Caesar or Nothing Part 74

Caesar could see nothing for it but to accept the duty which the town put upon him.

Because of the crime, the history of "Driveller's" family came to be public property. He had a mother and two sisters who were seamstresses, whom he exploited, and he lived with a tavern-keeper nicknamed "The Cub-s.l.u.t," a buxom, malicious woman, who said horrible things about everybody.

_LIFE OF "THE CUB-s.l.u.t"_

There were reasons for "The Cub-s.l.u.t's" being what she was. Her parents being dead when she was a baby, having no relatives she had been left deserted. A farrier they called "Gaffer," who seemed to have been a kind person, took in the infant and brought her up in his house. It was "Gaffer" who had given the nickname to the child, because instead of calling her by her name, he used to say:

"Hey, 'Cub-s.l.u.t!' Hey, little 'Cub-s.l.u.t!'" and the appellation had stuck.

When the girl was fourteen, "Gaffer" ravished her, and afterwards, being tired of her, took her to a house of prost.i.tution in the Capital and sold her. "The Cub-s.l.u.t" left the brothel to go and live with an old innkeeper, who died and made her his heiress. Six years later she went back to Castro. Those that had seen her come back maintained that when she reached the town and was told that "Gaffer" had died a few months before, she burst into tears; some said it was from sentiment, but others thought, very plausibly, that it was from rage at not being able to get revenge. "The Cub-s.l.u.t" set up a tavern at Castro.

"Driveller" and "The Cub-s.l.u.t" got along well, although, by what any one could discover, "The Cub-s.l.u.t" treated the bully more like a servant than anything else.

"The Cub-s.l.u.t" was said to be very outspoken. One Sunday, on the promenade, she had answered one of the young ladies of Castro rudely.

The young lady was the daughter of a millionaire, who had married after having several children by a mistress of pretty bad reputation. The millionaire's children had been educated in aristocratic schools, and his girls were very elegant young ladies; even the mother got to be refined and polished. One Sunday, on the promenade, one of them, on pa.s.sing near "The Cub-s.l.u.t," said in a low tone to her mother:

"Dear Lord, what riff-raff!"

And "The Cub-s.l.u.t," hearing her, stopped and said violently:

"There's no riff-raff here except your mother and me. Now you know it."

The young lady was so upset by the harsh retort that she didn't leave the house again for a long while.

Such rude candour on "The Cub-s.l.u.t's" part had made her feared; so that n.o.body durst provoke her in the slightest degree. Besides, her history and her misfortune were known and people knew that she was not a vicious woman, but rather a victim of fate.

The a.s.sa.s.sination of "Lengthy" was one of those events that are not forgotten in a town. "Lengthy" was the son of "Gaffer," "The Cub-s.l.u.t's"

protector, and some people imagined that she had persuaded "Driveller"

to commit the crime; but the members of the Workmen's Club continued to believe that it was a case of clerical revenge.

_"THE CUB-s.l.u.t'S" ARGUMENT_

In the month of June, Caesar and Amparito went to Castro Duro.

One afternoon when Caesar was alone in the garden, a very buxom woman appeared before him, wearing a mantilla and dressed in black.

"I came in without anybody seeing me," she said. "Your porter, 'Wild Piglet,' let me pa.s.s. I know that Amparito is not here."

She didn't say "Your wife," or "Your lady," but "Amparito."

"Tell me what you want," said Caesar, looking at the woman with a certain dread.

"I am the woman that lives with 'Driveller' Juan."

"Ah! You are...?" "Yes. 'The Cub-s.l.u.t.'"

Caesar looked at her attentively. She was of the aquiline type seen on Iberian coins, her nose arched, eyes big and black, thin-lipped mouth, and a protruding chin. She noticed his scrutiny, and stood as if on her guard.

"Sit down, if you will, please, and tell me what you wish."

"I am all right," she replied, continuing to stand; then, precipitately, she said, "What I want is for them not to punish Juan more than is just."

"I don't believe he will be punished unjustly," responded Caesar.

"The whole town says that if you speak against him in court, the punishment will be heavier."

"And you want me not to speak?"

"That's it."

"It seems to me to be asking too much. I shall do no more than insist that they punish him justly."

"There is no way to get out of it?"

"None."

"If you wanted to... I would wait on you on my knees afterwards, I would make any sacrifice for you."

"Are you so fond of the man?"

"The Cub-s.l.u.t" answered in the negative, by an energetic movement of her head.

"Well, then, what do you expect to get out of him?"

"I expect revenge."

"The Cub-s.l.u.t's" eyes flashed.

"Is what they say about you true?" asked Caesar.

"Yes."

"The dead boy was the son of the man that sold you?"

"Yes."

"But to revenge oneself on the son for the sin of the father is horrible."

"The son was just as wicked as the father."

"So that you ordered him killed?"

"Yes, I did."