spirit. "But not in this way."
Roddy hung his head humbly.
"I see," he murmured. "I forgot etiquette. I should have considered
you."
"I was not thinking of myself!" exclaimed the girl. "A week ago I
_was_ frightened. Tradition, training, was strong with me, and I _did_
think too much of how my meeting you would appear to others. But now I
see it as you see it. I'll risk their displeasure, gossip, scandal,
all of that, if I can only help my father. But _this_ will not help
him. This will lead to discovery. You must not come near me, nor visit
this house. My mother"--the girl hesitated--"it is hard to say," she
went on quickly, "but my mother more than dislikes you--she regards
you as our evil genius. She thinks you are doing all in your power to
spoil the plans of your own father and of Vega. She--we have all heard
of your striking Vega in defense of Alvarez. Vega is the one man she
thinks can save my father. She believes you are his enemy. Therefore,
you are her enemy. And she has been told, also, of the words you used
to my father when your friend was permitted to visit him." With an
effort the girl tried to eliminate from her voice the note of obvious
impatience. "Of course," she added quickly, "the story came to us
distorted. I could not see your object, but I was sure you had a
motive. I was sure it was well meant!"
"Well meant!" exclaimed Roddy, but interrupted himself quickly. "All
right," he said, "go on."
The girl recognized the restraint in his tone.
"You think I am unjust, ungrateful," she protested earnestly, "but,
believe me, I am not. I want only to impress upon you to be careful
and to show you where you stand."
"With whom?" asked Roddy.
"With my mother and Vega and with their party."
"I am more interested," said Roddy, "in knowing how I stand with you."
The girl answered quietly: "Oh, we are friends. And you know that I am
deeply grateful to you because _I_ know what you are trying to do, the
others do not."
"Suppose we tell them?" said Roddy.
The girl gave a quick exclamation of protest, and Roddy could hear
rather than see her move from him. They were now quite alone. Lest any
one coming from the house should discover Roddy, Pedro had been on
guard at the gate. But he had seen, both above and below the wharf,
mysterious, moonlit figures loitering at the edge of the water, and in
order to investigate them he left his post. There was a moment of
silence. On three sides the moonlight turned the tiny waves into
thousands of silver mirrors, and from farther up the curving
coast-line the fires in the wickerwork huts of the fishermen burned
red. At their feet the water was thick with the phosphorescence,
shining more brilliantly than the moonlight. And, as schools of
minnows fled, darting and doubling on their course before some larger
fish that leaped and splashed in pursuit, the black depths of the
harbor were lit with vivid streaks, and the drops of water cast into
the air flashed like sparks from an anvil.
A harbor shark, nosing up stealthily to the wharf, thought himself
invisible, but the phosphorescence showed his great length and cruel
head as clearly as though he wore a suit of flame.
"Suppose you tell them?" repeated Roddy.
The girl spoke with evident reluctance.
"I cannot," she said, "and the reason why I cannot is quite foolish,
absurd. But their minds are full of it. In some way Vega learned of
our meeting. He believes it was by accident, but, nevertheless, he
also believes--why I can't imagine--that you are interested in me."
As though fearful Roddy would speak, she continued quickly. She spoke
in impersonal, matter-of-fact tones that suggested that in the subject
at hand she herself was in no way involved.
"My mother was already prejudiced against you because she thought
that, for the sake of adventure, you were risking the life of my
father. And this last suggestion of Vega's has added to her
prejudice."
As though waiting for Roddy to make some comment or ask some question,
the girl hesitated.
"I see," said Roddy.
"No, I am afraid you cannot see," said Inez, "unless you know the
facts. I am sorry to weary you with family secrets, but, if you know
them, my mother's prejudice is more easy to understand. Colonel Vega
wishes to marry me. My mother also desires it. That is why they are
hostile to you."
The young girl gave an exclamation of impatience.
"It is ridiculous," she protested, "that such an absurd complication
should be brought into a matter of life and death. But there it is.
And for that reason it would be folly to tell them of your purpose.
They would accept nothing from your hands. You must continue to work
alone, and you must not come near me nor try to speak to me. If it is
absolutely necessary to communicate with me, write what you have to
tell me; or, better still, give a verbal message to Pedro." She made
an abrupt movement. "I must go!" she exclaimed. "I told them I would
walk in the garden, and they may follow."
At the thought she gave a little gasp of alarm.
"Surely it is not as serious as that?" Roddy objected.
"Quite," returned the girl. "To them, what I am doing now is
unpardonable. But I was afraid to write you. A letter may sound so
harsh, it can be so easily misread. I did not wish to offend you, so I
risked seeing you this way--for the last time."
"For the last time," repeated Roddy.
Inez made a movement to go.
"Wait!" he commanded. "Do you come often to this place?"
"Yes," said the girl, and then, answering the possible thought back of
the question, she added: "My mother and sister come here with me every
evening--for the sake of the harbor breeze--at least we used to do so.
Why?" she demanded.
In her voice was a note of warning.
"I was thinking," said Roddy, "I could row past here in my boat, far
out, where no one could see me. But I could see you."
Inez gave a quick sigh of exasperation.
"You will _not_ understand!" she exclaimed. "Why," she demanded,
"after all I have told you, after my taking this risk to make it plain
to you that you must _not_ see me, do you still persist?"
"As you wish," answered Roddy quietly, but his tone showed that his
purpose to see her was unchanged. Inez heard him laugh happily. He
moved suddenly toward her. "Why do I persist?" he asked. His voice,
sunken to a whisper, was eager, mocking. In it she discerned a new
note. It vibrated with feeling. "Why do I persist?" he whispered.
"Because you are the most wonderful person I have ever met. Because if
I did not persist I'd despise myself. Since I last saw you I have
thought of nothing but _you_, I have been miserable for the sight of
_you_. You can forbid me seeing you, but you can't take away from me
what you have given me--the things you never knew you gave me."
The girl interrupted him sharply.
"Mr. Forrester!" she cried.
Roddy went on, as though she had not spoken.
"I had to tell you," he exclaimed. "Until I told you I couldn't sleep.
It has been in my head, in my heart, every moment since I saw you. You
_had_ to know. And this night!" he exclaimed. As though calling upon
them to justify him he flung out his arms toward the magic moonlight,
the flashing waves, the great fronds of the palms rising above the
wall of the garden. "You have given me," he cried, "the most beautiful
thing that has come into my life, and on a night like this I _had_ to
speak. I had to thank you. On such a night as this," Roddy cried
breathlessly, "Jessica stole from Shylock's house to meet her lover.
On such a night as this Leander swam the Hellespont. And on this night
I had to tell you that to me you are the most wonderful and beautiful
woman in the world."
How Inez Rojas, bewildered, indignant, silent only through
astonishment, would have met this attack, Roddy never knew, for Pedro,
leaping suddenly from the shore, gave her no time to answer.
Trembling with excitement, the Venezuelan spoke rapidly.
"You must go!" he commanded. He seized Roddy by the arm and tried to
drag him toward the garden. "The police! They surround the house."
With his free hand he pointed at two figures, each carrying a lantern,
who approached rapidly along the shore from either direction.
"They are spying upon all who enter. If they find _you_!" In an agony
of alarm the old man tossed up his hands.
Under his breath Roddy cursed himself impotently for a fool. He saw
that again he would compromise the girl he had just told he held in
high regard, that he would put in jeopardy the cause for which he had
boasted to her he would give his life. Furious, and considering only
in what way he could protect Inez, he stood for a moment at a loss.
From either side the swinging lanterns drew nearer. In his rear his
retreat was cut off by the harbor. Only the dark shadows of Miramar
offered a refuge.
"Quick!" commanded Inez. "You must hide in the garden." Her voice was
cold with displeasure. "When they have gone Pedro will tell you and
you will leave. And," she added, "you will see that you do not
return."
The words sobered Roddy. They left him smarting, and they left him
quite cool. After her speech he could not accept the hospitality of
the garden. And his hiding there might even further compromise her. He
saw only one way out; to rush the nearest policeman and in the
uncertain light, hope, unrecognized, to escape. But even that chance
left the police free to explain, in their own way, why the Senorita
Rojas was in the company of a man who fled before them.
"Do you hear?" whispered Inez. "Hide yourself!"
With a cry of dismay Pedro forced Roddy into the shadow.
"It is too late!" he exclaimed.
Standing in the gateway of the garden, clearly illuminated by the
moonlight, stood Senora Rojas, with her arm in that of Pino Vega.
In spite of himself, Roddy emitted an excited chuckle. In the presence
of such odds his self-reproaches fell from him. He felt only a
pleasing thrill of danger. This was no time for regrets or
upbraidings. The situation demanded of him only quick action and that
he should keep his head. As Roddy now saw it, he was again the
base-runner, beset in front and rear. He missed only the shouts and
cheers of thousands of partisans. The players of the other side were
closing in and shortening the distance in which he could turn and run.
They had him in a trap, and, in another instant, the ball would touch
him. It was quite time, Roddy decided, to "slide!" Still hidden by the
shadow of the thatched roof, he dropped at the feet of Inez, and,
before she could understand his purpose, had turned quickly on his
face and lowered himself into the harbor. There was a faint splash and
a shower of phosphorescence. Roddy's fingers still clung to the edge
of the wharf, and Inez, sinking to her knees, brought her face close
to his.
"Come back!" she commanded. "Come back! You will drown!" She gave a
sudden gasp of horror. "The sharks!" she whispered. "You could not
live a moment." With both hands she dragged at his sleeve.
Roddy cast a quick glance at the moon. A friendly cloud was hastening
to his aid. He saw that if, for a moment longer, he could remain
concealed, he would under cover of the brief eclipse, be able to swim
to safety. He drew free of Inez, and, treading water, fearful even to
breathe, watched the lanterns of the police halt at the wharf.
The voice of Senora Rojas rose in anxious inquiry.
"Is that you, Inez?" she called.
There was no reply. Concerned as to what struggle of conscience might
not be going on in the mind of the girl, Roddy threw his arm across
the edge of the wharf and drew his shoulders clear of the water. In
the shadow Inez was still kneeling, her face was still close to his.
"Answer her!" commanded Roddy. "I'm all right." He laughed softly,
mockingly. He raised his head nearer. "'On such a night,'" he
whispered, "'Leander swam the Hellespont.' Why? Because he loved her!"
With an exclamation, partly of exasperation, partly of relief at
finding the man did not consider himself in danger, Inez rose to her
feet and stepped into the moonlight.
"Yes, I am here," she called. "I am with Pedro."
At the same moment the black cloud swept across the moon, and, with
the stealth and silence of a water rat, Roddy slipped from the wharf
and struck out toward the open harbor.
At the gate the two policemen raised their lanterns and swung them in
the face of Senora Rojas.
Vega turned upon them fiercely.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Do you wish to know who I am?
Well, I am Colonel Vega. Report that to your chief. Go!"
With a gesture he waved the men to one side, and, saluting sulkily,
they moved away.
When they had gone Senora Rojas sighed with relief, but the hand that
rested upon the arm of Vega trembled.
"My dear lady!" he protested. "When I am here no harm can come."
Vega hoped that Inez had heard him. He trusted, also, that she had
observed the manner in which he had addressed the police, and how,
awed by his authority, they had slunk away. But Inez had not observed
him.
With her hands pressed against her breast, her eyes filled with fear,
she was watching in fascinated horror a thin ripple of phosphorescence
that moved leisurely and steadily out to sea.
[Illustration: On such a night, Leander swam the Hellespont.]
* * * * *
In the _patio_ of Roddy's house Peter was reclining in a
steamer-chair. At his elbow was a long drink, and between his fingers
a long cigar. Opposite him, in another chair, was stretched young
Vicenti. At midnight, on his way home from visiting a patient, the
doctor, seeing a light in the court-yard of Roddy's house, had
clamored for admittance. To Peter the visit was most ill-timed. Roddy
had now been absent for four hours, and the imagination of his friend
was greatly disturbed. He knew for what purpose Roddy had set forth,
and he pictured him pierced with a bullet as he climbed the garden
wall, or a prisoner behind the bars of the _cartel_. He was in no mood
to entertain visitors, but the servants were in bed, and when Vicenti
knocked, Peter himself had opened the door. On any other night the
doctor would have been most welcome. He was an observing young man,
and his residence in the States enabled him to take the point of view
of Peter and Roddy, and his comments upon their country and his own
were amusing. For his attack upon General Rojas he had been greatly
offended with Roddy, but the American had written him an apology, and
by this late and informal visit Vicenti intended to show that they
were again friends.
But, for Peter, it was a severe test of self-control. Each moment his
fears for Roddy's safety increased, and of his uneasiness, in the
presence of the visitor, he dared give no sign. It was with a feeling
of genuine delight that he heard from the garden a mysterious whistle.
"Who's there?" he challenged.
"Is anybody with you?" The voice was strangely feeble, but it was the
voice of Roddy.
"Our friend Vicenti," Peter cried, warningly.
At the same moment, Roddy, clad simply in his stockings, and dripping
with water, stood swaying in the doorway.
"For Heaven's sake!" protested Peter.
Roddy grinned foolishly, and unclasping his hands from the sides of
the door, made an unsteady start toward the table on which stood the
bottles and glasses.
"I want a drink," he murmured.
"You want quinine!" cried Vicenti indignantly. "How dared you go
swimming at night! It was madness! If the fever----"
He flew into the hall where he had left his medicine-case, and Peter
ran for a bathrobe. As they returned with them there was a crash of
broken glass, and when they reached the _patio_ they found Roddy
stretched at length upon the stones.
At the same moment a little, old man sprang from the garden and knelt
beside him. It was Pedro.
"He is dead!" he cried, "he is dead!"
His grief was so real that neither Peter nor Vicenti could suppose he
was other than a friend, and without concerning himself as to how he
had been so suddenly precipitated into the scene, Vicenti, as he
poured brandy between Roddy's teeth, commanded Pedro to rub and beat
his body. Coughing and choking, Roddy signalized his return to
consciousness by kicking the little man in the stomach.
"Ah, he lives!" cried Pedro. He again dropped upon his knees and,
crossing himself, prayed his thanks.
Roddy fell into the bathrobe and into the steamer chair. Sighing
luxuriously, he closed his eyes.
"Such a fool, to faint," he murmured. "So ashamed. Made a bet--with
harbor sharks. Bet them, could not get me. I win." He opened his eyes
and stared dully at Pedro. "Hello!" he said, "there's good old Pedro.
What you doing here, Pedro?"
The old man, now recovered from his fear on Roddy's account, was in
fresh alarm as to his own, and, glancing at Vicenti, made a movement
to escape into the garden.
Roddy waved Vicenti and Peter into the hall.
"Go away," he commanded. "He wants to talk to me."
"But I must not leave you," protested the doctor. "Now I am here as
your physician, not as your guest."
"A moment," begged Roddy, "a moment." His eyes closed and his head
fell back. Pedro bent over him.
"She sent me," he whispered eagerly. "She could not sleep. She must
know to-night if you live. I hid myself in your garden, and I wait and
I wait. But you do not come, and I despair. And then," cried the old
man joyfully, "the miracle! Now my mistress can sleep in peace."
Roddy lay so still that had it not been for his sharp breathing Pedro
would have thought he had again fainted. With a sudden, sharp cry
Roddy opened his eyes. His clenched fists beat feebly on the arms of
the chair.
"It's a lie!" he shouted fiercely, "it's a lie!" His eyes were wide
and staring. Vicenti, returning hastily, looked into them and, with an
exclamation, drew back.
"The fever!" he said.
Roddy was shouting wildly.
"It's a lie!" he cried. "She did _not_ send you. She does not care
whether I drown or live. She loves Pino Vega. She will marry----"
Peter, with his arm around Roddy's neck, choked him, and held his hand
over his mouth.
"Be still," he entreated, "for God's sake, be still!" He looked
fearfully at Vicenti, but the young doctor, though his eyes were wide
with astonishment, made an impatient gesture.
"Help me get him to bed," Vicenti commanded briskly. "Take his other
arm."
With the strength the fever lent him, Roddy hurled the two men from
him.
"She and Vega--they stood on the wharf," he shouted, "you understand?
They laughed at me. And then the sharks smelt me out and followed; and
I couldn't hide because the harbor was on fire. I struck at them and
screamed, but I couldn't shake them off; they dived and turned; they
crept up on me stealthily, in great circles. They were waiting for me
to drown. Whichever way I swam I saw them, under me, on every side!
They lit the water with great streaks of flame. And she and Vega
pointed me out and laughed."
"Stop him!" shrieked Peter. "You _must not_ listen! Give him morphine!
Dope him! Stop him!"
Roddy wrenched his wrists free and ran to Pedro, clutching him by the
shoulders.
"But _we'll_ save him!" he cried. "_We'll_ set him free! Because he is
an old man. Because he is a great man. Because he is her father. We'll
make him President!" His voice soared exultantly. "To hell with Vega!"
he shouted. "To hell with Alvarez!" He flung up his arms into the
air. "Viva Rojas!" he cried.
Peter turned on Vicenti and shook his fist savagely in his face.
"What you've heard," he threatened, "you've heard under the seal of
your profession."
But the eyes that looked into his were as wild as those of the man
driven with fever. The face of the Venezuelan was jubilant, exalted,
like that of a worshipping fanatic.
"The truth!" he whispered breathlessly, "the truth!"
"The boy is raving mad," protested Peter. "He doesn't mean it. You
have heard nothing!"
From the servants' quarters there came the sound of hurrying
footsteps.
In alarm, Vicenti glanced in that direction, and then came close to
Peter, seizing him by the arm.
"If he's mad," he whispered fiercely, "then _I_ am mad, and I know ten
thousand more as mad as he."
When the sun rose dripping out of the harbor, Vicenti and Peter walked
into the garden.
"I can leave him now," said the doctor. He looked at Peter's white
face and the black rings around his eyes, and laughed. "When he
wakes," he said, "he will be in much better health than you or I."
"He certainly gave us a jolly night," sighed Peter, "and I shall never
thank you enough for staying by me and Pedro. When a man I've roomed
with for two years can't make up his mind whether I am I or a shark,
it gets on my nerves."
A few hours later, in another garden half a mile distant, Pedro was
telling his young mistress of the night just past. The tears stood in
his eyes and his hands trembled in eloquent pantomime.
"He is so like my young master, your brother," he pleaded, "so brave,
so strong, so young, and, like him, loves so deeply."
"I am very grateful," said the girl gently. "For my father and for me
he risked his life. I am grateful to him--and to God, who spared him."
Pedro lowered his eyes as he repeated: "And he loves so deeply."
The girl regarded him steadily.
"What is it you wish to say?" she demanded.
"All through the night I sat beside him," answered the old man
eagerly, "and in his fever he spoke only one name."
The girl turned from him and for a moment stood looking out into the
harbor.
"Then the others heard?" she said.
Pedro, with a deprecatory gesture, bowed. With sudden vehemence, with
a gesture of relief, the girl flung out her arms.
"I'm glad," she cried. "I am _tired_ of secrets, tired of deceit. I am
glad they know. It makes me proud! It makes me happy!"
During the long night, while Roddy had tossed and muttered, Vicenti
talked to Peter frankly and freely. He held back nothing. His
appointment as prison doctor he had received from Alvarez, but it was
impossible for any one to be long in close contact with General Rojas
and not learn to admire and love him. And for the past year Vicenti
had done all in his power to keep life in the older man and to work
for his release. But General Rojas, embittered by past experience, did
not confide in him, did not trust him. In spite of this, the doctor
had continued working in his interests. He assured Peter that the
adherents of Rojas were many, that they were well organized, that they
waited only for the proper moment to revolt against Alvarez, release
Rojas, and place him in power. On their programme Vega had no place.
They suspected his loyalty to his former patron and chief, they feared
his ambition; and they believed, were he to succeed in making himself
President, he would be the servant of Forrester, and of the other
foreigners who desired concessions, rather than of the people of
Venezuela. The amnesty, Vicenti believed, had been declared only that
Alvarez might entice Vega to Venezuela, where, when he wished, he
could lay his hands on him. When he had obtained evidence that Vega
was plotting against him he would submit this evidence to the people
and throw Vega into prison.
"Vega knows his danger," added Vicenti, "and, knowing it, he must mean
to strike soon--to-day--to-morrow. We of the Rojas faction are as
ignorant of his plans as we hope he is of ours. But in every camp
there are traitors. No one can tell at what hour all our secrets may
not be made known. Of only one thing you can be certain: matters
cannot continue as they are. Within a week you will see this country
torn by civil war, or those who oppose Alvarez, either of our party or
of Vega's, will be in prison."
When Roddy, rested and refreshed and with normal pulse and mind, came
to luncheon, Peter confided to him all that Vicenti had told him.
"If all that is going to happen," was Roddy's comment, "the sooner we
get Rojas free the better. We will begin work on the tunnel to-night."