IN THE GRASP OF DEL NORTE.
There are two large, heavily wooded islands in Lake Placid. Into a
little cove of the northern island Red Ben ran his canoe. His companion,
still wearing the wolf mask, stepped out and lifted the helpless girl,
bearing her along a path that led to a little opening where the
moonlight fell brightly. He placed her on the ground and stood gazing
down at her, his arms folded. He had removed the stifling blanket from
her head and shoulders.
"By my soul she is beautiful!" he murmured, and the words were spoken in
Spanish. His voice was soft and musical, quite unlike the growling
hoarseness of the wolf with whom Inza had conversed at the pavilion.
A silent shadow slipped into the opening and stood near. It was the
Indian.
"Much dangerous business," he said. "You tell Ben you want to square old
score with Merriwell man. Tell me be ready to take you quick away in
canoe. No tell me you carry off gal."
"I did not know she would be there," explained the wolf. "When I found
her there my plans I changed. It can make no difference with you. You
have been paid, but I will pay you doubly if you stick by me to the
end. You know every mile of these mountains and forests. You can help me
get away, and by it you shall lose nothing."
The Indian shook his head.
"Much bad! much bad!" he declared. "What you do with gal?"
"I shall keep her."
"How you do it. Mebbe she no want to stay. She have many friend. They
hunt you same like a real wolf."
"Then they shall find that the wolf has teeth. I expect her gringo lover
will hunt. Ha! ha! ha! It is the joy of my soul to wring his heart and
make it bleed! I hate him! Between him and me it is a struggle to the
death, and in my body runs the blood of old Guerrero, who feared no
peril and never paused to count the cost when he struck at a foe. Could
I leave him dead, even as he thought me dead, my path would be clear.
The prize is worth the peril, for it is a double prize, the fairest
senorita and a great fortune. Listen, Ben: if by me you stay fast and I
slay my enemy, five hundred dollars shall be yours. Think of that. Five
hundred is as much as you can obtain as guide in a season."
"But the white man's law," said the Indian. "I know him. Once I steal a
hoss. White man officer arrest me, take me to court, where white man
judge say go to jail one year. I go. No want some more like that. Once
I 'most kill man down at Long Lake. White man officer hunt me long time.
I remember jail. No want some more. I hide. Send word no let um officer
take me alive. Bimeby they no hunt me some more. 'Nother time I git
drunk, burn house. Have to hide again long, long while till snow come,
an' nobody look for me some more. If I help you do some bad things now,
mebbe git officer after me 'gain."
"You will not be to blame for anything I do, and the money will pay you
so you can afford to hide until the trouble is past. My friends will
join us here, as we planned. After that we can get away into the woods.
With you to guide, we can baffle all pursuit. But I pray the senorita's
gringo lover seeks to follow, so that we may meet. I'll leave him for
the wild beasts, with my knife in his heart!"
"But gal she hate you then."
"I'll teach her to love me. I have sworn she shall be mine, and the oath
of a Del Norte is never broken. Leave everything to me. Go back and
watch for our friends. They will come as soon as they can get away and
reach us without being seen."
Silently the redskin turned away and disappeared into the path.
Then the wolf once more turned to the girl. He was somewhat startled to
discover her eyes were wide open and fastened upon him. Quickly he bent
over her, speaking softly and with an effort to reassure her.
"Fear not, senorita; you are not injured, and in my hands you are safe,
for I will guard you with my life. A thousand pardons I ask if I have
caused your heart to beat with alarm."
With an effort she rose on one hand, holding up the other as if to ward
him off.
"Don't touch me, you monster!" she gasped. "I shall scream!"
"Spare yourself the effort, fair one," he said, "for though you were to
shriek with all your strength no one could hear you. You were
unconscious, and while thus I brought you here."'
"Where am I?"
"Many miles from the spot where I found you, senorita."
"That voice!" she whispered, shrinking in terror. "It cannot be that you
are---- I am dreaming!"
"It is no dream, sweet one. Could you see into my heart you would fear
me no longer. Trust me and all will be well."
"Trust you! Trust a monster who has done what you have done! I fear you
as I would fear a venomous reptile!"
"Ah! how little you understand, senorita!"
He knelt on one knee before her, holding out his open hands.
"If you would only believe in me and trust me, my beautiful gringo
flower! You will learn in time to do so, for I shall teach you. Some day
you shall bless your guardian angel that to-night I found you and
snatched you from your boastful lover."
To his surprise, she leaned toward him, as if to permit him to clasp her
in his arms. A moment later, with a swift movement, she caught at the
wolf mask and tore it from his head.
"Porfias del Norte!" she cried, falling back and staring at him as he
knelt with the moonlight shining on his face and his bandaged head.
He smiled in that remarkable manner that ever made his face seem
handsome to a wonderful degree.
"Yes, senorita," he murmured, with that strange sweetness in his voice,
"I am Porfias del Norte."
"Not dead!"
"Far from it, fair one."
"But Frank said----"
"He thought he had left me dead in the old hut where I was shot down by
a treacherous dog who shall pay the penalty with his life. The bullet
struck me here, but Heaven changed its course and spared my life. My
time had not come, Senorita Inza."
"Heaven had no hand in it!" cried the girl. "Some evil spirit protected
you!"
"Some time you will think differently."
"Never! You monster, how dared you do what you have done to-night?"
"Dare!" he laughed. "Have you yet to learn that a Del Norte dares
anything? Have you yet to learn a Del Norte will risk anything to secure
the woman he loves?"
She fought against the great terror that threatened to overcome her and
rob her of consciousness once more.
"You must be deranged!" she said. "You cannot realize what your act will
bring about. It is plain you do not yet know Frank Merriwell. If you did
you would not fancy you could do this thing and escape the punishment he
will surely bring upon you. Why, he will find you and make you suffer,
even though he had to employ a hundred men and rake over every inch of
these mountains. Once arouse him, as he must now be aroused, and he will
follow like a Nemesis on your trail. There is but one escape for you."
"Only one?" questioned the man, with a touch of mockery in his voice.
"Only one."
"And that is--tell me what, senorita?"
"You must permit me to return to him without delay. You must see that I
return unharmed. If you do that, I give you my promise to keep him still
long enough for you to get far away. If you are wise you will make all
haste back to your own country."
Del Norte laughed softly.
"You have yet much to learn of me. In this game I hold the winning
cards. In my employ is an Indian who knows where in these mountains we
may hide so securely that a thousand men cannot find us. In one of these
hiding places I shall keep you secure. If your gringo lover comes, I'll
meet him. I'll fight him to the death. One of us will conquer, and no
man ever triumphed over one in whose blood was the spirit of old
Guerrero. If we meet in fair battle and I am his master, then you will
realize how much superior I am to the boasting Americano you thought you
cared for. In time you will learn to love me a thousand times more
deeply than you ever loved him."
"It's plain you reckon all women on the standard of such women as you
have known. Only women of savage races transfer their affection from
dead lovers to their slayers. But you do not yet comprehend the fearful
task before you. Your conceit is colossal. In single combat with Frank
Merriwell you would not have one chance in a thousand."
He could not help feeling the scorn and contempt in her face and words,
but still he laughed.
"Time will show you your mistake, senorita; words cannot. Do not fear
me. I have sworn that you shall love me, and to win your love I'll be as
tender and considerate as possible."
"Tender and considerate!" panted the trembling girl. "After this night
I shall fear and loathe you a thousand times more than ever before. Keep
away! Don't touch me!"
"It saddens me to see that you fear me so," he sighed, rising to his
feet and standing with folded arms. "I have ventured everything on this
move, and I shall carry it through. You American women love wealth and
power. Senorita, all the vast wealth that is coming to me will I place
at your feet. Yours shall be all the power it can command. As my wife
you shall some day be admired and envied by all women."
"Now I know you are deranged!" she declared, also rising. "Any man in
his right mind could not think to win the love of a woman after such a
fashion. Porfias del Norte, that wound has made you a madman!"
"It is love that has made me mad, my Northern flower. Since parting from
you on the crown of Mount Battie, up in Maine, I have thought of you,
and dreamed of you, until you took possession of my whole being. I felt
that I must have you for my own to keep always until death came between
us. I have felt that to have you thus I would face a thousand deadly
perils. To-night I saw you at the dance. Even though your face was
hidden, my heart gave a leap the moment my eyes rested on you. By your
grace I recognized you, yet I was not certain until I found an
opportunity to speak with you. I watched my opening and grasped it the
moment Merriwell left you. Even though I felt that you might discover
my identity and betray me, I ventured to speak with you."
"I believed you dead; otherwise I should have recognized you, even
though you disguised your voice."
"No doubt, senorita. I feared then that you might tell him, and he would
make a move that should baffle me. I spoke to my comrades. Fortune aided
me in the wild plan I quickly formed. He saw them and engaged in
altercation with them, which gave me the opening I sought. You were
again left alone, and in a moment I acted. I carried you away, but in
the struggle your garment of white was torn from you, and it lies in the
canoe that brought us to this spot. I have no doubt that my comrades
will join me soon, and then we shall move again. By daybreak we will be
safely hidden in one of the many safe places known to the Indian who is
with me."
Inza was desperate. She did not know they were on an island, and now her
terror led her, having somewhat recovered her strength, to wheel
suddenly and flee as fast as her feet would carry her. By chance she
struck into the path and came quickly to the shore where lay the canoe,
with Red Ben standing near it.
"Help!" she cried, appealing to him. "Save me! You shall be
paid--anything, anything you ask!"
In her excitement she clutched his arm. He turned toward her a grim,
immovable face. Not a word did he speak in reply.
Del Norte issued from the path and deliberately approached.
"It is useless, senorita," he declared. "Flee whither you will, there is
no escape. You are on an island. This is my Indian comrade."
"Others come," said Red Ben.
"Where?" asked the Mexican anxiously.
"There."
The redskin lifted his arm and pointed away over the surface of the
silent lake.
"My friends!" gasped the girl. "They are coming to rescue me."
In the distance a black spot lay on the water. The faint clanking of
oars was heard.
Del Norte whistled a sharp signal.
In return there was a similar answer.
"Senorita," he laughed, "you are wrong; those who come are my friends."