Tessa was very much distressed as to the condition of Manuello and,
feeling that he depended upon her alone, cast about in her mind as to
how she could assist him; to begin with, she was anxious about the heavy
handcuffs hanging to his poor wrist, as she put it in her gentle
thoughts of the man whom she suspected of being a murderer; if, however,
the charge against him were true, she felt that the crime was committed
in the heat of a jealous passion, and being what she was, herself, she
excused it for that reason, for a Cuban girl is apt to love as madly
and as unreasonably as any man ... to her, Manuello was almost a
demi-god ... it had been a hard trial for the little woman to give him
up to Estrella, even, and, now that he was in dire need and the girl of
his first choice had deliberately deserted him, it seemed to her as if
she had the right to let her own wild love guide her in all that she did
with regard to him.
She was slowly retracing her steps to her own home with the intention of
getting some supplies and managing to evade the vigilance of the rest of
her family sufficiently to carry them to the man she loved ... her eyes
were directed to the path along which she walked, idly, yet, all at
once, those dark eyes lighted up with sudden joy and she hastily swooped
down, like a fluffy little bird upon a morsel of food, and took into her
hand a small and intricate-patterned key; she hoped that this was the
key that would unlock the hated manacles from Manuello's wrist and,
regarding this as a good omen, she concealed the little deliverer in her
bosom, tying it in the corner of the kerchief that was crossed upon her
breast.
When Tessa had secured what necessities she found available on the spur
of the moment, she at once concealed them as far as possible and
prepared to ascend the side of the hill toward the ruined hut where
Manuello had directed her to come; her heart was fluttering wildly for
this was her first secret mission, as she had always had someone near
her during her short life on earth: she wound her way among the cactus
plants that covered the ground in almost all directions, with an
unerring instinct that was of more value to her than any education could
have been for the moment, for one unaccustomed to the wild cacti in Cuba
might, easily, become bewildered, as it is necessary to walk almost in
circles among the thick clumps of prickly foliage.
Tessa was young, but the women of Cuba, like those of most tropical
countries, mature early in life, and she already had the strong maternal
instinct that is a part of normal womanhood; this instinct now directed
her to watch over Manuello as if he were, indeed, her child, instead of
the man to whom she had given the first wild love of her fiery nature;
for women are made that way ... no matter what their own body may demand
of them, it is as natural for them to put all personal feeling aside and
allow a higher, more unselfish love to rule them entirely, as it is for
a man to, first gratify his own desires, and, then, if so be he can
without inconvenience to himself in any way, minister to the wants of
the woman in the case, all well and good, but if, on the contrary, to
care for the woman would, in any way, cause him to exercise self-control
and self-sacrifice, why, of course, he seeks another woman as soon as he
can well rid himself of the one who has flouted him; I am now speaking
of the general run of men ... there are exceptions to this rule, of
course, just as there are exceptions to the rule just stated regarding
women ... not all women are as little Tessa was, but most of them are
and it is indeed fortunate for the world of men and women that this is
as it is ... wonderful beyond the ways of human beings is the love of a
pure woman ... wonderful and worthy of the highest respect and devotion
of any man is the almost angelic love that women often bestow on most
unworthy objects.
It was so in this case, for, while the girl was winding among the cacti
that hindered her advance up the hill, the man was lying in a miserable
heap in the corner of the deserted hut, cursing not only his own hard
luck, but even the girl on whom he depended for sustenance and care;
with maledictions on his tongue and the heavy manacles on his wrist, and
with the increasing pain and torment of his undressed wound, the poor
fellow was far from appearing much as had the gay peasant who had
congratulated himself on having escaped from prison, and, at the same
time, having rid himself of his rival in the affections of Estrella,
who, now, seemed lost to him.
When the girl reached the ruined hut she found the object of her loving
care under the circumstances described above, and it took all of her
courage to face the situation alone and unaided by surgical skill for
they both realized that discovery would be almost certain to be fatal to
the man who now lay groaning and cursing by turns, even while his
ministering angel in human form knelt at his side and unlocked the
handcuffs from his wrist, for, luckily, she had happened upon the very
means of deliverance from the manacles for which they had both longed;
then Tessa gathered dead palm branches with which she fashioned a rude
bed for the sufferer, after which she raised his head upon a small
pillow which she had thoughtfully brought with her, for she was a sturdy
little peasant and could act as a beast of burden without harm to
herself; having fixed him up as comfortably as she could, under the hard
circumstances, she insisted upon his eating and drinking some of the
refreshments she had carried up the hill for him; she had used what
skill she had in bathing and binding the wounded leg, and, as the bullet
had gone clear through, there was little else to do so far as that was
concerned; then they began to consult as to what method of procedure
would be best for them to take; in this, of course, Manuello thought
only of himself, as was natural to a man of his type, while little
Tessa, as was also natural to one of her trusting and loving
disposition, also thought only of his comfort and safety.
"I must come to you each day until the wound heals, my dear Friend,"
said the earnest little woman. "I must bring you what you will need and
I must be very careful not to be detected in doing this. I wish ..." she
ended, earnestly, "I wish that dear Estrella could come and see you for
it would do you more good than anything that I can do for you."
"You are a darling little girl, Tessa," said her turbulent patient. "You
ought to satisfy any reasonable man; Estrella don't care anything at all
about me, and I am beginning to think that I can get along without her
as long as I can have you."
The adoring look in his dark eyes as he said these words was like manna
in the wilderness to little Tessa, for she could not help being pleased
to think that, after all, maybe Manuello would fix his affections upon
her small person, since Estrella had so often flouted him and shown him
plainly by her great preference for Victorio that she did not love him;
the name she had just used in her thoughts brought up the hateful
suspicion aroused in her by the remarks of the Irishman who had seemed,
at first glance, to be a Spaniard, but who, as soon as he opened his
mouth to speak, proved his nationality beyond the shadow of a doubt.
But the loving girl put her thought aside almost at once ... she did not
wish to believe the suspicion to be true and she did not intend to
believe it--until she had to, if such a sad time could ever come to her;
just at present all the strength of her being was concentrated upon the
desire to aid Manuello in whatever manner she could.
To further this desire, she arranged a signal whereby he might know that
she was coming up the hill and concealed, as well as she could the
approach to the hiding-place as well as the hut itself, by throwing, in
apparent disorder, as if blown by a strong wind, such branches and twigs
as she could find by a hurried search.
She did not stay any longer than she thought was necessary for the
comfort of her patient for she was determined to continue her care of
him if possible and realized that a prolonged absence from her own home
might bring suspicion upon them both; as she was leaving, she looked
pitifully weak and small to cope with such a complicated situation
alone; even Manuello realized, for a moment, the devotion of the girl,
and called her over to his side to say a word or two at parting.
"Dear little Tessa," he began, "this is going to be a hard task that you
have undertaken. I wonder if I am worth all this trouble. Perhaps you
would just better turn me over to the soldiers and let them work their
will on me; it may be that I will never be able to reward you for all
your care; of course, it may, on the other hand, be possible for me to
offer you help and comfort when you, yourself, may be in need of it. Now
that you have freed me from those shackles, I begin to feel my old
strength and courage coming back, and if I ever am again as I was before
this last mishap, I will surely reward you somehow for all this
sacrifice that you are making for me."
This speech, coming from a man in the condition of Manuello, appealed to
the little woman so forcibly that she knelt beside his rude couch and
laid both her small, dark hands on his brow as she looked deeply into
his eyes; this position, being very favorable to the impulse that came
over the man as he lay there, made it easy for him to draw her head,
with its great mass of black hair, down upon his shoulder; as her cheek
was laid against his own, Manuello held her small face closely with both
his hands while he kissed first her trembling lips, then each of her
eye-lids, for she had closed her eyes in a sort of blind ecstasy, then
her low forehead, then the top of her small head and, finally, her
quivering chin.
The impulse that prompted him to give these welcome caresses lasted only
a moment for the pain in his leg was beginning to be very insistent and
a groan of agony took the place of the loving words that had been upon
his eager tongue during the moment when he forgot his wound, but the
effect of those few wild moments of unbridled passion went with the
little woman down the hill and covered her small body with a delicious
glow that took away much of the terror and apprehension with which she
viewed the situation in which she found herself.
Ruth Wakefield found Estrella to be much more of a companion than she
had thought she would, and found that, in the innocence and naturally
responsive disposition of the girl, she could almost forget the tie that
had brought them together; had the girl suspected the truth as to
Victorio's relations with the mistress of the mansion on the hill, the
situation might have been strained or even acute, but, as it was, Ruth
only pitied, while she almost envied, the sorrow of the sweetheart of
her own husband.
On the morning when Manuello had discovered the where-abouts of
Estrella, the two women had been watching for Father Felix, intending to
consult with him concerning something that they both wished to do and
yet were not sure of the wisdom of; when he came, they both waited,
anxiously, for his first words, for they depended upon them for
enlightenment regarding a question in which they were both much
interested.
"Miss Ruth and Estrella," he began, addressing both women, "I have great
news for you but we must be cautious in discussing what I have to impart
to you; if, through our carelessness, the information I am about to give
you, should miscarry, it might mean almost as great a disaster as the
recent explosion in Havana Harbor. We must be sure that we are not
overheard. I think we would better repair to the library, Miss Ruth, if
that would meet with your approval. I think we would be more secure from
eaves-droppers inside the house than here. I just met Manuello, my
Dear," he said speaking to Estrella, "as I came up the path. I do not
like to have him lurking around your dwelling-place. I am sure that he
is in some sort of hiding from the authorities and I dread to have him
near you, for he has an evil look in his eyes, lately. Be very careful,
my Daughter, as you go about the place or into the village ... it might
even be well for you to remain away from your former home for some time
to come. I can carry any news of you that will be necessary for them to
know or do any little errands that you may think should be done.
By-the-way," he ended, turning his attention, once more, to Ruth, "I met
your old nurse hurrying along down toward the village as if in great
haste; as she does not often walk down the hill I noticed the
circumstances."
"Old Mage!" exclaimed Ruth. "Why, I did not know that she had gone out.
Do you know anything of this, Estrella? Did she tell you that she had
work to do in the village? Was there something that had to be secured
for the larder, at once, that would not brook delay? Dear me, I hope she
will not over-tire herself. She is not very strong any more and I try to
have her, always, take very good care of herself. As you may know, good
Father," she went on, "old Mage is almost the only living human friend
on whom I can rely and her fealty to me is beyond question. If I should
find old Mage untrue to me," she declared, "I would not expect the sun
to rise the following morning. I must look into this, and, if you will
excuse me for a few moments, I will do so at once."
"Now, my Daughter," said the Priest when Estrella and he were left
alone, "I wish to say to you, privately, that you must, from this time
on, avoid meeting Manuello in any way, both for yourself and also for
the well-being of your good friend, Miss Ruth; the fellow is
evil-minded, lately, and I believe would not stop at robbery or even,
though I greatly regret to think so, _murder_," he uttered the dreadful
word softly but emphatically, "if he believed that he would benefit by
either crime and I must urge you not to allow him to come here to see
you under any possible circumstances. As I said before, I can do what
must be done as between your former family and yourself."
Estrella gladly acquiesced in this good judgment of Father Felix and
agreed to do all in her power to avoid meeting Manuello which she had no
desire, personally, to do, as she dreaded his protestations of love as
much as she would have dreaded his anger for any other reason in the
common affairs of daily life.
In a short time, Ruth returned, explaining that old Mage had, indeed,
gone down to the village, though for what purpose she had been unable,
so far, to discover: they, then, repaired to the library and carefully
closed all doors and windows before Father Felix began to tell them what
they were so anxious to hear.
"My dear Friends," he began, "the information that I have to impart to
you is of a very delicate as well as secret nature and must be so
regarded by both of you. Estrella, to you, especially, I wish to say
that you must not, under any circumstances, breathe a single word of
what I will say to you for it is of vital importance to the native land,
as I believe, of all three of us. For I have reason to think that you,
as well as Miss Ruth and myself, are an American. I know that all of
your sympathies are with our native land, at least, and, in trusting you
with this information, I am, in a measure, making you one of us in deed
and in truth, whether you are so by reason of your birth or not. Before
I go any further, I want your assurance of what I believe to be true."
He waited a moment for the girl to speak, then, seeing her evident
embarrassment, he added, kindly:
"You need have no fear of either of us, Estrella. If you have friends in
this wide world, you are with two of them at this moment."
At these earnest words, the expression of the girl's face changed
somewhat and she replied to the implied interrogatory of the Priest:
"I, also, believe that I am an American, although I do not know anything
of my own parentage beyond what my foster parents have told me. I do not
even know," she blushed while she made the statement, "whether my father
and mother had been married before my birth.... I have no means of
finding out anything more of myself than that I am an honest girl and
that I am deeply grateful to both you and Miss Ruth for your great
kindness to me in my great sorrow. As far as my fealty to America is
concerned," she ended, proudly, "I am as true to that great country as
anyone who knows himself to be a citizen of it. I would, gladly, lay my
feeble life upon the altar of what I believe to be my native land ...
the United States of America."
She pronounced the words with reverence and bowed her head as if in
prayer, so that Father Felix no longer hesitated, but proceeded, at
once:
"At this moment, an American squadron is in Asiatic waters, ready to
move, at the moment its Commander receives the cablegram from the
President of our own country, against the Spaniard, almost on his own
territory. By this move it is hoped to so cripple him that we, here, in
Cuba, may, with the help of our soldiers and sailors, conquer and drive
from the Island those who have so long usurped the places of great power
among us."
When the good Priest had pronounced these fateful words, he found his
two auditors sitting erect, as if at attention, with hands folded in
their laps, and eyes fixed upon his face in breathless eagerness. Ruth
was the first to break the silence.
"I pray the good God," she said, softly and reverently, "I pray God to
strengthen the hands of those who are to do this great, good work! I
trust that those who will be engaged in battle may be prepared to meet
their Maker with clean hearts, if with bloody hands. War," she cried,
suddenly, losing her attitude of prayer in the violence of her emotions,
"war is a terrible calamity but it seems that, only through war can a
nation be purged of such foul crimes as have been committed right here
in Cuba."
Estrella watched her with flashing eyes and sympathetic expression and
the good Priest crossed himself and clenched his fists at the same
time, for, had occasion required such action at his hands, it was
evident that Father Felix could have changed from the spiritual guide to
the fiery enthusiast willing to take his place among the fighting men
who would defend what he believed to be a sacred cause.
"Now, Father Felix," demanded the practical side of Ruth Wakefield,
"what action can we take in this matter to help the good cause? Is there
not some preparation that we can make to welcome our soldiers to Cuba,
for, of course," she lifted her head, proudly, "our boys will win
whatever conflict they may become engaged in ... it is only a question
as to how many of them may be injured or even killed in the terrible
encounter. Every man in America," said this American woman, "is a
soldier if he is needed in that capacity, for every American, man, woman
or child, is a _patriot_ ... devoted to the sacred traditions and
splendid example of those who followed _George Washington_ to victory
over those who had oppressed and insulted them."
"My Daughters," said Father Felix, rising, "I must leave you for the
present. I will find out what we may do to assist our countrymen and
will come again to let you know the result of my search for further
information. All we can do, now, is to hold the information I have just
given to you inviolate and prepare ourselves, spiritually, to meet
whatever emergency may arise. My Daughters," he ended, stretching out
his hands in blessing over their bowed heads, "we shall have work to do
and we will do it with our might. May God, in His great Mercy, guide us
into the path in which He intended us to walk."