*CHAPTER VIII*
*Don Miguel Priego*
Memories--A Self-confessed Patriot--Confidences--PlainSpeaking--Reflections--A Public Departure
Jack stopped now, and faced round at the speaker, who still had a handon his arm.
"I recognized you at once," the man continued, "though your disguise isgood, very good. I have not seen you for a good many years, Jackino,but I never forget any face I have once seen, still less one that I havelived with in the days of childhood. Don't you remember your oldfriend--"
"Why, you're Miguel Priego," interrupted Jack, with no great cordialityof tone. "How you've grown! Who would have thought you would havetopped me by a couple of inches! And what a swell, too!"
"Yes, I have changed more than you, amigo," said Don Miguel with acomplacency that irritated Jack, already annoyed that his disguise hadbeen penetrated. "Ah! and there have been other changes, great changes,since I last saw you, Jackino. You are an English officer, and I mightperhaps not have recognized you so easily if you had been dressed inyour uniform like your friends; but the hat and cloak--oh! MiguelPriego would have been a fool indeed if he had not known the dearcompanion of his boyhood."
"You're rather more affectionate than you were when we parted, Miguel,"said Jack bluntly.
"Don't say that. We were always good friends, Jackino; is it not true?You and I and Juanita--ah! what fun we had in the old house atBarcelona. Do you remember the times when Don Fernan came fromSaragossa and brought Juanita on a visit to your father and mine, andhow we shared the presents he gave us?"
"Your share usually happened to be the biggest, if my memory doesn'tplay me false."
"Well, I was the eldest of the three; I am three years older than you,amigo mio, and four years older than Juanita."
"How is Juanita?" asked Jack.
"In fair health, but paler than I should like to see her. But her griefwill wear away in time, and when she becomes my--"
"Her grief! What do you mean, Miguel?"
"You do not know, then? I am forgetting; of course you do not get newsvery well here. I myself rode in only to-day from Saragossa, at therisk of my neck, Jackino, with tidings of the unfortunate misadventureat Tudela, and--"
"Come, Miguel," said Jack, "we can't stand here. Where are you staying?While I'm in this rig-out it will be better for me to go with you thanfor you to come with me."
"That is true. Come, then; I am staying at the Fonda de Suizo in theCalle de Zamora. We can talk there at ease, and I shall be glad on mypart to hear again of my old friends your father and mother, and to tellyou of the sad changes that have taken place, and the bright changesalso, dear friend."
Jack was very tired, and in no mood to make himself amiable to a man forwhom he had an intense aversion. But he was so anxious to learn themeaning of Miguel's hints and half-statements that he put his feelingsin his pocket and trudged along. Ever since he could remember, he haddisliked Miguel, the only son of his father's second partner, DonEsteban Priego. They had grown up together in Barcelona, and almost hisearliest recollections were connected with the petty meannesses andcruelties of Miguel. Three years older than Jack, Miguel had played thebully with the younger boy until he grew strong enough to defendhimself; and then, not daring to molest him openly, he had shown greatingenuity in devising petty annoyances which were even harder to bearthan his former brutalities. He was cruel to children and animalssmaller than himself. Jack remembered how Miguel had once lamed aspaniel of his in wanton mischief, and how, whenever Juanita, the onlydaughter of Don Fernan the senior partner, had been brought to Barcelonaon a visit, she had often run to Jack's house in tears to seekprotection from the boy's bullying and domineering. The tone in whichMiguel had referred to Don Fernan and Juanita gave Jack vagueuneasiness, and he paid scant heed to Miguel's talk by the way, andscarcely answered him.
Don Miguel, however, was quite content to do all the talking. He was apatriot, he said, and high in favour with General Palafox. He had earlyvolunteered in defence of his country, and had won rapid promotion,being now indeed, though but twenty years of age, a major in Palafox'sHussars. When the news of Castanos' defeat arrived in Saragossa,Palafox had sent him off with the news to General Moore, and he boastedlargely of his readiness to undertake, with only one servant, soperilous a ride. Not, he thought, that his servant would have been ofmuch use had they come across the French; he would have had to trust tohis own skill and courage, for the poor man had unfortunately lost aneye; still, he was a faithful fellow and a good forager.
Jack caught himself wondering what service the man could have renderedthe master. It was scarcely in Miguel's character to allow a merequestion of sentiment to outweigh the loss of an eye. Jack recalled hispassion for display; he could not imagine him willingly accepting aone-eyed follower. This thought passed like a flash through Jack's mindwhile Miguel was proceeding to dilate complacently on the scenes ofbutchery and torture he had witnessed as he came through the country ofthe guerrilleros, who had no mercy on the stray Frenchmen they succeededin ambushing. Jack at last gave utterance to an exclamation of disgust.
"Ah!" sneered Miguel, "that is your English squeamishness. You Englishhave no nerves. What is the good of your coming out here? We will showyou how to deal with these accursed Frenchmen, and if your stomach turnsagainst it, well, go home to your nurses in little England, and playwith your tin soldiers and toy guns, for you are no good in Spain."
Their arrival at the inn checked the reply that rose to Jack's lips.Don Miguel, in the same oily, languid tone that was causing Jack moreand more irritation, ordered the landlord to make himself scarce, as hehad important business to discuss with his friend, and in a few momentsthe two were left alone in the room. The Spaniard flung off his cloak,revealing the resplendent uniform of Palafox's Hussars, and as heremoved his hat Jack noticed a long, livid scar running from his brow tohis left eye, disfiguring what was otherwise a well-looking countenanceso far as features were concerned.
"And how is your excellent father?" asked Miguel as he lolled in theonly easy-chair in the room. "He is lucky, truly, for the stock inLondon is a good one, and he will do a good business, whereas with usthese troubles have brought trade to a stand-still, and we are obligedto suspend all operations. But things will improve. Don Fernan, withhis shrewd head for business, foresaw what would happen, and took stepsto realize what he could on the stock before the outbreak of war, whichwas a very lucky thing for my father and myself and Juanita. And hecould not have chosen a more convenient moment for dying, for--"
"For dying! Is Don Fernan dead?" cried Jack.
"Dead as a door-post, poor man! I thought you would be surprised tohear it. He had been ailing ever since his exertions in the siege ofSaragossa last summer--there was something wrong with his heart, Ithink,--and when the news came that General Castanos had met with amishap at Tudela, he held up his hands and cried: 'Oh my country! mypoor country!' then fell forward and died. He was an old man, of course,and must have died soon, and I have only come a little sooner into theinheritance that was bound to come to me."
"Did Don Fernan appoint you his heir, then?" asked Jack with a keenlook. "What about Juanita?"
"Does it not come to the same thing, my friend? Juanita, of course, isDon Fernan's heiress, but since in a little while, when the mourning isover, she will marry me--"
"Marry you!"
There was contempt as well as surprise in Jack's tone, and Miguelevidently felt this, for he replied with flashing eyes, though with nochange in his bland manner:
"Yes, marry me--that was what I think I said. Of course if my goodfriend Jackino has any objection--"
"Good heavens! Juanita is a thousand times too good for you!" Jackblurted out.
"Quite so; she is a thousand times too good for any man. But since shedoes me the honour to become my wife, you will surely not have theimpudence to question her choice, dear friend."
He hi
ssed out the last sentence, and bent a little forward. Jackshrugged.
"She wasn't always so fond of you," he said bluntly.
"That is not the point, is it?" returned Miguel with an exasperatingsmile. "The match has long been talked of; Don Fernan and my fatherwere agreed that it was an excellent arrangement for uniting thebusiness interests of the two families. And now that Don Fernan is deadI shall marry Juanita as soon as possible, my father will retire, and Ishall be the sole partner of your excellent father, for you, of course,have a soul much above business, and will no doubt ere long be afield-marshal. Perhaps, however, you have no ambition to earn fame inthe open and heroic way? Your costume would suggest, my friend, thatyou are satisfied with a more modest and retiring part--but still, nodoubt, profitable--"
"It seems to me, Miguel," said Jack, interrupting him very quietly,"that you have forgotten the last thrashing I gave you. Remember, I amalways at your service. But I should not advise you to risk anotherscar like the one you have already. How," he added quickly, "did youcome by that?"
Miguel's sullen face assumed a dusky hue, and the scar showed all themore livid. He flinched, as bullies will, before Jack's menacingattitude.
"Hot-tempered as ever," he said with an attempt to smile. "Why will youtake offence so easily? What have I said? Here I find you, anEnglishman, in Spanish dress, and I conclude, naturally enough, that youare fulfilling an office of very great importance and usefulness, andwhen I--"
"Now look here, Miguel, I don't want to quarrel with you, but you'dbetter understand at once that I'm not a child, and that your oilytongue won't do you any good with me. I don't suppose we shall see muchmore of each other; when--if--you marry Juanita you will settle down, Isuppose, in Saragossa, and our paths won't cross. I tell you franklyI'm astonished that Juanita will have you; but she's old enough to knowher own mind--though our girls in England don't marry so early--and Ihope with all my heart she'll be happy. And now I think I'd better saygood-night!"
"And good-bye!" said Miguel sweetly. "I will carry your good wishes toJuanita, be sure of that."
"Where is she, by the way?" asked Jack.
"In Saragossa, with her aunt the Dona Teresa."
"And you are returning immediately?"
"Oh no! I go on to-morrow towards Leon, with despatches for the Marquisof La Romana. The Spanish generals will have to strike a blow withoutthe assistance of your General Moore, it appears."
Jack ignored the sneer.
"Well, good-bye!" he said. "There's no need to suggest that you shouldtake care the French don't catch you."
"True, true, Jackino. Give my respects, when you see him, to yourexcellent father, to whom I hope to have before long the honour ofsending the documents relative to the changes in the business. Adios,amigo mio!"
He accompanied Jack to the door, and looked after him with a mockingsmile. Jack, pulling his cloak more closely around him, and hissombrero lower over his eyes, walked rapidly to his quarters, where,proceeding directly to his room, he threw himself upon his bed with asigh of weariness and contentment.
But it was long before the much-needed sleep came to him. He lay awake,unable to keep his thoughts from running round the circle of hisadventures and dwelling on his unexpected meeting with Miguel. The morehe thought of his conversation with that gentleman the more puzzled hefelt. As a child, Juanita had shrunk from the boy and had neverwillingly gone into his presence. It was very odd that she should haveovercome her dislike and now be ready to marry him. Perhaps she stilldisliked him, and had agreed to the match merely because it was desiredby Don Fernan and Miguel's father, Don Esteban. But even then it wasextraordinary, for Don Fernan himself had never shown any liking forMiguel, and had indeed on many occasions taken him severely to task andpunished him for acts of deceit and dishonesty. Miguel did not appear toJack to have changed: what had altered Don Fernan's opinion of him?Then, too, there was Don Fernan's letter, in which he had spoken of hisanxiety on behalf of his daughter. Why, if he were satisfied with theproposed match, should he be anxious about her future? And what hadGeneral Palafox to do with all this? Miguel was the general's trustedmessenger; could Palafox have influenced Don Fernan's judgment? Jackwished he could go to Saragossa, and enquire for himself into all thecircumstances--see Juanita, and discover whether she were in truth awilling bride. And then he thought of the phrase Don Fernan had socarefully impressed upon his memory: "Palafox the man, Palafox thename," and with this repeating itself to the hundredth time in his wearybrain he at length fell asleep, and slept on until he was awakened aboutten o'clock next morning by loud cries in the street.
Springing from bed, he ran to the window. Men were waving their hats,women their fans and handkerchiefs. At every window there was afluttering scarf. Loud vivas rose into the air as an officer in fulluniform, followed by a gorgeously-dressed orderly, clattered by.
The officer smiled with gratification at the warmth of the cheers, andkissed his hand gallantly to the ladies who peeped at him out of theirmantillas. Jack smiled satirically.
"Pooh! It's only Don Miguel Priego! Confound the sneak!"
He was about to withdraw, when the orderly turned his head to the left,as though seeking a share of the admiration so lavishly bestowed on hissuperior. Jack noticed that one eye-socket was closed; the man'sremaining eye had a curiously malign glitter that gave the beholder astrange sense of uneasiness.
"Is this how people feel when they talk of the evil eye?" he said tohimself with an unmirthful laugh. Then he donned his own clothes andwent gloomily downstairs to find his brother officers.
Boys of the Light Brigade: A Story of Spain and the Peninsular War Page 11