by Bret Harte
CHAPTER XII
When Captain Carroll turned from the high-road into the lane, an hourbefore, Maruja and Faquita had already left the house by the samesecret passage and garden-door that opened afterwards upon himself andPereo. The young women had evidently changed dresses: Maruja waswearing the costume of her maid; Faquita was closely veiled and habitedlike her mistress; but it was characteristic that, while Faquitaappeared awkward and over-dressed in her borrowed plumes, Maruja'sshort saya and trim bodice, with the striped shawl that hid her fairhead, looked infinitely more coquettish and bewitching than on itslegitimate owner.
They passed hurriedly down the long alley, and at its further endturned at right angles to a small gate half hidden in the shrubbery.It opened upon a venerable vineyard, that dated back to the occupationof the padres, but was now given over to the chance cultivation ofpeons and domestics. Its long, broken rows of low vines, knotted andovergrown with age, reached to the thicketed hillside of buckeye thatmarked the beginning of the canada. Here Maruja parted from her maid,and, muffling the shawl more closely round her head, hastily passedbetween the vine rows to a ruined adobe building near the hillside. Itwas originally part of the refectory of the old Mision, but had beenmore recently used as a vinadero's cottage. As she neared it, hersteps grew slower, until, reaching its door, she hesitated, with herhand timidly on the latch. The next moment she opened it gently; itwas closed quickly behind her, and, with a little stifled cry, shefound herself in the arms of Henry Guest.
It was only for an instant; the pleading of her white hands, disengagedfrom his neck, where at first they had found themselves, and upliftedbefore her face, touched him more than the petitioning eyes or thesweet voiceless mouth, whose breath even was forgotten. Letting hersink into the chair from which he had just risen, he drew back a step,with his hands clasped before him, and his dark half-savage eyes bentearnestly upon her. Well might he have gazed. It was no longer theconscious beauty, proud and regnant, seated before him; but a timid,frightened girl, struggling with her first deep passion.
All that was wise and gentle that she had intended to say, all that herclear intellect and experience had taught her, died upon her lips withthat kiss. And all that she could do of womanly dignity and high-breddecorum was to tuck her small feet under her chair, in the desperateattempt to lengthen her short skirt, and beg him not to look at her.
"I have had to change dresses with Faquita, because we were watched,"she said, leaning forward in her chair and drawing the striped shawlaround her shoulders. "I have had to steal out of my mother's houseand through the fields, as if I was a gypsy. If I only were a gypsy,Harry, and not--"
"And not the proudest heiress in the land," he interrupted, withsomething of his old bitterness. "True, I had forgot."
"But I never reminded you of it," she said, lifting her eyes to his."I did not remind you of it on that day--in--in--in the conservatory,nor at the time you first spoke of--of--love to me--nor from the time Ifirst consented to meet you here. It is YOU, Harry, who have spoken ofthe difference of our condition, YOU who have talked of my wealth, myfamily, my position--until I would gladly have changed places withFaquita as I have garments, if I had thought it would make you happier."
"Forgive me, darling!" he said, dropping on one knee before her andbending over the cold little hand he had taken, until his dark headalmost rested in her lap. "Forgive me! You are too proud, Maruja, toadmit, even to yourself, that you have given your heart where your handand fortune could not follow. But others may not think so. I amproud, too, and will not have it said that I have won you before I wasworthy of you."
"You have no right to be more proud than I, sir," she said, rising toher feet, with a touch of her old supreme assertion. "No--don't,Harry--please, Harry--there!" Nevertheless, she succumbed; and, whenshe went on, it was with her head resting on his shoulder. "It's thisdeceit and secrecy that is so shameful, Harry. I think I could beareverything with you, if it were all known--if you came to woo melike--like--the others. Even if they abused you--if they spoke of yourdoubtful origin--of your poverty--of your hardships! When theyaspersed you, I could fight them; when they spoke of your having nofather that you could claim, I could even lie for you, I think, Harry,and say that you had; if they spoke of your poverty, I would speak ofmy wealth; if they talked of your hardships, I should only be proud ofyour endurance--if I could only keep the tears from my eyes!" Theywere there now. He kissed them away.
"But if they threatened you? If they drove me from the house?"
"I should fly with you," she said, hiding her head in his breast.
"What if I were to ask you to fly with me now?" he said, gloomily.
"Now!" she repeated, lifting her frightened eyes to his.
His face darkened, with its old look of savage resentment. "Hear me,Maruja," he said, taking her hands tightly in his own. "When I forgotmyself--when I was mad that day in the conservatory, the only expiationI could think of was to swear in my inmost soul that I would never takeadvantage of your forgiveness, that I would never tempt you to forgetyourself, your friends, your family, for me, an unknown outcast. WhenI found you pitied me, and listened to my love--I was too weak toforego the one ray of sunshine in my wretched life--and, thinking thatI had a prospect before me in an idea I promised to reveal to youlater, I swore never to beguile you or myself in that hope by any actthat might bring you to repent it--or myself to dishonor. But I taxedmyself too much, Maruja. I have asked too much of you. You are right,darling; this secrecy--this deceit--is unworthy of us! Every hour ofit--blest as it has been to me--every moment--sweet as it is--blackensthe purity of our only defense, makes you false and me a coward! Itmust end here--to-day! Maruja, darling, my precious one! God knowswhat may be the success of my plans. We have but one chance now. Imust leave here to-day, never to return, or I must take you with me.Do not start, Maruja--but hear me out. Dare you risk all? Dare youfly with me now, to-night, to the old Padre at the ruined Mision, andlet him bind us in those bonds that none dare break? We can takeFaquita with us--it is but a few miles--and we can return and throwourselves at your mother's feet. She can only drive us forth together.Or we can fly from this cursed wealth, and all the misery it hasentailed--forever."
She raised her head, and, with her two hands on his shoulders, gazed athim with her father's searching eyes, as if to read his very soul.
"Are you mad, Harry!--think what you propose! Is this not tempting me?Think again, dearest," she said, half convulsively, seizing his armwhen her grasp had slipped from his shoulder.
There was a momentary silence as she stood with her eyes fixed almostwildly on his set face. But a sudden shock against the bolted door andan inarticulate outcry startled them. With an instinctive movement,Guest threw his arm round her.
"It's Pereo," she said, in a hurried whisper, but once more mistress ofher strength and resolution. "He is seeking YOU! Fly at once. He ismad, Harry; a raving lunatic. He watched us the last time. He hastracked us here. He suspects you. You must not meet him. You canescape through the other door, that opens upon the canada. If you loveme--fly!"
"And leave YOU exposed to his fury--are you mad! No. Fly yourself bythe other door, lock it behind you, and alarm the servants. I willopen this door to him, secure him here, and then be gone. Do not fearfor me. There is no danger--and if I mistake not," he added, with astrange significance, "he will hardly attack me!"
"But he may have already alarmed the household. Hark!"
There was the noise of a struggle outside the door, and then the voiceof Captain Carroll, calm and collected, rose clearly for an instant."You are quite safe, Miss Saltonstall. I think I have him secure, butperhaps you had better not open the door until assistance comes."
They gazed at each other, without a word. A grim challenge played onGuest's lips. Maruja lifted her little hands deliberately, and claspedthem round his defiant neck.
"Listen, darling," she said, softly and quietly, as if only
thesecurity of silence and darkness encompassed them. "You asked me justnow if I would fly with you--if I would marry you, without the consentof my family--against the protest of my friends--and at once! Ihesitated, Harry, for I was frightened and foolish. But I say to younow that I will marry you when and where you like--for I love you,Harry, and you alone."
"Then let us go at once," he said, passionately seizing her; "we canreach the road by the canada before assistance comes--before we arediscovered. Come!"
"And you will remember in the years to come, Harry," she said, stillcomposedly, and with her arms still around his neck, "that I neverloved any but you--that I never knew what love was before, and thatsince I have loved you--I have never thought of any other. Will younot?"
"I will--and now--"
"And now," she said, with a superb gesture towards the barrier whichseparated them from Carroll, "OPEN THE DOOR!"
CHAPTER XIII
With a swift glance of admiration at Maruja, Guest flung open the door.The hastily-summoned servants were already bearing away the madman,exhausted by his efforts. Captain Carroll alone remained there, erectand motionless, before the threshold.
At a sign from Maruja, he entered the room. In the flash of light madeby the opening door, he had been perfectly conscious of her companion,but not a motion of his eye or the movement of a muscle of his facebetrayed it. The trained discipline of his youth stood him in goodservice, and for the moment left him master of the situation.
"I think no apology is needed for this intrusion," he said, with coolcomposure. "Pereo seemed intent on murdering somebody or something,and I followed him here. I suppose I might have got him away morequietly, but I was afraid you might have thoughtlessly opened thedoor." He stopped, and added, "I see now how unfounded was thesupposition."
It was a fatal addition. In the next instant, the Maruja who had beenstanding beside Guest, conscious-stricken and remorseful in thepresence of the man she had deceived, and calmly awaiting herpunishment, changed at this luckless exhibition of her own peculiarwomanly weapons. The old Maruja, supreme, ready, undaunted, andpassionless, returned to the fray.
"You were wrong, Captain," she said, sweetly; "fortunately, Mr.Guest--whom I see you have forgotten in your absence--was with me, andI think would have felt it his duty to have protected me. But I thankyou all the same, and I think even Mr. Guest will not allow his envy ofyour good fortune in coming so gallantly to my rescue to prevent hisappreciating its full value. I am only sorry that on your return to LaMision Perdida you should have fallen into the arms of a madman beforeextending your hands to your friends."
Their eyes met. She saw that he hated her--and felt relieved.
"It may not have been so entirely unfortunate," he said, with acoldness strongly in contrast with his gradually blazing eyes, "for Iwas charged with a message to you, in which this madman is supposed bysome to play an important part."
"Is it a matter of business?" said Maruja, lightly, yet with a suddeninstinctive premonition of coming evil in the relentless tones of hisvoice.
"It is business, Miss Saltonstall--purely and simply business," saidCarroll, dryly, "under whatever OTHER name it may have been sincepresented to you."
"Perhaps you have no objection to tell it before Mr. Guest," saidMaruja, with an inspiration of audacity; "it sounds so mysterious thatit must be interesting. Otherwise, Captain Carroll, who abhorsbusiness, would not have undertaken it with more than his usualenthusiasm."
"As the business DOES interest Mr. Guest, or Mr. West, or whatever namehe may have decided upon since I had the pleasure of meeting him," saidCarroll--for the first time striking fire from the eyes of hisrival--"I see no reason why I should not, even at the risk of tellingyou what you already know. Briefly, then, Mr. Prince charged me toadvise you and your mother to avoid litigation with this gentleman, andadmit his claim, as the son of Dr. West, to his share of the property."
The utter consternation and bewilderment shown in the face of Marujaconvinced Carroll of his fatal error. She HAD received the addressesof this man without knowing his real position! The wild theory thathad seemed to justify his resentment--that she had sold herself toGuest to possess the property--now recoiled upon him in its utterbaseness. She had loved Guest for himself alone; by this baserevelation he had helped to throw her into his arms.
But he did not even yet know Maruja. Turning to Guest, with flashingeyes, she said, "Is it true--are you the son of Dr. West, and"--shehesitated--"kept out of your inheritance by US?"
"I AM the son of Dr. West," he said, earnestly, "though I alone had theright to tell you that at the proper time and occasion. Believe me thatI have given no one the right--least of all any tool of Prince--toTRADE upon it."
"Then," said Carroll, fiercely, forgetting everything in his anger,"perhaps you will disclaim before this young lady the charge made byyour employer that Pereo was instigated to Dr. West's murder by hermother?"
Again he had overshot the mark. The horror and indignation depicted inGuest's face was too plainly visible to Maruja, as well as himself, topermit a doubt that the idea was as new as the accusation. Forgettingher bewilderment at these revelations, her wounded pride, a torturingdoubt suggested by Guest's want of confidence in her--indeed everythingbut the outraged feelings of her lover, she flew to his side. "Not aword," she said, proudly, lifting her little hand before his darkeningface. "Do not insult me by replying to such an accusation in mypresence. Captain Carroll," she continued, turning towards him, "Icannot forget that you were introduced into my mother's house as anofficer and a gentleman. When you return to it as such, and not as aMAN OF BUSINESS, you will be welcome. Until then, farewell!"
She remained standing, erect and passionless, as Carroll, with a coldsalutation, stepped back and disappeared in the darkness; and then sheturned, and, with tottering step and a little cry, fell upon Guest'sbreast. "O Harry--Harry!--why have you deceived me!"
"I thought it for the best, darling," he said, lifting her face to his."You know now the prospect I spoke of--the hope that buoyed me up! Iwanted to win you myself alone, without appealing to your sense ofjustice or even your sympathies! I did win you. God knows, if I hadnot, you would never have learned through me that a son of Dr. West hadever lived. But that was not enough. When I found that I couldestablish my right to my father's property, I wanted you to marry mebefore YOU knew it; so that it never could be said that you wereinfluenced by anything but love for me. That was why I came hereto-day. That was why I pressed you to fly with me!"
He ceased. She was fumbling with the buttons of his waistcoat."Harry," she said, softly, "did you think of the propertywhen--when--you kissed me in the conservatory?"
"I thought of nothing but YOU," he answered, tenderly.
Suddenly she started from his embrace. "But Pereo!--Harry--tell mequick--no one-nobody can think that this poor demented old mancould--that Dr. West was--that--it's all a trick--isn't it?Harry--speak!"
He was silent for a moment, and then said, gravely, "There were strangemen at the fonda that night, and--my father was supposed to carry moneywith him. My own life was attempted at the Mision the same evening forthe sake of some paltry gold pieces that I had imprudently shown. Iwas saved solely by the interference of one man. That man was Pereo,your mayordomo!"
She seized his hand and raised it joyfully to her lips. "Thank you forthose words! And you will come to him with me at once; and he willrecognize you; and we will laugh at those lies; won't we, Harry?"
He did not reply. Perhaps he was listening to a confused sound ofvoices rapidly approaching the cottage. Together they stepped out intothe gathering night. A number of figures were coming towards them,among them Faquita, who ran a little ahead to meet her mistress.
"Oh, Dona Maruja, he has escaped!"
"Who? Not Pereo!"
"Truly. And on his horse. It was saddled and bridled in the stableall day. One knew it not. He was walking like a cat, when suddenly heparted the peons a
round him, like grain before a mad bull--and behold!he was on the pinto's back and away. And, alas! there is no horse thatcan keep up with the pinto. God grant he may not get in the way of ther-r-railroad, that, in his very madness, he will even despise."
"My own horse is in the thicket," whispered Guest, hurriedly, inMaruja's ear. "I have measured him with the pinto before now. Give meyour blessing, and I will bring him back if he be alive."
She pressed his hand and said, "Go." Before the astonished servantscould identify the strange escort of their mistress, he was gone.
It was already quite dark. To any but Guest, who had made thetopography of La Mision Perdida a practical study, and who had knownthe habitual circuit of the mayordomo in his efforts to avoid him, thesearch would have been hopeless. But, rightly conjecturing that hewould in his demented condition follow the force of habit, he spurredhis horse along the high-road until he reached the lane leading to thegrassy amphitheatre already described, which was once his favoriteresort. Since then it had participated in the terrible transformationalready wrought in the valley by the railroad. A deep cutting throughone of the grassy hills had been made for the line that now crossed thelower arc of the amphitheatre.
His conjecture was justified on entering it by the appearance of ashadowy horseman in full career round the circle, and he had nodifficulty in recognizing Pereo. As there was no other exit than theone by which he came, the other being inaccessible by reason of therailroad track, he calmly watched him twice make the circuit of thearena, ready to ride towards him when he showed symptoms of slackeninghis speed.
Suddenly he became aware of some strange exercise on the part of themysterious rider; and, as he swept by on the nearer side of the circle,he saw that he was throwing a lasso! A horrible thought that he waswitnessing an insane rehearsal of the murder of his father flashedacross his mind.
A far-off whistle from the distant woods recalled him to his calmersenses at the same moment that it seemed also to check the evolutionsof the furious rider. Guest felt confident that the wretched man couldnot escape him now. It was the approaching train, whose appearancewould undoubtedly frighten Pereo toward the entrance of the littlevalley guarded by him. The hill-side was already alive with theclattering echoes of the oncoming monster, when, to his horror, he sawthe madman advancing rapidly towards the cutting. He put spurs to hishorse, and started in pursuit; but the train was already emerging fromthe narrow passage, followed by the furious rider, who had wheeledabreast of the engine, and was, for a moment or two, madly keeping upwith it. Guest shouted to him, but his voice was lost in the roar ofthe rushing caravan.
Something seemed to fly from Pereo's hand. The next moment the trainhad passed; rider and horse, crushed and battered out of all life, wererolling in the ditch, while the murderer's empty saddle dangled at theend of a lasso, caught on the smoke-stack of one of the murdered man'savenging improvements!
. . . . . . . . .
The marriage of Maruja and the son of the late Dr. West was received inthe valley of San Antonio as one of the most admirably conceived andskillfully matured plans of that lamented genius. There were many whowere ready to state that the Doctor had confided it to them yearsbefore; and it was generally accepted that the widow Saltonstall hadbeen simply made a trustee for the benefit of the prospective youngcouple. Only one person perhaps, did not entirely accept these views;it was Mr. James Price--otherwise known as Aladdin. In later years, heis said to have stated authoritatively "that the only combination inbusiness that was uncertain--was man and woman."