"You ought to see how clear that fellow can make things, Compadre,"
Demetrio said. All morning long he had been pondering as much of Luis
Cervantes' speech as he had understood.
"I heard him too," Anastasio answered. "People who can read and write
get things clear, all right; nothing was ever truer. But what I can't
make out is how you're going to go and meet Natera with as few men as
we have."
"That's nothing. We're going to do things different now. They tell me
that as soon as Crispin Robles enters a town he gets hold of all the
horses and guns in the place; then he goes to the jail and lets all the
jailbirds out, and, before you know it, he's got plenty of men, all
right. You'll see. You know I'm beginning to feel that we haven't done
things right so far. It don't seem right somehow that this city guy
should be able to tell us what to do."
"Ain't it wonderful to be able to read and write!"
They both sighed, sadly. Luis Cervantes came in with several others to
find out the day of their departure.
"We're leaving no later than tomorrow," said Demetrio without
hesitation.
Quail suggested that musicians be summoned from the neighboring hamlet
and that a farewell dance be given. His idea met with enthusiasm on all
sides.
"We'll go, then," Pancracio shouted, "but I'm certainly going in good
company this time. My sweetheart's coming along with me!"
Demetrio replied that he too would willingly take along a girl he had
set his eye on, but that he hoped none of his men would leave bitter
memories behind them as the Federals did.
"You won't have long to wait. Everything will be arranged when you
return," Luis Cervantes whispered to him.
"What do you mean?" Demetrio asked. "I thought that you and Camilla..."
"There's not a word of truth in it, Chief. She likes you but she's
afraid of you, that's all."
"Really? Is that really true?"
"Yes. But I think you're quite right in not wanting to leave any
bitter feelings behind you as you go. When you come back as a
conqueror, everything will be different. They'll all thank you for it
even."
"By God, you're certainly a shrewd one," Demetrio replied, patting him
on the back.
At sundown, Camilla went to the river to fetch water as usual. Luis
Cervantes, walking down the same trail, met her. Camilla felt her
heart leap to her mouth. But, without taking the slightest notice of
her, Luis Cervantes hastily took one of the turns and disappeared among
the rocks.
At this hour, as usual, the calcinated rocks, the sun-burnt branches,
and the dry weeds faded into the semi-obscurity of the shadows. The
wind blew softly, the green lances of the young corn leaves rustling in
the twilight. Nothing was changed; all nature was as she had found it
before, evening upon evening; but in the stones and the dry weeds, amid
the fragrance of the air and the light whir of falling leaves, Camilla
sensed a new strangeness, a vast desolation in everything about her.
Rounding a huge eroded rock, suddenly Camilla found herself face to
face with Luis, who was seated on a stone, hatless, his legs dangling.
"Listen, you might come down here to say good-bye."
Luis Cervantes was obliging enough; he jumped down and joined her.
"You're proud, ain't you? Have I been so mean that you don't even want
to talk to me?"
"Why do you say that, Camilla? You've been extremely kind to me; why,
you've been more than a friend, you've taken care of me as if you were
my sister. Now I'm about to leave, I'm very grateful to you; I'll
always remember you."
"Liar!" Camilla said, her face transfigured with joy. "Suppose I hadn't
come after you?"
"I intended to say good-bye to you at the dance this evening."
"What dance? If there's a dance, I'll not go to it."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't stand that horrible man ... Demetrio!"
"Don't be silly, child," said Luis. "He's really very fond of you.
Don't go and throw away this opportunity. You'll never have one like it
again in your life. Don't you know that Demetrio is on the point of
becoming a general, you silly girl? He'll be a very wealthy man, with
horses galore; and you'll have jewels and clothes and a fine house and
a lot of money to spend. Just imagine what a life you would lead with
him!"
Camilla stared up at the blue sky so he should not read the expression
in her eyes. A dead leaf shook slowly loose from the crest of a tree
swinging slowly on the wind, fell like a small dead butterfly at her
feet. She bent down and took it in her fingers. Then, without looking
at him, she murmured:
"It's horrible to hear you talk like that.... I like you ... no one
else.... Ah, well, go then, go: I feel ashamed now. Please leave me!"
She threw away the leaf she had crumpled in her hand and covered her
face with a corner of her apron. When she opened her eyes, Luis
Cervantes had disappeared.
She followed the river trail. The river seemed to have been sprinkled
with a fine red dust. On its surface drifted now a sky of variegated
colors, now the dark crags, half light, half shadow. Myriads of
luminous insects twinkled in a hollow. Camilla, standing on the beach
of washed, round stones, caught a reflection of herself in the waters;
she saw herself in her yellow blouse with the green ribbons, her white
skirt, her carefully combed hair, her wide eyebrows and broad forehead,
exactly as she had dressed to please Luis. She burst into tears.
Among the reeds, the frogs chanted the implacable melancholy of the
hour. Perched on a dry root, a dove wept also.