Up the Forked River; Or, Adventures in South America Part 9

"I have thought of that, but it seems wise to wait until I gain some one to share my lonely life with me."

"Would it not be more considerate to finish the work before that time, so that you both will be at leisure to enjoy it? How much better than waging war with your neighbors!"

"I have sufficient gold for me and mine. You mean it would be better for my neighbors to refrain from waging war against me. I made a religious vow long since never to go to war except in the defence of my rights, and that you know is one's solemn duty."

It was the same old argument that General Bambos had used in discussing the question with Major Jack Starland.

The young woman made no reply, for she saw it would be useless, and her escort added:

"Your counsel is good, Miss Starland, but suppose General Bambos should construe such action on my part as unfriendly?"

"Surely he cannot do so, unless you enter his territory, and that I am sure you have no thought of doing."

"You know not the perfidy of that man," was the commentary of the Dictator, his words inspired by jealousy.

When the Castle of Rest was reached it justified all that Senorita Estacardo had said of it, though it lacked moat and drawbridge and the other feudal accessories. It was of ma.s.sive rock and stone, sixty or more feet in length and almost as broad. The lowest floor consisted of two large rooms, with broad openings instead of doors, rough and unfurnished and with walls several feet in thickness. At the time of its building, it would have resisted any armament that could have been brought to bear against it. The crevices between the stones throughout the structure had been filled with clay or adobe, which in the course of centuries had hardened to the consistency of rock itself. The second and third stories contained each four apartments, whose walls were of less thickness, but the whole const.i.tuted a veritable Gibraltar. Sloping stone steps connected each story, but only the rooms of the second contained anything in the nature of furniture.

It was evident that General Yozarro had given this portion recent attention, for the windows, tall, narrow and paneless, had been screened by netting with the finest of meshes, though none can be fine enough to wholly exclude the infinitesimal insects like the coloradilla, or red flea, whose bite is as the point of a red hot needle, the sand fly, and other devilish insects beyond enumeration.

Matting was spread on the smooth stone floors, there were imported chairs of costly make, stands, a bureau and much of what const.i.tutes the appointments of a modern residence in a tropical country. The doors were made of a species of wood, beautifully carved, but showing no effects of the tooth of time, except in the gray faded color, for paint had never touched them. They were powerful enough to defy a battering ram, fitted with enormous locks and heavy bars that could be slipped into the ma.s.sive iron receptacles.

"Had that old buccaneer been given notice of the attack by his men,"

said Miss Starland, when the building had been inspected from top to bottom, "he might have shut himself in one of these rooms and bade them do their worst."

"Perhaps he did," suggested General Yozarro.

"And yet the legend says he fell."

"Starvation and thirst are enemies to whom the bravest must surrender."

"It looks, General, as if you had been rejuvenating this fine old Castle."

"I have done so to a certain extent in honor of your coming. Besides I thought my niece would find a stay here pleasant during the oppressive weather and I prepared it partly for her. You observe how much cooler it is here than in the capital."

CHAPTER XIII.

All had observed this fact which was natural. The elevation of the structure, which was open to every breeze that fluttered through the mountains, made it one of the most comfortable places in that part of the world. Another thing had been noted by the young women. Two armed sentinels were pacing outside, and two more came forward from the lower apartments and saluted the General and his party. They relieved one another at regular intervals, and three of them had their wives domiciled on the second floor. These were slatterns, not wholly lacking in a certain comeliness, and eyed the visitors with shy curiosity. The latter spoke to them in Spanish, to which they smiled and replied in soft, awed monosyllables, and respectfully watched the movements of the young women.

General Yozarro descended the lower stairs, leaving his young friends on the second floor, where they lingered a few minutes to admire the view from the windows. The broad, wooded plain, stretching to the verge of vision, the town nestling in the lowlands a few miles away, the sweep of the river, and the cloudless blue sky formed a picture that would always linger in the memory of all whose privilege it was to look upon them.

The two turned to descend the steps, when the Senorita missed one of her gloves. Hurriedly glancing about her, she said:

"I must have dropped it in the story above; I'll run up and search, while you may find it below or on the outside."

She darted off like a bird, and Miss Starland moved down the sloping steps which gave back not the slightest sound. The female servants had preceded her, so that for a brief time she was alone. She reached the lower floor, and was pa.s.sing through the opening leading out doors, when she heard some one speaking in a low, but excited voice. She paused and discovered that he was swearing frightfully, the pa.s.sion of the speaker being the more fearful because of the repression of the tones. With a shock which cannot be described, she recognized the voice as General Yozarro's, and, more shameful than all, he was addressing one of the women.

In her distress, and determined not to hear the words, Miss Starland softly ran up the steps and was looking through the rooms again for the missing glove, when her friend, with a glowing smile, came down holding it up in her hand. Both laughed over the insignificant incident, and Miss Starland took care as they descended that her own merriment continued. General Yozarro, thus warned, finished his imprecations, and met them with his usual smiles and graciousness. In his snowy suit, sombrero in hand, he was the acme of cool politeness and courtesy. Had not Miss Starland identified his voice unmistakably, she could not have believed what her ears had told her.

That one revelation, however, did its work. She was resolved to leave Atlamalco on the first opportunity and never to set foot within the Republic again. She had come to look upon this man with a mortal horror, for, under the mask of chivalry, he carried the blackest of hearts.

The return ride was trying to the last degree. General Yozarro seemed to have forgotten his promise to his niece, and tortured her friend with attentions which filled her with resentment. When he a.s.sisted her to dismount, he pressed her hand for an instant until the rings on her fingers dented the flesh and almost caused her to cry out with pain.

He uttered endearing expressions in a voice so low that no ears except those for which they were intended heard them, and they gave no heed.

Her friend seemed to see nothing of all this, though she must have been aware of it.

The irrepressible lover, more hopelessly enmeshed than ever, insisted upon their visitor sitting with him and his niece on the piazza in the moonlight, but in desperation, she pleaded a headache--when she had never suffered therefrom--and kept her room.

"And Jack never dreams of anything of this kind," was her thought; "he is only a few miles away, and I shall insist that I be taken to him on the morrow."

Having made her resolution, she carried it out. At the table, which was set in the large back room of General Yozarro's city house, and provided with the choicest fruits and every delicacy that the fertile republic could furnish, she made known her wish. She longed to see her brother on an important matter, and begged that she might be taken to him with the least possible delay. The others expressed their regret, and the General offered to send for her relative.

"The one who goes to take the message can as well take me along," said she, determined to force the point.

"Do you expect to remain with him long?" inquired the General.

"I know of nothing to prevent our coming back quite soon."

"Your wish is my command; I shall be very busy today on important matters. Suppose we take the ride to Zalapata on my gunboat this evening?"

"That will be delightful!" exclaimed the niece, and though it was not the exact arrangement her friend wished, she could offer no objection and it was so agreed.

Thus it came to pa.s.s that the _General Yozarro_ steamed past Major Jack Starland and Captain Guzman, while the two sat smoking in front of the native's hut on the northern sh.o.r.e of the Rio Rubio, without either party suspecting how near they were to each other.

The long day gave General Yozarro abundant time to perfect his schemes which were carried out with precision and a faultless nicety of detail.

Two miles beyond the hut, while the young women were partaking of refreshments in the Captain's room, which had been specially fitted for their reception, he came to them in great agitation.

"I have just discovered that General Bambos has obtained a boat somewhere and is descending the river with the undoubted purpose of attacking Atlamalco."

"Let us hasten back ahead of him," said his startled niece, who like her friend was in dismay over the tidings.

"It will never do to flee before him; he must be kept from reaching our capital; a battle with him is a necessity."

"With us on board?"

"I do not see how it can be helped--but hold! I will land you here and send you to _Castillo Descanso_, where you will be beyond all harm.

Ah! that is it! That is it!"

CHAPTER XIV.

The tug rounded to and approached the sh.o.r.e so close that by running out the gangplank, the young women were readily a.s.sisted to land. They were nervously eager, for there was no saying when the hostile craft would appear and open fire, since its crew and leader must be unaware of the presence of the noncombatants.

General Yozarro could not have been more thoughtful. He was profuse in his regrets because it was necessary to subject them to this inconvenience, and he a.s.sured both over and over again that everything would be done for their comfort.