A DIFFERENT SORT OF MAN
Don Carlos lost no time in hurrying out to the veranda again--since he
had been listening and so knew what had happened--and endeavoring to
placate the embarrassed Don Diego Vega. Though there was consternation
in his heart, he contrived to chuckle and make light of the occurrence.
"Women are fitful and filled with fancies, _señor_," he said. "At times
they will rail at those whom they in reality adore. There is no telling
the workings of a woman's mind--she cannot explain it with satisfaction
herself."
"But I--I scarcely understand," Don Diego gasped. "I used my words with
care. Surely I said nothing to insult or anger the _señorita_!"
"She would be wooed, I take it, in the regular fashion. Do not despair,
_señor_. Both her mother and myself have agreed that you are a proper
man for her husband. It is customary that a maid fight off a man to a
certain extent, and then surrender. It appears to make the surrender
the sweeter. Perhaps the next time you visit us she will be more
agreeable. I feel quite sure of it!"
So Don Diego shook hands with Don Carlos Pulido and mounted his horse
and rode slowly down the trail; and Don Carlos turned about and
entered his house again and faced his wife and daughter, standing
before the latter with his hands on his hips and regarding her with
something akin to sorrow.
"He is the greatest catch in all the country!" Doña Catalina was
wailing; and she dabbed at her eyes with a delicate square of filmy
lace.
"He has wealth and position and could mend my broken fortunes if he
were but my son-in-law," Don Carlos declared, not taking his eyes from
his daughter's face.
"He has a magnificent house, and a _hacienda_ besides, and the best
horses near Reina de Los Angeles, and he is sole heir to his wealthy
father," Doña Catalina said.
"One whisper from his lips into the ear of his excellency, the
governor, and a man is made--or unmade," added Don Carlos.
"He is handsome--"
"I grant you that!" exclaimed the Señorita Lolita, lifting her pretty
head and glaring at them bravely. "That is what angers me! What a lover
the man could be, if he would! Is it anything to make a girl proud to
have it said that the man she married never looked at another woman,
and so did not select her after dancing and talking and playing at love
with others?"
"He preferred you to all others, else he would not have ridden out
to-day," Don Carlos said.
"Certainly it must have fatigued him!" the girl said. "Why does he let
himself be made the laughing-stock of the country? He is handsome and
rich and talented. He has health, and could lead all the other young
men. Yet he has scarcely enough energy to dress himself, I doubt not."
"This is all beyond me!" the Doña Catalina wailed. "When I was a girl,
there was nothing like this! An honorable man comes seeking you as
wife--"
"Were he less honorable and more of a man, I might look at him a second
time," said the _señorita_.
"You must look at him more than a second time," put in Don Carlos,
with some authority in his manner. "You cannot throw away such a fine
chance. Think on it, my daughter! Be in a more amiable mood when Don
Diego calls again."
Then he hurried to the _patio_ on pretense that he wished to speak to
a servant, but in reality to get away from the scene. Don Carlos had
proved himself to be a courageous man in his youth, and now he was
a wise man also, and hence he knew better than to participate in an
argument between women.
Soon the _siesta_ hour was at hand, and the Señorita Lolita went into
the _patio_ and settled herself on a little bench near the fountain.
Her father was dozing on the veranda, and her mother in her room, and
the servants were scattered over the place, sleeping also. But Señorita
Lolita could not sleep, for her mind was busy.
She knew her father's circumstances, of course, for it had been some
time since he could hide them, and she wanted, naturally, to see him
in excellent fortune again. She knew, too, that did she wed with Don
Diego Vega, her father was made whole. For a Vega would not let the
relatives of his wife be in any but the best of circumstances.
She called up before her a vision of Don Diego's handsome face, and
wondered what it would be like if lighted with love and passion. 'Twere
a pity the man was so lifeless, she told herself. But to wed a man who
suggested sending a native servant to serenade her in his own place!
The splashing of the water in the fountain lulled her to sleep, and she
curled up in one end of the bench, her cheek pillowed on one tiny hand,
her black hair cascading to the ground.
And suddenly she was awakened by a touch on her arm, and sat up
quickly, and then would have screamed except that a hand was crushed
against her lips to prevent her.
Before her stood a man whose body was enveloped in a long cloak, and
whose face was covered with a black mask so that she could see nothing
of his features except his glittering eyes. She had heard Señor Zorro,
the highwayman, described, and she guessed that this was he, and her
heart almost ceased to beat, she was so afraid.
"Silence, and no harm comes to you, _señorita_," the man whispered
hoarsely.
"You--you are--" she questioned on her breath.
He stepped back, removed his sombrero, and bowed low before her.
"You have guessed it, my charming _señorita_," he said. "I am known as
Señor Zorro, the Curse of Capistrano."
"And--you are here--"
"I mean you no harm, no harm to any of this _hacienda_, _señorita_. I
punish those who are unjust, and your father is not that. I admire him
greatly. Rather would I punish those who do him evil than to touch him."
"I--I thank you, _señor_."
"I am weary, and the _hacienda_ is an excellent place to rest," he
said. "I knew it to be the _siesta_ hour, also, and thought every one
would be asleep. It were a shame to awaken you, _señorita_, but I felt
that I must speak. Your beauty would hinge a man's tongue in its middle
so that both ends might be free to sing your praises."
Señorita Lolita had the grace to blush.
"I would that my beauty affected other men so," she said.
"And does it not? Is it that the Señorita Lolita lacks suitors? But
that cannot be possible!"
"It is, nevertheless, _señor_. There are few bold enough to seek to
ally themselves with the family of Pulido, since it is out of favor
with the powers. There is one--suitor," she went on. "But he does not
seem to put much life into his wooing."
"Ha! A laggard at love--and in your presence? What ails the man? Is he
ill?"
"He is so wealthy that I suppose he thinks he has but to request it and
a maiden will agree to wed him."
"What an imbecile!'Tis the wooing gives the spice to romance!"
"But you, _señor_! Somebody may come and see you here! You may be
captured!"
"And do you not wish to see a highwayman captured? Perhaps it would
mend your father's fortune were he to capture me. The governor is much
vexed, I understand, concerning my operations."
"You--you had best go," she said.
"There speaks mercy in your heart. You know that capture would mean my
death. Yet must I risk it, and tarry a while."
He seated himself upon the bench, and Señorita Lolita moved away as far
as she could, and then started to rise.
But Señor Zorro had been anticipating that. He grasped one of her
hands, and before she guessed his intention had bent forward, raised
the bottom of his mask, and pressed his lips to its pink, moist palm.
"_Señor!_" she cried, and jerked her hand away.
"It were bold, yet a man must express his feelings," he said. "I have
not offended beyond forgiveness, I hope."
"Go, _señor_, else I make an outcry!"
"And get me executed?"
"You are but a thief of the highroad!"
"Yet I love life as any other man."
"I shall call out, _señor_! There is a reward offered for your
capture."
"Such pretty hands would not handle blood money."
"Go!"
"Ah, _señorita_, you are cruel! A sight of you sends the blood pounding
through a man's veins. A man would fight a horde at the bidding of your
sweet lips."
"_Señor!_"
"A man would die in your defense, _señorita_. Such grace, such fresh
beauty!"
"For the last time, _señor_! I shall make an outcry--and your fate be
on your own head!"
"Your hand again--and I go!"
"It may not be!"
"Then here I sit until they come and take me. No doubt I shall not have
to wait long. That big Sergeant Gonzales is on the trail, I understand,
and may have discovered track of me. He will have soldiers with him--"
"_Señor_, for the love of the saints--"
"Your hand!"
She turned her back and gave it, and once more he pressed his lips to
the palm. And then she felt herself being turned slowly, and her eyes
looked deep into his. A thrill seemed to run through her. She realized
that he retained her hand, and she pulled it away. And then she turned
and ran quickly across the _patio_ and into the house.
With her heart pounding at her ribs, she stood behind the curtains at
a window and watched. Señor Zorro walked slowly to the fountain, and
stooped to drink. Then he put his sombrero on, looked once at the
house, and stalked away. She heard the galloping hoofs of a horse die
in the distance.
"A thief--yet a man!" she breathed. "If Don Diego had only half as much
dash and courage!"