Wings of the Wind Part 34

"That I will," she replied. "In the woods, all the world's a kitchen!"

"I rather wish it was," I sighed, looking toward the savory skillet and coffee pot; whereupon she gave the brightest of laughs, telling me to set the table as things were about ready.

But Smilax and I had never bothered about a table. We did not even possess a cloth, or napkin, or anything like that. So I cut some palm leaves, arranging them on the ground; then ransacked the duffle for a small kit of aluminum plates and cups, with also knives and forks.

Neither had Smilax and I deigned to use this kit, princ.i.p.ally because our meals had been taken on the move. At best palm leaves do not make a good table, as their ridges cause the dishes to wobble; so in the end we spread our steaming feast upon the gra.s.s.

My word, but that was a breakfast! I don't remember what we had, but it did taste good. When it was over, right down to the last crumb--for she had complained of starvation, too--I looked across at her, saying:

"If I can move, at all, and you're willing to go slowly, I'd like to show you over your new possessions!"

"Right away? Mercy no," she stood up, brushing her skirt. "I'm going to get a cigarette, and you're going to wash the dishes!"

"But Smilax washes the dishes," I protested.

"And he may be thirty miles from here," she announced.

"Will you come back and watch me?"

"I will if you want me to," she laughed, "but you'll look awfully silly."

"Then you needn't," I agreed, less reluctantly, "and I'll call in half an hour. By the way, I've deeded you all the 'island' east of those two big pines. The other side is mine."

"Thanks. I'll take possession at once." And she left me for her spring and bailiwick and cigarette--although I never saw her smoking one before, or after. In a few minutes I heard her calling and, straightening up with some feeling of alarm, answered:

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing; only don't forget to use very hot water!"

Later we walked to the south-western edge of the "island," so she could see how it stood in relation to Efaw Kotee's settlement; and I showed her the fort, purposely exaggerating its ability to withstand a siege and minimizing its chances of having to do so. We sat down there upon the turf, where the breeze and shade were refreshing. It was a fortunate location, also, for keeping an eye on the prairie.

"Have you named this beautiful place of yours?" she asked.

"No; we merely call it the 'island,' after the native fashion. Will you name it for me--for us? It's half yours, you know."

"Let's call it----" she thought a moment, "oh, let's call it The Oasis; for that's cool and comfortable and suggests safety from all sorts of things!"

"The Oasis it is, and we'll put it on the map some day, see if we don't!"

After a while I told her pretty much everything from the beginning of our cruise: of Tommy, Monsieur, and Gates, of Smilax, of seeing her in Havana. I scrupulously avoided any mention of having been bowled over by her beauty, or of the dream, and was inclined to treat the paper ball episode with a laugh; but here she interrupted me, saying:

"But I was very serious, really, and scared almost to death. You surely know I must have been to 've done it! The whole thing came so suddenly--like a frightful storm!"

"Then you hadn't always been at outs with him--or forbidden him to cross to your little island?" I asked.

"Mercy, no--that is, not my father. The other men, of course, were on a footing of servants--to me, at any rate. It was only after we got home two days ago, after Echochee and I were alone again, that I kept them away by--by threatening----"

"Don't say what--it hurts me," I interrupted her quickly. "I saw your wonderful courage from our hiding place."

"Everyone was quite friendly up to the time we reached Havana," she continued, in a rather forced, even voice. "We were there three days before your yacht came--though I didn't know it was yours until today--and that afternoon I'd been up in the Prado with Echochee doing a lot of shopping. We always bought every conceivable thing on those semi-yearly trips. Well, when we got back on board my father rather balked about taking me off again to dinner, but I held him to it because he'd previously promised. I think that he had grown so sensate to dangers that he felt one then, but couldn't locate it."

"Because we were anch.o.r.ed so close to you?"

"I don't really know. But it was something. It wasn't a pleasant dinner from the outset, because I resented his devilish mood and was disgusted with him for being afraid. That doesn't sound very nice," she added, half apologetically, "but, you know, there had always been something subtly antagonistic within me that--oh, I can't express it, but I'd never felt very close to him, ever since I can remember. It was largely my fault, I suppose. But I'd had glimpses of his frightfully cruel nature. Then Echochee, who came to nurse me when I was little, always hated him, and I adored her--so, of course, her influence counted. You really think she's coming through all right?"

"Downright sure of it," I declared, in solemn earnest. After a few moments of silence, I asked gently: "Do you mind telling me more?"

She gave a slight start as though the question had brought her from some deep thought, but smiled, saying:

"Certainly, I don't. When your two friends left you in the cafe my father became terribly excited. I asked him what on earth was the trouble--but smiling, for that was a subterfuge he always demanded of me in public places--and he whispered that he thought the shorter man was a police agent from his lost republic."

"Lost republic?"

"Yes. You see, my father had been its President--in South America, you know--until the revolution compelled us to fly." This was said resignedly.

"Oh," I murmured. "When was that?"

"Years ago. I just remember being carried off one night in a great hurry."

"Tell me the rest about Havana?" I asked, trying to appear calm.

"It's all rather awful," she sighed. "I hadn't noticed your friends more than to get a glimpse of them as they left, but saw you alone at the table. Pretty soon our captain, Jess,"--she may have given a slight shudder, I wasn't sure--"came up and verified my father's suspicions, and then I thought he surely would lose his mind. I was already becoming frightened, especially as the creature, Jess, impertinently leered at me, and my father didn't knock him down for it. He had never dared look at me before, except most deferentially, and suddenly I felt that I was nearing something awful. I can't explain it. It just came to me all of a sudden, you know, with desperate certainty, and--and I wanted to run away."

"Were you trying to tell me that?"

She flushed, but answered steadily:

"Yes. I thought you looked like a man who'd help a girl out of a mean place."

"By Jove, that's the biggest compliment I've ever had!"

"I only had a chance to write a little," she ignored my outburst, "but hoped you'd guess and tell your friend, the police agent."

"I didn't guess that," I admitted, somewhat crestfallen. "But we knew you were in danger."

"I should never have left that cafe if I'd known more myself, then," she said, tensely. "I'd have stood up and called to you--to every man there!"

"And I'd have brought you out in spite of h.e.l.l," I cried. "Don't tell me there was anything much worse!"

Her cheeks were still aflame with anger, but she smiled, saying in a lower tone:

"Nothing worse than threats. When we got aboard the yacht my father came to me and said, point-blank before those men, that--that--oh, I can't!"

She buried her face in her hands--and it was all I could do to keep from putting my arms about her and whispering that everything was now all right. But she had started out to tell me, and was determined to see it through. "He said that he'd promised our captain, that creature Jess, that I should--should----"

"Never mind," I murmured. "I know about it--he said you'd have to marry the scoundrel."

"Oh," she exclaimed. "I'd never heard anything so cold-blooded and d.a.m.nable in all my life! The creature stood leering at me over his shoulder, and I knew he'd been using threats because my father, himself, was almost paralyzed with fear. And then I lost my head--in blind rage, I suppose. I must have talked like a common fish woman, but my one desire was to see them cringe. So I told about leaving the message for you, pretending to 've written a great deal more--twisting the knife all I knew how, and being thoroughly catty. It must have been a disgusting exhibition," she gave a sigh of despair, as if for that uncontrollable outburst of temper.

"I hope you rubbed it in good," I growled.