The Dust of Conflict

by Harold Bindloss

  XXX -- MORALES PRESERVES HIS FAME

  THERE was a pale shining in the eastern sky when the Sin Verguenza cameinto sight of Santa Marta. The town lay, a smear of deeper shadow, uponthe dusky levels in front of them, but the transition from darkness tolight is swift in that country, and here and there a flat roof higherthan those it stood among grew out of the obscurity into definite form.Save for the rhythmic beat of marching feet, there was stillness amongthe cane, and nothing moved on all the dim levels but the long blackcolumn that crawled down the shadowy road.

  Then the distant peaks stood out in sharper contour against the palingblueness of the western sky, and Tony, marching outside man of one four,glanced over his shoulder. He could dimly see the lines of men behindhim plodding through the dust, and their sloped rifles led his gazealoft. The sky was now shining with a pearly lustre like the inside of ashell, and low down upon a cane the flush of crimson blazed intobrilliancy. The rifles of the rearguard cut against it as they rose andfell, and the faces of the men behind him became suddenlydistinguishable. He could also make out Appleby swinging along a fewpaces away an his right hand. Then he glanced in front of him, and sawthat the great peaks were now flushed with a warm pink, until the dustrolled thicker and blotted out everything. It thinned as they swungthrough a white aldea, and the light which had swept down the hillsidestouched Santa Marta when they came out again, so that the city shoneimmaculately white upon a setting of luminescent green.

  He gazed at it in wonder, for the long night march through a silentland, the thrill of excitement, and the unwonted bracing of his nervesto face a physical peril had not been without their effect on him. Tonywas usually somewhat materialistic but just then the bodily part of himwas under the domination of the spirit, and he was sensible of a curiousexaltation Turning his head he glanced at Appleby with a little laugh.

  "It is beautiful!" he said. "It came upon one so suddenly out of thenight that one could almost fancy it a vision--of the everlasting city."

  "The one upon the Tiber?" said Appleby.

  "The one seen in Patmos nearly two thousand years ago."

  Appleby laughed curiously. "I'm afraid Santa Marta will be much morelike the other place before the day is through, and it is not a veryappropriate simile, Tony. One cannot storm those gates of preciousstones."

  "Well," said Tony reflectively, "it's not a subject either of us knowvery much about, but Nettie Harding seemed to think one could. We werelounging on the lawn at Low Wood that afternoon, and she was so sureabout it that she almost convinced me. She said the gates were made ofgold and ivory, and she got the fancy from the song you have heardHester sing--but no doubt it means the same thing!"

  Appleby glanced at him sharply, for the light was clearer now, and saw alook in Tony's face which was new to him. It was curiously quiet inspite of his little smile. Still, he made no answer, and there wassilence, until from beyond the dust cloud rose the strident crackle ofriflery.

  "The advance guard are driving in the pickets. We'll be in the thick ofit directly," he said, and a murmur passed along the company, while therhythmic tread swelled in a sharp staccato.

  It was evident to the Sin Verguenza that they had difficult work beforethem, while a direct attack in daylight was not a manoeuvre they had anygreat liking for. In this case, however, there was no evading it, forwhile they knew adherents would flock in from every aldea once they heldSanta Marta, it was equally clear that should Candotto's Peninsularesjoin hands with Morales they could never seize the town. Haste was alsoadvisable since he would know that an attack was imminent now, and whenMaccario's voice rang out of the dust the pace grew faster while thecolumn drew out in length.

  Twice a half-company swung clear and vanished amidst the scatteredgardens, and at last the rest flung themselves into the littleenclosures between the aloe hedges close outside Santa Marta. Then therewas a flashing of pale flame from the crest of every white wall, andTony stared in astonishment when he saw none of the Sin Verguenza beyondthe little handful of men about him in a garden. They were crouchingbeneath a low wall apparently made of blocks of sun-baked soil, whileAppleby lay behind a clump of aloes close in front of him.

  Beyond the aloes, the white walls rose glaringly bright with smears ofbluish vapor drifting from every opening, though the smoke was thickestabout one wide gap between them. As he watched it, oblivious of therifle in his hand, there was a thin whirling of flame in the midst ofthe vapor, and a sound that resembled a rapid hammering came sharplythrough the din. Then a strip of the mud wall crumbled into dust, whichmade a haze about the garden, and a spurt of flung-up soil struck him inthe face. A man behind him screamed, and while there was a patteringamong the bananas close on his right Appleby crawled past him.

  "A quick-firer! Morales has two of them, and he has found our range.We'll get on," he said.

  Tony said nothing, but he could still see the portentous flashing amidstthe smoke, and next moment felt the jar of his rifle upon his shoulder.He did not remember pressing the trigger but he could shoot well, andhis fingers seemed to move without any prompting from him, for he sawthe empty shell flung out and heard the snap of the lever as anothercartridge slid into the chamber. Then while he pressed his cheek down onthe stock and stiffened his left hand on the barrel he heard Appleby'svoice raised in Castilian, and saw that his comrades were flittingforward. The rifle muzzle tilted upwards, and in another moment he wason his feet, and clambering over a low wall, ran past several smallhouses, and then dropped behind an aloe screen again.

  Appleby, who knelt on one knee close beside him with a pair of glasseswhich had once belonged to an officer of cazadores in his hand, wasstill speaking sharply in Castilian, and Tony fancied that the men aboutthem were all gazing towards the gap in the high walls where thecarretera entered Santa Marta. Then there was a blast of riflery thatset the aloes quivering and rolled away to the right of him, while, whena minute or two later nothing followed the click of the striker, hefound the magazine was empty and the rifle barrel hot in his hand It wasan American Marlin, and while he dropped fresh cartridges in through theslide Appleby rose to his feet and the Sin Verguenza were once morescrambling through enclosures nearer to the town.

  The cluster Tony was attached to stopped among tall shrubs with crimsonflowers of a heavy scent, with nothing between them and the white housesbut a bare strip of dusty soil, and it became evident that they werewaiting for something, for the firing slackened. Then further away tothe right men sprang out into the open, straggling by twos and threes asthey ran towards the town. The smoke grew thicker along the white walls,and some went down, while the dust they fell in splashed and spurted asa still pool would do under a driving hail. Still, more came on behindthem, and Tony was struggling with an impulse to shout aloud when, fromthe whole front of the Sin Verguenza, there broke out a crash ofriflery. He gasped as the smoke rolled down, for his desire to see hadbecome almost overwhelming, and then as the firing slackened again itbecame evident that the little white forms were running still.

  There were, however, not many of them now, and Tony grasped theirpurpose when they swept in close beneath the dazzling wall, whileAppleby, who stood upright, with the glasses at his eyes, said somethinghoarsely in evident approbation. Once more there was a crackle offiring, and the smoke grew thick, while when it cleared the dusty stripwas empty save for the white objects which lay still here and there.Tony surmised that the others had found entrance into the town by anarrow lane, or through the house of a friendly citizen.

  A minute or two later this became evident, for the crash of firing grewfurious on the roofs above the gap, and Appleby, who thrust his glassesinto their case, was shouting hoarsely. Rising by twos and threes themen sprang out from among the flowering shrubs, and Tony saw the lowwalls and clumps of aloes become alive with scurrying forms. They seemedto move independently and without formation, though Appleby, with handswung up, was shouting in Castilian, and Maccario went by pointing witha Spanish infantry officer's sword. The gleam of it in
the intensesunlight dazzled Tony's eyes, and he stood still, uncertain what wasgoing on, and gasping with excitement, when Appleby's hand fell on hisshoulder.

  "I can't tell you to hold off now we're going in," he said. "Still, it'sdevilishly risky. You'll not be unnecessarily rash, Tony."

  He sprang forward with three or four more at his heels, and Tony foundhimself running a few yards behind him. He could see that the SinVerguenza were following, but save that they ran with wide spacesbetween them they seemed to keep no order, and to have only one purpose,to cross the perilous bare space as rapidly as they could.

  The time that cost them appeared interminable, but it became evidentthat a few at least of those who had gained an entry into the town werefiring on the cazadores who held the mouth of the carretera, and inanother minute or two they swept up to it and stopped again, gasping inthe smoke, with high white walls above them, and a mound of soil andtorn-up pavement meshed with wires close in front of them. Tonyremembered he had heard that in these days of magazine rifles andhopper-fed guns an attack of the kind was foredoomed to fail, but itseemed that the Sin Verguenza meant to try it, for already Maccario washalf-way up the slope, with Appleby, pistol in hand, close behind him,and while a savage cry went up a wave of scrambling men seemed to tosstogether and roll on. It swept up to the crest of the barrier, andplunged into the smoke, and the cazadores wavered, turned, and fled.They were outnumbered, and, as it transpired later, had been galled by afire from the roofs above, while Appleby eventually discovered acartridge partly torn to pieces stuck immovably in the chamber of theirquick-firing gun.

  In the meanwhile Appleby was grimed with perspiration, smoke, and dust,while his hand was blackened by the fouling from the pistol. Strung to atension that was too great for nervous excitement, he moved, as it were,with an automatic precision and collectedness, grasping the import ofeach turn of the struggle with a dispassionate perspicacity, which inless eventful moments he would have been incapable of. The faculty ofswift deduction and decision may have been born in him, but it was, atleast, evident to the Sin Verguenza, for even then in the stress ofdesperate effort they seemed to comprehend and obey him. Now and thenMaccario had shouted hoarse questions to him, and though the answersapparently came without reflection the leader of the Sin Verguenzaconcurred when he grasped their purport.

  It was by his order the shattered leading company flung itself into thehouses when the Sin Verguenza were met by an enfilading volley as theyreeled into the calle. The street might have proved a death-trap whilethe cazadores held the windows, but one could pass along the roofs, andthe troops came out headlong when the Sin Verguenza descended upon themfrom above. Then they in turn found the calle too hot to hold them whenthey faced the fire of the second company which had taken shelter in thedoorways. It was strewn with huddled objects lying upon the hot stoneswhen they fled out of it, and a few minutes later Appleby stopped closeby where Tony stood in the larger plaza. Tony's face was set and white,though there was a curious gleam in his eyes, and he seemed to shiver alittle as he glanced back up the glaring street. It was very still now,a narrow gap between the white walls that were ridged with shatteredgreen lattices, but filmy wisps of vapor still drifted out of thedoorways.

  "We have got in, but it has cost you a good deal," he said.

  Appleby said nothing, but Maccario, who came up, and following Tony'sgaze glanced at the huddled figures on the stones, made a littlecomprehensive gesture.

  "There is a price to everything, but in this case it would have beenheavier had not your countryman been quick to copy Morales' plan," hesaid. "Still, I think by the firing our friends who went on in front arealso in, and as they will close the way out Morales will be waiting usin the cuartel."

  "It stands alone," said Appleby. "One cannot get in by the roofs."

  He pointed to a ridge of flat roof that, rising above the others, cutthe blue of the sky. A streak of gold and crimson flaunted above it froma towering staff.

  "We have perhaps four hours," said Maccario; "but if that flag is flyingwhen the Peninsulares march in it may never come down again."

  "I think one will be enough," said Appleby quietly. "We will wait two orthree minutes until the rest come up."

  The stragglers were formed into their companies in the plaza, andMaccario, impressing a citizen whom he dragged out of his dwelling, senthim on with a scribbled summons to Morales to deliver up the cuartel.The message was terse and laconic, and Maccario smiled dryly when theman departed very much against his wishes bearing a white handkerchiefon a cane.

  "One complies with civilized customs; it is required of him. And a restof a few minutes will not hurt my men," he said. "Still, it is a wasteof courtesy when it is known beforehand what Morales' answer will be."

  While they waited there was a little derisive laughter as, with Harperon the flank of the first four, another band of the Sin Verguenzatramped into the plaza. They had, he explained disgustedly, found afeebly defended entrance by a narrow alley, and had lost their wayduring the pursuit of the handful of cazadores who had attempted to holdit. He had already left the ranks, and grinned at Maccario suggestivelyas he laid a bottle of red wine in Tony's hands.

  "The boys struck a place where they sell it, and you're not an officer,anyway," he said. "It might come in handy, and if the others are stuckon discipline they needn't have any."

  The men had refilled the magazines by this time, and were growingimpatient when the citizen came back again. He carried a strip of papertorn across the middle, and made a little deprecatory gesture as hepassed it to Maccario.

  "That is the only answer the Colonel Morales sends," he said.

  Appleby smiled dryly, but a faint flush crept into Maccario's face.

  "It is what one would have expected--and it is evident he understands,"he said. "There is no room in Cuba for him and the Sin Verguenza."

  Then he spoke sharply, there was a passing of orders, and the SinVerguenza swung forward down the broad highway that led to the cuartel.The street was silent and empty under the scorching sun, with greenlattices closed, and doors shut, but the men could see the square massof the building towering white and grim, with the crimson and gold ofSpain flaunting over it on the faint hot breeze. They marched in dueformation now, but behind them came a rabble long held down by terror,men with bitter wrongs who carried rifles torn from the fallencazadores, machetes, and iron bars. They had also a long score againstMorales, and their time had come.

  They were close on the cuartel, and still the white building was silent,when the Sin Verguenza stopped a moment or two and men with iron barsbeat down the door of a house Maccario pointed to. Then the most part ofone company vanished within it, and it was not until they poured out onthe flat roof the rest went on. It seemed to Appleby that save for thetramp of feet the street was curiously still, though he noticed that nowa green lattice was open every here and there.

  Then the silence was suddenly broken by a crash of riflery, and thefront of the houses was smeared by drifting smoke! Morales, it wasevident, did not mean to hold his hand until they reached the cuartel.Here and there a man staggered and reeled from the ranks, there was asharp snapping upon the stones, but Maccario's voice rang through thedin, and the Sin Verguenza went on at a furious run. They were met bythe flash of a volley when they swept into the open space in front ofthe cuartel, shrank back, and reeled into the sliding smoke again, whilethe rifles of their comrades swept the windows from the houses opposite.Twice they beat the great door in the archway almost down, but those whoswung the hammers and machetes melted away under the rifle flame, andthen Harper went shouting at the door with a great iron bar. There were,however, men with grim faces from the alleys of Santa Marta behind himnow, striking with torn-up railings, pounding with paving stones, whilefrom roof and windows the rifles crashed.

  Then the door bent inwards, and with a shout of triumph and execrationthe Sin Verguenza poured in across the barricade of stones and soil incases. The din had grown bewildering, and the men see
med oblivious ofsight and sound in their passion, while Appleby, who shouldered his waythrough the press, noticed only the closed inner door of the patio, andthe ruins of the torn-up veranda stairway. Again it cost the SinVerguenza a heavy price to break that door down, but nothing would havestopped them or those who followed them now, and they fought their wayup the wide stairway, driving the cazadores back until they poured outon to the higher veranda where Morales stood with a bright sword in hishand at the foot of the big flagstaff. There was a little cluster ofcazadores about him, but Appleby did not know where the rest had gone,for the struggle had become general, and scattered handfuls of men werefighting independently all over the building. He, however, fancied bythe shouts and the confused din that most of them and the Sin Verguenzahad swept on up the higher stairway to the roof above, for he andMaccario and Tony were almost alone.

  "THEY WERE MET BY THE FLASH OF A VOLLEY."]

  Maccario stopped suddenly and swung off his hat.

  "The cuartel is ours how, and it would serve no purpose to waste moremen. Your sword, senor," he said.

  Morales made him a little punctilious salutation, and glanced at thebright blade in his hand. Then he turned to the men about him, andsmiled grimly, as though in answer to the murmur that rose from them.

  "Never while I live. It belongs to Spain," he said.

  The little drama scarcely lasted a minute, but it forced itself intoAppleby's memory, and he could long afterwards picture Morales standingvery straight with set lips and a gleam in his dark eyes, the handful ofmen with rifles behind him, and the grim face of the slim young officerHarper had spared at the hacienda. Tony was gasping close at his side,and the flag of Spain streamed, a strip of gold and crimson, above themall.

  Then more men grimed with dust and smoke poured into the veranda, andMaccario, who made a little deprecatory gesture, raised his sword.

  "Then, with excuses, senor! Comrades, we must have that flag," he said.

  A man beside Morales whose head was bound with a crusted bandage flungup his rifle, there was a flash, and one of the Sin Verguenza reeled andplunged down from the shattered stairway into the patio. Then there wasa shout, a crash, and a whirling haze of smoke, and as Appleby sprangtowards the flagstaff a cazador lunged at him with his bayonet. Hisfinger closed on the pistol trigger, but there was no answering flash,and another shadowy figure seemed to slip in between him and thesoldier. The latter went down with a man upon him, while Appleby pressedon through the acrid haze. A man whom he recognized as Harper seemed toreach the staff simultaneously with himself, a knife flashed, and ahoarse voice cried in English as a rope was thrust into his hand.

  "Haul!" it said. "Down she comes."

  A moment or two later the limp folds of red and gold fell into Appleby'shands, and it was evident that other men on the roofs and in the patiohad seen the flag come down, for a shout of exultation rolled across thetown. Then Appleby who flung the flag from him, turned and glanced alongthe veranda with a little shiver.

  Save for two or three who lay still in the glaring sunlight thecazadores had melted away, and he fancied they had been driven throughthe gap in the torn-up balustrade or had flung themselves into thepatio. The slim young lieutenant held himself up by a railing, with hisface horribly awry, while Maccario stood still looking down on theolive-faced officer who lay close in front of him. His kepi had fallenoff, but his brown fingers were still clenched upon his sword, and hestared back at the leader of the Sin Verguenza with sightless eyes.Maccario, who apparently saw Appleby, stooped, and pointed to a littleblue mark on the side of the officer's head.

  "It is what one would have expected. A brave soldier!" he said.

  Appleby said nothing, but looked round for Tony, and felt suddenlychilly when he did not see him. Then with horrible misgivings he turnedtowards a man who lay partly upon a fallen cazador with a rifle besidehim. Just then the man lifted his head, and it was with a gasp herecognized the drawn, white face as Tony Palliser's.

  "Tony, you're not hurt?" he said, with hoarse anxiety.

  Tony smiled wryly. "I think I am," he said. "This fellow got his bayonetinto me, and I have a notion that I'm bleeding internally. I supposethere is a doctor in Santa Marta."

  Appleby turned and seized Maccario by the shoulder. The latter, leaningover the balustrade, called out sharply, and in a moment or two three orfour of the Sin Verguenza came up and lifted Tony. As they moved awaywith him Maccario stooped and laid Morales' kepi over his face. Then hetouched Appleby gently.

  "I have seen a good many wounds, and I think the Senor Palliser will notfight again," he said.