For some minutes after the lady of the lazo and her attendant had passed
out of sight, Louise Poindexter pursued the train of reflection--started
by the somewhat singular episode of which she had been spectator. Her
attitude, and air, of continued dejection told that her thoughts had not
been directed into a more cheerful channel.
Rather the reverse. Once or twice before had her mind given way to
imaginings, connected with that accomplished _equestrienne_; and more
than once had she speculated upon her purpose in riding up the road.
The incident just witnessed had suddenly changed her conjectures into
suspicions of an exceedingly unpleasant nature.
It was a relief to her, when a horseman appeared coming out of the
chapparal, at the point where the others had ridden in; a still greater
relief, when he was seen to swerve into the cross path that conducted to
the hacienda, and was recognised, through the lorgnette, as Zeb Stump
the hunter.
The face of the Creole became bright again--almost to gaiety. There was
something ominous of good in the opportune appearance of the honest
backwoodsman.
"The man I was wanting to see!" she exclaimed in joyous accents. "_He_
can bear me a message; and perhaps tell who _she_ is. He must have met
her on the road. That will enable me to introduce the subject, without
Zeb having any suspicion of my object. Even with him I must be
circumspect--after what has happened. Ah, me! Not much should I care,
if I were sure of _his_ caring for me. How provoking his indifference!
And to me--Louise Poindexter! _Par dieu_! Let it proceed much further,
and I shall try to escape from the toils if--if--I should crush my poor
heart in the attempt!"
It need scarce be said that the individual, whose esteem was so coveted,
was not Zeb Stump.
Her next speech, however, was addressed to Zeb, as he reined up in front
of the hacienda.
"Dear Mr Stump!" hailed a voice, to which the old hunter delighted to
listen. "I'm so glad to see you. Dismount, and come up here! I know
you're a famous climber, and won't mind a flight of stone stairs.
There's a view from this housetop that will reward you for your
trouble."
"Thur's suthin' on the house-top theear," rejoined the hunter, "the view
o' which 'ud reward Zeb Stump for climbin' to the top o' a steamboat
chimbly; 'an thet's yurself, Miss Lewaze. I'll kum up, soon as I ha'
stabled the ole maar, which shall be dud in the shakin' o' a goat's
tail. Gee-up, ole gal!" he continued, addressing himself to the mare,
after he had dismounted, "Hold up yur head, an may be Plute hyur 'll gie
ye a wheen o' corn shucks for yur breakfist."
"Ho--ho! Mass 'Tump," interposed the sable coachman, making his
appearance in the _patio_. "Dat same do dis nigga--gub um de shucks wi'
de yaller corn inside ob dem. Ho--ho! You gwup 'tairs to de young
missa; an Plute he no 'gleck yar ole mar."
"Yur a dod-rotted good sample o' a nigger, Plute; an the nix occashun I
shows about hyur, I'll fetch you a 'possum--wi' the meat on it as tender
as a two-year old chicken. Thet's what I'm boun' ter do."
After delivering himself of this promise, Zeb commenced ascending the
stone stairway; not by single steps, but by two, and sometimes three, at
a stride.
He was soon upon the housetop; where he was once more welcomed by the
young mistress of the mansion.
Her excited manner, and the eagerness with which she conducted him to a
remote part of the azotea, told the astute hunter, that he had been
summoned thither for some other purpose than enjoying the prospect.
"Tell me, Mr Stump!" said she, as she clutched the sleeve of the
blanket coat in her delicate fingers, and looked inquiringly into Zeb's
grey eye--"You must know all. How is he? Are his wounds of a dangerous
nature?"
"If you refar to Mister Cal-hoon--"
"No--no--no. I know all about him. It's not of Mr Calhoun I'm
speaking."
"Wall, Miss Lewasse; thur air only one other as I know of in these parts
thet hev got wownds; an thet air's Maurice the mowstanger. Mout it be
thet ere individooal yur inquirin' abeout?"
"It is--it is! You know I cannot be indifferent to his welfare,
notwithstanding the misfortune of his having quarrelled with my cousin.
You are aware that he rescued me--twice I may say--from imminent peril.
Tell me--is he in great danger?"
Such earnestness could no longer be trifled with. Zeb without further
parley, made reply:--
"Ne'er a morsel o' danger. Thur's a bullet-hole jest above the
ankle-jeint. It don't signerfy more'n the scratch o' a kitting. Thur's
another hev goed through the flesh o' the young fellur's left arm. It
don't signerfy neyther--only thet it drawed a good sup o' the red out o'
him. Howsomdever, he's all right now; an expecks to be out o' doors in
a kupple o' days, or tharabout. He sez that an hour in the seddle, an a
skoot acrosst the purayra, 'ud do him more good than all the docters in
Texas. I reckon it wud; but the docter--it's the surgint o' the Fort as
attends on him--he won't let him git to grass yit a bit."
"Where is he?"
"He air stayin' at the hotel--whar the skrimmage tuk place."
"Perhaps he is not well waited upon? It's a rough place, I've heard.
He may not have any delicacies--such as an invalid stands in need of?
Stay here, Mr Stump, till I come up to you again. I have something I
wish to send to him. I know I can trust you to deliver it. Won't you?
I'm sure you will. I shall be with you in six seconds."
Without waiting to note the effect of her speech, the young lady tripped
lightly along the passage, and as lightly descended the stone stairway.
Presently she reappeared--bringing with her a good-sized hamper; which
was evidently filled with eatables, with something to send them down.
"Now dear old Zeb, you will take this to Mr Gerald? It's only some
little things that Florinda has put up; some cordials and jellies and
the like, such as sick people at times have a craving for. They are not
likely to be kept in the hotel. Don't tell _him_ where they come
from--_neither him, nor any one else_. You won't? I know you won't,
you dear good giant."
"He may depend on Zeb Stump for thet, Miss Lewaze. Nobody air a goin'
to be a bit the wiser about who sent these hyur delekissies; though, for
the matter o' cakes an kickshaws, an all that sort o' thing, the
mowstanger hain't had much reezun to complain. He hev been serplied wi'
enuf o' them to hev filled the bellies o' a hul school o'
shugar-babbies."
"Ha! Supplied already! By whom?"
"Wal, thet theer this chile can't inform ye, Miss Lewaze; not be-knowin'
it hisself. I on'y hyurd they wur fetched to the tavern in baskets, by
some sort o' a sarving-man as air a Mexikin. I've seed the man myself.
Fact, I've jest this minnit met him, ridin' arter a wuman sot stridy
legs in her seddle, as most o' these Mexikin weemen ride. I reck'n he
be her sarvingt, as he war keepin' a good ways ahint, and toatin' a
basket jest like one o' them Maurice hed got arready. Like enuf it air
another lot o' Rickshaws they wur takin' to the tavern."
There was no need to trouble Zeb Stump with further cross-questioning.
A whole history was supplied by that single speech. The case was
painfully clear. In the regard of Maurice Gerald, Louise Poindexter had
a rival--perhaps something more. The lady of the lazo was either his
_fiancee_, or his mistress!
It was not by accident--though to Zeb Stump it may have seemed so--that
the hamper, steadied for a time, upon the coping of the balustrade, and
still retained in the hand of the young Creole, escaped from her clutch,
and fell with a crash upon the stones below. The bottles were broken,
and their contents spilled into the stream that surged along the
basement of the wall.
The action of the arm that produced this effect, apparently springing
from a spasmodic and involuntary effort, was nevertheless due to design;
and Louise Poindexter, as she leant over the parapet, and contemplated
the ruin she had caused, felt as if her heart was shattered like the
glass that lay glistening below!
"How unfortunate!" said she, making a feint to conceal her chagrin.
"The dainties are destroyed, I declare! What will Florinda say? After
all, if Mr Gerald be so well attended to, as you say he is, he'll not
stand in need of them. I'm glad to hear he hasn't been neglected--one
who has done me a service. But, Mr Stump, you needn't say anything of
this, or that I inquired after him. You know his late antagonist is our
near relative; and it might cause scandal in the settlement. Dear Zeb,
you promise me?"
"Swa-ar it ef ye like. Neery word, Miss Lewaze, neery word; ye kin
depend on ole Zeb."
"I know it. Come! The sun is growing hot up here. Let as go down, and
see whether we can find you such a thing as a glass of your favourite
Monongahela. Come!"
With an assumed air of cheerfulness, the young Creole glided across the
azotea; and, trilling the "New Orleans Waltz," once more commenced
descending the _escalera_.
In eager acceptance of the invitation, the old hunter followed close
upon her skirts; and although, by habit, stoically indifferent to
feminine charms--and with his thoughts at that moment chiefly bent upon
the promised Monongahela--he could not help admiring those ivory
shoulders brought so conspicuously under his eyes.
But for a short while was he permitted to indulge in the luxurious
spectacle. On reaching the bottom of the stair his fair hostess bade
him a somewhat abrupt adieu. After the revelations he had so
unwittingly made, his conversation seemed no longer agreeable; and she,
late desirous of interrogating, was now contented to leave him alone
with the Monongahela, as she hastened to hide her chagrin in the
solitude of her chamber.
For the first time in her life Louise Poindexter felt the pangs of
jealousy. It was her first real love: for she was in love with Maurice
Gerald.
A solicitude like that shown for him by the Mexican senora, could scarce
spring from simple friendship? Some closer tie must have been
established between them? So ran the reflections of the now suffering
Creole.
From what Maurice had said--from what she had herself seen--the lady of
the lazo was just such a woman as should win the affections of such a
man. Hers were accomplishments he might naturally be expected to
admire.
Her figure had appeared perfect under the magnifying effect of the lens.
The face had not been so fairly viewed, and was still undetermined.
Was it in correspondence with the form? Was it such as to secure the
love of a man so much master of his passions, as the mustanger appeared
to be?
The mistress of Casa del Corvo could not rest, till she had satisfied
herself on this score. As soon as Zeb Stump had taken his departure,
she ordered the spotted mare to be saddled; and, riding out alone, she
sought the crossing of the river; and thence proceeded to the highway on
the opposite side.
Advancing in the direction of the Fort, as she expected, she soon
encountered the Mexican senora on her return; no _senora_ according to
the exact signification of the term, but a _senorita_--a young lady, not
older than herself.
At the place of their meeting, the road ran under the shadow of the
trees. There was no sun to require the coifing of the rebozo upon the
crown of the Mexican equestrian. The scarf had fallen upon her
shoulders, laying bare a head of hair, in luxuriance rivalling the tail
of a wild steed, in colour the plumage of a crow. It formed the framing
of a face, that, despite a certain darkness of complexion, was
charmingly attractive.
Good breeding permitted only a glance at it in passing; which was
returned by a like courtesy on the part of the stranger. But as the two
rode on, back to back, going in opposite directions, neither could
restrain herself from turning round in the saddle, and snatching a
second glance at the other.
Their reflections were not very dissimilar: if Louise Poindexter had
already learnt something of the individual thus encountered, the latter
was not altogether ignorant of _her_ existence.
We shall not attempt to portray the thoughts of the senorita consequent
on that encounter. Suffice it to say, that those of the Creole were
even more sombre than when she sallied forth on that errand of
inspection; and that the young mistress of Casa del Corvo rode back to
the mansion, all the way seated in her saddle in an attitude that
betokened the deepest dejection.
"Beautiful!" said she, after passing her supposed rival upon the road.
"Yes; too beautiful to be his friend!"
Louise was speaking to her own conscience; or she might have been more
chary of her praise.
"I cannot have any doubt," continued she, "of the relationship that
exists between them--He loves her!--he loves her! It accounts for his
cold indifference to me? I've been mad to risk my heart's happiness in
such an ill-starred entanglement!
"And now to disentangle it! Now to banish him from my thoughts! Ah!
'tis easily said! Can I?"
"I shall see him no more. That, at least, is possible. After what has
occurred, he will not come to our house. We can only meet by accident;
and that accident I must be careful to avoid. Oh, Maurice Gerald! tamer
of wild steeds! you have subdued a spirit that may suffer long--perhaps
never recover from the lesson!"