by B. M. Bower
CHAPTER VIII
DON ANDRES WANTS A MAJORDOMO
"Senor, those things which you desired that I should bring, I havebrought. All is of the best. Also have I brought a letter from theSenor Weelson, and what remains of the gold the senor will find laidcarefully in the midst of his clothing. So I have done all as itwould have been done for the patron himself." In the downward sweep ofManuel's sombrero one might read that peculiar quality of irony whichdislike loves to inject into formal courtesy.
Behind Manuel waited a peon burdened with elegant riding gear and abundle of clothing, and a gesture brought him forward to deposit hisload upon the porch before the gringo guest, whose "Gracias" Manuelwaved into nothingness; as did the quick shrug disdain the littlebag of gold which Jack drew from his pocket and would have tossed toManuel for reward.
"It was nothing," he smiled remotely; and went his way to find thepatron and deliver to him a message from a friend.
Behind Jack came the click of slipper-heels upon the hardwood; and heturned from staring, puzzled, after the stiff-necked Manuel, and gavethe girl a smile such as a man reserves for the woman who has enteredinto his dreams.
"Santa Maria, what elegance! Now will the senor ride in splendorthat will dazzle the eyes to look upon!" Teresita bantered, poking aslipper-toe tentatively towards the saddle, and clasping her hands inmock rapture. "On every corner, silver crescents; on the tapideros,silver stars bigger than Venus; riding behind the cantle, a wholemilky way; Jose will surely go mad with rage when he sees. Stars hasJose, but no moon to bear him company when he rides. Surely the cattlewill fall upon their knees when the senor draws near!"
"Shall we ride out and put them to the test?" he asked wishfully,shaking out the bridle to show the beautiful design of silver inlaidupon the leather cheek-piece, and stooping to adjust a big-roweled,silver-incrusted spur upon his boot-heel. "Manuel does exactly as heis told. I said he was to get the best he could find--"
"And so no vaquero in the valley will be so gorgeous--" She broke offsuddenly to sing in lilting Spanish a fragment of some old song thattold of the lilies of the field that "Toil not, neither do they spin."
"That is not kind. I may not spin, but I toil--I leave it to Dade if Idon't." This last, because he caught sight of Dade coming across fromthe row of huts, which was a short cut up from the corrals. "And I canshow you the remains of blisters--" He held out a very nice appearingpalm towards her, and looked his fill at her pretty face, while shebent her brows and inspected the hand with the gravity that threatenedto break at any instant into laughter.
That sickening grip in the chest which is a real, physical pain,though the hurt be given to the soul of a man, slowed Dade's steps toa lagging advance towards the tableau the two made on the steps. Sohad the senorita sent him dizzy with desire (and with hope to brightenit) in the two weeks and more that he had been the honored guest. Sohad she laughed and teased him and mocked him; and he had believedthat to him alone would she show the sweet whimsies of her nature. Butfrom the moment when he laid her gold thimble in her waiting hand andgot no reward save an absent little nod of thanks, the dull ache hadbeen growing in his heart. He knew what it was that had sent Jose offin that headlong rage against all gringos; though two days beforehe would have said that Jose's jealousy was for him, and with goodreason. There had been glances between those two who stood now soclose together--swift measuring of the weapons which sex uses againstsex, with quick smiles when the glances chanced to meet. Jose also hadseen the byplay; and the fire had smoldered in his eyes until at lastit kindled into flame and drove him cursing from the place. In hisheart Dade could not blame Jose.
Forgotten while Teresita held back with one hand a black lock whichthe wind was trying to fling across her eyes, and murmured mockingcommiseration over the half obliterated callouses on Jack's hand,Dade loitered across the patio, remembering many things whose verysweetness made the present hurt more bitter. He might have known itwould be like this, he told himself sternly; but life during the pasttwo weeks had been too sweet for forebodings or for precaution. Hehad wanted Jack to see and admire Teresita, with the same impulse thatwould have made him want to show Jack any other treasure which Chanceheld out to him while Hope smiled over her shoulder and whispered thatit was his.
Well, Jack had seen her, and Jack surely admired her; and the grimhumor of Dade's plight struck through the ache and made him laugh,even though his jaws immediately went together with a click of teethand cut the laugh short. He might have known--but he was not the sortof man who stands guard against friend and foe alike.
And, he owned to himself, Jack was unconscious of any hurt for hisfriend in this rather transparent wooing. A little thought would haveenlightened him, perhaps, or a little observation; but Dade couldnot blame Jack for not seeking for some obstacle in the path of hisdesires.
"She says I'm lazy and got these callouses grabbing the soft snapslast summer in the mines," Jack called lightly, when finally itoccurred to him that the world held more than two persons. "I'm alwaysgetting the worst of it when you and I are compared. But I believeI've got the best of you on riding outfit, old man. Take a look atthat saddle, will you! And these spurs! And this bridle! The senoritasays the cattle will fall on their knees when I ride past; we're goingto take a gallop and find out. Want to come along?"
"Arrogant one! The senorita did not agree to that ride! The senoritahas something better to do than bask in the glory of so gorgeous asenor while he indulges his vanity--and frightens the poor cattle sothat, if they yield their hides at killing time, there will be littletallow for the ships to carry away!"
The Senorita Teresita would surely never be guilty of a consciouslowering of one eyelid to point her raillery, but the little twist shegave to her lips when she looked at Dade offered a fair substitute;and the flirt of her silken skirts as she turned to run back into thehouse was sufficient excuse for any imbecility in a man.
Jack looked after her with some chagrin. "The little minx! A man mightas well put up his hands when he hears her coming--huh? Unless he'sabsolutely woman-proof, like you. How do you manage it, anyway?"
"By taking a squint at myself in the looking-glass every morning."Dade's face managed to wrinkle humorously. "H-m. You are prettygorgeous, for a fact. Where's the riata?"
Jack had forgotten that he had ever wanted one. He lifted the heavy,high-cantled saddle, flung it down upon the other side and untied thenew coil of braided rawhide from its place on the right fork.
"A six-strand, eh? I could tell Manuel a few things about riatas, ifhe calls that the best! Four strands are stronger than six, any time.I've seen too many stranded--"
"The senor is not pleased with the riata?"
Manuel, following Don Andres across to the veranda, had caught thegesture and tone; and while his knowledge of English was extremelysketchy, he knew six and four when he heard those numerals mentioned,and the rest was easy guessing.
"The four strands are good, but the six are better--when JoaquinMurieta lays the strands. From the hide of a very old bull was thisriata cut; perhaps the senor is aware that the hide is thus of thesame thickness throughout and strong as the bull that grew it. Not onestrand is laid tighter than the other strand; the wildest bull in thevalley could not break it--if the senor should please to catch him!Me, I could have bought three riatas for the gold I gave for this one;but the senor told me to get the best." His shoulders went up an inch,though Don Andres was frowning at the tone of him. "The senor canreturn it to the Mission and get the three, or he can exchange it withany vaquero in the valley for one which has four strands. I am verysorry that the senor is not pleased with my choice."
"You needn't be sorry. It's a very pretty riata, and I have no doubtit will do all I ask of it. The saddle's a beauty, and the bridle andspurs--I'm a thousand times obliged."
"It is nothing and less than nothing," disclaimed Manuel once more;and went in to ask the senora for a most palatable decoction whosechief ingredient was blackberry wine, which the senora rec
ommended toall and sundry for various ailments. Though Manuel, the deceitful one,had no ailment, he did have a keen appreciation of the flavour of thecordial, and his medicine bottle was never long empty--or full--if hecould help it.
A moment later Jack, hearing a human, feminine twitter from thedirection of the rose garden, left off examining pridefully hisbelongings, and bolted without apology, after his usual headlongfashion.
Don Andres sat him down in an easy-chair in the sun, and sighed as hedid so. "He is hot-tempered, that vaquero," he said regretfully, hismind upon Manuel. "Something has stirred his blood; surely your friendhas done nothing to offend him?"
"Nothing except remark that he has always liked a four-strand riatabetter than six. At the hut he was friendly enough."
"He is not the only one whose anger is easily stirred against thegringos," remarked the don, reaching mechanically for his tobaccopouch, while he watched Dade absently examining the new riata.
"Senor Hunter," Don Andres began suddenly, "have you decided whatyou will do? Your mine in the mountains--it will be foolish to returnthere while the hands of the Vigilantes are reaching out to clutchyou; do you not think so? More of the tale I have heard from Valencia,who returned with Manuel. Those men who died at the hand of yourfriend--and died justly, I am convinced--had friends who would givemuch for close sight of you both."
"I know; I told Jack we'd have to keep away from town or the mine fora while. He wanted to go right back and finish up the fight!" Dadegrinned at the absurdity. "I sat down hard on that proposition."Not that phrase, exactly, did he use. One may be pardoned a freetranslation, since, though he spoke in excellent Spanish, he did nottwist his sentences like a native, and he was not averse to makinguse of certain idioms quite as striking in their way as our ownAmericanisms.
Don Andres rolled a cigarette and smoked it thoughtfully. "You werewise. Also, I bear in mind your statement that you could not long becontent to remain my guest. Terribly independent and energetic areyou Americanos." He smoked through another pause, while Dade's puzzledglance dwelt secretly upon his face and tried to read what lay in hismind. It seemed to him that the don was working his way carefully upto a polite hint that the visit might be agreeably terminated; and hisuneasy thoughts went to the girl. Did her father resent--
"My majordomo," the don continued, just in time to hold back Dade'shasty assurance that they would leave immediately, "my majordomo doesnot please me. Many faults might I name, sufficient to make plain myneed for another." A longer wait, as if time were indeed infinite, andhe owned it all. "Also I might name reasons for my choice of another,who is yourself, Senor Hunter. Perhaps in you I recognize simplythe qualities which I desire my majordomo to possess. Perhaps alsoI desire that some prejudiced countrymen of mine shall be taught alesson and made to see that not all Americanos are unworthy. Howeverthat may be, I shall be truly glad if you will accept. The salary wewill arrange as pleases you, and your friend will, I hope, remain inwhatever capacity you may desire. Further, when your government hasgiven some legal assurance that my land is mine," he smiled wrily atthe necessity for such assurance, "as much land as you Americanos calla 'section,' choose it where you will--except that it shall not takemy house or my cultivated land--shall be yours for the taking."
"But--"
"Not so much the offer of a position would I have you consider it,"interrupted the other with the first hint of haste he had shown, "asa favor that I would ask. Times are changing, and we natives arehigh-chested and must learn to make room for others who are comingamongst us. To speak praises to the face of a friend is not my habit,yet I will say that I would teach my people to respect good men,whatever the race; and especially Americanos, who will be ourneighbors henceforth. I shall be greatly pleased when you tell methat you will be my majordomo; more than ever one needs a man ofintelligence and tact--"
"And are none of our own people tactful or intelligent, Don AndresPicardo?" demanded Manuel, having overheard the last sentence or twofrom the doorway. He came out and stood before his beloved "patron,"his whole fat body quivering with amazed indignation, so that thebottle which the senora had filled for him shook in his hand. "Amongstthe gringos must you go to find one worthy? Truly it is as Don Josetells me; these gringos have come but to make trouble where all waspeace. To-day he told me all his thoughts, and me, I hardly believedit was as he said. Would the patron have a majordomo who knows nothingof rodeos, nothing of the cattle--"
"You're mistaken there, Manuel," Dade broke in calmly. "Whether Ibecome majordomo or not, I know cattle. They have a few in Texas,where I came from. I can qualify in cowology any time. And," he addedloyally, "so can Jack. You thought he didn't know what he was talkingabout, when he was looking at that riata; but I'll back him againstany man in California when it comes to riding and roping.
"But that needn't make us bad friends, Manuel. I didn't come to maketrouble, and I won't stay to make any. We've been friends; let'sstay that way. I'm a gringo, all right, but I've lived more with yourpeople than my own, and if you want the truth, I don't know but whatI feel more at home with them. And the same with Jack. We've eaten andslept with Spaniards and worked with them and played with them, halfour lives."
"Still it is as Jose says," reiterated Manuel stubbornly. "Till thegringos came all was well; when they came, trouble came also. Tillthe gringos came, no watch was put over the cattle, for only thosewho hungered killed and ate. Now they steal the patron's cattle byhundreds, they steal his land, and if Jose speaks truly, they wouldsteal also--" He hesitated to speak what was on his tongue, andfinished lamely: "what is more precious still.
"And the patron will have a gringo for majordomo?" He returned to theissue. "Then I, Manuel, must leave the patron's employ. I and half thevaqueros. The patron," he added with what came close to a sneer, "hadbest seek gringo vaqueros--with the clay of the mines on their boots,and their red shirts to call the bulls!"
"I shall do what it pleases me to do," declared the don sternly."Advice from my vaqueros I do not seek. And you," he said haughtily,"have choice of two things; you may crave pardon for your insolence tomy guest, who is also my friend, and who will henceforth have chargeof my vaqueros and my cattle, or you may go whither you will; to DonJose Pacheco, I doubt not."
He leaned his white-crowned head against the high chair-back, andwhile he waited for Manuel's decision he gazed calmly at the borderof red tiles which showed at the low eaves of the porch--calmly as tofeatures only, for his eyes held the blaze of anger.
"Senors, I go." The brim of Manuel's sombrero flicked the dust of thepatio.
"Come, then, and I will reckon your wage," invited the don, coldlycourteous as to a stranger. "You will excuse me, Senor? I shall not belong."
Dade's impulse was to protest, to intercede, to say that he and Jackwould go immediately, rather than stir up strife. But he had served astern apprenticeship in life, and he knew it was too late now toput out the fires of wrath burning hotly in the hearts of those two;however completely he might efface himself, the resentment was tookeen, the quarrel too fresh to be so easily forgotten.
He was standing irresolutely on the steps when Jack came hack from therose garden, whistling softly an old love-song and smiling fatuouslyto himself.
"We're going to take that ride, after all," he announced gleefully."Want to come along? She's going to ask her father to come, too--saysit would be terribly improper for us two to ride alone. What's thematter? Got the toothache?"
Dade straightened himself automatically after the slap on the backthat was like a cuff from a she-bear, and grunted an uncivil sentence.
"Come over to the saddle-house," he commanded afterward. "And takethat truck off the senora's front steps before she sees it and has afit. I want to talk to you."
"Oh, Lord!" wailed Jack, under his breath, but he shouldered the heavysaddle obediently, leaving Dade to bring what remained. "Cut it short,then; she's gone to dress and ask her dad; and I'm supposed to orderthe horses and get you started. What's the trouble?"
Dade first went over to the steps before their sleeping-room anddeposited Jack's personal belongings; and Jack seized the minute ofgrace to call a peon and order the horses saddled.
He turned from watching proudly the glitter of the trimmings on hisnew saddle as the peon bore it away on his shoulder, and confrontedDade with a tinge of defiance in his manner.
"Well, what have I done now?" he challenged. "Anything particularlydamnable about talking five minutes to a girl in plain sight of her--"
Dade threw out both hands in a gesture of impatience. "That isn't theonly important thing in the world," he pointed out sarcastically. Ifthe inner hurt served to sharpen his voice, he did not know it. "DonAndres wants to make me his majordomo."
Jack's eyes bulged a little; and if Dade had not wisely side-steppedhe would have received another one of Jack's muscle-tingling slaps onthe shoulder. "Whee-ee! Say, you're getting appreciated, at last, oldman. Good for you! Give me a job?"
"I'm not going to take it," said Dade. "I was going to ask you if youwant to pull out with me to-morrow."
Jack's jaw went slack. "Not going to take it!" He leaned against theadobe wall behind him and stuck both hands savagely into his pockets."Why, you darned chump, how long ago was it that you talked yourselfblack in the face, trying to make me say I'd stay? Argued like a mantrying to sell shaving soap; swore that nobody but a born idiot wouldthink of passing up such a chance; badgered me into giving in; and nowwhen you've got a chance like this, you--Say, you're loco!"
"Maybe." Dade's eyes went involuntarily toward the veranda, whereTeresita appeared for an instant, looking questioningly towards them."Maybe I am loco. But Manuel's mad because the don offered me theplace, and has quit; and he says half the vaqueros will leave, thatthey won't work under a gringo."
Jack's indignant eyes changed to a queer, curious stare. "Dade Hunter!If I didn't know you, if I hadn't seen you in more tight places thanI've got fingers and toes, I'd say--But you aren't scared; you neverhad sense enough to be afraid of anything in your life. You can'tchoke that down me, old man. What's the real reason why you want toleave?"
The real reason came again to the doorway sixty feet away and lookedout impatiently to where the senors were talking so earnestly andprivately; but Dade would have died several different and unpleasantdeaths before he would name that reason. Instead:
"It will be mighty disagreeable for Don Andres, trying to keep thingssmooth," he said. "And it isn't as if he were stuck for a majordomo.Manuel has turned against me from pure jealousy. He opened his heart,one night when we were alone together, and told me that when CarlosPacorra went--and Manuel said the patron would not keep him long, forhis insolence--he, Manuel, would be majordomo. He's mad as the deuce,and I don't blame him; and he's a good man for the place; the vaqueroslike him."
"You say he's quit?"
"Yes. He got pretty nasty, and the don has gone to pay him off."
"Well, what good would it do for you to turn down the offer, then?Manuel wouldn't get it, would he?"
"No-o, he wouldn't."
"Well, then--oh, thunder! Something ought to be done for thatingrowing modesty of yours! Dade, if you pass up that place,I'll--I'll swear you're crazy. I know you like it, here. You workedhard enough to convert me to that belief!"
A sudden thought made him draw a long breath; he reached out andcaught Dade by both shoulders.
"Say, you can't fool me a little bit! You're backing up because you'reafraid I may be jealous or something. You're afraid you're standingin my light. Darn you, I've had enough of that blamed unselfishnessof yours, old man." The endearing smile lighted his face then and hiseyes. "You go ahead and take the job, Dade. I don't want it. I'll bemore than content to have you boss me around." He hesitated, lookingat the other a bit wistfully. "Of course, you know that if you go, oldboy, I'll go with you. But--" The look he sent towards Teresita,who appeared definitely upon the porch and stood waiting openly andimpatiently, amply finished the sentence.
Dade's eyes followed Jack's understandingly, and the thing he hadmeant to do seemed all at once contemptible, selfish, and weak. He hadmeant to leave and take Jack with him, because it hurt him mightily tosee those two falling in love with each other. The trouble his stayingmight bring to Don Andres was nothing more nor less than a subterfuge.If Teresita's smiles had continued to be given to him as they hadbeen before Jack came, he told himself bitterly, he would neverhave thought of going. And Jack thought he hesitated from pureunselfishness! The fingers that groped mechanically for his tobacco,though he had no intention of smoking just then, trembled noticeably.
"All right," he said quietly. "I'll stay, then." And a moment after:"Go ask her if she wants to ride Surry. I promised her she could, nexttime she rode."