It flashed upon me that this was the man to whom my lady was to be bartered. I turned on my heel to rush back and challenge him. But from the manner in which he stood to one side, I perceived he had not come alone. A moment later Don Pedro appeared in the gateway and stepped to the side of the coach, bowing profoundly. A hand was reached out to him, and from the coach descended, not the young gallant whom I looked to see, but stern-faced, gray-haired Nimesio Salcedo.
Greatly puzzled, I turned again and walked slowly to our quarters, striving to discern an opening through the meshes of intrigue in which Alisanda and I had become entangled. What could be the meaning of this visit of the Governor-General to one who I knew had reason to detest and fear him? And if, as it seemed to me Don Pedro had intimated, he intended to win over the Viceroy Iturrigaray by the offer of Alisanda's hand, why had he not already taken her to the City of Mexico, or stopped there on his way from Vera Cruz?
One result of my pondering of the tangled situation was the resolve to keep from my friend all that concerned myself alone. He had enough and to spare of anxieties and difficulties over the safety of himself and his men, without becoming involved in my private affairs. At the least, his concern for my safety and happiness would have tended to interfere with the observations and notes which we hoped would be of such great value to our country.
The following morning being Sunday, I went early to theParroquia, thinking to visit Father Rocus, should I fail to meet Alisanda again. This last was barely within the bounds of my fondest expectations, and I was accordingly more grieved than surprised when she failed to appear. As I was going out, a few minutes before the close of the service, a rather well-dressed woman in the archway mumbled an appeal for alms.
Struck by her lack of dirt and tatters, I stopped. She repeated her appeal, this time in a clear tone, though without opening the veiling folds of herrebozo. It seemed to me I recognized the voice of Chita. At once I held out a coin to her. In reaching for it, she covered my hand with the edge of herrebozo, beneath which I felt a note being slipped into my palm.
She turned away, with a shrill blessing upon the generousInglese, while I dropped my half-closed hand to my side, thrust it into my pocket and left the note, to draw out a copper for the foremost of the wretchedleprososwho came flocking about the rich foreigner. This time I was provided with a quantity of the smallest coins of the realm, and scattered two or three handfuls to right and left. While the beggars swarmed after the coppers like a flock of fowls over their grain, I slipped around the nearest corner of the church to read my precious note. It was short but full of promise:—
"Do not go to the promenade. Feign illness. TheParroquiaat nine o'clock to-night."
"Do not go to the promenade. Feign illness. TheParroquiaat nine o'clock to-night."
TheParroquia?—at nine in the evening? It was an appointment to meet her! Yet how could she escape the watchful eyes of Doña Marguerite and Don Pedro, even should they, as was most improbable, take her out to the promenade?
However, I concluded that I could safely trust to her wit and courage to bring about the meeting. My problem was how to fill the weary hours and minutes which lay between. I wandered aimlessly about the city, stopping now and then to watch the gambling with dice and cards, which, though prohibited by His Excellency, is too deeply seated in the natures of these people to be eradicated.
Intense as were these games, where men and even women staked their little all with passionate abandon, the excitement was far greater and the betting higher at the numerous cock-fights. I looked on at one,—which was enough and to spare. Man has a right to kill for food, but none other than the cruel and brutal enjoys the torment of his fellow creatures.
A gay dinner at the house of Doña Maria Cabrera helped to pass over the day until the siesta. But throughout the long hours of the afternoon rest I could only lie and swelter and eat up my heart with longing and anxiety. So heated and restless did I become that when Walker waked he inquired whether I had a fever.
This gave me my opening, and I stated my condition at some length, in medical language which impressed him much while telling him nothing. Even Pike was deceived by my statement, but I assured him that I should be quite well by morning if I abstained from the usual round of calls and the evening in the promenade. After condoling with me and explaining my indisposition to the numerous friends who called, they at last heeded my request for quiet, and went off to spread the news of my illness.
Between then and the twilight, the few who called were permitted to peep in and see me dozing on my mattress, with my head swathed about in wet towels. But afterla oracion, old Cæsar had his orders to stop all on the threshold of the outer room, and explain that I was not to be disturbed.
A full hour before the time set, I borrowed one of Walker's circular cloaks, and shadowed my face in my wide sombrero. After explaining to Cæsar that I needed a breath of fresh air, but that he should say nothing about my absence unless his master or Lieutenant Pike came in before my return, I slipped out, unseen by any one else.
The moon having risen, I had need of care to cross the plaza without attracting attention. Fortunately it was too early for an encounter with the soldiers of the night patrols, who would have required me to give my countersign. Arriving at theParroquia, I stationed myself in the dense shadow around the corner of the farther tower, and waited with such scant patience as I could command.
Now and then persons passed by in the plaza, singly or in couples or in groups. None caught sight of me, yet I could see them with perfect distinctness, and as I considered this, I was seized with the fear that Alisanda would inevitably be detected before she could reach my side.
From the first I had kept my gaze fixed in the direction of the Vallois mansion, and had watched with eagerness the approach of all the gowned figures that came either alone or in pairs. As the time drew near, I became more restless and could not keep so steady a watch. More than once I had to turn to look about at all quarters of the plaza.
It was during one of these chance glances that I was astonished to see my lady approaching the church from the direction of the promenade. She was accompanied by Father Rocus and Chita.
When they came opposite me, I ventured a slight cough, but they went by without stopping. It was otherwise with a group of young gallants, who paused to stare at the graceful figure of my lady until she and the padre and Chita had disappeared into the yawning entrance of theParroquia. The young beaux had at once guessed the identity of the señorita, notwithstanding her veiling mantilla, and they stood within twenty feet of me, discussing her lovely charms as we would name over the fine points of a pedigreed horse.
Meanwhile I fretted and fumed, in a swelter of impatience. No doubt my lady was waiting for me and wondering at my delay! At last I was on the point of stepping out boldly to follow her, when Chita came scuffling out of the church, bent over like an old crone. She passed the young men, muttering and grumbling, and tottered half sideways around into the shadow. I caught her outstretched hand, and she led me quickly back along the flank of the towering edifice.
We stopped before the dim outline of a little door. Chita tapped upon the panel, and stepped away a few paces, to stand with her back to me. A moment later the door swung open, without a sound, and a dark figure appeared.
"Alisanda!" I whispered.
"Juan!" she replied, stepping nearer.
Ah, the rapture of that moment! Hers was no half love, to shrink with false shame. As I clasped her in my arms, her own arms slipped about my neck in tender embrace, and her lips met mine in a kiss of purest passion. Our hearts throbbed together in ecstasy. She drew back her head to gaze at me through the shadow.
"Juan! Juan! my knight! Oh, the joy of leaning upon your dear breast! I could swoon for joy!"
"Tell me you love me!" I demanded.
"Juan! Can you doubt it? Could you have doubted it from the first—the very first? There in the midst of that miry avenue, when I looked out the coach window into the windows of your soul,—then it was, my knight—"
"Then?" I questioned, my astonishment as great as my delight—"then, dearest heart? You perceived the love, the adoration which filled my whole being at my first view of your lovely face! You knew I would serve you and love you forever after!"
"No, dear. I knew you loved me that moment. But I did not know you. I was very proud—I am still very proud. The blood of kings flows in my veins. I had vowed I should wed none other than one of kingly blood. I shall not break that vow."
"Yet my arms are about you, Alisanda. See, I draw you still closer to my heart; I kiss your adorable lips!"
As I eased my embrace a little, she sighed, and her head sank upon my shoulder.
"Wait, dearest," she murmured. "Such ecstasy goes beyond my strength."
"Alisanda!" I exclaimed, "tell me—you do love me—this is not a dream! I know you are in my arms, yet it is unbelievable—it is not possible that you—!"
"Juan, my king!" she answered.
"That?"
"Yes, that! I believe in nobility of birth, for in that belief I was born and reared. But you have taught me a new belief; you have opened my eyes to see that there are men who are their own ancestors,—men so true and brave and chivalrous that they are kings among their fellows, whatever their birth."
"Beloved," I said, "do not mistake. I am as other men. It was only the love you inspired that gave me strength to win you. I am but an average man. Yet with your love—with your dear self to glorify life for me, it may be I can rise above the average."
"My king," she repeated, woman-like, unmoved by the plain reason of my statement.
"We have no kings in the Republic," I argued.
"But I have a king in my heart! Ah, Juan, if you but knew the fulness of your conquest! Love was in my heart from the first. Love can creep through keyholes. But pride barred the way against your entrance. Did I not mock you and scorn you and look coldly upon you? Yet Love forced me to give you the fighting chance, to put you to the test."
"That was the mystery—the secret of your eyes!" I exclaimed.
"And you had the courage to guess aright, to persevere against all my scorn and hauteur, to cross the barrier of rock and the barrier of pride and birth, into my heart, Juan!"
"Forever in your heart, as you in mine!"
"Forever!"
"When will you wed me, dearest one?"
At the words she quivered and sought to draw away, but I held her fast. "No, Alisanda! I cannot release you until you have told me. When shall we be married?"
"Ah, Juan!" she sighed. "How can I answer you? I fear that it will be never!"
"Never!"
"My uncle has asked me to sacrifice myself for the sake of the revolution."
"By marrying the Viceroy?"
"No!"
"No?—Then whom?"
"The Governor-General."
"Him—Salcedo?—that old tyrant?"
"It is my uncle's wish. He says it would free millions of people, my countrymen."
"Your countrymen? You come from Old Spain! No! And what if that man should sell himself for your beauty? Could such a man be trusted? Yet suppose he held true to his pledge to lead the revolution, and suppose the revolution should triumph, would it not be the triumph of Salcedo? Would this wretched land be less oppressed under Salcedo the King than under Salcedo the Governor-General? Answer me, Alisanda Vallois. You know the man!"
"Madre de los Dolores!—And I would have made the sacrifice for that! Juan, you have given me an answer to my uncle's plea. He may break my heart, but he shall not force me to marry against my wish. Rather than that, I will take the veil."
"Become a nun?" I protested.
"If I may not marry you, Juan."
"But you will marry me, Alisanda—you must!"
"How can I, dear? You have yet to cross the gulf."
"Father Rocus—" I began.
"He has spoken for you on that, yet admits a doubt. Can I wed you while I still think of it as a sin—a marriage against God's will?"
A sudden great fear embittered my rapture and dashed me to the earth.
"Alisanda," I pleaded, "is not our love true love? Can such love be wrong in the sight of God?"
"I have prayed the Virgin for hours without answer to that," she sighed. "And when the holy priest admits a doubt—If I do not come to you with a clear conscience, Juan, I shall be unworthy of your love."
"Leave that to me to judge!"
"No. We must wait, my knight. Rest assured I will not wed another than yourself. Be patient. A few days may see the cutting of the knot. That dangerous man Medina has wormed himself into the council of the revolutionists. It would be like him to turn traitor, and demand me as his price for not betraying the plot."
"Your uncle will give you to him to save his own life!"
"You do my uncle an injustice. He would sooner die. No; I was to be given to Salcedo for the sake of this oppressed land. My uncle would die rather than force misery upon me for other than the sacred cause of liberty."
"I have opened your eyes to the peril of trusting Salcedo. Now what is to be done?"
"Should Medina threaten, my uncle must flee from New Spain."
"Taking you with him! The world is large, dearest one, but wherever he may take you, I will follow."
"If you escape Salcedo!" she whispered, and I felt her tremble.
Before I could answer, the voice of Father Rocus murmured from the little doorway: "My children, you must part now. I brought you away on the plea of faintness, my daughter. I must take you in for a glass of wine, that my servant may bear witness with a clear conscience, and then we must hasten home with you before the return of your kinsfolk."
"But when shall I see her again, padre?" I begged, clinging to my love as she clung to me.
"Sabe Dios!—Quien sabe?" he returned. "We will each and all do what we can. Now we must hasten, for if my share in this be discovered, I shall lose all power to help you."
Reason compelled me to bend to this argument. I strained Alisanda to me, and we exchanged a parting kiss. Chita came up beside us, and the moment I released her mistress, hurried her to the envious doorway.
Fortunately I did not know that before me lay a full week of useless scheming and vain longing. Though we went about visiting and dining as usual, even two evenings at Colonel Mayron's failed to bring me the slightest relief from my suspense. Alisanda was kept in such seclusion that even Doña Dolores could not reach her.
On the other hand, Salcedo called twice at the Vallois mansion and took with him Medina. This caused me the most intense anxiety. I was sure of Alisanda's constancy, and yet did not know what pressure their casuistic minds might bring to bear against her will.
As to this Father Rocus might have enlightened me, had I not feared to compromise him by a second visit. It would need only the slightest shadow of a suspicion to put Don Pedro and his señora on their guard against the padre. Also I relied upon His Reverence to inform me in some secret manner at the first change in the situation.
Another Sunday roused in me the wild hope of a second meeting with my lady. But though I fairly haunted theParroquiathroughout the forenoon, I received no notes and saw nothing of my friends. Even Father Rocus was absent. A casually spoken question at dinner brought me the information that he was suffering a slight attack of gout.
Pike, ever eager for the display of my small skill as a physician, immediately urged upon me to offer my services to the padre. This was seconded by Walker and the half-dozen guests present with us at table, for it appeared that Father Rocus was a general favorite in Chihuahua, from the mighty Salcedo down to the lowliestleproso. After much insistence on the part of the others, I at last agreed to call upon the padre and prescribe for him.
Our little dinner, though frugal, was a merry one, for our host and the guests were in high spirits over the prospect of abaile, or ball, that evening. Though this ball was given at the house of a family we had not previously visited, Walker took Pike and myself as a matter of course.
When we arrived we found most of theéliteof the city already assembled in the large ballroom. Indeed, the first couple upon whom I set eyes were Doña Dolores Malgares and His Excellency, Don Nimesio Salcedo, Commandant-General of the Internal Provinces of the Kingdom of New Spain, whirling about in a Spanish dance that displayed far more liveliness than dignity.
We were duly presented to our hostess, and made our compliments; after which Pike plunged into the whirl with all the zest of his gallant nature. I drew apart, to overlook the gay scene in search of my lady. Not that I had much hope of seeing her, but I had learned that almost anything seemed possible in this land of intrigue.
At once I was challenged from all sides by brilliant-eyed señoras and señoritas. But even had I wished to take one as partner, I was unacquainted with the now spirited, now voluptuous measures of this peculiar Spanish dance. Pike, daring at all times and in all places, was attempting the step with the aid of a plump and kindly señorita.
I was more than content to keep back and look on, while my ears drank in the seductive melody of mingled guitar and violin and singing voices which floated down the ballroom from the stand of the musicians. Both the oddness and the agreeableness of this music was enhanced when at certain intervals the guests joined in the singing.
Confusing as was the whirl of the dance, I soon identified all present who were known to me, the first turn of the dancers bringing me a smile from my stately friend Malgares and a hostile stare from Lieutenant Medina. The dread to which the latter had reduced many of his fellow-officers was evident from the manner in which the young subaltern who had pressed up beside me shrank away at the first glance of the aide's baleful little eyes.
Wondering how soon Medina would force a duel upon me, I drifted idly up the room and back toward the entrance. No more guests had arrived since ourselves, and I had given over all hope of seeing Alisanda. But as I approached the Moorish arch of the ballroom doorway I caught a glimpse of Don Pedro in the anteroom. It took me only a few moments to gain the doorway. The close group of young officers about Don Pedro convinced me that my lady was with him. I thrust myself unceremoniously into their midst. Doña Marguerite sought to interpose, but, with a bow, I slipped around her, and bent to salute the hand which Alisanda held out to me. I was relieved to see that, like the rest of the ladies present, she was dressed in the Spanish national mode, and also that she seemed in good health and spirits.
"God keep you,amigo!" she said in a clear voice.
"Muchas gracias, señorita! May I beg the honor of your first dance?"
"It is yours, señor," she responded.
The other men fell away as she took my arm. Don Pedro stepped forward as though to interpose, but desisted at a sign from Doña Marguerite. I entered the ballroom with colors flying and the loveliest girl in all the world upon my arm. For the moment Fortune was with me. The Spanish dance had reached an end, and the musicians were striking up a waltz. Nothing could have suited me better. Dancing was one of my few accomplishments, and it was the very poetry of love and life to circle about the long room with my darling in my arms, in rhythm to the pulsing throb of the sweetest and softest of music.
It was no more than human that my bliss should key yet higher with a tang of triumph as I glided with my lovely partner under the nose of the scowling Salcedo and past the lowering visage of his Andalusian aide. It might be that I was to meet my death from one or the other of them, but for the time at least I was the happiest man beneath heaven. I was in Paradise.
Before I was forced to relinquish her to Doña Marguerite at the stopping of the music, I received my dear girl's pledge to give me all the waltzes of the evening. More she dared not promise for fear of the interference of her aunt. As may be imagined, it was a severe trial to see her led out by another partner, even though she accepted Pike instead of Medina for the voluptuousfandangoand though Doña Dolores contrived to pilot me into the set in which my lady danced the minuet as partner to His Excellency, Don Nimesio.
Before the close of thebaile, Medina's persistence and his open warning off of the other officers won him two dances, strive as my lady would to avoid him. But even he lacked the assurance to interfere with Salcedo's marked attentions, and, for the rest, Pike, Malgares, and myself contrived to foil him in every attempt, with the two exceptions mentioned. For myself, I had the divine joy of dancing every waltz with my lady, and it did not lessen my rapture that Medina followed us each time with a gaze which would have struck me dead had it possessed the power.
Such bliss could not last. All too soon the ball began to draw to a close, and when I came to lead out Alisanda for the last waltz, Doña Marguerite interposed with the statement that they were about to leave. Making the best of the situation, I claimed and was granted the privilege of escorting my darling to the coach. Such complaisance on the part of her duenna astonished me. I could account for it only on the supposition that Señora Vallois thought to spur on Salcedo's ardor and jealousy by the sight of a favored suitor.
However that may have been, the last of my successes of the evening still farther infuriated the truculent Medina. It is not improbable he would have challenged me that night had not my failure to obtain a word apart with Alisanda induced me to follow the Vallois coach all the way across the city.
Watching from the corner of the plaza, I saw the coach roll in between the wide-flung gates of the Vallois mansion. I waited perhaps half an hour, then stole silently up the street to my black doorway, across from her balcony, and began to murmur the song which had twice brought me a response from her. Almost immediately a light appeared behind the drawn hangings. I started forward eagerly, only to check myself and step back into the denser darkness of my lurking place. A hand had parted the curtains, and between them appeared the frowning face of Don Pedro.
I went home, if not in as black a mood as Medina, at least not disposed to kindly thoughts toward my enemies.
As chance would have it, Medina and I did not again meet for four or five days. In the meantime the Lieutenant and I were astonished to receive the report that an American officer had arrived in Vera Cruz some weeks since, and had been permitted to start for the City of Mexico. What could be his mission and why the Viceroy should allow him to travel through the midst of his territories was a puzzle we tried in vain to solve.
The same day I called upon Father Rocus, as I had promised, but saw him only for a few minutes and in the presence of two other priests. This, as I took it, was intended on his part as a precaution against suspicion of his friendliness. That he had no news for me was evident from his not passing me a note, though three or four opportunities offered for him to do so without detection.
A few days later I had a still greater surprise than the mystery of the envoy to Mexico. It came in the form of an invitation for the Lieutenant and myself to dine at Don Pedro's. Hope, ever unquenchable in the heart of a lover, told me that the don had repented of his harsh patriotism and was thinking to save his niece from a fate worse than death. Never was a lover more bitterly disappointed! Don Pedro and Doña Marguerite received us with the most suave and cordial hospitality—but Alisanda did not appear.
In answer to the Lieutenant's inquiries, Doña Marguerite explained, with affected regret, that Señorita Alisanda was indisposed, and so could not join us. I needed no more to assure me that the dear girl was under restraint. What I could not understand was why I should have been invited to dine.
The nearest I could come to an explanation was a repeated assurance from Don Pedro that he and his friends were doing their utmost to persuade Salcedo that it would be advisable to hurry me out of the country with my fellow members of the expedition. This I took as an intimation that our host still regarded me as a friend, but that the sooner I was sent away from Chihuahua the more pleased he would be. When we left, shortly before the beginning of the siesta, I had not been favored with so much as a glimpse of my lady, nor even of Chita.
That evening we went to bid farewell to Colonel Mayron, who had been ordered to a command in Soñora. Doña Dolores had no word for me other than her assurance that I might rely upon the constancy of Alisanda. Of that I was already certain, yet it pleased me to receive the confirmation of the fact from her true friend.
On the other hand, I experienced a kind of savage joy when Malgares took occasion to draw me aside and warn me that Medina was looking for the first opportunity to force a duel. I made no other reply than to request that every effort be made to keep Pike in ignorance of my private troubles, and to ask Malgares to act as my second.
Being at such a disadvantage with the Government, I thought it as well to refrain from explaining that Medina would not need to force me very hard to reach an issue. Also I feared that a display of eagerness on my part might cause even so noted a duellist as the aide to hesitate, and I had become desperately desirous to break the blockade of events.
Medina did not keep me waiting long. The following afternoon he found his opportunity in a message to us from Salcedo. As an officer, he was careful to attend first to his official business, which proved to be of a character well suited to his temper. I happened to be in one of the rear rooms when Walker ushered him in to where Pike was thumbing over his beloved Pope's "Essay on Man."
Recognizing Medina's carefully modulated voice, I lingered to adjust my cravat with an extra touch. When I entered, the Lieutenant was in the midst of a reply to some remark by the aide: "—Therefore, Mr. Robinson and I have considered ourselves at liberty to discuss what we pleased, and as we pleased."
Medina met my half bow with a scowl.
"May I inquire the purpose of our distinguished guest's presence with us?" I asked.
"He brings word from the Governor-General that it is high time we put on muzzles," replied Pike, with one of his rare flashes of anger.
"Por Dios!" I mocked. "Can it be Don Nimesio Salcedo does not admire our teeth?"
"Were I His Excellency," growled Medina, "certain teeth would be gnawing crusts in thecalabozo."
"But as it is, Lieutenant de Gonzales y Medina comes as an aide in the service of His Excellency," suggested Walker.
The hint was sufficient to smooth Medina's ruffled front. He fixed his gaze upon Pike, and addressed him with the most formal politeness: "Then you admit, señor, that yourself and Señor Robinson have persistently and deliberately inculcated and disseminated republican principles throughout the period of your presence in New Spain?"
"It is true," replied Pike. "We came to Chihuahua at the insistence of His Excellency, yet have been assured that we are not to regard ourselves as prisoners. Why, then, should we not discuss topics of world-wide interest with the same freedom we should enjoy in our own country?"
"Lieutenant Pike overlooks the delicacy of his situation."
"My compliments to His Excellency," retorted Pike. "My country is yet young and poor. It may as yet lack strength to resent the outrages of Britain and France. But present to His Excellency the assurance of my confidence that the Republic can exact reprisals for injuries to its citizens and officers inflicted by a secondary power."
"Satanas!" swore the aide. "You dare name the great Kingdom of Spain as not among the first of the powers?"
"The sun of Spain is fast setting. Your statesmen sneer at the mistakes and seeming weakness of the United States. I predict that unless Spain elects for freedom, within a century she will be shorn of the last of her glory, while free America shall grow in might beyond the grandest dreams of her citizens!"
"It is with the present we have now to deal, señor," sneered Medina. "His Excellency sends you fair warning. Those who have permitted you to indulge in your Jacobinical and atheistic discourse in their company, and in particular those who have themselves indulged in the treasonous discussions, are all noted, and their cases will be attended to in due time."
"That, señor, is doubtless one of the prerogatives arrogated to itself by tyranny," said Pike. "As for Señor Robinson and myself, we are citizens of the United States, and not subjects of His Most Catholic Majesty. We propose to continue to express our opinions freely on all subjects."
"I shall report your reply to His Excellency," said Medina, rising. "Rest assured your conduct will be represented in no very favorable view to your Government."
"As an officer of the army of the Republic, I am responsible to my Government, and to none other," replied Pike, now fairly boiling with rage. Fearful of his dignity, he gave Medina a curt bow, and withdrew to our bedchamber.
"Nom de Dieu!" gasped Walker, astonished that any one could have so dared the power of the Governor-General.
Medina looked aside at me, and saw me smiling.
"Señor Robinson is pleased to be amused," he said with a feline suavity which told me the time had come.
"It is most amusing, señor," I replied. "That any one could be foolish enough to imagine the possibility of intimidating Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike is little short of ridiculous."
"Por Dios!Say rather it is an absurdity to expect courteous compliance from the bearer of so barbarous a name."
"How of my name?" I asked, with mock concern. "Is it also displeasing to you?"
He stepped close to me, with a menacing look. "Your name, Señor Spy, is one to be linked in infamy with that of your double-dyed traitor, General Wilkinson, who for twenty years and more has been in the regular pay of His Most Catholic Majesty."
My palm struck full across his mouth with a force that sent him reeling. For a moment he stood in speechless fury, plucking at his sword-hilt. I grasped the back of the chair in which I had been sitting, for my pistols were in the bedchamber, and I had no mind to be run through. But Walker stepped between us, and muttered a hasty word to Medina. The latter made a sign for him to follow, and strode out into the court. Walker was out and back in two minutes.
"Sacre!" he protested, in great concern. "What am I to do? He insists that I shall serve as his second. Yet with you as my guest—"
"Accept, by all means. It would give me great pleasure. My one desire is to keep this from my friend. The fewer who know of it the better."
"But a second for yourself?" he questioned. "Entre nous, I should far prefer to serve you than your opponent."
"My thanks. But doubtless Lieutenant Don Faciendo will second me. I will call upon him at once, and you can follow with such communications as Lieutenant Medina desires to transmit."
"At your bidding, doctor.Nom de Dieu!what a blow you gave him! and with the open hand! My lips are now sealed—yet it is a fact that you have choice of weapons. You will of course advise with Lieutenant Malgares."
I waved him off, and as he went out again to tell Medina he would serve, I hastened in to Pike. He was pacing up and down the bedchamber like a caged panther.
"Has he gone?" he demanded. I nodded. "It's well—it's well! I could not answer for the consequences should I have to face his sneer again before I've had time to cool. By the Almighty, had he spoken in his own name and not as a messenger, I'd have challenged him, John!"
"Doubtless. But this menace by the Governor-General?"
"It cannot be he will go to extremes."
"Yet would it not be as well to consult with our friends? They may have knowledge of Salcedo's temper."
"We can rely upon Zuloaga and, I believe, your Don Pedro."
"Go to them, then, and I will look for Malgares."
"Very well. I will call upon Señor Vallois, and will meet you later at Zuloaga's, if Malgares can come."
With this, we threw on hat and coat and started off in the gathering twilight, on diverging paths. A few minutes of sharp walking brought me to the Mayron mansion, where I was so fortunate as to find Malgares at home and alone. Having first told of Salcedo's implied threat, I stated my own personal affair briefly, and recalled his promise to act as my second.
"Poder de Dios!" he exclaimed. "Nothing would give me greater pleasure. You will choose pistols?"
"Can he shoot?"
"Not at all."
"Then let it be swords," I decided.
"Santisima Virgen!you are no swordsman. He will spit you with the first thrust of his rapier."
"I said swords, Don Faciendo. My thought was the straight cutlass of your Texas cavalry. I have hefted a sabre, and your cutlasses must swing much the same."
"It is true,amigo, that the regulation cutlass would put you to a slightly less disadvantage compared to the rapier. There would be more play for your strength. Yet Medina is an expert—a master swordsman. You would have no chance. He means to kill you."
"I have quickness and strength. The odds are not so great as you fear. But with pistols, he would be absolutely at my mercy."
"Then you insist?"
A lackey announced Walker.
"I insist," I replied, as Walker bowed himself in.
"What time?" asked Malgares.
"The sooner the better."
At this he excused himself, and conducted Walker into another room. I spent the brief interval of waiting admiring a glorious painting by Velasquez for which Malgares had paid a fabulous sum in gold ingots. My enjoyment was not forced or feigned. With the assurance of action in the immediate future, I really felt lighter and easier in mind than at any time since the ball.
Malgares returned, with a clouded brow. "He was astonished. I do not wonder. Men nowadays are not usually so chivalrous as to give the game into the hands of their opponents."
"It is a case of two sets of loaded dice," I replied. "Mine are loaded beyond all question of fair play."
"And his the same!"
"That is to be seen. You accepted the challenge? All is arranged?"
Malgares nodded, still troubled. "I could do none else. We meet them at sunrise to-morrow, at the east end of the aqueduct. It is possible we may have use for your pistols. Have them ready. I shall call for you in good time, with my coach."
"You think there may be need of it to bring me home," I rallied him.
"God forbid!" he protested, crossing himself. "My only thought was that you might pass unobserved."
"True," I replied, and I hastened to explain my reasons for not wishing Pike to become involved in the affair.
I was barely in time, for I had no more than finished when the Lieutenant was announced. Not finding Don Pedro at home, he had called upon two or three other friends, who had expressed great concern for our safety, and advised him to consult with Malgares. Don Faciendo looked grave, but expressed a belief that all would be well if we held on as before with a bold front. This was also the opinion of the friends with whom we spent the evening at Señor Zuloaga's.
Upon our return to Walker's quarters, the Lieutenant, who had been working hard all day, at once retired. I remained up long enough to load my pistols, and write, first, a farewell letter to my lady, and second, a note to my friend explaining that I was to start early on a coach ride with Malgares. This I left with old Cæsar, whom Walker had already instructed to rouse us before dawn.
Faithful to orders, the old black had us out a good hour before sunrise, and a biscuit and pot of chocolate ready for our refreshment. We dressed and ate and made off, leaving Pike still fast asleep. Walker fetched his horse from the stables in the rear of the courtyard, and conducted me as far as the street. The expected coach was just wheeling into sight, preceded by a pair of outriders with torches, for the night was as black as Egypt.
At once Walker sprang into the saddle and rode off through the gloom to join his principal, while I ran up to the coach and slipped in beside Malgares. With that the gilded carriage swung about and rumbled off along the first street which led northward. Having taken possession of my pistols and loading outfit, Malgares asked if I had any word to be given to Señorita Vallois, in the event of any misfortune. I handed him the letter, with the request that it be returned to me if all went well.
"For her sake, you must see that it does go well!" he urged.
"It is for her I fight. In any event, I must have struck him for what he said. For whether or not it is true General Wilkinson is or has been a traitor, in the pay of your Government, Lieutenant Medina intended his remark as a deliberate insult. But we are alike fully aware that it is because of the señorita we now meet."
"God grant that for her sake you may win!—You will win,amigo!" exclaimed my friend; and with that, to divert my thoughts, he fell to chatting about various light subjects.
Presently the coach turned eastward, and, after a time, southward. The gray dawn now broke the darkness, and the outriders, at an order from our coach-man, flung down their torches and rode back into the city. The ruddy gleams of the full dawn shot swiftly up the sky. Our driver put the lash to his horses, and we spun along through a dense cloud of dust, in a race with the sun.
Just as the upper rim of the blazing orb of day peered over the low mountains to the eastward, the coach drew up beneath one of the immense arches of the aqueduct. Malgares caught up the two cutlasses, which had lain beside him in a wrapping of buckskin, and sprang out to meet Walker, who was advancing from around the corner of the massive aqueduct pier. They bowed and exchanged a few words, and Malgares, having handed the swords to Walker, came back to the coach.
"Permit me to assist you in removing your hat, cravat, coat, and waistcoat," he said.
I stripped to my shirt, delighted to be freed of the encumbering garments.
"We meet on the east side of the pier," he explained; and taking my arm, he led me beneath the colossal arch to the corner.
A step around brought us face to face with Walker and Medina. Their horses, with the bridle reins thrown over head upon the ground after the custom of the country, stood at a little distance, cropping the dry grass. The ground for several paces alongside and out from the pier was smooth and of a firm, dry, gritty earth. Medina, who had stripped in the same fashion as myself, was looking at the cutlasses, which Walker was holding up to his view.
When we turned the corner, Medina immediately stepped back half a dozen paces, with a readiness that showed his experience in the formalities of thecode duello. Malgares left me and stepped forward beside Walker. They first measured and examined the cutlasses, then exchanged a few words in a low tone. Medina cast an impatient glance at the sun, which was now clearing the horizon.
Malgares raised his hand, and stated, first to Medina, then to me: "The principals will take position, at sword's-length, facing as at present. At the word, 'On guard!' given by Lieutenant Walker, they will begin action. At the word 'Arreste!' by either second, the principals will instantly cease action. Señor, do you comprehend?"
"Si, señor," replied Medina.
"Si, señor," I answered, in turn.
We were each handed a cutlass, and led up within striking distance. Malgares and Walker drew back three paces.
"On guard!" cried Walker, in a thin, high voice.
Instantly I dropped almost to the ground and made a long-armed sweep at my opponent's knee. He leaped back barely in time to save himself from being hamstrung.
"Arreste!" shrilled Walker, springing between us.
I rose and stood back, staring from him to Malgares.
"What now?" I demanded.
"That is not fencing," protested Walker.
"No. It is fighting," I retorted.
Walker wheeled about and exchanged whispers with his principal. He turned again, to address Malgares: "My principal demands that the duel shall be according to the rules of swordsmanship."
"Enough!" I exclaimed. "If he wishes me to stand erect, I will stand erect. Only do not again interrupt."
"Very well," replied Walker, and stepping aside, he for the second time gave the signal: "On guard!"
I whirled up my cutlass. Medina stabbed at my heart. For all the quickness with which I bent to the right, his point gashed full through my left arm. But already my sword was descending in a sweeping stroke, and the fierce sting of my wound gave all the more force to the blow. Medina tore free his blade and whirled it up between my descending cutlass and his head. But for his quickness, I believe I should have split his skull to the chin.
Given a fraction of a second more time, he, being so skilled a swordsman, might even have glanced my stroke, despite its weight. As it was, the edge of my blade caught the flat of his at a square angle, and drove it down upon his head close above the temple. He fell like a steer beneath the poleaxe, while my sword blade broke clean off, a span beyond the hilt, and whirred down upon the dry soil.