THE SPY.
Montbarts, as we said, walked into the house.
There were two persons in the first room, which was contrived a double
debt to pay, as half sitting room, half kitchen.
These two persons were an engagé of Captain Drake and a stranger.
As for the Captain, he was absent at the moment.
The filibuster's eye flashed at the sight of the stranger, and an
ill-omened smile curled his pale lips.
As for the latter, he was seated at a table in the middle of the room,
and quietly breakfasting on a piece of cold bacon, washed down by a
bottle of Bordeaux,--a wine, let us remark, parenthetically, which,
though unknown in Paris till the reign of Louis XV., when the Duc de
Richelieu brought it into fashion on his return from the government of
Guyenne--had been for a long time appreciated in America.
The stranger was of rather tall stature, with a pale face, and ascetic
features, thin, bony, and angular; but his noble manners indicated a
high rank in society, which rank his simple and even more than modest
costume tried in vain to conceal.
On the filibuster's entrance, the stranger, without raising his head,
took a side-glance at him from under his long velvety eyelashes, and
again became absorbed or appeared to be so, in the contemplation of
the capital breakfast set before him.
Everything was in common among the filibusters, everyone took from
the other, whether he was at home or not, anything he wanted, arms,
gunpowder, clothes or food, and the person from whom it was taken had
no right to protest or make the slightest observation; this was not
merely admitted and tolerated, but was regarded as a right which all
took advantage of without the slightest scruple.
Montbarts, after looking round the room, took a chair, seated himself
unceremoniously opposite the stranger, and turning to the engagé, said--
"Bring me some breakfast--I am hungry."
The other, without venturing the slightest remark, immediately prepared
to obey.
In a very short time he had served up an excellent breakfast for the
filibuster, and then took his place behind his chair to wait on him.
"My friend," the filibuster said, carelessly, "I thank you; but when I
take my meals I do not like to have anybody behind me. Leave the room,
but remain in front of the house door;" and he added, with a singularly
meaning glance, "let no one enter here without my orders: no one--you
understand me?" he said, laying a stress on the words; "Not even your
master, were he to come. Can I depend on you?"
"Yes, Montbarts," said the engagé, and left the room.
At the name of Montbarts, uttered by the servant, the stranger gave
an almost imperceptible start, and fixed an anxious glance on the
filibuster; but immediately recovering himself, he began eating again
in the most perfect tranquillity, or at least apparently so.
For his part, Montbarts went on eating without troubling himself, or
seeming to trouble himself, about the guest seated just opposite to him.
This performance went on for some minutes; no other sound was heard
in the room, where such violent passions were smouldering, but that
produced by the knives and forks scratching on the platters.
At length Montbarts raised his head and looked at the stranger.
"You are very taciturn, sir," he said to him, with the simple air of
a man who is wearied at a lengthened silence, and wishes to get up a
conversation.
"I, sir?" the stranger replied, as he looked up in his turn with the
calmest air; "Not that I am aware of."
"Still, sir," the filibuster resumed, "I would remark, that during the
quarter of an hour I have had the honour of passing in your company,
you have not once addressed a syllable to me, not even in greeting."
"Pray excuse me, sir," the stranger said, with a slight bow; "the
fault is entirely involuntary: besides, as I have not the advantage of
knowing you--?
"Are you quite sure of that, sir?" the adventurer interrupted,
ironically.
"At least, I think so; hence, having nothing to say to you, I suppose
that it would be useless to begin a conversation which would have no
object."
"Who knows, sir?" the filibuster remarked, jeeringly; "Conversations
the most frivolous at the outset, frequently become very interesting at
the expiration of a few minutes."
"I doubt whether that would be the case with ours, sir. Permit me,
therefore, to break it off at once. Besides, I have finished my
meal," the stranger said, rising; "and some serious business claims
my attention. Pray forgive me, therefore, for parting company so
hurriedly, and believe in the sincerity of my regret."
The adventurer did not leave his seat, but throwing himself back in it
with a graceful nonchalance, while playing with the knife he held in
his hand, he said in his gentle insinuating voice--
"Pardon me, my dear sir; only one word, pray."
"In that case make haste, sir," the stranger replied, as he stopped,
"for I am greatly pressed for time, I assure you."
"Oh! You will certainly grant me a few minutes," the adventurer
remarked, with the old sarcasm.
"As you desire it so eagerly, I will not refuse it you, sir. But I
really am in a hurry."
"I have no doubt on that point, sir; more especially hurried to leave
this house--is it not so?"
"What do you mean, sir?" the stranger asked, haughtily.
"I mean," the adventurer replied, as he rose and placed himself between
the stranger and the door, "that it is useless to feign any longer, and
that you are recognized."
"I recognized? I do not understand you. What does this language mean?"
"It means," Montbarts said brutally, "that you are a spy and a traitor,
and that you will be hanged within ten minutes."
"I?" the stranger replied, with very cleverly assumed surprise; "Why,
you must be mad, sir, or suffering under a strange mistake. Let me
pass, I request."
"I am not mad or mistaken, Señor Don Antonio de la Ronda."
The stranger started, a livid pallor covered his face, but he
immediately recovered himself.
"Why, this is madness!" he said.
"Sir," Montbarts remarked, still calm, but remaining in front of the
door, "when I affirm, you deny. It is evident that one of us lies, or
is mistaken. Now I declare that it is not I, hence it must be you; and
to remove your last doubts on this point, listen to this, but first be
good enough to resume your seat. We shall have, however much it may
annoy you, to converse for some time and I will remark, that it is a
very bad taste to talk standing face to face like two gamecocks ready
to fly at each other's combs, when it is possible to act otherwise."
Mastered, in spite of himself, by the adventurer's flashing glance
obstinately fixed on him, and by his sharp, imperative accent, the
stranger returned to his seat, and fell into it rather than sat down.
"Now, sir," the filibuster continued, in the same calm voice, as he
reseated himself and placed his elbows on the table, "in order at once
to dissipate all the doubts you may have, and to prove to you that I
know more about you than you will doubtless like, let me tell you your
history in a couple of words."
"Sir!" the stranger interrupted.
"Oh, fear nothing," he added, with studied sarcasm, "I shall be brief:
I no more like than you do to waste my time in idle discourses; but
just notice, by the bye, that, as I prophesied, our conversation, at
first frivolous, has suddenly grown interesting. Is not this singular,
I ask you?"
"I am awaiting your explanation, sir," the stranger replied, coolly;
"for, up to the present, whatever you may say, I do not comprehend a
word of all that it pleases you to say to me."
"By Heavens! You are a man after my heart. I was not mistaken about
you. Brave, cold, and crafty, you are worthy to be a filibuster, and to
lead an adventurous life with us."
"You do me a great honour, sir; but all this does not tell me--"
"Zounds! I am coming to it, sir--a little patience. How quick you are!
Take care: in your profession a man must be cool before all else, and
you are not so at this moment."
"You are very witty, sir," the stranger said, bowing ironically to his
opponent.
The latter was offended by this sudden attack, and smote the table with
his fist.
"Here is your history in two words, sir," he said. "You are an
Andalusian, born at Malaga, a younger son, and consequently destined to
take orders. One fine day, not feeling any liking for the tonsure, you
fled from the paternal roof and embarked on a Spanish vessel bound for
Hispaniola. Your name is Don Antonio de la Ronda. You see, sir, that up
to this point I am well informed, am I not?"
"Pray go on, sir," the stranger replied, with perfect coolness; "your
remarks are most interesting." Montbarts shrugged his shoulders, and
went on.
"On arriving at Hispaniola, you contrived, in a short time, thanks to
your good looks and polished manners, to secure powerful protectors;
and thus, though you only left Europe three years ago, you have
made such rapid progress, that you are at present one of the most
influential men in the colony. Unluckily--"
"Do you say unluckily?" the stranger interrupted with a jeering smile.
"Yes, sir," the adventurer replied imperturbably; "unluckily your
fortune turned your head so thoroughly--"
"So thoroughly?"
"That in defiance of your friends, you were arrested and threatened
with a trial for embezzling a sum of nearly two million piastres; a
noble amount, on which I compliment you. Any other man but you, sir, I
feel a pleasure in allowing the fact, would have been ruined, or nearly
so, as the case was very serious; and the Council of the Indies does
not joke on money matters."
"Permit me to interrupt you, my dear sir," the stranger said with the
most perfect ease; "you are telling this story in a very talented
manner, but if you go on so, it threatens to last indefinitely. If you
permit it, I will finish it in a few words."
"Ah! Ah! Then you allow its truth now?"
"Of course," the stranger said with admirable coolness.
"You acknowledge yourself to be Don Antonio de la Ronda?"
"Why should I deny it longer, when you are so well informed?"
"Better still; so that you confess to fraudulently entering the colony
for the object of--"
"I confess anything you like," the Spaniard said quickly.
"Well, that being well established, you deserve to be hung, and you
will be so in a few minutes."
"Well, no," he replied without losing any of his coolness; "that is
where we differ essentially in opinion, sir, your conclusion is not in
the least logical."
"What?" the adventurer exclaimed, surprised at this sudden change of
humour which he did not expect.
"I said that your conclusion was not logical."
"I heard you perfectly."
"And I am going to prove it," he continued; "grant me in your turn a
few moments' attention."
"Very good; we must be merciful to those who are about to die."
"You are very kind; but thank Heaven I am not there yet. There's many a
slip between the cup and the lip, as a very sensible proverb says."
"Go on," the filibuster said with an ominous smile.
But the Spaniard was not affected.
"It is evident to me, sir, that you have some business or bargain to
propose to me."
"I?"
"Certainly, and for this reason; having recognized me as a spy, for
I must allow that I am really one (you see that I am frank in my
confession), nothing was easier for you than to have me strung up to
the nearest tree, without any form of trial."
"Yes, but I am going to do so."
"No, you will not do it now, and for this reason. You believe for
reasons I am ignorant of, for I will not insult you by supposing that
you had a feeling of pity for me, you who are so justly called by my
countrymen the Exterminator--you believe, I say, that I can serve you,
be useful to you in the success of one of your plans; consequently
instead of having me hanged, as you would have done under any other
circumstances, you came straight to find me here, where I fancied
myself well hidden, in order to converse with me, like one friend with
another. Well, I ask for nothing better, come, speak, I am listening;
what do you want of me?"
And after uttering these words with the most easy air he could assume,
Don Antonio threw himself back in his chair delicately rolling a
cigarette between his fingers.
The filibuster gazed for a moment at the Spaniard with a surprise which
he did not attempt to conceal, and then burst into a laugh.
"That will do," he said, "I prefer that; at least there will be no
misunderstanding between us. Yes, you have guessed correctly, I have a
proposal to make to you."
"That was not difficult to discover, sir; and pray what is the nature
of the proposal?"
"Well, it is very simple, I only require you to act exactly in the
opposite way to what you intended, to change sides, in short."
"Very good, I understand, that is to say, instead of betraying you for
the advantage of Spain, I am to betray Spain for your profit."
"Yes, you see it is easy."
"Very easy, in fact, but decidedly shabby; and supposing that I consent
to your request, what advantage shall I derive from it?"
"In the first place I need hardly say that you will not be hung."
"Pooh! To die by hanging, drowning, or a musket ball, is always much
the same thing. I should desire a more distinct benefit, with your
leave."
"Confound it, you are difficult to satisfy, then it is nothing to save
one's neck from a slip knot?"
"My dear sir, when, as in my case, a man has nothing to lose and
consequently everything to gain by any change in his position, death is
rather a comfort than a calamity."
"You are a philosopher, so it seems."
"No, confound it! such absurdity never troubled me, I am merely a
desperate man."
"That is often the same thing; but let us return to our matter."
"Yes, that will be better."
"Well! I offer you my whole share of the first ship I take; does that
suit you?"
"That is something better; but unluckily the ship to which you refer is
like the bear in the fable, not caught yet; I should prefer something
more substantial."
"Well, I see I must yield to you; serve me well and I will reward you
so generously that the King of Spain himself could not do more."
"Well, that is agreed, I'll run the risk; now be kind enough to tell me
the nature of the service you expect from me?"
"I wish you to help me in taking by surprise Tortoise Island, where
you lived for a long time, and where, if I do not err, you still have
friends."
"I see no inconvenience in trying that, although I will begin by making
my reservations."
"What are they?"
"That I do not pledge myself to insure the success of your hazardous
undertaking."
"That remark is fair, but do not alarm yourself, if the Island is well
defended, it shall be well attacked."
"I am convinced; now for the next matter."
"I will let you know it when the time arrives, señor; for the present,
other business engages our attention."
"As you please, sir, you will be the best judge of the opportunity."
"Now, sir, as I had the honour of telling you at the outset, since I
know you to be a very sharp hand, and very capable of slipping through
my fingers like an eel, without the slightest scruple, and as I wish to
avoid that eventuality, and save you any notion of the sort, you will
do me the pleasure of going at once aboard my lugger."
"A prisoner!" the Spaniard said with a gesture of ill humour.
"Not as a prisoner, my dear Don Antonio, but regarded as a hostage, and
treated as such, that is to say, with all the attention compatible with
our common security."
"Still, the word of a gentleman--"
"Is valued between gentlemen, I allow, but with us _Ladrones_, as you
call us, it has no value in my opinion; you hidalgos of old Spain,
even make it a case of conscience to violate it without the slightest
scruple, when your interest invites you to do so."
Don Antonio hung his head; recognizing in his heart, though unwilling
to allow it, the exact truth, of the filibuster's words.
The latter enjoyed for a moment the Spaniard's discomfiture, and then
rapped the table twice or thrice with the handle of his knife.
The captain's engagé at once entered the room.
"What do you want of me, Montbarts?" he asked.
"Tell me, my good fellow," the adventurer asked, "have you not seen a
red Carib prowling round this house?"
"Pardon me, Montbarts, a Carib asked me only a moment ago, whether you
were here, and I answered in the affirmative, but I did not like to
transgress the orders I had received from you, and allow him to enter
as he desired."
"Very good. Did not the man mention his name?"
"On the contrary, that was the very first thing he did; it is Omopoua."
"The very man I was expecting; tell him to come in, pray, for he is
sure to be hanging about the door; and come with him."
The engagé went out.
"What do you want with this man?" the Spaniard asked with a shade of
anxiety, which did not escape the adventurer's sharp eye.
"This Indian is simply intended to be your guard of honour," he said.
"Hum! It really seems as if you are anxious to keep me."
"Extremely so, señor."
At this moment, the engagé returned followed by the Carib, who had
made no change in his primitive costume; but had taken advantage of
Montbarts' permission to arm himself to the teeth.
"Omopoua and you, my friend, listen attentively to what I am going to
say to you; you see this man?" he said pointing to the Spaniard who was
still perfectly impassive.
"We see him," they answered.
"You will take him on board the lugger and hand him over to my mate,
Michael the Basque, recommending him to watch over his guest most
attentively! If, during the passage from here to the vessel, this man
attempts to take to flight, blow out his brains without mercy. Have you
understood me thoroughly?"
"Yes," said the engagé, "trust to us, we answer for him with our heads."
"That is well, I accept your word; and now, sir," he added, addressing
Don Antonio, "be good enough to follow these two men."
"I yield to force, sir."
"Very good, that is how I regard the matter, but reassure yourself,
your captivity will be neither harsh nor long, and I shall keep the
promises I have made you, if you keep yours. Now, go and farewell for
the present."
The Spaniard, without replying, placed himself between his two keepers
voluntarily and left the room.
Montbarts remained alone.