BENICIA UNDERTAKES AN OBLIGATION
Ormsgill, who reclined among the sugar bags, lighted a cigarette one
of the officers had given him before he turned to Desmond.
"I don't know if you are comfortable on that case, but, as you see, I
haven't another seat to offer you, and these bags are a trifle
sticky," he said. "I understand that my jailers were instructed to
show me every consideration."
Desmond laughed as he glanced around the half-ruinous shed. "It's
hardly worth while making excuses of that kind," he said. "I'm quite
willing to admit that the one thing that's worrying me is the question
what your friends mean to do with us."
"It's possible they may set us at liberty, but in the meanwhile you
know as much as I do. How did you fall into their hands?"
"I was at Las Palmas when I heard that they were having trouble in the
interior. The news wasn't very definite, but it seemed to me I might
be wanted and I brought the yacht across as hard as we could drive
her."
"Ah," said Ormsgill quietly, "that is, of course, very much the kind
of thing one would expect you to do. You were at Las Palmas--but go
on. I may ask you something later."
Desmond understood him, and though he had driven the _Palestrina_
mercilessly day after day under the uttermost pressure her boilers
would stand he was satisfied. He had not thought it worth while to
mention how they had shaken every rag of canvas out while the yacht
rolling viciously and shivering in every plate swept along with the
spray-clouds flying over her before the big trade breeze combers, or
the more arduous days when, while the firemen gasped beneath an almost
intolerable heat, they still drove her south at topmost speed over an
oily blazing sea across the line. He also fancied he knew what
Ormsgill wished to ask him, and a trace of uneasiness crept into his
face as he proceeded somewhat hastily.
"Well," he said, "when we got the anchor down I heard that the
fighting was over and the troops were coming back again. Somebody told
me they had a white prisoner who had evidently been encouraging the
rebels, and it seemed to me advisable to set out up country on a
shooting trip. There was a rather capable boy among those I hired, and
he hadn't much difficulty in making friends with one of the camp
followers or carriers when we came up with the troops. After that we
followed their track, keeping about a league away from them for almost
a week, and I sent you two messages. I suppose you never got them?"
"No," said Ormsgill. "I almost think it's evident that somebody else
did."
Desmond made a little sign of concurrence. "The boy probably sold us,
or your friend Dom Clemente was too clever for him. One could fancy
that is a very capable man. Anyway, while I was considering how we
could arrange to get you off we went to sleep last night in a belt of
grass. I took the precaution of sending two sentries out, and I don't
know yet why they didn't warn me, but when I awakened early this
morning there was a white officer standing over me. As he had several
black soldiers with him and we were evidently at his mercy I came
along with him. I don't think there was any other course open to me."
"You have done what you could. You brought me no message from Las
Palmas?"
Desmond, who once more appeared uneasy, sat silent for a moment or
two. Then he leaned forward a trifle with a flush in his face.
"I don't know how you'll take it, but, as a matter of fact, I did," he
said. "I brought a letter which Mrs. Ratcliffe gave me, and I believe
there was another from Miss Ratcliffe inside it. Unfortunately, one of
your friends here confiscated it not long ago as well as every other
scrap of paper in my possession."
"They sent me no word when you left Las Palmas before," said Ormsgill
with a portentous quietness, though there were signs of tension in his
face. Then he straightened himself suddenly. "You are keeping
something back. It concerns Ada?"
"It does, and I'm particularly sorry your friends seized that letter.
This is an affair I should greatly have preferred to leave in Mrs.
Ratcliffe's hands. She"--and Desmond made a little vague gesture--"is
a lady of considerable ability and has no doubt explained the thing
much more satisfactorily than I could do."
"Go on," said Ormsgill with sharp incisiveness.
Desmond, who still hesitated, looked at him in a curious deprecatory
fashion.
"Well," he said, "the fact is Miss Ratcliffe was married the day
before I left Las Palmas."
In another moment Ormsgill was on his feet, and his laugh jarred on
Desmond's ears.
"Married!" he said hoarsely, clenching one hand tight. "And I've
thrown away everything to keep faith with her."
Desmond made a little restraining gesture. "Well," he said, "it's not
my business, but I think I understand what you are referring to--and,
perhaps, it's scarcely wise to be too sure. With all deference to Mrs.
Ratcliffe I can't help fancying you are well out of the other matter.
After all, to mention no other reason, it would require a certain
amount of courage to recognize that lady as one's mother-in-law."
Ormsgill, who made no answer, turned towards the door, and spoke a few
words to the sentry. The latter called to one of his comrades, and
Ormsgill, after giving the man a message came back again and sat down
quietly.
"I have asked if I may have the letter," he said.
It was brought him ten minutes later unopened, and he sat very still
for awhile after he had read it. Then there was bitterness in his
laugh.
"It is in one sense a masterly production," he said. "In fact, both of
them are. I am assured that Mrs. Ratcliffe recognized all along that
we were never made for one another." He turned, and grasped his
companion's shoulder. "Can you tell me anything about this paragon
who, it seems, has married Ada?"
A little twinkle crept into Desmond's eyes. "I never heard him called
anything of that kind before. Lister, you see, is an unlicked colt,
and nobody could have said very much to his credit until lately.
Still, he seems to be making an effort to rub out certain defects in
his character, and if Miss Ratcliffe can only keep it up they may get
along tolerably well together."
"Keep it up?"
Desmond smiled again. "It's probably somewhat delicate ground, but the
thing has its whimsical aspect. You see he, perhaps, naturally,
regards Miss Ratcliffe as the incarnation of honor and every other
estimable equality, which is apt to make her rôle rather a difficult
one. I have no doubt her mother has asked you very tactfully not to
say anything that might render it harder still if you ever come across
Lister, which, if she has any hand in his arrangements, is most
unlikely."
"There is a suggestion of that kind here," and Ormsgill gazed at him
very grim in face. "You mean that they have not mentioned me to
Lister."
"I should consider it very improbable," said Desmond dryly. "As I
ventured to suggest, you have, perhaps, after all, no very great cause
for regret."
Ormsgill, who said nothing, rose and walked several times up and down
the shed, and then moved suddenly towards the door. He spoke a few
words to the sentry, after which he sat down and waited for some
little time, while Desmond smiled once or twice as he watched him.
Then the door was opened, and a black sergeant who appeared in the
entrance signed to Ormsgill.
"Dom Clemente can spare you a few minutes," he said.
Ormsgill rose and followed him across the compound and up the veranda
stairway into a room where Dom Clemente was sitting alone. He looked
up when Ormsgill came in.
"You have some complaint--of the accommodation we have provided you
with?" he said.
"No," said Ormsgill, "my business is of a very different nature. You
asked me last night, Señor, if I had anything to say to you. I wonder
if you will now listen to me for a little while?"
His companion's gesture signified compliance, and Ormsgill proceeded,
speaking with a terse directness which, as it happened, served him
well. When at last he stopped Dom Clemente looked at him with a little
dry smile.
"Señor," he said, "in one sense the explanation is sufficient, though
there are, you can understand, respects in which it leaves a little to
be desired."
"I make no excuse," and a faint flush crept into Ormsgill's face.
"Only, in this case my mind will always be the same."
The little officer sat still, looking at him steadily, while half a
minute slipped away, and Ormsgill felt the silence becoming
oppressive. Then he spread one hand out.
"After all," he said, "there are, probably, very few among us who are
quite exempt from some folly of this kind, and I think it is to your
credit that when you recognized that it was a folly you were willing
to carry it out. I may mention that I had the honor of meeting the
lady."
Then he made a little expressive gesture. "Señor, you are, at least,
one whose word can be relied upon, and that counts for a good deal. It
is, however, to be remembered that you are not yet at liberty."
"I think my liberty largely depends upon you. One could fancy that you
know how far the complaints against me are credible. In fact, I do not
understand why you ever gave them any consideration."
Dom Clemente smiled. "One has usually a motive, Señor, and it is
generally wiser not to make it too apparent until the time is ripe. In
this case I think the results have warranted everything I have done.
Herrero and Domingo, not to mention one or two others, have
accomplished their own destruction, though that is, after all, not
quite the question. The matter you have laid before me is, it seems to
me, one that Benicia must decide."
He rose with the little twinkle still in his eyes. "I will leave you
to make it as clear as you can to her."
He went out, and Ormsgill waited, with his heart beating a good deal
faster than usual, until Benicia came in. He stood looking at her a
moment, with a faint flush in his haggard face.
"Señorita," he said, "I would like you to listen to a story--though it
is a little difficult to tell."
For a moment Benicia met his gaze, and saw the little glint in his
eyes. She also saw how worn his face was, and the gauntness of his
frame, and her compassion was stronger than her pride.
"Ah," she said, "I know it already. I have known it all along."
"Still," said Ormsgill, "there is a little more to be said. I am not
going back to Las Palmas if I am set at liberty."
He saw the crimson creep into her forehead. "Benicia," he said, "the
woman I was pledged to has cast me off. I am going back to England,
and--after all you know--I wonder if I dare venture to ask you if you
will come with me."
"Ah," said the girl with a simplicity that had a certain stateliness
in it, "I think I would go anywhere with you."
Then Ormsgill strode forward masterfully, and it was a minute later
when she smiled up at him. "This," she said, "is not what I meant to
do--at least, just now--but when I saw you looking so worn and anxious
and remembered that you were still a prisoner I forgot how I hated
that Englishwoman. I only remembered how I loved you."
A little later there were footsteps outside, and the black sergeant
once more appeared in the doorway, while when he led Ormsgill away
Benicia went straight to a room guarded by a dusky soldier, and
demanded to see the officer within. He sent his secretary away, and
then looked up at her with a little smile.
"You have a promise to keep," she said. "I have come to ask you to set
these two Englishmen at liberty."
"Ah," said the man, "there are, no doubt, one or two reasons for this
that you can suggest?"
"You know they have done no wrong."
"It is possible. Still, we have not altogether settled that question
yet. Is there nothing else that you can urge in their favor?"
"They are friends of mine."
The officer made a little grave gesture. "That," he said, "goes a long
way, but, after all, I am not sure that it goes quite far enough."
Benicia's face grew a trifle warm, but she smiled. "One," she said,
"is the man I am going to marry."
Her companion's eyes twinkled. "Well," he said, "in that case we must
certainly see what can be done before we march to-morrow."
Benicia asked nothing further, for she was satisfied, and soon after
she left the officer Ormsgill sat down opposite Desmond in the
half-ruinous shed. He said a few disjointed words, and Desmond laughed
cheerfully.
"I knew how it was as soon as I saw you," he said. "Well, I believe we
could get hold of an American missionary, and the _Palestrina_'s
ready."
The rest of that day passed very slowly with them both, but early next
morning they were once more led into the presence of Dom Clemente and
the gray-haired officer. When they came in the latter signed to his
secretary, and Father Tiebout, who quietly went out. A few minutes
afterwards the secretary led Benicia in, and the officer turned to
Ormsgill.
"We have," he said, "again carefully considered the complaints against
you. As the result of it I think I can venture to set the Señor
Desmond at liberty, and to place you at the Señorita Benicia's
disposal. She"--and he smiled gravely--"will be held accountable for
your behavior while you remain in this country. If it is permissible,
I might advise her not to countenance any further undertakings of the
kind that brought you back to Africa."
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
The following typographical errors present in the original edtion
have been corrected:
On the title page, "THE CATTLE-BARON S DAUGHTER" was changed to "THE
CATTLE-BARON'S DAUGHTER".
In the Table of Contents, the page number for Chapter XVIII, DOM
CLEMENTE LOOKS ON, was changed from 231 to 213.
In Chapter I, "Maderia chair on the veranda" was changed to "Madeira
chair on the veranda", "since you have no carries" was changed to "since
you have no carriers", "took of his hat" was changed to "took off his
hat", and commas were added after "a good magazine rifle" and "it was so
still that Nares".
In Chapter II, a comma was added after "Herrero has gone South
somewhere".
In Chapter III, a period was added after "almost too startled to
understand that you had arrived", and "I believe you are smilling" was
changed to "I believe you are smiling".
In Chapter IV, a comma was changed to a period after "with a little
flush in her face", and a single quotation mark (') was changed to a
double quotation mark (") after "your prospective mother-in-law will be
pleased with you?".
In Chapter V, a period was changed to a question mark after "become a
trifle civilized", and a period was changed to a comma after "you are
determined to go".
In Chapter VI, "He could forsee that" was changed to "He could foresee
that", and a missing quotation mark was added before "It would be an
interesting spectacle."
In Chapter VII, a period was changed to a comma after "and Nares added",
and a comma was deleted after "Anybody who wishes to go inland".
In Chapter VIII, "two somewhat ragged white men lay listessly" was
changed to "two somewhat ragged white men lay listlessly", and "Still
they can't shoot as I can" was changed to "Still, they can't shoot as I
can".
In Chapter IX, a single quotation mark (') was changed to a double
quotation mark (") after "I should probably not have been welcome?", and
"I am not sure that is quiet sufficient in itself" was changed to "I am
not sure that is quite sufficient in itself".
In Chapter X, "statutesque modeling" was changed to "statuesque
modeling", and a comma was added after "while you stay here".
In Chapter XI, a period was changed to a question mark after "try to
influence the girl".
In Chapter XII, a comma was added after "though far from likely", and
"Still you have made a few changes lately" was changed to "Still, you
have made a few changes lately".
In Chapter XIII, "Thomas Ormsgills could only offer her them" was
changed to "Thomas Ormsgill could only offer her them".
In Chapter XIV, "The Commandant or Chefe as he was usually called" was
changed to "The Commandant, or Chefe as he was usually called".
In Chapter XV, a period was changed to a comma after "I have to say",
and also after "I will see to it", and "until Dom Luix turns up" was
changed to "until Dom Luiz turns up".
In Chapter XVI, a quotation mark was added after "stands without the
correction", "and they recognizing it" was changed to "and they,
recognizing it", "Ormsgill who had already stationed his sentries
extinguished" was changed to "Ormsgill, who had already stationed his
sentries, extinguished" and a comma was changed to a period after "stir
the invisible trees".
In Chapter XVIII, a comma was added after "as he now and then laughingly
admitted".
In Chapter XIX, "'It is', he continued tranquilly" was changed to "'It
is,' he continued tranquilly", and a comma was added after "where the
messenger Pacheco is".
In Chapter XXI, a comma was added after "climbing a low elevation".
In Chapter XXIII, a comma was changed to a period after "changed the
subject abruptly", "one thing I am axious about" was changed to "one
thing I am anxious about", and "an intrument which resembles" was
changed to "an instrument which resembles".
In Chapter XXIV, commas were added around "who swung in a hammock hung
low beneath her awnings", "one of two of the questions which then
troubled that country" was changed to "one or two of the questions which
then troubled that country", and a misformed quotation mark was fixed
after "I think".
In Chapter XXV, a comma was added after "whose presence promised to
complicate affairs", and a missing quotation mark was added before "It's
probably just as well".
In Chapter XXXII, a comma was changed to a period after "twinkle still
in his eyes", "the gauntess of his frame" was changed to "the gauntness
of his frame", and a quotation mark was deleted before "I have known it
all along."
The punctuation in the original edition was erratic and often
ungrammatical, and many words were spelled inconsistently. Corrections
have been made where the author's intent seemed clear, or where the
original text was clearly incorrect or particularly confusing. Oddities
that did not affect the correctness or readability of the text have been
retained.