by Bret Harte
CHAPTER VI.
A MORE IMPORTANT ARRIVAL.
The Commander was the first to recover his presence of mind. Takingthe despatch from the hands of the unlooked-for husband of the woman heloved, he opened it with an immovable face and habitual precision. Then,turning with a military salute to the strangers, he bade them join himin half an hour at the Presidio; and, bowing gravely to the assembledcompany, stepped from the corridor. But Mrs. Markham was before him,stopped him with a gesture, and turned to her husband.
"James Markham--where's your hand?"
Markham, embarrassed but subjugated, disengaged it timidly from hiswife's waist.
"Give it to that gentleman--for a gentleman he is, from the crown ofhis head to the soles of his boots! There! Shake his hand! You don't getsuch a chance every day. You can thank him again, later."
As the two men's hands parted, after this perfunctory grasp, and theCommander passed on, she turned again to her husband.
"Now, James, I am ready to hear all about it. Perhaps you'll tell mewhere you HAVE been?"
There was a moment of embarrassing silence. The Doctor and Secretaryhad discreetly withdrawn; the Alcalde, after a brief introduction to Mr.Brimmer, and an incomprehensible glance from the wife, had retired witha colorless face. Dona Isabel had lingered last to blow a kiss acrossher fan to Eleanor Keene that half mischievously included her brother.The Americans were alone.
Thus appealed to, Mr. Markham hastily began his story. But, as heprogressed, a slight incoherency was noticeable: he occasionallycontradicted himself, and was obliged to be sustained, supplemented,and, at times, corrected, by Keene and Brimmer. Substantially, itappeared that they had come from San Francisco to Mazatlan, and, throughthe influence of Mr. Brimmer on the Mexican authorities, their party,with an escort of dragoons, had been transported across the gulf andlanded on the opposite shore, where they had made a forced march acrossthe desert to Todos Santos. Literally interpreted, however, by thenervous Markham, it would seem that they had conceived this expeditionlong ago, and yet had difficulties because they only thought of it theday before the steamer sailed; that they had embarked for the isthmus ofNicaragua, and yet had stopped at Mazatlan; that their informationwas complete in San Francisco, and only picked up at Mazatlan; that"friends"--sometimes contradictorily known as "he" and "she"--hadoverpowering influence with the Mexican Government, and alone had helpedthem, and yet that they were utterly dependent upon the efforts of SenorPerkins, who had compromised matters with the Mexican Government andeverybody.
"Do you mean to say, James Markham, that you've seen Perkins, and it washe who told you we were here?"
"No--not HIM exactly."
"Let me explain," said Mr. Brimmer hastily. "It appears," he correctedhis haste with practical businesslike precision, "that the filibusterPerkins, after debarking you here, and taking the Excelsior toQuinquinambo, actually established the Quinquinambo Government, andgot Mexico and the other confederacies to recognize its independence.Quinquinambo behaved very handsomely, and not only allowed the MexicanGovernment indemnity for breaking the neutrality of Todos Santos by theseizure, but even compromised with our own Government their claim toconfiscate the Excelsior for treaty violation, and paid half the valueof the vessel, besides giving information to Mexico and Washington ofyour whereabouts. We consequently represent a joint commission from bothcountries to settle the matter and arrange for your return."
"But what I want to know is this: Is it to Senor Perkins that weought to be thankful for seeing you here at all?" asked Mrs. Markhamimpatiently.
"No, no--not that, exactly," stammered Markham. "Oh, come now,Susannah"--
"No," said Richard Keene earnestly; "by Jove! some thanks ought to go toBelle Montgomery"--He checked himself in sudden consternation.
There was a chilly silence. Even Miss Keene looked anxiously at herbrother, as the voice of Mrs. Brimmer for the first time broke thesilence.
"May we be permitted to know who is this person to whom we owe so greatan obligation?"
"Certainly," said Brimmer, "She was--as I have already intimated--afriend; possibly, you know," he added, turning lightly to hiscompanions, as if to corroborate an impression that had just struck him,"perhaps a--a--a sweetheart of the Senor Perkins."
"And how was she so interested in us, pray?" said Mrs. Markham.
"Well, you see, she had an idea that a former husband was on board ofthe Excelsior."
He stopped suddenly, remembering from the astonished faces of Keene andMarkham that the secret was not known to them, while they, impressedwith the belief that the story was a sudden invention of Brimmer's, withdifficulty preserved their composure. But the women were quick to noticetheir confusion, and promptly disbelieved Brimmer's explanation.
"Well, as there's no Mister Montgomery here, she's probably mistaken,"said Mrs. Markham, with decision, "though it strikes ME that she's verylikely had the same delusion on board of some other ship. Come along,James; perhaps after you've had a bath and some clean clothes, you maycome out a little more like the man I once knew. I don't know how Mrs.Brimmer feels, but I feel more as if I required to be introduced toyou--than your friend's friend, Mrs. Montgomery. At any rate, try andlook and behave a little more decent when you go over to the Presidio."
With these words she dragged him away. Mr. Brimmer, after a futileattempt to appear at his ease, promptly effected the usual maritaldiversion of carrying the war into the enemy's camp.
"For heaven's sake, Barbara," he said, with ostentatious indignation,"go and dress yourself properly. Had you neither money nor credit topurchase clothes? I declare I didn't know you at first; and when I did,I was shocked; before Mrs. Markham, too!"
"Mrs. Markham, I fear, has quite enough to occupy her now," said Mrs.Brimmer shortly, as she turned away, with hysterically moist eyes,leaving her husband to follow her.
Oblivious of this comedy, Richard Keene and Eleanor had already wanderedback, hand in hand, to their days of childhood. But even in the joy thatfilled the young girl's heart in the presence of her only kinsman, therewas a strange reservation. The meeting that she had looked forward towith eager longing had brought all she expected; more than that, itseemed to have been providentially anticipated at the moment of hergreatest need, and yet it was incomplete. She was ashamed that after thefirst recognition, a wild desire to run to Hurlstone and tell HIM herhappiness was her only thought. She was shocked that the bright joyousface of this handsome lovable boy could not shut out the melancholyaustere features of Hurlstone, which seemed to rise reproachfullybetween them. When, for the third and fourth time, they had recountedtheir past history, exchanged their confidences and feelings, Dick,passing his arm around his sister's waist, looked down smilingly in hereyes.
"And so, after all, little Nell, everybody has been good to you, and youhave been happy!"
"Everybody has been kind to me, Dick, far kinder than I deserved. Evenif I had really been the great lady that little Dona Isabel thought Iwas, or the important person the Commander believed me to be, I couldn'thave been treated more kindly. I have met with nothing but respect andattention. I have been very happy, Dick, very happy."
And with a little cry she threw herself on her brother's neck and burstinto a childlike flood of inconsistent tears.
Meantime the news of the arrival of the relief-party had penetratedeven the peaceful cloisters of the Mission, and Father Esteban had beensummoned in haste to the Council. He returned with an eager face toHurlstone, who had been anxiously awaiting him. When the Padre hadimparted the full particulars of the event to his companion, he addedgravely,--
"You see, my son, how Providence, which has protected you since youfirst claimed the Church's sanctuary, has again interfered to spareme the sacrifice of using the power of the Church in purely mundanepassions. I weekly accept the rebuke of His better-ordained ways, andyou, Diego, may comfort yourself that this girl is restored directlyto her brother's care, without any deviousness of plan or humanresponsibility. You do not spe
ak, my son!" continued the priestanxiously; "can it be possible that, in the face of this graciousapproval of Providence to your resolution, you are regretting it?"
The young man replied, with a half reproachful gesture:
"Do you, then, think me still so weak? No, Father Esteban; I havesteeled myself against my selfishness for her sake. I could haveresigned her to the escape you had planned, believing her happierfor it, and ignorant of the real condition of the man she had learntto--to--pity. But," he added, turning suddenly and almost rudely uponthe priest, "do you know the meaning of this irruption of the outerworld to ME? Do you reflect that these men probably know my miserablestory?--that, as one of the passengers of the Excelsior, they will beobliged to seek me and to restore me," he added, with a bitter laugh,"to MY home, MY kindred--to the world I loathe?"
"But you need not follow them. Remain here."
"Here!--with the door thrown open to any talebearer OR PERHAPS TO MYWIFE HERSELF? Never! Hear me, Father," he went on hurriedly: "these menhave come from San Francisco--have been to Mazatlan. Can you believethat it is possible that they have never heard of this woman's searchfor me? No! The quest of hate is as strong as the quest of love, andmore merciless to the hunted."
"But if that were so, foolish boy, she would have accompanied them."
"You are wrong! It would have been enough for her to have sent myexposure by them--to have driven me from this refuge."
"This is but futile fancy, Diego," said Father Esteban, with a simulatedassurance he was far from feeling. "Nothing has yet been said--nothingmay be said. Wait, my child."
"Wait!" he echoed bitterly. "Ay, wait until the poor girl shallhear--perhaps from her brother's lips--the story of my marriage asbandied about by others; wait for her to know that the man who wouldhave made her love him was another's, and unworthy of her respect? No!it is I who must leave this place, and at once."
"YOU?" echoed the Padre. "How?"
"By the same means you would have used for her departure. I must takeher place in that ship you are expecting. You will give ME lettersto your friends. Perhaps, when this is over, I may return--if I stilllive."
Padre Esteban became thoughtful.
"You will not refuse me?" said the young man, taking the Padre's hand."It is for the best, believe me. I will remain secret here until then.You will invent some excuse--illness, or what you like--to keep themfrom penetrating here. Above all, to spare me from the misery of everreading my secret in her face."
Father Esteban remained still absorbed in thought.
"You will take a letter from me to the Archbishop, and put yourselfunder his care?" he asked at last, after a long pause. "You will promiseme that?"
"I do!"
"Then we shall see what can be done. They talk, those Americanos,"continued the priest, "of making their way up the coast to Punta St.Jago, where the ship they have already sent for to take them away canapproach the shore; and the Comandante has orders to furnish themescort and transport to that point. It is a foolish indiscretion of theGovernment, and I warrant without the sanction of the Church. Alreadythere is curiosity, discontent, and wild talk among the people. Ah! thousayest truly, my son," said the old man, gloomily; "the doors of TodosSantos are open. The Comandante will speed these heretics quickly ontheir way; but the doors by which they came and whence they go willnever close again. But God's will be done! And if the open doors bringthee back, my son, I shall not question His will!"
It would seem, however, as if Hurlstone's fears had been groundless. Forin the excitement of the succeeding days, and the mingling of the partyfrom San Antonio with the new-comers, the recluse had been forgotten. Sohabitual, had been his isolation from the others, that, except for thewords of praise and gratitude hesitatingly dropped by Miss Keene to herbrother, his name was not mentioned, and it might have been possible forthe relieving party to have left him behind--unnoticed. Mr. Brimmer,for domestic reasons, was quite willing to allow the episode of MissMontgomery's connection with their expedition to drop for the present.Her name was only recalled once by Miss Keene. When Dick had professeda sudden and violent admiration for the coquettish Dona Isabel, Eleanorhad looked up in her brother's face with a half troubled air.
"Who was this queer Montgomery woman, Dick?" she said.
Dick laughed--a frank, reassuring, heart-free laugh.
"Perfectly stunning, Nell. Such a figure in tights! You ought to haveseen her dance--my!"
"Hush! I dare say she was horrid!"
"Not at all! She wasn't such a bad fellow, if you left out her poetryand gush, which I didn't go in for much,--though the other fellows"--hestopped, from a sudden sense of loyalty to Brimmer and Markham. "No;you see, Nell, she was regularly ridiculously struck after that manPerkins,--whom she'd never seen,--a kind of schoolgirl worship for apirate. You know how you women go in for those fellows with a mysteryabout 'em."
"No, I don't!" said Miss Keene sharply, with a slight rise of color;"and I don't see what that's got to do with you and her."
"Everything! She was in correspondence with Perkins, and knows about theExcelsior affair, and wants to help him get out of it with clean hands,don't you see! That's why she made up to us. There, Nell; she ain't yourstyle, of course; but you owe a heap to her for giving us points as towhere you were. But that's all over now; she left us at Mazatlan, andwent on to Nicaragua to meet Perkins somewhere there--for the fellow hasalways got some Central American revolution on hand, it appears. Untilthey garrote or shoot him some day, he'll go on in the liberatingbusiness forever."
"Then there wasn't any Mr. Montgomery, of course?" said Eleanor.
"Oh, Mr. Montgomery," said Dick, hesitating. "Well, you see, Nell, Ithink that, knowing how correct and all that sort of thing Brimmer is,she sort of invented the husband to make her interest look more proper."
"It's shameful!" said Miss Keene indignantly.
"Come, Nell; one would think you had a personal dislike to her. Let hergo; she won't trouble you--nor, I reckon, ANYBODY, much longer."
"What do you mean, Dick?"
"I mean she has regularly exhausted and burnt herself out with herhysterics and excitements, and the drugs she's taken to subdue them--tosay nothing of the Panama fever she got last spring. If she don't goregularly crazy at last she'll have another attack of fever, hanginground the isthmus waiting for Perkins."
Meanwhile, undisturbed by excitement or intrusion of the outer world,the days had passed quietly at the Mission. But one evening, attwilight, a swift-footed, lightly-clad Indian glided into the sacristyas if he had slipped from the outlying fog, and almost immediatelyas quietly glided away again and disappeared. The next moment FatherEsteban's gaunt and agitated face appeared at Hurlstone's door.
"My son, God has been merciful, and cut short your probation. The signalof the ship has just been made. Her boat will be waiting on the beachtwo leagues from here an hour hence. Are you ready? and are you stillresolved?"
"I am," said Hurlstone, rising. "I have been prepared since you firstassented."
The old man's lips quivered slightly, and the great brown hand laid uponthe table trembled for an instant; with a strong effort he recoveredhimself, and said hurriedly,--
"Concho's mule is saddled and ready for you at the foot of the garden.You will follow the beach a league beyond the Indians' cross. In theboat will await you the trusty messenger of the Church. You will say tohim, 'Guadalajara,' and give him these letters. One is to the captain.You will require no other introduction." He laid the papers on thetable, and, turning to Hurlstone, lifted his tremulous hands in the air."And now, my son, may the grace of God"--
He faltered and stopped, his uplifted arms falling helplessly onHurlstone's shoulders. For an instant the young man supported him in hisarms, then placed him gently in the chair he had just quitted, and forthe first time in their intimacy dropped upon his knee before him. Theold man, with a faint smile, placed his hand upon his companion's head.A breathless pause followed; Father Esteban's lips moved silently.Sudd
enly the young man rose, pressed his lips hurriedly to the Father'shand, and passed out into the night.
The moon was already suffusing the dropping veil of fog above him withthat nebulous, mysterious radiance he had noticed the first night hehad approached the Mission. When he reached the cross he dismounted,and gathering a few of the sweet-scented blossoms that crept around itsbase, placed them in his breast. Then, remounting, he continued his wayuntil he came to the spot designated by Concho as a fitting place toleave his tethered mule. This done, he proceeded on foot about a milefurther along the hard, wet sand, his eyes fixed on the narrow strip ofwater and shore before him that was yet uninvaded by the fog on eitherside.
The misty, nebulous light, the strange silence, broken only by theoccasional low hurried whisper of some spent wave that sent its film ofspume across his path, or filled his footprints behind him, possessedhim with vague presentiments and imaginings. At times he fancied heheard voices at his side; at times indistinct figures loomed throughthe mist before him. At last what seemed to be his own shadow faintlyimpinged upon the mist at one side impressed him so strongly that hestopped; the apparition stopped too. Continuing a few hundred pacesfurther, he stopped again; but this time the ghostly figure passed on,and convinced him that it was no shadow, but some one actually followinghim. With an angry challenge he advanced towards it. It quicklyretreated inland, and was lost. Irritated and suspicious he turned backtowards the water, and was amazed to see before him, not twenty yardsaway, the object of his quest--a boat, with two men in it, kept inposition by the occasional lazy dip of an oar. In the pursuit of hismysterious shadow he had evidently overlooked it. As his own figureemerged from the fog, the boat pulled towards him. The priest's passwordwas upon his lips, when he perceived that the TWO men were commonforeign sailors; the messenger of the Church was evidently not there.Could it have been he who had haunted him? He paused irresolutely. "Isthere none other coming?" he asked. The two men looked at each other.One said, "Quien sabe!" and shrugged his shoulders. Hurlstone withoutfurther hesitation leaped aboard.
The same dull wall of vapor--at times thickening to an almostimpenetrable barrier, and again half suffocating him in its softembrace--which he had breasted on the night he swam ashore, carried backhis thoughts to that time, now so remote and unreal. And when, after afew moments' silent rowing, the boat approached a black hulk thatseemed to have started forward out of the gloom to meet them, his vaguerecollection began to take a more definite form. As he climbed up thecompanion-ladder and boarded the vessel, an inexplicable memory cameover him. A petty officer on the gangway advanced silently and usheredhim, half dazed and bewildered, into the cabin. He glanced hurriedlyaround: the door of a state-room opened, and disclosed the indomitableand affable Senor Perkins! A slight expression of surprise, however,crossed the features of the Liberator of Quinquinambo as he advancedwith outstretched hand.
"This is really a surprise, my dear fellow! I had no idea that YOUwere in this affair. But I am delighted to welcome you once more to theExcelsior!"