The Guerilla Chief Part 3

"Calros! dear Calros!" called the voice, "was it you I heard? Speak, Calros! _valga me Dios_! That shot! Surely it was not for him? No-- no--I heard him speaking after it. Calros! Answer me, if you are near.

It is I who call--I, your own Lola!"

Had it been the voice of an angel coming out of the chapparal, or from the sky above it could not have sounded sweeter, nor thrilled me with a stranger impulse.

For some seconds I remained irresolute as to what answer should be made to the pathetic appeal. I hesitated to apprise the speaker of the presence of Calros. Only his body was present; his spirit was not there!

What a sad spectacle for the eye of the loved Dolores--the _loving_ Dolores--how could I doubt it? Looking upon the handsome Jarocho-- graceful even in the att.i.tude of death--I could not wonder at the earnestness of that feminine voice, p.r.o.nouncing him her "_querido Calros_."

Once more it fell upon my ear, continuing the pa.s.sionate appeal.

"Calros! O Calros! Why do you not answer me? It is Lola--your own Lola!"

"Lola!" I responded, yielding to an irresistible emotion, "this way; come this way! Calros is here."

An exclamatory phrase, expressing grat.i.tude to the "Mother of G.o.d," was heard in response; and quickly following the words, a female form, fair as the mother of men, parting the hushes that bordered the glade, stepped cut into the opening.

Story 1, Chapter V.

AN UNPLEASANT MISUNDERSTANDING.

Yes, fair as the mother of men--it is no exaggeration to say it--was she who, answering my summons, had emerged from the shadowy chapparal, and now stood exposed to my view under the full light of the moon. It was a full moon--a Mexican moon, that delights to shine upon lovely woman; and no lovelier could its beams have ever embraced than she who now stood before me.

It was beauty of a type peculiar to the land in which I viewed it-- peculiar even to a single province--the _tierra caliente_, or coast-region, of Vera Cruz.

The image of Lola is still upon the tablets of my memory, permanently impressed as I saw her at that moment; perhaps more deeply graven upon my heart as I beheld her afterwards.

The picture presented to my eye, and viewed under the moon's mellow light, was that of a girl just approaching the completeness of womanhood--or rather having completed it, for there seemed nothing wanting to make the perfect woman.

A figure of medium height, neither sylphlike nor slender, but of full physical outline, in points even imposing.

I do not deny that there is something sensual in this type, and I know there are those who incline more to the intellectual. For my part, I doubt the honesty of such ethereal admirers; and must still cling to the belief that bold elliptical outline is the true ideal of beauty in the feminine form.

That of Lola, seen against the verdant background of the chapparal, exhibited this curve in all its luxuriant windings. It was displayed in the tournure of the head, the cheeks, the throat, and shoulders; it embraced bosom, waist, and limbs; it ran over her whole figure--a living, moving curve, like the undulations of some beautiful serpent, always tapering to an end, but never terminating.

It was the curve discovered by Hogarth, though but poorly expressed in his pictures. It was perfectly presented in the outlines of the lovely apparition that came before my eyes in that moonlit glade, on the field of Cerro Gordo.

Her dress did not destroy the voluptuous line. It could not, even had it been one of those monstrous contrivances of fashion for concealing the too-often distorted form. But it was not thus designed. The sleeveless chemise of snow-white cambric, and the translucent skirt of thin muslin, like the gown of Nora Creina, left--

"Every beauty free To sink or swell as heaven pleases."

The slight scarf of bluish grey cotton (_rebozo_) drawn over the crown of the head, and falling loosely down in front, scarcely interfered with the symmetrical outlines of the bosom; while behind, two thick plaits of hair, escaping from under it, hung down to the level of its fringed ends, terminating in a tie of bright red ribbons.

At first sight, I thought the girl was barefoot. The skirt and petticoat (_enagua_) permitted to be seen beneath them a pair of statuesque ankles, nude to mid-knee. But although thus stockingless, I soon perceived that her feet were in _satin slippers_, hidden behind the herbage. Neither the naked ankles, nor the slight but costly _chaussure_, gave me any surprise, however inappropriate either might be deemed to a walk through the th.o.r.n.y chapparal. I knew that both were in the fashion of the country.

At the moment, I was not thinking of either circ.u.mstance, nor of the incongruity of bare feet in satin slippers. My eyes and thoughts were turned higher, gazing on a face of peculiar loveliness.

It was a beauty I remember well, but can ill describe.

To say that the complexion was a golden brown, with crimson in the cheeks; that the lips were like a pair of rose-leaves convexly curving against each other, and when parted, displaying a row of pearly teeth; that both eyebrows and lashes were crescent-shaped and black as ebony; that the eyes were of the same hue, but sparkling with liquid light; that the nose was slightly aquiline; the throat full and boldly rounded upward--to say all this, would only be to state a series of physical facts, which can give no idea of the loveliness of that face. It was the combination of these features--their mutual adaptation, their play, that produced the charm which I have called _peculiar_.

And it was so. Even with a heart at that time not wholly free, it enchained me--and I stood admiring. The face was near, and the moon full enough upon it to enable me to view it with distinctness. I could trace every feature, every shade of expression, even to the quick changing of the colour upon her cheek.

I stood in silence gazing on this apparition so unexpected, so lovely.

Surprise, along with admiration, restrained my speech.

For a time the girl was equally silent, though her silence had a different cause. Her eyes were fixed, not upon me but upon the form at my feet. She had only glanced at me, and then quickly transferred her gaze to the prostrate figure.

It was a look of eager inquiry, lasting not long. In a second it changed to one of recognition, and the instant afterwards her eyes filled with an expression of intense agony. She saw Calros--her beloved Calros--prostrate, his face besprinkled with blood. It was Calros, silent, but not asleep; speechless and motionless; perhaps dead?

"Dead! Mother of G.o.d, dead!" were the words that, in accents of anguish, came pealing from the lips of Lola.

Her eyes flashed upward. In an instant the expression changed--grief giving place to indignation--something still more dire.

I saw that I was myself its object. With astonishment did I perceive this. It had not occurred to me to reflect on my compromising position.

I was still standing over the body of the Jarocho, blood-besprinkled as it was. Less than five minutes before, Calros's voice had been heard, along with that of another man, mingling in excited dialogue.

A shot had been fired. I held a pistol in my hand, from the muzzle of which a slight film of sulphureous smoke could be seen stringing outward. Calros appeared to be dead. Who but I could have been his slayer?

I heard the word _asesino_ ringing in my ears, with other epithets of like fearful signification, as the girl rushed up to the spot where I stood. There was no weapon in her hand, or I might have fancied she was about to strike me. Even with her clenched fist, I was for a while uncertain whether this was not her intention; and to avoid her, I stepped back.

She stood for some seconds looking me straight in the face. Behind the parting of her tightly compressed lips was displayed a double row of teeth, that, despite their pearly whiteness, gleamed fiercely in the moonlight; while her eyes, as they flashed, seemed to send forth jets of living fire!

"I am innocent!" I called out. "It is not my act; it was not I who--"

"_Asesino! monstre_! Whoever thou art; false fiend, to deny a deed of which--_madre de Dios_!--I have been almost a witness. There--there-- the weapon still in your hands--his blood freshly spilt!"

"It is not _his_ blood," I replied, hastily interrupting her.

But she heard not the rejoinder! for suddenly turning from me, she flung herself upon the prostrate form, drowning my voice with her wild exclamations.

"Dead! Calros! dear Calros! Are you dead? Speak to me one word--a whisper, to say you still live! _Ay de mi_! it is too true. No answer--no breath! Where is the wound that has robbed you of life, and me of my only friend? Where?--where?"

And as she continued to give voice to these detached exclamations, she proceeded, as if mechanically, to examine the wounds of the unconscious Jarocho.

Story 1, Chapter VI.

A DEVOTED WOMAN.

I felt the awkwardness of the situation. Appearances were against me.

Some explanation must be given.

Stepping nearer, I bent down by the side of the young girl; and as soon as her silence gave me an opportunity of being heard, repeated my a.s.severation.

"It is not _his_ blood," I said, "but that of another. Your friend has received no wound--at least none lately given, and least of all by _me_.

His death--if he be dead--has been caused by this."