Felipe
As soon as Mrs. Burton and his father were out of sight Felipe began
singing:
"I will make you brooches and toys for your delight
Of bird-song at morning and star-shine at night.
I will make a palace fit for you and me,
Of green days in forests and blue days at sea.
"I will make my kitchen and you shall keep your room
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom
And you shall wash your linen and keep your body white
In rainfall at morning and dewfall at night.
"And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
On the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire."
Then Felipe's song ended, and yet it seemed to Gerry that she could
still hear the inflections of his voice.
"Thank you; that was lovely. I did not know I cared so much for music
before," the girl answered simply and without the least touch of
coquetry which one might have expected of a girl like Gerry in such
surroundings. "But what an exquisite voice you have and what a beautiful
night it is! I am sure I do not remember another half so lovely."
Then Gerry leaned forward a little so that she could see more clearly
out into the garden.
"I don't wonder you feel that you cannot give all this up," she
continued, with a graceful movement of her hand. "It seems to me wicked
that you should be forced into the war, hating it as you do and perhaps
spoiling your future as a singer. I agree with you, one ought to live
his own life. All men are not equally fitted to be soldiers."
Gerry spoke with an unexpected vehemence which rather surprised her. For
the past hour Felipe Morris had been pouring forth his side of the war
problem to her, but as he was an entire stranger there was no especial
reason why she should be so disturbed over the thought of his being
forced to enter the army.
"I suppose I understand why you so hate giving up your home and your
life here on the ranch and your music and all the rest, because I have
never had a home of my own, or any possessions of much value," Gerry
ended in a quieter voice and manner.
"You possess nothing of value!" Felipe Morris repeated, and although he
said nothing more Gerry felt oddly flattered and happy.
Then Felipe laughed unexpectedly.
"I wonder if you realize, Miss Williams, that we have seen each other
before tonight, probably about ten days or more ago? My friend Merton
Anderson and I chanced to be spending the night at San Juan Capistrano
when you and your friends rode into the old mission town. You don't know
how much curiosity your appearance excited. You gave the old town the
greatest thrill it has had in a long time. You see the little town is
more than half foreign; there are Spaniards and Mexicans and half-breed
Indians. You were dressed in a kind of compromise Indian costume, and
down there we had never seen or heard of the Camp Fire. Merton and I hid
ourselves on one of the verandas and sang a duet for your benefit. Then
later, when it was too dark for us to see one another distinctly, we
followed your party about the mission grounds."
Gerry frowned and then blushed a little from embarrassment.
"Were you wearing Mexican costumes? I confess Sally and I did become
interested in you, but we supposed of course that you were either
Mexicans or Spaniards. Your song was in Spanish so that we could not
understand it."
"Shall I sing to you in Spanish now?" Felipe returned. "I speak the
language as readily as I do English. You see my mother was of Spanish
origin and she and an old nurse who lives near here always spoke in
Spanish to me when I was a kid. You were right about the Mexican
costumes. Anderson and I had been over into Mexico for a few days and
were on our way home. I like to escape over there now and then when
life at the ranch becomes too slow. I can be mistaken for a Mexican when
I wish and it is sometimes amusing."
Gerry nodded, preferring to have Felipe talk to her rather than to offer
him confidences. Oddly she was wishing tonight that she had read as many
books as the other Camp Fire girls and had enjoyed the same advantages.
"Then you saw all seven of us at Capistrano?" she asked at length;
adding, "There are five other girls in our Camp Fire group."
Felipe laughed. "Yes, I saw all of you, yet it was you alone I
remembered," he murmured with true Spanish gallantry.
"Thank you for that compliment, although obviously I fished for it,"
Gerry returned, smiling. "But won't you tell me, now that the draft has
been ordered and your number called, how are you going to manage to
escape? Of course I shall not speak to any one else of what you tell
me."
"I am glad enough to tell you," Felipe Morris continued boyishly. "You
can't imagine how hard it has been to have no one to sympathize with
me. I have wished many times since war was declared that my mother was
alive and I could have talked the situation over with her. My father, as
I told you, is dead against me. He thinks I am a renegade and a disgrace
to him and to his name, and a lot of stuff like that. It seems his
brothers all fought in the Civil War and were officers and it has been
the regret of his life he was too young. I wish he had the chance
offered him now instead of me," he concluded like a surly boy, with all
his gallantry departed.
"But what are you going to do?" Gerry insisted, her interest in him
remaining so far unaffected by his attitude.
"Oh, I am too plagued healthy, so the doctor won't help me out. I hoped
to be released on the score of ill health at first. But later I sent in
a claim saying I could not be released for war service because I was the
sole support of my parent and had to be left here to look after the
ranch. I don't see why raising beans cannot be considered war work?
Father insists he can run the place himself and I am afraid he won't
stand by me when the exemption board asks him concerning the truth of
my claim. Pretty tough when a fellow's own father is anxious to get him
off his hands to the extent of possibly being killed."
Felipe laid his guitar down on the piazza and in spite of the fact that
he must have been at least twenty-two or twenty-three years old, Gerry
found herself with a ridiculous desire to comfort him.
"It is just a difference of opinion," she said softly. "I don't believe
if I were you I would blame my father, and he should have the same
respect for you. I never thought of the question before, but I have
decided tonight I do not believe in the draft. Isn't there anything else
you can do, if this one exemption claim fails?"
Felipe Morris rose up, shrugging his shoulders impatiently. He was so
foreign in his appearance that the movement seemed natural.
"Oh, yes, I can slip away into Mexico and remain until the war is over.
I have been thinking of it as a possibility. But of course if I am
caught I shall be put into prison as a deserter."
Then he stood gazing down upon Gerry with a bewildered expression.
"I wonder why I have entrusted my fate to you in this fashion? You
understand that if you should ever tell what I have confided to you,
things would be all over with me."
Gerry also rose. "Shall we walk about your garden for a little?" she
said. "I am tired of sitting still so long. I expect Mrs. Burton will be
here in a little time and think we should go to bed. But you need not
worry with regard to my ever mentioning a word of what you have said to
me--not under any possible circumstances."
Then as they wandered about the tiny garden Felipe gathered a bunch of
the small white and yellow roses.
"Keep these in your room tonight."
Afterwards discovering that Mrs. Burton and his father had returned to
the garden and were coming toward them, he added hurriedly:
"Tell me, please, when and where I can see you again, alone? It has
meant so much to me to be able to talk to you so freely and I have an
idea we are going to be friends."
"But you have agreed to come over to our camp," Gerry answered, feeling
at the same time that she would like selfishly to preserve Felipe's
interest entirely for herself. Of course when he was introduced to the
other Camp Fire girls he would naturally take less pleasure in her
society.
"Oh, yes, indeed, I am coming to your camp. Anderson and I would not
miss the opportunity for a good deal. But I want to see you by yourself,
not with a dozen other people chattering around. Surely you can manage
to make an engagement to see me alone. You would if you liked me half as
much as I do you."
Again Felipe spoke like a spoiled boy, but Gerry had no time to reply,
for at this instant Mrs. Burton and Mr. Morris reached them.
Truth to tell, she had a distinct sense of relief as, slipping her arm
inside her Camp Fire guardian's, together they said their formal
good-nights.
Already Felipe Morris was demanding more of Gerry than either of them
realized.