When Manuello left the dwelling of the little woman of whose affection
he was certain he hastened home to find out what attitude the woman he
loved would take toward the new conditions in Cuba, as well as to
ascertain what preparations she was making for the burial of the man
whose earthly life he had, himself, taken, although she was far from
imagining anything of the kind concerning either her dead lover or her
so-called half-brother.
He found Estrella much perturbed as was to have been expected under the
circumstances for he knew that she had been deeply enamored of the
handsome stranger whose dead body was now being prepared for interment
by the village undertaker to whom Estrella had given the money presented
to her by old Mage, so that the man's body was being taken care of
through the charity of his wife which had been bestowed upon his
sweetheart neither of whom had been known to him at all a few months
before.
As the hour for the funeral exercises drew near, a handsome carriage
drew up in front of the humble door where Estrella made her home; from
within it emerged no less a person than old Mage herself who had been
sent by Ruth Wakefield to escort the sorrowing girl to and from the rude
graveyard where the body of her own husband would be placed, that day;
she had told good Father Felix what to do as to the simple services but
had decided to absent herself from them, not being sure as to how much
endurance she would have and being determined not to add to the grief of
the innocent girl who had been deceived by the man whose name she had
assumed but never been known by in her own family, even, as, at his
especial request, she had kept the marriage hidden from all of her
acquaintances except the few members of her own little household who
were devoted to her and her interests and went about among the villagers
very little, as what business they had was transacted in Havana instead
of San Domingo.
Estrella was pleased and flattered by this attention from the lady of
the mansion on the hill and entered the carriage to find Father Felix
already there, for the carriage had been sent to the refectory before it
came to her own home; she remembered the message little Tessa had sent
to her so she asked old Mage to go to her dwelling for her, which was
done, and completed the sad little group that rode directly behind the
rude wagon which took the place of a hearse and which carried the body
of Victorio Colenzo to its last earthly resting-place.
The grief of the young girl was very pitiful and, as they turned away
from the narrow grave, old Mage felt moved to try to comfort her a
little by distracting her attention from her sorrow; seeing Manuello
lurking in the background as the funeral party were about to leave the
cemetery, she said to Estrella:
"Will your brother ride home with us? I remember his face for he has
brought fruit to our door and he told me, once, that you were his
half-sister."
The poor girl stifled her sobs long enough to listen to the old woman's
remark but made no other answer to it than to shake her head; little
Tessa turned her face in the direction indicated by old Mage and saw
Manuello with a look of diabolical triumph mingled with fear and hatred
on his dark face so that, in spite of her love for him, his expression
frightened her and made even her turn away from the sight of the great
change in his countenance from what she had seen resting there only that
morning.
Ruth Wakefield had spend the hour devoted to the funeral exercises of
her own husband very quietly and in entire solitude; she was accustomed
to the latter condition and there was no one among her acquaintances in
whom she cared to confide except the good Priest who had done what he
could to console and sustain her spirit through this trial that had been
forced upon her by untoward circumstances and her own faith in humanity;
she watched her own carriage descend the hill and pass into the little
village ... she saw the small funeral procession as it wended its way
along the palm-lined street ... she watched it enter the gate of the
little cemetery and even saw poor Estrella as she alighted from the
vehicle and leaned upon the arm of her small friend as she approached
the open grave that was to contain the mortal remains of the man who had
been, if only for a short space of time, her own husband ... and yet she
did not faint ... she did not cry out ... she had had her fight with her
own nature and she had won out after a hard struggle; all that was left
of the love she had entertained for the handsome Cuban who had entered
into her life so disastrously, was an open wound which time alone could
ever heal.
When old Mage returned to the mansion on the hill she sought out her
young lady and would have, in her usual garrulous manner, reported
everything that she had noticed during her absence had she received
encouragement to do so; on the contrary, she found Ruth, apparently,
deeply interested in a large volume which she had placed on a table
before her chair; she rested her head on her hands, from time to time,
and only looked up to welcome her old nurse, then resumed the perusal of
the page she happened to have open at the time of her entrance into the
library.
Ruth Wakefield had always found her chief delight among her many good
books; she browsed among them for mental sustenance and for spiritual
solace and found rich pasturage; it had been said of her, while she was
yet a small child, that, in case it ever became necessary to perform a
surgical operation upon any part of her delicate body, an anaesthetic
would not be essential, as all that she would need would be to have
someone read aloud to her from some fine piece of literature.
So, in the terrible affliction that had so recently befallen her, it was
as natural for her to go to her books for comfort as it would have been
for another woman to go to some understanding friend, for that was what
Ruth Wakefield found among her books ... understanding and safe friends
who would never betray her secrets or her confidence in them ... who
would never deceive and torture her and who represented to her the
finest and best impulses in human nature as well as those higher
sentiments to which she always clung and which, now, in this crisis of
her life, carried her safely over what might have crazed a mind less
well poised than hers.
The morning after the funeral exercises of Victorio Colenzo, Father
Felix ascended the hill upon which Ruth Wakefield's home was located and
sought her out, for the good Priest was much perturbed because of her
present condition and went to see her with the intention of advising her
to leave Cuba, at least for a time, as the situation with regard to her
own country was almost certain to become acute, after the disaster of a
few nights previous, and it seemed to him to be imprudent for a young
woman to remain alone with only retainers about her among the wild
people among whom he labored; for Father Felix knew far more of the
nature of these people than many others possibly could and he realized
that the wealth surrounding the Wakefield residence was in itself a
menace to the fair owner of it; although he, himself, intended to remain
among his parishioners under all circumstances, it did not seem to be a
wise procedure for an unprotected woman to do so.
He had studied the situation over from many view-points and had settled
on the best course, according to his judgment and knowledge of the
situation, for her to pursue, and he, now, laid this course before her
with the benevolent intention of assisting her to follow it in every way
within his limited power:
"My dear Miss Ruth," he began, hesitatingly, for he was not sure of just
what effect either her husband's violent death or the recent explosion
in the harbor would have on her sensitive nature, "I wish that you would
consider your own situation very carefully; you are now alone here
except for those who are under your employ, and the people of the
surrounding country are in a high state of excitement. At almost any
moment, now, your own native land, to which you are devoted, may declare
itself to be in a state of war with Spain, following the blowing up of
the battleship; in that case, your situation, here, would be even more
precarious than it is at present and it is far from being secure, even
now; what I had thought of proposing to you is that you, at once, gather
together what you consider to be the most precious of your worldly
possession, here, and place them in some storage building in Havana,
leaving the house, here, with as few valuables as possible inside of it,
then, with probably your old nurse as a companion and charge, return at
once to your own country, anyway, until the war-cloud that is now
hanging over Cuba has been lifted; it looks to me," he ended, "as if
that would not be for some years yet ... of course America is a powerful
country and if she takes this matter up in earnest, it may be that it
will come to an end more quickly than I fear it may."
He waited, quietly, then, for Ruth to think over his remarks; she had
regarded him earnestly while he had been speaking, and, now, sat with
her hands folded in her lap for a few minutes before she spoke:
"Father Felix," she began, at length, "Father Felix, I appreciate the
reasons that prompted you to come to me and advise me as you have just
been doing; I understand that you consider me unfit to cope with the
present situation under my circumstances and I wish to inform you that I
do not intend to run away from my duty any more than you do. I take it
for granted, Father, that you expect to remain with your people no
matter what may come to them? I believe that the more need they may
have of you, the more anxious you will be to serve them. Now I," she
continued, earnestly and unwaveringly, "I have not done my full duty, up
to now, among these people to whom you have devoted all of your
energies; I feel that I owe my fellow-beings more than I have given to
them in many ways, for I have been very much of a recluse, as you know,
loving my books and enjoying my home and the natural beauties I have
delighted in all around me; it may be, that, in the crisis that seems
imminent, I may find some good work that will wholly absorb my
energies ... it may be ..." she said, while a high resolve settled over
her sensitive features, "it may be, good Father Felix, that I may be
permitted to do almost as much good in our little world as you,
yourself, are doing and have already done. Would you bar me from the
proud privilege of sharing your labor and of receiving some measure of
the rich reward which is awaiting you?"
Father Felix gazed upon her as if upon a being already translated beyond
the common things of earth, and, realizing the firmness of her evident
resolve, he extended his hands toward her in blessing. As she bowed her
head to receive it there was a rapt look upon her face such as the holy
angels who welcome the souls of the newly dead must have upon their
features ... the inner consciousness of Ruth Wakefield shone through her
earthly lineaments and transfigured them so that they were even more
fair than they had been before.
"My Daughter," said the good Priest, "forgive me for proposing what I
did; I did not fully understand you; from this time on, I hope that we
may find much good work that we can do in common, for I would be proud
and glad to be engaged with you upon our Father's business. Let us
consult with each other in our plans for the betterment of the poor
people among whom our lot in life has been cast. I was going to speak to
you about the girl, Estrella," he went on, watching her face while he
talked; "she is in need of different surroundings than she has at
present, for she is not of the race of those with whom she has been
staying; the young man who calls her his half-sister knows very well
that she has none of his blood in her veins, and he is almost constantly
tormenting her with offers of his heart and hand, when the poor girl is
really a mourner for the man whom she believed, as you did, to be worthy
of a good woman's love. The girl is strong and willing and capable
beyond the common run of the people among whom she has spent her life
thus far. I believe she would fully appreciate kindness and would repay
it in every way in her power. What I have just thought of is, perhaps,
impossible for you to do, at present, but it may be that, in the future,
you may consider it. If you could bring yourself to have her in your
home she would be safe from harm and might be a very great help to you
if you carry on the work that is now in your mind to do. For," he rose
to his feet and walked rapidly from one end of the room to the other,
"if America declares war on Spain with a view to the independence of
Cuba, there will be much heroic work for you and me to do, my dear
Daughter ... there will be much work for us two to perform."
Ruth Wakefield also rose ... it seemed to her that the situation
demanded that she meet it on her feet....
"Father Felix," she said calmly and softly, "Father Felix, have Estrella
brought to me, today; let us begin our good work at once. There is
nothing that my beloved country can demand of me that I would not be
glad to give to its sacred cause. I believe that I can do more for my
native land, here, in Cuba, at the present time, than if I should return
to it, now. It may be that an American, with some degree of wealth and
intelligence, can be of service, here, at this critical juncture in her
country's history."
"Our native land could not have a better representative, my Daughter. As
you know, I, also, am an American and I am proud, indeed, to claim you
as a fellow-countryman. From now on we will more fully understand each
other and I shall be glad to consult with you about many important
matters. I will proceed at once to carry out your instructions with
regard to the young girl of whom we have been speaking, for I feel that
her case is one of peculiar importance, since I fully believe that she,
also, is an American, although I have been unable, up to this time, to
trace her parentage beyond the fact that a man, presumably her father,
left her in the care of the woman who brought her up as one of her own
children, in the little village below here. The poor girl has had a
sorry life so far and really deserves better treatment than she has
received, or so it seems to me from my finite stand-point. I do not
presume to question the wisdom or justice of God, but, often, I am
puzzled when I see the innocent suffer and the guilty escape punishment
here in this world; I always trust in our heavenly Father implicitly,
and, yet, at times, I am sorely put to it to furnish reasons for certain
people having been placed in certain environments. I believe that all
this will be explained to us in good time, but many things are hard to
understand while we remain finite beings with only the intelligence that
has been bestowed upon humanity to reason with. Conscience," he went on
almost as if talking to himself, "conscience is our infallible guide and
was given to us so that we would never be without direction in whatever
circumstances we may be placed. Now, in this instance ... I honestly
thought that I was doing right to come here this morning and advise you
as I did, and, yet, God, in His great Wisdom, guided you, at once, into
the only path that you were ever meant to walk in ... the path that
will lead you on to the peace that passeth human understanding."
After a little rather desultory conversation, with which he hoped to
lighten the outlook of the lonely woman, the good Priest wended his
solitary way down the hill and back to the scene of most of his labors
among the ignorant people whom he hoped to help toward a better
enlightenment, and, as he walked slowly down the path leading to the
village, he turned and looked back at the mansion on the hill, crossed
himself, and murmured:
"Of such is the kingdom of heaven."