The Dust of Conflict

by Harold Bindloss

  XII -- PANCHO'S WARNING

  A WEEK had passed since the Alcalde's ball, when Appleby awakened lateone night from a restless sleep at the hacienda San Cristoval. He hadshut the lattices of his window because the moonlight streamed in, andit is not advisable for white men to sleep under that pale radiance inthe tropics; and the room was almost insufferably hot, which Applebysurmised was the cause of his awakening. He was, however, anxious to getto sleep again, for his post was no sinecure, and he usually rose in theearly morning.

  Cuba was in a very unsettled state just then, steeped in intrigue andoverrun with spies, while among Loyalists and Insurgents alike factionplotted against faction. Both were divided by internecine jealousies,and the mixed population of native-born Cubans of Iberian blood,Spaniards from the Peninsular and the Canaries, Chinamen, negroes, andmulattoes, appeared incapable of cohesion. Stability of purpose is not aprominent characteristic of the Latins, and while the country drifted indiscord towards anarchy, a similar state of affairs existed on a smallerscale at the hacienda San Cristoval. The men who by the favor of themilitary rulers were allowed to take Harding's pay apparently disdainedcontinuous effort, and desisted from it to discuss politics on everyopportunity; while knives were not infrequently drawn in defence oftheir somewhat variable convictions.

  It was with annoyance he found he could not sleep, and resigned himselfto pass the weary hours waiting for daylight as he had frequently donebefore. The perspiration dripped from him, and there was a pain in hisjoints, for the insidious malarial fever he had contracted in the swampstroubled him now and then, and finding no relief in any change ofposture lay rigidly still. A mosquito hovered about him with a thin,persistent droning--and one mosquito is occasionally sufficient to drivea sleepless man to frenzy--but the building was very silent. Applebycould see the faint gleam of moonlight deflected by the lattice on thefloor, but the rest of the room was wrapped in inky blackness. He wasglad of that for there was a dull ache at the back of his eyes, which hesurmised was the result of standing for most of twelve hours in theglare of the whitewashed sheds the previous day. By and by, however, thedead stillness which the droning of the mosquito emphasized grewoppressive, and he found himself listening with a curious intentness forany sound that would break it. He did not know why he did so, but heobeyed the impulse with a vague feeling that watchfulness was advisable.

  Five minutes passed, as it were, interminably, while he only heard thestrident ticking of the watch beneath his pillow, and then the stairwayleading to the veranda outside his window creaked softly. That wasnothing unusual, for the timber not infrequently groaned and crackedunder the change of temperature in the stillness of the night; but therewas something that stirred Appleby's suspicions in the sound, and heraised himself softly when he heard it again. The room he slept inopened into a larger one, which Harding had fitted up as an office,where the safe was kept, but the door between it and the veranda wasbarred, and Appleby had himself made fast the lattice of the window.

  He could hear nothing further for a space, and was annoyed to feel thehand he laid on the pillow trembling and his hair wet with perspiration.Then it was with difficulty he checked a gasp, for the door handleseemed to rattle, and the bolt of the lock slid home with a soft click.The smooth sound was very suggestive, for Appleby had found the lockstiff and hard to move. Somebody had apparently oiled itsurreptitiously, and it was evident that he would not have done sowithout a purpose. For a moment he was almost dismayed. He was shut in,and there were a good many pesetas in Harding's safe; but the unpleasantnervous strain he had hitherto been sensible of had gone and left himwith faculties sharpened by anger. Then an inspiration dawned on him,and his lips set in a little grim smile. The Latin has usually no greatregard for trifles, and it was not very astonishing that the man whooiled and locked the door had overlooked the fact that the lattice wasfastened within.

  Appleby was out of bed in a moment, and moving with silent deliberation,slipped a duck jacket over his pajamas and softly pulled out a bureaudrawer. Here, however, he had another astonishment, for the pistol hekept under his clothing had gone, and he stood still a moment reflectingwith the collectedness which usually characterized him in an emergency.Harper slept in a distant wing of the building; the major-domo, or housesteward, in a room by the kitchen across the patio; and he could notwaken either without giving a general alarm, which did not appearadvisable. Appleby had no great confidence in any of his retainers, andconsidered it likely that some of them were in the plot, and would inall probability contrive the escape of the prowler in the confusion. Hemust, it seemed, see the affair through alone, and, what was more to thepurpose, unarmed. Then he remembered the bar which, when dropped intotwo sockets, locked the two halves of the lattice, and treading softlymade for the window. It was quite certain now that somebody was movingabout the adjoining room.

  The lattice swung open with scarcely a sound, and if Appleby made anynoise crawling through the opening the intruder apparently did not hearhim. In another few moments he had gained the adjoining door which stoodjust ajar, and dimly saw the black figure of a man who held a smalllantern bending over the American office bureau. This astonishedAppleby, who had expected the iron safe beside it would have claimed hisattention.

  He pushed the door a little farther open, and stood close against itwith his fingers tightening on the bar, while the man whose face hecould not see flung several bundles of documents out of a drawer, andheld them near the lantern, as though he would read the endorsementsupon them, which Appleby remembered were in English. He had, however,apparently no difficulty in understanding them, for he took up eachbundle and glanced at it before he laid it down, and then, pulling thedrawer out, thrust his hand into the opening.

  Appleby started as he watched him, for that drawer was shorter than therest, and there was a hidden receptacle behind it. It was difficult forany one to remain impartially neutral in Cuba just then, and Appleby hadsurmised already that Harding only retained his footing there by theexercise of skilful diplomacy, while communications reached him now andthen which he showed to nobody. He had, however, taken the contents ofthe receptacle away with him.

  It was a very slight movement that Appleby made, but the door he leanedagainst creaked, and the man swung sharply round. Perhaps he was afraidof the light of the lantern being seen from the windows opposite, for hedid not raise it, but stood still, apparently glancing about him, whileAppleby waited motionless with every nerve in his body tingling. Itseemed to him that there was a faint sound behind him on the stairway.

  He fancied the almost intolerable tension lasted for nearly a minute,and then the man, who failed to see him, turned again with a littlehalf-audible ejaculation, and opening another drawer bent over it withhis back to Appleby, who moved silently in his direction. He made twostrides and stopped, with his fingers quivering on the bar; but the manwas still stooping over the drawer, and he made another stride andstopped again. He could almost reach the stranger with the bar, butremembering the Cuban's quickness with the steel he decided it would beadvisable to make quite certain.

  A board creaked as he made the next step, the man swung round again, andthere was a pale flash in the light of the lantern as he sprangbackwards. He was on the opposite side of the bureau and out of reachwhen Appleby swung up the bar, but the latter, who recognized the fact,stood between him and the door. They stood still for what seemed aninterminable space in the black darkness, for the faint blink of lightfrom the lantern was cut off by the displaced drawer, and then Applebymoved a foot or two as the dim shadowy figure, which he fancied haddrawn itself together, sidled round the bureau. He surmised that hisadversary was bracing himself for a spring, and knew that unless he metit with the bar he would be at the mercy of the steel. Still, he meantat any cost to hold the position that commanded the door.

  The two stopped again, a trifle nearer each other, and Appleby felt hisright arm tingle. Still, a rash move would probably prove fatal, and heremembered even then that because silent endura
nce is not acharacteristic of the Latins his adversary was the more likely to yieldbeneath the strain and do something that would equalize the advantagehis skill with the knife conferred upon him. The man with colder bloodcould wait. He, however, found it sufficiently harassing, for in themeanwhile he could feel in fancy the sting of the knife, and rememberedwith unpleasant distinctness the feinting play with the steel he had nowand then seen his peons indulge in. One thrust, he fancied, wouldsuffice, for the Cuban knows just how and where to strike. He could feelhis heart beating, and the perspiration streaming down his face.

  Then the door behind him was flung wide open, a blink of light flashedinto the room and shone upon an olive-tinted face; while, when Appleby,uncertain what this boded, swung up the bar to force an issue, the manflung down a knife.

  "Carramba!" he said hoarsely. "It is too unequal."

  Appleby glanced over his shoulder, and saw Pancho, his major-domo,standing half dressed not far behind him with a lantern and a bigmachete in his hand. He stooped, picked up the knife, and with a flickof his fingers slid it into his sleeve. Then he held the lantern higher,and Appleby recognized his adversary as a weight clerk in the sugarmill. He blinked with his eyes, and the damp dripped from his face,which showed haggard and drawn; but Appleby, who wondered if his ownwore that look, surmised that this was not due to cowardice, andunderstood why the man breathed in gasps.

  "Leave the light, and go for the Senor Harper, Pancho," he said, and hisvoice sounded curiously harsh and uneven.

  The major-domo, however, shook his head. "With permission, I will stayhere, senor," he said. "Ask him what he has come for."

  The other man sat down somewhat limply on the table and essayed tolaugh. "The question is not necessary, Don Pancho," he said. "One hasalways a use for silver."

  Appleby glanced at the safe, which had not been tampered with, andfancied as he did so that Pancho made a sign to him.

  "You were looking for it in a curious place," he said. "One does notkeep silver loose in a drawer. At least, not in Cuba. It would be betterif you told us plainly what brought you here."

  "To what purpose, when you do not believe me?" said the man, with anattempt at tranquillity. "Still, the Senor Harding is only liberal tohis countrymen; and I have been unfortunate at the Casino."

  Appleby saw the major-domo's smile of incredulity, and felt a mildastonishment at the fact that he was quietly arguing with a man whowould, he knew, have killed him without compunction a few minutesearlier had the opportunity been afforded him.

  "Well," he said a trifle impatiently, "you can explain it to theAlcalde. Will you go for the Senor Harper, and unlock the cellar nextthe stables as you come back, Pancho? He would be safe there until to-morrow."

  The major-domo shook his head. "It would be better if you let him go,"he said. "The law is troublesome and expensive in this country."

  Appleby, who was already aware of this, reflected. He knew theinsecurity of his own position, and Harding had warned him especially tokeep clear of any complications with the officials; while he hadconfidence in Pancho and recognized the significance of his tone. Still,he was unwilling to let their captive go scot-free and gazed at himsteadily.

  The man, who met his gaze, smiled a little. "It is good advice DonPancho has given you. I tell you so with all sincerity."

  "Well," said Appleby, "you can go, but you will not get off so easily ifyou ever come back again. Still, I want the pistol you stole from me."

  The man raised his shoulders. "It is an unpleasant word, senor, and youwill find the pistol in the drawer beneath the one where you usuallykeep it. It is too noisy a weapon to be much esteemed in Cuba. Still, torequite a courtesy, you will take a hint from me. When a man is incharge of a good many pesetas it is not wise of him to keep his pistolin a drawer."

  He slipped down from the table, asked Pancho for his knife, and took offhis hat with grave politeness when it was handed him. Then he went downthe stairway, and sitting down at the foot of it apparently put hisshoes on before he strode away along the tram-line. Appleby laid hishand on the major-domo's shoulder.

  "You came opportunely, comrade," he said. "I am grateful."

  It was not by accident he employed the Castilian word which implies akindly regard as well as familiarity, and the man seemed to recognizeit, for he smiled curiously.

  "It is nothing, senor," he said. "I did not sleep well, and saw the mancreep into the veranda from my bed, which is near the window. In notsending him to the Alcalde you were wise."

  "I am not sure that I was," said Appleby.

  Pancho made a little gesture. "It is a turbulent country, and the manwho escapes trouble is the one who lives the most quietly."

  He turned away, as though to avoid further questions, while Appleby wentback to bed, and, contrary to his expectations, slept until the morning.

  It was some days later when he rode over to Santa Marta and, leaving themule at the "Four Nations," called at the banker's house, where he foundNettie Harding sitting with her host and hostess on the flat roof. Itwas, though still early in the evening, dark, and the after-dinnercoffee, the choicest product of Costa Rica, was set out in very littlecups on the table before them; while the banker, who was stout andelderly, lay drowsily in a big chair. His wife had also little to say,and Appleby drew his chair up to Nettie Harding's side. The lamp on thetable burned without a flicker in the still air, and a cloudless vaultof indigo stretched above the sun-scorched town. Beyond the rows ofroofs a band was playing in the plaza, and a hum of voices rose from theshadowy streets beneath. It was a little cooler now, and a pleasantscent of heliotrope came up from the patio.

  Nettie Harding raised her head as though to listen to the music, andthen glanced at the stars above. "All this," she said, "is distinctlyCuban, isn't it?"

  Appleby nodded. "It's Spanish, which is the same thing. They're aconsistent people," he said. "Still, I'm not sure that I quite catchyour meaning."

  Nettie laughed, and turned so that the lamplight touched her face. "Oh,I talk quite casually now and then. I meant that being Cuban it couldn'tbe English."

  "That is apparent."

  "Well, I was wondering if, bearing in mind the difference you werecontent with it."

  Appleby laughed. "I am, you will also remember, an adventurer, and thecountry that feeds me is, as they say in yours, quite good enough forme. A little to eat, a little sunshine, a comrade's smile, and enoughkindly earth to cover one at the last, is all, I believe, that one isentitled to expect."

  He had meant to answer lightly, but a curious little inflection creptinto his voice against his will, and he sat still a moment while thememories crowded upon him, with a longing that would not be shaken off.Once more he seemed to be gazing down on the red beech woods and palelyflashing river from the terrace at Northrop Hall, though he recognizedthat in the meanwhile Nettie Harding was watching him with a gleam ofsympathetic comprehension in her eyes. It was significant that he didnot feel impelled to speak, for they had arrived at a degree of intimacywhich made silence admissible, and still were comrades, and nothingmore.

  "If you had said that with a purpose I wouldn't have been in the leastsorry for you," she said. "It would have been cheap, but that's just whyI know you didn't. Still, are you quite sure there is nothing you longfor over there? I mean, of course, in England."

  Appleby was on the roof in Santa Marta in body, and noticed that MissHarding made a very effective picture in her long white dress as sheglanced at him with the little smile, but he was at the same time duallysensible of the crimson flush on the English beech woods and the meadowsstreaked with wisps of mist, while once more the alluring vision he hadfought against glided into the scene. It was a girl with gray eyes andruddy hair, graver, deeper of thought and emotion, and more imperiousthan Nettie Harding.

  "Nothing that I am ever likely to get," he said.

  Nettie laughed, but there was a faint ring in her voice, and longafterwards Appleby remembered her words, which then appeared prophetic.
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  "Well," she said, "do you know that if I could I would get it you, andthere is very little an American girl can't get when she sets her hearton it? Now that sounds bombastic, but I'm not sure that it is. Anyway,I'm going to England presently."

  Appleby looked up sharply. "To England!"

  "Yes; you heard me. You will be sorry, but, of course, I'm coming backagain."

  "I know I can tell you that I certainly shall without its appearingpresumption," said Appleby.

  The girl nodded. "We haven't any use for that word in our country. Infact, we have rather a liking for a presumptuous man so long as he issensible," she said. "Then there is nothing I can do for you there?"

  "No," said Appleby.

  Nettie leaned a little nearer him, and though she smiled a faint flushcrept into her cheek. "If there were, you would tell me? I can't helpremembering what you did for me."

  "I think I would. Still, you see there is nothing."

  "Well, I'm not quite sure, and one never knows who they may meet inEngland. It's quite a small place, anyway."

  Then there was a ringing of steel on stone, and she looked round with alittle impatient gesture as she said, "Here is that odious Moralesagain!"

  The banker rose, and brought a chair as the colonel came forward, butthe little pressure of the girl's hand on his arm warned Appleby thatshe desired him to remain, and for an hour they discussed the campaign.Then Appleby decided to relate what had happened at the hacienda a fewnights earlier, though he said very little about the papers and nothingconcerning the hidden receptacle. Morales, he fancied, listened witheagerness, and once his dark eyes flashed.

  "You were wrong when you let him go," he said. "If it happens again Ishould suggest the pistol. One gains nothing by showing those gentlementoleration."

  Then he shrugged his shoulders, and turned to the banker's wife with asmile; but Appleby had noticed the vindictiveness in his tone, and as hesurmised it was not accounted for by the fact that the man had brokeninto Harding's office, wondered whether it was because he had failed toaccomplish his purpose. He, however, felt that Nettie Harding desiredhim to outstay the colonel, and was content with the little gratefulglance she cast at him when Morales went away. Ten minutes later Applebyalso rose, but the banker detained him a minute or two.

  "You have a consignment of sugar to be shipped," he said "Some one willgo down to the port. Yourself, I think?"

  "Yes," said Appleby.

  "Then it would be a kindness if you would hand this letter to thecaptain to post in America," he said. "It is of some importance to theSenor Harding and others."

  "With pleasure, but why not post it here?"

  The banker laid his hand on Appleby's shoulder, and shook his headsignificantly. "One does not trust anything of importance to the postjust now," he said. "This is an affair in which the greatest discretionis necessary. When one puts anything he does not wish the administrationto know in a letter he burns the blotting paper."

  Appleby was not altogether astonished, but he took the packet the bankerhanded him; and when they shook hands the latter once more glanced athim warningly.

  "The discretion!" he said. "You will remember--the discretion."