XXVIII.
THE SURRENDER OF A LIFE.
Knowing as I did Fray Antonio's resolute nature, and understanding farmore clearly than it was possible for the others to understand theheroic impulses which stirred within him, I took no part in the attemptthat they then made to oppose the purpose which he had declared. Butwhen they somewhat shifted their position--perceiving how hopeless wastheir effort to shake by argument his firm resolve--and sought to winhim to their way of thinking by consenting to leave the valley if onlyhe would accompany them, then I most earnestly joined my entreaties totheirs. But no more by entreaty than by argument was Fray Antonio to bemoved.
And, in truth, there was a logical consistency in what he urged inanswer to us that, much though we might resent it, we yet were compelledto respect. He had come with us, he said, for the single purpose ofpreaching the saving grace of Christianity to heathen souls whichotherwise would perish utterly in their idolatry. And this was not amatter wherein he had any right of election, but was a solemn duty thatthe vows by which he was bound compelled him to fulfil. He was not free,therefore, as we were free, to consider side issues relating to hispersonal well-being or to mere expediency; his sole endeavor must be toaccomplish by the most efficient means the duty wherewith he wascharged. It was evident, he urged, that should there be war in thevalley the chance for the further spread of Christian doctrine would hescant; for the seed that he had sown, and that already was well rootedin many hearts, would die quickly and be utterly lost in the foul growthof evil passions which would spring up rankly amid this bloody strife.But if the war could be averted, not only would these people be sparedthe misery that war must bring upon them, and the crime also of slayingeach other, but their hearts would remain open to the gentle doctrinethat he had taught; and his willingness--should such sacrifice benecessary--to yield his life that peace might be preserved, would forceupon them strongly the conviction, tending thus to their ownstrengthening, of his faithful trust in the creed which he avowed. Andit well might happen, he said, that such grace would be given him thateven within the very stronghold of the heathen faith he might win soulsto the purer faith which it was his glorious privilege to preach andstill remain unharmed; in proof of which possibility he cited the caseof the blessed St. Januarius, whom the lions refused to devour. Butwhatever might be the outcome of thus yielding himself into the PriestCaptain's hands, his duty was so clear, he declared firmly, that noevasion of it was possible. And what he purposed doing, he said,finally, was but what countless of his brethren had done in the courseof the six centuries since the founding in Assisi of the Order to whichthey and he belonged--and precisely was it what was done by the gloriousproto-martyr of Mexico, San Felipe de Jesus, who boldly carried theChristian faith among the heathen, and so died for that faith upon thecross in Japan.
Rayburn was far from willing to yield to this line of argument; yet heunderstood it, as I did also, and perceived that it was the only logicaloutcome of the only premises which Fray Antonio would recognize. Young,on the other hand, did not in the least understand it, and FrayAntonio's reasoning simply threw him into a rage.
"It's all d----n nonsense," he said, "for th' Padre t' talk about hisduty towards a set o' critters like th' Priest Captain's crowd. What'sth' life o' that whole outfit worth compared t' one life like his? Hemight just as well sit down an' chop his own head off as go in amongthose fellows; an' he knows it, too. I never heard o' th' man he'stalkin' about who didn't get eat up by th' lions--somebody in th' showbusiness, I s'pose--but if he thinks there'll he anything worth speakin'of left of him two hours after he gets back into that city, he's makin'a pretty d--n big mistake. Oh, I say, Professor, we've _got_ t' stopthis. Th' Padre's off his head, that's all there is to it; an' we've gott' look after him till he braces up an' gets sensible again. I'll doanything reasonable that he wants, but I'll be d----d if I'm goin' t'stand by doin' nothin' while he cuts his own throat!"
Young was quite ready, I am sure, to resort to the radical measure ofclapping Fray Antonio into a strait-jacket; and had the opportunityarisen for bringing their difference of opinion to a practical issue Iam confident that we should have witnessed an exceedingly curiousconflict, in which heroic self-devotion would have struggled with arough but very honest love. And that Fray Antonio anticipated such aconflict was shown by his taking effective measures to render itimpossible. During the remainder of that day he steadfastly refused todiscuss the matter further; not harshly, but by shifting away into otherchannels our earnest talk. Only at night, before we lay down to sleep,of his own motion he turned once more to the matter; and when he brieflyhad exhibited to us again the motives which urged him forward upon away so perilous, he begged that we would not think ill of his insistingupon traversing our wishes, but that once more we would clasp hands withhim in sign of our forgiveness and continued love.
So tender was the mood that came upon us with his gentle words that noneof us well could answer him; and this he understood as in turn we tookhis hand and strove to utter that which was in our hearts, and onlycould say huskily a word or two, of which the meaning was conveyed forthe most part by the sorrow and the longing that were in our tones.Young's natural instincts were wholly opposed to any display of thesofter emotions, and for shame of the weakness that in this case hecould not help but show, his face and neck flushed red, and he declaredthat he had the toothache. And then, as a vent for his overwroughtfeelings--of all things in the world--he fell to cursing theSuperintendent of the Old Colony Railroad: on the ground that but forthis functionary, who most unjustifiably had discharged him, he neverwould have come to Mexico at all!
For my own part, I was well convinced that Fray Antonio meant then tosay good-bye to us; and for a long while, as I lay awake that night, mythoughts went backward over the time that we had been companionstogether, and so dwelt upon the faithfulness of his friendship, and uponhis gallant bearing in all times of peril, and upon the pure and perfectholiness which characterized his every act and word. Into the future Idared not let my thoughts wander, for I could foresee no outcome to thepurpose which he had planned so resolutely but a dreary sorrow thatwould rest heavily upon me through all the remainder of my days. And atlast, worn out by my own grief, I fell into a troubled sleep.
The faint gray light of early morning shone dimly in the room as Rayburnawakened me by shaking my arm; and the first words which he spoke to mewere, "The Padre is not here!"
As I roused myself fully, and sat up and looked into his face, I saw bythe look that he gave me how fully he shared the dread that was in myheart. Young still was sleeping, and we waited to rouse him until weshould make sure that what we feared must be the truth really was true.Together we went out quietly into the court-yard and so to the mainentrance of the building, where a guard was stationed. But this man wasasleep; and when I wakened him, and questioned him as to whether themonk had gone forth, he could give me no answer. Therefore we went on tothe gate of the Citadel--which gate, being a vastly heavy grating,raised and lowered by chains, was not usually closed even at night--inthe hope that there we might gain some certain knowledge. And here alsowe found all of the half-dozen men on guard slumbering, saving only oneman, who seemed to have been aroused by the sound of our footsteps, andwho raised himself on one elbow and looked at us with a sleepycuriosity.
IN THE GATE-WAY OF THE CITADEL]
Even the urgency of the quest that we were upon did not suffice todistract our attention from the peril that we all were in because of theslumbering of these sentries. "If this is a specimen of the way all thewatches are kept," Rayburn said, angrily, "we stand a pretty good chanceof being murdered in our beds. It all comes of trying to make soldiersout of savages. These Tlahuicos will fight well enough, I never doubtedthat, but to put such men on guard is simple idiocy. They have beenslaves all their lives, and they haven't the least notion in the worldof personal responsibility. It's a lucky thing that we have found outtheir methods, for I shall give the Colonel a talking to about puttingon guard some of
his own men who can be trusted. It's clear that thesefellows cannot tell us anything. We'd better keep on down to thelanding; if the Padre has gone"--there was a sudden break in Rayburn'svoice as he said these words--"it's pretty certain that he has gone bywater, and we may come across somebody down there who happened to beawake and saw him start."
There were slight signs of wakefulness beginning to show themselves aswe went down towards the water-side; a few doors already were open; hereand there thin threads of smoke curled upward through the still air;around a fountain a half-dozen women were clustered, drawing water ingreat earthen pots, and chattering together softly in half-drowsy talk.At the pier, however, we found some people who really were wide-awake:fishermen just returned with a boat-load of fish that they had caught inthe lake. And these, when I questioned them, in a moment resolved all ofour troubled doubts into a sad certainty. Only an hour before, as theylay out on the lake, a canoe had passed them paddled by a singleIndian, and in the canoe they had plainly recognized Fray Antonio. Itwas impossible that they should be mistaken, they declared, for thehabit which the monk wore made him very plainly recognizable; and theyhad observed him with a particular care, for they had been greatlysurprised by perceiving that the canoe was heading directly for "thegreat city"--by which name all save the priests were accustomed to speakof Culhuacan.
Neither Rayburn nor I spoke, as we walked back together through the townto the Citadel. Our hearts were altogether too full for words. Even I,who had been in part prepared for Fray Antonio's departure by the tenorof his speech with us the night before, had not anticipated his goingfrom us so suddenly to what surely must be his death; and to Rayburn hisdeparture came with the startling force of a heavy and unexpected blow.Young was awake when we returned, and was in much anxiety concerning us;for our custom at all times was to hold closely together, and he knewthat something out of the common must have happened to make us breakthrough this very necessary rule; and his fears were further arousedwhen he perceived the sad gravity of our faces, and that Fray Antoniowas not in our company. Yet, though thus prepared to learn that evil ofsome sort had overtaken us, he was not at all prepared to learn howgreat that evil was. When, therefore, we told him of what we haddiscovered, which gave absolute assurance that Fray Antonio had carriedout his purpose of surrendering himself into the Priest Captain's hands,Young stared at us for a moment in a dazed sort of way, as though by nomeans grasping the meaning which our words conveyed. And then the wholemeaning of them seemed to come to him suddenly, and he burst forth intosuch a raving volley of curses that it seemed as though he were fairlymaddened by his ungoverned rage.
I envied Young, as I am sure Rayburn did also, the relief that must cometo him with this rough but frank and natural expression of his bittergrief. For ourselves, we stood sad and silent, yet with our heartsalmost breaking within us, as we thought how small was the chance thatever in this world should we see the face of Fray Antonio again.
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