"Holy Mother! but I am glad to see you again, Don Felipe Ramirez! What
blessed chance has brought you back to us again?" Don Felipe started
like one in a dream, and turning in the direction whence came the sound
of the voice, he beheld Señora Fernandez standing on the veranda
regarding him intently.
"Doña Fernandez!" he exclaimed with genuine pleasure, advancing to meet
her, and extending his hand which she eagerly seized and held between
both her own.
"_Muchacho--muchacho!_" she cried, clapping her hands as she released
her hold on Don Felipe's. "Carlos, the _Caballero's_ horse!" she
continued, addressing the _vaquero_ that appeared in the doorway of the
Inn at her summons and who advancing, took possession of Don Felipe's
horse and led him away to the stables.
"Let me look at you, Don Felipe," she continued, regarding him closely.
"Why, you have not changed a hair! It might have been but yesterday that
you left us."
"And you, Doña Fernandez are still the charming, handsome mistress of
the _Posada de las Estrellas_ to whom all men are irresistibly drawn."
"Flatterer!" retorted Señora, laughing gayly and blushing like a girl
of sixteen. How sweet it was to hear such words from a handsome
_Caballero_ like Don Felipe! It reminded her of the old days when all
men thought her beautiful and went out of their way to tell her so.
"It was unkind of you to remain away so long, Don Felipe. Your friends
have missed you sadly and have prayed for the day of your return."
"Friends?" echoed Felipe with a sneer.
"Aye, friends. You will find that you have more friends now than when
you left us."
"I can scarcely believe it. And yet," he added, "I wish it might be so."
"You shall learn shortly for yourself," returned Señora.
"How long," interrupted Felipe, eager to change the drift of the
conversation, "have the American ladies been here?"
"Ah, you have seen them?"
"Yes, they were just going out for a walk when I arrived. It was a
pleasant surprise to see them here. They are friends of mine."
"You know them?"
"Yes. I met them a year ago in Washington."
"_Dios!_ to think of it!" she exclaimed.
"But what are they doing here?" he asked.
"Ah! that is just what I would like to know myself," replied Señora.
"_Caramba!_ but they are grand ladies! They say," she went on, "that
they are traveling for pleasure, but what pleasure can such delicate,
refined ladies possibly find in the desert, I should like to know?
Judging from their talk and actions they can not have seen very much of
the world. _Dios!_ you should have witnessed the scene they created the
day they arrived. And yet," she continued, "I like them and am glad they
are here. They have brought new life into the place. God knows it is no
longer what it used to be in the old days when Don Carlos, my husband,
was alive," she added with a sigh.
Don Felipe smiled at the Señora's provincialism. What a great world lay
outside that of her own, of which she was entirely ignorant.
A trip to the City of Mexico during her honeymoon was the only journey
she had ever taken beyond the confines of Chihuahua.
"And then there is Mrs. Forest's brother, Col-on-el Van Ash-ton," she
continued, pronouncing the latter's name slowly and with difficulty.
"Holy Maria! but he has caused us trouble! Nothing seems to suit him."
"Colonel Van Ashton?" repeated Felipe. "Ah, yes, I remember him."
"But that is not all," interrupted Señora. "There is also Captain
Forest, Mrs. Forest's son. He came here before the others and seemed
very much surprised and put out by their unexpected appearance."
"Captain Forest?" repeated Don Felipe slowly, as if trying to recall a
chance meeting. "I have never met him. What is he like?"
"Ah, he's a grand Señor," answered Señora with enthusiasm. "A
_Caballero_ every inch, and rides a horse that's the devil himself. Why,
only yesterday the brute kicked out the side of the corral, and after
chasing the men off the place who had been teasing him, calmly walked
into the garden and rolled in my choicest flower-bed."
"He must be a thoroughbred at any rate," laughed Felipe.
"Thoroughbred? He's the devil, I say! Captain Forest and his man, José,
are the only ones that dare go near him." Don Felipe drew a gold
cigarette-case thickly studded with diamonds and rubies from the inner
pocket of his jacket, and lighted a cigarette.
"As I was saying," Señora went on, "Captain Forest is a fine gentleman.
He's a great friend of Señor Yankton, and--" she stopped abruptly.
"And what?" asked Felipe suspiciously, closely scanning her face as he
tossed away the burnt end of the match.
"Oh, nothing," answered Señora evasively. "Only much has transpired
during your absence, Don Felipe." She hesitated as though uncertain how
to proceed, then said: "I might speak of certain things, but perhaps I
had better not. They would not interest you, anyway."
"Ah!" he said at length, endeavoring to conceal the emotion her words
aroused. "I--I think I understand. You--you refer to her, I suppose?"
There was a slight tremor in his voice and his hand trembled as he
raised his cigarette to his lips for a fresh puff.
"Yes," she answered quietly. "I--I was about to say that she appears to
be interested in this Captain Forest. But of course, that's nothing to
you," she added hastily, watching him narrowly the while. Her words
acted like fire to tinder.
"Interested in him?" he cried, starting violently and letting his
cigarette fall to the ground. His face grew ashen pale and his right
hand involuntarily went to the knife in his sash. "No, no, it cannot
be!" he muttered excitedly. "Are you sure of what you say, Doña
Fernandez? Tell me that it is not true--that it is a lie!" he almost
hissed, his eyes glowing with the fires of passion and jealousy.
"Why, what has come over you, Don Felipe Ramirez?" cried Señora in
alarm. "Surely you cannot--she can be nothing to you any more?"
"Nothing to me? Why do you suppose I am here?" he answered.
"_Madre de Dios!_" muttered Señora.
"Doña Fernandez," he began after a pause, his voice trembling in spite
of himself, "God knows I have tried to forget her, but I--I cannot!" and
his voice broke.
"What?" cried Señora excitedly. "You don't really mean to say that you
still--love her?"
"I do," answered Felipe fiercely, driving his heel furiously into the
ground. For some moments neither spoke. Then a flush of anger mounted to
Señora's brow and she cried:
"Fie! Don Felipe! Have you forgotten your self-respect? The handsomest,
richest man in all Chihuahua running after an Indian--the woman who
treated you so shamefully--an ingrate who is unworthy of a love like
yours? If I could have had my way, she would have been whipped
publicly! What would Don Juan, your father, peace be to his soul, say if
he were alive? Love her!" she cried in a frenzy of hatred and jealousy.
"How can you possibly love her, Don Felipe Ramirez?"
"How can I love her?" retorted Felipe fiercely. "Why does the grass
grow? Why do the birds sing? Why do the streams run to the ocean? Why do
the flowers turn to the sun? Tell me that, Doña Fernandez," he cried in
agony and bitterness, "and I will tell you why I love her in spite of
myself, in spite of what she did, in spite of every effort I have made
to resist her fascination! God!" and he struck his breast with his
clenched hand, "I wonder I did not kill her then and there, but I could
not, I could not; I loved her so!"
"_Dios_, but this is strange!" gasped Señora, raising both hands for an
instant and then crossing herself devoutly as if to avert the power of
some evil--the spell which seemed to cling to Don Felipe and bind him as
with hoops of steel. She did not realize that Chiquita belonged to that
rare type of beings who seem immortal; that it was impossible to imagine
her other than young, that the years could work no change within her,
and although Felipe had not yet seen her, his soul must flame up at the
sight of her as of yore.
Felipe was silent, his eyes cast on the ground. His face wore a
malignant expression of pain and hatred, and he trembled in every limb.
The revelation of his anguish startled her. She stepped close up to him
and laying her hand gently on his shoulder, said in a voice full of
compassion, almost of pity: "I understand, Don Felipe! You still see her
as she was when you last knew her--it is but natural. Of course you
could not know, but she has changed since then. In the opinion of every
one, she has fallen, degraded herself."
"Degraded herself? What do you mean?" asked Felipe, turning his
searching gaze upon her.
"Only a fortnight ago," answered Señora, "on the great day of the
_Fiesta_, she danced publicly in Carlos Moreno's theater."
"Chiquita danced in Carlos Moreno's hall? Impossible!"
"Don Felipe," replied Señora with just the suggestion of a smile, "all
things are possible with a woman."
"But why did she dance?" he asked.
"I don't know; neither does any one else. They say she received three
thousand _pesos_ in gold."
"Three thousand _pesos_?" echoed Felipe. "What did she do with them?"
"Ah! that's the mystery! What did she do with them?" answered Señora.
"It was not so much her dancing that scandalized the community, for we
all know what a wonderful dancer she is. Nobody ever danced as she does,
and we are willing to give her credit for it, but what did she do with
the money? That's the scandal of it! I have noticed no change in her
dress," she continued, "nor is it known that she has spent a single
_peso_ as yet."
"Strange," he murmured. "I cannot understand it."
"No more can I nor any one else," answered Señora. "But I have been
forgetting my duty; I must prepare a room for you, Don Felipe. In the
meantime," she added, ascending the veranda and pausing for an instant,
"be assured of the hearty welcome of your friends when they learn of
your return."
"Chiquita danced in public? I can't understand it!" he said aloud after
Señora Fernandez had disappeared in the house. "And she interested in
this Captain Forest?" His face grew livid and then black with hatred as
a fresh wave of rage and jealousy swept over him.
"No, no; it cannot be!" he gasped, his left hand resting over his heart
as though in pain. For some time he remained motionless as a statue,
lost in thought with his eyes fixed on the ground. Suddenly he raised
his head with a quick jerk. His face no longer wore an expression of
pain and anguish, but one of settled, calm determination.
"I have come just in time," he said quietly. He smiled, and drawing
forth his cigarette-case once more, he opened it and lit a fresh
cigarette.