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diff --git a/old/28593.txt b/old/28593.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cceef9e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/28593.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: 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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