About eight o'clock next morning I bade the Peraltas goodbye, and
set out on my long-delayed journey, still mounted on that dishonestly
acquired steed that had served me so well, for I had declined the good
Hilario's offer of a horse. Though all my toils, wanderings, and many
services to the cause of liberty (or whatever people fight for in the
Banda) had not earned me one copper coin, it was some comfort to think
that Candelaria's never-to-be-forgotten generosity had saved me from
being penniless; I was, in fact, returning to Paquíta well dressed, on
a splendid horse, and with dollars enough in my pocket to take us
comfortably out of the country. Santos rode out with me, ostensibly to
put me on the right road to Montevideo; only I knew, of course, that he
was the bearer of an important communication from Demetria. When we had
ridden about half a league without any approach to the subject on his
part, in spite of sundry hints I threw out, I asked him plainly if he
had a message for me.
After pondering over the question for as long a time as would be
necessary to work out a rather difficult mathematical problem, he
answered that he had.
“Then,” said I, “let me hear it.”
He grinned. “Do you think,” he said, “that it is a thing to be spoken in
half a dozen words? I have not come all this distance merely to say that
the moon came in dry, or that yesterday, being Friday, Doña Demetria
tasted no meat. It is a long story, señor.”
“How many leagues long? Do you intend it to last all the way to
Montevideo? The longer it is the sooner you ought to begin it.”
“There are things easy to say, and there are other things not so easy,”
returned Santos. “But as to saying anything on horseback, who could do
that?”
“Why not?”
“The question!” said he. “Have you not observed that when liquor is
drawn from a cask--wine, or bitter orange-juice to make orangeade, or
even rum, which is by nature white and clear--that it runs thick when
the cask is shaken? It is the same with us, señor; our brain is the cask
out of which we draw all the things we say.”
“And the spigot--”
“That is so,” he struck in, pleased with my ready intelligence; “the
mouth is the spigot.”
“I should have thought the nose more like the spigot,” I replied.
“No,” he gravely returned. “You can make a loud noise with the nose
when you snore or blow it in a handkerchief; but it has no door of
communication with the brain. The things that are in the brain flow out
by the mouth.”
“Very well,” said I, getting impatient, “call the mouth spigot,
bung-hole, or what you like, and the nose merely an ornament on the
cask. The thing is this: Doña Demetria has entrusted you with some
liquor to pass on to me; now pass it, thick or clear.”
“Not thick,” he answered stubbornly.
“Very well; clear then,” I shouted.
“To give it to you clear I must give it off and not on my horse, sitting
still and not moving.”
Anxious to have it over without more beating about the bush, I reined up
my horse, jumped off, and sat down on the grass without another word.
He followed my example, and, after seating himself in a comfortable
position, deliberately drew out his tobacco-pouch and began making a
cigarette. I could not quarrel with him for this further delay, for
without the soothing, stimulating cigarette an Oriental finds it
difficult to collect his thoughts. Leaving him to carry out his
instructions in his own laborious fashion, I vented my irritation on the
grass, plucking it up by handfuls.
“Why do you do that?” he asked, with a grin.
“Pluck grass? What a question! When a person sits down on the grass,
what is the first thing he does?”
“Makes a cigarette,” he returned.
“In my country he begins plucking up the grass,” I said.
“In the Banda Orientál we leave the grass for the cattle to eat,” said
he.
I at once gave up pulling the grass, for it evidently distracted his
mind, and, lighting a cigarette, began smoking as placidly as I could.
At length he began: “There is not in all the Banda Orientál a worse
person to express things than myself.”
“You are speaking the truth,” I said.
“But what is to be done?” he continued, staring straight before him and
giving as little heed to my interruption as a hunter riding at a stiff
fence would pay to a remark about the weather. “When a man cannot get a
knife, he breaks in two an old pair of sheep-shears, and with one of the
blades makes himself an implement which has to serve him for a knife.
This is how it is with Doña Demetria; she has no one but her poor Santos
to speak for her. If she had asked me to expose my life in her service,
that I could easily have done; but to speak for her to a man who can
read the almanac and knows the names of all the stars in the sky, that
kills me, señor. And who knows this better than my mistress, who has
been intimate with me from her infancy, when I often carried her in my
arms? I can only say this, señor; when I speak, remember my poverty and
that my mistress has no instrument except my poor tongue to convey her
wishes. Words has she told me to say to you, but my devil of a memory
has lost them all. What am I to do in this case? If I wished to buy
my neighbour's horse, and went to him and said, 'Sell me your horse,
neighbour, for I have fallen in love with it and my heart is sick with
desire, so that I must have it at any price,' would that not be madness,
señor? Yet I must be like that imprudent person. I come to you for
something, and all her expressions, which were like rare flowers culled
from a garden, have been lost by the way. Therefore I can only say this
thing which my mistress desires, putting it in my own brute words, which
are like wild flowers I have myself gathered on the plain, that have
neither fragrance nor beauty to recommend them.”
This quaint exordium did not advance matters much, but it had the effect
of rousing my attention and convincing me that the message entrusted to
Santos was one of very grave import. He had finished his first cigarette
and now began slowly making himself a second one; but I waited patiently
for him to speak, my irritation had quite vanished, those “wild flowers”
of his were not without beauty, and his love and devotion for his
unhappy mistress made them smell very sweet.
Presently he resumed: “Señor, you have told my mistress that you are a
poor man; that you look upon this country life as a free and happy one;
that above all things you would like to possess an _estancia_ where you
could breed cattle and race-horses and hunt ostriches. All this she has
revolved in her mind, and because it is in her power to offer you the
things you desire does she now ask you to aid her in her trouble. And
now, señor, let me tell you this. The Peralta property extends all the
way to the Rocha waters; five leagues of land, and there is none better
in this department. It was formerly well stocked. There were thousands
of cattle and mares; for my master's party then ruled in the country;
the Colorados were shut up in Montevideo, and that cut-throat Frutos
Rivera never came into this part. Of the cattle only a remnant remains,
but the land is a fortune for any man, and, when my old master dies,
Doña Demetria inherits all. Even now it is hers, since her father has
lost his calabash, as you have seen. Now let me tell you what happened
many years ago. Don Hilario was at first a peon--a poor boy the Colonel
befriended. When he grew up he was made _capatas,_ then _mayordomo._
Don Calixto was killed and the Colonel lost his reason, then Don Hilario
made himself all-powerful, doing what he liked with his master, and
setting Doña Demetria's authority aside. Did he protect the interests of
the _estancia?_ On the contrary, he was one with our enemies, and when
they came like dogs for our cattle and horses he was behind them. This
he did to make friends of the reigning party, when the Blancos had lost
everything. Now he wishes to marry Doña Demetria to make himself owner
of the land. Don Calixto is dead, and who is there to bell the cat? Even
now he acts like the only owner; he buys and sells and the money is his.
My mistress is scarcely allowed clothes to wear; she has no horse to
ride on and is a prisoner in her own house. He watches her like a cat
watching a bird shut in a room; if he suspected her of an intention to
make her escape he would murder her. He has sworn to her that unless she
marries him he will kill her. Is not this sad? Señor, she asks you to
deliver her from this man. Her words I have forgotten, but imagine that
you see her before you a suppliant on her knees, and that you know what
the thing is she asks, and see her lips move, though you do not hear her
words.”
“Tell me how I can deliver her?” I said, feeling very much moved at what
I had heard.
“How! By carrying her off forcibly--do you understand? Is it not in your
power to return in a few days' time with two or three friends to do this
thing? You must come disguised and armed. If I am in the way I will do
what I can to protect her, but you will easily knock me down and stun
me--do you understand? Don Hilario must not know that we are in the
plot. From him fear nothing, for, though he is brave enough to threaten
a woman with death, before armed men he is like a dog that hears
thunder. You can then take her to Montevideo and conceal her there. The
rest will be easy. Don Hilario will fail to find her; Ramona and I will
take care of the Colonel, and when his daughter is out of his sight
perhaps he will forget her. Then, señor, there will be no trouble about
the property; for who can resist a legal claim?”
“I do not understand you, Santos,” said I. “If Demetria wishes me to do
what you say, and there is no other way to save her from Don Hilario's
persecutions, I will do it. I will do anything to serve her, and I have
no fear of that dog Hilario. But when I have placed her in concealment,
who in Montevideo, where she is without a friend, will take up her cause
and see that she is not defrauded of her rights? I can give her liberty,
but that will be all.”
“The property will be the same as yours when you marry her,” said he.
I had never suspected that this was coming, and was amazed to hear it.
“Will you tell me, Santos,” said I, “that Demetria sent you to say this
to me? Does she think that only by marrying her I can deliver her from
this robber and save her property?”
“There is, of course, no other way,” said he. “If it could be done
by other means, would she not have spoken last night and explained
everything to you? Consider, señor, all this large property will be
yours. If you do not like this department, then she will sell everything
for you to buy an _estancia_ elsewhere, or to do whatever you wish. And
I ask you this, señor, could any man marry a better woman?”
“No,” said I; “but, Santos, I cannot marry your mistress.”
I remembered then, sadly enough, that I had told her next to nothing
about myself. Seeing me so young, wandering homeless about the country,
she had naturally taken me for a single man; and, perhaps thinking that
I had conceived an affection for her, had been driven in her despair to
make this proposal. Poor Demetria, was there to be no deliverance for
her after all!
“Friend,” said Santos, dropping the ceremonious señor in his anxiety to
serve his mistress, “never speak without first considering all things.
There is no woman like her. If you do not love her now you will love her
when you know her better; no good man could help feeling affection for
her. You saw her last evening in a green silk dress, also wearing a
tortoise-shell comb and gold ornaments--was she not elegant, señor? Did
she not then appear to your eyes a woman suitable for a wife? You have
been everywhere, and have seen many women, and perhaps in some distant
place you have met one more beautiful than my mistress. But consider the
life she has led! Grief has made her pale and thin, staining her face
with purple under the eyes. Can laughter and song come out of a heart
where fear is? Another life would change all; she would be a flower
amongst women.”
Poor old simple-minded Santos, he had done himself great injustice; his
love for his mistress had inspired him with an eloquence that went to
my heart. And poor Demetria, driven by her weary, desolate life and
torturing fears to make in vain this unwomanly proposal to a stranger!
And, after all, it was not unwomanly; for in all countries where they
are not abject slaves it is permissible for women in some circumstances
to propose marriage. Even in England it is so, where society is like
a huge Clapham Junction, with human creatures moving like trucks and
carriages on cast-iron, conventional rails, which they can only leave
at the risk of a destructive collision. And a proposal of the kind was
never more justifiable than in this case. Shut away from the sight of
men in her dreary seclusion, haunted by nameless fears, her offer was to
bestow her hand along with a large property on a penniless adventurer.
Nor had she done this before she had learnt to love me, and to think,
perhaps, that the feeling was returned. She had waited, too, till the
very last moment, only making her offer when she had despaired of its
coming from me. This explained the reception of the previous evening;
the ancient, splendid attire which she had worn to win favour in my
sight; the shy, wistful expression of her eyes, the hesitation she could
not overcome. When I had recovered from the first shock of surprise I
could only feel the greatest respect and compassion for her, bitterly
regretting that I had not told her all my past history, so that she
might have been spared the shame and grief she would now be compelled
to endure. These sad thoughts passed through my mind while Santos
expatiated on the advantages of the proposed alliance until I stopped
him.
“Say no more,” I said; “for I swear to you, Santos, that were it
possible I would gladly take Demetria for a wife, so greatly do I
admire and esteem her. But I am married. Look at this; it is my wife's
portrait”; and, taking from my bosom the miniature which I always wore
round my neck, I handed it to him.
He stared at me in silent astonishment for a few moments, then took the
portrait into his hand; and while he gazed admiringly at it I pondered
over what I had heard. I could not now think of leaving this poor woman,
who had offered herself with all her inheritance to me, without some
attempt to rescue her from her sad position. She had given me a refuge
when I was in trouble and danger, and the appeal she had just made to
me, accompanied by so convincing a proof of her trust and affection,
would have gone to the heart of the most cold-blooded man in existence,
to make him, in spite of his nature, her devoted champion.
At length Santos handed back the miniature, with a sigh. “Such a face as
that my eyes have never seen,” he remarked. “There is nothing more to be
said.”
“There is a great deal more to be said,” I returned. “I have thought
of an easy plan to help your mistress. When you have reported this
conversation, tell her to remember the offer of assistance made to her
last night. I said I would be a brother to her, and I shall keep my
promise. You three cannot think of any better scheme to save Demetria
than this one you have told me, but it is after all a very poor scheme,
full of difficulty and danger to her. My plan is a simpler and safer
one. Tell her to come out to-night at midnight, after the moon has set,
to meet me under the trees behind the house. I shall be there waiting
with a horse for her, and will take her away to some safe place of
concealment where Don Hilario will never find her. When she is once out
of his power it will be time enough to think of some way to turn him out
of the _estancia_ and to arrange matters. See that she does not fail to
meet me, and let her take a few clothes and some money, if she has any;
also her jewels, for it would not be safe to leave them in the house
with Don Hilario.”
Santos was delighted with my scheme, which was so much more practical,
though less romantic, than the one hatched by those three simple-minded
conspirators. With heart full of hope, he was about to leave me when
he suddenly exclaimed, “But, señor, how will you get a horse and
side-saddle for Doña Demetria?”
“Leave it all to me,” I said; then we separated, he to return to his
mistress, who was no doubt anxiously waiting to know the result of our
conversation, I to get through the next fifteen hours in the best way I
could.