A HALF-BREED'S TRICK
Evelyn found the time pass heavily at Valverde. The town was hot and
uninteresting, although she did not see much of it, for it was only when
the glaring sunshine had faded off the narrow streets that she was
allowed a leisurely stroll in company with the _alcalde's_ wife. Senora
Herrero, who was stout and placid, and always dressed in black, spoke no
English, and only a few words of French. After an hour's superintendence
of her half-breed servants' work, she spent most of the day in sleep.
Yet she was careful of her guest's comfort, and in this respect Evelyn
had no cause for complaint.
It was the monotony the girl found trying. After the ten o'clock
breakfast there was nothing to be done until dinner was served at four.
The adobe house was very quiet and was darkened by lattices pulled
across the narrow windows; and there was no stir in the town between
noon and early evening. Evelyn patiently tried to grasp the plot of a
Spanish novel, and when she got tired of this sat in the coolest spot
she could find, listening to the drowsy rumble of the surf. Hitherto her
time had been occupied by strenuous amusements, and the lethargic
inaction jarred.
It was better when the shadows lengthened, because there were then
voices and footsteps in the streets. One could watch the languid
traffic; but when night came Valverde, instead of wakening to a few
hours' joyous life, was silent again. Sometimes a group of people went
by laughing, and now and then a few gathered round a singer with a
guitar, but there was no noisy talk in the cafes and no band played in
the _alameda_. An ominous quietness brooded over the town.
All this reacted on Evelyn's nerves, and one hot afternoon she felt
ready to welcome any change as she sat in a shaded room. Her hands were
wet with perspiration, the flies that buzzed about her face exasperated
her, and she found the musky smell that filled the house intolerable.
Senora Herrero lay in a big cane chair, looking strangely bulky and
shapeless in her tight black dress, with her eyes half closed and no
sign of intelligence in her heavily powdered face. Evelyn longed to wake
her and make her talk.
Then there were steps outside and Gomez came in. He bowed, and Senora
Herrero grew suddenly alert. Indeed, it struck Evelyn that her hostess
felt disturbed, but she paid no attention to this. She was glad of a
break in the monotony, and it was not until afterward her mind dwelt
upon what took place.
"Senor Cliffe's business with the President will keep him longer than he
thought. He may be detained for a fortnight," Gomez said.
Evelyn had no reason for being on her guard, and her disappointment was
obvious.
"I was looking forward to his return in a day or two," she answered.
"The senor Cliffe is to be envied for having a dutiful daughter," Gomez
smiled. "Still, I need not offer my sympathy, because it is his wish
that you should go to him."
"When?" Evelyn asked eagerly.
"As soon as you are ready. I have ordered the mules, and you can bring
what you think needful. We could start after dinner, and I offer myself
as escort for part of the way."
"But this is impossible!" Senora Herrero exclaimed in horrified protest.
Gomez spread out his hands deprecatingly.
"With apologies, senora, I think not. My plan is that you should go with
your guest until I can place her in some other lady's hands."
"But it is years since I have ridden a mule, and exercise makes me ill!
Besides, I cannot leave my husband and my household."
Evelyn remembered afterward that her hostess's indignant expression
suddenly changed, as if Gomez had given her a warning look; but he
answered good-humoredly:
"I have seen Don Jose. He feels desolated at the thought of losing you
for two or three days, but he agrees that we must do all we can to suit
the wishes of our American friends. Besides, you can travel to Galdo,
where we stay the night, in a coach. I will see that one is sent, but it
may take an hour or two to find mules."
"They must be good," said the senora. "I am heavy, and the road is bad."
"We will pick the best; but until you overtake us the senorita Cliffe
will, no doubt, be satisfied with my escort. We should reach Galdo soon
after dark. The senora Romanez will receive us there, and we start
early the next morning on our journey to the hills."
Gomez turned to Evelyn.
"This meets with your approval?" he asked suavely.
"Oh, yes," she agreed; though she afterward realized that there was no
obvious reason why she should not have waited for the coach, and that it
was curious her hostess did not suggest this.
Gomez returned after dinner before Evelyn was quite ready, and she was
somewhat surprised that he made no remark about the luggage she wished
to take. It was skilfully lashed on the broad pack-saddles, and they set
off when she mounted a handsome mule. There were two baggage animals,
driven by dark-skinned peons, and two mounted men brought up the rear.
Gomez said this explained the delay in getting mules for the coach, but
added that the girl would find the journey pleasanter in the saddle.
Evelyn agreed with him as they rode down the roughly paved street. It
was a relief to be moving, and the air had got pleasantly cool.
Half-breed women with black shawls round their heads looked up at her
from beside their tiny charcoal cooking fires, and she saw dark eyes
flash with hostility as her escort passed. Here and there a woman of
pure Spanish blood stood on a balcony and glanced down with shocked
prudery at the bold American, but Evelyn smiled at this. She distrusted
Gomez, who obviously was not a favorite with the poorer citizens, but as
a traveling companion she did not find much fault with him.
After a while they left the houses behind and turned into a dusty,
rutted track. The murmur of the sea followed them until they reached a
belt of forest where the sound was cut off, and Evelyn felt as if she
had lost a friend. The measured beat of the surf and the gleam of spray
were familiar things; the forest was mysterious, and oppressively
silent. In places a red glow shone among the massive trunks, but, for
the most part, they were hung with creepers and all below was wrapped in
shade. The track grew soft and wet; the air was steamy and filled with
exotic smells. Evelyn felt her skin get damp, and the mules fell into a
labored pace.
Strange noises began to fill the gathering gloom; the air throbbed with
a humming that rose and fell. Deep undertones and shrill pipings that it
was hard to believe were made by frogs and insects pierced the stagnant
air. Specks of phosphorescent light twinkled among the leaves, but the
fireflies were familiar and Evelyn welcomed them. She felt suddenly
homesick, and wished they were not leaving the coast; but she remembered
that her father had sent for her, and brushed her uneasiness away.
After a time, Gomez stopped.
"We have not gone fast, and the senora ought to overtake us soon," he
said. "Will you get down and wait for her?"
The forest, with the thin mist drifting through it, had a forbidding
look, and, for the first time that she could recollect, Evelyn felt
afraid of the dark.
"Let us go on," she said.
Gomez hesitated a moment and then acquiesced.
The road got steep and the mist thicker. Drooping creepers brushed them
as they passed, and now and then Evelyn was struck by a projecting
branch. Her mule, however, needed no guidance, and she sank into a
dreamy lethargy. There was something enervating and soporific in the
steamy atmosphere.
At last the gloom began to lighten and they came out into the luminous
clearness of the tropic night. In front lay a few flat blocks of houses,
surrounded by fields of cane, and here and there a patch of broad-leafed
bananas. Passing through the silent village they reached a long building
which Gomez said was the Romanez _hacienda_.
Lights gleamed in the windows, but they knocked twice before a strong,
arched door was unfastened, and they rode through into the _patio_. It
was obvious that they were expected. A gentleman dressed in white, his
stout wife in black, and a girl who wore a thin, yellow dress, came down
to welcome them. They were hospitable, but Evelyn, speaking only a few
words of Castilian, and feeling very tired, was glad when her hostess
showed her to her room.
She soon went to sleep, and, wakening early, felt invigorated by the
cool air that flowed in through the open window and the sight of the
blue hills that rose, clean-cut, against the morning sky. Then she had a
drowsy recollection of something being wrong, and presently remembered
that the senora Herrero had not arrived. This, however, was not
important, because Gomez could no doubt arrange for her hostess to
accompany them on the next stage of their journey.
Evelyn found Gomez apologetic when they met at breakfast. He was much
vexed with the _alcalde's_ wife, but the senorita Romanez and her duenna
would take her place, and he expected to put Evelyn in her father's care
in two more days. This, he added, would afford him a satisfaction that
would be tempered by regret.
They started after breakfast, but Evelyn did not feel drawn to her new
companion. Luisa Romanez was handsome in a voluptuous style, with dark
hair, a powdered face, and languishing black eyes, but so far as she
could make her meaning clear, she banteringly complimented Evelyn on
having won the admiration of a distinguished man. Evelyn declared that
this was a mistake, and Gomez had offered his escort as a duty, to which
Dona Luisa returned a mocking smile. Her amusement annoyed Evelyn. On
the whole, she was glad that conversation was difficult. The sour,
elderly duenna who rode behind them said nothing at all.
After traveling all day, they stopped at a lonely _hacienda_, where
Evelyn soon retired to rest. She slept well, and, wakening rather late
the next morning, found that Dona Luisa and her duenna had left an hour
before. This was embarrassing, because Evelyn knew something about
Spanish conventions; but, after all, she was an American, and they did
not apply to her.
Gomez appeared annoyed and extremely apologetic.
"There has been a misunderstanding," he explained. "I thought the
senorita Romanez would go with us to Rio Frio, but she told me last
night that she must return early this morning. I expostulated and
implored, but the senorita was firm. She declared she had not promised
to come farther than the _hacienda_. You see my unfortunate position.
One cannot compel a lady to do what she does not wish."
"When shall we reach Rio Frio?" Evelyn asked.
"If all goes well, late this afternoon."
Evelyn thought for a moment. She was vexed and vaguely alarmed, but her
father was waiting for her at Rio Frio.
"Then let us start as soon as possible," she said.
Gomez bowed.
"When breakfast is over. I go to give my men their orders."
Leaving the _hacienda_, they rode by rough, steep tracks that wound
through belts of forest and crossed sun-scorched slopes. Although it was
hot, the air was clear, and Evelyn was pleased to see that Gomez kept
the mules at a steady pace. At noon they reached a cluster of
poverty-stricken mud houses, and Gomez called one of the ragged,
half-breed peons. They talked for some time in a low voice, and then
Gomez turned to Evelyn.
"I am afraid we shall have to wait here for two or three hours," he
said. "It might be dangerous to go any farther now."
"But I must get on!" Evelyn answered sharply.
"Your wishes would be a command, only that I must think of your safety
first. There is an inn in the village, and while you rest I will explain
why we cannot go forward."
Evelyn found the small _fonda_ indescribably dirty, but it offered
shelter from the sun. Openings in its bare walls let in puffs of breeze,
and decaying lattices kept out the glare, but the room was full of
flies, and rustling sounds showed that other insects lurked in the
crevices. The place reeked with the smell of _cana_ and kerosene, and
Evelyn had to force herself to eat a little of the greasy mess that was
set before her in rude, sun-baked crockery. When the meal was over
Gomez began his explanation.
"You have heard that the country is disturbed. There are turbulent
people who want a revolution, and I am not popular with them."
Evelyn smiled, for she had learned something about the country's
politics and she thought he had expressed the feeling of its
discontented citizens very mildly. She distrusted him, but, so far, his
conduct had been irreproachable.
"I see you understand," he resumed. "The worst is that you too are an
object of suspicion; it is known that your father is a friend of the
President and has business with him. Well, I have been warned that some
of our enemies are in the neighborhood, and they might rouse the peons
to attack us. They will know when we left the _hacienda_ and watch for
us, but we can outwit them by waiting a while and then taking another
road."
This was plausible, and Evelyn agreed to the delay, although she did not
feel quite satisfied when Gomez left her. The dirty room was very hot
and its atmosphere unspeakably foul, but she could not sit outside in
the sun, and, taking up a soiled newspaper, she tried to read. Her
knowledge of Castilian did not carry her far, but she made out that the
Government was being urged to deal severely with a man named Sarmiento.
Evelyn put down the paper, feeling that she ought to know the name.
Sarmiento had some connection with Grahame and his friends; perhaps they
had spoken of him. This led her to think of them. It looked as if
Grahame were interested in the country's politics. Remembering the
promise she had made, she wondered whether the _Enchantress_ was then on
the coast. As he seemed to be opposing Gomez, he must be helping the
revolutionaries, while her father had business with the President. This
was puzzling, and she sat thinking about it for some time; and then
looked up with a start as Gomez came in.
"So you have been reading the _diario_!" he remarked.
"I don't understand very much; but who is Don Martin Sarmiento?"
"A dangerous person who goes about making trouble."
"It's curious, but I think I have met him."
Gomez gave her a searching glance and then smiled.
"He is not worth remembering, but you did meet him at Havana."
"Ah!" said Evelyn sharply.
Gomez laughed.
"Must I remind you, senorita, of a little affair at the Hotel
International?"
Evelyn remembered it well and guessed that it was Sarmiento whom Gomez
had been pursuing when she stopped him by dropping her ring. She could
now understand his look of baffled rage, and she recalled her shrinking
from the savagery it displayed.
"One imagines that you did not know Don Martin," Gomez said lightly,
although there was a keen look in his narrowed eyes.
"No," Evelyn answered; "I only saw him at dinner."
"Then perhaps you have heard your father speak of him?"
"I am not sure; I have heard his name somewhere; but I don't think my
father ever met him."
"Well, I don't know that it is of much importance. I came to tell you
that I think we can start."
They set off and reached Rio Frio without trouble some time after dark.
People in the streets turned and gazed at them, and although some
saluted Gomez, Evelyn thought that, for the most part, they watched the
party with unfriendly curiosity. She was eager to meet her father, but
when they dismounted in the _patio_ of a large white house she got a
shock. A dark-skinned woman and several half-breed servants came down
from a gallery to welcome them, but Cliffe was not there.