The Ne'er-Do-Well

by Rex Beach

  XIV

  THE PATH THAT LED NOWHERE

  When "Senor Antonio" awoke the next morning he lay for an instantstriving to recall what it was that had haunted his sleeping hours,what great event awaited him. Then, as it rushed through his mind, heleaped out of bed and dashed headlong into the bath-room. This wasto-morrow! It had been ages in coming--he recalled how even hisslumbers had dragged--but it was here at last, and he would seeChiquita.

  He sang as he stepped under his shower, and whistled blithely as hedressed himself. What a glorious country this Panama was, anyhow! Howgood it was to be young and to be in love! He never had been so happy.A man must be in love to sing before breakfast. But the afternoon wasstill a long way off, and he must be content to dream until the hourcame.

  He was too early for the Cortlandts, and he breakfasted alone. When hestrolled out upon the veranda for his smoke he found Allan waiting forhim, as usual. The Jamaican had not missed a morning so far, and it wasonly by a show of downright firmness that Kirk had been able to get ridof him at any time during the day. The black boy seemed bent upondevoting his every waking hour to his hero, and now, finding himselfregarded with friendly eyes, he expanded joyously.

  "Got you some games yesterday?" he inquired.

  "Yes. And I'm going again to-day."

  "Plenty games over yonder is, but it is very fatiguing to get them.To-day I go along for showing you the way."

  "Not a bit like it. I'm going alone."

  "Oh no, boss!"

  "Oh yes, boss! I accidentally shot the last man I hunted with--killedhim." Kirk stared tragically at his companion, but Allan was not to beso easily deterred.

  "I shall pahss behind you, boss."

  "I'd love to have you, of course--but I'm too careless."

  "Praise God, you must not go h'alone in that case, or something willbefall you! I shall h'imitate the birds and call them out before you tofire at."

  "Fire AT! I don't fire at things, I hit 'em."

  "Yes, sar. In that case we shall procure plenty of games."

  "See here! I'm going alone, understand? I have an engagement with aNaiad."

  "'Ow much a month will you be getting for such h'engagements?"

  "Naiads don't pay in money, they give you smiles and kind words."

  "Better you continue then as train collector. There is greath'opportunity for stealing."

  "My job won't be ready for a few days, and meanwhile I have become ahuntsman. I intend to go out every afternoon."

  "H'afternoons is no good for wild h'animals; they are sleeping. Walkthey in the h'early morning, for the most part, very quietly."

  "That's true of some wood creatures, but the kind I hunt dance alongthe edges of pools in the afternoon. Say, did you ever feel likedancing?"

  "No, sar."

  "Come around on the back porch and I'll teach you a buck-step. I feeltoo good to sit still."

  But Allan refused this proffer firmly. Such frivolous conduct wasbeneath his dignity.

  "I 'ave h'important things to disclose," he said, mysteriously.

  "Indeed."

  "Yes, sar. Last night I dreamed."

  "You've got nothing on me; so did I."

  "I am walking on the h'edge of the h'ocean when I h'encountered awhale--a 'uge whale."

  "Swam ashore to rest, I suppose?"

  "No, sar; he was dead. It was very vivid."

  "Well, what has a vivid dead whale to do with me?"

  "This!" Allan brought forth a sheet of paper, which he unfoldedcarefully. "There is the number--the 'fish number,' sar."

  "Why, this is a Chinese lottery advertisement."

  "I got it for the very purpose. It would pay us to h'invest some moneyon the 'fish number.'"

  "Nonsense! I don't believe in dreams. You say yourself they are false."

  "Never such a dream as this, boss. It was very vivid."

  "I've got no money."

  Allan folded the paper disconsolately and thrust it into his pocket."It is fartunate h'indeed," said he, "that you will be working soon,Master h'Auntony. And those P. R. R. was very fartunate also forgetting you to h'accept a position, very fartunate h'indeed."

  "Do you think I will raise the standard of efficiency?"

  "Most of those railroad persons are vile people. They threw me h'offthe train with such violence that my joints are very stiff andh'inflamed. I should h'enjoy being boss over them for a while."

  "Why don't you ask for a job?"

  "I have decided to do so, and I am asking you now for an h'engagementas brakesman."

  "I can't hire you. Go to the office."

  "Probably there are h'already brakesmen on your train."

  "I have no doubt."

  "In that case I shall ride with you as private person."

  "Ride back and forth every day?"

  "Those are my h'expectations, sar."

  "That costs money."

  "You will be collector," remarked the negro, calmly. "I should like tosee those train people h'expel me, in that case."

  "Well! I can see trouble ahead for one of us," laughed Anthony. "Theydon't allow 'dead-heads.'"

  But Allan replied with unshaken confidence: "Then you should secure forme a pahss."

  Kirk found it extremely difficult to escape from his persistent shadowthat afternoon, and he succeeded only after a display of armedresistance.

  It was the hottest part of the day when he set out, gun on arm, yet henever thought of the discomfort. After skirting the city, he swung intothe fine macadam road that had brought him home the night before, andmuch sooner than he expected he arrived at the little path that ledinto the forest. He knew that he was trespassing again, and theknowledge added to his delight. As quickly as possible he lost himselfin the grateful shade and followed the stream-bank with beating heart.His head was full of vague hopes and plans. He meant to learn the truestory of Miss Chiquita's penance and find some means of winning heraway from that other lover, of whom he had already thought more thanonce. He determined to make his love known without delay and establishhimself as a regular suitor.

  As upon the previous day, he broke into the glade before he suspectedits presence, to find the same golden light-beams flickering in theshadowed depths and to hear the little waterfall chuckling at hissurprise. There was the tree from which she had called to him, yonderthe bench where they had sat together.

  Of course, he was too early--he wanted to be, in order not to miss aninstant of her company, so he seated himself and dreamed about her. Theminutes dragged, the jungle drowsed. An hour passed. A thousand fresh,earthy odors breathed around him, and he began to see all sorts offlowers hidden away in unsuspected places. From the sunlit meadowsoutside came a sound of grazing herds, the deep woods faintly echoedthe harsh calls of tropic birds, but at the pool itself a sleepysilence brooded.

  Once a chattering squirrel came bravely rustling through the branchesto the very edge of the enchanted bower, but he only sat and stared amoment in seeming admiration, then retreated quietly. A yellow-beakedtoucan, in a flash of red and black and gold, settled upon a mirroredlimb; but it, too, stilled its raucous tongue and flitted away onnoiseless pinions as if the Naiads were asleep.

  In the moist earth beside the bench Anthony saw the print of a daintyboot, no longer than his palm, and he promptly fell into a rhapsody.What tiny hands and feet she had, to be sure, and such a sweetlymelancholy face! Yet she was anything but grave and gloomy. Why, thesunlight dancing on that waterfall was no more mischievous and merrythan she. The slight suggestion of sadness she conveyed was but theshadow of the tropic mystery or the afterglow of the tragedy that hadplayed so large a part in this country's history. The fact that she washalf American perhaps accounted for her daring, yet, whatever the otherstrain, it could not be ignoble. Mrs. Cortlandt's figure of the silverthreads in a rotting altar-cloth recurred to him with peculiar force.

  But why didn't she come? A sudden apprehension overtook him, which grewand grew as the afternoon wore away.

 
It was a very miserable young man who wandered out through the fragrantpath, as the first evening shadows settled, and bent his dejected stepstoward the city. Evidently something had occurred to prevent herkeeping her tryst, but he determined to return on the morrow, and thenif she did not come to follow that other path right up to the house,where he would risk everything for a word with her. He wondered if shehad stayed away purposely to test him, and the thought gave him athrill. If so, she would soon learn that he was in earnest; she wouldfind him waiting there every afternoon and--after all, why confinehimself to the afternoon when she was just as likely to appear in themorning? He resolved to go hunting earlier hereafter, and give thewhole day to it. Meanwhile, he would make cautious inquiries.

  It was considerably after dark when he reached the hotel, and hisfriends had dined; but he encountered Mr. Cortlandt later. If Edith'shusband suspected anything of what had occurred a night or two ago, hiscountenance gave no sign of it. For some reason or other, Kirk had notbeen troubled in the slightest by the thought that Cortlandt might betold. He could not imagine Edith making him the confidant of heroutraged feelings. Besides, would such a strangely impassive personresent any little indiscretion in which his wife might choose toindulge? Kirk did not know--the man was a puzzle to him.

  Cortlandt's voice was thoroughly non-committal as he inquired:

  "Where have you been keeping yourself?"

  "I've been hunting, to kill time."

  "Any luck?"

  "No, none at all. I started too late, I guess."

  "By-the-way," continued the other, "your friend Allan has beenbesieging Edith, imploring her to use her influence to get him aposition. He has set his heart upon going to work with you."

  "He is becoming a positive nuisance. I can't get rid of him."

  "I never saw such hero-worship."

  "Oh, all niggers are hysterical."

  "Let me give you a bit of advice, Anthony. Remember there are no'niggers' and 'whites' in this country--they are both about equal. ThePresident of the republic is a black man, and a very good one, too."

  "That reminds me. I hear he is to be succeeded by the father of myfriend, Alfarez."

  Cortlandt hesitated. "General Alfarez is a candidate. He is a verystrong man, but--"

  "I am glad there is a 'but.'"

  "It isn't settled, by any means. The successful candidate will need thesupport of our government."

  "I suppose the Alfarez family is one of the first settlers--Mayflowerstock?"

  "Oh, worse than that. The name runs back to Balboa's time. GeneralAlfarez is very rich, and very proud of his ancestry. That is one thingthat makes him so strong with the people."

  "What are some of the other leading families?" Kirk artfully inquired.

  "There are a number. The Martinezes, the Moras, the Garavels--Icouldn't name them all. They are very fine people, too."

  "Do you know the Chiquitas?"

  Cortlandt's face relaxed in an involuntary smile.

  "There is no such family. Who has been teaching you Spanish?"

  "Really, isn't there?"

  "'Chiquita' means 'very small,' 'little one,' 'little girl,' orsomething like that. It's not a family name, it's a term of endearment,usually."

  Kirk remembered now how the girl's eyes had danced when she asked himif he spoke her language. It was just like her to tease him, and yetwhat a pretty way to conceal her identity!

  "What made you take it for a proper name?"

  "A-a little girl told me."

  "Oh, naturally. All children are 'Chiquitas' or'Chiquitos'--everything, in fact, that is a pet."

  Kirk felt somewhat uncomfortable under the older man's gaze of quietamusement.

  "But these other families," he went on in some confusion--"I mean theones like those you just mentioned--they sometimes intermarry withAmericans, don't they?"

  "No, not the better class. There have been a few instances, I believe,but for the most part they keep to themselves."

  "How would a fellow set about meeting the nice people."

  "He wouldn't. He would probably live here indefinitely and never seethe inside of a Panamanian house."

  "But there must be some way," the young man exclaimed in desperation."There must be dances, parties--"

  "Of course, but Americans are not invited. The men are easy to getacquainted with, charming, courteous, gentlemanly, but I dare say youwill leave Panama without so much as meeting their wives or sisters.But why this consuming curiosity? Has some senorita struck your fancy?"

  In spite of his effort to appear unconcerned, Kirk felt that he lookedabominably self-conscious. Without waiting for a reply, Cortlandtcontinued to give him information as if he enjoyed it.

  "I suppose one reason why so few Americans marry Panamanians is thatour men like at least to get acquainted with their brides beforemarriage, and that is impossible in this country. A man never sees agirl alone, you know. When he calls to court her he wooes the wholefamily, who vote on him, so to speak. That doesn't appeal to us whooriginated the mother-in-law joke. There aren't many Northern chaps whowould consent to select a wife by pointing her out like a bolt ofcalico on a top shelf."

  Kirk suddenly realized to the full how egregious his request to callmust have appeared to the Spanish girl. What a fool he had been, to besure! For a moment he lost himself in a contemplation of thedifficulties so unexpectedly presented. He was brought to himself bythe words:

  "--to-morrow you will go to work."

  "What's that?" he broke forth in a panic. "I can't go to workto-morrow; I'm going hunting."

  Cortlandt eyed him curiously.

  "I didn't say to-morrow. I said Runnells 'phoned that he would be readyfor you day after to-morrow. What is the matter with you? Have you lostyour head over shooting, or don't you care to work?"

  "Oh, neither," he said, hastily. "I merely misunderstood you. Ofcourse, the sooner the better."

  "Yes, as you say, the sooner the better," said Cortlandt, with a shadeof meaning. "Well, good-night, and good-luck to you in your shooting!"

  It was with much less self-assurance that Kirk set out again on thenext morning, for this was his last day of grace, and he realized thatunless he accomplished something definite it might be a considerabletime before he could continue his quest. In view of what the girl hadsaid regarding her engagement, delays seemed particularly dangerous.

  He haunted the vicinity of the meeting-place all the morning, but noone came, and a heavy shower at midday drove him into the palm-thatchedhut for shelter. When it had passed he put an end to his indecision andboldly took the other path. At least he would find out where she livedand who she was. But once again he was disappointed. The trail led outthrough the grove to the rain-drenched pasture, where it disappeared,and, instead of one house, he saw three, half hidden in foliage and allfacing in the opposite direction. They stood upon the crest of a hillfronting the road, and he realized that the pool might be thebathing-place for the inmates of one or all of them.

  Up past the grazing stock he went and around to the front of thenearest residence, which proved to be a low, rambling, bungalow affairwith many outhouses smothered in a profusion of vines and fruit-trees.Evidently it was unoccupied, for heavy wooden shutters barricaded thewindows, and no one answered his knock, although some pigeons perchedupon the tile roof cooed at him in a friendly manner. He struck acrosslots to the next house, but met with no better success, and heapproached the third dwelling with a certain hesitation, for it was hislast chance. It was more pretentious than the rest, and stood proudlyupon the highest point of the ridge, up which ran a private roadguarded by twin rows of stately royal palms, whose perfectly roundedtrunks seemed to have been turned upon some giant lathe. The houseitself was large, square, and double-galleried. It was shaded by loftyhard-wood trees and overlooked a sort of formal garden, now badly inneed of care. The road was of shell, and where it entered the groundspassed through a huge iron gate suspended upon concrete pillars. Thewhole place had an air of wealth an
d exclusiveness.

  Here, too, the windows stared at him blindly, and he saw no evidence ofoccupation; yet he advanced and pounded vigorously on the door. Failingto rouse any one, he paused to take a general view of the surroundings.Scattered upon every side were other winter homes, some bleachingnakedly in the open, others peeping out from luxuriant groves, somemean and poor, others really beautiful and impressive. He knew that hewas in the heart of Panama's exclusive winter colony, where her wealthyresidents came to avoid the heat.

  Unwilling to acknowledge himself beaten, he plodded from one place toanother, calling at all the nearest houses, finding most of themlocked, and begging a glass of water where he chanced to be morefortunate. Nowhere did he see the girl or the Barbadian woman, nowheredid he receive an intelligible answer to his questions. The caretakerslooked upon him with suspicion, and made it known that he wasunwelcome, while their women retreated at sight of him. Even thechildren were unfriendly. Once, indeed, he heard the name that had beenringing so steadily in his ears, and it gave him a wild thrill until hediscovered that it was only a negress calling to her child. Afterwardit seemed that he heard it everywhere. On his disconsolate journey homeit was spoken twenty times, being applied indifferently to dogs, cats,parrots, and naked youngsters, each mention causing him to start andlisten.

  Whether the girl had been playing with him, or whether she had beenprevented from keeping her word, was of little moment now. He loved herand he intended to have her! He shut his teeth grimly and made a vow tofind her if he had to invade every home in Las Savannas, or pull apartthe walls of Panama.