculous, he ceased abruptly. Rough though he was +and of the swash-buckler type, he was neither insensible +to the humor of the situation nor to the nerve it had +taken on Dick's part to hold twenty armed men at bay +single-handed. It is usually a difficult matter to pocket +one's pride, especially if one sees ridicule lurking just +around the corner, but few men were capable of resisting +the charm of Dick's personality for long.</p> + +<p>"Come, Jim, be reasonable," he said, laying his hand +familiarly on Blake's shoulder; "Bob Carlton saved my +life once and now we're quits."</p> + +<p>"He did? Well, that's the only good thing the +sneakin' skunk ever done! Why didn't you tell us that +before?"</p> + +<p>"Because you didn't give me time. You would have +hung him first and then listened to what I had to say +afterwards."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" ejaculated Blake, "I guess you're about +right there."</p> + +<p>"Boys," continued Dick, turning to the others, "I'm +mighty sorry to have spoiled your fun, but I'll see that +you don't regret your visit to Santa Fé. Come into the +house and I'll tell how it happened. The cigars and the +drinks are on me!"</p> + +<p>"Well, as I said before, Dick," exclaimed Blake, +"you're the cussedest, most contrariest feller I ever seen. +You got the best of us this time, but I guess we'll about +get even with you on the drinks before we're through—won't +we, boys?" and amid a chorus of laughter and +good-humored exclamations, the men, followed by Dick +and Blake, crowded into the house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a country!" gasped Mrs. Forest after the +last of them had disappeared. "Have people here nothing +to do but murder one another?" she asked in a despairing +voice, sniffing vigorously at the bottle of salts +her maid handed her.</p> + +<p>"Ze Saints be praised, zey do not!" cried the Señora +who by this time had regained her composure. "Such +a zing 'as happened nevair before."</p> + +<p>"They are a little more free-handed out here than we +are," remarked the Captain. "Where we come from, +people allow a man to go free after exhausting all the +resources of the law, while here, they quietly hang a +scoundrel when they catch him without making any fuss +about it. It's much simpler, you know."</p> + +<p>"Beautiful!" echoed the Colonel.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">After</span> much persuasion and further caustic remarks +on the country and a people whose chief occupation +seemed to be that of shooting and hanging one +another, Mrs. Forest was finally induced to enter the +house, leaving Blanch and Bessie seated on the bench beneath +the cottonwood tree where they had collapsed, the +result of the shock their nerves had sustained.</p> + +<p>Their presence seemed as incongruous with their surroundings +as that of some delicate hot-house flower +blooming in the midst of the desert.</p> + +<p>"Could you have believed it if you hadn't seen it?" +asked Bessie, the first to break the silence. "Is it all +real, or are we still dreaming? I wish somebody would +pinch me, my wits are so scattered," and she passed her +hand across her eyes as though to dispel some dreadful +nightmare.</p> + +<p>"I never imagined," replied her companion in a vague +uncertain tone of voice, like one laboring under the influence +of a narcotic, "that such people existed anywhere +outside of books, and yet the samples to which +we have just been introduced make characters of fiction +look tame in comparison. Oh, dear!" she burst forth, +"who could have imagined it?"</p> + +<p>"What a transition—I can't understand it!" said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +Bessie. "I feel like one who has just dropped from the +sky to earth."</p> + +<p>"No wonder! I, too, am still seeing stars. Jack +certainly must be mad, else how could he have ever picked +out such a forsaken land whose inhabitants seem to +consist chiefly of ruffians and black women?"</p> + +<p>"It's simply incomprehensible after all he's seen of +the world," replied Bessie. "Did you notice how he +enjoyed our discomfiture? How it was all he could do +to keep from laughing in our faces?"</p> + +<p>"The brute!" cried Blanch.</p> + +<p>"If we had only realized to what we were coming—" +Bessie began.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's too late to say that!" interrupted Blanch. +"Now that I'm here, I'm not going to turn back; I'm +going to see this thing through. And what's more," she +added with unmistakable emphasis, "I'm going to see +that woman! Have you noticed any one that looks like +her?" she asked cautiously, lowering her voice and looking +about suspiciously, as she rose from her seat.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" laughed Bessie, also rising and shaking +the dust from her skirt. "You've scarcely talked of +anything else since we left home. Why, I really believe +you are beginning to be jealous of this creature of your +imagination. It's too absurd to suppose that Jack—"</p> + +<p>"Is it any more impossible than the people and things +we have just encountered?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! Jack in love with some half-breed—that +dusky beauty in breeches who rides astride, and +whom he happened to mention to us? It's preposterous!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My dear," resumed Blanch calmly, "don't deceive +yourself. My woman's intuition tells me that I'm right. +Jack's notion of beginning a new life is all nonsense—there's +a deeper reason than that for this change in +him. Take my word for it, there's a woman at the bottom +of it for what possible attraction could this horrid +country and its people have for a civilized being?"</p> + +<p>"I can't believe it," answered Bessie; "you know how +fastidious Jack is. Besides it was only a fleeting glance +that he caught of the woman he mentioned—and that +in the twilight."</p> + +<p>"A glance is quite enough for a fool to fall in love with +a phantom," retorted Blanch warmly, thrusting the +ground vigorously with the point of her sunshade.</p> + +<p>"They say," she went on, "that these dark beauties +of the South possess a peculiar fascination of their own—that +they have a way of captivating men before they +realize what's happening. They sort of hypnotize them, +you know."</p> + +<p>"But not a man of Jack's type!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't mean to infer that she's beautiful," +continued Blanch. "Attractive she may be, but how +could anything so common be really beautiful? It's +not that which worries me—it's the state of his +mind. He has evidently reached a crisis. As long as +I can keep him in sight he's safe, but should he be left +here alone with one of these women in his present frame +of mind, there's no knowing what might happen. Any +woman if fairly attractive and a schemer, can marry +almost any man she has a mind to. You know," she +added, "he's not given to talking without a purpose and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +usually acts even though he lives to repent of it afterwards. +Why, if he were left here, he might marry from +<!-- TN: italics added --><i>ennui</i>, who knows? One hears of such things."</p> + +<p>"Heavens!" ejaculated Bessie, "it makes one shudder +to think of it! Hush!" she added, nodding in the +direction of the house where the Captain appeared in +the doorway and halted, regarding them with a mixed +expression of curiosity and amusement.</p> + +<p>"Well," he said at length, descending to where they +stood, "how do first impressions of the place strike +you? It's not so dull, after all, is it?" he added, concealing +his mirth with difficulty.</p> + +<p>"It's charming," replied Blanch in her richest vein +of sarcasm, addressing him for the first time since her +arrival. "What delightful surroundings, and what congenial +people one meets here!"</p> + +<p>The Captain burst into an uproarious fit of laughter. +The sight of Blanch had sent a sudden thrill through +him that told him plainly enough how deeply rooted had +been his love and that he had not yet succeeded in eradicating +it entirely from his heart as he had supposed.</p> + +<p>The spark of the old love still smoldered within him, +and would she succeed again in fanning it into flame? +He had not forgotten, however, that he had suffered, and +her presence acted like some wonderful balm to his +wounded soul. It was his turn now and he could afford +to humor her. Though there was nothing triumphant +in his manner, he, nevertheless, enjoyed that sneaking +feeling of satisfaction which most of us experience on +beholding the discomfiture of those who have treated us +lightly. Moreover, he thoroughly realized what the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +coming of Blanch and his family meant. They had +come to laugh at him and his surroundings—to ridicule +his ideas. The great harlot world had come to +pooh-pooh—to scoff and laugh him out of his convictions, +and no one knew better than he did what the +mighty power and influence of the great civilized guffaw +meant. For had he not, during his diplomatic career, +seen the primitive man laughed out of his cool, naked +blessedness into a modern, cheap pair of sweltering +pantaloons? But things were now equal, and this promised +to be the most exciting diplomatic game in which he +had yet engaged. The defeat of Spain and the annexation +of the Philippines were trifles in comparison. And +he decided then and there to make the most of it—that +come what might, all who entered this game would pay +the price to the last farthing. Time and circumstances +would prove who was right—they or he.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," he said at length, "I don't pity you +a bit; it serves you right for coming."</p> + +<p>"Pity?" retorted Bessie. "Do we look like a pair +of beggars that have come two thousand miles to crave +pity at the feet of the high and mighty Captain Forest? +Your condescension, Cousin, is insufferable," she +added.</p> + +<p>"I was just thinking," he resumed, thoroughly enjoying +his cousin's wrath, "that you had better drop your +silly affectations and spoiled ways while here."</p> + +<p>"Really!" burst out Bessie again, her face flushing +with growing indignation.</p> + +<p>"I do," he returned placidly, "for somehow, the people +about here don't seem to appreciate such things."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can readily believe it," answered Blanch with a +contemptuous laugh and hauteur of manner that were +almost insulting. "I don't wonder you feel uneasy on +our account considering that we have never enjoyed +the advantages their social standards offer. We trust, +however, for the sake of old friendship, that you will +overlook our shortcomings. A lesson in manners might +not be lost on us," she added with a withering glance and +tone that would have reduced any other man to a sere and +yellow leaf.</p> + +<p>She paused, her delicately gloved hand resting lightly +on the handle of her sunshade on which she leaned, +throwing the graceful outline of her tall slender figure +into clear relief against the green background of trees +and shrubs. A strange light came into her beautiful +blue eyes, softening the expression of her face; a face +that had been the hope and despair of many a man; a +face that was not alone beautiful but alive and interesting; +a face into which all men longed to gaze and once +seen could never be forgotten.</p> + +<p>Only one man had ever resisted the power and fascination +of that face; the man whom she had flung from +her in an ungovernable fit of passion; the man whom +she either had come to claim as her own again, or to +humiliate as he had humiliated her. Who could guess +the real motive that prompted her to humble her pride +so far as to follow him? Was it love or hatred? Who +could say? Her delicate, coral lips curled with just +the suggestion of a sneer as she raised her eyes to his +again and said in a tone of contempt: "So this is +the place where your wild woman lives—" but the words<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +died on her lips. Her head came up with a jerk and +her figure suddenly straightened and stiffened as her +gaze became riveted on the face of Chiquita who stood +just opposite on the veranda lightly poised with one +foot on the steps.</p> + +<p>It would have been interesting to have read the +thoughts of these two women as they stood silently confronting +one another, each taking the measure of the +other.</p> + +<p>The contrast between the two could not have been +more striking. The soft, delicate, well-groomed figure +of Blanch, the accomplished woman of the world, with +eyes intoxicating as wine and a glowing wealth of +golden hair, tempting and alluring as the luxuriance of +old Rome at the height of her triumphs before her decadence +set in—the last fair breath of her ancient glory—the +best and fairest that modern civilization had produced. +She had no need of the artificial head-gear and +upholstery with which the modern society belle is wont +to bolster up herself. There was not the slightest trace +of rouge on her lips or cheeks. She had learned that +simple food, fresh air and sleep and exercise were the +only preservatives for the form and complexion. +Spoiled though she was, she was genuine to the core.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, what the symmetrical well-rounded +lines of Chiquita's figure lost by the unfair comparison +of her worn and faded dress with that of the latest +Parisian creation, was more than compensated for by +the heavy luxuriant masses of blue-black hair, straight +nose, large, dark piercing eyes that shone from beneath +delicately penciled, broad arching brows, and the mys<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>terious +hawk-like wildness of her gaze and appearance +and general air of strength and power, baffling and inscrutable +as the origin of her race; a face and figure +which exemplified the perfect type of a race that carried +one back to the forgotten days of ancient Egypt and +India.</p> + +<p>Truly, twice blessed or cursed by the gods was he to +be loved by two such women; the one fashion's, the other +nature's child.</p> + +<p>The look of embarrassment on Captain Forest's face, +together with the ludicrousness of the situation, caused +Bessie to burst into a sudden fit of laughter into which +Blanch, in spite of herself, was irresistibly drawn. Fortunately +for the Captain, he did not entirely lose his +presence of mind as one is apt to do who unexpectedly +finds himself between two tigers about to spring. He +did the only sensible thing a man could do under the +circumstances. He retired precipitately, leaving the +field to whomsoever wished it most.</p> + +<p>"The Señoritas laugh," said Chiquita at length, the +first to speak. There was a strange light in her eyes as +she slowly descended the veranda and came toward them. +The sound of her full, rich, musical voice, colored with +a soft accent that was pleasing to the ear, instantly +brought Blanch and Bessie to themselves.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," she began again calmly, "it is because +I am poor?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Señorita, how could you imagine—" exclaimed +Blanch, recovering her breath.</p> + +<p>"Then perhaps it is because I am an Indian and red, +not white like yourselves?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Are you an Indian, Señorita?" asked Blanch. "I +thought you were a Mexican."</p> + +<p>"And if I were, I would not be ashamed of it!"</p> + +<p>"What a strange creature!" thought Bessie.</p> + +<p>"But why did the Señoritas laugh when they saw +me?" persisted Chiquita, her expression softening a bit, +a faint smile illumining her face.</p> + +<p>"Believe me, Señorita," replied Blanch, "we were not +laughing at you at all. We were laughing at Captain +Forest."</p> + +<p>"Ah, the Señor!" ejaculated Chiquita.</p> + +<p>"Yes," continued Blanch, "we had already heard +of you through Captain Forest, and—I—" she hesitated, +"I really can't explain because you wouldn't understand, +you know."</p> + +<p>"But I do understand, Señorita," answered Chiquita +quietly. "You do not deceive me, and since you refuse +to tell me why you laughed, I shall be obliged to tell +you. I think I can guess the truth."</p> + +<p>"Really, I'm curious!" and Blanch smiled compassionately.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you think I can't read your face," and Chiquita +smiled in turn. "Señorita," she continued with +sudden emphasis, "you love the Señor!" Blanch +started, the attack was so sudden, her face coloring +in spite of her endeavor to conceal her confusion.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señorita, you love him."</p> + +<p>"How do you know I love him?" laughed Blanch +lightly in turn, by this time thoroughly mistress of herself. +"Why, you have only met me for the first time!"</p> + +<p>"How do I know? Because I am a woman. I saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +you as you spoke to him. Your whole manner betrayed +you—your voice, your eyes. Yes, Señorita," she +added with growing passion, fixing her dark piercing +eyes on those of Blanch, "you laughed because a poor +girl like me of a different race and color, a race despised +by you white people, should have imagined that Captain +Forest might possibly cast his eyes upon her—"</p> + +<p>"Señorita!" cried Blanch protestingly.</p> + +<p>"It is the truth," continued Chiquita passionately, +"and what is more, I will tell you frankly that I—I, +too, love the Señor!"</p> + +<p>"I thought so!" exclaimed Blanch.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I love him—love him as you do—love him as +you can never love him, Señorita!"</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?" asked Blanch, endeavoring +to stifle the emotion Chiquita's passionate words +aroused within her.</p> + +<p>"I know it," she answered quietly; "something tells +me so. And should he not love me as I love him, my +life will go out of me swiftly and silently like the waters +of the streams in summer when the rains cease; my soul +will become barren and parched like the desert, and I +shall wither and die."</p> + +<p>"Die?" echoed Blanch. "Nobody dies of love nowadays, +Señorita," and she laughed lightly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not among your people, but with Indians it +is different. When we love it is terrible—our passion +becomes our life, our whole existence! Such a confession +sounds absurd perhaps, but you assumed an air +of superiority—racial superiority, I mean—a thing +which I know to be as false as it is presumptuous. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +might assume the airs and attitude of one of your race +if I chose, but you laughed, and the race-pride in me +cries out that I should be to you what I really am—an +Indian, not that which I have learned and borrowed +from the white race."</p> + +<p>"How extraordinary!" thought Blanch. Surely +such passion was short lived and a weak admission on +the part of her rival. She was a true character of melodrama—one +which she had seen a hundred times on the +stage. The battle was hers already—she would win. +She heaved a sigh of relief, and drawing herself up to +her full height, assumed an attitude of ease, an air of +patronage and condescension that only Blanch Lennox +could adopt. She could afford to be generous to a child, +treat with lenience this clever <i>ingenue</i> who in this age +could die, or at least imagine herself dying of love.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," resumed Chiquita, with an air of naïveté +that seemed perfectly natural to her, "you women do not +love as passionately as your darker sisters?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know about that, Señorita," answered +Blanch with warmth. "At any rate, you in all probability +will have an opportunity to judge that for yourself."</p> + +<p>Chiquita gave a little laugh, then said: "Señorita, +you love Captain Forest and so do I. Let it, therefore, +be a fair fight between us, and in order that you may +know you can trust me, I give you this," and drawing +a small silver-mounted dagger from out her hair, she +handed it to Blanch who took it wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"It is often safer," she added, "for a man to go +unarmed in this land than for a woman. But as I said, +I shall henceforth be to you what I am—an Indian.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +It is what a woman of my people would do were she to +meet you in my country under similar circumstances; +what I would have done had I met you before I came +here. The knife signifies that, with it goes the sharp +edge of my tongue—that I shall take no unfair advantage +of you."</p> + +<p>Blanch toyed musingly with the pretty two-edged +knife, admiring its richly carved silver handle. Surely +she was right after all. Chiquita was a true child of +the South whose passions subsided as quickly as they +burst into flame. And as for the knife, it would make +an excellent paper-cutter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, this is too absurd!" she exclaimed. And +no longer able to control herself, she burst into a peal +of laughter in which was easily detected the scorn, good +humor and pity she felt for her would-be rival.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Chiquita was as much puzzled by Blanch's +behavior as the latter was by hers, for all the while +Blanch laughed, she also regarded her with an expression +of mingled curiosity and amusement.</p> + +<p>"Señorita," said Blanch at length, heaving a sigh, +"who are you?"</p> + +<p>The latter did not reply immediately. Her face took +on an earnest expression and for some moments she +stood silent, gazing straight out before her as though +oblivious to her surroundings. Then, suddenly recollecting +herself, she said:</p> + +<p>"I am a Tewana, and am called the Chiquita. My +father was the Whirlwind, the War Chief of my people."</p> + +<p>"The Whirlwind?" echoed Blanch. "What an appropriate +name for a savage!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, but you should have seen him! He was the +tallest man of the tribe."</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Blanch musingly, "I fancy you +must be something like him, Señorita."</p> + +<p>"In spirit perhaps, but only a little," she answered. +"I often wish that I were more like him, for although +he was a child in many things, he was a man nevertheless—civilization +had not spoilt him."</p> + +<p>Again that dreamy, far-away look came into her eyes +and again she seemed to forget for the moment the presence +of the two girls as her thoughts reverted to the +past.</p> + +<p>"Señorita," she said at last, "when one like me +stands on the threshold midway between savagery and +civilization and compares the crudities and at times barbarities +of the one with the luxuries and vices of the +other, he often asks himself which is preferable, civilization +and its few virtues, or the simple life of the savage. +Which, I ask, is the greater—the man who tells the +time by the sun and the stars or he who gauges it with +the watch? I have listened to your music and gazed +upon your art and read your books, but what harmonies +compare to nature's—what book contains her truths +and hidden mysteries? When I came here I was taught +to revere your civilization and I did for a time until the +disillusionment came, when I was introduced to the great +world of men and discovered how shallow and inadequate +it was. Your mechanical devices are wonderful, but +as regards your philosophies, the least said of them the +better. Spiritually, you stand just where you began +centuries ago, and I found that I should be obliged to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +deny the existence of God if I continued to revere your +institutions.</p> + +<p>"Believe me, Señorita, for I speak as one who knows +both worlds intimately, nature's and man's, that the +great symphony of nature, the throb of our Mother +Earth, the song of the forest, the voices of the winds +and the waters, the mountains and plains, and the glory +of the stars and the daily life of man in the fields, are +grander by far, and more satisfying and enduring than +all the foolish fancies and artificial harmonies ever created +by civilized man."</p> + +<p>Her words struck home. For the first time Blanch +became thoroughly alive to the danger of the situation. +This passionate child of the South had changed suddenly +to a mature woman, and a chill seized Blanch's +heart as she began to realize her depth and power. +Again she was all at sea, and in a vain effort to say +something, she stammered:</p> + +<p>"Señorita, you are certainly the strangest person I +ever met!"</p> + +<p>"Not strange, only different," laughed Chiquita, +throwing back her head and meeting Blanch's full gaze. +"Señorita," she continued, "you are beautiful—more +beautiful than any woman I have ever beheld. My heart +stands still with fear and admiration when I look at you, +for men are often foolish enough to love the beautiful +women best. I fear this is going to be a bitter struggle, +but let us bear one another no malice in order that we +may both know that she who triumphs is the better +woman." Frank though her words were, they caused<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +Blanch to wince, while a flood of passion which she could +ill conceal dyed her cheeks a deep crimson.</p> + +<p>"Life's usually as tragic as it is comic," laughed Chiquita +lightly, slowly moving in the direction of the highroad. +"It's strange, isn't it," she exclaimed, pausing +and looking back, "that a queen and a beggar should +dispute the affections of the same man? Such things +occur in the fairy-tales one reads in the books in the old +Mission, but seldom in real life," and she was gone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Considering</span> an all-night ride over a rough road +in a lumbering old Spanish stagecoach, and the +thrilling, harrowing events that succeeded their arrival +at the <i>Posada</i>, it is little wonder that Mrs. Forest took to +her bed early in the day on the verge of a nervous collapse, +or that Colonel Van Ashton, contrary to his habit, +retired early in the evening firmly convinced that his +nephew was suffering from an acute attack of lunacy +which took the form of a mania for everything that was +wild and bizarre; everything in fact that was contrary +to the Colonel's views of life.</p> + +<p>How unfortunate that his nephew had not shown +signs of madness earlier! It would have been so easy +with the assistance of the family physician and lawyer +to have confined him in a private sanitarium. And the +Colonel fondly pictured his nephew wandering distractedly +through a long suite of padded cells—but, alas! +the bird had flown. Such things were always expedited +with such felicitous despatch in those parts of the earth +inhabited by civilized men, but here where everybody +was equally mad, where chaos reigned, and nobody +either recognized or respected beings of a superior order, +what could be done to check the headlong career of his +nephew who with twenty millions was rushing straight +to destruction?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>No wonder God had long since abandoned this land +to his majesty, the devil who, as in the days of Scripture, +roamed and roared at will. No one having passed +twenty-four hours in the country could possibly doubt +that his cup of joy was running over. Where his +nephew had concealed his fortune was also a source of +mystery to him. He certainly had displayed the diabolical +cunning that is characteristic of the mentally deranged. +Possibly he had concealed it in Mexico, but +to combat the institutions of that land was like attempting +to stem the tides.</p> + +<p>The thought of those twenty millions tortured the +Colonel's mind almost beyond endurance, and he groaned +aloud as his imagination pictured them rolling in a +bright, glittering stream of gold and silver coins into +the gutter for the swine that waited to devour them.</p> + +<p>Such were the Colonel's reflections as he sat on the +edge of his bed in his shirt sleeves and wearily removed +his tight fitting, dust-begrimed, patent-leather shoes with +the assistance of his valet.</p> + +<p>How his feet and back ached! He wanted sympathy, +but got none, the others being too much occupied +with their own woes to think of his comfort. On the +walls of the room were hung numerous cheap biblical +prints—the very things he abominated most. Among +them, just over the foot of the bed, on the very spot +where first his gaze would alight on opening his eyes in +the morning, hung a small colored print of the Madonna. +No wonder the people of this land spent so much time +crossing themselves and calling upon her for protection—they +certainly had cause to. The room, in his opin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>ion, +was a veritable rat-hole; the place little better than +what one might expect to find in a suburb of hell.</p> + +<p>The exertions of the last two days had been more than +mortal could endure. Never had he felt so completely +fagged, and it was with no little concern that he contemplated +the reflection of his face in the small oval +mirror which hung on the rough gray plaster wall opposite, +just over the small, cheap, brown-stained wooden +bureau. The sight of his countenance, as is the case +with most of us who have not yet entered the limbo of +senile decrepitude and still dare look ourselves in the +face, was always a source of extreme satisfaction to him. +He held it in the highest esteem as though it were the +head of some beautiful antique Apollo, and in his, the +Colonel's estimation, was the handsomest face on earth.</p> + +<p>Indeed it was a handsome face, and like many others +both in and outside of his particular set, he devoted +hours to its preservation.</p> + +<p>What was John, his valet, for? To press his clothes +and run errands? Not at all. He was there to massage +that precious face and drive away all harassing signs +of care and age by means of a liberal use of cold cream +and enamel. In the present instance, barring a sun-scorched +nose, his delicately rouged cheeks like his exquisitely +manicured finger tips blushed with rose of +vermilion like those of the daughters of Judea of old, contrasting +favorably with his dark eyes, wavy white hair, +and mustache and eyebrows dyed a jet black. His +regular features, long slender white hands, and tall erect +figure betokened the born aristocrat of the spoiled, luxurious +type.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>In spite of his determination not to sleep a wink, this +overindulged child and arch hypocrite, fell asleep almost +the instant his tired head touched the pillow, and would +have slept to a comparatively late hour had it not been +for the ceaseless crowing of a cock in the barnyard, +awakening him at daybreak.</p> + +<p>What a land, where people were not even permitted to +sleep! Vague apprehensions for the future went flitting +through his mind, and, as he lay in bed moodily +contemplating through the window the first sunrise he +had witnessed in years, he cursed fate and his nephew, +and secretly vowed that he would wring that infernal +bird's neck at the first opportunity.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forest's mental attitude resembled that of her +brother's, but with Blanch and Bessie it was different. +The strangeness and novelty of the situation so different +from anything they had hitherto experienced, began +to interest them in spite of their previous determination +to be bored. That evening they had visited the +plaza with the Captain and Dick Yankton and had +witnessed the dances beneath the great <i>alamos</i> or poplar +trees that surrounded the square, braving the risk of +contamination which Mrs. Forest had vainly protested +would be sure to ensue should they mingle with the +populace—the Mexican-Indian rabble of which it was +composed—a distinction which only she and the Colonel +seemed able to divine, for had it been a garlic-tainted +Egyptian or Neapolitan mob, little objection would have +been raised to their going. The sights amused and interested +them, and after an hour's mild dissipation, they +returned to the <i>Posada</i> in time to meet a few of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +Señora's guests in the garden, among whom was Padre +Antonio. The quaint, inborn courtesy of the well-bred +Spaniard was a revelation to them; something they +imagined did not exist outside of Spain.</p> + +<p>The charm of the Padre's simple manner and ways +proved no less irresistible to them than to the rest of +the world, and they marveled that he spoke English +so well. His intimate knowledge of the people and +the customs of the country threw a new light on them, +reconciling the girls to many things that had seemed +incomprehensible.</p> + +<p>The Señora, out of consideration for the ladies, by +whose presence she was greatly honored, had relinquished +her rooms to them; the best and most comfortably +furnished which the <i>Posada</i> afforded.</p> + +<p>It was a late hour before the girls retired for the +night. There was so much to talk over, and when +they did finally lay themselves down to rest, it was +with the conviction that Captain Forest was not quite +so mad as they had supposed. He was at least a +harmless lunatic and in no danger of running amuck.</p> + +<p>As for Bessie, the gentle hand of sleep soon closed +her eyes, and she slept the sleep of a tired child. With +Blanch it was otherwise.</p> + +<p>How could she sleep with the face of Chiquita constantly +before her and the pangs of jealousy gnawing at +her heart? How stupid to have imagined her to be +one of those bovine women with large liquid eyes who, +figuratively speaking, pass the major portion of their +lives standing knee-deep in a pond, gazing stolidly out +upon the world; a fat brown wench upon whose hip a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +man might confidently expect to hang his hat by the +time she has attained the age of forty.</p> + +<p>Nothing could have been farther from the mark. She +might have known that Jack could not have been caught +with so thin a bait. All night long she tossed on her +pillow, or silently rose to gaze at the stars from the +window.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if she only were not so beautiful!" she moaned +as the first pale streaks of light in the east told her that +day had finally dawned, and she crept stealthily back to +bed again. Of course Jack, the wretch, was sleeping +peacefully—that was the irony of fate! What did +he know of suffering? But he would pay for this!</p> + +<p>Their rooms overlooked the <i>patio</i>, and from behind +an angle of a screen she could look straight across it +into the garden beyond as she lay in bed. The bright +shafts of the morning sun sifted down through the +branches of the trees and lay in patches of gold on the +grass and flowers beneath and flooded the <i>patio</i> with +light. Above the tops of the trees and one corner of +the low roof, the clear, pale blue skyline was just visible. +Butterflies and humming-birds darted in and out among +the fragrant white clematis and honeysuckle and passion +vines that hung from the arcades surrounding +the court, or hovered over the fountain and basin of +gold fish in its center, edged with grasses and ferns. +The notes of the golden oriole and cooing of pigeons +and wood-doves mingling with the silvery jingle of an +occasional <i>vaquero's</i> spurs, came from the garden beyond.</p> + +<p>How peaceful it was! After all, why was the place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +so unusual, so different from the rest of the world? +But forget where one was, and the scene might have +been one in Algiers or Egypt, or in a town in Spain or +Northern Italy. And why, she asked herself, as her +thoughts reverted to Chiquita, was this Indian woman +so very different from themselves?</p> + +<p>Dress her as they were dressed, and place her in the +proper surroundings, and she would easily pass for a +Gypsy or a Spaniard. Was there any reason to believe +that the queens of Sheba and Semiramis with +their tawny skins were any less fair than she, Blanch +Lennox, with her rosy, soft white complexion? Or +Chiquita a shade darker than Cleopatra, the witch +of the Nile, whose beauty caused the downfall of Antony +and with it the waning power and splendor of +ancient Egypt?</p> + +<p>Was her lineage superior to Chiquita's, the descendant +of a long line of rulers whose ancestry stretched +back into the dim, remote past as ancient as the hills, +the record of whose lives and deeds stood inscribed +on the ruined temples and palaces scattered throughout +the land where they once dwelt at a time when +her European ancestors roamed the wilderness half +naked and clad in the skins of wild beasts?</p> + +<p>White men of eminence had married Indians and +their descendants were proud of their lineage. True, +Chiquita was an exception just as she towered above +most women of her race. And who were they, that +they should criticize—vaunt their superiority in the +face of the universal scheme of things? Were they +really any better? The same passions, longings and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +aspirations that swayed them, swayed the Red man as +well.</p> + +<p>Their daily lives were different—their aspirations +were directed in different channels, that was all. What +was true civilization and culture, any way? Who had +ever succeeded in defining them? The so-called civilized +world might prattle of culture. Its ideas compared +with those of mankind as a whole were purely +relative and of a local origin and color, and could not +be gauged by a uniform standard of ethics. What +pleases the one fails to attract the other. The man in +power who talks of culture may be taken seriously by +those of his own race who stand by and applaud his +words, but remove him from his home surroundings and +place him on a footing of equality with those of a different +race and environment and his arguments fail to +convince.</p> + +<p>Did the harangues of Louis the Sixteenth's tormentors +convince him of the ethical standards of universal +justice, or John Brown's sacrifice the representatives +of a slave-holding population?</p> + +<p>Which is the most convincing—the example set by +the early Spartans, or that of the man who surrounds +himself with every luxury and convenience of modern +life; the man who reads books and lives in a house +and travels by train and automobile, or he who dwells +in a tent, who is ignorant of letters, and prefers the +slower locomotion of horse and foot? Who is the arbiter +of fashion? The sun shines alike on the just and +the unjust, the great world still continues to laugh +and goes on its way in spite of men's philosophies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +but tear up the map, as the French say, and where +are our standards and codes?</p> + +<p>Prove it if you can, that the wild flower in the meadow +is less beautiful than the one reared beneath the hand +of the gardener. Argue and theorize as we will, our +sophistries count for little when we are brought face +to face with the realities of life. The law of compensation +and certainty of facts still hold the balance +when the bed-rock of human existence is reached. One +might as well expect the mountains to slip into the +sea, or the stars to pause in their courses to hearken +to the voice of a modern Joshua as a man in love +with a vision of beauty, to listen to ethics.</p> + +<p>It was quite evident that somebody had lied. In +fact, all men of her race had been lying from the beginning +of time, for what, after all, did civilization +amount to if it were not convincing? Did it ever soothe +a wounded heart, stifle the pangs of jealousy, or was +it ample compensation for the loss of the great prize +of life—happiness?</p> + +<p>Civilization and blindness were fast becoming synonymous +terms, and there were even moments when one +almost fancied one heard the laughter of the gods. Let +the dull brute civilized herd sweep by, all its moralizing +and sophistries could not arouse so much as a single +heart-beat where sentiment was concerned.</p> + +<p>The truth of these convictions surged in upon her +with overwhelming force. Had Jack also noted them, +she asked herself.</p> + +<p>Possibly, but not, perhaps, with the keener intuition +of the woman. She breathed hard. Hot tears of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +rage, jealousy and disappointment surged to her eyes. +She could endure it no longer—she felt as though she +would stifle. Suddenly she sat bolt upright in bed and +then sprang to the floor, noticing for the first time the +pretty little Mexican girl, Rosita, who at Bessie's summons, +had entered and deposited a tray containing +oranges, chocolate and <i>tortillas</i> on the table in the +center of the room.</p> + +<p>The dark circles beneath Blanch's eyes and her +general appearance of a disheveled Eve told Bessie +how little she had slept.</p> + +<p>"I knew you were thinking of her," she said, throwing +herself back in the pillows and stretching her arms. +Her eyelids drooped for a moment over her great violet +eyes and she laughed lightly with the contentment of +one whose heart is free.</p> + +<p>"Of course I am," returned Blanch, coloring and +biting her lip. "What else should I be thinking of?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know, I rather like her," continued Bessie, +raising on one elbow and stretching herself again with +the delicious satisfaction of one who has slept soundly +and well.</p> + +<p>"And I hate her!" cried Blanch. And seizing +Chiquita's dagger which lay on the table beside the +tray, she plunged it viciously into an orange.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Things</span> began to assume a more favorable aspect. +Even Mrs. Forest had plucked up enough courage +to venture beyond the confines of the <i>Posada's</i> garden.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon as she with Blanch and Bessie +descended the veranda steps, preparatory to a stroll +through the town, a horseman, dressed in the height +of Mexican fashion, shot suddenly round the curve +in the road at full gallop and drew rein before them, +tossing the dust raised by his animal's hoofs into their +faces.</p> + +<p>Dust and a horse's nose thrust suddenly into Mrs. +Forest's face could hardly improve a temper already +strained to the breaking point.</p> + +<p>"Are people beasts—mere cattle of the fields to +be trampled upon by a horse?" she gasped, as soon +as she had recovered sufficiently from her surprise.</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons—I did not see you!" replied +the horseman, his English colored with a slight accent.</p> + +<p>"What are people's eyes for?" returned Mrs. Forest, +making no attempt to conceal her irritation.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Forest, I see you do not recognize me," answered +the horseman, smiling and raising his broad-brimmed +<i>sombrero</i> which partially concealed his features.</p> + +<p>"Don Felipe Ramirez!" cried Blanch and Bessie in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +the same breath. "How," exclaimed Blanch, "could +you expect us to recognize you in that costume? Why +are you masquerading in such a disguise?" Don +Felipe laughed as he swung himself lightly from the +saddle.</p> + +<p>"It's the costume of our people," he answered, shaking +them cordially by the hand. "It's the one they +prefer, without which one cannot always command +their respect. They detest modern innovations and +cling to the customs of their ancestors. It's a bit of +old Mexico, that's all. But what brings you here?" +he asked, changing the topic of conversation. "Did +you drop from the clouds? I would as soon have +thought of finding oranges growing on the cactus as +seeing you here."</p> + +<p>"Only a pleasure trip combined with a little exploration +on our own account," answered Blanch indifferently. +"We hope," she continued, "to emulate the +example of the old Spanish <i>Conquistadores</i>—some of +your ancestors perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"Then may your wanderings lead you southward. +My <i>hacienda</i> lies but twenty miles from here, and from +this moment, it is placed at your disposition. Not in +the polite terms of the proverbial Spanish etiquette +which presents the visitor with everything and yet nothing +at all, but actually. Indeed, I shall expect to +see you there soon. The life will interest you, I +know."</p> + +<p>"We certainly shall avail ourselves of the rare +privilege, Don Felipe," said Bessie. "Do you intend +stopping here?" she asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<p>"For a few days, yes. A room is always waiting +for me here."</p> + +<p>"How delightful!" exclaimed Blanch. "We shall +expect to see a great deal of you. In the meantime, +we shall visit the town and shall see you this evening. +Until then, <i>á Dios</i>, as you Spaniards say. You observe, +we are making rapid progress in the language," she +added, smiling and glancing back at him over her +shoulder as they moved away in the direction of the +highroad.</p> + +<p>"What a strange costume for a man like Don Felipe +to wear! It's as gay and extravagant as a woman's!" +said Bessie as soon as they were out of hearing.</p> + +<p>"It's becoming though," answered Blanch. "This +is truly the land of surprises. I wonder what will +happen next?"</p> + +<p>"What can have brought them here, to this out-of-the-way +place?" mused Don Felipe, throwing one arm +lightly over the neck of his horse as he leaned gently +against the animal.</p> + +<p>Don Felipe Ramirez was young and handsome—the +handsomest and wealthiest man in all Chihuahua. +One who measured his lands not by acres, but by hundreds +of square miles, over which roamed vast herds of +horses, cattle and sheep, and of which Chiquita might +have been mistress had she so chosen. Within this vast +domain were situated numerous villages of Mexican and +Indian populations, subject in a measure to his command. +His word, where it did not conflict with the central +Government, was law; but Don Felipe, selfish and +unprincipled though he was by nature, was too easy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +going ever to think of making unscrupulous use of +such power. So long as things went smoothly, he was +the last man to exercise his almost unlimited authority +for the mere pleasure of dominating others as many men +might were they placed in his position.</p> + +<p>His leniency in governing, his lavish manner of living, +and a way he had of fraternizing with his people +on occasions—the latter prompted not from motives of +generosity, but purely from those of vanity and a love +of popularity—made him fairly popular among his subjects. +It was when Don Felipe wanted something in +particular that he became dangerous, especially if that +something lay within his jurisdiction. Then indeed, +was he one to be feared.</p> + +<p>His appearance was striking; a swarthy complexion, +thick, shiny, black curly hair and mustache, lustrous +black eyes and delicate features, and a lithe sinewy +body, every movement of which was cat-like and expressive +of treachery.</p> + +<p>His high-crowned, broad-brimmed <i>sombrero</i> of gray +felt was richly embroidered with gold and silver. A +slender, pale yellow satin tie adorned his soft white, +heavily frilled shirt front. His soft gray jacket and +leggins of goat skin, also ornamented with gold and +silver buttons and embroidery, were slashed at the +sleeves below the elbow and knee and interlaced with +filmy gold cords from beneath which shone a pale yellow +satin facing embroidered with tiny red flowers. A gay +scarlet silken <i>banda</i> from beneath which peeped the +silver hilt of a knife, encircled his slender waist, while +his feet were encased in russet tanned boots adorned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +with spurs inlaid with gold and silver and which tinkled +like fairy bells with every step he took. The trappings +of his horse were also heavily inlaid with silver. Theatrical +though his costume was, it became him well and +harmonized perfectly with his surroundings, completing +the picture of a Spanish Don, the representative of +a past era. A costume that was only to be seen in +the remoter parts of the country—one which was becoming +rarer each day.</p> + +<p>Four years had elapsed since he had last looked +upon the familiar scenes about him. Nothing appeared +to have changed during that time as his gaze wandered +from the old <i>Posada</i> to the garden beyond. He sighed, +and a momentary expression of pain and weariness +passed across his countenance as he silently surveyed +the scene which recalled memories whose bitterness was +enough to overwhelm a man of maturer character and +years.</p> + +<p>In the Indian <i>pueblo</i>, La Jara, had lived the beautiful +<i>mestiza</i> girl, Pepita Delaguerra, with whom he +had fallen in love in early youth.</p> + +<p>The gentle, confiding nature of Pepita was ill suited +to that of the passionate, impulsive Felipe, and proved +her undoing. For, when old Don Juan, Felipe's father, +heard of his son's infatuation, he immediately packed +him off to the City of Mexico with the injunction not +to return under a year. An obscure half-caste for a +daughter-in-law! Holy Maria! the thought was enough +to cause his hair to stand on end. No, the old Don +had other plans for his son. Maria Dolores, Felipe's +cousin, was the woman he had picked out for his wife,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +and marry her he should if he wished to inherit his +father's vast estates. In case he disregarded the latter's +wish and married Pepita, the estates were to go to the +Church, so it was stipulated in Don Juan's will. But +neither the Church nor old Don Juan, as it afterwards +proved, were a match for the clever Felipe. The handsome +scapegrace had already secretly married Pepita.</p> + +<p>The strangest of all things is perhaps the irony of +fate. Before the year was up during which Felipe +was charged to remain in the City of Mexico, both his +father, Don Juan, and the priest who had performed +the marriage ceremony for Felipe and Pepita, died. +During his absence from home, the observant and quick-witted +Felipe had learned not only many new things, +but had made the acquaintance of other women as well. +At its best, the love of the passionate, hot-blooded +Felipe and the gentle Pepita could have endured only +for a time. The attractions and fascinations of the +Capitol opened his eyes to many things which he had +hitherto overlooked, especially, that there are many +beautiful women in the world, and always one who is +just a little more beautiful than the others if one took +the trouble to look for her. And so it happened that +he forgot not only his honor, but his obligations to +Pepita, and destroying the record of their marriage +which he managed to secure with the assistance of a +confederate, he turned a deaf ear to her pleadings and +went his way.</p> + +<p>What had he, Don Felipe Ramirez, who lived and +ruled like a prince on his vast estates, to fear from a +pretty little half-caste Indian girl?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Don Felipe was young and still had much to +learn in the world. The avenging angel that inevitably +awaits us all at some turn or other in the lane, +stood nearer to him than he realized, and the vengeance +which followed was swift and complete.</p> + +<p>Pepita took poison and died, but she died not alone—she +died in the arms of Chiquita who had but recently +returned from the convent.</p> + +<p>The latter frequently accompanied Padre Antonio +on his charitable missions and thus it chanced that she +made Pepita's acquaintance and learned her story. +Time passed and all went well with Felipe until the day +he chanced to meet Chiquita.</p> + +<p>We may deaden our souls to the voice of conscience, +disavow a belief in destiny and shut our eyes to those +forces of the Invisible which, in spite of ourselves, we +know to exist, but how is it, that no man ever succeeds +in escaping his fate?</p> + +<p>When Don Felipe Ramirez looked for the first time +into the two dark lustrous worlds of Chiquita's eyes, he +beheld the height and depth of his existence. From +that moment he fell at her feet and worshiped her with +a passion that consumed and mastered him. Waking +and dreaming she was ever in his thoughts—he could +not live without her. But not until he was mad, +ravished with desire, did she consent to become his +wife. A smile, or a gentle pressure of the hand were +the only caresses she deigned to bestow upon him; not +until they were married would he be permitted to embrace +and kiss her, give rein to his passion. A strange +attitude for one of her nature to assume, and, as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +looked back upon it, he wondered how he had endured +it—that he had not suspected something.</p> + +<p>At length the day set for the wedding arrived, and +Chiquita with Señora Fernandez drove in state to the +old Mission church where Padre Antonio awaited them +to perform the marriage ceremony.</p> + +<p>Don Felipe, in a state of exultation that lifted his +soul to the clouds, stood waiting for her on the steps +of the church as had been agreed between them; but +as the two advanced, Chiquita suddenly paused before +the door, and turning, tore the bridal-veil and wreath +of orange blossoms from her brow and flung them into +his face, crying: "Pepita Delaguerra is avenged!" +Then turning, she deliberately descended the church +steps and reëntering her carriage, drove home, leaving +Don Felipe dazed and speechless before the crowd of +spectators that had gathered to witness the passing of +the bride and groom.</p> + +<p>Later she confessed the reason for her motives to +Padre Antonio, but one circumstance she withheld even +from him, the nature of which Don Felipe did not suspect, +but which he would have given worlds to know.</p> + +<p>Chiquita's conduct became the scandal of the country +for miles around, and as is invariably the case, +the majority of the women sided with Felipe. In more +refined circles of society, her act would have been considered +highly reprehensible and Felipe overwhelmed +with sympathy. His base ingratitude would have been +lightly censured in the familiar, sugared terms of the +most approved fashion. He would have been forgiven, +and petted, and even lauded as a martyr—and then, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +world would have forgotten. With the Indian woman, +however, it was different.</p> + +<p>On the altars of her people was still written, "blood +for blood," the same as in the ancient days.</p> + +<p>Crushed, humiliated, his pride humbled to the dust, +Don Felipe left the country and for four years sought +to forget his shame and the taunts of his enemies in +the distractions of the world. He traveled everywhere, +was presented at the different Courts of Europe, and +it was in Washington where his uncle was the Mexican +Minister to the United States, that he met Blanch and +Mrs. Forest and her niece. In vain did he try to forget. +In vain did he search for another woman to supplant +his love for Chiquita. He plunged into the wildest +dissipation, but to no effect. The beautiful face +of the dark woman followed him everywhere, stood +between him and the world, lured him, fascinated him +still as nothing else could, tortured him day and night +and he knew no rest.</p> + +<p>A thousand times he resolved to return and kill her, +and a thousand times he relented, for he loved her as +madly as ever and could not carry out his resolve. A +prey to alternate fits of remorse and hatred, and tortured +constantly by the knowledge of an unrequited +love, the soul of Don Felipe Ramirez suffered the torments +of the damned. His unconquerable love for +Chiquita devoured him, gnawed constantly at his +heart, and he cursed her—cursed her as only one of +his temperament who had suffered as he suffered, could +curse.</p> + +<p>What could he do? Anguish succeeded anguish until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +he was at length drawn back again as irresistibly as +the magnet is drawn to the north, to the woman he +both loved and hated. He would throw himself at her +feet. He, the proud, arrogant Don Felipe of former +years, and bowed in the dust, implore forgiveness. +Nothing was too hard. Any sacrifice she might demand +of him, he would make. Surely, when she saw his +remorse, his contrite humbled spirit, understood his suffering +and realized that he could not forget her, could +not live without her, that he loved her still through +all the years of suffering, that his life was irrevocably +linked to hers, she would relent, forgive him—become +his wife.</p> + +<p>His wife! The thought electrified, elated his being +to an extent that it was lifted for the moment from out +the black depths of his despondency. If not, well +then, there would be time for the fulfillment of that +which must inevitably follow—either his death or hers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"Holy Mother!</span> but I am glad to see you +again, Don Felipe Ramirez! What blessed +chance has brought you back to us again?" Don +Felipe started like one in a dream, and turning in the +direction whence came the sound of the voice, he beheld +Señora Fernandez standing on the veranda regarding +him intently.</p> + +<p>"Doña Fernandez!" he exclaimed with genuine +pleasure, advancing to meet her, and extending his +hand which she eagerly seized and held between both +her own.</p> + +<p>"<i>Muchacho—muchacho!</i>" she cried, clapping her +hands as she released her hold on Don Felipe's. "Carlos, +the <i>Caballero's</i> horse!" she continued, addressing +the <i>vaquero</i> that appeared in the doorway of the Inn +at her summons and who advancing, took possession +of Don Felipe's horse and led him away to the stables.</p> + +<p>"Let me look at you, Don Felipe," she continued, +regarding him closely. "Why, you have not changed +a hair! It might have been but yesterday that you left +us."</p> + +<p>"And you, Doña Fernandez are still the charming, +handsome mistress of the <i>Posada de las Estrellas</i> to +whom all men are irresistibly drawn."</p> + +<p>"Flatterer!" retorted Señora, laughing gayly and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +blushing like a girl of sixteen. How sweet it was to +hear such words from a handsome <i>Caballero</i> like Don +Felipe! It reminded her of the old days when all men +thought her beautiful and went out of their way to tell +her so.</p> + +<p>"It was unkind of you to remain away so long, Don +Felipe. Your friends have missed you sadly and have +prayed for the day of your return."</p> + +<p>"Friends?" echoed Felipe with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"Aye, friends. You will find that you have more +friends now than when you left us."</p> + +<p>"I can scarcely believe it. And yet," he added, +"I wish it might be so."</p> + +<p>"You shall learn shortly for yourself," returned +Señora.</p> + +<p>"How long," interrupted Felipe, eager to change +the drift of the conversation, "have the American ladies +been here?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you have seen them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they were just going out for a walk when I +arrived. It was a pleasant surprise to see them here. +They are friends of mine."</p> + +<p>"You know them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I met them a year ago in Washington."</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> to think of it!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"But what are they doing here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is just what I would like to know myself," +replied Señora. "<i>Caramba!</i> but they are grand +ladies! They say," she went on, "that they are traveling +for pleasure, but what pleasure can such delicate, +refined ladies possibly find in the desert, I should like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +to know? Judging from their talk and actions they +can not have seen very much of the world. <i>Dios!</i> you +should have witnessed the scene they created the day +they arrived. And yet," she continued, "I like them +and am glad they are here. They have brought new +life into the place. God knows it is no longer what +it used to be in the old days when Don Carlos, my +husband, was alive," she added with a sigh.</p> + +<p>Don Felipe smiled at the Señora's provincialism. +What a great world lay outside that of her own, of +which she was entirely ignorant.</p> + +<p>A trip to the City of Mexico during her honeymoon +was the only journey she had ever taken beyond the +confines of Chihuahua.</p> + +<p>"And then there is Mrs. Forest's brother, Col-on-el +Van Ash-ton," she continued, pronouncing the latter's +name slowly and with difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Holy Maria! but he has caused us trouble! Nothing +seems to suit him."</p> + +<p>"Colonel Van Ashton?" repeated Felipe. "Ah, yes, +I remember him."</p> + +<p>"But that is not all," interrupted Señora. "There +is also Captain Forest, Mrs. Forest's son. He came +here before the others and seemed very much surprised +and put out by their unexpected appearance."</p> + +<p>"Captain Forest?" repeated Don Felipe slowly, as +if trying to recall a chance meeting. "I have never +met him. What is he like?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, he's a grand Señor," answered Señora with +enthusiasm. "A <i>Caballero</i> every inch, and rides a +horse that's the devil himself. Why, only yesterday<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +the brute kicked out the side of the corral, and after +chasing the men off the place who had been teasing him, +calmly walked into the garden and rolled in my choicest +flower-bed."</p> + +<p>"He must be a thoroughbred at any rate," laughed +Felipe.</p> + +<p>"Thoroughbred? He's the devil, I say! Captain +Forest and his man, José, are the only ones that dare +go near him." Don Felipe drew a gold cigarette-case +thickly studded with diamonds and rubies from the inner +pocket of his jacket, and lighted a cigarette.</p> + +<p>"As I was saying," Señora went on, "Captain Forest +is a fine gentleman. He's a great friend of Señor Yankton, +and—" she stopped abruptly.</p> + +<p>"And what?" asked Felipe suspiciously, closely +scanning her face as he tossed away the burnt end +of the match.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing," answered Señora evasively. "Only +much has transpired during your absence, Don Felipe." +She hesitated as though uncertain how to proceed, then +said: "I might speak of certain things, but perhaps +I had better not. They would not interest you, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said at length, endeavoring to conceal +the emotion her words aroused. "I—I think I understand. +You—you refer to her, I suppose?" There +was a slight tremor in his voice and his hand trembled +as he raised his cigarette to his lips for a fresh puff.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered quietly. "I—I was about to +say that she appears to be interested in this Captain +Forest. But of course, that's nothing to you," she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +added hastily, watching him narrowly the while. Her +words acted like fire to tinder.</p> + +<p>"Interested in him?" he cried, starting violently and +letting his cigarette fall to the ground. His face grew +ashen pale and his right hand involuntarily went to +the knife in his sash. "No, no, it cannot be!" he +muttered excitedly. "Are you sure of what you say, +Doña Fernandez? Tell me that it is not true—that +it is a lie!" he almost hissed, his eyes glowing with +the fires of passion and jealousy.</p> + +<p>"Why, what has come over you, Don Felipe +Ramirez?" cried Señora in alarm. "Surely you cannot—she +can be nothing to you any more?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing to me? Why do you suppose I am here?" +he answered.</p> + +<p>"<i>Madre de Dios!</i>" muttered Señora.</p> + +<p>"Doña Fernandez," he began after a pause, his voice +trembling in spite of himself, "God knows I have tried +to forget her, but I—I cannot!" and his voice +broke.</p> + +<p>"What?" cried Señora excitedly. "You don't +really mean to say that you still—love her?"</p> + +<p>"I do," answered Felipe fiercely, driving his heel +furiously into the ground. For some moments neither +spoke. Then a flush of anger mounted to Señora's brow +and she cried:</p> + +<p>"Fie! Don Felipe! Have you forgotten your self-respect? +The handsomest, richest man in all Chihuahua +running after an Indian—the woman who treated you +so shamefully—an ingrate who is unworthy of a love +like yours? If I could have had my way, she would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +have been whipped publicly! What would Don Juan, +your father, peace be to his soul, say if he were alive? +Love her!" she cried in a frenzy of hatred and +jealousy. "How can you possibly love her, Don Felipe +Ramirez?"</p> + +<p>"How can I love her?" retorted Felipe fiercely. +"Why does the grass grow? Why do the birds sing? +Why do the streams run to the ocean? Why do the +flowers turn to the sun? Tell me that, Doña Fernandez," +he cried in agony and bitterness, "and I will +tell you why I love her in spite of myself, in spite of +what she did, in spite of every effort I have made to +resist her fascination! God!" and he struck his breast +with his clenched hand, "I wonder I did not kill her +then and there, but I could not, I could not; I loved +her so!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios</i>, but this is strange!" gasped Señora, raising +both hands for an instant and then crossing herself +devoutly as if to avert the power of some evil—the +spell which seemed to cling to Don Felipe and bind him +as with hoops of steel. She did not realize that Chiquita +belonged to that rare type of beings who seem +immortal; that it was impossible to imagine her other +than young, that the years could work no change within +her, and although Felipe had not yet seen her, his soul +must flame up at the sight of her as of yore.</p> + +<p>Felipe was silent, his eyes cast on the ground. His +face wore a malignant expression of pain and hatred, +and he trembled in every limb.</p> + +<p>The revelation of his anguish startled her. She +stepped close up to him and laying her hand gently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +on his shoulder, said in a voice full of compassion, almost +of pity: "I understand, Don Felipe! You still +see her as she was when you last knew her—it is but +natural. Of course you could not know, but she has +changed since then. In the opinion of every one, she +has fallen, degraded herself."</p> + +<p>"Degraded herself? What do you mean?" asked +Felipe, turning his searching gaze upon her.</p> + +<p>"Only a fortnight ago," answered Señora, "on the +great day of the <i>Fiesta</i>, she danced publicly in Carlos +Moreno's theater."</p> + +<p>"Chiquita danced in Carlos Moreno's hall? Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Don Felipe," replied Señora with just the suggestion +of a smile, "all things are possible with a woman."</p> + +<p>"But why did she dance?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know; neither does any one else. They say +she received three thousand <i>pesos</i> in gold."</p> + +<p>"Three thousand <i>pesos</i>?" echoed Felipe. "What +did she do with them?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's the mystery! What did she do with +them?" answered Señora.</p> + +<p>"It was not so much her dancing that scandalized +the community, for we all know what a wonderful dancer +she is. Nobody ever danced as she does, and we are +willing to give her credit for it, but what did she do +with the money? That's the scandal of it! I have +noticed no change in her dress," she continued, "nor +is it known that she has spent a single <i>peso</i> as yet."</p> + +<p>"Strange," he murmured. "I cannot understand +it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No more can I nor any one else," answered Señora. +"But I have been forgetting my duty; I must prepare +a room for you, Don Felipe. In the meantime," she +added, ascending the veranda and pausing for an instant, +"be assured of the hearty welcome of your friends +when they learn of your return."</p> + +<p>"Chiquita danced in public? I can't understand +it!" he said aloud after Señora Fernandez had disappeared +in the house. "And she interested in this +Captain Forest?" His face grew livid and then black +with hatred as a fresh wave of rage and jealousy swept +over him.</p> + +<p>"No, no; it cannot be!" he gasped, his left hand +resting over his heart as though in pain. For some time +he remained motionless as a statue, lost in thought with +his eyes fixed on the ground. Suddenly he raised his +head with a quick jerk. His face no longer wore an +expression of pain and anguish, but one of settled, +calm determination.</p> + +<p>"I have come just in time," he said quietly. He +smiled, and drawing forth his cigarette-case once more, +he opened it and lit a fresh cigarette.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Doña Fernandez</span> could not sleep. All night +long she tossed on her bed, repeating her conversation +with Don Felipe and revolving what course to pursue. +She instinctively felt that a great tragedy of +some kind was imminent. Unless some plan of concerted +action were immediately adopted, nothing could +prevent it.</p> + +<p>She knew her people too well. A reckless, hot-blooded +man like Don Felipe in his present mood could +not be trusted for long, but must sooner or later provoke +a quarrel with Captain Forest, who she knew, +would be equally dangerous if aroused. Since her conversation +with Felipe she had noted the attitude of +Blanch toward the Captain and her woman's instinct +had half guessed the truth. But beautiful and irresistible +though Blanch appeared, there was Chiquita, +more beautiful and attractive than when Felipe had last +seen her, and also quite as dangerous.</p> + +<p>She knew that Felipe's passion was hopeless—that +Chiquita would not hesitate to show her dislike and contempt +for him anew—that should Captain Forest be +attracted to her also, she would act like a fire-brand +between the two men. If only one of them might +be persuaded to leave the place, the clash which must +inevitably occur, might be averted for a time at least, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +but this was clearly impossible. There was only one +thing to be done for the present—advise Chiquita +of Felipe's return and warn her of the danger that +threatened them all if she provoked him unnecessarily.</p> + +<p>Hopeless though this plan seemed, Chiquita might for +the Captain's sake, if she really cared for him, act +more discreetly than was her wont. But what could +be expected from a woman in love? Who could tell +how she would act? Besides, she argued, all men are +fools. They seem to be born only to become the playthings +of women, the majority of whom are invariably +deceived by them in the end.</p> + +<p>How she hated her! To think of Don Felipe running +after her, eating out his heart, throwing away +his young life for one like her! A love like his going +begging! Merciful God! was there no justice in +this world? And for the moment, she was quite carried +away by a paroxysm of fury.</p> + +<p>Ah, if only she, Doña Fernandez, were but ten years +younger! But the chosen birds of Venus, the white +doves of matrimony, were not destined to hover over +her head a second time. Tears of longing and vexation +dimmed her eyes as she thought of the golden, +halcyon days of youth that would never return. At +any rate, Felipe and Chiquita must not meet until after +she had warned the latter. Blanch must be used as +a foil as long as possible.</p> + +<p>And so it happened that, when breakfast was over, +Señora adroitly arranged that Felipe should conduct +the two girls for a morning's ramble to the pretty little +cañon of the river which lay but a mile distant from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +the town where the foothills began; a plan that suited +Blanch perfectly. She, too, had been doing some thinking +over night and had recognized the possibility of +using Don Felipe as a foil against Jack; he was certainly +handsome and clever enough to serve the purpose +admirably.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest had gone for a ride an hour before +for the purpose of giving his horse a short run to the +foothills and back. So, when Señora had seen the +others safely off, she slipped quietly away in the direction +of Padre Antonio's house.</p> + +<p>It lacked a quarter of eleven when she left the house. +She knew that Chiquita would have long since returned +from the market and would be at home. So occupied +was she with her thoughts as she hurried forward intent +upon her mission, she did not look up until she +turned into the road leading directly past Padre Antonio's +gate, when she suddenly stopped short. Before +her she beheld Captain Forest standing in front +of the gate holding his horse, and Chiquita handing him +a red rose. Another instant, and Chiquita vanished +through the gate into the garden and Captain Forest, +remounting his horse, came riding leisurely down the +road at a walk, inhaling the rose with evident pleasure. +She drew back into the shadow of the old wall and +pressed close into the thick bushy mass of white clematis +vine which hung over it from above and waited until +he passed.</p> + +<p>It is the unexpected that always happens. The +meeting between Chiquita and the Captain was purely +accidental. While returning from his ride, he had been + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +attracted by the beauty and luxuriance of Padre Antonio's +garden as he rode by. He wheeled his horse +about and drew rein before the open iron grating of +the gate in order to obtain a better view of it. Its +flowers consisted chiefly of roses of different varieties +and colors. The air was spicy with their perfume and, +as he inhaled their fragrance in deep breaths, his attention +was presently attracted by the figure of Chiquita +who appeared in the pathway before him, pausing beside +a luxuriant bush of blood-red blossoms and apparently +quite unconscious of his presence. The picture +which she presented was one he carried with him +for many a day afterward.</p> + +<a name="image1"></a><div class="figcenter newpg"><img src="images/image1.jpg" border="1" + width="459" height="700" ALT="" title="Illustration" > +<p class="caption">"The picture which she presented was one he carried with him for +many a day."</p></div> + + +<p>A small white dove strutted and cooed on the ground +before her, while another flew down from the house-top +and after circling above her head, also settled down +beside its mate in the pathway.</p> + +<p>She was dressed in a short pale green skirt and +bodice, the latter cut low at the neck before and behind. +The sleeves were short, reaching to the elbow +and terminating in a narrow frill of deep saffron, +their sides open and interlaced with silvery cords. Two +richly embroidered silken shawls of a pale red color with +long fringe and worn in Spanish style, adorned her +dress. The one, pinned at the waist at the back and +following the outline of the bodice, passed up over her +left shoulder and down in front to her breast where +it was fastened with a golden brooch, the end falling in +a graceful length of fringe. The other, also fastened +at the back of her waist, passed around her right hip +and diagonally down across the front of her skirt. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 133]</a></span> +Golden poppies adorned the heavy masses of her lustrous +black hair, worn high and held in place by a +silver comb. A saffron lace mantilla of the same deep +shade as that of the frill on her sleeves, fell in graceful +folds from the comb to her shoulders, while her +feet were clothed in silk stockings of the same shade +and soft brown beaded slippers of undressed leather.</p> + +<p>To complete this costume which only a Gypsy or one +of Chiquita's tawny complexion would have dared essay +to wear, a small pale red silken fan ornamented with +gold and silver spangles, hung suspended from her wrist +by a satin ribbon of deep orange which flashed in the +sunlight like a splash of gold on a humming-bird's +throat.</p> + +<p>It was not by some happy chance that the Captain +found her arrayed in such finery, as is so often the case +with heroines of romance, but the result of much premeditation +and studied effect. Ever since her meeting +with Blanch she had dressed herself daily with terrible +deliberation and nicety of precision, the same as every +woman of flesh and blood would have done under the +circumstances, on the chance of Captain Forest finding +her at home when he came to pay his respects to the +Padre as he had intimated he would do.</p> + +<p>The thought of the innumerable dresses possessed +by her rival, and the scantiness of her own wardrobe, +composed though it was of the richest laces, silks and +satins in the style of a past era, was something appalling; +enough to turn a stouter heart than hers. And +had she been anything else than an Indian, she would +have sat down on the floor of her room in the midst<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 134]</a></span> +of her finery and wept copious and bitter tears like +the daughters of Babylon of old. The thought of the +old dress which she had worn on the day of their meeting +was not alone mortifying—it was excruciating. +One of those things which we hasten to forget.</p> + +<p><i>Dios!</i> how she must have looked to him in the regal +presence of Blanch, gowned in her stylish traveling costume!</p> + +<p>Don Felipe Ramirez would have kissed the dust from +off the hem of such an old garment, but would Captain +Forest do the same? She could not afford to +take any more risks with a rival like Blanch in the +field.</p> + +<p>There is no knowing how long Captain Forest would +have remained a silent spectator of the charming picture +she presented, had not her attention been attracted +by the sound of Starlight's hoofs as he began to paw the +ground impatiently. She raised her head from the +bush over which she was bending and turned her gaze +in the direction of the gate.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she cried with a little start, silently regarding +the Captain for some moments. Then a smile +slowly wreathed her lips and she broke into a light +laugh. Her right hand involuntarily sought her fan +which slowly opened across the lower half of her face +and she shot a glance at him over its rim with an ease +and grace which only Spanish women have ever succeeded +in mastering. The effect of this deft bit of +coquetry, simple and natural as were all her actions, +was not lost upon the Captain.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether I love you or not," it said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 135]</a></span> +plainly as words, "but henceforth you shall be my +slave."</p> + +<p>"How long have you been there?" she asked at +length, slowly lowering her fan.</p> + +<p>"Only an instant, Señorita," he replied, raising his +hat. "I was wondering," he continued, "whether it +would be too much to ask you for one of those roses? +One would not be missed among so many."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but they are precious, Señor <i>Capitan</i>—these +especially; they are my favorites," and she swept her +hand caressingly over the bush beside which she was +standing.</p> + +<p>"For that reason I shall prize it all the more, +Señorita."</p> + +<p>"Ah! you men have a way of using flattery to women +whenever you want anything of them. And yet," +she continued with just the suggestion of a frown, "a +woman would be hard hearted to refuse—" Her eyes +dropped for an instant, then looking up again, she +said hesitatingly: "I wonder if I can trust you?"</p> + +<p>"Try me," he pleaded.</p> + +<p>"I know it's foolish, but rather than have you think +me less generous than the women you have known, I +shall give you one little one, Captain Forest, that is, +on condition you never ask me for another," and breaking +off one of the largest half-blown blossoms, she held +it in her hand as though loath to part with it.</p> + +<p>"I promise," said the Captain solemnly, dismounting +and holding his horse by the rein. "I dare not +leave my horse, Señorita," he added in a tone of embarrassment, +"he is unaccustomed to a town and feels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 136]</a></span> +strange, and should he take it into his head to bolt, +he might do the first person he met an injury."</p> + +<p>"Indeed? I have often thought of your horse and +wondered where you got him. But," she continued reluctantly, +"since you cannot come to me, I suppose +I must come to you," and passing through the gate, +she stood before him, rose in hand.</p> + +<p>"A truly magnificent animal," she said, running her +hand gently along Starlight's neck. "I've been accustomed +to horses from childhood and can't help admiring +a good one when I see it."</p> + +<p>Much to the Captain's surprise, the Chestnut did not +resent her touch, but whinnied softly instead and laid +his nose on her shoulder. Any one else but José and +himself he would have seized with his teeth. Perhaps +it was her way of approaching and handling him, or +was it the subtle influence of that mysterious kinship +which exists between the wild things—strange and inexplicable +to all but themselves?</p> + +<p>"I thought I possessed the only pure Arab in +Mexico," she continued. "He's a small black horse +with a white star in his forehead, and has never been +beaten. You should look at the Raven some time—he +would interest you," she added.</p> + +<p>"I should like to. Arabs are rare on this side of the +Atlantic. Where did you get him?"</p> + +<p>"He was a present from Count Don Louis de +Ortega, of the City of Mexico."</p> + +<p>"Count Louis de Ortega?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He is the most charming old gentleman I +know. He is Padre Antonio's great friend."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah!" ejaculated the Captain as though relieved.</p> + +<p>"I once spent a summer traveling in Europe with the +Ortega family. But here is your rose, Captain Forest. +I almost believe you forgot it. Horses are so much +more interesting than flowers," and handing him the +rose, she was back again in the garden before he could +thank her.</p> + +<p>"<i>Á Dios, Capitan</i> Forest," she continued with the +softest accent imaginable, lingering unconsciously on his +name as she paused on the other side of the gate. +Again the little fan opened, and looking back over it +with a bewitching smile and arched eyebrows and her +head held coquettishly on one side, she said as if to +herself: "I wonder how long he will keep it?"</p> + +<p>His heart gave a great throb as he gazed upon that +subtle, bewitching vision before him, "Forever, +Señorita!" he was about to reply, but she was gone.</p> + +<p>It might be argued that a woman of Chiquita's metal +would not have shown her hand thus lightly. Let +his infernal beast bolt and trample the whole town in +the dust and himself in the bargain. If he wanted +the rose, let him come and get it; not a step would she +move! Possibly, but let it not be forgotten that she +was in love—desperately in love; that the time for quibbling +had passed, that another woman equally fair would +have unhesitatingly waded through a river to deliver +that rose to the Captain had he asked for it. Destiny +had placed Captain Forest in the saddle, just as it +had decreed that Don Felipe Ramirez should pass the +remainder of his days pursuing an illusive vision. If +nature and convention now swarmed at the Captain's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 138]</a></span> +saddle-bow, surely it was no fault of his. Had he +not burnt his last bridge, snapped his fingers in +the face of the world, and turned his back upon it and +ridden forth in search of the lost kingdom of Earth?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"The</span> jade—coquetting openly on the highroad!" +cried the Señora furiously, stepping +out from the shadow of the wall after the Captain had +disappeared down the road.</p> + +<p>"Will she stop at nothing? It's true, she loves him! +What would Don Felipe do had he witnessed what she +had just seen?" and she shuddered as she paused breathlessly +before the high iron gate, her cheeks aglow and +her eyes flashing with indignation. Cautiously pushing +open the gate which stood ajar, she paused for +an instant on the inside, casting her eyes nervously +about her in search of Chiquita, but seeing no one, she +advanced slowly along the walk leading in the direction +of the house. She had not far to go before +she came upon the object of her quest, seated on a +rough stone bench in the shade of a thick cluster of +tamarisk bushes which grew close to the wall.</p> + +<p>The surprise Chiquita felt on seeing the Señora +standing before her so unexpectedly, caused her to let +fall the book which she was vainly endeavoring to +read—an action which the Señora regarded as an admission +of her guilt; and she exulted in her evident embarrassment.</p> + +<p>The episode of the rose had caused her to quite +forget her mission for the moment. From her general + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 140]</a></span> +air of excitement, flushed face and flashing eyes, Chiquita +rightly conjectured that something unusual had +happened and that an outburst of some sort or other +was imminent. It came like an explosion.</p> + +<p>"Holy Virgin!" she cried, eyeing Chiquita critically. +"What is the meaning of this; dressed in your very +best? Is this the Sabbath, or one of the blessed Saints' +days, or perhaps a Palm-Sunday that you should array +yourself thus? Mother of God! when has it become +the fashion for young ladies to disport themselves in +their best clothes on common, ordinary week days? +Why, 'tis not even a Fish-Friday! Merciful Heaven! to +what are we coming?" she gasped between breaths, +clasping her hands and glancing heavenward. "Do +such dresses grow upon bushes that they are so easily +obtained? Doubtless," she concluded with withering +sarcasm, "when they are worn threadbare as they soon +will be owing to such constant usage, you will purchase +others with those golden <i>pesos</i> which you earned so +recently."</p> + +<p>Chiquita, accustomed to the Señora's outbursts, did +not deign an immediate reply, but sat quietly fanning +herself, a faint smile wreathing her lips; she was thoroughly +enjoying the Señora's discomfort. What +would not the latter give to know something concerning +those <i>pesos</i>? Chiquita's composure under the fire of +her words only tended to increase her irritation.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know why you have thus suddenly turned +the peacock! You do not deceive me! You have arrayed +yourself thus for the grand Señor—<i>Capitan</i> +Forest."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bah!" ejaculated Chiquita composedly, as though +nothing unusual were taking place. "Is that all you +have to say Doña Fernandez?"</p> + +<p>"All! Is that not enough? Holy God!" she cried +with increasing vexation. "You are in love—in love, +I say!" A ripple of laughter bubbled over the two +rosy petals of Chiquita's lips, revealing the pearly +whiteness of her teeth. Now that she realized the real +cause of the Señora's anger, it was impossible to become +angry herself. The Señora, however, was by no means +abashed by Chiquita's indifference, and vigorously renewed +the attack.</p> + +<p>"So our little ring-dove is in love, is she?" she continued +mockingly, strutting back and forth before her. +"You think <i>Capitan</i> Forest will notice you in that +finery—that he will fall in love with you and will +marry you, and that you will become a grand lady +like the Señorita Lennox and ride in a fine carriage +for the rest of your days. <i>Mercedes Dios!</i> and all because +you have succeeded in turning the heads of a +few country bumpkins that hang about the place casting +sheep's-eyes at you. Ha, ha, ha!" she laughed derisively. +"Believe me, when <i>Capitan</i> Forest makes up +his mind to marry, he will not stoop so low to pick +up so little."</p> + +<p>"Doña Fernandez!" said Chiquita sharply rising +from the bench with an ominous look in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Foolish child," Señora went on without heeding +her, "to imagine that some day your hands will be +white like a lady's! I suppose you have nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 142]</a></span> +further to do to-day but to pick flowers?" she added, +pausing for breath.</p> + +<p>"I have never worried about my color, Doña Fernandez," +replied Chiquita indignantly. "Indeed, I sometimes +think it holds its own better than that of some +persons I might mention."</p> + +<p>"Holy Mother! how your tongue runs on! Am I +not to be allowed to say anything? Oh, you do not +deceive me! I saw you give him the rose as I came +here. If he's sensible, he'll throw it away."</p> + +<p>Chiquita laughed derisively. "Perhaps it is well for +the world that all people are not so sensible as you are, +Doña Fernandez," and her fan closed with a sudden +snap. "So this is the advice you came to give me, +Doña Fernandez? How very considerate of you!"</p> + +<p>Her words recalled the Señora to the purpose of her +coming. For some time she paced up and down before +Chiquita without replying. Then stopping and facing +her, and watching closely for the effect her words +would have upon her, she said: "I came to tell you—that +Don Felipe Ramirez has returned."</p> + +<p>Chiquita started. "Don Felipe here?"</p> + +<p>"Aye. He's stopping at my house, and I came to +warn you that perhaps it would be well to be cautious +and exercise a little more self-control than is your wont +when in his and <i>Capitan</i> Forest's presence."</p> + +<p>The Señora was satisfied with her morning's work; +her words had had their effect. Besides, had she not +had her say—unburdened her soul of many things +which she had long been dying to give utterance to? +All things considered she had scored.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<i>Á Dios</i>, Señorita," she added sarcastically, her black +eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction as with mock +courtesy she bowed and turned, leaving Chiquita silent +and motionless, her eyes cast on the ground and lost +in thought. + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"Don Felipe</span> here? The coward, the cur! +How dare he return?" she cried with a sudden +outburst, her words ringing with indignation and resentment. +She impatiently tapped the palm of her +hand with her fan as she began to realize what his return +might mean to her.</p> + +<p>She knew that Señora had come to warn her not +on her own account, but solely on Don Felipe's. Knowing +as she did the reckless character of the man, she +thoroughly realized the danger, and knew that she +must be on her guard, not only for her own sake, but +for Captain Forest's as well. Like the bird of ill omen +that he was, his presence boded no good to her. Already +she felt his baleful shadow fall across her path.</p> + +<p>The unusual attention which Chiquita had begun to +pay to her personal appearance did not escape the observant +eye of Padre Antonio. Knowing the nature of +woman as few men did, he was wise enough not to question +her, experience having taught him that the majority +of women can only keep a secret for a certain +length of time. He smiled and admired, or twitted +her with the simple remark: "For whom are we dressing +this morning, Chiquita <i>mia</i>?" But she only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 145]</a></span> +laughed in reply, or shaking her finger at him with a +mysterious air, would say: "What woman would not +dress for Padre Antonio?" But Padre Antonio was not +so innocent as he tried to appear. Instinct, reënforced +by long experience, told him that these were the first +real symptoms of love which his wild little Indian girl, +as he chose to call her, had shown.</p> + +<p>He had always suspected that she never really cared +for Don Felipe, and had done his best to break off the +engagement before the catastrophe had overtaken the +latter; but this was different. That of which he was +loath to think, yet which he knew must inevitably +happen, had come to pass.</p> + +<p>His knowledge of human nature told him that she had +at last met the man worthy of her love, but, he asked +himself, would Captain Forest, of a different race and +reared under totally different conditions, reciprocate +that love? He could not endure the thought that his +little girl might be made unhappy should the Captain +fail to respond to her love.</p> + +<p>He, too, had seen Chiquita give him the rose from his +study window which overlooked the garden. So, when +the sermon upon which he was engaged was completed, +he quietly descended to the garden with the intention of +administering to her a gentle admonition as well as giving +her a little wholesome advice. Chiquita, hearing +the sound of his measured tread on the gravel as he approached +along the pathway, reseated herself on the +bench and began to fan herself unconcernedly.</p> + +<p>What a picture she made against the pale plumy +branches of the tamarisk, thought Padre Antonio.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I thought I heard voices," he said, seating himself +beside her. "Has any one been here?"</p> + +<p>"Doña Fernandez has just gone," replied Chiquita +absently. "She has been giving me some of her advice."</p> + +<p>"Advice?" echoed Padre Antonio, realizing the moment +of his arrival to be most opportune. "That's +just what I have come to give you, my child—advice!"</p> + +<p>"What! You, too, Padre?" she exclaimed petulantly, +looking at him inquiringly. "<i>Dios!</i> what have +I done that everybody comes to give me advice when +I have so many other things to think of?"</p> + +<p>"Chiquita," slowly began Padre Antonio, laying his +hand gently on her own, "I have always known you +to be wiser than most women, the result no doubt, of +your early life and training in the wilds where people +must live by their wits for self-preservation if for +nothing else." He paused that he might the better +collect his thoughts. She guessed what was coming and +began toying with her fan, an arch smile playing about +her delicate, sensitive mouth as she regarded him out +of the corners of her large dark eyes.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita," he continued, "I do not like your extravagance. +Have a care, child, lest you become addicted +to vanity."</p> + +<p>"Again, just what the Señora said! Am I so vain +as all that, Padre <i>mio</i>, that you should be obliged to +remind me of it?"</p> + +<p>"Then why this continual display?" he asked +pointedly. "You never used to show such consideration +for your admirers." She felt that it would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 147]</a></span> +not only foolish, but worse than useless to attempt +to fence about the truth with him.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Padre <i>mio</i>," she sighed softly, blushing and +laying her hand lightly on his shoulder and looking +up into his face with deep lustrous eyes that softened +with her words, "you—you forget—that I have +never been in love before."</p> + +<p>"In love!" echoed Padre Antonio in turn. "Ah! +I knew it was that," and into his eyes there came an +expression of tenderness and a far-away look as though +the word recalled memories of other days. Memories +which music or the glories of the sunset, or the cooing +of the wood-dove at eventide might awaken within the +soul. The sunlight played along the path at their feet. +The breeze wafted the fragrance of the roses about +them and a linnet, perched on the swaying branch of +a tree overhead, gave voice to his song, singing of the +joy of life. Again he sighed, and Chiquita looking up +quickly, saw in his eyes that which she had never suspected.</p> + +<p>"Padre <i>mio</i>," she said at length, lowering her eyes +and slowly opening and shutting her fan, "have—have +you ever been in love?"</p> + +<p>"My child!" he cried with a start, suddenly recollecting +where he was. "You forget what I am! What +are you thinking of?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing, nothing!" she returned quietly. +"Only it's so—so sweet to be in love, Padre <i>mio</i>. And +yet so—"</p> + +<p>"So what, my child?" he interrupted hurriedly, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 148]</a></span> +if to get through with the subject as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>"So terrible," she answered.</p> + +<p>"So terrible?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, terrible, Padre <i>mio</i>, for I never knew before +how ugly I am."</p> + +<p>"My poor child, you have quite lost your head!" +he answered sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Ah, no," she said rising and facing him, "you do +not understand; I have a most dangerous rival. To +win the Señor I am compelled to use every means and +strategy within my power. Can you not see?" she +continued passionately; "she has everything; I have +nothing. She is not only beautiful, but rich, and +Blessed Virgin, what dresses she has, and jewels enough +to cover an altar-cloth!"</p> + +<p>"My child!" he cried. "You are merely jealous +of the Señorita's beauty. For shame, that you should +set such store upon worldly things!"</p> + +<p>"Padre <i>mio</i>, you would not have your little Chiquita +unhappy, would you?" she went on without heeding +his words, a beseeching tone in her voice. "Should I +fail to win Captain Forest's love, my heart will break!" +She stood with downcast eyes before him, an expression +of pain on her face.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, my child, I understand," he answered compassionately, +also rising from the bench. "Your +temptation is great. Beware of pride and the vanities +of this world, for he that exalteth himself shall be +humbled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Chiquita," he continued earnestly, "my greatest +care in bringing you up has ever been to keep you the +pure and simple being that you were when you came to +me. Do not forget—God demandeth that the souls +which he gave into our keeping should be returned unto +him again in the same pure unblemished state that we +received them. Therefore, take heed, my child, for +although God has endowed you with great beauty of +both mind and body, do not foolishly imagine that, +by arraying yourself in the vanities of this world, you +can add an atom to the natural beauty He has bestowed +upon you already. Be but pleasing in God's sight and +it must follow that you will please all men as well."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you really do think me beautiful, Padre?" +she cried, a radiant look on her face.</p> + +<p>"My child, my child, you do not listen to what I +have to say!" he groaned despairingly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I do, Padre <i>mio</i>! But you forget that, +when God endowed woman with a soul, he gave her a +heart as well. Willingly we render our souls unto God, +but our hearts belong to men." The logic of her argument +was too much for Padre Antonio, and he laughed +as she had never seen him laugh before.</p> + +<p>"Verily," he said at length, wiping the tears from +his eyes and reseating himself on the bench, "the spirit +and flesh must ever contend for the mastery of the +soul on earth; it is our fate—the good Lord intended +that it should be so."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes," she returned. "It's not always the good +that seems to please us most in this world."</p> + +<p>"Aye, verily!" he rejoined, relapsing into silence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 150]</a></span> +Again the linnet gave voice to his song, and the cooling +breeze sighed among the tamarisk plumes that waved +about their heads.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember when you first came to me, Chiquita +<i>mia</i>?" he asked at last.</p> + +<p>"That was ten years ago, Padre."</p> + +<p>"I then thought," he went on, "that the good Lord +had sent you to me to make a little angel out of you, +but—"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Padre <i>mio</i>," she interrupted, "it's too bad! +I'm afraid I'm still the little devil that I was!" and +laughing, she rose from her seat and passing around +to his end of the bench, stood beside him and began +to pull the leaves from a rose-bush.</p> + +<p>"Padre <i>mio</i>," she said softly, looking down at him +with mischievous lights dancing in her eyes, "you don't +really regret that I have remained what I am, do you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't mean to infer that, my child!" he +answered with a note of reproach in his voice, looking +up into her shadowy, downcast face. She gave a little +laugh, and tapping him gently on one shoulder with +her fan, said: "Do you know what you are, Padre +<i>mio</i>?"</p> + +<p>"What, my child?" he asked innocently, his face +brightening at the question.</p> + +<p>"You're the dearest old goose that ever lived!" and +bending over him, she kissed him lightly on the crown +of his head before he could prevent it.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita, my child—you're too impulsive! Have +I not repeatedly forbade you—" but the sound of her +laughter and retreating footsteps on the pathway lead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 151]</a></span>ing +to the house was the only response his words invoked. +"<i>Dios!</i>" he exclaimed, recovering his breath. +"I sometimes think that God created man, but woman—the +devil! They never listen to anything one has to +tell them!"</p> + +<p>Chiquita went quietly to her room, walked straight +to her bureau and opening the lower drawer, took out +a small pistol which lay concealed beneath a chemise +in one corner. Examining it carefully with the practiced +eye and hand of one who has been accustomed +to the use of firearms all her life, she loaded it and +then placed it inside her breast. She knew Don Felipe +as no one else did, and thoroughly realized the danger +that threatened her. From that hour, waking or sleeping, +the weapon must never leave her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Who</span> was Richard Yankton? Many had asked that +question, foremost of whom was Dick himself; +but years of unremitting search had failed to reveal +his origin.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1870 Colonel Yankton, who with his +regiment of cavalry was stationed in Arizona, came +one day upon the smoldering remains of an immigrant +train—the work of the Apache Indians.</p> + +<p>The scalped and mutilated remains of men, women +and children lay scattered over the plain where they had +fallen. It was a melancholy sight; one with which the +Colonel had long become familiar during years of campaigning +against the Red man. His scouts had picked +up the trail and just as he was about to start in pursuit +of the depredators, he fancied he heard a cry, +causing him to pause and listen.</p> + +<p>Presently the cry was repeated, and riding in the +direction whence the sound proceeded, he came upon a +little child of about two and a half years of age sitting +on the ground among the sage-brush; the sole survivor +of the disaster. It was a pretty, rosy-cheeked, dark-eyed +baby—a boy. He was frightened at being left +alone so long and was crying bitterly. But when he +saw the Colonel looking down at him from the back of his +horse, the little fellow brightened up. He forgot his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 153]</a></span> +troubles, and ceasing to cry, began to laugh and stretch +out his tiny hands, and in his incoherent baby way, +began to babble.</p> + +<p>"Horsie, horsie, widie!" he cried, in the most beseeching, +irresistible manner, just as he must have been +accustomed to ask the men of the camp for a ride +whenever they appeared with a horse. In an instant +the Colonel was on the ground and had the little fellow +in his arms. As no clew to the child's parents or relatives +was ever found, the Colonel adopted him, giving +him his own name.</p> + +<p>Dick received an excellent schooling up to his sixteenth +year and probably would have entered West +Point had not his benefactor suddenly died. Strange +to say, the life of a soldier with which he had become +familiar during the years spent at the different posts +assigned to the Colonel, did not appeal to him. The +restraint and routine of the life appeared irksome, and +a year later the then great undeveloped West numbered +him among her sons.</p> + +<p>Indeed, as subsequent events proved, it was fortunate +that he had renounced the life of a soldier. The success +which later attended his efforts in the search for +wealth far overshadowed that which he probably would +have attained in the army, especially as his heart was +not in the life.</p> + +<p>Dick was a born miner and prospector, and passed +successively through New Mexico, Arizona and California +in his search for the precious metals, finally drifting +into old Mexico where he met with his first important +success.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>It seemed as though he were directed by an invisible +power. For weeks and months at a time he would +idle—read and smoke and ride or travel. Then suddenly +the spirit would move him, and without saying +a word to any one, he would quietly slip away into +the mountains by himself in whichever direction he +seemed most impelled to go. Where other men paused +and lingered in the hope of finding gold, he passed on +and discovered the metal where others least expected to +find it.</p> + +<p>Perhaps one of the chief reasons for his success +lay in the fact that he did not assert his own will +by planning a systematic search for the metal, but allowed +himself to be drawn by that mysterious, attractive +affinity that existed between him and the precious +metals. Dick became aware of the existence of this +strange affinity early in his career and acted upon it. +Already at the age of thirty he possessed two of the +greatest gold and silver mines in the world and began +to find it difficult to know what to do with his income.</p> + +<p>The fact that he cared nothing for money beyond the +simple comforts of life which it afforded, was perhaps +another inscrutable reason why he was permitted during +the course of the next eight years to add two more rich +mines to his possessions.</p> + +<p>At thirty-eight he owned four mines, the possession +of any one of which would have caused the average +man to see visions. For example, Dick would have +regarded Colonel Van Ashton's fortune, handsome +though it was, as mere loose change in his pocket.</p> + +<p>But this modern young Crœsus was not unworthy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 155]</a></span> +of the fortune that had been showered upon him so +bountifully as the majority of men who acquire great +wealth invariably become. He not only constantly +strove to improve his mind, but maintained a pension-roll +and list of public charities and beneficiaries that +would have done credit to a small European Principality. +In short, he thoroughly realized what the responsibility +of great wealth entailed.</p> + +<p>True to his supersensitive nature and fastidious taste, +he always dressed in the height of fashion. This was +the only extravagance he allowed himself which, considering +his fortune, was reasonable enough.</p> + +<p>Experience had taught him that the majority of men +and women were fakirs pure and simple, whose chief +motives were prompted solely by self-interest; and any +suggestion to reform the world he invariably greeted +with laughter. In fact, the world in his opinion, was +not worth reforming; yet, in spite of this melancholy +truth, he had remained human to the core, and took +a live interest in that world of men which he knew to +be nothing more nor less than a great gamble. And +therein lay the chief distinction between him and Captain +Forest, for they were otherwise strangely alike. +Dick was still more or less interested in molding the +clay—the Captain had done with it. Possibly because +the latter had fallen heir to that which Dick +had acquired through effort and, therefore, set less store +upon it.</p> + +<p>There were few countries which he had not visited. +After making his first rich strike, he attempted to settle +in New York, but was unable to do so. To use his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 156]</a></span> +words, "he was only able to sit down, but there wasn't +room enough for him to stretch his arms and legs."</p> + +<p>During his travels he had collected numerous works +of art; tapestries, paintings, marbles and bronzes by +the best modern masters, which he placed in a beautiful +Spanish <i>hacienda</i> especially designed by one of +the foremost architects of the day. The house occupied +the site of an old Spanish <i>rancho</i> situated in a beautiful +valley about ten miles from Santa Fé and was +generally conceded to be the most attractive estate in +Chihuahua, though not the largest and most valuable; +Don Felipe Ramirez possessed that. Both house and +garden were a living monument to Dick's natural refinement +and good taste. There were no jarring notes or +lavish, tawdry display, the pitfalls into which the parvenue +and petit bourgeois invariably fall. This was +his only hobby, and just why he indulged it, he himself +would have found it difficult to answer, for in +reality, he cared but little for it.</p> + +<p>He regarded it chiefly as a precaution against old age. +He would continue to improve and beautify the place +until the day arrived when he would retire from the +world to pass the few remaining years of life amid +the quiet and seclusion which the country afforded. +And he often pictured himself when alone and musing +over his cigar, as a lonely, white-haired patriarch, without +offspring to perpetuate his name, seated in the +center of his <i>patio</i>, smiling benignly upon the frolicsome +little brown children of his Indian retainers as +they laughed and disported themselves about him.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cries the world. "Mr. Yankton has a his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 157]</a></span>tory!" +Of course. What man or woman has not, +even though they dare not admit it? Had he loved +too much or too little? There were even some who +attributed that exquisite vein of melancholy in his nature +to the shadow of a married woman. Was he +haunted by the fear that some fair, false one might +marry him for his fortune, not for himself? Or, was +his aversion to marriage due solely to the fact that the +right woman had not yet arrived?</p> + +<p>These and many other questions had been asked and +thoroughly discussed by the matrons and daughters of +Santa Fé, especially by the latter, to all of whom he +had made love and sent flowers and serenaded in turn +until, out of sheer desperation, they called alternately +upon God and the devil to keep or punish this gay +Lothario who loved all and yet none, and who gave such +exquisite <i>fiestas</i> in his beautiful <i>hacienda</i>.</p> + +<p>Now it so chanced that, at the same hour Don Felipe +was conducting Blanch and Bessie to the cañon, Dick +was returning to Santa Fé on horseback from his +<i>hacienda</i> where he had passed the night. As there +was no particular reason why he should reach the +<i>Posada</i> before noon, he decided to indulge his fancy by +lingering in the cooling shade of the cañon close to the +river's edge, where he might listen to the voices of the +waters as they went singing by him on their way to +the old town and thence to the sea.</p> + +<p>He accordingly dismounted, and after lighting a +fresh cigar, stretched himself at full length upon the +grass which grew on the river's bank, allowing his horse +to graze at will. Just behind him rose the abrupt wall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 158]</a></span> +of the cañon some thirty or forty feet in height which, +at this hour of the morning, cast a deep shadow over the +spot where he lay and halfway across the river in front +of him. It was just the sort of place for an Indian +or one of Dick's nature to linger in and dream and +muse. The tips of the tall grass and reeds which grew +close to the water's edge, swayed gently in the fresh +morning breeze. The song of the finch and linnet issued +from the thick, low willow copse growing along +the river's banks.</p> + +<p>How peaceful it was, and how sweetly the waters +sang! No wonder the Indian prized the peace and +beauty of nature above all else. What was his +<i>hacienda</i> to this? He was never really happy when the +roof of a house intervened between himself and the sky.</p> + +<p>Suddenly his attention was attracted by a noise overhead, +and glancing upward, he sprang to his feet just +in time to avoid a mass of earth and stones that came +rolling down over the face of the cliff and fell on the +very spot where he had been lying. The next instant, +before he had time to realize what was happening, +a soft, fluffy mass dropped into his arms with an +impact that nearly brought him to his knees. For +some seconds Dick looked hard at the object in his arms +in order to assure himself that he really was awake +and not still dreaming in the grass by the side of the +river.</p> + +<p>There was no doubt about it; the woman had arrived.</p> + +<p>Miss Van Ashton lay quite still in his arms; she had +fainted. For the first time in his life, a panic seized +him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton!" he cried excitedly, bending +over her. She seemed like nothing, as light as a feather +as she lay so still and pale in his strong arms. It +seemed as though he could have held her thus forever, +and he was almost beginning to wish that he might as +he watched the pallor of her face slowly give way to +its natural pink and white glow, delicate as the lining +of a conch-shell. Strange that he had not noted this +peculiarly piquant and attractive face before.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton!" he cried once more. But +again there was no response. He lowered her gently on +one knee in order that she might breathe more freely. +As he did so, one of her hands came into sudden contact +with his own. Instinctively his hand closed over it +and held it captive; it was so soft and warm, just like +a little bird. His soul was sorely tempted, and sad +to relate, he raised it to his lips and held it there, at +which juncture Bessie Van Ashton slowly opened her +eyes.</p> + +<p>With a cry, she was on her feet—flushed and furious.</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed, Miss Van Ashton!" he exclaimed, +quite unconscious of the cause of her sudden +fright. "You're not hurt a bit; you didn't touch the +ground. You only fainted."</p> + +<p>"How dare you hold me in your arms?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it, Miss Van Ashton; you dropped +right into them."</p> + +<p>"How dare you kiss me, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help that either," stammered Dick, +covered with confusion and blushing like a school-boy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Insolence!" cried Bessie with increased vehemence, +stamping her small foot furiously on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," stammered Dick again, "I +apologize! I—I beg your pardon—"</p> + +<p>"For taking advantage of a helpless woman while in +an unconscious state!" she interrupted. "A most +gentlemanly act!" she added contemptuously. Her +words cut him like the lash of a whip, causing him to +wince, his face turning a deep red.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry—" he began.</p> + +<p>"You know you're not sorry at all!" she broke in +again with unabated fury.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," he said again, with increasing +embarrassment, "when you fell into my arms I was so +surprised and frightened—"</p> + +<p>"Frightened?" She laughed in his face. "A man +who single handed held a furious crowd of men at bay +as you did—frightened? You mean that you were +so overcome with weakness and the joy at finding a +helpless woman in your power you could think of nothing +better to do than to kiss her," she answered with +all the sarcasm she could command.</p> + +<p>A twinkle came into Dick's dark eyes as he regarded +her for some time in silence.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," he said, "if you only knew it, +you are far more dangerous than a tame mob of boys."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" she exclaimed, turning her back upon +him, and tapping the ground nervously with her daintily +shod foot. Dick regarded her narrowly during the +pause that ensued. She seemed taller than he at first +had thought her, and was as slender as a birch. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 161]</a></span> +sun, which by this time had begun to peep over the +top of the cañon wall, cast a golden aureole about her +head. Again he heard the waters sing and the notes +of the birds issuing from the willow copse.</p> + +<p>"Well! how much longer are you going to stand +there? Why don't you say something?" she snapped, +still keeping her back turned toward him. Her words +inspired him with fresh confidence. He recognized in +them a faint glimmer of interest which even her fierce +spirit of resentment had not entirely succeeded in overcoming.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton, ignore me, trample me in the +dust if you like, but do you know, if it had been any +other woman than yourself, I should have laid her +quietly down upon the ground and left her to regain +consciousness as best she could!" She wheeled around +abruptly, looking him straight in the eyes. There was +no mistaking the sincerity of his words, or the look that +accompanied them. And she instinctively felt that an +impulsive, passionate nature like his could not have +helped doing what he did.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe a word you say," she said, softening +somewhat, a faint smile lurking about the corners +of her mouth. Then, as the ludicrousness of the situation +came over her, she burst into fit after fit of laughter +until the tears rolled down her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" she sighed at length.</p> + +<p>"You do forgive me!" he pleaded, picking up her +dainty straw hat which lay on the ground close by and +handing it to her.</p> + +<p>"No, I don't forgive you. I don't think I ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 162]</a></span> +shall," she answered in the severest tone she could command. +"It was foolish of me to wander away from the +others," she continued. "I might have known that +something would happen, because something is always +happening in this country. It's perfectly marvelous!" +Then, after a pause, during which she placed her hat +rakishly on one side of her head, she added: "As a +punishment, Mr. Yankton, I'll allow you to accompany +me back to the <i>Posada</i>." Her words caused his heart +to jump.</p> + +<p>"I don't deserve it," he answered, assuming an air +and tone of humility.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you realize that," she returned. "I suppose +I'm indebted to you for saving my life," she went +on. "And I don't want you to think me ungrateful. +Perhaps it would have been better though—" She +broke off abruptly, and then laughed a strange little +laugh that puzzled him greatly. She had at least +grown communicative again, and he heaved a sigh of +relief. He had gotten off so much easier than he expected.</p> + +<p>"One moment, Miss Van Ashton," he said, as she +was about to take the lead. He turned and gave a +shrill whistle. His horse which had been feeding quietly +the while on the grass a short distance from them, +raised his head at the sound, and giving a low whinny, +came trotting up to them.</p> + +<p>"Won't you ride?" he asked, turning to her. "He's +quite gentle."</p> + +<p>"No," she answered rather curtly, "I prefer to +walk."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Just as you say," he answered in a tone of complete +submission, taking his place quietly by her side.</p> + +<p>"No—not that way!" she said. "We'll keep the +horse's head between us."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> had been no more shooting or attempts at +murder. The mail began to arrive from home, +and Colonel Van Ashton and Mrs. Forest began to +breathe easier.</p> + +<p>Life at the old <i>Posada</i> had settled down once more +to its accustomed calm and routine. The sun shone +benignly and the birds sang daily in the garden where +the guests were wont to pass the greater part of the +day. The gay little songsters were a veritable revelation +to them—especially to the Colonel. How could +such gentle creatures go on singing with such indifference +to the future in a land where life was held so cheap +and all things so uncertain?</p> + +<p>Blanch had turned a deaf ear to the others' entreaties +to return home at once. The more they talked, the +firmer she became, and finally, taking matters into her +own hands, settled the question by telegraphing home +for the twenty trunks of clothes she left there on her +departure.</p> + +<p>"Can't you see," she said by way of explanation, +"how disastrous it would be to leave Jack alone in this +country with that—"</p> + +<p>"Don't mention her!" interrupted Mrs. Forest.</p> + +<p>"I don't see how we can help it," replied Blanch, +"since fate has thrust her unbidden into our lives.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 165]</a></span> +We might as well recognize facts first as last since we +are no longer in a position to choose either our surroundings +or the persons with whom we are to associate. +There is only one way to avert the catastrophe threatening +us, and that is—by my marrying Jack."</p> + +<p>Chiquita's beauty filled Mrs. Forest with a vague and +nameless terror. But a glimpse of that dark siren was +enough to apprise her of her son's peril, and she unhesitatingly +implored Blanch not to let him out of her +sight—to go off with him alone as often as possible +and flirt with him to any length; a tremendous concession +on Mrs. Forest's part—nothing less than a +complete surrender, she being one of those proud but +insipid mortals whose temperature could be easily +gauged by the inclination of her long, slender, slightly +upturned nose which seemed to be forever pointing toward +a better world. For her, it was not enough that +one's appearance and innate refinement marked one as a +lady or a gentleman, but it must be proven by a long +deduction beginning with some obscure ancestor of whom +the world has never heard and whose shortcomings have +been happily buried in the oblivion of time. Could she +have had her way, the world would have been long since +wrapped in pink tissue paper, tied with blue ribbon and +labeled safe. How she ever came by her dauntless son +remains a mystery; it certainly was no fault of hers.</p> + +<p>Somebody of a pessimistic turn of mind once remarked +that, if the human race were suddenly stripped +naked, it would be impossible to distinguish the refined +from the vulgar. A truly inspired utterance. For as +Captain Forest viewed his family from his plane of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 166]</a></span> +vantage, especially after the leveling process had set in, +they strangely reminded him of a flock of tame geese +rioting in a pond. They made a great noise and stir, +but convinced nobody.</p> + +<p>Everybody having reached his level and been shorn +of airs and affectations, it no longer remained a question +of what one was, but what one could do. Consequently, +it became daily more and more difficult to distinguish +between personalities. It is true there were +occasional flashes suggestive of submerged, latent faculties, +but only flashes; stupidity and the <!-- TN: original reads "common-place" -->commonplace +were the dominating notes.</p> + +<p>It was a wonderful study in human nature, and hopeless +though the general outlook appeared, the future was +not entirely without its promise. The souls of Blanch +and Chiquita shone like radiant twin stars from out the +gloomy, abysmal depths of the Egyptian darkness that +had settled over the world.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most remarkable and amusing feature of +it all was that, with the exception of Blanch, the others +still seemed able to take themselves seriously. They +regarded the Captain's new outlook upon life as a complete +reversion to the primitive type, but luckily for +them, he had not yet lost his sense of compassion.</p> + +<p>Recognizing the deplorable mental state to which his +uncle was fast sinking, he kept him supplied with wines +and cigars, obtained from his friend, Pedro Romero, +the gambler. No man can partake of excellent wines +and cigars for any length of time without feeling his +oats, as the saying goes; and the Colonel proved no exception +to the rule.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>He had just finished a bottle of Burgundy and, as +he sat in the garden with his sister, sipping his <i>demitasse</i> +and inhaling the fragrant aroma of a Havana, he +began to feel the return of his nerve. In fact, had +he been approached on the subject, he would have admitted +that he felt like a fighting-cock, in just the +proper condition to quarrel with his nephew. Happily +for the Colonel, the subject of his thoughts came sauntering +into view at this juncture, and he squared himself, +assuming an aggressive attitude preparatory to the +encounter which he intended to precipitate with all possible +dispatch.</p> + +<p>The disgusting complacency with which his nephew +had taken to wearing long trousers over his riding-boots +in place of those precious balloon breeches originally +designed for lackeys but since adopted as a becoming +apparel for a gentleman, affected the Colonel's tender +susceptibilities to an extent almost inducing nausea. +He quite forgot that he had been guilty of a similar +offense during his campaigning in the Civil War, and +naïvely imagined that his nephew had acquired this vulgar +habit from his friend, Mr. Yankton; a person whose +lack of etiquette and easy-going ways were enough to +set his teeth on edge.</p> + +<p>The Captain was looking for Blanch whom he had +seen entering the garden with his mother and the Colonel, +but whose return to the house he had not noticed, and +he, therefore, walked unsuspectingly into the arms of his +uncle.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would get rid of that infernal horse of +yours," began the Colonel by way of a preliminary to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 168]</a></span> +the skirmish, while his nephew seated himself unconcernedly +in a chair opposite him, tilting it backwards and +leisurely crossing his legs. "He positively threatened to +devour me bodily as I passed the corral this morning."</p> + +<p>"I suppose it's because he has not yet learned that +you are my uncle," replied the Captain, suppressing +a smile. "It's strange what dislikes he takes to certain +persons when one considers that he's as gentle as a kitten +when children are around; but I'll try to teach him +to distinguish members of the family in the future."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Jack! I've had enough of this beating +about the bush. It's time we came to an understanding."</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to prevent it that I can see," answered +the Captain with maddening coolness. "I was +merely apologizing for an ill-mannered horse."</p> + +<p>"Damn your horse, sir!" cried the Colonel with increasing +choler.</p> + +<p>"Any time you are ready, dear Uncle," replied +the Captain calmly, taking a cigarette from his case +and lighting it. The Colonel ground his teeth in +silence. His first encounter with his nephew could +hardly be called satisfactory and he did not wish a +repetition of it. He had come to argue his nephew +out of his folly through sheer force of logic and it +behooved him to remain as calm as possible during the +interview, for his nephew had a most surprising way +of answering back and turning the argument against +one.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," he began, "what possible attraction this +country can have for you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It would be quite as impossible to explain that satisfactorily +to you as to make my reasons clear for being +here at all. But since you again ask me for those reasons, +I can only answer as I did before. I have exhausted +that felicitous state called civilization. I want +to be free."</p> + +<p>"Rot!" cried the Colonel, literally snorting and +bounding into the air. "You've no right to be free! +Only savages and criminals want to be free! If that's +all you have to say—" but his voice choked and he resumed +his seat in silence.</p> + +<p>"I've never heard anything quite so silly!" exclaimed +Mrs. Forest who up to this point had maintained +a discreet silence.</p> + +<p>"It's true nevertheless," continued the Captain composedly, +blowing a ring of blue smoke into the air. +"Civilization, you know, is practically the same the +world over. I have seen and heard everything, read +everything, and met everybody that's worth meeting, +and I'm tired of seeing and hearing them over and +over again, year in and year out, with always the dead +certainty of their return to look forward to. Our +lives have become too stilted, too artificial—we lack +poise, we live in grooves. Everything is overdone—there +is nothing left for us to enjoy—our finer sensibilities +have become dulled—the simplicity and refinements +of life have been swallowed up by luxury, tawdry +display and prudism."</p> + +<p>"Bosh!" cried the Colonel.</p> + +<p>"Everybody," the Captain went on, "knows exactly +what his neighbor thinks and is going to say,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 170]</a></span> +and should anybody by any chance begin to think differently +and seriously on life, society instantly brands +that person as stupid, if not a little queer. We have +lost our independence."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" said Mrs. Forest.</p> + +<p>"Granted for the sake of argument," broke in the +Colonel, flipping the ash from off his cigar. "But +what about art, science and literature, the real things +which stand for civilization?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! as to them, they are all right in themselves. +It is fortunate that man has an outlet through these +manifold channels of expression.</p> + +<p>"They are the best part of our lives so far as they +go, but all art and science and no nature, and what +becomes of man? Have they made the world happy, +and is there any immediate prospect of their ever doing +so? Did the Greeks, who attained the supreme +heights in art, find happiness in their art? Their history +is the record of one long struggle; and so it was +with the renaissance of the Middle Ages, and so it is +with us; our sciences and arts can never change the +complicated conditions in which we live. They have +never developed the sympathy and brotherly love which +should exist between man and man; we are still barbarians.</p> + +<p>"The most miserable wretches that ever lived were +the very ones that passed their lives creating and theorizing. +They all forgot and are still forgetting like +the rest of the world to-day that, these things, no +matter how great, amuse and interest for a time only; +that once they are absorbed, their original charm and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 171]</a></span> +novelty are gone forever. They become worn and +threadbare like all of man's inventions, and humanity +is ever left searching for the great panacea of life.</p> + +<p>"The God-inspired sing and talk of the great life, +but they do not live it themselves, and that is why +they never really succeed in delivering their messages. +And they may continue to write books and compose +music, to paint pictures and build temples and <!-- TN: Orignal reads "hue" -->hew statues +so long as this planet is habitable, but these things +are merely an imitation of the reality—a reflection +of the ideal in man. The delivered man must stand +above his art and science. He must recognize that +he himself is the well-spring, the source of his inspiration +and is greater than his emotional expressions. The +true message can never be delivered to the world until +the life for which these things stand is actually lived +out, becomes a part of man's daily life."</p> + +<p>"And you intend to deliver that message, I suppose?" +observed the Colonel sarcastically, smiling compassionately +and twirling the end of his mustache.</p> + +<p>"In my own humble way, yes, but I ask no man +to follow me!" A chorus of laughter, in which were +mingled the voices of Blanch and Bessie who had just +joined the group, greeted this confession.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear the like of the conceit?" exclaimed +Mrs. Forest as the laughter subsided.</p> + +<p>"Excuse my frankness, Jack, but you're an ass," +said the Colonel tartly.</p> + +<p>"You set an example to the world? Why, you're +as spoiled as the rest of us!" cried Bessie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Quite true, Cousin, but with this difference, I realize +that fact and the rest of you do not."</p> + +<p>"What a charming pedestal you have placed yourself +upon, Jack," said Blanch, seating herself beside +Mrs. Forest.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," returned the Captain dryly, "but of one +thing I am certain. Few people are better prepared +to speak on this matter than I am."</p> + +<p>"What an interesting lot we women must be in your +eyes," broke in Bessie, digressing from the subject. +Captain Forest smiled.</p> + +<p>"Don't misunderstand me," he went on. "You are +trumps, every one of you, if you only knew it, but +unfortunately you do not. You are the most attractive +women in the world, but you are spoiled—utterly +spoiled. You are the well-groomed, lovely curled and +pampered darlings of society, but alas! utterly superficial, +just like those brilliant women of the great +French revolutionary period."</p> + +<p>"I admire your frankness, Jack; but what do you +really intend doing? What sort of a life do you intend +to lead?" asked Blanch.</p> + +<p>"Cease chasing will-o'-the-wisps about in the vain +pursuit of happiness, and live as man was intended to +live by substituting nature's realities for man's creations; +those things which we prize most—which please +for a time, but which in the end leave us as empty handed +as the day we first started in quest of the <i>golden fleece</i>. +Live as close as possible to nature; cultivate the soil, +watch the fruit and the flowers and the grain grow,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 173]</a></span> +and roam throughout the length and breadth of the +land when the longing seizes me."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried the Colonel, unable to contain himself +any longer. "Is this the inane, prosaic existence +for which you have given up one of the most +brilliant careers the world had to offer a man? It's +bad enough to have wrecked that, but for one possessing +the wealth you do to waste his life after such fashion; +it's simply disgusting! Think of what you might do +in the financial world!"</p> + +<p>"That's just the sort of answer one might expect +from you," replied the Captain, taking a fresh pull at +his cigarette. "You talk like a stockbroker. That +phase of labor brings no real happiness to any one. +Besides, it would be absurd for one possessing the money +I do to spend his days earning more. Of course as +things are constituted to-day, it is difficult to get along +without money, but in reality I don't consider it has anything +to do with happiness. Lasting pleasure and +peace can only be found in the verities of nature; her +beauties and realities are the only satisfying and enduring +things.</p> + +<p>"What can you who pass your days amid the noise +and dirt of cities, breathing their tainted atmosphere, +and your intellects nourished upon artificialities and the +creations of men's minds, know of nature? How many +of you have ever gazed long enough at the stars to +appreciate their beauty and mystery, or listened to +the sound of the wind and tried to guess its meaning?"</p> + +<p>"Bah! you are as sentimental as a school-girl!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 174]</a></span> +ejaculated the Colonel. "You talk like one who has +just taken a short course in Thoreau or Rousseau."</p> + +<p>The Captain only laughed in return. He rose from +his seat and began striding up and down before them +with his hands clasped behind his back and his gaze +fixed on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Who are you," he continued passionately, stopping +abruptly before them, "to assume that others should +live according to your lackadaisical, sensuous sentimentality—your +divan, boudoir conceptions of life? +Thoreau and Rousseau and Emerson and Ruskin were +great men, but had they talked less and actually lived +out the life they preached, the world might possibly +have been aroused to a consciousness of something +higher by this time; but they were too small for the +task. It requires a man cast in a bigger mold to +perform the work—it is only in men like me that the +future hope of the race lies. I must <i>live</i> the life they +preached. Do you understand? Why, I could crush +you and the world you represent in the hollow of my +hand! You seek happiness in the evanescent wine and +laughter of the illusive, superficial life. I, too, sought +it there, but like you, I did not find it."</p> + +<p>His words sank deep into the soul of Blanch. She +admired his strength and yet hated him for it. Why, +she asked herself again, as she did on the day he first +imparted his new views of life to her, was she not moved? +Why was she still unable to thrill at the sound of his +words?</p> + +<p>She could not understand it. There seemed to be +something lacking either in him or in her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What assurance have you," she asked, "that you +will find happiness in this new life which you propose +to lead?"</p> + +<p>"The consciousness which tells me I exist, voices the +fulfillment of that promise. There can be no doubt of +it. The traditions that have come down to us from the +past from all nations that once men were free, is no +myth. The true poetry of life, I repeat, is not found +in the epics men have created, but in the sources that +inspired them. In the glories of the earth and the air, +in the stars and mountains and forests and fields and +streams, in man, in the birds and animals, in the turning +of the soil with the plow and the spade, and in the +growing corn. These are the things which, before all +else, add to the spiritual growth of man and inspire +him to pray and hope, to sing and to love, and draw +him close to the invisible world because they are a part +of the life of man, not imitations of life. The instant +man realizes this he will be free.</p> + +<p>"I know you cannot understand this," he continued +with a shade of impatience in his voice, "for what +can a lot of slaves like you, the brick and mortar type +of man, know of freedom, all that is best and noble +in life? You are so bound to the world of your own +creating that it has become as meaningless as a fancy +to you. Your souls run on the dead level; the great +song of life sweeps by you unheeded, and is gone forever."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Señora Fernandez</span> erred in her judgment of +Don Felipe, which was but natural. She still regarded +him as the impetuous, hot-headed youth of former +days, not what he really was—the mature man, +sobered by years of experience and suffering which +had taught him the value of self-control.</p> + +<p>He understood the nature, knew as never before the +mettle of the woman with whom he had to deal, and +on no account would he foolishly precipitate a quarrel +with the Captain. He would bide his time and strike +only when the moment seemed propitious. The vague +rumors which were current concerning Chiquita must +have some foundation, else why the continual gossip on +every tongue? He would investigate the matter for +himself, in his own time and way; meanwhile he would +reinstate himself in the good graces of the community +by making himself as agreeable and popular as possible, +a thing not difficult for one of his wealth and +accomplishments.</p> + +<p>He had doffed his Mexican costume for the more +prosaic attire of the modern man which became him +equally well and which was more to his liking. To the +cosmopolitan that he had become, the place and the people +had shrunk terribly during his absence, and there +seemed to be little left in common between him and them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 177]</a></span> +The presence of the Americans was a godsend to him, +while he in turn was like a fresh breeze from the outer +world to them.</p> + +<p>He instinctively recognized a confederate in Blanch. +They possessed a common interest and spent much time +together. Strange that the same fate which had overtaken +him was now threatening her! Those who deny +a fixed destiny and can therefore afford to ignore the +laughter of the gods, may answer with some assurance +that the lives of most people, especially the marked +ones, are tragic—perhaps. But why had Colonel Van +Ashton, the bon-vivant and habitué of clubs, the adored +of pretty young women and confidant of duennas, taken +the one road which led to the wilderness when it is well +known that all roads lead to Rome, especially when the +Colonel had about as much interest in his present surroundings +as a polar bear might reasonably expect to +find on the equator? Possibly it was for the same +reason that the Colonel also watched with increasing +alarm the sudden and growing interest which his daughter +began to take in the man he detested most on earth.</p> + +<p>Reveal the cause, the hidden well-spring of destiny, +and the effect may be predicted with comparative accuracy. +Can the lamb lie down with the lion? Were +there ever substantial grounds for the assertion, or was +it only metaphor—mere poetical allusion? The world +has been on the <i>qui vive</i> for the fulfillment of prophecy +ever since the expulsion of our common ancestry from +Eden. The actual motives and reasons which underlie +the workings of destiny are usually about as clear as +those which bereft Samson of his locks or left the lone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 178]</a></span> +figure of Marius seated amid the ruins of Carthage. +And yet, even in the face of time-worn contradictions +apparent to the most superficial and credulously minded, +pretty, distracting Bessie Van Ashton had begun to cast +her eyes in the direction of Dick Yankton, the handsome, +open-handed, devil-may-care son of nature who regarded +the world of fashion to which she belonged +with about as much concern as he did the dust on his +boots.</p> + +<p>Possibly <i>ennui</i> prompted this willful bit of womanhood +to make a plaything of that picturesque child of +nature, just as loneliness caused him to open his eyes +to the existence of that, which in the logical and ordinary +course of events, he would have entirely overlooked. +But since life is made up almost entirely of +contraries, it is not so much with reasons that we have +to deal as with facts—things as they are. Clothe +human nature in whatever garb you like, at heart it +remains the same. Time and place and condition make +little difference; the real man within is sure to assert +himself at some time or other by throwing off the disguise.</p> + +<p>Was Bessie, the spoilt, pampered child of fashion +with her soft, white body, any more fit for a life lived +close to nature than Blanch who was naturally strong, +sinuous and supple, though so softened by luxury and +the overrefinements of civilization? To all appearances, +no. And yet, the very things which seemed to +pass by Blanch unheeded, began imperceptibly to impress +themselves upon Bessie. Possibly because Blanch +was so strong and individualized that, having once given<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 179]</a></span> +herself up wholly to the present life, she was enslaved +irrevocably by it—held fast by it with a power that +had grown with her strength day by day—so that while +a weaker woman might slip through the meshes and +escape, she was held irresistibly bound through her own +force and strength of character.</p> + +<p>The spell and magic of the land seemed to hold like +an unseen hand all things as in the grip of a vice, and +were no less potent in the present than they were in +the past. The plaintive notes of the wood-dove found +a response within Bessie's soul. The winds seemed +laden with new voices and unconsciously interrupted the +train of her thoughts and caused her to pause and listen +and wonder. The wild, forbidding landscape from +which her stronger companion involuntarily shrank, for +some unknown reason attracted her. The broad expanse +of heaven and earth, the far horizon, the hazy, +mysterious silhouetted peaks of distant mountains +aroused vague longings within her—emotions which she +did not understand and concerning which she failed in +her attempts to analyze.</p> + +<p>Had she been at home, she would have regarded these +new sensations as sentimental enthusiasm and laughed +at them, denying them a permanent place in her nature. +But here, it was different. They seemed to have a hold +upon one and were as irresistible as those vague longings +that come with the awakening of spring. There +was music everywhere in the world about her. Flowers +of the imagination sprang from the desert on every +hand. Voices and hands called and beckoned to her +from out the unseen. The quickening and awakening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 180]</a></span> +within her gave promise of a new life, and her feet became +light as sunbeams. The fact of being alive and +the increasing desire to live filled her with a new joy +and vigor that darted through her soul like tongues +of flame, causing her blood to surge and tingle as never +before since the days of childhood.</p> + +<p>A genuine interest in the new life and the lives of those +about her, took the place of the apathy and indifference +with which she regarded the sated pleasures of that +jaded world from which she had departed so recently. +She had come to be bored—fully resigned for Blanch's +sake to endure the <i>ennui</i> of mere vegetation until the +prodigal Jack had been safely gathered within the fold +once more. After the rude shock of first impressions +had passed and she had found time to pause and breathe, +she began to cast her eyes about her for something more +real and tangible than the memories of the world she +had left behind her, but had failed to find anything +of interest until the occurrence of that unfortunate +episode with Dick.</p> + +<p>His arms still clung to her in spite of the persistent +efforts she made to shake them off. And stranger still, +no amount of scrubbing seemed to remove the sting +of those burning kisses he had impressed upon her hand. +That unpardonable piece of impudence was unprecedented. +Men had made love to her, adored her, and +completely lost their heads over her; and one man in +particular, as she well knew, was scouring the ends +of the earth in an effort to obtain news of her present +whereabouts. Much to her astonishment, however, and +contrary to her preconceived notions concerning men,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 181]</a></span> +she found that she had suddenly lost interest in this +particular man for another.</p> + +<p>But why? What was the cause of this newly awakened +interest in Dick? Was it because he was so different +from the men she had known, or was it that +strong touch of the feminine in him which certain sensitive +masculine natures possess; that rare, distinguishing +characteristic which is so attractive to men and women +alike? Did any real affinity exist between them? How +could it, considering the different conditions and environment +in which they had been reared and the width +of the gulf that divided them? What then was the +cause of this attraction which in spite of her efforts to +check it, was beginning to become a source of vexation +to a woman of the world who had always prided +herself on being able to keep herself well in hand?</p> + +<p>That it might be love, or even the dawning of love, +she refused to admit. She shuddered at the mere +thought of such a catastrophe. The thing, however, +was becoming annoying. Like any thought which we +hold too long in our minds, it was bound to absorb +all others in time, and she resolved to make an end of +it. She would play with him. One could not maintain +a serious interest in that which one treated as a jest—held +up to ridicule. She would play with him like +an expert angler plays with a fish, and when landed, +would walk over him rough-shod—trample him back +into the dust of that coarser clay from which he sprang.</p> + +<p>Ah, yes, the country was not so dull after all! It +would be a royal lark; a holiday long to be remembered. +They were so far from the great world that, when it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 182]</a></span> +was all over, not even the slightest rumor or breath +of scandal would remain to remind her of the flirtation +upon which she had decided to embark.</p> + +<p>With these thoughts running through her mind, the +fascinating, violet-eyed daughter of Colonel Van Ashton +lightly dipped the tips of her dainty fingers into a +rouge-pot, glanced into the mirror and drew them across +her lips, and then deliberately attired herself in one of +her smartest gowns preparatory to flinging the first +bones of condescension to the rustic Yankton; the +preliminaries of a series of expectations and hopes deferred +that were intended to reduce him to a state of +submission suitable to receive the final kick which was +to leave Mr. Yankton a wiser but a sadder man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Blanch</span> stood before a long mirror that adorned +one of the walls of her room, trying the effect of +a new tea-gown.</p> + +<p>The mirror was an ancient piece of furniture consisting +of a faded gilt frame and six separate rows +of large, unevenly fitting squares of glass; the style +that was in vogue two centuries ago. As she regarded +herself in it, she saw herself reflected in sections, probably +with much the same effect as Marie Antoinette +saw her reflection at Versailles.</p> + +<p>"Coronada must have brought this mirror with him +on his first expedition," she remarked to Bessie who +lounged on the sofa on the opposite side of the room +amid a heap of florid cushions. "I feel as though I +had a personal grudge against that man," she continued, +vainly endeavoring to catch an unbroken outline of +herself in the glass.</p> + +<p>"It's stunning, Blanch!" broke in Bessie from the +sofa. "What is it—a Worth?"</p> + +<p>"No—a Doucet. Isn't it absurd that I should array +myself in these gorgeous gowns to compete with that Indian +in her few flimsy calicoes and silks? The contrast +is out of all proportion. It's the sublime and +the ridiculous. And yet she looks well in anything!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 184]</a></span> +Dress her in rags and she is picturesque; robe her +in silks and she is fascinating."</p> + +<p>"That's just what I can't understand," said Bessie. +"We couldn't wear her clothes, but she can wear ours. +Why is it?"</p> + +<p>"It's quite simple. We have been handicapped from +the start because we have been forced to compete with +them on their own ground. They are perfectly natural; +they have nothing and aspire to nothing, while we +are wholly artificial—have everything and aspire to +more."</p> + +<p>"Why, to hear you, one would think that Jack +was talking!" exclaimed Bessie in genuine surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I don't pretend to agree with his views, but as +regards us, he's about right. I was never able to see +ourselves as some others see us until we came here. And +I have come to the conclusion that our views of life +are about as distorted as the cracked reflection of myself +in the mirror yonder. We have unconsciously +lived a life antagonistic to nature and consequently find +ourselves ridiculous in our simplest endeavors to be natural. +Of course," she added, "they would appear the +same if things were reversed and we had them on our +ground.</p> + +<p>"With us," she went on, "marriage is more a game +of intrigue than love; here it is purely one of sentiment. +Aside from my intrinsic value, what weapon +have I to employ against this Indian woman? The +things which count for so much with us, fall flat here.</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm not even in a position to make Jack +jealous! If I were at home, I would have a dozen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 185]</a></span> +men at my feet and as many more as I wished to play +off against him, not to mention the thousand opportunities +for neglect. In fact, all the weapons which we +women are so fond of employing against men. Whereas, +here I am at the feet of my Lord Jack—his indifference +is insufferable! Oh! I'll pay him back for +this!" she cried, pale with anger.</p> + +<p>"Men are brutes—all of them!" remarked Bessie +laconically, rising to a sitting posture on the sofa.</p> + +<p>"I hate him—hate him!" continued Blanch in a +fresh paroxysm of passion. "To think that he of +all men should have been the one chosen to show me +myself—the only one of us who was strong enough +to break away! Why was I not able to hold him? +Why am I not able to come to him now? There is +something wrong somewhere. We seem to have lost +our grip on things. I can't understand it!" Just then +the old, gilt French clock on the white marble mantelpiece +slowly chimed the hour of five. The sound of +the clock caused Blanch to pause. "Five o'clock," +she said, calming herself. "Don Felipe will be waiting +for us in the garden."</p> + +<p>"That's so," answered Bessie, rising from the sofa +and crossing the room to the window which looked out +over the <i>patio</i> into the garden. "There he is now, +pacing back and forth beneath the trees. What a restless +man he is!"</p> + +<p>"After the first cup, you might disappear, Bess," +said Blanch. "I want to try to find out if he still +cares for that Indian?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That was the most romantic thing I ever heard!" +exclaimed Bessie.</p> + +<p>"I wonder he ever returned," answered Blanch, opening +the door and leading the way across the <i>patio</i> in +the direction of the garden. The tinkle of a guitar attracted +their attention to a group of <i>peons</i> and women +squatted on their heels on one side of the court, in the +shade of the arcades, smoking and chatting. A little +beyond them, in the shadow of the doorway, stood the +major-domo, Juan Ramon and the pretty housekeeper, +Rosita.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> but she is <i>magnifico</i>—the tall one!" whispered +Juan to Rosita as the girls passed them, nodding +and smiling in response to Juan's deep salutation and +Rosita's courtesy.</p> + +<p>"And the little one," said Rosita in turn. "Is she +not like a half-blown pink rose?"</p> + +<p>"Aye! 'tis a feast for the eyes to look at them!" answered +Juan. "There has not been so much life in the +place since the old days when the Master was alive."</p> + +<p>"If Don Felipe doesn't marry one of them he's a +fool," added Rosita.</p> + +<p>"That's just what I have been saying to myself," +returned Juan.</p> + +<p>"What else can he be doing here if he doesn't intend +to take one of them back to his <i>hacienda</i> with him?" +continued Rosita. "I've noticed that he and the tall +one spend much time together."</p> + +<p>"Aye!" ejaculated Juan. "It must be lonely at the +old <i>rancho</i> without a woman to keep him company."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The tall Señorita would be just the one for the +place!" exclaimed Rosita enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"Rosita <i>mia</i>," began Juan confidentially after a short +silence, during which his gaze rested pensively on the +retreating figures of the girls, "I've just been thinking +that there is no happiness for a man, still less for +a woman, in a single life. What say you, Rosita <i>mia</i>," +he went on, patting her familiarly on the cheek.</p> + +<p>"Juan Ramon," interrupted Rosita with an angry +flush, "if you don't want to get your face slapped, +you had better behave like a <i>Caballero</i>!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba!</i> what a little spitfire!" returned Juan, +pulling the end of his thin mustache, yet not in the least +disconcerted by her show of temper. "But supposing, +my pearl of a housekeeper, that I bought a neat little +<i>rancheria</i>—do you know of any one who might care +to look after it?"</p> + +<p>"Bah! First pay your gambling debts, Juan Ramon. +There will then be time enough to look for some +one who will allow herself to be beaten on feast-days +when you have drunk more <i>pulque</i> than is good for you. +But <i>Dios!</i> why am I wasting words with you? The +Señoritas will begin to wonder what has become of their +chocolate and <i>tortillas</i> if I don't hurry."</p> + +<p>"Ungrateful woman," responded Juan, assuming an +injured tone. "Would you leave me without a kiss?"</p> + +<p>"Holy Mother! what has come over you, Juan Ramon—has +the sunshine gone to your head? A kiss, indeed!" +and she tossed her head. "Go to Petronita, the +cook! She is old; doubtless she will give you a plenty!" +and laughing, she hurried into the dining-room in search<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 188]</a></span> +of a tray with which to serve the ladies. The mere +mention of the ancient, withered Petronita, with the +parchment-like face, caused Juan's mouth to pucker as +though he had bitten into an unripe persimmon.</p> + +<p>"<i>Diablos!</i> if the luck would only change!" he muttered. +"Rosita would be the very one—" The sound +of light footsteps and the tinkle of spurs caused Juan to +turn.</p> + +<p>"Ah! <i>buenas dias</i>, Señorita!" he exclaimed, lifting +his hat and bowing before Chiquita, who had entered the +<i>patio</i> from the opposite side of the house. Her riding-habit, +her boots and gloves and gray felt hat beneath +which were twisted her thick braids of hair, were covered +with thin white particles of dust.</p> + +<p>"Where is your mistress, Doña Fernandez, Juan?" +she asked.</p> + +<p>"I will call her, Señorita," answered Juan, replacing +his hat on his head and starting for the hallway.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Juan," called Chiquita, catching sight +of Blanch and Bessie in the distance. "I will first +speak with the Señoritas," and she turned toward the +garden.</p> + +<p>Juan's beady black eyes followed her tall figure as +she moved toward the girls. Ever since the arrival of +the Americans there had been much discussion in the +household as to which was the more beautiful, Blanch or +Chiquita. The Señora's dislike for the latter was +well known, but in spite of this prejudice, opinion was +pretty evenly divided concerning the merits of the two. +It was a vexing question, and the opportunity of comparing +the two women as they met in the garden was too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 189]</a></span> +tempting to be missed. So, with one end of his <i>zerape</i> +slung carelessly over his shoulder, Juan strolled casually +past the little group of women in the direction of the +corrals, where he could observe them at his leisure from +the recesses of the garden without attracting attention.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the fact that the dark woman was +at a disadvantage in her dust-covered riding-habit, he +could not for the life of him tell which was the more +beautiful of the two as he passed behind a thicket of lilac +bushes, and seated himself on a rustic bench and began +rolling a <i>cigarillo</i> between his long slim fingers.</p> + +<p>Juan was a born gambler, and like all of his tribe, +was usually in want of money. To-day he needed it +more than ever, for that very morning his mistress had +taunted him and threatened to leave him if he did not +pay for the new dresses she had recently purchased, and +for which she was now being dunned by her creditors. +Never had he had such a run of bad luck. During the +great week of the <i>Fiesta</i> he had tried everything from +roulette to monte, but fortune's wheel had turned steadily +against him. It was truly the devil's own luck +and no mistake. If only the luck would turn, he +would quit the game of chance forever—cast off +the ungrateful Dolores, and.... He drew a much-worn +pack of cards from his breast pocket and began +cutting them with a dexterity acquired through long +years of practice.</p> + +<p>Like all of his race, and the majority of mankind for +that matter, he was intensely superstitious. Three times +in succession he cut and dealt the cards, and three times<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 190]</a></span> +the ace of hearts, the luckiest card in the pack, turned +face upwards on the bench.</p> + +<p>"<i>Santa Maria!</i> 'tis a miracle—the luck has changed +at last!" he muttered excitedly, as with dilated eyes and +trembling hands he gathered up the cards and replaced +them carefully in his pocket. His dream of the <i>hacienda</i> +and the fair Rosita might yet come true. But +how? The cards were too fickle to trust for long. Just +then the rich, deep voice of Chiquita fell upon his ears. +Without knowing why, yet intuitively he seemed to connect +her with the turn in his fortune—and it set him +thinking.</p> + +<p>Ever since the <i>Fiesta</i>, curiosity had prompted him to +learn something concerning Chiquita's motive for dancing; +and whenever the opportunity presented itself, he +had shadowed her. His patience was soon rewarded +by learning that she made frequent visits to the Indian +<i>pueblo</i>, Onava, often riding there in the late evening +under cover of the dusk. On one occasion he saw an +Indian ride forth from the village and meet her on the +plain where she awaited him. They engaged in long +and earnest conversation, at the end of which he fancied +he saw Chiquita draw nearer to her companion and +hand him something, and then the darkness shut them +from view. He did not dare follow her farther or enter +the village, for fear of attracting suspicion to himself; +but surely this was a clew to something, to the mystery, +perhaps.</p> + +<p>At this juncture, Juan rolled a fresh <i>cigarillo</i> as he +listened to the voices of the women, his eyes resting on +Captain Forest's horse in the corral beyond the garden.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 191]</a></span> +The animal fascinated him; never had he laid eyes on +such a superb creature. Each day he visited the corral +for a look at him, and each time the Chestnut would rush +at him with ears laid flat on his neck and mouth wide +open, displaying his formidable teeth.</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba!</i> what an animal to stock a <i>rancho</i> with, +if only—" Juan sighed, and for some moments +roundly cursed the past run of cards. The afternoon +sun was pleasantly warm, and the shade sleep inviting. +He threw the burnt end of his <i>cigarillo</i> on the ground, +and, drawing up his feet, stretched himself at full length +on the bench—the upper half of his fox-like face appearing +just above the edge of his <i>zerape</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Dios!</i> was it not better to sleep and even dream bad +dreams, than waking, meditate upon the misfortunes of +life?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Chiquita entered the garden, she had just +returned from an Indian Mission School for +girls, some ten miles distant from Santa Fé, whither +she rode once a week to instruct its pupils in the art of +blanket and basket weaving; an art which she had practiced +from her earliest days.</p> + +<p>Her affair with Don Felipe was bad enough, and +though she had been generally condemned for it, her +woman's prerogative was recognized nevertheless. But +for a lady, and ward of a priest, to dance in public and +for money, was a thing unheard of; and gossip was fast +giving her an unenviable reputation. This latest escapade, +as it was generally termed, had nearly cost her her +position in the school. When, however, it was taken +into consideration that her services were gratuitous and +that it would be impossible to replace her by any one +else half as competent, the directors of the institution +discreetly demurred, deciding that it would be better to +humor the caprices of this fair barbarian who ruled supreme +in her department.</p> + +<p>The greeting which took place between her and +Blanch was cordial enough to all outward appearances. +Considering the tension and delicacy of the situation, the +volcanic nature of the two and the intense longing of +each to fly at the other and settle their differences then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 193]</a></span> +and there, the self-control of the two was commendable +in the extreme.</p> + +<p>"Do you ride much, Señorita?" asked Blanch, eyeing +critically her riding-skirt and wondering how it was +that such an antiquated cut could sit her so well.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I could live without a horse," replied +Chiquita. "I often think I must have been born on +one; at least, I can't remember the day when I first +learned to ride. It was good to get back here after my +six years at school for the sake of riding, if for nothing +else. I don't believe either of you know what the real +joys of riding are," she went on, pulling the glove from +her right hand and sipping the chocolate which Bessie +had handed her.</p> + +<p>"Not until one has passed weeks and months in the +saddle at a time does one thoroughly realize what riding +means, or appreciate the worth and companionship of a +horse." She paused, and a look of longing came into +her large, lustrous eyes, as the memory of her early life +came back to her, when she, with her people, roamed +free through the land.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> but I have been unhappy ever since you +came, Señorita," she resumed, changing the subject abruptly +and addressing Blanch. "The knowledge that +you are constantly near him almost drives me mad at +times. And your dresses—they haunt me in my +dreams! I never before imagined that dress was of so +much importance in this world." She was so outspoken +and withal so natural, that both Blanch and Bessie +burst into a peal of good-natured laughter in which +Chiquita joined.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We women," she continued, taking another sip of +chocolate, "have nothing to fall back upon except our +old antiquated Spanish costumes—you can imagine +what we would look like in the modern clothes we procured +here. I have never been placed in such a ridiculous +position before, and if I only knew that you +were as miserable as I am, I think I might begin to +enjoy the humor of the situation." Again all three +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Ah, love, what a thing is love!" she sighed, placing +her slender gloved hand over her heart. "It makes one +as miserable as it does happy." Then suddenly turning +to Blanch, she asked: "Have you always dressed like +that?"</p> + +<p>"I have always tried to live up to a certain standard," +replied Blanch.</p> + +<p>"And how long have you known him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! as long as I can remember—twenty years, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Twenty years, and always looked like that and not +married to him? Sweet Mother of God!" she cried in +the quaintest tone imaginable, sinking back in her chair. +"Had I known him as many weeks I had either married +him or killed myself!"</p> + +<p>"Nobody takes love so seriously as that!" laughed +Blanch.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you have never loved him!" she said, after a +short silence.</p> + +<p>"Why do you suppose I am here?" returned Blanch.</p> + +<p>"Then how could you have lived near him all these +years without marrying him?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was a mistake, I admit," answered Blanch good-humoredly. +"But you must understand that we don't +regard love in quite the same light as you do. We don't +make a great fuss about it and talk of killing ourselves, +and that sort of thing. We get married when we find it +convenient."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, I know," answered Chiquita, "but I'm +sure you can never be as much to him as I can. What +have you endured, what have you suffered to make you +feel and realize the full significance of love?"</p> + +<p>"Do you imagine," asked Blanch in surprise, "that +there is any less of the woman in me because I have been +spared the things which you perhaps have been forced to +endure, or that one must first suffer before one is capable +of loving?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't think that, for love is a thing like sleep, +it comes upon us unawares. But it seems to me I am +better fitted for him than you are; that my love, tempered +by my life's experience, must be fuller and deeper +and richer than that which you have to offer him. +What," she continued, "do you really know of life? +Not the social side of it, of which your life has been so +full, but life as it really is? Were you born under the +open heavens? Have you slept on the hard, cold +ground, exposed to the weather, or nearly perished of +hunger and thirst? Could you feed and clothe yourself +from the naked earth without the assistance of others? +Have you seen men, women and children starve, or +ruthlessly struck down by your side, or nursed them +through some terrible scourge like the smallpox?</p> + +<p>"All your life you have been protected and cared for,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 196]</a></span> +while all my life I have been obliged to face the reality +of things, forced to work, to procure the simple necessities +of life. I have carried wood and water, cooked, and +fed and clothed myself and others with the materials +provided by my own hands. And yet, when I look back +upon my life, I would not surrender one hour of the true +happiness the day's work brought with it could I thereby +have escaped the suffering and bitterness it often entailed. +Barren though my life may appear from your +point of view, I know it to be infinitely rich in comparison +to yours, for, as I have said, you have never known +what life really means—never experienced its hardships, +never beheld the bright face of danger, nor tasted +the joys of the great free life in the open, the simple +daily life devoid of the cares of civilized men, without +which the life of a man can never be complete, be he +what he may.</p> + +<p>"'Where the foot rests, that is home,' is a saying +among my people; a truth, that so far as my experience +goes, has never been gainsaid."</p> + +<p>In spite of themselves and the fact that they could not +wholly comprehend the weight and significance of her +words, they were fascinated by her discourse, emphasized +and illustrated as it was by the dramatic intensity +of her gestures and expression.</p> + +<p>"Señorita," said Blanch at last, breaking the silence +that ensued, "I believe you are still at heart the savage, +or better, the nomad you were when you lived in the wilderness."</p> + +<p>"When I lived in the Garden of Eden, in God's world, +not man's, is what you mean," she replied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you never have a desire to return to it?" asked +Bessie.</p> + +<p>"The old days can never be effaced," answered Chiquita. +"My thoughts continually revert to them when, +as a little girl, I used to set meat and drink before my +father and his guests as they sat in a circle about the +fire in the center of his lodge or in our house and smoked +the long red clay pipes, or, after the crops were harvested, +roamed through the land during the hunting +season; sometimes afoot, at other times in canoes or on +horseback. There are times when such an insatiable +longing for the old life seizes me that I become almost +unmanageable. I long to throw myself down in the open—lie +close in the embrace of Mother Earth, and breathe +the smoke of the camp-fire. My unrest is like that of +the birds when the spell of the spring and the autumn +comes upon them and the migratory instinct seizes them, +or like that of the great herds of reindeer in the North +which travel each year to the sea to drink of its salty +waters, and which, if prevented, die."</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Bessie to Blanch a little later, +when they were alone in their room, "she's fascinating +when she talks like that."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's just where the danger lies," answered +Blanch. "Think of what might happen if she starts +talking like that to Jack—it's just what he's waiting +to hear."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Juan</span> must have fallen asleep. As he lay stretched +upon the bench, he was awakened suddenly by the +sound of vehement, passionate words.</p> + +<p>Peering cautiously through the bushes, he beheld Chiquita +and Don Felipe standing facing one another in +the same spot where the three women had been but a +short time before. He was not near enough to overhear +the conversation, but judging from the vehemence of +their gestures and high-pitched voices, he rightly conjectured +that their meeting was anything but an amicable +one.</p> + +<p>On seeing Chiquita with Blanch and Bessie, Don +Felipe had discreetly refrained from joining them as he +had promised; he would make his apologies to them in +the evening. The opportunity for which he had been +waiting since his return had come—he must see Chiquita +alone. So he withdrew to a far corner of the garden, +where he could observe the women without being +seen, and when Blanch and Bessie returned to the house, +he intercepted her. Although she had hourly expected +to meet him ever since she had been apprised of his return, +his appearance was so sudden she was taken unawares. +She had reseated herself after Blanch and Bessie +left and sat leaning with one elbow on the table and +her head resting in her hand, lost in thought. She did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 199]</a></span> +not hear his approach from behind, but at the first +sound of his voice she started to her feet, turning like a +flash and facing him. Her movement was so sudden and +unexpected that he too was taken aback.</p> + +<p>"You evidently did not expect to see me this afternoon," +he began with some hesitancy.</p> + +<p>"I did not," she replied coldly. "I should have +thought," she continued, looking him full in the eyes, +"that the manhood in you would have forever prevented +your return." Felipe winced under her words. A +dark flush of anger suffused his face, and his lips quivered +in an effort to frame the hot words he was about to +utter in reply, but he checked himself.</p> + +<p>"One is sometimes forced to follow the bidding of an +instinct or desire even against one's will," he said, controlling +himself with difficulty. She drew her glove on +her right hand without replying and took a step in the +direction of the <i>patio</i>, as though to depart.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita!" he exclaimed, stepping quickly in front +of her and barring her way, "I have tried my best to +remain away, but in spite of myself, I've been drawn irresistibly +back to you—I could not help it. Besides," +he added, "you must realize what it costs me."</p> + +<p>"Better had you spared yourself the humiliation, Don +Felipe," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Chiquita, to what I have to say!"</p> + +<p>"Spare yourself the pain, Don Felipe Ramirez. +Nothing you can say can alter my attitude toward +you," she interrupted.</p> + +<p>"You must hear what I have to say!" he cried passionately, +without heeding her impatience. "Ever since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 200]</a></span> +we parted, I have done nothing but travel, travel, over +the face of the earth, in the vain hope of forgetting you. +And if, during that time, I have committed excesses, it +was the love of you that drove me to it in order that I +might efface you from my memory forever. But, as you +see, I cannot do it, and—I have come back again." +It was easy to read the agony in his heart, divine the +suffering which his humiliation caused him, and yet his +words did not move her; not an atom of pity did they +arouse within her, knowing as she did the arrogant, selfish +being that he was.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita, I love you still!" he burst forth.</p> + +<p>"How dare you speak of love to me?" she cried. +"Have you forgotten Pepita Delaguerra, whom you +ruined, for whose death you are responsible? You +laughed and went on your way; she was only a flower to +be broken and tossed aside. Well, I've not forgotten +the day on which I found her alone and deserted, nor +the hour of her death."</p> + +<p>"Chiquita," he interrupted, "if suffering can atone +for that misdeed—"</p> + +<p>"Ah! not so fast, Don Felipe Ramirez," she answered, +cutting him short. "Let us understand one another +once and for all! She forgave you with her dying +breath, but as I knelt over her dead body, I vowed that +if ever you crossed my path and made advances to me +that, as sure as there's a God in heaven, I would encourage +you, lead you on until you were mad, and then fling +you from me like the dog that you are in order that you, +too, might learn what it is to live without the one you +love!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>Had she spat in his face, she could not have aroused +the tiger in him more effectually.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita!" he cried, gasping, his face livid with +rage, "you're a devil!"</p> + +<p>"No, I'm only a woman who had the courage to +avenge another woman's wrong," she answered quietly. +"Don't imagine that a wrong committed can ever be +atoned for. It may be condoned by the world, or even +forgiven by the one who was wronged, but that is all; +the deed stands forever written against one." She +watched him as he paced back and forth with clenched +hands and teeth, his face ashen, his lips quivering, his +whole being convulsed with emotion and remorse. For +some minutes he was quite unable to speak, the longing +to scream and seize her by the throat and throttle her +was so overpowering.</p> + +<p>"I understand," he said at length, in the calmest tone +he could command, "you love Captain Forest; you +think to marry him."</p> + +<p>"That's no concern of yours!" she retorted, hotly.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Chiquita," he said, fiercely. "The cold +blood that flows in his veins can never satisfy the warm +passion of the South—a woman of your nature. I am +richer than he is; I can strew your path with gold. I +will make amends for the past; I was young, then. My +one desire in life will be to fulfill your slightest wish, to +live for your happiness only. Any sacrifice you name, +I will make. I will make over my entire fortune to you +if you will consent to our marriage."</p> + +<p>"It makes me sick to hear you talk of love and marriage," +she answered. "Your idea of love is solely that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 202]</a></span> +of possession. What sort of love could one like you +give me in comparison to his?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you do love him! But you will never marry +him," he retorted furiously. "If I do not possess you, +no one else shall!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! you will kill me, perhaps?" she said, divining +his thought. "Well, then, be it so! What greater felicity +could there be for me than to die in the knowledge +that he loves me—perhaps in his arms?" She drew +back a pace and placing both hands on her breast, said: +"Strike, Don Felipe, when and where the moment +pleases you best!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! ha!" he laughed. "How could you take +me to be so simple, so foolish? Oh, no, Señorita, not until +the hour that you have exchanged vows and, intoxicated +by love's first kiss, he presses you to his heart, +then—then, Señorita, will I lay him dead at your feet +in order that you also may realize what it is to live without +the one you love," he said with a sneer, a faint smile +wreathing his cruel lips as he watched the effect his +words had upon her. There was a malicious gleam of +exultation in his eyes as he saw her draw herself together +suddenly and shudder as though struck by a +knife.</p> + +<p>"What say you to that, Señorita?" and he laughed +in her face.</p> + +<p>"What, dead at my feet? Such a one as you come +between me and my happiness?" The rich red bronze +of her face faded to a livid hue, almost white in +its intensity. A strange, terrible light came into her +eyes and, as she glided close up to him, he recoiled from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 203]</a></span> +her in terror as though from a panther about to spring. +Don Felipe had never stood so near to death before. +She halted and raised her right hand as if to strike him +across the face, then paused and lowered it.</p> + +<p>"Don Felipe Ramirez," she hissed in an almost inaudible +voice, "if you so much as harm a hair of his +head, I'll tear you limb from limb!"</p> + +<p>"Bah!" he replied, recovering his equilibrium. "Do +you think I fear a woman?"</p> + +<p>"Don Felipe," she began slowly, controlling with effort +the violent emotions that swept over her, "it is no +idle boast if I remind you that no one in Chihuahua +shoots better than I do."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" he laughed, snapping his fingers. "You +think to kill me?"</p> + +<p>"And if I did," she replied slowly, her voice vibrant +with passion, "you would not be the first man I have +killed, Don Felipe Ramirez. And what's more, if it +comes to a question of you or him, I'll kill you as I +would a snake or sage-rabbit." He started. He began +to see her in a new light. With her subtle wit, her grace +and alluring beauty, she was far more dangerous than +a man; but he was not intimidated. Craven though his +soul might be, he could not be accused of cowardice in +the face of danger. Besides, what had he to live for? +Better be dead than forced to live without her.</p> + +<p>"Hearken, Don Felipe Ramirez," she continued +calmly, her eyes riveted on his face. "I have ridden +many times in battle by the side of my father before his +death. The last time came very near being my end; +it was when the Government sent troops against my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 204]</a></span> +people, and we were surrounded in the hills. That day +my horse was killed under me twice. All day long we +fought and charged the enemy's lines, but to no avail—we +could not break them. The young officer in command +of the Government's troops not only outgeneraled +all our maneuvers, but his life seemed charmed, for, +fire at him as often as we liked, we could not hit him. +Finally realizing that there was no hope of escape so +long as he remained in command, I rode forth alone between +the lines and challenged him to single combat. +He accepted the challenge, but when he drew near and +saw that I was a woman, he refused to fight, for he was +gallant as he was brave. But I was too quick for him; +I forced him to fight. His bullet went through my +shoulder, mine through his heart." She paused for an +instant, then resumed. "So, just as we that day passed +over that brave young officer's body, so shall I pass over +yours, Don Felipe Ramirez, if you persist in standing +in my way."</p> + +<p>For the first time he saw her in her true light—the +Amazon, the woman who had been trained to fight as men +fight, and who had fought shoulder to shoulder with men. +He was silent. Never had she appeared so beautiful, so +terrible, so alluring and irresistible as during her recital. +The hour had come; the circle of death had +closed about them, and he knew now for a certainty +that it meant either his life or hers; that there was no +longer any hope of a reconciliation, no longer room for +them both in this life.</p> + +<p>"Do you imagine that I fear the threats of a +woman?" he said at last, in the same sneering tone as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 205]</a></span> +before, in which she, too, read his unmistakable answer.</p> + +<p>"You have been warned," she answered quietly, and +giving him a last searching look, she turned and left him +abruptly. Had ever mortal drunk deeper of the cup +of humiliation than he? The sound of her footsteps +and tinkle of her spurs died away along the pathway as +she disappeared around the corner of the house. He +noted that she carried herself as erect as ever; every +movement bespoke the unconquerable pride of her race. +God! how he hated her! What would he not give to +break that pride—that pride which seemed to enable +her to surmount every obstacle. It was not enough +to kill Captain Forest. No, she must be broken completely, +humiliated in the eyes of the world, humbled to +the dust as he had been humbled; nothing short of that +could satisfy him now. But how, how was her ruin to +be accomplished? he asked himself as he paced back and +forth, almost suffocating with rage. Suddenly an idea +flashed through his mind, causing him to stop short.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he cried aloud, "why did she dance; why +has she concealed her motive so carefully from the +world? It must be the clew to some mystery in her +life! God! if I could but learn the reason—"</p> + +<p>"What would Don Felipe Ramirez give to know?" +came a voice from behind him, causing him to start and +turn around just in time to see Juan emerge from the +lilac bushes.</p> + +<p>"Juan Ramon!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Aye, <i>Caballero</i>!" replied Juan lightly, raising his +<i>sombrero</i> as he advanced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What do you know?" asked Felipe, half contemptuously, +regarding him with keen, searching eyes.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about what I know; leave that to me +for the present," answered Juan, his peculiarly cold +smile lighting up his face. "But what will you give to +know, Don Felipe Ramirez?" he continued, with the +keen air of the tradesman who beholds a sure customer +before him and is determined to drive a sharp bargain.</p> + +<p>"What will I give?" repeated Felipe, slowly, relapsing +into thought. For some time he was silent, during +which he regarded Juan's features intently, as if to +assure himself of the latter's good faith. Then suddenly +and impetuously he cried: "I'll tell you, Juan +Ramon! I'll give you gold enough to keep you drunk +and your mistress clothed in silks and satins for the rest +of your days! Aye, the finest pair of horses in all Mexico +shall draw your carriage, and you shall have money +to gamble."</p> + +<p>"Then have patience for but a little while longer, +Don Felipe Ramirez," replied Juan, rubbing the palms +of his long, slim hands together, as though he already +felt the magic touch of the gold and heard its musical +clink in his ears.</p> + +<p>"I hear that fortune has played you false of late, +Juan Ramon," said Felipe.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the very devil, Señor!" answered Juan with +an oath.</p> + +<p>"Here, take this," continued Felipe, handing him a +roll of bank notes which he drew from his pocket. +"You shall have as many men and horses to assist you +in the work as you want," he added.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Horses I will need, but no men, Don Felipe," replied +Juan, jubilant over the return of fortune. The +bargain was better than he had anticipated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Dick Yankton</span> had taken on a new lease of +life. He no longer walked—he flew. Like +Hermes of old his feet seemed to have become suddenly +endowed with wings, with the result that his head was +coming into dangerous proximity to the clouds.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios!</i> what had come over Señor Dick, who was on +the best of terms with every man, woman and child and +dog in Santa Fé?" So potent was the draught which +he had imbibed, that he appeared to have been stricken +suddenly with blindness and the loss of memory at one +and the same instant. The salutations of his friends +and acquaintances who greeted him when he walked +abroad were left unnoticed; his gaze fixed dreamily on +space before him. What had happened? Had he +come into possession of a new mine, or was he engaged in +locating one through means of that psychic sense or inner +vision of the seer which he seemed to possess? Had +the real cause of his perturbation been guessed—that +a woman's smile had suddenly opened heaven's gates to +him, a ripple of laughter would have gone the rounds of +Santa Fé. The mere suggestion that the Señor Dick +could be seriously in love was too absurd; his friends +were too well acquainted with the flirtatious side of his +nature ever to credit such a possibility. And yet, when +Anita, his Indian housekeeper and wife of his overseer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 209]</a></span> +and general factotum, Concho, saw the amazing quantities +of flowers, still wet with the morning's dew, that +were daily transported to the <i>Posada</i>, her suspicions +became aroused. She began to question Concho concerning +them, and when he finally admitted that a woman +was the recipient of them, she raised her eyebrows with +the knowing look of a woman who has guessed the +truth.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," she answered quietly, a peculiar smile +illumining her dark countenance as she seated herself in +the doorway of the refectory which opened on the <i>patio</i>, +and disposed herself comfortably, preparatory to the +interesting bit of gossip which she intended to screw +out of her husband.</p> + +<p>She was of medium height, of the spare, slender type, +and must have been attractive in her youth, for even +now, in spite of middle age, she was comely to look +upon. She wore a red rose in her black hair, while a +partially drooping eyelid gave a piquant, coquettish +expression to her face.</p> + +<p>"Holy Virgin! but this is interesting!" she went on +after a pause. "The Señor in love, really in love!" +and she laughed quietly to herself, while she took a +pinch of tobacco and a leaf of brown paper from the +pocket of her apron and began rolling a cigarette.</p> + +<p>"Bah!" said Concho, accompanying the exclamation +with a shrug of the shoulders. "You women are always +imagining things which do not exist. Have we not often +seen the Señor like this before? Has he not completely +spoiled the Señoritas of the town with his flowers? He's +bored. He's trying to amuse himself, that's all."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And didst thou not say," continued Anita, without +heeding his remarks, regarding him out of the corners +of her eyes while lighting her cigarette, "that she is +not quite so tall as the other one, but equally beautiful +in her way; that she is pink and white at one and the +same moment, just like a half-blown rose, and soft and +satiny as the down on a swan's neck?"</p> + +<p>"It is all true, Anita <i>mia</i>, she is even that and +more!" responded Concho with warmth. "She is worth +a journey to the <i>Posada</i> to see, but then, what is +that—what are a few wisps of flowers?"</p> + +<p>"Wisps? Armfuls, thou meanest, Concho! When +did the Señor ever lavish so many flowers upon one +woman before? He told me they were for the hospital," +she chuckled, "but I have always been able to tell +whether the Señor was speaking the truth or not. Thou +knowest the way he has of saying the opposite to that +which he means," and she blew a ring of smoke into the +still air and watched it as it floated upwards.</p> + +<p>"Concho," she said after some moments' reflection, +"thou art a fool! I always said thou wert, and now I +know it. The hospital—bah! How could he have +ever thought me so simple?" she exclaimed in a tone of +mingled sarcasm and disgust. "I tell thee, Concho, all +women are the same either on this side of the world or +the other. The one thou hast just described to me is +the most dangerous of all women for a man like the +Señor to meet. That is, if she is clever," she added. +"But have we not all heard how clever and beautiful +the <!-- TN: italics added --><i>Americana</i> Señoritas are?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, there is nothing to compare with them in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 211]</a></span> +whole land, with the exception of the Chiquita, of +course," replied Concho.</p> + +<p>"Exactly; just what I have been saying, Concho +<i>mio</i>," Anita went on, surveying her spouse with a look +of pitying superiority. "Why, only yesterday, when +he was here, I knew instantly by his air of distraction +that something unusual had happened. Never has he +been so particular before. He went all over the place, +inspecting everything to the minutest detail, just like +a woman. Nothing pleased him; and when he came to +the flowers, which everybody knows are the finest in all +Chihuahua, he declared they were not fit for a dog to +sniff at, and rated the gardeners soundly for their negligence.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she sighed, the expression of her countenance +softening, "the place needs a mistress badly—it +is the one thing it lacks. There was a time when I +hoped it might be the Chiquita, but since fate has ordained +that it should be otherwise, let us pray that it +may be this one. In fact," she exclaimed, looking up +and emphasizing her words, "from what thou hast told +me of her, I know it will be she or none, and may heaven +grant that it please the Saints either to give her to him +or protect him from her, for the Señor is a man who +can really love but once. Take a woman's word for it, +Concho, these are the true symptoms of love." Having +delivered herself thus forcibly, she tossed aside the +end of her cigarette and rose from the doorsill.</p> + +<p>"Thou wert always a fool, Concho," she added, regarding +him compassionately with a smile and patting +him on the cheek. Then turning, she disappeared in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 212]</a></span> +house, leaving Concho to marvel at her astuteness, a +thing he had never suspected.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the subject under discussion was pacing +the floor of his room in the <i>Posada</i> like a caged lion. +For one whole week Bessie Van Ashton had seemingly +thrown wide the portals of her heart and bade him enter, +a privilege of which he was not slow to avail himself. +Never had woman flirted to better advantage or +succeeded more effectually in turning a man's head in +so short a time as had this distracting, fair-haired +witch. The only regret experienced by Mr. Yankton +during these hours of unalloyed happiness, was the +thought of the days he had lost—days which might +have been spent in her society had he only known. How +blind he had been not to have recognized her the instant +he had set eyes on her, instead of compelling the Almighty +to remind him that she was the woman that had +been reserved for him by dropping her down out of a +clear sky into his arms! How stupid of him, and how +patient Providence was with some of us at times!</p> + +<p>During the few short days which followed that happy +accident—days that seemed like so many swift, fleeting +seconds, Dick floated on a summer sea whose surface +was unmarred by shadow or ripple. All the world had +changed. He felt as though he had only just begun +to live, and he spun a golden web of fancies out of the +reality of things which, for one so deeply versed in the +game of life, was a marvel of beauty, fair as a poet's +dream, yet more substantial. And why not? Had not +his life been one replete with adventure and romance +from the cradle? His meeting with Bessie was no more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 213]</a></span> +remarkable than many other things that had occurred +during his lifetime. It was now perfectly clear to him +why he had built the <i>hacienda</i> in the face of adverse +judgment. It was for her, of course. A place in which +to enshrine and worship her during the years to come; +for what else could it be?</p> + +<p>That insane notion of a white-haired patriarch enjoying +the solitude of the place was too absurd—a morbid +fancy born of loneliness and melancholy. The walk +back to the <i>Posada</i> on the day of their startling encounter +and the hours spent in Bessie's society since +then—strolling and chatting in the garden, or going +for long rides over the plains together, had convinced +him it was not intended that man should live alone. +He had taken good care that she should learn nothing +of the existence of the <i>hacienda</i> or of his wealth, and as +little as possible concerning himself, except that he was +an agreeable young man with fair prospects; and thus +far, thanks to the Captain's silence and her ignorance +of Spanish, he had succeeded admirably.</p> + +<p>Fair prospects! The secret was almost too good to +keep, and he laughed softly to himself as he mused upon +it. It was truly an inspiration; just the sort of thing +to hand out to one of Newport's smart-set. Although +he had not yet proposed to her, he regarded their marriage +as a foregone conclusion; an event of the near +future. She certainly had led him to infer as much, +and the plan he had conceived regarding it was highly +ingenious—one worthy of his fertile imagination. Directly +they were married, they would spend the first +fortnight of their honeymoon camping in the mountains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 214]</a></span> +in a style worthy of a grand Mogul, after which he +would suggest that they pass the night at a near-by +<i>rancho</i> belonging to a friend, and in this wise introduce +her to her future home.</p> + +<p>The rapture of the picture fairly dazzled him, and he +lay awake whole nights contemplating it—the <i>patio</i> +palely illumined by the moonlight, the murmur of the +fountain in its center, the perfume of flowers, the melodious +voices of the dark-skinned Indian attendants, bearing +flaming torches, and chanting the time-honored welcome +to their new mistress, and her insistent demands to +be introduced to their host; and then the delightful dénouement, +the surprise she must experience when the +truth finally dawned upon her. Truly poet never +dreamed a fairer dream. It had taken him a whole +week to conceive the idea in detail, and on the morning +of the seventh day on which he had decided to ask her +to become his wife, he stood with the horses before the +<i>Posada</i> expectantly awaiting her appearance to take the +ride they had agreed upon the night before. At the end +of an hour, during which he fretted over the undue delay +with the same impatience as did the horses, Rosita +appeared and informed him that the Señorita Van Ashton +would not ride that morning; she was not feeling +well. A wild alarm seized him. The thought that she +might have been stricken suddenly with some serious illness, +quite unnerved him for the moment. "<i>Caramba!</i>" +he cried, quite forgetting his English. "What has +happened? Is it serious? Is anything being done?" +But all inquiries concerning the actual state of the +Señorita's health proving fruitless, he was left to pass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 215]</a></span> +the remainder of the day wandering aimlessly about +the garden in the vain hope of finding something to +divert his mind. Had he been in possession of his usual +calm, he might have noticed the amused expression on +Rosita's face, but the extent of one's concern being the +measure of one's love for a person, he saw only the +vivid mental picture of his consuming passion, Bessie, +suffering Bessie!</p> + +<p>It was the first jarring note in that state of uninterrupted +bliss which he had been enjoying, and as the +day wore painfully on he began to realize how much +she had become to him. He was haunted by misgivings, +and finally, late in the afternoon, having convinced +himself that he had exhausted the resources of the garden, +he decided to pass the time until the dinner hour +upon the veranda on the other side of the house. +Thither he repaired, but oddly enough and greatly to +his astonishment, as he stepped out upon the veranda, +he came face to face with Miss Van Ashton returning +from a walk in the town. She was charmingly gowned +in a soft, clinging creation of pale lavender and white +lace, with long white suède gloves and low lavender +shoes and silk stockings, an inch or so of which she +flashed before his eyes, proclaiming the society belle's +prerogative. She carried a parasol of the same color +and material as her dress, while her head was crowned +with a sweeping, rakishly plumed Rembrandtesque hat +worn at a killing angle. The gold in her hair and the +exquisite pink and white of her throat and cheeks +blended perfectly with a color scheme, the attractiveness +of which was greatly enhanced by her natural charm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 216]</a></span> +and the delicate scent of lavender and rose leaves which +emanated from her person, the combined effects of +which were not lost upon an over-wrought imagination.</p> + +<p>To use the current vernacular of the times, so familiar +to the world in which she moved, Miss Van Ashton's +appearance was decidedly fetching, and strongly suggestive +of the things of which poets, in their madness, +are continually harping—flower gardens flooded with +moonlight and the song of nightingales. Although not +modeled on heroic lines, she nevertheless possessed the +qualifications which most men seek in women and therefore +became quite as formidable as Delilah when she +chose to assert herself. To say that Mr. Yankton was +dazzled but mildly expresses his feelings; he was ravished, +though in no mood for banter. Had their meeting +occurred under more auspicious circumstances, he +undoubtedly would have complimented her on her charming +appearance; but for one who had been eating his +heart out during eight consecutive hours solely on her +account, it was hardly to be expected. The sight of +her, though a relief to his mind, gave rise to thoughts +the nature of which he found it difficult to conceal.</p> + +<p>"What!" he cried, furious and aghast, scarcely +believing his eyes as the truth slowly began to dawn +upon him. "They told me you were ill—that you +couldn't appear to-day!"</p> + +<p>"Ill? How very strange!" she answered in feigned +surprise, with a far away, vacant look in her eyes, as +though she had just met him for the first time, rendering +him quite speechless. "Really, Mr. Yankton," she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 217]</a></span> +continued in the coldest, most distant manner she could +command, "I never felt better in my life!" And +without allowing him time to catch his breath, she +passed by him and slammed the door in his face, from +the other side of which he fancied he heard her silvery, +rippling laughter, the nature of which sounded suspiciously +like a titter.</p> + +<p>Woman never delivered a more crushing blow. In +that instant Mr. Yankton saw more stars than the +firmament contains. It was like being thrown suddenly +into a river on a cold morning. Miss Van Ashton's +methods might be regarded as somewhat harsh by certain +persons, but realizing that heroic measures were +the only cure for the dangerous distemper that threatened +her peace of mind, she had acted without hesitancy. +Besides, was she not in a measure justified in wishing +to even up their scores?</p> + +<p>Oh, the fickleness of woman! How cleverly she had +deceived him, and what an ass he had been! She had +been playing with him all the while, and as he paced +the floor, revolving what course to pursue, he wondered +how he could have been so simple. True, she was different +from any woman he had ever met, but dazed +though he was by her sudden change of front, he was +not disheartened. On the contrary, she had become +more attractive than ever. His blood fairly boiled at +the thought of his defeat, but he would profit by the +experience—change his tactics completely. The +more she avoided him, the more persistent he would become. +If she did not see him, she would be kept a prisoner +in the house. He would give her no peace, day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 218]</a></span> +or night. He would dog her footsteps, confront her +at every turn, pursue her with the most reckless and +relentless ardor and utter disregard of what the world +might think; treat her as he would an unbroken horse—give +her no rest, but keep her on the jump until +he had worn her out, and then close with her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> situation was becoming intolerable. Something +must be done and done at once to clear the +atmosphere. Captain Forest's apparent indifference to +all things, including herself, aroused Blanch to a pitch +of exasperation which might best be likened to that of +a high-strung, thoroughbred horse that has been ignominiously +hitched to a plow and compelled to drag it. +At the end of a week he either drops dead in the furrow +or becomes a broken-spirited hack for the rest of +his days.</p> + +<p>Nothing short of love or hatred could satisfy her. +It was a new experience. Never had she suffered such +ignominy. It was like being coerced. One could respect +an enemy, but this exasperating indifference was +unendurable. The more she thought of it, the more convinced +she became, that it was just such an antagonistic +attitude which had prompted the beautiful, though +wicked Borgia, to administer certain love potions to +numerous unappreciative gallants. Deliberate, cold-blooded +murder committed under such extenuating circumstances +began to appear more in the light of justice +than of crime.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest offered an entirely new front. Not +that he had changed so much, she knew better than +that, but she marveled at his self-control. The dash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 220]</a></span> +and spirit of the soldier, which every one admired so +much in him, had given way to the most insulting, good-humored +complacency; the frame of mind one looks for +in an aged sinner whose terror of an uncertain future +has driven him to prepare for heaven. She knew well +enough that his attitude was assumed for a purpose +only, until he had made up his mind what to do; waiting +to make up his mind as to which of them, she or +Chiquita, was preferable. This, of course, was merely +a jealous supposition on her part.</p> + +<p>She had hoped to arouse his jealousy, or, failing in +that, at least his enthusiasm. Thus far she had failed +to accomplish either and she could not understand it. +Surely he was flesh and blood like other men, yet nothing +seemed to move him. He appeared like one at +peace with all the world, calm and serene as a summer's +day, and smoked incessantly. She could endure it no +longer. The depression from which she suffered was +crushing her slowly and irresistibly to earth. She was +at her wits' end to know what to do to relieve the tension, +until she finally hit upon the idea of giving an +old-fashioned Spanish <i>fandango</i>—a <i>fiesta</i>.</p> + +<p>The thought was a happy one. It was not only one +of those things she had always wanted to see, but it +would be a break—something to relieve the strain of +her daily existence; she pursuing, he avoiding her. +The novelty of the scene—the bright, gay costumes of +the Mexicans, music and twinkling lights, dancing and +wine and laughter and song, and the stars overhead, +mellowed by the light of the full moon, must infuse +new life into them all—recall memories of other days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 221]</a></span> +to him. With such a setting, a woman of her beauty, +refinement and attraction, and an adept at the game of +flattery and intrigue, must shine with new luster—become +doubly dangerous and irresistible to a man. +Though this was her chief motive for giving the <i>fiesta</i>, +she had still another in view.</p> + +<p>The fame of Chiquita's dancing had naturally aroused +her curiosity. She would ask her to dance; not that +she believed the half of what she heard concerning it, +but it would be a satisfaction to see it. Besides, she had +a certain motive of her own for so doing which she +imparted to no one; the subtlest of a woman's thoughts +which only the intuition of a woman could have +prompted. She laughed to herself at the thought +which invariably aroused within her a feeling akin to +triumph. Why had she not thought of it before? +She knew the Captain had already seen her dance, but +then that was before he knew who she was. It had +been in a theater, and his enthusiasm must have been +prompted in a measure by that of the audience about +him. The emotion of a large assembly was always contagious—sweeping +the individual along with it. +Whereas, in private, her dancing, lacking the glamour +and artificiality of the stage, would be a very different +thing. It would appear in a more realistic, commonplace +light. Any faults which the atmosphere of the +stage might have concealed would immediately become +apparent in the light of natural surroundings and her +performance sink to the level of the commonplace.</p> + +<p>Her dancing could only be amateurish at its best, for +where could she possibly have learned to dance?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 222]</a></span> +What instruction could she, living in this out-of-the-way +corner of the world, have received in the art? +As for local enthusiasm, it counted for little—amateurs +were always so popular at home. And after all +was said, what did the achievements of the great dancers +really amount to? Their creations were not ranked +with those of other artistic achievements. In fact, +dancing could scarcely be ranked with the legitimate +branches of art at all. At its best, it was only a pastime; +something to amuse. This, of course, was the +light in which she viewed one of the greatest arts +which few ever succeed in mastering. Possibly because +the world has really seen no dancing to speak of since +the days of the great Taglioni, until the Pavlowa appeared. +Even parts of the latter's art were questionable, +but then, she was the Pavlowa!</p> + +<p>Chiquita's dancing differed from anything Captain +Forest had ever seen. As a matter of fact, much of +it would not have been called dancing at all by many +people, so different has the modern conception of the +art become since the days of the ancients. But where +had she received her instruction? The ability to +dance, like any other talent, is born in one, not acquired. +True, it must be developed through constant practice +just like any other talent, if ever it is to amount +to anything; but even then, great dancers are born +just as great painters, poets and musicians are born.</p> + +<p>The Indian's greatest pastime and amusement is +dancing, and Chiquita had danced almost daily from +earliest childhood to her sixteenth year when fate had +led her to Padre Antonio's door. Then she went to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 223]</a></span> +the City of Mexico and also had visited Europe. In +both places she had had the opportunity of seeing some +of the greatest dancers of the day and was able to draw +comparisons between their conceptions of the art and +hers. But when she began the study of ancient history +her attention was called to the Greeks' conception of +the art, and she soon discovered that modern dancing +was a direct violation of that which was most plastic +in art, and consisted chiefly of contortions, high kicking +and pirouetting on the toes. She also discovered +that the conceptions of her own people regarding the +art stood nearer that of the ancients than did modern +man's. To her it was an interesting discovery. It was +as natural for her to dance as to breathe, and from +that hour she began to study and practice the art with +renewed interest.</p> + +<p>Shortly after her admittance to the convent, it was +also discovered that she possessed a voice of unusual +quality and range; and, as Padre Antonio had instructed +the Sisters to do their utmost to develop any +natural talent she might possess to a marked degree, +the best teacher in voice culture which the city afforded +was procured for her. These were Padre Antonio's +wishes and they had been obeyed conscientiously by +the Sisters who recognized Chiquita's strong dramatic +ability.</p> + +<p>The years passed, and, as the day finally arrived on +which she was to leave school, the performances which +marked the closing exercises were given as usual by the +pupils. The last number on the programme represented +an ancient Greek festival arranged by Padre Alesandro,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 224]</a></span> +the instructor in classic literature, in which Chiquita +took the leading part, and in which, at her request, +she was permitted to introduce a dance of her own creation. +Among the many guests that had been invited +to attend the closing ceremonies was one Signor Tosti, +a ballet-master, who at the time was visiting the Capitol +with an Italian opera company. A friend whose daughter +took part in the exercises had persuaded him, much +against his will, to attend; for what possible interest +could a veteran of the ballet take in such amateurish +exhibitions?</p> + +<p>Touring the world with a troup of quarrelsome artists +was arduous work for a tired old gentleman at its best. +So, like the sensible man that he was, he promptly +went to sleep at the opening of the performance and +probably would have slept through the entire evening, +had he not been aroused from his slumbers in the +midst of the last number on the programme by the sound +of a glorious voice—a deep mezzo-soprano of the richest +contralto quality. Opening his eyes, he saw an +assembly of beautifully clad, flower-bedecked Grecian +youths and maidens drawn up across the back of the +stage, chanting the chorus, and in their midst, in the +foreground, one of the most beautiful women he had +ever seen. He drew himself up with a start and rubbed +his eyes to assure himself that he was really awake. +And then, considering the occasion and the time and +the place, he witnessed a performance that fairly took +his breath away.</p> + +<p>His Southern temperament became thoroughly +aroused, and at the conclusion of the dance, he sud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 225]</a></span>denly +rose from his seat and without waiting for an +introduction, rushed to the stage and springing upon +it, bowed low before Chiquita and seizing her hand, +kissed it in view of the audience. No one knew better +than he did that, in his profession, a new star had +just fallen from heaven to earth. The following day +he and the director of his company waited upon Chiquita +and offered her any sum she might choose to +name if she would consent to join the company and +return to Europe with them. But they did not know +what Chiquita's past had been—that she was still the +Amazon as of old—that the woman who had been +trained to battle in her early youth the same as the +men of her people had been trained, regarded as mere +pastime that which they considered one of the heights +of earthly attainment. The woman who at sunrise had +listened daily to the song of the Memnon, who had experienced +the shock of battle, whose life lived close to +nature had taught her the meaning of the ethics of the +dust and instilled into her veins the rippling laughter of +water and sunshine and the song of the winds, and whose +every breath had been the rapturous breath of freedom, +viewed life from a different standpoint than that of men +debased by centuries of servitude. The world of their +creation was trifling in comparison to that of God's +which to her was all sufficing and enabled her to look +upon their doings with the same equanimity and indulgence +as that with which the parent regards the +frolicsome gambols of the child.</p> + +<p>Twenty years of almost uninterrupted practice had +kept her body and limbs supple and pliant, but this +Blanch did not know.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">True</span> to his resolve, Dick rose to the exigency of +the occasion by laying stubborn siege to Miss Van +Ashton's heart. During the day he bombarded her +with flowers and books and bonbons, and gentle but passionate +missives; all of which the fair recipient as +promptly hurled back into his face. At night relays +of musicians serenaded her uninterruptedly until the +glowing cast announced the coming of a new day. He +took the whole household into his confidence, rendering +it impossible for her to set foot outside her door without +meeting him.</p> + +<p>The first day she laughed at his eccentricities; on +the second, she grew furious, and on the third, not having +closed her eyes for two whole days and nights, +she felt herself on the verge of a nervous collapse. +There being no rest for any one, Colonel Van Ashton +suddenly appeared before his daughter on the morning +of the fourth day and gave her to understand that if +the infernal nuisance did not cease instantly he would +shoot the first person who entered the garden that evening +after he had retired. And to back his threat, he +displayed a new automatic pistol which he had purchased +in the town the day before; the shopkeeper having assured +him that, for a running fire, it was the most convenient +and effective weapon on the market. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 227]</a></span> +Colonel was in a reckless mood and seemed in imminent +danger of losing in a moment the self-control which +years of civilization had instilled within him. Having +been literally goaded to madness, little wonder that he +too was on the verge of succumbing to the customs of +the land, and was beginning to feel a secret longing +to shoot and swear and swagger and destroy. Knowing +her father to be as good as his word, and to possess +the courage of a lion when aroused, Bessie found +herself forced to capitulate a day earlier than she otherwise +would have, for, incensed though she was, not even +a woman of her grit and spirit could possibly have +held out much longer under conditions that turned night +into day.</p> + +<p>It was galling in the extreme to be compelled to surrender +so soon, but there being no alternative, she was +obliged to accept the humiliation with the best grace +possible. Accordingly, she appeared in the garden late +on the afternoon of the fourth day where she espied +the object of her wrath and annoyance seated comfortably +on the grass at the foot of a pear tree, and +as usual—smoking. The sight of him was hardly +conducive to soothe the feelings of one who inwardly was +a seething volcano, and she vowed that she would pay +him out to the full before she was done with him.</p> + +<p>He seemed greatly surprised by her appearance, and +hastily throwing away his cigar, rose to his feet with +the intention of speaking to her, but without noticing +him, she made her way to the farthest corner of the +garden and seated herself in a large rustic chair that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 228]</a></span> +stood in the shadow of the high wall which surrounded +the garden. She knew he would not be long in renewing +his persecutions. And angry though she was, she +could not help wondering at the novelty of the situation. +She, Bessie Van Ashton, placed at the mercy of +an obscure person, a rustic nobody! Like every other +woman, she had dreamed of such a man as this, one +that would seize and carry her off; but then the time +and place were other than the present, and he resembled +more closely the type of man with which she had +been familiar all her life. The spirit of antagonism +which he aroused was due rather to pique than to dislike, +for in spite of his audacity she could not help +admiring his spirit.</p> + +<p>Her sense of injury was poignantly enhanced by the +fact that she recognized herself to be the true cause +of her trouble. Had she not led him on this thing +might never have happened; and yet, she was neither +sorry nor repentant for what she had done. Had any +other man dared take the liberties he had taken with +her, she would have despised him, but with him, though +she was unable to explain it, things were somehow different. +She was furious with him for kissing her, and +yet deep down in her inner consciousness she was not +so certain that she was sorry he had done so. The +things he did, which would have branded any other man +as a cad, were the very things the man of her dreams +might have done under similar circumstances. Yet she +shuddered as she daily foresaw the consequences that +might ensue should she encourage him further. Flirt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 229]</a></span>ing +with a man whose high-handed, arbitrary methods +dazed rather than offended her, was becoming dangerous.</p> + +<p>Self-preservation being always our first thought, she +had decided to fly, but the presence of Blanch rendered +such a course impossible. The only alternative left +her was to extricate herself as swiftly and gracefully +as possible from her dilemma by making herself as disagreeable +as possible in his eyes. In this wise she +hoped to disillusion him, and it was with this intention +she had come forth to meet him. She could not see +him from where she sat, having turned her back upon +him; but, judging from the length of time it took him +to approach, she rightly conjectured that he had been +walking in a circle, doubtless at a loss what course to +pursue. The silence that ensued when he paused behind +her was broken only by the sound of his labored breathing +and a nervous cough, plainly betraying the embarrassment +he felt on finding himself once more in +her presence.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," he said at length, "it is extremely +gratifying to know that you have at last decided +to leave the oppressive walls of your inhospitable +abode for the world of sunshine without, where the essence +and being of all things fill one with a desire to +live." Nothing he could have said at the moment could +have aroused her resentment more than this idiotic +speech. She had expected him to eat humble pie, to +throw himself at her feet and implore forgiveness; but, +no! She sprang to her feet and facing him, turned +a pair of beautiful blazing eyes upon him. She was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 230]</a></span> +so furious she choked, and for some moments was quite +unable to speak.</p> + +<p>"I suppose," she said at last, her voice trembling +with suppressed indignation, "that you take pleasure +in pursuing a helpless woman like a hunted beast. It's +so manly," she added scathingly, looking in vain for +some sign of contrition in his face. "Why," she went +on, "if a man where I live had done the hundredth part +of what you have done, society would shun him as it +would a pariah!"</p> + +<p>"Or a leper," he added good humoredly, quick to +recognize the disadvantage at which the loss of her +temper placed her. "They must be a poor lot where +you live," he continued. "I think we had better pass +them by without further comment." She was suffocated—she +could have bitten her tongue off!</p> + +<p>"Have you no consideration for others' feelings—for +what they might want?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Ah! I see, Miss Van Ashton," he answered, regarding +her compassionately. "You quite overlook the +true facts of the case. This is not at all a question of +what you may want, but of what is best for you. I +have merely been trying to tell you in my awkward +way that it is not good for one to live alone." She +laughed hysterically. The colossal impudence of the +man took her breath away. She gasped—attempted +to speak, but words failing her, turned her back upon +him and began tearing into shreds the end of the +silken gauze Indian scarf which she wore over her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Can't you think of what you want, Miss Van Ash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 231]</a></span>ton?" +he asked gently, in the tone of one addressing a +refractory child.</p> + +<p>"No!" she screamed, without at all realizing what +she was saying. To think that this man was able to +play with her like a worm on the end of a pin! It +was too much! "How dare you! I—I hate you!" +she cried, without turning round and quite beside herself. +There was no mistaking her attitude; he had +gone far enough. The limit of her endurance had been +reached, and he suddenly became serious. Again there +was silence between them.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," he said, drawing himself up, +"it really doesn't matter what you or the rest of the +world may think of me so long as I can see you. Can +you imagine what it would be like if you were never to +see the sun again? What could be more absurd than +to allow such a trifle as convention to come between +you and me? Three feet of wretched adobe wall between +me and heaven!" he burst forth. "The idea's +preposterous! Why, if you shut yourself up in that +miserable hovel again, I'll set fire to the place!" She +knew he would.</p> + +<p>"Can't you understand," he went on, his voice +softening, "that your attitude has aroused the savage, +the primeval man in me—that, had I met you here +fifty or a hundred years ago, I would have picked you +up and quietly carried you away? I know I've been a +brute by driving you into the open like this, but that's +not me, myself—the man who loves you, who would +pass through fire for you, who has dreamed of you and +watched and waited through the long years for your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 232]</a></span> +coming; and now that you have come, you surely can't +blame me for what I cannot help—for loving you and +telling you so in my own way?"</p> + +<p>She tried in vain to stifle the emotion his words +aroused. She had set out with the intention of wringing +this avowal from him in jest, but how differently +it affected her now that she heard it. She forgot her +anger, everything, in fact, as she listened to the flow +of his passion and longed to hear him continue. Every +note of his voice thrilled her as it did on the day she +first saw him. She remembered that she experienced a +peculiar sensation at the time; that his appearance reminded +her of the heroic type of manhood which the +ancients had sought to depict in their marbles. In him +she had unconsciously recognized the true spirit of the +Argonaut on whose brow rests the star of empire. She +did not idealize him; she simply recognized him for what +he was—a man; one in whose soul the sentiment and +enthusiasm of youth still sat enthroned, not smothered +by the crushing process of modern civilization which was +the case with the men she knew. A terror seized her +as she compared the latter to him, and beheld how small +they appeared beside him.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," he continued passionately, +"you wouldn't thank me if I continued to bandy words +with the woman I love, whose presence has become the +sunshine of life to me. The whole world has become +filled with song since you came into my life. Music +and laughter have taken the place of loneliness and despair. +Flowers spring from the earth where your feet +rest! Don't imagine that you can ever estrange your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 233]</a></span>self +from me. Wherever you are, by day or by night, +waking or dreaming, I also will be there and ever whispering: +<!-- TN: replaced double quote here with a single and added single at end of phrase-->'Bessie Van Ashton, I love you—you have +filled my life so completely I can't live without you!'"</p> + +<p>Had her face been turned toward him, he would have +seen that it was radiant, that her eyes shone with unusual +brilliancy, that her hands trembled beneath the +folds of her scarf where she had concealed them.</p> + +<p>"Bessie, sweet—"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" she cried, almost in a voice of terror. +"I've not given you permission to speak to me, thus—to +call me by name—"</p> + +<p>"Then turn round and say you will be human once +more! That you will talk and walk and ride again! +If you don't, I'll begin all over again by telling you +that you are the sweetest—"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" she said softly, turning round abruptly +with a gesture of protest, looking up into his face, and +then down at the ground to conceal her confusion. "I +think we understand one another," she said at length, +and raising her eyes to his again, she held out both her +hands which he seized and held in his own.</p> + +<p>"Let us be friends again," she continued, gently +withdrawing her hands from his.</p> + +<p>"No, don't say that!" he interrupted. "We can't +be that! Let it rest as it is!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a>XXIV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"When</span> you love, you love," runs a gypsy proverb.</p> + +<p>Bessie wore the despairing look of one who clings to +a last vain hope. How had it happened? Why had +everything gone contrary to her expectations? Why +was Mr. Yankton dragging her at the wheels of his +chariot instead of she him? According to her social +standards he had seen but little, and yet he had the +<i>savoir faire</i> of a man of the world. Her preconceived +ideas on certain subjects were so upset that she no longer +appeared to have a hold on anything; the very ground +seemed to be slipping away beneath her.</p> + +<p>Strange that one could care for the person whom +one least expected to, that the most humiliating moment +in one's life might be the happiest as well. If any one +had suggested such a possibility to her six months previously, +she would have laughed at the mere thought. +How could she relinquish the life she knew for his? +She fought against his influence with all her powers of +resistance. And yet, what woman in her right mind +would hesitate to follow the man of her choice to the +sunlit valleys of our dreams? Weaker women than she +had done so and been happy, while stronger ones had +hesitated, as was the case with Blanch, and lived to regret +it. She secretly prayed that she might be spared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 235]</a></span> +the torture which Blanch was suffering and the despair +which must inevitably overtake her should she fail to +win back the man she had let slip from her; for what, +after all, could life be to one without the true comradeship +of love? She began to feel and realize the ineffable +sweetness of life's fullness as the days of her awakening +continued, while the ache at her heart told her plainly +enough that the decisive moment of her life had arrived—that +she must choose between happiness and ambition. +The one, rich and full though accompanied perhaps +by pain and even denial at times; the other fraught +with uncertainty.</p> + +<p>She understood now the meaning of Chiquita's passionate +longing for the man she loved; a thing which the +worldliness of the life she had lived hitherto had taught +her to be too extravagant to exist anywhere outside of +books, but which was true nevertheless. Her intuition +told her this in the face of all the world might say to +the contrary. As she looked back over the years and +thought of her friends, she realized that she like them +had submerged her life in the superficial pleasures of the +world; but had they filled her cup of happiness? Until +now she had not felt the lack of life's crowning joy, +for the reason that youth is buoyant and full of hope, +and the grand passion had not yet entered into her life. +These and a thousand other thoughts ran through her +mind that night as she recalled Dick's words.</p> + +<p>She could not sleep. From where she lay she could +see the moonlight in the <i>patio</i> and hear the murmur of +the fountain in its center. The night seemed to beckon +and whisper to her to come outside. So she arose and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 236]</a></span> +silently dressed herself in the dimly moonlit room without +disturbing Blanch, who murmured incoherently in +her sleep of the things she was thinking of. She slipped +noiselessly through the low window to the <i>patio</i> without +and stealthily made her way in the shadow of the overhanging +arcades to the garden beyond.</p> + +<p>The hour was late—close on to dawn. The silvery +half-moon hung low in the west accompanied by great +cohorts of stars that shone with a brilliancy she had +never before seen, and which seemed to be waiting with +the moon to usher in the new dawn. All was silence and +mystery—all earthly ties seemed severed. Under the +cover of the night all things seemed equal. There were +no high, no low, no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no +towns, no cities, no conventions. All things that hold +and bind us had slipped away into the shadows and she +seemed to breathe again the primeval freshness of life.</p> + +<p>She knew that she must decide between Dick and her +family. Her father had given her plainly to understand +as much, and this she knew meant the loss of +her fortune—the giving up of all for him. Her father +threatened, raged and fumed with the petulance of a +spoiled child, his paternal displeasure taking that uncompromising +form of obstinacy with which the world +has long been familiar. She was amazed at herself for +being able to take his displeasure with so little concern; +a thing which, had it occurred at home, would +have caused her to pause and reflect and probably would +have been the deciding factor in her life. Her removal +from the old life and the glimpses of the new had unconsciously +wrought a change within her. She began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 237]</a></span> +see things as they really are when shorn of their +glamour. The life she hitherto had known, she realized, +was purely a superficial condition, not only foreign to +the realities of things, but superfluous to man himself. +Never had Captain Forest appeared so sane and her +father so superficial as the hour in which she grasped +that truth. It is not what the world makes of you, but +what you make of yourself that counts, the beauteous, +seductive night kept whispering to her. Why, then, if +this be true, should the world about her appear so +remote? It was not the actual world—the world as +it really is that she would be called upon to give up, +but merely the world of that particular set of men and +women in which she hitherto had moved.</p> + +<p>The same earth rolled beneath her feet—the same +stars that looked down upon her in the past still glittered +in the heavens overhead—the same winds that +crept through the garden and sighed among the trees, +wafting the spicy, fragrant odors of the flowers into +her face, were the same that had fanned her cheek in +the past. All things remained practically the same, +only the people were different. But could the old interests +and friendships and associations compensate her +for the loss of the man that had come into her life +to remain for the rest of her days whether she chose to +keep him or not? These new and perplexing questions +she was forced to ask herself for the first time, and she +knew that there could be but one answer forthcoming.</p> + +<p>Love was knocking at the portals of her heart as it +had never knocked before. It had come to her warm +and living, deep and subtle and indefinable, leaving noth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 238]</a></span>ing +to be said or desired. She saw clearly that principle, +as the world conceives it, was not involved. Affection +recognizes no such principle—only virtuous +longing and desire which is a principle in itself—the +fulfillment of creation's grandest purpose; and it rested +with her to accept this truth or pass it by.</p> + +<p>The chill of the early morning caused her to draw +her wrap more closely about her shoulders. A deep +sigh of relief escaped her as she glanced upwards once +more for a last look at the paling stars. How satisfactory +it was to know even though the knowledge pained +her!</p> + +<p>She had entered the garden a girl, she returned to +the house a woman, hugging her secret close to her +heart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a>XXV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Success</span> had crowned Juan Ramon's efforts. The +pretty little <i>hacienda</i> of which he had dreamed so +long was no longer a vision of the future, but a reality. +It was actually in his possession, purchased with a part +of the money he had received from Don Felipe for +his work. It now only remained for the pretty Rosita +to consent to become the mistress of the place and he, +Juan Ramon, would bid farewell to the old <i>Posada</i> and +the gaming-tables forever. This Juan naïvely promised +himself as his thoughts dwelt upon the bright picture +of domestic felicity which his imagination conjured +up before him.</p> + +<p>The attractive presence of Rosita was undoubtedly +the source of this inspiration which actually led him to +believe in the possibility of the sudden and complete reformation +of an inveterate gambler whose desire for +play was like the toper's insatiable thirst for liquor. +And then, there was Captain Forest's horse. Juan had +an idea regarding that animal. When everybody's attention +was occupied with the festivities during the night +of the <i>fandango</i>, and he had succeeded in filling José +with the proper amount of <i>aguardiente</i>, he would slip +quietly away with the horse and conceal him at his +<i>hacienda</i>. <i>Caramba!</i> what a horse—the like of which +there was not in all Mexico! And Juan Ramon, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 240]</a></span> +champion <i>vaquero</i> of Chihuahua, was the man to ride +him! And he rolled and smoked innumerable <i>cigarillos</i> +as he sauntered about the garden and corrals, or +lounged in the <i>patio</i>, musing on these and many other +things.</p> + +<p>To say that Don Felipe was elated by what he had +discovered but mildly describes his state of exultation. +At last the woman who had ruined his life was in his +power. Not for years had he experienced such delicious +transports of rapture. How sweet a thing is revenge! +He was like one born anew. The expression of melancholy +faded from his countenance, his eyes shone with +renewed luster and he smiled upon all the world. There +was no more escape for her than there had been for +him when she so treacherously thrust the knife into his +heart. What he had discovered was different from anything +his imagination had pictured in connection with +her. Nothing could be more compromising, and the +marvel of it was that she had been able to keep the +facts concealed from the world so long. Only a woman +could have done it, and only the cleverest of women at +that. No wonder she had danced in public. She had +reason to!</p> + +<p>Never had he dreamed that he would live to enjoy +this hour. When he first imparted his information to +Blanch, she refused to believe it; but the proofs were +too convincing to leave so much as the shadow of a +doubt in her mind. How fortunate that he had discovered +her secret at this time; just before the <i>fandango</i>. +What an opportunity to confront her with the truth; +force her to make a public confession of her guilt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 241]</a></span> +Nothing could be more propitious for the execution of +his plans; the annihilation of the woman who had +wrecked his life. It was not enough that she should +be exposed. She must be humiliated publicly as he had +been.</p> + +<p>He did not entirely reveal his plans to Blanch, knowing +that the woman in her and her consideration for +the Captain would cause her to shrink from inflicting +so cruel a revenge even upon a rival. He was far too +clever for that. So, without going into details concerning +his plans, he led her to believe that, at a prearranged +signal from her, he would confront Chiquita +personally and compel her to acknowledge the truth before +himself and the Captain. Her nature revolted at +that which Don Felipe told her, cried out for justice, +for the exposure of the impostor; nevertheless, she disliked +a scene, and for the Captain's sake, made Don +Felipe promise to do nothing unless she gave the +signal.</p> + +<p>One week hence and their scores would be even. The +thought thrilled him as he paced the length of his +room, his hands clasping and unclasping nervously behind +his back; his mind actively engaged in rehearsing +the events of the last few days which led to the discovery, +and the details of the plan he had formulated, +the carrying out of which was to be deferred until that +eventful evening when the principal families of the town +and neighborhood, her friends and acquaintances, would +be gathered together to witness her shame—the same as +they had witnessed his. Her disgrace would be far +worse than his had been. She would be an outcast;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 242]</a></span> +for let a man transgress and the world may forgive him, +but let a woman fall and she is damned forever so far +as the world is concerned. He would make no mistake +this time. He carefully weighed every detail of his +plan, considered every eventuality that might arise. +Subtle and resourceful though he knew her to be, there +would be no loophole of escape for her.</p> + +<p>It was almost too good to be true. He was beside +himself. He talked and laughed aloud repeatedly when +alone, scarcely able to retain himself, so rapturously +sweet was the thought of her humiliation. Suddenly a +new thought flashed through his mind. He had sworn +that he would kill Captain Forest—lay him dead at +her feet; but that, thanks to circumstances, would not +now be necessary. The thought of killing a man in +cold blood was not pleasant even to one of Don Felipe's +temperament in his present state of mind. But should +circumstances compel him to do so to complete his revenge, +he would stop at nothing, let the consequences be +what they might.</p> + +<p>That he had received his just deserts for his betrayal +of a woman, did not enter his thoughts. Had +he not atoned for that misdeed through years of suffering? +Had ever mortal been humiliated as he had +been? That fact alone decided him. The memory of +his transgression had been effaced long since by his +intense longing for revenge. Nothing short of revenge +could satisfy him now.</p> + +<p>A grim smile lit up his countenance as he pondered +upon what he knew. And yet, he reflected, who could +tell? Infatuation might blind the Captain to the truth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 243]</a></span> +It was best to be prepared for all emergencies. Stepping +to his dresser, he opened the top drawer from which +he took a knife which lay concealed beneath the numerous +articles it contained. Drawing the blade from its +leathern sheath, he ran his thumb lightly over its double +edge to assure himself that it had lost none of its keenness. +He always carried a pistol, but considering the +circumstances a knife would be better. It would make +no noise, create less disturbance. It would be so easy, +in some secluded part of the garden, to thrust it home +and get away quietly before the deed was discovered. +One quick thrust, a stifled cry, that would be all. As +a youth he could have placed that blade at ten paces +in the center of a mark no larger than a silver dollar +at every cast. But he had no thought of employing +such a method now even if he were able to. Striking +the Captain would be like sinking the blade in Chiquita's +heart; for did he not hate the Captain, because she loved +him, almost as much as he hated her? No, he would +not forego that exquisite sense of pleasure and satisfaction, +born of jealousy and his insatiable thirst for +revenge.</p> + +<p>For some time he toyed absently with the knife. +Then, from sheer exuberance of spirits, he began tossing +it aloft; watching with sparkling eyes the glittering +blade as it turned over and over in the air and catching +it deftly by the hilt in his right hand as it descended. +His hand and wrist were firm and supple as +of old; they had lost none of their vigor during the +long years he had wandered aimlessly about the world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 244]</a></span> +Again that cold smile, cruel and cutting as the edge +of his knife, lit up his face as he at length sheathed +the blade in its leathern case and returned it to its resting +place in the drawer of his dresser.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a>XXVI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Conviction</span> is one thing, decision another. Any +one who has been taught from earliest childhood +to regard black as white could hardly be expected to +distinguish in a moment the virtue of the latter.</p> + +<p>Daily Bessie resolved to follow the promptings of +her heart; usually at the close of the day when the +cool of the evening set in, when the stars again took +up their procession across the heavens and she walked +and chatted with Dick in the garden. But when morning +dawned and she thought of her father's awful +prognostications and the dire consequences which must +inevitably ensue should she take the step, her ardor +cooled and she as often changed her mind. Her father +spent hours arguing with her, trying to impress her +with the importance of the duty she owed society which +consisted in obeying to the letter the behests of the set +in which she had always moved.</p> + +<p>Greatly to the Colonel's astonishment and disgust, his +daughter seemed strangely lacking in this particular +moral quality. How had her insight become so obtuse? +He could not understand it, especially as he had taken +particular pains while bringing her up to steel her heart +against the insidious longings of maudlin sentiment and +to teach her to despise everything outside of her particular +world. He and his wife had not regarded love<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 246]</a></span> +the chief essential to marriage, so why should his daughter? +That she, under the circumstances, should hesitate +between happiness and a life of regret, was a thing +unique, almost incomprehensible to him. That she +should question his authority, his right to choose for her, +and his superior knowledge of the world, was still more +surprising. Her disaffection was strongly suggestive of +disrespect, a lack of faith in his infallibility in which he, +the Colonel, firmly believed, if nobody else did.</p> + +<p>The thought that the efforts of years might come to +naught was bitter as wormwood to him. It was bad +enough that his nephew should besmirch the family +escutcheon, but that his daughter should deliberately +contract a mesalliance in the face of his objections, was +too much. It was the last straw. The country was +going to the dogs. He argued, pleaded, stormed and +swore and beat his head against the wall of indifference +and obstinacy which his daughter reared between them +with the unremitting fury of a wasp that finds itself +on the wrong side of a windowpane. This new turn +in affairs rendered Mrs. Forest so furious that she +snapped right and left regardless of persons like a dog +possessed of the rabies, rendering herself the most +disagreeable person in the house.</p> + +<p>The alarming rapidity with which event succeeded +event, whirling them onward to some unseen end, was +more than sufficient to convince them all that life was +fast becoming a very uncertain quantity. No one +knew what the morrow might bring forth; and all, with +the exception of the Captain, were wrought up to a +pitch of nervous tension that threatened the breaking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 247]</a></span> +point. Don Felipe shadowed Chiquita and the Captain—Chiquita +and Blanch regarded one another with +increasing suspicion—Dick pressed his suit with the +ardor of desperation; while the Colonel and Mrs. Forest +nagged on all sides. Even Señora wore an anxious, +worried look. It was evident to all that things, as they +were, could not continue much longer. Only the Captain +seemed capable of keeping his head above water; +for him the future held no terrors. The more complicated +matters became, the more serene he grew; for +had he not vowed that he would see things through to +the end? They would all have an opportunity of judging +who it would be that would laugh last.</p> + +<p>The <i>fandango</i> would relieve the tension. Blanch's +inspiration was truly a stroke of genius, for anything +was better than a continuance of the present state of +affairs. Ever since Dick's declaration of love, Bessie +had fought and struggled against the tide of events +which was overwhelming her by making herself as disagreeable +as possible in his eyes. But what could she +do to thwart the machinations of a man who laughed +at her moods, who encouraged her with each fresh outburst?</p> + +<p>Scarcely an hour elapsed after parting from him, +than a note was slipped into her hand by some one of +the many Mexican attendants, telling her how he adored +her moods. That a frown from her was sweeter than +the perpetual smile of another woman; that he loved a +woman of spirit; that she would find him on the morrow +in the dust at her feet as usual; that the sensation +he experienced while being trampled upon could only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 248]</a></span> +be likened unto that of being borne aloft on wings, +etc. She grew hot and cold by turns as she read these +missives, and sulked and softened and flew into fits of +passion, and tore them into bits, thoroughly disgusted +with her weakness and her inability to remedy matters, +and invariably ended by wishing to see him again. +Clearly, her only hope of delivery lay in the alternatives +of instant flight, or of ridding herself of his importunities +by marrying him; either of which she found equally +difficult and impossible to execute. She did not know +that Dick was putting on a bold front; that his attitude +was assumed; that, like her, he was at his wits' +end; that, if she suffered, he suffered tenfold. Her +annoyance was insignificant in comparison to the cyclonic +outbursts that swept over him.</p> + +<p>Ah, yes, Anita, Concho's wife, had predicted events +with fair accuracy. When he sought to take her, she +was not there, but somewhere else—everywhere. Just +like a kitten that frisks among the leaves in autumn +when they are whirled about by the wind; now here, +now there, now up a tree. Though each had taken the +measure of the other with fair accuracy, each had misjudged +the other's strength; and it was becoming +problematical just how much longer he would be able to +hold out. Nothing had ever daunted him. All his life +long he had never failed to accomplish the things of real +importance. No undertaking had ever proved too +great. Colonel Yankton, his foster-father, had taught +him the value of perseverance, and he had learned his +lesson well. He instinctively felt that the great crisis +of his life was at hand; that all his efforts, his successes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 249]</a></span> +in life must count for naught so far as he personally +was concerned, should he fail to win her. He knew +that his fate hung in the balance, that the morrow would +practically decide whether the one thing his life lacked +would be added unto it, or that he would go on to the +end alone.</p> + +<p>He had gone for a stroll in the town after the customary +gathering in the <i>patio</i> in the evening. The +others had long since retired for the night when he +returned to the <i>Posada</i>. Feeling no inclination to sleep, +he seated himself on the veranda in front of the house, +and lighting a fresh cigar, smoked and mused; his gaze +fixed on the tall moonlit hedge which separated the +<i>Posada</i> from the highroad; his thoughts reverting to the +days of his boyhood. Again he saw the Colonel, tall +and erect, the personification of manhood, indomitable +will and courage, seated upon his horse at the head of +his regiment, and heard the ringing, clarion notes of the +bugle—the signal for the charge. Yes, he would make +one more supreme effort, and if that failed, well.... +His cigar had burned low. He tossed it over the veranda +rail and rose with the intention of retiring, when +his attention was arrested by the faint sound of a horse's +hoofs on the highroad in the distance. Something +seemed to tell him to wait, and acting on the impulse, +he paused and listened. The sounds drew nearer, increasing +in volume as the animal approached, until a +horseman finally turned in from the road at an easy +canter and drew rein before the <i>Posada</i>. Both man +and horse were covered with dust which shone white as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 250]</a></span> +snow in the moonlight; a proof that they had traveled +far during the day.</p> + +<p>"<i>Buenas noches</i>, Señor," said the rider, a Mexican, +swinging himself from the saddle and ascending the steps +to where Dick stood.</p> + +<p>"Good evening," replied the latter in Spanish, eyeing +the man curiously.</p> + +<p>"I wish," continued the stranger, "to speak with +one Señor Yankton who, I was told, lives in Santa Fé. +Perhaps, Señor, you can tell me where I may find +him?"</p> + +<p>"I am Señor Yankton. What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" exclaimed the man, stepping back a pace +and regarding Dick critically. "Your appearance answers +the description well, Señor, but that is not enough—I +must have proof." Just then a <i>vaquero</i> on night +duty who had been lounging in the deep shadow at the +far end of the veranda came forward on hearing the +sounds of voices.</p> + +<p>"Diego," said Dick, addressing the latter, "tell this +gentleman whether I be Señor Yankton or not. He +says he wishes to see him."</p> + +<p>"Of a truth, Señor, here is the man you seek," answered +Diego, addressing the stranger.</p> + +<p>"<i>Bueno</i>—good!" ejaculated the Mexican, pulling a +sealed packet from the inner pocket of his jacket. "I +come from the Rio Plata, six days' journey toward the +west. I have been commissioned to deliver this to you, +Señor," and he handed the packet to Dick who, taking +it, gave instructions to Diego that the man and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 251]</a></span> +horse be properly housed for the night. Then, with an +"<i>hasta la vista</i>," and "God be with you until the morrow, +Señor," he retired to his room. There, by the dim +light of a candle, he carefully scrutinized the address +on the packet, but did not recognize the writing. Nevertheless, +he instinctively felt as he turned it over in his +hands before breaking the seal, that, in some manner +or other, it was intimately concerned with his fate.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXVII" id="XXVII"></a>XXVII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> preparations for the <i>fandango</i> were complete. +The men and women of the household, under Juan +Ramon's supervision, had worked hard since sunrise, +stringing gayly colored lanterns and arranging tables +and chairs, palms and potted flowers and shrubs in +the <i>patio</i>. It was close on to five o'clock and they +now rested in the <i>patio</i> in the shade of its arcades, +smoking cigarettes and sipping black coffee, and chatting +and laughing as they viewed with satisfaction the +results of their handiwork. The day gave promise +of a perfect night. It was to be a typical Spanish +<i>fiesta</i>, and in order that the illusion might be complete, +both the Whites and the Indians were to appear +in their national costumes. All the leading Spanish +families of the town and the neighborhood would be +present. Not an invitation had been refused.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest had agreed to take tea with Blanch +in the garden, and, true to his word, he appeared +punctually, almost on the minute. The pretty Rosita, +the only one of the household excepting Señora Fernandez +and Juan Ramon who understood and spoke English +after a fashion, withdrew reluctantly after depositing +her tray containing tea and <i>tortillas</i> upon the +table. She adored the beautiful <!-- TN: italics added --><i>Americana</i>, and had +been doing a great deal of thinking of late. The rea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 253]</a></span>son +for her coming might not be Don Felipe at all, +but Captain Forest, the grand Señor. Who could say? +The ways of the Americano, the <i>gringo</i>, were so different +from theirs. Everything they did was exactly +opposite to their way of thinking and doing things. +No well-bred, unmarried Spanish woman would +dare take tea alone with a man unless they were engaged.</p> + +<p>The signs of autumn were visible on every hand. +The long, languid, summer travail had ceased and the +season of dreams begun. Though the sky was a clear +steel-blue overhead, the horizon was veiled in a thin +blue haze into which the landscape and distant objects +seemed to fade and lose themselves. Filmy +threads of gossamer floated through the air, suffused +with a soft golden glow. Most of the birds had ceased +to sing and the drone of insects became less persistent, +as if fearful to disturb the hush and calm that pervaded +the land.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest noticed, as he seated himself at the +table opposite Blanch, that the golden glow in her +hair was almost a perfect match to the shafts of sunlight +which sifted down upon her through the branches +of the trees overhead. And he wondered at his resisting +powers—why the spell of her fascination no longer +held him as of old, not realizing that his love for +her had waned in the same proportion that he had grown +beyond her. The air of restraint which existed between +them would have been apparent even to a stranger, but +Blanch had decided to dissipate this feeling if possible. +She laughed and chatted as though entirely at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 254]</a></span> +her ease, as though nothing had ever come between +them; making sarcastic remarks on the customs of the +country; calling into requisition all the blandishments +and fascinations which a woman of her intelligence and +attraction was capable of exercising upon a man. +Every word, every look and gesture fell upon him like +a caress. She flattered, cajoled and contradicted him, +employing that subtle, deceptive art of refined coquetry +to which a sensitive nature like the Captain's was most +susceptible. Nor were its effects lost upon him; they +were soon both at their ease. She was the old Blanch +again; the girl and companion of his youth—the +woman of yesterday.</p> + +<p>The struggle that was being fought out inch by inch +between her and Chiquita was drawing swiftly to its +close, and must end as abruptly as it began. She had +only begun to realize what the full significance of love +meant in the hour that she felt the loneliness occasioned +by the lack of it. She had miscalculated. +She thought she was stronger than Captain Forest, but +could she have cared for him had he been a weaker +man? It was his strength which she both loved and +hated, and deep down in her heart she knew full well +that, were he weaker than herself, she must have ended +by despising him. She, like Chiquita, was fighting for +her life, her very existence so to speak; but of course +he did not divine the full significance of the struggle—what +it meant to them both; no man could.</p> + +<p>"Does the charm of this land still continue to hold +you, Jack?" she asked carelessly, passing him a cup +of tea.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"More than ever," he answered, lighting a cigarette +and wondering what she was leading up to.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think you have had about enough of +it?" she continued, with just a shade of sarcasm in +her voice. "You have had a royal vacation and I'm +glad you have enjoyed yourself so thoroughly, but, +honestly, don't you think it's about time you were returning +to your work again, to the world to which +you belong, of which you are a part and from which, +in spite of all effort and argument, you cannot possibly +separate yourself? You know, I never could take your +idea seriously, Jack," she added, with increasing confidence, +addressing him as one would a naughty child. +He only smiled by way of reply, and quietly blew a +ring of smoke into the air.</p> + +<p>"I see you are as obstinate and determined as ever," +she continued rather petulantly. "Don't be overconfident +though; you might fail, you know, and failure is +always discouraging—it involves such a waste of +time."</p> + +<p>"If I do, it will be the first time I have failed." He +was about to continue, but checked himself. They were +getting on dangerous ground. She understood his inference +and colored and smiled. For some time neither +spoke. A gold leaf, one of the first heralds of autumn, +dropped silently down from the bough overhead to the +center of the table. He took another sip of tea.</p> + +<p>"Jack," she said at length, raising her eyes from +her hands in her lap where she toyed with her fan, +"supposing a position were offered you, one quite worth +your while, would you return? Not immediately, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 256]</a></span> +later on, when you have grown a little tired of playing +at the game of life? In six months, say—or +even a year if you like?" Her whole attitude and +expression had changed, and a look of pleading and +expectancy shone from her eyes. Again he smiled. +What was she driving at? he asked himself.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid it will be longer than that, Blanch," +he answered. "Besides, what position could possibly +be open to me? You know, my name is struck from +the lists. At least, it ought to be if it isn't."</p> + +<p>"Possibly," she answered. "But, if you cared +enough, there might be another chance!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" he interrupted, regarding her +curiously. In reply, she quietly drew an official document +from her bosom and handed it to him across the table +without a word. He colored, and she saw that his +hand trembled slightly, betraying the emotion he felt +as he opened the envelope and glanced hastily over its +contents. "The Ministry to Turkey—Blanch!" he +gasped, regarding her in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered nervously, watching closely the +effect the news had upon him. "I received it a week +ago. The President knows how clever you are, Jack, +and has promised to keep the position open for you if +you will consent to accept it. You know, he always had +a warm place in his heart for you."</p> + +<p>"Blanch!" he said again, overcome by emotion. +And laying the document down upon the table in front +of him he rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Turkey, Jack, is but a step to London, St. Petersburg, +Berlin or Paris," she said softly, looking up at him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 257]</a></span> +and catching her breath in the effort to conceal her excitement. +"It is yours, Jack, if you wish it. Understand," +she resumed, lowering her gaze and running her +slender white hand slowly back and forth over the edge +of her half-open fan, "that it is yours without reservation. +You are under no obligations. Turkey and—I +are two different things," she added slowly and with +difficulty, without looking up; her neck and face turning +a deep scarlet. She felt the intensity of his blazing +eyes upon her.</p> + +<p>"Blanch!" he cried, and this time there was a note +of anger in his voice. "Don't think me ungrateful, I +beg of you. I appreciate what you have done, and I +thank you with my whole heart, but—I can't do it, +Blanch!"</p> + +<p>"Jack!" she cried, throwing off the mask and springing +to her feet. "I can't stand it any longer! I can't +see you wreck your life in this way! Can't you see the +folly you are committing? Don't think me presumptuous; +that I am trying to meddle, interfere in your life. +I am merely trying to save you from yourself! It's +your last chance, Jack. Go back again and never mind +me; I've nothing to do with it! I can easily understand +how this life can have a certain fascination for +you, but only for a time; it can't last. The more I see +of it, the more I'm convinced that I'm right. What's the +use of mincing words, fencing about the truth any +longer? I understand—I've seen it from the first. +It's not this life, but the woman that holds you!" she +cried abruptly and passionately, almost fiercely, betraying +her jealousy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't wreck your life and happiness before it is too +late. You must tire of her as inevitably as you will tire +of this life, and what then? Can't you see that, when +you have exhausted the glamour, and the fascination of +things is gone, she would no longer be a companion to +you? The difference between you—your lives, your +world and hers, is too great. It is insurmountable—impassable! +What can she know of the world which you +and I know, to which you belong? Of another race, another +blood, she must ever remain an alien, a thing apart +from yourself; there can never be a true affinity between +you. She is a savage—an aborigine sprung from the +soil. The tinsel and veneer of civilization which she +has acquired doesn't change her and can't endure. +She is still a savage in spite of it, the product of savage +ancestry living close to the soil. The simplicity and +glamour and freedom of this life casts a spell over one +and attracts one of your adventurous nature, sated with +the pleasures and luxuries of our world, but will the spell +last? Once you have exhausted the simple, elemental +joys of such a life, it must become irksome, mere animal +existence, unbearable, positive boredom to you. That +in her which attracts you now must inevitably become +commonplace in time and repel you. You could not endure +that, Jack; you who are evolved through thousands +of generations from a higher, superior race. Your +reason and instinct must tell you that.</p> + +<p>"Jack!" she cried in a fresh outburst, "we were +made for one another! How can she, an Indian, the +product of savagery, understand you who are of a different +race, the product of civilization? Your soul can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 259]</a></span> +never find the full response in hers that it can in mine. +I know I was foolish—call it willful rather than foolish—the +instinct that is born in me to command. I +should not have let you go. I should have consented +to share the life you proposed, but I did not believe you +were in earnest; I did not think it would last. Besides, +how could you have expected me to understand? It was +too much; you had no right to ask it of me then. I +thought, of course, you would come back to me again, +Jack; I waited for that. Can't you understand? But +you didn't come back, and I repented of my mistake a +thousand times. We all make mistakes, Jack!"</p> + +<p>His manhood revolted against being compelled to +listen to her confession, her pleading. It was undignified, +cowardly. It disgusted him and he hated himself +for it, but what could he do?</p> + +<p>"Don't say that, Blanch," he answered gently. "It +is I who should ask forgiveness. I know it was too +much to ask you to share such a life with me, but I did +not realize it at the time. I wronged you, I know. I +would gladly make reparation if I knew how."</p> + +<p>"Oh! none of that virtuous, good-humored acquiescence, +Jack! I want you to forget everything, all but +the days before it happened, when you loved me—when +you swore that your love was as constant as the stars! +Have you forgotten your oath? To be true to yourself, +Jack, you must forget!" She paused. It was +the first frank utterance she had made since her coming; +and, for the time being, she seemed to have forgotten her +resentment toward him.</p> + +<p>"I have not changed, Jack," she went on. "I am the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 260]</a></span> +same as then; I only did not understand you. How +could I have guessed that which lay buried within you, +those latent ideals and conceptions of life which you +yourself were ignorant of? But I understand you now, +Jack. It was the foolish conceit of the girl's heart +that caused me to forget what I owed you; but now it +is the woman who speaks, who bares her soul to you, +brimming full of love and passion and tenderness for +the man she loves and longs to protect—the woman +who loves as the girl could never have loved, Jack."</p> + +<p>The light that shone from her eyes bespoke the voice +of her conscience; told him that she at least spoke the +truth. Never had she appeared more beautiful, more +fascinating and alluring than at this moment, as she +stood before him, flushed and radiant and trembling with +passion, confused and indignant and ashamed; the +woman rebelling within her at being thus forced to lay +bare her soul, make confession before the man she loved. +It was cruel and he knew it. Her words were like knife-thrusts +at his heart, filling his soul to its depths with sympathy +and compassion for her, and bitterness and loathing +for himself.</p> + +<p>The vision of yesterday with its gay scenes which he +had cast aside, rose before him again. Its seductive allurements +swept over him with redoubled force like a +great compelling wave, filled with music and light and +laughter, the false, seductive charms of which their present +surroundings knew naught. The magic of her voice, +her face, her touch had lost none of its charm. He felt +her fascination still, in spite of himself and the bitterness +of former days which he had cherished in his heart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 261]</a></span> +against her. The lure of the old life was strong upon +him. He felt the hot blood rush to his face and heart; +his being surged. She had been a part of his life, they +had grown up together, and do what he would, her presence +brought him face to face again with certain realities, +with the old life which he thought was dead but +which was not yet buried. When he looked upon her, +he heard the old familiar sounds of the sea, of music and +siren-voices of civilizations in their decay—breathed +again the intoxicating atmosphere of that exotic, voluptuous, +sensuous existence in which he had been reared +and had lived, and with which he was saturated and from +which he was striving to escape. But when he thought +of Chiquita, he heard the murmur of forests and waters +and saw the broad expanse of the plains and the wild +crags and peaks that rear their heads heavenward, above +which the eagles soar. Nature beckoned with widespread +arms to her child to come—the manhood within +him cried for release, for the recognition of the individual's +right to self-assertion.</p> + +<p>Poets have sung of the raptures of first love, but was +Blanch really his first love? The true first love is only +that man or woman who can cause one to forget oneself. +Somewhere deep down in our souls there's a something +which sleeps until that hour when it suddenly bursts into +flame, as it were, and the new man is born within +us; and this is what had happened to him, though all +unknown to himself, at the time when he first beheld +Chiquita riding alone in the hills. In an instant his +soul was aflame. He thrilled at the sight of her as she +turned and rode away in the dusk, and felt like crying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 262]</a></span> +out to her to stop; that she was his, that she had been +his from the beginning of time and he likewise hers; +that he had been searching for her down the ages and +had found her at last. All this and much more flashed +through his mind as he gazed upon the beautiful vision +of Blanch before him and felt the charm of her presence +slowly creeping over him and fastening itself upon him +in spite of his resistance like the subtle, mysterious influence +of music or rich old wine.</p> + +<p>For some time he seemed uncertain how to act or what +to say. She noted it. His hesitation inspired her with +fresh courage, causing her face and eyes to shine with +the radiance of hope, dazzlingly beautiful. Her breath +came quick and fast as she drew nearer to him and then +seemed to cease altogether as she waited for his answer. +All this he too noticed, and felt himself weakening under +her spell. The suspense was as terrible for him as for +her. A thousand memories rose from out the past and +began pulling at his heart-strings. Inch by inch he felt +himself slowly slipping back into the old life again, like +a boat that has slipped her moorings and glides silently +and almost imperceptibly out into the easy-flowing current. +The struggle grew more intense within him as +the minutes passed. Great beads of perspiration broke +out upon his brow as he listened to those voices whose +sweetness and intensity increased with his hesitancy—those +voices beneath whose charm and spell the strongest +men have succumbed in the past.</p> + +<p>"Blanch," he said at last, hoarsely and almost in a +whisper, "it takes a better man than I to say 'no' to +you, and I don't say it. But I have changed." The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 263]</a></span> +mere fact of speaking and the sound of his voice seemed +to recall him to himself, to the realization of where he +was and what he was doing. He felt that he was still +master of himself and his confidence slowly returned. +"I know you can't understand," he continued. "But +somehow, I seem to have grown beyond you."</p> + +<p>"Jack," she said, drawing still closer and laying her +hand upon his arm and looking up into his face, "I know +you have had more experience than I have had, but don't +imagine that you have grown beyond me. Your ideas +have caused me to think. I, too, have grown since we +last parted. If you can give up the world, so can I. +If you will not return again to the world with me, I'll +remain here with you. I'll do anything you say!" she +cried in passionate surrender. "My body is soft perhaps +in comparison to hers, but I'm strong. I'll soon +be as strong as you or she and be all the more to you, infinitely +more to you than she can ever be. I know I did +you a great wrong in the past, Jack, but let me make +up for it now. It is my privilege, my debt to you, +and your duty to let me do it. You have no right to +break your promise to me, Jack. You can't. Your +manhood must tell you that it is as sacred now as the +day you gave it to me, and I hold you to it. I'll show +you a love you have never known—can never know +without me!" She drew still closer, laying her other +hand upon his shoulder caressingly; her arm almost +encircling his neck. He felt her warm, fragrant breath +upon his lips and the thrilling, magnetic touch of her +body, vibrating and pulsating with passion and emotion. +How soft and voluptuous and tempting and alluring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 264]</a></span> +that body and presence were! It was as though the +spices and perfumes and sunshine of far away, mythical +Cathay had suddenly descended upon him and enveloped +him.</p> + +<p>"Jack," she continued, "we have always been comrades, +pals; we were made for one another! We are one +in thought now as much as we ever were—more than we +ever have been!"</p> + +<p>He knew this to be false; that he possessed a grip on +life which she did not; that he had passed far beyond her +since they had last parted. She had had her opportunity +and had thrown it away. It was too late. She +could not follow him now, she had missed the psychological +moment. Even had she cast her lot with his in the +beginning, he knew that she never could have followed +him. She was immeshed; her feet were caught in the +net. The blandishments of life had taken too deep root +in her soul for her to cast them forth as he had done. +And yet his conscience smote him for her sake, for what +she suffered, that she was thus forced to humiliate herself +before him. Sentiment and old memories surged +up within him and urged him to keep her. What, after +all, did it matter where or how they lived? The world +would go on its way the same as it had always done; it +didn't wish to be reformed and wasn't worth reforming.</p> + +<p>"Take her! take her!" cried those voices more persistently +than ever. "Don't be a fool and miss this opportunity +which, once gone, shall pass out of your life +forever. She's as beautiful and as brilliant as the other +woman; one of your own race and, after all, will wear as +well. Besides, you know her and you don't know the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 265]</a></span> +other woman, and if disappointed in the latter—what +then? Take her!"</p> + +<p>The vision of Glaire's wonderful conception, "The +Lost Illusions," rose before him. He saw again that +exquisite figure of the Egyptian, strong and sensitive, in +the prime of manhood, seated upon the shore of the +Nile, watching the bark of destiny laden with the fair +illusions of youth, draw slowly away from him and +grow fainter and fainter in the soft, mellow light of age, +as it floated away on the evening tide of life. He, too, +stood in the prime of manhood. Was this to be his end, +mocked and laughed at by fate—the price he must pay +for daring to lift his eyes from the dust to the stars to +fulfill the dream of the ages? God knew how he had +fought against the invisible power that had driven him +on step by step to his present state. He looked down +into the beautiful upturned face of the woman before +him whom he had known so long, whom he had loved +and adored; gazed deep into those soft, azure eyes, +limpid as two crystal pools, saw those full red upturned +lips waiting to be kissed—kissed. Again her lips +parted.</p> + +<p>"Jack, Jack, Sweetheart, I'm waiting—" she murmured +softly, encircling his neck completely with her +arm and drawing his face gently down to her own. Just +then the rhythmic silvery whir of wings caused them to +look upward. Through the boughs of the tree they +saw the indistinct form of a white dove that fluttered +overhead for an instant and then was gone. At the +same moment Captain Forest distinctly recognized the +scent of Castilian roses, as though their fragrance had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 266]</a></span> +been wafted full in his face by a breeze, and yet there +was no breeze, nor were there any roses close at hand; +the season of roses had passed.</p> + +<p>No man could have resisted for long the fascinations +of a woman like Blanch Lennox if she chose to make +love to him. It was the sound of those wings and the +fragrance of the roses that upheld Captain Forest's resolution; +especially the fragrance of the roses. Whence +it came or how it originated, who could say? For it +came and passed like a mere breath. Perhaps the invisible +angel who, it is said, presides over the destiny +of the individual, caused it; for with it flashed the vision +of Chiquita before his eyes as he had seen her on that +day in the garden among the roses and had silently +watched her from the back of his horse and breathed +deep drafts of the flowery fragrance. The same subtle, +invisible something that has changed the destiny of +individuals and of nations through all the ages, caused +him to remember, recalled him to himself. The manhood +surged up within him, asserting its supremacy, and +he drew himself up with a sudden impulse. She noted +the change, and in a fierce, passionate voice, almost of +terror, cried: "Jack, you are mine, you have always +been mine! I will not give you up—I claim my +own!" and she flung her arms passionately about his +neck in an endeavor to draw his lips down to her own.</p> + +<p>"I can't—I can't do it, Blanch!" he said, and +shook himself free. With a cry, terrible in its intensity +and despair, she sank across the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII"></a>XXVIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Pale</span> and trembling and humiliated, Blanch pulled +herself together with an effort and stood for some +time as one dazed where the Captain had left her. Then, +she remembered, she had smiled and bowed absently to +the men and women in the <i>patio</i> on the way back to her +room, where she flung herself down upon the couch in a +frenzy, burying her face in the cushions; her frame +shaking with passionate, convulsive sobs as she writhed +in paroxysms of untold grief and pain.</p> + +<p>He had refused her, dared to refuse her—her! She +had failed! Was this, then, the end, the reward for +righteous ambition, conscientious endeavor? For +years she had worked and schemed for the realization of +her ideal, and this was the end. How proud she always +had been of him, and how perfectly her beauty and +brilliancy would have crowned his career—their lives! +And now, when ambition's goal was attained, that rare +cup of earthly joys of which few men drink, had been +rudely dashed from her lips.</p> + +<p>So this was the reward that had been reserved for +her who had been endowed with wealth and position, +and who was the fairest and best this civilization could +produce? Fate had been kind to her merely in order +that she might realize to the utmost the bitterness and +emptiness of life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>Life—what did it mean, what did it hold for her +now? She knew as well as Captain Forest did that, +strong though she was, she was nevertheless too weak to +share with him the life he had chosen. Civilization and +culture had prepared her for everything but that; the +one vital essential which nature alone can give to man +was lacking. After all she was but a poor, helpless creature, +incapable of meeting and being satisfied with the +simple demands occasioned by the natural conditions of +man's surroundings. Neither could she return to the +old life again, now that it was shorn of its vital interest, +and year after year cast her bread upon the waters +in the uncertain pursuit of happiness, only to reap the +harvest of dead-sea fruit that is ever borne in on the +shallow tides of worldliness.</p> + +<p>She recognized in herself the victim of a system of lies +and frauds, a world of artificiality, deceit and tawdry +tinsel, a life which, in spite of the good it contains, +makes weaklings of men. Thanks to her bringing-up, +the sunland of love, that valley of the earthly paradise, +was closed to her forever. She cursed this world of +hypocrisy and deception and all it contained—her +friends and acquaintances and the memory of her father +and mother, who unabashed, had perverted the pure, +unsullied gaze of the child, directed its steps in the +paths trodden by its degenerate forefathers, taught it +to regard falsehood in the light of truth.</p> + +<p>Let the world cry out in protest—say they did their +best. The world lies, and knows it lies. They did not +do their best. They followed the dictates of selfishness, +despicable, inherent weakness. But why had this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 269]</a></span> +come to her who had been a willing instrument, who +had lent herself to the dictates of this world and who, +of all others, was the most fit to grace it?</p> + +<p>"I curse you—curse you!" she cried aloud, springing +to her feet in a fresh paroxysm and frenzy, flinging +her clenched hands aloft, her features livid with rage. +But what did her mingled transports of grief and pain +and anger avail her? There was no redress, no appeal +from the decision of destiny. It was fate, and she had +been singled out for the sacrifice. Again she cried out +in agony of heart and soul. Had she been strong like +the other woman, he must have loved her—his love +never could have died!</p> + +<p>The thought of Chiquita brought her to herself in +a measure, and as she slowly began to pace the floor, +Don Felipe's words came back to her. If she did not +possess Jack, no other woman should. Besides, she +knew what he did not know—that even if he wished +to, he could not marry Chiquita. A grim smile flitted +across her countenance as the knowledge of this fact +flashed through her mind, the only ray of light in the +chaos into which she had been plunged by that misguided, +luckless decision on her part—her refusal to +follow the Captain while he was still hers.</p> + +<p>She knew it was purely revenge that had prompted +Don Felipe to run her rival's secret to earth, and she +despised him for it. It was not so with her—the +thought of revenge had not entered into her calculations. +But neither Chiquita nor the Captain would +escape. It was justice, nothing more nor less; for +they, too, like her, stood before the tribunal of destiny<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 270]</a></span> +and must bow to its decrees the same as she had been +forced to bow to them. Yes, she would give the signal +to Don Felipe that night; it was the only right thing +to do.</p> + +<p>She was calmer now, and when Rosita knocked +lightly at her door and entered the room to assist her +in dressing for the evening, no one would have suspected +the ache at her heart or the storm-swept soul +which her calm exterior concealed. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXIX" id="XXIX"></a>XXIX</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Padre Antonio</span> sat before the open window in +his living-room in a large, comfortable chair, enjoying +the beauty of the evening and the fragrance of +the last flowers in the garden, waiting for Chiquita to +complete her toilet.</p> + +<p>It was one of those soft, balmy autumnal evenings, +and gave promise of a night of majesty and serenity +when the moon rose in her full glory to hold her silent +watch over the earth once more. It was sweet to +live on such a day as this, when all the world seemed +at peace; and what a perfect night for the <i>fandango</i>. +Presently the sound of light footsteps and the +soft rustle of a dress interrupted the train of his +thoughts, causing him to turn from the window to +Chiquita, who, attired in her ball dress, entered the +room and paused before him.</p> + +<p>There was not an inharmonious touch in her attire +of soft creamy satin and lace, richly embroidered with +golden flowers. Delicate filmy threads of gold intersected +the heavy white Valenciennes lace mantilla attached +to her high silver comb, etched in gold and +studded with diminutive diamonds, which sparkled in +the light like dew in the sunshine. Her white satin +slippers and silk stockings, like her corsage and <i>saya</i>, +were also delicately worked in gold. A sheaf of golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 272]</a></span> +poppies adorned one side of her head, nestling close +down upon her neck and shoulder in the folds of her +jet black hair. She presented a truly striking appearance, +and Padre Antonio gazed long and silently at +her, his keen eyes scanning her critically from head to +foot in an effort to detect a fault.</p> + +<p>How he loved his little girl! It almost seemed as +though she were endowed with something more than +earthly beauty. In her the strength and grace of the +deer and panther were blended with the ethereal delicacy +and beauty of the flower. But it was her face that +bespoke the luminous nature of the soul which dwelt +within her. So close was the bond of sympathy and +mutual understanding between them, that she instinctively +half divined his thoughts and it gave her courage.</p> + +<p>"Will I do, Padre <i>mio</i>?" she asked with a slight hesitancy, +smiling and looking down at him inquiringly. +The question was so characteristic of her that he could +only smile in response.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita <i>mia</i>—there's one thing lacking," he said +at length, the far-away, dreamy look fading from his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Something lacking?" she repeated in surprise, +turning and casting an involuntary glance at the small +mirror on the wall opposite in a vain effort to catch a +full view of herself.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señorita," he answered knowingly, almost +mysteriously. "But it's not your fault. It sometimes +takes the discerning eye of a man to perceive what a +woman's toilet lacks."</p> + +<p>What can it be, she asked herself, looking wonder +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 273]</a></span>ingly +and inquiringly up into his face, and then turning +to follow him with her gaze as, without further comment, +he left the room and slowly ascended the stairs to +his study on the floor above. He paused for an instant +on entering the room, then walked straight to his +desk at the other end; a large upright piece of furniture +of ancient pine made in the mission style and +stained dark to represent oak, which, owing to its age, +it closely resembled. Pulling out the middle drawer, +he pushed back a secret panel on the inside, disclosing +an opening in the back of the desk from which he drew +a small sandalwood box which, on being opened, contained +a silver casket, richly chased and of an antique +design.</p> + +<p>Years had elapsed since he last looked upon it, and +he regarded it curiously for some moments as he held +it in his hands. Then setting it down upon the desk, he +turned the small key which unlocked it and raised the +lid, disclosing its contents, which consisted of a fan, a +bracelet of six strands of large pearls with a diamond +clasp in the shape of a crown, and a long, magnificent +necklace of still larger pearls, also composed of six +strands, like the bracelet, and a large diamond slide also +in the shape of a crown. The fan was one of those exquisite, +daintily hand-painted French creations of +ivory, lace and vellum of a century gone by. On one +of the outer ribs was also a small diamond crown and +on the other was traced a name in letters of gold. A +delicate fragrance like that of withered rose leaves +escaped the casket, and, as he silently contemplated its +contents, his gaze fell upon the name on the fan—Chi +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 274]</a></span>quita +Pia Maria Roxan Concepcion Salvatore—the +name was much longer, but his eyes dimmed—he +could read no further.</p> + +<p>Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands +and was in the act of pressing his lips to its contents, +when he caught sight of a crucifix on the desk in front +of him, causing him to pause, cross himself reverently +and lower the casket again.</p> + +<a name="image2"></a><div class="figcenter newpg"><img src="images/image2.jpg" border="1" + width="427" height="700" ALT="" title="Illustration" > +<p class="captioncenter">"Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands."</p></div> + +<p>Who was Padre Antonio? Involuntarily his thoughts +traveled back over the stream of years when, as a youth +of twenty, he bade farewell to old Spain forever +and with a heavy heart set forth alone to find God and +peace in the wilderness of the new world. Fifty years +had passed since then and with them, the secret and +tragedy of his life lay buried.</p> + +<p>He heaved a deep sigh and, picking up the casket, +turned toward the door. Chiquita listened to the sound +of his footsteps as he slowly descended the stairs, and +gazed in wonderment at the casket he held in his hand +when he reëntered the room. Without a word, he deposited +it upon the table in the center of the room and, +raising the lid, displayed its contents to the dazzled eyes +of his ward. Never had she beheld such wonderful jewels—what +did it mean?</p> + +<p>"Padre <i>mio</i>!" she gasped, her eyes wandering questioningly +from the casket to his face, which appeared a +little paler than when he left the room but a few minutes +before.</p> + +<p>"I never imagined that another woman would ever be +created worthy to wear them," he said quietly, picking +up the bracelet and fastening it about her left wrist, and + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +winding the necklace twice round her throat, the ends +falling down over her bosom to her waist. "May +God's <!-- TN: original reads "blesing" -->blessing forever rest upon you, my child," he added, +making the sign of the cross above her, and stooping, +he kissed her lightly on the forehead.</p> + +<p>Involuntarily her hand went out for the fan, and as +her eyes fell on the name upon it, her woman's instinct +told her all.</p> + +<p>"Padre—Padre <i>mio</i>!" she cried, and throwing her +arms about his neck, burst into a passionate flood of +tears on his breast.</p> + +<p>"There, there, my child!" he said at last, regaining +his accustomed composure. "I now know why I +was never able to part with them—not even to the +Church. I was keeping them for you."</p> + +<p>"But I'm not worthy to wear them, Padre!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut!" he replied. "The ways of God are +past all understanding. When I think of how you came +to me unsought and unbidden, and now, how Captain +Forest of a different race—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Padre, do you think I stand a chance of winning +him?" she interrupted, looking inquiringly up +into his face as if to read the answer there.</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is a difficult question, my child. Love and +intrigue are such uncertain quantities to deal with, you +know. Yet it seems strange that he should have come +into your life at this juncture. Captain Forest," he +went on after a pause, "is a great man. As you know, +we have talked much together of late on that most interesting +of all topics—life. And it seems to me that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +if ever God had plainly indicated his wish, you have +been reserved for one another to perform his will. Of +course, I can not say this for a certainty, but it appears +so to me, and to see your hands and hearts joined +together will be the crowning joy of my life—" Suddenly +his left hand went to his heart, where he experienced +a sharp pain. A dizziness seized him, causing +him to lean heavily upon her for support.</p> + +<p>"Padre <i>mio</i>—what is it?" she cried in alarm. +"You are not well! We'll not go to the <i>fiesta</i> to-night—'tis +better we remain at home!"</p> + +<p>"It's nothing—nothing, my child," he answered, +after the dizziness had passed. "It's only a slight attack +of indigestion, like the one I had last summer +while engaged in the mission work. You know," he +added lightly, "I'm no longer as young as I was—such +things must be expected." All day long she had experienced +a dread of impending disaster which she could not +shake off, and which she naturally connected with Don +Felipe. But why go to the <i>Posada</i> that evening if +Padre Antonio was not feeling well—there would be +other days.</p> + +<p>Again she protested and urged him to remain at +home, but in vain—he would not hear of it.</p> + +<p>"It will do me good to go," he said, helping her on +with her long white silk Spanish mantle, embroidered +with gold and lace to match her dress. Then, drawing +on his black silk gloves, he picked up his hat and stick, +and they passed out into the garden and through the +tall iron gate, turning their steps in the direction of +the <i>Posada</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXX" id="XXX"></a>XXX</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> garden and <i>patio</i> of the <i>Posada</i> were hung with +many lanterns whose light, in addition to that of +the stars and the full moon, made them appear as bright +as day.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Forest maintained a frigid attitude toward the +world throughout the evening. Inwardly she longed +to be gay like the others, but prudery and short-sightedness, +the fruits of her training, prevailed, effectually +debarring her from all enjoyment and leaving +her cold and isolated like one afflicted with the +plague. Could she have followed the dictates of her +wishes, she would have remained within the seclusion +of her room during the entire evening, but not being +able to reconcile such a course with the duties of a +chaperon, she was obliged to appear. If <i>noblesse +oblige</i> demanded that she should sacrifice herself, suffer +the martyred isolation of patience on a monument, then +be it so!</p> + +<p>As for Colonel Van Ashton, he had suffered long +enough. He secretly despised his sister's prudery +though he dared not acknowledge it. Anything to +break the infernal monotony! He welcomed this occasion +of mild revelry with sensations akin to those +of a boy's during the advent of a circus in his town. +Of all the State and grand social functions in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +he had participated, not one, so far as he could remember, +had ever inspired him with such anticipations. +An indescribable joy and spirit of recklessness, born +of desperation, filled him, and he silently vowed that +he would drink to the moon that night even though +there might perchance be blood upon it.</p> + +<p>Owing to the attack of dizziness which had occasioned +a slight delay, Padre Antonio and his ward were +the last of the guests to arrive. Low murmurs and +suppressed exclamations escaped the Spanish element of +the assembly as Chiquita entered the <i>patio</i> on the +padre's arm. If they had been enraptured by the +beauty of Blanch and Bessie and loud in their praises +of their jewels and exquisite gowns, they were crushed +by Chiquita's appearance, clad as she was in white and +gold, a dress they had never seen before, and adorned +with jewels, the magnificence of which they had not +dreamed.</p> + +<p>At last the mystery of the golden <i>pesos</i> was solved—the +jewels of course! A great weight slipped from +the souls of the Spanish women as they gazed in envy +and amazement upon the person they hated most in all +the world.</p> + +<p>Happy, blissful ignorance—thrice blessed by the +gods were they! Those golden <i>pesos</i> would not have +purchased a single strand in her bracelet, while as to +the necklace, its value would have purchased the entire +<i>Posada</i> and many broad acres besides. Don Felipe +and the Americans had seen such jewels before in the +world of fashion, but how came Chiquita by them? +Who was she? Blanch and Bessie began asking them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>selves. +That she had timed her entrance well, all admitted; +though in reality she had thought nothing about +it—chance had favored her, that was all. Interesting +though the subject under discussion had become, there +was little time left the company for further speculation +before Juan Ramon, the major-domo, announced +supper.</p> + +<p>The musicians struck up a lively Spanish air. The +night was mild and soft, the stars and moon glittered +overhead, the wine flowed and the sounds of laughter +and gay, merry voices echoed throughout the <i>patio</i>. +The company sat long at the tables, tempted by innumerable +dainties, and encouraged and soothed by the +wine, the night and soft strains of music. Not even +in the old days had the <i>Posada</i> witnessed a gayer scene. +Indeed, for the time being, they had returned like a +far-off echo of those times when Doña Fernandez +reigned supreme in her beauty and men admired and +flattered and paid homage to her. Little wonder she +sighed in the midst of the gayety and alternately flushed +and paled as her thoughts traveled back over the years.</p> + +<p>Don Felipe was in an exultant mood. That morning +his horse had stumbled and later, while dressing +for the evening, a bat flitted in and out of his room +through the open window. The fact that these two +signs of ill omen did not affect a mind ordinarily subject +to the influence of superstition, showed the state +of his confidence. He drank freely of the wine and +laughed and talked incessantly. What an opportunity +to spring the trap he had laid for Chiquita!</p> + +<p>"If Captain Forest proposes to her to-night, she'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +never lift her eyes to the world again," he whispered +to Blanch beside whom he sat.</p> + +<p>"What do you propose doing?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Have patience," he answered, his face lighting up +with an expression of malicious joy. "Of course, it all +depends whether you give the signal or not."</p> + +<p>"I came here with the intention of doing so," she +confessed. "But everybody seems so happy. Why +not let the evening pass pleasantly? It would be a +pity to mar its harmony."</p> + +<p>"Mere sentiment!" he replied. "Do you think she +would show you such consideration? I assure you, +to-night is the time of all times!" There was something +so malicious, so weird in his tone and manner that +she shuddered as she listened to his words. In spite +of her humiliation, her bitterness and suffering, and +her desire for retribution, she never realized that one +could find such sweet satisfaction in revenge as did Don +Felipe. The prospect of it filled him with a joy that +seemed almost devilish at times.</p> + +<p>At length the tables were cleared, and coffee, liqueurs, +cigars and cigarettes served, Blanch and Bessie, like +the Spanish women, indulging in the latter. In fact, +everybody, with the exception of Mrs. Forest, smoked. +The musicians were ranged in a semicircle across the +upper end of the <i>patio</i> opposite the garden and continued +to render national and Spanish airs upon their +instruments while the company smoked and sipped coffee +and liqueurs. And by the time the men had finished +their first cigars, the different artists, dancers and singers, +who had been engaged for the occasion, came for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>ward +and began to display their talent, adding to the +novelty and gayety of the evening. Considering the +time and the place, they did well enough in their way +and were quite picturesque and pleasing as a whole, +but at no time did their performance rise above the +level of mediocrity, such as one was accustomed to see +anywhere in the world on the vaudeville stage. At +the end of an hour, Blanch felt that the moment had +arrived to ask Chiquita to dance. So, without imparting +her intention to any one, she rose from her chair +and walked over to where Chiquita sat conversing with +the Captain and Don Agusto Revera, Alcalde of Santa +Fé.</p> + +<p>"We have heard so much about your dancing, +Señorita," she began, interrupting the conversation. +"Won't you favor us with a dance to-night?"</p> + +<p>"A dance?" repeated Chiquita with a little start +of surprise, the request coming from Blanch was so +unexpected. She seemed confused, and her face wore +a troubled look. "I would rather not," she said at +length, glancing nervously about her at the company. +She had heard the cruel things that had been said of +her of late and knew how ready those present would +be to criticize her anew.</p> + +<p>"Do dance, Señorita; just to please me, if for nothing +else," persisted Blanch.</p> + +<p>"To please you?" repeated Chiquita. A peculiar +light came into her eyes and she smiled as though +pleased by the request.</p> + +<p>"I hope I'm not asking too much?" continued +Blanch. Again Chiquita smiled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do you know," she answered with warmth, "there's +only one thing in this world I wouldn't do for you?" +and she laughed lightly, nervously opening and closing +her fan the while. Again she glanced around at +the company, wavering between assent and refusal. In +the faces of the women she read the jealousy and envy +which filled their hearts toward her, and it was perhaps +that, not Blanch's request, which decided her to dance.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señorita," she said at length. "I'll dance for +you this night—for you only!" she repeated with +emphasis. Yes, she would dance as she had never +danced before; for would not the most critical eye in +the world be watching her? It was worth while. +Blanch gave a little laugh as she returned to her seat +by the side of Don Felipe.</p> + +<p>Ah! the wiles of woman—subtle and illusive as a +breath or a shadow—the one thing her own sex fears +most! Blanch knew that if there was a common streak +in her rival, it would be brought out in the glaring +reality of the dance, and the Captain should see it. +She knew he could never marry any one but a lady, +and this was her reason for asking Chiquita to dance. +She had in mind, of course, the performances she had +just witnessed, or, to be more exact, the contortions of +the ballet and the modern music-hall artist with which +we are all so familiar; the inane balancing and pirouetting +on the toes, the heavy hip and protruding stomach, +quivering breasts and bellowing and frothing at the +mouth, and colored light effects and <i>risque</i> posing in +scant attire, coupled with a display of attractive lingerie. +But Blanch forgot, or rather did not know, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +she had to do with genius over whose individuality +most men are prone to trip.</p> + +<p>Chiquita's conception of plastic art was something different +from vulgar Salome creations and the cheap +spring-song and lolling and capering of the fatted calf +just alluded to. Had Don Felipe cherished a ray of +hope of reinstating himself in Chiquita's eyes, he would +have done all in his power to prevent her dancing, but, +as matters stood, he welcomed it with enthusiasm, for +he knew that she would be irresistible—that Captain +Forest would be ravished by her enchanting creation +and alluring beauty as she glided through the intricate +mazes of the dance in the moonlight. He had felt that +spell, and knew its irresistible charm.</p> + +<p>The announcement that Chiquita was going to dance +caused a stir among the company. A large dark blue +Indian rug which shone black in the moonlight, was +brought from the living-room of the house by the servants +and spread out upon the <i>patio's</i> pavement. A +murmur of approbation arose from the Mexicans when +the first bars of music announced the dance she had +chosen. It was the famous "Andalusia"—the most +difficult and intricate of all Spanish-Moorish dances; +the one in which few dancers have ever excelled for the +reason that its beauty lies not so much in its intricacy +of form as in the poetic conception and free interpretation +of the artist. Besides, the dance called for two +parts, obliging her to execute the part of her supposed +partner as well. The dance opened with the song of +a Torero who had repaired in the dusk to the hills +overlooking Granada where dwelt his sweetheart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> + +<p>With a coquettish little laugh and toss of the head, +she tossed her fan to Captain Forest who caught it +and held it in his hand as he would a flower. Then, +after some words of direction to the musicians, she +stepped upon the end of the rug nearest them, and to +the amazement of the Americans, lightly kicked off her +slippers, displaying a pair of small, slender, exquisitely +formed feet and ankles. Only amateurs have the courage +to dance in shoes. Even that strict and stilted institution, +the ballet, was forced generations ago to break +through its time-honored traditions by abandoning heels +as useless appendages. Had she been on the stage, +she would have danced in her bare feet as she had done +on the night of the <i>fiesta</i> when Captain Forest had seen +her.</p> + +<p>A smile rested on her face and she nodded her head +lightly to the time of the music as she stood erect in +the full flood of moonlight, tall and slender as a lily.</p> + +<p>"Thy face, Sweetheart, haunts me amid the dust and +glare of the arena!" she began in her deep rich contralto +voice, at the first notes of which everybody sat +up straight and listened to the volume of swelling sounds +which filled the court and garden and floated away on +the night. There was no mistaking the fact, they were +in the presence of an artist.</p> + +<p>"I await thee, Beloved, in the hills, in the hour of +our tryst!" came the far-away answer of the woman's +voice, faint and plaintive as an echo, soft and sweet +and clear as the notes of the skylark, falling in silvery, +rippling cadences of melody from out the gold, blue +vault of heaven above.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="fl">"Nearer and nearer love guideth our steps,<br></span> +<span class="i0">On the hills we shall dance, chant our song of<br></span> +<span class="i0">Delight 'neath the silvery stars and the<br></span> +<span class="i0">Mellow gold horn of the soft shining moon.<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"'Neath the silvery stars, and the mellow gold horn +of the soft shining moon," echoed the musical refrain +and chorus of musicians. Nearer and nearer drew the +answering echoes of the lovers' voices until they met +in the hills and the dancing began.</p> + +<p>So realistic and dramatic was her rendering of the +song, that the listeners saw the progress of the lovers +and felt the thrill and rapture of their meeting. Up +to this point she had held herself in abeyance, but with +the opening bars of the dance, she suddenly became +transformed, electrified. Her whole being became suffused +with the vibrant, passionate intensity of the +South, and then they witnessed an exhibition that was +beautiful and wonderful in its poetic conception.</p> + +<p>A thrill of rapturous, exquisite emotion swept over +them, as suddenly and without warning, she threw back +her head and sprang to the center of the rug with a +swift, whirling motion, the effect of which was like a +shower of sparks or a jet of glittering spray tossed +unexpectedly into the air from a fountain, expressive +of the abandon and exuberance felt by the lovers as they +met in the dance.</p> + +<p>Again, without warning, she paused as abruptly as +she began, and with short, interluding snatches of song, +slowly began to sway to the soft rhythm of the music +and sharp click of her castanets. First slowly, then +swifter and swifter <a name="frontis_image"></a>she glided and whirled noiselessly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +in the moonlight, graceful as a wind-blown rose, or suddenly +paused, languid and sensuous, according to the +rhapsodic character of the dance when the music ceased +altogether and naught was heard save the plashing of +the fountain in the <i>patio</i>, the click of her castanets and +the soft swish of her silken <i>saya</i> which seemed to whisper +and sigh like a living thing, like the mythical voices +of Lilith's hair. Like a musician transposing upon a +theme, she introduced new and elaborate motives of her +own until, at a sign from her, the music took up the +principal theme of the dance once more.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest had seen practically all the great +dancers of our time, the Geisha and Nautch girls of +the East, the Gypsies from Granada to St. Petersburg, +and the Bedouin women dance naked on the sands of +the Sahara beneath the stars while celebrating the +sacred rites of their festivals, but it soon became apparent +that, all with few exceptions, were mere novices +in comparison, and stood in about the same relation to +her as a dilettante does to an artist.</p> + +<p>She lifted the dance above the portrayal of sensuous +emotion into the realms of poetry. The wild spirit of +the Gypsy, captivating, fresh and invigorating and +compelling as the winds of the mighty Sierras and +plains of the land she inhabited, enveloped and animated +her. The rushing, whirling climaxes up to which she +worked were startling—tremendous. The subtle, hypnotic +influence and witchery of her presence filled her +entire surroundings and so held and dominated the spectators +that they were swept irresistibly along with her +as the rhythm of the dance increased. She swayed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +enthralled the imagination and emotions with a supremacy +akin to that of music or the noblest landscape. +The mastery of every motion, every fleeting expression +but increased the impression she endeavored to convey—the +intensity of life, vibrant, joyous life.</p> + +<p>The soft, rhythmic undulations of her graceful, sinuous +body, vibrating and pulsating with the ecstatic, +rapturous emotion inspired by the music and the dance, +were a revelation of beauty. She became the living expression +of rhythm and grace as she paused for an instant +before them, scintillating and quivering like an +aspen leaf, or glided and whirled wraith-like, fragile +and delicate and ethereal, wondrously lithe and airy like +films of gossamer or foam tossed up by the sea. The +dance itself seemed to fade into the background as +their attention became riveted upon her, and visions and +vistas of life rose before the imagination instead.</p> + +<p>She danced with her soul, not with her feet; became +the living incarnation of the ancients' conception of +plastic creation, enchanting, intoxicating. They heard +the myriad voices of spring, the voices of birds and +insects and the sound of falling waters; beheld the +Elysian, flower-strewn fields of youth, recalling the immortal, +fairy days of childhood and with them their +golden dreams, and experienced the sweetness and bitterness +of unfulfilled longings and aspirations of later +years. All felt that it was an event of a lifetime—one +of those hours that would never again return.</p> + +<p>The company gave vent to its emotion in alternate +exclamations of enthusiasm or sighs as it was swept irresistibly +along by the buoyancy and captivating crea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>tion +of the dancer. Two bright tears stood in Padre +Antonio's eyes as he gazed upon the object of his love +and pride. Don Felipe forgot his hatred for the moment +and gazed enraptured, drinking in with eyes and +soul the enchanting vision before him. The heart of +Blanch grew cold as ice as she, like the rest, looked +on entranced in spite of herself by the witchery of her +rival, for she knew she had blundered again, that she +had lost, that Chiquita was transformed—irresistible. +The blood seemed to freeze in her veins as the truth +was borne in upon her. She longed to scream, to rush +forward and stop her—anything to break the spell, +but in vain. Helpless and immovable she was forced +to look on; see the prize of life slip slowly from her +grasp.</p> + +<p>Again Captain Forest beheld the mighty expanse of +mountain and plain, heard the lashing of the sea and +the myriad voices of the singing stars as they whirled +in their courses through space—listened to the chant +of life. Yes, she was the ideal, the living incarnation +of nature, the Golden Girl with the white starry flower on +her breast who was awaiting his coming, the woman +of José's dream to whom he had been guided unconsciously +by the hand of the Unseen. No wonder he had +failed to find the place of his dreams; without knowing +it, he had been waiting for her. But now all was +changed. The earth had become their footstool; the old +life had come to an end.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXI" id="XXXI"></a>XXXI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">A sigh</span> of regret escaped the company as the dance +ceased. Blanch turned to speak to Don Felipe, +but he was no longer by her side—he had vanished. +The musicians struck up a waltz. It was now the turn +of the guests to dance if they chose; a privilege of which +they were not slow to avail themselves.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest crossed over to where Chiquita sat, +resting after the exertion of the dance.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure you've had enough dancing this evening, +Señorita," he said, handing her her fan. "Let us go +into the garden; it's quieter there." His words filled +her with a tumult of emotion. She realized that the +moment for which she had been waiting had arrived. +She looked up at him without replying, then rose from +her seat, and the two quietly left the <i>patio</i>, disappearing +among the shrubbery and the shadows.</p> + +<p>Neither spoke. Each guessed the other's thoughts, +and they walked on in silence until they came to an +open circular space surrounded by trees and flooded by +moonlight, where, as if moved by a common impulse, +they halted. Without a word he turned and silently +folded her in his arms.</p> + +<p>"Jack—" she murmured.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita <i>mia</i>," he said at length, gazing down into +her upturned face where the dusk and the moon-fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +met and blended in a radiance of unearthly beauty, "is +it not wonderful that, all unwittingly and unconscious +of each other's existence, we have been brought together +from the ends of the earth?" She was about +to reply when a voice, close at hand, cut her short. +It was Don Felipe's.</p> + +<p>"A pretty sentiment, Captain Forest," he said, stepping +out into the light before them. "I wish I might +congratulate you, but you will never marry her."</p> + +<p>"How dare you!" cried the Captain furiously, advancing +toward him with flushed face and clenched +hands. Chiquita started violently at the sound of Don +Felipe's voice. The apprehension of an <!-- original reads "inpending"-->impending +catastrophe that had oppressed her during the day, but +which she had forgotten during the excitement of the +dance, again took possession of her.</p> + +<p>"I apologize most humbly for intruding on your +privacy," answered Don Felipe, meeting the Captain's +gaze unflinchingly, "but as one who wishes you well, +I could not stand quietly by and see a man like you +cunningly tricked by this woman."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the Captain, his eyes +blazing and his voice almost beyond control.</p> + +<p>"Chance or fortune, which ever you may choose to +call it, has recently placed certain information in my +possession which will entirely preclude any thought on +your part of marrying her." What can he mean, +Chiquita asked herself. She had expected an attack on +the Captain and was prepared for it, but this—what +was it?</p> + +<p>"You perhaps already know," continued Don Felipe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +coolly, "that this woman and I were once betrothed to +one another, but had I at that time known what I now +know of her, such a thing as a betrothal would have +been out of the question."</p> + +<p>"And this information?" interrogated the Captain.</p> + +<p>"It is very simple, Captain Forest," replied Don +Felipe, slowly and firmly. "The Señorita Chiquita is—the +mother of a child."</p> + +<p>"The mother of a child?" cried Chiquita in astonishment. +"You lie!" His words were like a blow in the +face to the Captain. For an instant the world seemed +to swim before his eyes, but only for an instant. Had +he rushed upon Don Felipe then and there as he felt +impelled, it would have been what the latter most wished +him to do. He would have then had sufficient provocation +to kill him on the spot. But a lion never springs +before he has taken the measure of his leap.</p> + +<p>"Don Felipe Ramirez," said Captain Forest at +length, in a hoarse, half-audible voice, "unless you +give me instant proof of what you say, either you or +I shall never leave this place alive! Understand," he +continued, "that when I ask you for proof, it is not +because I doubt this woman, but that your life and +mine are at stake."</p> + +<p>"Well spoken, Captain Forest," returned Don Felipe. +"'Tis the answer I expected; the utterance of a gentleman, +a <i>Caballero</i>! You shall have the proof you desire—the +living proof, Captain Forest," he added with +emphasis.</p> + +<p>"Proof?" exclaimed Chiquita in amazement. "Are +you bereft of your senses, Don Felipe Ramirez?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah! you have played your part well these many +years, Señorita. It is now my turn to cut the cards. +If you will return to the <i>patio</i>—" he continued, turning +to the Captain.</p> + +<p>"Why not here?" asked the latter.</p> + +<p>"Because the proof which you desire awaits you +there." The Captain was about to protest further, +when Chiquita interposed.</p> + +<p>"Come!" she said, and without further words, turned +and silently led the way back to the <i>patio</i> followed by +Don Felipe and the Captain, the latter scarcely able +to control his desire to seize Don Felipe by the throat +and choke the breath out of his body. She knew that +Don Felipe had laid a most ingenious trap for her; +that was to be expected. But what form it would take, +she was at a loss to divine until they reached the <i>patio</i>; +then it all came over her at once. She was to be publicly +accused. Don Felipe was capable of that, and she +shuddered as she pictured to herself the scene it would +be certain to create.</p> + +<p>There was a pause in the dancing. The musicians +were playing an interlude, and as the three reëntered +the <i>patio</i>, the eyes of all present immediately became +centered upon them. Just opposite to where they +halted sat Blanch and Padre Antonio, conversing together.</p> + +<p>"I would much prefer to spare you a public humiliation," +said Don Felipe, addressing the Captain in a +low tone. "It is not too late. But if you still insist +on having the proof at this time—"</p> + +<p>"The proof by all means!" exclaimed Chiquita with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>out +giving the Captain time to answer, her eyes blazing +with indignation.</p> + +<p>"Very well, since you insist," replied Don Felipe, +glancing for an instant in the direction of Blanch. As +he did so, both the Captain and Chiquita noticed that +she let fall, as if by accident, the pink rose she held in +her hand. Instantly Don Felipe turned and clapped +his hands, whereupon, an old Indian woman, bowed with +age and supporting herself with a stick, and accompanied +by a pretty little Indian girl of five or six +years of age, emerged from one of the doors of the +house and paused, bewildered by the unusual sight that +greeted their eyes; the lights and flowers, the music and +gayly dressed men and women. Chiquita started and +uttered a low cry as her gaze fell upon the old woman +and the child. Captain Forest noted the ashen hue +of her face and felt her hand tremble as she involuntarily +clutched at his arm as if for support. Then +she suddenly seemed to recover her composure.</p> + +<p>"That?" she exclaimed, and began to laugh, almost +hysterically. It was evident to the others that something +unusual had occurred. The music suddenly +ceased, and save for the murmur of the fountain in +the center of the court, not a sound was to be heard. +All eyes were now turned upon the old woman and +the child who still stood silent and motionless, gazing +in bewilderment upon the strange scene before +them. Suddenly the child uttered a cry of joy.</p> + +<p>"Madre! Madre <i>mia</i>!" she cried, and running +across the court, flung herself into Chiquita's arms. +Then it was that the latter grasped the full significance + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +and gravity of the situation. What could have been +more compromising and humiliating for her?</p> + + +<a name="image3"></a><div class="figcenter newpg"><img src="images/image3.jpg" border="1" + width="410" height="700" ALT="" title="Illustration" > +<p class="caption">"'Madre! Madre <i>mia</i>!' she cried, and flung herself into Chiquita's arms."</p></div> + +<p>"Marieta, <i>niña mia</i>!" she exclaimed, stooping and +kissing the child, without realizing that her words and +action only compromised her the more.</p> + +<p>"Is this the beautiful garden you told me of, Mother—which +you said you would one day take me to see?" +asked the child, gazing delightedly about her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, <i>cara mia</i>!" she answered hastily, holding +the child close to her. Instinctively the others began +to draw near the little group.</p> + +<p>"What brings you here, Juana?" she asked sternly +of the old woman who by this time had crossed the court +and stood before her, leaning on her stick.</p> + +<p>"They said you sent for us, Señorita, and compelled +us to come."</p> + +<p>"I never sent for you!" answered Chiquita.</p> + +<p>"Do you wish for further proof?" asked Don +Felipe, addressing the Captain. "You see, the child +found no difficulty in recognizing its mother," he added +sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a lie!" cried Chiquita. Captain Forest was +speechless, stunned. As for Don Felipe, he only +laughed at Chiquita's impotent rage.</p> + +<p>"Between five and six years ago," he began, "the +Señorita and one Joaquin Flores brought this child +late one night to the Indian <i>pueblo</i>, Onava, and placed +it in charge of this woman with whom it has lived ever +since. Is it not so?" he asked, turning to the old +Indian woman.</p> + +<p>"It is, Señor," she answered in confusion. + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And has not the Señorita visited the child each +month and provided for its wants ever since the day +it was given into your charge?" Again the old +woman answered in the affirmative. "And has not the +child," continued Don Felipe, "always called her mother +ever since it has been able to speak, and have you not +always thought her to be its mother?" The old +woman hesitated and glanced nervously about her as +though seeking a way of escape.</p> + +<p>"Speak, Juana!" commanded Don Felipe sharply. +"Onava lies within my domain. Unless you speak the +truth, I'll have you and the rest of your family driven +to the desert to starve."</p> + +<p>"It is so, Señor!" sobbed the old woman, thoroughly +frightened by Don Felipe's threat, yet not daring to +raise her eyes to those of Chiquita.</p> + +<p>"You now know why the Señorita Chiquita danced in +public during the <i>Fiesta</i>. It was to provide for the +wants of her child," he added with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Captain Forest contemptuously, +breaking the long silence he had preserved. +"The introduction of this child and woman +doesn't prove anything that I can see."</p> + +<p>"Every Indian in the village," interrupted Don +Felipe, "will substantiate what you have just heard. +Why, the Señorita herself taught this child to call her +mother. But there are still other things which you +shall learn in due time."</p> + +<p>"Chiquita," said the Captain without heeding Don +Felipe's words, "speak! I know you can explain." +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +She glanced up at him for a moment and then cast +her eyes down at the child.</p> + +<p>"I must first send to La Jara for Joaquin and +Manuelita Flores," she answered. "When they come, +I shall be able to tell something definite concerning this +child."</p> + +<p>"You can spare yourself the trouble," broke in Don +Felipe. "They are both dead."</p> + +<p>"Dead?" she cried, starting violently. "Joaquin +and Manuelita dead?"</p> + +<p>"Their bodies, together with those of their horses and +wagon, were discovered early this morning at the foot +of the <i>mesa</i> which lies between here and La Jara, +directly below the point where the road winds along +the rim of the cliff. Doubtless their horses became +frightened in the dark and jumped over the cliff before +they could save themselves."</p> + +<p>Chiquita uttered a low cry. "You've done your +work well, Don Felipe Ramirez," she said at length, +suddenly straightening and stiffening as she faced him, +the expression on her face changing to one of hatred +and contempt.</p> + +<p>"It was no easy task to run you to earth, I'll admit," +he retorted with the same sneering look of triumph on +his countenance.</p> + +<p>The only two persons upon whom she could rely, +who could corroborate what she had to say concerning +the child, were dead. No, there was one other, a man, +but he too was gone—no one knew where. She saw +the hopelessness of her plight. Nothing she could say<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +or do could alter the opinion of the world toward her. +She might continue to deny the charge, protest her innocence, +accuse others, but to what avail? Without the +actual proof, all must believe that which they were so +ready and willing to believe. Had not the child recognized +her, called her mother before the world? Even +though the charge might never be actually proven, and +Captain Forest refuse to believe it, there would always +be this thing between them which she could never explain +satisfactorily. It was not natural to suppose that +he could possibly forget it or continue to believe in her +protestations of innocence without the corroboration of +others. The hour must surely come in which he would +be assailed by doubts. She felt she had lost him, and +with the knowledge of her failure, was seized with a +sickening sensation and an acute pain at the heart. A +misty veil rose between her and the world and she swayed +unsteadily as though about to fall. She knew she must +not faint. She drew her hand across her eyes, then, +putting all her remaining strength into the effort, she +slowly drew herself up.</p> + +<p>Strange, that she and Don Felipe should have been +created to become the nemesis of one another! The +child, awed by the silence and grave faces of the bystanders, +instinctively divined that there was something +wrong between her and them, and clung mutely to Chiquita's +skirt, a frightened look on her face.</p> + +<p>Chiquita, meanwhile, stood gazing straight out before +her, her head slightly inclined forwards, her face white +and set, her heart burning with shame. It was not so +much the question of guilt or innocence that affected her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +now, but the shame of it all. What must the Americans +think of her? She felt the burning, searching gaze +of those about her and the joy they experienced at her +discomfiture. Never had she been at a loss to know +which way to turn to extricate herself from a difficulty; +but now, how helpless she was. She nervously tapped +the palm of her left hand with her fan, vainly racking +her brain in an effort to find a solution. Dick, who +had been watching her narrowly the while, saw a strange +light begin to play in her eyes in which he read Don +Felipe's death as plainly as though it were written across +the heavens in letters of flame.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita, you must say something," said Captain +Forest. "I tell you again, I don't believe it, but for +your own sake—speak!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my child, speak!" entreated Padre Antonio, +stepping before her. "Can't you see your silence is +condemning you?" She looked up at him and saw that +his face was ashen, colorless like the Captain's—that +he seemed to have suddenly aged. Notwithstanding, +there was the same kindly expression in his eyes she +had always known, and she felt that, even though the +world refused to believe in her, he might; he might even +forgive her. She saw in her present humiliation and +shame, a direct punishment for the betrayal of the +Padre's confidence. Had she confided her secret to him, +this could not have come upon her. Now, however, +it was too late. She had no right to expect sympathy +even from him.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita, for the last time, I ask you to speak!" +pleaded Captain Forest, racked between doubt and be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>lief +in the woman he loved. Just then, little Marieta +began to cry.</p> + +<p>"Madre, madre!" she gasped between her sobs. +"I'm afraid of these people. Take me away—take +me home again!"</p> + +<p>"Be not afraid, my little one, they cannot harm +you," she answered, drawing the child closer to her +and laying one hand on its shoulder. Another embarrassing +silence, broken only by the low sobs of Marieta, +followed.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita," demanded Padre Antonio at length, +"has this child the right to call you mother?" There +was a stern ring in his voice and she knew her last +moment of grace had come; that it was useless to hesitate +longer. She glanced at the Captain, then at the +Padre and then down at the pretty, tear-stained face of +the clinging child. Again she felt that peculiar pain +at the heart and thought she was going to faint as she +struggled with herself between honor, her love and respect +for Captain Forest and Padre Antonio and her +devotion to the child whose life, she knew, depended +upon her answer. Up to that moment she had been +completely at a loss to know what to say or how to act, +but that invisible something which until then had deprived +her of speech, now seemed to impel her to answer +in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>It was the supreme moment of her life. After all +the years she could not abandon the child now; the +woman in her forbade it. She must go on to the end. +Again she glanced down at Marieta, and then raising +her head and looking into Padre Antonio's eyes, said +quietly: "Yes, she has that right."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's not true; I don't believe it!" cried Captain +Forest in a tone in which was expressed all the shame +and disgust he experienced on seeing the woman he +loved dragged into the mire before his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Captain Forest, you have heard the truth," answered +Chiquita.</p> + +<p>"Then there is nothing further to be said!" broke +in Padre Antonio who was anxious to end a scene that +was growing more painful each moment. Without a +word, the Captain whirled on his heel and walked toward +the garden. Clearly, the effects of the drop of poison +instilled so adroitly into their lives by Don Felipe were +beginning to be felt.</p> + +<p>It is doubtful whether Blanch would have given Don +Felipe the signal could she have foreseen the consequences. +Her rival could have been exposed without +being publicly humiliated. Nevertheless, an ineffable joy +filled her soul. She knew now that Jack either must +return to her, or he would never marry. His sensitive, +overwrought mind frenzied and made desperate by despair +might even drive him to kill himself in the end, but +what did it really matter so long as no other woman possessed +him?</p> + +<p>Don Felipe fairly reveled in his revenge and took +no pains to conceal it. It was the sweetest moment of +his life. At last she too knew what it was to be struck +to earth, to lie prone with one's face in the dust, the +jeers of the world ringing in her ears. Of a truth, to +quote Dick's words, "Had the devil raked hell with +a fine-tooth comb, he could not have produced a more +accomplished villain than Don Felipe Ramirez."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXII" id="XXXII"></a>XXXII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">As</span> Chiquita and Padre Antonio left the <i>patio</i>, accompanied +by Marieta and old Juana, the women +drew back from her as though from some unclean thing. +Gladly would they have spared Padre Antonio's feelings, +but their hatred and jealousy were too intense and the +opportunity to cast a stone at her too tempting for +flesh and blood to resist.</p> + +<p>Greatly to the astonishment of every one, it was noted +that Padre Antonio carried his head quite as high while +leaving, as when he entered the <i>patio</i> during the early +part of the evening. They expected him to limp away, a +crushed and broken old man; but they had yet to learn +the unbending spirit of the Padre. Although humble +in the sight of God, experience had taught him that the +only way to command the respect of men was to hold +one's head high while among them.</p> + +<p>What must he think of her now, to be requited thus +after all he had done for her? Chiquita asked herself as +she, with Marieta and Juana, followed him homeward. +The opinion of the world concerning her, and the loss of +Captain Forest's love, seemed little in comparison to the +thought that he should believe she had betrayed his confidence. +She could endure anything but that. Had she +but told him all in the beginning, he might have been +spared the shame of this disgrace. Perhaps it was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +yet too late; she would tell him all that night. True, +she could not make amends for the pain she had caused +him, but perhaps he would understand—forgive her.</p> + +<p>She knew that a continuance of her residence in Santa +Fé was no longer possible. Strange that it should have +ended thus, and what was before her now? She knew +the world only waited to shower wealth and distinction +upon her should she choose the stage for a career; or, +she might return to her people. But what would life be +to her under any conditions without Padre Antonio's respect +and the Captain's love?</p> + +<p>Strong and versatile and capable though she was to +cope with the world, her lot was not an enviable one. It +was with Godspeed, not the maledictions of one's +neighbors, that she had hoped to leave the place which +had sheltered her so long. And Padre Antonio—how +could she part from him thus?</p> + +<p>Captain Forest's last words were her only solace; he +had tried to believe in her to the end. Let come what +might, they would remain with her always like a benediction, +a tower of strength in some future hour of trial. +And then there was Don Felipe. Ah, yes, Don Felipe! +Her teeth came together with a snap, for she knew +that, even after what had transpired, he would follow +her.</p> + +<p>Padre Antonio walked silently homeward without so +much as turning round once to look at the others. Not +even after arriving at the great iron gate before the garden +did he pause to allow the others to pass in ahead of +him as he otherwise would have done, but walked +straight on to the house and entered the living-room<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +without so much as looking round, leaving Chiquita to +dispose of old Juana and the child for the night.</p> + +<p>Padre Antonio was no fool. Perplexed though he +was by what had occurred, he knew there was a +time for silence as well as a time for speech. He also +knew that Chiquita would join him as soon as the others +were settled for the night, and that she would then tell +him her story.</p> + +<p>Outside, the garden was almost as light as during the +day, and the room, though partially in shadow, was illumined +by the moonlight to an extent that rendered +objects within it distinctly visible. The events of the +evening had sorely taxed his strength. He was thoroughly +tired, and with a sigh he threw himself into his +large leathern chair to rest until Chiquita returned.</p> + +<p>"What was the mystery in connection with the +child?" he asked himself, closing his eyes in thought. +Don Felipe's story could not be true. "It was absurd, +preposterous!" he cried aloud, opening his eyes with a +start. As he did so, his gaze fell upon a picture on the +wall opposite, gleaming conspicuously in the full flood +of moonlight. It was that beautiful illustration of what +human faith may accomplish; the familiar representation +of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia meekly displaying +the contents of her apron before her lord, the Landgrave—that +heavy, sporadic type of whiskered ass whose only +mission in life seems to be that of pulling the stars and +all else down about his wassail-soaked head and ears +through sheer avoirdupois and stupidity. Padre Antonio +experienced a sudden thrill as he gazed at the picture. +Clearly, it was the hand of God directing him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +So did Saint Elizabeth deliberately deny the truth, and +yet the bread in her apron was turned to roses.</p> + +<p>Instinctively he recalled Captain Forest's last words. +And then, putting two and two together, he also recalled +the fact that he had noted something during the scene +which nobody else seemed to have noticed, namely: that +the face of the child, Marieta, was the living image of +Don Felipe's. Like a flash all became clear to him, and +he smiled and nodded as the truth dawned upon him, +and he wondered greatly at Chiquita's discretion. +Yet why should he be astonished? Was it not like +her?</p> + +<p>Chiquita also wondered in turn, and was much perplexed +by his attitude, the quiet, benign expression of +his face, when she entered the room after bidding Juana +and Marieta good night. She had expected exactly +the reverse. What did it mean, did he know anything? +But she did not stop to question him. Before unburdening +her soul, she must first divest herself of the jewels +which, ever since the terrible scene at the <i>Posada</i>, she felt +she had dishonored. Their touch seemed to burn her +flesh.</p> + +<p>"Padre <i>mio</i>," she said quietly, as though nothing unusual +had occurred, "you know I said it would not be +necessary to wear these jewels longer than to-night. I +really never should have worn them at all. It was not +right, for, as you see, I am not worthy of them." She +began to unclasp the bracelet on her arm, but hastily +putting forth his hand, he checked her.</p> + +<p>"No, my child!" he said, rising from the chair. +"You must keep them—they are yours. Besides, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +are so becoming to you! Again I say—you are the +only woman in this world worthy to wear them."</p> + +<p>"Padre, Padre <i>mio</i>!" she cried, starting backward +and gazing full in his face. "You—you believe in +me?"</p> + +<p>"How could you have imagined anything else, my +child?" he answered quietly. Without attempting a reply, +she threw herself upon his breast, convulsed with +sobs and trembling in every limb, telling him plainer than +words how terribly shaken she had been by the ordeal +through which she had just passed. He did not attempt +to soothe or pacify her with words, knowing how useless +it would be, but waited quietly for her passionate outburst +to subside.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Padre <i>mio</i>, how good you are, and how have I +requited you!" she said at length, looking up at him +through her tears and slowly disengaging herself from +his arms. "You know," she continued between convulsive +sobs, and slowly drying her tears, "that little Marieta +is the child of Don Felipe and Pepita Delaguerra." +Padre Antonio started at the mention of the latter's +name.</p> + +<p>"Pepita Delaguerra?" he repeated. "I felt all +along that she was Don Felipe's child, the resemblance +is so striking, and I wonder the others did not notice it, +but I never connected her with Pepita; perhaps because +it is so long since she died. How strange that he +should have introduced his own child without knowing +it!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Chiquita. "And yet it is not so +strange after all. Persons of his character invariably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +blunder in the end, clever though they be. Another +strange coincidence is that they were married just six +years ago to-day in the little Mission church of San Isidor +at Onava."</p> + +<p>"Why, that was before Don Juan's death, and in direct +opposition to the stipulations of his will!" exclaimed +Padre Antonio excitedly.</p> + +<p>"Just so," answered Chiquita. "That's what caused +the trouble. The entire property should have gone to +the Church, but Felipe destroyed the record of his marriage +before his father's death and the birth of his +child."</p> + +<p>"The scoundrel!" cried the Padre.</p> + +<p>"But that is not all," continued Chiquita. "Everything +seemed to be in league with him to further his +plans. Father Danuncio, who secretly married them, +also died before Don Juan did, without divulging the secret."</p> + +<p>"Strange!" ejaculated Padre Antonio.</p> + +<p>"There were three witnesses to the marriage—Joaquin +and Manuelita Flores, whom Don Felipe has cleverly +put out of the way, and Bob Carlton, the gambler, +who, at that time, was Don Felipe's intimate friend; but +he, too, is gone and never dare return."</p> + +<p>"The clever scoundrel!" interrupted the Padre.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Chiquita. "When it comes to deviltry, +Don Felipe has yet to meet his match. But as I +was about to say: Six months after the marriage, Don +Felipe deserted Pepita, then the child was born, and +knowing that he would unhesitatingly make way with it +should he learn of its existence, Joaquin and I took it to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +Onava, where we knew it would be hid effectually from +the world. Of course old Juana and all the other Indians +in the village thought the child was mine, and I let +them think so in order that its identity might the better +be concealed until we were able to prove to whom it belonged."</p> + +<p>"But why did you not tell me this in the beginning, +my child?" he asked with a note of reproach in his +voice. "I might have—"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that was to protect you, Padre <i>mio</i>! It +might have been wiser had I done so, and yet I think +not. I felt impelled to keep you in ignorance of the +facts, for I knew that Don Felipe would stop at nothing. +What would your life have been to him, had you +come between him and his position? His wealth is too +vast. I knew that, as surely as you raised your voice +against him, as you would have been obliged to in the +interests of the Church, you one day would have been +found dead in some lonely pass in the mountains while +engaged in your Mission work."</p> + +<p>Padre Antonio was too astute an observer of men not +to perceive the force of her words.</p> + +<p>"I marvel at your sagacity, my child; but think what +it has cost you!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that is the marvelous part of it!" she replied. +"Whoever would have imagined that, unconscious of +the true facts, he would have succeeded in turning my +own weapons against me? It's fate, Padre <i>mio</i>."</p> + +<p>He paced back and forth for some time in silence, +then suddenly pausing before her, said: "This cloud +must not rest upon you, Chiquita <i>mia</i>. We must find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +that blackleg, Carlton, if we have to raise heaven and +earth to do it."</p> + +<p>"That is easier said than done, Padre <i>mio</i>," she answered +quietly.</p> + +<p>"God never wholly abandons his children to the evil +of the world," he returned firmly. "Don Felipe has +deceived the Church once, but he shall not do so a second +time. God has allowed him to triumph thus far in order +that his punishment may be all the greater in the end +when it comes upon him. Carlton must be somewhere +just across the border—in Texas or Arizona or New +Mexico. Within twenty-four hours after the word has +been flashed over the wires, runners will have passed +through all our remote Missions along the border, and if +he is no longer in Mexico, then the word shall be passed +across the frontier into the United States. If he still +be alive, he can not escape us. We will find him and +bring him back again. No, the Church is not so powerless +as many, strong in worldly possessions, imagine. +The Church of Rome has never yet failed to find the man +or woman she has set out to find. Don Felipe will be +stripped of his possessions and his child restored to its +rightful position.</p> + +<p>"Again I say, God's ways are past all understanding. +You have been His unconscious instrument. +Think of what you were and how you came to me, and +what your life has been since then! Have you endured +all for naught? Are God's plans to be frustrated by +a man, a dastardly craven like Don Felipe? No, my +child, I see things clearer now than I ever have seen +them before. You and Captain Forest have not been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +brought together from the ends of the earth only to be +mocked by the world of evil. God demands that we all +shall pass through the fire in order that we may be fitted +to bear the burden He lays upon us. You both have endured +the trial; proved yourselves worthy of the mission +He has entrusted to you."</p> + +<p>He paused. Then, suddenly recollecting the all-important +question, he exclaimed: "I forget, we are wasting +time; we must find Carlton! This very night word +shall go forth!" and hastily snatching up his hat and +stick, he hurried out into the night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXIII" id="XXXIII"></a>XXXIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain Forest's</span> feelings are better imagined +than described. His brain was in a whirl, +on fire. For the second time a woman had treated his +confidence lightly. The whole world seemed to spin +round him in chaotic confusion as he sought to lay hold +of a single, tangible thought that might temper his judgment, +steady his nerves and check the fierce outbursts of +passion which were fast sweeping him beyond self-control. +He had reached a state of recklessness that +renders a man of his temperament most dangerous, and +unless his judgment soon got the better of his passions, +he would, as likely as not, either kill Chiquita or Don +Felipe, or both of them.</p> + +<p>The company had broken up shortly after the departure +of Chiquita and Padre Antonio, leaving the +<i>patio</i> silent and deserted, save for the presence of the +Captain, who paced silently back and forth; the moon +flooding the <i>patio</i> with broad sheets of white light, +causing objects to appear almost as sharp and distinct +as before the lights of the lanterns were extinguished.</p> + +<p>Blanch, who was the last to leave, would have offered +him her sympathy, but on approaching him, he gave her +a look so terrifying that even she dared not speak to +him. She accordingly retired to her room and seated +herself before the open window from which she com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>manded +a view of the court and could observe him at +her leisure. Perhaps he will come to his senses now, +she thought. At any rate, he now knew what she suffered. +She experienced a feeling of cruel satisfaction +and exultation while calmly watching the struggle going +on within him as he paced slowly back and forth.</p> + +<p>How strange that they should be there in that out-of-the-way +place! In spite of the terrible ordeal through +which she had passed and the dramatic climax in which +the struggle had just culminated, it still appeared so +unreal, so unnatural to her, that she wondered whether +she was not still dreaming and must soon awaken to find +herself back in the old life again and Jack near her, as +in the old days. Who could have foreseen this tragedy, +this end to their lives? But a few months previous all +things appeared so clear and defined, so definitely ordained +for them.</p> + +<p>Truly the future was veiled—a sealed book for man! +Had she been permitted to dip for but an instant beneath +the cover of that book, or lift the veil ever so little, +the catastrophe that had overtaken them and the suffering +it entailed might have been averted.</p> + +<p>But no. The strange nemesis that had pursued them +step by step had been permitted to wreck their lives completely. +And for what end—what purpose? Was +there no justice, no recompense for them? The answer, +she somehow felt, lay not here, but with the stars—in +the great universal scheme of things, and was quite beyond +her reasoning powers.</p> + +<p>She felt the utter hopelessness of longer struggling +against the unseen, and in that hour she became a fatal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>ist. +Better drift from day to day without purpose, +than living, behold one's dreams and ambitions come to +naught. She was like a strong, self-confident swimmer +who had been caught by the tide and was being swept +irresistibly out to sea. Blurred though her vision was, +she seemed to see things clearer than she had ever seen +them before, and she somehow felt that the fate which +had overtaken her was the result of self-aggrandizement—that +she in a measure typified the passing or end of a +condition out of whose decay the new life must spring.</p> + +<p>Submit she must, and yet a fierce resentment against +all things filled her soul. She rebelled at the apparent +injustice which she felt had been done her. Why had +she, the most fit, been chosen? What had she really +done to merit such an end? She realized that her trouble +was unalterable; that it had its root in the social +scheme of things and nothing she could do could alter it. +That in reality it was no fault of hers, but the fault of +her bringing up; that the world which she had been +taught to respect as a thing representing truth and +beauty, all that is best in man, was only a mocking +illusion.</p> + +<p>The injustice of it amazed, appalled, stunned her. +She seemed to think and move like one in a dream, +struggling with shadowy, intangible forces with which +she was incapable to cope. The thought that it was not +her fault only added to her bitterness and agony, and +she longed for death—the death that knows no awakening—to +be blotted out utterly, and forever. Her life +was devoid of hope, there was nothing to look forward +to, the future had become a blank.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> + +<p>A low moan, in which was expressed the despair and +agony of men since the beginning of time, escaped her. +She pressed her cold hands to her burning, throbbing +temples and prayed that, whatever her end might be, it +would come swiftly.</p> + +<p>Again she raised her head and glanced through the +open window. To her surprise she saw the tall form of +Dick Yankton leaning against one of the pillars of the +arcade that ran round the <i>patio</i>. He was smoking +quietly and observing the Captain, who still strode back +and forth apparently unaware of his presence. Suddenly +the Captain stopped short as if he had come to a +decision. As he did so, he turned half round and saw +Dick, whom he regarded for some moments in silence. +Then, going over to where he stood, she heard him exclaim: +"It's not true, Dick, I don't believe it. I'm +going to her now and tell her so!" At the same instant +she also saw Don Felipe glide noiselessly and +stealthily from one of the doors opening on to the <i>patio</i> +and pause in the deep shadow of the arcade next to the +wall, close to where they stood. Instantly she was on +her feet and leaning forward, breathless and eager to +catch all that was said.</p> + +<p>"Neither do I believe it," answered Dick. "But I +wouldn't have told you so. I wanted you to make up +your mind first, and if you hadn't said so just now, I +wouldn't show you this, either," he continued, drawing +from his inner coat pocket a large envelope from which +he took a letter and handed it to the Captain.</p> + +<p>She saw the sheet of paper tremble in the Captain's +hands as he read its contents. Again Dick handed him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +another sheet somewhat larger and darker than the first. +He seized it eagerly, glancing hurriedly over its contents, +his hands trembling more violently than before.</p> + +<p>"Marvelous!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking at +Dick. "And yet," he added, "it's not so strange after +all; it's so natural!"</p> + +<p>Blanch uttered a suppressed cry. She felt that her +last chance of winning back the Captain was gone forever. +It was a last stab at her heart. At this juncture +José appeared from out the shadows of the garden +beyond the <i>patio</i> and hurriedly approached them. She +heard him say something in Spanish which she did not +understand. Then, all became blurred before her eyes. +She felt herself begin to sway and totter—she fainted.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;'> + +<p>Following José, the Captain and Dick came upon +Starlight, quietly cropping the grass in the garden, just +outside the corral. On hearing their approach, the +Chestnut raised his head, and, seeing his master, gave a +low whinny of recognition. Close beside him on the +grass lay a dark, shapeless object which, on closer inspection, +proved to be the remains of Juan Ramon, +trampled almost beyond recognition by the stallion's +terrible hoofs.</p> + +<p>While Chiquita was being confronted by Don Felipe +and the attention of every one was occupied by the +scene that followed, Juan seized the opportunity for +which he had been waiting. Stealing quietly away to +the corrals, he deftly flung a <i>riata</i> over the stallion's +head, and, looping it about the animal's nose, was on his +back with a bound.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was no question of Juan's ability to ride him. +Once on a horse's back, he had never yet been unseated. +He had expected the Chestnut to rear and plunge, to +fight desperately on finding a stranger on his back and +he was prepared for it, but greatly to his surprise, the +horse showed no signs of fight and went meekly out of +the corral at his bidding. All went well until they +reached the garden, and Juan was beginning to congratulate +himself on making his escape so easily, when suddenly +and without warning, the Chestnut stopped short, +reached round with his head, and seizing Juan by the leg +with his teeth, jerked him to the ground. Juan heard +the stallion's fierce cry of rage, and—that was the end.</p> + +<p>The luck had changed again for Juan, and with it +vanished his fair dream of life on the little <i>hacienda</i> with +the pretty Rosita.</p> + +<p>José had long been aware of Juan's intentions regarding +the horse, and laughed quietly to himself as he +thought of the trap Juan was laying for himself. That +afternoon he appeared to be drinking heavily, and early +in the evening feigned intoxication in order that Juan +might go to his death which he knew awaited him should +he so much as lay his hand on the horse.</p> + +<p>When Blanch regained consciousness once more, she +found herself in a half sitting and kneeling posture before +the window with one arm resting on the sill. She +must have been unconscious for some time, for when she +came to herself, she again saw Captain Forest and Dick +standing in the <i>patio</i> conversing in low tones. They +soon separated, Dick going into the house, and the Captain +making his way through the garden. She knew he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +was on his way to Chiquita. She also saw Don Felipe +steal from the shadow of his concealment and follow +him.</p> + +<p>A great fear seized her. She felt the imminence of a +disaster greater than that which had already occurred. +Something terrible was about to happen. The thought +aroused her to action and she hurriedly rose to her feet. +If possible, she would prevent that final catastrophe +which her intuition told her was imminent—which she +knew must overtake either one or all three of them should +Don Felipe and the Captain meet again that night in +Chiquita's presence.</p> + +<p>There was not a moment to lose, and seizing a light +wrap which lay on a chair beside her, she flung it about +her shoulders and hurriedly left the room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXIV" id="XXXIV"></a>XXXIV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> leaving the <i>patio</i>, Bessie promised to meet +Dick in the garden after the company dispersed +for the night. After the Captain's departure, Dick returned +to the <i>patio</i> and took his stand in the shadow of +the nearest trees, where he awaited her.</p> + +<p>Never had her mood appeared so distracted and +evasive as that evening. She had avoided him as much +as possible. He was quite at a loss to know how to take +her, and wondered what would be the outcome of their +interview which, he felt, might possibly be their last.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this melancholy prospect, he still experienced +the same spirit of buoyancy which possessed +him during the day. He had caught her regarding him +several times during the evening with what he thought +to be a look of tenderness in her eyes, and this, perhaps, +accounted in a measure for his present elation.</p> + +<p>She, in turn, had wondered greatly at the change that +had come over him. How could he possibly be so gay +when everybody else was so miserable, and she thoroughly +resented it.</p> + +<p>During the interval that had elapsed after the breaking +up of the company, she had participated in a stormy +interview with her father and aunt; the latter endeavoring +to point out to her the danger incurred by holding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> +intercourse with obscure, low-born persons, as had just +been demonstrated in the Captain's case.</p> + +<p>She was surprised on returning to her room not to +find Blanch there, but, on second thought, felt it was only +natural after what had occurred that she should want to +be alone, and thought she must be somewhere in the garden. +She had seen Dick leave the <i>patio</i> and disappear +in the shadow beyond, whither she directed her steps, +passing out and around the front of the house, as she +did not wish to incur the risk of being seen by her father +or aunt.</p> + +<p>Dick, who had tossed aside his hat on the grass and +stood leaning against the trunk of a tree, was presently +aroused from his meditations by the object of his +thoughts, who stood close beside him.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm here," she said, by way of beginning, +looking up into his face.</p> + +<p>"I was looking for you in the other direction," he +replied, throwing away his half-burnt cigar. "I ought +to have known better. You are always doing the opposite +of that which one expects."</p> + +<p>A smile lit up her face for a moment, as she flashed +her beautiful wide eyes upon him. She seemed a part +of that beauteous night, elfish and delicate as a moonbeam +or a flower, fragile as the song of a bird. He +could not speak, but stood drinking her in with his +eyes and soul, his face wearing a mixed expression of +rapture and pain. She knew what he felt, and like +him, she, too, struggled with herself for the mastery of +her emotion.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," she said at length, "this is the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +time I have ever been guilty of a clandestine meeting +with a man. If my father knew I was here, he would +be beside himself."</p> + +<p>"Then you did want to come!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Of course. Otherwise, why should I be here?" she +responded shyly, raising her eyes to his for an instant +and then lowering them again.</p> + +<p>"Bessie!" he cried, starting toward her.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" she said, raising her hand in protest and +checking him. Had he taken her in his arms then and +there, she would have surrendered without a struggle, +for she was in that soft, languid mood of a woman in love +in spite of herself. But he dared not give way to his +impulse. He loved her too much, and feared lest his impetuosity +might ruin forever his chance of winning +her.</p> + +<p>"I know it was foolish of me to come, especially when +there was no reason for it," she continued with assumed +indifference, casting a sidelong glance at him out of the +corners of her eyes. In spite of the pain she knew she +inflicted, she could not resist flirting with him just a +little even at such a moment. It filled her with such +exquisite joy to feel anew the power she exercised over +him and the unfathomable depth of his love which each +fresh thrust at his heart revealed to her.</p> + +<p>"I came here," she slowly resumed, "to ask what +you think of Chiquita?"</p> + +<p>"Think!" he burst forth savagely, aroused almost +to a pitch of desperation by her irritating manner. +"Do you take me for as big a fool as Don Felipe, or—" +your father? he was about to add, but checked himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +just in time. "When one has known Chiquita as long +as I have, you don't think things about her, you know. +Don Felipe," he went on, "reminds me of the naughty +little boy who one day, while playing in a park, threw +mud on a swan, imagining that he had besmirched the +bird forever until it dived under the water and reappeared +again as white as before. Why, even if I at this +moment did not possess the absolute proof of her innocence, +nobody could ever persuade me to believe that +story. You don't know the Indian as I do, Miss Van +Ashton. The high-caste Indian women are quite as incapable +of such things as you are. It was a devilishly +clever stroke on Don Felipe's part, I'll admit, but he +has deceived himself as thoroughly as the rest of the +world."</p> + +<p>"What proof have you?" she asked with a surprised +and mystified look, her woman's curiosity thoroughly +aroused. Dick chuckled softly in reply.</p> + +<p>"What are you laughing at?" she demanded, not a +little nettled by his manner.</p> + +<p>"I'm not laughing," he answered. "I'm merely +trying to smother the rage you have aroused in me by +dallying with me in this manner when you know perfectly +well that I asked you to come here to tell you +that I—"</p> + +<p>"Stop!" she commanded authoritatively. "I wish +to see that proof before anything further passes between +us."</p> + +<p>"Will you never become serious?" he asked, drawing +an envelope from his pocket, the contents of which he +had shown Captain Forest. "It's strange," he con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>tinued, +"that this document should concern you as well +as Don Felipe and Chiquita."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" she asked in astonishment. +Again he laughed softly by way of reply.</p> + +<p>"It's funny you should get mixed up in their affairs!"</p> + +<p>"I don't understand you," she interrupted, more +mystified and irritated than ever. "Give me that letter, +Mr. Yankton!" she demanded, holding out her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Then step out into the light, please, you lovely, +tantalizing witch," he answered, drawing the papers +from the envelope and handing them to her. "If I +didn't love you to distraction, I wouldn't stand this +sort of thing a minute longer. God!" he cried, glancing +heavenward, "you'll be the death of me yet."</p> + +<p>"Have you forgotten, Mr. Yankton?" she asked +calmly, her face turning a delicate crimson.</p> + +<p>"Then read—read!" he cried in desperation, +scarcely able to control himself. She knew it could +not last much longer. She slowly unfolded the large +sheets of paper and began to read their contents in +the moonlight.</p> + +<p>"Aloud, please," he said.</p> + +<p>"Why aloud?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, just as you please!"</p> + +<p>"Very well, if you wish it. 'Dear Dick,' she began +with a slight hesitancy. 'When this reaches you +I shall have passed over the border to that unknown +range from whence nobody ever returns. Enclosed +you will find the record of Don Felipe Ramirez's and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +Pepita Delaguerra's marriage which, at Don Felipe's +instigation, I stole from the register in the church at +Onava, giving him a copy of the same which he destroyed, +believing it to be the original. I did this with +the intention of extorting money from him later on. I +and Joaquin Flores and his wife were the only witnesses +to the marriage. But there is a sequel. Pepita +gave birth to a child, a girl, after Felipe deserted +her. I learned later that Chiquita and the two Flores +concealed it somewhere in one of the Indian <i>pueblos</i> near +La Jara, as they feared Don Felipe would make way +with the child should he learn of its existence.'</p> + +<p>"How strange!" exclaimed Bessie excitedly. +"Why, that was Don Felipe's own child which he introduced +this evening and said was Chiquita's."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," said Dick, quietly.</p> + +<p>"But I don't see what all this has to do with me," she +added.</p> + +<p>"Proceed, please," he answered. "That's not the +only surprise his letter contains."</p> + +<p>Glancing down at the sheets once more she resumed:</p> + +<p>"'You will also be greatly surprised to learn that +the young lady who was present on the day you saved +my life and whose name I asked, is my sister.'</p> + +<p>"The insinuation is infamous!" she cried, letting the +papers fall to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Miss Van Ashton," he interrupted, calmly stooping +and picking up the papers and handing them to her +again, "you forget—you are reading the confession +of a dying man."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p> + +<p>"His sister!" she continued indignantly. "It can't +be possible—I never had a brother!"</p> + +<p>"Please proceed, Miss Van Ashton," he replied. +Amazed and bewildered, Bessie excitedly resumed the +reading of the strange letter.</p> + +<p>"'My sister never knew me because I left home +shortly after she was born; but, notwithstanding, I +recognized her the instant I set eyes on her, not only +owing to the presence of my father that day, but to the +remarkable resemblance she bears to my mother. She +is the living image of her.'" Bessie paused, overcome +with agitation.</p> + +<p>"How very remarkable," she said, as if to herself. +"Every one who knew my mother says we resemble +one another very closely in manner as well as in looks. +My father always keeps our photographs placed side +by side on his desk at home. Except for the difference +in the style of dress, it is almost impossible to tell +which is which. What he says does sound true," she +admitted. "Yet—"</p> + +<p>"There can be no doubt of it," broke in Dick. +Again Bessie looked down at the papers and resumed:</p> + +<p>"'Before I breathe my last, Dick, I want to tell you +that I have discovered the lead to the old Esmeralda +mine; the enclosed chart will guide you to it. Tell my +sister that half of it belongs to her and the other half +to Pepita's child if you are able to find her. Perhaps +this one and only generous act of my selfish life will +atone somewhat for my many misdeeds. Good-by, +Dick, and God bless you.'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You needn't read that!" he interrupted. But +without heeding him, she continued:</p> + +<p>"'You are the best and bravest fellow alive. Good-by, +Dick, again, for the last time.</p> + +<p>"'Harry Van Ashton, better known to the world as +Bob Carlton, gambler and—'" The letter ended abruptly. +A sob broke from Bessie. Two bright tears +glistened like jewels in the moonlight on her long lashes +and then stole silently down her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Don't take it so hard, Miss Van Ashton," he said. +"Your brother was wild, but not so bad as the world +thought him."</p> + +<p>"My poor brother!" she murmured.</p> + +<p>"I am sure," he resumed after a little, "that when +your brother looked into your eyes that day, his manhood +reasserted itself; that he repented and threw off +his past life like an old garment, and from that moment, +stood prepared to enter the presence of his Maker."</p> + +<p>"You are very good to say that," she answered, looking +up at him with shining eyes.</p> + +<p>"No, it's not good of me at all," he returned. "I +love you too much to say anything but what I know to +be true." She did not reply, but remained lost in +thought, her eyes cast on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Bessie!" he exclaimed passionately, drawing +nearer to her. "Why do you hesitate? You know that +I understand you better than any one else ever could. +You know you love me!" She knew her moment had +come; that she must answer him for all time, and +strive as she would, she could not conceal her con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>fusion. +He did not know how intense was the struggle +going on within her, nor realize what it meant to her to +give up the life she had known always.</p> + +<p>"And what if I told you," she said at length, her eyes +still downcast, "that I care more for you than anything +else in this world, Dick?" pronouncing his name +aloud for the first time. "What would you say then?"</p> + +<p>"That I will love you for all time, Sweetheart! +That I will make you the happiest woman in the world!" +he cried, his arms closing about her, and kissing her +full on the lips.</p> + +<p>"When we are married," he said at last, "we'll +start in search of the Esmeralda, the famous old Spanish +mine that was destroyed by the earthquake, and if, +as your brother said, he really found the lead again, you +and Don Felipe's child will be the two richest women in +Chihuahua."</p> + +<p>"Then let it be soon, Dick!" she answered. "Oh! +I know I've been perfectly horrid!" she cried, flinging +her arms about his neck in a fresh outburst, and kissing +him again and again. "But I'll make it up to you, +Dick! I'll show you how Bessie Van Ashton can love!" +There was another long silence, during which each could +hear the beating of the other's heart. Then looking up +with a pained, disheartened expression on her face, she +said: "I'm sorry I can't come to you with a fortune, +Dick. My father will cast me off, and all I now possess +in this world are you and the clothes on my back."</p> + +<p>"Why, you sweet, pathetic little beggar!" he exclaimed, +sealing her lips with a kiss.</p> + +<p>"He said he would rather see me dead at his feet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +than married to you," she went on. "Of course, if you +were immensely wealthy, he might learn to tolerate you +in time. We're all like that, you know, but as things +are, we'll have to shift as best we can."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't lay claim to much," he said, restraining +his mirth with difficulty. "There's the Esmeralda, +you know, but even if that fails us, there's no cause for +immediate worry. We'll find a modest little hovel +somewhere that is large enough to contain our love." +And then he laughed long and loud, laughed as he had +never laughed before.</p> + +<p>"What are you laughing at?" she inquired, with a +dawning suspicion that he was keeping something from +her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing," he answered at length. "You'll +forgive me, I'm sure, when I say, that I can't help +thinking what an ass your father is!" And Bessie +Van Ashton stepped into a bigger life than she had ever +known.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXV" id="XXXV"></a>XXXV</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Perhaps</span> all was not yet lost. The Padre's +words and attitude acted like a wonderful elixir +upon Chiquita. They buoyed her up, lifted her soul +from the dust where it had been flung and trampled +upon.</p> + +<p>The house oppressed her, and sleep being impossible, +she opened the door and stepped out into the garden +and wandered along the paths that led in and out +among the flowers and shrubs, inhaling the delicious +night air, faintly perfumed with the delicate fragrance +of mignonette and heliotrope and a few last roses.</p> + +<p>The fresh air and the beauty and quiet of the night +soothed her. She felt her strength return, and a great +calm took possession of her as she moved to and fro in +the moonlight, now casting her eyes toward the stars, +now downward at the wan, drooping heads of the flowers +which swayed gently in the faint night breeze. Her +face radiantly beautiful, her jewels flashing against +the pale white setting of her dress and her tawny skin, +she resembled more the lovely ghost of some long-departed +Spanish woman that had returned to earth to revisit +familiar haunts, than one still among the living.</p> + +<p>What was he doing now? she asked herself. It was +impossible that he should continue to believe in her. +It was more than could be expected; no one but Padre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +Antonio was capable of that. Just then she heard the +sound of footsteps on the walk outside the wall and a +moment later, the click of the latch on the gate as it +swung open. She thought it must be Padre Antonio +come back again, and she turned to meet him. A faint, +suppressed cry escaped her, for there, just inside the +gate, stood Captain Forest.</p> + +<p>He had evidently not yet seen her and paused as if +uncertain whether to advance. She stood in the open +space beside the bench, just off the pathway leading +from the gate to the house, along which he must advance +should he decide to proceed farther. A pale, +plumy spray of tamarisk intervened between them, otherwise +he must have seen her. For some time he stood +silent and motionless as if uncertain what to do, then he +began to advance slowly in her direction.</p> + +<p>What did he want? Why had he come at this +hour? Her heart beat high and she began to tremble +with excitement as she watched him coming toward her.</p> + +<p>Her wan, pale dress so closely resembled the moonlight +in the shadow of the tamarisk that he might have +passed her unnoticed had she not unconsciously closed +her half-open fan which she was nervously clasping in +both hands. It shut with a soft, faint snap, causing +him to stop and turn in her direction.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita!" he cried, and springing forward, had +her in his arms before she could prevent it.</p> + +<p>"No, no; you must not!" she cried, overcome by his +suddenness and vainly struggling to free herself.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita," he went on without heeding her, "I could +not wait until morning, and came to tell you again that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +I believe in you—that I love you—that nothing but +death can separate us in this life!"</p> + +<p>She saw and felt the uselessness of struggling against +his great strength and will, so she relaxed her efforts +and became quite passive in his arms, her face cast +down. Besides, it seemed as though all her strength +had left her. She trembled so violently and felt so +weak that she must have sunk to the ground had he not +supported her.</p> + +<p>"Sweetheart!" he cried more passionately than ever. +"What do we care for the world? Look up and say +you will come with me!" Her soul thrilled with the +rapture his words caused her.</p> + +<p>"Jack," she said at length, raising her head and +looking up into his face, "I love you too much to do +that. Not until my name has been cleared—" They +heard a rustling sound on the other side of the tamarisk. +Another moment, and the long, plumy sprays +parted and Don Felipe stepped into the pathway. His +face was ashen pale and wore the look of a thoroughly +desperate man.</p> + +<p>"Captain Forest," he began, breaking the painful silence +that ensued, "I have vowed that you shall never +marry her. I give you one more chance," and he raised +his right arm and pointed toward the gate. "Go, while +there is yet time!" he commanded, his voice vibrant with +passion. "Go back to the <i>Posada</i> at once and saddle +your horse and leave the country this very night. If +you do not—"</p> + +<p>"You think to intimidate me?" interrupted the Cap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>tain, +quietly releasing Chiquita from his arms and confronting +him.</p> + +<p>"Once more—will you go?" demanded Don Felipe +in a harsh, fierce voice.</p> + +<p>"No!" answered the Captain.</p> + +<p>"Then your blood be upon your own head!" he +cried, and without a moment's warning, he drew a long +knife from his inner breast pocket and rushed furiously +upon him.</p> + +<p>"Coward, to attack an unarmed man!" cried the +Captain, springing aside just in time to avoid his thrust. +Without replying, Don Felipe whirled with the swiftness +of a cat and rushed at him again. The Captain +glanced hurriedly about him in search of some weapon +of defense. Close at hand he espied a small, fragile, +gilt chair that had been left there by chance during the +day. Seizing it by the back with both hands he raised +it aloft and aimed a swift blow at his adversary, but the +latter cleverly dodged it by dropping on one knee. The +chair crashed to the ground with terrific force, its fragments +flying in all directions.</p> + +<p>Captain Forest was a wonderfully active man for his +size. Before Don Felipe was on his feet again, he +sprang forward and seized his right arm. The two +men grappled desperately for some moments, but what +was Don Felipe in the hands of a giant. Suddenly the +knife went whirling back over the Captain's shoulder, +forming a glittering half-circle in the moonlight as it +fell among the flowers. Then Captain Forest lifted Don +Felipe with both hands as easily as he would have lifted a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +child and hurled him violently to the ground several +feet away. A smothered cry of pain escaped him.</p> + +<p>"Lie there, dog!" said the Captain, contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"Not so, Captain Forest—we're not done yet!" answered +Don Felipe, rising with difficulty on one knee. +From his hip pocket he drew a pistol.</p> + +<p>"Don Felipe Ramirez!" came Chiquita's voice, ringing +clear; but he did not heed the warning. Instantly +her hand went to her breast and there were two almost +simultaneous shots. Don Felipe sprang into the air with +a loud cry, alighting upright upon both feet. He +gasped, staggered forward a pace, and then sank down +on his knees. Again he gasped, clutched desperately +at his heart with his left hand, and then, with a last supreme +effort, slowly raised his weapon with his trembling +hand and once more took aim at the Captain. +There was another quick flash and report, and Don +Felipe Ramirez lay dead on the ground between them.</p> + +<p>In silence they gazed at one another across Don +Felipe's body. The Captain was about to speak when +they were startled by a low moan just behind them, and, +turning, they saw Blanch sink slowly to the bench in a +sitting posture, her head resting on her arm across the +back of the bench. In an instant they were at her side.</p> + + +<a name="image4"></a><div class="figcenter newpg"><img src="images/image4.jpg" border="1" + width="410" height="700" ALT="" title="Illustration" > +<p class="caption">"They were startled by a low moan and saw Blanch sink slowly to the +bench."</p></div> + + +<p>"Blanch!" cried the Captain in consternation at the +sight of the blood that was oozing slowly from her left +side, and which Chiquita was vainly endeavoring to +stanch with her handkerchief. At the sound of his +voice, she slowly opened her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me," she whispered in an almost inaudible +tone, as they knelt on either side of her, supporting her. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +For some moments she lay quite motionless, then a +slight tremor passed through her and with a little sigh +like that of a child's, her head slipped down upon Chiquita's +breast. The bullet which Don Felipe had intended +for the Captain had passed through her heart; +the penalty she paid for giving the signal in the <i>patio</i>.</p> + +<p>The moonlight fell full across her face, which, contrary +to what one might suppose, wore an expression +of peace and calm, almost a smile, like one in a dream.</p> + +<p>"How beautiful she is!" murmured Chiquita, holding +her tenderly in her arms.</p> + +<p>"Would to God she had been spared!" answered the +Captain, his voice choking with emotion. Yet each felt +as they gazed on her upturned face, whose expression +was rather that of sleep than of death, that she was better +off thus; for what did life hold for her?<span class='pagenum'> + + +<a name="Page_332 " id="Page_332 ">[Pg 332]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXVI" id="XXXVI"></a>XXXVI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">For</span> most men death ends all things, but for those +whose souls are illumined by the unquenchable flame +of faith, death is but the beginning of life.</p> + +<p>The news of the tragedy, following swift upon that of +Juan Ramon's death, spread like wildfire, fairly taking +the people's breath away, and throwing the community +into a tumult of excitement. Not since the days when +the victorious American armies had entered Mexico and +laid waste the land, had there been such a commotion in +the old town.</p> + +<p>The community was shaken to its center. What +would happen next? Old women paused in the midst of +their chatter and, crossing themselves, said an extra <i>ave</i> +as a protection against the Evil One; for no one knew +who would be taken next.</p> + +<p>Don Felipe Ramirez, the handsomest and wealthiest +and most influential man in Chihuahua, dead—at the +hand of a woman—an Indian!</p> + +<p>Most people admitted that he had merited death. +That his end was a just punishment for his misdeeds, +but then, had it not been for the woman who had wrecked +his life, how different his end might have been!</p> + +<p>Juan Ramon would be missed for a day at the gaming +tables, but the beautiful American Señorita—why +should she have paid the price of blood? It was too<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333 " id="Page_333 ">[Pg 333]</a></span> +much. The popular outburst was tremendous, quite beyond +Padre Antonio's influence or control. The evil +and tragedy which the witch seemed to draw with her +in her train far outweighed the good she had accomplished +since her advent in the town. And if the grand +Señor, Captain Forest, of an alien race, still chose to +remain in the place, why, let him look to his personal +safety if he still set store upon his life.</p> + +<p>Such was popular sentiment, and out of the countless +maledictions that were heaped upon the dark woman and +the man she had bewitched, there grew that sullen and +ominous silence of presentiment like that preceding +a storm, and which boded but one end to them both—death.</p> + +<p>José and Dick were the first to apprise the Captain +of the true state of affairs, although he had not remained +insensible to the threatening looks and dark, +sullen faces that greeted him on every hand.</p> + +<p>"The place has become too hot to hold you, old man," +said Dick. "You and Chiquita had better go somewhere +for a little <i>pasear</i>. You'll find the air in the +mountains more salubrious than here; in fact—<i>vamos</i>, +as the Spaniards say. Go to Padre Antonio's house +at once," he continued. "It's a sort of a sanctuary, +you know; you'll be safe there to-day. If you value +your life, don't set foot outside the place, and I'd even +be chary about picking flowers in the garden," he added +in his droll way. "To-night, José and I will have your +horses ready and waiting for you in the cañon at the +foot of the trail which leads to the top of the <i>mesa</i> +overlooking the valley. You must get away under +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334 " id="Page_334 ">[Pg 334]</a></span> +cover of the dusk before the moon rises. Old Manuela +will give you the signal when to depart."</p> + +<p>"Dick, you are the most ingenious mortal in the +world," answered the Captain. "You are as good as +a mother to me. How did you ever think of it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! don't thank me," returned Dick. "I didn't +think of it; I never have any ideas. It's José's plan +entirely."</p> + +<p>"The deuce! It does sound like you, <i>camarada</i>!" +he ejaculated, turning to José who had smoked his +<i>cigarillo</i> in silence while listening to Dick's words. "The +scheme sounds well," he continued after some moments' +reflection. "And yet it seems to me you have +overlooked something—the most important thing of +all."</p> + +<p>"What?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"How are you going to get the horses there without +attracting attention? It's just possible that the entire +populace might escort you there and then hang all +four of us when Chiquita and I arrive."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I never thought of that," replied Dick, flicking +the ash from his cigar and exchanging glances with +José. "I always said you had the imagination of a +poet, Jack. But it takes an Indian to think of such +things; the horses are concealed already in the cañon, +a quarter of a mile from the trail."</p> + +<p>"<i>Si, Capitan.</i> I took them there last night," said +José.</p> + +<p>"Last night?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. You see, it was this way. I saw the fight last +night—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335 " id="Page_335 ">[Pg 335]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You did?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Si, Capitan.</i> It was a glorious fight, the greatest +fight I ever saw. I followed Don Felipe last night and +surely would have killed him had I not seen the Señorita +draw her weapon. I knew that it was her right to kill +him."</p> + +<p>"You observe José's exquisite sense of discrimination," +interrupted Dick. "It's the etiquette of the +land," he added with a twinkle in his eye, his face betraying +not so much as the suggestion of a smile. Captain +Forest could have laughed at Dick's irresistible +humor were it not for the terrible tragedy which rested +heavily upon him.</p> + +<p>"Well," continued José, "while you and the Señorita +stood beside the beautiful <i>Americana</i>, I bethought me +that it was about time we were leaving this place. You +did not know that the two women, Manuela and Juana, +and the Padre's gardener, Sebastiano, also witnessed +the shooting. I told Sebastiano to get the Señorita's +horse out of the stable at once and wait outside in +the shadow of the wall on the far side of the garden +until I returned. I then hurried back here and got +away unobserved with our horses, picking up the +Señorita's and Sebastiano on the way to the cañon where +I left them in the latter's charge. They will hardly be +missed to-day, I think," he added; "the excitement is +too great. Go now quietly to Padre Antonio's and wait +there until Manuela gives you the word to depart." +José paused. Then casting a quick glance about him, +he took a fresh puff at his <i>cigarillo</i> and said: "Until +then, <i>á Dios</i>, Señor <i>Capitan</i>!" and assuming an indif<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336 " id="Page_336 ">[Pg 336]</a></span>ferent +air, as though nothing unusual had occurred, he +sauntered quietly away.</p> + +<p>"That man's a genius!" said Dick, looking after him +until he disappeared around the corner of the house.</p> + +<p>"It was a lucky day for you when you picked him +up. If you get away at all to-night, you'll owe your +lives to him. Nothing but his wits could have saved +you. You had better be going now," he added. "Go +directly to the Padre's and attract as little attention as +possible on the way.</p> + +<p>"<i>Este noche, amigo mio</i>—to-night, my friend," he +concluded in Spanish, and turning, lounged carelessly +through the doorway into the house. + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337 " id="Page_337 ">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXVII" id="XXXVII"></a>XXXVII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"I hear</span> nothing," said José, rising from the +ground where he had been lying flat with his ear +close to the earth.</p> + +<p>"They have given us up!" exclaimed the Captain, +turning in the saddle and addressing Chiquita who also +had been scanning their back trail in the effort to discover +a sign of their lost pursuers.</p> + +<p>"We have tired them out," she answered, lowering +her hand from her eyes.</p> + +<p>They had escaped—they were free. Padre Antonio +had married them on the afternoon of the previous day.</p> + +<p>"If I am still alive, and God grant that it may be +so," he said on parting, "I shall see you next spring +when I visit the Missions in the North."</p> + +<p>The flight had been a swift and perilous one. They +had traveled the entire night and day, pausing only +long enough to allow their horses short breathing spells +and time to slake their thirst at the springs and streams +they encountered in their flight. Like their horses, all +three were thoroughly tired, and their clothes torn and +dust begrimed.</p> + +<p>"We'll camp yonder, José," said the Captain, pointing +to a thick group of pines that grew on the opposite +side of the stream on whose bank they had halted. They +had arrived at the foot of the Sierra Madres from whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338 " id="Page_338 ">[Pg 338]</a></span> +side the stream burst and along whose banks their trail +led to the upper world where it dropped down again on +the other side of the great mountainous divide into +Sonora.</p> + +<p>"It's like the old days!" cried Chiquita, laughing as +they splashed through the stream to the opposite bank, +the water rising to their saddle-girths. Drawing rein at +the outer rim of the pines, they dismounted and removed +their saddles and packs, the latter consisting of a pair +of blankets apiece and a week's rations equally distributed +among them; coffee, sugar, bacon, beans and +flour and a few necessary utensils. These they carried +into the center of the grove and deposited in a circle +on the ground.</p> + +<p>José led away the horses and while he was occupied +in picketing them, the Captain gathered an armful of +dry wood for the fire, and then picking up a canvas +bucket, strolled to the river and filled it with water.</p> + +<p>Chiquita had already lit the fire when he returned. +She filled the coffee pot with water, cut some slices of +bacon and tossed them into a pan which she placed on +the fire and then began to mix some flour and water. +The Captain leaned against the trunk of one of the +trees and rolling a cigarette, lit it, watching her the +while. Chiquita laughed softly, but said nothing while +engaged in the process of bread-making. This homely +touch of camp-life told plainer than words how thoroughly +they had come down to earth and again were +facing the wholesome realities of life. When the dough +was of the right consistency, she molded it into biscuits, +placed them in a deep pan, and raking some coals from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339 " id="Page_339 ">[Pg 339]</a></span> +the fire, set the pan upon them, also depositing some +coals on the top of the cover. After giving the bacon +a final turn in the pan, she set it to one side close to +the fire where it would keep warm.</p> + +<p>She then rose to her feet and stood erect. As she did +so, one of the great strands of her hair which had become +loosened during their flight, fell in a soft curling +mass of blue jet down her back to within a few inches +of her ankles. Captain Forest did not know then that +it was a sign of her royal lineage.</p> + +<p>Once upon a time in the dim past, so far back that +nobody could remember when it had occurred, a Tewana +woman had given birth to a beautiful girl child with +wonderful hair in the same year that a wandering star +with a great tail had appeared in the heavens. The coincidence +seemed nothing short of miraculous to the people. +The Sachems of the tribe pronounced the child to be consecrated +and chosen to rule over them by the gods. So +it had been decreed, and ever since then, all Tewana +women who had ruled over the people had possessed this +distinctive mark of their royal lineage and bore the name, +"Flaming Star."</p> + +<p>Chiquita crossed over to where the Captain still stood +leaning against the tree and, pausing before him, looked +up into his face and said: "What are you thinking +of, Sweetheart?" He flung his arms about her and +kissed her.</p> + +<p>"I am still wondering," he answered, "how it +all happened. It seems so strange, and yet so natural."</p> + +<p>"Just what I, too, have been thinking," she returned.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340 " id="Page_340 ">[Pg 340]</a></span> +"And yet it is no more remarkable than what our entire +lives have been. It could not be otherwise."</p> + +<p>"No," he replied. "I would not have it different +for worlds. It's just as it should be—just as it has +been decreed."</p> + +<p>"Come!" she said, leading him over to where her +pack lay on the ground. "I've got something for you," +and kneeling on the ground, she began unrolling her +blankets, out of which she took a small package which, +on being opened, contained two pairs of beautifully +beaded moccasins; one pair of which she handed to him.</p> + +<p>"It's just like you, Chiquita <i>mia</i>!" he exclaimed. +"I always wear them in camp, but in the hurry to get +away, I forgot mine. I'm glad I forgot them though," +he added, holding up the moccasins and admiring them. +"How did you come to think of them?"</p> + +<p>"I can't say," she answered. "One afternoon about +a month ago while at the <i>Posada</i>, I noticed your footprint +in the gravel path in the garden where you had +been talking to the girls but a few moments before. +Things, as you know, were rather uncertain then, nevertheless, +something impelled me to take the measure and +make them; thinking that possibly you might want them +some day. Besides, it was such sweet work, you know," +she added with a little laugh.</p> + +<p>"Chiquita—you're a wonderful woman! You not +only seem to be able to do everything, but you think +of everything as well," and kneeling on the ground before +her, he drew off her riding boots and slipped her +moccasins on her feet.</p> + +<p>"It is the bridal gift of an Indian girl to her hus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341 " id="Page_341 ">[Pg 341]</a></span>band," +she said caressingly. "And signifies that they +shall tread the same path together through life."</p> + +<p>"What could be more beautiful!" he returned, pulling +off his boots and drawing on his own. "Ah!" +he continued, "it was worth waiting for you Chiquita +<i>mia</i>! The long years of uncertainty and suffering seem +as nothing, now that I look back upon them and you +have come into my life."</p> + +<p>Just then José returned from the work of picketing +the horses and the three sat down to supper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342 " id="Page_342 ">[Pg 342]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXVIII" id="XXXVIII"></a>XXXVIII</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">"Isn't</span> it strange how easily one can return to the +natural life if one has known it before?" said +Chiquita later in the evening, as the three lay stretched +on their blankets around the small fire which José had +kindled in the center of the grove, and watched the +flickering flames and dancing shadows against the dark +pine boughs surrounding them.</p> + +<p>"The life of yesterday has fallen from me," she continued, +gazing pensively into the fire whose red glare +illumined her beautiful bronze features.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are an Indian once more, Chiquita <i>mia</i>," +said the Captain.</p> + +<p>"Ah! you are as much of an Indian as José or myself!" +she retorted gayly. "What a pity you didn't +know the life before the land was conquered and tamed +by the White man! Verily, a glory has passed from +this earth!" A peculiar light shone in José's eyes as +he listened to her words. He seemed on the point of +speaking, but did not. He smiled and rolled a fresh +<i>cigarillo</i>, lighting it with a pine twig which he took +from the fire.</p> + +<p>"Tell me why you insisted on our coming this way, +Chiquita?" asked the Captain, disposing himself comfortably +on his blanket.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343 " id="Page_343 ">[Pg 343]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Because I want to see my people again. They are +the strongest and most advanced people in Mexico, and +we will be safe with them until things have quieted down. +Because I wanted you to see where I came from and +how I lived before Padre Antonio introduced me to a +new world and made of me a woman that you could love. +Besides, we can start from their country on our camping +trip as well as from any other place. My people +are not quite the savages you probably think them. +But there is something else," she continued after a pause. +"I was impelled, drawn this way. Why, I can not say, +but something always kept pointing me toward the northwest. +I feel as though the climax of our lives is yet +to come; that we are on the verge of something great; +that our work in life may begin with them."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it may be so!" interrupted José, no longer +able to conceal the agitation her words aroused in him. +"That is, if the vision of the White Cloud prove to +be true. At any rate, my people await your coming," +he added. At the mention of the White Cloud, Chiquita +sat bolt upright, regarding José intently the while—then +rose to her feet.</p> + +<p>"The White Cloud? Your people?" she repeated +excitedly. "Then you are a Tewana?" José also had +risen from his sitting posture, and dropping on one +knee with face downward and both arms extended +straight out before him with the palms of the hands +turned downward, he exclaimed in the Tewana tongue: +"Princess, Flaming Star—I greet you! I am +Onakipo, the Pine Tree, son of Ixlao, the Swan!" +José's attitude and manner of speech formed a most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344 " id="Page_344 ">[Pg 344]</a></span> +striking picture. He had not even revealed his true +identity to the Captain.</p> + +<p>Chiquita had noticed the furtive, stolen glances he had +cast at her from time to time during the journey, a +thing strange in an Indian, and it caused her some uneasiness, +but now she understood. He had just acknowledged +her by his attitude of submission and the +salute common to his people, as their tribal head.</p> + +<p>"You and I, Princess, were the sole survivors of that +last battle in which your father's band was annihilated," +continued José in Spanish, seating himself once more +on the ground on the other side of the fire opposite +Chiquita who again had taken her place beside the Captain.</p> + +<p>"I do not wonder that you did not recognize me," +he went on after a pause, during which he rolled and lit +a fresh <i>cigarillo</i>. "I was a mere boy at the time. +The battle, you will remember, took place just before sunset, +and when the enemy charged our camp, I was struck +on the head, as you see by the scar over my left eye. +I fell over a ledge of rock into a gully below, alighting +in a thick clump of bushes, breaking my fall and saving +my life. Fortunately the bushes concealed me from +view, causing the enemy to overlook me, else they certainly +had finished me before departing. I lay unconscious +all that night until noon of the following day, +when I awoke. For a long time after awakening I was +too weak to rise, but finally I managed to crawl to +the little stream that ran at the bottom of the gully +just below me. There I slaked my thirst and washed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345 " id="Page_345 ">[Pg 345]</a></span> +my face and wound and bound it up as best I could. +All that afternoon I lay by the stream, drinking and +dipping my head in the water until evening, when I +regained sufficient strength to crawl back to the top +of the great rock where we made our last stand.</p> + +<p>"There, a ghastly sight met my eyes. With his +back against a large bowlder where the enemy had placed +him, sat your father, the Whirlwind, still dressed in +his war regalia and around him, just as they had fallen, +lay our dead comrades. I counted them. There were +forty-eight in all, and as you were not among the dead, +I rightly conjectured, as it soon afterward proved, that +you had been taken prisoner. Three weeks later I succeeded +in reaching our people and told the news. A +war party was organized immediately, and I guided +it back to the land of the Ispali where after a battle, +we learned of your capture and escape from several of +the Ispali whom we succeeded in capturing.</p> + +<p>"That was ten years ago, and ever since then, we +have sent out runners each year to visit the towns and +villages throughout the land in the hope of finding you +and bringing you back again to rule over us; for as you +know, Princess, you are the last of the royal blood. +But in vain. In spite of the fact that the White Cloud, +our great Sachem, said you were still alive, that he repeatedly +saw you among the living in his visions and +predicted your return, we found no trace of you. That +was because we had overlooked Santa Fé. It lies so far +east of our country that it escaped our notice. We +never imagined that you had crossed the Sierra Madres<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346 " id="Page_346 ">[Pg 346]</a></span> +in your flight, and had I not chanced to enter the Captain's +service, we probably never would have heard of +you again.</p> + +<p>"But now I understand that it was so intended—that +the time was not yet ripe. That the Great Spirit +had ordained you should not return to your people until +you had become worthy of the charge which is about +to be conferred upon you, and which, as you shall presently +learn, goes to prove the truth of the subsequent +prophecies the White Cloud made concerning you." He +paused and for some minutes gazed silently into the +fire. He had accompanied his narrative with intense, +dramatic gestures and expressions illustrative of its incidents; +a characteristic common to his race. Presently +a smile lit up his face and looking up once more, he +resumed.</p> + +<p>"You remember, Princess, how the White Cloud +counseled us to accept the terms of the Government, +bad though they were, and make peace, and prophesied +that disaster would befall us if we refused. Well, then +as now, events have proved the truth of his words. As +the years went by and no further trace of you could +be found, the people lost hope of ever seeing you +again and said you were dead. But the White Cloud +maintained that you were still alive; that the day of +your return was drawing ever nearer; that he heard the +song of birds and the sound of laughing waters and +beheld the desert carpeted with flowers in his vision and +you in their midst coming towards them, which typified +the renewal of life and rebirth of the nation. But when +he announced that he always saw you in the company<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347 " id="Page_347 ">[Pg 347]</a></span> +of a white man who later should rule over us, they +laughed at his prophecies.</p> + +<p>"'A white man rule over the Tewana? How absurd—impossible!' +They shook their heads and said: +'The White Cloud is old—his vision has become dim, +impaired through age!'"</p> + +<p>The Captain and Chiquita were too amazed by José's +words to venture a reply, and sat gazing alternately at +one another and then at the speaker.</p> + +<p>"When I first met the Captain," continued José, "I +wondered greatly why I was so drawn toward him. +True, he was a man to my liking and I was doubly grateful +to him for saving my life, but that did not wholly +account for my attachment. I was drawn to him irresistibly +as by an invisible power. I could not leave +him; and when I again saw you, Princess, on the day +that you and the beautiful Señorita met for the first +time and heard from your own lips who you were as +well as your avowal of love for my Master, I knew +then that the White Cloud had read rightly the future; +that my Master, the Grand Señor, had been chosen by +the Great Spirit to rule with you over our people.</p> + +<p>"It was then that I learned how you had come to +Padre Antonio, after which I returned to our people and +told them what I knew; that I had found not only you, +but also the White Chief whom the White Cloud had +seen in his vision, and that, if you returned to them at +all, it would surely be as his bride. At first they +would not believe me, but when I persisted and reminded +them of the disasters that had befallen us in the past +for our failure to heed the White Cloud's councils, they +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348 " id="Page_348 ">[Pg 348]</a></span> +at last yielded and called a grand council and decided +to send a deputation composed of the leading men of +the nation to verify my statements.</p> + +<p>"It was not so much the news that you were still +alive that was so difficult for them to believe, but that +a white man should rule over them—a thing impossible +and past all belief; besides, they would not have +it. However, when I conducted the deputation, consisting +of six of our leading men, to Santa Fé and they +secretly beheld you, Princess, they one and all exclaimed +as with one breath: ''Tis she, the Princess—the +Flaming Star! How like her father, the Whirlwind, she +is!'</p> + +<p>"They wanted to disclose their identity to you then +and there and exhort you to return with them to your +people, but I persuaded them to wait, reminding them +that the White Cloud's prophecy was not yet entirely +fulfilled. I then showed you to them, Master," he went +on, addressing the Captain, "and although they acknowledged +that you were a magnificent specimen of a +man and had the appearance of one born to command, +they shook their heads and said it was impossible—that +a White Chief could never rule over the Tewana.</p> + +<p>"'Of a truth,' I answered, 'the black-robed Padres +are right! You are a stiff-necked people who persist in +following in the footsteps of our forefathers who, we all +know, were unable to lead the people to the light. Only +the White Cloud was able to foresee the future; grasp +the significance of both the Padres' and our ancient +Sachems' teachings. That the old order of things had +come to an end. That the time had come when strife<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349 " id="Page_349 ">[Pg 349]</a></span> +must cease among men; that the tidings were now to be +fulfilled which the White Child with a face like the sun +had brought to the world, and whose coming our ancient +Sachems had predicted in the ancient days. Know also, +that the Princess has seen the great world which you +have not seen; that in many ways she is more like a +white woman than one of our race; that she is wiser +than you are; that the Great Spirit has shown her the +things that are good for us, and if she becomes the wife +of the White Chief, you must accept him if you accept +her, for without him she will never return to you. Besides, +the White Chief is the wisest of us all. In his sight +both we and most of the men of his own race are as children.'</p> + +<p>"They could not find a fitting answer to my words +and returned to our people. Ever since then runners +have been coming and going constantly between us. +They have been apprised of our coming and await us." +José ceased speaking and sat gazing meditatively into +the fire where he watched the pink and violet flames +leap upward and lose themselves in the thin wreath +of white smoke which slowly ascended and floated away +over the tree tops. For some time no one spoke, then +Captain Forest finally broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"What you say, José, is truly wonderful; but know, +that we have no more desire to rule the Tewana than +to rule other men. But should they, like the rest of +the world, fail to heed our example, they shall perish +in their ignorance." He leaned forward and tossed +some fresh sticks of wood on the fire.</p> + +<p>"It is time for the first watch, José," he continued,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350 " id="Page_350 ">[Pg 350]</a></span> +rising to his feet and glancing up at the stars visible +above the tree tops. "Call me when the Great Bear +has half circled the Pole Star. I'll keep the second +watch."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351 " id="Page_351 ">[Pg 351]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XXXIX" id="XXXIX"></a>XXXIX</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">José</span> brought in the horses and he and the Captain +saddled and packed them; after which they +silently broke camp in the light of the stars and the +waning moon. José took his place at the head of the +little cavalcade, Chiquita following him and the Captain +bringing up the rear; he and Chiquita casting a +last look at their first camp as they rode away.</p> + +<p>No one spoke. Save for the measured tread of the +horses and noise of the rushing stream along which +the trail led upwards, no sounds disturbed the silence of +the night. Now and then an occasional spark, struck +from the horses' iron-rimmed hoofs, flashed for an instant +in the darkness along the trail.</p> + +<p>The Captain's gaze was riveted upon Chiquita's tall, +erect figure in front of him who ever and anon turned +in the saddle and smiled, her beautiful, lustrous eyes +flashing like stars in the moon-fire.</p> + +<p>Higher and higher they mounted, pausing occasionally +to allow the horses time to draw breath, until they +at length drew rein on the summit of the Sierra Madres. +Here a wonderful sight met their eyes, poised as they +were upon the rim of the earth and gazing off into +star-strewn space. Dawn was just breaking, suffusing +the long line of the eastern horizon with a soft, rosy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352 " id="Page_352 ">[Pg 352]</a></span> +glow which crept swiftly towards them over the gray-green, +purple plains that swept away from the mountains' +base like vast undulating stretches of ocean; the +golden shafts of the on-coming dawn driving the paling +stars before them like a shepherd his flocks to the hills. +North and south, as far as the eye could reach, stretched +the broken and many crested length of the great Sierra +Madre range; its sides clothed with dark forests of +cedar and pine and chaparral, its secluded recesses +obscured in the gloom; its highest peaks glowing with +golden, pink and violet tints. In the west, surrounded +by a host of golden stars that still glittered in the purple +black depths of vanishing night, the silver moon hung +half-way dipped as it slowly sank behind the towering +crest of the Sahuaripa range, an isolated spur of the +Sierra Madres. A vast plain intervened between them +and the distant Sierras at whose foot dwelt the +Tewana.</p> + +<p>Far below them, from out the shadowy depths on +either side of the range, arose faint sounds of awakening +life. The breeze began to sigh among the tree +tops, while high above them they heard the wild scream +of eagles that soared in great circles with widespread +pinions in their morning flight to greet the sun. Great +waves of indefinable melody, more subtle and exquisite +than music, swept over them, causing their souls to +quicken and tingle in the freshening dawn as the Day +Star rose to hold again his sway over earth. His +mighty splendor and effulgence swept through and over +them, their souls vibrating with renewed life and vigor +as they felt and recognized God's sign and immanence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353 " id="Page_353 ">[Pg 353]</a></span> +as in the days when man first walked with Him in the +cool of the morning.</p> + +<p>They realized that they had entered upon the new +life. The promise was fulfilled—the veil was lifted. +The scroll of human destiny seemed to unroll itself from +out the dim traditions of the past, and they beheld as +in a dream the life that was when first the children of +men roamed the earth and established the Kingdom of +God which was intended from the beginning. In the +picture of the golden childhood of the race, they beheld +reflected in the new light of the future, the vision of +the emancipated, delivered man, guided by the lessons +still to be learned from the great Book of Nature lying +open before him, and the accumulated wisdom of past +ages, handed down to him by his forefathers through +travail and suffering and in legend and song from those +ancient days of suns and nights of stars when the earth +and man were young. A <!-- TN: original reads "free-born" --> freeborn race of men who +are joint tenants of the soil, sharing all things in common +with which their bountiful Mother, the Earth, has provided +them. A race of men, athletic in body as they +are able in mind, and spiritual and courageous, recognizing +no laws but those of Nature's or God's.</p> + +<p>In silence and with bared heads they gazed upon the +grandeur of the scene that lay spread out before them. +It was as though they looked back upon the old life +from another world. It lay so far behind them that it +seemed but a memory; not a vestige of it clung to them, +so filled were they with new hopes and aspirations.</p> + +<p>"Behold!" cried José excitedly, pointing toward the +west. And looking in the direction indicated by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354 " id="Page_354 ">[Pg 354]</a></span> +outstretched arm, they beheld in the dim distance +numerous columns of smoke rising heavenward in the +clear morning air from the tops of the <i>mesas</i> that dotted +the plain.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the sign of your coming, Princess!" he continued. +"The people have bowed to the will of the +White Cloud—acknowledged the authority of the +White Chief."</p> + +<p>Parrakeets began to twitter among the branches of +the trees on every hand during their descent of the +western slope. Ravens croaked and called from the +heart of the forest, and the owl flitted by on silent wing. +Black birds with orange heads and throats and splashed +with scarlet on their wings, greeted them at the foot of +the mountain among the reeds which grew along the +stream they were following. Deer broke from the willow +copse and bounded away, while grouse rose on whirring +wings from under the horses' hoofs as they emerged +upon the plain where the wild cry of the curlew rang +clear and sharp on the morning. They were free and +breathed deep of the spirit of freedom; listened to the +old primeval song of nature's myriad voices; gazed long +upon the pristine loveliness of earth.</p> + +<p>All that day and the three following, the columns of +smoke continued to rise heavenward as they pursued +their journey. At night, pillars of fire took the place +of the smoke, and all the while, save for an occasional +glimpse in the distance of a solitary horseman who faded +specterlike from view on their approach, they saw not +a soul.</p> + +<p>The Spirit of the Great Mystery brooded over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355 " id="Page_355 ">[Pg 355]</a></span> +land, and they rode as in a dream. The fragrant cedar +and piñon-scented smoke mingled with the soft, thin +haze of the Indian summer which veiled the land in its +golden glow of mystery; the sacred incense, the Red +men say, of the gods, burned on their altars in ancient +days; a sign to the people to gather each year on the +hilltops and <i>mesas</i>, and in the forests and plains during +the moon of falling leaves, and celebrate in prayer and +sacred dance and song, the advent of the gods.</p> + +<p>The wind was hushed and all things seemed to sleep +and dream, and they seemed to draw nearer to the heart +of things. The great change that had come into their +lives was, after all, no more wonderful than the changes +which they saw had taken place in nature about them. +A luxuriant growth of tropical vegetation, succeeded by +vast forests of conifers, a remnant of which still survived +upon the mountains, once flourished in the semi-desert +through which they traveled. An occasional +broken, half-buried pillar, or the remains of a crumbling +wall that had witnessed the passing of the ages and +listened to the tales borne on the winds, marked the +existence of vanished civilizations of which men to-day +know naught. All things appeared to change and fade, +nothing seemed permanent, not even the ideal; the morrow +was but a forgetting.</p> + +<p>Beneath them they felt the Earth, ponderous and +weighty and crushing in its immensity to the imagination, +and whose existence seemed of little moment in +comparison to the countless worlds that filled the universe +about them. Yet, insignificant though it appeared, +was it not a link in the great universal scheme of mat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356 " id="Page_356 ">[Pg 356]</a></span>ter, +and did it not stand in the same relation to the universe +as their individual lives to the human race?</p> + +<p>Like two stars their souls had rushed together from +the uttermost confines of space. She had been led into +his world, and he compelled to retrace his steps to almost +primitive conditions in order that they might find +one another and together take up the thread of their +common destiny. Clearly, they were children of destiny +upon whose brows God had set His seal. They +realized that the path which lay before them was not +one entirely strewn with flowers. That between the +chosen ones, life meant something more than the love of +a man for a woman, or a woman's for a man. That +they still stood with their feet in the flame; that earth's +cup of joy for them must still remain one of bitter-sweet; +that they must go on to the end in order that +men might see and hear; that the new order of things +must spring from them.</p> + +<p>Gay was the Princess. She laughed and talked and +related incidents of her life and her people; the silvery +tinkle of the bells on her spurs, accompanying every +movement of her horse, chimed sweetly with her mood. +In the raven folds of her blue-black hair, she wore again +the red berries as on the day when first he beheld her. +She seemed a part of that tawny landscape, splashed +with great patches of crimson and gold and gray and +purple—the spirit and incarnation of the Indian summer.</p> + +<p>As he gazed upon her and listened to her words, the +wild refrain of those familiar lines recurred to him:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357 " id="Page_357 ">[Pg 357]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="fl">"I will wed some savage woman; she shall rear my dusky race:<br></span> +<span class="i0">Iron-jointed, supple-sinewed, they shall dive and they shall run,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Catch the wild goat by the hair, and hurl their lances in the sun,<br></span> +<span class="i0">Whistle back the parrot's call,—leap the rainbows of the brooks,—"<br></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The woman of the ages had come back again. Lilith +and Eve and Isis and Venus, the foam-kissed, and Erda, +the dreaming one. The vision of the ancient world rose +before him; virgin forests and plains and mighty rivers +and mountains; the ancient temples of the Nile and the +Ganges, Hellas' fanes and Druidic monoliths and sacred +groves, and voices of strange peoples mingled with the +soft notes of reed and lute.</p> + +<p>Within the unending circle of life and death, of love +and hatred, of joy and sorrow and remorse which mark +the rise and passing of the civilizations, he beheld the +sacred ash and pine, and starry lotus afloat upon the +face of moonlit waters in which were mirrored the palm +and papyrus and acanthus, and stood face to face with +the serpent and wolf, the winged horse and sphinx, and +the dragon and the griffin when their secret origins and +significance were known unto men. The sounds of harps +and cymbals and lyres and timbrels blended with those +of conch-shells and antelope horns. Sighs and laughter +and curses and weeping mingled with the wild strains of +Homeric song and mystic rites of Chaldea and Babylon, +and the sacred chant of Isis. The Voodoo danced to the +rattle of shells and antelope hoofs before the shrines of +Ethiopia's dark woman, crowned with the sickle moon, +and vast multitudes knelt and lay prostrate before the +car of Juggernaut and the passing image of Pracriti +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358 " id="Page_358 ">[Pg 358]</a></span> +of Asia, the many-breasted, the Goddess of Abundance.</p> + +<p>Sun and Fire worshipers tore the hearts and scalps +from living victims and held them aloft to the rising +sun, and men and wild beasts fought in arenas amid the +acclamations of the people.</p> + +<p>He beheld the milk-white bullocks of the Druid, garlanded +with flowers, heading the procession that entered +the dark groves in search of the sacred mistletoe-bearing +oak; the processions of Pan and Odin, and Siva and +Vishnu and Baal, and Venus and Bacchus. Nymphs +and fauns and dryads and hamadryads called from the +depths of the forest, and youths and maidens and shepherds +with vine-wreathed brows danced in the sunlit +glades and on the hills where the white flocks roamed, +to the plaintive notes of the mystic pipes of Pan. He +beheld the flaunting banners and flashing steel of victorious +hosts and heard the wild, weird chants of wandering, +barbaric hordes that conquered and destroyed. +The flash and roar of artillery of recent times but intensified +the gloom that brooded over the world. The +struggle was unending. Men still remained the victims +and slaves of passion and desire. Their sighs and +curses and groans and cries of hatred and despair increased +with the years; the smoke of their torment blackened +the face of the sun.</p> + +<p>The waves of human harmony and discord swept over +him like the sounds of mighty rushing winds and waters, +and he beheld the race to-day, as in the past, in the +plains and on the high tops, prostrate and erect with +hands outstretched toward the heavens, crying for release. +And yet through it and beneath it and above it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359 " id="Page_359 ">[Pg 359]</a></span> +all, he heard a ringing note of triumph that swelled +onward and upward until the vision shone clear, and +the true import of their lives stood revealed. They had +overcome the world; broken the fiery chains of desire.</p> + +<p>The heavens of the old world rolled together like a +scroll, and the sun and the moon and the stars and the +earth fell into the burning sea of man's worldliness, +but out of the chaos that followed, the earth emerged +once more, green and beautiful, and grain waved upon +its face, and the voice of the Angel rang clear, crying +aloud and mightily:</p> + +<p>"Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen! Babylon, +the woman mounted upon the scarlet beast and arrayed +in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and +precious stones and pearls, and having a golden cup in +her hand full of abominations.... Babylon upon +whose forehead is written, 'Mystery, Babylon the +Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the +Earth.' Babylon drunk with wine and the blood of those +who stood for the truth. Babylon, of whose wine and +delights all men have drunk and with whom all the +nations of the Earth have committed fornication. Babylon +whose sins have reached unto heaven; who hath +glorified herself and lived deliciously and who said in +her heart: 'I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall +know no sorrow; my joy shall continue forever!'</p> + +<p>"Her plagues shall come in one day, death and +mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned +with fire. And the kings and the rulers of earth, and +the great men, and the rich men, and the mighty men, +and the chief Captains, and the bondsmen, and the free-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360 " id="Page_360 ">[Pg 360]</a></span>men +who have lived deliciously with her and who bear the +mark of the beast in their hands and upon their foreheads +shall bewail her and lament for her, crying:</p> + +<p>"'Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty +city!'</p> + +<p>"And the merchants of the earth shall weep and +mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise +any more: The merchandise of gold and silver and +precious stones, and of pearls and fine linen, and purple, +and silk and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner +vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most +precious wood, and of brass and iron and marble. And +cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, +and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, +and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls +of men....</p> + +<p>"The fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed +from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly +are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more +at all. The merchants of these things which were made +rich by her shall stand afar off ... weeping and wailing +and saying: 'Alas, alas that great city, that was +clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked +with gold and precious stones and pearls....' And +every ship master and all the company in ships, and +sailors, and as many as trade by sea ... shall cry +when they see the smoke of her burning, saying: 'What +city is like unto this great city?' And they shall +cast dust on their heads, and weeping and wailing, cry: +'Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all +that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361 " id="Page_361 ">[Pg 361]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Babylon, Babylon, thine idols and graven images +of gods shall be cast down and shattered utterly and +forever! The voice of harpers, and musicians, and of +pipers, and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all +in thee; and no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be +shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a +millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the +light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and +the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be +heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were +the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were +all nations of the earth deceived!"</p> + +<p>Babylon, Babylon, thou fair city, thou proud world, +thou wonderful emanation of men's minds, thou fair +wanton, thou beauteous licentious harlot of gold and +gems, and white linen, and silks, and of henna, and +myrrh, and frankincense, and sweet-smelling herbs, no +more shall thy sons and daughters rejoice in thee and +worship thee! Thy grass shall be withered and thy fig +trees shall cast their figs, and thy gold and silver, and thy +diamonds, and rubies, and sapphires, and turquoise, and +emeralds, and opals, and pearls, and topaz, shall lie +scattered and in heaps for him to take who wisheth them, +but none shall desire them.</p> + +<p>No more shall thy daughters sit in the shadow of +thy vines where nesteth the dove, and glorify thee in +idle jest and laughter and song, and longingly wait for +the coming of the night, for they shall be bereft of their +silks, and their girdles, and anklets, and bracelets of +gold and jewels. Thy songs and pæans of triumph and +victory shall cease with the tainted stream of thy desires,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362 " id="Page_362 ">[Pg 362]</a></span> +and the walls of thy temples shall crumble to dust. Thy +stars shall pale, and the sun and the moon shall illumine +thee no longer, for the day approacheth when +thy blandishments shall fail to allure.</p> + +<p>Babylon, Babylon, thou proud city, thou who sitteth +upon many waters, thou whose sway encompasseth +the earth, how hast thou fallen!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363 " id="Page_363 ">[Pg 363]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XL" id="XL"></a>XL</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the afternoon of the fifth day they drew rein on +a high, shelving, terracelike stretch of ground +overlooking a broad valley, and almost opposite the chief +Tewana village which nestled at the foot of the Sahuaripa +range, running north and south until lost on the +horizon.</p> + +<p>Back of the village a cataract flung itself downward +over the mountain's side into the valley, its clouds of +spray reflecting innumerable rainbow tints in the sunshine. +Great forests, abounding in wild animal life, +clothed the mountain's slopes.</p> + +<p>It was a peaceful, fruitful valley upon which they +gazed; the land where Chiquita formerly dwelt. The +grass grew knee-deep in the meadows. Willows and +water-birch and sycamore and alders and poplars, interspersed +with pines and oaks, grew in clusters along the +banks of the broad, rushing stream that ran between +them and the distant village whose low, vine-clad walls +glowed golden and rose and purple and gray in the +rays of the afternoon sun. The diminutive city was +a mass of trees and foliage and seemed a part of the +landscape; so small were the houses and so harmonious +its setting. Fields of flax and melons, and beans and +squash, and corn and tobacco, and small orchards and +vineyards already harvested, dotted the valley close to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364 " id="Page_364 ">[Pg 364]</a></span> +the meadows which bordered the tree-fringed stream. +Herds of horses and cattle and flocks of sheep and goats, +intermingled with wild herds of deer and antelope, +browsed on the meadows and slopes above the river where +they stood. Wild ducks and geese and swan swam in +the river, and grouse and wild turkeys and quail and +plover roamed the forests and uplands. There was no +promiscuous killing of wild animals allowed among the +Tewana; they were shared in common like the domesticated +animals. Innumerable canoes, used for fishing, +were drawn up on the banks of the river.</p> + +<p>The Tewana were an independent, self-supporting +people. At all seasons of the year were heard the sounds +of the hand-loom and the smith's anvil—the fashioners +of iron and precious metals. The weavers of cloth and +baskets, and potters and tanners fashioned their wares +in the open in the shade of their walls and trees.</p> + +<p>The life these people led, free from the harassing +cares and anxieties of the White man, was almost ideal. +During the spring and summer months they tended their +fields, and after the harvests were gathered in the autumn +and the surplus produce stored in public granaries, they +engaged in the chase; hunting only with the bow and +spear—camping in the open, in the forests and plains +until the advent of winter. During the ensuing months, +until the coming of spring, the children were instructed +by their parents in the industrial arts; taught the traditions +of their people, and how to read and write, and +to observe the courses of the stars and to forecast the +weather and predict the nature of the seasons. With +the coming of the seedtime, they entered the fields with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365 " id="Page_365 ">[Pg 365]</a></span> +their elders and learned to sow and tend and reap the +crops.</p> + +<p>Thus, by the time the child had attained the age of +sixteen, he was thoroughly conversant with all that was +necessary to meet the demands of life. He became an +independent, self-supporting unit, while his constant contact +with nature not only revealed the latter's secrets +and the laws governing natural phenomena, but developed +him physically and spiritually as only nature +can. All orphaned children were adopted by the different +families, and consequently, there were no outcasts +or poor and ignorant among the people.</p> + +<p>Every house was surrounded by a small plot of ground +sufficient to supply the family with fruit, poultry, grain +and vegetables; from two to three acres in extent. Their +herds were held in common and permitted to run at will +like the deer; requiring but little care.</p> + +<p>The Tewana only produced enough to feed and clothe +themselves. The use of money was forbidden among +them, and trade and barter limited practically to the +individual who, desiring something particular from his +neighbor, procured the latter an equivalent in return.</p> + +<p>They regarded material things as merely a means +to an end, and considered it a disgrace for any one to +accumulate wealth; for it was noted that one's spiritual +development declined in the same ratio that his material +possessions increased. Like the land, they held the +forests and minerals and waters and animals in common. +These were the sacred things, the gift of nature, and +could not be bartered or sold. In their eyes, only the +depraved soul of a peddler ever could have conceived the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366 " id="Page_366 ">[Pg 366]</a></span> +idea of turning them into merchandise. Naturally it +had taken centuries of evolution to create this attitude—but +they had attained. There was, however, no need +of wealth. Since they enjoyed the earth's natural resources +in common, there was enough and an abundance +for all; placing the high and the low on a footing of +material equality.</p> + +<p>Four months' energetic labor was all that was required +to produce the annual necessities of life, allowing +the individual the greater portion of his days to +devote to the development of his natural capacities. +There were no idlers, the women sharing the responsibilities +of life the same as the men. All contributed +their services to that which was required for the good +of the community; the maintenance of aqueducts and +roads in the towns and the guarding of the herds. Aside +from these slight duties, the individual was free to follow +the bent of his desires. Those who refused to contribute +such services were driven from the community +and became nomads, but such instances were rare; all +preferring to enjoy the benefits which civilization, combined +with the greatest amount of liberty, bestowed upon +the individual.</p> + +<p>Opposite the chief <i>pueblo</i>, on the same side of the +river occupied by themselves, stood the ruins of another +town in a fair state of preservation. It differed +greatly in appearance from the one opposite. It was +compactly built, resembling more a modern Mexican +town than the pure type of Indian <i>pueblo</i>. In answer +to the Captain's inquiries concerning it, Chiquita smiled +and said: "Originally there were sixty <i>pueblos</i>, aver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367 " id="Page_367 ">[Pg 367]</a></span>aging +from two to three thousand inhabitants each; the +number of inhabitants to which the size of our towns +are limited. Owing to the new ideas that were introduced +among us by the priests and traders that were +permitted to visit us from time to time, many of our +people sought to establish a new order of things; like +that prevailing throughout the greater part of the world +to-day. But in order that I may make clear what I +am about to say, I must first tell you, that the Tewana +are as quick to recognize and encourage talent and +genius as were the ancient Greeks—that there are many +artists among my people who have developed their arts +to a high degree of perfection—poets, painters, +sculptors and musicians.</p> + +<p>"These artists, especially, became imbued with the +new ideas, and instead of continuing to create for art's +sake only, as had been the custom of their fathers, embellishing +their houses and articles of use with their +artistic creations, or spreading their poetry and music +and national sagas abroad after the manner of the +Minnesingers of old, they, with the others who had become +affected, began to adopt new customs—to build +churches and temples in which to worship and preserve +their arts, and sought to introduce money and taxation +and all that they entail among the people in order that +the new institutions might be maintained.</p> + +<p>"The disaffection became widespread, affecting about +half the people. The White Cloud and my father +did all in their power to persuade the renegades, +as they were called, to return to the old ways again; +maintaining that God dwelt in the open, not in temples,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368 " id="Page_368 ">[Pg 368]</a></span> +and that the works of man which entailed the burden of +taxation for their maintenance, depriving man of his +freedom, were not worth retaining. That it was not +economy, but extravagance to maintain them, and an +unnecessary waste of energy; for the instant man, in +his material evolution, goes beyond the procuring of the +necessities of life, he becomes immeshed in the creations +of his own world and a slave to them. But in vain. +They refused to listen to the wisdom of their words +and only laughed in answer to their pleadings. Whereupon, +the most terrible battles ensued; costing the lives +of fifty thousand of our best fighting men and women; +for among us, the women, like the men, are warriors, +and quite as capable of self-defense. They likewise +take part in all our games. In fact, they receive the +same training in all things as the men in order that +they may be equally fitted to bear the responsibilities +of citizenship.</p> + +<p>"Our women are trained for battle, not particularly +to make warriors of them, but for the same reason +that the Greeks placed athletics before all else. Not +that they considered athletics superior to the other arts +and sciences, but without physical perfection, they +realized there could be no proper mental poise, no +balance between mind and body. When you see our +youth, our young men and women, contest for the +honors in our games and military exercises you'll realize +the truth of this. The entire nation gathers together +once a year to witness these sports and exercises and +judge the skill of the contestants. No Olympic games +ever surpassed them. You shall see wonderfully beau<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369 " id="Page_369 ">[Pg 369]</a></span>tiful +men and women, the result of their training. Men +and women who grow naturally from the ground up, +like the tree or the flower. Believe me, your people +don't know what it is to really live, to taste of the +true joys of life; they only exist.</p> + +<p>"Owing to the terrific loss we sustained during the +rebellion, we were forced to make terms with the Mexican +Government and pay an annual tribute like the rest +of her people. It was my first introduction to battle. +I don't think I shall ever forget those terrible days +of slaughter. No quarter was shown, for we knew that +defeat meant the extermination of our race. There +ought to be about a hundred thousand of us left," she +continued. "Twenty <i>pueblos</i>, in all were destroyed, and +may their ruins long continue to stand as monuments +of the folly of men!"</p> + +<p>"But how about your schools and hospitals and +asylums and prisons?" asked the Captain.</p> + +<p>"Men who lead natural lives have no need of such +things," she answered. "Nature is all sufficient and has +provided all things for man's proper development. The +man or woman who can not instruct a child in the +things that are worth knowing and necessary to meet +the demands of life, is a barbarian and only half civilized. +Once a man becomes civilized, the civilizing +process ends. A man's spiritual growth is not dependent +upon his inventions, his sciences or his arts, but +is a thing apart from mental growth. If this were not +so, his hope of ultimate deliverance would be a delusion. +Contagious diseases were unknown to us until introduced +among us by white men. As for criminals, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370 " id="Page_370 ">[Pg 370]</a></span> +are very rare among us. When all men have an equal +opportunity in life there is no incentive to commit +crime. Acts that are the result of sudden fits of passion, +are not the acts of criminals, but the righting of +a supposed wrong done the individual. But even these +are rare. Should any one transgress the law, he is +punished, not imprisoned. Only a fool would go to +the trouble and expense of keeping a man imprisoned. +A delinquent is punished so severely that he will not +transgress the law a second time; for a second serious +offense against society is punished usually with death. +From what I have told you, you can gather that we +are not the savages the world imagines men to be who +lead a natural existence. You can see how easily we, +with our knowledge and theirs, could lead them to the +light."</p> + +<p>"Is there nothing between the picture your people +present and the world we know?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing! What else could there be? After the +final appraisement of things has been taken and they +have been weighed in the balance and adjudged, this +is the condition that must confront mankind, for no +other condition offers man such unlimited scope for +the development of his higher nature. What you see is +the true picture of the delivered man. The Golden +Age, or the Garden of Eden is no myth. Men once +were free and remained so until they gave way to desire +and established for themselves a world of delusion in +which there is no permanency either of thought or possession. +The traditions of all nations and all peoples, +from time immemorial, tell of this state when men were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371 " id="Page_371 ">[Pg 371]</a></span> +free. They also predict the destruction of present-day +society. The Utopias and Golden Ages depicted +by poets and dreamers, though beautiful to dwell upon +in fancy, are of the tissue of dreams. They will not +bear analysis. They are merely other names for different +forms of bondage; the same old romantic fallacies +which we are forever meeting in works of fiction."</p> + +<p>"And how long shall the world we know continue +until the new dispensation comes to pass?"</p> + +<p>"Until men overcome the fear of death! Then shall +they be born anew and come into their rightful heritage. +Then shall they grasp the spiritual significance +of the Golden Age as voiced by the Prophet: When +first the foundations of the Earth were laid; when the +morning stars sang together and all the Sons of God +shouted for joy, for we are they!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372 " id="Page_372 ">[Pg 372]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2 class="newpg"><a name="XLI" id="XLI"></a>XLI</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> either side of the village, forming a vast semicircle, +stood innumerable lodges and hogans, temporary +structures erected by the inhabitants of the other +villages, who had come to show homage to the Princess +and the White Chief, as the Captain was called.</p> + +<p>While gazing in the direction of the village which was +too far distant for them to distinguish more than an +indistinct outline of objects, they beheld two dark columns +of horsemen issue forth from the center of the +great semicircle of lodges and move slowly in their +direction. Chiquita guessed their meaning. As a child +she had witnessed the ceremony when her father, the +Whirlwind, was proclaimed Chief of the nation.</p> + +<p>Without pausing, they came trailing across the valley +in two separate columns, thousands of horsemen +and women, the men on the right hand, the women on +the left; all riding bareback with simple <i>riatas</i> twisted +around the horse's lower jaw. Save for their sandals +and the skins of the panther and ocelot and jaguar, +the Mexican leopard, which they wore clasped at the +left shoulder by a golden, jeweled clasp, and which +fell diagonally down across the body to the right knee, +leaving the arms and shoulders and the greater part +of the body bare and the left leg exposed to the hip, the +women were as naked as the men who wore sandals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373 " id="Page_373 ">[Pg 373]</a></span> +and loin-skins only. Heavy clasps and bracelets and +girdles of gold and silver, set with pearls and opals, +and turquoise and topaz, and emeralds and sapphires, +adorned their arms and waists.</p> + +<p>Among the Tewana there was no distinction in authority +between man and woman. Like the Amazons +of old, the women carried long steel-tipped lances and +shields and bows and quivers of arrows slung across +their backs as did the men. The head of each Cacique +or Chieftain of a hundred warriors or Amazons was +adorned with a circlet of gold with a clasp of precious +stones on the left side of the head holding a single +eagle's feather that slanted downward across the left +shoulder.</p> + +<p>On they came, the half-wild horses prancing and +plunging and snorting and neighing, their manes and +the long black hair and braids of the men and women +flying in the breeze; the lance tips and jewels and +their naked, bronze bodies flashing and glistening in +the sun; a wonderful, wild, picturesque, barbaric pageant, +a voice from the past; magnificent specimens +of manhood and womanhood; free men, exemplifying +the fullness of life—the life that is worth living. The +jewels and precious metals which they wore represented +incredible wealth, but were regarded by them as objects +of beauty only, for these were the Tewana, the people, +who for the sake of freedom, had trampled material +wealth under foot; had held Montezuma in check and +resisted the encroachments of the Spaniard ever since +the days of Cortez, knowing themselves to be a superior +people and of more ancient origin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374 " id="Page_374 ">[Pg 374]</a></span></p> + +<p>A wild, weird chant that rolled and swelled in great +undulatory waves of melody down the long lines of +warriors, was borne to them on the breeze. The whole +valley was filled with the song, the hills and mountains, +reverberating and resounding, echoed back the refrain.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the ancient chant of the kings!" explained +Chiquita. "Of course we no longer go to war thus. +Nevertheless, it is the ancient rite that must be performed +so long as the Tewana remain a nation."</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer drew the advancing host, the volume +of sound swelling and increasing, until splashing +through the river and sweeping up the slope to +where they stood, the leaders drew rein before them, and +raising their lances on high, a mighty shout burst from +the throats of the warriors, interrupting the song. +Again and again the valley and mountains echoed and +reverberated with the prolonged shouts and acclamations +until the chant was taken up once more.</p> + +<p>An eagle with <!-- TN: original reads "wide-spread" -->widespread wings soared above them +in the blue of heaven and seemed to accompany them +as they swept along between the lines in the direction +of the village; each company of warriors and Amazons, +without interrupting the chant, raising their lances in +salute as they passed. There was no doubt in the minds +of the Tewana regarding Captain Forest's ability to +rule as they gazed upon the man and the horse he +rode. He was as tall and deep chested as the Whirlwind, +while his piercing, hawklike gaze and face shone +with the strength and determination of one born to +command. The Chestnut tossed his great white mane<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375 " id="Page_375 ">[Pg 375]</a></span> +in the air and neighed and plunged and curveted between +the lines.</p> + +<p>Truly the White Cloud had read the future well—the +White Chief had come with the Princess.</p> + +<p>On they rode, the song and acclamations of the warriors +ringing in their ears, their gaze now scanning the +faces of these wonderful people, now lifted heavenward +to the eagle which floated overhead and continued to +accompany them. Their souls thrilled with the exquisite +joy of living which the scene and the surroundings +inspired in them. A scene which men have dreamed of +during moments of spiritual uplift, and have longed to +behold and imitate and become a part of, and escape +from the sordidness and pettiness of mundane existence +and live the life of men where life is life and every +breath is freedom; where the desire to live is dominant +and the future holds no terrors, and each new day +and sun and moon and procession of the stars are +greeted with the joy that is born of living and hailed +as emblems of the creative force that marks and animates +the passing of the seasons.</p> + +<p>At the end of the lines, on a slight eminence before +the village, in front of a great gathering of aged men +and women and children, stood the tall, erect figure of +an ancient warrior and patriarch with long, snow-white +hair that fell over his shoulders. Like the Amazons, +he was clad in a jaguar's skin held in place by a golden +girdle and clasps studded with jewels, and wore sandals +on his feet. A circlet of gold wrought with runic symbols, +to the left side of which was attached a raven's +wing, encircled his head, while in his right hand he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376 " id="Page_376 ">[Pg 376]</a></span> +held a long willow staff or wand to which were attached +seven eagle feathers that fluttered in the breeze.</p> + +<p>It was the great Sachem, the White Cloud. A hundred +winters sat upon his clear, broad arching brow, +and yet the years seemed to rest lightly upon him. +His benign, beaming countenance shone with an almost +supernatural radiance that bespoke the gift of the seer. +Without altering his position, he quietly signed to Chiquita +and the Captain to dismount and approach. +Meanwhile the warriors had gathered in a great semicircle +in front of them. For some time the White Cloud +continued to gaze at them in silent scrutiny, his large, +dark, piercing eyes roving from Chiquita's face to the +Captain's, in the seeming effort to fathom their thoughts +and the very depths of their souls, as though to reassure +himself of the truth of his prophecy.</p> + +<p>"It is done. You have come at last, my children—the +prophecy is fulfilled!" he began at length. Then, +raising the staff which he held in his right hand and +pointing directly upward to where the eagle continued +to soar in great circles, he cried in a deep sonorous voice +that all might hear: "Behold the sacred bird, God's +sign and symbol; the sacred witness to the consecration +of His chosen ones! For was it not written in the +ancient runes that, after the coming of the White Child +with a face like the sun, the ancient spirit of Hiawatha, +the Red Man's Messiah, would revisit the world +of men once more upon the back of an eagle to verify +the truth of those words uttered by the White Child?</p> + +<p>"Since the dawn of man's birth the centuries have +waited for this day! Henceforth," he continued, ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377 " id="Page_377 ">[Pg 377]</a></span>dressing +the Captain, "you shall be known unto all +men as Soaring Eagle, the Winged Spirit! And you, +Flaming Star, as the Giver of Life!" Then, planting +the wand upright in the ground between them, he bade +them take hold of it; Chiquita with the left hand and +the Captain with the right, his hand above hers.</p> + +<p>"By the power and sacred symbolism represented +by this staff," he continued, "I invest you both with +the supreme authority. And further, I call all men +to witness that, the hand of Soaring Eagle rests above +that of the Giver of Life, which signifies that his word +shall outweigh all others in the Councils of the People." +He ceased speaking and turned to the Captain as if +awaiting his reply.</p> + +<p>A prolonged silence ensued, during which the latter's +gaze swept the vast conclave of horsemen and forest of +lances that glittered in the sunlight and the wild mountains +beyond which towered above the valley and had +looked down upon the Tewana in the ancient days when +<i>his</i> race was in the cradle of its infancy. Beside him +stood the beauteous woman who seemed endowed with +all the wit and graces the poets of the ages had attributed +to the ideal woman. An inspiring, uplifting +spectacle, far surpassing in its reality the vision of his +dreams.</p> + +<p>He had attained the goal. The responsibility had +been laid upon him, and without hesitation he accepted +the charge, and spake; his words being translated by +Chiquita, were repeated in turn to the multitude by the +White Cloud.</p> + +<p>"Tewana, we accept the charge which you have imposed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378 " id="Page_378 ">[Pg 378]</a></span> +in us," he began quietly. "But understand, we +come not to rule you; we come to guide you. It is time +that you should learn to rule yourselves.</p> + +<p>"The days of rulers have passed. Woe unto them +that seek to rule, and woe unto the people that bows +its neck to rulers! The message which we have come +to deliver unto you, we deliver likewise unto all men +and it shall go forth unto the uttermost confines of the +earth." He paused, then raising his voice on high once +more, he continued:</p> + +<p>"Tewana, do you accept the terms? We come to +guide you, not to rule you!"</p> + +<p>A profound silence followed his speech. No sound +was heard save the sighing of the wind among the +warriors' lance tips and shields and their arrow-filled +quivers, and the rustling of the seven eagle feathers +attached to the White Cloud's staff.</p> + +<p>"Tewana," he asked again. "Do you accept the +terms?"</p> + +<p>Again all was silence. Then, all of a sudden, a vibrant, +ringing note, audible to all, the scream of the +eagle, came floating downward, clear and bell-like, from +out the sky.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the warning voice of the bird; the wisdom +of the Ancient Ones!" cried the White Cloud. "The +spirit of the Great Mystery has spoken once more!</p> + +<p>"We accept—we accept!" And seizing the staff +with his right hand, he raised it and made the sign +of the cross above their heads. Then turning and facing +the warriors, he raised the staff on high once more +and cried in a loud voice: +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379 ">[Pg 379]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tewana, earth-born Children of the Sun, salute +your Chieftains!" A mighty shout went up from the +entire multitude. Ten thousand bow-strings twanged +on the air, and ten thousand arrows flew upward toward +the sun.</p> + +<p>Again and again the shouts of acclamation broke +from the assembled multitude and swept over them in +great waves of sound until valley and hills and mountains +resounded with the cry, and then the people again +took up the ancient chant of the kings whose refrain, +filling the valley, swelled ever outward and upward to the +great sacred bird that soared high aloft with widespread +pinions in the pale azure of heaven.</p> + +<p>"It is done—it is done!" echoed and reëchoed the +refrain. Few there are to whom the vision has been +given, and fewer still that heed it.</p> + + +<p class="center"><b>THE END</b></p> + +<h2>Transcriber's Note</h2> + +<p class="indentedcentered">Minor typographical corrections are documented in the source code.</p> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of When Dreams Come True, by Ritter Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE *** + +***** This file should be named 28593-h.htm or 28593-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/9/28593/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: When Dreams Come True + +Author: Ritter Brown + +Illustrator: W. M. Berger + +Release Date: April 23, 2009 [EBook #28593] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE *** + + + + +Produced by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: SHE GLIDED AND WHIRLED IN THE MOONLIGHT, GRACEFUL AS A +WIND-BLOWN ROSE. _PAGE 284_] + + + + + WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE + + BY + + RITTER BROWN + AUTHOR OF "MAN'S BIRTHRIGHT" + + ILLUSTRATED BY + W. M. BERGER + + New York + Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. + + + + + Copyright, 1912 + By Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. + + + + + TO + MY SON + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + "She glided and whirled in the moonlight, graceful + as a wind-blown rose" _Frontispiece_ + FACING + PAGE + "The picture which she presented was one he carried + with him for many a day" 130 + + "Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands" 272 + + "'Madre! Madre _mia_!' she cried and flung herself + into Chiquita's arms" 292 + + "They were startled by a low moan and saw Blanch + sink slowly to the bench" 330 + + + + + There is a tradition extant among the Indians of the Southwest, + extending from Arizona to the Isthmus of Panama, to the effect + that, Montezuma will one day return on the back of an eagle, + wearing a golden crown, and rule the land once more; typifying + the return of the Messiah and the rebirth and renewal of the race. + + + + +WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE + + + + +I + + +The beauty of midsummer lay upon the land--the mountains and plains of +Chihuahua. It was August, the month of melons and ripening corn. High +aloft in the pale blue vault of heaven, a solitary eagle soared in ever +widening circles in its flight toward the sun. Far out upon the plains +the lone wolf skulked among the sage and cactus in search of the rabbit +and antelope, or lay panting in the scanty shade of the yucca. + +By most persons this little known land of the great Southwest is +regarded as the one which God forgot. But to those who are familiar with +its vast expanse of plain and horizon, its rugged sierras, its wild +desolate _mesas_ and solitary peaks of half-decayed mountains--its tawny +stretches of desert marked with the occasional skeletons of animal and +human remains--its golden wealth of sunshine and opalescent skies, and +have felt the brooding death-like silence which seems to hold as in a +spell all things living as well as dead, this land becomes one of +mystery and enchantment--a mute witness of some unknown or forgotten +past when the children of men were young, whose secrets it still +withholds, and with whose dust is mingled not only that of unnumbered +and unknown generations of men, but that of Montezuma and the hardy +daring _Conquistadores_ of old Spain. + +But whatever may be the general consensus of opinion concerning this +land, such at least was the light in which it was viewed by Captain +Forest, as he and his Indian attendant, Jose, drew rein on the rim of a +broken, wind-swept _mesa_ in the heart of the Chihuahuan desert, a full +day's ride from Santa Fe whither they were bound, to witness the +_Fiesta_, the Feast of the Corn, which was celebrated annually at this +season. + +The point where they halted commanded a sweeping view of the surrounding +country. Just opposite, some five leagues distant, on the farther side +of the valley which lay below them, towered the sharp ragged crest of +the Mexican Sierras; their sides and foothills clothed in a thin growth +of chaparral, pine and juniper and other low-growing bushes. Deep, +rugged _arroyos_, the work of the rain and mountain torrents, cut and +scarred the foothills which descended in precipitous slopes to the +valley and plains below. Solitary giant cactus dotted the landscape, +adding to the general desolation of the scene, relieved only by the +glitter of the silvery sage, white poppy and yucca, and yellow and +scarlet cactus bloom which glistened in the slanting rays of the +afternoon sun and the intense radiation of heat in which was mirrored +the distant mirage; transforming the desert into wonderful lakes of +limpid waters that faded in turn on the ever receding horizon. + +Below them numerous Indian encampments of some half-wild hill tribe +straggled along the banks of the almost dry stream which wound through +the valley until lost in the thirsty sands of the desert beyond. + +"'Tis the very spot, _Capitan_--the place of the skull!" ejaculated +Jose, the first to break the silence. "See--yonder it lies just as we +left it!" and he pointed toward the foot of the _mesa_ where a spring +trickled from the rock, a short distance from which lay a human skull +bleached white by long exposure to the sun. + +Instinctively the Captain's thoughts reverted to the incidents of the +previous year when he lay in the desert sick unto death with fever and +his horse, Starlight, had stood over his prostrate body and fought the +wolves and vultures for a whole day and night until Jose returned with +help from the Indian _pueblo_, La Guna. Involuntarily his hand slipped +caressingly to the animal's neck, a chestnut with four white feet and a +white mane and tail that swept the ground and a forelock that hung to +his nostrils, concealing the star on his forehead; a magnificent animal, +lithe and graceful as a lady's silken scarf, untiring and enduring as a +Damascus blade. A horse that comes but once during twenty generations of +Spanish-Arabian stock, and then is rare, and which, through some trick +of nature or reversion, blossoms forth in all the beauty of an original +type, taking upon himself the color and markings of some shy, wild-eyed +dam, the pride of the Bedouin tribe and is known as the "Pearl of the +Desert." The type of horse that bore Alexander and Jenghis Khan and the +Prophet's War Chieftains to victory. As a colt he had escaped the +_rodeo_. No mark of the branding-irons scarred his shoulder or thin +transparent flanks. Again the Captain's thoughts traveled backward and +he beheld a band of wild horses driven past him in review by a troup of +Mexican _vaqueros_, and the beautiful chestnut stallion emerge from the +cloud of dust on their rim and tossing his great white mane in the +breeze, neigh loudly and defiantly as he swept by lithe and supple of +limb. + +"Bring me that horse!" he had cried. + +"That horse? _Jose y Maria, Capitan!_ He cannot be broken. Besides, it +will take ten men to tie him." + +"Then let ten men tie him!" he had replied, flinging a handful of golden +eagles among them. + +Many attempts had been made to steal the Arab since he had come into the +Captain's possession. It was a dangerous undertaking, for the horse had +the naive habit of relegating man to his proper place, either by +ignoring his presence, or by quietly kicking him into eternity with the +same indifference that he would switch a fly with his tail. Jose might +feed and groom and saddle him, but not mount him. To one only would he +submit; to him to whom a common destiny had linked him--his master. + +"_Sangre de Dios, Capitan!_" began Jose again, breaking in upon the +latter's musings. "Is it not better that we rest yonder by the spring +than sit here in this infernal sun, gazing at nothing? 'Tis hot as the +breath of hell where the Padres tell us all heretics will go after +death!" The grim expression of the Captain's face relaxed for a moment +and he turned toward him with a laugh. + +"Aye, who knows," he replied, "we too, may go there some day," and +dismounting, he began to loosen his saddle girths. + +"The gods forbid!" answered Jose, making the sign of the cross, as if to +ward off the influence of some evil spell. "I do not understand you +_Americanos_," he continued, also dismounting and untying a small pack +at the back of his saddle. "You are strange--you are ever gay when you +should be sober. You laugh at the gods and the saints and frown at the +_corridos_, and yet toss alms to the most worthless beggar." + +The foregoing conversation was carried on in Spanish. Although Jose had +acquired a liberal smattering of English during his service with the +Captain, he nevertheless detested it; obstinately adhering to Spanish +which, though only his mother-tongue by adoption, was in his estimation +at least a language for _Caballeros_. + +The two men were superb specimens of their respective races. Their +rugged appearance, height and breadth of shoulder would have attracted +attention anywhere. The Captain wore a gray felt hat and a rough gray +suit of tweed--his trousers tucked in his long riding boots. Jose was +clad in the typical _vaquero's_ costume--buff leggins and jacket of +goat-skin, slashed and ornamented with silver threads and buttons, and a +red worsted sash about his middle in which he carried a knife and +pistol. From beneath the broad brim of his _sombrero_ peeped the knot of +the yellow silken kerchief which he wore bound about his head and under +which lay coiled his long black hair. + +Captain Forest was unusually tall and stalwart, deep chested and robust +in appearance, with not a superfluous ounce of flesh on his body, +hardened by the rigors of long months of camp-life. His head was large +and shapely, well poised and carried high on a full neck that sprang +from the great breadth of his shoulders. His face, smooth and sensitive, +and large and regular in feature with high cheek-bones and slightly +hollowed cheeks, was bronzed by long exposure to the sun and weather, +adding to the ruggedness of his appearance. The high arching forehead, +acquiline nose and firm set mouth and chin denoted alertness, action and +decision, while from his eyes, large and dark and piercing, shone that +strange light so characteristic of the dreamer and genius. And yet, in +spite of this alertness of mind and body and general appearance of +strength and power which his presence inspired, there lurked about him +an air of repose indicative of confidence in self and the full knowledge +of his powers. Sensitive to a degree, keen and alive at all times, the +strength of his personality, suggestive of his mastery over men, +impressed the most unobservant. Yet owing to his poise and self-control +those about him did not realize wholly his power until such moments when +justice was violated. Then the latent force within him asserted itself +and he became as inexorable as a law of nature in his demands. An +intense spirit of democracy oddly combined with fastidiousness made an +unusual and attractive personality in which the mundane and the +spiritual were strangely blended. Outwardly he was a man of the world, +yet inwardly he had advanced so far into the domain of sheer +spirituality he scarcely realized that others groped their way among the +most obvious material modes of expression. + +Having removed their saddles and turned their horses loose to find what +scant cropping the desert afforded, the two sought the shelter of the +narrow strip of shade beside the spring at the foot of the _mesa_. Here +they would rest until the heat of the day had passed, resuming their +journey that evening. Jose unwound his _zerape_ from his shoulders and +spreading it on the ground between them, deposited two tin cups and a +package of sandwiches upon it which, with the addition of a flask of +_aguardiente_ which the Captain drew from his pocket, formed their meal. + +Two years previous the Captain had rescued his companion from a street +mob in Hermosillo, the result of a feud that had broken out between her +citizens and the Yaqui Indians; Jose having been mistaken for one of the +latter. With his back against a wall and the blood streaming from his +wounds, he was making a desperate stand. Three citizens who had run upon +his knife, lay squirming at his feet; but the odds were too great. In +another moment all would have been over with him had it not been for the +Captain who chanced upon him in the nick of time. Snatching a club from +one of his assailants and accompanying each blow with a volley of +Spanish oaths, he rushed through the mob, scattering it in all +directions. Whether it was the oaths or the Captain's exhibition of his +fighting qualities that impressed Jose most it is difficult to say. Be +that as it may, from that hour he belonged to Captain Forest body and +soul. He was the grand senor, the _Hidalgo_, in comparison to whom +other men were as nothing. + +The meal over, Jose with head and shoulders on one end of the _zerape_, +stretched himself at full length upon the ground and, as was his wont, +fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Forest swallowed a last draught +of liquor. Then leisurely rolling a cigarette he lit it, and with back +against the cliff and gaze fixed abstractedly on the mountains opposite, +smoked in silence. + + + + +II + + +Jack Forest's life was rich and full to overflowing with the things of +this world which are generally considered to make for happiness and +culture. Into the measure of his life, the comparatively short span of +thirty-five years, had been crowded a wealth of incident and experience +that seldom falls to the lot of the most fortunate men in this +commercialized era whose tendency is to pull nations like individuals +down to a common level of mediocrity, and seems bent upon extinguishing +even their few remaining national traits and characteristics. + +Born in Washington and a graduate of Harvard, he had traveled to the +four corners of the earth, and hunted big game from the arctic circle to +the equator. During a winter's sojourn in Egypt he made the acquaintance +of Lord X----, then Consul-General of Egypt, upon whose advice he +entered the diplomatic service of his country. Five years were +subsequently spent as first Secretary of the American legations in +London and St. Petersburg. The enthusiasm with which he threw himself +into the work and the natural executive ability which he displayed soon +marked him as a coming man in diplomatic circles. But the speculations +of his friends concerning his future career were destined to be rudely +shattered by one of those inexplicable tricks of fate which, in the +twinkling of an eye, so often change the lives of individuals. + +The spirit of adventure which had lain dormant within him ever since his +decision to adopt diplomacy as a profession was suddenly awakened by the +outbreak of hostilities between Spain and the United States. Through the +influence of his father, General Forest, a Civil War veteran, and that +of his uncle, Colonel Van Ashton, retired, he received the appointment +of Second Lieutenant of Volunteers and shipped with his regiment for +Cuba. He was wounded at the battle of Santiago, though not seriously. At +the close of the campaign in the West Indies his regiment was ordered to +the Philippines, where, at the end of a year, he was promoted to a +captaincy in the regular army. At this juncture in his career the sudden +death of his father necessitated his return to America on leave of +absence. + +The estate to which he and his mother fell heirs was an unusually large +one, the administration of which demanded his immediate and entire +attention if they wished to keep their holdings intact. But as this was +clearly incompatible to the life of a soldier, he was forced to resign +from the army. He took this step without great reluctance, for brief +though his career as a soldier had been, it was a brilliant and +satisfactory one. It was not for the glory of the profession that he had +entered the army, but purely in the spirit of the patriot; and he had +fought his battles and returned with newly won laurels and a fund of +interesting experiences. Besides, campaigning in the Philippines had +convinced him that diplomacy, though perhaps not always so exciting, +was preferable to a life whose daily routine was enlivened only by +target practice, dress-parades and the occasional diversion of chasing +naked men about in the bush. + +As soon as the estate was settled it was his intention to reenter the +diplomatic service for which he knew himself to be better fitted than +before his two years experience in the army. + +The bulk of the fortune consisted of mines in Mexico, whither he was +called to superintend his interests. At the end of a year, however, he +received word from his uncle informing him that the Ministry to Greece +would be open to him if he chose to accept it. Jubilant over the +prospect of reentering the world of Diplomacy so soon, he immediately +telegraphed his acceptance, and the following day addressed a letter to +the girl he had known from his youth, Blanch Lennox, whose character, +personal charm and ambition marked her as the one to share the future +with him. There was as little doubt in his mind that she would accept +him, as there was in hers that he would make the proposal; and when a +week later, he received a telegram confirming his conjecture, the answer +came as a matter of course. + +The business at the mines was settled, but Mexico and her people were a +new experience. Its vast expanse of plains, virgin forests and wild +sierras lured him on; and in the company of a friend whose acquaintance +he had made at the mines, he passed the remaining time left at his +disposal traveling in the interior of the country, gathering data and +visiting the wild tribes who, though of the same blood, were in +characteristics a distinct people from the slavish _peon_ classes. A +people that have never actually submitted to the rule of the White man, +and have held tenaciously to the ancient beliefs and customs of their +forefathers. + +He was impressed by the fact that, although living entirely independent +of the outside world, they were nevertheless self-supporting and in +certain instances had developed marked degrees of civilization. + +He saw how they tended their flocks and fields, made their own clothes +and articles of use, and wrought gold and silver ornaments embellished +with native stones, and used the bow and arrow in the chase. They knew +nothing of modern civilization. Their daily lives were sufficient unto +them, and they were therefore happy. God seemed infinite and dwelt in +their midst, and spoke to them from the dust as well as from the stars. +But why was this? Why was life for them, in the natural course of +events, so easy and simple, and so difficult and complicated for the +civilized man? + +His thoughts continually traveled back to the Eskimo of the frozen +North, and to Africa and her sun-parched deserts and star-strewn skies +with the roaming Bedouin in the background who regarded the earth as a +footstool to be used only as a means to an end and houses as habitations +fit only for slaves. + +The picture he saw was not the ideal one--the emancipated man of whom +men of all times have dreamed and to whose advent some men are still +looking forward. But the care-free life of the primitive man set him +thinking--opened his eyes to certain truths which, until now, he had +failed to observe. Longings for the unattainable began to stir within +him and take hold of him in a manner entirely new. Hazy, fragmentary +glimpses of hitherto undreamed possibilities began to shape themselves +in his mind. The immensity and profundity of the universe and the +mysterious growth of its hidden life held and enthralled him. + +The last word, he felt, had not yet been spoken. There was something +lacking in the so-called civilized man's economy--a lack which his +philosophy failed to account for, but which was not observable among +animals and primitive men. There, the economy of the infinite cosmic +mechanism which binds and holds all manifestations of life in one +harmonious whole was too apparent to even suggest the detachment of a +single form of life from this whole, but with the civilized man it was +different. He alone seemed to have detached himself from this harmonious +whole--his life stood out as a thing separate and apart from it. There +seemed to be no permanent place for him in the economy of nature. + +But how had this estrangement taken place? Why was he, the +intellectually developed man, incapable of living in harmony with the +universal law of life when it was so easy for the primitive man to do +so? It was evident that he had lost his way somewhere along the path of +normal development. Everything pointed to this--its signs were apparent +to all who wished to see. Nature voiced it on every hand, in the forests +and plains and on the mountain tops, and during the silence of night as +he lay on the ground gazing at the stars overhead. + +The wind that sighed among the ruined temples of the ancient races and +the mountains that looked down upon them seemed to speak to him in the +ever recurring refrain: "Behold the works and glories of men--we are +enduring! The same wind that sighs among them this day, sang to them +when their walls and pillars stood erect. The same mountains that +shadowed them in the past, will still stand guard over the valleys in +the days to come when the works of the present and future generations of +men have passed away forever!" + +He knew that these questions had been asked during countless +generations, and that men were still asking them to-day. He knew also +that man's situation in the universe was taking on a new aspect, and yet +it was strange that such thoughts should absorb him, a man of the world, +of the fighting type, whose wide experience with men and things had +hitherto convinced him that the world, though not perfect, was +good--that present progress made for good, and the best western +civilization had thus far attained was probably about all men of the +future could look forward to so far as happiness was concerned. These +views, however, were no longer tenable if our arts, philosophies and +scientific attainments fail to civilize and refine us. Clearly, modern +man's conception of ethical progress was as deficient in certain +respects as that of the great historic civilizations. The secret of +right living had not yet been discovered. History proved this, and +unless the trend of modern materialistic tendencies was supplanted by +something higher, the same fate that overtook the Ancients must +inevitably overtake us. + +But the date of their wedding had been set, and the time for their +departure for Athens was drawing nearer. Santa Fe lay a day's ride from +the railroad. Instead of performing the journey in a single ride, he +decided to pass the night at the _hacienda_ of a friend, Don Felix de +Tovar, some twelve miles distant from the old Spanish town. Thither he +would ride during the cool of the evening, completing the remainder of +the journey the following day. Between Santa Fe and Don Felix's +_hacienda_ lay the Indian _pueblo_, La Jara, situated some distance off +the main road. By following the trail that led past this village, Jose +explained, they would reduce the distance to Don Felix's _rancho_ by at +least two or three miles. + +The country through which they traveled was broken and rugged. Twilight +had descended upon the land, and as the two, following the trail that +skirted the foothills, rode to the crest of the _mesa_ upon which the +village was situated, they came suddenly upon a woman riding at full +gallop. The soft, sandy formation of the soil was such that neither +heard the approach of the other, and all three reined in their horses +with a jerk; the woman throwing hers well back upon its haunches; a +high-strung, black, wiry animal whose foam-flecked mouth and breast told +that she had been riding hard. + +How free and wild she looked! She was either a Spaniard or an Indian, +and rode astride. A bunch of red berries adorned her heavy black hair +which fell in masses about her shoulders, accentuating the curve of her +throat and well-formed, clear-cut features just discernible in the +waning light as she sat motionless and erect on her horse, gazing at +him in silence and evidently as much surprised as he was by their sudden +encounter. Then with a smile and a nod of the head by way of +acknowledgment, she lifted her reins and spurred past him; disappearing +in the gathering darkness on the trail below them. Her unexpected +appearance and grace and type of beauty, so different from that of the +woman who occupied his thoughts, thrilled him for the moment as he +listened to the soft, muffled hoof-beats of her horse which grew fainter +and fainter until all was silence, save for the sighing of the wind +among the _mesquit_ and _manzanita_ bushes that grew about them. All +trace of her was gone. She had vanished into the night as swiftly as she +had come. + +Then a strange thing happened. Something suddenly gripped his heart; +that indefinable something after which he had been groping and which had +been knocking so persistently at the portals of his inmost being, but +which until now had eluded him. The sight of that strange woman had +shown him that, to be beautiful is to be free and natural. That the +world he knew and revered was purely an artificial world of man's +invention, transitory and a thing apart from the universal life in the +midst of which he had been placed and apart from which it was impossible +for him to develop naturally. That nature is more perfect than all the +artificialities of civilization and a more efficient environment for the +normal development of man. That man's happiness and true relationship to +the universe were attainable only through direct contact and communion +with this life whose creations are the only great and lasting +realities. Thus only was it possible for him to quicken and vitalize +his powers to their fullest. That when creation finished its task, peace +and harmony reigned in the midst of the terrestrial garden, rendering +man's pursuit of happiness through diverse acts and infinite forms of +diversion quite unnecessary. + +He had discovered the wild man's secret--why the stars still sing to him +as of yore--why the winds and the waters, the animals and the rocks and +the trees still speak to him in harmonies long since forgotten by +civilized man. A great and secret joy, such as he had never before +experienced, filled his soul; uplifting, consuming and mastering him.... +But what would Blanch Lennox say? She with whose inner life he felt in +perfect accord? She who was his ideal, the inspiration of his eager +youth and well-spring of his ambitions of later years? The woman who +always met his problems with quick sympathy and comprehending interest? +Could she understand him now, sympathize with his new views of life? He +knew a battle royal would ensue between them, but felt confident of his +power to convince her. He found, however, upon his return to Newport +where she awaited him, that he had reckoned without his host. She +attributed his enthusiasm and changed convictions to his ardent love of +nature and the roving spirit that animated him, but could not be +convinced that the world of society in which she moved and shone and for +whose adulation she lived, was the lesser world. She refused to +relinquish their present life so full of the things of this world, the +only realities which she knew or recognized, for some vague +uncertainty. Surely the _wanderlust_, the love of the primitive, had +gotten into his blood! + +At first she laughed scornfully, then hysterically. + +"Was he mad to suggest such folly--imagine that she could even dream of +participating in such a life? He might give up the ambition of a +lifetime, fling aside a brilliant career to follow the path of his mad +fancy if he chose, but she would not be a partner to his folly!" + +Again he noted her set lips and the pallor that succeeded the flush on +her cheeks after her first furious outburst. Again he saw her as she +rose, pale and trembling, her eyes blazing. + +"And you dare come to me with this after all the years I have waited for +you? Go back to your deserts--your wild woman and her land of savages!" +she had cried in a voice of suppressed indignation and contempt. After +all he could not blame her, knowing as he did the world in which she had +been reared. She was right. And yet, as he sat there in the desert with +his back to the cliff and smoked in silence, living over again the +poignant memories of the past, the bitterness he experienced at the +moment was even keener than on that memorable night when they had +parted. + +Could he ever forget her? The memory of that night clung to him in spite +of every effort to banish it from his mind. + +Above them shone the stars, golden as the apples of Hesperides. He heard +again the rhythmic sound of the sea and the plashing of the fountain +near at hand, and noted the rose petals which the breeze had shaken from +the bushes to the path where they stood; filling the soft night air +with their fragrance, and she, with the white moonlight in her face and +the pink rose in the golden wreath of her hair, fair as the woman of +Eden. + +The vision passed before him in kaleidoscopic review, warm and living +and tempting and haunting, and then faded from his sight. + +The shadows of evening began to lengthen. Close at hand a lizard that +had been sunning itself all day against the cliff raised its head for an +instant, then slipped noiselessly away with the shadows into a crevice +in the rock. The Indian camp-fires flickered in the valley below, their +slender, ghostlike columns of smoke, rising heavenward straight as the +flight of a flock of cranes, floated away in a pale, blue white cloud on +the evening. The soft, plaintive notes of the night-hawk and prairie-owl +mingled with the prolonged cry of the wolf in the distant foothills. The +night breeze sprang up, fanning the parched desert with its cool breath. +The stars came forth and the silver rim of the moon emerged above the +dark towering mass of the Sierra Madres, outlining their crests in +broken silvery lines as its full white disk swept into view; flooding +the valley and plains with strange ethereal light. + +Jose's sleep seemed troubled. He moved uneasily and muttered +incoherently. + +Where was she now--what was she doing? The woman he still loved in spite +of himself? And whither was he drifting--what was the real end in view? +What subtle, irresistible influence was it that impelled him to take the +step, sacrifice all that men prize and hold dear? During such moments +he questioned the seemingly blind destiny by which he felt himself +impelled. A thousand miles he had ridden in search of the realization of +his dreams, but had not found it. That which at first had lured him on, +now seemed to mock him. The vision that beckoned to him still maintained +a sphinx-like attitude toward his questioning. + +Where was the new life he had promised himself? Was it only a vision he +had conjured up in his mind? Either he had overlooked something in his +calculations, or his logic was at fault. + +Was this all? Had the human race attained its zenith--was there nothing +beyond, nothing to look forward to, and he merely the latest dreamer and +enthusiast who was pursuing the same will-o'-the-wisp that others had +sought through the ages? If so, then what fatality was it that +encompassed him and continually urged him on? Doubt counseled him to +return, but pride and confidence in self still cried forward. Come what +would, he either must go on to the end or accept the humiliation that +awaits him who turns back. But why was the realization withheld from one +so willing--from one who had dared face the world alone? + +For the first time the loneliness and isolation of his life was borne in +upon him as he reviewed the past, step by step, and thought of the woman +he had chosen to share the future with him and whom it was impossible to +disassociate from his plans. + +Fortune seemed to have deserted him. A sudden revulsion and sickening +sense of failure swept over him, crushing and overwhelming him. Would +the voices never break silence? Must he forever ride alone with the sun +in his face? Save for a cricket that chirped dreamily in a cleft of the +rock close at hand, and the distant, subdued sounds of voices and +barking of dogs in the Indian camps below him, there was no response to +his query. + +Strange that he, Jack Forest, the possessor of twenty millions, the +associate of the great people of this world, and who was never referred +to by his family and friends as other than the Magnificent, the man who +did things, should find himself in the heart of the Mexican deserts +apparently as far from his goal as when he started. It was incredible, +but true, nevertheless. For was he not there in the midst of the +wilderness with the scent of the sage in his nostrils and the alkali +dust on his boots? + +He closed his eyes and let his head sink forward on his breast, wearied +by the oft-repeated endeavor to solve that which was fast becoming a +riddle, a chimera to him, and he probably would have fallen asleep had +he not been startled suddenly into a consciousness of his surroundings +by a low whinny; soft and plaintive as a child's voice. Looking up, he +saw Starlight standing before him with ears erect and pointed forward, +gazing inquiringly into his face. + +Again the Chestnut whinnied, and lowering his head, caressed his +shoulder affectionately with his nose. Then raising his head, he began +to paw the ground impatiently, indicating as plainly as words that it +was time to resume their journey. + +The night wind sighed across the desert and there was a chill in the +air as the moon mounted higher in the heavens; an ideal night for +travel. Jose awoke with a start and sitting bolt upright on the ground, +gazed about him with a dazed, bewildered air, trying to collect his +scattered senses. + +"_Capitan!_" he cried, regarding him intently. "I have just dreamt that +the shadow of a man came between you and a woman! I can't see their +faces, but they are there!" + +"Bah!" returned the Captain, rising to his feet and stretching wide his +arms, preparatory to saddling his horse. "'Tis only the _aguardiente_, +Jose!" + +"Ah! do not jest, _Capitan_! Three times have I dreamed this dream--the +shadow comes ever nearer!" + + + + +III + + +The _Fiesta_, the "Feast of the Corn," had been declared, and there was +dancing and feasting, and song and laughter on the lips of men as +Captain Forest and Jose rode into Santa Fe late the following morning +and turned their horses' heads in the direction of the _Posada de las +Estrellas_, the Inn of the Stars, which was situated just outside the +principal entrance to the town. + +The low gray adobe walls of the houses fronting directly upon the narrow +winding streets leading to and from the plaza were gay with the blossoms +of the pink and scarlet geranium, honeysuckle, and gorgeous magenta of +the bougainvillea and golden cups of the trumpet-vine. + +Pigeons fluttered from the house-tops to the streets, or hovered about +the plaza and bosky _alamedas_ of poplar, pepper and eucalyptus trees in +search of stray grains of corn. Humming-birds and butterflies flashed +their wings and gorgeous plumage in the sunshine as they darted in and +out among the foliage in the _patios_ and gardens at the rear of the +houses, luxuriant with fruit and flowers as was attested by the orange +and lemon, pomegranate and fig trees, heavy with ripening fruit and the +delicately mingled perfume of orange and lemon blossoms, hyacinth, +jasmine and Castilian rose. + +Through the center of the town, beneath the walls of the half-ruined +convent, flowed the little river, Santa Maria, at whose banks young +girls and women were wont to wash their linen and beat it out on the +large, smooth stones which lay strewn along the water's edge. The notes +of the wood-dove and oriole mingling with the silvery voice of the +river, fell in rhythmical cadences upon the ears of the inhabitants who +rested in the shady seclusion of their _patios_ and gardens during the +hour of the _siesta_; rolling and smoking _cigarillos_ as they leisurely +discussed the latest bit of news or gossip over their black coffee, +_mescal_ and _tequila_, or engaged in a game of _moles_. + +There had been much rain that season, the best of reasons why the people +should give thanks to the heavens and the fields receive the blessing of +the Church as well as that of the gods of the _Indios_ at whose altars +the Red men still worship and upon which still is written "blood for +blood," as in the days when the White men first came from the South, +bearing the fire and thunderbolts of heaven with which they overthrew +them. This was in fulfillment of the curse which the people had brought +upon themselves. The fate which their ancient Sachems had foretold would +overtake them in those days when they should forget the commands of the +gods and neglect the land, and the hand of brother be lifted against +brother until the coming of a Fair Child with a face like the sun unto +whose words all men would hearken and their hearts be united in love. + +According to custom, runners had been sent forth to the north, east, +south and west to proclaim the annual _Fiesta_. For this ceremony the +choicest ears were selected from the new harvest, and, after being +borne aloft in the procession that took place during the benediction of +the fields, were placed in the churches where they remained until the +following year. The golden ears represented the sunrise, the red, the +sunset, the blue, the sky, the white, the clouds, and all together, +their Mother, the Earth, from which they sprang. + +As the season for rejoicing drew near, the _rancheros_ of the +neighboring _haciendas_, together with the Indians of the distant +_pueblos_ and half-wild hill tribes, chance strangers and adventurers, +streamed toward Santa Fe and swarmed within her walls; some eager for +trade and barter, but most of them bent upon pleasure. Her streets and +plazas became a surging mass of struggling humanity, bright with the gay +costumes of men and women. In her market-booths were displayed +innumerable commodities; animals, fruit, vegetables, fowl--flowers, +goldfish, caged finches, canaries--jewelry, rugs, stamped leathers and +drawn-linen work--bright cloths, blankets, baskets and pottery--wines, +laces, silks, satins, cigarettes and cigars. + +Bidding was brisk and at times vehement, but always good humored. +Sellers of lottery-tickets, writers of love-letters, jugglers and +mountebanks plied their trades. The cries of the water-carrier and +vender of sweet-meats mingled with those of the inevitable beggar who +asked alms for the love of God; invoking blessings or curses upon the +head of him who gave or refused him a _centavo_. Babel reigned. Donkies +brayed, geese and turkeys hissed and gobbled, chickens cackled and +fighting-cocks, tethered by the leg, strutted and crowed, while brown +children of all sizes and ages laughed and screamed as they chased one +another in and out among the crowds or rolled in the dust beneath the +pedestrian's feet. + +Old Santa Fe, christened by the early Franciscan Friars, "City of the +Blessed Faith," but in reality a fair wanton, a veritable Sodom and +Gomorrha of iniquity with her _corridos_, her cock-pits and dance and +gambling-halls, threw wide her gates and bade the stranger welcome; and +if he did not receive the worth of his gold in pleasure and substance, +surely it was no fault of Santa Fe's. Besides, it was only a step from a +gaming-table to a Father Confessor. + +The soul of old Spain still lived in the land. The click of castanettes +was heard daily in her plazas and streets where the _fandango_ and +_jotta_ were gayly danced; while at night the soft sounds of guitars and +voices issued from out the deep shadow of her walls. Soft hands drew the +latches of casements, and slender figures stepped out upon moonlit +balconies or beneath purple black heavens studded with myriads of golden +stars, and passionate words and vows were exchanged under the cover of +night. + +Having passed the day at the Inn of the Stars, where they had been +resting after the fatigues of the long night's ride, the Captain and +Jose again directed their steps toward the town in the cool of the +evening; Jose making for Pedro Romero's gambling-hall, the Captain for +Carlos Moreno's theater, the _Theatro Mexicano_. + +Owing to the tardiness of his arrival, he found the house packed to the +doors. The performance, vaudeville in character, had already begun, and +it was only after much elbowing and crowding that he finally succeeded +in making his way to Carlos' private box where the latter awaited him. + +A tall, dark woman had just ceased dancing, and as she paused before the +footlights amid a burst of musical accompaniment, the audience with one +impulse rose to its feet and gave vent to prolonged salvos of applause. +Showers of glittering gold and silver coins, bouquets and wreaths of +flowers were flung upon the stage, burying her feet in a wealth and +suffusion of color as she stood smiling and bowing before the audience, +vainly endeavoring to still the tumultuous applause which continued with +deafening uproar until she consented to repeat the performance. + +"Delicious--divine--'tis the Chiquita, _amigo mio_!" cried Carlos; +pausing in the midst of his _vivas_ to greet the Captain. + +"You shall know her and fall in love with her like all the rest of the +world--" but his speech was cut short by a fresh burst of applause from +the audience. The floral tributes that had been showered upon her were +hastily removed to one side of the stage and piled high against the +wings. The musicians struck up their accompaniment and the dance began +again. + +It was evident that she was a favorite of the audience which perhaps +partially accounted for the remarkable demonstration with which her +performance was received. But be this as it may, Captain Forest felt +that he had never witnessed such a remarkable exhibition of subtle grace +and beauty and extraordinary execution and dash as she displayed in the +dance. He recalled the names of the famous dancers he had known, but +none of them had risen to such heights--succeeded in vitalizing and +inspiring their art with so much poetry and life. + +To all appearance she was either Spanish or of Indian extraction, and +yet there was a foreign touch about her that seemed to set her apart +from the women of Santa Fe. + +Who was she, this unknown genius, this master of the terpsichorean art, +living in this far away Mexican town? Such talent could not remain in +obscurity for long. Another great Spanish dancer was about to burst +unheralded upon the world. It only remained for her to dance into it--to +captivate and conquer it. + +This then, was the surprise Carlos had promised him if he came to the +theater that evening. His curiosity was aroused, and he turned to him +for an explanation, but he was no longer by his side; he had rushed +behind the scenes to felicitate the dancer on her remarkable success. + +The air was hot and stifling, and not caring to witness the remaining +numbers on the programme, he took advantage of the intermission that +followed the dance and left the theater. + +Outside the air was deliciously cool. The moonlight and myriads of +artificial lights strung across the streets and on the facades of the +houses, together with the flaming torches in front of the many booths, +lent the appearance of day to night as he slowly made his way through +the surging crowds in the direction of Pedro Romero's gambling-hall +where Carlos had agreed to join him after the performance. + +Pedro's establishment was the chief and only respectable place of its +kind of which the town could boast. It was the resort of the better +element of Santa Fe, and if one were looking for a friend or +acquaintance, he was usually to be found there. The hall was spacious +and well lighted with electricity and resplendent in gilt and mirrors. + +The gay strains of a string band enlivened the scene as he entered. +Clouds of tobacco smoke hung over the throngs that crowded round the +gaming-tables to try their luck with the Goddess Chance. + +Jose was playing roulette, and judging by the satisfied expression of +his face which the Captain noted in passing, he rightly conjectured that +luck was on his side. + +Like Carlos, Pedro had taken a great fancy to the Captain, and had +generously placed his private stock of wines and cigars at the latter's +disposal. Many an evening had the three passed together smoking and +drinking and chatting; Pedro and Carlos listening with rapt attention to +the Captain's anecdotes and adventures of which he seemed to possess an +inexhaustible store. The hall was greatly overcrowded, rendering it +difficult to find an acquaintance, but as the Captain paused in the +midst of the tables in order to obtain a better view of the faces about +him, he felt a touch on the shoulder from behind and turning, saw Pedro, +the object of his search. + +"_Por Dios!_ but I'm glad to see you again, _amigo_!" exclaimed the +proprietor, a dark little man with a kindly face pitted by the smallpox. +He grasped and shook the Captain warmly by the hand. + +"How are you--when did you return?" he inquired; leading him to a table +in one corner of the hall around which were seated a number of his +friends who, on the appearance of the Captain, rose and greeted him +effusively. + +"_Mozo--mozo!_" shouted Pedro to the waiter, "a glass for the Captain!" + +The others also had been to the theater, and like him, had left during +the intermission following the dance. Naturally the dancer formed the +sole topic of conversation. + +"Had the Senor _Capitan_ seen the Chiquita--had he ever seen such +dancing before--what did he think of her?" And by the time Carlos +appeared on the scene, all agreed that the latter's fortune was +made--that he would soon desert the sleepy old town for a tour of the +world with his newly found star of the footlights. + +"A tour of the world--with the Chiquita?" echoed Carlos, a fat, +broad-shouldered little man of mixed blood, pausing and pulling back a +chair in the act of seating himself at the table. + +"_Dios!_ if such a thing were possible," he exclaimed, pushing his hat +on the back of his head and surveying his companions with critical eyes, +"I would not exchange it for the richest gold mine in Mexico! But," he +added, seating himself at the table, "you don't know the Chiquita, _mis +amigos_. She is made of different stuff than that of the women who dance +for a living." + +To this last remark the company agreed. + +"_Caramba_--how she danced!" he continued, taking a sip of _pulque_. +"Had the house been as large as the plaza and the price of the seats +doubled, there would not have been standing room left to accommodate the +spectators." + +"Aye!" broke in Miguel Torreno, a dark, wizened old Mexican with a face +resembling a monkey's, "they say a thousand people were turned away at +the doors." + +"A thousand? Half the town, you mean!" returned Carlos, rolling a +_cigarillo_ between the tips of his stubby fingers. + +"A pretty penny this dance of the Chiquita's must have cost you, Carlos +Moreno," continued Miguel, his head cocked knowingly on one side, while +he squinted over the rim of his glass between puffs of cigarette smoke. + +"Three thousand _pesos d'oro_," answered Carlos. "But by the Virgin, it +was worth it!" + +"Three thousand _pesos d'oro_!" ejaculated his auditors with one breath. +Old Miguel dropped his glass which fell with a crash, scattering its +contents and fragments over the floor. + +"Three thousand _pesos d'oro_!" he gasped. "_Alma de mi vida!_ Soul of +my life! 'tis the salary of a Bishop! Are you mad, Carlos Moreno?" + +"Perhaps. But only Carlos Moreno can afford to pay such salaries during +the _Fiesta_," he answered complacently, taking a fresh sip of +_pulque_. + +"How did you ever persuade her to dance?" asked Pedro. "It's not the +first time you have made overtures to her." + +"Ah, that's the mystery! I'd give something to know why she danced. You +know," he continued, "it's the first time she has ever appeared in +public." + +"The first time?" interrupted the Captain in surprise. "Why--she +possesses the composure of a veteran of the footlights." + +"Just so," rejoined Carlos. "Nothing is more characteristic of her; +she's at home everywhere. When I first saw her dance three years ago in +the garden of the old _Posada_ at the birthday fete of Senora Fernandez, +I knew instantly that she was either possessed of the devil or the +ancient muse of dance; also, why Don Felipe Ramirez went mad over her. + +"_Dios!_ she's a strange woman--almost mysterious at times!" he added +reflectively, with a shrug of the shoulders and gesture of the hands. "I +thought, of course, that it was the money she wanted when she finally +consented to dance, but I'm not so sure of it now." + +"What reason have you for supposing otherwise?" asked Pedro. + +"Every reason. What do you think she did with the heap of gold and +silver that was showered upon her by the audience?" + +"What?" excitedly demanded old Miguel, who by this time had fortified +himself with a fresh glass of _aguardiente_. + +"Why, after it had been gathered up and handed to her, she, without so +much as looking at it, tossed it lightly into the center of the stage +and bade the musicians and stage-hands remember her when they drank to +their sweethearts to-night." + +Captain Forest's interest began to be aroused. + +"_Caramba_--'tis strange!" muttered old Miguel, eyeing his glass +meditatively; his head nodding slightly from the effects of too much +liquor. "But what will Padre Antonio say when he hears of it? How +fortunate he wasn't here to witness a sight that must have caused him +the deepest humiliation. Poor man," he continued, assuming a sympathetic +tone, "it is already the scandal of the town." + +"Bah! what of that?" returned Carlos. + +It was evident to all that the delights of the _Fiesta_ were beginning +to tell on the old man. Already it had been noted on previous occasions +that an overindulgence in _aguardiente_ usually invoked a religious +frame of mind in him, but which in Miguel's case resembled rather the +groping of a lost soul than the prophetic vision of the seer. + +"What of that?" echoed Miguel, an ominous light flashing from his eyes. +"Those golden _pesos_ so lightly earned will just about pay for a +thousand masses in order to avert excommunication and enable the Church +to snatch the soul of the Chiquita from the fires of purgatory as a +punishment for conduct unbecoming the ward of a priest." + +"Bah! you talk like an infant, Miguel! What a sad, weary world this +would be if there were only priests and churches in it and men did +nothing all day long but say aves and burn candles on altars," and +Carlos lightly blew a ring of smoke toward the ceiling. + +"Ah, yes, perhaps--_quien sabe, amigo mio_?" answered the old man dryly. +"But the Church is the Church." + +"Miguel, you are growing old," said Pedro, slapping him lightly on the +back. "Have another glass!" + +"I'm not old. I'm no older than the rest of you, and neither will I have +another glass," retorted Miguel hotly, greatly irritated by the others' +laughter. + +"Ah!" he continued, wagging his head, and in a tone of bravado and +offended dignity, "you think I can't get home alone, do you? I'll show +you that Miguel Torreno is still as young as the rest of you!" And +supporting himself with one hand on the table and the other on his +stick, he rose from his seat with great difficulty. + +"Miguel Torreno old, is he? A thousand devils!" A chorus of laughter +greeted this last outburst as he turned unsteadily and swaying to and +fro, slowly made his way through the crowd toward the door. + +Just then a man at the next table rose with an oath. It was Juan Ramon, +Major-domo of the Inn of the Stars. Juan Ramon, the handsome, the hawk, +the gambler--the greatest _vaquero_ in Chihuahua. The man who took +delight in riding horses that other men feared--the man in whose hand +the _riata_ became a magic wand, a hissing serpent, and who could +stretch a bull at full length upon the ground at a given spot within a +given time. + +"Has the blessed _Fiesta_ brought you no luck, Juan?" inquired Carlos, +tilting himself back in his chair and smiling up in the other's face. + +"Luck--blessed _Fiesta_? The devil take them both!" exclaimed Juan, the +look of disgust on his face gradually changing to one of +resignation--that serene expression of the born gambler whom experience +has taught that days of famine are certain to follow those of plenty. + +"Look!" he repeated. "The cards are bewitched--not a _centavo_! My +pockets are empty as Lazarus' stomach! Only a month ago I picked out a +beautiful little _hacienda_ with the fairest acreage to which I intended +to retire and live like a _Caballero_--to-day I parted with my only +horse at a loss--to-morrow," and he shrugged his shoulders +indifferently, "if this sort of thing continues, I'll be forced to pawn +the buttons on my breeches. + +"_Mercedes Dios_, blessed be the _Fiesta_!" And flinging the end of his +_zerape_ over one shoulder and across the lower half of his face, he +stalked toward the door; the laughter of his friends ringing in his +ears. + + + + +IV + + +Ten years previous to the events just related, Padre Antonio, his +parochial duties over for the day, was slowly retracing his steps +homeward. + +It was a mild, serene summer evening, and he paused before the massive +iron gates set in the high adobe wall surrounding his garden for a last +look at the sunset before entering his house. + +It had been a strenuous day for Padre Antonio. Early that morning, +Miguel Torreno while beating his mule, had been kicked half way across +his corral by that stubborn though sensible animal, breaking Miguel's +right arm and fracturing three of his ribs. But no sooner had it been +ascertained that old Miguel would not die as he obstinately insisted +that he would, calling frantically upon the Saints the while as the +vision of purgatorial fires which he knew awaited him loomed before his +distracted imagination, than the wives of Pedro Torlone and Jose +Alvarez, neighbors and friends, quarreled over a cheap blue and white +striped _ribosa_, embroiling their husbands who, without the Padre's +intercession, would have come to blows. + +Then the last sacrament had been administered to Don Juan Otero, one of +Santa Fe's oldest and most respected citizens. + +In a vain effort to banish the unpleasant recollections of the day from +his thoughts, Padre Antonio turned with a sigh from the glories of the +sunset which he had been contemplating, and was on the point of entering +the garden when his quick ear caught the sound of horse's hoofs on the +road, causing him to pause with his hand on the latch of the gate. + +His house being situated in an unfrequented quarter of the town, he +decided to await the coming of the animal; the bearer perchance of some +friend or acquaintance. He had not long to wait. The sounds drew nearer +and nearer, and presently, greatly to his astonishment, a tall, gaunt, +half-starved gray horse with a _riata_ fastened to his lower jaw, and +upon whose back sat an equally gaunt and haggard Indian woman with +disheveled hair and clothes tattered and dust begrimed, came into view +around the sharp angle of the wall and stopped directly before him. + +Never in all his long and varied experience had he witnessed such a +pitiable spectacle as the woman presented. The wild, hollow eyes and +wasted, emaciated form and features gave her more the appearance of some +wild beast than a human being. She did not appear to be conscious of his +presence; and before he had time to recover from his surprise or utter a +word, she stretched both arms out before her as if toward the sun, and +uttering a wild, harsh, inarticulate cry, dropped unconscious from the +horse's back into his arms. + +Experience had taught Padre Antonio to act quickly in cases of +emergency, and with the assistance of his gardener and Manuela, his old +Indian housekeeper, he carried her into the house and laid her upon his +own bed. For days she lay in a delirium, the result of the terrible +privations she had evidently endured. She raved and talked incoherently +in a language which neither he nor Manuela understood. + +The doctors whom he summoned at the outset, only shook their heads, and +after a lengthy consultation informed him with the stoicism +characteristic of the profession that, the patient would either die or +recover. But Padre Antonio did not despair. In his extremity he turned +to heaven, nor did his petition pass unheeded. At length, after many +days of anxious watching, the fever left her and she sank into a deep, +refreshing sleep from which she did not awaken for many hours. + +It was toward the dawn of a Sabbath, and as the calm and peace of sleep +settled upon her, her wasted and emaciated features began gradually to +assume their normal outline. Nature asserted herself, and when the large +dark eyes finally opened once more, it was into the face of a beautiful +girl that Padre Antonio found himself gazing as he knelt by her bedside +in prayer. + +"Be quiet, my daughter," he involuntarily murmured as her eyes rested +upon his, without considering whether she understood him. But the faint +semblance of a smile that lit up her countenance in response to his +words told him she comprehended. Then, during the long days of +convalescence that ensued, she imparted her history to him in broken +Spanish. + +She was a Tewana; the daughter of their War Chief, the Whirlwind, who +had been killed recently in battle with another Indian tribe, the +Ispali. Just previous to this, her people who had long been at war with +the Government, had been defeated by the Mexican troops. After the +battle the entire tribe with the exception of the Whirlwind's band made +peace with the Government; the remnant of the latter with which she +remained, escaping into the mountains. But fate had doomed the little +fleeing band to extermination. It was surprised and annihilated by the +Ispali Chieftain, the White Wolf, and his followers whose territory they +had invaded; she being the only one spared--the White Wolf signifying +his intention of making her one of his wives. But that same night when +the Chieftain entered the lodge he had set apart for her and began to +make advances to her, she suddenly snatched a brand from the fire which +burned in the center of the lodge and struck him over the head, knocking +him senseless. + +Then, stealing forth from the lodge, she mounted the Chieftain's horse +which stood tethered just outside the door and fled under cover of the +night. For days she fled across the deserts and mountains, concealing +herself during the daytime and traveling at night; subsisting as best +she could upon the wild roots and berries which she was able to find. +But the privations which she was forced to endure--the lack of food and +water, night vigils and exposure to the weather, began to tell on her. +She became delirious, and no longer able to guide her horse, was obliged +to let him choose his own course, and--Padre Antonio knew the rest. + +Surely God had led this fair heathen child to his very door in order +that he, Padre Antonio, might snatch her soul from the flames of hell by +directing her in the way of the true faith. There could be no doubt of +it; God's handiwork was too apparent. + +Padre Antonio was a liberal, broad-minded man. Having experienced most +things that fall to the lot of men, he did not believe in restraining +her against her will in order that her conversion might be accomplished +as many a zealous priest might have considered justifiable in her case. +But should she manifest a desire to remain with him, she would be reared +in the very lap of Mother Church. With this project in mind, it was with +the greatest solicitude that he watched her recovery, and when she was +informed that she would be permitted to return to her own people if she +so desired, he won her confidence completely. + +The last vestige of that barrier of restraint and suspicion which the +strangeness of her position had reared between them was swept away. + +From that moment the wild little nomad of the desert evinced the keenest +interest in her new surroundings. Her childish delight was unbounded on +beholding for the first time in her life the strange flowers and fruits +in the garden. They were all so new and wonderful to her, and she +wandered for hours among them; touching and plucking them and tasting +and inhaling their fragrance. + +Whether it was the novelty of her position, or her sudden and passionate +attachment to Padre Antonio whom she regarded in the light of a +new-found father that caused her to forget for the time her former wild +life and consent to remain with him, is difficult to determine. + +Padre Antonio who had lived many years among the wild tribes of the +country and knew them as few men did, their insatiable love of liberty +and intense dislike of the White man's civilization, looked upon her +conversion and decision to remain with him as another direct +intervention of Providence; for that which usually required years had +been accomplished in as many weeks in her case. It was little short of a +miracle, and he rejoiced exceedingly and began gradually to unfold his +plans to her concerning her future. + +The curriculum of the Convent of Saint Claire in Santa Fe did not seem +adequate, and nothing would do, but that he should accompany her to the +City of Mexico, where he placed her in charge of the Sisters of Saint +Ursula. There she would have not only the educational, but the social +advantages which the city offered. + +Before their departure he christened her, Chiquita Pia Maria Roxan +Concepcion Salvatore; a name which, out of gratitude and obedience to +her benefactor, she accepted without question concerning either its +origin or his reason for giving it to her. + +Six years passed, during which she traveled for three summers in Europe +with friends of the Padre. Interminably long years they seemed to him. +Each year he had planned to visit her, but each time something +intervened to prevent his going. He was a busy man. His duties required +annual visits to the outlying _pueblos_ and distant Indian Missions, +consuming his entire time. However, he at length received word from the +Sisters of Saint Ursula that Chiquita had completed her course of +studies and had started on her return journey to Santa Fe. + +It was evident from the reports which he had received at regular +intervals from the Sisters that she did not care for the Church as he +had fondly hoped she might. But after all, what did it really matter? + +One so young and gay could not be expected to take life so seriously. +When one grew old, one became serious enough for this world; and he +smiled as he thought of his wild little Indian girl. + +In his fond imagination, he saw her large, mischievous, dark eyes snap, +and heard the merry peals of her laughter as she flitted about the +garden in former years. Surely it was better thus--that she should +remain blithe and happy like the birds, as God had created her. + +The years had begun to tell on the aged Manuela. She was beginning to +show signs of failing, and he decided that Chiquita, his ward, should +live with him and rule his household in Manuela's stead. His wants were +so few and simple that she would have little to do and old Manuela would +be able to sun herself in the garden during the remaining years of her +life; a reward for her long and faithful service. Nor was Manuela +adverse to this new arrangement which must eventually deprive her of all +authority in the household; a position she had guarded so jealously +through the years and which had raised her in the estimation of the +community. Although of a different people, the common racial blood bond +had drawn the two women together from the first; besides, she could +always assist in the lighter work of the household if she chose. + +The Padre never tired of meditating upon this fond dream during his +leisure moments. What a perpetual source of joy and satisfaction the +presence and sunshine of this child of his own molding would be to him +in his old age! Besides he would always be near her to administer +spiritual council and guidance. + +So, when the day of her arrival finally dawned, he and old Manuela rose +with the sun, and gathering the freshest and brightest flowers the +garden contained, they arranged them in the room she was to occupy; +transforming it into a veritable bower of fragrance and color. + +The prospect of seeing his protegee so soon again, filled Padre Antonio +with the most conflicting emotions of longing and impatience. + +He could think of nothing else--could neither sit nor stand, but fretted +and bustled about the house with the impatience of a child. Fearful lest +he should be too late, he hurried through his simple breakfast, +consisting of black coffee and a roll, without so much as glancing at +the local paper as was his wont; and then, quite forgetting to pull on +his black silk gloves which Manuela thrust into his hands together with +his hat and stick, he hastened to the station which he reached an hour +before the time scheduled for the arrival of the stage. + +Of course she must have changed somewhat during the long interval of her +absence, he argued, more as a concession to reason than to desire or +sentiment. But in spite of this possibility, his mental picture of her +still remained that of the little Indian girl he had confided to the +care of the good Sisters of Saint Ursula six years before. + +What if the stage were late, and could she make the long journey alone +and in safety, he asked himself a thousand times as he impatiently paced +up and down the platform of the station; the tap of his gold-headed cane +marking the time of his steps on the boards beneath him. + +"Saints! but the stage was slow! A snail could crawl--" Suddenly he +stopped short. A flush of joy suffused his countenance--his heart began +to beat rapidly and his right hand with which he grasped his cane +trembled perceptibly as he gazed intently down the long dusty highroad. + +"At last!" he cried. Another intense moment of suspense and the distant +cracking of a whip and sounds of wheels and hoof-beats on the road +announced the approach of the stage. Presently it hove in sight and a +few minutes later, as it drew up before the station and came to a full +stop, the door was hastily flung open and a tall, closely veiled woman +sprang lightly to the platform. + +Her striking appearance would have commanded attention anywhere, but +without noticing her, he brushed hastily past her and gazed eagerly into +the interior of the coach. It was empty. + +_Dios!_ what had happened? There must be some mistake! With a note of +keenest disappointment in his voice he turned sharply on the driver and +impatiently demanded what had become of the little Indian girl that had +been placed in his charge. + +"Little Indian girl? _Caramba!_" A look of bewilderment accompanied by a +shrug of the shoulders and a "_no sabe_, Senor Padre," was the only +answer he received. Consternation seized Padre Antonio. + +Merciful heaven! what had become of her--Chiquita, his little girl? His +voice choked, while tears of bitter disappointment welled to his eyes. +"Ah, yes, there had been a mistake--she would come by the next stage," +he said, addressing the driver, and was on the point of turning away +when a silvery peal of laughter fell upon his ears. He felt a soft touch +on his shoulder and a voice close to him said: + +"Padre Antonio, don't you know your little Chiquita?" The veil had +slipped from her face, displaying the features of a beautiful Spanish +woman. Confounded and speechless with amazement, Padre Antonio could +only gaze in silence upon the apparition before him. + +Was it possible, or was he only dreaming? What a transformation! Was +this mature woman, this tall and supple and refined and graceful +creature his Chiquita, his wild little Indian girl of former years? He +rubbed his eyes in bewilderment and gazed again. Holy Maria! but she was +beautiful--fair as the starry jasmine blossoms which she wore at her +breast and in the dark folds of her hair. + +In that hour the world suddenly became filled with exquisite harmony for +Padre Antonio, and he seemed to grow younger by many years. + +The radiant beauty of her face with the poetry of sunshine and laughter +in her eyes and her grace and charm of personality affected him like +some wonderfully attuned chime of silver bells. Surely this was worth +waiting for. His prayers had been answered richly and abundantly, far +beyond anything his imagination had pictured during those long years of +waiting. + + + + +V + + +The _Posada de las Estrellas_ was situated on the western side of the +town within a stone's throw of Padre Antonio's house. It stood well back +from the highroad from which it was screened by a thick hedge-like +growth of cedar, manzanita, tamarisk and lilac bushes. + +A short distance east of the _Posada_, the highroad entered the long +_Alameda_ which led to the plaza in the center of the town, overlooked +by the old _Precedio_ or Governor's palace. + +The widespreading branches of two immense cottonwood trees, the trunk of +one of which was encircled by a rustic bench, cast an inviting shade in +front of the house and wide veranda which stretched its length along two +sides of the low, one storied adobe structure. Honeysuckle and white +clematis and pink and scarlet passion vines clambered up its slender +pillars and hung in fragrant flowering festoons from the low balustrades +above. The fresh green leaves of the nasturtium, bright with variegated +blossoms, ranging from deep scarlet to gold and pale yellow, trailed +along the ground at the foot of the veranda and skirted the narrow +pathway which led to the rear of the _Posada_ whose _patio_ looked out +upon a garden interspersed with innumerable flowers and shrubs, fruit +and cedar trees, and whose soft green lawn was intersected by narrow +gravel pathways. Just back of the garden lay the vegetable patches which +intervened between it and the stables and corrals, whence came the +cackling of hens and cooing of pigeons in the early morning. + +Originally the _Posada_ had been one of the large _haciendas_ adjoining +Santa Fe, but its mistress, Senora Fernandez, had transformed it into an +Inn after the death of her husband who had been killed accidentally by +the fall of his horse. Finding herself in reduced circumstances incurred +by her husband's gambling propensities, she resolved upon the change. +His chief legacy consisting of debts, she was obliged to part with the +greater portion of the estate, but her natural executive ability stood +her in good stead. + +The new enterprise prospered, and the Inn became widely known throughout +the country as a place at which to stop if only for a cup of chocolate +or a chat with the Senora who always knew the latest gossip. + +In her youth she had been noted for her beauty, and even now, in spite +of middle-age and somewhat faded features, the latter the result of the +struggle she had undergone to reestablish herself in the world, she was +still considered buxom and fair to look upon by the majority of men. She +carried her head high and with a coquettish air which plainly showed she +had by no means relinquished her hold upon life. + +On this particular morning she looked unusually well as she moved about +the _patio_ engaged with her women in assorting a huge basket of freshly +laundered household linen. Not a strand of silver was visible in her +jet black hair, adorned with a large tortoise-shell comb and a single +Castilian rose. Her gay, low-necked, short sleeved bodice, exposing her +shapely neck and arms, harmonized well with her short, black silken +_saya_ which rustled with every movement she made and from beneath which +protruded a small pair of high instepped feet encased in black slippers +ornamented with large quaint silver buckles. + +It was the Senora's birthday. She had risen earlier than usual prepared +to receive the congratulations of her friends who, she knew, would be +sure to call during the day in honor of the occasion. A few of them +would be asked to remain and dine with her in the evening. + +It was on a similar occasion that Chiquita had danced in the _patio_ +before her guests. + +The innate vanity of the woman might have led one to suppose that she +would let the years pass unnoticed, but not so. The old, time-honored +custom of the country must be observed lest her friends might say: +Senora Fernandez is already laying by for a ripe old age, the mere +suggestion of which on the part of the world would have been enough to +throw her into one of those uncontrollable fits of rage for which she +was noted. + +Artful, shrewd and scheming though she was, her susceptibility to +flattery was her weak point, amounting almost to a mania. To be told +that she still looked as young and handsome as in the days when the +years justified the statement, was to win her immediate esteem. The lack +of this servile attitude and cringing civility on Chiquita's part, +together with the knowledge of her own superiority which she never +hesitated to show when occasion required, had drawn down the Senora's +enmity upon her. Whereas, an occasional soft word or smile of +acquiescence--she demanded so little--would have smoothed her ruffled +spirit and taken the edge off her tongue, the sharpest in Santa Fe. + +It was not easy for the inveterate coquette and one time reigning belle +to resign the position she had held so long and undisputed, especially +to an alien--one whom the full blooded Spaniard inwardly despises, +regards as of an inferior race. + +How she hated the dark woman, envied the glances and flatteries and +attentions which she always received wherever she went. It was said, +that on Chiquita's return from school, Senora Fernandez suddenly grew +cold and haughty toward the world, but finding that a proud exterior +availed her little, she sulked and pouted for a time like a spoiled +child, only to warm again to the world which she loved so passionately, +which she felt slipping from her and without whose adulation she could +not live. + +_Dios de mi vida!_ but it was terrible to grow old! Not since the death +of her husband, Don Carlos, had she endured so bitter a pang. The fact +that she had never had any children accounted perhaps for a certain +harshness in her nature. + +It was a busy day for the Senora. Besides the care of her guests, the +preparing of freshly killed fowl and baking of cakes and _tortillas_, +there was the garden which must be hung with lanterns where there would +be the usual dancing and merrymaking during the evening. All this and +much more the Senora must superintend, but she was equal to the task. + +As she issued her orders to the retinue of servants that came and went, +she carried on a lively, though interrupted, conversation with her +sister, Senora Rosario Sanchez, and her niece, Dolores, who had come to +assist her in the preparations. + +"It has come at last--I always said it would--I never trusted that +double nature of hers!" she exclaimed triumphantly, pausing for an +instant in her work of assorting the linen. The expression and gesture +of Senora Sanchez plainly bespoke the shock she also had experienced. + +"To think of it," she gasped. "How Padre Antonio can overlook such a +breach of confidence and offense to the Church is more than I can +understand!" + +"Ah! that shows the extent of her influence over him," answered Senora. +"She has bewitched him with her wild ways--he simply dotes on her!" + +"It's scandalous!" broke in her sister. + +"To my mind, it shows signs of the Padre's failing," rejoined the Senora +sharply. + +"It does indeed--poor man!" sighed her sister. "And what's more--it +never did seem proper that so handsome a woman should live with a priest +even though she be his ward and he an old man." + +"Handsome?" sneered the Senora, drawing herself together as though she +had received an electric shock; the pleased and animated expression of +her face changing suddenly to one of utmost frigidity. "I never could +understand why people considered that Indian good looking," and her +black eyes snapped as she turned to resume her work, plainly betraying +the jealousy aroused. Senora Sanchez, knowing her sister's temper only +too well, hastened to change the subject. + +Strange to say, Padre Antonio did not share the public's sentiment, or +rather that of his own particular flock, concerning Chiquita's latest +escapade. Instead of being overwhelmed, broken in spirit and utterly +cast down by grief and shame as had been confidently predicted, he, much +to the disgust of his congregation, went calmly about his duties as +though nothing unusual had occurred, referring jocosely to this lark of +his madcap ward as he was pleased to term it. + +Lark? Heavens! had the Padre lost his senses? Excommunication might be a +little too severe, but a year's solitary confinement in a convent as a +penance for her sin was the least penalty she could expect. + +But Padre Antonio knew what the rest of the world did not. That his +charming, irrepressible protegee would have snapped her fingers lightly +at the mere suggestion of either. The days of mediaeval suppression of +females had come to an end even in Mexico. Moreover, there existed a +perfect understanding between the two. + +During his long years of missionary work he had learned that the heathen +often stood higher in the sight of Heaven than many a zealous devotee of +the Church. Besides, dancing was not only a national pastime of the +Spaniard, but among Indians, a part of their religion as well. + +That Chiquita had some very good reason for dancing in public, he knew +well enough. They understood one another perfectly, and he did not ask +her her reason for dancing, knowing full well that some day she would +tell him of her own accord. + +Although Chiquita had accommodated herself marvelously well to the new +conditions, imbibing the best civilization had to offer, she +nevertheless remained the freeborn woman--the descendant of a freeborn +race of men. The wild, free nomad whom experience and direct contact +with nature had early taught to recognize the simple underlying truths +and realities of life and their relations to one another, was not to be +measured by the conventions or limited standards of a tamer race of men +hedged about by superficial traditions and born and reared remote from +the heart of nature beneath the roofs of houses. It was the cold, hard +earth and equally cold and unrelenting stars that had nurtured Chiquita +from earliest childhood, and to apply the petty restraints and +conventions of modern society to her was like clipping the wings of an +eagle and then expecting it to fly. + +Ordinarily, life is dull enough without civilized man's efforts to +reduce it to positive boredom, and although Chiquita's escapades had +acted like a slap in the face, they had nevertheless done much to arouse +the spirit of the otherwise sleepy old town. Her presence was fresh and +invigorating as the north wind. Moreover, the very ones who criticised +her most in secret, were usually the first to come to her for advice +when in trouble. For who was so wise as the strange, beautiful woman? + +True, it cost something to be hated as cordially as one was admired, +nevertheless, Padre Antonio rightly conjectured that there was not a +woman in Santa Fe who would not willingly exchange places with his ward +were she able to. So, like the sensible man that he was, he only smiled +at idle gossip and continued to watch with increasing interest the +transformation of his protegee. + + + + +VI + + +Captain Forest had taken quarters at the _Posada_ for an indefinite +period; at least until he learned the whereabouts of his friend, Dick +Yankton, who had accompanied him on his former expeditions. + +He had been aroused at an early hour by the cackling of affrighted fowl +and the voices and footsteps of _peons_ as they came and went in the +_patio_, their jests and laughter mingling with snatches of song. Not +being able to sleep, he arose, and after a hasty toilet, stepped out +upon the veranda, bright with the morning sunlight. Save for his +presence, the place was deserted; the empty chairs standing about just +as their occupants of the previous evening had left them, a proof that +he was the first of the guests to be abroad. + +"I wonder where Dick is?" he soliloquized, leisurely descending the +veranda steps and turning into the pathway that led to the garden at the +rear of the house and thence to the corrals, whither he directed his +steps for a look at his horse to see whether he had been properly cared +for during the night. As he disappeared around the corner of the house, +a woman turned in from the highroad and paused before the Inn beneath +the great cottonwood encircled by the bench. + +She was tall and slender and on one arm carried a basket of eggs +concealed beneath a layer of freshly cut roses; Padre Antonio's annual +birthday tribute to the Senora. Her heavy blue-black hair, loosely +caught up at the back of the neck and adorned with a bunch of pink +passion flowers nestled about her neck and shoulders, on one of which +was perched a small white dove that fluttered and cooed. From out the +midst of the passion flowers shone a faint glint of silver. + +Her dull white shirt waist, low at the neck and with sleeves rolled back +to the elbows, exposed her long, slender neck and well rounded forearms +which, like her face, were a rich red bronze. A faded orange kerchief, +loosely knotted, encircled her neck; the ends thrust carelessly into her +breast. Her soft mauve _saya_, worn and patched and looped up at one +side, disclosing a faded blue petticoat underneath, fell to her ankles, +displaying a pair of small feet encased in dull blue stockings and low +black shoes. + +Depositing the basket on the bench, she extended her right hand upon the +back of which the dove immediately hopped, cooing and fluttering as +before. + +"_Cara mia!_" she murmured fondly, raising it to her lips, kissing it +and caressing it gently against her cheek. + +"What wouldst thou--thou greedy little Jaquino? Knowest not thou hast +had one more berry than thy sweet little Jaquina?" But the dove only +continued to flutter and coo on her hand. + +"Hearest thou not," she continued, "she already calls thee!" And +extending her lips, between which she had inserted a fresh berry, the +dove eagerly seized and devoured it. + +"Ah, _querida mia_!" she murmured softly, kissing it again. "Now fly +away quickly like a good little Jaquino before some wicked senor comes +to catch thee for his breakfast!" And tossing the dove lightly into the +air with an "_a Dios_," it hovered over her head for an instant, then +flew straight away over the old _Posada_ back to Padre Antonio's garden +where its mate awaited it. + +A sigh escaped her as she watched the flight of the bird. How free of +the cares and responsibilities of the world the winged creatures seemed. +She turned to the bench once more and was in the act of picking up her +basket, when her attention was suddenly arrested by the sound of +footsteps close at hand, and wheeling around, she came face to face with +Captain Forest. + +The little cry of surprise that escaped her interrupted the Captain's +meditations who, with eyes cast on the ground, might otherwise have +walked straight into her. + +"A thousand pardons, Senorita!" he exclaimed in Spanish, stopping +abruptly and raising his hat. + +"I--" He paused as her full gaze met his which to his surprise was +almost on a level with his own. What a face! Could his sensations have +been analyzed, they might have coincided with those of Padre Antonio's +on beholding his protegee when she stepped from the stagecoach on her +return from the convent. + +The broad sweep of her brow, her penetrating gaze, her straight nose, +high cheek bones and delicately molded lips and chin and grace of her +supple, sinuous body, together with the picturesqueness of her costume, +presented a picture of striking beauty. + +"Why," he continued abruptly, "you are the woman that danced at Carlos +Moreno's! The Senorita Chiquita about whom the whole town is talking!" + +"Ah! you saw me dance, Senor?" she asked, betraying a slight +embarrassment. + +"I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Such a performance--I--" again +he paused, regarding her intently. "Do you know, Senorita, all the while +I watched you dance there seemed to be something familiar about you. It +seemed as though I had seen you somewhere before." + +"Yes?" she queried, her dark eyes glowing and a faint flush mounting to +her cheeks. + +"Yes," he answered. "Ever since then I have been trying to think where +it could have been. Ah!" he exclaimed, stepping backwards and eyeing her +critically. "Just turn your head that way again. There, that's it! I +knew I had seen you before! Do you remember the night we met a year ago +on the trail below La Jara?" + +A smile parted her full rose-red lips, displaying her pearly teeth. "I +remember it well, Senor," she answered, casting down her eyes for an +instant. "I recognized you the instant I saw you." + +"Strange," he muttered half to himself. Then, after a rather +embarrassing silence, he said: "That was a fine horse you rode. Do you +live here at the _Posada_, Senorita?" + +"No. I live with Padre Antonio." + +"Padre Antonio? Ah, yes!" he exclaimed, recalling the conversation at +Pedro Romero's gambling hall. "Tell me," he continued, "who is Padre +Antonio?" + +"Ah! I see you have not been long in Santa Fe, Senor, else you must have +heard something about him. Everybody knows Padre Antonio--he is our +priest." + +"Both you and he must have been absent when I was here before, otherwise +I must have met you," he answered. + +At this moment the tall figure of a man, dressed in a suit of light gray +material with a soft felt hat to match, appeared in the doorway of the +Inn. His eyes, like his hair and mustache, were dark brown. His hands +were long and slender and delicate as a woman's, yet there was nothing +effeminate in his appearance. His strong, sensitive features and roving, +piercing eyes and alert carriage indicated courage and energy. + +He paused as he caught sight of the two figures before him. Then, with +an exclamation of surprise, he stepped quickly out on to the veranda. +"Jack!" he exclaimed. "When did you get here?" + +Turning swiftly, Captain Forest saw Dick Yankton standing before him. +"Dick!" he cried, and rushing up the veranda steps, seized him by both +hands. "I've been wondering where I would find you! You evidently didn't +get my letter?" + +"No," replied his companion. "I only returned from the mountains late +last night. It's probably waiting for me here." + +"The Senores know one another?" interrupted Chiquita, also ascending the +veranda. + +"Know one another? Senorita, we are brothers," said Dick. + +"Brothers?" she echoed, surprised and perplexed. + +"Yes, Senorita, all but in name," interposed the Captain. + +"Ah! I see. Brothers in fortune!" + +"Exactly," replied Dick. "But what is all this I hear concerning your +doings, Senorita? I'd have given my best horse to have seen you dance, +but, as you see, I'm too late. A pretty nest of hornets you've stirred +up in the old place," he continued. "Why, last evening I met the Navaros +on the road on their way home and they wouldn't let me pass until they +had told me how wicked you were. Senora Navaro even crossed herself and +said an ave at the first mention of your name." + +"Ah," she sighed, then laughed unconcernedly. "I'm afraid I've been very +naughty, Senor." Then suddenly recollecting her mission, she exclaimed: +"I almost forgot why I came here this morning. I'm the bearer of Padre +Antonio's gift and greetings to the Senora. It's her birthday, you +know." + +"Her birthday? I wonder she still dares have them!" exclaimed Dick. + +"She does, nevertheless," laughed Chiquita; and brushing back the roses +in her basket with a sweep of the hand, she disclosed the eggs beneath. +"Look," she continued. "Padre Antonio's gift! Are they not +beautiful--just fresh from the hens! You had better have some for your +breakfast, Senor," she added. + +"By all the Saints in the calendar, they are pearls, every one of +them!" returned Dick enthusiastically, eyeing the contents of the +basket. "Thrice blessed be thy hens, Senorita! We'll have eggs with our +chocolate out here on the veranda!" + +"I thought so!" came a sharp voice from the other side of the doorway +just behind them, "as usual, talking with the Senores!" and Senora +Fernandez, with flushed cheeks and a spiteful gleam in her eyes which +she took no pains to conceal, stepped from the door into the light. + +"_Buenas dias_, Dona Fernandez!" said Chiquita, unabashed by the +Senora's sudden appearance and onslaught, "may the day bring you many +blessings! Look! Padre Antonio's greetings," and she held up the basket +for the Senora's benefit. Then, with a subtle sarcasm which she knew +would avenge her amply for the Senora's unprovoked attack, she said: "I +stopped to inquire what the Senores would have for their breakfast. They +say they will have eggs with their chocolate." + +"Indeed! Eggs and chocolate--chocolate and eggs!" angrily retorted the +Senora, "just as though one didn't know what everybody takes for +breakfast!" But without waiting for her to finish, Chiquita vanished +through the doorway with her basket; her low laughter, followed by a +snatch of song just audible from within, serving to increase the +Senora's irritation. + +"Holy God! I sometimes think the devil is inside of that girl!" she +exclaimed, vexed beyond measure. + +"Ah, but what a sweet one!" laughed Dick. "I wouldn't mind being +possessed of the same myself." + +"Bah, Senor! you talk like a fool!" she retorted. "I pray you, do not +think too poorly of us, Senor _Capitan_," she continued in an apologetic +tone, turning to Captain Forest. "I assure you, all the women in Santa +Fe are not so bold as the Senorita Chiquita." + +"No, most of them are a tame lot!" broke in Dick, secretly enjoying the +Senora's discomfiture. + +"_Caramba!_ your speech grows more foolish as you talk, Senor!" returned +the Senora in a tone of intense disgust. "I see, you too have fallen +under her spell. They say she has the evil-eye, Senor _Capitan_," she +went on, addressing the Captain again. + +"Evil-eye--ha, ha! What next?" laughed Dick. + +"Blood of the Saints! I'll no longer waste my time with you, Senor!" and +with an angry swish of her skirt, she turned and disappeared in the +house. + + + + +VII + + +"What does she mean by the evil-eye?" asked the Captain after the sounds +of the Senora's footsteps had died away in the corridor within the +house. + +"Nothing--it's only jealousy. Chiquita being the acknowledged belle of +the town, most of the other women, especially those of pure Spanish +blood, are jealous as cats of her, and seldom miss an opportunity of +saying spiteful things about her. That's why her dancing has caused such +a row. And yet," he continued, seating himself on the veranda rail, his +back against one of its wooden pillars, "I can't see why. It's race +hatred of course, but there's really no reason for it because she's the +best educated woman between here and the City of Mexico. Padre Antonio +saw to it that she received the best Mexico had to give. Why, she speaks +French and English almost as well as she does Spanish. If she were a +_mestiza_ or half-caste, things would go hard with her, but being a +full-blood, she's easily a match for them all." + +"She's certainly an unusual woman," said the Captain; "one you would +hardly expect to find in this out-of-the-way place." + +"Oh, that's one of the many paradoxes in life," answered Dick. "I've met +many a remarkable personality in the most remote regions during my +wanderings. But," he continued, abruptly changing the topic of +conversation, "what brings you back here? I always felt you would come +back to this country again. Civilization isn't all it's cracked up to +be, is it?" + +"It was a hard wrench just the same," returned the Captain, "especially +when one--" + +"Did you hear that?" suddenly interrupted Dick, rising from his seat on +the veranda rail and gazing intently down the highroad. The sounds of a +vehicle and hoof-beats on the hard road, mingled with the shouts of a +driver, the crack of a whip and tinkle of bells, were distinctly heard, +and presently, a heavy lumbering stagecoach enveloped in a cloud of +white dust and drawn by four mules was seen coming down the road at full +gallop. + +The sounds had also aroused the household. Senora Fernandez at the head +of a troop of _peons_ and women rushed out of the house, talking and +gesticulating excitedly as they swarmed over the veranda and down the +steps in front of the _Posada_, for all the world like a distracted +colony of ants. + +"_Dios!_ what can have happened to the stage that it comes in the +morning instead of the evening?" she cried breathlessly, quite +forgetting her recent ill humor in the excitement. + +"There's no stage at this hour," said Dick. + +"But there it comes!" answered the Captain. + +"It's not the regular stage," returned Dick; "a party of tourists, most +likely! I see a lot of women!" he added, as the occupants on the outside +of the stage came more clearly into view. + +Suddenly Captain Forest started, gasped, and gripped one of the veranda +pillars with his right hand. "No--it can't be!" he muttered, passing his +free hand across his eyes as though to dispel an illusion. + +"What's the matter, Jack?" asked Dick. + +"God in heaven! what can have brought them here?" he cried, ignoring his +companion's question and leaning out over the veranda rail, his gaze +riveted on the stage. + +"Friends of yours?" asked Dick again. + +"Friends? It's the whole family!" + +Dick gave a prolonged whistle. + +The women and _peons_, clamoring vociferously, instantly surrounded the +stage as it drew up before the _Posada_ with a great clatter of wheels +and hoofs; assisting its occupants to alight and carrying the luggage +into the house. + +On the box beside the driver sat Blanch Lennox, looking a trifle pale +the Captain thought, and Bessie Van Ashton, his cousin, a pretty blond +with large violet eyes and small hands and feet that matched her +slender, willowy figure. + +"Is this the infernal place?" came a voice from the interior of the +coach that sounded more like a snarl of a wild beast than a human voice. +"If ever I pass another night in such a damned ark--" came the voice +again, as its possessor, Colonel Van Ashton, enveloped in a much +wrinkled traveling coat, stepped with difficulty from the coach to the +ground. "I'm so stiff I can hardly walk! Ough!" he cried, and his right +hand went to his back as a fresh spasm of pain seized him. + +"It's just what I told you it would be like! The country's +beastly--beastly!" and Mrs. Forest, white with dust and completely +exhausted by the journey, followed the Colonel, supported on either side +by her maid and her brother's valet. + +"Merciful God! they must be very grand people to talk so foolish!" +ejaculated the Senora who knew enough English to grasp the import of +Mrs. Forest's words. Although she had never devoted much time to the +study of the language, she had picked up a smattering of English from +the Americans and Englishmen who annually stopped at the _Posada_ on +their way to the mines in the interior of the country in which much +foreign capital was invested. + +"Why, there's Jack!" cried Bessie, dropping lightly from the box into +the arms of two _peons_ who stood below to assist her to the ground. + +"Hello, Jack!" she continued, advancing, "I'll wager you didn't expect +to see us this morning, did you?" + +The Captain noted the ring of sarcasm in her voice as she concluded. + +"I confess I did not, Cousin," he answered, descending the veranda to +meet them. "What in the world brought you here?" he asked, taking his +cousin's hand. + +"Oh! we thought we'd like to see a little more of the world before we +became too old to enjoy traveling," she answered, with a peculiar little +laugh that was all her own and which usually conveyed a sense of +uneasiness to those toward whom it was directed. + +"How much longer are you going to stand there asking idiotic questions?" +broke in Mrs. Forest with a furious glance at her son. "Can't you see, +I'm nearly dead?" + +"Really, Mother, I'm very sorry," returned the Captain, "but it's all +your own fault, you know. Why did you come?" + +"Our fault--why did we come? It's your fault--your fault, sir!" she +almost screamed, and ended by laughing hysterically. + +Colonel Van Ashton who had been nursing his wrath all night long while +being bumped over a rough road in an old broken-down stagecoach, +required but the sight of his nephew to cause an explosion. He had not +closed his eyes during the entire night, and like his sister, Mrs. +Forest, was in a state of collapse. His usually florid complexion had +turned to a brilliant crimson, giving him the appearance of an +overheated furnace. + +He regarded himself as a martyr, nay, worse--an innocent victim of fate +who, entirely against his will, had been cruelly dragged into the +present intolerable situation by the caprice of his accursed nephew. + +He had suffered long and patiently all that mortal flesh and blood could +endure. But, thank God, there were compensations in this life after +all--the object of his wrath stood before him at last. + +"So this, sir, is what you call returning to nature, is it?" he cried in +a hoarse roar, controlling his voice with difficulty and glaring +savagely at his nephew. + +"It's evidently not to your liking, Uncle," replied the Captain quietly, +doing his best to keep from laughing in his face. + +"Liking!"--roared the Colonel again, his voice raised to the breaking +pitch--"I never thought I'd get to hell so soon! Why, sir," he +continued, knocking a cloud of dust from his hat, "this isn't nature, +this is geology! I don't see how you ever discovered the damned country! +The wind-swept wastes of Dante's Inferno are verdant in comparison! +You're mad, there's no doubt of it!" he fumed, stamping up and down. + +"Do you know," he went on, stopping abruptly before his nephew, "they +say that, before you left Newport, you ran your touring-car over the +cliff into the sea--a machine that must have cost you fifteen thousand +at least!" + +"Well, what if I did? It served me right for deserting my horse for the +devil's toy. Thank God, I'm rid of the infernal machine!" + +"Look here, Jack Forest--" but the Colonel's voice broke in a violent +fit of coughing. + +It required but little discernment on the part of the Mexicans to +perceive that the meeting between Captain Forest and his family was not +what might be termed particularly felicitous. Even Senora Fernandez was +quick enough to perceive that things were going from bad to worse, and +in an effort to smooth matters, she stepped forward and in her best +English said: "Senor _Capitan_, why did you tell me not zat ze ladies +were coming? I might 'ave prepared been for zem." + +"My good Senora," responded the Captain, regarding her with a look of +extreme compassion, "I never dreamt of such a misfortune." + +"Just the sort of answer one might expect from you! Not a word of +welcome or sympathy! I always said you were the most selfish mortal +alive!" cried Mrs. Forest bitterly. + +"Senoras, I pray for you, come into ze house at once!" spoke up the +Senora again, turning entreatingly to the ladies. "I you promess, zat +wen you an orange an' cup of coffee 'ave 'ad, you will yourselves better +feel." + +"The Senora's right," broke in the Captain. "Come into the house and +when you've--" but his sentence was cut short by the sharp report of a +pistol, followed in quick succession by two other shots, and a moment +later a man, breathless and without coat or hat, and his shirt and +trousers in tatters, rushed among them. + +"Hide me quick, somebody!" he cried. "For God's sake--the posse--" but +before he could finish, a troop of men, armed with six-shooters and +Winchester rifles, burst from the cover of bushes that lined the +highroad. + +"There he is yonder, boys, behind that man!" cried their leader +excitedly, a small, thick-set, broad-shouldered man with sandy hair and +beard and florid complexion. The others, following the direction +indicated by him, seized the fugitive who had taken refuge behind +Captain Forest and dragged him hurriedly beneath one of the cottonwood +trees, over a lower branch of which they flung a rope. Their work was so +expeditious that, before the spectators could realize what was +happening, they had bound his hands behind his back and fastened one end +of the rope about his neck. + +"Stand clear, everybody!" commanded the leader, his gaze sweeping the +throng. Then turning to his men, he said: "When I give the word, boys, +let him swing!" + +"Don't, boys--don't!" cried the prisoner in a despairing, supplicating +voice, dropping on his knees. "For God's sake--give me a chance--" but a +jerk of the rope cut short his words which ended in an inarticulate +gurgle in his throat. + +"They are going to hang him--it's murder!" gasped Mrs. Forest, clinging +to her trembling, terrified maid who was already on the verge of +fainting. + +"Gentlemen," said the Colonel, stepping forward, "I object to such an +unheard-of proceeding! You have no right to hang a man without a trial." + +"Say, old punk," cried the leader, turning savagely on the Colonel, +"who's a runnin' this show?" The well-delivered blow of a sledge-hammer +could not have been more crushing in its effect on the Colonel than were +the words of the leader; he was completely silenced. Greatly to his +credit, however, he stood his ground. He was no coward, for he had faced +death and been wounded more than once in his younger days on the field +of battle, and had he possessed a weapon at the moment, he would have +snuffed out the leader's life as deliberately as he would have blown out +the light of a candle, regardless of consequences. But recognizing the +carrion with which he had to deal, and the futility of further +interference, he quietly shrugged his shoulders, smiled and pulled the +end of his mustache. The hanging might proceed so far as he was +concerned. + +"Gentlemen," spoke up the Captain, "what has this man done?" + +"You'll learn that when we're through with him!" replied the leader. + +Even were there no doubt of the prisoner's guilt and hanging a +well-deserved punishment, Captain Forest, nevertheless, liked fair play. +The blood surged to his face. His fighting instincts and spirit of +resentment were thoroughly aroused. He had seen men hanged and shot down +before in the most summary manner, some of them afterward proving to +have been victims of gross error and brute passion. He also knew how +futile it was to argue with men whose passions were roused to the +fighting pitch. The Colonel's interference was an instance of how little +such men could be influenced. It was absurd to look for moderation under +the circumstances. There was only one way to save the prisoner--the use +of the same means employed by the lynchers, namely, force. Whence could +such interference come? How could a man single-handed cope with a +well-armed body of men of their type? Only a miracle could save the +prisoner and the intervention of a miracle is always a slender prop upon +which to lean. + +"Now, boys," continued the leader, turning to his men, "get ready--" but +his voice was drowned by a chorus of cries and screams from the women. + +"Silence!" he roared. "Stop that damn noise!" + +"I would like to know, sir, who gave you authority to shut our mouths?" +and Blanch Lennox planted herself squarely before him. So astonished was +he by her sudden appearance and outburst, that he fell back a pace. He +seemed to have lost his voice, and only after much hemming and hawing, +managed to stammer an awkward apology while vainly endeavoring to +conceal his embarrassment. + +"Ladies," he finally began, removing his hat in an attempt at +politeness, "I'm powerful sorry to be obliged to perform this painful +duty contrary to your wishes, but the law must be obeyed. We've been a +chasin' this feller, who's the most notorious scoundrel in the country, +through the mountains for the last three weeks, and now we've got him, I +reckon we ain't a goin' ter let him get away. Is we, boys?" and he +turned confidently to his men. + +"You bet we ain't!" they responded. + +"No, ladies," echoed their leader in turn, "not if we know it. Besides, +we've got permission from the Mexican authorities to do with him as we +like. I guess," he added, "they'll be about as glad to be rid of him as +we are. And now, ladies," he continued, "if you don't want to witness as +pretty a hanging as ever took place in these parts, you'll take my +advice and retire into the house as soon as possible." + +But no one stirred. The tall handsome woman still stood before him +unmoved, and he was beginning to realize that her gaze was becoming more +difficult to meet. Somewhat disconcerted, he began again in his most +persuasive tone. + +"Ladies, please don't interrupt the course of the law by staying around +here any longer than's necessary--for hang he will!" he added. + +Still no one showed the slightest sign of complying with his wishes. The +situation was becoming intolerable. + +"Ladies," he began again, and this time rather peremptorily, "you'll +greatly oblige us by retiring at once." + +"We'll not move a step until you take the rope from that man's neck," +said Blanch firmly and unabashed, still holding her ground. Her words +acted like a challenge. His temper was thoroughly roused, it being a +question whether he or a lot of women should have their way. He, Jim +Blake, overpowered by a mob of sentimental, hysterical women--not while +he lived! + +"Then, ladies," he answered curtly, placing his hat firmly on his head, +"if you won't go into the house, you'll have to see him swing, that's +all!" and quickly detailing half his men who lined up before the +spectators with cocked rifles, he shouted to the others behind them +holding the rope: "Boys, when I count three, do your work!" There was no +mistaking his words. The prisoner uttered a half-articulate groan. + +"One--" slowly counted Blake. + +The Mexicans crossed themselves and began to mutter prayers. Women +screamed. + +"Two--three--" but simultaneously with the word three, was heard the +report of a pistol, and the men pulling on the rope rolled on the +ground, a hopelessly entangled mass of arms and legs. The rope had been +severed just above the prisoner's head, and when the smothered oaths of +the men mingled with the screams of the women had subsided, Dick Yankton +with pistol in hand was seen leaning out over the veranda rail. + +"I reckon there won't be any hanging at the old _Posada_ this morning, +Jim Blake," he said, calmly covering the latter with his weapon. + +"Well, darn my skin!" gasped Blake. "Where did you come from?" + +"Oh, I just dropped around," replied Dick, unconcernedly. + +"Now, gentlemen," he continued, addressing the men, "I've got the drop +on Blake, and if any one of you moves hand or foot I'll send him to a +warmer place than this in pretty quick time." + +"Don't mind me, boys--turn loose on him!" cried Blake pluckily, but +nobody seemed inclined to obey. + +"It won't do, Jim," spoke up one of his men. "We ain't a going to see +you killed before our eyes. Besides, it's Dick Yankton." + +"Jack!" called out Dick, "free the prisoner and be quick about it!" + +"You're interfering with the law!" roared Blake, as the Captain +proceeded to obey Dick's command. + +"I know it," replied Dick; "it isn't the first time I've interfered with +it either. Besides, I don't see why I haven't got as good a right to it +as you or any other man." Blake sputtered and squirmed helplessly as he +faced Dick's weapon, not daring to lift a hand. + +"What objection have you got to our ridding the earth of this damned +scoundrel, I'd like to know?" he asked, choking with rage. + +"Oh, as to that, I've got several, Jim Blake, and one of them is--I +don't like to see a man hanged before breakfast. It sort of takes away +one's appetite, you know," he added, coolly eyeing his adversary over +the barrel of his pistol. + +"Well, if you ain't the most impudent cuss I ever seen!" cried Blake, by +this time almost on the point of exploding. + +"Perhaps I am," answered Dick, the faintest smile playing about the +corners of his mouth. "You're putting up a pretty big bluff, Jim, but I +happen to be holding the cards in this game and I rather think you'll +stay and see it out. + +"Bob Carlton," he continued, addressing the prisoner whom the Captain +had freed, "there's a black horse in the corral back of the house; jump +on him just as he is and make tracks out of here as almighty fast as you +know how!" + +"Thank you, Dick, I'll not forget you!" cried Carlton, starting in the +direction of the corral but, catching sight of Miss Van Ashton, he +stopped short. "I--I beg your pardon, Madame," he stammered, "but would +you mind telling me your name?" + +"I can't see what business that is of yours!" replied Bessie curtly and +with a toss of the head, turning her back upon him. + +"I meant no offense, Madame--I--" + +"Van Ashton's her name," said the Captain. + +"Van Ashton!" he exclaimed. + +"You had better be moving, Carlton--you damn fool!" came Dick's angry +voice. "The next time you're in for a funeral I may not be around to +stop it!" + +Carlton needed no further urging. The sound of a horse going at full +speed was presently heard on the road beyond the _Posada_. + +"Don't any one move," said Dick quietly, as all listened in silence to +the sounds which grew fainter and fainter until they ceased altogether +in the distance. + +"He's got a good mile start by this time," said Dick at length, coolly +lowering his pistol and returning it to his pocket. "Gentlemen," he +continued, leisurely descending the veranda, "you're at liberty to +follow him if you like." + +"After him, boys!" yelled Blake, suddenly aroused to fresh action. + +"It's no use, Jim," said one of his men, "our hosses is cleaned blowed." + +"Damnation!" growled Blake, tugging nervously at his beard. "And now, +Dick Yankton," he continued, confronting him squarely with both feet +spread wide apart and his hands thrust to his elbows in his trouser +pockets, "the question is, what's to be done with you? I just guess +we'll make an example of you for interfering with the law." + +"And I guess you won't do anything of the kind, Jim Blake, because there +isn't a white man in the country that will help you do it." + +"The devil!" ejaculated Blake, completely taken aback by Dick's +coolness. + +"I guess Dick's about right there, Jim," spoke up another of his men. + +Blake was about to continue the argument, but realizing that the +sentiment of his men was not with him and that his position was growing +momentarily more ridiculous, he ceased abruptly. Rough though he was +and of the swash-buckler type, he was neither insensible to the humor of +the situation nor to the nerve it had taken on Dick's part to hold +twenty armed men at bay single-handed. It is usually a difficult matter +to pocket one's pride, especially if one sees ridicule lurking just +around the corner, but few men were capable of resisting the charm of +Dick's personality for long. + +"Come, Jim, be reasonable," he said, laying his hand familiarly on +Blake's shoulder; "Bob Carlton saved my life once and now we're quits." + +"He did? Well, that's the only good thing the sneakin' skunk ever done! +Why didn't you tell us that before?" + +"Because you didn't give me time. You would have hung him first and then +listened to what I had to say afterwards." + +"Hum!" ejaculated Blake, "I guess you're about right there." + +"Boys," continued Dick, turning to the others, "I'm mighty sorry to have +spoiled your fun, but I'll see that you don't regret your visit to Santa +Fe. Come into the house and I'll tell how it happened. The cigars and +the drinks are on me!" + +"Well, as I said before, Dick," exclaimed Blake, "you're the cussedest, +most contrariest feller I ever seen. You got the best of us this time, +but I guess we'll about get even with you on the drinks before we're +through--won't we, boys?" and amid a chorus of laughter and good-humored +exclamations, the men, followed by Dick and Blake, crowded into the +house. + +"What a country!" gasped Mrs. Forest after the last of them had +disappeared. "Have people here nothing to do but murder one another?" +she asked in a despairing voice, sniffing vigorously at the bottle of +salts her maid handed her. + +"Ze Saints be praised, zey do not!" cried the Senora who by this time +had regained her composure. "Such a zing 'as happened nevair before." + +"They are a little more free-handed out here than we are," remarked the +Captain. "Where we come from, people allow a man to go free after +exhausting all the resources of the law, while here, they quietly hang a +scoundrel when they catch him without making any fuss about it. It's +much simpler, you know." + +"Beautiful!" echoed the Colonel. + + + + +VIII + + +After much persuasion and further caustic remarks on the country and a +people whose chief occupation seemed to be that of shooting and hanging +one another, Mrs. Forest was finally induced to enter the house, leaving +Blanch and Bessie seated on the bench beneath the cottonwood tree where +they had collapsed, the result of the shock their nerves had sustained. + +Their presence seemed as incongruous with their surroundings as that of +some delicate hot-house flower blooming in the midst of the desert. + +"Could you have believed it if you hadn't seen it?" asked Bessie, the +first to break the silence. "Is it all real, or are we still dreaming? I +wish somebody would pinch me, my wits are so scattered," and she passed +her hand across her eyes as though to dispel some dreadful nightmare. + +"I never imagined," replied her companion in a vague uncertain tone of +voice, like one laboring under the influence of a narcotic, "that such +people existed anywhere outside of books, and yet the samples to which +we have just been introduced make characters of fiction look tame in +comparison. Oh, dear!" she burst forth, "who could have imagined it?" + +"What a transition--I can't understand it!" said Bessie. "I feel like +one who has just dropped from the sky to earth." + +"No wonder! I, too, am still seeing stars. Jack certainly must be mad, +else how could he have ever picked out such a forsaken land whose +inhabitants seem to consist chiefly of ruffians and black women?" + +"It's simply incomprehensible after all he's seen of the world," replied +Bessie. "Did you notice how he enjoyed our discomfiture? How it was all +he could do to keep from laughing in our faces?" + +"The brute!" cried Blanch. + +"If we had only realized to what we were coming--" Bessie began. + +"Oh, it's too late to say that!" interrupted Blanch. "Now that I'm here, +I'm not going to turn back; I'm going to see this thing through. And +what's more," she added with unmistakable emphasis, "I'm going to see +that woman! Have you noticed any one that looks like her?" she asked +cautiously, lowering her voice and looking about suspiciously, as she +rose from her seat. + +"Pshaw!" laughed Bessie, also rising and shaking the dust from her +skirt. "You've scarcely talked of anything else since we left home. Why, +I really believe you are beginning to be jealous of this creature of +your imagination. It's too absurd to suppose that Jack--" + +"Is it any more impossible than the people and things we have just +encountered?" + +"Nonsense! Jack in love with some half-breed--that dusky beauty in +breeches who rides astride, and whom he happened to mention to us? It's +preposterous!" + +"My dear," resumed Blanch calmly, "don't deceive yourself. My woman's +intuition tells me that I'm right. Jack's notion of beginning a new life +is all nonsense--there's a deeper reason than that for this change in +him. Take my word for it, there's a woman at the bottom of it for what +possible attraction could this horrid country and its people have for a +civilized being?" + +"I can't believe it," answered Bessie; "you know how fastidious Jack is. +Besides it was only a fleeting glance that he caught of the woman he +mentioned--and that in the twilight." + +"A glance is quite enough for a fool to fall in love with a phantom," +retorted Blanch warmly, thrusting the ground vigorously with the point +of her sunshade. + +"They say," she went on, "that these dark beauties of the South possess +a peculiar fascination of their own--that they have a way of captivating +men before they realize what's happening. They sort of hypnotize them, +you know." + +"But not a man of Jack's type!" + +"Oh, I don't mean to infer that she's beautiful," continued Blanch. +"Attractive she may be, but how could anything so common be really +beautiful? It's not that which worries me--it's the state of his mind. +He has evidently reached a crisis. As long as I can keep him in sight +he's safe, but should he be left here alone with one of these women in +his present frame of mind, there's no knowing what might happen. Any +woman if fairly attractive and a schemer, can marry almost any man she +has a mind to. You know," she added, "he's not given to talking without +a purpose and usually acts even though he lives to repent of it +afterwards. Why, if he were left here, he might marry from _ennui_, who +knows? One hears of such things." + +"Heavens!" ejaculated Bessie, "it makes one shudder to think of it! +Hush!" she added, nodding in the direction of the house where the +Captain appeared in the doorway and halted, regarding them with a mixed +expression of curiosity and amusement. + +"Well," he said at length, descending to where they stood, "how do first +impressions of the place strike you? It's not so dull, after all, is +it?" he added, concealing his mirth with difficulty. + +"It's charming," replied Blanch in her richest vein of sarcasm, +addressing him for the first time since her arrival. "What delightful +surroundings, and what congenial people one meets here!" + +The Captain burst into an uproarious fit of laughter. The sight of +Blanch had sent a sudden thrill through him that told him plainly enough +how deeply rooted had been his love and that he had not yet succeeded in +eradicating it entirely from his heart as he had supposed. + +The spark of the old love still smoldered within him, and would she +succeed again in fanning it into flame? He had not forgotten, however, +that he had suffered, and her presence acted like some wonderful balm to +his wounded soul. It was his turn now and he could afford to humor her. +Though there was nothing triumphant in his manner, he, nevertheless, +enjoyed that sneaking feeling of satisfaction which most of us +experience on beholding the discomfiture of those who have treated us +lightly. Moreover, he thoroughly realized what the coming of Blanch and +his family meant. They had come to laugh at him and his surroundings--to +ridicule his ideas. The great harlot world had come to pooh-pooh--to +scoff and laugh him out of his convictions, and no one knew better than +he did what the mighty power and influence of the great civilized guffaw +meant. For had he not, during his diplomatic career, seen the primitive +man laughed out of his cool, naked blessedness into a modern, cheap pair +of sweltering pantaloons? But things were now equal, and this promised +to be the most exciting diplomatic game in which he had yet engaged. The +defeat of Spain and the annexation of the Philippines were trifles in +comparison. And he decided then and there to make the most of it--that +come what might, all who entered this game would pay the price to the +last farthing. Time and circumstances would prove who was right--they or +he. + +"Do you know," he said at length, "I don't pity you a bit; it serves you +right for coming." + +"Pity?" retorted Bessie. "Do we look like a pair of beggars that have +come two thousand miles to crave pity at the feet of the high and mighty +Captain Forest? Your condescension, Cousin, is insufferable," she added. + +"I was just thinking," he resumed, thoroughly enjoying his cousin's +wrath, "that you had better drop your silly affectations and spoiled +ways while here." + +"Really!" burst out Bessie again, her face flushing with growing +indignation. + +"I do," he returned placidly, "for somehow, the people about here don't +seem to appreciate such things." + +"I can readily believe it," answered Blanch with a contemptuous laugh +and hauteur of manner that were almost insulting. "I don't wonder you +feel uneasy on our account considering that we have never enjoyed the +advantages their social standards offer. We trust, however, for the sake +of old friendship, that you will overlook our shortcomings. A lesson in +manners might not be lost on us," she added with a withering glance and +tone that would have reduced any other man to a sere and yellow leaf. + +She paused, her delicately gloved hand resting lightly on the handle of +her sunshade on which she leaned, throwing the graceful outline of her +tall slender figure into clear relief against the green background of +trees and shrubs. A strange light came into her beautiful blue eyes, +softening the expression of her face; a face that had been the hope and +despair of many a man; a face that was not alone beautiful but alive and +interesting; a face into which all men longed to gaze and once seen +could never be forgotten. + +Only one man had ever resisted the power and fascination of that face; +the man whom she had flung from her in an ungovernable fit of passion; +the man whom she either had come to claim as her own again, or to +humiliate as he had humiliated her. Who could guess the real motive that +prompted her to humble her pride so far as to follow him? Was it love or +hatred? Who could say? Her delicate, coral lips curled with just the +suggestion of a sneer as she raised her eyes to his again and said in a +tone of contempt: "So this is the place where your wild woman lives--" +but the words died on her lips. Her head came up with a jerk and her +figure suddenly straightened and stiffened as her gaze became riveted on +the face of Chiquita who stood just opposite on the veranda lightly +poised with one foot on the steps. + +It would have been interesting to have read the thoughts of these two +women as they stood silently confronting one another, each taking the +measure of the other. + +The contrast between the two could not have been more striking. The +soft, delicate, well-groomed figure of Blanch, the accomplished woman of +the world, with eyes intoxicating as wine and a glowing wealth of golden +hair, tempting and alluring as the luxuriance of old Rome at the height +of her triumphs before her decadence set in--the last fair breath of her +ancient glory--the best and fairest that modern civilization had +produced. She had no need of the artificial head-gear and upholstery +with which the modern society belle is wont to bolster up herself. There +was not the slightest trace of rouge on her lips or cheeks. She had +learned that simple food, fresh air and sleep and exercise were the only +preservatives for the form and complexion. Spoiled though she was, she +was genuine to the core. + +On the other hand, what the symmetrical well-rounded lines of Chiquita's +figure lost by the unfair comparison of her worn and faded dress with +that of the latest Parisian creation, was more than compensated for by +the heavy luxuriant masses of blue-black hair, straight nose, large, +dark piercing eyes that shone from beneath delicately penciled, broad +arching brows, and the mysterious hawk-like wildness of her gaze and +appearance and general air of strength and power, baffling and +inscrutable as the origin of her race; a face and figure which +exemplified the perfect type of a race that carried one back to the +forgotten days of ancient Egypt and India. + +Truly, twice blessed or cursed by the gods was he to be loved by two +such women; the one fashion's, the other nature's child. + +The look of embarrassment on Captain Forest's face, together with the +ludicrousness of the situation, caused Bessie to burst into a sudden fit +of laughter into which Blanch, in spite of herself, was irresistibly +drawn. Fortunately for the Captain, he did not entirely lose his +presence of mind as one is apt to do who unexpectedly finds himself +between two tigers about to spring. He did the only sensible thing a man +could do under the circumstances. He retired precipitately, leaving the +field to whomsoever wished it most. + +"The Senoritas laugh," said Chiquita at length, the first to speak. +There was a strange light in her eyes as she slowly descended the +veranda and came toward them. The sound of her full, rich, musical +voice, colored with a soft accent that was pleasing to the ear, +instantly brought Blanch and Bessie to themselves. + +"Perhaps," she began again calmly, "it is because I am poor?" + +"Oh, no, Senorita, how could you imagine--" exclaimed Blanch, recovering +her breath. + +"Then perhaps it is because I am an Indian and red, not white like +yourselves?" + +"Are you an Indian, Senorita?" asked Blanch. "I thought you were a +Mexican." + +"And if I were, I would not be ashamed of it!" + +"What a strange creature!" thought Bessie. + +"But why did the Senoritas laugh when they saw me?" persisted Chiquita, +her expression softening a bit, a faint smile illumining her face. + +"Believe me, Senorita," replied Blanch, "we were not laughing at you at +all. We were laughing at Captain Forest." + +"Ah, the Senor!" ejaculated Chiquita. + +"Yes," continued Blanch, "we had already heard of you through Captain +Forest, and--I--" she hesitated, "I really can't explain because you +wouldn't understand, you know." + +"But I do understand, Senorita," answered Chiquita quietly. "You do not +deceive me, and since you refuse to tell me why you laughed, I shall be +obliged to tell you. I think I can guess the truth." + +"Really, I'm curious!" and Blanch smiled compassionately. + +"Ah, you think I can't read your face," and Chiquita smiled in turn. +"Senorita," she continued with sudden emphasis, "you love the Senor!" +Blanch started, the attack was so sudden, her face coloring in spite of +her endeavor to conceal her confusion. + +"Yes, Senorita, you love him." + +"How do you know I love him?" laughed Blanch lightly in turn, by this +time thoroughly mistress of herself. "Why, you have only met me for the +first time!" + +"How do I know? Because I am a woman. I saw you as you spoke to him. +Your whole manner betrayed you--your voice, your eyes. Yes, Senorita," +she added with growing passion, fixing her dark piercing eyes on those +of Blanch, "you laughed because a poor girl like me of a different race +and color, a race despised by you white people, should have imagined +that Captain Forest might possibly cast his eyes upon her--" + +"Senorita!" cried Blanch protestingly. + +"It is the truth," continued Chiquita passionately, "and what is more, I +will tell you frankly that I--I, too, love the Senor!" + +"I thought so!" exclaimed Blanch. + +"Yes, I love him--love him as you do--love him as you can never love +him, Senorita!" + +"What makes you think so?" asked Blanch, endeavoring to stifle the +emotion Chiquita's passionate words aroused within her. + +"I know it," she answered quietly; "something tells me so. And should he +not love me as I love him, my life will go out of me swiftly and +silently like the waters of the streams in summer when the rains cease; +my soul will become barren and parched like the desert, and I shall +wither and die." + +"Die?" echoed Blanch. "Nobody dies of love nowadays, Senorita," and she +laughed lightly. + +"Perhaps not among your people, but with Indians it is different. When +we love it is terrible--our passion becomes our life, our whole +existence! Such a confession sounds absurd perhaps, but you assumed an +air of superiority--racial superiority, I mean--a thing which I know to +be as false as it is presumptuous. I might assume the airs and attitude +of one of your race if I chose, but you laughed, and the race-pride in +me cries out that I should be to you what I really am--an Indian, not +that which I have learned and borrowed from the white race." + +"How extraordinary!" thought Blanch. Surely such passion was short lived +and a weak admission on the part of her rival. She was a true character +of melodrama--one which she had seen a hundred times on the stage. The +battle was hers already--she would win. She heaved a sigh of relief, and +drawing herself up to her full height, assumed an attitude of ease, an +air of patronage and condescension that only Blanch Lennox could adopt. +She could afford to be generous to a child, treat with lenience this +clever _ingenue_ who in this age could die, or at least imagine herself +dying of love. + +"Perhaps," resumed Chiquita, with an air of naivete that seemed +perfectly natural to her, "you women do not love as passionately as your +darker sisters?" + +"Oh, I don't know about that, Senorita," answered Blanch with warmth. +"At any rate, you in all probability will have an opportunity to judge +that for yourself." + +Chiquita gave a little laugh, then said: "Senorita, you love Captain +Forest and so do I. Let it, therefore, be a fair fight between us, and +in order that you may know you can trust me, I give you this," and +drawing a small silver-mounted dagger from out her hair, she handed it +to Blanch who took it wonderingly. + +"It is often safer," she added, "for a man to go unarmed in this land +than for a woman. But as I said, I shall henceforth be to you what I +am--an Indian. It is what a woman of my people would do were she to +meet you in my country under similar circumstances; what I would have +done had I met you before I came here. The knife signifies that, with it +goes the sharp edge of my tongue--that I shall take no unfair advantage +of you." + +Blanch toyed musingly with the pretty two-edged knife, admiring its +richly carved silver handle. Surely she was right after all. Chiquita +was a true child of the South whose passions subsided as quickly as they +burst into flame. And as for the knife, it would make an excellent +paper-cutter. + +"Oh, dear, this is too absurd!" she exclaimed. And no longer able to +control herself, she burst into a peal of laughter in which was easily +detected the scorn, good humor and pity she felt for her would-be rival. + +Perhaps Chiquita was as much puzzled by Blanch's behavior as the latter +was by hers, for all the while Blanch laughed, she also regarded her +with an expression of mingled curiosity and amusement. + +"Senorita," said Blanch at length, heaving a sigh, "who are you?" + +The latter did not reply immediately. Her face took on an earnest +expression and for some moments she stood silent, gazing straight out +before her as though oblivious to her surroundings. Then, suddenly +recollecting herself, she said: + +"I am a Tewana, and am called the Chiquita. My father was the Whirlwind, +the War Chief of my people." + +"The Whirlwind?" echoed Blanch. "What an appropriate name for a +savage!" + +"Ah, but you should have seen him! He was the tallest man of the tribe." + +"Do you know," said Blanch musingly, "I fancy you must be something like +him, Senorita." + +"In spirit perhaps, but only a little," she answered. "I often wish that +I were more like him, for although he was a child in many things, he was +a man nevertheless--civilization had not spoilt him." + +Again that dreamy, far-away look came into her eyes and again she seemed +to forget for the moment the presence of the two girls as her thoughts +reverted to the past. + +"Senorita," she said at last, "when one like me stands on the threshold +midway between savagery and civilization and compares the crudities and +at times barbarities of the one with the luxuries and vices of the +other, he often asks himself which is preferable, civilization and its +few virtues, or the simple life of the savage. Which, I ask, is the +greater--the man who tells the time by the sun and the stars or he who +gauges it with the watch? I have listened to your music and gazed upon +your art and read your books, but what harmonies compare to +nature's--what book contains her truths and hidden mysteries? When I +came here I was taught to revere your civilization and I did for a time +until the disillusionment came, when I was introduced to the great world +of men and discovered how shallow and inadequate it was. Your mechanical +devices are wonderful, but as regards your philosophies, the least said +of them the better. Spiritually, you stand just where you began +centuries ago, and I found that I should be obliged to deny the +existence of God if I continued to revere your institutions. + +"Believe me, Senorita, for I speak as one who knows both worlds +intimately, nature's and man's, that the great symphony of nature, the +throb of our Mother Earth, the song of the forest, the voices of the +winds and the waters, the mountains and plains, and the glory of the +stars and the daily life of man in the fields, are grander by far, and +more satisfying and enduring than all the foolish fancies and artificial +harmonies ever created by civilized man." + +Her words struck home. For the first time Blanch became thoroughly alive +to the danger of the situation. This passionate child of the South had +changed suddenly to a mature woman, and a chill seized Blanch's heart as +she began to realize her depth and power. Again she was all at sea, and +in a vain effort to say something, she stammered: + +"Senorita, you are certainly the strangest person I ever met!" + +"Not strange, only different," laughed Chiquita, throwing back her head +and meeting Blanch's full gaze. "Senorita," she continued, "you are +beautiful--more beautiful than any woman I have ever beheld. My heart +stands still with fear and admiration when I look at you, for men are +often foolish enough to love the beautiful women best. I fear this is +going to be a bitter struggle, but let us bear one another no malice in +order that we may both know that she who triumphs is the better woman." +Frank though her words were, they caused Blanch to wince, while a flood +of passion which she could ill conceal dyed her cheeks a deep crimson. + +"Life's usually as tragic as it is comic," laughed Chiquita lightly, +slowly moving in the direction of the highroad. "It's strange, isn't +it," she exclaimed, pausing and looking back, "that a queen and a beggar +should dispute the affections of the same man? Such things occur in the +fairy-tales one reads in the books in the old Mission, but seldom in +real life," and she was gone. + + + + +IX + + +Considering an all-night ride over a rough road in a lumbering old +Spanish stagecoach, and the thrilling, harrowing events that succeeded +their arrival at the _Posada_, it is little wonder that Mrs. Forest took +to her bed early in the day on the verge of a nervous collapse, or that +Colonel Van Ashton, contrary to his habit, retired early in the evening +firmly convinced that his nephew was suffering from an acute attack of +lunacy which took the form of a mania for everything that was wild and +bizarre; everything in fact that was contrary to the Colonel's views of +life. + +How unfortunate that his nephew had not shown signs of madness earlier! +It would have been so easy with the assistance of the family physician +and lawyer to have confined him in a private sanitarium. And the Colonel +fondly pictured his nephew wandering distractedly through a long suite +of padded cells--but, alas! the bird had flown. Such things were always +expedited with such felicitous despatch in those parts of the earth +inhabited by civilized men, but here where everybody was equally mad, +where chaos reigned, and nobody either recognized or respected beings of +a superior order, what could be done to check the headlong career of his +nephew who with twenty millions was rushing straight to destruction? + +No wonder God had long since abandoned this land to his majesty, the +devil who, as in the days of Scripture, roamed and roared at will. No +one having passed twenty-four hours in the country could possibly doubt +that his cup of joy was running over. Where his nephew had concealed his +fortune was also a source of mystery to him. He certainly had displayed +the diabolical cunning that is characteristic of the mentally deranged. +Possibly he had concealed it in Mexico, but to combat the institutions +of that land was like attempting to stem the tides. + +The thought of those twenty millions tortured the Colonel's mind almost +beyond endurance, and he groaned aloud as his imagination pictured them +rolling in a bright, glittering stream of gold and silver coins into the +gutter for the swine that waited to devour them. + +Such were the Colonel's reflections as he sat on the edge of his bed in +his shirt sleeves and wearily removed his tight fitting, dust-begrimed, +patent-leather shoes with the assistance of his valet. + +How his feet and back ached! He wanted sympathy, but got none, the +others being too much occupied with their own woes to think of his +comfort. On the walls of the room were hung numerous cheap biblical +prints--the very things he abominated most. Among them, just over the +foot of the bed, on the very spot where first his gaze would alight on +opening his eyes in the morning, hung a small colored print of the +Madonna. No wonder the people of this land spent so much time crossing +themselves and calling upon her for protection--they certainly had cause +to. The room, in his opinion, was a veritable rat-hole; the place +little better than what one might expect to find in a suburb of hell. + +The exertions of the last two days had been more than mortal could +endure. Never had he felt so completely fagged, and it was with no +little concern that he contemplated the reflection of his face in the +small oval mirror which hung on the rough gray plaster wall opposite, +just over the small, cheap, brown-stained wooden bureau. The sight of +his countenance, as is the case with most of us who have not yet entered +the limbo of senile decrepitude and still dare look ourselves in the +face, was always a source of extreme satisfaction to him. He held it in +the highest esteem as though it were the head of some beautiful antique +Apollo, and in his, the Colonel's estimation, was the handsomest face on +earth. + +Indeed it was a handsome face, and like many others both in and outside +of his particular set, he devoted hours to its preservation. + +What was John, his valet, for? To press his clothes and run errands? Not +at all. He was there to massage that precious face and drive away all +harassing signs of care and age by means of a liberal use of cold cream +and enamel. In the present instance, barring a sun-scorched nose, his +delicately rouged cheeks like his exquisitely manicured finger tips +blushed with rose of vermilion like those of the daughters of Judea of +old, contrasting favorably with his dark eyes, wavy white hair, and +mustache and eyebrows dyed a jet black. His regular features, long +slender white hands, and tall erect figure betokened the born aristocrat +of the spoiled, luxurious type. + +In spite of his determination not to sleep a wink, this overindulged +child and arch hypocrite, fell asleep almost the instant his tired head +touched the pillow, and would have slept to a comparatively late hour +had it not been for the ceaseless crowing of a cock in the barnyard, +awakening him at daybreak. + +What a land, where people were not even permitted to sleep! Vague +apprehensions for the future went flitting through his mind, and, as he +lay in bed moodily contemplating through the window the first sunrise he +had witnessed in years, he cursed fate and his nephew, and secretly +vowed that he would wring that infernal bird's neck at the first +opportunity. + +Mrs. Forest's mental attitude resembled that of her brother's, but with +Blanch and Bessie it was different. The strangeness and novelty of the +situation so different from anything they had hitherto experienced, +began to interest them in spite of their previous determination to be +bored. That evening they had visited the plaza with the Captain and Dick +Yankton and had witnessed the dances beneath the great _alamos_ or +poplar trees that surrounded the square, braving the risk of +contamination which Mrs. Forest had vainly protested would be sure to +ensue should they mingle with the populace--the Mexican-Indian rabble of +which it was composed--a distinction which only she and the Colonel +seemed able to divine, for had it been a garlic-tainted Egyptian or +Neapolitan mob, little objection would have been raised to their going. +The sights amused and interested them, and after an hour's mild +dissipation, they returned to the _Posada_ in time to meet a few of the +Senora's guests in the garden, among whom was Padre Antonio. The quaint, +inborn courtesy of the well-bred Spaniard was a revelation to them; +something they imagined did not exist outside of Spain. + +The charm of the Padre's simple manner and ways proved no less +irresistible to them than to the rest of the world, and they marveled +that he spoke English so well. His intimate knowledge of the people and +the customs of the country threw a new light on them, reconciling the +girls to many things that had seemed incomprehensible. + +The Senora, out of consideration for the ladies, by whose presence she +was greatly honored, had relinquished her rooms to them; the best and +most comfortably furnished which the _Posada_ afforded. + +It was a late hour before the girls retired for the night. There was so +much to talk over, and when they did finally lay themselves down to +rest, it was with the conviction that Captain Forest was not quite so +mad as they had supposed. He was at least a harmless lunatic and in no +danger of running amuck. + +As for Bessie, the gentle hand of sleep soon closed her eyes, and she +slept the sleep of a tired child. With Blanch it was otherwise. + +How could she sleep with the face of Chiquita constantly before her and +the pangs of jealousy gnawing at her heart? How stupid to have imagined +her to be one of those bovine women with large liquid eyes who, +figuratively speaking, pass the major portion of their lives standing +knee-deep in a pond, gazing stolidly out upon the world; a fat brown +wench upon whose hip a man might confidently expect to hang his hat by +the time she has attained the age of forty. + +Nothing could have been farther from the mark. She might have known that +Jack could not have been caught with so thin a bait. All night long she +tossed on her pillow, or silently rose to gaze at the stars from the +window. + +"Oh, if she only were not so beautiful!" she moaned as the first pale +streaks of light in the east told her that day had finally dawned, and +she crept stealthily back to bed again. Of course Jack, the wretch, was +sleeping peacefully--that was the irony of fate! What did he know of +suffering? But he would pay for this! + +Their rooms overlooked the _patio_, and from behind an angle of a screen +she could look straight across it into the garden beyond as she lay in +bed. The bright shafts of the morning sun sifted down through the +branches of the trees and lay in patches of gold on the grass and +flowers beneath and flooded the _patio_ with light. Above the tops of +the trees and one corner of the low roof, the clear, pale blue skyline +was just visible. Butterflies and humming-birds darted in and out among +the fragrant white clematis and honeysuckle and passion vines that hung +from the arcades surrounding the court, or hovered over the fountain and +basin of gold fish in its center, edged with grasses and ferns. The +notes of the golden oriole and cooing of pigeons and wood-doves mingling +with the silvery jingle of an occasional _vaquero's_ spurs, came from +the garden beyond. + +How peaceful it was! After all, why was the place so unusual, so +different from the rest of the world? But forget where one was, and the +scene might have been one in Algiers or Egypt, or in a town in Spain or +Northern Italy. And why, she asked herself, as her thoughts reverted to +Chiquita, was this Indian woman so very different from themselves? + +Dress her as they were dressed, and place her in the proper +surroundings, and she would easily pass for a Gypsy or a Spaniard. Was +there any reason to believe that the queens of Sheba and Semiramis with +their tawny skins were any less fair than she, Blanch Lennox, with her +rosy, soft white complexion? Or Chiquita a shade darker than Cleopatra, +the witch of the Nile, whose beauty caused the downfall of Antony and +with it the waning power and splendor of ancient Egypt? + +Was her lineage superior to Chiquita's, the descendant of a long line of +rulers whose ancestry stretched back into the dim, remote past as +ancient as the hills, the record of whose lives and deeds stood +inscribed on the ruined temples and palaces scattered throughout the +land where they once dwelt at a time when her European ancestors roamed +the wilderness half naked and clad in the skins of wild beasts? + +White men of eminence had married Indians and their descendants were +proud of their lineage. True, Chiquita was an exception just as she +towered above most women of her race. And who were they, that they +should criticize--vaunt their superiority in the face of the universal +scheme of things? Were they really any better? The same passions, +longings and aspirations that swayed them, swayed the Red man as well. + +Their daily lives were different--their aspirations were directed in +different channels, that was all. What was true civilization and +culture, any way? Who had ever succeeded in defining them? The so-called +civilized world might prattle of culture. Its ideas compared with those +of mankind as a whole were purely relative and of a local origin and +color, and could not be gauged by a uniform standard of ethics. What +pleases the one fails to attract the other. The man in power who talks +of culture may be taken seriously by those of his own race who stand by +and applaud his words, but remove him from his home surroundings and +place him on a footing of equality with those of a different race and +environment and his arguments fail to convince. + +Did the harangues of Louis the Sixteenth's tormentors convince him of +the ethical standards of universal justice, or John Brown's sacrifice +the representatives of a slave-holding population? + +Which is the most convincing--the example set by the early Spartans, or +that of the man who surrounds himself with every luxury and convenience +of modern life; the man who reads books and lives in a house and travels +by train and automobile, or he who dwells in a tent, who is ignorant of +letters, and prefers the slower locomotion of horse and foot? Who is the +arbiter of fashion? The sun shines alike on the just and the unjust, the +great world still continues to laugh and goes on its way in spite of +men's philosophies, but tear up the map, as the French say, and where +are our standards and codes? + +Prove it if you can, that the wild flower in the meadow is less +beautiful than the one reared beneath the hand of the gardener. Argue +and theorize as we will, our sophistries count for little when we are +brought face to face with the realities of life. The law of compensation +and certainty of facts still hold the balance when the bed-rock of human +existence is reached. One might as well expect the mountains to slip +into the sea, or the stars to pause in their courses to hearken to the +voice of a modern Joshua as a man in love with a vision of beauty, to +listen to ethics. + +It was quite evident that somebody had lied. In fact, all men of her +race had been lying from the beginning of time, for what, after all, did +civilization amount to if it were not convincing? Did it ever soothe a +wounded heart, stifle the pangs of jealousy, or was it ample +compensation for the loss of the great prize of life--happiness? + +Civilization and blindness were fast becoming synonymous terms, and +there were even moments when one almost fancied one heard the laughter +of the gods. Let the dull brute civilized herd sweep by, all its +moralizing and sophistries could not arouse so much as a single +heart-beat where sentiment was concerned. + +The truth of these convictions surged in upon her with overwhelming +force. Had Jack also noted them, she asked herself. + +Possibly, but not, perhaps, with the keener intuition of the woman. She +breathed hard. Hot tears of rage, jealousy and disappointment surged to +her eyes. She could endure it no longer--she felt as though she would +stifle. Suddenly she sat bolt upright in bed and then sprang to the +floor, noticing for the first time the pretty little Mexican girl, +Rosita, who at Bessie's summons, had entered and deposited a tray +containing oranges, chocolate and _tortillas_ on the table in the center +of the room. + +The dark circles beneath Blanch's eyes and her general appearance of a +disheveled Eve told Bessie how little she had slept. + +"I knew you were thinking of her," she said, throwing herself back in +the pillows and stretching her arms. Her eyelids drooped for a moment +over her great violet eyes and she laughed lightly with the contentment +of one whose heart is free. + +"Of course I am," returned Blanch, coloring and biting her lip. "What +else should I be thinking of?" + +"Do you know, I rather like her," continued Bessie, raising on one elbow +and stretching herself again with the delicious satisfaction of one who +has slept soundly and well. + +"And I hate her!" cried Blanch. And seizing Chiquita's dagger which lay +on the table beside the tray, she plunged it viciously into an orange. + + + + +X + + +Things began to assume a more favorable aspect. Even Mrs. Forest had +plucked up enough courage to venture beyond the confines of the +_Posada's_ garden. + +Late one afternoon as she with Blanch and Bessie descended the veranda +steps, preparatory to a stroll through the town, a horseman, dressed in +the height of Mexican fashion, shot suddenly round the curve in the road +at full gallop and drew rein before them, tossing the dust raised by his +animal's hoofs into their faces. + +Dust and a horse's nose thrust suddenly into Mrs. Forest's face could +hardly improve a temper already strained to the breaking point. + +"Are people beasts--mere cattle of the fields to be trampled upon by a +horse?" she gasped, as soon as she had recovered sufficiently from her +surprise. + +"A thousand pardons--I did not see you!" replied the horseman, his +English colored with a slight accent. + +"What are people's eyes for?" returned Mrs. Forest, making no attempt to +conceal her irritation. + +"Mrs. Forest, I see you do not recognize me," answered the horseman, +smiling and raising his broad-brimmed _sombrero_ which partially +concealed his features. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez!" cried Blanch and Bessie in the same breath. +"How," exclaimed Blanch, "could you expect us to recognize you in that +costume? Why are you masquerading in such a disguise?" Don Felipe +laughed as he swung himself lightly from the saddle. + +"It's the costume of our people," he answered, shaking them cordially by +the hand. "It's the one they prefer, without which one cannot always +command their respect. They detest modern innovations and cling to the +customs of their ancestors. It's a bit of old Mexico, that's all. But +what brings you here?" he asked, changing the topic of conversation. +"Did you drop from the clouds? I would as soon have thought of finding +oranges growing on the cactus as seeing you here." + +"Only a pleasure trip combined with a little exploration on our own +account," answered Blanch indifferently. "We hope," she continued, "to +emulate the example of the old Spanish _Conquistadores_--some of your +ancestors perhaps?" + +"Then may your wanderings lead you southward. My _hacienda_ lies but +twenty miles from here, and from this moment, it is placed at your +disposition. Not in the polite terms of the proverbial Spanish etiquette +which presents the visitor with everything and yet nothing at all, but +actually. Indeed, I shall expect to see you there soon. The life will +interest you, I know." + +"We certainly shall avail ourselves of the rare privilege, Don Felipe," +said Bessie. "Do you intend stopping here?" she asked. + +"For a few days, yes. A room is always waiting for me here." + +"How delightful!" exclaimed Blanch. "We shall expect to see a great deal +of you. In the meantime, we shall visit the town and shall see you this +evening. Until then, _a Dios_, as you Spaniards say. You observe, we are +making rapid progress in the language," she added, smiling and glancing +back at him over her shoulder as they moved away in the direction of the +highroad. + +"What a strange costume for a man like Don Felipe to wear! It's as gay +and extravagant as a woman's!" said Bessie as soon as they were out of +hearing. + +"It's becoming though," answered Blanch. "This is truly the land of +surprises. I wonder what will happen next?" + +"What can have brought them here, to this out-of-the-way place?" mused +Don Felipe, throwing one arm lightly over the neck of his horse as he +leaned gently against the animal. + +Don Felipe Ramirez was young and handsome--the handsomest and wealthiest +man in all Chihuahua. One who measured his lands not by acres, but by +hundreds of square miles, over which roamed vast herds of horses, cattle +and sheep, and of which Chiquita might have been mistress had she so +chosen. Within this vast domain were situated numerous villages of +Mexican and Indian populations, subject in a measure to his command. His +word, where it did not conflict with the central Government, was law; +but Don Felipe, selfish and unprincipled though he was by nature, was +too easy going ever to think of making unscrupulous use of such power. +So long as things went smoothly, he was the last man to exercise his +almost unlimited authority for the mere pleasure of dominating others as +many men might were they placed in his position. + +His leniency in governing, his lavish manner of living, and a way he had +of fraternizing with his people on occasions--the latter prompted not +from motives of generosity, but purely from those of vanity and a love +of popularity--made him fairly popular among his subjects. It was when +Don Felipe wanted something in particular that he became dangerous, +especially if that something lay within his jurisdiction. Then indeed, +was he one to be feared. + +His appearance was striking; a swarthy complexion, thick, shiny, black +curly hair and mustache, lustrous black eyes and delicate features, and +a lithe sinewy body, every movement of which was cat-like and expressive +of treachery. + +His high-crowned, broad-brimmed _sombrero_ of gray felt was richly +embroidered with gold and silver. A slender, pale yellow satin tie +adorned his soft white, heavily frilled shirt front. His soft gray +jacket and leggins of goat skin, also ornamented with gold and silver +buttons and embroidery, were slashed at the sleeves below the elbow and +knee and interlaced with filmy gold cords from beneath which shone a +pale yellow satin facing embroidered with tiny red flowers. A gay +scarlet silken _banda_ from beneath which peeped the silver hilt of a +knife, encircled his slender waist, while his feet were encased in +russet tanned boots adorned with spurs inlaid with gold and silver and +which tinkled like fairy bells with every step he took. The trappings of +his horse were also heavily inlaid with silver. Theatrical though his +costume was, it became him well and harmonized perfectly with his +surroundings, completing the picture of a Spanish Don, the +representative of a past era. A costume that was only to be seen in the +remoter parts of the country--one which was becoming rarer each day. + +Four years had elapsed since he had last looked upon the familiar scenes +about him. Nothing appeared to have changed during that time as his gaze +wandered from the old _Posada_ to the garden beyond. He sighed, and a +momentary expression of pain and weariness passed across his countenance +as he silently surveyed the scene which recalled memories whose +bitterness was enough to overwhelm a man of maturer character and years. + +In the Indian _pueblo_, La Jara, had lived the beautiful _mestiza_ girl, +Pepita Delaguerra, with whom he had fallen in love in early youth. + +The gentle, confiding nature of Pepita was ill suited to that of the +passionate, impulsive Felipe, and proved her undoing. For, when old Don +Juan, Felipe's father, heard of his son's infatuation, he immediately +packed him off to the City of Mexico with the injunction not to return +under a year. An obscure half-caste for a daughter-in-law! Holy Maria! +the thought was enough to cause his hair to stand on end. No, the old +Don had other plans for his son. Maria Dolores, Felipe's cousin, was the +woman he had picked out for his wife, and marry her he should if he +wished to inherit his father's vast estates. In case he disregarded the +latter's wish and married Pepita, the estates were to go to the Church, +so it was stipulated in Don Juan's will. But neither the Church nor old +Don Juan, as it afterwards proved, were a match for the clever Felipe. +The handsome scapegrace had already secretly married Pepita. + +The strangest of all things is perhaps the irony of fate. Before the +year was up during which Felipe was charged to remain in the City of +Mexico, both his father, Don Juan, and the priest who had performed the +marriage ceremony for Felipe and Pepita, died. During his absence from +home, the observant and quick-witted Felipe had learned not only many +new things, but had made the acquaintance of other women as well. At its +best, the love of the passionate, hot-blooded Felipe and the gentle +Pepita could have endured only for a time. The attractions and +fascinations of the Capitol opened his eyes to many things which he had +hitherto overlooked, especially, that there are many beautiful women in +the world, and always one who is just a little more beautiful than the +others if one took the trouble to look for her. And so it happened that +he forgot not only his honor, but his obligations to Pepita, and +destroying the record of their marriage which he managed to secure with +the assistance of a confederate, he turned a deaf ear to her pleadings +and went his way. + +What had he, Don Felipe Ramirez, who lived and ruled like a prince on +his vast estates, to fear from a pretty little half-caste Indian girl? + +But Don Felipe was young and still had much to learn in the world. The +avenging angel that inevitably awaits us all at some turn or other in +the lane, stood nearer to him than he realized, and the vengeance which +followed was swift and complete. + +Pepita took poison and died, but she died not alone--she died in the +arms of Chiquita who had but recently returned from the convent. + +The latter frequently accompanied Padre Antonio on his charitable +missions and thus it chanced that she made Pepita's acquaintance and +learned her story. Time passed and all went well with Felipe until the +day he chanced to meet Chiquita. + +We may deaden our souls to the voice of conscience, disavow a belief in +destiny and shut our eyes to those forces of the Invisible which, in +spite of ourselves, we know to exist, but how is it, that no man ever +succeeds in escaping his fate? + +When Don Felipe Ramirez looked for the first time into the two dark +lustrous worlds of Chiquita's eyes, he beheld the height and depth of +his existence. From that moment he fell at her feet and worshiped her +with a passion that consumed and mastered him. Waking and dreaming she +was ever in his thoughts--he could not live without her. But not until +he was mad, ravished with desire, did she consent to become his wife. A +smile, or a gentle pressure of the hand were the only caresses she +deigned to bestow upon him; not until they were married would he be +permitted to embrace and kiss her, give rein to his passion. A strange +attitude for one of her nature to assume, and, as he looked back upon +it, he wondered how he had endured it--that he had not suspected +something. + +At length the day set for the wedding arrived, and Chiquita with Senora +Fernandez drove in state to the old Mission church where Padre Antonio +awaited them to perform the marriage ceremony. + +Don Felipe, in a state of exultation that lifted his soul to the clouds, +stood waiting for her on the steps of the church as had been agreed +between them; but as the two advanced, Chiquita suddenly paused before +the door, and turning, tore the bridal-veil and wreath of orange +blossoms from her brow and flung them into his face, crying: "Pepita +Delaguerra is avenged!" Then turning, she deliberately descended the +church steps and reentering her carriage, drove home, leaving Don Felipe +dazed and speechless before the crowd of spectators that had gathered to +witness the passing of the bride and groom. + +Later she confessed the reason for her motives to Padre Antonio, but one +circumstance she withheld even from him, the nature of which Don Felipe +did not suspect, but which he would have given worlds to know. + +Chiquita's conduct became the scandal of the country for miles around, +and as is invariably the case, the majority of the women sided with +Felipe. In more refined circles of society, her act would have been +considered highly reprehensible and Felipe overwhelmed with sympathy. +His base ingratitude would have been lightly censured in the familiar, +sugared terms of the most approved fashion. He would have been forgiven, +and petted, and even lauded as a martyr--and then, the world would have +forgotten. With the Indian woman, however, it was different. + +On the altars of her people was still written, "blood for blood," the +same as in the ancient days. + +Crushed, humiliated, his pride humbled to the dust, Don Felipe left the +country and for four years sought to forget his shame and the taunts of +his enemies in the distractions of the world. He traveled everywhere, +was presented at the different Courts of Europe, and it was in +Washington where his uncle was the Mexican Minister to the United +States, that he met Blanch and Mrs. Forest and her niece. In vain did he +try to forget. In vain did he search for another woman to supplant his +love for Chiquita. He plunged into the wildest dissipation, but to no +effect. The beautiful face of the dark woman followed him everywhere, +stood between him and the world, lured him, fascinated him still as +nothing else could, tortured him day and night and he knew no rest. + +A thousand times he resolved to return and kill her, and a thousand +times he relented, for he loved her as madly as ever and could not carry +out his resolve. A prey to alternate fits of remorse and hatred, and +tortured constantly by the knowledge of an unrequited love, the soul of +Don Felipe Ramirez suffered the torments of the damned. His +unconquerable love for Chiquita devoured him, gnawed constantly at his +heart, and he cursed her--cursed her as only one of his temperament who +had suffered as he suffered, could curse. + +What could he do? Anguish succeeded anguish until he was at length +drawn back again as irresistibly as the magnet is drawn to the north, to +the woman he both loved and hated. He would throw himself at her feet. +He, the proud, arrogant Don Felipe of former years, and bowed in the +dust, implore forgiveness. Nothing was too hard. Any sacrifice she might +demand of him, he would make. Surely, when she saw his remorse, his +contrite humbled spirit, understood his suffering and realized that he +could not forget her, could not live without her, that he loved her +still through all the years of suffering, that his life was irrevocably +linked to hers, she would relent, forgive him--become his wife. + +His wife! The thought electrified, elated his being to an extent that it +was lifted for the moment from out the black depths of his despondency. +If not, well then, there would be time for the fulfillment of that which +must inevitably follow--either his death or hers. + + + + +XI + + +"Holy Mother! but I am glad to see you again, Don Felipe Ramirez! What +blessed chance has brought you back to us again?" Don Felipe started +like one in a dream, and turning in the direction whence came the sound +of the voice, he beheld Senora Fernandez standing on the veranda +regarding him intently. + +"Dona Fernandez!" he exclaimed with genuine pleasure, advancing to meet +her, and extending his hand which she eagerly seized and held between +both her own. + +"_Muchacho--muchacho!_" she cried, clapping her hands as she released +her hold on Don Felipe's. "Carlos, the _Caballero's_ horse!" she +continued, addressing the _vaquero_ that appeared in the doorway of the +Inn at her summons and who advancing, took possession of Don Felipe's +horse and led him away to the stables. + +"Let me look at you, Don Felipe," she continued, regarding him closely. +"Why, you have not changed a hair! It might have been but yesterday that +you left us." + +"And you, Dona Fernandez are still the charming, handsome mistress of +the _Posada de las Estrellas_ to whom all men are irresistibly drawn." + +"Flatterer!" retorted Senora, laughing gayly and blushing like a girl +of sixteen. How sweet it was to hear such words from a handsome +_Caballero_ like Don Felipe! It reminded her of the old days when all +men thought her beautiful and went out of their way to tell her so. + +"It was unkind of you to remain away so long, Don Felipe. Your friends +have missed you sadly and have prayed for the day of your return." + +"Friends?" echoed Felipe with a sneer. + +"Aye, friends. You will find that you have more friends now than when +you left us." + +"I can scarcely believe it. And yet," he added, "I wish it might be so." + +"You shall learn shortly for yourself," returned Senora. + +"How long," interrupted Felipe, eager to change the drift of the +conversation, "have the American ladies been here?" + +"Ah, you have seen them?" + +"Yes, they were just going out for a walk when I arrived. It was a +pleasant surprise to see them here. They are friends of mine." + +"You know them?" + +"Yes. I met them a year ago in Washington." + +"_Dios!_ to think of it!" she exclaimed. + +"But what are they doing here?" he asked. + +"Ah! that is just what I would like to know myself," replied Senora. +"_Caramba!_ but they are grand ladies! They say," she went on, "that +they are traveling for pleasure, but what pleasure can such delicate, +refined ladies possibly find in the desert, I should like to know? +Judging from their talk and actions they can not have seen very much of +the world. _Dios!_ you should have witnessed the scene they created the +day they arrived. And yet," she continued, "I like them and am glad they +are here. They have brought new life into the place. God knows it is no +longer what it used to be in the old days when Don Carlos, my husband, +was alive," she added with a sigh. + +Don Felipe smiled at the Senora's provincialism. What a great world lay +outside that of her own, of which she was entirely ignorant. + +A trip to the City of Mexico during her honeymoon was the only journey +she had ever taken beyond the confines of Chihuahua. + +"And then there is Mrs. Forest's brother, Col-on-el Van Ash-ton," she +continued, pronouncing the latter's name slowly and with difficulty. + +"Holy Maria! but he has caused us trouble! Nothing seems to suit him." + +"Colonel Van Ashton?" repeated Felipe. "Ah, yes, I remember him." + +"But that is not all," interrupted Senora. "There is also Captain +Forest, Mrs. Forest's son. He came here before the others and seemed +very much surprised and put out by their unexpected appearance." + +"Captain Forest?" repeated Don Felipe slowly, as if trying to recall a +chance meeting. "I have never met him. What is he like?" + +"Ah, he's a grand Senor," answered Senora with enthusiasm. "A +_Caballero_ every inch, and rides a horse that's the devil himself. Why, +only yesterday the brute kicked out the side of the corral, and after +chasing the men off the place who had been teasing him, calmly walked +into the garden and rolled in my choicest flower-bed." + +"He must be a thoroughbred at any rate," laughed Felipe. + +"Thoroughbred? He's the devil, I say! Captain Forest and his man, Jose, +are the only ones that dare go near him." Don Felipe drew a gold +cigarette-case thickly studded with diamonds and rubies from the inner +pocket of his jacket, and lighted a cigarette. + +"As I was saying," Senora went on, "Captain Forest is a fine gentleman. +He's a great friend of Senor Yankton, and--" she stopped abruptly. + +"And what?" asked Felipe suspiciously, closely scanning her face as he +tossed away the burnt end of the match. + +"Oh, nothing," answered Senora evasively. "Only much has transpired +during your absence, Don Felipe." She hesitated as though uncertain how +to proceed, then said: "I might speak of certain things, but perhaps I +had better not. They would not interest you, anyway." + +"Ah!" he said at length, endeavoring to conceal the emotion her words +aroused. "I--I think I understand. You--you refer to her, I suppose?" +There was a slight tremor in his voice and his hand trembled as he +raised his cigarette to his lips for a fresh puff. + +"Yes," she answered quietly. "I--I was about to say that she appears to +be interested in this Captain Forest. But of course, that's nothing to +you," she added hastily, watching him narrowly the while. Her words +acted like fire to tinder. + +"Interested in him?" he cried, starting violently and letting his +cigarette fall to the ground. His face grew ashen pale and his right +hand involuntarily went to the knife in his sash. "No, no, it cannot +be!" he muttered excitedly. "Are you sure of what you say, Dona +Fernandez? Tell me that it is not true--that it is a lie!" he almost +hissed, his eyes glowing with the fires of passion and jealousy. + +"Why, what has come over you, Don Felipe Ramirez?" cried Senora in +alarm. "Surely you cannot--she can be nothing to you any more?" + +"Nothing to me? Why do you suppose I am here?" he answered. + +"_Madre de Dios!_" muttered Senora. + +"Dona Fernandez," he began after a pause, his voice trembling in spite +of himself, "God knows I have tried to forget her, but I--I cannot!" and +his voice broke. + +"What?" cried Senora excitedly. "You don't really mean to say that you +still--love her?" + +"I do," answered Felipe fiercely, driving his heel furiously into the +ground. For some moments neither spoke. Then a flush of anger mounted to +Senora's brow and she cried: + +"Fie! Don Felipe! Have you forgotten your self-respect? The handsomest, +richest man in all Chihuahua running after an Indian--the woman who +treated you so shamefully--an ingrate who is unworthy of a love like +yours? If I could have had my way, she would have been whipped +publicly! What would Don Juan, your father, peace be to his soul, say if +he were alive? Love her!" she cried in a frenzy of hatred and jealousy. +"How can you possibly love her, Don Felipe Ramirez?" + +"How can I love her?" retorted Felipe fiercely. "Why does the grass +grow? Why do the birds sing? Why do the streams run to the ocean? Why do +the flowers turn to the sun? Tell me that, Dona Fernandez," he cried in +agony and bitterness, "and I will tell you why I love her in spite of +myself, in spite of what she did, in spite of every effort I have made +to resist her fascination! God!" and he struck his breast with his +clenched hand, "I wonder I did not kill her then and there, but I could +not, I could not; I loved her so!" + +"_Dios_, but this is strange!" gasped Senora, raising both hands for an +instant and then crossing herself devoutly as if to avert the power of +some evil--the spell which seemed to cling to Don Felipe and bind him as +with hoops of steel. She did not realize that Chiquita belonged to that +rare type of beings who seem immortal; that it was impossible to imagine +her other than young, that the years could work no change within her, +and although Felipe had not yet seen her, his soul must flame up at the +sight of her as of yore. + +Felipe was silent, his eyes cast on the ground. His face wore a +malignant expression of pain and hatred, and he trembled in every limb. + +The revelation of his anguish startled her. She stepped close up to him +and laying her hand gently on his shoulder, said in a voice full of +compassion, almost of pity: "I understand, Don Felipe! You still see her +as she was when you last knew her--it is but natural. Of course you +could not know, but she has changed since then. In the opinion of every +one, she has fallen, degraded herself." + +"Degraded herself? What do you mean?" asked Felipe, turning his +searching gaze upon her. + +"Only a fortnight ago," answered Senora, "on the great day of the +_Fiesta_, she danced publicly in Carlos Moreno's theater." + +"Chiquita danced in Carlos Moreno's hall? Impossible!" + +"Don Felipe," replied Senora with just the suggestion of a smile, "all +things are possible with a woman." + +"But why did she dance?" he asked. + +"I don't know; neither does any one else. They say she received three +thousand _pesos_ in gold." + +"Three thousand _pesos_?" echoed Felipe. "What did she do with them?" + +"Ah! that's the mystery! What did she do with them?" answered Senora. + +"It was not so much her dancing that scandalized the community, for we +all know what a wonderful dancer she is. Nobody ever danced as she does, +and we are willing to give her credit for it, but what did she do with +the money? That's the scandal of it! I have noticed no change in her +dress," she continued, "nor is it known that she has spent a single +_peso_ as yet." + +"Strange," he murmured. "I cannot understand it." + +"No more can I nor any one else," answered Senora. "But I have been +forgetting my duty; I must prepare a room for you, Don Felipe. In the +meantime," she added, ascending the veranda and pausing for an instant, +"be assured of the hearty welcome of your friends when they learn of +your return." + +"Chiquita danced in public? I can't understand it!" he said aloud after +Senora Fernandez had disappeared in the house. "And she interested in +this Captain Forest?" His face grew livid and then black with hatred as +a fresh wave of rage and jealousy swept over him. + +"No, no; it cannot be!" he gasped, his left hand resting over his heart +as though in pain. For some time he remained motionless as a statue, +lost in thought with his eyes fixed on the ground. Suddenly he raised +his head with a quick jerk. His face no longer wore an expression of +pain and anguish, but one of settled, calm determination. + +"I have come just in time," he said quietly. He smiled, and drawing +forth his cigarette-case once more, he opened it and lit a fresh +cigarette. + + + + +XII + + +Dona Fernandez could not sleep. All night long she tossed on her bed, +repeating her conversation with Don Felipe and revolving what course to +pursue. She instinctively felt that a great tragedy of some kind was +imminent. Unless some plan of concerted action were immediately adopted, +nothing could prevent it. + +She knew her people too well. A reckless, hot-blooded man like Don +Felipe in his present mood could not be trusted for long, but must +sooner or later provoke a quarrel with Captain Forest, who she knew, +would be equally dangerous if aroused. Since her conversation with +Felipe she had noted the attitude of Blanch toward the Captain and her +woman's instinct had half guessed the truth. But beautiful and +irresistible though Blanch appeared, there was Chiquita, more beautiful +and attractive than when Felipe had last seen her, and also quite as +dangerous. + +She knew that Felipe's passion was hopeless--that Chiquita would not +hesitate to show her dislike and contempt for him anew--that should +Captain Forest be attracted to her also, she would act like a fire-brand +between the two men. If only one of them might be persuaded to leave the +place, the clash which must inevitably occur, might be averted for a +time at least, but this was clearly impossible. There was only one +thing to be done for the present--advise Chiquita of Felipe's return and +warn her of the danger that threatened them all if she provoked him +unnecessarily. + +Hopeless though this plan seemed, Chiquita might for the Captain's sake, +if she really cared for him, act more discreetly than was her wont. But +what could be expected from a woman in love? Who could tell how she +would act? Besides, she argued, all men are fools. They seem to be born +only to become the playthings of women, the majority of whom are +invariably deceived by them in the end. + +How she hated her! To think of Don Felipe running after her, eating out +his heart, throwing away his young life for one like her! A love like +his going begging! Merciful God! was there no justice in this world? And +for the moment, she was quite carried away by a paroxysm of fury. + +Ah, if only she, Dona Fernandez, were but ten years younger! But the +chosen birds of Venus, the white doves of matrimony, were not destined +to hover over her head a second time. Tears of longing and vexation +dimmed her eyes as she thought of the golden, halcyon days of youth that +would never return. At any rate, Felipe and Chiquita must not meet until +after she had warned the latter. Blanch must be used as a foil as long +as possible. + +And so it happened that, when breakfast was over, Senora adroitly +arranged that Felipe should conduct the two girls for a morning's ramble +to the pretty little canon of the river which lay but a mile distant +from the town where the foothills began; a plan that suited Blanch +perfectly. She, too, had been doing some thinking over night and had +recognized the possibility of using Don Felipe as a foil against Jack; +he was certainly handsome and clever enough to serve the purpose +admirably. + +Captain Forest had gone for a ride an hour before for the purpose of +giving his horse a short run to the foothills and back. So, when Senora +had seen the others safely off, she slipped quietly away in the +direction of Padre Antonio's house. + +It lacked a quarter of eleven when she left the house. She knew that +Chiquita would have long since returned from the market and would be at +home. So occupied was she with her thoughts as she hurried forward +intent upon her mission, she did not look up until she turned into the +road leading directly past Padre Antonio's gate, when she suddenly +stopped short. Before her she beheld Captain Forest standing in front of +the gate holding his horse, and Chiquita handing him a red rose. Another +instant, and Chiquita vanished through the gate into the garden and +Captain Forest, remounting his horse, came riding leisurely down the +road at a walk, inhaling the rose with evident pleasure. She drew back +into the shadow of the old wall and pressed close into the thick bushy +mass of white clematis vine which hung over it from above and waited +until he passed. + +It is the unexpected that always happens. The meeting between Chiquita +and the Captain was purely accidental. While returning from his ride, he +had been attracted by the beauty and luxuriance of Padre Antonio's +garden as he rode by. He wheeled his horse about and drew rein before +the open iron grating of the gate in order to obtain a better view of +it. Its flowers consisted chiefly of roses of different varieties and +colors. The air was spicy with their perfume and, as he inhaled their +fragrance in deep breaths, his attention was presently attracted by the +figure of Chiquita who appeared in the pathway before him, pausing +beside a luxuriant bush of blood-red blossoms and apparently quite +unconscious of his presence. The picture which she presented was one he +carried with him for many a day afterward. + +[Illustration: "The picture which she presented was one he carried with +him for many a day."] + +A small white dove strutted and cooed on the ground before her, while +another flew down from the house-top and after circling above her head, +also settled down beside its mate in the pathway. + +She was dressed in a short pale green skirt and bodice, the latter cut +low at the neck before and behind. The sleeves were short, reaching to +the elbow and terminating in a narrow frill of deep saffron, their sides +open and interlaced with silvery cords. Two richly embroidered silken +shawls of a pale red color with long fringe and worn in Spanish style, +adorned her dress. The one, pinned at the waist at the back and +following the outline of the bodice, passed up over her left shoulder +and down in front to her breast where it was fastened with a golden +brooch, the end falling in a graceful length of fringe. The other, also +fastened at the back of her waist, passed around her right hip and +diagonally down across the front of her skirt. Golden poppies adorned +the heavy masses of her lustrous black hair, worn high and held in place +by a silver comb. A saffron lace mantilla of the same deep shade as that +of the frill on her sleeves, fell in graceful folds from the comb to her +shoulders, while her feet were clothed in silk stockings of the same +shade and soft brown beaded slippers of undressed leather. + +To complete this costume which only a Gypsy or one of Chiquita's tawny +complexion would have dared essay to wear, a small pale red silken fan +ornamented with gold and silver spangles, hung suspended from her wrist +by a satin ribbon of deep orange which flashed in the sunlight like a +splash of gold on a humming-bird's throat. + +It was not by some happy chance that the Captain found her arrayed in +such finery, as is so often the case with heroines of romance, but the +result of much premeditation and studied effect. Ever since her meeting +with Blanch she had dressed herself daily with terrible deliberation and +nicety of precision, the same as every woman of flesh and blood would +have done under the circumstances, on the chance of Captain Forest +finding her at home when he came to pay his respects to the Padre as he +had intimated he would do. + +The thought of the innumerable dresses possessed by her rival, and the +scantiness of her own wardrobe, composed though it was of the richest +laces, silks and satins in the style of a past era, was something +appalling; enough to turn a stouter heart than hers. And had she been +anything else than an Indian, she would have sat down on the floor of +her room in the midst of her finery and wept copious and bitter tears +like the daughters of Babylon of old. The thought of the old dress which +she had worn on the day of their meeting was not alone mortifying--it +was excruciating. One of those things which we hasten to forget. + +_Dios!_ how she must have looked to him in the regal presence of Blanch, +gowned in her stylish traveling costume! + +Don Felipe Ramirez would have kissed the dust from off the hem of such +an old garment, but would Captain Forest do the same? She could not +afford to take any more risks with a rival like Blanch in the field. + +There is no knowing how long Captain Forest would have remained a silent +spectator of the charming picture she presented, had not her attention +been attracted by the sound of Starlight's hoofs as he began to paw the +ground impatiently. She raised her head from the bush over which she was +bending and turned her gaze in the direction of the gate. + +"Oh!" she cried with a little start, silently regarding the Captain for +some moments. Then a smile slowly wreathed her lips and she broke into a +light laugh. Her right hand involuntarily sought her fan which slowly +opened across the lower half of her face and she shot a glance at him +over its rim with an ease and grace which only Spanish women have ever +succeeded in mastering. The effect of this deft bit of coquetry, simple +and natural as were all her actions, was not lost upon the Captain. + +"I don't know whether I love you or not," it said plainly as words, +"but henceforth you shall be my slave." + +"How long have you been there?" she asked at length, slowly lowering her +fan. + +"Only an instant, Senorita," he replied, raising his hat. "I was +wondering," he continued, "whether it would be too much to ask you for +one of those roses? One would not be missed among so many." + +"Ah, but they are precious, Senor _Capitan_--these especially; they are +my favorites," and she swept her hand caressingly over the bush beside +which she was standing. + +"For that reason I shall prize it all the more, Senorita." + +"Ah! you men have a way of using flattery to women whenever you want +anything of them. And yet," she continued with just the suggestion of a +frown, "a woman would be hard hearted to refuse--" Her eyes dropped for +an instant, then looking up again, she said hesitatingly: "I wonder if I +can trust you?" + +"Try me," he pleaded. + +"I know it's foolish, but rather than have you think me less generous +than the women you have known, I shall give you one little one, Captain +Forest, that is, on condition you never ask me for another," and +breaking off one of the largest half-blown blossoms, she held it in her +hand as though loath to part with it. + +"I promise," said the Captain solemnly, dismounting and holding his +horse by the rein. "I dare not leave my horse, Senorita," he added in a +tone of embarrassment, "he is unaccustomed to a town and feels strange, +and should he take it into his head to bolt, he might do the first +person he met an injury." + +"Indeed? I have often thought of your horse and wondered where you got +him. But," she continued reluctantly, "since you cannot come to me, I +suppose I must come to you," and passing through the gate, she stood +before him, rose in hand. + +"A truly magnificent animal," she said, running her hand gently along +Starlight's neck. "I've been accustomed to horses from childhood and +can't help admiring a good one when I see it." + +Much to the Captain's surprise, the Chestnut did not resent her touch, +but whinnied softly instead and laid his nose on her shoulder. Any one +else but Jose and himself he would have seized with his teeth. Perhaps +it was her way of approaching and handling him, or was it the subtle +influence of that mysterious kinship which exists between the wild +things--strange and inexplicable to all but themselves? + +"I thought I possessed the only pure Arab in Mexico," she continued. +"He's a small black horse with a white star in his forehead, and has +never been beaten. You should look at the Raven some time--he would +interest you," she added. + +"I should like to. Arabs are rare on this side of the Atlantic. Where +did you get him?" + +"He was a present from Count Don Louis de Ortega, of the City of +Mexico." + +"Count Louis de Ortega?" + +"Yes. He is the most charming old gentleman I know. He is Padre +Antonio's great friend." + +"Ah!" ejaculated the Captain as though relieved. + +"I once spent a summer traveling in Europe with the Ortega family. But +here is your rose, Captain Forest. I almost believe you forgot it. +Horses are so much more interesting than flowers," and handing him the +rose, she was back again in the garden before he could thank her. + +"_A Dios, Capitan_ Forest," she continued with the softest accent +imaginable, lingering unconsciously on his name as she paused on the +other side of the gate. Again the little fan opened, and looking back +over it with a bewitching smile and arched eyebrows and her head held +coquettishly on one side, she said as if to herself: "I wonder how long +he will keep it?" + +His heart gave a great throb as he gazed upon that subtle, bewitching +vision before him, "Forever, Senorita!" he was about to reply, but she +was gone. + +It might be argued that a woman of Chiquita's metal would not have shown +her hand thus lightly. Let his infernal beast bolt and trample the whole +town in the dust and himself in the bargain. If he wanted the rose, let +him come and get it; not a step would she move! Possibly, but let it not +be forgotten that she was in love--desperately in love; that the time +for quibbling had passed, that another woman equally fair would have +unhesitatingly waded through a river to deliver that rose to the Captain +had he asked for it. Destiny had placed Captain Forest in the saddle, +just as it had decreed that Don Felipe Ramirez should pass the remainder +of his days pursuing an illusive vision. If nature and convention now +swarmed at the Captain's saddle-bow, surely it was no fault of his. Had +he not burnt his last bridge, snapped his fingers in the face of the +world, and turned his back upon it and ridden forth in search of the +lost kingdom of Earth? + + + + +XIII + + +"The jade--coquetting openly on the highroad!" cried the Senora +furiously, stepping out from the shadow of the wall after the Captain +had disappeared down the road. + +"Will she stop at nothing? It's true, she loves him! What would Don +Felipe do had he witnessed what she had just seen?" and she shuddered as +she paused breathlessly before the high iron gate, her cheeks aglow and +her eyes flashing with indignation. Cautiously pushing open the gate +which stood ajar, she paused for an instant on the inside, casting her +eyes nervously about her in search of Chiquita, but seeing no one, she +advanced slowly along the walk leading in the direction of the house. +She had not far to go before she came upon the object of her quest, +seated on a rough stone bench in the shade of a thick cluster of +tamarisk bushes which grew close to the wall. + +The surprise Chiquita felt on seeing the Senora standing before her so +unexpectedly, caused her to let fall the book which she was vainly +endeavoring to read--an action which the Senora regarded as an admission +of her guilt; and she exulted in her evident embarrassment. + +The episode of the rose had caused her to quite forget her mission for +the moment. From her general air of excitement, flushed face and +flashing eyes, Chiquita rightly conjectured that something unusual had +happened and that an outburst of some sort or other was imminent. It +came like an explosion. + +"Holy Virgin!" she cried, eyeing Chiquita critically. "What is the +meaning of this; dressed in your very best? Is this the Sabbath, or one +of the blessed Saints' days, or perhaps a Palm-Sunday that you should +array yourself thus? Mother of God! when has it become the fashion for +young ladies to disport themselves in their best clothes on common, +ordinary week days? Why, 'tis not even a Fish-Friday! Merciful Heaven! +to what are we coming?" she gasped between breaths, clasping her hands +and glancing heavenward. "Do such dresses grow upon bushes that they are +so easily obtained? Doubtless," she concluded with withering sarcasm, +"when they are worn threadbare as they soon will be owing to such +constant usage, you will purchase others with those golden _pesos_ which +you earned so recently." + +Chiquita, accustomed to the Senora's outbursts, did not deign an +immediate reply, but sat quietly fanning herself, a faint smile +wreathing her lips; she was thoroughly enjoying the Senora's discomfort. +What would not the latter give to know something concerning those +_pesos_? Chiquita's composure under the fire of her words only tended to +increase her irritation. + +"Oh, I know why you have thus suddenly turned the peacock! You do not +deceive me! You have arrayed yourself thus for the grand +Senor--_Capitan_ Forest." + +"Bah!" ejaculated Chiquita composedly, as though nothing unusual were +taking place. "Is that all you have to say Dona Fernandez?" + +"All! Is that not enough? Holy God!" she cried with increasing vexation. +"You are in love--in love, I say!" A ripple of laughter bubbled over the +two rosy petals of Chiquita's lips, revealing the pearly whiteness of +her teeth. Now that she realized the real cause of the Senora's anger, +it was impossible to become angry herself. The Senora, however, was by +no means abashed by Chiquita's indifference, and vigorously renewed the +attack. + +"So our little ring-dove is in love, is she?" she continued mockingly, +strutting back and forth before her. "You think _Capitan_ Forest will +notice you in that finery--that he will fall in love with you and will +marry you, and that you will become a grand lady like the Senorita +Lennox and ride in a fine carriage for the rest of your days. _Mercedes +Dios!_ and all because you have succeeded in turning the heads of a few +country bumpkins that hang about the place casting sheep's-eyes at you. +Ha, ha, ha!" she laughed derisively. "Believe me, when _Capitan_ Forest +makes up his mind to marry, he will not stoop so low to pick up so +little." + +"Dona Fernandez!" said Chiquita sharply rising from the bench with an +ominous look in her eyes. + +"Foolish child," Senora went on without heeding her, "to imagine that +some day your hands will be white like a lady's! I suppose you have +nothing further to do to-day but to pick flowers?" she added, pausing +for breath. + +"I have never worried about my color, Dona Fernandez," replied Chiquita +indignantly. "Indeed, I sometimes think it holds its own better than +that of some persons I might mention." + +"Holy Mother! how your tongue runs on! Am I not to be allowed to say +anything? Oh, you do not deceive me! I saw you give him the rose as I +came here. If he's sensible, he'll throw it away." + +Chiquita laughed derisively. "Perhaps it is well for the world that all +people are not so sensible as you are, Dona Fernandez," and her fan +closed with a sudden snap. "So this is the advice you came to give me, +Dona Fernandez? How very considerate of you!" + +Her words recalled the Senora to the purpose of her coming. For some +time she paced up and down before Chiquita without replying. Then +stopping and facing her, and watching closely for the effect her words +would have upon her, she said: "I came to tell you--that Don Felipe +Ramirez has returned." + +Chiquita started. "Don Felipe here?" + +"Aye. He's stopping at my house, and I came to warn you that perhaps it +would be well to be cautious and exercise a little more self-control +than is your wont when in his and _Capitan_ Forest's presence." + +The Senora was satisfied with her morning's work; her words had had +their effect. Besides, had she not had her say--unburdened her soul of +many things which she had long been dying to give utterance to? All +things considered she had scored. + +"_A Dios_, Senorita," she added sarcastically, her black eyes gleaming +with malicious satisfaction as with mock courtesy she bowed and turned, +leaving Chiquita silent and motionless, her eyes cast on the ground and +lost in thought. + + + + +XIV + + +"Don Felipe here? The coward, the cur! How dare he return?" she cried +with a sudden outburst, her words ringing with indignation and +resentment. She impatiently tapped the palm of her hand with her fan as +she began to realize what his return might mean to her. + +She knew that Senora had come to warn her not on her own account, but +solely on Don Felipe's. Knowing as she did the reckless character of the +man, she thoroughly realized the danger, and knew that she must be on +her guard, not only for her own sake, but for Captain Forest's as well. +Like the bird of ill omen that he was, his presence boded no good to +her. Already she felt his baleful shadow fall across her path. + +The unusual attention which Chiquita had begun to pay to her personal +appearance did not escape the observant eye of Padre Antonio. Knowing +the nature of woman as few men did, he was wise enough not to question +her, experience having taught him that the majority of women can only +keep a secret for a certain length of time. He smiled and admired, or +twitted her with the simple remark: "For whom are we dressing this +morning, Chiquita _mia_?" But she only laughed in reply, or shaking her +finger at him with a mysterious air, would say: "What woman would not +dress for Padre Antonio?" But Padre Antonio was not so innocent as he +tried to appear. Instinct, reenforced by long experience, told him that +these were the first real symptoms of love which his wild little Indian +girl, as he chose to call her, had shown. + +He had always suspected that she never really cared for Don Felipe, and +had done his best to break off the engagement before the catastrophe had +overtaken the latter; but this was different. That of which he was loath +to think, yet which he knew must inevitably happen, had come to pass. + +His knowledge of human nature told him that she had at last met the man +worthy of her love, but, he asked himself, would Captain Forest, of a +different race and reared under totally different conditions, +reciprocate that love? He could not endure the thought that his little +girl might be made unhappy should the Captain fail to respond to her +love. + +He, too, had seen Chiquita give him the rose from his study window which +overlooked the garden. So, when the sermon upon which he was engaged was +completed, he quietly descended to the garden with the intention of +administering to her a gentle admonition as well as giving her a little +wholesome advice. Chiquita, hearing the sound of his measured tread on +the gravel as he approached along the pathway, reseated herself on the +bench and began to fan herself unconcernedly. + +What a picture she made against the pale plumy branches of the tamarisk, +thought Padre Antonio. + +"I thought I heard voices," he said, seating himself beside her. "Has +any one been here?" + +"Dona Fernandez has just gone," replied Chiquita absently. "She has been +giving me some of her advice." + +"Advice?" echoed Padre Antonio, realizing the moment of his arrival to +be most opportune. "That's just what I have come to give you, my +child--advice!" + +"What! You, too, Padre?" she exclaimed petulantly, looking at him +inquiringly. "_Dios!_ what have I done that everybody comes to give me +advice when I have so many other things to think of?" + +"Chiquita," slowly began Padre Antonio, laying his hand gently on her +own, "I have always known you to be wiser than most women, the result no +doubt, of your early life and training in the wilds where people must +live by their wits for self-preservation if for nothing else." He paused +that he might the better collect his thoughts. She guessed what was +coming and began toying with her fan, an arch smile playing about her +delicate, sensitive mouth as she regarded him out of the corners of her +large dark eyes. + +"Chiquita," he continued, "I do not like your extravagance. Have a care, +child, lest you become addicted to vanity." + +"Again, just what the Senora said! Am I so vain as all that, Padre +_mio_, that you should be obliged to remind me of it?" + +"Then why this continual display?" he asked pointedly. "You never used +to show such consideration for your admirers." She felt that it would +be not only foolish, but worse than useless to attempt to fence about +the truth with him. + +"Ah, Padre _mio_," she sighed softly, blushing and laying her hand +lightly on his shoulder and looking up into his face with deep lustrous +eyes that softened with her words, "you--you forget--that I have never +been in love before." + +"In love!" echoed Padre Antonio in turn. "Ah! I knew it was that," and +into his eyes there came an expression of tenderness and a far-away look +as though the word recalled memories of other days. Memories which music +or the glories of the sunset, or the cooing of the wood-dove at eventide +might awaken within the soul. The sunlight played along the path at +their feet. The breeze wafted the fragrance of the roses about them and +a linnet, perched on the swaying branch of a tree overhead, gave voice +to his song, singing of the joy of life. Again he sighed, and Chiquita +looking up quickly, saw in his eyes that which she had never suspected. + +"Padre _mio_," she said at length, lowering her eyes and slowly opening +and shutting her fan, "have--have you ever been in love?" + +"My child!" he cried with a start, suddenly recollecting where he was. +"You forget what I am! What are you thinking of?" + +"Oh, nothing, nothing!" she returned quietly. "Only it's so--so sweet to +be in love, Padre _mio_. And yet so--" + +"So what, my child?" he interrupted hurriedly, as if to get through +with the subject as quickly as possible. + +"So terrible," she answered. + +"So terrible?" + +"Yes, terrible, Padre _mio_, for I never knew before how ugly I am." + +"My poor child, you have quite lost your head!" he answered +sympathetically. + +"Ah, no," she said rising and facing him, "you do not understand; I have +a most dangerous rival. To win the Senor I am compelled to use every +means and strategy within my power. Can you not see?" she continued +passionately; "she has everything; I have nothing. She is not only +beautiful, but rich, and Blessed Virgin, what dresses she has, and +jewels enough to cover an altar-cloth!" + +"My child!" he cried. "You are merely jealous of the Senorita's beauty. +For shame, that you should set such store upon worldly things!" + +"Padre _mio_, you would not have your little Chiquita unhappy, would +you?" she went on without heeding his words, a beseeching tone in her +voice. "Should I fail to win Captain Forest's love, my heart will +break!" She stood with downcast eyes before him, an expression of pain +on her face. + +"Ah, yes, my child, I understand," he answered compassionately, also +rising from the bench. "Your temptation is great. Beware of pride and +the vanities of this world, for he that exalteth himself shall be +humbled. + +"Chiquita," he continued earnestly, "my greatest care in bringing you up +has ever been to keep you the pure and simple being that you were when +you came to me. Do not forget--God demandeth that the souls which he +gave into our keeping should be returned unto him again in the same pure +unblemished state that we received them. Therefore, take heed, my child, +for although God has endowed you with great beauty of both mind and +body, do not foolishly imagine that, by arraying yourself in the +vanities of this world, you can add an atom to the natural beauty He has +bestowed upon you already. Be but pleasing in God's sight and it must +follow that you will please all men as well." + +"Oh! you really do think me beautiful, Padre?" she cried, a radiant look +on her face. + +"My child, my child, you do not listen to what I have to say!" he +groaned despairingly. + +"Oh, yes, I do, Padre _mio_! But you forget that, when God endowed woman +with a soul, he gave her a heart as well. Willingly we render our souls +unto God, but our hearts belong to men." The logic of her argument was +too much for Padre Antonio, and he laughed as she had never seen him +laugh before. + +"Verily," he said at length, wiping the tears from his eyes and +reseating himself on the bench, "the spirit and flesh must ever contend +for the mastery of the soul on earth; it is our fate--the good Lord +intended that it should be so." + +"Ah, yes," she returned. "It's not always the good that seems to please +us most in this world." + +"Aye, verily!" he rejoined, relapsing into silence. Again the linnet +gave voice to his song, and the cooling breeze sighed among the tamarisk +plumes that waved about their heads. + +"Do you remember when you first came to me, Chiquita _mia_?" he asked at +last. + +"That was ten years ago, Padre." + +"I then thought," he went on, "that the good Lord had sent you to me to +make a little angel out of you, but--" + +"Ah, Padre _mio_," she interrupted, "it's too bad! I'm afraid I'm still +the little devil that I was!" and laughing, she rose from her seat and +passing around to his end of the bench, stood beside him and began to +pull the leaves from a rose-bush. + +"Padre _mio_," she said softly, looking down at him with mischievous +lights dancing in her eyes, "you don't really regret that I have +remained what I am, do you?" + +"Oh, I didn't mean to infer that, my child!" he answered with a note of +reproach in his voice, looking up into her shadowy, downcast face. She +gave a little laugh, and tapping him gently on one shoulder with her +fan, said: "Do you know what you are, Padre _mio_?" + +"What, my child?" he asked innocently, his face brightening at the +question. + +"You're the dearest old goose that ever lived!" and bending over him, +she kissed him lightly on the crown of his head before he could prevent +it. + +"Chiquita, my child--you're too impulsive! Have I not repeatedly forbade +you--" but the sound of her laughter and retreating footsteps on the +pathway leading to the house was the only response his words invoked. +"_Dios!_" he exclaimed, recovering his breath. "I sometimes think that +God created man, but woman--the devil! They never listen to anything one +has to tell them!" + +Chiquita went quietly to her room, walked straight to her bureau and +opening the lower drawer, took out a small pistol which lay concealed +beneath a chemise in one corner. Examining it carefully with the +practiced eye and hand of one who has been accustomed to the use of +firearms all her life, she loaded it and then placed it inside her +breast. She knew Don Felipe as no one else did, and thoroughly realized +the danger that threatened her. From that hour, waking or sleeping, the +weapon must never leave her. + + + + +XV + + +Who was Richard Yankton? Many had asked that question, foremost of whom +was Dick himself; but years of unremitting search had failed to reveal +his origin. + +In the spring of 1870 Colonel Yankton, who with his regiment of cavalry +was stationed in Arizona, came one day upon the smoldering remains of an +immigrant train--the work of the Apache Indians. + +The scalped and mutilated remains of men, women and children lay +scattered over the plain where they had fallen. It was a melancholy +sight; one with which the Colonel had long become familiar during years +of campaigning against the Red man. His scouts had picked up the trail +and just as he was about to start in pursuit of the depredators, he +fancied he heard a cry, causing him to pause and listen. + +Presently the cry was repeated, and riding in the direction whence the +sound proceeded, he came upon a little child of about two and a half +years of age sitting on the ground among the sage-brush; the sole +survivor of the disaster. It was a pretty, rosy-cheeked, dark-eyed +baby--a boy. He was frightened at being left alone so long and was +crying bitterly. But when he saw the Colonel looking down at him from +the back of his horse, the little fellow brightened up. He forgot his +troubles, and ceasing to cry, began to laugh and stretch out his tiny +hands, and in his incoherent baby way, began to babble. + +"Horsie, horsie, widie!" he cried, in the most beseeching, irresistible +manner, just as he must have been accustomed to ask the men of the camp +for a ride whenever they appeared with a horse. In an instant the +Colonel was on the ground and had the little fellow in his arms. As no +clew to the child's parents or relatives was ever found, the Colonel +adopted him, giving him his own name. + +Dick received an excellent schooling up to his sixteenth year and +probably would have entered West Point had not his benefactor suddenly +died. Strange to say, the life of a soldier with which he had become +familiar during the years spent at the different posts assigned to the +Colonel, did not appeal to him. The restraint and routine of the life +appeared irksome, and a year later the then great undeveloped West +numbered him among her sons. + +Indeed, as subsequent events proved, it was fortunate that he had +renounced the life of a soldier. The success which later attended his +efforts in the search for wealth far overshadowed that which he probably +would have attained in the army, especially as his heart was not in the +life. + +Dick was a born miner and prospector, and passed successively through +New Mexico, Arizona and California in his search for the precious +metals, finally drifting into old Mexico where he met with his first +important success. + +It seemed as though he were directed by an invisible power. For weeks +and months at a time he would idle--read and smoke and ride or travel. +Then suddenly the spirit would move him, and without saying a word to +any one, he would quietly slip away into the mountains by himself in +whichever direction he seemed most impelled to go. Where other men +paused and lingered in the hope of finding gold, he passed on and +discovered the metal where others least expected to find it. + +Perhaps one of the chief reasons for his success lay in the fact that he +did not assert his own will by planning a systematic search for the +metal, but allowed himself to be drawn by that mysterious, attractive +affinity that existed between him and the precious metals. Dick became +aware of the existence of this strange affinity early in his career and +acted upon it. Already at the age of thirty he possessed two of the +greatest gold and silver mines in the world and began to find it +difficult to know what to do with his income. + +The fact that he cared nothing for money beyond the simple comforts of +life which it afforded, was perhaps another inscrutable reason why he +was permitted during the course of the next eight years to add two more +rich mines to his possessions. + +At thirty-eight he owned four mines, the possession of any one of which +would have caused the average man to see visions. For example, Dick +would have regarded Colonel Van Ashton's fortune, handsome though it +was, as mere loose change in his pocket. + +But this modern young Croesus was not unworthy of the fortune that +had been showered upon him so bountifully as the majority of men who +acquire great wealth invariably become. He not only constantly strove to +improve his mind, but maintained a pension-roll and list of public +charities and beneficiaries that would have done credit to a small +European Principality. In short, he thoroughly realized what the +responsibility of great wealth entailed. + +True to his supersensitive nature and fastidious taste, he always +dressed in the height of fashion. This was the only extravagance he +allowed himself which, considering his fortune, was reasonable enough. + +Experience had taught him that the majority of men and women were fakirs +pure and simple, whose chief motives were prompted solely by +self-interest; and any suggestion to reform the world he invariably +greeted with laughter. In fact, the world in his opinion, was not worth +reforming; yet, in spite of this melancholy truth, he had remained human +to the core, and took a live interest in that world of men which he knew +to be nothing more nor less than a great gamble. And therein lay the +chief distinction between him and Captain Forest, for they were +otherwise strangely alike. Dick was still more or less interested in +molding the clay--the Captain had done with it. Possibly because the +latter had fallen heir to that which Dick had acquired through effort +and, therefore, set less store upon it. + +There were few countries which he had not visited. After making his +first rich strike, he attempted to settle in New York, but was unable to +do so. To use his own words, "he was only able to sit down, but there +wasn't room enough for him to stretch his arms and legs." + +During his travels he had collected numerous works of art; tapestries, +paintings, marbles and bronzes by the best modern masters, which he +placed in a beautiful Spanish _hacienda_ especially designed by one of +the foremost architects of the day. The house occupied the site of an +old Spanish _rancho_ situated in a beautiful valley about ten miles from +Santa Fe and was generally conceded to be the most attractive estate in +Chihuahua, though not the largest and most valuable; Don Felipe Ramirez +possessed that. Both house and garden were a living monument to Dick's +natural refinement and good taste. There were no jarring notes or +lavish, tawdry display, the pitfalls into which the parvenue and petit +bourgeois invariably fall. This was his only hobby, and just why he +indulged it, he himself would have found it difficult to answer, for in +reality, he cared but little for it. + +He regarded it chiefly as a precaution against old age. He would +continue to improve and beautify the place until the day arrived when he +would retire from the world to pass the few remaining years of life amid +the quiet and seclusion which the country afforded. And he often +pictured himself when alone and musing over his cigar, as a lonely, +white-haired patriarch, without offspring to perpetuate his name, seated +in the center of his _patio_, smiling benignly upon the frolicsome +little brown children of his Indian retainers as they laughed and +disported themselves about him. + +"Ah!" cries the world. "Mr. Yankton has a history!" Of course. What man +or woman has not, even though they dare not admit it? Had he loved too +much or too little? There were even some who attributed that exquisite +vein of melancholy in his nature to the shadow of a married woman. Was +he haunted by the fear that some fair, false one might marry him for his +fortune, not for himself? Or, was his aversion to marriage due solely to +the fact that the right woman had not yet arrived? + +These and many other questions had been asked and thoroughly discussed +by the matrons and daughters of Santa Fe, especially by the latter, to +all of whom he had made love and sent flowers and serenaded in turn +until, out of sheer desperation, they called alternately upon God and +the devil to keep or punish this gay Lothario who loved all and yet +none, and who gave such exquisite _fiestas_ in his beautiful _hacienda_. + +Now it so chanced that, at the same hour Don Felipe was conducting +Blanch and Bessie to the canon, Dick was returning to Santa Fe on +horseback from his _hacienda_ where he had passed the night. As there +was no particular reason why he should reach the _Posada_ before noon, +he decided to indulge his fancy by lingering in the cooling shade of the +canon close to the river's edge, where he might listen to the voices of +the waters as they went singing by him on their way to the old town and +thence to the sea. + +He accordingly dismounted, and after lighting a fresh cigar, stretched +himself at full length upon the grass which grew on the river's bank, +allowing his horse to graze at will. Just behind him rose the abrupt +wall of the canon some thirty or forty feet in height which, at this +hour of the morning, cast a deep shadow over the spot where he lay and +halfway across the river in front of him. It was just the sort of place +for an Indian or one of Dick's nature to linger in and dream and muse. +The tips of the tall grass and reeds which grew close to the water's +edge, swayed gently in the fresh morning breeze. The song of the finch +and linnet issued from the thick, low willow copse growing along the +river's banks. + +How peaceful it was, and how sweetly the waters sang! No wonder the +Indian prized the peace and beauty of nature above all else. What was +his _hacienda_ to this? He was never really happy when the roof of a +house intervened between himself and the sky. + +Suddenly his attention was attracted by a noise overhead, and glancing +upward, he sprang to his feet just in time to avoid a mass of earth and +stones that came rolling down over the face of the cliff and fell on the +very spot where he had been lying. The next instant, before he had time +to realize what was happening, a soft, fluffy mass dropped into his arms +with an impact that nearly brought him to his knees. For some seconds +Dick looked hard at the object in his arms in order to assure himself +that he really was awake and not still dreaming in the grass by the side +of the river. + +There was no doubt about it; the woman had arrived. + +Miss Van Ashton lay quite still in his arms; she had fainted. For the +first time in his life, a panic seized him. + +"Miss Van Ashton!" he cried excitedly, bending over her. She seemed like +nothing, as light as a feather as she lay so still and pale in his +strong arms. It seemed as though he could have held her thus forever, +and he was almost beginning to wish that he might as he watched the +pallor of her face slowly give way to its natural pink and white glow, +delicate as the lining of a conch-shell. Strange that he had not noted +this peculiarly piquant and attractive face before. + +"Miss Van Ashton!" he cried once more. But again there was no response. +He lowered her gently on one knee in order that she might breathe more +freely. As he did so, one of her hands came into sudden contact with his +own. Instinctively his hand closed over it and held it captive; it was +so soft and warm, just like a little bird. His soul was sorely tempted, +and sad to relate, he raised it to his lips and held it there, at which +juncture Bessie Van Ashton slowly opened her eyes. + +With a cry, she was on her feet--flushed and furious. + +"Don't be alarmed, Miss Van Ashton!" he exclaimed, quite unconscious of +the cause of her sudden fright. "You're not hurt a bit; you didn't touch +the ground. You only fainted." + +"How dare you hold me in your arms?" she cried. + +"I couldn't help it, Miss Van Ashton; you dropped right into them." + +"How dare you kiss me, sir?" + +"I couldn't help that either," stammered Dick, covered with confusion +and blushing like a school-boy. + +"Insolence!" cried Bessie with increased vehemence, stamping her small +foot furiously on the ground. + +"Miss Van Ashton," stammered Dick again, "I apologize! I--I beg your +pardon--" + +"For taking advantage of a helpless woman while in an unconscious +state!" she interrupted. "A most gentlemanly act!" she added +contemptuously. Her words cut him like the lash of a whip, causing him +to wince, his face turning a deep red. + +"I'm sorry--" he began. + +"You know you're not sorry at all!" she broke in again with unabated +fury. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said again, with increasing embarrassment, "when +you fell into my arms I was so surprised and frightened--" + +"Frightened?" She laughed in his face. "A man who single handed held a +furious crowd of men at bay as you did--frightened? You mean that you +were so overcome with weakness and the joy at finding a helpless woman +in your power you could think of nothing better to do than to kiss her," +she answered with all the sarcasm she could command. + +A twinkle came into Dick's dark eyes as he regarded her for some time in +silence. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said, "if you only knew it, you are far more +dangerous than a tame mob of boys." + +"Pshaw!" she exclaimed, turning her back upon him, and tapping the +ground nervously with her daintily shod foot. Dick regarded her narrowly +during the pause that ensued. She seemed taller than he at first had +thought her, and was as slender as a birch. The sun, which by this time +had begun to peep over the top of the canon wall, cast a golden aureole +about her head. Again he heard the waters sing and the notes of the +birds issuing from the willow copse. + +"Well! how much longer are you going to stand there? Why don't you say +something?" she snapped, still keeping her back turned toward him. Her +words inspired him with fresh confidence. He recognized in them a faint +glimmer of interest which even her fierce spirit of resentment had not +entirely succeeded in overcoming. + +"Miss Van Ashton, ignore me, trample me in the dust if you like, but do +you know, if it had been any other woman than yourself, I should have +laid her quietly down upon the ground and left her to regain +consciousness as best she could!" She wheeled around abruptly, looking +him straight in the eyes. There was no mistaking the sincerity of his +words, or the look that accompanied them. And she instinctively felt +that an impulsive, passionate nature like his could not have helped +doing what he did. + +"I don't believe a word you say," she said, softening somewhat, a faint +smile lurking about the corners of her mouth. Then, as the ludicrousness +of the situation came over her, she burst into fit after fit of laughter +until the tears rolled down her cheeks. + +"Oh, dear!" she sighed at length. + +"You do forgive me!" he pleaded, picking up her dainty straw hat which +lay on the ground close by and handing it to her. + +"No, I don't forgive you. I don't think I ever shall," she answered in +the severest tone she could command. "It was foolish of me to wander +away from the others," she continued. "I might have known that something +would happen, because something is always happening in this country. +It's perfectly marvelous!" Then, after a pause, during which she placed +her hat rakishly on one side of her head, she added: "As a punishment, +Mr. Yankton, I'll allow you to accompany me back to the _Posada_." Her +words caused his heart to jump. + +"I don't deserve it," he answered, assuming an air and tone of humility. + +"I'm glad you realize that," she returned. "I suppose I'm indebted to +you for saving my life," she went on. "And I don't want you to think me +ungrateful. Perhaps it would have been better though--" She broke off +abruptly, and then laughed a strange little laugh that puzzled him +greatly. She had at least grown communicative again, and he heaved a +sigh of relief. He had gotten off so much easier than he expected. + +"One moment, Miss Van Ashton," he said, as she was about to take the +lead. He turned and gave a shrill whistle. His horse which had been +feeding quietly the while on the grass a short distance from them, +raised his head at the sound, and giving a low whinny, came trotting up +to them. + +"Won't you ride?" he asked, turning to her. "He's quite gentle." + +"No," she answered rather curtly, "I prefer to walk." + +"Just as you say," he answered in a tone of complete submission, taking +his place quietly by her side. + +"No--not that way!" she said. "We'll keep the horse's head between us." + + + + +XVI + + +There had been no more shooting or attempts at murder. The mail began to +arrive from home, and Colonel Van Ashton and Mrs. Forest began to +breathe easier. + +Life at the old _Posada_ had settled down once more to its accustomed +calm and routine. The sun shone benignly and the birds sang daily in the +garden where the guests were wont to pass the greater part of the day. +The gay little songsters were a veritable revelation to them--especially +to the Colonel. How could such gentle creatures go on singing with such +indifference to the future in a land where life was held so cheap and +all things so uncertain? + +Blanch had turned a deaf ear to the others' entreaties to return home at +once. The more they talked, the firmer she became, and finally, taking +matters into her own hands, settled the question by telegraphing home +for the twenty trunks of clothes she left there on her departure. + +"Can't you see," she said by way of explanation, "how disastrous it +would be to leave Jack alone in this country with that--" + +"Don't mention her!" interrupted Mrs. Forest. + +"I don't see how we can help it," replied Blanch, "since fate has thrust +her unbidden into our lives. We might as well recognize facts first as +last since we are no longer in a position to choose either our +surroundings or the persons with whom we are to associate. There is only +one way to avert the catastrophe threatening us, and that is--by my +marrying Jack." + +Chiquita's beauty filled Mrs. Forest with a vague and nameless terror. +But a glimpse of that dark siren was enough to apprise her of her son's +peril, and she unhesitatingly implored Blanch not to let him out of her +sight--to go off with him alone as often as possible and flirt with him +to any length; a tremendous concession on Mrs. Forest's part--nothing +less than a complete surrender, she being one of those proud but insipid +mortals whose temperature could be easily gauged by the inclination of +her long, slender, slightly upturned nose which seemed to be forever +pointing toward a better world. For her, it was not enough that one's +appearance and innate refinement marked one as a lady or a gentleman, +but it must be proven by a long deduction beginning with some obscure +ancestor of whom the world has never heard and whose shortcomings have +been happily buried in the oblivion of time. Could she have had her way, +the world would have been long since wrapped in pink tissue paper, tied +with blue ribbon and labeled safe. How she ever came by her dauntless +son remains a mystery; it certainly was no fault of hers. + +Somebody of a pessimistic turn of mind once remarked that, if the human +race were suddenly stripped naked, it would be impossible to distinguish +the refined from the vulgar. A truly inspired utterance. For as Captain +Forest viewed his family from his plane of vantage, especially after +the leveling process had set in, they strangely reminded him of a flock +of tame geese rioting in a pond. They made a great noise and stir, but +convinced nobody. + +Everybody having reached his level and been shorn of airs and +affectations, it no longer remained a question of what one was, but what +one could do. Consequently, it became daily more and more difficult to +distinguish between personalities. It is true there were occasional +flashes suggestive of submerged, latent faculties, but only flashes; +stupidity and the commonplace were the dominating notes. + +It was a wonderful study in human nature, and hopeless though the +general outlook appeared, the future was not entirely without its +promise. The souls of Blanch and Chiquita shone like radiant twin stars +from out the gloomy, abysmal depths of the Egyptian darkness that had +settled over the world. + +Perhaps the most remarkable and amusing feature of it all was that, with +the exception of Blanch, the others still seemed able to take themselves +seriously. They regarded the Captain's new outlook upon life as a +complete reversion to the primitive type, but luckily for them, he had +not yet lost his sense of compassion. + +Recognizing the deplorable mental state to which his uncle was fast +sinking, he kept him supplied with wines and cigars, obtained from his +friend, Pedro Romero, the gambler. No man can partake of excellent wines +and cigars for any length of time without feeling his oats, as the +saying goes; and the Colonel proved no exception to the rule. + +He had just finished a bottle of Burgundy and, as he sat in the garden +with his sister, sipping his _demitasse_ and inhaling the fragrant aroma +of a Havana, he began to feel the return of his nerve. In fact, had he +been approached on the subject, he would have admitted that he felt like +a fighting-cock, in just the proper condition to quarrel with his +nephew. Happily for the Colonel, the subject of his thoughts came +sauntering into view at this juncture, and he squared himself, assuming +an aggressive attitude preparatory to the encounter which he intended to +precipitate with all possible dispatch. + +The disgusting complacency with which his nephew had taken to wearing +long trousers over his riding-boots in place of those precious balloon +breeches originally designed for lackeys but since adopted as a becoming +apparel for a gentleman, affected the Colonel's tender susceptibilities +to an extent almost inducing nausea. He quite forgot that he had been +guilty of a similar offense during his campaigning in the Civil War, and +naively imagined that his nephew had acquired this vulgar habit from his +friend, Mr. Yankton; a person whose lack of etiquette and easy-going +ways were enough to set his teeth on edge. + +The Captain was looking for Blanch whom he had seen entering the garden +with his mother and the Colonel, but whose return to the house he had +not noticed, and he, therefore, walked unsuspectingly into the arms of +his uncle. + +"I wish you would get rid of that infernal horse of yours," began the +Colonel by way of a preliminary to the skirmish, while his nephew +seated himself unconcernedly in a chair opposite him, tilting it +backwards and leisurely crossing his legs. "He positively threatened to +devour me bodily as I passed the corral this morning." + +"I suppose it's because he has not yet learned that you are my uncle," +replied the Captain, suppressing a smile. "It's strange what dislikes he +takes to certain persons when one considers that he's as gentle as a +kitten when children are around; but I'll try to teach him to +distinguish members of the family in the future." + +"Look here, Jack! I've had enough of this beating about the bush. It's +time we came to an understanding." + +"There's nothing to prevent it that I can see," answered the Captain +with maddening coolness. "I was merely apologizing for an ill-mannered +horse." + +"Damn your horse, sir!" cried the Colonel with increasing choler. + +"Any time you are ready, dear Uncle," replied the Captain calmly, taking +a cigarette from his case and lighting it. The Colonel ground his teeth +in silence. His first encounter with his nephew could hardly be called +satisfactory and he did not wish a repetition of it. He had come to +argue his nephew out of his folly through sheer force of logic and it +behooved him to remain as calm as possible during the interview, for his +nephew had a most surprising way of answering back and turning the +argument against one. + +"Tell me," he began, "what possible attraction this country can have for +you?" + +"It would be quite as impossible to explain that satisfactorily to you +as to make my reasons clear for being here at all. But since you again +ask me for those reasons, I can only answer as I did before. I have +exhausted that felicitous state called civilization. I want to be free." + +"Rot!" cried the Colonel, literally snorting and bounding into the air. +"You've no right to be free! Only savages and criminals want to be free! +If that's all you have to say--" but his voice choked and he resumed his +seat in silence. + +"I've never heard anything quite so silly!" exclaimed Mrs. Forest who up +to this point had maintained a discreet silence. + +"It's true nevertheless," continued the Captain composedly, blowing a +ring of blue smoke into the air. "Civilization, you know, is practically +the same the world over. I have seen and heard everything, read +everything, and met everybody that's worth meeting, and I'm tired of +seeing and hearing them over and over again, year in and year out, with +always the dead certainty of their return to look forward to. Our lives +have become too stilted, too artificial--we lack poise, we live in +grooves. Everything is overdone--there is nothing left for us to +enjoy--our finer sensibilities have become dulled--the simplicity and +refinements of life have been swallowed up by luxury, tawdry display and +prudism." + +"Bosh!" cried the Colonel. + +"Everybody," the Captain went on, "knows exactly what his neighbor +thinks and is going to say, and should anybody by any chance begin to +think differently and seriously on life, society instantly brands that +person as stupid, if not a little queer. We have lost our independence." + +"Nonsense!" said Mrs. Forest. + +"Granted for the sake of argument," broke in the Colonel, flipping the +ash from off his cigar. "But what about art, science and literature, the +real things which stand for civilization?" + +"Oh! as to them, they are all right in themselves. It is fortunate that +man has an outlet through these manifold channels of expression. + +"They are the best part of our lives so far as they go, but all art and +science and no nature, and what becomes of man? Have they made the world +happy, and is there any immediate prospect of their ever doing so? Did +the Greeks, who attained the supreme heights in art, find happiness in +their art? Their history is the record of one long struggle; and so it +was with the renaissance of the Middle Ages, and so it is with us; our +sciences and arts can never change the complicated conditions in which +we live. They have never developed the sympathy and brotherly love which +should exist between man and man; we are still barbarians. + +"The most miserable wretches that ever lived were the very ones that +passed their lives creating and theorizing. They all forgot and are +still forgetting like the rest of the world to-day that, these things, +no matter how great, amuse and interest for a time only; that once they +are absorbed, their original charm and novelty are gone forever. They +become worn and threadbare like all of man's inventions, and humanity is +ever left searching for the great panacea of life. + +"The God-inspired sing and talk of the great life, but they do not live +it themselves, and that is why they never really succeed in delivering +their messages. And they may continue to write books and compose music, +to paint pictures and build temples and hew statues so long as this +planet is habitable, but these things are merely an imitation of the +reality--a reflection of the ideal in man. The delivered man must stand +above his art and science. He must recognize that he himself is the +well-spring, the source of his inspiration and is greater than his +emotional expressions. The true message can never be delivered to the +world until the life for which these things stand is actually lived out, +becomes a part of man's daily life." + +"And you intend to deliver that message, I suppose?" observed the +Colonel sarcastically, smiling compassionately and twirling the end of +his mustache. + +"In my own humble way, yes, but I ask no man to follow me!" A chorus of +laughter, in which were mingled the voices of Blanch and Bessie who had +just joined the group, greeted this confession. + +"Did you ever hear the like of the conceit?" exclaimed Mrs. Forest as +the laughter subsided. + +"Excuse my frankness, Jack, but you're an ass," said the Colonel tartly. + +"You set an example to the world? Why, you're as spoiled as the rest of +us!" cried Bessie. + +"Quite true, Cousin, but with this difference, I realize that fact and +the rest of you do not." + +"What a charming pedestal you have placed yourself upon, Jack," said +Blanch, seating herself beside Mrs. Forest. + +"Perhaps," returned the Captain dryly, "but of one thing I am certain. +Few people are better prepared to speak on this matter than I am." + +"What an interesting lot we women must be in your eyes," broke in +Bessie, digressing from the subject. Captain Forest smiled. + +"Don't misunderstand me," he went on. "You are trumps, every one of you, +if you only knew it, but unfortunately you do not. You are the most +attractive women in the world, but you are spoiled--utterly spoiled. You +are the well-groomed, lovely curled and pampered darlings of society, +but alas! utterly superficial, just like those brilliant women of the +great French revolutionary period." + +"I admire your frankness, Jack; but what do you really intend doing? +What sort of a life do you intend to lead?" asked Blanch. + +"Cease chasing will-o'-the-wisps about in the vain pursuit of happiness, +and live as man was intended to live by substituting nature's realities +for man's creations; those things which we prize most--which please for +a time, but which in the end leave us as empty handed as the day we +first started in quest of the _golden fleece_. Live as close as possible +to nature; cultivate the soil, watch the fruit and the flowers and the +grain grow, and roam throughout the length and breadth of the land when +the longing seizes me." + +"What!" cried the Colonel, unable to contain himself any longer. "Is +this the inane, prosaic existence for which you have given up one of the +most brilliant careers the world had to offer a man? It's bad enough to +have wrecked that, but for one possessing the wealth you do to waste his +life after such fashion; it's simply disgusting! Think of what you might +do in the financial world!" + +"That's just the sort of answer one might expect from you," replied the +Captain, taking a fresh pull at his cigarette. "You talk like a +stockbroker. That phase of labor brings no real happiness to any one. +Besides, it would be absurd for one possessing the money I do to spend +his days earning more. Of course as things are constituted to-day, it is +difficult to get along without money, but in reality I don't consider it +has anything to do with happiness. Lasting pleasure and peace can only +be found in the verities of nature; her beauties and realities are the +only satisfying and enduring things. + +"What can you who pass your days amid the noise and dirt of cities, +breathing their tainted atmosphere, and your intellects nourished upon +artificialities and the creations of men's minds, know of nature? How +many of you have ever gazed long enough at the stars to appreciate their +beauty and mystery, or listened to the sound of the wind and tried to +guess its meaning?" + +"Bah! you are as sentimental as a school-girl!" ejaculated the Colonel. +"You talk like one who has just taken a short course in Thoreau or +Rousseau." + +The Captain only laughed in return. He rose from his seat and began +striding up and down before them with his hands clasped behind his back +and his gaze fixed on the ground. + +"Who are you," he continued passionately, stopping abruptly before them, +"to assume that others should live according to your lackadaisical, +sensuous sentimentality--your divan, boudoir conceptions of life? +Thoreau and Rousseau and Emerson and Ruskin were great men, but had they +talked less and actually lived out the life they preached, the world +might possibly have been aroused to a consciousness of something higher +by this time; but they were too small for the task. It requires a man +cast in a bigger mold to perform the work--it is only in men like me +that the future hope of the race lies. I must _live_ the life they +preached. Do you understand? Why, I could crush you and the world you +represent in the hollow of my hand! You seek happiness in the evanescent +wine and laughter of the illusive, superficial life. I, too, sought it +there, but like you, I did not find it." + +His words sank deep into the soul of Blanch. She admired his strength +and yet hated him for it. Why, she asked herself again, as she did on +the day he first imparted his new views of life to her, was she not +moved? Why was she still unable to thrill at the sound of his words? + +She could not understand it. There seemed to be something lacking either +in him or in her. + +"What assurance have you," she asked, "that you will find happiness in +this new life which you propose to lead?" + +"The consciousness which tells me I exist, voices the fulfillment of +that promise. There can be no doubt of it. The traditions that have come +down to us from the past from all nations that once men were free, is no +myth. The true poetry of life, I repeat, is not found in the epics men +have created, but in the sources that inspired them. In the glories of +the earth and the air, in the stars and mountains and forests and fields +and streams, in man, in the birds and animals, in the turning of the +soil with the plow and the spade, and in the growing corn. These are the +things which, before all else, add to the spiritual growth of man and +inspire him to pray and hope, to sing and to love, and draw him close to +the invisible world because they are a part of the life of man, not +imitations of life. The instant man realizes this he will be free. + +"I know you cannot understand this," he continued with a shade of +impatience in his voice, "for what can a lot of slaves like you, the +brick and mortar type of man, know of freedom, all that is best and +noble in life? You are so bound to the world of your own creating that +it has become as meaningless as a fancy to you. Your souls run on the +dead level; the great song of life sweeps by you unheeded, and is gone +forever." + + + + +XVII + + +Senora Fernandez erred in her judgment of Don Felipe, which was but +natural. She still regarded him as the impetuous, hot-headed youth of +former days, not what he really was--the mature man, sobered by years of +experience and suffering which had taught him the value of self-control. + +He understood the nature, knew as never before the mettle of the woman +with whom he had to deal, and on no account would he foolishly +precipitate a quarrel with the Captain. He would bide his time and +strike only when the moment seemed propitious. The vague rumors which +were current concerning Chiquita must have some foundation, else why the +continual gossip on every tongue? He would investigate the matter for +himself, in his own time and way; meanwhile he would reinstate himself +in the good graces of the community by making himself as agreeable and +popular as possible, a thing not difficult for one of his wealth and +accomplishments. + +He had doffed his Mexican costume for the more prosaic attire of the +modern man which became him equally well and which was more to his +liking. To the cosmopolitan that he had become, the place and the people +had shrunk terribly during his absence, and there seemed to be little +left in common between him and them. The presence of the Americans was +a godsend to him, while he in turn was like a fresh breeze from the +outer world to them. + +He instinctively recognized a confederate in Blanch. They possessed a +common interest and spent much time together. Strange that the same fate +which had overtaken him was now threatening her! Those who deny a fixed +destiny and can therefore afford to ignore the laughter of the gods, may +answer with some assurance that the lives of most people, especially the +marked ones, are tragic--perhaps. But why had Colonel Van Ashton, the +bon-vivant and habitue of clubs, the adored of pretty young women and +confidant of duennas, taken the one road which led to the wilderness +when it is well known that all roads lead to Rome, especially when the +Colonel had about as much interest in his present surroundings as a +polar bear might reasonably expect to find on the equator? Possibly it +was for the same reason that the Colonel also watched with increasing +alarm the sudden and growing interest which his daughter began to take +in the man he detested most on earth. + +Reveal the cause, the hidden well-spring of destiny, and the effect may +be predicted with comparative accuracy. Can the lamb lie down with the +lion? Were there ever substantial grounds for the assertion, or was it +only metaphor--mere poetical allusion? The world has been on the _qui +vive_ for the fulfillment of prophecy ever since the expulsion of our +common ancestry from Eden. The actual motives and reasons which underlie +the workings of destiny are usually about as clear as those which bereft +Samson of his locks or left the lone figure of Marius seated amid the +ruins of Carthage. And yet, even in the face of time-worn contradictions +apparent to the most superficial and credulously minded, pretty, +distracting Bessie Van Ashton had begun to cast her eyes in the +direction of Dick Yankton, the handsome, open-handed, devil-may-care son +of nature who regarded the world of fashion to which she belonged with +about as much concern as he did the dust on his boots. + +Possibly _ennui_ prompted this willful bit of womanhood to make a +plaything of that picturesque child of nature, just as loneliness caused +him to open his eyes to the existence of that, which in the logical and +ordinary course of events, he would have entirely overlooked. But since +life is made up almost entirely of contraries, it is not so much with +reasons that we have to deal as with facts--things as they are. Clothe +human nature in whatever garb you like, at heart it remains the same. +Time and place and condition make little difference; the real man within +is sure to assert himself at some time or other by throwing off the +disguise. + +Was Bessie, the spoilt, pampered child of fashion with her soft, white +body, any more fit for a life lived close to nature than Blanch who was +naturally strong, sinuous and supple, though so softened by luxury and +the overrefinements of civilization? To all appearances, no. And yet, +the very things which seemed to pass by Blanch unheeded, began +imperceptibly to impress themselves upon Bessie. Possibly because Blanch +was so strong and individualized that, having once given herself up +wholly to the present life, she was enslaved irrevocably by it--held +fast by it with a power that had grown with her strength day by day--so +that while a weaker woman might slip through the meshes and escape, she +was held irresistibly bound through her own force and strength of +character. + +The spell and magic of the land seemed to hold like an unseen hand all +things as in the grip of a vice, and were no less potent in the present +than they were in the past. The plaintive notes of the wood-dove found a +response within Bessie's soul. The winds seemed laden with new voices +and unconsciously interrupted the train of her thoughts and caused her +to pause and listen and wonder. The wild, forbidding landscape from +which her stronger companion involuntarily shrank, for some unknown +reason attracted her. The broad expanse of heaven and earth, the far +horizon, the hazy, mysterious silhouetted peaks of distant mountains +aroused vague longings within her--emotions which she did not understand +and concerning which she failed in her attempts to analyze. + +Had she been at home, she would have regarded these new sensations as +sentimental enthusiasm and laughed at them, denying them a permanent +place in her nature. But here, it was different. They seemed to have a +hold upon one and were as irresistible as those vague longings that come +with the awakening of spring. There was music everywhere in the world +about her. Flowers of the imagination sprang from the desert on every +hand. Voices and hands called and beckoned to her from out the unseen. +The quickening and awakening within her gave promise of a new life, and +her feet became light as sunbeams. The fact of being alive and the +increasing desire to live filled her with a new joy and vigor that +darted through her soul like tongues of flame, causing her blood to +surge and tingle as never before since the days of childhood. + +A genuine interest in the new life and the lives of those about her, +took the place of the apathy and indifference with which she regarded +the sated pleasures of that jaded world from which she had departed so +recently. She had come to be bored--fully resigned for Blanch's sake to +endure the _ennui_ of mere vegetation until the prodigal Jack had been +safely gathered within the fold once more. After the rude shock of first +impressions had passed and she had found time to pause and breathe, she +began to cast her eyes about her for something more real and tangible +than the memories of the world she had left behind her, but had failed +to find anything of interest until the occurrence of that unfortunate +episode with Dick. + +His arms still clung to her in spite of the persistent efforts she made +to shake them off. And stranger still, no amount of scrubbing seemed to +remove the sting of those burning kisses he had impressed upon her hand. +That unpardonable piece of impudence was unprecedented. Men had made +love to her, adored her, and completely lost their heads over her; and +one man in particular, as she well knew, was scouring the ends of the +earth in an effort to obtain news of her present whereabouts. Much to +her astonishment, however, and contrary to her preconceived notions +concerning men, she found that she had suddenly lost interest in this +particular man for another. + +But why? What was the cause of this newly awakened interest in Dick? Was +it because he was so different from the men she had known, or was it +that strong touch of the feminine in him which certain sensitive +masculine natures possess; that rare, distinguishing characteristic +which is so attractive to men and women alike? Did any real affinity +exist between them? How could it, considering the different conditions +and environment in which they had been reared and the width of the gulf +that divided them? What then was the cause of this attraction which in +spite of her efforts to check it, was beginning to become a source of +vexation to a woman of the world who had always prided herself on being +able to keep herself well in hand? + +That it might be love, or even the dawning of love, she refused to +admit. She shuddered at the mere thought of such a catastrophe. The +thing, however, was becoming annoying. Like any thought which we hold +too long in our minds, it was bound to absorb all others in time, and +she resolved to make an end of it. She would play with him. One could +not maintain a serious interest in that which one treated as a +jest--held up to ridicule. She would play with him like an expert angler +plays with a fish, and when landed, would walk over him +rough-shod--trample him back into the dust of that coarser clay from +which he sprang. + +Ah, yes, the country was not so dull after all! It would be a royal +lark; a holiday long to be remembered. They were so far from the great +world that, when it was all over, not even the slightest rumor or +breath of scandal would remain to remind her of the flirtation upon +which she had decided to embark. + +With these thoughts running through her mind, the fascinating, +violet-eyed daughter of Colonel Van Ashton lightly dipped the tips of +her dainty fingers into a rouge-pot, glanced into the mirror and drew +them across her lips, and then deliberately attired herself in one of +her smartest gowns preparatory to flinging the first bones of +condescension to the rustic Yankton; the preliminaries of a series of +expectations and hopes deferred that were intended to reduce him to a +state of submission suitable to receive the final kick which was to +leave Mr. Yankton a wiser but a sadder man. + + + + +XVIII + + +Blanch stood before a long mirror that adorned one of the walls of her +room, trying the effect of a new tea-gown. + +The mirror was an ancient piece of furniture consisting of a faded gilt +frame and six separate rows of large, unevenly fitting squares of glass; +the style that was in vogue two centuries ago. As she regarded herself +in it, she saw herself reflected in sections, probably with much the +same effect as Marie Antoinette saw her reflection at Versailles. + +"Coronada must have brought this mirror with him on his first +expedition," she remarked to Bessie who lounged on the sofa on the +opposite side of the room amid a heap of florid cushions. "I feel as +though I had a personal grudge against that man," she continued, vainly +endeavoring to catch an unbroken outline of herself in the glass. + +"It's stunning, Blanch!" broke in Bessie from the sofa. "What is it--a +Worth?" + +"No--a Doucet. Isn't it absurd that I should array myself in these +gorgeous gowns to compete with that Indian in her few flimsy calicoes +and silks? The contrast is out of all proportion. It's the sublime and +the ridiculous. And yet she looks well in anything! Dress her in rags +and she is picturesque; robe her in silks and she is fascinating." + +"That's just what I can't understand," said Bessie. "We couldn't wear +her clothes, but she can wear ours. Why is it?" + +"It's quite simple. We have been handicapped from the start because we +have been forced to compete with them on their own ground. They are +perfectly natural; they have nothing and aspire to nothing, while we are +wholly artificial--have everything and aspire to more." + +"Why, to hear you, one would think that Jack was talking!" exclaimed +Bessie in genuine surprise. + +"Oh! I don't pretend to agree with his views, but as regards us, he's +about right. I was never able to see ourselves as some others see us +until we came here. And I have come to the conclusion that our views of +life are about as distorted as the cracked reflection of myself in the +mirror yonder. We have unconsciously lived a life antagonistic to nature +and consequently find ourselves ridiculous in our simplest endeavors to +be natural. Of course," she added, "they would appear the same if things +were reversed and we had them on our ground. + +"With us," she went on, "marriage is more a game of intrigue than love; +here it is purely one of sentiment. Aside from my intrinsic value, what +weapon have I to employ against this Indian woman? The things which +count for so much with us, fall flat here. + +"Why, I'm not even in a position to make Jack jealous! If I were at +home, I would have a dozen men at my feet and as many more as I wished +to play off against him, not to mention the thousand opportunities for +neglect. In fact, all the weapons which we women are so fond of +employing against men. Whereas, here I am at the feet of my Lord +Jack--his indifference is insufferable! Oh! I'll pay him back for this!" +she cried, pale with anger. + +"Men are brutes--all of them!" remarked Bessie laconically, rising to a +sitting posture on the sofa. + +"I hate him--hate him!" continued Blanch in a fresh paroxysm of passion. +"To think that he of all men should have been the one chosen to show me +myself--the only one of us who was strong enough to break away! Why was +I not able to hold him? Why am I not able to come to him now? There is +something wrong somewhere. We seem to have lost our grip on things. I +can't understand it!" Just then the old, gilt French clock on the white +marble mantelpiece slowly chimed the hour of five. The sound of the +clock caused Blanch to pause. "Five o'clock," she said, calming herself. +"Don Felipe will be waiting for us in the garden." + +"That's so," answered Bessie, rising from the sofa and crossing the room +to the window which looked out over the _patio_ into the garden. "There +he is now, pacing back and forth beneath the trees. What a restless man +he is!" + +"After the first cup, you might disappear, Bess," said Blanch. "I want +to try to find out if he still cares for that Indian?" + +"That was the most romantic thing I ever heard!" exclaimed Bessie. + +"I wonder he ever returned," answered Blanch, opening the door and +leading the way across the _patio_ in the direction of the garden. The +tinkle of a guitar attracted their attention to a group of _peons_ and +women squatted on their heels on one side of the court, in the shade of +the arcades, smoking and chatting. A little beyond them, in the shadow +of the doorway, stood the major-domo, Juan Ramon and the pretty +housekeeper, Rosita. + +"_Dios!_ but she is _magnifico_--the tall one!" whispered Juan to Rosita +as the girls passed them, nodding and smiling in response to Juan's deep +salutation and Rosita's courtesy. + +"And the little one," said Rosita in turn. "Is she not like a half-blown +pink rose?" + +"Aye! 'tis a feast for the eyes to look at them!" answered Juan. "There +has not been so much life in the place since the old days when the +Master was alive." + +"If Don Felipe doesn't marry one of them he's a fool," added Rosita. + +"That's just what I have been saying to myself," returned Juan. + +"What else can he be doing here if he doesn't intend to take one of them +back to his _hacienda_ with him?" continued Rosita. "I've noticed that +he and the tall one spend much time together." + +"Aye!" ejaculated Juan. "It must be lonely at the old _rancho_ without a +woman to keep him company." + +"The tall Senorita would be just the one for the place!" exclaimed +Rosita enthusiastically. + +"Rosita _mia_," began Juan confidentially after a short silence, during +which his gaze rested pensively on the retreating figures of the girls, +"I've just been thinking that there is no happiness for a man, still +less for a woman, in a single life. What say you, Rosita _mia_," he went +on, patting her familiarly on the cheek. + +"Juan Ramon," interrupted Rosita with an angry flush, "if you don't want +to get your face slapped, you had better behave like a _Caballero_!" + +"_Caramba!_ what a little spitfire!" returned Juan, pulling the end of +his thin mustache, yet not in the least disconcerted by her show of +temper. "But supposing, my pearl of a housekeeper, that I bought a neat +little _rancheria_--do you know of any one who might care to look after +it?" + +"Bah! First pay your gambling debts, Juan Ramon. There will then be time +enough to look for some one who will allow herself to be beaten on +feast-days when you have drunk more _pulque_ than is good for you. But +_Dios!_ why am I wasting words with you? The Senoritas will begin to +wonder what has become of their chocolate and _tortillas_ if I don't +hurry." + +"Ungrateful woman," responded Juan, assuming an injured tone. "Would you +leave me without a kiss?" + +"Holy Mother! what has come over you, Juan Ramon--has the sunshine gone +to your head? A kiss, indeed!" and she tossed her head. "Go to +Petronita, the cook! She is old; doubtless she will give you a plenty!" +and laughing, she hurried into the dining-room in search of a tray with +which to serve the ladies. The mere mention of the ancient, withered +Petronita, with the parchment-like face, caused Juan's mouth to pucker +as though he had bitten into an unripe persimmon. + +"_Diablos!_ if the luck would only change!" he muttered. "Rosita would +be the very one--" The sound of light footsteps and the tinkle of spurs +caused Juan to turn. + +"Ah! _buenas dias_, Senorita!" he exclaimed, lifting his hat and bowing +before Chiquita, who had entered the _patio_ from the opposite side of +the house. Her riding-habit, her boots and gloves and gray felt hat +beneath which were twisted her thick braids of hair, were covered with +thin white particles of dust. + +"Where is your mistress, Dona Fernandez, Juan?" she asked. + +"I will call her, Senorita," answered Juan, replacing his hat on his +head and starting for the hallway. + +"Never mind, Juan," called Chiquita, catching sight of Blanch and Bessie +in the distance. "I will first speak with the Senoritas," and she turned +toward the garden. + +Juan's beady black eyes followed her tall figure as she moved toward the +girls. Ever since the arrival of the Americans there had been much +discussion in the household as to which was the more beautiful, Blanch +or Chiquita. The Senora's dislike for the latter was well known, but in +spite of this prejudice, opinion was pretty evenly divided concerning +the merits of the two. It was a vexing question, and the opportunity of +comparing the two women as they met in the garden was too tempting to +be missed. So, with one end of his _zerape_ slung carelessly over his +shoulder, Juan strolled casually past the little group of women in the +direction of the corrals, where he could observe them at his leisure +from the recesses of the garden without attracting attention. + +Notwithstanding the fact that the dark woman was at a disadvantage in +her dust-covered riding-habit, he could not for the life of him tell +which was the more beautiful of the two as he passed behind a thicket of +lilac bushes, and seated himself on a rustic bench and began rolling a +_cigarillo_ between his long slim fingers. + +Juan was a born gambler, and like all of his tribe, was usually in want +of money. To-day he needed it more than ever, for that very morning his +mistress had taunted him and threatened to leave him if he did not pay +for the new dresses she had recently purchased, and for which she was +now being dunned by her creditors. Never had he had such a run of bad +luck. During the great week of the _Fiesta_ he had tried everything from +roulette to monte, but fortune's wheel had turned steadily against him. +It was truly the devil's own luck and no mistake. If only the luck would +turn, he would quit the game of chance forever--cast off the ungrateful +Dolores, and.... He drew a much-worn pack of cards from his breast +pocket and began cutting them with a dexterity acquired through long +years of practice. + +Like all of his race, and the majority of mankind for that matter, he +was intensely superstitious. Three times in succession he cut and dealt +the cards, and three times the ace of hearts, the luckiest card in the +pack, turned face upwards on the bench. + +"_Santa Maria!_ 'tis a miracle--the luck has changed at last!" he +muttered excitedly, as with dilated eyes and trembling hands he gathered +up the cards and replaced them carefully in his pocket. His dream of the +_hacienda_ and the fair Rosita might yet come true. But how? The cards +were too fickle to trust for long. Just then the rich, deep voice of +Chiquita fell upon his ears. Without knowing why, yet intuitively he +seemed to connect her with the turn in his fortune--and it set him +thinking. + +Ever since the _Fiesta_, curiosity had prompted him to learn something +concerning Chiquita's motive for dancing; and whenever the opportunity +presented itself, he had shadowed her. His patience was soon rewarded by +learning that she made frequent visits to the Indian _pueblo_, Onava, +often riding there in the late evening under cover of the dusk. On one +occasion he saw an Indian ride forth from the village and meet her on +the plain where she awaited him. They engaged in long and earnest +conversation, at the end of which he fancied he saw Chiquita draw nearer +to her companion and hand him something, and then the darkness shut them +from view. He did not dare follow her farther or enter the village, for +fear of attracting suspicion to himself; but surely this was a clew to +something, to the mystery, perhaps. + +At this juncture, Juan rolled a fresh _cigarillo_ as he listened to the +voices of the women, his eyes resting on Captain Forest's horse in the +corral beyond the garden. The animal fascinated him; never had he laid +eyes on such a superb creature. Each day he visited the corral for a +look at him, and each time the Chestnut would rush at him with ears laid +flat on his neck and mouth wide open, displaying his formidable teeth. + +"_Caramba!_ what an animal to stock a _rancho_ with, if only--" Juan +sighed, and for some moments roundly cursed the past run of cards. The +afternoon sun was pleasantly warm, and the shade sleep inviting. He +threw the burnt end of his _cigarillo_ on the ground, and, drawing up +his feet, stretched himself at full length on the bench--the upper half +of his fox-like face appearing just above the edge of his _zerape_. + +_Dios!_ was it not better to sleep and even dream bad dreams, than +waking, meditate upon the misfortunes of life? + + + + +XIX + + +When Chiquita entered the garden, she had just returned from an Indian +Mission School for girls, some ten miles distant from Santa Fe, whither +she rode once a week to instruct its pupils in the art of blanket and +basket weaving; an art which she had practiced from her earliest days. + +Her affair with Don Felipe was bad enough, and though she had been +generally condemned for it, her woman's prerogative was recognized +nevertheless. But for a lady, and ward of a priest, to dance in public +and for money, was a thing unheard of; and gossip was fast giving her an +unenviable reputation. This latest escapade, as it was generally termed, +had nearly cost her her position in the school. When, however, it was +taken into consideration that her services were gratuitous and that it +would be impossible to replace her by any one else half as competent, +the directors of the institution discreetly demurred, deciding that it +would be better to humor the caprices of this fair barbarian who ruled +supreme in her department. + +The greeting which took place between her and Blanch was cordial enough +to all outward appearances. Considering the tension and delicacy of the +situation, the volcanic nature of the two and the intense longing of +each to fly at the other and settle their differences then and there, +the self-control of the two was commendable in the extreme. + +"Do you ride much, Senorita?" asked Blanch, eyeing critically her +riding-skirt and wondering how it was that such an antiquated cut could +sit her so well. + +"I don't think I could live without a horse," replied Chiquita. "I often +think I must have been born on one; at least, I can't remember the day +when I first learned to ride. It was good to get back here after my six +years at school for the sake of riding, if for nothing else. I don't +believe either of you know what the real joys of riding are," she went +on, pulling the glove from her right hand and sipping the chocolate +which Bessie had handed her. + +"Not until one has passed weeks and months in the saddle at a time does +one thoroughly realize what riding means, or appreciate the worth and +companionship of a horse." She paused, and a look of longing came into +her large, lustrous eyes, as the memory of her early life came back to +her, when she, with her people, roamed free through the land. + +"_Dios!_ but I have been unhappy ever since you came, Senorita," she +resumed, changing the subject abruptly and addressing Blanch. "The +knowledge that you are constantly near him almost drives me mad at +times. And your dresses--they haunt me in my dreams! I never before +imagined that dress was of so much importance in this world." She was so +outspoken and withal so natural, that both Blanch and Bessie burst into +a peal of good-natured laughter in which Chiquita joined. + +"We women," she continued, taking another sip of chocolate, "have +nothing to fall back upon except our old antiquated Spanish +costumes--you can imagine what we would look like in the modern clothes +we procured here. I have never been placed in such a ridiculous position +before, and if I only knew that you were as miserable as I am, I think I +might begin to enjoy the humor of the situation." Again all three +laughed. + +"Ah, love, what a thing is love!" she sighed, placing her slender gloved +hand over her heart. "It makes one as miserable as it does happy." Then +suddenly turning to Blanch, she asked: "Have you always dressed like +that?" + +"I have always tried to live up to a certain standard," replied Blanch. + +"And how long have you known him?" + +"Oh! as long as I can remember--twenty years, perhaps." + +"Twenty years, and always looked like that and not married to him? Sweet +Mother of God!" she cried in the quaintest tone imaginable, sinking back +in her chair. "Had I known him as many weeks I had either married him or +killed myself!" + +"Nobody takes love so seriously as that!" laughed Blanch. + +"Ah! you have never loved him!" she said, after a short silence. + +"Why do you suppose I am here?" returned Blanch. + +"Then how could you have lived near him all these years without marrying +him?" + +"It was a mistake, I admit," answered Blanch good-humoredly. "But you +must understand that we don't regard love in quite the same light as you +do. We don't make a great fuss about it and talk of killing ourselves, +and that sort of thing. We get married when we find it convenient." + +"Ah, yes, I know," answered Chiquita, "but I'm sure you can never be as +much to him as I can. What have you endured, what have you suffered to +make you feel and realize the full significance of love?" + +"Do you imagine," asked Blanch in surprise, "that there is any less of +the woman in me because I have been spared the things which you perhaps +have been forced to endure, or that one must first suffer before one is +capable of loving?" + +"No, I don't think that, for love is a thing like sleep, it comes upon +us unawares. But it seems to me I am better fitted for him than you are; +that my love, tempered by my life's experience, must be fuller and +deeper and richer than that which you have to offer him. What," she +continued, "do you really know of life? Not the social side of it, of +which your life has been so full, but life as it really is? Were you +born under the open heavens? Have you slept on the hard, cold ground, +exposed to the weather, or nearly perished of hunger and thirst? Could +you feed and clothe yourself from the naked earth without the assistance +of others? Have you seen men, women and children starve, or ruthlessly +struck down by your side, or nursed them through some terrible scourge +like the smallpox? + +"All your life you have been protected and cared for, while all my life +I have been obliged to face the reality of things, forced to work, to +procure the simple necessities of life. I have carried wood and water, +cooked, and fed and clothed myself and others with the materials +provided by my own hands. And yet, when I look back upon my life, I +would not surrender one hour of the true happiness the day's work +brought with it could I thereby have escaped the suffering and +bitterness it often entailed. Barren though my life may appear from your +point of view, I know it to be infinitely rich in comparison to yours, +for, as I have said, you have never known what life really means--never +experienced its hardships, never beheld the bright face of danger, nor +tasted the joys of the great free life in the open, the simple daily +life devoid of the cares of civilized men, without which the life of a +man can never be complete, be he what he may. + +"'Where the foot rests, that is home,' is a saying among my people; a +truth, that so far as my experience goes, has never been gainsaid." + +In spite of themselves and the fact that they could not wholly +comprehend the weight and significance of her words, they were +fascinated by her discourse, emphasized and illustrated as it was by the +dramatic intensity of her gestures and expression. + +"Senorita," said Blanch at last, breaking the silence that ensued, "I +believe you are still at heart the savage, or better, the nomad you were +when you lived in the wilderness." + +"When I lived in the Garden of Eden, in God's world, not man's, is what +you mean," she replied. + +"Do you never have a desire to return to it?" asked Bessie. + +"The old days can never be effaced," answered Chiquita. "My thoughts +continually revert to them when, as a little girl, I used to set meat +and drink before my father and his guests as they sat in a circle about +the fire in the center of his lodge or in our house and smoked the long +red clay pipes, or, after the crops were harvested, roamed through the +land during the hunting season; sometimes afoot, at other times in +canoes or on horseback. There are times when such an insatiable longing +for the old life seizes me that I become almost unmanageable. I long to +throw myself down in the open--lie close in the embrace of Mother Earth, +and breathe the smoke of the camp-fire. My unrest is like that of the +birds when the spell of the spring and the autumn comes upon them and +the migratory instinct seizes them, or like that of the great herds of +reindeer in the North which travel each year to the sea to drink of its +salty waters, and which, if prevented, die." + +"Do you know," said Bessie to Blanch a little later, when they were +alone in their room, "she's fascinating when she talks like that." + +"Ah! that's just where the danger lies," answered Blanch. "Think of what +might happen if she starts talking like that to Jack--it's just what +he's waiting to hear." + + + + +XX + + +Juan must have fallen asleep. As he lay stretched upon the bench, he was +awakened suddenly by the sound of vehement, passionate words. + +Peering cautiously through the bushes, he beheld Chiquita and Don Felipe +standing facing one another in the same spot where the three women had +been but a short time before. He was not near enough to overhear the +conversation, but judging from the vehemence of their gestures and +high-pitched voices, he rightly conjectured that their meeting was +anything but an amicable one. + +On seeing Chiquita with Blanch and Bessie, Don Felipe had discreetly +refrained from joining them as he had promised; he would make his +apologies to them in the evening. The opportunity for which he had been +waiting since his return had come--he must see Chiquita alone. So he +withdrew to a far corner of the garden, where he could observe the women +without being seen, and when Blanch and Bessie returned to the house, he +intercepted her. Although she had hourly expected to meet him ever since +she had been apprised of his return, his appearance was so sudden she +was taken unawares. She had reseated herself after Blanch and Bessie +left and sat leaning with one elbow on the table and her head resting in +her hand, lost in thought. She did not hear his approach from behind, +but at the first sound of his voice she started to her feet, turning +like a flash and facing him. Her movement was so sudden and unexpected +that he too was taken aback. + +"You evidently did not expect to see me this afternoon," he began with +some hesitancy. + +"I did not," she replied coldly. "I should have thought," she continued, +looking him full in the eyes, "that the manhood in you would have +forever prevented your return." Felipe winced under her words. A dark +flush of anger suffused his face, and his lips quivered in an effort to +frame the hot words he was about to utter in reply, but he checked +himself. + +"One is sometimes forced to follow the bidding of an instinct or desire +even against one's will," he said, controlling himself with difficulty. +She drew her glove on her right hand without replying and took a step in +the direction of the _patio_, as though to depart. + +"Chiquita!" he exclaimed, stepping quickly in front of her and barring +her way, "I have tried my best to remain away, but in spite of myself, +I've been drawn irresistibly back to you--I could not help it. Besides," +he added, "you must realize what it costs me." + +"Better had you spared yourself the humiliation, Don Felipe," she +answered. + +"Listen, Chiquita, to what I have to say!" + +"Spare yourself the pain, Don Felipe Ramirez. Nothing you can say can +alter my attitude toward you," she interrupted. + +"You must hear what I have to say!" he cried passionately, without +heeding her impatience. "Ever since we parted, I have done nothing but +travel, travel, over the face of the earth, in the vain hope of +forgetting you. And if, during that time, I have committed excesses, it +was the love of you that drove me to it in order that I might efface you +from my memory forever. But, as you see, I cannot do it, and--I have +come back again." It was easy to read the agony in his heart, divine the +suffering which his humiliation caused him, and yet his words did not +move her; not an atom of pity did they arouse within her, knowing as she +did the arrogant, selfish being that he was. + +"Chiquita, I love you still!" he burst forth. + +"How dare you speak of love to me?" she cried. "Have you forgotten +Pepita Delaguerra, whom you ruined, for whose death you are responsible? +You laughed and went on your way; she was only a flower to be broken and +tossed aside. Well, I've not forgotten the day on which I found her +alone and deserted, nor the hour of her death." + +"Chiquita," he interrupted, "if suffering can atone for that misdeed--" + +"Ah! not so fast, Don Felipe Ramirez," she answered, cutting him short. +"Let us understand one another once and for all! She forgave you with +her dying breath, but as I knelt over her dead body, I vowed that if +ever you crossed my path and made advances to me that, as sure as +there's a God in heaven, I would encourage you, lead you on until you +were mad, and then fling you from me like the dog that you are in order +that you, too, might learn what it is to live without the one you +love!" + +Had she spat in his face, she could not have aroused the tiger in him +more effectually. + +"Chiquita!" he cried, gasping, his face livid with rage, "you're a +devil!" + +"No, I'm only a woman who had the courage to avenge another woman's +wrong," she answered quietly. "Don't imagine that a wrong committed can +ever be atoned for. It may be condoned by the world, or even forgiven by +the one who was wronged, but that is all; the deed stands forever +written against one." She watched him as he paced back and forth with +clenched hands and teeth, his face ashen, his lips quivering, his whole +being convulsed with emotion and remorse. For some minutes he was quite +unable to speak, the longing to scream and seize her by the throat and +throttle her was so overpowering. + +"I understand," he said at length, in the calmest tone he could command, +"you love Captain Forest; you think to marry him." + +"That's no concern of yours!" she retorted, hotly. + +"Listen, Chiquita," he said, fiercely. "The cold blood that flows in his +veins can never satisfy the warm passion of the South--a woman of your +nature. I am richer than he is; I can strew your path with gold. I will +make amends for the past; I was young, then. My one desire in life will +be to fulfill your slightest wish, to live for your happiness only. Any +sacrifice you name, I will make. I will make over my entire fortune to +you if you will consent to our marriage." + +"It makes me sick to hear you talk of love and marriage," she answered. +"Your idea of love is solely that of possession. What sort of love +could one like you give me in comparison to his?" + +"Ah! you do love him! But you will never marry him," he retorted +furiously. "If I do not possess you, no one else shall!" + +"Ah! you will kill me, perhaps?" she said, divining his thought. "Well, +then, be it so! What greater felicity could there be for me than to die +in the knowledge that he loves me--perhaps in his arms?" She drew back a +pace and placing both hands on her breast, said: "Strike, Don Felipe, +when and where the moment pleases you best!" + +"Ha! ha! ha!" he laughed. "How could you take me to be so simple, so +foolish? Oh, no, Senorita, not until the hour that you have exchanged +vows and, intoxicated by love's first kiss, he presses you to his heart, +then--then, Senorita, will I lay him dead at your feet in order that you +also may realize what it is to live without the one you love," he said +with a sneer, a faint smile wreathing his cruel lips as he watched the +effect his words had upon her. There was a malicious gleam of exultation +in his eyes as he saw her draw herself together suddenly and shudder as +though struck by a knife. + +"What say you to that, Senorita?" and he laughed in her face. + +"What, dead at my feet? Such a one as you come between me and my +happiness?" The rich red bronze of her face faded to a livid hue, almost +white in its intensity. A strange, terrible light came into her eyes +and, as she glided close up to him, he recoiled from her in terror as +though from a panther about to spring. Don Felipe had never stood so +near to death before. She halted and raised her right hand as if to +strike him across the face, then paused and lowered it. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez," she hissed in an almost inaudible voice, "if you +so much as harm a hair of his head, I'll tear you limb from limb!" + +"Bah!" he replied, recovering his equilibrium. "Do you think I fear a +woman?" + +"Don Felipe," she began slowly, controlling with effort the violent +emotions that swept over her, "it is no idle boast if I remind you that +no one in Chihuahua shoots better than I do." + +"Ha!" he laughed, snapping his fingers. "You think to kill me?" + +"And if I did," she replied slowly, her voice vibrant with passion, "you +would not be the first man I have killed, Don Felipe Ramirez. And what's +more, if it comes to a question of you or him, I'll kill you as I would +a snake or sage-rabbit." He started. He began to see her in a new light. +With her subtle wit, her grace and alluring beauty, she was far more +dangerous than a man; but he was not intimidated. Craven though his soul +might be, he could not be accused of cowardice in the face of danger. +Besides, what had he to live for? Better be dead than forced to live +without her. + +"Hearken, Don Felipe Ramirez," she continued calmly, her eyes riveted on +his face. "I have ridden many times in battle by the side of my father +before his death. The last time came very near being my end; it was when +the Government sent troops against my people, and we were surrounded in +the hills. That day my horse was killed under me twice. All day long we +fought and charged the enemy's lines, but to no avail--we could not +break them. The young officer in command of the Government's troops not +only outgeneraled all our maneuvers, but his life seemed charmed, for, +fire at him as often as we liked, we could not hit him. Finally +realizing that there was no hope of escape so long as he remained in +command, I rode forth alone between the lines and challenged him to +single combat. He accepted the challenge, but when he drew near and saw +that I was a woman, he refused to fight, for he was gallant as he was +brave. But I was too quick for him; I forced him to fight. His bullet +went through my shoulder, mine through his heart." She paused for an +instant, then resumed. "So, just as we that day passed over that brave +young officer's body, so shall I pass over yours, Don Felipe Ramirez, if +you persist in standing in my way." + +For the first time he saw her in her true light--the Amazon, the woman +who had been trained to fight as men fight, and who had fought shoulder +to shoulder with men. He was silent. Never had she appeared so +beautiful, so terrible, so alluring and irresistible as during her +recital. The hour had come; the circle of death had closed about them, +and he knew now for a certainty that it meant either his life or hers; +that there was no longer any hope of a reconciliation, no longer room +for them both in this life. + +"Do you imagine that I fear the threats of a woman?" he said at last, in +the same sneering tone as before, in which she, too, read his +unmistakable answer. + +"You have been warned," she answered quietly, and giving him a last +searching look, she turned and left him abruptly. Had ever mortal drunk +deeper of the cup of humiliation than he? The sound of her footsteps and +tinkle of her spurs died away along the pathway as she disappeared +around the corner of the house. He noted that she carried herself as +erect as ever; every movement bespoke the unconquerable pride of her +race. God! how he hated her! What would he not give to break that +pride--that pride which seemed to enable her to surmount every obstacle. +It was not enough to kill Captain Forest. No, she must be broken +completely, humiliated in the eyes of the world, humbled to the dust as +he had been humbled; nothing short of that could satisfy him now. But +how, how was her ruin to be accomplished? he asked himself as he paced +back and forth, almost suffocating with rage. Suddenly an idea flashed +through his mind, causing him to stop short. + +"Ah!" he cried aloud, "why did she dance; why has she concealed her +motive so carefully from the world? It must be the clew to some mystery +in her life! God! if I could but learn the reason--" + +"What would Don Felipe Ramirez give to know?" came a voice from behind +him, causing him to start and turn around just in time to see Juan +emerge from the lilac bushes. + +"Juan Ramon!" he exclaimed. + +"Aye, _Caballero_!" replied Juan lightly, raising his _sombrero_ as he +advanced. + +"What do you know?" asked Felipe, half contemptuously, regarding him +with keen, searching eyes. + +"Don't worry about what I know; leave that to me for the present," +answered Juan, his peculiarly cold smile lighting up his face. "But what +will you give to know, Don Felipe Ramirez?" he continued, with the keen +air of the tradesman who beholds a sure customer before him and is +determined to drive a sharp bargain. + +"What will I give?" repeated Felipe, slowly, relapsing into thought. For +some time he was silent, during which he regarded Juan's features +intently, as if to assure himself of the latter's good faith. Then +suddenly and impetuously he cried: "I'll tell you, Juan Ramon! I'll give +you gold enough to keep you drunk and your mistress clothed in silks and +satins for the rest of your days! Aye, the finest pair of horses in all +Mexico shall draw your carriage, and you shall have money to gamble." + +"Then have patience for but a little while longer, Don Felipe Ramirez," +replied Juan, rubbing the palms of his long, slim hands together, as +though he already felt the magic touch of the gold and heard its musical +clink in his ears. + +"I hear that fortune has played you false of late, Juan Ramon," said +Felipe. + +"'Tis the very devil, Senor!" answered Juan with an oath. + +"Here, take this," continued Felipe, handing him a roll of bank notes +which he drew from his pocket. "You shall have as many men and horses to +assist you in the work as you want," he added. + +"Horses I will need, but no men, Don Felipe," replied Juan, jubilant +over the return of fortune. The bargain was better than he had +anticipated. + + + + +XXI + + +Dick Yankton had taken on a new lease of life. He no longer walked--he +flew. Like Hermes of old his feet seemed to have become suddenly endowed +with wings, with the result that his head was coming into dangerous +proximity to the clouds. + +"_Dios!_ what had come over Senor Dick, who was on the best of terms +with every man, woman and child and dog in Santa Fe?" So potent was the +draught which he had imbibed, that he appeared to have been stricken +suddenly with blindness and the loss of memory at one and the same +instant. The salutations of his friends and acquaintances who greeted +him when he walked abroad were left unnoticed; his gaze fixed dreamily +on space before him. What had happened? Had he come into possession of a +new mine, or was he engaged in locating one through means of that +psychic sense or inner vision of the seer which he seemed to possess? +Had the real cause of his perturbation been guessed--that a woman's +smile had suddenly opened heaven's gates to him, a ripple of laughter +would have gone the rounds of Santa Fe. The mere suggestion that the +Senor Dick could be seriously in love was too absurd; his friends were +too well acquainted with the flirtatious side of his nature ever to +credit such a possibility. And yet, when Anita, his Indian housekeeper +and wife of his overseer and general factotum, Concho, saw the amazing +quantities of flowers, still wet with the morning's dew, that were daily +transported to the _Posada_, her suspicions became aroused. She began to +question Concho concerning them, and when he finally admitted that a +woman was the recipient of them, she raised her eyebrows with the +knowing look of a woman who has guessed the truth. + +"I thought so," she answered quietly, a peculiar smile illumining her +dark countenance as she seated herself in the doorway of the refectory +which opened on the _patio_, and disposed herself comfortably, +preparatory to the interesting bit of gossip which she intended to screw +out of her husband. + +She was of medium height, of the spare, slender type, and must have been +attractive in her youth, for even now, in spite of middle age, she was +comely to look upon. She wore a red rose in her black hair, while a +partially drooping eyelid gave a piquant, coquettish expression to her +face. + +"Holy Virgin! but this is interesting!" she went on after a pause. "The +Senor in love, really in love!" and she laughed quietly to herself, +while she took a pinch of tobacco and a leaf of brown paper from the +pocket of her apron and began rolling a cigarette. + +"Bah!" said Concho, accompanying the exclamation with a shrug of the +shoulders. "You women are always imagining things which do not exist. +Have we not often seen the Senor like this before? Has he not completely +spoiled the Senoritas of the town with his flowers? He's bored. He's +trying to amuse himself, that's all." + +"And didst thou not say," continued Anita, without heeding his remarks, +regarding him out of the corners of her eyes while lighting her +cigarette, "that she is not quite so tall as the other one, but equally +beautiful in her way; that she is pink and white at one and the same +moment, just like a half-blown rose, and soft and satiny as the down on +a swan's neck?" + +"It is all true, Anita _mia_, she is even that and more!" responded +Concho with warmth. "She is worth a journey to the _Posada_ to see, but +then, what is that--what are a few wisps of flowers?" + +"Wisps? Armfuls, thou meanest, Concho! When did the Senor ever lavish so +many flowers upon one woman before? He told me they were for the +hospital," she chuckled, "but I have always been able to tell whether +the Senor was speaking the truth or not. Thou knowest the way he has of +saying the opposite to that which he means," and she blew a ring of +smoke into the still air and watched it as it floated upwards. + +"Concho," she said after some moments' reflection, "thou art a fool! I +always said thou wert, and now I know it. The hospital--bah! How could +he have ever thought me so simple?" she exclaimed in a tone of mingled +sarcasm and disgust. "I tell thee, Concho, all women are the same either +on this side of the world or the other. The one thou hast just described +to me is the most dangerous of all women for a man like the Senor to +meet. That is, if she is clever," she added. "But have we not all heard +how clever and beautiful the _Americana_ Senoritas are?" + +"Aye, there is nothing to compare with them in the whole land, with the +exception of the Chiquita, of course," replied Concho. + +"Exactly; just what I have been saying, Concho _mio_," Anita went on, +surveying her spouse with a look of pitying superiority. "Why, only +yesterday, when he was here, I knew instantly by his air of distraction +that something unusual had happened. Never has he been so particular +before. He went all over the place, inspecting everything to the +minutest detail, just like a woman. Nothing pleased him; and when he +came to the flowers, which everybody knows are the finest in all +Chihuahua, he declared they were not fit for a dog to sniff at, and +rated the gardeners soundly for their negligence. + +"Ah!" she sighed, the expression of her countenance softening, "the +place needs a mistress badly--it is the one thing it lacks. There was a +time when I hoped it might be the Chiquita, but since fate has ordained +that it should be otherwise, let us pray that it may be this one. In +fact," she exclaimed, looking up and emphasizing her words, "from what +thou hast told me of her, I know it will be she or none, and may heaven +grant that it please the Saints either to give her to him or protect him +from her, for the Senor is a man who can really love but once. Take a +woman's word for it, Concho, these are the true symptoms of love." +Having delivered herself thus forcibly, she tossed aside the end of her +cigarette and rose from the doorsill. + +"Thou wert always a fool, Concho," she added, regarding him +compassionately with a smile and patting him on the cheek. Then turning, +she disappeared in the house, leaving Concho to marvel at her +astuteness, a thing he had never suspected. + +Meanwhile, the subject under discussion was pacing the floor of his room +in the _Posada_ like a caged lion. For one whole week Bessie Van Ashton +had seemingly thrown wide the portals of her heart and bade him enter, a +privilege of which he was not slow to avail himself. Never had woman +flirted to better advantage or succeeded more effectually in turning a +man's head in so short a time as had this distracting, fair-haired +witch. The only regret experienced by Mr. Yankton during these hours of +unalloyed happiness, was the thought of the days he had lost--days which +might have been spent in her society had he only known. How blind he had +been not to have recognized her the instant he had set eyes on her, +instead of compelling the Almighty to remind him that she was the woman +that had been reserved for him by dropping her down out of a clear sky +into his arms! How stupid of him, and how patient Providence was with +some of us at times! + +During the few short days which followed that happy accident--days that +seemed like so many swift, fleeting seconds, Dick floated on a summer +sea whose surface was unmarred by shadow or ripple. All the world had +changed. He felt as though he had only just begun to live, and he spun a +golden web of fancies out of the reality of things which, for one so +deeply versed in the game of life, was a marvel of beauty, fair as a +poet's dream, yet more substantial. And why not? Had not his life been +one replete with adventure and romance from the cradle? His meeting with +Bessie was no more remarkable than many other things that had occurred +during his lifetime. It was now perfectly clear to him why he had built +the _hacienda_ in the face of adverse judgment. It was for her, of +course. A place in which to enshrine and worship her during the years to +come; for what else could it be? + +That insane notion of a white-haired patriarch enjoying the solitude of +the place was too absurd--a morbid fancy born of loneliness and +melancholy. The walk back to the _Posada_ on the day of their startling +encounter and the hours spent in Bessie's society since then--strolling +and chatting in the garden, or going for long rides over the plains +together, had convinced him it was not intended that man should live +alone. He had taken good care that she should learn nothing of the +existence of the _hacienda_ or of his wealth, and as little as possible +concerning himself, except that he was an agreeable young man with fair +prospects; and thus far, thanks to the Captain's silence and her +ignorance of Spanish, he had succeeded admirably. + +Fair prospects! The secret was almost too good to keep, and he laughed +softly to himself as he mused upon it. It was truly an inspiration; just +the sort of thing to hand out to one of Newport's smart-set. Although he +had not yet proposed to her, he regarded their marriage as a foregone +conclusion; an event of the near future. She certainly had led him to +infer as much, and the plan he had conceived regarding it was highly +ingenious--one worthy of his fertile imagination. Directly they were +married, they would spend the first fortnight of their honeymoon camping +in the mountains in a style worthy of a grand Mogul, after which he +would suggest that they pass the night at a near-by _rancho_ belonging +to a friend, and in this wise introduce her to her future home. + +The rapture of the picture fairly dazzled him, and he lay awake whole +nights contemplating it--the _patio_ palely illumined by the moonlight, +the murmur of the fountain in its center, the perfume of flowers, the +melodious voices of the dark-skinned Indian attendants, bearing flaming +torches, and chanting the time-honored welcome to their new mistress, +and her insistent demands to be introduced to their host; and then the +delightful denouement, the surprise she must experience when the truth +finally dawned upon her. Truly poet never dreamed a fairer dream. It had +taken him a whole week to conceive the idea in detail, and on the +morning of the seventh day on which he had decided to ask her to become +his wife, he stood with the horses before the _Posada_ expectantly +awaiting her appearance to take the ride they had agreed upon the night +before. At the end of an hour, during which he fretted over the undue +delay with the same impatience as did the horses, Rosita appeared and +informed him that the Senorita Van Ashton would not ride that morning; +she was not feeling well. A wild alarm seized him. The thought that she +might have been stricken suddenly with some serious illness, quite +unnerved him for the moment. "_Caramba!_" he cried, quite forgetting his +English. "What has happened? Is it serious? Is anything being done?" But +all inquiries concerning the actual state of the Senorita's health +proving fruitless, he was left to pass the remainder of the day +wandering aimlessly about the garden in the vain hope of finding +something to divert his mind. Had he been in possession of his usual +calm, he might have noticed the amused expression on Rosita's face, but +the extent of one's concern being the measure of one's love for a +person, he saw only the vivid mental picture of his consuming passion, +Bessie, suffering Bessie! + +It was the first jarring note in that state of uninterrupted bliss which +he had been enjoying, and as the day wore painfully on he began to +realize how much she had become to him. He was haunted by misgivings, +and finally, late in the afternoon, having convinced himself that he had +exhausted the resources of the garden, he decided to pass the time until +the dinner hour upon the veranda on the other side of the house. Thither +he repaired, but oddly enough and greatly to his astonishment, as he +stepped out upon the veranda, he came face to face with Miss Van Ashton +returning from a walk in the town. She was charmingly gowned in a soft, +clinging creation of pale lavender and white lace, with long white suede +gloves and low lavender shoes and silk stockings, an inch or so of which +she flashed before his eyes, proclaiming the society belle's +prerogative. She carried a parasol of the same color and material as her +dress, while her head was crowned with a sweeping, rakishly plumed +Rembrandtesque hat worn at a killing angle. The gold in her hair and the +exquisite pink and white of her throat and cheeks blended perfectly with +a color scheme, the attractiveness of which was greatly enhanced by her +natural charm and the delicate scent of lavender and rose leaves which +emanated from her person, the combined effects of which were not lost +upon an over-wrought imagination. + +To use the current vernacular of the times, so familiar to the world in +which she moved, Miss Van Ashton's appearance was decidedly fetching, +and strongly suggestive of the things of which poets, in their madness, +are continually harping--flower gardens flooded with moonlight and the +song of nightingales. Although not modeled on heroic lines, she +nevertheless possessed the qualifications which most men seek in women +and therefore became quite as formidable as Delilah when she chose to +assert herself. To say that Mr. Yankton was dazzled but mildly expresses +his feelings; he was ravished, though in no mood for banter. Had their +meeting occurred under more auspicious circumstances, he undoubtedly +would have complimented her on her charming appearance; but for one who +had been eating his heart out during eight consecutive hours solely on +her account, it was hardly to be expected. The sight of her, though a +relief to his mind, gave rise to thoughts the nature of which he found +it difficult to conceal. + +"What!" he cried, furious and aghast, scarcely believing his eyes as the +truth slowly began to dawn upon him. "They told me you were ill--that +you couldn't appear to-day!" + +"Ill? How very strange!" she answered in feigned surprise, with a far +away, vacant look in her eyes, as though she had just met him for the +first time, rendering him quite speechless. "Really, Mr. Yankton," she +continued in the coldest, most distant manner she could command, "I +never felt better in my life!" And without allowing him time to catch +his breath, she passed by him and slammed the door in his face, from the +other side of which he fancied he heard her silvery, rippling laughter, +the nature of which sounded suspiciously like a titter. + +Woman never delivered a more crushing blow. In that instant Mr. Yankton +saw more stars than the firmament contains. It was like being thrown +suddenly into a river on a cold morning. Miss Van Ashton's methods might +be regarded as somewhat harsh by certain persons, but realizing that +heroic measures were the only cure for the dangerous distemper that +threatened her peace of mind, she had acted without hesitancy. Besides, +was she not in a measure justified in wishing to even up their scores? + +Oh, the fickleness of woman! How cleverly she had deceived him, and what +an ass he had been! She had been playing with him all the while, and as +he paced the floor, revolving what course to pursue, he wondered how he +could have been so simple. True, she was different from any woman he had +ever met, but dazed though he was by her sudden change of front, he was +not disheartened. On the contrary, she had become more attractive than +ever. His blood fairly boiled at the thought of his defeat, but he would +profit by the experience--change his tactics completely. The more she +avoided him, the more persistent he would become. If she did not see +him, she would be kept a prisoner in the house. He would give her no +peace, day or night. He would dog her footsteps, confront her at every +turn, pursue her with the most reckless and relentless ardor and utter +disregard of what the world might think; treat her as he would an +unbroken horse--give her no rest, but keep her on the jump until he had +worn her out, and then close with her. + + + + +XXII + + +The situation was becoming intolerable. Something must be done and done +at once to clear the atmosphere. Captain Forest's apparent indifference +to all things, including herself, aroused Blanch to a pitch of +exasperation which might best be likened to that of a high-strung, +thoroughbred horse that has been ignominiously hitched to a plow and +compelled to drag it. At the end of a week he either drops dead in the +furrow or becomes a broken-spirited hack for the rest of his days. + +Nothing short of love or hatred could satisfy her. It was a new +experience. Never had she suffered such ignominy. It was like being +coerced. One could respect an enemy, but this exasperating indifference +was unendurable. The more she thought of it, the more convinced she +became, that it was just such an antagonistic attitude which had +prompted the beautiful, though wicked Borgia, to administer certain love +potions to numerous unappreciative gallants. Deliberate, cold-blooded +murder committed under such extenuating circumstances began to appear +more in the light of justice than of crime. + +Captain Forest offered an entirely new front. Not that he had changed so +much, she knew better than that, but she marveled at his self-control. +The dash and spirit of the soldier, which every one admired so much in +him, had given way to the most insulting, good-humored complacency; the +frame of mind one looks for in an aged sinner whose terror of an +uncertain future has driven him to prepare for heaven. She knew well +enough that his attitude was assumed for a purpose only, until he had +made up his mind what to do; waiting to make up his mind as to which of +them, she or Chiquita, was preferable. This, of course, was merely a +jealous supposition on her part. + +She had hoped to arouse his jealousy, or, failing in that, at least his +enthusiasm. Thus far she had failed to accomplish either and she could +not understand it. Surely he was flesh and blood like other men, yet +nothing seemed to move him. He appeared like one at peace with all the +world, calm and serene as a summer's day, and smoked incessantly. She +could endure it no longer. The depression from which she suffered was +crushing her slowly and irresistibly to earth. She was at her wits' end +to know what to do to relieve the tension, until she finally hit upon +the idea of giving an old-fashioned Spanish _fandango_--a _fiesta_. + +The thought was a happy one. It was not only one of those things she had +always wanted to see, but it would be a break--something to relieve the +strain of her daily existence; she pursuing, he avoiding her. The +novelty of the scene--the bright, gay costumes of the Mexicans, music +and twinkling lights, dancing and wine and laughter and song, and the +stars overhead, mellowed by the light of the full moon, must infuse new +life into them all--recall memories of other days to him. With such a +setting, a woman of her beauty, refinement and attraction, and an adept +at the game of flattery and intrigue, must shine with new luster--become +doubly dangerous and irresistible to a man. Though this was her chief +motive for giving the _fiesta_, she had still another in view. + +The fame of Chiquita's dancing had naturally aroused her curiosity. She +would ask her to dance; not that she believed the half of what she heard +concerning it, but it would be a satisfaction to see it. Besides, she +had a certain motive of her own for so doing which she imparted to no +one; the subtlest of a woman's thoughts which only the intuition of a +woman could have prompted. She laughed to herself at the thought which +invariably aroused within her a feeling akin to triumph. Why had she not +thought of it before? She knew the Captain had already seen her dance, +but then that was before he knew who she was. It had been in a theater, +and his enthusiasm must have been prompted in a measure by that of the +audience about him. The emotion of a large assembly was always +contagious--sweeping the individual along with it. Whereas, in private, +her dancing, lacking the glamour and artificiality of the stage, would +be a very different thing. It would appear in a more realistic, +commonplace light. Any faults which the atmosphere of the stage might +have concealed would immediately become apparent in the light of natural +surroundings and her performance sink to the level of the commonplace. + +Her dancing could only be amateurish at its best, for where could she +possibly have learned to dance? What instruction could she, living in +this out-of-the-way corner of the world, have received in the art? As +for local enthusiasm, it counted for little--amateurs were always so +popular at home. And after all was said, what did the achievements of +the great dancers really amount to? Their creations were not ranked with +those of other artistic achievements. In fact, dancing could scarcely be +ranked with the legitimate branches of art at all. At its best, it was +only a pastime; something to amuse. This, of course, was the light in +which she viewed one of the greatest arts which few ever succeed in +mastering. Possibly because the world has really seen no dancing to +speak of since the days of the great Taglioni, until the Pavlowa +appeared. Even parts of the latter's art were questionable, but then, +she was the Pavlowa! + +Chiquita's dancing differed from anything Captain Forest had ever seen. +As a matter of fact, much of it would not have been called dancing at +all by many people, so different has the modern conception of the art +become since the days of the ancients. But where had she received her +instruction? The ability to dance, like any other talent, is born in +one, not acquired. True, it must be developed through constant practice +just like any other talent, if ever it is to amount to anything; but +even then, great dancers are born just as great painters, poets and +musicians are born. + +The Indian's greatest pastime and amusement is dancing, and Chiquita had +danced almost daily from earliest childhood to her sixteenth year when +fate had led her to Padre Antonio's door. Then she went to the City of +Mexico and also had visited Europe. In both places she had had the +opportunity of seeing some of the greatest dancers of the day and was +able to draw comparisons between their conceptions of the art and hers. +But when she began the study of ancient history her attention was called +to the Greeks' conception of the art, and she soon discovered that +modern dancing was a direct violation of that which was most plastic in +art, and consisted chiefly of contortions, high kicking and pirouetting +on the toes. She also discovered that the conceptions of her own people +regarding the art stood nearer that of the ancients than did modern +man's. To her it was an interesting discovery. It was as natural for her +to dance as to breathe, and from that hour she began to study and +practice the art with renewed interest. + +Shortly after her admittance to the convent, it was also discovered that +she possessed a voice of unusual quality and range; and, as Padre +Antonio had instructed the Sisters to do their utmost to develop any +natural talent she might possess to a marked degree, the best teacher in +voice culture which the city afforded was procured for her. These were +Padre Antonio's wishes and they had been obeyed conscientiously by the +Sisters who recognized Chiquita's strong dramatic ability. + +The years passed, and, as the day finally arrived on which she was to +leave school, the performances which marked the closing exercises were +given as usual by the pupils. The last number on the programme +represented an ancient Greek festival arranged by Padre Alesandro, the +instructor in classic literature, in which Chiquita took the leading +part, and in which, at her request, she was permitted to introduce a +dance of her own creation. Among the many guests that had been invited +to attend the closing ceremonies was one Signor Tosti, a ballet-master, +who at the time was visiting the Capitol with an Italian opera company. +A friend whose daughter took part in the exercises had persuaded him, +much against his will, to attend; for what possible interest could a +veteran of the ballet take in such amateurish exhibitions? + +Touring the world with a troup of quarrelsome artists was arduous work +for a tired old gentleman at its best. So, like the sensible man that he +was, he promptly went to sleep at the opening of the performance and +probably would have slept through the entire evening, had he not been +aroused from his slumbers in the midst of the last number on the +programme by the sound of a glorious voice--a deep mezzo-soprano of the +richest contralto quality. Opening his eyes, he saw an assembly of +beautifully clad, flower-bedecked Grecian youths and maidens drawn up +across the back of the stage, chanting the chorus, and in their midst, +in the foreground, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He +drew himself up with a start and rubbed his eyes to assure himself that +he was really awake. And then, considering the occasion and the time and +the place, he witnessed a performance that fairly took his breath away. + +His Southern temperament became thoroughly aroused, and at the +conclusion of the dance, he suddenly rose from his seat and without +waiting for an introduction, rushed to the stage and springing upon it, +bowed low before Chiquita and seizing her hand, kissed it in view of the +audience. No one knew better than he did that, in his profession, a new +star had just fallen from heaven to earth. The following day he and the +director of his company waited upon Chiquita and offered her any sum she +might choose to name if she would consent to join the company and return +to Europe with them. But they did not know what Chiquita's past had +been--that she was still the Amazon as of old--that the woman who had +been trained to battle in her early youth the same as the men of her +people had been trained, regarded as mere pastime that which they +considered one of the heights of earthly attainment. The woman who at +sunrise had listened daily to the song of the Memnon, who had +experienced the shock of battle, whose life lived close to nature had +taught her the meaning of the ethics of the dust and instilled into her +veins the rippling laughter of water and sunshine and the song of the +winds, and whose every breath had been the rapturous breath of freedom, +viewed life from a different standpoint than that of men debased by +centuries of servitude. The world of their creation was trifling in +comparison to that of God's which to her was all sufficing and enabled +her to look upon their doings with the same equanimity and indulgence as +that with which the parent regards the frolicsome gambols of the child. + +Twenty years of almost uninterrupted practice had kept her body and +limbs supple and pliant, but this Blanch did not know. + + + + +XXIII + + +True to his resolve, Dick rose to the exigency of the occasion by laying +stubborn siege to Miss Van Ashton's heart. During the day he bombarded +her with flowers and books and bonbons, and gentle but passionate +missives; all of which the fair recipient as promptly hurled back into +his face. At night relays of musicians serenaded her uninterruptedly +until the glowing cast announced the coming of a new day. He took the +whole household into his confidence, rendering it impossible for her to +set foot outside her door without meeting him. + +The first day she laughed at his eccentricities; on the second, she grew +furious, and on the third, not having closed her eyes for two whole days +and nights, she felt herself on the verge of a nervous collapse. There +being no rest for any one, Colonel Van Ashton suddenly appeared before +his daughter on the morning of the fourth day and gave her to understand +that if the infernal nuisance did not cease instantly he would shoot the +first person who entered the garden that evening after he had retired. +And to back his threat, he displayed a new automatic pistol which he had +purchased in the town the day before; the shopkeeper having assured him +that, for a running fire, it was the most convenient and effective +weapon on the market. The Colonel was in a reckless mood and seemed in +imminent danger of losing in a moment the self-control which years of +civilization had instilled within him. Having been literally goaded to +madness, little wonder that he too was on the verge of succumbing to the +customs of the land, and was beginning to feel a secret longing to shoot +and swear and swagger and destroy. Knowing her father to be as good as +his word, and to possess the courage of a lion when aroused, Bessie +found herself forced to capitulate a day earlier than she otherwise +would have, for, incensed though she was, not even a woman of her grit +and spirit could possibly have held out much longer under conditions +that turned night into day. + +It was galling in the extreme to be compelled to surrender so soon, but +there being no alternative, she was obliged to accept the humiliation +with the best grace possible. Accordingly, she appeared in the garden +late on the afternoon of the fourth day where she espied the object of +her wrath and annoyance seated comfortably on the grass at the foot of a +pear tree, and as usual--smoking. The sight of him was hardly conducive +to soothe the feelings of one who inwardly was a seething volcano, and +she vowed that she would pay him out to the full before she was done +with him. + +He seemed greatly surprised by her appearance, and hastily throwing away +his cigar, rose to his feet with the intention of speaking to her, but +without noticing him, she made her way to the farthest corner of the +garden and seated herself in a large rustic chair that stood in the +shadow of the high wall which surrounded the garden. She knew he would +not be long in renewing his persecutions. And angry though she was, she +could not help wondering at the novelty of the situation. She, Bessie +Van Ashton, placed at the mercy of an obscure person, a rustic nobody! +Like every other woman, she had dreamed of such a man as this, one that +would seize and carry her off; but then the time and place were other +than the present, and he resembled more closely the type of man with +which she had been familiar all her life. The spirit of antagonism which +he aroused was due rather to pique than to dislike, for in spite of his +audacity she could not help admiring his spirit. + +Her sense of injury was poignantly enhanced by the fact that she +recognized herself to be the true cause of her trouble. Had she not led +him on this thing might never have happened; and yet, she was neither +sorry nor repentant for what she had done. Had any other man dared take +the liberties he had taken with her, she would have despised him, but +with him, though she was unable to explain it, things were somehow +different. She was furious with him for kissing her, and yet deep down +in her inner consciousness she was not so certain that she was sorry he +had done so. The things he did, which would have branded any other man +as a cad, were the very things the man of her dreams might have done +under similar circumstances. Yet she shuddered as she daily foresaw the +consequences that might ensue should she encourage him further. +Flirting with a man whose high-handed, arbitrary methods dazed rather +than offended her, was becoming dangerous. + +Self-preservation being always our first thought, she had decided to +fly, but the presence of Blanch rendered such a course impossible. The +only alternative left her was to extricate herself as swiftly and +gracefully as possible from her dilemma by making herself as +disagreeable as possible in his eyes. In this wise she hoped to +disillusion him, and it was with this intention she had come forth to +meet him. She could not see him from where she sat, having turned her +back upon him; but, judging from the length of time it took him to +approach, she rightly conjectured that he had been walking in a circle, +doubtless at a loss what course to pursue. The silence that ensued when +he paused behind her was broken only by the sound of his labored +breathing and a nervous cough, plainly betraying the embarrassment he +felt on finding himself once more in her presence. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said at length, "it is extremely gratifying to +know that you have at last decided to leave the oppressive walls of your +inhospitable abode for the world of sunshine without, where the essence +and being of all things fill one with a desire to live." Nothing he +could have said at the moment could have aroused her resentment more +than this idiotic speech. She had expected him to eat humble pie, to +throw himself at her feet and implore forgiveness; but, no! She sprang +to her feet and facing him, turned a pair of beautiful blazing eyes upon +him. She was so furious she choked, and for some moments was quite +unable to speak. + +"I suppose," she said at last, her voice trembling with suppressed +indignation, "that you take pleasure in pursuing a helpless woman like a +hunted beast. It's so manly," she added scathingly, looking in vain for +some sign of contrition in his face. "Why," she went on, "if a man where +I live had done the hundredth part of what you have done, society would +shun him as it would a pariah!" + +"Or a leper," he added good humoredly, quick to recognize the +disadvantage at which the loss of her temper placed her. "They must be a +poor lot where you live," he continued. "I think we had better pass them +by without further comment." She was suffocated--she could have bitten +her tongue off! + +"Have you no consideration for others' feelings--for what they might +want?" she cried. + +"Ah! I see, Miss Van Ashton," he answered, regarding her +compassionately. "You quite overlook the true facts of the case. This is +not at all a question of what you may want, but of what is best for you. +I have merely been trying to tell you in my awkward way that it is not +good for one to live alone." She laughed hysterically. The colossal +impudence of the man took her breath away. She gasped--attempted to +speak, but words failing her, turned her back upon him and began tearing +into shreds the end of the silken gauze Indian scarf which she wore over +her shoulders. + +"Can't you think of what you want, Miss Van Ashton?" he asked gently, +in the tone of one addressing a refractory child. + +"No!" she screamed, without at all realizing what she was saying. To +think that this man was able to play with her like a worm on the end of +a pin! It was too much! "How dare you! I--I hate you!" she cried, +without turning round and quite beside herself. There was no mistaking +her attitude; he had gone far enough. The limit of her endurance had +been reached, and he suddenly became serious. Again there was silence +between them. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he said, drawing himself up, "it really doesn't +matter what you or the rest of the world may think of me so long as I +can see you. Can you imagine what it would be like if you were never to +see the sun again? What could be more absurd than to allow such a trifle +as convention to come between you and me? Three feet of wretched adobe +wall between me and heaven!" he burst forth. "The idea's preposterous! +Why, if you shut yourself up in that miserable hovel again, I'll set +fire to the place!" She knew he would. + +"Can't you understand," he went on, his voice softening, "that your +attitude has aroused the savage, the primeval man in me--that, had I met +you here fifty or a hundred years ago, I would have picked you up and +quietly carried you away? I know I've been a brute by driving you into +the open like this, but that's not me, myself--the man who loves you, +who would pass through fire for you, who has dreamed of you and watched +and waited through the long years for your coming; and now that you +have come, you surely can't blame me for what I cannot help--for loving +you and telling you so in my own way?" + +She tried in vain to stifle the emotion his words aroused. She had set +out with the intention of wringing this avowal from him in jest, but how +differently it affected her now that she heard it. She forgot her anger, +everything, in fact, as she listened to the flow of his passion and +longed to hear him continue. Every note of his voice thrilled her as it +did on the day she first saw him. She remembered that she experienced a +peculiar sensation at the time; that his appearance reminded her of the +heroic type of manhood which the ancients had sought to depict in their +marbles. In him she had unconsciously recognized the true spirit of the +Argonaut on whose brow rests the star of empire. She did not idealize +him; she simply recognized him for what he was--a man; one in whose soul +the sentiment and enthusiasm of youth still sat enthroned, not smothered +by the crushing process of modern civilization which was the case with +the men she knew. A terror seized her as she compared the latter to him, +and beheld how small they appeared beside him. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he continued passionately, "you wouldn't thank me if +I continued to bandy words with the woman I love, whose presence has +become the sunshine of life to me. The whole world has become filled +with song since you came into my life. Music and laughter have taken the +place of loneliness and despair. Flowers spring from the earth where +your feet rest! Don't imagine that you can ever estrange yourself from +me. Wherever you are, by day or by night, waking or dreaming, I also +will be there and ever whispering: 'Bessie Van Ashton, I love you--you +have filled my life so completely I can't live without you!'" + +Had her face been turned toward him, he would have seen that it was +radiant, that her eyes shone with unusual brilliancy, that her hands +trembled beneath the folds of her scarf where she had concealed them. + +"Bessie, sweet--" + +"Stop!" she cried, almost in a voice of terror. "I've not given you +permission to speak to me, thus--to call me by name--" + +"Then turn round and say you will be human once more! That you will talk +and walk and ride again! If you don't, I'll begin all over again by +telling you that you are the sweetest--" + +"Hush!" she said softly, turning round abruptly with a gesture of +protest, looking up into his face, and then down at the ground to +conceal her confusion. "I think we understand one another," she said at +length, and raising her eyes to his again, she held out both her hands +which he seized and held in his own. + +"Let us be friends again," she continued, gently withdrawing her hands +from his. + +"No, don't say that!" he interrupted. "We can't be that! Let it rest as +it is!" + + + + +XXIV + + +"When you love, you love," runs a gypsy proverb. + +Bessie wore the despairing look of one who clings to a last vain hope. +How had it happened? Why had everything gone contrary to her +expectations? Why was Mr. Yankton dragging her at the wheels of his +chariot instead of she him? According to her social standards he had +seen but little, and yet he had the _savoir faire_ of a man of the +world. Her preconceived ideas on certain subjects were so upset that she +no longer appeared to have a hold on anything; the very ground seemed to +be slipping away beneath her. + +Strange that one could care for the person whom one least expected to, +that the most humiliating moment in one's life might be the happiest as +well. If any one had suggested such a possibility to her six months +previously, she would have laughed at the mere thought. How could she +relinquish the life she knew for his? She fought against his influence +with all her powers of resistance. And yet, what woman in her right mind +would hesitate to follow the man of her choice to the sunlit valleys of +our dreams? Weaker women than she had done so and been happy, while +stronger ones had hesitated, as was the case with Blanch, and lived to +regret it. She secretly prayed that she might be spared the torture +which Blanch was suffering and the despair which must inevitably +overtake her should she fail to win back the man she had let slip from +her; for what, after all, could life be to one without the true +comradeship of love? She began to feel and realize the ineffable +sweetness of life's fullness as the days of her awakening continued, +while the ache at her heart told her plainly enough that the decisive +moment of her life had arrived--that she must choose between happiness +and ambition. The one, rich and full though accompanied perhaps by pain +and even denial at times; the other fraught with uncertainty. + +She understood now the meaning of Chiquita's passionate longing for the +man she loved; a thing which the worldliness of the life she had lived +hitherto had taught her to be too extravagant to exist anywhere outside +of books, but which was true nevertheless. Her intuition told her this +in the face of all the world might say to the contrary. As she looked +back over the years and thought of her friends, she realized that she +like them had submerged her life in the superficial pleasures of the +world; but had they filled her cup of happiness? Until now she had not +felt the lack of life's crowning joy, for the reason that youth is +buoyant and full of hope, and the grand passion had not yet entered into +her life. These and a thousand other thoughts ran through her mind that +night as she recalled Dick's words. + +She could not sleep. From where she lay she could see the moonlight in +the _patio_ and hear the murmur of the fountain in its center. The night +seemed to beckon and whisper to her to come outside. So she arose and +silently dressed herself in the dimly moonlit room without disturbing +Blanch, who murmured incoherently in her sleep of the things she was +thinking of. She slipped noiselessly through the low window to the +_patio_ without and stealthily made her way in the shadow of the +overhanging arcades to the garden beyond. + +The hour was late--close on to dawn. The silvery half-moon hung low in +the west accompanied by great cohorts of stars that shone with a +brilliancy she had never before seen, and which seemed to be waiting +with the moon to usher in the new dawn. All was silence and mystery--all +earthly ties seemed severed. Under the cover of the night all things +seemed equal. There were no high, no low, no eyes to see, no ears to +hear, no towns, no cities, no conventions. All things that hold and bind +us had slipped away into the shadows and she seemed to breathe again the +primeval freshness of life. + +She knew that she must decide between Dick and her family. Her father +had given her plainly to understand as much, and this she knew meant the +loss of her fortune--the giving up of all for him. Her father +threatened, raged and fumed with the petulance of a spoiled child, his +paternal displeasure taking that uncompromising form of obstinacy with +which the world has long been familiar. She was amazed at herself for +being able to take his displeasure with so little concern; a thing +which, had it occurred at home, would have caused her to pause and +reflect and probably would have been the deciding factor in her life. +Her removal from the old life and the glimpses of the new had +unconsciously wrought a change within her. She began to see things as +they really are when shorn of their glamour. The life she hitherto had +known, she realized, was purely a superficial condition, not only +foreign to the realities of things, but superfluous to man himself. +Never had Captain Forest appeared so sane and her father so superficial +as the hour in which she grasped that truth. It is not what the world +makes of you, but what you make of yourself that counts, the beauteous, +seductive night kept whispering to her. Why, then, if this be true, +should the world about her appear so remote? It was not the actual +world--the world as it really is that she would be called upon to give +up, but merely the world of that particular set of men and women in +which she hitherto had moved. + +The same earth rolled beneath her feet--the same stars that looked down +upon her in the past still glittered in the heavens overhead--the same +winds that crept through the garden and sighed among the trees, wafting +the spicy, fragrant odors of the flowers into her face, were the same +that had fanned her cheek in the past. All things remained practically +the same, only the people were different. But could the old interests +and friendships and associations compensate her for the loss of the man +that had come into her life to remain for the rest of her days whether +she chose to keep him or not? These new and perplexing questions she was +forced to ask herself for the first time, and she knew that there could +be but one answer forthcoming. + +Love was knocking at the portals of her heart as it had never knocked +before. It had come to her warm and living, deep and subtle and +indefinable, leaving nothing to be said or desired. She saw clearly +that principle, as the world conceives it, was not involved. Affection +recognizes no such principle--only virtuous longing and desire which is +a principle in itself--the fulfillment of creation's grandest purpose; +and it rested with her to accept this truth or pass it by. + +The chill of the early morning caused her to draw her wrap more closely +about her shoulders. A deep sigh of relief escaped her as she glanced +upwards once more for a last look at the paling stars. How satisfactory +it was to know even though the knowledge pained her! + +She had entered the garden a girl, she returned to the house a woman, +hugging her secret close to her heart. + + + + +XXV + + +Success had crowned Juan Ramon's efforts. The pretty little _hacienda_ +of which he had dreamed so long was no longer a vision of the future, +but a reality. It was actually in his possession, purchased with a part +of the money he had received from Don Felipe for his work. It now only +remained for the pretty Rosita to consent to become the mistress of the +place and he, Juan Ramon, would bid farewell to the old _Posada_ and the +gaming-tables forever. This Juan naively promised himself as his +thoughts dwelt upon the bright picture of domestic felicity which his +imagination conjured up before him. + +The attractive presence of Rosita was undoubtedly the source of this +inspiration which actually led him to believe in the possibility of the +sudden and complete reformation of an inveterate gambler whose desire +for play was like the toper's insatiable thirst for liquor. And then, +there was Captain Forest's horse. Juan had an idea regarding that +animal. When everybody's attention was occupied with the festivities +during the night of the _fandango_, and he had succeeded in filling Jose +with the proper amount of _aguardiente_, he would slip quietly away with +the horse and conceal him at his _hacienda_. _Caramba!_ what a +horse--the like of which there was not in all Mexico! And Juan Ramon, +the champion _vaquero_ of Chihuahua, was the man to ride him! And he +rolled and smoked innumerable _cigarillos_ as he sauntered about the +garden and corrals, or lounged in the _patio_, musing on these and many +other things. + +To say that Don Felipe was elated by what he had discovered but mildly +describes his state of exultation. At last the woman who had ruined his +life was in his power. Not for years had he experienced such delicious +transports of rapture. How sweet a thing is revenge! He was like one +born anew. The expression of melancholy faded from his countenance, his +eyes shone with renewed luster and he smiled upon all the world. There +was no more escape for her than there had been for him when she so +treacherously thrust the knife into his heart. What he had discovered +was different from anything his imagination had pictured in connection +with her. Nothing could be more compromising, and the marvel of it was +that she had been able to keep the facts concealed from the world so +long. Only a woman could have done it, and only the cleverest of women +at that. No wonder she had danced in public. She had reason to! + +Never had he dreamed that he would live to enjoy this hour. When he +first imparted his information to Blanch, she refused to believe it; but +the proofs were too convincing to leave so much as the shadow of a doubt +in her mind. How fortunate that he had discovered her secret at this +time; just before the _fandango_. What an opportunity to confront her +with the truth; force her to make a public confession of her guilt. +Nothing could be more propitious for the execution of his plans; the +annihilation of the woman who had wrecked his life. It was not enough +that she should be exposed. She must be humiliated publicly as he had +been. + +He did not entirely reveal his plans to Blanch, knowing that the woman +in her and her consideration for the Captain would cause her to shrink +from inflicting so cruel a revenge even upon a rival. He was far too +clever for that. So, without going into details concerning his plans, he +led her to believe that, at a prearranged signal from her, he would +confront Chiquita personally and compel her to acknowledge the truth +before himself and the Captain. Her nature revolted at that which Don +Felipe told her, cried out for justice, for the exposure of the +impostor; nevertheless, she disliked a scene, and for the Captain's +sake, made Don Felipe promise to do nothing unless she gave the signal. + +One week hence and their scores would be even. The thought thrilled him +as he paced the length of his room, his hands clasping and unclasping +nervously behind his back; his mind actively engaged in rehearsing the +events of the last few days which led to the discovery, and the details +of the plan he had formulated, the carrying out of which was to be +deferred until that eventful evening when the principal families of the +town and neighborhood, her friends and acquaintances, would be gathered +together to witness her shame--the same as they had witnessed his. Her +disgrace would be far worse than his had been. She would be an outcast; +for let a man transgress and the world may forgive him, but let a woman +fall and she is damned forever so far as the world is concerned. He +would make no mistake this time. He carefully weighed every detail of +his plan, considered every eventuality that might arise. Subtle and +resourceful though he knew her to be, there would be no loophole of +escape for her. + +It was almost too good to be true. He was beside himself. He talked and +laughed aloud repeatedly when alone, scarcely able to retain himself, so +rapturously sweet was the thought of her humiliation. Suddenly a new +thought flashed through his mind. He had sworn that he would kill +Captain Forest--lay him dead at her feet; but that, thanks to +circumstances, would not now be necessary. The thought of killing a man +in cold blood was not pleasant even to one of Don Felipe's temperament +in his present state of mind. But should circumstances compel him to do +so to complete his revenge, he would stop at nothing, let the +consequences be what they might. + +That he had received his just deserts for his betrayal of a woman, did +not enter his thoughts. Had he not atoned for that misdeed through years +of suffering? Had ever mortal been humiliated as he had been? That fact +alone decided him. The memory of his transgression had been effaced long +since by his intense longing for revenge. Nothing short of revenge could +satisfy him now. + +A grim smile lit up his countenance as he pondered upon what he knew. +And yet, he reflected, who could tell? Infatuation might blind the +Captain to the truth. It was best to be prepared for all emergencies. +Stepping to his dresser, he opened the top drawer from which he took a +knife which lay concealed beneath the numerous articles it contained. +Drawing the blade from its leathern sheath, he ran his thumb lightly +over its double edge to assure himself that it had lost none of its +keenness. He always carried a pistol, but considering the circumstances +a knife would be better. It would make no noise, create less +disturbance. It would be so easy, in some secluded part of the garden, +to thrust it home and get away quietly before the deed was discovered. +One quick thrust, a stifled cry, that would be all. As a youth he could +have placed that blade at ten paces in the center of a mark no larger +than a silver dollar at every cast. But he had no thought of employing +such a method now even if he were able to. Striking the Captain would be +like sinking the blade in Chiquita's heart; for did he not hate the +Captain, because she loved him, almost as much as he hated her? No, he +would not forego that exquisite sense of pleasure and satisfaction, born +of jealousy and his insatiable thirst for revenge. + +For some time he toyed absently with the knife. Then, from sheer +exuberance of spirits, he began tossing it aloft; watching with +sparkling eyes the glittering blade as it turned over and over in the +air and catching it deftly by the hilt in his right hand as it +descended. His hand and wrist were firm and supple as of old; they had +lost none of their vigor during the long years he had wandered aimlessly +about the world. Again that cold smile, cruel and cutting as the edge +of his knife, lit up his face as he at length sheathed the blade in its +leathern case and returned it to its resting place in the drawer of his +dresser. + + + + +XXVI + + +Conviction is one thing, decision another. Any one who has been taught +from earliest childhood to regard black as white could hardly be +expected to distinguish in a moment the virtue of the latter. + +Daily Bessie resolved to follow the promptings of her heart; usually at +the close of the day when the cool of the evening set in, when the stars +again took up their procession across the heavens and she walked and +chatted with Dick in the garden. But when morning dawned and she thought +of her father's awful prognostications and the dire consequences which +must inevitably ensue should she take the step, her ardor cooled and she +as often changed her mind. Her father spent hours arguing with her, +trying to impress her with the importance of the duty she owed society +which consisted in obeying to the letter the behests of the set in which +she had always moved. + +Greatly to the Colonel's astonishment and disgust, his daughter seemed +strangely lacking in this particular moral quality. How had her insight +become so obtuse? He could not understand it, especially as he had taken +particular pains while bringing her up to steel her heart against the +insidious longings of maudlin sentiment and to teach her to despise +everything outside of her particular world. He and his wife had not +regarded love the chief essential to marriage, so why should his +daughter? That she, under the circumstances, should hesitate between +happiness and a life of regret, was a thing unique, almost +incomprehensible to him. That she should question his authority, his +right to choose for her, and his superior knowledge of the world, was +still more surprising. Her disaffection was strongly suggestive of +disrespect, a lack of faith in his infallibility in which he, the +Colonel, firmly believed, if nobody else did. + +The thought that the efforts of years might come to naught was bitter as +wormwood to him. It was bad enough that his nephew should besmirch the +family escutcheon, but that his daughter should deliberately contract a +mesalliance in the face of his objections, was too much. It was the last +straw. The country was going to the dogs. He argued, pleaded, stormed +and swore and beat his head against the wall of indifference and +obstinacy which his daughter reared between them with the unremitting +fury of a wasp that finds itself on the wrong side of a windowpane. This +new turn in affairs rendered Mrs. Forest so furious that she snapped +right and left regardless of persons like a dog possessed of the rabies, +rendering herself the most disagreeable person in the house. + +The alarming rapidity with which event succeeded event, whirling them +onward to some unseen end, was more than sufficient to convince them all +that life was fast becoming a very uncertain quantity. No one knew what +the morrow might bring forth; and all, with the exception of the +Captain, were wrought up to a pitch of nervous tension that threatened +the breaking point. Don Felipe shadowed Chiquita and the +Captain--Chiquita and Blanch regarded one another with increasing +suspicion--Dick pressed his suit with the ardor of desperation; while +the Colonel and Mrs. Forest nagged on all sides. Even Senora wore an +anxious, worried look. It was evident to all that things, as they were, +could not continue much longer. Only the Captain seemed capable of +keeping his head above water; for him the future held no terrors. The +more complicated matters became, the more serene he grew; for had he not +vowed that he would see things through to the end? They would all have +an opportunity of judging who it would be that would laugh last. + +The _fandango_ would relieve the tension. Blanch's inspiration was truly +a stroke of genius, for anything was better than a continuance of the +present state of affairs. Ever since Dick's declaration of love, Bessie +had fought and struggled against the tide of events which was +overwhelming her by making herself as disagreeable as possible in his +eyes. But what could she do to thwart the machinations of a man who +laughed at her moods, who encouraged her with each fresh outburst? + +Scarcely an hour elapsed after parting from him, than a note was slipped +into her hand by some one of the many Mexican attendants, telling her +how he adored her moods. That a frown from her was sweeter than the +perpetual smile of another woman; that he loved a woman of spirit; that +she would find him on the morrow in the dust at her feet as usual; that +the sensation he experienced while being trampled upon could only be +likened unto that of being borne aloft on wings, etc. She grew hot and +cold by turns as she read these missives, and sulked and softened and +flew into fits of passion, and tore them into bits, thoroughly disgusted +with her weakness and her inability to remedy matters, and invariably +ended by wishing to see him again. Clearly, her only hope of delivery +lay in the alternatives of instant flight, or of ridding herself of his +importunities by marrying him; either of which she found equally +difficult and impossible to execute. She did not know that Dick was +putting on a bold front; that his attitude was assumed; that, like her, +he was at his wits' end; that, if she suffered, he suffered tenfold. Her +annoyance was insignificant in comparison to the cyclonic outbursts that +swept over him. + +Ah, yes, Anita, Concho's wife, had predicted events with fair accuracy. +When he sought to take her, she was not there, but somewhere +else--everywhere. Just like a kitten that frisks among the leaves in +autumn when they are whirled about by the wind; now here, now there, now +up a tree. Though each had taken the measure of the other with fair +accuracy, each had misjudged the other's strength; and it was becoming +problematical just how much longer he would be able to hold out. Nothing +had ever daunted him. All his life long he had never failed to +accomplish the things of real importance. No undertaking had ever proved +too great. Colonel Yankton, his foster-father, had taught him the value +of perseverance, and he had learned his lesson well. He instinctively +felt that the great crisis of his life was at hand; that all his +efforts, his successes in life must count for naught so far as he +personally was concerned, should he fail to win her. He knew that his +fate hung in the balance, that the morrow would practically decide +whether the one thing his life lacked would be added unto it, or that he +would go on to the end alone. + +He had gone for a stroll in the town after the customary gathering in +the _patio_ in the evening. The others had long since retired for the +night when he returned to the _Posada_. Feeling no inclination to sleep, +he seated himself on the veranda in front of the house, and lighting a +fresh cigar, smoked and mused; his gaze fixed on the tall moonlit hedge +which separated the _Posada_ from the highroad; his thoughts reverting +to the days of his boyhood. Again he saw the Colonel, tall and erect, +the personification of manhood, indomitable will and courage, seated +upon his horse at the head of his regiment, and heard the ringing, +clarion notes of the bugle--the signal for the charge. Yes, he would +make one more supreme effort, and if that failed, well.... His cigar had +burned low. He tossed it over the veranda rail and rose with the +intention of retiring, when his attention was arrested by the faint +sound of a horse's hoofs on the highroad in the distance. Something +seemed to tell him to wait, and acting on the impulse, he paused and +listened. The sounds drew nearer, increasing in volume as the animal +approached, until a horseman finally turned in from the road at an easy +canter and drew rein before the _Posada_. Both man and horse were +covered with dust which shone white as snow in the moonlight; a proof +that they had traveled far during the day. + +"_Buenas noches_, Senor," said the rider, a Mexican, swinging himself +from the saddle and ascending the steps to where Dick stood. + +"Good evening," replied the latter in Spanish, eyeing the man curiously. + +"I wish," continued the stranger, "to speak with one Senor Yankton who, +I was told, lives in Santa Fe. Perhaps, Senor, you can tell me where I +may find him?" + +"I am Senor Yankton. What do you want?" + +"Ah!" exclaimed the man, stepping back a pace and regarding Dick +critically. "Your appearance answers the description well, Senor, but +that is not enough--I must have proof." Just then a _vaquero_ on night +duty who had been lounging in the deep shadow at the far end of the +veranda came forward on hearing the sounds of voices. + +"Diego," said Dick, addressing the latter, "tell this gentleman whether +I be Senor Yankton or not. He says he wishes to see him." + +"Of a truth, Senor, here is the man you seek," answered Diego, +addressing the stranger. + +"_Bueno_--good!" ejaculated the Mexican, pulling a sealed packet from +the inner pocket of his jacket. "I come from the Rio Plata, six days' +journey toward the west. I have been commissioned to deliver this to +you, Senor," and he handed the packet to Dick who, taking it, gave +instructions to Diego that the man and his horse be properly housed for +the night. Then, with an "_hasta la vista_," and "God be with you until +the morrow, Senor," he retired to his room. There, by the dim light of a +candle, he carefully scrutinized the address on the packet, but did not +recognize the writing. Nevertheless, he instinctively felt as he turned +it over in his hands before breaking the seal, that, in some manner or +other, it was intimately concerned with his fate. + + + + +XXVII + + +The preparations for the _fandango_ were complete. The men and women of +the household, under Juan Ramon's supervision, had worked hard since +sunrise, stringing gayly colored lanterns and arranging tables and +chairs, palms and potted flowers and shrubs in the _patio_. It was close +on to five o'clock and they now rested in the _patio_ in the shade of +its arcades, smoking cigarettes and sipping black coffee, and chatting +and laughing as they viewed with satisfaction the results of their +handiwork. The day gave promise of a perfect night. It was to be a +typical Spanish _fiesta_, and in order that the illusion might be +complete, both the Whites and the Indians were to appear in their +national costumes. All the leading Spanish families of the town and the +neighborhood would be present. Not an invitation had been refused. + +Captain Forest had agreed to take tea with Blanch in the garden, and, +true to his word, he appeared punctually, almost on the minute. The +pretty Rosita, the only one of the household excepting Senora Fernandez +and Juan Ramon who understood and spoke English after a fashion, +withdrew reluctantly after depositing her tray containing tea and +_tortillas_ upon the table. She adored the beautiful _Americana_, and +had been doing a great deal of thinking of late. The reason for her +coming might not be Don Felipe at all, but Captain Forest, the grand +Senor. Who could say? The ways of the Americano, the _gringo_, were so +different from theirs. Everything they did was exactly opposite to their +way of thinking and doing things. No well-bred, unmarried Spanish woman +would dare take tea alone with a man unless they were engaged. + +The signs of autumn were visible on every hand. The long, languid, +summer travail had ceased and the season of dreams begun. Though the sky +was a clear steel-blue overhead, the horizon was veiled in a thin blue +haze into which the landscape and distant objects seemed to fade and +lose themselves. Filmy threads of gossamer floated through the air, +suffused with a soft golden glow. Most of the birds had ceased to sing +and the drone of insects became less persistent, as if fearful to +disturb the hush and calm that pervaded the land. + +Captain Forest noticed, as he seated himself at the table opposite +Blanch, that the golden glow in her hair was almost a perfect match to +the shafts of sunlight which sifted down upon her through the branches +of the trees overhead. And he wondered at his resisting powers--why the +spell of her fascination no longer held him as of old, not realizing +that his love for her had waned in the same proportion that he had grown +beyond her. The air of restraint which existed between them would have +been apparent even to a stranger, but Blanch had decided to dissipate +this feeling if possible. She laughed and chatted as though entirely at +her ease, as though nothing had ever come between them; making sarcastic +remarks on the customs of the country; calling into requisition all the +blandishments and fascinations which a woman of her intelligence and +attraction was capable of exercising upon a man. Every word, every look +and gesture fell upon him like a caress. She flattered, cajoled and +contradicted him, employing that subtle, deceptive art of refined +coquetry to which a sensitive nature like the Captain's was most +susceptible. Nor were its effects lost upon him; they were soon both at +their ease. She was the old Blanch again; the girl and companion of his +youth--the woman of yesterday. + +The struggle that was being fought out inch by inch between her and +Chiquita was drawing swiftly to its close, and must end as abruptly as +it began. She had only begun to realize what the full significance of +love meant in the hour that she felt the loneliness occasioned by the +lack of it. She had miscalculated. She thought she was stronger than +Captain Forest, but could she have cared for him had he been a weaker +man? It was his strength which she both loved and hated, and deep down +in her heart she knew full well that, were he weaker than herself, she +must have ended by despising him. She, like Chiquita, was fighting for +her life, her very existence so to speak; but of course he did not +divine the full significance of the struggle--what it meant to them +both; no man could. + +"Does the charm of this land still continue to hold you, Jack?" she +asked carelessly, passing him a cup of tea. + +"More than ever," he answered, lighting a cigarette and wondering what +she was leading up to. + +"Don't you think you have had about enough of it?" she continued, with +just a shade of sarcasm in her voice. "You have had a royal vacation and +I'm glad you have enjoyed yourself so thoroughly, but, honestly, don't +you think it's about time you were returning to your work again, to the +world to which you belong, of which you are a part and from which, in +spite of all effort and argument, you cannot possibly separate yourself? +You know, I never could take your idea seriously, Jack," she added, with +increasing confidence, addressing him as one would a naughty child. He +only smiled by way of reply, and quietly blew a ring of smoke into the +air. + +"I see you are as obstinate and determined as ever," she continued +rather petulantly. "Don't be overconfident though; you might fail, you +know, and failure is always discouraging--it involves such a waste of +time." + +"If I do, it will be the first time I have failed." He was about to +continue, but checked himself. They were getting on dangerous ground. +She understood his inference and colored and smiled. For some time +neither spoke. A gold leaf, one of the first heralds of autumn, dropped +silently down from the bough overhead to the center of the table. He +took another sip of tea. + +"Jack," she said at length, raising her eyes from her hands in her lap +where she toyed with her fan, "supposing a position were offered you, +one quite worth your while, would you return? Not immediately, but +later on, when you have grown a little tired of playing at the game of +life? In six months, say--or even a year if you like?" Her whole +attitude and expression had changed, and a look of pleading and +expectancy shone from her eyes. Again he smiled. What was she driving +at? he asked himself. + +"I'm afraid it will be longer than that, Blanch," he answered. "Besides, +what position could possibly be open to me? You know, my name is struck +from the lists. At least, it ought to be if it isn't." + +"Possibly," she answered. "But, if you cared enough, there might be +another chance!" + +"What do you mean?" he interrupted, regarding her curiously. In reply, +she quietly drew an official document from her bosom and handed it to +him across the table without a word. He colored, and she saw that his +hand trembled slightly, betraying the emotion he felt as he opened the +envelope and glanced hastily over its contents. "The Ministry to +Turkey--Blanch!" he gasped, regarding her in astonishment. + +"Yes," she answered nervously, watching closely the effect the news had +upon him. "I received it a week ago. The President knows how clever you +are, Jack, and has promised to keep the position open for you if you +will consent to accept it. You know, he always had a warm place in his +heart for you." + +"Blanch!" he said again, overcome by emotion. And laying the document +down upon the table in front of him he rose to his feet. + +"Turkey, Jack, is but a step to London, St. Petersburg, Berlin or +Paris," she said softly, looking up at him and catching her breath in +the effort to conceal her excitement. "It is yours, Jack, if you wish +it. Understand," she resumed, lowering her gaze and running her slender +white hand slowly back and forth over the edge of her half-open fan, +"that it is yours without reservation. You are under no obligations. +Turkey and--I are two different things," she added slowly and with +difficulty, without looking up; her neck and face turning a deep +scarlet. She felt the intensity of his blazing eyes upon her. + +"Blanch!" he cried, and this time there was a note of anger in his +voice. "Don't think me ungrateful, I beg of you. I appreciate what you +have done, and I thank you with my whole heart, but--I can't do it, +Blanch!" + +"Jack!" she cried, throwing off the mask and springing to her feet. "I +can't stand it any longer! I can't see you wreck your life in this way! +Can't you see the folly you are committing? Don't think me presumptuous; +that I am trying to meddle, interfere in your life. I am merely trying +to save you from yourself! It's your last chance, Jack. Go back again +and never mind me; I've nothing to do with it! I can easily understand +how this life can have a certain fascination for you, but only for a +time; it can't last. The more I see of it, the more I'm convinced that +I'm right. What's the use of mincing words, fencing about the truth any +longer? I understand--I've seen it from the first. It's not this life, +but the woman that holds you!" she cried abruptly and passionately, +almost fiercely, betraying her jealousy. + +"Don't wreck your life and happiness before it is too late. You must +tire of her as inevitably as you will tire of this life, and what then? +Can't you see that, when you have exhausted the glamour, and the +fascination of things is gone, she would no longer be a companion to +you? The difference between you--your lives, your world and hers, is too +great. It is insurmountable--impassable! What can she know of the world +which you and I know, to which you belong? Of another race, another +blood, she must ever remain an alien, a thing apart from yourself; there +can never be a true affinity between you. She is a savage--an aborigine +sprung from the soil. The tinsel and veneer of civilization which she +has acquired doesn't change her and can't endure. She is still a savage +in spite of it, the product of savage ancestry living close to the soil. +The simplicity and glamour and freedom of this life casts a spell over +one and attracts one of your adventurous nature, sated with the +pleasures and luxuries of our world, but will the spell last? Once you +have exhausted the simple, elemental joys of such a life, it must become +irksome, mere animal existence, unbearable, positive boredom to you. +That in her which attracts you now must inevitably become commonplace in +time and repel you. You could not endure that, Jack; you who are evolved +through thousands of generations from a higher, superior race. Your +reason and instinct must tell you that. + +"Jack!" she cried in a fresh outburst, "we were made for one another! +How can she, an Indian, the product of savagery, understand you who are +of a different race, the product of civilization? Your soul can never +find the full response in hers that it can in mine. I know I was +foolish--call it willful rather than foolish--the instinct that is born +in me to command. I should not have let you go. I should have consented +to share the life you proposed, but I did not believe you were in +earnest; I did not think it would last. Besides, how could you have +expected me to understand? It was too much; you had no right to ask it +of me then. I thought, of course, you would come back to me again, Jack; +I waited for that. Can't you understand? But you didn't come back, and I +repented of my mistake a thousand times. We all make mistakes, Jack!" + +His manhood revolted against being compelled to listen to her +confession, her pleading. It was undignified, cowardly. It disgusted him +and he hated himself for it, but what could he do? + +"Don't say that, Blanch," he answered gently. "It is I who should ask +forgiveness. I know it was too much to ask you to share such a life with +me, but I did not realize it at the time. I wronged you, I know. I would +gladly make reparation if I knew how." + +"Oh! none of that virtuous, good-humored acquiescence, Jack! I want you +to forget everything, all but the days before it happened, when you +loved me--when you swore that your love was as constant as the stars! +Have you forgotten your oath? To be true to yourself, Jack, you must +forget!" She paused. It was the first frank utterance she had made since +her coming; and, for the time being, she seemed to have forgotten her +resentment toward him. + +"I have not changed, Jack," she went on. "I am the same as then; I only +did not understand you. How could I have guessed that which lay buried +within you, those latent ideals and conceptions of life which you +yourself were ignorant of? But I understand you now, Jack. It was the +foolish conceit of the girl's heart that caused me to forget what I owed +you; but now it is the woman who speaks, who bares her soul to you, +brimming full of love and passion and tenderness for the man she loves +and longs to protect--the woman who loves as the girl could never have +loved, Jack." + +The light that shone from her eyes bespoke the voice of her conscience; +told him that she at least spoke the truth. Never had she appeared more +beautiful, more fascinating and alluring than at this moment, as she +stood before him, flushed and radiant and trembling with passion, +confused and indignant and ashamed; the woman rebelling within her at +being thus forced to lay bare her soul, make confession before the man +she loved. It was cruel and he knew it. Her words were like +knife-thrusts at his heart, filling his soul to its depths with sympathy +and compassion for her, and bitterness and loathing for himself. + +The vision of yesterday with its gay scenes which he had cast aside, +rose before him again. Its seductive allurements swept over him with +redoubled force like a great compelling wave, filled with music and +light and laughter, the false, seductive charms of which their present +surroundings knew naught. The magic of her voice, her face, her touch +had lost none of its charm. He felt her fascination still, in spite of +himself and the bitterness of former days which he had cherished in his +heart against her. The lure of the old life was strong upon him. He +felt the hot blood rush to his face and heart; his being surged. She had +been a part of his life, they had grown up together, and do what he +would, her presence brought him face to face again with certain +realities, with the old life which he thought was dead but which was not +yet buried. When he looked upon her, he heard the old familiar sounds of +the sea, of music and siren-voices of civilizations in their +decay--breathed again the intoxicating atmosphere of that exotic, +voluptuous, sensuous existence in which he had been reared and had +lived, and with which he was saturated and from which he was striving to +escape. But when he thought of Chiquita, he heard the murmur of forests +and waters and saw the broad expanse of the plains and the wild crags +and peaks that rear their heads heavenward, above which the eagles soar. +Nature beckoned with widespread arms to her child to come--the manhood +within him cried for release, for the recognition of the individual's +right to self-assertion. + +Poets have sung of the raptures of first love, but was Blanch really his +first love? The true first love is only that man or woman who can cause +one to forget oneself. Somewhere deep down in our souls there's a +something which sleeps until that hour when it suddenly bursts into +flame, as it were, and the new man is born within us; and this is what +had happened to him, though all unknown to himself, at the time when he +first beheld Chiquita riding alone in the hills. In an instant his soul +was aflame. He thrilled at the sight of her as she turned and rode away +in the dusk, and felt like crying out to her to stop; that she was his, +that she had been his from the beginning of time and he likewise hers; +that he had been searching for her down the ages and had found her at +last. All this and much more flashed through his mind as he gazed upon +the beautiful vision of Blanch before him and felt the charm of her +presence slowly creeping over him and fastening itself upon him in spite +of his resistance like the subtle, mysterious influence of music or rich +old wine. + +For some time he seemed uncertain how to act or what to say. She noted +it. His hesitation inspired her with fresh courage, causing her face and +eyes to shine with the radiance of hope, dazzlingly beautiful. Her +breath came quick and fast as she drew nearer to him and then seemed to +cease altogether as she waited for his answer. All this he too noticed, +and felt himself weakening under her spell. The suspense was as terrible +for him as for her. A thousand memories rose from out the past and began +pulling at his heart-strings. Inch by inch he felt himself slowly +slipping back into the old life again, like a boat that has slipped her +moorings and glides silently and almost imperceptibly out into the +easy-flowing current. The struggle grew more intense within him as the +minutes passed. Great beads of perspiration broke out upon his brow as +he listened to those voices whose sweetness and intensity increased with +his hesitancy--those voices beneath whose charm and spell the strongest +men have succumbed in the past. + +"Blanch," he said at last, hoarsely and almost in a whisper, "it takes a +better man than I to say 'no' to you, and I don't say it. But I have +changed." The mere fact of speaking and the sound of his voice seemed +to recall him to himself, to the realization of where he was and what he +was doing. He felt that he was still master of himself and his +confidence slowly returned. "I know you can't understand," he continued. +"But somehow, I seem to have grown beyond you." + +"Jack," she said, drawing still closer and laying her hand upon his arm +and looking up into his face, "I know you have had more experience than +I have had, but don't imagine that you have grown beyond me. Your ideas +have caused me to think. I, too, have grown since we last parted. If you +can give up the world, so can I. If you will not return again to the +world with me, I'll remain here with you. I'll do anything you say!" she +cried in passionate surrender. "My body is soft perhaps in comparison to +hers, but I'm strong. I'll soon be as strong as you or she and be all +the more to you, infinitely more to you than she can ever be. I know I +did you a great wrong in the past, Jack, but let me make up for it now. +It is my privilege, my debt to you, and your duty to let me do it. You +have no right to break your promise to me, Jack. You can't. Your manhood +must tell you that it is as sacred now as the day you gave it to me, and +I hold you to it. I'll show you a love you have never known--can never +know without me!" She drew still closer, laying her other hand upon his +shoulder caressingly; her arm almost encircling his neck. He felt her +warm, fragrant breath upon his lips and the thrilling, magnetic touch of +her body, vibrating and pulsating with passion and emotion. How soft and +voluptuous and tempting and alluring that body and presence were! It +was as though the spices and perfumes and sunshine of far away, mythical +Cathay had suddenly descended upon him and enveloped him. + +"Jack," she continued, "we have always been comrades, pals; we were made +for one another! We are one in thought now as much as we ever were--more +than we ever have been!" + +He knew this to be false; that he possessed a grip on life which she did +not; that he had passed far beyond her since they had last parted. She +had had her opportunity and had thrown it away. It was too late. She +could not follow him now, she had missed the psychological moment. Even +had she cast her lot with his in the beginning, he knew that she never +could have followed him. She was immeshed; her feet were caught in the +net. The blandishments of life had taken too deep root in her soul for +her to cast them forth as he had done. And yet his conscience smote him +for her sake, for what she suffered, that she was thus forced to +humiliate herself before him. Sentiment and old memories surged up +within him and urged him to keep her. What, after all, did it matter +where or how they lived? The world would go on its way the same as it +had always done; it didn't wish to be reformed and wasn't worth +reforming. + +"Take her! take her!" cried those voices more persistently than ever. +"Don't be a fool and miss this opportunity which, once gone, shall pass +out of your life forever. She's as beautiful and as brilliant as the +other woman; one of your own race and, after all, will wear as well. +Besides, you know her and you don't know the other woman, and if +disappointed in the latter--what then? Take her!" + +The vision of Glaire's wonderful conception, "The Lost Illusions," rose +before him. He saw again that exquisite figure of the Egyptian, strong +and sensitive, in the prime of manhood, seated upon the shore of the +Nile, watching the bark of destiny laden with the fair illusions of +youth, draw slowly away from him and grow fainter and fainter in the +soft, mellow light of age, as it floated away on the evening tide of +life. He, too, stood in the prime of manhood. Was this to be his end, +mocked and laughed at by fate--the price he must pay for daring to lift +his eyes from the dust to the stars to fulfill the dream of the ages? +God knew how he had fought against the invisible power that had driven +him on step by step to his present state. He looked down into the +beautiful upturned face of the woman before him whom he had known so +long, whom he had loved and adored; gazed deep into those soft, azure +eyes, limpid as two crystal pools, saw those full red upturned lips +waiting to be kissed--kissed. Again her lips parted. + +"Jack, Jack, Sweetheart, I'm waiting--" she murmured softly, encircling +his neck completely with her arm and drawing his face gently down to her +own. Just then the rhythmic silvery whir of wings caused them to look +upward. Through the boughs of the tree they saw the indistinct form of a +white dove that fluttered overhead for an instant and then was gone. At +the same moment Captain Forest distinctly recognized the scent of +Castilian roses, as though their fragrance had been wafted full in his +face by a breeze, and yet there was no breeze, nor were there any roses +close at hand; the season of roses had passed. + +No man could have resisted for long the fascinations of a woman like +Blanch Lennox if she chose to make love to him. It was the sound of +those wings and the fragrance of the roses that upheld Captain Forest's +resolution; especially the fragrance of the roses. Whence it came or how +it originated, who could say? For it came and passed like a mere breath. +Perhaps the invisible angel who, it is said, presides over the destiny +of the individual, caused it; for with it flashed the vision of Chiquita +before his eyes as he had seen her on that day in the garden among the +roses and had silently watched her from the back of his horse and +breathed deep drafts of the flowery fragrance. The same subtle, +invisible something that has changed the destiny of individuals and of +nations through all the ages, caused him to remember, recalled him to +himself. The manhood surged up within him, asserting its supremacy, and +he drew himself up with a sudden impulse. She noted the change, and in a +fierce, passionate voice, almost of terror, cried: "Jack, you are mine, +you have always been mine! I will not give you up--I claim my own!" and +she flung her arms passionately about his neck in an endeavor to draw +his lips down to her own. + +"I can't--I can't do it, Blanch!" he said, and shook himself free. With +a cry, terrible in its intensity and despair, she sank across the +table. + + + + +XXVIII + + +Pale and trembling and humiliated, Blanch pulled herself together with +an effort and stood for some time as one dazed where the Captain had +left her. Then, she remembered, she had smiled and bowed absently to the +men and women in the _patio_ on the way back to her room, where she +flung herself down upon the couch in a frenzy, burying her face in the +cushions; her frame shaking with passionate, convulsive sobs as she +writhed in paroxysms of untold grief and pain. + +He had refused her, dared to refuse her--her! She had failed! Was this, +then, the end, the reward for righteous ambition, conscientious +endeavor? For years she had worked and schemed for the realization of +her ideal, and this was the end. How proud she always had been of him, +and how perfectly her beauty and brilliancy would have crowned his +career--their lives! And now, when ambition's goal was attained, that +rare cup of earthly joys of which few men drink, had been rudely dashed +from her lips. + +So this was the reward that had been reserved for her who had been +endowed with wealth and position, and who was the fairest and best this +civilization could produce? Fate had been kind to her merely in order +that she might realize to the utmost the bitterness and emptiness of +life. + +Life--what did it mean, what did it hold for her now? She knew as well +as Captain Forest did that, strong though she was, she was nevertheless +too weak to share with him the life he had chosen. Civilization and +culture had prepared her for everything but that; the one vital +essential which nature alone can give to man was lacking. After all she +was but a poor, helpless creature, incapable of meeting and being +satisfied with the simple demands occasioned by the natural conditions +of man's surroundings. Neither could she return to the old life again, +now that it was shorn of its vital interest, and year after year cast +her bread upon the waters in the uncertain pursuit of happiness, only to +reap the harvest of dead-sea fruit that is ever borne in on the shallow +tides of worldliness. + +She recognized in herself the victim of a system of lies and frauds, a +world of artificiality, deceit and tawdry tinsel, a life which, in spite +of the good it contains, makes weaklings of men. Thanks to her +bringing-up, the sunland of love, that valley of the earthly paradise, +was closed to her forever. She cursed this world of hypocrisy and +deception and all it contained--her friends and acquaintances and the +memory of her father and mother, who unabashed, had perverted the pure, +unsullied gaze of the child, directed its steps in the paths trodden by +its degenerate forefathers, taught it to regard falsehood in the light +of truth. + +Let the world cry out in protest--say they did their best. The world +lies, and knows it lies. They did not do their best. They followed the +dictates of selfishness, despicable, inherent weakness. But why had +this come to her who had been a willing instrument, who had lent +herself to the dictates of this world and who, of all others, was the +most fit to grace it? + +"I curse you--curse you!" she cried aloud, springing to her feet in a +fresh paroxysm and frenzy, flinging her clenched hands aloft, her +features livid with rage. But what did her mingled transports of grief +and pain and anger avail her? There was no redress, no appeal from the +decision of destiny. It was fate, and she had been singled out for the +sacrifice. Again she cried out in agony of heart and soul. Had she been +strong like the other woman, he must have loved her--his love never +could have died! + +The thought of Chiquita brought her to herself in a measure, and as she +slowly began to pace the floor, Don Felipe's words came back to her. If +she did not possess Jack, no other woman should. Besides, she knew what +he did not know--that even if he wished to, he could not marry Chiquita. +A grim smile flitted across her countenance as the knowledge of this +fact flashed through her mind, the only ray of light in the chaos into +which she had been plunged by that misguided, luckless decision on her +part--her refusal to follow the Captain while he was still hers. + +She knew it was purely revenge that had prompted Don Felipe to run her +rival's secret to earth, and she despised him for it. It was not so with +her--the thought of revenge had not entered into her calculations. But +neither Chiquita nor the Captain would escape. It was justice, nothing +more nor less; for they, too, like her, stood before the tribunal of +destiny and must bow to its decrees the same as she had been forced to +bow to them. Yes, she would give the signal to Don Felipe that night; it +was the only right thing to do. + +She was calmer now, and when Rosita knocked lightly at her door and +entered the room to assist her in dressing for the evening, no one would +have suspected the ache at her heart or the storm-swept soul which her +calm exterior concealed. + + + + +XXIX + + +Padre Antonio sat before the open window in his living-room in a large, +comfortable chair, enjoying the beauty of the evening and the fragrance +of the last flowers in the garden, waiting for Chiquita to complete her +toilet. + +It was one of those soft, balmy autumnal evenings, and gave promise of a +night of majesty and serenity when the moon rose in her full glory to +hold her silent watch over the earth once more. It was sweet to live on +such a day as this, when all the world seemed at peace; and what a +perfect night for the _fandango_. Presently the sound of light footsteps +and the soft rustle of a dress interrupted the train of his thoughts, +causing him to turn from the window to Chiquita, who, attired in her +ball dress, entered the room and paused before him. + +There was not an inharmonious touch in her attire of soft creamy satin +and lace, richly embroidered with golden flowers. Delicate filmy threads +of gold intersected the heavy white Valenciennes lace mantilla attached +to her high silver comb, etched in gold and studded with diminutive +diamonds, which sparkled in the light like dew in the sunshine. Her +white satin slippers and silk stockings, like her corsage and _saya_, +were also delicately worked in gold. A sheaf of golden poppies adorned +one side of her head, nestling close down upon her neck and shoulder in +the folds of her jet black hair. She presented a truly striking +appearance, and Padre Antonio gazed long and silently at her, his keen +eyes scanning her critically from head to foot in an effort to detect a +fault. + +How he loved his little girl! It almost seemed as though she were +endowed with something more than earthly beauty. In her the strength and +grace of the deer and panther were blended with the ethereal delicacy +and beauty of the flower. But it was her face that bespoke the luminous +nature of the soul which dwelt within her. So close was the bond of +sympathy and mutual understanding between them, that she instinctively +half divined his thoughts and it gave her courage. + +"Will I do, Padre _mio_?" she asked with a slight hesitancy, smiling and +looking down at him inquiringly. The question was so characteristic of +her that he could only smile in response. + +"Chiquita _mia_--there's one thing lacking," he said at length, the +far-away, dreamy look fading from his eyes. + +"Something lacking?" she repeated in surprise, turning and casting an +involuntary glance at the small mirror on the wall opposite in a vain +effort to catch a full view of herself. + +"Yes, Senorita," he answered knowingly, almost mysteriously. "But it's +not your fault. It sometimes takes the discerning eye of a man to +perceive what a woman's toilet lacks." + +What can it be, she asked herself, looking wonderingly and inquiringly +up into his face, and then turning to follow him with her gaze as, +without further comment, he left the room and slowly ascended the stairs +to his study on the floor above. He paused for an instant on entering +the room, then walked straight to his desk at the other end; a large +upright piece of furniture of ancient pine made in the mission style and +stained dark to represent oak, which, owing to its age, it closely +resembled. Pulling out the middle drawer, he pushed back a secret panel +on the inside, disclosing an opening in the back of the desk from which +he drew a small sandalwood box which, on being opened, contained a +silver casket, richly chased and of an antique design. + +Years had elapsed since he last looked upon it, and he regarded it +curiously for some moments as he held it in his hands. Then setting it +down upon the desk, he turned the small key which unlocked it and raised +the lid, disclosing its contents, which consisted of a fan, a bracelet +of six strands of large pearls with a diamond clasp in the shape of a +crown, and a long, magnificent necklace of still larger pearls, also +composed of six strands, like the bracelet, and a large diamond slide +also in the shape of a crown. The fan was one of those exquisite, +daintily hand-painted French creations of ivory, lace and vellum of a +century gone by. On one of the outer ribs was also a small diamond crown +and on the other was traced a name in letters of gold. A delicate +fragrance like that of withered rose leaves escaped the casket, and, as +he silently contemplated its contents, his gaze fell upon the name on +the fan--Chiquita Pia Maria Roxan Concepcion Salvatore--the name was +much longer, but his eyes dimmed--he could read no further. + +Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands and was in the act of +pressing his lips to its contents, when he caught sight of a crucifix on +the desk in front of him, causing him to pause, cross himself reverently +and lower the casket again. + +[Illustration: "Instinctively he raised the casket with both hands."] + +Who was Padre Antonio? Involuntarily his thoughts traveled back over the +stream of years when, as a youth of twenty, he bade farewell to old +Spain forever and with a heavy heart set forth alone to find God and +peace in the wilderness of the new world. Fifty years had passed since +then and with them, the secret and tragedy of his life lay buried. + +He heaved a deep sigh and, picking up the casket, turned toward the +door. Chiquita listened to the sound of his footsteps as he slowly +descended the stairs, and gazed in wonderment at the casket he held in +his hand when he reentered the room. Without a word, he deposited it +upon the table in the center of the room and, raising the lid, displayed +its contents to the dazzled eyes of his ward. Never had she beheld such +wonderful jewels--what did it mean? + +"Padre _mio_!" she gasped, her eyes wandering questioningly from the +casket to his face, which appeared a little paler than when he left the +room but a few minutes before. + +"I never imagined that another woman would ever be created worthy to +wear them," he said quietly, picking up the bracelet and fastening it +about her left wrist, and winding the necklace twice round her throat, +the ends falling down over her bosom to her waist. "May God's blessing +forever rest upon you, my child," he added, making the sign of the cross +above her, and stooping, he kissed her lightly on the forehead. + +Involuntarily her hand went out for the fan, and as her eyes fell on the +name upon it, her woman's instinct told her all. + +"Padre--Padre _mio_!" she cried, and throwing her arms about his neck, +burst into a passionate flood of tears on his breast. + +"There, there, my child!" he said at last, regaining his accustomed +composure. "I now know why I was never able to part with them--not even +to the Church. I was keeping them for you." + +"But I'm not worthy to wear them, Padre!" she exclaimed. + +"Tut, tut!" he replied. "The ways of God are past all understanding. +When I think of how you came to me unsought and unbidden, and now, how +Captain Forest of a different race--" + +"Oh, Padre, do you think I stand a chance of winning him?" she +interrupted, looking inquiringly up into his face as if to read the +answer there. + +"Ah! that is a difficult question, my child. Love and intrigue are such +uncertain quantities to deal with, you know. Yet it seems strange that +he should have come into your life at this juncture. Captain Forest," he +went on after a pause, "is a great man. As you know, we have talked much +together of late on that most interesting of all topics--life. And it +seems to me that if ever God had plainly indicated his wish, you have +been reserved for one another to perform his will. Of course, I can not +say this for a certainty, but it appears so to me, and to see your hands +and hearts joined together will be the crowning joy of my life--" +Suddenly his left hand went to his heart, where he experienced a sharp +pain. A dizziness seized him, causing him to lean heavily upon her for +support. + +"Padre _mio_--what is it?" she cried in alarm. "You are not well! We'll +not go to the _fiesta_ to-night--'tis better we remain at home!" + +"It's nothing--nothing, my child," he answered, after the dizziness had +passed. "It's only a slight attack of indigestion, like the one I had +last summer while engaged in the mission work. You know," he added +lightly, "I'm no longer as young as I was--such things must be +expected." All day long she had experienced a dread of impending +disaster which she could not shake off, and which she naturally +connected with Don Felipe. But why go to the _Posada_ that evening if +Padre Antonio was not feeling well--there would be other days. + +Again she protested and urged him to remain at home, but in vain--he +would not hear of it. + +"It will do me good to go," he said, helping her on with her long white +silk Spanish mantle, embroidered with gold and lace to match her dress. +Then, drawing on his black silk gloves, he picked up his hat and stick, +and they passed out into the garden and through the tall iron gate, +turning their steps in the direction of the _Posada_. + + + + +XXX + + +The garden and _patio_ of the _Posada_ were hung with many lanterns +whose light, in addition to that of the stars and the full moon, made +them appear as bright as day. + +Mrs. Forest maintained a frigid attitude toward the world throughout the +evening. Inwardly she longed to be gay like the others, but prudery and +short-sightedness, the fruits of her training, prevailed, effectually +debarring her from all enjoyment and leaving her cold and isolated like +one afflicted with the plague. Could she have followed the dictates of +her wishes, she would have remained within the seclusion of her room +during the entire evening, but not being able to reconcile such a course +with the duties of a chaperon, she was obliged to appear. If _noblesse +oblige_ demanded that she should sacrifice herself, suffer the martyred +isolation of patience on a monument, then be it so! + +As for Colonel Van Ashton, he had suffered long enough. He secretly +despised his sister's prudery though he dared not acknowledge it. +Anything to break the infernal monotony! He welcomed this occasion of +mild revelry with sensations akin to those of a boy's during the advent +of a circus in his town. Of all the State and grand social functions in +which he had participated, not one, so far as he could remember, had +ever inspired him with such anticipations. An indescribable joy and +spirit of recklessness, born of desperation, filled him, and he silently +vowed that he would drink to the moon that night even though there might +perchance be blood upon it. + +Owing to the attack of dizziness which had occasioned a slight delay, +Padre Antonio and his ward were the last of the guests to arrive. Low +murmurs and suppressed exclamations escaped the Spanish element of the +assembly as Chiquita entered the _patio_ on the padre's arm. If they had +been enraptured by the beauty of Blanch and Bessie and loud in their +praises of their jewels and exquisite gowns, they were crushed by +Chiquita's appearance, clad as she was in white and gold, a dress they +had never seen before, and adorned with jewels, the magnificence of +which they had not dreamed. + +At last the mystery of the golden _pesos_ was solved--the jewels of +course! A great weight slipped from the souls of the Spanish women as +they gazed in envy and amazement upon the person they hated most in all +the world. + +Happy, blissful ignorance--thrice blessed by the gods were they! Those +golden _pesos_ would not have purchased a single strand in her bracelet, +while as to the necklace, its value would have purchased the entire +_Posada_ and many broad acres besides. Don Felipe and the Americans had +seen such jewels before in the world of fashion, but how came Chiquita +by them? Who was she? Blanch and Bessie began asking themselves. That +she had timed her entrance well, all admitted; though in reality she had +thought nothing about it--chance had favored her, that was all. +Interesting though the subject under discussion had become, there was +little time left the company for further speculation before Juan Ramon, +the major-domo, announced supper. + +The musicians struck up a lively Spanish air. The night was mild and +soft, the stars and moon glittered overhead, the wine flowed and the +sounds of laughter and gay, merry voices echoed throughout the _patio_. +The company sat long at the tables, tempted by innumerable dainties, and +encouraged and soothed by the wine, the night and soft strains of music. +Not even in the old days had the _Posada_ witnessed a gayer scene. +Indeed, for the time being, they had returned like a far-off echo of +those times when Dona Fernandez reigned supreme in her beauty and men +admired and flattered and paid homage to her. Little wonder she sighed +in the midst of the gayety and alternately flushed and paled as her +thoughts traveled back over the years. + +Don Felipe was in an exultant mood. That morning his horse had stumbled +and later, while dressing for the evening, a bat flitted in and out of +his room through the open window. The fact that these two signs of ill +omen did not affect a mind ordinarily subject to the influence of +superstition, showed the state of his confidence. He drank freely of the +wine and laughed and talked incessantly. What an opportunity to spring +the trap he had laid for Chiquita! + +"If Captain Forest proposes to her to-night, she'll never lift her eyes +to the world again," he whispered to Blanch beside whom he sat. + +"What do you propose doing?" she asked. + +"Have patience," he answered, his face lighting up with an expression of +malicious joy. "Of course, it all depends whether you give the signal or +not." + +"I came here with the intention of doing so," she confessed. "But +everybody seems so happy. Why not let the evening pass pleasantly? It +would be a pity to mar its harmony." + +"Mere sentiment!" he replied. "Do you think she would show you such +consideration? I assure you, to-night is the time of all times!" There +was something so malicious, so weird in his tone and manner that she +shuddered as she listened to his words. In spite of her humiliation, her +bitterness and suffering, and her desire for retribution, she never +realized that one could find such sweet satisfaction in revenge as did +Don Felipe. The prospect of it filled him with a joy that seemed almost +devilish at times. + +At length the tables were cleared, and coffee, liqueurs, cigars and +cigarettes served, Blanch and Bessie, like the Spanish women, indulging +in the latter. In fact, everybody, with the exception of Mrs. Forest, +smoked. The musicians were ranged in a semicircle across the upper end +of the _patio_ opposite the garden and continued to render national and +Spanish airs upon their instruments while the company smoked and sipped +coffee and liqueurs. And by the time the men had finished their first +cigars, the different artists, dancers and singers, who had been engaged +for the occasion, came forward and began to display their talent, +adding to the novelty and gayety of the evening. Considering the time +and the place, they did well enough in their way and were quite +picturesque and pleasing as a whole, but at no time did their +performance rise above the level of mediocrity, such as one was +accustomed to see anywhere in the world on the vaudeville stage. At the +end of an hour, Blanch felt that the moment had arrived to ask Chiquita +to dance. So, without imparting her intention to any one, she rose from +her chair and walked over to where Chiquita sat conversing with the +Captain and Don Agusto Revera, Alcalde of Santa Fe. + +"We have heard so much about your dancing, Senorita," she began, +interrupting the conversation. "Won't you favor us with a dance +to-night?" + +"A dance?" repeated Chiquita with a little start of surprise, the +request coming from Blanch was so unexpected. She seemed confused, and +her face wore a troubled look. "I would rather not," she said at length, +glancing nervously about her at the company. She had heard the cruel +things that had been said of her of late and knew how ready those +present would be to criticize her anew. + +"Do dance, Senorita; just to please me, if for nothing else," persisted +Blanch. + +"To please you?" repeated Chiquita. A peculiar light came into her eyes +and she smiled as though pleased by the request. + +"I hope I'm not asking too much?" continued Blanch. Again Chiquita +smiled. + +"Do you know," she answered with warmth, "there's only one thing in this +world I wouldn't do for you?" and she laughed lightly, nervously opening +and closing her fan the while. Again she glanced around at the company, +wavering between assent and refusal. In the faces of the women she read +the jealousy and envy which filled their hearts toward her, and it was +perhaps that, not Blanch's request, which decided her to dance. + +"Yes, Senorita," she said at length. "I'll dance for you this night--for +you only!" she repeated with emphasis. Yes, she would dance as she had +never danced before; for would not the most critical eye in the world be +watching her? It was worth while. Blanch gave a little laugh as she +returned to her seat by the side of Don Felipe. + +Ah! the wiles of woman--subtle and illusive as a breath or a shadow--the +one thing her own sex fears most! Blanch knew that if there was a common +streak in her rival, it would be brought out in the glaring reality of +the dance, and the Captain should see it. She knew he could never marry +any one but a lady, and this was her reason for asking Chiquita to +dance. She had in mind, of course, the performances she had just +witnessed, or, to be more exact, the contortions of the ballet and the +modern music-hall artist with which we are all so familiar; the inane +balancing and pirouetting on the toes, the heavy hip and protruding +stomach, quivering breasts and bellowing and frothing at the mouth, and +colored light effects and _risque_ posing in scant attire, coupled with +a display of attractive lingerie. But Blanch forgot, or rather did not +know, that she had to do with genius over whose individuality most men +are prone to trip. + +Chiquita's conception of plastic art was something different from vulgar +Salome creations and the cheap spring-song and lolling and capering of +the fatted calf just alluded to. Had Don Felipe cherished a ray of hope +of reinstating himself in Chiquita's eyes, he would have done all in his +power to prevent her dancing, but, as matters stood, he welcomed it with +enthusiasm, for he knew that she would be irresistible--that Captain +Forest would be ravished by her enchanting creation and alluring beauty +as she glided through the intricate mazes of the dance in the moonlight. +He had felt that spell, and knew its irresistible charm. + +The announcement that Chiquita was going to dance caused a stir among +the company. A large dark blue Indian rug which shone black in the +moonlight, was brought from the living-room of the house by the servants +and spread out upon the _patio's_ pavement. A murmur of approbation +arose from the Mexicans when the first bars of music announced the dance +she had chosen. It was the famous "Andalusia"--the most difficult and +intricate of all Spanish-Moorish dances; the one in which few dancers +have ever excelled for the reason that its beauty lies not so much in +its intricacy of form as in the poetic conception and free +interpretation of the artist. Besides, the dance called for two parts, +obliging her to execute the part of her supposed partner as well. The +dance opened with the song of a Torero who had repaired in the dusk to +the hills overlooking Granada where dwelt his sweetheart. + +With a coquettish little laugh and toss of the head, she tossed her fan +to Captain Forest who caught it and held it in his hand as he would a +flower. Then, after some words of direction to the musicians, she +stepped upon the end of the rug nearest them, and to the amazement of +the Americans, lightly kicked off her slippers, displaying a pair of +small, slender, exquisitely formed feet and ankles. Only amateurs have +the courage to dance in shoes. Even that strict and stilted institution, +the ballet, was forced generations ago to break through its time-honored +traditions by abandoning heels as useless appendages. Had she been on +the stage, she would have danced in her bare feet as she had done on the +night of the _fiesta_ when Captain Forest had seen her. + +A smile rested on her face and she nodded her head lightly to the time +of the music as she stood erect in the full flood of moonlight, tall and +slender as a lily. + +"Thy face, Sweetheart, haunts me amid the dust and glare of the arena!" +she began in her deep rich contralto voice, at the first notes of which +everybody sat up straight and listened to the volume of swelling sounds +which filled the court and garden and floated away on the night. There +was no mistaking the fact, they were in the presence of an artist. + +"I await thee, Beloved, in the hills, in the hour of our tryst!" came +the far-away answer of the woman's voice, faint and plaintive as an +echo, soft and sweet and clear as the notes of the skylark, falling in +silvery, rippling cadences of melody from out the gold, blue vault of +heaven above. + + "Nearer and nearer love guideth our steps, + On the hills we shall dance, chant our song of + Delight 'neath the silvery stars and the + Mellow gold horn of the soft shining moon. + +"'Neath the silvery stars, and the mellow gold horn of the soft shining +moon," echoed the musical refrain and chorus of musicians. Nearer and +nearer drew the answering echoes of the lovers' voices until they met in +the hills and the dancing began. + +So realistic and dramatic was her rendering of the song, that the +listeners saw the progress of the lovers and felt the thrill and rapture +of their meeting. Up to this point she had held herself in abeyance, but +with the opening bars of the dance, she suddenly became transformed, +electrified. Her whole being became suffused with the vibrant, +passionate intensity of the South, and then they witnessed an exhibition +that was beautiful and wonderful in its poetic conception. + +A thrill of rapturous, exquisite emotion swept over them, as suddenly +and without warning, she threw back her head and sprang to the center of +the rug with a swift, whirling motion, the effect of which was like a +shower of sparks or a jet of glittering spray tossed unexpectedly into +the air from a fountain, expressive of the abandon and exuberance felt +by the lovers as they met in the dance. + +Again, without warning, she paused as abruptly as she began, and with +short, interluding snatches of song, slowly began to sway to the soft +rhythm of the music and sharp click of her castanets. First slowly, then +swifter and swifter she glided and whirled noiselessly in the +moonlight, graceful as a wind-blown rose, or suddenly paused, languid +and sensuous, according to the rhapsodic character of the dance when the +music ceased altogether and naught was heard save the plashing of the +fountain in the _patio_, the click of her castanets and the soft swish +of her silken _saya_ which seemed to whisper and sigh like a living +thing, like the mythical voices of Lilith's hair. Like a musician +transposing upon a theme, she introduced new and elaborate motives of +her own until, at a sign from her, the music took up the principal theme +of the dance once more. + +Captain Forest had seen practically all the great dancers of our time, +the Geisha and Nautch girls of the East, the Gypsies from Granada to St. +Petersburg, and the Bedouin women dance naked on the sands of the Sahara +beneath the stars while celebrating the sacred rites of their festivals, +but it soon became apparent that, all with few exceptions, were mere +novices in comparison, and stood in about the same relation to her as a +dilettante does to an artist. + +She lifted the dance above the portrayal of sensuous emotion into +the realms of poetry. The wild spirit of the Gypsy, captivating, +fresh and invigorating and compelling as the winds of the mighty +Sierras and plains of the land she inhabited, enveloped and animated +her. The rushing, whirling climaxes up to which she worked were +startling--tremendous. The subtle, hypnotic influence and witchery of +her presence filled her entire surroundings and so held and dominated +the spectators that they were swept irresistibly along with her as the +rhythm of the dance increased. She swayed and enthralled the +imagination and emotions with a supremacy akin to that of music or the +noblest landscape. The mastery of every motion, every fleeting +expression but increased the impression she endeavored to convey--the +intensity of life, vibrant, joyous life. + +The soft, rhythmic undulations of her graceful, sinuous body, vibrating +and pulsating with the ecstatic, rapturous emotion inspired by the music +and the dance, were a revelation of beauty. She became the living +expression of rhythm and grace as she paused for an instant before them, +scintillating and quivering like an aspen leaf, or glided and whirled +wraith-like, fragile and delicate and ethereal, wondrously lithe and +airy like films of gossamer or foam tossed up by the sea. The dance +itself seemed to fade into the background as their attention became +riveted upon her, and visions and vistas of life rose before the +imagination instead. + +She danced with her soul, not with her feet; became the living +incarnation of the ancients' conception of plastic creation, enchanting, +intoxicating. They heard the myriad voices of spring, the voices of +birds and insects and the sound of falling waters; beheld the Elysian, +flower-strewn fields of youth, recalling the immortal, fairy days of +childhood and with them their golden dreams, and experienced the +sweetness and bitterness of unfulfilled longings and aspirations of +later years. All felt that it was an event of a lifetime--one of those +hours that would never again return. + +The company gave vent to its emotion in alternate exclamations of +enthusiasm or sighs as it was swept irresistibly along by the buoyancy +and captivating creation of the dancer. Two bright tears stood in +Padre Antonio's eyes as he gazed upon the object of his love and pride. +Don Felipe forgot his hatred for the moment and gazed enraptured, +drinking in with eyes and soul the enchanting vision before him. The +heart of Blanch grew cold as ice as she, like the rest, looked on +entranced in spite of herself by the witchery of her rival, for she +knew she had blundered again, that she had lost, that Chiquita was +transformed--irresistible. The blood seemed to freeze in her veins as +the truth was borne in upon her. She longed to scream, to rush forward +and stop her--anything to break the spell, but in vain. Helpless and +immovable she was forced to look on; see the prize of life slip slowly +from her grasp. + +Again Captain Forest beheld the mighty expanse of mountain and plain, +heard the lashing of the sea and the myriad voices of the singing stars +as they whirled in their courses through space--listened to the chant of +life. Yes, she was the ideal, the living incarnation of nature, the +Golden Girl with the white starry flower on her breast who was awaiting +his coming, the woman of Jose's dream to whom he had been guided +unconsciously by the hand of the Unseen. No wonder he had failed to find +the place of his dreams; without knowing it, he had been waiting for +her. But now all was changed. The earth had become their footstool; the +old life had come to an end. + + + + +XXXI + + +A sigh of regret escaped the company as the dance ceased. Blanch turned +to speak to Don Felipe, but he was no longer by her side--he had +vanished. The musicians struck up a waltz. It was now the turn of the +guests to dance if they chose; a privilege of which they were not slow +to avail themselves. + +Captain Forest crossed over to where Chiquita sat, resting after the +exertion of the dance. + +"I'm sure you've had enough dancing this evening, Senorita," he said, +handing her her fan. "Let us go into the garden; it's quieter there." +His words filled her with a tumult of emotion. She realized that the +moment for which she had been waiting had arrived. She looked up at him +without replying, then rose from her seat, and the two quietly left the +_patio_, disappearing among the shrubbery and the shadows. + +Neither spoke. Each guessed the other's thoughts, and they walked on in +silence until they came to an open circular space surrounded by trees +and flooded by moonlight, where, as if moved by a common impulse, they +halted. Without a word he turned and silently folded her in his arms. + +"Jack--" she murmured. + +"Chiquita _mia_," he said at length, gazing down into her upturned face +where the dusk and the moon-fire met and blended in a radiance of +unearthly beauty, "is it not wonderful that, all unwittingly and +unconscious of each other's existence, we have been brought together +from the ends of the earth?" She was about to reply when a voice, close +at hand, cut her short. It was Don Felipe's. + +"A pretty sentiment, Captain Forest," he said, stepping out into the +light before them. "I wish I might congratulate you, but you will never +marry her." + +"How dare you!" cried the Captain furiously, advancing toward him with +flushed face and clenched hands. Chiquita started violently at the sound +of Don Felipe's voice. The apprehension of an impending catastrophe that +had oppressed her during the day, but which she had forgotten during the +excitement of the dance, again took possession of her. + +"I apologize most humbly for intruding on your privacy," answered Don +Felipe, meeting the Captain's gaze unflinchingly, "but as one who wishes +you well, I could not stand quietly by and see a man like you cunningly +tricked by this woman." + +"What do you mean?" asked the Captain, his eyes blazing and his voice +almost beyond control. + +"Chance or fortune, which ever you may choose to call it, has recently +placed certain information in my possession which will entirely preclude +any thought on your part of marrying her." What can he mean, Chiquita +asked herself. She had expected an attack on the Captain and was +prepared for it, but this--what was it? + +"You perhaps already know," continued Don Felipe coolly, "that this +woman and I were once betrothed to one another, but had I at that time +known what I now know of her, such a thing as a betrothal would have +been out of the question." + +"And this information?" interrogated the Captain. + +"It is very simple, Captain Forest," replied Don Felipe, slowly and +firmly. "The Senorita Chiquita is--the mother of a child." + +"The mother of a child?" cried Chiquita in astonishment. "You lie!" His +words were like a blow in the face to the Captain. For an instant the +world seemed to swim before his eyes, but only for an instant. Had he +rushed upon Don Felipe then and there as he felt impelled, it would have +been what the latter most wished him to do. He would have then had +sufficient provocation to kill him on the spot. But a lion never springs +before he has taken the measure of his leap. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez," said Captain Forest at length, in a hoarse, +half-audible voice, "unless you give me instant proof of what you say, +either you or I shall never leave this place alive! Understand," he +continued, "that when I ask you for proof, it is not because I doubt +this woman, but that your life and mine are at stake." + +"Well spoken, Captain Forest," returned Don Felipe. "'Tis the answer I +expected; the utterance of a gentleman, a _Caballero_! You shall have +the proof you desire--the living proof, Captain Forest," he added with +emphasis. + +"Proof?" exclaimed Chiquita in amazement. "Are you bereft of your +senses, Don Felipe Ramirez?" + +"Ah! you have played your part well these many years, Senorita. It is +now my turn to cut the cards. If you will return to the _patio_--" he +continued, turning to the Captain. + +"Why not here?" asked the latter. + +"Because the proof which you desire awaits you there." The Captain was +about to protest further, when Chiquita interposed. + +"Come!" she said, and without further words, turned and silently led the +way back to the _patio_ followed by Don Felipe and the Captain, the +latter scarcely able to control his desire to seize Don Felipe by the +throat and choke the breath out of his body. She knew that Don Felipe +had laid a most ingenious trap for her; that was to be expected. But +what form it would take, she was at a loss to divine until they reached +the _patio_; then it all came over her at once. She was to be publicly +accused. Don Felipe was capable of that, and she shuddered as she +pictured to herself the scene it would be certain to create. + +There was a pause in the dancing. The musicians were playing an +interlude, and as the three reentered the _patio_, the eyes of all +present immediately became centered upon them. Just opposite to where +they halted sat Blanch and Padre Antonio, conversing together. + +"I would much prefer to spare you a public humiliation," said Don +Felipe, addressing the Captain in a low tone. "It is not too late. But +if you still insist on having the proof at this time--" + +"The proof by all means!" exclaimed Chiquita without giving the Captain +time to answer, her eyes blazing with indignation. + +"Very well, since you insist," replied Don Felipe, glancing for an +instant in the direction of Blanch. As he did so, both the Captain and +Chiquita noticed that she let fall, as if by accident, the pink rose she +held in her hand. Instantly Don Felipe turned and clapped his hands, +whereupon, an old Indian woman, bowed with age and supporting herself +with a stick, and accompanied by a pretty little Indian girl of five or +six years of age, emerged from one of the doors of the house and paused, +bewildered by the unusual sight that greeted their eyes; the lights and +flowers, the music and gayly dressed men and women. Chiquita started and +uttered a low cry as her gaze fell upon the old woman and the child. +Captain Forest noted the ashen hue of her face and felt her hand tremble +as she involuntarily clutched at his arm as if for support. Then she +suddenly seemed to recover her composure. + +"That?" she exclaimed, and began to laugh, almost hysterically. It was +evident to the others that something unusual had occurred. The music +suddenly ceased, and save for the murmur of the fountain in the center +of the court, not a sound was to be heard. All eyes were now turned upon +the old woman and the child who still stood silent and motionless, +gazing in bewilderment upon the strange scene before them. Suddenly the +child uttered a cry of joy. + +"Madre! Madre _mia_!" she cried, and running across the court, flung +herself into Chiquita's arms. Then it was that the latter grasped the +full significance and gravity of the situation. What could have been +more compromising and humiliating for her? + +[Illustration: "'Madre! Madre _mia_!' she cried, and flung herself into +Chiquita's arms."] + +"Marieta, _nina mia_!" she exclaimed, stooping and kissing the child, +without realizing that her words and action only compromised her the +more. + +"Is this the beautiful garden you told me of, Mother--which you said you +would one day take me to see?" asked the child, gazing delightedly about +her. + +"Yes, yes, _cara mia_!" she answered hastily, holding the child close to +her. Instinctively the others began to draw near the little group. + +"What brings you here, Juana?" she asked sternly of the old woman who by +this time had crossed the court and stood before her, leaning on her +stick. + +"They said you sent for us, Senorita, and compelled us to come." + +"I never sent for you!" answered Chiquita. + +"Do you wish for further proof?" asked Don Felipe, addressing the +Captain. "You see, the child found no difficulty in recognizing its +mother," he added sarcastically. + +"'Tis a lie!" cried Chiquita. Captain Forest was speechless, stunned. As +for Don Felipe, he only laughed at Chiquita's impotent rage. + +"Between five and six years ago," he began, "the Senorita and one +Joaquin Flores brought this child late one night to the Indian _pueblo_, +Onava, and placed it in charge of this woman with whom it has lived ever +since. Is it not so?" he asked, turning to the old Indian woman. + +"It is, Senor," she answered in confusion. + +"And has not the Senorita visited the child each month and provided for +its wants ever since the day it was given into your charge?" Again the +old woman answered in the affirmative. "And has not the child," +continued Don Felipe, "always called her mother ever since it has been +able to speak, and have you not always thought her to be its mother?" +The old woman hesitated and glanced nervously about her as though +seeking a way of escape. + +"Speak, Juana!" commanded Don Felipe sharply. "Onava lies within my +domain. Unless you speak the truth, I'll have you and the rest of your +family driven to the desert to starve." + +"It is so, Senor!" sobbed the old woman, thoroughly frightened by Don +Felipe's threat, yet not daring to raise her eyes to those of Chiquita. + +"You now know why the Senorita Chiquita danced in public during the +_Fiesta_. It was to provide for the wants of her child," he added with a +sneer. + +"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Captain Forest contemptuously, breaking +the long silence he had preserved. "The introduction of this child and +woman doesn't prove anything that I can see." + +"Every Indian in the village," interrupted Don Felipe, "will +substantiate what you have just heard. Why, the Senorita herself taught +this child to call her mother. But there are still other things which +you shall learn in due time." + +"Chiquita," said the Captain without heeding Don Felipe's words, "speak! +I know you can explain." She glanced up at him for a moment and then +cast her eyes down at the child. + +"I must first send to La Jara for Joaquin and Manuelita Flores," she +answered. "When they come, I shall be able to tell something definite +concerning this child." + +"You can spare yourself the trouble," broke in Don Felipe. "They are +both dead." + +"Dead?" she cried, starting violently. "Joaquin and Manuelita dead?" + +"Their bodies, together with those of their horses and wagon, were +discovered early this morning at the foot of the _mesa_ which lies +between here and La Jara, directly below the point where the road winds +along the rim of the cliff. Doubtless their horses became frightened in +the dark and jumped over the cliff before they could save themselves." + +Chiquita uttered a low cry. "You've done your work well, Don Felipe +Ramirez," she said at length, suddenly straightening and stiffening as +she faced him, the expression on her face changing to one of hatred and +contempt. + +"It was no easy task to run you to earth, I'll admit," he retorted with +the same sneering look of triumph on his countenance. + +The only two persons upon whom she could rely, who could corroborate +what she had to say concerning the child, were dead. No, there was one +other, a man, but he too was gone--no one knew where. She saw the +hopelessness of her plight. Nothing she could say or do could alter the +opinion of the world toward her. She might continue to deny the charge, +protest her innocence, accuse others, but to what avail? Without the +actual proof, all must believe that which they were so ready and willing +to believe. Had not the child recognized her, called her mother before +the world? Even though the charge might never be actually proven, and +Captain Forest refuse to believe it, there would always be this thing +between them which she could never explain satisfactorily. It was not +natural to suppose that he could possibly forget it or continue to +believe in her protestations of innocence without the corroboration of +others. The hour must surely come in which he would be assailed by +doubts. She felt she had lost him, and with the knowledge of her +failure, was seized with a sickening sensation and an acute pain at the +heart. A misty veil rose between her and the world and she swayed +unsteadily as though about to fall. She knew she must not faint. She +drew her hand across her eyes, then, putting all her remaining strength +into the effort, she slowly drew herself up. + +Strange, that she and Don Felipe should have been created to become the +nemesis of one another! The child, awed by the silence and grave faces +of the bystanders, instinctively divined that there was something wrong +between her and them, and clung mutely to Chiquita's skirt, a frightened +look on her face. + +Chiquita, meanwhile, stood gazing straight out before her, her head +slightly inclined forwards, her face white and set, her heart burning +with shame. It was not so much the question of guilt or innocence that +affected her now, but the shame of it all. What must the Americans +think of her? She felt the burning, searching gaze of those about her +and the joy they experienced at her discomfiture. Never had she been at +a loss to know which way to turn to extricate herself from a difficulty; +but now, how helpless she was. She nervously tapped the palm of her left +hand with her fan, vainly racking her brain in an effort to find a +solution. Dick, who had been watching her narrowly the while, saw a +strange light begin to play in her eyes in which he read Don Felipe's +death as plainly as though it were written across the heavens in letters +of flame. + +"Chiquita, you must say something," said Captain Forest. "I tell you +again, I don't believe it, but for your own sake--speak!" + +"Yes, my child, speak!" entreated Padre Antonio, stepping before her. +"Can't you see your silence is condemning you?" She looked up at him and +saw that his face was ashen, colorless like the Captain's--that he +seemed to have suddenly aged. Notwithstanding, there was the same kindly +expression in his eyes she had always known, and she felt that, even +though the world refused to believe in her, he might; he might even +forgive her. She saw in her present humiliation and shame, a direct +punishment for the betrayal of the Padre's confidence. Had she confided +her secret to him, this could not have come upon her. Now, however, it +was too late. She had no right to expect sympathy even from him. + +"Chiquita, for the last time, I ask you to speak!" pleaded Captain +Forest, racked between doubt and belief in the woman he loved. Just +then, little Marieta began to cry. + +"Madre, madre!" she gasped between her sobs. "I'm afraid of these +people. Take me away--take me home again!" + +"Be not afraid, my little one, they cannot harm you," she answered, +drawing the child closer to her and laying one hand on its shoulder. +Another embarrassing silence, broken only by the low sobs of Marieta, +followed. + +"Chiquita," demanded Padre Antonio at length, "has this child the right +to call you mother?" There was a stern ring in his voice and she knew +her last moment of grace had come; that it was useless to hesitate +longer. She glanced at the Captain, then at the Padre and then down at +the pretty, tear-stained face of the clinging child. Again she felt that +peculiar pain at the heart and thought she was going to faint as she +struggled with herself between honor, her love and respect for Captain +Forest and Padre Antonio and her devotion to the child whose life, she +knew, depended upon her answer. Up to that moment she had been +completely at a loss to know what to say or how to act, but that +invisible something which until then had deprived her of speech, now +seemed to impel her to answer in the affirmative. + +It was the supreme moment of her life. After all the years she could not +abandon the child now; the woman in her forbade it. She must go on to +the end. Again she glanced down at Marieta, and then raising her head +and looking into Padre Antonio's eyes, said quietly: "Yes, she has that +right." + +"It's not true; I don't believe it!" cried Captain Forest in a tone in +which was expressed all the shame and disgust he experienced on seeing +the woman he loved dragged into the mire before his eyes. + +"Captain Forest, you have heard the truth," answered Chiquita. + +"Then there is nothing further to be said!" broke in Padre Antonio who +was anxious to end a scene that was growing more painful each moment. +Without a word, the Captain whirled on his heel and walked toward the +garden. Clearly, the effects of the drop of poison instilled so adroitly +into their lives by Don Felipe were beginning to be felt. + +It is doubtful whether Blanch would have given Don Felipe the signal +could she have foreseen the consequences. Her rival could have been +exposed without being publicly humiliated. Nevertheless, an ineffable +joy filled her soul. She knew now that Jack either must return to her, +or he would never marry. His sensitive, overwrought mind frenzied and +made desperate by despair might even drive him to kill himself in the +end, but what did it really matter so long as no other woman possessed +him? + +Don Felipe fairly reveled in his revenge and took no pains to conceal +it. It was the sweetest moment of his life. At last she too knew what it +was to be struck to earth, to lie prone with one's face in the dust, the +jeers of the world ringing in her ears. Of a truth, to quote Dick's +words, "Had the devil raked hell with a fine-tooth comb, he could not +have produced a more accomplished villain than Don Felipe Ramirez." + + + + +XXXII + + +As Chiquita and Padre Antonio left the _patio_, accompanied by Marieta +and old Juana, the women drew back from her as though from some unclean +thing. Gladly would they have spared Padre Antonio's feelings, but their +hatred and jealousy were too intense and the opportunity to cast a stone +at her too tempting for flesh and blood to resist. + +Greatly to the astonishment of every one, it was noted that Padre +Antonio carried his head quite as high while leaving, as when he entered +the _patio_ during the early part of the evening. They expected him to +limp away, a crushed and broken old man; but they had yet to learn the +unbending spirit of the Padre. Although humble in the sight of God, +experience had taught him that the only way to command the respect of +men was to hold one's head high while among them. + +What must he think of her now, to be requited thus after all he had +done for her? Chiquita asked herself as she, with Marieta and Juana, +followed him homeward. The opinion of the world concerning her, and +the loss of Captain Forest's love, seemed little in comparison to the +thought that he should believe she had betrayed his confidence. She +could endure anything but that. Had she but told him all in the +beginning, he might have been spared the shame of this disgrace. +Perhaps it was not yet too late; she would tell him all that night. +True, she could not make amends for the pain she had caused him, but +perhaps he would understand--forgive her. + +She knew that a continuance of her residence in Santa Fe was no longer +possible. Strange that it should have ended thus, and what was before +her now? She knew the world only waited to shower wealth and distinction +upon her should she choose the stage for a career; or, she might return +to her people. But what would life be to her under any conditions +without Padre Antonio's respect and the Captain's love? + +Strong and versatile and capable though she was to cope with the world, +her lot was not an enviable one. It was with Godspeed, not the +maledictions of one's neighbors, that she had hoped to leave the place +which had sheltered her so long. And Padre Antonio--how could she part +from him thus? + +Captain Forest's last words were her only solace; he had tried to +believe in her to the end. Let come what might, they would remain with +her always like a benediction, a tower of strength in some future hour +of trial. And then there was Don Felipe. Ah, yes, Don Felipe! Her teeth +came together with a snap, for she knew that, even after what had +transpired, he would follow her. + +Padre Antonio walked silently homeward without so much as turning round +once to look at the others. Not even after arriving at the great iron +gate before the garden did he pause to allow the others to pass in ahead +of him as he otherwise would have done, but walked straight on to the +house and entered the living-room without so much as looking round, +leaving Chiquita to dispose of old Juana and the child for the night. + +Padre Antonio was no fool. Perplexed though he was by what had occurred, +he knew there was a time for silence as well as a time for speech. He +also knew that Chiquita would join him as soon as the others were +settled for the night, and that she would then tell him her story. + +Outside, the garden was almost as light as during the day, and the room, +though partially in shadow, was illumined by the moonlight to an extent +that rendered objects within it distinctly visible. The events of the +evening had sorely taxed his strength. He was thoroughly tired, and with +a sigh he threw himself into his large leathern chair to rest until +Chiquita returned. + +"What was the mystery in connection with the child?" he asked himself, +closing his eyes in thought. Don Felipe's story could not be true. "It +was absurd, preposterous!" he cried aloud, opening his eyes with a +start. As he did so, his gaze fell upon a picture on the wall opposite, +gleaming conspicuously in the full flood of moonlight. It was that +beautiful illustration of what human faith may accomplish; the familiar +representation of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia meekly displaying the +contents of her apron before her lord, the Landgrave--that heavy, +sporadic type of whiskered ass whose only mission in life seems to be +that of pulling the stars and all else down about his wassail-soaked +head and ears through sheer avoirdupois and stupidity. Padre Antonio +experienced a sudden thrill as he gazed at the picture. Clearly, it was +the hand of God directing him. So did Saint Elizabeth deliberately deny +the truth, and yet the bread in her apron was turned to roses. + +Instinctively he recalled Captain Forest's last words. And then, putting +two and two together, he also recalled the fact that he had noted +something during the scene which nobody else seemed to have noticed, +namely: that the face of the child, Marieta, was the living image of Don +Felipe's. Like a flash all became clear to him, and he smiled and nodded +as the truth dawned upon him, and he wondered greatly at Chiquita's +discretion. Yet why should he be astonished? Was it not like her? + +Chiquita also wondered in turn, and was much perplexed by his attitude, +the quiet, benign expression of his face, when she entered the room +after bidding Juana and Marieta good night. She had expected exactly the +reverse. What did it mean, did he know anything? But she did not stop to +question him. Before unburdening her soul, she must first divest herself +of the jewels which, ever since the terrible scene at the _Posada_, she +felt she had dishonored. Their touch seemed to burn her flesh. + +"Padre _mio_," she said quietly, as though nothing unusual had occurred, +"you know I said it would not be necessary to wear these jewels longer +than to-night. I really never should have worn them at all. It was not +right, for, as you see, I am not worthy of them." She began to unclasp +the bracelet on her arm, but hastily putting forth his hand, he checked +her. + +"No, my child!" he said, rising from the chair. "You must keep +them--they are yours. Besides, they are so becoming to you! Again I +say--you are the only woman in this world worthy to wear them." + +"Padre, Padre _mio_!" she cried, starting backward and gazing full in +his face. "You--you believe in me?" + +"How could you have imagined anything else, my child?" he answered +quietly. Without attempting a reply, she threw herself upon his breast, +convulsed with sobs and trembling in every limb, telling him plainer +than words how terribly shaken she had been by the ordeal through which +she had just passed. He did not attempt to soothe or pacify her with +words, knowing how useless it would be, but waited quietly for her +passionate outburst to subside. + +"Ah! Padre _mio_, how good you are, and how have I requited you!" she +said at length, looking up at him through her tears and slowly +disengaging herself from his arms. "You know," she continued between +convulsive sobs, and slowly drying her tears, "that little Marieta is +the child of Don Felipe and Pepita Delaguerra." Padre Antonio started at +the mention of the latter's name. + +"Pepita Delaguerra?" he repeated. "I felt all along that she was Don +Felipe's child, the resemblance is so striking, and I wonder the others +did not notice it, but I never connected her with Pepita; perhaps +because it is so long since she died. How strange that he should have +introduced his own child without knowing it!" + +"Yes," returned Chiquita. "And yet it is not so strange after all. +Persons of his character invariably blunder in the end, clever though +they be. Another strange coincidence is that they were married just six +years ago to-day in the little Mission church of San Isidor at Onava." + +"Why, that was before Don Juan's death, and in direct opposition to the +stipulations of his will!" exclaimed Padre Antonio excitedly. + +"Just so," answered Chiquita. "That's what caused the trouble. The +entire property should have gone to the Church, but Felipe destroyed the +record of his marriage before his father's death and the birth of his +child." + +"The scoundrel!" cried the Padre. + +"But that is not all," continued Chiquita. "Everything seemed to be in +league with him to further his plans. Father Danuncio, who secretly +married them, also died before Don Juan did, without divulging the +secret." + +"Strange!" ejaculated Padre Antonio. + +"There were three witnesses to the marriage--Joaquin and Manuelita +Flores, whom Don Felipe has cleverly put out of the way, and Bob +Carlton, the gambler, who, at that time, was Don Felipe's intimate +friend; but he, too, is gone and never dare return." + +"The clever scoundrel!" interrupted the Padre. + +"Yes," answered Chiquita. "When it comes to deviltry, Don Felipe has yet +to meet his match. But as I was about to say: Six months after the +marriage, Don Felipe deserted Pepita, then the child was born, and +knowing that he would unhesitatingly make way with it should he learn of +its existence, Joaquin and I took it to Onava, where we knew it would +be hid effectually from the world. Of course old Juana and all the other +Indians in the village thought the child was mine, and I let them think +so in order that its identity might the better be concealed until we +were able to prove to whom it belonged." + +"But why did you not tell me this in the beginning, my child?" he asked +with a note of reproach in his voice. "I might have--" + +"Ah, that was to protect you, Padre _mio_! It might have been wiser had +I done so, and yet I think not. I felt impelled to keep you in ignorance +of the facts, for I knew that Don Felipe would stop at nothing. What +would your life have been to him, had you come between him and his +position? His wealth is too vast. I knew that, as surely as you raised +your voice against him, as you would have been obliged to in the +interests of the Church, you one day would have been found dead in some +lonely pass in the mountains while engaged in your Mission work." + +Padre Antonio was too astute an observer of men not to perceive the +force of her words. + +"I marvel at your sagacity, my child; but think what it has cost you!" + +"Ah! that is the marvelous part of it!" she replied. "Whoever would have +imagined that, unconscious of the true facts, he would have succeeded in +turning my own weapons against me? It's fate, Padre _mio_." + +He paced back and forth for some time in silence, then suddenly pausing +before her, said: "This cloud must not rest upon you, Chiquita _mia_. We +must find that blackleg, Carlton, if we have to raise heaven and earth +to do it." + +"That is easier said than done, Padre _mio_," she answered quietly. + +"God never wholly abandons his children to the evil of the world," he +returned firmly. "Don Felipe has deceived the Church once, but he shall +not do so a second time. God has allowed him to triumph thus far in +order that his punishment may be all the greater in the end when it +comes upon him. Carlton must be somewhere just across the border--in +Texas or Arizona or New Mexico. Within twenty-four hours after the word +has been flashed over the wires, runners will have passed through all +our remote Missions along the border, and if he is no longer in Mexico, +then the word shall be passed across the frontier into the United +States. If he still be alive, he can not escape us. We will find him and +bring him back again. No, the Church is not so powerless as many, strong +in worldly possessions, imagine. The Church of Rome has never yet failed +to find the man or woman she has set out to find. Don Felipe will be +stripped of his possessions and his child restored to its rightful +position. + +"Again I say, God's ways are past all understanding. You have been His +unconscious instrument. Think of what you were and how you came to me, +and what your life has been since then! Have you endured all for naught? +Are God's plans to be frustrated by a man, a dastardly craven like Don +Felipe? No, my child, I see things clearer now than I ever have seen +them before. You and Captain Forest have not been brought together from +the ends of the earth only to be mocked by the world of evil. God +demands that we all shall pass through the fire in order that we may be +fitted to bear the burden He lays upon us. You both have endured the +trial; proved yourselves worthy of the mission He has entrusted to you." + +He paused. Then, suddenly recollecting the all-important question, he +exclaimed: "I forget, we are wasting time; we must find Carlton! This +very night word shall go forth!" and hastily snatching up his hat and +stick, he hurried out into the night. + + + + +XXXIII + + +Captain Forest's feelings are better imagined than described. His brain +was in a whirl, on fire. For the second time a woman had treated his +confidence lightly. The whole world seemed to spin round him in chaotic +confusion as he sought to lay hold of a single, tangible thought that +might temper his judgment, steady his nerves and check the fierce +outbursts of passion which were fast sweeping him beyond self-control. +He had reached a state of recklessness that renders a man of his +temperament most dangerous, and unless his judgment soon got the better +of his passions, he would, as likely as not, either kill Chiquita or Don +Felipe, or both of them. + +The company had broken up shortly after the departure of Chiquita and +Padre Antonio, leaving the _patio_ silent and deserted, save for the +presence of the Captain, who paced silently back and forth; the moon +flooding the _patio_ with broad sheets of white light, causing objects +to appear almost as sharp and distinct as before the lights of the +lanterns were extinguished. + +Blanch, who was the last to leave, would have offered him her sympathy, +but on approaching him, he gave her a look so terrifying that even she +dared not speak to him. She accordingly retired to her room and seated +herself before the open window from which she commanded a view of the +court and could observe him at her leisure. Perhaps he will come to his +senses now, she thought. At any rate, he now knew what she suffered. She +experienced a feeling of cruel satisfaction and exultation while calmly +watching the struggle going on within him as he paced slowly back and +forth. + +How strange that they should be there in that out-of-the-way place! In +spite of the terrible ordeal through which she had passed and the +dramatic climax in which the struggle had just culminated, it still +appeared so unreal, so unnatural to her, that she wondered whether she +was not still dreaming and must soon awaken to find herself back in the +old life again and Jack near her, as in the old days. Who could have +foreseen this tragedy, this end to their lives? But a few months +previous all things appeared so clear and defined, so definitely +ordained for them. + +Truly the future was veiled--a sealed book for man! Had she been +permitted to dip for but an instant beneath the cover of that book, or +lift the veil ever so little, the catastrophe that had overtaken them +and the suffering it entailed might have been averted. + +But no. The strange nemesis that had pursued them step by step had been +permitted to wreck their lives completely. And for what end--what +purpose? Was there no justice, no recompense for them? The answer, she +somehow felt, lay not here, but with the stars--in the great universal +scheme of things, and was quite beyond her reasoning powers. + +She felt the utter hopelessness of longer struggling against the unseen, +and in that hour she became a fatalist. Better drift from day to day +without purpose, than living, behold one's dreams and ambitions come to +naught. She was like a strong, self-confident swimmer who had been +caught by the tide and was being swept irresistibly out to sea. Blurred +though her vision was, she seemed to see things clearer than she had +ever seen them before, and she somehow felt that the fate which had +overtaken her was the result of self-aggrandizement--that she in a +measure typified the passing or end of a condition out of whose decay +the new life must spring. + +Submit she must, and yet a fierce resentment against all things filled +her soul. She rebelled at the apparent injustice which she felt had been +done her. Why had she, the most fit, been chosen? What had she really +done to merit such an end? She realized that her trouble was +unalterable; that it had its root in the social scheme of things and +nothing she could do could alter it. That in reality it was no fault of +hers, but the fault of her bringing up; that the world which she had +been taught to respect as a thing representing truth and beauty, all +that is best in man, was only a mocking illusion. + +The injustice of it amazed, appalled, stunned her. She seemed to think +and move like one in a dream, struggling with shadowy, intangible forces +with which she was incapable to cope. The thought that it was not her +fault only added to her bitterness and agony, and she longed for +death--the death that knows no awakening--to be blotted out utterly, and +forever. Her life was devoid of hope, there was nothing to look forward +to, the future had become a blank. + +A low moan, in which was expressed the despair and agony of men since +the beginning of time, escaped her. She pressed her cold hands to her +burning, throbbing temples and prayed that, whatever her end might be, +it would come swiftly. + +Again she raised her head and glanced through the open window. To her +surprise she saw the tall form of Dick Yankton leaning against one of +the pillars of the arcade that ran round the _patio_. He was smoking +quietly and observing the Captain, who still strode back and forth +apparently unaware of his presence. Suddenly the Captain stopped short +as if he had come to a decision. As he did so, he turned half round and +saw Dick, whom he regarded for some moments in silence. Then, going over +to where he stood, she heard him exclaim: "It's not true, Dick, I don't +believe it. I'm going to her now and tell her so!" At the same instant +she also saw Don Felipe glide noiselessly and stealthily from one of the +doors opening on to the _patio_ and pause in the deep shadow of the +arcade next to the wall, close to where they stood. Instantly she was on +her feet and leaning forward, breathless and eager to catch all that was +said. + +"Neither do I believe it," answered Dick. "But I wouldn't have told you +so. I wanted you to make up your mind first, and if you hadn't said so +just now, I wouldn't show you this, either," he continued, drawing from +his inner coat pocket a large envelope from which he took a letter and +handed it to the Captain. + +She saw the sheet of paper tremble in the Captain's hands as he read its +contents. Again Dick handed him another sheet somewhat larger and +darker than the first. He seized it eagerly, glancing hurriedly over its +contents, his hands trembling more violently than before. + +"Marvelous!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking at Dick. "And yet," he +added, "it's not so strange after all; it's so natural!" + +Blanch uttered a suppressed cry. She felt that her last chance of +winning back the Captain was gone forever. It was a last stab at her +heart. At this juncture Jose appeared from out the shadows of the garden +beyond the _patio_ and hurriedly approached them. She heard him say +something in Spanish which she did not understand. Then, all became +blurred before her eyes. She felt herself begin to sway and totter--she +fainted. + + * * * * * + +Following Jose, the Captain and Dick came upon Starlight, quietly +cropping the grass in the garden, just outside the corral. On hearing +their approach, the Chestnut raised his head, and, seeing his master, +gave a low whinny of recognition. Close beside him on the grass lay a +dark, shapeless object which, on closer inspection, proved to be the +remains of Juan Ramon, trampled almost beyond recognition by the +stallion's terrible hoofs. + +While Chiquita was being confronted by Don Felipe and the attention of +every one was occupied by the scene that followed, Juan seized the +opportunity for which he had been waiting. Stealing quietly away to the +corrals, he deftly flung a _riata_ over the stallion's head, and, +looping it about the animal's nose, was on his back with a bound. + +There was no question of Juan's ability to ride him. Once on a horse's +back, he had never yet been unseated. He had expected the Chestnut to +rear and plunge, to fight desperately on finding a stranger on his back +and he was prepared for it, but greatly to his surprise, the horse +showed no signs of fight and went meekly out of the corral at his +bidding. All went well until they reached the garden, and Juan was +beginning to congratulate himself on making his escape so easily, when +suddenly and without warning, the Chestnut stopped short, reached round +with his head, and seizing Juan by the leg with his teeth, jerked him to +the ground. Juan heard the stallion's fierce cry of rage, and--that was +the end. + +The luck had changed again for Juan, and with it vanished his fair dream +of life on the little _hacienda_ with the pretty Rosita. + +Jose had long been aware of Juan's intentions regarding the horse, and +laughed quietly to himself as he thought of the trap Juan was laying for +himself. That afternoon he appeared to be drinking heavily, and early in +the evening feigned intoxication in order that Juan might go to his +death which he knew awaited him should he so much as lay his hand on the +horse. + +When Blanch regained consciousness once more, she found herself in a +half sitting and kneeling posture before the window with one arm resting +on the sill. She must have been unconscious for some time, for when she +came to herself, she again saw Captain Forest and Dick standing in the +_patio_ conversing in low tones. They soon separated, Dick going into +the house, and the Captain making his way through the garden. She knew +he was on his way to Chiquita. She also saw Don Felipe steal from the +shadow of his concealment and follow him. + +A great fear seized her. She felt the imminence of a disaster greater +than that which had already occurred. Something terrible was about to +happen. The thought aroused her to action and she hurriedly rose to her +feet. If possible, she would prevent that final catastrophe which her +intuition told her was imminent--which she knew must overtake either one +or all three of them should Don Felipe and the Captain meet again that +night in Chiquita's presence. + +There was not a moment to lose, and seizing a light wrap which lay on a +chair beside her, she flung it about her shoulders and hurriedly left +the room. + + + + +XXXIV + + +Before leaving the _patio_, Bessie promised to meet Dick in the garden +after the company dispersed for the night. After the Captain's +departure, Dick returned to the _patio_ and took his stand in the shadow +of the nearest trees, where he awaited her. + +Never had her mood appeared so distracted and evasive as that evening. +She had avoided him as much as possible. He was quite at a loss to know +how to take her, and wondered what would be the outcome of their +interview which, he felt, might possibly be their last. + +Notwithstanding this melancholy prospect, he still experienced the same +spirit of buoyancy which possessed him during the day. He had caught her +regarding him several times during the evening with what he thought to +be a look of tenderness in her eyes, and this, perhaps, accounted in a +measure for his present elation. + +She, in turn, had wondered greatly at the change that had come over him. +How could he possibly be so gay when everybody else was so miserable, +and she thoroughly resented it. + +During the interval that had elapsed after the breaking up of the +company, she had participated in a stormy interview with her father and +aunt; the latter endeavoring to point out to her the danger incurred by +holding intercourse with obscure, low-born persons, as had just been +demonstrated in the Captain's case. + +She was surprised on returning to her room not to find Blanch there, +but, on second thought, felt it was only natural after what had occurred +that she should want to be alone, and thought she must be somewhere in +the garden. She had seen Dick leave the _patio_ and disappear in the +shadow beyond, whither she directed her steps, passing out and around +the front of the house, as she did not wish to incur the risk of being +seen by her father or aunt. + +Dick, who had tossed aside his hat on the grass and stood leaning +against the trunk of a tree, was presently aroused from his meditations +by the object of his thoughts, who stood close beside him. + +"Well, I'm here," she said, by way of beginning, looking up into his +face. + +"I was looking for you in the other direction," he replied, throwing +away his half-burnt cigar. "I ought to have known better. You are always +doing the opposite of that which one expects." + +A smile lit up her face for a moment, as she flashed her beautiful wide +eyes upon him. She seemed a part of that beauteous night, elfish and +delicate as a moonbeam or a flower, fragile as the song of a bird. He +could not speak, but stood drinking her in with his eyes and soul, his +face wearing a mixed expression of rapture and pain. She knew what he +felt, and like him, she, too, struggled with herself for the mastery of +her emotion. + +"Do you know," she said at length, "this is the first time I have ever +been guilty of a clandestine meeting with a man. If my father knew I was +here, he would be beside himself." + +"Then you did want to come!" he exclaimed. + +"Of course. Otherwise, why should I be here?" she responded shyly, +raising her eyes to his for an instant and then lowering them again. + +"Bessie!" he cried, starting toward her. + +"Hush!" she said, raising her hand in protest and checking him. Had he +taken her in his arms then and there, she would have surrendered without +a struggle, for she was in that soft, languid mood of a woman in love in +spite of herself. But he dared not give way to his impulse. He loved her +too much, and feared lest his impetuosity might ruin forever his chance +of winning her. + +"I know it was foolish of me to come, especially when there was no +reason for it," she continued with assumed indifference, casting a +sidelong glance at him out of the corners of her eyes. In spite of the +pain she knew she inflicted, she could not resist flirting with him just +a little even at such a moment. It filled her with such exquisite joy to +feel anew the power she exercised over him and the unfathomable depth of +his love which each fresh thrust at his heart revealed to her. + +"I came here," she slowly resumed, "to ask what you think of Chiquita?" + +"Think!" he burst forth savagely, aroused almost to a pitch of +desperation by her irritating manner. "Do you take me for as big a fool +as Don Felipe, or--" your father? he was about to add, but checked +himself just in time. "When one has known Chiquita as long as I have, +you don't think things about her, you know. Don Felipe," he went on, +"reminds me of the naughty little boy who one day, while playing in a +park, threw mud on a swan, imagining that he had besmirched the bird +forever until it dived under the water and reappeared again as white as +before. Why, even if I at this moment did not possess the absolute proof +of her innocence, nobody could ever persuade me to believe that story. +You don't know the Indian as I do, Miss Van Ashton. The high-caste +Indian women are quite as incapable of such things as you are. It was a +devilishly clever stroke on Don Felipe's part, I'll admit, but he has +deceived himself as thoroughly as the rest of the world." + +"What proof have you?" she asked with a surprised and mystified look, +her woman's curiosity thoroughly aroused. Dick chuckled softly in reply. + +"What are you laughing at?" she demanded, not a little nettled by his +manner. + +"I'm not laughing," he answered. "I'm merely trying to smother the rage +you have aroused in me by dallying with me in this manner when you know +perfectly well that I asked you to come here to tell you that I--" + +"Stop!" she commanded authoritatively. "I wish to see that proof before +anything further passes between us." + +"Will you never become serious?" he asked, drawing an envelope from his +pocket, the contents of which he had shown Captain Forest. "It's +strange," he continued, "that this document should concern you as well +as Don Felipe and Chiquita." + +"What do you mean?" she asked in astonishment. Again he laughed softly +by way of reply. + +"It's funny you should get mixed up in their affairs!" + +"I don't understand you," she interrupted, more mystified and irritated +than ever. "Give me that letter, Mr. Yankton!" she demanded, holding out +her hand. + +"Then step out into the light, please, you lovely, tantalizing witch," +he answered, drawing the papers from the envelope and handing them to +her. "If I didn't love you to distraction, I wouldn't stand this sort of +thing a minute longer. God!" he cried, glancing heavenward, "you'll be +the death of me yet." + +"Have you forgotten, Mr. Yankton?" she asked calmly, her face turning a +delicate crimson. + +"Then read--read!" he cried in desperation, scarcely able to control +himself. She knew it could not last much longer. She slowly unfolded the +large sheets of paper and began to read their contents in the moonlight. + +"Aloud, please," he said. + +"Why aloud?" + +"Oh, just as you please!" + +"Very well, if you wish it. 'Dear Dick,' she began with a slight +hesitancy. 'When this reaches you I shall have passed over the border to +that unknown range from whence nobody ever returns. Enclosed you will +find the record of Don Felipe Ramirez's and Pepita Delaguerra's +marriage which, at Don Felipe's instigation, I stole from the register +in the church at Onava, giving him a copy of the same which he +destroyed, believing it to be the original. I did this with the +intention of extorting money from him later on. I and Joaquin Flores and +his wife were the only witnesses to the marriage. But there is a sequel. +Pepita gave birth to a child, a girl, after Felipe deserted her. I +learned later that Chiquita and the two Flores concealed it somewhere in +one of the Indian _pueblos_ near La Jara, as they feared Don Felipe +would make way with the child should he learn of its existence.' + +"How strange!" exclaimed Bessie excitedly. "Why, that was Don Felipe's +own child which he introduced this evening and said was Chiquita's." + +"Exactly," said Dick, quietly. + +"But I don't see what all this has to do with me," she added. + +"Proceed, please," he answered. "That's not the only surprise his letter +contains." + +Glancing down at the sheets once more she resumed: + +"'You will also be greatly surprised to learn that the young lady who +was present on the day you saved my life and whose name I asked, is my +sister.' + +"The insinuation is infamous!" she cried, letting the papers fall to the +ground. + +"Miss Van Ashton," he interrupted, calmly stooping and picking up the +papers and handing them to her again, "you forget--you are reading the +confession of a dying man." + +"His sister!" she continued indignantly. "It can't be possible--I never +had a brother!" + +"Please proceed, Miss Van Ashton," he replied. Amazed and bewildered, +Bessie excitedly resumed the reading of the strange letter. + +"'My sister never knew me because I left home shortly after she was +born; but, notwithstanding, I recognized her the instant I set eyes on +her, not only owing to the presence of my father that day, but to the +remarkable resemblance she bears to my mother. She is the living image +of her.'" Bessie paused, overcome with agitation. + +"How very remarkable," she said, as if to herself. "Every one who knew +my mother says we resemble one another very closely in manner as well as +in looks. My father always keeps our photographs placed side by side on +his desk at home. Except for the difference in the style of dress, it is +almost impossible to tell which is which. What he says does sound true," +she admitted. "Yet--" + +"There can be no doubt of it," broke in Dick. Again Bessie looked down +at the papers and resumed: + +"'Before I breathe my last, Dick, I want to tell you that I have +discovered the lead to the old Esmeralda mine; the enclosed chart will +guide you to it. Tell my sister that half of it belongs to her and the +other half to Pepita's child if you are able to find her. Perhaps this +one and only generous act of my selfish life will atone somewhat for my +many misdeeds. Good-by, Dick, and God bless you.'" + +"You needn't read that!" he interrupted. But without heeding him, she +continued: + +"'You are the best and bravest fellow alive. Good-by, Dick, again, for +the last time. + +"'Harry Van Ashton, better known to the world as Bob Carlton, gambler +and--'" The letter ended abruptly. A sob broke from Bessie. Two bright +tears glistened like jewels in the moonlight on her long lashes and then +stole silently down her cheeks. + +"Don't take it so hard, Miss Van Ashton," he said. "Your brother was +wild, but not so bad as the world thought him." + +"My poor brother!" she murmured. + +"I am sure," he resumed after a little, "that when your brother looked +into your eyes that day, his manhood reasserted itself; that he repented +and threw off his past life like an old garment, and from that moment, +stood prepared to enter the presence of his Maker." + +"You are very good to say that," she answered, looking up at him with +shining eyes. + +"No, it's not good of me at all," he returned. "I love you too much to +say anything but what I know to be true." She did not reply, but +remained lost in thought, her eyes cast on the ground. + +"Bessie!" he exclaimed passionately, drawing nearer to her. "Why do you +hesitate? You know that I understand you better than any one else ever +could. You know you love me!" She knew her moment had come; that she +must answer him for all time, and strive as she would, she could not +conceal her confusion. He did not know how intense was the struggle +going on within her, nor realize what it meant to her to give up the +life she had known always. + +"And what if I told you," she said at length, her eyes still downcast, +"that I care more for you than anything else in this world, Dick?" +pronouncing his name aloud for the first time. "What would you say +then?" + +"That I will love you for all time, Sweetheart! That I will make you the +happiest woman in the world!" he cried, his arms closing about her, and +kissing her full on the lips. + +"When we are married," he said at last, "we'll start in search of the +Esmeralda, the famous old Spanish mine that was destroyed by the +earthquake, and if, as your brother said, he really found the lead +again, you and Don Felipe's child will be the two richest women in +Chihuahua." + +"Then let it be soon, Dick!" she answered. "Oh! I know I've been +perfectly horrid!" she cried, flinging her arms about his neck in a +fresh outburst, and kissing him again and again. "But I'll make it up to +you, Dick! I'll show you how Bessie Van Ashton can love!" There was +another long silence, during which each could hear the beating of the +other's heart. Then looking up with a pained, disheartened expression on +her face, she said: "I'm sorry I can't come to you with a fortune, Dick. +My father will cast me off, and all I now possess in this world are you +and the clothes on my back." + +"Why, you sweet, pathetic little beggar!" he exclaimed, sealing her lips +with a kiss. + +"He said he would rather see me dead at his feet than married to you," +she went on. "Of course, if you were immensely wealthy, he might learn +to tolerate you in time. We're all like that, you know, but as things +are, we'll have to shift as best we can." + +"Well, I don't lay claim to much," he said, restraining his mirth with +difficulty. "There's the Esmeralda, you know, but even if that fails us, +there's no cause for immediate worry. We'll find a modest little hovel +somewhere that is large enough to contain our love." And then he laughed +long and loud, laughed as he had never laughed before. + +"What are you laughing at?" she inquired, with a dawning suspicion that +he was keeping something from her. + +"Oh, nothing," he answered at length. "You'll forgive me, I'm sure, when +I say, that I can't help thinking what an ass your father is!" And +Bessie Van Ashton stepped into a bigger life than she had ever known. + + + + +XXXV + + +Perhaps all was not yet lost. The Padre's words and attitude acted like +a wonderful elixir upon Chiquita. They buoyed her up, lifted her soul +from the dust where it had been flung and trampled upon. + +The house oppressed her, and sleep being impossible, she opened the door +and stepped out into the garden and wandered along the paths that led in +and out among the flowers and shrubs, inhaling the delicious night air, +faintly perfumed with the delicate fragrance of mignonette and +heliotrope and a few last roses. + +The fresh air and the beauty and quiet of the night soothed her. She +felt her strength return, and a great calm took possession of her as she +moved to and fro in the moonlight, now casting her eyes toward the +stars, now downward at the wan, drooping heads of the flowers which +swayed gently in the faint night breeze. Her face radiantly beautiful, +her jewels flashing against the pale white setting of her dress and her +tawny skin, she resembled more the lovely ghost of some long-departed +Spanish woman that had returned to earth to revisit familiar haunts, +than one still among the living. + +What was he doing now? she asked herself. It was impossible that he +should continue to believe in her. It was more than could be expected; +no one but Padre Antonio was capable of that. Just then she heard the +sound of footsteps on the walk outside the wall and a moment later, the +click of the latch on the gate as it swung open. She thought it must be +Padre Antonio come back again, and she turned to meet him. A faint, +suppressed cry escaped her, for there, just inside the gate, stood +Captain Forest. + +He had evidently not yet seen her and paused as if uncertain whether to +advance. She stood in the open space beside the bench, just off the +pathway leading from the gate to the house, along which he must advance +should he decide to proceed farther. A pale, plumy spray of tamarisk +intervened between them, otherwise he must have seen her. For some time +he stood silent and motionless as if uncertain what to do, then he began +to advance slowly in her direction. + +What did he want? Why had he come at this hour? Her heart beat high and +she began to tremble with excitement as she watched him coming toward +her. + +Her wan, pale dress so closely resembled the moonlight in the shadow of +the tamarisk that he might have passed her unnoticed had she not +unconsciously closed her half-open fan which she was nervously clasping +in both hands. It shut with a soft, faint snap, causing him to stop and +turn in her direction. + +"Chiquita!" he cried, and springing forward, had her in his arms before +she could prevent it. + +"No, no; you must not!" she cried, overcome by his suddenness and vainly +struggling to free herself. + +"Chiquita," he went on without heeding her, "I could not wait until +morning, and came to tell you again that I believe in you--that I love +you--that nothing but death can separate us in this life!" + +She saw and felt the uselessness of struggling against his great +strength and will, so she relaxed her efforts and became quite passive +in his arms, her face cast down. Besides, it seemed as though all her +strength had left her. She trembled so violently and felt so weak that +she must have sunk to the ground had he not supported her. + +"Sweetheart!" he cried more passionately than ever. "What do we care for +the world? Look up and say you will come with me!" Her soul thrilled +with the rapture his words caused her. + +"Jack," she said at length, raising her head and looking up into his +face, "I love you too much to do that. Not until my name has been +cleared--" They heard a rustling sound on the other side of the +tamarisk. Another moment, and the long, plumy sprays parted and Don +Felipe stepped into the pathway. His face was ashen pale and wore the +look of a thoroughly desperate man. + +"Captain Forest," he began, breaking the painful silence that ensued, "I +have vowed that you shall never marry her. I give you one more chance," +and he raised his right arm and pointed toward the gate. "Go, while +there is yet time!" he commanded, his voice vibrant with passion. "Go +back to the _Posada_ at once and saddle your horse and leave the country +this very night. If you do not--" + +"You think to intimidate me?" interrupted the Captain, quietly +releasing Chiquita from his arms and confronting him. + +"Once more--will you go?" demanded Don Felipe in a harsh, fierce voice. + +"No!" answered the Captain. + +"Then your blood be upon your own head!" he cried, and without a +moment's warning, he drew a long knife from his inner breast pocket and +rushed furiously upon him. + +"Coward, to attack an unarmed man!" cried the Captain, springing aside +just in time to avoid his thrust. Without replying, Don Felipe whirled +with the swiftness of a cat and rushed at him again. The Captain glanced +hurriedly about him in search of some weapon of defense. Close at hand +he espied a small, fragile, gilt chair that had been left there by +chance during the day. Seizing it by the back with both hands he raised +it aloft and aimed a swift blow at his adversary, but the latter +cleverly dodged it by dropping on one knee. The chair crashed to the +ground with terrific force, its fragments flying in all directions. + +Captain Forest was a wonderfully active man for his size. Before Don +Felipe was on his feet again, he sprang forward and seized his right +arm. The two men grappled desperately for some moments, but what was Don +Felipe in the hands of a giant. Suddenly the knife went whirling back +over the Captain's shoulder, forming a glittering half-circle in the +moonlight as it fell among the flowers. Then Captain Forest lifted Don +Felipe with both hands as easily as he would have lifted a child and +hurled him violently to the ground several feet away. A smothered cry of +pain escaped him. + +"Lie there, dog!" said the Captain, contemptuously. + +"Not so, Captain Forest--we're not done yet!" answered Don Felipe, +rising with difficulty on one knee. From his hip pocket he drew a +pistol. + +"Don Felipe Ramirez!" came Chiquita's voice, ringing clear; but he did +not heed the warning. Instantly her hand went to her breast and there +were two almost simultaneous shots. Don Felipe sprang into the air with +a loud cry, alighting upright upon both feet. He gasped, staggered +forward a pace, and then sank down on his knees. Again he gasped, +clutched desperately at his heart with his left hand, and then, with a +last supreme effort, slowly raised his weapon with his trembling hand +and once more took aim at the Captain. There was another quick flash and +report, and Don Felipe Ramirez lay dead on the ground between them. + +In silence they gazed at one another across Don Felipe's body. The +Captain was about to speak when they were startled by a low moan just +behind them, and, turning, they saw Blanch sink slowly to the bench in a +sitting posture, her head resting on her arm across the back of the +bench. In an instant they were at her side. + +[Illustration: "They were startled by a low moan and saw Blanch sink +slowly to the bench."] + +"Blanch!" cried the Captain in consternation at the sight of the blood +that was oozing slowly from her left side, and which Chiquita was vainly +endeavoring to stanch with her handkerchief. At the sound of his voice, +she slowly opened her eyes. + +"Forgive me," she whispered in an almost inaudible tone, as they knelt +on either side of her, supporting her. For some moments she lay quite +motionless, then a slight tremor passed through her and with a little +sigh like that of a child's, her head slipped down upon Chiquita's +breast. The bullet which Don Felipe had intended for the Captain had +passed through her heart; the penalty she paid for giving the signal in +the _patio_. + +The moonlight fell full across her face, which, contrary to what one +might suppose, wore an expression of peace and calm, almost a smile, +like one in a dream. + +"How beautiful she is!" murmured Chiquita, holding her tenderly in her +arms. + +"Would to God she had been spared!" answered the Captain, his voice +choking with emotion. Yet each felt as they gazed on her upturned face, +whose expression was rather that of sleep than of death, that she was +better off thus; for what did life hold for her? + + + + +XXXVI + + +For most men death ends all things, but for those whose souls are +illumined by the unquenchable flame of faith, death is but the beginning +of life. + +The news of the tragedy, following swift upon that of Juan Ramon's +death, spread like wildfire, fairly taking the people's breath away, and +throwing the community into a tumult of excitement. Not since the days +when the victorious American armies had entered Mexico and laid waste +the land, had there been such a commotion in the old town. + +The community was shaken to its center. What would happen next? Old +women paused in the midst of their chatter and, crossing themselves, +said an extra _ave_ as a protection against the Evil One; for no one +knew who would be taken next. + +Don Felipe Ramirez, the handsomest and wealthiest and most influential +man in Chihuahua, dead--at the hand of a woman--an Indian! + +Most people admitted that he had merited death. That his end was a just +punishment for his misdeeds, but then, had it not been for the woman who +had wrecked his life, how different his end might have been! + +Juan Ramon would be missed for a day at the gaming tables, but the +beautiful American Senorita--why should she have paid the price of +blood? It was too much. The popular outburst was tremendous, quite +beyond Padre Antonio's influence or control. The evil and tragedy which +the witch seemed to draw with her in her train far outweighed the good +she had accomplished since her advent in the town. And if the grand +Senor, Captain Forest, of an alien race, still chose to remain in the +place, why, let him look to his personal safety if he still set store +upon his life. + +Such was popular sentiment, and out of the countless maledictions that +were heaped upon the dark woman and the man she had bewitched, there +grew that sullen and ominous silence of presentiment like that preceding +a storm, and which boded but one end to them both--death. + +Jose and Dick were the first to apprise the Captain of the true state of +affairs, although he had not remained insensible to the threatening +looks and dark, sullen faces that greeted him on every hand. + +"The place has become too hot to hold you, old man," said Dick. "You and +Chiquita had better go somewhere for a little _pasear_. You'll find the +air in the mountains more salubrious than here; in fact--_vamos_, as the +Spaniards say. Go to Padre Antonio's house at once," he continued. "It's +a sort of a sanctuary, you know; you'll be safe there to-day. If you +value your life, don't set foot outside the place, and I'd even be chary +about picking flowers in the garden," he added in his droll way. +"To-night, Jose and I will have your horses ready and waiting for you in +the canon at the foot of the trail which leads to the top of the _mesa_ +overlooking the valley. You must get away under cover of the dusk +before the moon rises. Old Manuela will give you the signal when to +depart." + +"Dick, you are the most ingenious mortal in the world," answered the +Captain. "You are as good as a mother to me. How did you ever think of +it?" + +"Oh! don't thank me," returned Dick. "I didn't think of it; I never have +any ideas. It's Jose's plan entirely." + +"The deuce! It does sound like you, _camarada_!" he ejaculated, turning +to Jose who had smoked his _cigarillo_ in silence while listening to +Dick's words. "The scheme sounds well," he continued after some moments' +reflection. "And yet it seems to me you have overlooked something--the +most important thing of all." + +"What?" asked Dick. + +"How are you going to get the horses there without attracting attention? +It's just possible that the entire populace might escort you there and +then hang all four of us when Chiquita and I arrive." + +"Ah! I never thought of that," replied Dick, flicking the ash from his +cigar and exchanging glances with Jose. "I always said you had the +imagination of a poet, Jack. But it takes an Indian to think of such +things; the horses are concealed already in the canon, a quarter of a +mile from the trail." + +"_Si, Capitan._ I took them there last night," said Jose. + +"Last night?" + +"Yes. You see, it was this way. I saw the fight last night--" + +"You did?" + +"_Si, Capitan._ It was a glorious fight, the greatest fight I ever saw. +I followed Don Felipe last night and surely would have killed him had I +not seen the Senorita draw her weapon. I knew that it was her right to +kill him." + +"You observe Jose's exquisite sense of discrimination," interrupted +Dick. "It's the etiquette of the land," he added with a twinkle in his +eye, his face betraying not so much as the suggestion of a smile. +Captain Forest could have laughed at Dick's irresistible humor were it +not for the terrible tragedy which rested heavily upon him. + +"Well," continued Jose, "while you and the Senorita stood beside the +beautiful _Americana_, I bethought me that it was about time we were +leaving this place. You did not know that the two women, Manuela and +Juana, and the Padre's gardener, Sebastiano, also witnessed the +shooting. I told Sebastiano to get the Senorita's horse out of the +stable at once and wait outside in the shadow of the wall on the far +side of the garden until I returned. I then hurried back here and got +away unobserved with our horses, picking up the Senorita's and +Sebastiano on the way to the canon where I left them in the latter's +charge. They will hardly be missed to-day, I think," he added; "the +excitement is too great. Go now quietly to Padre Antonio's and wait +there until Manuela gives you the word to depart." Jose paused. Then +casting a quick glance about him, he took a fresh puff at his +_cigarillo_ and said: "Until then, _a Dios_, Senor _Capitan_!" and +assuming an indifferent air, as though nothing unusual had occurred, he +sauntered quietly away. + +"That man's a genius!" said Dick, looking after him until he disappeared +around the corner of the house. + +"It was a lucky day for you when you picked him up. If you get away at +all to-night, you'll owe your lives to him. Nothing but his wits could +have saved you. You had better be going now," he added. "Go directly to +the Padre's and attract as little attention as possible on the way. + +"_Este noche, amigo mio_--to-night, my friend," he concluded in Spanish, +and turning, lounged carelessly through the doorway into the house. + + + + +XXXVII + + +"I hear nothing," said Jose, rising from the ground where he had been +lying flat with his ear close to the earth. + +"They have given us up!" exclaimed the Captain, turning in the saddle +and addressing Chiquita who also had been scanning their back trail in +the effort to discover a sign of their lost pursuers. + +"We have tired them out," she answered, lowering her hand from her eyes. + +They had escaped--they were free. Padre Antonio had married them on the +afternoon of the previous day. + +"If I am still alive, and God grant that it may be so," he said on +parting, "I shall see you next spring when I visit the Missions in the +North." + +The flight had been a swift and perilous one. They had traveled the +entire night and day, pausing only long enough to allow their horses +short breathing spells and time to slake their thirst at the springs and +streams they encountered in their flight. Like their horses, all three +were thoroughly tired, and their clothes torn and dust begrimed. + +"We'll camp yonder, Jose," said the Captain, pointing to a thick group +of pines that grew on the opposite side of the stream on whose bank they +had halted. They had arrived at the foot of the Sierra Madres from +whose side the stream burst and along whose banks their trail led to +the upper world where it dropped down again on the other side of the +great mountainous divide into Sonora. + +"It's like the old days!" cried Chiquita, laughing as they splashed +through the stream to the opposite bank, the water rising to their +saddle-girths. Drawing rein at the outer rim of the pines, they +dismounted and removed their saddles and packs, the latter consisting of +a pair of blankets apiece and a week's rations equally distributed among +them; coffee, sugar, bacon, beans and flour and a few necessary +utensils. These they carried into the center of the grove and deposited +in a circle on the ground. + +Jose led away the horses and while he was occupied in picketing them, +the Captain gathered an armful of dry wood for the fire, and then +picking up a canvas bucket, strolled to the river and filled it with +water. + +Chiquita had already lit the fire when he returned. She filled the +coffee pot with water, cut some slices of bacon and tossed them into a +pan which she placed on the fire and then began to mix some flour and +water. The Captain leaned against the trunk of one of the trees and +rolling a cigarette, lit it, watching her the while. Chiquita laughed +softly, but said nothing while engaged in the process of bread-making. +This homely touch of camp-life told plainer than words how thoroughly +they had come down to earth and again were facing the wholesome +realities of life. When the dough was of the right consistency, she +molded it into biscuits, placed them in a deep pan, and raking some +coals from the fire, set the pan upon them, also depositing some coals +on the top of the cover. After giving the bacon a final turn in the pan, +she set it to one side close to the fire where it would keep warm. + +She then rose to her feet and stood erect. As she did so, one of the +great strands of her hair which had become loosened during their flight, +fell in a soft curling mass of blue jet down her back to within a few +inches of her ankles. Captain Forest did not know then that it was a +sign of her royal lineage. + +Once upon a time in the dim past, so far back that nobody could remember +when it had occurred, a Tewana woman had given birth to a beautiful girl +child with wonderful hair in the same year that a wandering star with a +great tail had appeared in the heavens. The coincidence seemed nothing +short of miraculous to the people. The Sachems of the tribe pronounced +the child to be consecrated and chosen to rule over them by the gods. So +it had been decreed, and ever since then, all Tewana women who had ruled +over the people had possessed this distinctive mark of their royal +lineage and bore the name, "Flaming Star." + +Chiquita crossed over to where the Captain still stood leaning against +the tree and, pausing before him, looked up into his face and said: +"What are you thinking of, Sweetheart?" He flung his arms about her and +kissed her. + +"I am still wondering," he answered, "how it all happened. It seems so +strange, and yet so natural." + +"Just what I, too, have been thinking," she returned. "And yet it is no +more remarkable than what our entire lives have been. It could not be +otherwise." + +"No," he replied. "I would not have it different for worlds. It's just +as it should be--just as it has been decreed." + +"Come!" she said, leading him over to where her pack lay on the ground. +"I've got something for you," and kneeling on the ground, she began +unrolling her blankets, out of which she took a small package which, on +being opened, contained two pairs of beautifully beaded moccasins; one +pair of which she handed to him. + +"It's just like you, Chiquita _mia_!" he exclaimed. "I always wear them +in camp, but in the hurry to get away, I forgot mine. I'm glad I forgot +them though," he added, holding up the moccasins and admiring them. "How +did you come to think of them?" + +"I can't say," she answered. "One afternoon about a month ago while at +the _Posada_, I noticed your footprint in the gravel path in the garden +where you had been talking to the girls but a few moments before. +Things, as you know, were rather uncertain then, nevertheless, something +impelled me to take the measure and make them; thinking that possibly +you might want them some day. Besides, it was such sweet work, you +know," she added with a little laugh. + +"Chiquita--you're a wonderful woman! You not only seem to be able to do +everything, but you think of everything as well," and kneeling on the +ground before her, he drew off her riding boots and slipped her +moccasins on her feet. + +"It is the bridal gift of an Indian girl to her husband," she said +caressingly. "And signifies that they shall tread the same path together +through life." + +"What could be more beautiful!" he returned, pulling off his boots and +drawing on his own. "Ah!" he continued, "it was worth waiting for you +Chiquita _mia_! The long years of uncertainty and suffering seem as +nothing, now that I look back upon them and you have come into my life." + +Just then Jose returned from the work of picketing the horses and the +three sat down to supper. + + + + +XXXVIII + + +"Isn't it strange how easily one can return to the natural life if one +has known it before?" said Chiquita later in the evening, as the three +lay stretched on their blankets around the small fire which Jose had +kindled in the center of the grove, and watched the flickering flames +and dancing shadows against the dark pine boughs surrounding them. + +"The life of yesterday has fallen from me," she continued, gazing +pensively into the fire whose red glare illumined her beautiful bronze +features. + +"Yes, you are an Indian once more, Chiquita _mia_," said the Captain. + +"Ah! you are as much of an Indian as Jose or myself!" she retorted +gayly. "What a pity you didn't know the life before the land was +conquered and tamed by the White man! Verily, a glory has passed from +this earth!" A peculiar light shone in Jose's eyes as he listened to her +words. He seemed on the point of speaking, but did not. He smiled and +rolled a fresh _cigarillo_, lighting it with a pine twig which he took +from the fire. + +"Tell me why you insisted on our coming this way, Chiquita?" asked the +Captain, disposing himself comfortably on his blanket. + +"Because I want to see my people again. They are the strongest and most +advanced people in Mexico, and we will be safe with them until things +have quieted down. Because I wanted you to see where I came from and how +I lived before Padre Antonio introduced me to a new world and made of me +a woman that you could love. Besides, we can start from their country on +our camping trip as well as from any other place. My people are not +quite the savages you probably think them. But there is something else," +she continued after a pause. "I was impelled, drawn this way. Why, I can +not say, but something always kept pointing me toward the northwest. I +feel as though the climax of our lives is yet to come; that we are on +the verge of something great; that our work in life may begin with +them." + +"Perhaps it may be so!" interrupted Jose, no longer able to conceal the +agitation her words aroused in him. "That is, if the vision of the White +Cloud prove to be true. At any rate, my people await your coming," he +added. At the mention of the White Cloud, Chiquita sat bolt upright, +regarding Jose intently the while--then rose to her feet. + +"The White Cloud? Your people?" she repeated excitedly. "Then you are a +Tewana?" Jose also had risen from his sitting posture, and dropping on +one knee with face downward and both arms extended straight out before +him with the palms of the hands turned downward, he exclaimed in the +Tewana tongue: "Princess, Flaming Star--I greet you! I am Onakipo, the +Pine Tree, son of Ixlao, the Swan!" Jose's attitude and manner of speech +formed a most striking picture. He had not even revealed his true +identity to the Captain. + +Chiquita had noticed the furtive, stolen glances he had cast at her from +time to time during the journey, a thing strange in an Indian, and it +caused her some uneasiness, but now she understood. He had just +acknowledged her by his attitude of submission and the salute common to +his people, as their tribal head. + +"You and I, Princess, were the sole survivors of that last battle in +which your father's band was annihilated," continued Jose in Spanish, +seating himself once more on the ground on the other side of the fire +opposite Chiquita who again had taken her place beside the Captain. + +"I do not wonder that you did not recognize me," he went on after a +pause, during which he rolled and lit a fresh _cigarillo_. "I was a mere +boy at the time. The battle, you will remember, took place just before +sunset, and when the enemy charged our camp, I was struck on the head, +as you see by the scar over my left eye. I fell over a ledge of rock +into a gully below, alighting in a thick clump of bushes, breaking my +fall and saving my life. Fortunately the bushes concealed me from view, +causing the enemy to overlook me, else they certainly had finished me +before departing. I lay unconscious all that night until noon of the +following day, when I awoke. For a long time after awakening I was too +weak to rise, but finally I managed to crawl to the little stream that +ran at the bottom of the gully just below me. There I slaked my thirst +and washed my face and wound and bound it up as best I could. All that +afternoon I lay by the stream, drinking and dipping my head in the water +until evening, when I regained sufficient strength to crawl back to the +top of the great rock where we made our last stand. + +"There, a ghastly sight met my eyes. With his back against a large +bowlder where the enemy had placed him, sat your father, the Whirlwind, +still dressed in his war regalia and around him, just as they had +fallen, lay our dead comrades. I counted them. There were forty-eight in +all, and as you were not among the dead, I rightly conjectured, as it +soon afterward proved, that you had been taken prisoner. Three weeks +later I succeeded in reaching our people and told the news. A war party +was organized immediately, and I guided it back to the land of the +Ispali where after a battle, we learned of your capture and escape from +several of the Ispali whom we succeeded in capturing. + +"That was ten years ago, and ever since then, we have sent out runners +each year to visit the towns and villages throughout the land in the +hope of finding you and bringing you back again to rule over us; for as +you know, Princess, you are the last of the royal blood. But in vain. In +spite of the fact that the White Cloud, our great Sachem, said you were +still alive, that he repeatedly saw you among the living in his visions +and predicted your return, we found no trace of you. That was because we +had overlooked Santa Fe. It lies so far east of our country that it +escaped our notice. We never imagined that you had crossed the Sierra +Madres in your flight, and had I not chanced to enter the Captain's +service, we probably never would have heard of you again. + +"But now I understand that it was so intended--that the time was not yet +ripe. That the Great Spirit had ordained you should not return to your +people until you had become worthy of the charge which is about to be +conferred upon you, and which, as you shall presently learn, goes to +prove the truth of the subsequent prophecies the White Cloud made +concerning you." He paused and for some minutes gazed silently into the +fire. He had accompanied his narrative with intense, dramatic gestures +and expressions illustrative of its incidents; a characteristic common +to his race. Presently a smile lit up his face and looking up once more, +he resumed. + +"You remember, Princess, how the White Cloud counseled us to accept the +terms of the Government, bad though they were, and make peace, and +prophesied that disaster would befall us if we refused. Well, then as +now, events have proved the truth of his words. As the years went by and +no further trace of you could be found, the people lost hope of ever +seeing you again and said you were dead. But the White Cloud maintained +that you were still alive; that the day of your return was drawing ever +nearer; that he heard the song of birds and the sound of laughing waters +and beheld the desert carpeted with flowers in his vision and you in +their midst coming towards them, which typified the renewal of life and +rebirth of the nation. But when he announced that he always saw you in +the company of a white man who later should rule over us, they laughed +at his prophecies. + +"'A white man rule over the Tewana? How absurd--impossible!' They shook +their heads and said: 'The White Cloud is old--his vision has become +dim, impaired through age!'" + +The Captain and Chiquita were too amazed by Jose's words to venture a +reply, and sat gazing alternately at one another and then at the +speaker. + +"When I first met the Captain," continued Jose, "I wondered greatly why +I was so drawn toward him. True, he was a man to my liking and I was +doubly grateful to him for saving my life, but that did not wholly +account for my attachment. I was drawn to him irresistibly as by an +invisible power. I could not leave him; and when I again saw you, +Princess, on the day that you and the beautiful Senorita met for the +first time and heard from your own lips who you were as well as your +avowal of love for my Master, I knew then that the White Cloud had read +rightly the future; that my Master, the Grand Senor, had been chosen by +the Great Spirit to rule with you over our people. + +"It was then that I learned how you had come to Padre Antonio, after +which I returned to our people and told them what I knew; that I had +found not only you, but also the White Chief whom the White Cloud had +seen in his vision, and that, if you returned to them at all, it would +surely be as his bride. At first they would not believe me, but when I +persisted and reminded them of the disasters that had befallen us in the +past for our failure to heed the White Cloud's councils, they at last +yielded and called a grand council and decided to send a deputation +composed of the leading men of the nation to verify my statements. + +"It was not so much the news that you were still alive that was so +difficult for them to believe, but that a white man should rule over +them--a thing impossible and past all belief; besides, they would not +have it. However, when I conducted the deputation, consisting of six of +our leading men, to Santa Fe and they secretly beheld you, Princess, +they one and all exclaimed as with one breath: ''Tis she, the +Princess--the Flaming Star! How like her father, the Whirlwind, she is!' + +"They wanted to disclose their identity to you then and there and exhort +you to return with them to your people, but I persuaded them to wait, +reminding them that the White Cloud's prophecy was not yet entirely +fulfilled. I then showed you to them, Master," he went on, addressing +the Captain, "and although they acknowledged that you were a magnificent +specimen of a man and had the appearance of one born to command, they +shook their heads and said it was impossible--that a White Chief could +never rule over the Tewana. + +"'Of a truth,' I answered, 'the black-robed Padres are right! You are a +stiff-necked people who persist in following in the footsteps of our +forefathers who, we all know, were unable to lead the people to the +light. Only the White Cloud was able to foresee the future; grasp the +significance of both the Padres' and our ancient Sachems' teachings. +That the old order of things had come to an end. That the time had come +when strife must cease among men; that the tidings were now to be +fulfilled which the White Child with a face like the sun had brought to +the world, and whose coming our ancient Sachems had predicted in the +ancient days. Know also, that the Princess has seen the great world +which you have not seen; that in many ways she is more like a white +woman than one of our race; that she is wiser than you are; that the +Great Spirit has shown her the things that are good for us, and if she +becomes the wife of the White Chief, you must accept him if you accept +her, for without him she will never return to you. Besides, the White +Chief is the wisest of us all. In his sight both we and most of the men +of his own race are as children.' + +"They could not find a fitting answer to my words and returned to our +people. Ever since then runners have been coming and going constantly +between us. They have been apprised of our coming and await us." Jose +ceased speaking and sat gazing meditatively into the fire where he +watched the pink and violet flames leap upward and lose themselves in +the thin wreath of white smoke which slowly ascended and floated away +over the tree tops. For some time no one spoke, then Captain Forest +finally broke the silence. + +"What you say, Jose, is truly wonderful; but know, that we have no more +desire to rule the Tewana than to rule other men. But should they, like +the rest of the world, fail to heed our example, they shall perish in +their ignorance." He leaned forward and tossed some fresh sticks of wood +on the fire. + +"It is time for the first watch, Jose," he continued, rising to his +feet and glancing up at the stars visible above the tree tops. "Call me +when the Great Bear has half circled the Pole Star. I'll keep the second +watch." + + + + +XXXIX + + +Jose brought in the horses and he and the Captain saddled and packed +them; after which they silently broke camp in the light of the stars and +the waning moon. Jose took his place at the head of the little +cavalcade, Chiquita following him and the Captain bringing up the rear; +he and Chiquita casting a last look at their first camp as they rode +away. + +No one spoke. Save for the measured tread of the horses and noise of the +rushing stream along which the trail led upwards, no sounds disturbed +the silence of the night. Now and then an occasional spark, struck from +the horses' iron-rimmed hoofs, flashed for an instant in the darkness +along the trail. + +The Captain's gaze was riveted upon Chiquita's tall, erect figure in +front of him who ever and anon turned in the saddle and smiled, her +beautiful, lustrous eyes flashing like stars in the moon-fire. + +Higher and higher they mounted, pausing occasionally to allow the horses +time to draw breath, until they at length drew rein on the summit of the +Sierra Madres. Here a wonderful sight met their eyes, poised as they +were upon the rim of the earth and gazing off into star-strewn space. +Dawn was just breaking, suffusing the long line of the eastern horizon +with a soft, rosy glow which crept swiftly towards them over the +gray-green, purple plains that swept away from the mountains' base like +vast undulating stretches of ocean; the golden shafts of the on-coming +dawn driving the paling stars before them like a shepherd his flocks to +the hills. North and south, as far as the eye could reach, stretched the +broken and many crested length of the great Sierra Madre range; its +sides clothed with dark forests of cedar and pine and chaparral, its +secluded recesses obscured in the gloom; its highest peaks glowing with +golden, pink and violet tints. In the west, surrounded by a host of +golden stars that still glittered in the purple black depths of +vanishing night, the silver moon hung half-way dipped as it slowly sank +behind the towering crest of the Sahuaripa range, an isolated spur of +the Sierra Madres. A vast plain intervened between them and the distant +Sierras at whose foot dwelt the Tewana. + +Far below them, from out the shadowy depths on either side of the range, +arose faint sounds of awakening life. The breeze began to sigh among the +tree tops, while high above them they heard the wild scream of eagles +that soared in great circles with widespread pinions in their morning +flight to greet the sun. Great waves of indefinable melody, more subtle +and exquisite than music, swept over them, causing their souls to +quicken and tingle in the freshening dawn as the Day Star rose to hold +again his sway over earth. His mighty splendor and effulgence swept +through and over them, their souls vibrating with renewed life and vigor +as they felt and recognized God's sign and immanence as in the days +when man first walked with Him in the cool of the morning. + +They realized that they had entered upon the new life. The promise was +fulfilled--the veil was lifted. The scroll of human destiny seemed to +unroll itself from out the dim traditions of the past, and they beheld +as in a dream the life that was when first the children of men roamed +the earth and established the Kingdom of God which was intended from the +beginning. In the picture of the golden childhood of the race, they +beheld reflected in the new light of the future, the vision of the +emancipated, delivered man, guided by the lessons still to be learned +from the great Book of Nature lying open before him, and the accumulated +wisdom of past ages, handed down to him by his forefathers through +travail and suffering and in legend and song from those ancient days of +suns and nights of stars when the earth and man were young. A freeborn +race of men who are joint tenants of the soil, sharing all things in +common with which their bountiful Mother, the Earth, has provided them. +A race of men, athletic in body as they are able in mind, and spiritual +and courageous, recognizing no laws but those of Nature's or God's. + +In silence and with bared heads they gazed upon the grandeur of the +scene that lay spread out before them. It was as though they looked back +upon the old life from another world. It lay so far behind them that it +seemed but a memory; not a vestige of it clung to them, so filled were +they with new hopes and aspirations. + +"Behold!" cried Jose excitedly, pointing toward the west. And looking in +the direction indicated by his outstretched arm, they beheld in the dim +distance numerous columns of smoke rising heavenward in the clear +morning air from the tops of the _mesas_ that dotted the plain. + +"'Tis the sign of your coming, Princess!" he continued. "The people have +bowed to the will of the White Cloud--acknowledged the authority of the +White Chief." + +Parrakeets began to twitter among the branches of the trees on every +hand during their descent of the western slope. Ravens croaked and +called from the heart of the forest, and the owl flitted by on silent +wing. Black birds with orange heads and throats and splashed with +scarlet on their wings, greeted them at the foot of the mountain among +the reeds which grew along the stream they were following. Deer broke +from the willow copse and bounded away, while grouse rose on whirring +wings from under the horses' hoofs as they emerged upon the plain where +the wild cry of the curlew rang clear and sharp on the morning. They +were free and breathed deep of the spirit of freedom; listened to the +old primeval song of nature's myriad voices; gazed long upon the +pristine loveliness of earth. + +All that day and the three following, the columns of smoke continued to +rise heavenward as they pursued their journey. At night, pillars of fire +took the place of the smoke, and all the while, save for an occasional +glimpse in the distance of a solitary horseman who faded specterlike +from view on their approach, they saw not a soul. + +The Spirit of the Great Mystery brooded over the land, and they rode as +in a dream. The fragrant cedar and pinon-scented smoke mingled with the +soft, thin haze of the Indian summer which veiled the land in its golden +glow of mystery; the sacred incense, the Red men say, of the gods, +burned on their altars in ancient days; a sign to the people to gather +each year on the hilltops and _mesas_, and in the forests and plains +during the moon of falling leaves, and celebrate in prayer and sacred +dance and song, the advent of the gods. + +The wind was hushed and all things seemed to sleep and dream, and they +seemed to draw nearer to the heart of things. The great change that had +come into their lives was, after all, no more wonderful than the changes +which they saw had taken place in nature about them. A luxuriant growth +of tropical vegetation, succeeded by vast forests of conifers, a remnant +of which still survived upon the mountains, once flourished in the +semi-desert through which they traveled. An occasional broken, +half-buried pillar, or the remains of a crumbling wall that had +witnessed the passing of the ages and listened to the tales borne on the +winds, marked the existence of vanished civilizations of which men +to-day know naught. All things appeared to change and fade, nothing +seemed permanent, not even the ideal; the morrow was but a forgetting. + +Beneath them they felt the Earth, ponderous and weighty and crushing in +its immensity to the imagination, and whose existence seemed of little +moment in comparison to the countless worlds that filled the universe +about them. Yet, insignificant though it appeared, was it not a link in +the great universal scheme of matter, and did it not stand in the same +relation to the universe as their individual lives to the human race? + +Like two stars their souls had rushed together from the uttermost +confines of space. She had been led into his world, and he compelled to +retrace his steps to almost primitive conditions in order that they +might find one another and together take up the thread of their common +destiny. Clearly, they were children of destiny upon whose brows God had +set His seal. They realized that the path which lay before them was not +one entirely strewn with flowers. That between the chosen ones, life +meant something more than the love of a man for a woman, or a woman's +for a man. That they still stood with their feet in the flame; that +earth's cup of joy for them must still remain one of bitter-sweet; that +they must go on to the end in order that men might see and hear; that +the new order of things must spring from them. + +Gay was the Princess. She laughed and talked and related incidents of +her life and her people; the silvery tinkle of the bells on her spurs, +accompanying every movement of her horse, chimed sweetly with her mood. +In the raven folds of her blue-black hair, she wore again the red +berries as on the day when first he beheld her. She seemed a part of +that tawny landscape, splashed with great patches of crimson and gold +and gray and purple--the spirit and incarnation of the Indian summer. + +As he gazed upon her and listened to her words, the wild refrain of +those familiar lines recurred to him: + + "I will wed some savage woman; she shall rear my dusky race: + Iron-jointed, supple-sinewed, they shall dive and they shall run, + Catch the wild goat by the hair, and hurl their lances in the sun, + Whistle back the parrot's call,--leap the rainbows of the brooks,--" + +The woman of the ages had come back again. Lilith and Eve and Isis and +Venus, the foam-kissed, and Erda, the dreaming one. The vision of the +ancient world rose before him; virgin forests and plains and mighty +rivers and mountains; the ancient temples of the Nile and the Ganges, +Hellas' fanes and Druidic monoliths and sacred groves, and voices of +strange peoples mingled with the soft notes of reed and lute. + +Within the unending circle of life and death, of love and hatred, of joy +and sorrow and remorse which mark the rise and passing of the +civilizations, he beheld the sacred ash and pine, and starry lotus +afloat upon the face of moonlit waters in which were mirrored the palm +and papyrus and acanthus, and stood face to face with the serpent and +wolf, the winged horse and sphinx, and the dragon and the griffin when +their secret origins and significance were known unto men. The sounds of +harps and cymbals and lyres and timbrels blended with those of +conch-shells and antelope horns. Sighs and laughter and curses and +weeping mingled with the wild strains of Homeric song and mystic rites +of Chaldea and Babylon, and the sacred chant of Isis. The Voodoo danced +to the rattle of shells and antelope hoofs before the shrines of +Ethiopia's dark woman, crowned with the sickle moon, and vast multitudes +knelt and lay prostrate before the car of Juggernaut and the passing +image of Pracriti of Asia, the many-breasted, the Goddess of Abundance. + +Sun and Fire worshipers tore the hearts and scalps from living victims +and held them aloft to the rising sun, and men and wild beasts fought in +arenas amid the acclamations of the people. + +He beheld the milk-white bullocks of the Druid, garlanded with flowers, +heading the procession that entered the dark groves in search of the +sacred mistletoe-bearing oak; the processions of Pan and Odin, and Siva +and Vishnu and Baal, and Venus and Bacchus. Nymphs and fauns and dryads +and hamadryads called from the depths of the forest, and youths and +maidens and shepherds with vine-wreathed brows danced in the sunlit +glades and on the hills where the white flocks roamed, to the plaintive +notes of the mystic pipes of Pan. He beheld the flaunting banners and +flashing steel of victorious hosts and heard the wild, weird chants of +wandering, barbaric hordes that conquered and destroyed. The flash and +roar of artillery of recent times but intensified the gloom that brooded +over the world. The struggle was unending. Men still remained the +victims and slaves of passion and desire. Their sighs and curses and +groans and cries of hatred and despair increased with the years; the +smoke of their torment blackened the face of the sun. + +The waves of human harmony and discord swept over him like the sounds of +mighty rushing winds and waters, and he beheld the race to-day, as in +the past, in the plains and on the high tops, prostrate and erect with +hands outstretched toward the heavens, crying for release. And yet +through it and beneath it and above it all, he heard a ringing note of +triumph that swelled onward and upward until the vision shone clear, and +the true import of their lives stood revealed. They had overcome the +world; broken the fiery chains of desire. + +The heavens of the old world rolled together like a scroll, and the sun +and the moon and the stars and the earth fell into the burning sea of +man's worldliness, but out of the chaos that followed, the earth emerged +once more, green and beautiful, and grain waved upon its face, and the +voice of the Angel rang clear, crying aloud and mightily: + +"Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen! Babylon, the woman mounted upon +the scarlet beast and arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked +with gold and precious stones and pearls, and having a golden cup in her +hand full of abominations.... Babylon upon whose forehead is written, +'Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of +the Earth.' Babylon drunk with wine and the blood of those who stood for +the truth. Babylon, of whose wine and delights all men have drunk and +with whom all the nations of the Earth have committed fornication. +Babylon whose sins have reached unto heaven; who hath glorified herself +and lived deliciously and who said in her heart: 'I sit a queen, and am +no widow, and shall know no sorrow; my joy shall continue forever!' + +"Her plagues shall come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and +she shall be utterly burned with fire. And the kings and the rulers of +earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the mighty men, and the +chief Captains, and the bondsmen, and the free-men who have lived +deliciously with her and who bear the mark of the beast in their hands +and upon their foreheads shall bewail her and lament for her, crying: + +"'Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city!' + +"And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no +man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold and +silver and precious stones, and of pearls and fine linen, and purple, +and silk and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of +ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass and +iron and marble. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and +frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, +and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.... + +"The fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all +things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou +shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things which were +made rich by her shall stand afar off ... weeping and wailing and +saying: 'Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and +purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and +pearls....' And every ship master and all the company in ships, and +sailors, and as many as trade by sea ... shall cry when they see the +smoke of her burning, saying: 'What city is like unto this great city?' +And they shall cast dust on their heads, and weeping and wailing, cry: +'Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships +in the sea by reason of her costliness!' + +"Babylon, Babylon, thine idols and graven images of gods shall be cast +down and shattered utterly and forever! The voice of harpers, and +musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all +in thee; and no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be shall be found any +more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all +in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; +and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more +at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for +by thy sorceries were all nations of the earth deceived!" + +Babylon, Babylon, thou fair city, thou proud world, thou wonderful +emanation of men's minds, thou fair wanton, thou beauteous licentious +harlot of gold and gems, and white linen, and silks, and of henna, and +myrrh, and frankincense, and sweet-smelling herbs, no more shall thy +sons and daughters rejoice in thee and worship thee! Thy grass shall be +withered and thy fig trees shall cast their figs, and thy gold and +silver, and thy diamonds, and rubies, and sapphires, and turquoise, and +emeralds, and opals, and pearls, and topaz, shall lie scattered and in +heaps for him to take who wisheth them, but none shall desire them. + +No more shall thy daughters sit in the shadow of thy vines where nesteth +the dove, and glorify thee in idle jest and laughter and song, and +longingly wait for the coming of the night, for they shall be bereft of +their silks, and their girdles, and anklets, and bracelets of gold and +jewels. Thy songs and paeans of triumph and victory shall cease with the +tainted stream of thy desires, and the walls of thy temples shall +crumble to dust. Thy stars shall pale, and the sun and the moon shall +illumine thee no longer, for the day approacheth when thy blandishments +shall fail to allure. + +Babylon, Babylon, thou proud city, thou who sitteth upon many waters, +thou whose sway encompasseth the earth, how hast thou fallen! + + + + +XL + + +On the afternoon of the fifth day they drew rein on a high, shelving, +terracelike stretch of ground overlooking a broad valley, and almost +opposite the chief Tewana village which nestled at the foot of the +Sahuaripa range, running north and south until lost on the horizon. + +Back of the village a cataract flung itself downward over the mountain's +side into the valley, its clouds of spray reflecting innumerable rainbow +tints in the sunshine. Great forests, abounding in wild animal life, +clothed the mountain's slopes. + +It was a peaceful, fruitful valley upon which they gazed; the land where +Chiquita formerly dwelt. The grass grew knee-deep in the meadows. +Willows and water-birch and sycamore and alders and poplars, +interspersed with pines and oaks, grew in clusters along the banks of +the broad, rushing stream that ran between them and the distant village +whose low, vine-clad walls glowed golden and rose and purple and gray in +the rays of the afternoon sun. The diminutive city was a mass of trees +and foliage and seemed a part of the landscape; so small were the houses +and so harmonious its setting. Fields of flax and melons, and beans and +squash, and corn and tobacco, and small orchards and vineyards already +harvested, dotted the valley close to the meadows which bordered the +tree-fringed stream. Herds of horses and cattle and flocks of sheep and +goats, intermingled with wild herds of deer and antelope, browsed on the +meadows and slopes above the river where they stood. Wild ducks and +geese and swan swam in the river, and grouse and wild turkeys and quail +and plover roamed the forests and uplands. There was no promiscuous +killing of wild animals allowed among the Tewana; they were shared in +common like the domesticated animals. Innumerable canoes, used for +fishing, were drawn up on the banks of the river. + +The Tewana were an independent, self-supporting people. At all seasons +of the year were heard the sounds of the hand-loom and the smith's +anvil--the fashioners of iron and precious metals. The weavers of cloth +and baskets, and potters and tanners fashioned their wares in the open +in the shade of their walls and trees. + +The life these people led, free from the harassing cares and anxieties +of the White man, was almost ideal. During the spring and summer months +they tended their fields, and after the harvests were gathered in the +autumn and the surplus produce stored in public granaries, they engaged +in the chase; hunting only with the bow and spear--camping in the open, +in the forests and plains until the advent of winter. During the ensuing +months, until the coming of spring, the children were instructed by +their parents in the industrial arts; taught the traditions of their +people, and how to read and write, and to observe the courses of the +stars and to forecast the weather and predict the nature of the seasons. +With the coming of the seedtime, they entered the fields with their +elders and learned to sow and tend and reap the crops. + +Thus, by the time the child had attained the age of sixteen, he was +thoroughly conversant with all that was necessary to meet the demands of +life. He became an independent, self-supporting unit, while his constant +contact with nature not only revealed the latter's secrets and the laws +governing natural phenomena, but developed him physically and +spiritually as only nature can. All orphaned children were adopted by +the different families, and consequently, there were no outcasts or poor +and ignorant among the people. + +Every house was surrounded by a small plot of ground sufficient to +supply the family with fruit, poultry, grain and vegetables; from two to +three acres in extent. Their herds were held in common and permitted to +run at will like the deer; requiring but little care. + +The Tewana only produced enough to feed and clothe themselves. The use +of money was forbidden among them, and trade and barter limited +practically to the individual who, desiring something particular from +his neighbor, procured the latter an equivalent in return. + +They regarded material things as merely a means to an end, and +considered it a disgrace for any one to accumulate wealth; for it was +noted that one's spiritual development declined in the same ratio that +his material possessions increased. Like the land, they held the forests +and minerals and waters and animals in common. These were the sacred +things, the gift of nature, and could not be bartered or sold. In their +eyes, only the depraved soul of a peddler ever could have conceived the +idea of turning them into merchandise. Naturally it had taken centuries +of evolution to create this attitude--but they had attained. There was, +however, no need of wealth. Since they enjoyed the earth's natural +resources in common, there was enough and an abundance for all; placing +the high and the low on a footing of material equality. + +Four months' energetic labor was all that was required to produce the +annual necessities of life, allowing the individual the greater portion +of his days to devote to the development of his natural capacities. +There were no idlers, the women sharing the responsibilities of life the +same as the men. All contributed their services to that which was +required for the good of the community; the maintenance of aqueducts and +roads in the towns and the guarding of the herds. Aside from these +slight duties, the individual was free to follow the bent of his +desires. Those who refused to contribute such services were driven from +the community and became nomads, but such instances were rare; all +preferring to enjoy the benefits which civilization, combined with the +greatest amount of liberty, bestowed upon the individual. + +Opposite the chief _pueblo_, on the same side of the river occupied by +themselves, stood the ruins of another town in a fair state of +preservation. It differed greatly in appearance from the one opposite. +It was compactly built, resembling more a modern Mexican town than the +pure type of Indian _pueblo_. In answer to the Captain's inquiries +concerning it, Chiquita smiled and said: "Originally there were sixty +_pueblos_, averaging from two to three thousand inhabitants each; the +number of inhabitants to which the size of our towns are limited. Owing +to the new ideas that were introduced among us by the priests and +traders that were permitted to visit us from time to time, many of our +people sought to establish a new order of things; like that prevailing +throughout the greater part of the world to-day. But in order that I may +make clear what I am about to say, I must first tell you, that the +Tewana are as quick to recognize and encourage talent and genius as were +the ancient Greeks--that there are many artists among my people who have +developed their arts to a high degree of perfection--poets, painters, +sculptors and musicians. + +"These artists, especially, became imbued with the new ideas, and +instead of continuing to create for art's sake only, as had been the +custom of their fathers, embellishing their houses and articles of use +with their artistic creations, or spreading their poetry and music and +national sagas abroad after the manner of the Minnesingers of old, they, +with the others who had become affected, began to adopt new customs--to +build churches and temples in which to worship and preserve their arts, +and sought to introduce money and taxation and all that they entail +among the people in order that the new institutions might be maintained. + +"The disaffection became widespread, affecting about half the people. +The White Cloud and my father did all in their power to persuade the +renegades, as they were called, to return to the old ways again; +maintaining that God dwelt in the open, not in temples, and that the +works of man which entailed the burden of taxation for their +maintenance, depriving man of his freedom, were not worth retaining. +That it was not economy, but extravagance to maintain them, and an +unnecessary waste of energy; for the instant man, in his material +evolution, goes beyond the procuring of the necessities of life, he +becomes immeshed in the creations of his own world and a slave to them. +But in vain. They refused to listen to the wisdom of their words and +only laughed in answer to their pleadings. Whereupon, the most terrible +battles ensued; costing the lives of fifty thousand of our best fighting +men and women; for among us, the women, like the men, are warriors, and +quite as capable of self-defense. They likewise take part in all our +games. In fact, they receive the same training in all things as the men +in order that they may be equally fitted to bear the responsibilities of +citizenship. + +"Our women are trained for battle, not particularly to make warriors of +them, but for the same reason that the Greeks placed athletics before +all else. Not that they considered athletics superior to the other arts +and sciences, but without physical perfection, they realized there could +be no proper mental poise, no balance between mind and body. When you +see our youth, our young men and women, contest for the honors in our +games and military exercises you'll realize the truth of this. The +entire nation gathers together once a year to witness these sports and +exercises and judge the skill of the contestants. No Olympic games ever +surpassed them. You shall see wonderfully beautiful men and women, the +result of their training. Men and women who grow naturally from the +ground up, like the tree or the flower. Believe me, your people don't +know what it is to really live, to taste of the true joys of life; they +only exist. + +"Owing to the terrific loss we sustained during the rebellion, we were +forced to make terms with the Mexican Government and pay an annual +tribute like the rest of her people. It was my first introduction to +battle. I don't think I shall ever forget those terrible days of +slaughter. No quarter was shown, for we knew that defeat meant the +extermination of our race. There ought to be about a hundred thousand of +us left," she continued. "Twenty _pueblos_, in all were destroyed, and +may their ruins long continue to stand as monuments of the folly of +men!" + +"But how about your schools and hospitals and asylums and prisons?" +asked the Captain. + +"Men who lead natural lives have no need of such things," she answered. +"Nature is all sufficient and has provided all things for man's proper +development. The man or woman who can not instruct a child in the things +that are worth knowing and necessary to meet the demands of life, is a +barbarian and only half civilized. Once a man becomes civilized, the +civilizing process ends. A man's spiritual growth is not dependent upon +his inventions, his sciences or his arts, but is a thing apart from +mental growth. If this were not so, his hope of ultimate deliverance +would be a delusion. Contagious diseases were unknown to us until +introduced among us by white men. As for criminals, they are very rare +among us. When all men have an equal opportunity in life there is no +incentive to commit crime. Acts that are the result of sudden fits of +passion, are not the acts of criminals, but the righting of a supposed +wrong done the individual. But even these are rare. Should any one +transgress the law, he is punished, not imprisoned. Only a fool would go +to the trouble and expense of keeping a man imprisoned. A delinquent is +punished so severely that he will not transgress the law a second time; +for a second serious offense against society is punished usually with +death. From what I have told you, you can gather that we are not the +savages the world imagines men to be who lead a natural existence. You +can see how easily we, with our knowledge and theirs, could lead them to +the light." + +"Is there nothing between the picture your people present and the world +we know?" + +"Nothing! What else could there be? After the final appraisement of +things has been taken and they have been weighed in the balance and +adjudged, this is the condition that must confront mankind, for no other +condition offers man such unlimited scope for the development of his +higher nature. What you see is the true picture of the delivered man. +The Golden Age, or the Garden of Eden is no myth. Men once were free and +remained so until they gave way to desire and established for themselves +a world of delusion in which there is no permanency either of thought or +possession. The traditions of all nations and all peoples, from time +immemorial, tell of this state when men were free. They also predict +the destruction of present-day society. The Utopias and Golden Ages +depicted by poets and dreamers, though beautiful to dwell upon in fancy, +are of the tissue of dreams. They will not bear analysis. They are +merely other names for different forms of bondage; the same old romantic +fallacies which we are forever meeting in works of fiction." + +"And how long shall the world we know continue until the new +dispensation comes to pass?" + +"Until men overcome the fear of death! Then shall they be born anew and +come into their rightful heritage. Then shall they grasp the spiritual +significance of the Golden Age as voiced by the Prophet: When first the +foundations of the Earth were laid; when the morning stars sang together +and all the Sons of God shouted for joy, for we are they!" + + + + +XLI + + +On either side of the village, forming a vast semicircle, stood +innumerable lodges and hogans, temporary structures erected by the +inhabitants of the other villages, who had come to show homage to the +Princess and the White Chief, as the Captain was called. + +While gazing in the direction of the village which was too far distant +for them to distinguish more than an indistinct outline of objects, they +beheld two dark columns of horsemen issue forth from the center of the +great semicircle of lodges and move slowly in their direction. Chiquita +guessed their meaning. As a child she had witnessed the ceremony when +her father, the Whirlwind, was proclaimed Chief of the nation. + +Without pausing, they came trailing across the valley in two separate +columns, thousands of horsemen and women, the men on the right hand, the +women on the left; all riding bareback with simple _riatas_ twisted +around the horse's lower jaw. Save for their sandals and the skins of +the panther and ocelot and jaguar, the Mexican leopard, which they wore +clasped at the left shoulder by a golden, jeweled clasp, and which fell +diagonally down across the body to the right knee, leaving the arms and +shoulders and the greater part of the body bare and the left leg exposed +to the hip, the women were as naked as the men who wore sandals and +loin-skins only. Heavy clasps and bracelets and girdles of gold and +silver, set with pearls and opals, and turquoise and topaz, and emeralds +and sapphires, adorned their arms and waists. + +Among the Tewana there was no distinction in authority between man and +woman. Like the Amazons of old, the women carried long steel-tipped +lances and shields and bows and quivers of arrows slung across their +backs as did the men. The head of each Cacique or Chieftain of a hundred +warriors or Amazons was adorned with a circlet of gold with a clasp of +precious stones on the left side of the head holding a single eagle's +feather that slanted downward across the left shoulder. + +On they came, the half-wild horses prancing and plunging and snorting +and neighing, their manes and the long black hair and braids of the men +and women flying in the breeze; the lance tips and jewels and their +naked, bronze bodies flashing and glistening in the sun; a wonderful, +wild, picturesque, barbaric pageant, a voice from the past; magnificent +specimens of manhood and womanhood; free men, exemplifying the fullness +of life--the life that is worth living. The jewels and precious metals +which they wore represented incredible wealth, but were regarded by them +as objects of beauty only, for these were the Tewana, the people, who +for the sake of freedom, had trampled material wealth under foot; had +held Montezuma in check and resisted the encroachments of the Spaniard +ever since the days of Cortez, knowing themselves to be a superior +people and of more ancient origin. + +A wild, weird chant that rolled and swelled in great undulatory waves of +melody down the long lines of warriors, was borne to them on the breeze. +The whole valley was filled with the song, the hills and mountains, +reverberating and resounding, echoed back the refrain. + +"'Tis the ancient chant of the kings!" explained Chiquita. "Of course we +no longer go to war thus. Nevertheless, it is the ancient rite that must +be performed so long as the Tewana remain a nation." + +Nearer and nearer drew the advancing host, the volume of sound swelling +and increasing, until splashing through the river and sweeping up the +slope to where they stood, the leaders drew rein before them, and +raising their lances on high, a mighty shout burst from the throats of +the warriors, interrupting the song. Again and again the valley and +mountains echoed and reverberated with the prolonged shouts and +acclamations until the chant was taken up once more. + +An eagle with widespread wings soared above them in the blue of heaven +and seemed to accompany them as they swept along between the lines in +the direction of the village; each company of warriors and Amazons, +without interrupting the chant, raising their lances in salute as they +passed. There was no doubt in the minds of the Tewana regarding Captain +Forest's ability to rule as they gazed upon the man and the horse he +rode. He was as tall and deep chested as the Whirlwind, while his +piercing, hawklike gaze and face shone with the strength and +determination of one born to command. The Chestnut tossed his great +white mane in the air and neighed and plunged and curveted between the +lines. + +Truly the White Cloud had read the future well--the White Chief had come +with the Princess. + +On they rode, the song and acclamations of the warriors ringing in their +ears, their gaze now scanning the faces of these wonderful people, now +lifted heavenward to the eagle which floated overhead and continued to +accompany them. Their souls thrilled with the exquisite joy of living +which the scene and the surroundings inspired in them. A scene which men +have dreamed of during moments of spiritual uplift, and have longed to +behold and imitate and become a part of, and escape from the sordidness +and pettiness of mundane existence and live the life of men where life +is life and every breath is freedom; where the desire to live is +dominant and the future holds no terrors, and each new day and sun and +moon and procession of the stars are greeted with the joy that is born +of living and hailed as emblems of the creative force that marks and +animates the passing of the seasons. + +At the end of the lines, on a slight eminence before the village, in +front of a great gathering of aged men and women and children, stood the +tall, erect figure of an ancient warrior and patriarch with long, +snow-white hair that fell over his shoulders. Like the Amazons, he was +clad in a jaguar's skin held in place by a golden girdle and clasps +studded with jewels, and wore sandals on his feet. A circlet of gold +wrought with runic symbols, to the left side of which was attached a +raven's wing, encircled his head, while in his right hand he held a +long willow staff or wand to which were attached seven eagle feathers +that fluttered in the breeze. + +It was the great Sachem, the White Cloud. A hundred winters sat upon his +clear, broad arching brow, and yet the years seemed to rest lightly upon +him. His benign, beaming countenance shone with an almost supernatural +radiance that bespoke the gift of the seer. Without altering his +position, he quietly signed to Chiquita and the Captain to dismount and +approach. Meanwhile the warriors had gathered in a great semicircle in +front of them. For some time the White Cloud continued to gaze at them +in silent scrutiny, his large, dark, piercing eyes roving from +Chiquita's face to the Captain's, in the seeming effort to fathom their +thoughts and the very depths of their souls, as though to reassure +himself of the truth of his prophecy. + +"It is done. You have come at last, my children--the prophecy is +fulfilled!" he began at length. Then, raising the staff which he held in +his right hand and pointing directly upward to where the eagle continued +to soar in great circles, he cried in a deep sonorous voice that all +might hear: "Behold the sacred bird, God's sign and symbol; the sacred +witness to the consecration of His chosen ones! For was it not written +in the ancient runes that, after the coming of the White Child with a +face like the sun, the ancient spirit of Hiawatha, the Red Man's +Messiah, would revisit the world of men once more upon the back of an +eagle to verify the truth of those words uttered by the White Child? + +"Since the dawn of man's birth the centuries have waited for this day! +Henceforth," he continued, addressing the Captain, "you shall be known +unto all men as Soaring Eagle, the Winged Spirit! And you, Flaming Star, +as the Giver of Life!" Then, planting the wand upright in the ground +between them, he bade them take hold of it; Chiquita with the left hand +and the Captain with the right, his hand above hers. + +"By the power and sacred symbolism represented by this staff," he +continued, "I invest you both with the supreme authority. And further, I +call all men to witness that, the hand of Soaring Eagle rests above that +of the Giver of Life, which signifies that his word shall outweigh all +others in the Councils of the People." He ceased speaking and turned to +the Captain as if awaiting his reply. + +A prolonged silence ensued, during which the latter's gaze swept the +vast conclave of horsemen and forest of lances that glittered in the +sunlight and the wild mountains beyond which towered above the valley +and had looked down upon the Tewana in the ancient days when _his_ race +was in the cradle of its infancy. Beside him stood the beauteous woman +who seemed endowed with all the wit and graces the poets of the ages had +attributed to the ideal woman. An inspiring, uplifting spectacle, far +surpassing in its reality the vision of his dreams. + +He had attained the goal. The responsibility had been laid upon him, and +without hesitation he accepted the charge, and spake; his words being +translated by Chiquita, were repeated in turn to the multitude by the +White Cloud. + +"Tewana, we accept the charge which you have imposed in us," he began +quietly. "But understand, we come not to rule you; we come to guide you. +It is time that you should learn to rule yourselves. + +"The days of rulers have passed. Woe unto them that seek to rule, and +woe unto the people that bows its neck to rulers! The message which we +have come to deliver unto you, we deliver likewise unto all men and it +shall go forth unto the uttermost confines of the earth." He paused, +then raising his voice on high once more, he continued: + +"Tewana, do you accept the terms? We come to guide you, not to rule +you!" + +A profound silence followed his speech. No sound was heard save the +sighing of the wind among the warriors' lance tips and shields and their +arrow-filled quivers, and the rustling of the seven eagle feathers +attached to the White Cloud's staff. + +"Tewana," he asked again. "Do you accept the terms?" + +Again all was silence. Then, all of a sudden, a vibrant, ringing note, +audible to all, the scream of the eagle, came floating downward, clear +and bell-like, from out the sky. + +"'Tis the warning voice of the bird; the wisdom of the Ancient Ones!" +cried the White Cloud. "The spirit of the Great Mystery has spoken once +more! + +"We accept--we accept!" And seizing the staff with his right hand, he +raised it and made the sign of the cross above their heads. Then turning +and facing the warriors, he raised the staff on high once more and cried +in a loud voice: + +"Tewana, earth-born Children of the Sun, salute your Chieftains!" A +mighty shout went up from the entire multitude. Ten thousand bow-strings +twanged on the air, and ten thousand arrows flew upward toward the sun. + +Again and again the shouts of acclamation broke from the assembled +multitude and swept over them in great waves of sound until valley and +hills and mountains resounded with the cry, and then the people again +took up the ancient chant of the kings whose refrain, filling the +valley, swelled ever outward and upward to the great sacred bird that +soared high aloft with widespread pinions in the pale azure of heaven. + +"It is done--it is done!" echoed and reechoed the refrain. Few there are +to whom the vision has been given, and fewer still that heed it. + + + THE END + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical corrections are documented in the associated +HTML version. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of When Dreams Come True, by Ritter Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE *** + +***** This file should be named 28593.txt or 28593.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/9/28593/ + +Produced by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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