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diff --git a/43187-0.txt b/43187-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32ea4a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/43187-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6661 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43187 *** + +THE HARLEQUIN OPAL + +A ROMANCE + + +BY + +FERGUS HUME + +_Author of "The Island of Fantasy," "Aladdin in London," etc._ + + +VOLUME I + + + Once a realm of Indian glory, + Famed in Aztec song and story, + Fabled by Tradition hoary + As an earthly Paradise; + Now a land of love romances, + Serenades, bolero dances, + Looks of scorn, adoring glances, + Under burning tropic skies. + + +LONDON +W. H. ALLEN & CO., LIMITED +13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. +1893 + +WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND REDHILL. + + + + + PROEM. + + + The stone had its birth in the nurturing earth. + Its home in the heart of the main, + From the coraline caves it was tossed by the waves + On the breast of an aureate plain; + And the spirits who dwell in the nethermost hell + Stored fire in its bosom of white; + The sylphs of the air made it gracious and fair + With the blue of the firmament's height. + + The dull gnomes I ween, gave it glittering sheen. + Till yellow as gold it became: + The nymphs of the sea made the opal to be + A beacon of emerald flame. + + The many tints glow, they come and they go + At bidding of spirits abhorr'd, + When one ray is bright, in the bosom of white, + Its hue tells the fate of its lord. + For yellow hints wealth, and blue meaneth health, + While green forbodes passing of gloom, + But beware of the red, 'tis an omen of dread, + Portending disaster and doom. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected +without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have +been retained as printed. Words printed in italics are noted with +underscores: _italics_. The cover of this ebook was created by the +transcriber and is hereby placed in the public domain. + + + + +INDEX. + + +CHAP. PAGE + + I.--CHUMS 1 + + II.--THE DEVIL STONE 27 + + III.--"THE BOHEMIAN" 54 + + IV.--IN THE TRACK OF COLUMBUS 78 + + V.--DON MIGUEL IS COMMUNICATIVE 100 + + VI.--CHALCHUIH TLATONAC 125 + + VII.--DOLORES 152 + +VIII.--VIVA EL REPUBLICA 177 + + IX.--THE CALL TO ARMS 201 + + X.--PADRE IGNATIUS 221 + + XI.--THE DRAMA OF LITTLE THINGS 238 + + XII.--A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE 262 + + + + +THE HARLEQUIN OPAL. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CHUMS. + + Long years have passed since last we met, + And left their marks of teen and fret; + No longer faces plump and smooth, + Proclaim the halcyon days of youth. + But haggard looks and tresses white + Betray the ardour of the fight; + The same old friends: we meet once more-- + But not the merry boys of yore. + + +"It is a great mistake," said Sir Philip Cassim, looking doubtfully at +the piece of paper lying on his desk; "then we were foolish boys, now +we are--I trust sensible men. Certainly it is a great mistake." + +The piece of paper was yellow with age, a trifle grimy, and so worn +with constant foldings, that it was wonderful the four quarters had not +long since parted company, as had the four friends, each of whom +carried a similar piece in his pocket-book. Often in his wanderings had +Sir Philip pondered over that untidy boyish scribble setting forth the +foolish promise, which he now, half regretfully, characterised as "a +great mistake." + + "Bedford Grammar School, + + "_24th July, 1874._ + + "If we live and are in good health, we promise faithfully to meet + at Philip's house, in Portman Square, London, on the twenty-fourth + day of July, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, at seven + o'clock in the evening. + + "(Signed) + + "PHILIP WINTHORP CASSIM, + JOHN DUVAL, + PETER PAUL GRENCH, + TIMOTHY TERENCE PATRICK FLETCHER." + +"That is quite fifteen years ago," said Cassim, smoothing the frail +paper with tender fingers; "now it is the twenty-fourth day of July in +the year eighty-nine. Six o'clock! I wonder if any of them will turn +up. Jack is an engineer, building railways and bridges in China. Peter, +as a respectable physician, doses invalids in Devonshire. Special +Correspondent Tim, the stormy petrel of war, wires lies to London +newspapers. I--I am a mere idler, given to wanderings among the tombs +of dead civilisations. Peter may come. It means only a short railway +journey to him; but Jack and Tim are probably thousands of miles away. +Still, as I came from the Guinea Coast to meet them, they certainly +ought not to miss the appointment. This is the day, the place, the +hour, and I have prepared the fatted calf, of which they will +partake--if they turn up. Pshaw! I am a fool to think they will come. +They have, no doubt, quite forgotten this boyish freak. Perhaps it is +best so. It is a great mistake to arrange a meeting fifteen years +ahead. Father Time is too fond of strange surprises." + +Rising from his chair, he paced slowly to and fro with folded arms, and +bent head, the droop of this latter being somewhat dejected. The idea +that he was about to meet his old schoolfellows rendered him pensive, +and a trifle regretful. Many years had passed since those halcyon days +of youth, and, oh, the difference between now and then! He could hardly +avoid speculating on their certain mutation. Had the wand of Time +changed those merry lads into staid men? Would Jack still be ambitious +as of yore? Tim's jokes were famous in the old days; but now, +perchance, he found life too serious for jesting. Then Peter's +butterflies! How often they had laughed at his entomological craze. +Now, doubtless, he was more taken up with pills and patients. And +himself,--he had out-lived his youthful enthusiasms, more's the pity. +No wonder he felt pensive at the thought of such changes. Retrospection +is a saddening faculty. + +Cassim grew weary of these pessimistic fancies, and pausing in front of +the fireplace, surveyed himself long and critically in the mirror. It +reflected a dark, handsome face, reddened by the saltness of wind and +wave, boldly cut features, and melancholy eyes. Those eyes of Philip's +were somewhat misleading, as they suggested a poetic nature, steeped in +sentimentalism, whereas he was a remarkably matter-of-fact young man, +inclined to scoff at the romantic tendencies of his fellow-creatures. +By no means expansive or apt to unbosom himself to his friends, this +reticence, in conjunction with his romantic appearance, entirely +deceived the world as to his true character. His Byronism lay in looks, +rather than in actions. + +"Thirty is by no means old," mused Sir Philip, absently stroking his +moustache, "if anything, it errs on the side of youth, yet I look close +on a hundred. Dark people never do wear well. Tim is five years older +than I, Peter past thirty-three, but it's probable they look younger +than I do. As to Jack--well, Jack is an infant of twenty-eight summers, +and I suspect has altered but little. They would hardly recognise me. +Possibly I shall have considerable difficulty in recognising them." + +He resumed his walk and his soliloquy, reverting therein to his first +idea. + +"This meeting is a mistake. Beyond the fact that we were at school +together, we have nothing in common about which to converse. Different +lives, different ideas. We will simply bore one another. Perhaps they +are married. Peter was just the kind of boy who would grow into a +domesticated man. Jack was romantic, and has probably been captured by +a pretty face. Tim! I'm not so sure about Tim. I fancy he is still a +bachelor like myself!" + +It was his own fault that such was the case, as many a maiden would +have gladly married Sir Philip and his Kentish acres. The baronet, +however, with but little predisposition to matrimony, fought shy of the +marriage ring, and preferred his yacht to all the beauties in +Christendom. On rare occasions, he showed himself in Belgravia +drawing-rooms, but in the main loved the masculine seclusion of his +club, and the lurching deck of _The Bohemian_. It may be that some +of his remote ancestors had intermarried with the Romany, and thus +introduced a strain of wandering blood into the family; but certain it +was that Sir Philip Cassim, in place of being a steady-going country +squire, was an irreclaimable Arab in the matter of vagrancy. Cases of +atavism occur in the most respectable families. + +His nomadic instincts lured him into the dark places of the earth, and, +as a rule, he preferred these to the more civilised portions. Humanity +in the rough is more interesting than humanity veneered with culture, +and in seeking such primevalism, Sir Philip explored many of those +barbaric lands which gird our comfortable civilisation. Peru he knew +better than Piccadilly; St. James's Street was unknown territory to him +compared with his knowledge of Japan, and if his yacht was not skirting +the treacherous New Zealand coast, she was certainly battling with the +giant billows off the Horn. + +Hating conventionalism, and the _leges non scriptæ_ of London society, +this vagabond by predilection rarely dwelt in the Portman Square family +mansion. When he did pay a visit to town, he usually camped out--so +to speak, in a club bedroom, and before his friends knew of his +whereabouts, would flit away without warning, and be next heard of at +Pernambuco, or somewhere about Madagascar. On this special occasion, +however, he occupied his town house for the purpose of keeping the +appointment made with his three friends fifteen years before on the +banks of the Ouse. + +On this account, and to avoid the trouble of hiring servants for the +few days of his stay, he brought his stewards up from the yacht. These, +accustomed to such emergencies, owing to Sir Philip's whimsical mode of +life, speedily rendered a few rooms habitable, and prepared the dinner, +which was to celebrate the re-union of the quartette. It seemed strange +that Cassim should take all this trouble to fulfil a boyish promise, +but as he was a man who did not make friends easily, and moreover was +beginning to weary of solitary wanderings, he greatly inclined to a +renewal of these youthful friendships. Besides, he cherished a kindly +memory of his old school-fellows, and looked forward with genuine +pleasure to meeting them again. Yet, as his latter reason savoured of +sentimentalism, he would not admit of its existence even to himself--it +clashed with his convictions that life was not worth living. + +Despite the fact that he was a cosmopolitan, Philip's nature, +impressionable in the extreme, was deeply tinged with the prevailing +pessimism of the day. He professed that facile disbelief in everything +and in everyone, which is so easy to acquire, so difficult to +relinquish. Human nature he mistrusted, friendship he scoffed at, and +was always on his guard against those with whom he came in contact. +Thus living entirely within, and for himself, the real geniality of +his disposition became encrusted with the barnacles of a selfish +philosophy. This _noli me tangere_ creed isolated him from his +fellow-creatures--with the result that while he possessed many +acquaintances he had no real friends. Thus he created his own misery, +he inflicted his own punishment. + +Adopting as his motto the saying of the Oxford fine gentleman, +"Nothing's new! nothing's true, and no matter," Cassim schooled himself +to suppress all outward signs of feeling, and passed through life with +a pretended indifference to the things of this world. Pretended! +because he really felt deeply and suffered acutely, though pride +forbade his showing aught of such mental disturbances to those around +him. Perhaps, in seeing so much of the world, he had early exhausted +all emotion; but he certainly surveyed everything from Dan to Beersheba +with calm indifference. The real man was a genial, kind-hearted +creature; the false, a frigidly cold person who accepted all things +with ostentatious stoicism. + +He was by no means popular with men, as they greatly resented his +reserve and haughty demeanour; but women professed to find him +charming. Probably they, with the subtle instinct of their sex, saw +below the mask of feigned cynicism, and judged him by what he was, not +by what he appeared to be. Certainly he never laid himself out to gain +their good opinion. He rarely troubled to make himself agreeable; he +was not a marrying man (than which there can be no worse crime in a +woman's eyes), and led a solitary, vagrant existence; yet, in spite of +such social disqualifications, women were his best friends, and +defended him loyally from the clumsy sneers of his own sex. Assuredly +he should have married, if only out of gratitude for such championship; +but he preferred a single life, and in the main eschewed female +society. + +Withal he was not inclined to undervalue either his personal appearance +or his mental capacity. No mean classical scholar, he seldom passed a +day without dipping into the charming pages of Horace or Catullus. Of +the two he preferred the Veronese, who with Heine and Poe formed his +favourite trio of poets, from which names it can be seen that Sir +Philip had a taste for the fantastic in literature. He was conversant +with three or four modern languages, and was especially familiar with +the noble tongue of Castille. A man who can read "Don Quixote" in the +original is somewhat of a rarity in England. Those of Philip's +acquaintances who could induce him to talk literature and art formed an +excellent opinion of his abilities. Moreover, he was unique in one +respect. He had circumnavigated the globe, yet had refrained from +writing a book of travel. + +As to his personal appearance, it was as smart and spruce as that of +his yacht. Only those who know how a crack yacht is cherished by her +owner can thoroughly understand this comparison. In spite of his +solitary existence, Philip was always careful of the outward man, and +this attention to his toilet was a notable trait of his character. Yet +he was by no means effeminate, foppish, or finical. To sum up, he was a +well-dressed, well-bred, cultured Englishman--who had all the +qualities--mental, personal, and physical--fitting him to shine with no +mean lustre in society, yet he preferred to live the life of a nautical +hermit--if such a thing be possible. + +Walking constantly to and fro, he glanced every now and then at the +clock, the large hand of which was close on seven. Given that all three +guests were within a measurable distance of the rendezvous, he began to +calculate, from what he knew of their idiosyncrasies, which one of them +would be the first to arrive. + +"I am certain it will be Peter," decided Cassim, after due reflection; +"neat, orderly, punctual Peter, who never missed a lesson, and never +came late to class. Tim is careless! Jack is whimsical! If anyone +arrives, it will be Dr. Peter Paul Grench. And," he added, as the bell +rang, "here he is." + +His prognostication proved to be correct, for in a few minutes the door +of the study opened to admit a precise little gentleman, in whom Philip +had no difficulty in recognising his quondam schoolfellow. It was a +trifle larger Peter--it was Peter in evening dress, twirling a +pince-nez--Peter with mutton-chop whiskers and a bald head; but it was +undeniably Peter Paul Grench, of Bedford Grammar School. + +"'The child,'" quoth Philip, advancing to meet his guest, "'is father +to the man.' It is just on seven, and you, Peter, keep your +fifteen-year-old appointment to the minute. I am delighted to see you." + +"I am sure the feeling is reciprocal," responded Dr. Grench, primly, as +he grasped the baronet's hand; "it is indeed a pleasure to meet an old +schoolfellow after these many years." + +Peter spoke in a Johnsonian manner, but his words were genuine enough +and under the influence of this natural emotion, for the moment he +forgot his primness. After a time, however, habit asserted its +influence over nature, and Grench resumed his buckram civilities, while +Philip, also recovering himself, relapsed into his usual nonchalant +manners. + +"So you kept this appointment, after all," said Cassim, as they settled +themselves for a confidential conversation; "I thought it possible you +might have forgotten about it." + +"By no means," answered Grench, producing a piece of paper similar to +that of Philip's. "I have often looked at this, and always intended, +unless prevented by disease or death, to meet my old schoolfellows as +agreed. Here we are, my dear friend; but Tim and Jack?" + +"May be at the other end of the world, for all I know," responded the +baronet, carelessly. "Special correspondents and engineers are the +Wandering Jews of to-day. Still, as I came from the Guinea coast for +this appointment, they will surely not grudge a lengthy journey for a +similar purpose." + +"Tim is in London," said Peter, unexpectedly. + +"Ah!" remarked Philip, manifesting but little surprise, "you have seen +him, then?" + +"No! Since we parted at Bedford I have seen none of you; but I have +heard of all three." + +"Nothing good of me, I am afraid," said Cassim, with that amiable +belief in his fellow-creatures which made them love him so. + +"Nothing bad, at all events," answered Peter, serenely. "You are +constantly travelling; you are still a bachelor; you open your heart to +no one, and judge the world as though you were not its denizen." + +"Which last remark is stolen from La Rochefoucauld. Yes! Your +description is accurate if not original. However, let us not talk of +Philip Cassim. I am terribly tired of him. What about Jack and Tim?" + +"Of Jack I know nothing, save that he was last heard of in India. Tim, +however, wrote to me the other day saying _he_ intended to keep this +appointment. Concerning his life, he volunteered no information." + +"So like Tim! His private correspondence was always unsatisfactory. I +like his newspaper letters however; the descriptions are so bright and +vivid--plenty of gunpowder and adventure. Certainly Tim makes an +excellent war correspondent. I wonder if he still has that strong +brogue." + +"Surely not. When he came to Bedford, he was fresh from Ireland; but +now that he has been travelling so much, he must have lost his +pronounced Irishisms." + +"I'm not so sure of that," said Philip, with a smile, "Tim is Irish of +the Irish. I believe he loves his brogue. You can't educate the race +nature out of a man. Believe me, my dear Peter, Tim will be as noisy +and as warm-hearted as of yore. I am very fond of Tim." + +"Yet I should think Tim, such as you describe him, would be the last +person to suit a fastidious individual such as yourself." + +"Come now, Peter, I am not quite so hypercritical as all that. Besides, +Tim, with all his noise and brogue, is a thorough gentleman. It is your +veneered person I object to. However, Tim may have changed. Meanwhile +what about yourself?" + +"Like Canning's knife-grinder, I have no story to tell. When I left +Bedford I went to Cambridge--afterwards came to London. Passed my +examinations, walked the hospitals, took my degree, and hearing that a +doctor was wanted down at Barnstaple, I went there. For some years I +practised with more or less success. Then I retired to give----" + +"Retired!" interrupted Philip, in surprise. "Have you made your +fortune?" + +"By no means. Country doctors never make fortunes. No! I inherit five +hundred a year from my father, and as there is no necessity for me to +physic people for a livelihood, I devote myself----" + +"To sticking pins through unoffending butterflies!" + +"Now, how did you guess that?" asked the little doctor, in mild +surprise. + +"Easily enough. You had a butterfly and beetle mania at school. If I +remember rightly, we rolled you in nettles to cure you of entomology. +Boys don't relish scientific urchins. So you are still at it. But five +hundred a year and beetles. Peter, you are not ambitious." + +"No," assented Grench, simply; "I am not at all ambitious. My +entomology gives me great pleasure, or why should I not enjoy myself in +my own way? Ah, Philip, you do not know what true enjoyment is." + +"Certainly not--if it's butterflies." + +"To see one of the Callidryas species for the first time is indeed a +pleasure," said Peter, beaming with scientific rapture. "Then the +Papilios, the Hesperidæ and the red Timitis----" + +"Oh, oh!" yawned Philip, stretching himself, "how dry it sounds." + +"Dry!" echoed Peter, indignantly; "the most fascinating pursuit in the +world." + +Philip looked kindly at the little man who appeared to be so satisfied +with his simple pleasures. + +"Decidedly, Peter, you are a happy person. Come with me on a cruise, +and I will introduce you to the paradise of butterflies. Tropical +America, Peter, where the insects are like flying flowers. Green +butterflies, purple beetles, gilded moths----" + +"Oh!" cried Peter, opening his eyes with delight, "I should like to go +to South America. I would find a peculiar species there, the +Heliconidæ. Why, Philip, if only----" + +"Hark! there's the bell," exclaimed Cassim, rising with alacrity, +rather thankful to escape Peter's lecture. "Is it Jack or Tim?" + +"Tim," said Peter, promptly, "no one else would ring so violently." + +"Where did ye say they were?" cried a hearty Irish voice half way up +the stairs. + +"That settles it," remarked Philip, comically, as he opened the door; +"no two persons can possess such a strong brogue." + +And Tim it was. Tim, large and burly, roaring like a Bull of Bashan, +who hurled himself into the room, and flung himself on Philip's neck. + +"My dear friend! my dear boy!" he thundered, squeezing Cassim in his +athletic embrace, "it's glad I am to see you." + +"Gently, Tim, gently," gasped Philip, helpless in the hug of this bear; +"don't crush me to a jelly." + +"And Peter!" exclaimed Tim, releasing the baronet to pounce on the +doctor, "you fat little man, how splendid you look." + +Warned by the fate of Philip, the doctor skilfully evaded the embrace +of the giant, and Tim was only able to demonstrate his affection by a +handgrip. He threw all his soul into this latter, and Peter's face +wrinkled up like a monkey's with pain. It was like a fly struggling +with an elephant, and Philip, thoroughly roused from his ordinary +placidity, laughed till the tears ran down his cheeks. + +"As soon as you've quite done murdering us, Tim," he said, placing a +chair between himself and his too demonstrative friend, "perhaps you'll +give your hat and coat to the servant." + +Tim, who had rushed upstairs without pause, meekly delivered the +articles in question to the servant, who stood grinning at the door. +Looking on this respectful grin as a liberty, Philip frowned at the +poor man, who thereupon vanished, while Tim, overcome by his late +exertions, fell so heavily into a chair that the room rocked. + +"Phew!" he said, wiping his heated brow, "it's hot. I am, anyhow." + +"That's scarcely to be wondered at," returned Cassim dryly, +"considering the enthusiasm of your greeting." + +"And why not?" retorted Tim, with the broadest of brogues; "am I not +glad to see you both?" + +"Of course; and we are glad to see you," said Peter, examining his +crushed hand; "but you needn't maim us for life." + +Tim roared with laughter in the most unfeeling manner, and Cassim, with +a smile, placed his hand on the giant's shoulder. + +"The same noisy Tim as of old," he said kindly; "you were a large boy, +Tim, and now you are a large man. I wouldn't have recognised you, +though, save for the brogue. It's as strong as ever." + +"That's true, anyhow," acknowledged Fletcher placing his huge paw on +Philip's slender hand as it rested on his shoulder. "Wasn't I but one +term at the school, and that didn't turn it into cockney speaking. +Besides, I've been to Cork since." + +"To freshen up the accent, I suppose," said Grench, with the air of a +man who has made a cutting remark; "but a special correspondent should +know more than one language." + +"Especially if the language is Irish," finished Cassim, mischievously. + +"Get along with you," replied Tim, with a twinkle in his eye; "why, +it's a polyglot I am, French, Italian, Spanish, and a touch of Arabic. +I can tell lies in any one of them. So here you are, lads. Where's +Jack?" + +"Lord knows!" + +"He was in South America when I heard last; but I'll go bail he'll turn +up soon. What is the time?" + +"Half-past seven," rejoined Peter, consulting an eminently respectable +watch of the family physician species. + +Tim took out his piece of paper from a pocket-book commensurate to his +size, and smoothed it carefully with his huge hand. + +"Seven's the hour, and Jack's late. I never knew him early yet." + +"Well, you were not renowned for punctuality at school, Tim!" + +"True for you, Philip, and many's the hearing I've had for that same. +But this is a special occasion, and Jack should be punctual. Confound +him." + +"Oh, he'll be here shortly," said Cassim, shrugging his shoulders. "We +have plenty to talk about until he arrives. How are you, Tim? But I +needn't ask, you look like the giant Goribuster." + +"Six foot five in my stockings," replied Tim, complacently; "and a good +thing it is for me that same. Special corresponding isn't knocking +about the world in a gentleman's yacht, sir." + +"Or collecting butterflies," added Philip, with a sly smile at Peter. + +"Are you at that rubbish still, Peter?" + +"Of course I am," answered Peter, in mild surprise; "in fact, since my +father left me five hundred a year, I've devoted myself entirely to +entomology." + +"And to eating!" said Tim, with a grin. "Why, Peter, you've a paunch +like a priest." + +"Oh, really!" began Peter, scandalised; but his further protestations +were drowned in the laughter of Philip, on hearing which Tim nodded +approvingly. + +"Come now, my dear friend, that's better. You are more like a Christian +than when I last saw you." + +"At Bedford?" inquired Philip, still smiling. + +"No! In London--no less. Didn't I see you at the theatre six months +ago, looking for all the world as if you were attending your own +funeral?" + +"Why didn't you speak to me?" + +"You looked so supercilious and stand-off-the-grass like that I +couldn't bring myself to it at all." + +"You idiot!" said Philip, colouring with vexation. "You know I am +always glad to see you." + +"Is that a Chinese invitation, Philip?" + +"No; I assure you, Tim. Don't think me such a prig. Why, I came all the +way from the Guinea coast just to meet you." + +"It's a fine boy you are," said Tim, stretching out his huge hand; +"it's only joking I am. If you didn't recognise an old friend, it's +thrashing you I'd be, as once I did at school." + +"If I remember rightly, it was you who had the worst of that little +encounter," retorted Philip, gripping Tim's hand strongly. + +"It was a draw," said Peter, suddenly; "I remember the fight quite +well. But we can talk of these things again. I want to know what Tim is +doing." + +"And this is fame," grunted Tim, nodding his head. "Haven't you seen my +letters about the Soudan War to _The Morning Planet_, and my account of +the Transvaal ructions? Am I not a special correspondent, you ignorant +little person?" + +"Oh yes, yes; I know all that," replied Peter, impatiently; "but tell +us about your life." + +"Isn't that my life, sir? When I left school, I went to Ireland and +became a reporter. Then I was taken up by a paper in London, and went +to the Soudan--afterwards to Burmah, where I was nearly drowned in the +Irriwaddy. They know me in Algiers and Morocco. Now I've just returned +from Burmah, where I parted with my dear friend, Pho Sa. He's in glory +now--rest his soul! They hanged him for being a Dacoit, poor devil." + +"You seem to have been all over the world, Tim," said Philip, when the +Irishman stopped for breath, "it's queer I never knocked up against +you." + +"Why, you never stayed one day in one place. That boat of yours is a +kind of Flying Dutchman." + +"Not a bit of it; she has doubled the Cape lots of times. I was just +trying to persuade Peter to take a cruise with me." + +"I am seriously thinking of the advisability of doing so," observed +Peter, judiciously selecting his words. + +"Are you, indeed, Mr. Lindley Murray. Well, if Philip asks me, I'll +come too." + +"Will you really, Tim?" asked Philip, eagerly. + +"Of course I will. There's no war on at present, and I'm not busy. If +those squabbling South American Republics don't come to blows again, +I'll be free for six months, more or less." + +"Then come with me, by all means." + +"I tell you what," observed Peter, who had been thinking; "Jack, if he +turns up at all, will have travelled home from South America. Let us +take him back in Philip's yacht." + +"That's not a bad idea anyhow," from Tim, patting Peter's head, a +familiarity much resented by the family physician. "You've got brains +under this bald spot." + +"I am quite agreeable, provided Jack turns up," said Sir Philip, +yawning; "but it is now eight o'clock, and I'm hungry. It's no use +waiting any longer for Jack, so I vote we have dinner." + +"He'll arrive in the middle of it," said Grench, as Cassim touched the +bell. "Jack was never in time, or Tim either." + +"Don't be taking away my character, you mosquito," cried Tim, +playfully, "or I'll put you on the top of the bookcase there. It's a +mighty little chap you are, Peter!" + +"Well, we can't all be giants!" retorted Peter, resentfully. "I'm tall +enough for what I want to do." + +"Collecting butterflies! You don't know the value of time, sir. Come +along with me to the dining-room." And, in spite of Peter's struggles, +he picked him up like a baby, and carried him as far as the study door. +Indeed, he would have carried him into the dining-room had not the +presence of the servant restrained him. Tim had no idea of the dignity +of the medical profession. + +The servant intimated that dinner was ready, so the three friends sat +down to the meal rather regretting that Jack was not present to +complete the quartette. Just as they finished their soup the servant +announced-- + +"Mr. Duval!" + +Simultaneously the three sprang up from the table, and on looking +towards the door beheld a tall young fellow, arrayed in tweeds, +standing on the threshold. + +"Jack!" they cried, rushing towards him with unbounded delight. "Jack +Duval!" + +"My dear boys," said Jack, his voice shaking with emotion; "my dear old +friends." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE DEVIL STONE. + + Spirits dwelling in the zone + Of the changeful devil stone, + Pray ye say what destiny + Is prepared by Fate for me. + Doth the doubtful future hold + Poverty or mickle gold, + Fortune's smile, or Fortune's frown, + Beggar's staff, or monarch's crown? + Shall I wed, or live alone, + Spirits of the devil stone? + + See the colours come and go, + Thus foreboding joy and woe; + Burns the red, the blue is seen, + Yellow glows and flames the green, + Like a rainbow in the sky, + Mingle tints capriciously, + Till the writhing of the hues, + Sense and brain and eye confuse, + Prophet priest can read alone + Omens of the devil stone. + + +Having finished dinner, they repaired to the library, and there made +themselves comfortable with coffee and tobacco. Emotion at meeting one +another after the lapse of so many years had by no means deprived them +of their appetites, and they all did full justice to the excellent fare +provided by Philip's cook. So busy were they in this respect that +during the meal conversation waxed somewhat desultory, and it was not +until comfortably seated in the library that they found time for a +thoroughly exhaustive confabulation. + +For this purpose the quartette drew their chairs close together, and +proceeded to incense the goddess Nicotina, of whom they were all +devotees save Peter. He said that tobacco was bad for the nerves, +especially when in the guise of cigarettes, which last shaft was aimed +at Philip, who particularly affected those evil little dainties +abhorred by Dr. Grench. Jack and Tim, to mark their contempt for +Peter's counter-blast, produced well-coloured meerschaum pipes, which +had circumnavigated the globe in their pockets. Whereat Peter, +despairing of making proselytes, held his tongue and busied himself +with his coffee--very weak coffee, with plenty of milk and no sugar. + +"What an old woman you have become, Peter," said Cassim, watching all +this caution with languid interest. "You have positively no redeeming +vices. But you won't live any the longer for such self-denial. Tim, +there, with his strong coffee and stronger tobacco, will live to bury +you." + +"Tim suffers from liver!" observed Peter, serenely making a side +attack. + +"What!" roared Tim, indignantly, "is it me you mean? Why, I never had a +touch of liver in my life." + +"You'll have it shortly, then," retorted Peter, with a pitying smile. +"I'm a doctor, you know, Peter, and I can see at a glance that you are +a mass of disease." + +All this time Jack had spoken very little. He alone of the party was +not seated, but leaned against the mantelpiece, pipe in mouth, with a +far-away look in his eyes. While Tim and Peter wrangled over the +ailments of the former, Philip, lying back luxuriously in his chair, +surveyed his old schoolfellow thoughtfully through a veil of smoke. He +saw a greater change in Jack than in the other two. + +In truth, Duval was well worth looking at, for, without being the ideal +Greek god of romance, he was undeniably a handsome young man. Tim had +the advantage of him in height and size, but Jack's lean frame and iron +muscles would carry him successfully through greater hardships than +could the Irishman's uncultivated strength. Jack could last for days in +the saddle; he could sustain existence on the smallest quantity of food +compatible with actual life; he could endure all disagreeables +incidental to a pioneer existence with philosophical resignation, and +altogether presented an excellent type of the Anglo-Saxon race in its +colonising capacity. Certainly the special correspondent had, in the +interests of his profession, undergone considerable hardships with fair +success; but Tim was too fond of pampering his body when among the +fleshpots of Egypt, whereas Jack, constantly in the van of civilisation +subjugating wildernesses, had no time to relapse into luxurious living. +The spirit was willing enough, but the flesh had no chance of +indulging. + +His face, bronzed by tropic suns, his curly yellow locks, his jauntily +curled moustache, and a certain reckless gleam in his blue eyes, made +him look like one of those dare-devil, Elizabethan seamen who thrashed +the Dons on the Spanish Main. Man of action as he was, fertile in +expedients, and constantly on the alert for possible dangers, Jack +Duval was eminently fitted for the profession which he had chosen, and +could only endure existence in the desert places of the world. This +huge London, with its sombre skies, its hurrying crowds, its etiquette +of civilisation, was by no means to his taste, and already he was +looking forward with relief to the time when he would once more be on +his way to the vivid, careless, dangerous life of the frontier. + +Philip admired his friend's masculine thoroughness, and could not help +comparing himself disadvantageously with the young engineer. Yet Cassim +was no weakling of the boudoir; he also had sailed stormy seas, had +dared the unknown where Nature fights doggedly with man for the +preservation of her virgin solitudes. Still, withal, Jack was a finer +man than he was. What were his luxurious travels, his antarctic +explorations, in comparison with the actual hardships undergone by this +dauntless pioneer of civilisation? Jack was one who did some good in +the world; but as for himself--well, Philip did not care about pursuing +the idea to its bitter end, as the sequence could hardly prove +satisfactory to his self-love. He irritably threw away his cigarette, +moved restlessly in his chair, and finally expressed himself in words. + +"Why do you come here, Jack, and make us feel like wastrels? A few +hours ago and I rather prided myself on myself; but now you make me +feel idle, and lazy, and selfish, and effeminate. It's too bad of you, +Jack." + +Brains were not Duval's strong point, and, unable to understand the +meaning of this outburst, he simply stared in vague astonishment at Sir +Philip. Tim and the doctor, pausing in their conversation, pricked up +their ears, while Cassim, paying no attention to this sudden +enlargement of his audience, went on speaking, half peevishly, half +good-humouredly. + +"I am the enervated type of an effete civilisation. You, my friend, are +the lusty young savage to whom the shaping of the future is given. You +are Walt Whitman's tan-faced man, the incarnation of the dominating +Anglo-Saxon race, ever pushing forward into fresh worlds. As compared +with mine, your primæval life is absolutely perfect. The Sybarite +quails before the clear glance of the child of Nature. Take me with you +into the wilderness, John Duval. Teach me how to emulate the Last of +the Mohicans. Make me as resourceful as Robinson Crusoe. I am a +prematurely old man, Jack, and I wish to be a child once more." + +"What the deuce are you driving at, Philip?" asked practical Jack. + +"It's from a book he's writing," suggested Tim, with a laugh. + +"Melancholia," hinted Peter, who was nothing if not medicinal. + +Philip laughed and lighted a fresh cigarette. Duval ran his hand +through his curly locks, pulled hard at his pipe, and delivered himself +bluntly. + +"I suppose all that balderdash means that you are tired of London." + +"Very much so." + +"Why, you never stay two days in London," said Peter, in astonishment. + +"Neither do I. Don't I tell you I'm tired of it? Be quiet, Peter; I can +see that Jack is on the verge of being delivered of a great idea." + +"Upon my word, that's cute of you, Philip," exclaimed Jack, admiringly. +"Yes, I have a scheme to propound, for the carrying out which I need +your assistance--in fact, the assistance of all three." + +"This promises to be an interesting conversation," said Cassim, in an +animated tone. "Proceed, John Duval, Engineer. What is it you wish us +to do?" + +"I had better begin at the beginning, gentlemen all." + +"That's generally considered the best way," observed Peter, with mild +sarcasm. + +"Be quiet! you small pill-box. Let Jack speak." + +"As I told you at dinner," said Jack, placing his elbows backward on +the mantelshelf, "I have been all over the world since I last saw your +three faces. China, Peru, New Zealand, India, Turkey--I know all those +places, and many others. I have made money; I have lost money; I have +had ups and downs; but everywhere I can safely say I've had a good +time." + +"Same here," murmured Tim, refilling his pipe. + +"At present I am in Central America," pursued Jack, taking no notice of +the interpolation, "under engagement as a railway engineer to the +Republic of Cholacaca." + +"Cholacaca?" echoed Tim, loudly; "isn't it there the row's to take +place?" + +"Why, what do you know about it, Tim?" + +"A special correspondent knows a lot of things," returned Fletcher, +sagely. "Go on with the music, my boy. I'll tell you something when +you've ended." + +Jack looked hard at Tim and hesitated, but Philip, curled up +luxuriously in his big chair, asked him to proceed. + +"You're going to tell an Arabian Night story, Jack." + +"Well, it sounds like one." + +"Good! I love romance. It's something about buried cities, and Aztecs, +and treasure, and the god Huitzilopochtli." + +"Oh, bosh! You've been reading Prescott." + +"It seems to me," observed Peter, plaintively, "that with all these +interruptions we'll never hear the story." + +"The first that speaks will be crushed," announced Tim, glaring around. +"If you please, Mr. Duval, it's waiting we are." + +Jack laughed, and resumed his story. + +"While I was at Tlatonac--that is the capital of the Republic--I became +mixed up in certain events, political and otherwise. I found I could do +nothing I wanted to without assistance; so, as I suddenly remembered +our promise to meet here this year, I came straight to London. In fact, +I was in such a hurry to find out if you three had remembered the +appointment, that I left my luggage at the railway station, and came on +by a hansom to Portman Square. This is the reason I am not in evening +dress." + +"Oh, deuce take your evening dress," said Philip, irritably; "you might +have come in a bathing-towel, for all I cared. I didn't want to see +your clothes. I wanted to see you. Go on with the story of the buried +city." + +"How do you know my story is about a buried city?" + +"I never heard a romance of Central America that wasn't." + +"You'll hear one now, then. This isn't about a city--it's concerning a +stone." + +"A stone?" echoed his three listeners. + +"Yes. An opal. A harlequin opal." + +"And what is a harlequin opal, Jack?" + +"Tim, I'm astonished at your ignorance. A special correspondent should +know all things. A harlequin opal is one containing all the colours of +the rainbow, and a few extra ones besides." + +"Well, Jack, and this special opal?" + +"It's one of the most magnificent jewels in the world." + +"Have you seen it?" + +Jack drew a long breath. + +"Yes; once. Great Scott, what a gem! You fellows can't conceive its +beauty. It is as large as a guinea-hen's egg. Milky white, and shooting +rays of blue and green, and red and yellow like fireworks. It belonged +to Montezuma." + +"I thought those everlasting Aztecs would come in," said Philip +smiling. "Well, Jack, and what about this stone?" + +"Ah, that's a long story." + +"What of that? The night's young, and the liquor's plentiful." + +"I don't mind sitting up all night, if the story is interesting. Start +at once Jack, and don't keep us any longer in suspense. I hate +wire-drawn agonies." + +"A year ago I was pottering about at Zacatecas, over a wretched little +railway that wasn't worth bothering about. Being hard up, I went in for +it in default of something better; but meanwhile kept my eyes open to +see what I could drop into. After some months, I heard that the +Republic of Cholacaca was about to open up the country with railways, +so I thought I'd go there to get a job." + +"Where is Cholacaca?" + +"Down Yucatan way--not far from Guatemala." + +"Oh, I know; looks on to Campeche Bay." + +"No; on the other side of the neck. Washed by the Carribean Sea." + +"I must get you to show it to me on the map," said Philip, finding his +geographical knowledge at fault. "I have an idea of its whereabouts, +but not of its precise locality. Meanwhile let us continue your +adventures." + +"When I heard of this prospect at Tlatonac," continued Jack, without +further preamble, "I left Zacatecas for Mexico, stayed a few days in +the capital, to make inquiries about the Republic. These proving +satisfactory, I went on to Vera Cruz, and, fortunately, found a +coasting-vessel which took me on to Cholacaca. Considering the ship, I +got to my destination pretty sharp. I didn't know a soul in the town +when I arrived; but, after a few days, began to pick up a few +acquaintances. Among these was Don Miguel Maraquando, a wealthy old +Estanciero. He has great influence in Cholacaca, being a member of the +Junta, and is regarded by many people as the future president of the +Republic." + +"That is if Don Hypolito stands out," said Tim, softly. + +"Have you heard----" began Jack, when the journalist cut him short. + +"I've heard many things, my boy. Later on I'll tell you all I know." + +"You seem to be pretty well acquainted with what's going on in +Cholacaca," said Jack, after a few moments' reflection; "but I'll tell +my story first, and you can tell yours afterwards. Don Miguel became a +great friend of mine, and I saw a good deal of him while I stayed at +Tlatonac. He is greatly in favour of this railway, which is to be made +from the capital to Acauhtzin, a distance of some three hundred and +fifty miles. Don Hypolito Xuarez, the leader of the Oposidores, +objected to the scheme on the ground that it was utterly unnecessary to +run a railway to Acauhtzin when ships could take goods there by water." + +"And isn't the man right?" said Tim, indignantly; "what's the use of +running a railway along the seacoast?" + +"We'll argue that question later on," replied Jack, dryly; "I have my +own ideas on the subject, and, as an engineer, I know what I'm talking +about. Don Hypolito's objection sounds all right, I have no doubt; but +if you look into the matter you will see he hasn't a leg to stand on. +Besides, he's only objecting to the railway out of sheer cussedness, +because Maraquando won't let him marry Doña Dolores." + +"Ah, ah!" observed Philip, who had been listening to the story with +great attention, "I was waiting for the inevitable woman to appear on +the scene. And who is Doña Dolores?" + +"She is Maraquando's ward," replied Jack, colouring a little. + +"With whom you are in love?" + +"I didn't say that Philip." + +"No; but you looked it." + +Peter chuckled, whereat Duval turned on him crossly. + +"I wish you would stop making such a row, Peter; I can't hear myself +speak." + +"Well, what about Doña Dolores?" persisted Philip, maliciously. + +"Doña Dolores," repeated Jack, calmly, "is the woman whom I hope to +make my wife." + +At this startling announcement there was a dead silence. + +"I congratulate you, Jack," said Cassim, gravely, after a momentary +pause. "I hope you will ask us all to your wedding. But what has this +story of politics, railways, and love to do with the harlequin opal?" + +"Everything. Listen. Don Hypolito is an ambitious man who wants to +become Dictator of Cholacaca, and rule that Republic as Dr. Francia did +Paraguay. Now, the easiest way in which he can obtain his desire is by +marrying Dolores." + +"What! Is she the heiress of the Republic?" + +"No; but she is the lawful owner of the Chalchuih Tlatonac." + +"What, in heaven's name, is that?" + +"It means 'the shining precious stone,' in the Toltec tongue." + +"The deuce!" murmured Philip, in an amused tone; "we have got past the +Aztecs." + +"I suppose this shining precious stone is the harlequin opal?" said +Peter, inquiringly. + +"Precisely. This celebrated stone is hundreds of years old. Tradition +says it was the property of Quetzalcoatl." + +"That's the Mexican god of the air," said Philip who knew all sorts of +stray facts. + +"Yes. You've read that in Prescott." + +"No, I didn't. Bancroft is my authority. But how did it come into the +possession of your Doña Dolores?" + +"Oh, she is a direct descendant of Montezuma." + +"An Aztec princess. Jack, you are making a royal match." + +"I'm afraid there is very little royalty about Dolores," replied Jack, +laughing; "but, as regards this stone. Quetzalcoatl gave it to +Huitzilopochtli." + +"Lord! what names." + +"When Cortez conquered Mexico, he found the stone adorning the statue +of the war god in his famous teocalli in the city of the Aztecs. One of +the Spanish adventurers stole it, and afterwards married a daughter of +Montezuma. When she found out that he had the opal, she stole it from +him, and went off down south, where she delivered it to some native +priest in one of those Central American forests." + +"Where it remains still?" + +"By no means. This woman had a son by the Spaniard, a Mestizo, as they +call this mixture of Indian and Spanish blood. He, I believe, claimed +the stone as his property whereon the high priest of Huitzilopochtli +proposed to sacrifice him. Not being a religious man, he disliked the +idea, and ran away, taking the stone with him. He reached the coast, +and married a native woman. There they set up a temple on their own +account to the god of war, and round it, as time went on, grew a +settlement, which was called after the opal 'Chalchuih Tlatonac.' Then +the Spaniards came and conquered the town, which they rechristened +Puebla de Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion; but the name didn't catch +on, and it is now known by its old Indian name of Tlatonac. Of course +there are a good many Spaniards there still; descendants of the +Conquistadores; but the majority of the population are Indians." + +"And what became of the opal?" + +"Well, as the Spaniards tried to get hold of it, the Indians took it +inland to one of their forest retreats. The descendants of Montezuma, +however, are still supposed to be its guardians, and, when one owner +dies, the opal is brought secretly to Tlatonac, and shown to the new +possessor; then it is taken back to its forest sanctuary." + +"Where did you see it?" asked Philip, curiously. + +"That's the whole point of the story," answered Jack, thoughtfully. +"The son of Montezuma's daughter married a native woman, as I told you; +their son, however, married a Spanish lady, and so the race was +continued. Off and on, they married Indian and Spaniard. This mixing of +race isn't good, from a philoprogenitive point of view, and Dolores is +the last descendant of the original owner of the opal. Therefore, she +is its guardian, and that is the reason Don Hypolito wants to marry +her." + +"He wishes to obtain the stone as a wedding dowry?" + +"Yes. This Chalchuih Tlatonac is an object of superstitious veneration +to the Indians. They are supposed to be converted; but they all more or +less cling to their old beliefs. In one of these mysterious forests +stands a temple to Huitzilopochtli, and there a good many of them go in +secret to consult the opal. How they consult it I don't know, unless by +its changing colours. Now, if Hypolito marries Dolores, through her he +might seize the stone. If he becomes its possessor, he could do what he +pleased with the Indian population. As they greatly outnumber the +Spanish element, he would use them to raise himself to the Dictatorship +of Cholacaca." + +"Then he doesn't love the girl?" + +"Not a bit," replied Jack, viciously; "all he wants is to marry her, +and thus gain possession of the devil stone. Besides, apart from the +use it would be to him, from a superstitious point of view, he would +like to obtain the stone for its own sake. It is a magnificent gem." + +"Has he seen it also?" + +"Yes; at the same time as I did. Dolores' father died, and she became +the ward of her uncle Don Miguel. I was a good deal about the house, +and naturally enough fell in love with her." + +"Jack! Jack!" + +"You'll fall in love with her, yourself, Philip, when you see her; +she's an angel." + +"Of course. You say that because you are in love with her. Does she +return your love?" + +"Yes; she is as fond of me as I am of her." + +"And what does Don Miguel, the proud hidalgo, say?" + +"He says nothing, because he knows nothing," said Jack, promptly; "we +haven't told him yet. However, when Dolores and myself found out we +loved one another, she told me all about this Chalchuih Tlatonac, and +how she expected it was to be shown to her, according to custom. A few +nights afterwards the priest arrived secretly, and showed her the +stone. While she was holding it up, I entered the room suddenly with +Don Hypolito. We saw the opal flashing like a rainbow in her hand. By +Heaven, boys, I never saw such splendour in my life. We only had a +glimpse of it, for as soon as the old priest saw us he snatched it out +of her hand and bolted. I followed, but lost him, so the opal went back +to the forest temple; and Lord only knows where that is." + +"Doesn't Doña Dolores know?" + +"No; nobody knows except the priests. They meet the worshippers on the +verge of the forest and blindfold them before leading them to the +shrine." + +"And how did Don Hypolito find out Dolores was the guardian of the +opal?" asked Peter, after a pause. + +"Oh, the story is common property. But the opal isn't of much value to +Dolores. She is called its guardian, but has nothing to do with it. Now +I suppose she'll never see it again." + +"It's a queer story anyhow," observed Tim, reflectively; "I would like +to see that jewel." + +"That's what I've come to see you all about," said Jack, excitedly. "I +want you all to come with me to Cholacaca, and help me to marry +Dolores, and get the devil stone." + +The three remained silent, and a shade of disappointment passed over +Duval's face. + +"Of course, if you fellows don't care, I----" + +"Wait a moment, Jack," interrupted Philip, slowly. "Don't jump to +conclusions. You want us to go to Central America?" + +"Yes." + +"And upset Don Hypolito's little plans?" + +"Exactly." + +"Speaking for myself," said Philip, quietly, "there is nothing I should +like better. I am with you, Jack. But Peter----" + +"Oh, I'll come too," said the doctor, serenely, "if it's only to +collect butterflies. While I'm on the spot, I may as well help. There's +sure to be fighting, and I can attend to the wounded. You can depend +upon me, Jack; I'll be your family physician, and physic the lot of +you." + +"Bravo!" cried Jack, his face lighting up as he grasped a hand of each. +"And what do you say, Tim?" + +"Your story is queer," remarked Tim, solemnly; "but mine is queerer. +I'll go with the greatest of pleasure, Jack; but it so happens I'm +going out to the same place for _The Morning Planet_." + +"What?" + +"It's a coincidence, anyhow, Jack. I told you I knew about Don +Hypolito." + +"You did." + +"Have you seen the evening papers?" + +"No; I was too excited at the idea of meeting you fellows to bother +about reading." + +"You are an ignorant person. While you've been fast in coming here, the +telegraph's been faster. From all accounts, there's going to be a +shindy in Cholacaca." + +"Dolores!" gasped Jack, turning pale. + +"Oh, you needn't be distressful," said Fletcher, hastily; "there's +nothing much up as yet. I saw the telegram myself this morning. Don +Hypolito has left Tlatonac, and gone to that other town--what d'ye call +it? 'Tis on the tip of my tongue." + +"Acauhtzin." + +"Yes, that's the name. 'Tis said he's trying to stir up a row; but +there's no news of any consequence, at all!" + +"You've been ordered to the front, then, Tim?" said Philip, quickly. + +"You've hit it, my boy! I was in the office this morning, and the +editor called me in. 'D'ye want a trip?' says he. 'I don't mind,' says +I. 'There's going to be trouble again in South America,' says he. +'What!' says I, 'are the Peruvians at it again?' 'No,' says he, 'it's +Cholacaca.' 'And where's that?' says I. 'It's more nor I know,' says +he. 'Find out on the map, and hold yourself in readiness to go.' So I +left him at once, and looked up the map; found out all I could about +the place, and at any minute I'm expecting to be sent off." + +"Jove! how curious," said Jack, reflectively. "I didn't expect Don +Hypolito to cause trouble quite so soon; but I saw things were shaping +that way. It's strange, Tim, that you should be going to the very place +I wish you to go to. But Philip and Peter won't like to come now." + +"It doesn't make the slightest difference to me," said Philip, coolly. +"In fact, like Xeres, I'm longing for a new pleasure. I've never been +in a war, and should like the novelty of the thing. As to Peter! he's +coming to resume his profession on the battle-field." + +"But what about my butterflies?" remonstrated Peter, who did not +exactly relish the idea of being put in the forefront of the battle. He +objected to the role of Uriah. + +"Oh, you can do all that sort of thing between times. The main thing is +to get the better of Don Hypolito, and help Jack." + +"Very well, Philip," said the little man meekly. "I'll come." + +"But your practice," hesitated Jack, not liking to be selfish. + +"Why, the poor little man hasn't got one," laughed Tim, digging Peter +in the ribs. "Hasn't he killed his patients long ago, and is now +starving on five hundred a year, poor soul." + +"It's very kind of you all!" said Duval, looking at his three friends. +"But I feel that I'm leading you into trouble." + +"Not me," declared Tim, stoutly, "'tis the _Morning Planet's_ to blame, +if I peg out." + +"And I want some excitement," said Philip, gaily; "and Peter wants +butterflies; don't you, doctor? We're all free agents in the matter, +Jack, and will go with pleasure." + +"How strange," said Peter, pensively; "we little thought at Bedford +that----" + +"Peter, don't be sentimental," interrupted the baronet, jumping up. "We +little thought our meeting would bring us good luck, if that is what +you mean. I'm delighted at this new conquest of Mexico." + +"We must start at once, Philip." + +"My dear Jack, we shall start the day after to-morrow, in my yacht. +She's lying down at Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, and is ready to get +steam up at a minute's notice." + +"Is she a fast boat?" + +"Fast!" echoed Philip, indignant at the imputation; "she's the fastest +steam-yacht afloat. Wait till she clears the Channel, then you'll see +what a clean pair of heels she can show." + +"The quicker the better. I don't want to arrive at Tlatonac and find +Dolores missing." + +"You won't find a hair of her head touched. You shall marry her, Jack, +and inherit the harlequin opal, and go and be priest to +Huitzilopochtli, if you like. Now have a glass of wine." + +Tim, who was always handy when liquor was about, had already filled the +glasses and solemnly handed them to his friends. + +"To the health," said Tim, standing up huge and burly, "of the future +Mrs. Duval." + +The toast was drunk with acclamation. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"THE BOHEMIAN." + + Come, lads, and send the capstan round, + Oh, Rio! Rio! + Our good old barkey's outward bound, + Oh, Rio! Rio! + So, shipmates, all look sharp and spry, + To Poll and Nancy say good-bye, + And tell them, if they pipe their eye, + We're bound for Rio Grande. + + The old man drank his grog and swore, + Oh, Rio! Rio! + He'd stay no longer slack ashore, + Oh, Rio! Rio! + "Come, tumble up, my lads," sez he, + "An' weigh the anchor speedily, + In twenty days the Cross we'll see, + We're bound for Rio Grande." + + +"What do you think of her?" asked Philip, with justifiable pride. + +"She's as near perfection as can be," replied Jack, enthusiastically; +"no two opinions about that, old fellow." + +_The Bohemian_ was a superbly modelled craft, and well deserved their +admiration as she lay in Yarmouth Harbour, Isle of Wight. Schooner +rigged fore and aft, she was close on two hundred tons yacht +measurement, and one of the smartest vessels of her kind in British +waters. Putting aside her speed when the screw was spinning, she was +renowned for her sailing capabilities. With all sails set, and a fair +wind, she could smoke through the water at the rate of fifteen knots an +hour. Thanks to her owner's wandering proclivities, she was well known +in every civilised port, and a good many savage anchorages had also +seen her graceful form glide into their smooth waters. + +Some said that her engines were too powerful for her frame; and, +indeed, when all her furnaces were going, the boat quivered from stem +to stern at every rise and fall of the cranks. Philip, however, rarely +used the full power of her screw, as it was quite unnecessary; but when +she did fire up to the extent of her furnace accommodation, her speed +was something wonderful. Sometimes the baronet used the screw, more +often the sails; and, with her white wings spread like summer clouds, +_The Bohemian_, leaning to leeward rode the surges like a Venus of +the foam. Taper masts, splendid spars, cotton-white cloths, she looked +a thing of beauty as she swirled through the sea in a smother of foam. +She was the pride of Philip's heart, and whether becalmed in the +doldrums or seething through troubled waters in the heel of the trade, +was well worthy of her owner's admiration. + +Jack was scarcely less enthusiastic. He knew more of the land than of +the sea, and this was the first time he had ever had the opportunity of +inspecting a crack yacht. It was impossible not to admire her +milk-white decks, her well-polished brasses, and the general spruceness +of her whole appearance. Philip attended thoroughly well to her wants, +and despite her frequent voyagings in stormy seas, she always looked as +though she had just left dry dock. When the screw thrashed the water +into silver froth, and the black smoke poured from the wide funnel, +_The Bohemian_ knew what was expected of her, and put her heart into +her work. In such a craft it was impossible that a voyage could be +otherwise than pleasant, and Jack looked forward to having a thoroughly +jolly run to Yucatan with his old schoolfellows. + +As has before been stated, they were at Yarmouth. Not that +land-and-water Norfolk puddle, but the quaint little seaport in the +Isle of Wight. It was famous enough in the old days, and in the reign +of our second Charles, the governor of the island made it his +head-quarters. Now his old residence is turned into an hotel, and in +comparison with Cowes and Ryde, this once populous town is a mere +village. With its narrow streets, and antique houses, and indolent +townsfolk, it has an old-world air, and is still affected by some +yachtsmen at the time when the Solent is full of graceful boats. Philip +was very fond of this out-of-the-way seaport, and generally left _The +Bohemian_ in its harbour when he wished to run up to town. + +After that famous dinner, the four friends separated in order to +prepare for the voyage. As they had only one clear day in which to do +all things, there was little time to be lost. Peter started for +Barnstaple by the early train, in order to arrange his affairs, and, to +save time, Philip agreed to pick him up at Plymouth. The special +correspondent went straight to his chief, and told him of his desire to +start for Cholacaca at once; so, as it seemed pretty certain that the +difference between Don Hypolito and the Government would culminate in a +civil war, Tim duly received his orders. Now he was flying round town +collecting needful articles for his campaign, and was expected down by +the early train. + +On his part, Jack had absolutely nothing to do in London. He already +possessed all necessaries, and had neither the money nor the +inclination to buy things he did not want. Indeed, leaving the bulk of +his belongings in Tlatonac, he had arrived in England with but a single +portmanteau, which had been left at the station. Philip carried the +homeless wanderer to his club, and put him up for the night, and next +day they took themselves and the solitary portmanteau down to Yarmouth, +where they soon made themselves comfortable on board the yacht. All +things being thus arranged, they only waited Tim's arrival to leave for +Plymouth, from whence, after taking Peter on board, _The Bohemian_ +could bear away westward in the track of Columbus. + +With all his indolence Philip was no dilettante yachtsman, to leave +everything to his sailing master, and thoroughly believed in looking +after things himself. After displaying the beauties of his boat to +Jack, he busied himself with seeing about stores, and making sure that +all was in order for the voyage. While the baronet was thus engaged, +Jack wandered over the yacht in a musing sort of fashion, thinking not +so much of the scene around him as of Dolores and of the possible +events now happening at Tlatonac. + +He had good reason to mistrust Don Hypolito knowing as he did how +treacherous and cruel was the nature of that would-be dictator. Half +Indian, half Spanish, this Mestizo possessed the worst traits of both +races, and, once his passions were aroused, would stop at nothing to +accomplish his desire. It was true that it was principally on account +of the opal that he desired to marry Doña Dolores; but he was also in +love with her beauty, and adored her in a sensual, brutish fashion, +which made Jack grind his teeth and clench his hands at the very +thought. Yet he was undeniably a clever man, and skilled in diplomatic +intrigue; therefore it might be that his revolt against the established +Government of Cholacaca would end in his assuming the dictatorship. In +such an event, he would certainly force Dolores to become his wife; and +against his power the Englishman would be able to do nothing. Still, as +he had now the aid of his three friends, Duval hoped, if it came to the +worst, to escape with Dolores and the opal in Philip's yacht. Once on +the open sea, and they could laugh at Xuarez and his threats. The +engines of _The Bohemian_ were not meant for show. + +What Jack feared was that Don Hypolito might have resorted to strong +measures, and carried off Dolores with him to Acauhtzin. Hitherto there +had been no suspicion that he intended to revolt; so, lulled by a sense +of false security, Dolores might have permitted herself to be +kidnapped, in which case Jack hardly knew what to do. Still, it might +be that nothing had happened save the withdrawal of Xuarez to +Acauhtzin, and Duval fervently hoped that he and his friends might +arrive at Tlatonac before the out-break of hostilities. Provided he +started fair with Xuarez in the game, Jack hoped to come off +winner--Dolores, the opal, and the Republic, being the stakes. + +"If we start to-morrow, it will not be long before we reach Chalacaca," +thought Jack, as he leaned over the taffrail looking absently at the +dull-hued water. "Once there, and I will be able to protect Dolores. If +the worst comes, there is always Philip's yacht, and as to marriage, I +am sure Maraquando would rather see his niece married to me than to +that Xuarez half-bred." + +"In a brown study, Jack?" said Cassim's voice, behind him. "I won't +give a penny for your thoughts, for they are worth more." + +"How do you know that?" + +"Because you are thinking of Doña Dolores." + +"It's a true bill," replied Jack, with an ingenuous blush. "I was +hoping she had not been carried off to Acauhtzin by that scoundrel +Xuarez." + +"Oh, your friend Don Hypolito! Not a bit of it. If all you say is +correct, he is in too serious a position, at present, to hamper himself +with a woman. Don't worry, fond lover. _The Bohemian_ will take us +to Central America in less than no time, and if there's going to be a +row, we'll be there to see its genesis." + +"I hope and trust so," said Duval, gloomily; "but I'm not so hopeful as +you are." + +"I hopeful! My dear lad, I'm the most pessimistic person in existence; +but at this moment I look at things from a common-sense point of view. +If Xuarez intends business, he has withdrawn to Acauhtzin to make his +plans. To do so, he requires time. If he had kidnapped Doña Dolores, +things would be brought to a head before his plans were ripe. Therefore +he has not kidnapped her. Q.E.D. So come ashore, and don't talk +nonsense." + +"Have you finished your business?" asked Jack, following Sir Philip +into his boat. + +"Yes, everything is right. As soon as Tim arrives, we shall start for +Plymouth, to pick up Peter. I wish Tim would come down to-night; but I +suppose even a special correspondent must have time to collect his +traps." + +"What is your reason for going ashore?" + +"In the first place, I wish to send a wire to my lawyer, as to my +destination; and, in the second, I desire to stretch my legs. Let us +have as much dry land as we can get. It will be nothing but sea for the +next week or so." + +"Have you been long ashore, this time?" asked Duval, as they went up to +the telegraph-office. + +"Only five or six days. I came from the Guinea coast, I tell you, to +keep this appointment. I didn't then know it would result in a Central +American expedition." + +"I hope you are not regretting your determination?" + +"My dear Jack, I am delighted. I have not yet seen a war, so it will be +something new. Now then, Messrs. Bradshaw and Co.," he added, poising +his pen over the telegraph form, "I had better tell you where I am to +be found. How do you spell Tlatonac, Jack?" + +"T-l-a-t-o-n-a-c," spelt Jack, slowly; "but why don't you write your +lawyer a letter, instead of sending an unsatisfactory telegram." + +"I have nothing to write about," replied Philip, signing his name with +a flourish; "all they need know is where I am in case of my possible +death, so as to make things right for the next-of-kin. They have no +letters to forward. I always carry plenty of money, so I never bother +my head about them, beyond giving my bare address." + +"Don't they object to such unbusiness-like habits?" + +"They did at first, but finding objections of no use, have quite given +up such preachings. Don't trouble any more about them, but let us take +a walk. 'You take a walk, but you drink tea,' saith Samuel Johnson." + +"I don't see the connection," said Jack, soberly. + +"Neither do I; but what matters. 'Dulce est desipere in loco.' There is +a bit of dictionary Latin for your delectation." + +"Peter said you were a misanthrope, Philip; but I don't think so +myself." + +"Peter is a ---- collector of butterflies," retorted Philip, gaily. "I +_was_ a misanthrope; man delighted me not, nor woman neither; but now I +have met the friends of my youth, I feel much better. The friends we +make in life are never as dear as those we make at school. Since +leaving Bedford I have made none. I have lived for my yacht and in my +yacht. Now that I have you, and Tim, and Peter, I feel that I am +rapidly losing the character for Timonism. Like Mr. Bunthorne, I am a +reformed character." + +"Who is Mr. Bunthorne? a friend of yours?" + +"Jack, Jack! you are a sad barbarian. It is a character in one of +Gilbert and Sullivan's operas. But you have lived so long among savages +that you don't know him; in fact, I don't believe you know who Gilbert +and Sullivan are." + +"Oh yes, I do. I'm not so ignorant as all that." + +"There is balm in Gilead then," said Cassim, satirically. "Jack, when +you marry Dolores, and realise the opal, you must return to +civilisation. I can't let the friend of my youth dwell among the tombs +any longer." + +"I am very happy among the tombs." + +"I know you are. You would be happy anywhere," rejoined Philip, +enviously. "Would I were as easily contented. Tell me how to be happy, +Jack." + +"Get married," returned Jack, promptly. + +"Married!" echoed Cassim, as though the idea were a new revelation; +"that is a serious question, Jack, which needs serious discussion. Let +us sit down on this soft turf, my friend, and you shall give your +opinions regarding matrimony. You don't know anything about it as yet; +but that is a mere detail." + +By this time, owing to their rapid walking, they had left Yarmouth far +behind, and having turned off the high-road, were now strolling across +a field yellow with gorse. In a few minutes they arrived at a land-slip +where the earth fell suddenly down to the beach. The brow of this was +covered with soft grass, starred with primroses, and Philip threw +himself down thereon with a sigh of content. Jack more soberly seated +himself by the side of his friend, and for a few moments they remained +silent, gazing at the scene. Below was the rent and torn earth, on +either side a scanty fringe of trees, and in front the blue sea +stretching far away towards the dim line of the Hampshire coast. A +gentle wind was blowing, the perfume of the wild flowers came +delicately on its wings, and they could hear the waves lapping on the +beach below, while occasionally a bird piped in the near boughs. It was +very cool, pastoral and pleasant, grateful enough to Jack's eyes, weary +of the burning skies, and the gorgeous efflorescence of the tropics. Ah +me! how often we sigh for green and misty England in the lands of the +sun. + +"'There is no land like England,'" quoted Jack, absently smelling a +pale primrose. "Ah! there is no doubt it is the most delightful country +in the whole world. I have been all over the planet, so I ought to +know." + +"And yet you propose to leave the land you profess to love," said +Philip, rolling himself over so as to catch his friend's eye. "Jack, +you are inconsistent." + +"I must earn my bread and butter. Everyone isn't born like you, with a +silver spoon in his mouth. If I can't find employment in England, I +must go abroad. Besides, there is always Dolores." + +"Of course," assented Philip, gravely, "there is always Dolores. Is she +pretty, Jack?" + +"Pretty!" echoed Duval, with huge disdain; "if there is one adjective +that does _not_ describe Dolores it is 'pretty.' She's an angel." + +"Such a vague description. Fra Angelica, Burne Jones, Gustave Doré, all +paint angels differently." + +"Oh, I don't mind being more minute, if you care to listen. But I do +not wish to bore you with my love affairs." + +"I like to be bored with love affairs--when they are those of Jack +Duval." + +Jack smiled thankfully. He was eager to talk of Dolores to Philip; but +being somewhat sensitive to ridicule, hesitated as to whether he should +do so. As a rule, a man's friends do not care about listening to a +lover's ravings. Women are the most sympathetic in such a case; but as +Jack had no female friend in whom to confide, he had either to hold his +tongue or tell Philip. Philip, he thought, would not care for +descriptions of the beloved one, so he kept silent; but now that he had +been warmly requested to be as explicit as he pleased, he eagerly +hastened to unbosom himself. At that moment, Jack thought Philip an +angel of sympathy. + +"Dolores," he began slowly, fixing his eyes seaward, "is rather tall, +with a charming figure. Her hair is purple black, her face oval, and +her complexion inclined to be darkish. She has teeth like pearls, and a +mouth like Cupid's bow. Her eyes--well, her eyes," said Jack, +enthusiastically, "are like those velvety dark pansies when the dew +lies on them." + +"That's the first original epithet you've used, Jack. Teeth of pearl, +and Cupid's bow for a mouth are old similes. Dew on pansies is +distinctly good." + +"Oh, if you are going to laugh----" began Jack, angrily, when Cassim +hastened to disclaim any such discourtesy. + +"I'm not laughing, my dear lad. I am only complimenting you on your +ingenuity. I know exactly what kind of a woman Dolores is. She is like +De Musset's Marquise--half fiend, half angel." + +"I never heard of her," interrupted Duval, bluntly, as he produced a +gold oval from his pocket; "but, to save further description, look at +this picture. It was done for me by a Spanish fellow at Tlatonac." + +Philip surveyed the portrait in the locket long and earnestly. + +"Has Dolores a temper, Jack?" + +"Rather!" replied Jack, laconically; "but what do you think of her?" + +"She has an exquisite face, and, judging from her mouth, a fiery +temper. I don't wonder you are in love with her, Jack. I hope she'll +make you a good wife." + +"You seem rather doubtful on that point," said Jack, half annoyed, as +he restored the locket to his waistcoat pocket. + +"No; but to tell you the truth, I'm doubtful of the advisability of +mixed marriages in the matter of race. It may be all very well for the +offspring, who, as a rule, are clever; but the husband and wife, having +different trainings, do not as a rule hit it off. Race-nature again, my +friend." + +"Oh, as to that," rejoined Jack, equably, "I have lived so long in +Mexico and South America that I am half Spanish in my habits, and so +can suit myself to Dolores. Besides, when we are married, we will stay +in Spanish America; it will be more advisable than coming to England." + +"Yes; I agree with you there," said Philip, lazily; "in fact, I think +the indolent Creole life of South America would suit me also. I also +must find an Indian-Spanish spouse. And that reminds me, Jack, that we +sat down to discuss my marriage prospects, whereas we've done nothing +but talk about yours." + +"Well, suppose you marry Doña Eulalia?" + +"What, have you found me a spouse already?" cried Cassim, sitting up, +with a ringing laugh. "And who, is Doña Eulalia?" + +"The cousin of Dolores, and the daughter of Don Miguel." + +"Is she as beautiful as her cousin? But there, I needn't ask that. Of +course, in your eyes, no one is so perfect as Dolores. Well, I will +consider the matter when I see Eulalia. It is too important a step to +take without due consideration." + +"What nonsense you talk, Philip." + +"Why shouldn't I talk nonsense? Between you and me, Jack, I grow weary +at times of very sensible people. We won't discuss how that remark +applies to you. Tell me how many more members there are of the +Maraquando family." + +"Only a son, Don Rafael." + +"And what does the young hidalgo?" + +"He is in the Cholacacan navy. A very jolly young fellow of +twenty-five. We are great friends. Then there is a Doña Serafina." + +"Another beauty?" + +"According to her own idea, very much so," replied Jack, dryly. "She is +the old man's sister, and acts as duenna to Dolores and Eulalia." + +"Ah, an old maid. Good! We will marry her to Peter, and they can +collect butterflies together." + +"Oh, Doña Serafina would marry anyone; but why to Peter?" + +"I don't know. Peter looks as if he needed a wife; so, as he won't +choose one for himself, I must do so for him. Oh," yawned Philip, +rising reluctantly to his feet, "what a pleasant talk we have had. I +suppose it's time we returned to the boat? Come, John, I'll race you to +the road." + +Nothing loth, Jack accepted the challenge at once, and, though Philip +ran like a deer, succeeded in beating him easily. + +"Whew!" gasped Cassim, leaning breathless against a fence which verged +on the high-road. "You're one too many for me, Jack. I thought I was a +good runner, but you can beat me." + +"You're out of training. Too much flesh. Too soft muscles." + +"Well, I'll soon right all that at Cholacaca, when we run from the +enemy. Constant life on a yacht isn't a good thing to develop a +fellow's running powers." + +They jumped lightly over the fence, and walked soberly towards Yarmouth +in the gathering dusk. The sun was setting, and there was a glory over +sea and land somewhat tempered by the twilight. The friends strolled +comfortably along, still talking. Indeed, since their meeting they had +done little else but talk, more especially Philip, who was not like the +same man. His reserve seemed to have melted away like dew before the +sun of Duval's geniality, and he was more like the merry boy of old +than the haughty, distrustful man of the present. The reason of this +lay in the fact that he felt he could thoroughly trust Jack, and it was +a great comfort to him that there was at least one man in the world to +whom he could open his heart unreservedly. Secretly, he was much +astonished at the pleasure he found in this friendship, and by no means +displeased, for while in Jack's company the world seemed a goodly place +in which to dwell. Yet Duval was decidedly a commonplace young man, +smart enough at his business, yet by no means distinguished for +intellectuality; withal, so warm-hearted and simple-natured, that +Philip surrendered himself entirely to the influence of this pleasant +friendship. + +"You are doing me no end of good, Jack," he said as they walked through +the town. "Before you came, I was gradually becoming a fossil; now I am +renewing my youth." + +"I am very glad to hear it," replied Jack simply. "But indeed, Philip, +so far as I can see, you seem to be as jolly as a sandboy." + +"I wasn't a week ago. It's the sunshine of your happy geniality, Jack. +I will stay with you until the cure is complete. Then I will see you +safely married to Dolores; present you with the opal stone, as a dowry, +and then----" + +"And then!" repeated Jack, as his friend paused. + +"Then I will take up the old discontented life again." + +"I won't let you do that," said Duval, slipping his arm within that of +Philip's. "No. I will cure you, as you say, and then you will marry +Eulalia." + +"Humph! That's doubtful." + +"I'm not so sure about that, _mi amigo_. Meanwhile, I'm hungry, so +let us go on board and have dinner." + +"Oh, bathos," laughed Philip, but offered no opposition to so sensible +a suggestion. + +They sat up late that night talking of many things, but principally +about Dolores and Tlatonac. Jack gave his friend a vivid description of +the Cholacacan capital, and of the life therein, all of which was +highly appreciated by Philip. The baronet's taste in existence, as in +literature, leaned towards the dreamy and fantastical, so the +languorous life of Spanish America in sleepy towns, amid the +dilapidated pomp of former splendours, appealed greatly to the +imaginative side of his nature. Hitherto his visits to these +out-of-the-way places had been limited to a few days ashore, while his +yacht was anchored in the harbour; but this time he determined to take +Jack for his guide, and live the life of these strange people. It was a +dream of the Orient in a new world. The Arabian Nights in the west. + +Next morning they were up early in order to greet Tim, who duly arrived +in a state of great excitement. He was delighted to be once more on the +war-path, especially as he was to go through the campaign in the +company of his old school-fellows. The business of putting his luggage +on board took but little time, as Tim did not believe in special +correspondents travelling with much impedimenta. + +"You could have brought more luggage, if you had liked," said Philip, +when they inspected Tim's modest kit. + +"More! Haven't I got all I want," retorted Tim, indignantly. "What +would I be stuffing up the boat with rags for. A tooth-brush and a +clean collar is all I require." + +"Hardly, if this is going to be a lengthy campaign," replied Philip, +dryly. "I expect, before the end of the voyage, you'll be wearing +Peter's clothes." + +Peter was so small, and Tim so large, that the idea struck the latter +as wonderfully ludicrous, and he sat down to laugh which he continued +to do until the screw began to beat the water. Then he went on deck to +superintend the departure. + +In due time they arrived at Plymouth without accident, where they found +Peter waiting with as much luggage as a bride would take on her +honeymoon. It proved to be mostly articles for capturing butterflies, +and cases for preserving them much to the disgust of Philip, who hated +his yacht to be overloaded with such _débris_. With that painful +candour which prevailed between them, he told Peter that he would only +take half; but the meek doctor waxed indignant, and refused to go +without all these, what he called, "necessaries." So, in the end, +Philip had to give in. + +Then _The Bohemian_ turned her prow westward, and dipping her nose in +the salt brine, followed in the track of Columbus. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IN THE TRACK OF COLUMBUS. + + Spread sails, out oars, the galley's beak + Points westward where the sunset dies. + The fabled land of gold we seek, + Which glows beneath the tropic skies,-- + A jewelled land of Paradise; + The waters round our prow are curled, + White foam bells streak their turquoise blue, + We leave behind the ancient world, + To seek the new. + + Spread sails, out oars, a path of gold + Streams from the sinking sun at eve, + As those bold mariners of old, + Again romances wild we weave, + Of splendours we would fain believe; + Yon path leads on to fairyland, + Which glows within the sunset's heart, + We anguish for that magic strand, + And so depart. + + +Notwithstanding the notoriety of the Atlantic Ocean for storms, _The +Bohemian_ met with little or no bad weather during her voyage to +Cholacaca. Blue skies, blue seas and fair winds, it was an ideal +cruise, and had it not been necessary to reach Tlatonac with as little +delay as possible, Philip would willingly have prolonged this ocean +tramping for an indefinite period. Jack, however, was anxious to see +Dolores; the special correspondent looked forward eagerly to the fierce +delights of possible battles, and Peter hankered after the insect +tribes of Central America; so, in deference to their wishes, Philip +made his yacht act well up to her reputation as a fast boat. _The +Bohemian_ did not belie her fame, and made a bee-line straight for her +destination. + +Ignoring Lisbon, where boats generally touch on their way to South +America, the yacht held on straight for the Azores, passed them in the +night, and continued her course to Cuba, from whence she could drop +down to Tlatonac in a few days. She touched at Havana, which was a +trifle out of her course, at the express request of Jack, who had a few +commissions to fulfil for Dolores; otherwise her nearest point of call +would have been Kingston, in the Island of Jamaica. + +Truly there are worse lots in the world than a lotus-eating existence +on board a crack yacht, and none of the four friends found the voyage +too long or too dull. Peter attended to his entomological traps; Tim, +obeying his journalistic instincts, made notes of daily events for +future use; and Philip, in conjunction with his sailing master, +attended to the navigation of the boat. The only idle person on board +was Jack Duval, who did nothing but eat, sleep, drink, and think of +Dolores, save when he amused himself by worrying his busier companions. + +Thanks to the powerful engines of _The Bohemian_ and the uniform +speed at which they were kept the whole time, the voyage to the +Carribean Sea was accomplished in a wonderfully short period. +Occasionally, when the bearings of the engines became heated by +constant friction, the screw was stopped and the sails were set, when +the yacht, leaning slightly to one side, swirled through the waters +under a cloud of canvas. They depended chiefly on steam power, however, +and it was rarely that the drum of the screw ceased resounding through +the vessel as she held on steadily westward in the eye of the sunset. + +All four friends had plenty to do and plenty to talk about, so managed +to get through the days in a sufficiently pleasant fashion. After +dinner, which was the principal event of the twenty-four hours, they +sat on deck chatting in the warm tropic nights, or else stayed in the +saloon listening to Philip's piano playing and Jack's singing. Tim also +sang in a pleasant tenor voice, and often favoured the company with a +varied selection of ditties, ranging from pathetic Irish melodies to +the latest music-hall songs of the day. Peter was the most unmusical +member of the party, and, save talking, did little else to amuse his +friends. It is true that he offered to give them a lecture on +"lepidopterous moths," but the offer was promptly refused on the score +that it would be dull. Peter could not understand such an adjective +being applied to so interesting a subject. + +It was at one of these symposiums that Jack gave them a description of +the political situation in Cholacaca, information peculiarly acceptable +to Tim, who was anxious to be thoroughly acquainted with the local +affairs of the country. On reaching Tlatonac, he wrote a capital +article embodying Jack's information, and sent it off at once to _The +Morning Planet_, in whose columns it duly appeared, and gave the +British public an excellent idea of Don Hypolito's reasons for +rebelling against the Established Government of the Republic. Tim's +articles were brutally plain and untempered by style. + +The night was warm and cloudless. Westward the faint after-glow of the +sunset; and in the east, the slender crescent of the moon, low down on +the horizon. Overhead the constellations large and mellow burned like +lamps in the purple sky, and mirrored their flashing points in the +deep, so that the yacht cut her way through a glittering sea of +planetary splendours. The sails were all furled, and a light breeze +made humming noises in the taut hemp of the rigging. From the wide +mouth of the funnel floated a faint trail of smoke, and the steady +screw, with monotonous repetition, throbbed like a beating heart. The +water hissing like serpents, streamed past the black sides of the boat, +and at the prow the white foam boiled like a witch's cauldron, as she +rose and fell on the heaving plain. It was all wonderfully charming, +and the voyagers seated on deck felt it to be so. After a time +conversation ceased, and they remained silent, drinking in the beauty +of the night and the infinite magic of the sea. Peter, unromantic +Peter, was the first to break the charm with a commonplace remark. + +"I hope we shall get fresh milk in Cuba; I'm tired of this Swiss +stuff." + +"The heathen!" cried Tim, in a disgusted tone; "he thinks of nothing +but his fat little paunch. Can't you admire the works of Nature, you +little dunderhead." + +"Well, I _do_ want fresh milk," urged Peter, obstinately. + +"You have no eye for beauty, Peter," said Jack, gravely; "look at the +grandeur of the scene around you." + +"It's very pretty." + +"Pretty!" cried Philip, laughing. "I once heard a young lady call the +Hallelujah Chorus pretty. You must be a relation of that young lady, +Peter." + +"Of all the adjectives in the English language," said Duval, with mock +solemnity, "the one I most detest is 'pretty.'" + +"Especially when it is applied to a certain damsel, whereof we wot," +interjected Philip, mischievously; whereat Jack blushed and the others +laughed. + +"If Peter is so enthusiastic over all this," said Tim, waving his hand +to indicate the same, "what will he say when he sees Doña Serafina." + +"Bother Doña Serafina," retorted the doctor, growing red. "I wish you +fellows would stop roasting me on the subject." + +"She isn't a subject, Peter, but an object. Forty-five, and as plain as +Tim there!" + +"Is it me you mean, Jack. Why, I'm not bad looking, at all. I've had +that same on the best female authority. We can't all be heathen gods, +like you and Philip." + +"I object to be compared to a heathen god," said the baronet, lighting +a fresh cigarette. "There is ugly Vulcan as well as beautiful Apollo. +Your compliment reads both ways, Tim." + +"Oh, the vanity of the creature. But I'm not going to pass compliments, +sir. No, it's my intention to request Mister Duval to deliver a +speech." + +"What about?" asked Jack, considerably taken aback at this cool +request. + +"On the politics of Cholacaca. I dursn't neglect my business, lads, and +the first letter I have to send to my chief is a report of the cause of +this shindy." + +"The information will be useful to us all," said Philip, settling +himself more comfortably in his chair; "we will then know which side to +take, Don Miguel's or Don Hypolito's. Go on, Jack, and you, Peter, hold +your tongue; interrupt, and I'll give orders for your removal +overboard." + +The doctor grinned and expressed his desire to know all that Jack had +to say on the subject; whereat Duval, without wasting any time, plunged +at once into the middle of the subject. + +"It's a difficult task," he said, rubbing his chin in some perplexity; +"but first you must know the geography of Cholacaca. It has more depth +than breadth, being a strip of country lying south of Yucatan, about +four hundred miles long and two hundred broad. Tlatonac, the chief +town, is in the south, and Acauhtzin, the second city, in the north, +about three hundred miles intervening. There are other towns of more or +less importance in the interior; but the most of Cholacaca consists of +dense forests inhabited by Indians and dotted with buried cities." + +"One of which contains the Temple of the Harlequin Opal, I suppose," +said Philip, leisurely. + +"Yes; I have an idea that the Temple of the Opal is not very far from +Tlatonac; but of this I am not sure. Well, to proceed. The country is +very mountainous, and there are comparatively few roads. I am engaged +by the Government to construct a railway to Acauhtzin." + +"How far have you constructed?" + +"Fifty miles, or thereabouts, and now that this war is on the tapis, I +expect the works will have to be abandoned. Failing this railway, the +only way to get to the second capital is by water. So, you see, +communication between the two towns is not so perfect as it might be." + +"And thus offers good opportunities to Don Hypolito to make things +nasty for the Government." + +"There's no doubt of that, provided Don Hypolito can secure the +allegiance of the navy." + +"The navy!" said Peter, in surprise. "You don't mean to say, Jack, that +Cholacaca has a navy?" + +"A very good one, as South American navies go. They have three +war-ships, named respectively, _The Columbus_, _The Cortes_, and _The +Pizarro_, all first-class vessels. The Government has also sent to +England for two torpedo-boats, which are expected out shortly." + +"Then, if Don Hypolito commands the navy, he can do what he likes." + +"Not exactly. Tlatonac is well fortified, and the war-ships would have +to keep well out of the range of the guns." + +"Any army worth mentioning?" + +"Yes; a capital army for this part of the world. Mostly Mestizos, you +know; and, if needs be, I dare say the Government can secure the forest +Indians as their allies. Fools if they do. No wise man trusts an +Indian. That holds good of governments also, I take it." + +"Judging from your opal story," said Philip, reflectively, "it seems to +me that this Indian business depends on the stone." + +"No doubt. If Don Hypolito secures Dolores and her opal, the Indians, +out of sheer superstition, will side with him against the Government. +In that case, they are too near Tlatonac to be pleasant." + +"And what are the plans of this Don, if you please," asked Tim, who was +scribbling shorthand notes in his pocket-book. + +"Hum! you'll have to ask Xuarez about those, and then he won't tell +you. So far as I can judge, he will win over the navy to his side, +establish his head-quarters at Acauhtzin, and make things unpleasant +all round. With the navy of three, he can blockade Tlatonac." + +"What about the torpedo-boats?" + +"They, no doubt, are on their way out from England. If the war-ships +can stop them, they certainly will." + +"Torpedo-boats are unpleasant things to handle." + +"Yes; I don't suppose the war-ships will try force. Those in charge of +the two torpedo-boats won't know of the disaffection of the navy; so +possibly their commander will be decoyed on board the ships, and the +rebels can place their own men in charge of the torpederas." + +"In that case," said Philip, after a pause, "it would be as well to use +this yacht to warn them before they enter the harbour." + +"My dear Philip, if you tried on that game, the rebels would send a +war-ship after you, and _The Bohemian_ would be knocked to bits." + +"Not if she gets a start. I'll back her speed against the whole +Cholacacan navy. When _The Bohemian_ has all her furnaces going, she +is like a streak of greased lightning." + +"But, after all," said Peter, yawning, "I don't see why we need +anticipate evil. Don Hypolito may _not_ have rebelled, and the +navy may still be loyal to the Government." + +"What!" cried Tim, sticking his chin in the air, "d'ye think I've come +all these miles to see a flash in the pan. If Don Hypolito doesn't +revolt, I shall consider myself deceived. I want war--blood red war, +and plenty of it." + +"Barbaric wretch!" said Philip, indolently. "War wasn't invented to +fill the empty columns of your paper during the silly season. Not that +I would mind a war myself." + +"You'll see all that and more," remarked Jack, confidently. "Xuarez is +bent on becoming Dictator of the Republic, and as President Gomez won't +care about being kicked out, it will be a case of war to the knife." + +"What kind of a man is Xuarez?" + +"He's like Napoleon: a wonderful man, I can tell you. You can see from +his face that he was born to command. If he gains the day, he won't be +content with playing at Dictator. Not he! He'll make himself Emperor, +establish his capital in the neck of the Isthmus of Panama, and conquer +South America. He won't attempt the north further than Mexico, in case +the U.S. Government might make it hot for him. The Yankees object to +foreign domination. Some people are so particular." + +"The New World is not the place for empires," said Philip, decisively. +"Monarchs are at a discount in the Americas. Maximilian failed; +Iturbide failed; Dom Pedro had to leave Brazil. No; Montezuma was the +last of the American emperors--there will never be another." + +"Don't prophesy till you know, Philip. Don Hypolito is as cunning as +the devil, and as clever." + +"I don't care how clever he is. No one can depend on the half-baked lot +that form the population of Spanish America. You have to form a nation +before you can construct an empire." + +"There's some truth in that." + +"Still, if Xuarez appeals to their superstition through this opal," +said Peter, mildly, "there will be----" + +"That only counts with the Indians. The Mestizos and the descendants of +the Spaniards won't be led by such child's play." + +"What about the Church?" + +Jack flicked a spot of dust off his coat. + +"The Church has that much power in Cholacaca now," he said slowly, +"it's effete; it's worn out. The age of the Inquisition is past." + +"If Don Hypolito does get to be Lord-Lieutenant," asked Tim, +inquiringly, "what will he do for the downtrodden country?" + +"According to his own showing--everything. Don't I tell you he wishes +to found a monarchy. But when he's got the upper hand, I question +whether he'll do much, save what chimes in with his own personal +ambition. Besides, Cholacaca is going ahead now quite as much as is +good for it." + +"That refers to the railway, Jack." + +"Partly, and to other things also. This railway will open up a lot of +valuable country. It will run through from end to end. From Janjalla in +the south to Acauhtzin in the north. Then lines will branch off here +and there to the sea-coast on one side, to the mountains on the other. +Thus the whole country will be a network of railways, bringing the +population and towns within trading distance of one another." + +"All of which visions are to be realised by Jack," said Peter, with +mock sarcasm. + +"Yes, realised by Jack," assented the engineer, good-humouredly. "If +Don Hypolito gets beaten, and things go on as now, I will have plenty +of work." + +"Much virtue in 'if,'" quoted Philip, smiling. + +"It is certainly difficult to foresee the end. Still, Gomez has the +army." + +"And Don Hypolito has the navy. It's pretty even, I think." + +"The combat will be decided by us four," said Tim, conceitedly, "and +we'll fight on the side of Jack's choosing." + +"Then we will assist the Government. I don't want to help Xuarez to +marry Dolores, and get the Harlequin Opal." + +"It's my opinion that the war has nothing to do with the Harlequin +Opal," said Peter, decisively. "If the Indians have got it, the Indians +will keep it." + +"Unless I'm within stealing distance of it," replied Jack, promptly. +"No; whatever comes and goes, I'm determined to get that opal. It +belongs to Dolores." + +"And Dolores belongs to you. You are an unselfish person, Jack." + +Duval laughed good-humouredly at Philip's mild protestation, and began +to talk of other things. Tim went down to the saloon to arrange his +notes; Peter turned in, and the symposium broke up without further +conversation. + +This is only a sample of the many talks they had on the subject of +Cholacaca. The information supplied by Jack was useful, as it showed +his three companions plainly how matters stood. On their arrival at +Tlatonac, they were thus well acquainted with the causes of the war, +and could follow future developments with great interest. And when this +last conversation took place, Tlatonac was not far off. + +After leaving Havana, where they only stayed a few hours for a run +ashore, the yacht dropped down towards the Bay of Honduras, and drew +steadily towards their destination. The nearer they came, the more +excited did Jack become at the prospect of seeing Dolores once more. As +a rule, the young engineer was a steady, cool-headed fellow; but this +love had upset his brain, and he was as love-sick and inconsequent as +any raw lad. Amused at this spectacle, Philip did his best to restrain +Jack's impatience, and kept the engines at full speed, so that the +lover might the sooner arrive within kissing distance of his beloved. + +Within the circle of the Indian isles the heat grew almost unbearable. +Blue sea, blue sky, and the burning eye of the sun grilling them +constantly during the day. When the west flared red with his setting, +and the waters heaved in billows of crimson, they were glad to welcome +the cool night with serene moon and chilly, gleaming stars. The pitch +bubbled sluggishly in the seams of the deck, the brasses burnt like +fire when touched by an incautious hand, and the very air was tremulous +with the heat. In vain, with linen suits, solar topees, and constant +keeping in the shade, they endeavoured to find coolness; the sun found +them out, and baked them with his fierce rays till they were half dead +with exhaustion. The heat did not brown them as is customary in more +temperate climes, but simply squeezed all the life out of their poor +bodies, until they waxed so indolent that did they nothing but lie +about in shady corners all day, longing for the night. Even Peter +abandoned his entomology; so, from such sacrifice, must the intense +heat be judged. + +Tim was a perfect god-send in those glowing days of heat and thirst. He +was skilful at preparing drinks, and concocted beverages which enabled +them to hold out during twelve hours of incessant sun glare. +Occasionally they passed an island covered with masses of palms, cacti, +and aloes, and sometimes a distant ship arose and fell against the line +of the horizon; but they were too indolent to trouble about such +trifles. It was nothing but eternal sunshine and eternal heat. But all +things must come to an end, and so did this voyage. + +"To-morrow," said Philip, thankfully, as he broiled in the shade. +"To-morrow we will sight British Honduras. Then Tlatonac won't be far +off." + +"Perhaps it will be worse on shore than at sea," sighed Peter, mopping +his bald head with a red-silk pockethandkerchief. "Why, if----" + +"For Heaven's sake, Peter, throw that handkerchief overboard," cried +Jack, irritably; "the very colour makes me hot." + +"But it's silk!" + +"I don't care what it is. It's red, and that's enough for me." + +"Don't lose your temper, Jack!" said Tim, soothingly. "Vamos a tomar +las once." + +This Spanish phrase, meaning, "Let us go and take the eleven," was +introduced by Jack, and referred to "aguardiente" (brandy), which has +eleven letters. It was in constant use, and when the familiar sound +struck on their ears, Philip and Peter lifted their heads anxiously. It +is but fair to state, however, that in the sense in which the saying +was used on board the yacht, it referred to lemon squash, which also +has that number of letters. + +"I'll take one, if you prepare it." + +"Carambo!" said Tim, viciously. "I won't. Brew one for yourself. I'm +not a bar tender." + +"Tim's getting up his Spanish for the ladies," murmured Philip, lazily. + +"If he greets them with carambo, he'll be slung out of Tlatonac," +retorted Jack, who frequently indulged in American slang. + +"Oh, I also know how to make love in Spanish," said the Irishman, +bluntly. "El hombre prevenido nunca fue vencido." + +"Oh, shut up!" + +"What does that mean?" asked Peter, who was profoundly ignorant of the +Castillian tongue. + +"It means, 'The prepared man is never conquered,' you ignorant +creature. Peter, you'll have to learn Spanish, if only to flirt with +old Serafina." + +Peter deliberately arose from his chair, and walked down to the saloon. + +"That's Peter's way of remonstrating," said Jack, smiling. "It's hot +here; we had better follow his example." + +They did, and in a remarkably short space of time were fast asleep. The +siesta had also been introduced by Jack with such success that they +slept all day and sat up all night, when it was cool. It was the only +way they had of making life bearable. + +The next morning they were within sight of Tlatonac. A long low line of +sand appeared in the distance, topped here and there with a slender +palm. As they drew nearer, they saw the frowning walls of the forts +rising above the waters, and beyond, on a hill, the red-roofed houses +of the city. Above all, the slender towers and high dome of the +cathedral. + +"Hullo!" said Jack, noting the absence of the war-ships. "No navy! This +looks ominous." + +"Do you think war has begun?" asked Peter, turning round in dismay. + +"Lord knows! It looks like it." + +"Well, at all events, the war-ships can't hurt us now," said Philip; +"we are under the guns of the forts." + +From the central part of the forts a long wharf shot into the blue +waters. The bay was covered with boats; intensely green vegetation +clothed the shores, and the white walls of the forts glistening like +silver in the blazing sunlight. And this was Tlatonac. + +"A most exposed situation," said Philip, thinking of the war. "If the +war-ships start shelling those red roofs, there won't be much of them +left." + +He addressed Jack; but that young man did not reply. He was thinking of +Dolores. Philip turned towards Peter; but the doctor's mental eye was +fixed on clouds of gorgeous butterflies. Tim! + +"I'd like to see a naval combat in this bay," said Tim, gravely, "with +war-ships and torpedoes." + +"Three monomaniacs," said Philip, rising. "War, butterflies, and +Dolores. We'd better go ashore now, lads. I'm tired of those three +subjects." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DON MIGUEL IS COMMUNICATIVE. + + Why, look you, Señor, thus the matter stands: + When one is in a country dangerous, + And night is round him everywhere--'tis wise + To venture nothing till the morning's light, + Lest, in the dark, some hidden pitfall lurk. + Thus stands our fortune. Traitors full of guile + Are in our midst--yet, keeping quiet their plans, + Would gull us into false security. + We know not where to strike--for here, and here, + Danger may lurk, and yet we dare not strike. + + +The house of Don Miguel Maraquando was situate on one side of the Plaza +de los Hombres Ilustres, opposite to the Cathedral, and near the Calle +Otumba. Like the generality of Mexican mansions, it was built in the +Hispano-Moriscan fashion--a style of architecture peculiarly adapted to +this equatorial climate. Walls of massive stone, impenetrable to heat, +surrounded a patio paved with variegated tiles and brilliant with +tropical flowers. From this patio doors opened into the various rooms +of the house, while above were ranges of sleeping-chambers fronted by a +light iron-railed balcony running round all four sides of the +courtyard. The roof--generally called the azotea--was flat, and in many +houses is used for family gatherings in the warm nights or during a +temperate day. In this case, however, the Maraquando family made use of +the patio, where the heat, particularly at noon, was not so great. + +It was a charming spot, cool, bright and airy, with plenty of +brilliant-blossomed flowers standing round the sides in red, porous +jars, and vividly green creepers which twisted round the squat pillars +and clambered to the sunlight by the ladder of the balconies. An old +Aztec sacrificial stone carved with ugly gods occupied the centre of +the court, and here and there appeared misshapen statues of the same +grotesque deities. A light awning, gaily striped with red and white, +made the patio shady, and beneath this were cane chairs for the +accommodation of the lazy, and small tables on which to place +refreshments. It was a veritable castle of indolence, grateful to +day-dreamers, and, as such, peculiarly acceptable to the Cholacacans, +who are the least industrious people on this planet. + +Outside, the mansion, with its massive doors and iron rejas, presented +a gloomy and forbidding appearance, more like a prison than a dwelling +house. On entering the door, however, and passing through the dim +zaguan, the internal cheerfulness of the patio was accentuated by the +dullness without. Indeed, the sudden emergence into the light was +somewhat bewildering, as with blue sky above and flower-decorated patio +below, it was some time before the eye became accustomed to the +blinding brilliance of the whole. Graceful architecture, hideous idols, +the splendour of floral treasures, and silver glitter of the walls, the +patio was a most charming spot, and eminently calculated to make life +in this tropical zone remarkably pleasant. + +Into this city paradise, created by the hand of man, Jack introduced +his friends, and formally presented them to Don Miguel, Jefe Politico +of Tlatonac, who, having been informed of their arrival, awaited them +in his patio according to the etiquette of the country. He was tall and +lean and dry, with a most astonishing resemblance to Don Quixote as +delineated by the pencil of Doré. For coolness, he wore a white linen +suit, and shaded his austere face with a broad-brimed sombrero, which +latter he removed with infinite grace on the appearance of the +Englishman. + +"Welcome, gentlemen, to Tlatonac," he said majestically, in Spanish; +"my house and all therein is at your disposal." + +After this hospitable greeting, he insisted that they should seat +themselves in order to partake of some light refreshment. They had the +greatest difficulty in assuring him that they were not hungry; as, +indeed, they had just finished breakfast before leaving the yacht. +Ultimately, in order not to offend their courteous host, they accepted +some pulque, the national beverage of Mexico, and were sorry for the +concession. Jack was used to the drink, and professed to like it; but +the others pronounced it beastly. Those who have tried pulque for the +first time will heartily endorse this opinion. + +"Oh, oh!" spluttered Peter, trying to conceal his distaste from their +host; "it's like bad butter-milk." + +"What would I not give for a glass of whisky! 'Tis pig-wash, this +same." + +"It is certainly not the milk of Paradise," said Philip, in disgust. + +Don Miguel had retired for a moment in search of cigars for the party, +so they could express themselves freely to Jack. They took full +advantage of the opportunity. + +"The Mexicans say the angels in heaven prefer it to wine," said Jack, +who had finished his glass with great gusto. "They have a proverb: + + "'Lo beben, los angeles + En vez de vino.'" + +"I can't say much for the angels' taste, then," retorted Philip, +crossly. "Nastier stuff I never drank. Raki is bad enough, but it's +nectar compared with pulque." + +Jack laughed heartily at the wry faces made by his friends, and +comforted them after the manner of Job's acquaintances. + +"You'll have to drink it, however. Don Miguel will be offended if you +do not." + +They all promptly poured the liquor into some of the flower-bearing +jars which happened, fortunately enough, to be handy. + +"There," said Peter, triumphantly; "he'll think we have finished it." + +"I'll bring a pocket-pistol next time," said Tim, gloomily. "I'll be +having the cholera with this stuff." + +"Hush! here is Don Miguel." + +Their host returned with a good supply of cigars, which proved to be +more acceptable than the pulque. Maraquando expressed great surprise +that Peter did not smoke. + +"What does he say?" asked Peter, woefully ignorant of Spanish. + +"That you ought to smoke." + +Peter shook his head in disgust. + +"Tell Don Miguel tobacco is slow poison." + +Maraquando laughed when this was translated to him. + +"It must be very slow, Señor," he said, smiling. "I have smoked for +forty years, and yet the poison has not overtaken me as yet." + +All laughed at this speech save Peter, who could not appreciate jokes +in the tongue of Castille. Indeed, he began to find his ignorance of +Spanish somewhat annoying, as his friends, who acted as interpreters, +played tricks on him. He became proficient in the tongue when Doña +Serafina took him in hand; but that was many weeks later. + +All this time Jack was wondering why Dolores did not appear to welcome +him back. As it was not etiquette to ask directly for the ladies of the +family, he made the inquiry in a roundabout way. + +"Your family I trust are well, Señor?" + +"They are in excellent health, I thank you, Señor Juan. At present I +have but my daughter with me. Doña Serafina and Dolores are staying for +a few days at my estancio." + +This was bad news for Jack; but as Don Miguel's eyes were fixed +inquiringly on his face, he was forced to dissemble his sorrow. + +"And Don Rafael?" + +"Is at present with his ship at Acauhtzin." + +"What! with Don Hypolito?" + +The expression on Maraquando's face changed, and he seemed about to +burst out into a furious speech; but, out of courtesy, restrained +himself for the present. + +"We will talk of this again," he said, gravely. "I am sure you do not +care about our politics." + +"Indeed we do," replied Jack, emphatically. "This +gentleman"--indicating Tim--"is a special correspondent, sent here by a +great English paper, to report on your war." + +"Our war!" echoed the Spaniard, with some surprise. "How do you know +there is to be a war?" + +"The telegrams to Europe say as much!" interposed Tim, speaking in +Spanish. + +"Telegrams sent by Don Hypolito, I have no doubt," responded +Maraquando, grimly. "There will be no war, gentlemen." + +"_Carambo! Sacré!_ Damn!" ejaculated Tim, who swore fluently in all +three languages. "I have been tricked, then?" + +"Wait a moment, Señor Corresponsal. You will have plenty to write +about; I will tell you some astonishing news shortly. Meanwhile, I must +present you to my daughter, Doña Eulalia." + +The girl who appeared at this moment caused them all to rise to their +feet, and assuredly a more beautiful vision could not be seen anywhere. +She was a little sparkling brunette, all eyes and smiles (as Tim +afterwards phrased it), and when she beheld Jack, came forward eagerly +to greet him with outstretched hands. + +"Señor Juan," she said, in a deliciously sweet voice, "you have +returned. Ah, how sorry Dol--Doña Serafina will be that she is not here +to greet you." + +She gave a side glance at her father on pronouncing the name of Doña +Serafina; and, by that diplomatic substitution, Philip guessed that she +was in the secret of the lovers. + +"I trust Doña Serafina will return soon, Señora," said Jack, +significantly, after exchanging courtesies. "I am anxious to see Doña +Serafina." + +Eulalia put her black fan up to hide the smile on her lips, and +intimated that she expected her aunt back on the morrow. Nothing was +said of Dolores; but Jack was not so dull a lover as not to know that, +in this case, the lesser Serafina included the greater Dolores. +Meanwhile, neither Tim nor Philip could keep their eyes off this +Spanish beauty, and Don Miguel graciously presented them to his +daughter. As for Peter, he was examining an ugly clay god at the other +end of the court, which showed that he had no eye for beauty. + +"At your feet, lady," said Philip, in his best Castillian. + +"My hands for your kisses, Señor," she responded, coquettishly, whereat +the baronet felt a strange feeling about the region of his heart. + +"Oh, Lord, Lord!" he muttered, as Tim was executing court bows to the +lady. "Great Heaven! this cannot be love at first sight. It must be the +pulque." + +He caught Jack's eye at this moment, and saw a derisive smile on that +young man's lips, whereat he smiled also, as if to intimate that he +thought but little of the dainty beauty. Jack knew better, however. +Then Peter was torn away from his Aztec deity, and presented in due +form, making use, at the introduction, of all the Spanish of which he +was master. + +"Bueno! Bueno!" quoth Peter, in perplexity, when Philip came to his +rescue. + +"Say 'a los pies de usted,' Señora," he whispered quickly. + +"I can't remember all that," protested the doctor. + +"Try." + +"A los pres ud worsted!" + +Doña Eulalia put up her fan at the sound of Peter's Spanish; but +understanding the drift of his remark, replied gravely enough: + +"Bése usted los manos, Señor." + +"What's that, Philip?" + +"My hands for your kisses, Señor." + +"Will I have to kiss them?" asked Peter, in dismay. + +"No; it's only a matter of form." + +At this assurance, the doctor was much relieved, and not feeling any +profound interest in a dialogue carried on completely in a foreign +tongue, returned to his examination of the Aztec gods. Maraquando was +already deep in conversation with Jack and Tim, so Philip had Doña +Eulalia all to himself, and made good use of this solitude of two. He +was glad he knew Spanish. 'Tis a pleasant language in which to talk gay +nonsense. + +On her side, Eulalia had no strong objection to the company of this +eccentric American--all foreigners are Americans with the +Cholacacans--and though he was a heretic, yet he spoke Spanish +beautifully, and had no lack of pretty sayings at his command. Doña +Eulalia would have flirted with a lepero in default of anything better; +and as Don Felipe was a most desirable young man from every point of +view, she lost no time in making herself agreeable. Philip, the cynic, +enjoyed it greatly, thereby proving that a considerable portion of his +misogamy was humbug. With the hour comes the eternal feminine. This was +the hour--Eulalia the woman. It flashed across Philip's mind at that +moment that he was playing with fire. Confident in his own +imperviousness to fire, he went on playing. Then he burnt himself, and +great was his outcry. + +"I always understood," said Cassim to his charming companion, "that +Cholacacan ladies were shut up like nuns." + +"A great many of them are, Señor," replied Eulalia, demurely; "but my +father is more liberal in his ideas. He delights in presenting us to +his friends." + +"How charming--for the friends." + +"And how delightful--for us poor women. I assure you, Señor, that I +would not care to be shut up at all; neither would my cousin Dolores!" + +"I have heard of Doña Dolores from Jack!" + +Eulalia flashed a glance at him from her glorious dark eyes, bit the +top of her fan, and made an irrelevant observation. + +"My cousin admires fair people." + +"And Don Juan is fair. Oh, never fear, Señora, I know all." + +"All what, Don Filipe?" + +"All about fair people!" replied Philip, skilfully, "though, for my +part, I prefer dark ladies." + +This last remark was too much even for the audacious coquetry of +Eulalia, and she, glancing uneasily at her father, turned the +conversation with a dexterity begotten by long practice. + +"My aunt, Doña Serafina, is dark. She is our duenna, you know. I am +sure you will find her very charming." + +"Oh, certainly, Señora, on your recommendation I----" + +"And Tlatonac is charming, also," interposed the lady, smartly. "Do you +stay long here, Señor?" + +"That depends on--shall we say--Señor Duval." + +His intention was to hint Dolores; but Doña Eulalia evidently thought +the acquaintanceship was becoming too intimate, and entrenched herself +behind her fan and a smile. + +"Rather does it depend on Don Hypolito." + +"Ah! Is there, then, to be a war?" + +"I do not know, Señor. My father thinks it likely. If there is, of +course you will go?" + +"No! Why should I? Tlatonac has many attractions for me." + +"My father will show you all over it to-morrow," rejoined Eulalia, with +a mischievous smile. She knew quite well what he meant, but was not +going to betray such knowledge at such an early period of her +acquaintance. The proprieties must be observed--even in Cholacaca. Mrs. +Grundy is not indigenous to Britain only. She flourished at Tlatonac +under the name of Doña Serafina. + +"You came in a steamer, did you not, Señor?" + +"Yes; in my yacht, _The Bohemian_." + +"Your vessel, Señor?" + +"Yes." + +Eulalia opened her eyes. This Americano must be very rich to own the +boat she had seen steaming into the harbour. But, then, all Americanos +were rich; though not all so nice as this one. + +"You must do me the honour of coming on board, Señora," said Philip, +eagerly. Then, seeing her draw back in alarm at this audacious +proposal, "Of course, with Don Miguel and Doña Serafina. Likewise your +cousin. My friend Don Juan is anxious to see Doña Dolores." + +"Hush, Señor!" said Eulalia, quickly, glancing towards her father; "it +is a secret. Do not speak of it now; but let us talk to the Señor +yonder with the spectacles." + +"He cannot talk Spanish." + +"Oh yes, he can, Señor, I heard him." + +She burst out into a merry laugh, and went towards Peter, followed by +the reluctant Cassim. Philip was getting on excellently well, and +rather resented the introduction of a third person into the +conversation, even though it was but harmless Peter. That gentleman +would much rather have been left alone to potter about the patio by +himself; but Doña Eulalia, who saw his embarrassment, wickedly made him +attempt Spanish, much to his discomfiture. Philip translated his +compliments to Eulalia, whereon she smiled so graciously on the little +man that the baronet grew restless, and Peter began to think there were +other things in the world besides butterflies. + +Meanwhile Don Miguel was having an interesting conversation with Tim +and Jack concerning the state of affairs prevalent at Tlatonac. He was +much flattered at the idea that a "gran'-diario" of England should take +such an interest in Central American politics, and paid Tim, as the +Señor Corresponsal, such attention, that Jack began to wish he were in +the Irishman's shoes. He would then have a better chance of Dolores. As +for Tim he discoursed blandly, quite unaware of the honours being +showered on him, and when his Spanish failed, took refuge in French; +when that gave out, he supplied his wants with Italian, so that his +conversation savoured of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of +tongues. However, with Jack's assistance, he managed to get along +capitally, and gained a good deal of useful information from the Jefe +Politico. Don Miguel himself was most eloquent on the subject, and +particularly rabid against Xuarez, whom he seemed to hate as only a +Spaniard can hate. Dr. Johnson liked a good hater. He should have met +Don Miguel. + +"Don Hypolito is a dangerous man, gentlemen," he said, with cold +malignity; "he wishes to become President of the Republic." + +"And why should he not become President?" asked Tim, calmly. + +"Because he would use his position to destroy the Constitution of +Cholacaca. We have not forgotten Iturbide and Dr. Francia. Cholacaca +shall never lie at the mercy of a tyrant, as did Mexico and Paraguay. +No, gentlemen. It was not for such an end that we threw off the yoke of +Spain. Republicans we are, Republicans we remain. If Don Hypolito +succeeds, he will find Tlatonac in ruins." + +"I don't think that will stop him, Señor," said Jack, lightly. "If he +ruins the old Tlatonac, he can build up a new one." + +"Not with peons and Indians," retorted Maraquando, fiercely. "We, +Señor, are Spaniards, and will submit to the tyranny of no man, much +less this Mestizo of a Xuarez." + +"What do you propose to do, Don Miguel?" + +"The Junta has already decided that. Don Hypolito is to be arrested, +brought here for trial, and banished from the country." + +"I don't see how you are going to capture him at Acauhtzin. It is the +headquarters of his party." + +Maraquando smiled grimly, and waved his hand contemptuously. + +"Xuarez has no party. A few unimportant estancieros believe in him, +certainly; but the whole population of Tlatonac is in favour of the +Government." + +"But not the whole population of Cholacaca," said Duval, significantly. + +"That is no matter. The Government hold Tlatonac, and, therefore, has +all the power in its own hands. Acauhtzin! a mere village, whose +adherence can do Xuarez no good." + +"But if it comes to war?" + +"It will not come to war, Señor Corresponsal. The fleet have gone to +Acauhtzin to arrest Xuarez, and bring him here for trial." + +"They won't do that easily." + +Don Miguel laughed in a saturnine sort of manner, and pulled his +moustache savagely. + +"And why not, Señor?" said he slowly. "I think three war-ships, manned +by brave men, are more than sufficient to arrest one traitor." + +"That's so," replied Jack, dropping into Americanese, "if you can trust +their crews." + +"My son, Don Rafael, commands _The Pizarro_," he said, gravely. "The +Government can trust him and his crew, if no others." + +"'One swallow doesn't make a summer,' Don Miguel. That's an English +proverb." + +"And a very true one. Where did you hear that our navy was not to be +trusted, Don Juan?" + +"Here, and yonder!" said Jack, waving his hand all round the compass. +"I hear this and that, Señor, and think over things. The general +opinion, I find, is that there will be a civil war." + +"It needs no prophet to tell that. And afterwards?" + +"Señor, it is said the army will support the Junta, but the navy will +strike for Xuarez." + +"If I thought so!" growled Maraquando, savagely, under his breath. "If +I--but no, Señor, you are mistaken. My son, Don Rafael, is in the navy, +and many of the officers are his personal friends. He only consorts +with men of honour, Señor. I swear that there is no fear of the navy +revolting. In a few days, our three ships will come back with Don +Hypolito." + +Jack shrugged his shoulders. He was a youth of few words, and saw no +reason to waste breath on such obstinacy. All the same, he held to his +opinion. Don Rafael or no Don Rafael, the three war-ships and their +crews were not to be trusted. In spite of his refusal to believe in +such treachery, it seemed as though Don Miguel also had his doubts on +the subject. + +"I will see the President about this you speak of, Señor. It is as well +that all things should be guarded against." + +"There is one other thing that should be guarded against," said Jack, +gravely. "Doña Serafina and your niece are some distance from the city, +at your estancia. As there may be a war, the country will not be safe. +I suggest that you, Señor, should ride out and escort them back." + +"I am afraid I cannot leave the city at this juncture." + +"Then let me go, Señor," said Jack, eagerly. "In any event, I will have +to see the railway works; they are near your estancia, you know. Let me +ride over to-morrow, and I will bring them back with me." + +"It is too much honour, Señor," replied Maraquando politely. "Still, if +you can spare the time----" + +"Oh, that will be all right, Señor. It is settled, then, I will go +to-morrow." + +"I am your debtor, Don Juan, and accept the offer with a thousand +thanks. But your friends----" + +"Oh, we will look round Tlatonac," said Tim, putting up his +pocket-book, wherein he had been making notes; "and if you will but +introduce me to the President, Señor Maraquando, I shall take it as a +favour. It will be useful to me in my letters to Europe." + +"I am at your service, Señor Corresponsal. His Excellency will have +much pleasure in receiving you, I am sure. Bueno!" + +"That settles you, Tim," said Duval, in English "Philip can go with +you, unless he prefers to remain with Doña Eulalia. But Peter?" + +"Oh, send him after butterflies!" + +Duval thought this a good idea, and, turning to Don Miguel, explained +how anxious Peter was in pursuit of insects. Could Don Miguel send him +beyond the city in charge of some one, to hunt for beetles? Maraquando +reflected for a moment, and thought that he could do so. There was an +Indian named Cocom, who would attend to Don Pedro. Unfortunately, he +spoke no English. + +"Never mind," said Jack, easily, "when my friend is hunting the wily +butterfly, he speaks to no one. All I desire is that he should have a +guide, so that he be not lost." + +"Bueno! I will see that Cocom goes with Don Pedro to-morrow." + +Jack called Peter from his interesting conversation with Eulalia, and +explained matters. The doctor was quite agreeable, and wanted to go at +once to the yacht, in order to get his paraphernalia ashore. This +ardent desire, however, was not gratified at the moment, as they could +scarcely take leave of their courteous host in so cavalier a fashion. + +"By the way, Jack," said Philip, at this moment, "are we to stay on +board the yacht during our stay here?" + +"By no means. We will go to my house." + +"What! are you a landed proprietor, Jack?" + +"I have a rough kind of diggings, but it's big enough for the lot of +us. Don Miguel," he added, turning to their host, "I must now take my +leave, with my friends, as we want to see about our house." + +"My house is at the disposal of your friends, Señor." + +"A thousand thanks. I kiss your hands, Señor Miguel; but for the +present we will stay at my residence in the Calle Huascar." + +It not being etiquette to press the invitation, Don Miguel gravely +bowed, and wished them good-bye for the present. He had to go to a +meeting of the Junta in order to confer about the fleet which had +remained away from Tlatonac a long time. + +"And it will remain a longer time," said Jack, as they emerged on to +the street. "The navy is going to revolt to Don Hypolito." + +"I believe that's true, but the old chap doesn't think so. He'll have +his eyes open soon, or my name's not Tim. Where's Philip?" + +"Saying good-bye to Doña Eulalia," replied Jack, smiling. "Ah, by the +way, here he is! Well, Sir Philip Cassim, Baronet, I see you are +stabbed by a wench's black eye!" + +"A little harmless conversation," protested Philip, guiltily; "don't +make a mountain out of a mole-hill, Jack. I can take care of my heart; +but your charming brunette friend has fascinated Peter." + +"I don't see how that can be," said the doctor, dryly, "seeing I +couldn't understand a word she was saying." + +"The language of the eye, Peter. You must learn that. It is more +interesting than butterflies." + +"So you seem to think." + +"Jack," said Tim, suddenly, "before we go to your cabin, take us to the +telegraph-office, if there is one here." + +"Of course there is one here. You want to wire to your editor?" + +"Not yet! I want to arrange matters with the officials. There's going +to be trouble here in a week, anyhow." + +"So soon as that?" said Philip, starting. He had not heard the +conversation with Don Miguel. + +"Aye, and sooner," replied Duval, prophetically. "Gather ye rosebuds +while ye may, Philip; for, as sure as I stand here, news is now on its +way to Tlatonac of the loss of the navy." + +"In that case," said the baronet, quietly, "it was a good thing I +brought all those arms with me. You'll have to learn how to shoot, +Peter." + +"Butterflies and beetles," said Peter, absently. He was thinking of the +morrow's sport. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CHALCHUIH TLATONAC. + + This is a country of magic; for, lo! in the heat of the noontide, + Silent and lone is the city, no footfall is heard in the highways, + Only the grasshopper shrilling, the tinkle of water clear gushing, + And rarely the sigh of the breezes, that stir the white dust on + the pavements. + Magic! no magic but custom; for this is the time of siesta; + When sinks the sun, then the city will waken to love and to + laughter; + Lightly the gay senoritas will dance in the cold-shining moonbeams, + Flirt fan, flash eyes, and beckon, to lovers who long for their + kisses, + Then will the castanets rattle, the little feet dance the bolero, + And serenades sigh at the windows, in scorning of jealous duennas. + Magic is not of the noonday; when glimmers the amorous twilight, + Then is the time of enchantment, of love, and of passionate + lovers. + + +Cocom was completely ignorant of his real age. He might have been a +hundred, and he certainly looked as though he had completed his +century. Long ago he had left off counting the flying years and +meditating on the mutability of human life. In fact, he had changed so +little that it is doubtful whether he believed in mutability at all. +Wrinkled he was, it is true, and slightly bent, but his black eyes +twinkled with the fire of youth, and he enjoyed his meals. These things +argue juvenility, and, as Cocom possessed them, he evidently knew the +secret of immortality. Perhaps he had found that fountain of youth +spoken of by Ponce de Leon. If so, it had affected his soul not his +body. He looked like Methuselah. + +Yet he was wonderfully active considering his years, and undertook to +introduce Peter to the butterflies of Central America. Arrayed in his +white cotton drawers and shirt, with his pink zarape gracefully draped +over his bent shoulders, he smoked a long black cigar, and waited the +orders of the "Americanos" in stolid silence. + +Peter was affectionately handling his butterfly-net, Tim was finishing +his breakfast, and Jack, in a smart riding-dress, was slashing his high +boots with his whip, impatient to get away. They were looking at Cocom, +who had just arrived, and waiting for Philip, who, as usual, was late +for breakfast. + +"He looks too old to be of much use," said the doctor, disconsolately; +"why couldn't Don Miguel send me a man instead of a mummy?" + +"Perhaps the mummy is well up in entomology!" + +"He ought to be that same!" cried Tim, with his mouth full; "he's had +plenty of time to learn, anyhow. Ask the old cocoanut his age, Jack." + +"Don't you take liberties with his name, Tim. Cocom was a king of +Mayapan; and this, I presume, is his descendant." + +"Royalty out at elbows!" said Peter, blandly. + +"It's a king, is it?" remarked Tim, staring at the Indian. "He looks a +mighty second-hand sort of article. I should be a king myself. Wasn't +one of my ancestors King of Cork?" + +"Good morning, gentlemen," said Philip, entering at this moment; "where +did you pick up Methuselah?" + +"This is Cocom, my guide," said the doctor, proudly introducing Cocom, +who removed his sombrero with a graceful sweep. + +"Oh, you are going to hunt the ferocious beetle, are you not? What is +he, Jack? An Aztec?" + +"No; a descendant of the Mayas." + +"A dethroned king--no less." + +"You know the country round here, Cocom?" said Philip, taking no notice +of Tim's joke. + +"Yes, Señor Americano; all! all!" replied Cocom, with grave dignity. +"Don Pedro will be safe with me." + +"You can show him butterflies?" + +"Señor, I can show him butterflies, ants, beetles, wasps; all the Señor +desires to behold." + +"That being so, Peter, you had better get away," said Jack, +impatiently. "I want to be off, and must see you started first; you +can't be trusted to run the show on your own account." + +"I'm quite ready. Good-bye, boys; I will see you this afternoon." + +"Not me," said Duval, brusquely; "I'm off to Maraquando's estancia." + +"Take care of the sun, Peter," warned Philip, kindly; "your head isn't +over strong." + +Peter indignantly repudiated this imputation on his cranium, and +forthwith followed Cocom out of the house, gleefully looking forward to +a pleasant day. His ideas of pleasure were singularly limited. + +"He's quite safe, isn't he, Jack?" said Philip anxiously. "I don't want +Peter to get into trouble." + +"Oh, Cocom will look after him. I know the old man well. He is devoted +to Don Miguel, who once saved his life. Cocom will sit on a bank and +watch Peter gasping after butterflies. The exercise will do the +doctor's liver good." + +"You are off yourself now, I suppose?" + +"Yes, I've been waiting for you. Really, Philip, you are the laziest +man I know." + +"This house that Jack built is the castle of indolence," explained +Philip, sitting down to table. "Go, my friend, and kiss Dolores for +me!" + +"I'll do nothing of the sort. I'll kiss her for my own sake! Adios +caballeros." + +"When will you return, Jack?" + +"To-morrow! Meanwhile Don Miguel will look after you both. Take care of +yourselves." + +"Con dios va usted mi amigo!" said Cassim, graciously. "Now go away, +and let me eat my breakfast." + +Jack departed, and Tim went to the window to see him ride down the +street. + +"He is a fine boy," he said, returning to the breakfast-table. "Doña +Dolores ought to be proud of having such a lover." + +"I have no doubt she is, Tim. It is to be hoped the course of true love +will run smooth with Jack; but what with Don Hypolito and the harlequin +opal I have my doubts. What are your plans, Timothy?" + +"It's writing I'll be, all day!" + +"Nonsense. Come and see Tlatonac." + +"I can't. Isn't my chief waiting a letter from me?" + +"Such industry! Tim, you make me feel ashamed of myself." + +"The devil I do. Then you write my letter, Philip and I'll flirt with +Doña Eulalia. I'm a white-headed boy with the female sex." + +"No, thank you. It's not a fair exchange." + +"Ah, she's a dark-eyed colleen, Philip. You have lost your heart +there." + +"No," said Philip, a trifle doubtfully. "I have seen too many pretty +faces to be captured at first sight by a new one. I have other things +to think of besides marriage." + +"You have, but you won't," retorted Tim, ungrammatically. "Now get away +with you, and leave me to my writing." + +"I'll be back in two hours." + +"If you are not, I'll come and look you up at the Don's. Make love to +Doña Eulalia while you can, Philip, for it's mighty little time you'll +have when the row starts. + + "Do ye hear the cannon's rattle? do ye smell the smoke av battle, + Whin the Irish bhoys are ridin' down the inimy so bould? + Do ye see the bullets flyin'? and your faithful Patrick dyin', + Wid ne'er a sowl beside him dear, to kiss his forehead cowld?" + +Tim, with that sudden transition from mirth to melancholy so +characteristic of the Celtic race, threw so much pathos into the last +two lines that Philip could not trust himself to reply, and went +hastily out of the room. He drew a long breath of relief when he found +himself in the hot sunshine, for that unexpected note of sorrow from +jovial Tim touched him more nearly than he cared to confess. In spite +of his cold demeanour and reserve, Philip was of a very emotional +nature, and that melancholy strain had reached his heart. He was by no +means prone to superstition, but at that moment a sudden question +stirred his self-complacency. Never before had he heard Tim sing so +pathetically, and the unexpectedness of the thing startled him. It +seemed to hint at future sorrows. Poor Tim! + +"Confound that Banshee song," he said, with a shiver, as he strolled +along towards the Calle Otumba; "it makes me think of death and the +grave. These Irishmen take one at a disadvantage. I won't shake off the +feeling the whole day." + +He forgot all about it, however, when he reached Maraquando's house, +for in the patio he found Eulalia, who greeted him with a brilliant +smile. The charm of her society banished the melancholy engendered by +Tim's pessimism, and, chatting gaily to this strongly vitalised being, +who restlessly flashed round the court like a humming-bird, he +recovered his usual spirits. There is more in juxtaposition than people +think. + +"And where are your friends, Don Felipe?" asked Eulalia, standing on +tip-toe to pluck a gorgeous tropical blossom. + +"Allow me to get you that flower, Señora," replied Philip, eagerly. "My +friends," he added, as he presented her with the bud, "are variously +employed. Don Pedro is out after butterflies with Cocom. Señor +Corresponsal is writing for his 'diario,' and Don Juan----" + +"I know where Don Juan is, Señor. Yes; my father told me of his +kindness. He will bring back from the estancia Doña Serafina." + +"And Doña Dolores?" + +Eulalia flung open her fan with a coquettish gesture, and raising it to +her face, looked over the top of it at Philip. + +"You know, then, Señor, what you know." + +"Assuredly," replied the baronet, tickled at this delicate way of +putting it. "I know that my friend wishes to marry your cousin." + +"Ay de mi. It can never be." + +"He is not rich enough." + +"He is not a Spaniard. My father will never consent. And then," she +dropped her voice, and looked round fearfully. "The Chalchuih +Tlatonac!" + +"I know about that also. But it has nothing to do with this marriage." + +"It has everything to do with it. The Indians look on my cousin as one +of themselves, and, if she married an Americano, she would leave the +country. Then there would be no guardian of the stone, and their god +would be angry." + +"Is your cousin, then, to marry as they please?" + +"She must marry one of her own people. An Indian or a Mestizo." + +"But suppose she does not?" + +"The Indians will carry her to their forest temple, and keep her there +in captivity." + +"Impossible! How could they seize her in Tlatonac?" + +Doña Eulalia nodded her head wisely. + +"You do not know how strong are the Indians, Señor. They are +everywhere. If they want Dolores at their temple, they will be sure to +capture her if they choose." + +"By force?" + +"No, by stratagem! They could take her away at any moment, and none of +us would see her again." + +"But what does Don Hypolito say to all this?" + +Eulalia spread out her little hands with a look of disgust. + +"Don Hypolito wants to marry Dolores because of the Chalchuih Tlatonac! +He is a Mestizo; so the Indians would not mind such a marriage. But she +hates him, and loves Don Juan. Let your friend beware, Señor." + +"Of whom! Of Don Hypolito?" + +"Yes; and of the Indians. It is much feared that Don Hypolito is no +good Catholic--that he has been to the forest temple and seen--oh," she +broke off with a shudder. "I do not know what he has seen. But he hates +Don Juan, and, if he captures him, will put him to death. Señor----" + +At this moment, before she could say more, Don Miguel entered the +patio. Whereupon Eulalia whirled away like a black-and-amber bird. +Philip looked after her for a second, thinking how graceful she was, +then turned to greet Don Miguel. That gentleman was as lean and dry and +as solemn as ever. How he ever came to be the parent of this fairy of +midnight, Philip could not quite understand. But doubtless she took +after her mother--the female side of a family generally does, in looks. + +"I was just conversing with Doña Eulalia," said Philip, responding to +Maraquando's stately greeting "Your daughter, Señor." + +"She is yours also, Señor," was Miguel's startling reply. + +"Egad! I wish she was mine," thought Cassim, who knew this Spanish +formula too well to be astonished. "By the way, Señor, my friend Don +Pedro thanks you for sending Cocom," he added politely. + +"Don Pedro is welcome a thousand times to my poor services. And where +is the Señor Correspoñsal?" + +"Writing for his diario." + +"Bueno, Señor. And Don Juan?" + +"He is now on his way to your estancia." + +"I am his servant, for such kindness," said Maraquando, gravely. "Will +you take some pulque, Señor Felipe?" + +"I thank you, no," replied Philip, remembering his former experience of +the drink. "If not troubling you too much, I would like to see +Tlatonac." + +"I am at your service, Señor. Shall we depart at once?" + +Philip signified his acquiescence, though he would rather have stayed +in the cool patio, and flirted with Doña Eulalia. He knew, however, +that Spanish fathers are not the most amiable parents in the world, and +resent too much attention being paid by foreigners to their womankind; +therefore he took leave of the young lady and departed with Don Miguel. +Before Philip parted from that gentleman, he had explored the city +thoroughly, and was quite worn out. + +The Jefe Politico was a most conscientious cicerone. He took Philip to +every building of any note, and gave him a minute history of all events +connected therewith, from the earliest period to the present time. +Fortunately, Tlatonac was not very old, or he would have gone on for a +week without stopping. As it was, he took nearly all day in directing +Philip's attention to dates, Aztec idols, ruins of teocallis, sites of +palaces, to battle-fields, and many other things too numerous to +mention. This information was accurate but wearisome, and Philip felt +it to be so. Maraquando was Prescott and Bancroft rolled into one, as +regards knowledge of history, and, having found a willing listener, +took full advantage of the opportunity. Cassim was too polite to +object, but he heartily wished that Don Miguel would hold his tongue. +The most pathetic part of the whole affair was that the poor man +thought he was amusing his guest. + +Tlatonac is built partly on the seashore and partly on a hill. Within +the walls of the forts frowning over the waters are the dwellings of +the flat portion inhabited by peons and leperos, with a sprinkling of +low-caste mestizos. From thence the houses rise up to the top of the +hill, which is crowned by the cathedral in the Plaza de los Hombres +Ilustres. This is the heart of Tlatonac, the aristocratic quarter, and +commands a splendid view of the surrounding country. + +The Plaza was a very large square, fenced in on three sides by the +houses of the Cholacacan aristocracy, on the fourth by the great +cathedral. In the centre was the zocalo, a green oasis of verdure laid +out in winding walks and brilliant flower-beds. Herein the aristocracy +took their walks when the band played in the cool of the evening, using +it as a kind of alameda, wherein to meet their friends and gossip. It +was indeed a charming spot, and its green arcades afforded a grateful +shade from the hot sun which blazed down on the white stones of the +square outside. On leaving the zocalo, they entered the church +dedicated to Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion, which once gave its name +to the town now more generally known by its Indian appellation of +Tlatonac. + +"The cathedral, Señor," said Don Miguel, as they stood beneath the +glory of the great cupola, "is built on the site of a famous teocalli." + +"That dedicated to the Chalchuih Tlatonac?" + +"To the false god Huitzilopochtli, Señor," corrected the Spaniard, +gravely. "I see you know the story. Yes, it was here that the son of +Montezuma's daughter came with the shining precious stone which gives +its name to the city. He worshipped his barbaric deities after the +fashion of his mother, and built here a teocalli to the war-god, +wherein was preserved the devil stone. Many years after, when the +Conquistadores--our ancestors, Señor--arrived, the then possessor of +the opal fled with it into the impenetrable forests, and thus the jewel +was lost to the Crown of Spain. The Conquistadores pulled down the +teocalli and built thereon this church to the glory of Our Lady, at the +command of Fray Medina, who afterwards became the first Bishop of +Tlatonac. Is it not beautiful, Señor? and all for the glory of God and +the true cross." + +It was indeed a beautiful old church, mellowed into restful beauty by +the lapse of years. The floor was of marquetry, hued like a dim rainbow +owing to the different coloured woods. Slender porphyry pillars sprang +from the floor to the groined ceiling in two long rows, and at the far +end, under a firmament of sun and stars and silver moons, with +ascending saints and wide-winged angels, arose the glory of the great +altar, sparkling in the dusky atmosphere like a vast jewel. Before it +burned a silver lamp like a red star. Tapestries, richly worked, +depended between the pillars, gorgeous brocades were here, faded silken +draperies there, and everywhere faces of saint, angel, cherubim, and +seraphim. Gilt crosses, pictures of the Virgin, statues of the Virgin, +side altars laden with flowers, silver railings, steps of Puebla +marble, like alabaster, and throughout a dim religious light as the +rays of the sun pierced the painted windows. The fumes of incense +permeated the building; there was a sound of muttered prayers, and here +and there a dark figure prostrate before a shrine or kneeling at the +confessional. + +All this magnificence was toned down by time to delicate hues, which +blended the one with the other and made a harmonious whole. Dingy and +old as it was, the whole edifice was redolent of sacred associations, +and it required some imagination to conceive that where now reigned +this quiet and holy beauty once arose a heathen temple, where the +victims shrieked on the altar of a fierce deity. Religion did not seem +very flourishing in Cholacaca, for on this day in the cathedral there +were few worshippers--no priests. + +"We have few priests now, Señor," explained Don Miguel, gravely, as +they left the great building. "The Jesuits were once powerful in +Cholacaca, but they were expelled some years ago. The priests +_would_ meddle with politics, and when the Church clashes with the +Government, well, Señor--one must go to the wall." + +"So the Jesuits went?" + +"Yes. They were unwilling to go, for Cholacaca is one of the richest +mission fields. Not that I think they have done much good, for though +the Indians are outwardly converted, yet I know for certain that they +still secretly worship Huitzilopochtli and the Chalchuih Tlatonac." + +"What makes you think so, Don Miguel?" + +"Little things! The straws which show the wind's course. On the summit +of some of these ruined teocallis beyond the walls, I have often seen +fresh wreaths of flowers. Nay, in my own patio, before those statues of +Coatlicue, Quetzalcoatli, and Teoyamiqui, I have found offerings of +flowers and fruit. 'Tis also said, Señor," pursued Maraquando, dropping +his voice, "that in the hidden Temple of the Opal the Indians still +sacrifice human victims to the war-god. But this may be false." + +"Very probably! I cannot conceive such horrors," replied Philip, with a +shudder; "but, as regards priests, there are still some here, I +presume?" + +"Assuredly; but not of the Society of Jesus--save one. Yes, Padre +Ignatius is still here. He was, and is, so beloved by all that the +President had not the heart to banish him. So he yet works for the +Faith in our midst." + +"I should like to meet Father Ignatius?" + +"You shall do so, Señor. He is a great friend of mine, and the +confessor of my children. Often does he come to my poor house. But let +us walk on, Señor. There are many things to see. El Palacio Nacional, +where dwells his excellency; the Market Place, and the alameda. We are +proud of our alameda, Señor." + +Thus talked on Don Miguel, and, amused by the novelty of the scene, +Philip stared round him with great pleasure. They passed the +pulquerias, which are the public-houses of Tlatonac, saw the Palacio +Nacional, a huge stone building, above which flaunted the yellow flag +of the Republic, with its device of a white stone, darting rays of red, +yellow, green, and blue, in allusion to the opal, explored the prison, +which held a fine collection of ruffians, and ultimately arrived at the +Market Place. + +It was the prettiest sight in Tlatonac, and Philip was sorry he had not +the power to transfer the scene with all its varied hues and +picturesque figures to paper. A square, little less large than the +great Plaza, surrounded on all sides by gaily tinted houses. Reds, +greens, yellows, pinks, the Plaza was girdled by a perfect rainbow, and +under the gay awnings before these sat the dealers and their wares. +Here were tropical fruits from the tierras calientes, comprising +oranges, bananas, pineapples, melons, peaches, and an infinite variety +of others, all piled in picturesque confusion on the stalls. As to +flowers, the whole place was a mass of blossom, from gorgeous red +cactus buds to modest bunches of violets. Owing to the geography of +Mexico and Central America, the products of both temperate and tropical +zones can be found flourishing at one and the same time. Hence the +violets, which Philip had scarcely expected to see. They put him in +mind of English woods--of the day when in the Isle of Wight, Jack told +him about Dolores. + +"Yes, the Indians are fond of flowers," said Don Miguel, when Philip +expressed his surprise at the profusion of blossoms. "It is a taste +they inherit from their ancestors. The Aztecs, you know, were famous +for floriculture. We love flowers just as passionately; and, go where +you will in Tlatonac, you will find blooming gardens gay with flowers." + +"It is a graceful taste, and one which the climate enables you to +gratify to the full." + +"Without doubt, Señor. We possess three climates in which flourish +different products of Nature. Tlatonac is in the tierra calienti, or +hot country. Higher up, on the table-lands it is less tropical, and is +called the tierra templada, while the snow-clad mountain peaks, where +flourish pine trees, oaks, and hemlocks, is known by the name of the +tierra fria. Thus, you see, in our country we possess all the climates +of the world." + +"A rare advantage. Central America is a favoured country." + +"In all save its rulers," sighed Maraquando, regretfully. "Nor is its +population what it should be. I tell you, Señor, this land should be +the most powerful in the world. It is the most favoured spot on +earth--the garden of Paradise; but what with our incessant civil wars, +our incompetent governors, and, of late, the tyranny of the Church, the +whole continent is demoralised. Ah, if we but had the man who could +weld all our foolish Republics into one great nation! Then, indeed, +would we be the glory of the earth." + +"Don Hypolito Xuarez evidently looks upon himself as that man." + +"Don Hypolito!" echoed Maraquando, scornfully. "No, Señor; he has the +instincts of a tyrant. He would grind down the people as the +Conquistadores did their ancestors. Were he pure minded and noble in +his ambition, I--even I, Miguel Maraquando--would support him. I would +lay aside all prejudices to aid him to make our country great. But I +know the man, Don Felipe. He is a half-bred, a treacherous scoundrel, +who wants to be the Santa Anna of the Republic. Let him beware of +Iturbide's fate!" + +"At all events, he intends to become Emperor," persisted Philip, +calmly. + +"No! The Junta has decided that he is to be banished from Cholacaca. +Already the fleet is a Acauhtzin to arrest him, and to-morrow we send +up a special message that he is to be brought to Tlatonac at once." + +"Suppose he refuses to come?" + +"He will be brought by force." + +"Always provided the fleet do not support his cause." + +"You, too, Señor," said Maraquando, thoughtfully; "so said Don Juan +last night. It may be so, and yet I hope, for the sake of the country, +that the affair may be ended at once. I believe the navy will continue +faithful. My own son, Don Rafael, is in command of one ship; yet I +mistrust Xuarez and his oily tongue. Yes, Señor, I have thought much +since Don Juan and the Señor Corresponsãl spoke to me last night. I +have conferred with His Excellency, the President. Therefore have we +decided to send up a message to-morrow, ordering the return of the +fleet with or without Xuarez. It does not do to trust him." + +"You have another man-of-war, then, to go to Acauhtzin." + +"No; we have a small steamer. But she is quick, and will go there and +return in no time." + +"That is if she is permitted to do so," thought Philip; but he did not +say this aloud, lest Don Miguel should grow angry. + +"Still, even if the fleet does revolt, we will have the torpederas," +said the Jefe, cheerfully. "They are now on their way from England. His +Excellency received a telegram yesterday." + +"If you have the torpederas, you can do a good deal," replied Philip, +lighting a cigarette: "and if there is a war, Don Miguel, my yacht is +at the service of the Government." + +"A thousand, thousand thanks, Señor!" said Miguel, smiling gratefully; +"but I hope and trust there will be no occasion for us to ask you to +make such a sacrifice. However, we shall soon know--in three days at +the most. If the fleet are true to us, they will bring back Don +Hypolito. If not, we shall know what steps to take to defend Tlatonac +from being bombarded." + +"By the way, Señor," said Cassim, thoughtfully, "you have a +telegraph-station here. In which direction do the wires run?" + +"Why do you ask, Señor?" + +"Because the Señor Corresponsãl wishes constant communication with +England, should there be a war. Now, if the wires go north to +Acauhtzin, they can be cut by Don Hypolito." + +"That is true, Don Felipe. Fortunately they do _not_ run north. No; the +wires run south to Janjalla which town will certainly remain faithful +to the Government. From thence all messages can with ease be +transmitted to England." + +Philip was pleased at this, as he saw that Tim would be enabled to +transmit messages to England with the greatest ease, and thus cover +himself with glory. They conversed for a few minutes on the subject, +and then left the market for the alameda. + +It was a most delightful promenade. High trees on either side, whose +branches formed a green arcade above the heads of the promenaders. Beds +of roses in profusion--brilliant tropical plants, bronze statues, +marble statues, and plenty of pleasantly situated seats. One portion +was reserved for those who chose to walk, another for horses and their +riders. Hither came all the aristocracy of the city, when they grew +weary of the zocala of the Plaza de los Hombres Ilustres, and on this +day the alameda was crowded. + +In a gaily decorated bandstand, an excellent company of musicians +played bright music, mostly airs from comic operas, and Philip was +amused to hear Offenbachian frivolities sounding in this spot. They +seemed out of place. The musicians had no sense of the fitness of +things. They should have played boleros fandangos--the national music +of Spain--instead of which they jingled the trashy airs of minor +musicians. + +The alameda was thronged by a motley crowd, presenting more varied +features than are to be seen in any other part of the world. Indian +women squatting at the corners selling fruit and pulque, beautiful +señoritas with black mantillas and eloquent fans, gay young cavaliers +dashing along on spirited horses, in all the bravery of the national +costume, and not seldom a sour-looking duenna, jealously watching her +charge. Occasionally a priest in shovel-hat and black cassock--but +these were very rare. The army was also represented by a number of +gaily-dressed officers who smoked cigarettes, smiled at the señoritas, +and clanked their huge spurs ostentatiously together. It was a gay +scene, and Philip admired it greatly. + +"I have never seen such a mixed crowd anywhere," he said, lightly, +"save in the Strada Reale in Valetta." + +"Well!" said Maraquando, after a pause, "and what do you think of +Tlatonac?" + +"It is a terrestrial Paradise," replied Philip, "and Hypolito is the +serpent." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DOLORES. + + Your eyes + Are dark as midnight skies, + And bright as midnight stars, + Their glance + Is full of love's romance, + When no hate loving mars. + Oh let those eyes look down on me, + Oh let those glances wander free, + And I will take those stars to be + My guides for life, + Across the ocean of wild strife, + Dolores! + + My heart + Those looks have rent apart, + And now 'tis torn in twain; + Oh take + That broken heart, and make + With kiss it whole again; + Oh lightly from thy lattice bend, + Give but a smile, and it will mend, + Then love will love be till we end + Our life of tears, + For some sweet life in yonder spheres, + Dolores! + + +The next day Jack came back with Dolores and Doña Serafina. He was +puffed up with exceeding pride at his good fortune, for it is not every +young man in Central America who gets a chance of talking unreservedly +with the girl of his heart. The Cholacacans treat their women folk as +do the Turks: shut them up from the insolent glances of other men, and +only let them feel their power over the susceptible hearts of cavaliers +at the yearly carnival. Jack never did approve of these Orientalisms, +even in his days of heart-wholeness, and now that his future hinged on +the smile of Dolores, he disapproved of such shuttings up more than +ever. + +Fortunately Don Miguel was not a Turk, and gave his womenfolk greater +freedom than was usual in Tlatonac. Dolores and her cousin were not +unused to masculine society, and Doña Serafina was the most +good-natured of duennas. Consequently they saw a good deal of the +creature man, and were correspondingly grateful for the seeing. Still, +even in Cholacaca it is going too far to let a young unmarried fellow +ride for many miles beside the caleza of two unmarried ladies. So far +as Doña Serafina was concerned, it did not matter. She was old enough, +and ugly enough, to be above suspicion; but Dolores--ah, ah!--the +scandal-mongers of Tlatonac opened their black eyes, and whispered +behind their black fans, when they heard of Don Miguel's folly, of the +Señor Americano's audacity. + +As a rule, Don Miguel, proud as Lucifer, would not have permitted Jack +to escort his sister and niece in this way; but the prospect of a war +had played havoc with social observances. Don Rafael was away, Don +Miguel could not leave the capital, and the ladies certainly could not +return by themselves, over bad roads infested by Indians. Thus, the +affair admitted of some excuse, and Don Miguel was grateful to Jack for +performing what should have been his duty. He did not know that the +gratitude was all on the other side, and that Duval would have given +years of his life for the pleasant journey, obtained with so little +difficulty. If he had known--well, Don Miguel was not the most amiable +of men, so there would probably have been trouble. As it was, however, +the proud Spaniard knew nothing, not even as much as did the gossips of +Tlatonac; so Jack duly arrived with his fair charges, and was duly +thanked for his trouble by the grateful Maraquando. Fate was somewhat +ironical in dealing with the matter. + +That journey was a glimpse of Paradise to Jack, for he had Dolores all +to himself. Doña Serafina, being asleep, did not count. A peon, with a +long cigar, who was as stupid as a stone idol, drove the caleza +containing the two ladies. Doña Serafina, overcome by her own +stoutness, and the intense heat, slept heavily, and Jack, riding close +to the carriage, flirted with Dolores. There was only one inconvenience +about this arrangement--the lovers could not kiss one another. + +It was a long way from the estancia, but Jack wished it was longer, so +delightful was his conversation with Dolores. She sat in the caleza +flirting her big fan, and cooing like a dove, when her lover said +something unusually passionate. Sometimes she sent a flash of her dark +eyes through the veil of her mantilla, and then Jack felt queer +sensations about the region of the heart. A pleasant situation, yet +tantalising, since it was all the "thou art so near and yet so far" +business, with no caresses or kisses. When the journey came to an end, +they were both half glad, half sorry; the former on account of their +inability to come to close quarters, the latter, because they well knew +they would not again get such a chance of unwatched courting. + +Eulalia, who guessed all this pleasantness, received her cousin with a +significant smile, and took her off to talk over the matter in the +solitude of the bedroom they shared together. Don Miguel seized on his +sleepy sister in order to extract from her a trustworthy report as to +how things were at the estancia, and Jack departed to his own house, to +announce his arrival and that of Dolores. + +It was late in the afternoon, for the journey, commencing at dawn, had +lasted till close on four o'clock, and Jack found his three friends +enjoying their siestas. He woke them up, and began to talk Dolores. +When he had talked himself hoarse, and Peter asleep, quoth Philip-- + +"What about the railway works?" + +"I haven't been near them," said Jack, innocently; whereat Tim and +Philip laughed so heartily that they made him blush, and awoke Peter. + +"What are you talking about?" asked Peter sleepily. + +"Jack's love affairs," replied Philip, laughing. + +"And by the same token we'll soon be talking of your own," said Tim, +cruelly. "If you only knew the way he's been carrying on with the +black-eyed colleen, Jack!" + +"Nonsense," retorted Cassim, reddening; "I walked about Tlatonac with +Don Miguel yesterday." + +"You flirted with Eulalia last night, anyhow." + +"Don't be jealous, Tim. It's a low-minded vice." + +"Oh, so that is the way the wind blows, Philip," said Jack, stretching +himself. "I knew you would fall in love with Eulalia. Now, it's no use +protesting. I know the signs of love, because I've been through the +mill myself." + +"Two days' acquaintance, and you say I love the girl! Try again, Jack." + +"Not I! Time counts for naught in a love affair. I fell in love with +Dolores in two minutes!" + +"Ah, that's the way with us all," said Tim, reflectively. "When I was +in Burmah, there was a girl in Mandalay----" + +"Tim, we don't want any of your immoral stories. You'll shock +Peter--confound him, he's asleep again, like the fat boy in Pickwick. +Well, gentlemen both, I am about to follow the doctor's example. I've +been riding all day, and feel baked." + +"How long do you intend to sleep, Jack?" + +"An hour or so. Then we'll have something to eat, and go off to +Maraquando's to see the ladies. We must introduce Peter to his future +wife." + +"Begad, I may fall in love with Doña Serafina myself!" + +"It's possible, if you are an admirer of the antique," retorted Jack, +and went off to his bedroom for a few hours' sleep. Even lovers require +rest, and bucketing about on a half-broken horse for the best part of +the day under a grilling sun was calculated to knock up even so tough a +subject as Jack. + +"Faith!" remarked Tim, when Jack's long legs vanished through the +doorway, "if old Serafina smiles on Peter, and those girls flirt with +you and Jack, I'll be left out in the cold. Another injustice to +Ireland." + +"Come to the alameda to-morrow, and pick out a señorita to be your own +private property." + +"What! and get a knife in my ribs. I'm more than seven, Philip. Why, +there was once a girl in Cape Town who had a Boer for a sweetheart----" + +"And you took the girl, and the Boer didn't like it. I know that story, +Tim. It's a chestnut. You told it in that book of sketches you wrote. +Go on with your work; I'm sleepy." + +"Ow--ow!" yawned Tim, lazily. "I'd like to sleep myself, but that I +have to write up this interview with Gomez. Did I tell you about it, +Philip?" + +"Yes; you've told me three times, and given three different versions. +Keep the fourth for _The Morning Planet_." + +"But the President said----" + +"I know all about that," muttered Philip, crossly. "What you said--what +he said--what Maraquando said--and how you all lied against one +another. Do let us sleep, Tim. First Jack, then you. Upon my--upon my +word--upon--on!" and Philip went off into a deep slumber. + +"I hope the interview with Gomez won't have the same effect on my +readers," said Tim, blankly to himself, "or it's the sack I'll be +getting. Come on with ye! 'There will be no war', said the President. +That's a lie, anyhow; but he said it, so down it goes. Oh, my immortal +soul, it's a liar I am." + +Then he began scratching the paper with a bad pen, and there was peace +in the land. + +That night they duly arrived at Maraquando's house in order to ask how +politics were progressing. This was the excuse given by three of them; +but it was false, as Tim well knew. He alone took an interest in +politics. Even Peter had ceased to care about Don Hypolito, and the +opal stone, and the possible war. He--under orders from Jack and +Philip, who wanted the girls to themselves--made himself agreeable to +Doña Serafina. Unaccustomed, by reason of her plain looks, to such +attentions, she enjoyed the novelty of the thing, and thought this fat +little Americano delightful. It is true that their conversation was +mostly pantomimic; but as the doctor knew a few words of Spanish, and +Serafina had learnt a trifle of English from Jack, filtered through +Dolores, they managed between them to come to a hazy understanding as +to what they were talking about. + +Never till that moment did Philip feel the infinite charm of that +languorous Creole life, so full of dreams and idleness. Sitting beside +Eulalia in the warm gloom, he listened to her sparkling conversation, +and stared vaguely at the beauty of the scene around him. In the patio +all was moonlight and midnight--that is as regards the shadows, for the +hour was yet early. Here and there in the violet sky trembled a star +with mellow lustre, and the keen, cold shafts of moonlight, piercing +the dusk, smote the flowers and tessellated pavement with silver rays. +Pools of white light lay on the floor welling into the shadow even to +the little feet of Eulalia. The court wore that unfamiliar look, so +mysterious, so weird, which only comes with the night and the pale +moon. And then--surely that was music--the trembling note of a guitar +sounding from the shadowy corner in which Jack and Dolores were +ensconced. + +In the glimmering light Philip could see the grotesque gestures of +Serafina and the doctor, as they pantomimed to one another on the +azotea, and the red tip of Miguel's cigar, as he strolled up and down +on the flat roof talking seriously with Tim. Through the warm air, +heavy with the perfume of flowers, floated the contralto voice of +Dolores. The song was in Spanish, and that noble tongue sounded rich +and full over the sweeping music of the guitar. As translated +afterwards by Philip (who dabbled in poetry), the words ran thus: + + In Spain! ah, yes, in Spain! + When day was fading, + I heard you serenading, + While shed the moon her silver rain, + The nightingale your song was aiding, + My tresses dark I then was braiding, + When to my chamber upward springing + There came the burden of your singing, + Nor was that singing vain + In Spain--dear Spain. + + From Spain! yes, far from Spain, + We two now wander; + And here as yonder + A hopeless love for me you feign. + Alas! of others thou art fonder, + And I, forsaken, sit and ponder. + Yet once again your voice is ringing, + I hear the burden of that singing. + Alas! I fled in vain + From Spain--dear Spain. + +They applauded the song and the singer, Jack looking across to Philip +as much as to say, "Isn't she an angel?" If Philip thought so, he did +not say so, being busy with Eulalia. They were talking Chinese +metaphysics, a pleasant subject to discuss with a pretty girl well up +in the intricacies thereof. As to Jack and his angel! + +"Querida!" murmured Dolores, slipping her hand into that of her lover's +under cover of the darkness; "how lonely has my heart been without +thee." + +"Angelito," replied Jack, who was an adept at saying pretty things in +Spanish; "I left behind my heart when I departed, and it has drawn me +back to your side." + +"Alas! How long will we be together, Juan? I am afraid of this war; +should Don Hypolito conquer!" Here she paused and slightly shuddered. + +"He shall not conquer, cara. What can he do with a few adherents +against the power of the Government?" + +"Still, the Indians----" + +"You are afraid they will join with him. To what end? Xuarez cannot +restore the worship of the Chalchuih Tlatonac." + +"Juan!" said Dolores, anxiously, "it is not of Xuarez I am so much +afraid as of the Indians. If there is a war, they may carry me off." + +"Carry you off!" repeated Jack, in a puzzled tone of voice. "Why, how +could they do that? and for what reason?" + +"They could do it easily by some subtle device; bolts and bars and +walled towns are nothing to them when they set their hearts on +anything. And they would carry me away because I am the guardian of the +Chalchuih Tlatonac." + +"Who told you all this?" + +"Cocom." + +"But he does not worship the opal or the old gods. He is a devout +Catholic." + +"So says Padre Ignatius; but I think he is one of those who go to the +forest sanctuary. He knows much." + +"And says nothing. It is death for him to betray the secrets of that +Aztec worship." + +"Listen, Juan, alma de mi alma. The life of Cocom was saved by my uncle +Miguel, and with him gratitude is more powerful than religion. He told +me while you were away, that the opal has prophesied war, and on that +account the Indians are alarmed for me. Should there be no guardian of +the opal, Huitzilopochtli will be angry, and lest I should be killed in +the war as soon as the revolt takes place, the Indians will carry me +for safety into the heart of the country--into those trackless forest +depths more profound than the sea." + +"They shall never do so while I am at hand," said Jack, fiercely; "but +I don't believe this story of Cocom's. You cannot be in such danger." + +"I am afraid it is true; besides, that is not the only danger--Don +Hypolito!" + +"What of him?" + +"He wishes to marry me, Juan." + +Duval laughed softly, and pressed the little hand, that lay within his +own. + +"You talk ancient history, querida; I thought we settled that I was to +be the favoured one." + +"It is true! ah, yes, thee alone do I love," whispered Dolores, +tenderly; "but when you departed, Juan, he came to me, this Don +Hypolito, and spoke of love." + +"Confound his impudence!" muttered Jack, in English. + +"What say you, Juan? Oh, it was terrible! He said, if I became not his +wife, that he would plunge the country into war. I did not believe that +he could do so or would dare to do so. I refused. Then he spoke of my +love for you, and swore to kill you." + +"He'll have to catch me first, Dolores." + +"'There will be war,' said this terrible one, 'and I will tear down the +walls of Tlatonac to seize you. This Americano will I slay and give his +body to the dogs.'" + +"All idle talk, mi cara," said Duval, scornfully; "I can protect myself +and you. What more did he say?" + +"Little more; but it was the same kind of talk. When he departed, I +spoke to my uncle; but Don Hypolito had by that time gone to +Acauhtzin." + +"Was Don Miguel angry?" + +"Very angry! But he could do nothing. Don Hypolito was far away on the +waters." + +"And will return with fire and blood," said Jack, gloomily; "but never +fear, Dolores. My friends and myself will protect you from this +insolent one. If we are conquered, we shall fly to my own land in the +vessel of Don Felipe!" + +"But what of Eulalia?" + +"Ah!" replied her lover, waggishly; "I think you can trust Don Felipe +to look after Eulalia." + +"Do you think there will be a war, Juan?" + +"It looks like it. However, we shall know for certain when the +messenger comes back from Acauhtzin." + +"Yes; my uncle told me the boat had gone up to-day to bid the fleet +return." + +"A wild-goose chase only," thought Jack, but held his peace, lest he +should alarm Dolores. + +Fearful of attracting her uncle's attention by speaking too much to +Jack, the Spanish beauty crossed over to where Philip and Eulalia were +sitting. + +"Señor Felipe!" said Dolores, gaily, "wherefore do you laugh?" + +"It is at Don Pedro and my good aunt," replied Eulalia, before Philip +could speak. "Behold them, Dolores, making signs like wooden puppets." + +Dolores turned her eyes towards the couple leaning over the azotea +railing, and began to laugh also. Then Jack came over and demanded to +be informed of the joke. He was speedily informed of the performance +going on above; so that the two actors had quite an audience, although +they knew it not. Indeed the affair was sufficiently grotesque. It was +like a game of dumb crambo, as Peter acted a word, and the old lady +tried to guess his meaning. + +For instance, wishing to tell her how he captured butterflies, Peter +wagged his hands in the air to indicate the flight of insects, then +struck at a phantom beetle with an imaginary net. + +"Pajaros!" guessed Doña Serafina, wrongly. Peter did not know this was +the Spanish for 'birds,' and thought she had caught his meaning. The +lady thought so too, and was delighted with her own perspicuity. + +"Bueno, Señor! You catch birds! To eat?" + +She imitated eating, whereon Peter shook his head though he was not +quite sure if the Cholacacans did not eat beetles. Foreigners had so +many queer customs. + +Seeing Peter misunderstood, Doña Serafina skipped lightly across the +azotea, flapping her arms, and singing. Then she turned towards the +doctor, and nodded encouragingly. + +"Birds!" she said, confidently. "You eat them?" + +Now Peter knew that 'comida' meant eating; but quite certain that Doña +Serafina did not devour beetles, set himself to work to show her what +he really meant. He ran after imaginary butterflies round the azotea, +and, in his ardour, bumped up against Tim. + +"What the devil are you after?" said Tim, displeased at his +conversation with Maraquando being interrupted. "Why can't you behave +yourself, you ill-conducted little person." + +"Do they eat beetles, here?" asked Tim, eagerly. + +"Beetles! they'd be thin, if they did," said Tim, drily. "I don't know. +Do you eat beetles, Señor?" he added, turning to Don Miguel. + +The Spaniard made a gesture of disgust, and looked inquiringly at his +sister. + +"Los pajaros," explained Doña Serafina, smiling. + +"Oh, 'tis birds she's talking about!" + +"Birds!" replied the doctor, blankly. "I thought I showed her +butterflies. This way," and he began hovering round again. + +Tim roared. + +"They'll think you have gone out of what little mind you possess, +Peter!" + +"Ah, pobrecito," said Serafina, when the meaning of the pantomime was +explained, "I thought he was playing at a flying bird." + +"You'll never make your salt as an actor, Peter," jeered Tim, as they +all laughed over the mistake. "I'd better call up Philip and Jack to +keep you straight. Jack, come up here, and bring Philip with you." + +"All right," replied Jack, from the depths below, where they had been +watching the performance with much amusement; "we are coming." + +The quartette soon made their appearance in the azotea, where Peter's +mistake was explained. + +"Do it again, Peter," entreated Philip, laughing; "you have no idea how +funny you look flopping about!" + +"I shan't," growled the doctor, ruffled. "Why can't they talk English?" + +"Doña Dolores can talk a little," said Jack, proudly "Señorita talk to +my friend in his own tongue." + +"It is a nice day," repeated Doña Dolores, slowly; "'ow do you do?" + +"Quite well, thank you," replied Peter, politely; whereat his friends +laughed again in the most unfeeling manner. + +"Oh, you can laugh," said Peter, indignantly; "but if I was in love +with a girl, I would teach her some better words than about the +weather, and how do you do!" + +"I have done so," replied Jack, quietly; "but those words are for +private use." + +At this moment Dolores, laughing behind her fan, was speaking to Doña +Serafina, who thereupon advanced towards Peter. + +"I can speak to the Americano," she announced to the company; then, +fixing Peter with her eye, said, with a tremendous effort, "Darling!" + +"Oh!" said the modest Peter, taken aback, "she said, 'darling'!" + +"Darling!" repeated Serafina, who was evidently quite ignorant of the +meaning. + +"That's one of the words for private use, eh, Jack?" laughed Philip, +quite exhausted with merriment. "A very good word. I must teach it to +Doña Eulalia." + +"It's too bad of you, Doña Dolores," said Jack, reproachfully; whereat +Dolores laughed again at the success of her jest. + +"Did the Señor have good sport with Cocom," asked Don Miguel, somewhat +bewildered at all this laughter, the cause of which, ignorant as he was +of English, he could not understand. + +"Did you have a good time, Peter," translated Tim, fluently, "with the +beetles." + +"Oh, splendid! tell him splendid. I captured some Papilionidae! and a +beautiful little glow-worm. One of the Elateridae species, and----" + +"I can't translate all that jargon, you fat little humming-bird! He had +good sport, Señor," he added, suddenly turning to Don Miguel. + +"Bueno!" replied the Spaniard, gravely, "it is well." + +It was no use trying to carry on a common conversation, as the party +invariably split up into pairs. Dolores and Eulalia were already +chatting confidentially to their admirers. Doña Serafina began to make +more signs to Peter, with the further addition of a parrot-cry of +"Darling," and Tim found himself once more alone with Don Miguel. + +"I have written out my interview with the President," he said slowly; +"and it goes to England to-morrow. Would you like to see it first, +Señor?" + +"If it so pleases you, Señor Correspoñsal." + +"Good! then I shall bring it with me to-morrow morning. Has that +steamer gone to Acauhtzin yet?" + +"This afternoon it departed, Señor. It will return in two days with the +fleet." + +"I hope so, Don Miguel, but I am not very certain," replied Tim, +significantly. "His Excellency Gomez does not seem very sure of the +fleet's fidelity either." + +"There are many rumours in Tlatonac," said Maraquando, impatiently. +"All lies spread by the Opposidores--by Xuarez and his gang. I fear the +people are becoming alarmed. The army, too, talk of war. Therefore, to +set all these matters at rest, to-morrow evening his Excellency the +President will address the Tlatonacians at the alameda." + +"Why at the alameda?" + +"Because most of them will be assembled there at the twilight hour, +Señor. It is to be a public speech to inspire our people with +confidence in the Government, else would the meeting be held in the +great hall of the Palacio Nacional." + +"I would like to hear Don Franciso Gomez speak, so I and my friends +will be at the alameda." + +"You will come with me, Señor Correspoñsal," said Miguel, politely; "my +daughter, niece, and sister are also coming." + +"The more the merrier! It will be quite a party, Señor." + +"It is a serious position we are in," said Maraquando, gravely; "and I +trust the word of his Excellency will show the Tlatonacians that there +is nothing to be feared from Don Hypolito." + +At this moment Doña Serafina, who had swooped down on her charges, +appeared to say good night. Both Dolores and Eulalia were unwilling to +retire so early, but their aunt was adamant, and they knew that nothing +could change her resolution, particularly as she had grown weary of +fraternising with Peter. + +"Bueno noche tenga, Vm," said Doña Serafina, politely, and her +salutation was echoed by the young ladies in her wake. + +"Con dios va usted, Señora," replied Tim, kissing the old lady's +extended hand, after which they withdrew. Dolores managed to flash a +tender glance at Jack as they descended into the patio, and Philip, +leaning over the balustrade of the azotea caught a significant wave of +Eulalia's fan, which meant a good deal. Cassim knew all those minute +but eloquent signs of love. + +Shortly afterwards they also took their leave after refusing +Maraquando's hospitable offer of pulque. + +"No, sir," said Tim, as they went off to their own mansion; "not while +there is good whisky to be had." + +"But pulque isn't bad," protested Jack, more for the sake of saying +something than because he thought so. + +"Well, drink it yourself, Jack, and leave us the crather!" + +"Talking about 'crathers,'" said Philip, mimicking Tim's brogue, "what +do you think of Doña Serafina, Peter?" + +"A nice old lady, but not beautiful. I would rather be with Doña +Eulalia." + +"Would you, indeed?" retorted Cassim, indignantly. "As if she would +understand those idiotic signs you make." + +"They are quite intelligible to----" + +"Be quiet, boys!" said Tim, as they stopped at the door of Jack's +house, "you'll get plenty of fighting without starting it now. There's +going to be a Home Rule meeting to-morrow." + +"Where, Tim?" + +"In the alameda, no less. His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant is to +speak to the crowd." + +"He'll tell a lot of lies, I expect," said Jack, sagely. "Well, he can +say what he jolly well pleases. I'll lay any odds that before the +week's out war will be proclaimed." + +He was a truer prophet than he thought. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +VIVA EL REPUBLICA. + + No king have we with golden crown, + To tread the sovereign people down; + All men are equal in our sight-- + The ruler ranks but with the clown. + + Our symbol is the opal bright, + Which darts its rays of rainbow light, + Prophetic of all coming things, + Of blessing, war, disaster, blight. + + Red glow abroad the opal flings, + To us the curse of war it brings; + And evil days there soon shall be, + Beneath the war-god's dreaded wings. + + Yet knowing what we soon shall see, + We'll boldly face this misery, + And fight, though dark our fortunes frown, + For life, and home, and liberty. + + +Padre Ignatius always said that his flock were true and devout +Catholics, who believed in what they ought to believe. Strictly +speaking, the flock of Padre Ignatius was limited to the congregation +of a little adobe church on the outskirts of the town, but his large +heart included the whole population of Tlatonac in that ecclesiastical +appellation. Everyone knew the Padre and everyone loved him, Jesuit +though he was. For fifty years had he laboured in the vineyard of +Tlatonac, but when his fellow-labourers were banished, the Government +had not the heart to bid him go. So he stayed on, the only +representative of his order in all Cholacaca, and prayed and preached +and did charitable works, as had been his custom these many years past. +With his thin, worn face, rusty cassock, slouch hat, and kindly smile, +Padre Ignatius, wonderfully straight considering his seventy years, +attended to the spiritual wants of his people, and said they were +devout Catholics. He always over-estimated human nature, did the Padre. + +So far as the Padre saw, this might have been the case, and nobody +having the heart to undeceive him, he grew to believe that these +half-civilised savages were Christians to the bone; but there was no +doubt that nine out of every ten in his flock were very black sheep +indeed. They would kneel before the gaudy shrine of the adobe chapel, +and say an Ave for every bead of the rosary, but at one time or another +every worshipper was missing, each in his or her turn. They had been to +the forest for this thing, for that thing; they had been working on the +railway fifty miles inland, or fishing some distance up the coast. Such +were the excuses they gave, and Padre Ignatius, simple-hearted soul, +believed them, never dreaming that they had been assisting in the +worship of the Chalchuih Tlatonac in the hidden temple of +Huitzilopochtli. + +The belief in the devil stone was universal throughout Cholacaca. Not +only did the immediate flock of Padre Ignatius revere it as a symbol of +the war-god, but every person in the Republic who had Indian blood in +his or her veins firmly believed that the shining precious stone +exercised a power over the lives and fortunes of all. Nor was such +veneration to be wondered at, considering how closely the history of +the great gem was interwoven with that of the country. The shrine of +the opal had stood where now arose the cathedral; the Indian +appellation of the jewel had given its name to the town; and the +picture representation of the gem itself was displayed on the yellow +standard of the Republic. Hardly any event since the foundation of the +city could be mentioned with which the harlequin opal was not connected +in some way. It was still adored in the forest temple by thousands of +worshippers, and, unknown as it was to the padres, there were few +peons, leperos, or mestizos who had not seen the gem flash on the altar +of the god. Cholacacans of pure Spanish blood, alone refrained from +actual worship of the devil stone, and even these were more or less +tinctured with the superstition. It is impossible to escape the +influence of an all-prevailing idea, particularly in a country not +quite veneered by civilisation. + +On this special evening, when President Gomez was to address the +populace, and assure them that there would be no war, the alameda +presented an unusually lively appearance. It had been duly notified +that His Excellency would make a speech on the forthcoming crisis, +hence the alameda was crowded with people anxious to hear the official +opinion of the affair. The worst of it was, had Gomez but known it, +that the public mind was already made up. There was to be war, and that +speedily, for a rumour had gone forth from the sanctuary of the opal +that the gem was burning redly as a beacon fire. Everyone believed that +this foreboded war, and Gomez, hoping to assure the Tlatonacians of +peace, might as well have held his tongue. They would not believe him +as the opal stone had prophesied a contrary opinion. But beyond an idle +whisper or so, Gomez did not know this thing, therefore he came to the +alameda and spoke encouragingly to the people. + +From all quarters of the town came the inhabitants to the alameda, and +the vast promenade presented a singularly gay appearance. The national +costumes of Spanish America were wonderfully picturesque, and what with +the background of green trees, sparkling fountains, brilliant +flower-beds, and, over all, the violet tints of the twilight, Philip +found the scene sufficiently charming. He was walking beside Jack, in +default of Eulalia, who, in company with Dolores, marched demurely +beside Doña Serafina. This was a public place, the eyes of Tlatonac +gossips were sharp, their tongues were bitter, so it behoved discreet +young ladies, as these, to keep their admirers at a distance. In the +patio it was quite different. + +Tim had gone off with Don Miguel, to attach himself to the personal +staff of the President, and take shorthand notes of the speech. It had +been the intention of Peter to follow his Irish friend, but, +unfortunately, he lost him in the crowd, and therefore returned to the +side of Philip, who caught sight of him at once. + +"Where's Tim?" asked the baronet, quickly; "gone off with Don Miguel?" + +"Yes; to the Palacio Nacional." + +"I thought you were going?" + +"I lost sight of them." + +"An excuse, Peter," interposed Jack, with a twinkle in his eye. "You +remained behind to look at the Señoritas." + +Peter indignantly repudiated the idea. + +"His heart is true to his Poll," said Philip, soothingly; "thereby +meaning Doña Serafina. Darling!" + +Philip mimicked the old lady's pronunciation of the word, and Jack +laughed; not so Peter. + +"How you do go on about Doña Serafina?" he said fretfully. "After all, +she is not so very ugly, though she may not have the thirty points of +perfection." + +"Eh, Peter, I didn't know you were learned in such gallantries; and +what are the thirty points of perfection?" + +The doctor was about to reply, when Cocom, wrapped in his zarape, +passed slowly by, and took off his sombrero to the party. + +"A dios, Señores," said Cocom, gravely. + +"Our Indian friend," remarked Jack, with a smile. "Ven aca Cocom! Have +you come to hear the assurance of peace." + +"There will be no peace, Señor Juan. I am old--very old, and I can see +into the future. It is war I see--the war of Acauhtzin." + +"Ah! Is that your own prophecy or that of the Chalchuih Tlatonac." + +"I know nothing of the Chalchuih Tlatonac, Don Juan," replied Cocom, +who always assumed the role of a devout Catholic; "but I hear many +things. Ah, yes, I hear that the Chalchuih Tlatonac is glowing as a red +star." + +"And that means war!" + +"It means war, Señor, and war there will be. The Chalchuih Tlatonac +never deceives. Con dios va usted Señor." + +"Humph!" said Jack, thoughtfully, as Cocom walked slowly away; "so that +is the temper of the people, is it? The opal says war. In that case it +is no use Gomez saying peace, for they will not believe him." + +During this conversation with the Indian, Philip had gone on with +Peter, so as to keep the ladies in sight. Jack pushed his way through +the crowd and found them seated near the bandstand, from whence the +President was to deliver his speech. As yet, His Excellency had not +arrived, and the band were playing music of a lively description, +principally national airs, as Gomez wished to arouse the patriotism of +the Tlatonacians. + +The throng of people round the bandstand was increasing every moment. +It was composed of all sorts and conditions of men and women, from +delicate señoritas, draped in lace mantillas, to brown-faced Indian +women, with fat babies on their backs; gay young hidalgos, in +silver-buttoned buckskin breeches, white ruffled shirts, and short +jackets, and smart military men in the picturesque green uniform of the +Republic. All the men had cigarettes, all the women fans, and there was +an incessant chatter of voices as both sexes engaged in animated +conversation on the burning subject of the hour. Here and there moved +the neveros with their stock of ice-creams, grateful to thirsty people +on that sultry night, the serenos keeping order among the Indians with +their short staves, and many water-carriers with their leather clothes +and crocks. Above the murmur of conversation arose the cries of these +perambulating traders. "Tortillas de cuajuda," "Bocadillo de Coco," and +all the thousand and one calls announcing the quality of their goods. + +Many of the ladies were driving in carriages, and beside them rode +caballeros, mounted on spirited horses, exchanging glances with those +whom they loved. The air of the alameda was full of intrigue and subtle +understandings. The wave of a fan, the glance of a dark eye, the +dropping of a handkerchief, the removal of a sombrero, all the mute +signs which pass between lovers who dare not speak, and everywhere the +jealous watching of husbands, the keen eyes of vigilant duennas. + +"It is very like the Puerta del Sol in Madrid," said Philip in a low +whisper, as he stood beside Eulalia; "the same crowd, the same +brilliance, the same hot night and tropic sky. Upon my word, there is +but little difference between the Old Spain and the New." + +"Ah!" sighed Eulalia, adjusting her mantilla; "how delightful it must +be in Madrid!" + +"Not more delightful than here, Señorita. At least, I think so--now." + +Eulalia cast an anxious glance at her duenna, and made a covert sign +behind her fan for him to be silent. + +"Speak to my aunt, Don Felipe!" + +"I would rather speak to you," hinted Philip, with a grimace. + +"Can young ladies speak to whom they please in your country?" + +"I should rather think so. In my country the ladies are quite as +independent as the gentlemen, if not more so." + +"Oh, oh! El viento que corre es algo fresquito." + +"The wind which blows is a little fresh," translated Philip to himself; +"I suppose that is the Spanish for 'I don't believe you.' But it is +true, Señorita," he added quickly, in her own tongue; "you will see it +for yourself some day." + +"I fear not. There is no chance of my leaving Tlatonac." + +"Who knows?" replied Philip, with a meaning glance. + +Eulalia cast down her eyes in pretty confusion. Decidedly this +Americano was delightful, and remarkably handsome; but then he said +such dreadful things. If Doña Serafina heard them--Eulalia turned cold +at the idea of what that vigorous lady would say. + +"Bueno!" chattered the duenna at this moment; "they are playing the +'Fandango of the Opal!'" + +This was a local piece of music much in favour with the Tlatonacians, +and was supposed to represent the Indian sacred dance before the shrine +of the gem. As the first note struck their ears, the crowd applauded +loudly; for it was, so to speak, the National Anthem of Cholacaca. +Before the band-stand was a clear space of ground, and, inspired by the +music, two Mestizos, man and woman, sprang into the open, and began to +dance the fandango. The onlookers were delighted, and applauded +vehemently. + +They were both handsome young people, dressed in the national costume, +the girl looking especially picturesque with her amber-coloured short +skirt, her gracefully draped mantilla, and enormous black fan. The +young fellow had castanets, which clicked sharply to the rhythm of the +music, as they whirled round one another like Bacchantes. The adoration +of the opal, the reading of the omen, the foretelling of successful +love, all were represented marvellously in wonderful pantomime. Then +the dancers flung themselves wildly about, with waving arms and mad +gestures, wrought up to a frenzy by the inspiriting music. Indeed, the +audience caught the contagion, and began to sing the words of the opal +song-- + + Breathe not a word while the future divining, + True speaks the stone as the star seers above, + Green as the ocean the opal is shining, + Green is prophetic of hope and of love. + + Kneel at the shrine while the future discerning, + See how the crimson ray strengthens and glows; + Red as the sunset the opal is burning, + Red is prophetic of death to our foes. + +At this moment, the carriage of the President, escorted by a troop of +cavalry, arrived at the band-stand. The soldiers, in light green +uniforms, with high buff boots, scarlet waistbands, and brown +sombreros, looked particularly picturesque, but the short figure of the +President, arrayed in plain evening dress, appeared rather out of place +amid all this military finery. The only token of his Excellency's rank +was a broad yellow silk ribbon, embroidered with the opal, which he +wore across his breast. Miguel Maraquando and Tim were in the carriage +with the President, and the Irishman recognised his friends with a wave +of his hand. + +"Tim is in high society," said Peter, with a grin. "We will have to +call him Don Tim after this." + +"We'll call you 'Donkey' after this, if you make such idiotic remarks," +replied Jack, severely. "Be quiet, doctor, and listen to the +speechifying." + +The President was received with acclamation by those in the alameda, +which showed that Tlatonac was well disposed towards the established +Government. It is true that one or two friends of Xuarez attempted to +get up a counter demonstration; but the moment they began hissing and +shouting for Don Hypolito, the serenos pounced down and marched them +off in disgrace. His Excellency, attended by Don Miguel and several +other members of the Junta, came forward, hat in hand, to the front of +the band-stand, and, after the musicians had stopped playing the +"Fandango," began to speak. Gomez was a fat little man, of no very +striking looks; but when he commenced speaking, his face glowed with +enthusiasm, and his rich, powerful voice reached everyone clearly. The +man was a born orator, and, as the noble tongue of Castille rolled +sonorously from his mouth, he held his mixed audience spell-bound. The +listeners did not believe in his assurances, but they were fascinated +by his oratory. + +It was a sight not easily forgotten. The warm twilight, the brilliant +equatorial vegetation, the equally brilliant and picturesque crowd, +swaying restlessly to and fro; far beyond, through a gap in the trees, +in the violet atmosphere, the snow-clad summit of Xicotencatl, the +largest of Cholacacan volcanoes, and everywhere the vague languor of +the tropics. Gomez, a black figure against the glittering background of +uniforms, spoke long and eloquently. He assured them that there would +be no war. Don Hypolito Xuarez had no supporters; the Junta was about +to banish him from the country; the prosperity of Cholacaca was fully +assured; it was to be a great nation; he said many other pleasant +things, which flattered, but deceived not the Tlatonacians. + +"Yes, señores," thundered the President, smiting his breast, "I, who +stand here--even, I, Francisco Gomez, the representative of the +Republic of Cholacaca--tell you that our land still rests, and shall +rest under the olive tree of Peace. We banish Don Hypolito Xuarez--we +banish all traitors who would crush the sovereign people. The rulers of +Cholacaca, elected by the nation, are strong and wise. They have +foreseen this tempest, and by them it will be averted. Believe not, my +fellow-countrymen, the lying rumours of the streets! I tell you the +future is fair. There will be no war!" + +At this moment he paused to wipe his brow, and then, as if to give the +lie to his assertion, in the dead silence which followed, was heard the +distant boom of a cannon. Astonished at the unfamiliar sound, the +Tlatonacians looked at one another in horror. Gomez paused, +handkerchief in hand, with a look of wonderment on his face. No one +spoke, no one moved, it was as though the whole of that assemblage had +been stricken into stone by some powerful spell. + +In the distance sounded a second boom, dull and menacing, there was a +faint roar far away as of many voices. It came nearer and nearer, and +those in the alameda began to add their voices to the din. Was the city +being shelled by the revolting war-ships; had Don Hypolito surprised +the inland walls with an army of Indians. Terror was on the faces of +all--the clamour in the distance came nearer, waxed louder. A cloud of +dust at the bend of the avenue, and down the central walk, spurring his +horse to its full speed, dashed a dishevelled rider. The horse stopped +dead in front of the band-stand, scattering the people hither and +thither like wind-driven chaff; a young man in naval uniform flung +himself to the ground, and ran up to the astonished President. + +"Your Excellency, the fleet have revolted to Don Hypolito Xuarez! He is +entrenched in the rebel town of Acauhtzin. I alone have escaped, and +bring you news that he has proclaimed war against the Republic!" + +A roar of rage went up to the sky. + +"The opal! The prophecy of the Chalchuih Tlatonac!" cried the +multitude. "Viva el Republica! Death to the traitor Xuarez!" + +Gomez was listening to the messenger, who talked volubly. Then the +President turned towards the people, and, by a gesture of his hand, +enjoined silence. The roar at once sank to a low murmur. + +"What Don Rafael Maraquando says is true," said Gomez, loudly. "This +traitor, Xuarez, has seduced the allegiance of the fleet--of Acauhtzin. +The Republic must prepare for war----" + +He could speak no further, for his voice was drowned in the savage +roaring of the multitude. Everyone seemed to have gone mad. The crowd +of people heaved round the band-stand like a stormy sea. A thousand +voices cursed the traitor Xuarez, lauded the Republic, and repeated the +prophecy of the harlequin opal. The whole throng was demoralised by the +news. + +"War! War! To Acauhtzin!" roared the throats of the mob. "Death to +Xuarez! Viva el Republica! Viva libertad!" + +Gomez made a sign to the band, which at once burst out into the +Fandango of the Opal. A thousand voices began singing the words, a +thousand people began to dance wildly. Ladies waved their +handkerchiefs, men shouted and embraced one another, and amid the roar +of the mob and the blare of the band, Don Francisco Gomez entered his +carriage and drove away escorted by the cavalry. + +Tim fought his way through the crowd down from the band-stand, and +reached the Maraquando part, where he found the three ladies, more +excited than frightened, standing for safety in the circle formed by +the five men. Two of the men were embracing--Don Miguel and his son. + +"It's a great day for Cholacaca," cried Tim, excitedly. "I wouldn't +have missed it for a fortune. Viva el Republica! Ah, Peter, my boy, +this is better than the butterflies." + +"My son! my son, how did you escape?" said Don Miguel, throwing his +arms round Rafael's neck. + +"I will tell you all at the house, my father," replied the young man. +"Let us go now with the ladies to our home. Señores," he added, turning +to the Englishmen, "you will come, too, I trust?" + +It was no easy matter to get through the crowd, but ultimately the five +men managed to push a path to a caleza for the ladies, placed them +therein, and when it drove off, hastened themselves to the Casa +Maraquando. + +The whole city was in commotion. In the Plaza de los Hombres Ilustres a +crowd had collected to salute the great yellow standard of the +Republic, which streamed from the tower of the Palacio Nacional. + +"The opal! the opal! The prophecy of the Tlatonac Chalchuih," roared +the crowd, stamping and yelling. + +"They will believe in that stone more than ever now," whispered Philip +to Jack, as they entered the zaguan of Maraquando's house. "What do you +think of it, Jack?" + +"Oh, it's easy to prophesy when you know," retorted Jack, scornfully. +"Of course, Xuarez told the Indians he was going to revolt, and the +priests of the temple have used the information to advertise the stone. +Of course it grew red, and prophesied war under the circumstances. That +is all the magic about the affair." + +In the patio the ladies were waiting for them in a state of great +excitement, and welcomed Don Rafael as one returned from the dead. He +embraced his sister, cousin, and aunt; which privilege was rather +envied by the four friends, as regards the first two, and was then +formally introduced to the Englishmen. His eye flashed as he saluted +Tim and heard his vocation. + +"You will have plenty to write about, Señor Correspoñsal," he said, +fiercely; "there will be a war, and a bitter war too. I have barely +escaped with my life from Acauhtzin." + +"Tell me all about it, Señor," said Tim, taking out his pocket-book; +"and the news will go off to London to-night." + +"A thousand regrets, Señor Correspoñsal, that I cannot give you a +detailed account at present, but I am worn out. I have not slept for +days!" + +"Pobrecito," cried the ladies, in a commiserating tone. + +"I will, at all events, tell you shortly," resumed Rafael, without +taking any notice of the interruption. "I commanded _The Pizarro_, +and went up to Acauhtzin to arrest Xuarez, according to the order of +the Government. As he refused to surrender, and as the town had +declared in his favour, I thought we would have to bombard it. But +think, Señores, think. When I came back to my ship, I was arrested by +my own crew, by my own officers. Seduced by the oily tongue of Xuarez, +they had revolted. In vain I implored! I entreated! I threatened! I +commanded! They refused to obey any other than the traitor Xuarez. The +other ships behaved in the same way. All the officers who, like myself, +were known to be true to the Government, were arrested and thrown into +prison, I among the number." + +"Ay de mi," cried Serafina, in tears, "what an indignity!" + +Don Rafael was choking with rage, and forgot his manners. + +"Carambo!" he swore roundly, "behold me, gentlemen. Look at my uniform! +Thus was it insulted by the rebels of Acauhtzin, whose houses, I hope, +with the blessing of God, to burn over their heads. I swear it!" + +He wrenched a crucifix from his breast, and kissed it passionately. It +was a striking scene: the dim light, the worn-out young fellow in the +ragged uniform, and his figure black against the lights in the patio, +passionately kissing the symbol of his faith. + +"How did you escape, my son," said Maraquando, whose eyes were flashing +with hatred and wrath. + +"There was a man--one of my sailors, to whom I had shown favour--he was +made one of the prison guards, and, out of kindness, assisted me to +escape; but he was too fearful to help any of the others. In the +darkness of night, I cut through my prison bars with a file he had +given me. I climbed down the wall by a rope, and, when on the ground, +found him, waiting me. He hurried me down to the water's edge, and +placed me in a boat with food for a few days. I rowed out in the +darkness, past the ships, and luckily managed to escape their +vigilance. Then I hoisted the sail, and, as there was a fair wind, by +dawn I was far down the coast. I need not tell you all my adventures, +how I suffered, how I starved, how I thirsted--cursed, cursed, Xuarez!" + +He stamped with rage up and down the patio while the ladies exclaimed +indignantly at the treatment to which he had been subjected. Then he +resumed his story hurriedly, evidently wishing to get it over-- + +"This morning, I fortunately fell in with the steamer sent up by the +Government, which picked me up. I told the captain all, and he returned +at once with the news, arriving at Tlatonac some time ago. I ordered +him to fire those guns announcing my arrival, and hearing his +Excellency was addressing a meeting at the alameda, jumped on a horse +and rode here. The rest you know." + +"Good!" said Tim, who had been busily taking notes, "I'm off to the +telegraph-office, Señores. Good night." + +Tim went off, and the others were not long in following his example. +Overcome by fatigue, Don Rafael had fallen, half-fainting, in a chair, +and the ladies were attending to him; so, seeing they were rather in +the way, Jack and his friends, saying good night, left the house. + +The city was still heaving with excitement. Bands of men went past +dancing and singing. The bells clashed loudly from every tower, and +every now and then a rocket scattered crimson fire in the sky. War was +proclaimed! the whole of Tlatonac was in a state of frenzy, and there +would be no sleep for anyone that night. + +"We're in for it now," said Jack, jubilantly, "hear the war-song!" + +A band of young men with torches tramped steadily towards the Square, +singing the National Anthem of Tlatonac. Philip caught the last two +lines roared triumphantly as they disappeared in the distance: + + Red as the sunset the opal is burning, + Red is prophetic of death to our foes. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE CALL TO ARMS. + + Ta ra ra! Ta ra ra! + The trumpets are blowing, + And thrice hath their brazen notes pealed. + To battle! to battle the soldiers are going, + To conquer or die on the field. + On, soldiers! brave soldiers, who venture your lives + You fight for your country and sweethearts and wives. + + Ta ra ra! Ta ra ra! + The drums roll like thunder, + And women's tears falling like rain. + For lovers! for lovers are parted asunder, + Till victory crowns the campaign. + On, soldiers! brave soldiers go forth to the fray, + And close with the foe in their battle array. + + Ta ra ra! Ta ra ra! + The banners are flying, + And horses prance proudly along, + For women! for women are bitterly crying, + As passes the red-coated throng. + On, soldiers! brave soldiers! soon homeward you'll ride, + Encircled with bay leaves and greeted with pride. + + +At this eventful moment of its history, Cholacaca woke from its slumber +of years, as did the Sleeping Beauty from her century sleep. No more +the lethargic life, the indolent enjoyments, the languorous dreamings +in an enchanted city. A sharp breath of war from the north swept away +the sedative atmosphere; the thunder of the cannon roused Tlatonac to +unexampled excitement. Rebellion and preparation for invasion at +Acauhtzin, indignation and preparation for defence, for punishment in +the capital of the Republic. In these days of alarm and danger, the +city resembled one vast camp, and the descendants of the +Conquistadores, the posterity of the Mayas, proved themselves to be not +unworthy of their glorious traditions, both Spanish and Indian. It was +a turning-point in the history of the Republic. + +The two persons most desirous for the speedy commencement of this +fratricidal war were Tim and Don Rafael: the former as he wished +information for his journal, the latter because he was burning to +revenge the insults and indignities to which he had been subjected by +the rebels at Acauhtzin. Jack was rather dismayed at the near prospect +of hostilities, fearing lest harm should result therefrom to Dolores at +the hands of Don Hypolito, or those of the Forest Indians. For their +part, Philip and Peter assumed a neutral position, the one from +indolence, the other because he was entomologically engaged. What was +the hunting of men compared with the hunting of butterflies, the +capture of rebels with the capture of rare beetles? No, Peter preferred +science to war. + +The loss of the fleet was a great blow to the strength of the +Government, as it, comparatively speaking, placed the capital at the +mercy of the rebel, Xuarez. Communication between the two places was +only possible by water, owing to the roughness and savagery of the +interior, so the Government were unable to march their troops to +Acauhtzin, and nip the rebellion in the bud. On the other hand, as soon +as Xuarez had completed his plans, he would doubtless come south with +his ships and bombard Tlatonac from the sea. Most of the city being +built on the hill, topped by the vast fabric of the cathedral, offered +considerable advantages to the besiegers, and as their vessels would +keep well out of the range of the forts, it would be difficult to +silence their guns. + +From this point of view the outlook was certainly not encouraging, but +the Junta did its best by every possible means to guard against +possible contingencies. The army was drawn up in the Plaza de San Jago, +and reviewed by the President in person. He made a brilliant speech, +reminded the troops of their glorious predecessors, who had thrown off +the yoke of Spain, implored them not to disgrace the Flag of the Opal, +and promised them a speedy victory over these audacious rebels if they +would but be true to their leaders. The troops received this patriotic +oration with acclamation, cheered the brave little man at the +conclusion of his address, uncovered to salute the flag of Cholacaca, +and swore, one and all, to leave no rebel alive in Acauhtzin or +elsewhere. It was a scene of tremendous excitement, and patriotism was +at fever-heat in Tlatonac the whole of the day. + +The great banner of the Republic, only seen on special feast-days, was +on this occasion brought forth from the Treasury by order of Gomez and +displayed to the troops. It was truly a gorgeous flag. Composed of +yellow silk, covered with featherwork, after the manner of the Aztecs, +it glittered in the sunlight like a vast jewel. The sacred stone in the +centre was represented by a cluster of real opals from Queretaro, and +the red, green, blue, and yellow rays therefrom were composed of ruby, +emerald, turquoise and topaz stones. It was the sacred ensign of +Cholacaca, the palladium of the Republic, and in the estimation of the +inhabitants was held to be as sacred as the holy standard of the +Osmanli. When its splendours streamed in the warm air, with flash of +feather and glitter of jewel, a shout arose from soldiers and civilians +alike which might have been heard at Acauhtzin. With that flag waving +over them the Tlatonacians could not think of anything but victory. + +"It is like the standard of Harold at the Battle of Hastings," said +Philip, looking at the splendid flag. "It is to be hoped it will not +bring Gomez such bad luck." + +"Not a bit of it, my boy," replied Tim, who was busy with his +inevitable note-book. "We're going to be the death and glory lads this +time, anyhow." + +"You quite identify yourself with the Government, I see, Tim," remarked +Peter, who was standing by the caleza of Doña Serafina. + +"What!" shouted Tim, playfully, "have we a traitor here? Away with ye, +Peter, or I'll stick a pin in you, like one of those butterflies you're +so fond of impaling. Don't I come of a fighting family myself." + +"Is the Señor Correspoñsal angry?" asked Dolores of Jack, in alarm. + +"No, Señorita; he is patriotic. His nation always make a noise when +they grow patriotic. Sing the 'Wearing of the Green,' Tim," he added, +in English. + +"By St. Patrick! 'tis the 'Opal Fandango' I'll have to learn, sir. Be +quiet, Jack. The troops are marching past the saluting-point." + +The great standard was waving over the heads of the Presidential staff, +near which were the Maraquando party and their friends. Don Miguel +himself was with His Excellency, mounted on a fiery steed, which he +managed with the consummate ease of a practised rider. The band was +playing the "March of Zuloaga," in allusion to the hero who had founded +the Republic. To its stirring strains the troops marched past, saluting +Gomez and his officers as each regiment came abreast of the flag. + +The Plaza de San Jago, a vast clear space used for the parade-ground of +the Cholacacan army, was quite filled with the troops, as there could +not have been less than two thousand present. This was not the full +power of the army, for Janjalla, Chichimec, Puebla de los Naranjos, and +many of the inland towns, were garrisoned with troops. Already messages +had been sent to the commandants of these outlying garrisons to march +with their full strength of men to the capital, but as yet they had not +arrived, and the two thousand soldiers present in the great plaza +represented all the men at the immediate disposal of the Government. + +It was a splendid sight to see these soldiers marching past the +saluting-point, as, with few exceptions, they were a fine body of men. +The uniforms were gaudy, and somewhat fantastical, and each regiment +had its special flag and appellation. There was the Regimiento de los +Pajaros, whose banner, like that of the Republic, was composed of +humming-bird's feathers; the Regimiento de Zuloaga, who marched under +the pictured face of the founder of Cholacaca; the Regimiento de Fray +Medina, bearing the pennant of the Church, embroidered with the +cathedral of which that monk was the builder; and many others, all +looking ready and fit for work in the field. The eyes of the President +flashed with enthusiasm as file after file of men ranged past and the +inspiriting music of the "Zuloaga March" added not a little to the +patriotism of his feelings. + +"Xuarez is already conquered," he said to Maraquando, who rode beside +him. "He can oppose no troops to ours." + +"With the exception of the Regimiento de Huitzilopochtli, which is at +present at Acauhtzin and has doubtless embraced his cause." + +"True, Señor, and he also will stir up the Indians!" + +"I do not care for the Indians," replied Maraquando, quietly, "they +cannot stand against troops armed as ours. If he attacks Tlatonac by +land he will be beaten, but Xuarez is too crafty to venture so rashly. +He has the fleet, and will blockade the city." + +"Let him do so," retorted Gomez, in a fiery tone; "we do not depend on +foreign countries for our food. He cannot starve us out." + +"True enough; but while he has the fleet he can prolong the war to an +indefinite period. Unless we can march our troops to Acauhtzin, and +crush him at his head-quarters, there is no way of bringing the +rebellion to a conclusion." + +"And we have no ships! Carambo! It is unfortunate. But no matter. The +Republic is rich; she has money! We will send for ships of war, for +guns, for engineers, and sooner or later will invest Acauhtzin. Then +Xuarez will meet with the fate he deserves." + +At this moment the crack cavalry regiment of Cholacaca passed proudly +by, with waving plumes and prancing horses. Deprived of his ship by +Xuarez, Don Rafael had asked for and obtained a commission in this +corps, and was now riding at the head of his men with his brother +officers. Accustomed from childhood, like all American Spaniards, to +horses, he had no difficulty in exchanging the deck for the saddle, and +looked a gallant figure as he dashed past on his fiery mustang. + +"Egad, Jack, we must enlist also, like Don Rafael," said Philip, gaily, +as they saw the young man gallop past. "Doña Dolores," he added, +turning to her, "we are going to become soldiers." + +"In the Regimiento de las Señoritas!" exclaimed Doña Eulalia, clapping +her hands. + +"What, señorita! A regiment of women?" + +"Oh no!" interposed Doña Serafina, with a fascinating smile; "it is a +corps raised in the last war by the ladies of Tlatonac. See! here come +the valiant ones." + +"Foot soldiers!" said Jack, in disgust, as the regiment filed past; +"no, Doña Serafina. Nothing less than a cavalry corps will suit us." + +"But can Don Pedro ride, Señor?" + +"What's that about me?" asked Peter, overhearing his name. + +"Doña Serafina wants you to enlist," explained Philip, maliciously. + +"No," replied Peter, firmly; "I will physic the soldiers, and cut off +their legs and arms; but I am a man of peace, and I will not enlist." + +"You little duffer!" said Tim, reverting to his school-boy phraseology, +"we'll make you doctor of the regiment. I'd like to enlist myself, but +the editor would never hear of such a thing. It's my walking ticket I'd +be getting if I did." + +"Well, Philip and myself shall enlist," observed Jack, brightly. "You, +Peter, shall attend to us when we are wounded, and Tim shall cover us +with glory in the columns of _The Morning Planet_. He shall be the bard +to celebrate our deeds." + +This scheme was explained to the ladies and found much favour in their +sight. In fact, the whole female population of Tlatonac was seized with +a violent attack of "scarlet fever," and no one who was not a soldier +found any favour in their eyes. + +"You will be as valiant as the Cid," said Dolores, looking tenderly at +Jack from behind her black fan. + +"With you to smile on me, I can scarcely be a coward," he replied, in a +low tone so as not to reach the vigilant ears of the duenna. "I will +ask His Excellency for a commission in your cousin's regiment." + +"And you also, Don Felipe," said Eulalia, vivaciously. "El Regimiento +del Caballeros is the finest in the army. You would look so well in the +uniform." She flashed a bewitching look at Philip, which sent that +young man's blood spinning through his veins. He had quite given up +fighting against his fate, and was fathoms deep in love. Doña Eulalia +could use her eyes with great effect, and Philip had now surrendered at +discretion. It is only fair to say that the victress took no undue +advantage of her conquest. Indeed, Philip did not know yet if she +returned his love. Eulalia was a born coquette, and he was terribly +afraid lest she should be only amusing herself. This enlistment in the +army might clinch the matter, and induce her to smile on his suit. + +"For your sake, I will play the bear," he whispered, alluding to a +foolish custom of the Cholacacans whereby a young man walks up and +down in front of the window of his beloved like a bear. + +"No; I do not care for you to play the bear, Señor. Fight in the +regiment of my brother, and when you return victorious--well, who +knows?" + +Philip looked, Eulalia smiled significantly. They thoroughly understood +one another, in spite of Doña Serafina and the restrictions of +Cholacacan courtship. Eyes can speak as eloquently as can tongues, and +are quite as intelligible--to the initiated. + +"Kismet!" muttered Philip, as he went off the parade-ground with the +ladies and his friends; "it is, written." + +"What is written?" asked Peter, who was always overhearing what was not +meant for his ears. + +"Your marriage to Doña Serafina," laughed Philip, promptly; whereat the +doctor shook his head. + +"A man can't marry his grandmother." + +Philip said no more; but returned to the side of Doña Eulalia, who had +placed herself as far away from her duenna as was possible. This +precaution was scarcely needed, as Doña Serafina had eyes for no one +but Peter. She had not yet given up all hope of marriage, even at the +mature age of five and forty. Peter was young and innocent; therefore +Doña Serafina selected him as her victim, and under the guise of +teaching him Spanish, strove to entangle him in her elderly meshes. Her +eyes were still brilliant, and long experience had taught her how to +use them. It was so much waste time as regards Peter. He was so +impossible. + +On leaving the Plaza de San Jago, the troops marched to their several +quarters in the forts, and his Excellency the President went to inspect +the defences of the city. Tlatonac was completely girdled by strong +stone walls, and defended by heavy metal cannon, so that in the event +of a sortie, particularly by a horde of naked Indians such as Xuarez's +force would be, there was but little doubt that the invaders could be +easily repulsed with great slaughter. As regards a land attack from the +interior, this was well enough, but if Xuarez bombarded the town there +was no doubt that he could speedily reduce Tlatonac to a heap of ruins. +Gomez trusted to the impassable forests between the capital and +Acauhtzin to protect him from an inland invasion, and as the sea-forts +were defended by heavy guns, hoped to cripple the ships of the enemy +before they could do much harm. + +The forts defending the coast were therefore the most important in his +eyes, and, after examining the interior defences, he rode down to the +sea front to inspect the preparations for keeping the ships of Xuarez +beyond bombarding distance of the town. Thanks to English engineers, +and a lavish outlay of money, the forts were superb pieces of +workmanship; and their lofty walls frowning over the bay, with the +muzzles of guns protruding from their embrasures, promised a difficult +task to the invaders. + +Between the two principal forts was the gate of the town, which opened +into a low stretch of land covered with fishing-huts, through which a +road ran down to the wharf. _The Bohemian_ was lying close under the +guns of the city, so that in the event of their being discharged, she +would sustain no damage; and as His Excellency rode out of the city +gate, his eyes rested admiringly on the beautiful little craft. + +Only momentarily, however, for at that instant a cry burst from the +lips of his aide-de-camp; and Gomez looked seaward. + +"_The Pizarro!_" he cried in surprise. + +It was indeed the old ship of Don Rafael, which was steaming slowly +southward, a white flag fluttering at her mainmast head. Rafael uttered +an ejaculation of rage, and Gomez turned his horse to ride back into +the city, not knowing with what intentions the war-ship had come. + +"One moment, Señor," said Tim, catching the President's horse by the +bridle; "the vessel has a white flag, so she has come with a message +from Acauhtzin." + +"Por Dios, we do not treat with rebels, Señor Correspoñsal." + +"Do not be rash, Excelencia. It is as well to know all these dogs have +to say. See! they are lowering a boat." + +This was indeed the case. A quarter of a mile from the shore, _The +Pizarro_ cast anchor, fired three guns with blank cartridge, and +then the boat already lowered was seen pulling straight for the wharf. + +"Bueno! Señor Correspoñsal," said Gormez, sorely against his will; "let +it be as you say. We will wait here for their leader. But I am sorely +tempted to order the forts to open fire on that boat." + +"A mistake, Excelencia," interposed Maraquando at this moment; "we are +civilised people, and must observe the rules of war. Besides," he added +significantly, letting his eyes rest on Tim, "have we not here the +Correspoñsal? and all we do he will write off to England." + +"Bueno!" said the President again; "we will wait." + +The thunder of the cannon had brought a tremendous crowd to the walls, +and down on to the beach. From the Presidential staff up to the gate, +was one black mass of people, heaving with excitement. All kinds of +rumours were flying from lip to lip. _The Pizarro_ had come to bombard +the town, and her consorts were now on their way for the same purpose. +The vessel had returned to its allegiance, and had brought Xuarez to +Tlatonac for punishment. All were disturbed, startled, puzzled, and +watched with lynx eyes the little boat with the white flag at its stern +now drawing steadily near to the wharf. + +"What's up now, Tim?" asked Philip, pushing his way through the crowd. + +"A message from Don Hypolito, no less," replied Fletcher, without +turning round. "See! he is standing up in the boat. Be Jove! it's a +priest." + +"It must be Padre Ignatius," cried Jack, who had a remarkably keen +sight. "He went up to Acauhtzin, on some Church business, a week or so +ago. Shovel-hat, white hair! Carambo! It _is_ Padre Ignatius!" + +The name of the priest speedily became known, and the crowd cheered, +for the Padre was well known in Tlatonac. Gomez swore. + +"Carrajo! He sends the Padre to make terms!" + +"Terms with those dogs!" cried Don Rafael, stamping his foot. +"Excelencia, I would hang them all." + +"Como, no!" muttered the President, his fingers closing viciously on +the bridle-rein; "but we will hear what the Padre has to say." + +By this time the boat had reached the wharf, and Padre Ignatius, nimble +as a young man, sprang up the wooden steps leading from the water. The +moment he was out of the boat it turned seaward again, and before the +onlookers could recover from their surprise, the oars were flashing in +and out of the waves as it sped back to the war-ship. A roar of rage +burst from the lips of all. + +"Por Dios!" swore Maraquando, livid with wrath, "they have only landed +the Padre, and now take themselves out of danger. Order the forts to +open fire, Excelencia!" + +Gomez had only to throw up his hand and the cannon would vomit fire. +Knowing this, Jack stepped up impulsively to the President. + +"Be not hasty, Señor, I beg of you. See, the Padre carries a white +flag! He brings a message from Xuarez! First hear what it is, and then +decide." + +His Excellency moved uneasily in his saddle, and bit his nether lip. He +would dearly have liked to have pounded the rebel war-ship into +matchwood for her insolent daring in thus defying the Government of +Cholacaca, but he could not but see that such an extreme measure would +be impolitic. Therefore he restrained his rage, and waited the approach +of the Padre, who was now near at hand. Gomez, a true son of the +Church, uncovered as the priest paused before him. The Padre raised his +hand in token of benediction, and the staff also uncovered. With the +atheistical opinions now prevalent in Cholacaca they would not have +done this for any priest save Padre Ignatius, who was much beloved by +rich and poor. As for Tim, he had his note-book out, and a greedy +little pencil, ready to take down every word of the forthcoming +conversation. + +"Vaya usted con Dios Excelencia!" said the Padre, gravely. "I come from +Acauhtzin--from Don Hypolito Xuarez, with a message to the Junta." + +"A message to the Junta from rebels, Reverend Father?" + +"It is my duty to prevent this fratricidal war, if possible," replied +Ignatius, mildly. "I have spoken with Xuarez, and have persuaded him to +send me hither with a message of peace." + +"And that message?" + +"Cannot be spoken here, my son. Let us go to the Palacio Nacional!" + +"By all means, my father. Will you not ride thither. One of my officers +will give you his horse." + +Three or four of the officers at once dismounted, and begged Padre +Ignatius to mount; but he refused their offers gently with a wave of +his hand. + +"No, my children. I will walk thither. Ride on, Excelencia I will be +with you soon." + +"But _The Pizarro_, Padre!" + +"Will lie off there till my message is delivered and the answer given. +If the terms are accepted, one gun will be the sign; if refused, two +guns, and the war-ship will return to the north." + +"Ah!" said Gomez, with a meaning smile, as he turned his horse's head +towards the gate, "they are afraid to trust themselves in the lion's +mouth." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +PADRE IGNATIUS. + + With cross in hand, the pious father goes + From camp to camp on Heaven's errand bent; + Soothing the wretched, overborne with woes, + And to the weary bringing sweet content. + + Oh, gentle soul, too kind for this rude earth, + What virtues doth thy being comprehend; + Thou shouldst have lived in times of peaceful mirth, + When war was not, and man ne'er lacked a friend. + + Of what avail those peaceful words of thine, + When for the battle armies are arrayed; + What use thy mission of good will divine, + When to the foe war's standard is displayed. + + The drums are beaten, trumpets shrill resound, + Two gifts alone thou canst bestow on all; + Salute with smiles all those with honour crowned, + And for the dead a single tear let fall. + + +Tim was ubiquitous. He seemed neither to eat nor sleep, but, note-book +in hand, followed the President about everywhere, with the idea of +gathering material for his letters to _The Morning Planet_. From the +Plaza de San Jago he had gone down to the sea gate of Tlatonac, where +the meeting with Padre Ignatius took place, and from thence returned to +the Palacio Nacional, at the heels of Gomez. In view of the message +from Xuarez, the Junta had been hastily convened, and now the great +hall of the palace was crowded with deputies waiting to hear the words +of the Padre. + +Owing to the influence of Don Miguel, which was supreme in Tlatonac, +Jack and Philip were admitted to the meeting, and they, in company with +Tim, who was present by virtue of his office, watched the scene with +great interest. It is not every day that one has the chance of seeing +the naked machinery of the Government. In this vast chamber was the +motive force which kept the machine going. Now, the Governmental +machine was out of order, and Padre Ignatius, as a moral engineer, was +trying to put it right again. He advocated delicate handling of the +suasive kind. Gomez, rough work, in the manner of blows, and brute +strength. As to Xuarez--well, he was the wheel which had put the engine +out of gear; and, until that wheel was forced back into its proper +position, or taken out of the Cholacacan machine altogether, there was +but little chance of the reversion to the old smooth running. This is a +parable to illustrate the importance of that hastily convened meeting. +Tim was the only one of the four friends who understood the matter +thoroughly. + +Don Francisco Gomez took his place in the Presidential chair, which +stood beneath a gorgeous yellow satin canopy of anything but Republican +simplicity. The opal arms of Cholacaca were above this drapery, the +seat of power below; and therein sat President Gomez, with a fierce +light in his eyes, and an ominous tightening of his lips. He was in a +critical position, and he knew it. The ship of the Republic was among +the breakers, and he, as helmsman, had to steer her into open sea +again. With a disorderly crew, this was no easy task. + +The members of the Junta took their seats in silence. They were like a +class of schoolboys before their master, and, as Gomez cast his eyes +over their ranks, he could pick out here and there the men whom he knew +would be troublesome. To understand his difficulty, it is necessary to +explain the exact position of politics in Cholacaca. Tim was doing this +in a low, rapid voice to Philip, pending the appearance of Padre +Ignatius. Jack listened to the explanation with interest, and every now +and then threw in a word of enlightenment. + +"As in England," said Tim, speaking in Philip's ear, "there are two +political parties, broadly speaking. The Liberals and Conservatives. +These, again, are sub-divided into smaller parties. On the Conservative +side, there is the party now in power, the aristocratic party, who +believe in electing one of their own order as President, and think the +common people should have nothing to do with politics." + +"That is the party of Don Miguel and the President?" + +"Yes; their political programme is to govern on oligarchical +principles. Cholacaca and its loaves and fishes, for the aristocrats +only. That is one party. The other is the clericales, who would govern +through the Church, and place the supreme power of the Republic in the +hands of priests. Since the expulsion of the Jesuits, however, this +party is defunct, and a good thing, too. I'm a true son of the Church," +added Tim, relapsing into his brogue; "but I don't believe in the +priests meddling with politics." + +"Then there is a third party," said, Jack, taking up the explanation; +"what we may term the Liberal-Conservative party, if such a thing be +possible. They believe in aristocratic government, with the consent of +the people. That is, the people can elect as President one of the +aristocrats, but not one of themselves." + +"And what about the Liberals?" asked Philip, deeply interested. + +"Oh, one party of the Liberals want democracy--pure unadulterated +Republicanism. A second party desire military rule, which would be +nothing more or less than despotism, supported by a standing army under +the thumbs of a few martinets in power. Then there is a Free Lance +party, where each individual desires the loaves and fishes for +himself." + +"Then the party of Don Xuarez?" + +"Is not here," said Tim, waving his hand towards some empty seats; +"they have all gone to Acauhtzin, and are now regarded as rebels by the +Government. They desire a kind of civil despotism as opposed to the +military party--a dictator with supreme power, who can act as he damn +well please." + +"Seven political parties!" observed Cassim, derisively. "If too many +cooks spoil the broth, too many political parties will certainly spoil +Cholacaca. But they all seem to be afraid of one another. Don Xuarez +has at least the courage of his opinions." + +"That is because his party is now strong enough to show fight. The +others are all split up into small bodies, who quarrel among themselves +and disagree with the President." + +"I presume they will all oppose Don Hypolito." + +"Naturally. They are dogs in the manger; they can't get the supreme +power of Cholacaca themselves, and won't let Xuarez have it. I wonder +what proposition the Padre brings from Acauhtzin." + +"Hush! here he is." + +Padre Ignatius, in his rusty black cassock, advanced, holding his +shovel-hat clasped to his breast. Pausing in front of the President, +where he could command the attention of all, he cast up his eyes to +heaven, as if seeking for strength to sustain him in his difficult task +of reconciling the factions which threatened to involve Cholacaca in +civil war. With his pale, refined face, his silver locks, and tall, +slender figure, he looked a remarkably striking personage, and put +Philip in mind of a picture he had once seen of Las Casas, the great +Indian missionary. + +When he paused and thus sought inspiration in silent prayer, Gomez +struck a silver bell on the desk before him. Instantly there was a dead +silence, the murmur of voices was stilled, and every eye was turned +towards the gentle priest. + +"My children," said Padre Ignatius, in a weak voice, which gathered +strength as he proceeded, "some weeks ago I went to Acauhtzin on the +business of our Holy Church. There I found Don Hypolito Xuarez, who was +not then in arms against the Junta. I knew, however, that he was a +restless spirit, and, observing signs of dissatisfaction in the town, +dreaded lest he should fan these embers of discontent into the flame of +civil war. To Don Hypolito did I speak, but he disclaimed any intention +of doing aught to break the peace of the Republic. In this, my +children, he spoke falsely." + +A sullen murmur ran through the chamber. + +"Noting these signs of discontent, I did not return to Tlatonac, but +waited to see if aught should occur. Nothing took place till the +arrival of the fleet to arrest Xuarez. Ah, my children, that was a +fatal mistake. It roused him from discontented quietness into a state +of open rebellion. He convened a meeting in the market-place of +Acauhtzin, he told the populace he was to be arrested as a traitor, and +called on them to stand by him in his peril. What promises he made use +of I can hardly tell you, they were many and false; but those of the +town believed him, and swore to assist his cause. The officers and +crews of the fleet had already been tampered with by Xuarez before he +left Tlatonac, and to a man they all went over on his side on hearing +that Acauhtzin had done so." + +"Not all! Not all, my father," cried Don Rafael, springing up from +where he sat by Maraquando; "there are many who still remain faithful +to the Junta--I among the number. We were cast into prison, and, by a +miracle, I escaped, to bring the news to Tlatonac. I am free; but my +friends--my faithful friends--are in the prison of Acauhtzin." + +Padre Ignatius looked sadly at the young man. + +"They were faithful when you escaped," he said, gently. "They were in +prison my son; but now they are free, and have joined the rebels!" + +"Carrajo!" swore Don Rafael, stamping with rage. "The traitors! the +dogs! Canalla! I spit on them." + +"I call the Señor to order!" cried Gomez, for the sake of formality, +though his sympathies were with those of the young man. + +"I ask the pardon of His Excellency, and that of this Honourable +Assembly," replied Rafael, sitting down; "but my friends to be +traitors! Por Dios! if I meet with them, I will show no mercy." + +"Reverend Father," said the President, when the young man had resumed +his seat, "all that you have said is the way in which Xuarez has +revolted. Tell us of his message!" + +"I went to Don Hypolito, when I heard these things," said the Padre, +slowly. "I went to him, Señores, and prayed him not to plunge the +country into civil war. At first he refused to listen to me, saying he +was strong enough to crush the Republic to the dust!" + +"Carambo! Carrajo! Canalla!" cried a hundred voices, and many of the +members sprang to their feet to speak. A Babel of voices ensued; but at +length, by repeated ringing of his bell, the President secured silence +for a few minutes, and Padre Ignatius went on with his speech. + +"Don Hypolito said he had the aid of Acauhtzin; of the Regimiento de +Huitzilopochtli, of the fleet, and, if needs be, could secure the help +of the forest Indians!" + +"The opal! The Chalchuih Tlatonac!" + +"Yes!" cried the priest, emphatically; "by making use of that unholy +stone! Xuarez is no true son of the Church, my children. He is a +heretic, an idolater! He told me plainly that he worshipped and +believed in the opal of Huitzilopochtli, and would make use of the +superstition it engendered among the Indians, to further his own ends." + +Another roar of wrath arose from the assemblage which the President was +quite unable to quiet. Padre Ignatius lifted his thin hand in token of +entreaty, and the tumult ceased. + +"I need not say what he said to me, what I said to him; but I forced +him to make an offer to the Junta, which, if accepted, will suspend all +hostility. I implore you, Señores, to accept this offer, and avert this +fratricidal war!" + +"The offer! the message!" + +"As you know, Señores, the Presidency is held for four years, and that +he who has been our ruler cannot be re-elected! His Excellency, Don +Francisco Gomez, has now held this honourable office for three years +and a half. In six months it becomes vacant, and Don Hypolito Xuarez +offers, if you make him President of Cholacaca, to return to his +allegiance." + +"Never!" cried Maraquando, springing to his feet, amid a deafening +cheering. "What! elect Xuarez for our President--place the supreme +power in his hands? Give to ourselves a Dictator who will rob us of our +liberties! Never! Never! Never!" + +"No, Francia! No Iturbide! No, Santa Anna!" yelled the excited members. +Gomez called the assemblage to order. + +"Are these the only terms on which Xuarez will return to his +allegiance?" he asked the priest. + +"The only terms. If they are accepted, fire one gun, and _The Pizarro_ +will steam to Acauhtzin to tell Xuarez that the war will not take +place. Two guns, and then, oh, my children, the vessel will go +northward to bring desolation upon us. There will be war--red war; +brother will be arrayed against brother; our towns will be laid in +ashes; our peaceful community will struggle in deadly strife. I urge +you, implore you, to accept this offer and avert disaster!" + +"There will be war!" sang out some man in the crowd. "The opal is red!" + +"The opal is red! the opal is red!" + +"Are you Catholics?" cried Padre Ignatius, his voice ringing forth like +a trumpet. "Are you sons of the Church or children of the devil? That +stone is the work of Satan! Obey it, and you will bring ruin on +yourselves, on your families, on your country. In the name of this +sacred symbol," he thundered, holding up the cross, "I command you to +put this evil from your hearts. The devil stone speaks war the holy +cross commands peace. Obey it at the peril of your souls--of your +salvation. I say Peace! Peace! Peace! In the name of the Church--Peace! +At your peril--War!" + +The whole man was transfigured as he stood intrepidly facing the +furious assemblage with the uplifted cross. There was no fear in his +eyes, there was no trembling of the hand which upheld the symbol of +Christianity. He was no longer Padre Ignatius, the gentle priest whom +they knew. It was a priest, the representative of the awful power of +Rome, with the thunders of the Vatican at his back, with salvation in +this world, and in the next at his will, holding their souls in the +hollow of his hand. + +"Richelieu," murmured Philip, softly. + +For a moment the assemblage was awed. Many were atheists who believed +in nothing; some idolaters, who trusted in the devil stone, all were +superstitious, and they quailed before that frail old man who faced +them so dauntlessly. Suddenly, as it were, the influence passed away, +the devil-stone conquered the cross. + +"War! War!" yelled the deputies, springing to their feet. "No priests! +no Jesuits! To the vote! to the vote!" + +Gomez arose to his feet. + +"Señores," he cried, loudly, "I respect the Padre for his effort to +avert the war. His mission is to bring peace, and he has striven to do +so. But it cannot be. The Cholacacan Republic cannot yield to the +insolent demands of Xuarez. We choose our rulers freely, without +coercion. In six months I surrender my office and will you permit Don +Hypolito Xuarez, traitor and scoundrel, to profane this chair? No, +Señores; a thousand times no! We know the nature of this man who +aspires to play the part of a tyrant. Place him in this seat of power, +and he will break every law of our glorious constitution. Will that +liberty which was won by the blood of our fathers, by the heroism of +Zuloaga, be trodden under foot at the bidding of this man? He comes, +not to implore you to elect him supreme magistrate of the Republic. He +comes with an army at his back, and commands you--I say commands +you--to make him Dictator!" + +"War! War! Down with Xuarez!" + +"Who is this traitor, to dare our power? He has the fleet, it is +true--traitors that they are!--but we have the army. We have money. We +can buy a new fleet. Our soldiers shall break up his power. Let us hurl +back in his face this insolent defiance, and sweep away Xuarez and his +partisans in torrents of blood!" + +"War! War! The opal burns red." + +"Yes, the opal burns red. And our hearts burn with indignation at the +insolence of this man. I swear," cried the President, drawing his +sword. "I swear, by my sword, by the Chalchuih Tlatonac, that I shall +not sheath this weapon till it has exterminated these traitors, and +purified the Republic. Hear me, God!" + +"Hear us, God!" And a myriad swords flashed in the air. + +"Will I put the offer of the traitor Xuarez to the vote?" + +"No, no! War! war!" + +Ignatius tried to speak, but he saw that the Junta was unanimous in +proclaiming war. His cross fell from his nerveless hands; his head sunk +on his breast. + +"Holy Mary, have mercy on these misguided men." + +He passed out of the hall in dejected silence, and after him swept a +whirlwind of men, headed by the President. Outside the Palacio +Nacional, a crowd of people were waiting to hear the decision of the +Junta. Standing on the marble steps of the palace, Don Francisco caused +the standard of the Republic to be unfurled, and waved his bare sword +in the air. + +"In the name of the Junta! In the name of the free people of the great +Republic of Cholacaca, I proclaim war against the traitor Xuarez!" + +"War! war! war!" yelled the mob, frantically. "The opal burns red! War! +war!" + +Then, with one accord, the rabble dashed down to the sea-gate of the +city. + +"What are they going there for, Tim?" asked Philip, as they were borne +along by the living torrent. + +"To hear the cannon answer Xuarez, if I mistake not. Holy Virgin! what +devils these are when their blood is up!" + +From the Plaza de los Hombres Ilustres the crowd rolled down the steep +of the Calle Otumba, passed into the Calle Mayor, and in a few minutes +the city was vomiting hundreds of infuriated men out of her gates on to +the beach and wharf. + +Far away on the azure sea lay the vast bulk of _The Pizarro_, with +the flag of the Republic floating at her main-mast, in conjunction with +the white pennant of peace. The crowd held their breath, and throughout +the vast assemblage there was not a sound. The waves lapping on the +beach could alone be heard, and each man in that mighty congregation +held his breath. + +"One gun for 'yes!' Two guns for 'no!'" muttered Jack, in Tim's ear. + +At that instant a puff of smoke broke from an embrasure of the rear +fort, and a gun thundered out its defiance to Xuarez. In another +minute, before the echo of the first died away, a second gun from the +other fort roared out in the still air, and there was an answering roar +from the crowd below. + +The flag of peace! the flag of the opal were suddenly lowered from the +mast of _The Pizarro_, and up went a fierce red banner, foretelling war +and disaster. The mob yelled with rage, the guns of _The Pizarro_ sent +forth an insolent defiance, and in a few minutes, with the smoke +pouring black and thick from her funnels, the great vessel stood out to +sea. + +The War of Cholacaca had commenced. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE DRAMA OF LITTLE THINGS. + + Many things happen! + They are the daily events of our lives, we note them with + idle indifference. + The lover kisses his dear one, she sighs on his throbbing + bosom, + He springs on his waiting horse, and waving his hand at + parting, + Thinks that the morrow for certain, will bring her again + to his kisses, + Alas! he knows not that Fate is capricious! + That never again will the dear one respond to his welcome + caresses! + "Good-bye for an hour!" ah, sorrow. That good-bye means + "farewell for ever." + And yet they know not this future, and so, parting happy, + Go east and west gladly, to anguish apart till they perish. + + +"Quiere a fumar, Juan," said Dolores, holding out a small case to Jack, +with a coquettish smile. + +"Campeacheanos!" replied her lover, selecting one carefully, "these are +for men only. I hope you don't smoke these, mi cara." + +"No! I but use cigarros de papel. This case belongs to my cousin, Don +Rafael. Now it is yours." + +"What will Don Rafael say?" + +"Say! Why, nothing, of course. He made me a present of the +campeacheanos." + +"Oh, did he?" exclaimed Jack, suspiciously. "You seem to be fond of +your cousin, Dolores!" + +"Naturally! It is my duty," replied Dolores, demurely, and dropped her +eyes. + +"Oh!" said Duval, briefly, and busied himself in lighting a cigarette. + +It was late in the afternoon, and they were on the azotea of +Maraquando's house alone, save for the presence of Doña Serafina; but +she was asleep, and, therefore, did not trouble them. As before stated, +the Casa Maraquando was on the summit of the hill, and from the roof +they could look down into the valley below. Ring after ring of houses +encompassed the rise, and on the flat, trending towards the sea, +street, and house, and plaza, and wall, were laid out as in a map. To +the left, the vast space of the parade-ground; to the right, the +crowded quarter of the peons, a mass of huddled huts, red-roofed, +white-walled, and between the two the broad street leading from the +foot of the hill down to the sea-gate. + +On the parade-ground companies of soldiers were manoeuvring. Here and +there the bright colours of uniforms could be seen in the streets. +Sometimes a distant trumpet rang out shrilly, or the muffled thunder of +drums came faintly to their ears. Within the walls of the city all was +bustle and military pomp, the place was one vast camp. Beyond, the +white line of the walls and the infinite stretch of azure sea +glittering in the sunshine. + +Peter, in company with Cocom, had gone outside the inland walls for a +final butterfly hunt before the outbreak of war, when, in view of the +suburbs being deserted, he would have to abandon his favourite pursuit. +Down in the Plaza de San Jago, Sir Philip Cassim was assisting Don +Rafael to drill his men, and Tim was, as usual, haunting the +telegraph-office and the Palacio Nacional. He spent all his time +between these two places, collecting news, and despatching messages. +Only Jack was idle; Jack, who, decked out in the gaudy uniform of the +Regimient de los Caballeros, set on the azotea flirting with Dolores +and smoking innumerable cigarettes. With masculine vanity, he had come +there especially to show himself to the lady of his heart, in his new +uniform, and, finding Doña Serafina asleep, had waited to speak to +Dolores for a few minutes before joining Philip in the plaza below. The +few minutes had, by this time, lengthened into half-an-hour. + +Without doubt Jack looked remarkably handsome in his uniform, and +Dolores acknowledged this to herself as she glanced at him from behind +the safe shelter of her fan. He was as fine as a humming-bird, and +tinted like a rainbow. The Mexican dress became him admirably, and in +that brilliant climate the bright colours did not look too pronounced. + +The uniform consisted of calzoneros of dark green velvet split from the +thigh downward, slashed with braid, set with rows of silver buttons, +and filled with the calzoncillos of white muslin. A short, +tight-fitting jacket of yellow cloth embroidered with gold, over a full +white shirt, puffing out at the hips, open sleeves, a scarlet-silk sash +round the waist sustaining a brace of pistols and a Spanish knife. +Finally, boots of tanned leather with heavy spurs hanging with little +bells. Over all his finery, Jack wore a picturesque zarape of dark +blue, and a sombrero of the same colour encircled with a broad band of +gold. In this picturesque costume, his fine figure was seen to its best +advantage; but Jack was already regretting his plain English +riding-suit of unadorned grey. + +At present, however, he was not thinking of his fine feathers, or of +the two men waiting for him in the Plaza de San Jago, but of the last +remark of Dolores. + +Jack had no reason to be jealous of Don Rafael, as he, to all +appearances, cared more for war than for women; yet, because Dolores +admitted that she liked her cousin, this foolish young man began to +sulk. The girl watched him with great amusement for a few minutes, and +then made a malicious remark in reference to his uniform. + +"Pajaro precoso!" + +"Oh, I am a precious bird, am I?" said Jack, ungraciously; "but not +precious to you, Dolores. Don Rafael----" + +"Is my cousin--nothing more." + +"I don't like cousins," muttered Duval, obstinately, keeping his eyes +away from her face, whereat Dolores rapped him smartly on the fingers +with her closed fan. + +"I will eat all the cousins of your killing, Juan. Turn your face to +me, child that you are. Santissima! What a cross face! Señor Caballero, +you are jealous!" + +"Yes," admitted Jack, reluctantly. + +Dolores glanced at her aunt, to make sure that she was asleep, then +bending towards this foolish lover, kissed him on the cheek. + +"Are you jealous now, querido?" + +"No," answered Jack, returning the kiss with interest; "I am a fool not +to trust you thoroughly." + +"You are! Hush! Enough! My aunt may awake." + +"Not she! So you love me only, Dolores? And Don Rafael----" + +"Is betrothed to a lady of Acauhtzin." + +"Oh, Dolores!" sighed Jack, much relieved, and kissed her again. In +fact, he would have saluted her several times, had not Dolores spread +her fan between their two faces as a shield. + +"No, no! Doña Serafina may awaken, and then--'Dios de mi alma,' what +would my uncle say?" + +"He must know sooner or later." + +"Wait till the war is over, querido. Till Don Hypolito is slain, and +you return covered with glory. Then my uncle can refuse you nothing." + +"Bueno! I will wait. And, after all, Dolores, I am not quite a +foreigner. I have dwelt so long in Mexico that I know all your manners +and customs. Now I have even assumed the dress of Cholacaca, so I am +quite one of your own people." + +"And a heretic!" + +"Ah! Padre Ignatius has been talking to you?" + +"No, querido; my aunt----" + +"Oh, never mind your aunt. If I mistake not, she admires a heretic +herself." + +"El hombrecillo!" + +"If by the little man you mean Don Pedro, yes. But oh, my soul, do not +let such things as this separate us. You love me, Dolores? You will be +true to me?" + +"I swear it!" cried the girl, throwing herself on his breast; "I swear +it--by the opal!" + +"No, no! not that. You surely don't believe in the devil stone?" + +"Am I a child to believe?" laughed Dolores, scornfully. "No; I am a +true daughter of the Church; but I believe this opal to be mine, and if +I can get it I will do so." + +"We will both try and obtain it, though I am afraid there is but little +chance of doing so. We know not where is the temple." + +"Cocom knows." + +"Yes; but Cocom will not tell. But enough of the opal. We will talk of +it again. Meanwhile, tell me to whom is Rafael engaged? He has told me +nothing about it." + +"No; he has told no one save me, lest it should reach the ears of my +uncle, and thus anger him. The lady my cousin loves is Doña Carmencita +de Tejada----" + +"What!" ejaculated Jack, in surprise. "The daughter of Xuarez's +right-hand man?" + +"Yes, the daughter of Don José de Tejada, the rebel. So, you see, he +does not let his father know of his love, for Don Miguel would never +consent to his son becoming the husband of a traitor's child." + +"True, true. Poor Rafael! The course of his love does not seem likely +to run smooth. Still, when the war is over, he may be more fortunate." + +"Ah! the war," said Doña Dolores, sadly. "This terrible war. How I +tremble to think of what is before us. Should Don Hypolito conquer----" +She covered her face with her hands, shuddering violently. + +"Don Hypolito will not conquer," replied Jack, soothingly taking her to +his breast. "We will humble him to the dust before three months are +ended. Besides, if the worst comes, we can fly to Europe." + +"Ay, de mi. May it not come to that." + +"Amen!" said Duval, solemnly; and they remained clasped in each others +arms, with hearts too full for speech. + +Suddenly they heard the sound of a prolonged yawn, and had just time to +separate before Doña Serafina caught them in that close embrace. +Fortunately, they had been hidden by an angle of the azotea wall, so +the good lady, who had just awakened, and was still bemused with sleep, +saw nothing. When she was thoroughly awake, however, she espied Jack in +all the bravery of his uniform, and came forward with a light step and +an exclamation of delight. + +"El Regimiento de los Caballeros!" she exclaimed, admiringly. +"Santissima! how the uniform does become you, Don Juan. I do so admire +handsome Americanos," added the lady, languidly. Dolores laughed at +this naïve confession, but Jack, modest Jack, blushed through the tan +of his skin. + +"Really, Doña Serafina, I am much obliged, I kiss your hands," he +answered, confusedly. "I have just arrived"--he had been there half an +hour--"just arrived, Señora, and I had not the heart to disturb you." + +"Has the child spoken?" said Doña Serafina, waving her fan towards +Dolores, who stood with downcast eyes, inwardly convulsed, outwardly +demure. + +"Oh yes; a little. She has not the brilliant tongue of her aunt," +replied Jack, artfully. + +"Pobrecita! She is young; she is a kitten. She will yet improve. I was +the same at her age." + +"The deuce you were," thought Jack, with secret apprehension, surveying +her portly form. "I hope Dolores won't be the same at your age." + +"And Don Pedro?" asked the duenna, languidly. + +"Will lay his heart at your feet this evening, Señora." + +"It is his Don Juan," responded the lady, graciously. It was a mere +figure of speech; but Jack was secretly amused to think how alarmed +Peter would be hearing of such an offer. + +"Oh, this war, Señor Americano; this terrible war! How I fear it." + +"Do not be afraid, Señora. We will protect you." + +"Oh yes; I am sure of that. But my nephew, Señor? Don Rafael! He is +much angered." + +"At the war?" + +"Santissima, no! At his ship, which still sails up and down in front of +Tlatonac. What does it mean, Señor?" + +Jack turned in the direction indicated by her fan, and saw a large ship +far out on the wrinkled sea. + +"Is that _The Pizarro_? I did not know," he said in some perplexity. "I +understood she had departed to Acauhtzin." + +"My cousin says it is _The Pizarro_," interposed Dolores at this +moment; "and we know not why she stays." + +"I notice she keeps well out of the range of the fort guns," muttered +Jack, anxiously. "Hum! it is curious. Perhaps she is sent by Don +Hypolito to carry off Doña Dolores." + +The old lady made a gesture to avert the evil eye. + +"Say not such things, Señor. That terrible man! He might carry me off +even here." + +"So he might, Señora," replied Jack, trying to be serious. "I would +advise yourself and the young ladies to keep within doors." + +"If Don Hypolito can carry us off from the middle of Tlatonac, he is +cleverer than I think," said Dolores, contemptuously; "but what can be +the reason of _The Pizarro_ thus guarding the town?" + +"I have it!" cried Jack, suddenly enlightened. "She is watching for the +arrival of the torpedo-boats. Yes, that is her game. She wishes to meet +them before they know of the revolt, and thus seduce them to the cause +of Xuarez!" + +"Impossible, Señor!" exclaimed both ladies at once. + +"It is true! I am sure of it," responded Jack, hurriedly. "I must speak +to Don Rafael about this. 'Adios, señoritas! Con Dios vayan ustedes.'" + +The young engineer kissed the hands of both ladies, and clattered down +the steps on his way to the patio. Just as he was passing through the +zaguan, he heard a light foot hasten after him, and before he reached +the door, Dolores was in his arms. + +"I left my aunt on the azotea," she said, breathlessly. "One kiss, +querido, before you go! There;--and there! Oh, my soul! Be careful of +yourself. I go, at vespers, to pray for you at the shrine of our Lady." + +"Angel! Such prayers will be my safeguard in all dangers!" + +"Padre Ignatius has promised me a sacred relic which preserves the +wearer from harm. He gives it to me this evening. I will bring it to +you. To-night you will be here?" + +"Yes, at the eighth hour. Adios, angelito!" + +They embraced hurriedly, and Dolores returned to the azotea to explain +her sudden absence to Doña Serafina as best she could; while Jack, +filled with joy at these proofs of her love, gaily danced down the +street on his way to the Plaza de San Jago, where Philip waited him. + +Everywhere soldiers, everywhere the beating of drums, the shrilling of +trumpets, the waving of flags, and oftentimes the martial strains of +the "Opal Fandango." The city of Tlatonac had awakened from its sleep +of years, and in every street, in every house, activity prevailed. It +was not a city; it was a camp. The inhabitants, almost to a man, had +become soldiers, and flattered by the women, dressed in gaudy uniforms, +excited by frequent draughts of aguardiente, they fancied themselves +invincible. Every evening fireworks were let off in the principal +squares, bands of soldiers marched nightly through the streets, singing +the national song of the opal; and at times the enthusiasm arose to +such a pitch that the whole city was convulsed with a delirium of joy. +In the opinion of Tlatonac, the rebel Xuarez was already conquered. + +"I hope this enthusiasm is not born of Dutch courage," said Jack to +himself, as he elbowed his way through an excited throng; "but it seems +too violent to last. These howling wretches see Xuarez in chains, +pleading for his life; but they don't see the events which are bound to +occur before such a thing takes place." + +"Abajo los Oposidores! Viva el Republica! Mueran a Xuarez!" + +"Shout away, mis amigos," muttered Duval, grimly; "we'll see if you'll +shout as loudly when the bombs are cracking over the city. If _The +Pizarro_ sent one now, I guess you'd not be so lively." + +In the Plaza de San Jago, soldiers were being drilled. A fine body of +men was El Regimient de los Caballeros, and a gallant show they made as +they wheeled their horses into line. Philip, arrayed in the same style +as Jack, was reining his steed beside Colonel Garibay, the commander of +the troop, and on the other side of him rode Don Rafael, late a captain +in the navy, now a captain on land. Don Rafael, a handsome, dark-eyed +young man, full of fiery earnestness, and not unlike his sister in +appearance, though lacking her softer feminine grace, had taken a great +fancy to Philip, with whom he had become very intimate. Jack Duval he +knew of old, and liked immensely; but Cassim's character was more in +accordance with his own, therefore they were comrades by the rule of +like drawing to like. + +Colonel Garibay was greatly gratified that these two young Americanos +had joined his troop as volunteers, and made things as pleasant for +them as he possibly could. He commanded one of the crack regiments of +the Cholacacan army, and was determined that it should not belie its +reputation in the coming war. Hitherto it had but reaped laurels in +frontier wars against the Indians; but now it was for the first time to +combat with a civilised foe, and would have a good opportunity of +showing to the world of what stuff its men were made. + +The regiment deployed into thin lines, massed into compact columns, +charged at the gallop, retired in good order, and proved themselves in +all the complicated evolutions of a cavalry corps to be thoroughly +disciplined soldiers. In the burning sun, with the grey dust whirling +up in clouds from the restless feet of the horses, the columns expanded +and contracted like the glittering lengths of a snake, and at every +sound of the bugle the lines changed their position with the utmost +military precision. For three hours Garibay kept his troop hard at +work. At length even his insatiable soul was satisfied at their state +of efficiency, and to the stirring strains of the "Zuloaga March" the +men filed off the ground. + +In other parts of the plaza infantry regiments were drilling and, after +a time, these also dispersed, so that by the hour of sundown the great +square was almost deserted, save for scattered groups of soldiers +discussing the coming war. Jack, in company with Philip and the +Colonel, went off to the quarters of the latter in the sea-fort, and +there they proceeded to make themselves comfortable. + +"I am pleased with my children, Señores," said Garibay, thoughtfully; +"but I would I commanded foot instead of horse." + +"Wherefore so, Don Rodrigo?" + +"For this reason, Señor Felipe. Our country is so mountainous that, +save on the plains, there is but little use for cavalry. The seat of +the war will be at Acauhtzin, and there the land is all mountains. +Consequently the infantry will be of most service up yonder. If, +however, the enemy come south to Tlatonac and Janjalla, our cavalry can +meet them in the open plains surrounding these towns." + +"Don Hypolito will certainly come south," said Jack, sagely. "He will +not wait for the Republic to send troops up to Acauhtzin, but embark +his troops on the war-ships, and try his fortunes down in this +direction. Besides, Xuarez knows that the Republic has no transports +for the troops." + +"No war-ships, Señor," replied the Colonel, gravely, "that is true. But +by order of his Excellency, all merchant-vessels of a certain tonnage +have been seized in the port of Tlatonac, and requisitioned for the +service of transporting troops to Acauhtzin." + +"The deuce! And what say the owners to such high-handed proceedings?" + +"The owners have been paid. So, you see, we can embark our men on these +ships, and sail north to----" + +"To be knocked to pieces by the war-ships," finished Philip, coolly. + +"Señor, you forget the torpederas will be here soon." + +"That is if _The Pizarro_ will let them pass her," said Duval, +meaningly. "I see she is cruising constantly up and down." + +"Do you think, Don Juan, she is waiting for the arrival of the +torpederas?" asked the Colonel, anxiously. + +"I am sure of it, Colonel. Don Miguel informed me that the +torpedo-boats had started from England. Xuarez, who has his spies in +England, also knows this, and sent _The Pizarro_ south with a twofold +object: to dictate terms to the Republic, and intercept the torpederas." + +"He failed in the first, however," observed Philip, hopefully. + +"True! but he may not fail in the second." + +"One moment, Señores," said the Colonel, earnestly, "_The Pizarro_ +dare not stop the torpedo-boats--they could sink her in no time. She +has no defence against them--no nets, for those were left at Tlatonac +when the fleet went north." + +"All the more reason that Xuarez should capture the torpedo-boats," +retorted Jack, hotly. "_The Pizarro_ will not try force, mi Colonel! +No; the torpederas left England before war was proclaimed; therefore, +those in charge know nothing of the disaffection of the fleet, of the +rebellion of Xuarez. If they meet _The Pizarro_, they will stop when +she signals; their commanders will go on board in blissful ignorance, +and be either seduced to the cause of Xuarez, or retained as prisoners +of war. In either case, the torpederas, taken by surprise, will be +captured, and accompany _The Pizarro_ to the north." + +"True! What you say is true, Señor! Santissima! What ill-fortune!" + +"The torpederas must be warned!" exclaimed Philip, quickly. "I will +speak to His Excellency, and offer the services of my yacht to the +Republic. If my offer is accepted, I will get steam up on _The +Bohemian_, and stand out to sea at once. Cruise up and down till I +see the torpederas, and then warn them of their danger." + +"Yes, and be chased all the time by _The Pizarro_." + +"She can't catch _The Bohemian_. I'd back my boat against the combined +speed of the whole rebel navy. It is the only chance of saving the +torpedo-boats from the clutches of Xuarez." + +"What a pity my railway is not finished," said Jack, regretfully; "then +we could have ran up the whole army to Acauhtzin without trouble. As it +is, the only passage is by sea, and I am afraid the war-ships render +that impossible." + +"How far have you got with the line, Jack?" + +"Only fifty miles. It stops in the centre of a dense forest, so it is +worse than useless--to Xuarez as to ourselves." + +At this moment Don Rafael entered, in a state of great excitement. + +"Ola, Señores," he said, gaily; "I have just come from the presence of +His Excellency and my father; it is the intention of the Junta to send +an embassy to Acauhtzin." + +"To treat with Xuarez?" + +"Carajo! no!" retorted the young man fiercely; "to promise freedom to +the rebels, if they lay down their arms and deliver up Xuarez for +punishment." + +Colonel Garibay shook his head. + +"They won't do that, mi amigo! if I know anything of Don Hypolito." + +"It is true that he has great influence over them," said Rafael, +thoughtfully; "but the power of the Opposidores is as nothing before +that of the Junta; if they are wise, they will lay down their arms." + +"They are not wise, however," said Jack, dryly; "and they won't lay +down their arms. And how does the embassy propose to get to Acauhtzin?" + +"It is said that Señor Felipe has offered his ship to the Junta," said +Rafael, bowing courteously to the baronet; "and the Junta have decided +to accept that grand offer with a thousand thanks." + +"Bueno!" cried Philip, heartily. "I am glad _The Bohemian_ will be +of some service. Yes, Don Rafael, my yacht is at the disposal of the +Government. But tell me, Señor, who goes north with the embassy?" + +"Yourself, Señor Felipe, if you will come; my father and myself, with a +company of soldiers." + +"Why yourself, Don Rafael?" + +The young hidalgo blushed, and rolled a cigarette with pretended +indifference. + +"I! Oh, I wish to hurl defiance in the teeth of Xuarez." + +Philip had received a hint of Don Rafael's passion and as Jack was +busily talking with Garibay, approached the captain with a smile. + +"Is that all?" he whispered, smiling. + +Don Rafael looked at him steadily, and then caught his hand with a +sudden passion of friendship. + +"No, mi amigo. I wish to see Doña Carmencita, and, if possible, carry +her south." + +"Will she come, Rafael?" + +"Yes, she loves me; her father is cruel to her; she will come, if you +will permit it." + +"Señor, my ship and all I have is at your disposal." + +"A thousand thanks, Don Felipe," said Rafael, cordially pressing his +friend's hand; "I will take advantage of your kindness. Not a word to +my father, Señor. He knows nothing as yet; I will tell him all at +Acauhtzin." + +"I will be silent." + +"Gracias mi amigo. I will give you my help in the like case." + +"It will certainly be needed some day," replied Philip, significantly. + +"But not as yet. Ah, Señor, you do not then know what it is to love." + +"Don't I?" thought Philip, and saw before him, as in a dream, the fair +face of Doña Eulalia. + +It was now late, so, after they had dined with Garibay, the two +Englishmen, at the invitation of Don Rafael, went to the Casa +Maraquando. + +When they arrived, to their surprise, all was in confusion. The +servants were running aimlessly about, Doña Serafina and Eulalia were +in tears, and Don Miguel was cursing loud and deep. + +"What is the matter?" asked the young men in alarm. + +"Dolores is lost!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE. + + Shepherds kind! my love hath left me, + Therefore am I filled with woe; + Of my heart hath she bereft me; + Thievish nymph! why didst thou so? + Ah, well-a-day! True love is a jewel! + Why hence away? Oh, my Chloe cruel. + + Tell the damsel, should ye meet her, + That, alas! no heart have I, + For her love I would entreat her; + Fickle maid, why didst thou fly? + Ah, well-a-day! True love is a jewel! + Why hence away? Oh, my Chloe cruel. + + Prythee shepherds, her discover, + I her face again would see; + Still am I her longing lover; + Sweet coquette, return to me! + Ah, well-a-day! True love is a jewel! + Why hence away? Oh, my Chloe cruel. + + +Dolores lost! Jack's thoughts immediately became busy with Don +Hypolito, and the Forest Indians. Could it be that she had been carried +off by one of these, and if so, by which of the two? It was now nine +o'clock, and Jack had left her on the roof of the azotea at four. It +seemed impossible that in so short a period the girl could have utterly +disappeared. At the same time, by the strict social observances of +Tlatonac, Dolores should have returned from her visit to the cathedral +before dark, and as she had not done so, there seemed to be reasonable +ground for apprehension. + +Such excitement reigned in the house that it was some time before +either Jack or Philip could extract the reasons for such belief from +the alarmed inmates. As poor Duval was terribly upset at the thought +that Dolores was lost, Philip took affairs into his own hands with +great promptitude, and proceeded to cross-examine the maid who had last +seen her. This damsel, by name Marina, was of pure Indian extraction, +and cunning past all knowing. At the present time, however, owing to +the reproaches of Doña Serafina, and the scoldings of Don Miguel, she +was reduced to a kind of moral pulp, not having even sufficient energy +to lie according to custom. + +Philip spoke to Don Miguel as to the advisability of extracting +information from this girl; and at once Marina was brought before him. +She was terribly afraid of the Señor Americano, who looked so stern and +evidently thought Philip was about to order her immediate execution. + +"Marina!" asked Philip, slowly, in Spanish, "where did you last see the +Señorita?" + +"Santissima! Señor Americano!" replied the frightened poblana, clasping +her hands, "it was in the great church. The Señorita was kneeling at +the shrine of Our Lady, and--and----" + +"Go on," said Philip, seeing she hesitated. + +"Por Dios, Señor, I thought no harm; but I saw Pepe at the door of the +church, and he beckoned to me." + +"Who is Pepe?" + +"Hechicera!" broke in Doña Serafina, wildly, "that good-for-nothing +Pepe is your lover. And you went to him, ladroncilla? Eh, yes! You left +the Señorita. Oh, wicked one! Oh, child of Satan!" + +"But for a moment, I swear! Por todos santos! it was not long. When I +returned to the shrine, Doña Dolores was gone. I thought she had +departed to see Padre Ignatius, and I waited. A long time I waited, +Señor Americano, but she came not. Then I believed she had returned to +the casa, and I was afraid of being punished, so I did not come back +here till late! She is not here! ay de mi! and I know not where is the +poor angel! Madre de Dios! what misfortune!" + +There was nothing more to be got out of the terrified girl, as she but +repeated this story over and over again. She had gone with Dolores to +the cathedral, had spoken to Pepe, and then lost sight of her mistress. +Inquiries were made for Pepe, who was a zambo, that is, the offspring +of an Indian and an African. To all accounts, he inherited the worst +vices of both races, and was an idle, drunken vagabond, who had been +frequently punished by Don Miguel for thieving. It was possible that, +out of revenge, the zambo might have decoyed Dolores beyond the walls, +and there surrendered her to the Indians. Maraquando thought that this +might be the case. + +"No!" said Jack, when this explanation was suggested, "Dolores was +afraid of the Indians, and would not believe any message brought by +such a man. But she told me to-day that she wished to see Padre +Ignatius. Perhaps he was not in the cathedral, and she went to his +chapel beyond the walls. Once there, and all things are possible." + +"It might be so," cried Don Miguel, sadly. "I have sent out men to ride +everywhere beyond the walls, and try to discover traces. They will +certainly go to the chapel, and ask the Padre if my poor child has been +there!" + +"Ay di mi! what sorrow," cried Eulalia, whose pretty face was +disfigured by tears; "if Dolores is with the Indians, they will +sacrifice her to the Chalchuih Tlatonac." + +"Not so, hermanita!" cried Rafael, hastily, "she is the guardian of the +opal! They would not dare to do this! If she is with the Indians, her +life is safe. But Don Hypolito!" + +"Carrai!" exclaimed his father, fiercely, "what of that false one?" + +"He swore to carry off Dolores, and make her his wife. This demonio of +a Pepe was once in the household of Xuarez. He may be in his pay now, +and have decoyed my cousin down to the sea-beach, beyond the gate." + +"But how could he take her from thence?" asked Philip, in perplexity. + +"Carrambo, Señor! do you forget that _The Pizarro_ has been cruising +before Tlatonac for days past. It was not to watch the torpederas +coming, as we thought. By San Jago, it was to capture and carry off +Dolores." + +"That cannot be!" said Jack, in despair. "_The Pizarro_ would not dare +to come under the guns of the fort!" + +"She could do so in the darkness." + +"But the search lights." + +"They are at present useless," cried Don Miguel striking his breast +with his hand; "the electric apparatus is out of repair, and the +engineers are now attending to it. What misfortune! Dios! It may be as +Rafael says. Pepe decoyed Dolores to the beach, and from thence she +could be taken to the war-ship." + +Jack was horrified at this possibility. It was not very probable that +such a thing had happened; still, it might have taken place. If it were +so, Dolores would be now on board _The Pizarro_, steaming north to +Acauhtzin--to Xuarez, whom she hated and feared. He was about to speak +his mind on the subject when Tim, in a great flurry, arrived with +Peter. + +"What is all this about?" cried Tim, rushing up to Jack. "Is Doña +Dolores missing?" + +Philip drew him away from Jack, who was too overwhelmed to answer +questions, and hurriedly explained all that had occurred. The Irishman +scratched his head, but could suggest nothing save that they should +search the country. A sudden idea struck Philip. + +"Peter!" he said quickly, turning towards the doctor, "what time did +you return from your beetle hunting?" + +"About sunset." + +"And Cocom?" + +"Left me as soon as we entered the town, in order to pray at the +cathedral. He has done the same thing regularly every time we have +returned to Tlatonac." + +"Cocom!" cried Jack, jumping to his feet at the mention of the name, +"why, Philip, do you think he decoyed Dolores away?" + +"Who knows! She is either with the Indians or with Xuarez. Cocom or +Pepe, as emissaries of Don Hypolito, may have carried her off." + +The foregoing had been spoken in English, and, ignorant of the +language, Rafael could only understand the names. He glanced eagerly +from one to the other, and spoke quickly. + +"Cocom! Pepe! What is this, Señor Felipe?" + +Whereat Philip began to explain, but was interrupted by the entrance of +Padre Ignatius. The good priest looked much disturbed, and raised his +hand to bless those in the room. Doña Serafina and Eulalia flung +themselves at his feet, and were so overwhelmed with grief that they +had to be taken away. When they had gone, Padre Ignatius turned to the +men. + +"My sons, I hear evil news. Is it true that Doña Dolores is missing?" + +"Yes; do you know where she is?" asked Jack, imploringly, laying his +hand on the rusty sleeve of the priest. + +"Alas! no," replied the Padre, shaking his head; "all the afternoon did +I wait for her in the cathedral, but she came not!" + +"She did not go to your own church, my father?" questioned Rafael, +eagerly. + +"No, my son. I though she might have done so, and repaired thither. But +the sacristan tells me no one has been to the shrine this day. The +messengers you sent out to seek for the poor lady came to the chapel to +ask me if I had seen her, and it was then that I first heard of your +great loss." + +"Think you the Indians have her?" asked Philip, anxiously. + +"Alas! who knows, Señor? The idolaters have been worshipping the devil +stone greatly of late, and it may be that they have carried off Doña +Dolores to assist in the ceremonies." + +"Not to sacrifice her?" + +"Santissima Virgen! no, Señor," rejoined the Padre, hastily. "The +idolaters look on her as the guardian of the stone, as one under the +protection of the god himself. If they have carried her off," added the +priest, emphatically, "her life is safe, and her honour. But my son, +Don Hypolito?" + +"Do you think----?" + +"I know nothing, my son. But there is one Pepe." + +"The zambo? Yes, Padre." + +"He hired a boat this afternoon from one of the fishers, saying he was +about to go up the coast to see his mother. I heard of that by chance, +my children. When it was told to me that Pepe had been seen hanging +about the doors of the cathedral, I went from my chapel to the sea-port +at once, and there I find that the boat and Pepe are both gone." + +"Carajo!" swore Rafael, giving voice to the general opinion, "he has +carried Dolores off to _The Pizarro_. Ladron!" + +"It may not be so," said Philip, thoughtfully; "Cocom is also missing. +Doña Dolores may have gone with him." + +"I don't believe it," said Peter, angrily. "Cocom is a good fellow, and +devoted to Doña Dolores. He would not harm a hair of her head." + +"It's a queer business," cried Tim, in perplexity; "'tis either Cocom +or Pepe. I am certain it is the last of them. _The Pizarro_ wasn't +cruising up and down for nothing." + +"The torpedo-boats----" + +"To the devil with them! Hasn't Xuarez his spies in England as well as +the Junta? He knows the torpedo-boats are not due here for at least a +fortnight, so why should he waste time in searching for them now? By +all the saints," shouted Tim, raising his enormous fist, and crashing +it down on the table, "'tis Don Hypolito who has the poor girl." + +There was nothing more to be said in the matter as the opinions of +everyone were divided. Don Rafael, Philip, and Peter believed that +Dolores had been carried off by Don Hypolito, as also did Padre +Ignatius; while Don Miguel, Tim, and Jack were equally confident that +she was in the power of the forest Indians. The Englishmen went back to +their house, and, as nothing could be done till morning, Philip spent +most of the night trying to comfort Jack, who refused to go to bed, and +walked up and down the sitting-room till close on dawn. At last the +baronet persuaded him to lie down and have some rest, but he only slept +fitfully. At dawn he was on his feet again, and away to the house of +Maraquando, to hear if any news had arrived concerning Dolores. + +"My poor Jack, you will kill yourself," said Philip anxiously looking +at the young man's haggard face. + +"No I won't," retorted Jack, grimly, "I'll hold out until I find +Dolores. And find her I will, whether she is in that d--d temple, or +with the cursed Don Hypolito." + +"If she is with Don Hypolito," said Philip, as he hurried along beside +his friend, "we can go up to Acauhtzin in my yacht, and demand her to +be given up; but if the Indians have her, I am afraid we shall never +see her. No one knows where the temple is." + +"I don't care if it is in the moon," cried Duval, doggedly. "I'll hunt +those infernal Indians out and make them pay for this. Of two evils I +choose the least, and I trust and believe she is with those opal-stone +fanatics rather than at Acauhtzin." + +"Don Hypolito----" + +"He is a devil!" rejoined Jack, fiercely. "If she is with him, God help +her! And God help him!" added the young man, in a low voice of +concentrated hatred, "if I get my fingers on his throat." + +Philip heartily endorsed this opinion; but, afraid of adding to Jack's +worry, kept his thoughts to himself. They speedily arrived at Casa +Maraquando, and found Rafael on the azotea, looking seaward with a +marine telescope. He turned round sharply as he heard their footsteps, +and pointed due east. + +"She is gone," he said, with a gesture of despair. + +"Dolores?" said Jack, whose brain only held one idea. + +"Yes; and _The Pizarro_!" + +"In that case, I am afraid Doña Dolores has been carried off by Don +Hypolito," observed Philip, taking the glass from Rafael. "No doubt +that cursed zambo induced her to go down to the sea-gate on some +pretext, and then took her off to the war-ship, which stood in to land +under cover of darkness." + +"Have you heard anything?" asked Jack, paying no attention to this +speech, but turning to Don Rafael. + +"Of Dolores, nothing. All the messengers sent out have returned without +tidings. It is stated that the Chalchuih Tlatonac is burning red, and +thus proclaiming war. To propitiate the god, some great feast is to +take place; but whether Dolores has been seized by the Indians and +carried to their temple to assist at the ceremony I do not know. Not a +single trace of her can be found." + +"And Cocom?" + +"Cocom has disappeared--so has Pepe and Marina?" + +"Marina?" cried Jack, starting. + +"Yes; but that is not the worst. My father, as a member of the Junta, +had plans of the fortifications to Tlatonac. These have been +stolen----" + +"Stolen?" interrupted Philip, who had been vainly sweeping the horizon +in search of _The Pizarro_; "and by Marina." + +"So my father thinks. My belief of last night is true, Señores. That +ladron Pepe is a spy in the service of Hypolito. He seduced Marina into +stealing the plans from my father's room, and now they have gone off +together in that boat to _The Pizarro_." + +"Impossible, Rafael," replied Cassim, decisively. "Doña Dolores was +missing while Marina was in this house. She was still here when Padre +Ignatius came with the news that Pepe and the boat were gone. Doubtless +she has stolen the plans; but she could not have escaped as you say." + +"That is a mere detail," said Jack, hastily. "Marina is an Indian, and +knows the whole country round for miles. After stealing the plans, she +doubtless slipped out of the country gate and travelled up the coast. +There a boat from _The Pizarro_ could pick her up." + +"Where is Don Miguel?" + +"My father was summoned before dawn to a special meeting of the Junta. +I believe the assemblage has been sitting all night to deliberate on +what is to be done." + +"Oh, my poor Dolores," groaned Jack, covering his face with his hands; +"where are you now?" + +"She is on board _The Pizarro_, I doubt not, Don Juan," said Rafael, +approaching the young English-man, "I feel sure this is the case. But +courage, mi amigo, we will save your dear one yet." + +"My dear one!" stammered Duval, in some perplexity. + +Don Rafael slipped his arm within that of Jack's, and smiled kindly. +"Oh, I know all, Juan. Dolores told me of your love when I returned +from Acauhtzin." + +"And you are not angry?" + +"Eh! mi amigo! Why should I be angry? It is true you are an +Americano--a heretic! but do I not know what love is myself? This makes +me kind to you, and when the war is over, I will do all in my power to +aid you with my father." + +"Gracias Rafael!" rejoined Duval, wringing his friend's hand with +intense gratitude; "but first we must rescue Dolores from the Indians." + +"I tell you she is not with the Indians, Jack," said Philip, who had +been at the other end of the terrace and just returned within earshot; +"she is on board _The Pizarro_." + +"I think so also, Juan. If so, we will chase the war-ship in the vessel +of Don Felipe." + +"But I have given her to the Junta, for political, purposes." + +"Bueno! that is so. But when my father returns from the Palacio +Nacional, I am certain he will request you, in the name of the +Republic, to start for Acauhtzin before noon." + +"In order to demand the surrender of Xuarez," said Jack, clenching his +fist; "those rebels will not do that; but if Dolores is there, I will +save them the trouble of answering, by man-handling Don Hypolito till +he'll be fit for nothing but his bed." + +"Dos pajaros al un golpe," replied Rafael, significantly. "Dolores and +Xuarez being the birds, you, mi amigo, the stone. Ah!" he added, as the +bell in the cathedral tower chimed the hour, "there is eight o'clock. I +think it will be as well, Señores, to have something to eat." + +"I couldn't eat a thing," said Jack, abruptly, as they descended the +staircase to the patio. + +"That is wrong, Juan. You will need all your strength to regain +Dolores." + +"Where are the ladies?" asked Philip, anxious to see Doña Eulalia. + +"They are not yet up, Don Felipe! Nor do I wish to disturb them, for +they are worn out with sorrow." + +On hearing this, Philip agreed that it would be better to let them +rest, and accepting Rafael's invitation, they sat down to a hastily +spread meal. In the middle of it, Don Miguel, followed closely by the +ubiquitous Tim, entered the patio. + +"Buenos Dias, Señores," said Maraquando, as the young men arose from +their meal. "I have news." + +"Of Doña Dolores, Señor?" + +"Yes, Don Felipe. Sad news! Alas! there is no doubt of it. She is on +board _The Pizarro_." + +"How is this, my father?" asked Rafael, as Jack resumed his seat with a +visage of despair. + +"A fishing-boat came into the port late last night, and the men +reported that they had passed a skiff containing a man and a veiled +woman, making for _The Pizarro_." + +"Dolores!" sighed Jack, sadly; "but then, Señor Maraquando," he added, +with reviving hope, "it might have been Marina." + +"No, Señor. Marina was here when Padre Ignatius told us the boat was +taken. I fear it is true. My poor niece has been decoyed away by that +accursed zambo, and carried to the war-ship. Now she is on her way to +Acauhtzin--to the rebel Xuarez." + +"Cheer up, old fellow!" cried Tim, thumping Jack on the shoulder, with +a heavy but kindly fist. "We'll have the colleen back soon. We're all +going to fight the rebels this day." + +"What's that, Tim? _The Bohemian_----" + +"Hold on, Jack! Don Miguel is speaking; he'll tell you all!" + +"Señor Felipe," said Maraquando, removing his sombrero with suave +courtesy; "in the name of the Republic of Cholacaca, I have to thank +you for the offer of your ship, and to inform you that the Junta gladly +accepts your aid with a thousand thousand thanks." + +"The pleasure is mine, Señor," said Philip, courteously. + +"The Junta, Don Felipe," resumed Don Miguel gravely, "desire to know if +you can leave Tlatonac by noon." + +"Certainly, Señor. By noon _The Bohemian_ will steam northward. Are you +to be of the party, Señor?" + +"I regret to say I am not, Señor. His Excellency is pleased to consider +that I will be more useful by his side. The message to Xuarez will be +delivered by Don Alonzo Cebrian, the Intendante of the province of +Xicotencatl. He will be accompanied by Colonel Garibay, my son Don +Rafael, Captain Velez and about twenty soldiers. Can your vessel hold +such a company, Señor." + +"Oh yes. If they don't mind a little discomfort, Don Miguel. _The +Bohemian_ is rather small for such a number." + +"Fortunately, the voyage will not take long," added Jack, thankfully. +"With myself and you, Philip, the number tots up to twenty-six +passengers." + +"Twenty-seven, Jack," interposed Tim, quickly "I'm not going to miss +the fun." + +"But your business, Tim," remonstrated Philip, in alarm, afraid lest +Fletcher's fighting propensities should cause trouble at Acauhtzin. + +"Well, isn't this my business, sir? Interview with the rebel leader! +It's a fine article I'll get out of that same, Philip." + +"Right you are, Tim. I'll be glad of your company. But Peter?" + +"We'll leave him behind, to look after the ladies." + +"Don Miguel," said Jack, who had been thinking deeply, "is the boat of +Señor Felipe to sail under the English or the Cholacacan flag?" + +"Under the flag of the opal, Señor." + +"In that case, Señor, a few shots will send her to the bottom, as she +approaches Tlatonac. Don Hypolito will suspect treachery and fire on +the ship." + +"He dare not fire on the opal banner, Señor." + +"I wouldn't trust him. He's a scoundrel," retorted Jack, savagely. +"Besides, war is proclaimed, and Xuarez won't want any messages of +peace." + +"Señor Maraquando," said Philip, gravely, "I think it will be best to +approach Acauhtzin under the English flag. When Don Alonzo delivers the +message of the Junta, we can hoist the opal banner." + +"I will speak to his Excellency on the subject, Don Felipe," replied +Maraquando, a trifle haughtily, feeling rather nettled at the implied +hint of the opal banner being treated with disrespect. "Meanwhile, you +will be ready to start at noon." + +"Yes, Señor; at noon precisely." + +"Bueno! His Excellency and the Junta will be at the sea-gate to see you +depart." + +After this, the three Englishmen bowed, and departed to get themselves +ready for the journey to Acauhtzin. + +"I say, Philip! You rather put the old gentleman's back up!" + +"Oh, confound it. I don't want _The Bohemian_ split up into matchwood. +Xuarez will fire on the opal flag; but he'll think twice before he +insults the Union Jack." + +"Let him try," said Tim, grimly; "and if I'm not kicking my heels at +the bottom of the sea, I'll wire to London about the insult, and bring +the British navy like hornets about his ears. Come, John, my boy! Wake +up! We're going to bring back your darling." + +"That is if we can get her from Xuarez," said Jack gloomily; "but I'm +terribly afraid. If any harm has happened to her, I'll kill him. By +gad, I'll choke the life out of him." + +"I'll help you, Jack," said Philip, earnestly, for his blood boiled at +the thought of Dolores in the grasp of Xuarez; "but I think you'll find +Dolores can look after herself. Besides, Xuarez will be too much afraid +of his allies, the Indians, to harm her." + +"You must change those fine feathers, boys," said Tim, suddenly. + +"And why?" + +"Because it will never do to let Don Hypolito know you're in this +shindy. Afterwards it doesn't matter; but, with the Union Jack flying, +you can't dress as Cholacacan soldiers." + +"Tim is right," said Jack, after a pause; "we will change our clothes." + +"But not our intentions, Jack," said Philip, anxious to keep up his +friends' spirits. "Dolores or war!" + +"No," cried Duval, with intense earnestness; "with me it is 'Dolores or +death!'" + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Harlequin Opal, Vol. 1 (of 3), by Fergus Hume + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43187 *** |