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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36679-8.txt b/36679-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba4eaf1 --- /dev/null +++ b/36679-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6472 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An American, by Belle W. Gue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An American + +Author: Belle W. Gue + +Release Date: July 10, 2011 [EBook #36679] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AMERICAN *** + + + + +Produced by Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia, Charlene Taylor, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + AN AMERICAN + + BY BELLE WILLEY GUE + + + BOSTON + RICHARD G. BADGER + + THE GORHAM PRESS + + COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY BELLE WILLEY GUE + + All Rights Reserved + + Made in the United States of America + + The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. + + + TO THE MEMORY OF HIM WHOM WE ALL DELIGHT + TO HONOR AS FIRST IN PEACE ... FIRST IN + WAR ... AND FIRST IN THE HEARTS + OF HIS COUNTRYMEN ... + GEORGE WASHINGTON + + + + +AN AMERICAN + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +There are many characteristics that are essential to true Americanism; +among these, none is more prominent than an inborn desire, not only to +obtain personal liberty, but, also, to see justice done to others. + +We, as Americans, say, with loving pride, that we are citizens of that +_one fair land whose single boast has always been that it was free_. + +Oppression of the weak and ignorant, by those who are wiser and stronger +than they, has, always, aroused in us pronounced, and, often, openly +expressed, indignation. More than once, have we, as a nation, arrayed +ourselves upon the side of the down-trodden and pitiful, and, in every +such instance, we have greatly increased and enhanced the well-being of +those whose cause we have espoused. + +We have never gone out of our way to look for trouble, being more +inclined to attend to our own affairs than to oversee those of our +neighbors, and, yet, when, repeatedly, gross acts of injustice and +cruelty have been forced under our observation, we have, at times, been +aroused to a state of what we have honestly believed to be righteous +indignation, and, in these circumstances, we have conducted ourselves +in accordance with our ability and the fervor of our convictions. + +Prior to the evening of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and +ninety-eight, our relations with the government of Spain were amicable; +while we, as a people, sympathized, to some extent, with the uprisings +of native Cubans, yet, those who were at the head of our national +affairs did not, in any instance, uphold or palliate the unlawful acts +of the insurrectionists; but, during the hours of darkness of that +never-to-be-forgotten night, a dastardly and totally inexcusable deed, +in spite of the recent renewal of our friendly intercourse with the +Spanish government, made of that nation a foe to be contended against +with all the might that was in us. + +While our only object, in the beginning of the Spanish-American war, was +to teach the Spaniard the lesson he had so richly deserved to learn, at +the same time, as the results of autocratic misrule were brought, more +and more closely, under our direct observation, we took much honest +pride in the reflection that we were not only resenting, as became free +and enlightened men and women, an injury to our own well-beloved +country, but that we were, at the same time, giving to a people, whose +necks were raw and bleeding from the yoke of a tyrannical exercise of +absolute power, an opportunity to throw off that yoke, and become, in +due time, a self-governed and a self-respecting and an independent +nation. + +Our short and fiery encounter with Spain demonstrated, as many years of +unbroken peace and prosperity had not done and never could do, the +invincibility of American arms, and the unexampled superiority of +American daring, devotion, inventive genius and self-adjusting prowess; +it was supposed that we had a very inadequate naval equipment, and that +our standing army was very small, besides being poorly trained; in spite +of this widely spread supposition, our troops won many brilliant +victories upon the sea as well as on the land. + +The same spirit that saved the day for freedom and the right at Bunker +Hill and Bennington animated the descendants of those gallant and +intrepid warriors, who, soon after the heroic birth of our Republic, +defended the cause they deemed to be a sacred one with all that they +held dear, when they, too, went to meet the carefully trained and richly +caparisoned phalanxes of those who bowed their heads and bent their +suppliant knees unto an earthly king. + +An American volunteer is as nearly unconquerable as any merely human +being can ever really be; his whole being is entirely devoted to the +principle for the vindication of which he is about to enter into bodily +combat; he is not hampered or bound down by anything that does not meet +with the approval of his own conscience; physically, mentally, and +morally, he is the equal of any enemy against whom he may be pitted; +above him there floats a flag that has never been defeated, behind him +are glorious deeds of valor that are well worthy of emulation, and +before him are the hopes and aspirations of those who, with their feet +firmly planted upon solid ground, practical, energetic and capable, yet, +always, move among their fellows, seeing visions, dreaming dreams. + +Shortly before the beginning of the Spanish-American war, there were +some, across the water, who dared to complacently imagine that the +glowing spark of patriotism, implanted in the breast of every true +American at the time of his birth, had lost its kindling power; those +who were depending upon this erroneous idea must have had their +complacency somewhat rudely shaken when it became known, all over the +world, that, within ten days after President McKinley issued a call for +one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteers, seven hundred and fifty +thousand eager patriots answered to that call, offering their energies +and, if needs be, their lives, to the service of the land they loved and +honored. + +After thirty-three years of peace, the fighting men of America buckled +on their armor, bade a tearful farewell to their homes and families, +and, determined, enthusiastic and buoyant, went, blithely, forward to +meet, and conquer, a foreign foe; there was not one among these who did +not realize and consider the seriousness of the enterprise he had +started out upon, yet neither was there one who did not add, in every +way within his power, to the light-hearted joyousness, and gentle, +childish humor, with which our fearless and devoted "boys" undertook to +secure the freedom and general well-being of the Island people, as well +as to resent the insult that had been offered to our own country. + +The central figure of the Spanish-American war, from its hasty inception +until its brilliant and triumphant close, was that of a gallant +gentleman, mounted on a high-lifed horse ... as sternly devoted to +principle and duty as any Puritan had ever been, as full of the bounding +joy of life as any boy who followed him, leader, comrade, friend and +brother, fearless, resourceful, primitive, refined, highly educated, yet +as simple-hearted as an innocent child, bold, yet cautious and careful, +unselfish, yet richly endowed with worldly wisdom, respected almost to +the height of reverence, yet looked upon as a cheery, helpful companion, +by those with whom he was most closely associated ... THEODORE +ROOSEVELT ... a typical American, using that word in its widest and +loftiest sense. + +After the close of our struggle with Spain, we discovered that we had +not only given, but, also, derived, many benefits as the results of that +short, but decisive, conflict; we had acquired considerable territory +over which to extend the advantages to be gained from our educational +and commercial institutions; we had come into such close contact with +the people of these, and adjacent, territories that we were enabled to +understand their needs and their desires, more fully than we could, +otherwise, have done; we had presented to the powers ruling the Old +World an object lesson as to the people of the United States of America +being, at any and all times, and under every possible circumstance, +fully able to take care of themselves, as well as all that, +intrinsically, belongs to them; we had set before the mighty nations of +Europe an example of the proper attitude of the strong toward the weak; +we had bound together, in a common, just and righteous cause, all +factions, all clans, all religions, and all parties, in short, we had +bound together the entire population of our well-beloved country, and in +such a way that the bonds were indissoluble, unbreakable, and permanent. + +While we are, above all things, a peaceful and a law-abiding people, yet +we not only can, but always will, defend our altars and our homes +against any harm that may be threatened to them; while we do not seek an +encounter with any government other than our own, yet at the same time, +we are not afraid to meet any nation on the face of the earth, in open +combat, giving our enemy the privilege of selecting his own weapons and +following out his own ideas as to legitimate warfare. + +The blood of the sturdy and militant Anglo-Saxon, flowing, now, in +Yankee veins, is richer and more life-supporting than it was before the +Mayflower landed her precious freight of human strength and more than +human aspiration upon Plymouth Rock. + +All the fond hopes and all the high ambitions, all the daring and all +the deep devotion, all the practical achievements and all the airy +dreams, of their revered forefathers, are, now, alive and potent, +although, it may be, hidden, in the breasts of all my fellow-countrymen. + +If all the titles that have ever been bestowed by human beings upon each +other ... all the names that indicate the possession of wealth or fame +or place or power upon the earth ... should be displayed before my eyes, +and I be asked to select but one among them all to be the one by which I +would be known, I would without a moment's hesitation, choose AN +AMERICAN. + + + + +PLOT + + +Ruth Wakefield, as the daughter of the United States Consul to Cuba, has +lived in a beautiful home which her father prepared for his family on a +height above Havana harbor since early childhood. Having lost both her +natural protectors ... her parents ... through earthly death, she has +been much alone with trusty servants, as she has found little +companionship among the natives of Cuba. However, she has found a highly +respected friend in Father Felix, Priest of the village of San Domingo; +to him she has confided her great anxiety concerning some prisoners +confined, ex communicado, in the village jail, at the end of the prado, +or central park of the village. + +"The Lady of the mansion on the hill," as she is known among the +villagers, has not, though, told the Priest her real reason for wishing +the freedom of the political prisoners. Victorio Colenzo is a handsome +but unscrupulous fellow of mixed blood, being part Spanish and part +Cuban; he has found the lonely American girl and has courted her with +such dash and apparent sincerity that she has married him secretly, not +even informing Father Felix of her union with the attractive stranger. +This man is among the political prisoners and it is to free him from +bondage that Ruth Wakefield has furnished Father Felix with means with +which to overpower and overawe those who have him in charge. Ruth +Wakefield is herself deceived, for in the village is a girl, named +Estrella, whose lover Victorio Colenzo is known to be by her associates, +among whom is another of her lovers ... Manuello ... a native Cuban. +This man is also in the San Domingo bastile. Father Felix, at the head +of a procession of his followers, breaks into the jail and confronts the +keepers with a crucifix which he holds before them, commanding them to +release the prisoners; superstitious terror finally induces them to +yield to his demands; in the confusion, Manuello contrives to sever the +handsome head of Victorio Colenzo from his strong and manly body, so +that his corpse is found when the doors are finally thrown open to the +people; Estrella finds this body and weeps above it. Father Felix meets +Ruth Wakefield by appointment to report as to what he has done, and, in +this manner, she discovers the perfidy of her so-called husband. She +confesses the truth to Father Felix who sympathizes deeply with her as +he knows her to be innocent. She visits the morgue and meets Estrella +whom she befriends and, eventually, adds to her household. She has among +her servants, a unique character, named Mage, who has been her nurse in +babyhood and who is always faithful to her in her own strange way; this +old woman, throughout the entire twenty-one chapters of this story, +continues to perform unexpected and startling deeds. + +Old Mage accompanies her dear young lady when she goes to San Juan and +is stationed not far from the battle-field of San Juan Hill. Here, as +elsewhere, she continues to exhibit her own individual characteristics +as her central and almost sole idea is to protect and assist Ruth +Wakefield, whom, although she regards her with unlimited respect and is +entirely devoted to her interests, she still thinks of as the small +child she loved before they landed upon the Island of Cuba; realizing +how different she is from those around her, only increases the worship +of her faithful attendant, who, on the other hand, does not hesitate to +use language that will express what she wishes those whom she is +addressing to fully understand. + +Manuello has a primitive, passionate, unbridled and selfish nature; he +is wildly in love with Estrella and because she has selected another +lover he has committed murder; with this man out of his way, he hopes to +succeed with Estrella and goes to her intimate friend, Tessa, to find +out how she actually feels about the death of her lover, Victorio +Colenzo; Tessa secretly adores Manuello; she is, also, a native Cuban, +but her nature is more sluggish than that of Manuello and she has a +dog-like affection for Estrella, who has become separated from her own +family as a child and is a member of the household of Manuello, being +known as his half-sister among the villagers; the handsome peon makes +love to little Tessa but she is loyal to Estrella and does what she can +to contribute to her happiness, although, when Manuello becomes a +fugitive and has been wounded, she ministers to him in a deserted cabin +up among the hills where it is almost entirely hidden in a jungle of +weeds and rank vegetation. This cabin is the scene of many pitiful +endeavors on the part of little Tessa who resists the desires of +Manuello to make her his mistress although she dearly and devotedly +loves him. Here, at one time, she is secretly followed by Estrella who +is led to suspect some secret by Tessa's actions; Estrella informs +Father Felix of the situation. Tessa, in one of her struggles with +Manuello, has wounded him in one cheek with a knife which she happened +to have in her hand. Father Felix visits the hut and Manuello, after +severely wounding poor little Tessa, so that she is unable to leave the +place, disappears, but turns up again, after the battle of Camp McCalla +in a temporary hospital where Ruth Wakefield and Estrella are acting as +nurses. Old Mage takes a hand in this affair and so frightens Manuello +that he escapes from the hospital although he is wearing many bandages, +and, painfully, but determinedly, reaches the deserted hut where he +hopes to hide until he has recovered from his wounds. As he approaches +the hut he realizes that someone is within it and looks through a small +window, seeing Tessa lying on the rude bed she originally prepared for +him, and, beside her, kneeling on the floor, Father Felix who has found +the weak and suffering girl and is engaged in prayer; Manuello breaks +into the cabin and attempts to thrust the Priest aside so that he may +wreak his vengeance on the helpless woman. Father Felix, however, proves +to be a worthy antagonist and does not hesitate to use his strength in +the defense of the innocent, even though it becomes necessary for him to +seriously injure the young man who is like a wild beast foiled of its +prey. This struggle in the deserted hut, with the wounded girl looking +on, continues for some time, but the younger man is finally overpowered, +and, seeing himself to be at the mercy of his antagonist, becomes the +penitent sinner and confesses to the Priest who labors with him lovingly +and ministers to his spiritual condition. The two men then improvise a +stretcher and place Tessa upon it, after which they carry the girl to +the door of her own home in the village. Here, the Priest dismisses +Manuello and tells him to go in peace. The young man then limps back to +the deserted hut and remains there unmolested for some time when he +disappears again from the neighborhood. + +The Americanism of Ruth Wakefield is pronounced. Father Felix is +equally devoted to their common country. These two often confer as to +possible complications connected with international affairs; at one of +these consultations, Estrella happens to be present and declares that +she believes that she, also, is an American and that she wishes to serve +under the same flag as that to which the other two have so often +pronounced themselves to be devoted. She offers to assist Ruth in every +way she can should there be an occasion that would demand their help. + +Ruth Wakefield is awake in her own room and looking down upon Havana +harbor on the night of February 15th, 1898 and sees the blowing up of +the Maine with her own eyes; Father Felix also sees this and hurries up +the hill to talk matters over with Ruth; they form plans as to what they +can do for their own country and in the service of the down-trodden +people of Cuba whose sufferings under Spanish tyranny they have so often +witnessed. Ruth opens her home and offers it as a refuge to all those +who wish to escape from Spanish oppression. + +Father Felix keeps Ruth well informed as to military matters and, when, +on June 10th, 1898, our stars and stripes are waving, for the first +time, over Cuban soil, Ruth Wakefield is standing beside Father Felix, +who has become an army chaplain, at the window of a temporary hospital +which her wealth has made possible. This hospital is situated near +Santiago and many American soldiers as well as many Cuban scouts are +cared for within its shadowy rooms. + +After the battle of San Juan Hill on July 1st 1898, Ruth Wakefield is +one among many volunteer nurses who went to the assistance of a +righteous cause. She stands beside a little cot and meets a man who +speaks to her of "Teddy" and of the grand and glorious work that he had +done that day; with this bond between them, they soon become friends. + +Ruth, as one who has authority, moves from cot to cot and, so, comes to +stand beside the murderer of her husband or him whom she had called so, +for Manuello evened up some of his wickedness by serving nobly in the +battle of San Juan Hill and died in consequence of that day's dreadful +harvest of human forms. Estrella, too, and Father Felix, come to stand +beside his cot, but Ruth is all alone when his soul leaves the clay that +it has been inhabiting for awhile, and, so, she realizes as never +before, that the man she knew as husband was beneath her in every way +and in that terrible and heart-rending moment, she begins to learn the +way to forget the first wild love of her young womanhood and find the +steps that lead to saner, quieter and happier hours and days and years. + +Ruth is given privileges that are not accorded to many near a bloody +battle-field, and, when she leaves the hospital for the night on July +1st, 1898, she drives her team along a lonely road, hoping to leave +behind her, not only the scenes she has just been among, but, also, the +thoughts that those scenes have awakened in her mind. She thinks she is +going directly away from the recent battle-field. Her team is startled +by the sudden rising of a man near the road and runs away, throwing her +out upon the ground; she climbs over a low embankment beside the road +and finds herself among the dead; she is almost stupefied by this +knowledge, but, soon, her instincts for helping those who are in trouble +rise above her fears and she cries aloud and calls ... asking if any +there are in need of help that she can give to them. A faint voice +answers her and she seeks it out and finds an officer who has been +stricken down at the head of his squad of men; they are all lying in a +disordered heap and Ruth is obliged to lift one dead body off of the man +who seems to be alive. Having found him, she proceeds, from her +knowledge as a nurse, to aid him ... finds a wound from which his +life-blood is flowing fast and forms a tourniquet with a silken scarf +she happens to be wearing. He revives enough to whisper to her, naming +her, on the instant "Tender Heart" by which title he afterwards +addresses her. + +Having rendered all the aid she can, she speeds away, without fear, now, +as she has an object in her flight, until she secures help when she +returns and removes the one whom she has found among the dead to the +hospital, where, after a long period of suffering and faithful nursing, +he recovers sufficiently to accompany her when she returns to her home. +Here he proves himself to be worthy of her love which is bestowed upon +him with the approval of Father Felix and even of old Mage. Ruth's home +has been destroyed by fire and her entire estate has suffered much from +vandalism and from enemies of Cuba and of her own country as well, but +she still has plenty with which to rebuild her home and to assist many +in the village of San Domingo who require aid and comfort from those who +are stronger than they are. + +Among other patients in her temporary hospital near Santiago, Ruth +discovers one who is a Spanish spy, for she remembers meeting him when +he was a Spanish officer under most distressing circumstances, when it +had been his great desire to do a grievous wrong to a young, ignorant +girl whom Ruth rescued from his vile clutches. Ruth hesitates to report +this case to the authorities as she is well aware of the fate meted out +to spies, and she compromises by telling the facts to Father Felix, who, +while he is very tender of the innocent, is just and stern where +hypocrites and liars are concerned. The good Priest soon disposes of the +Spanish spy. + +Father Felix distinguishes himself in many ways during the hostilities +between the opposing forces in the Spanish-American war and does much +good, for he does not hesitate to do anything that he finds to do +regardless of whether it is in the line of his profession or not. He has +many experiences as thrilling as the one in the deserted hut with +Manuello. He throws himself into many a breach ... wins many a +hard-fought battle, and, through it all maintains not only his religious +attitude toward all mankind, but manifests a gracious and uplifting love +for all who dwell upon the earth, and, at the end of his activities, +resumes the humble station he occupied at first, for, as he believes, he +can do more good right there in the little village of San Domingo than +in a wider and more elevated station. + +Many refugees leave Santiago during, and directly after, the naval +battle of Santiago; among these are very many wealthy women who are +forced to leave their splendid homes and flee, in silken garments, with +the riff-raff of the city. + +Some among these wealthy women sought to help in temporary hospitals, +and one of them, at least, came to that which Ruth Wakefield had +endowed; this woman was noticeable in many ways, being of superior +intelligence as well as birth and breeding; she, soon, became proficient +as a nurse, and when Ruth sees her standing close beside Estrella in the +hospital, she suddenly recognizes a subtle resemblance between the two +young women and calls their attention to the fact. And, so, it develops +that Estrella finds her own blood-kin ... her own loving sister ... +there in that shadowy hospital, for it is proven beyond a shadow of a +doubt by a little trinket that the girl has always worn about her +neck ... a little cross of golden memories, through which, and through +the girl herself, her lineage is traced, so that she remains with her +own kin, and does not return to the little village where she suffered so +much sorrow. + +Tessa, with the stolidity of the Cuban peasant, seems to entirely +recover both from her wounded leg and her wounded heart, for she marries +a sturdy workman who supplies the earthly wants of Tessa and her +numerous progeny. If she ever remembers the romantic days through which +she has passed, her appearance belies the fact, for she becomes, +apparently, contented with her lot in life. + + + + +AN AMERICAN + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +About the beginning of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, there +had been aroused in the hearts of the people of the United States a +strong feeling of pity and compassion toward the inhabitants of the +Island of Cuba who were under the ironshod heel of Spain and who had +made many appeals for help to our own government in one way and in +another. + +The time was ripe for a revolution among the dark-skinned populace of +the large cities of the Island Empire and many confusing circumstances +combined to add to the confusion of sentiments entertained toward the +government by those who suffered from its rulings. + +Many indignities had been heaped upon the Cubans by those who claimed to +represent the young King Alfonso XIII, who, in his far-away palace in +old Madrid was as unconscious of what was done in his name, very many +times, as he would have disapproved of it had he known it. + +The young King and his mother, the Queen _regent_, tried, in every way +within their power, to adjust matters amicably between their rebellious +subjects and those whom they had sent across the sea to govern them, but +they found this a very difficult matter indeed, and between the fiery +tempers of the natives and the over-bearing arrogance of the officers +who represented them, the poor crowned heads of sunny Spain certainly +had a pretty hard time of it. + +The Queen mother was naturally a gentle and a very highly educated and +studious woman, while the boy King was as far from being the typical +idea of a reigning tyrant as a handsome, well-trained young fellow could +well be. + +But those who represented these two crowned heads were of quite another +pattern as to character and disposition and many were the cruelties +charged to the account of certain ones among their number due to the +opportunities afforded them of gratifying their lowest impulses and +following along the paths that led, for the time being, into what seemed +to them to be very pleasant pastures and beside very still waters, +which, as is well known, often, besides being still, run deep. + +One evening, just as dusk was falling over the little town of San +Domingo, there appeared, passing along one of the quiet, shadowy narrow +streets, a rather strange procession ... well in advance of the rest of +the motley company appeared a village Priest bearing in his hand a +crucifix which he held before him as if to fend off something evil ... +he was dressed, as is the custom of the Catholic Priests of Cuba, in the +flowing vestments of his office and the long cord that was knotted round +his ample waist had a huge cross dangling from the end of it which +struck against his well-formed legs as he strode along with head held +high as if he saw beyond the things of earth and gazed upon some +beatific vision which upheld him and lifted him above his immediate +environment. + +Indeed, there was one who walked beside him though he, himself, was +unaware of it, except subconsciously, for Father Felix, as this Priest +was known, was wandering among strange thoughts as he passed along that +almost silent little street, that one sad evening. + +He had been, for many peaceful years, the Priest who had officiated at +almost all the public meetings of the village, but, never in his life +devoted, as it was to the consideration of holy, high and spiritual +matters, had he been called upon to conduct so weird a service as he +was, then, about to do. + +He wondered, as he marched along, whether he was doing just exactly +right in leading these, his simple-minded followers, into what it seemed +to them they must do, that night ... he wondered whether, even now, he +would not better turn to those who followed after him and call to them +to halt and to consider well before they took another single step that +might, each one of them, be an irrevocable and a much-to-be-regretted +step, for it might lead to what they could not know of ways that might, +as well as not, prove very winding and even thorn-strewn ways for those +who followed along them. And Father Felix knew that he, alone of all +that little company, was gifted with the power to reason out a fair and +just conclusion from the premises presented to them all; he knew that he +alone had enough of education to even understand the meaning of the +words that had been spoken to them all ... he knew that those who came +along that little street behind him had trusted to him most implicitly, +for many years, in matters that required thought, and, although they had +been the ones to beg him to take the step that they were then about to +take, he knew that, even then, right at the last, had he been minded to, +he might, yet, turn their minds away from what they seemed to be so set +upon. + +He knew that, if he wished to do so, he could make them see the matter +under their consideration in quite another light from what they saw it +in at that time ... he knew that he could bend their wills to make them +match with his own will for he had done this very many times before ... +he was a natural leader, and being well equipped for leadership, he +took that place as if it were his natural right ... and so it seemed to +be. + +Any stranger, glancing along the line of human beings that followed +Father Felix and his upheld crucifix, would have noticed many weak and +vacillating faces ... many weak and vacillating wills as evidenced by +the expressions on those weak and vacillating faces ... many wills that +could be bent by anyone who had a strong and capable and domineering +mind, and Father Felix had a mind like that ... a natural leader's most +commanding mind ... he was a man to win respect wherever he might go ... +a man to dominate the wills of those about him ... a man to lead the +crowd ... a man to guide the minds of those he met, and, after having +occupied the one place in the village that commanded the respect of all, +for long, of course they looked to him for guidance and followed where +he led as little children follow after the one full-grown human being in +their midst. + +But, as they marched along, full many whispers ran along that motley +little company and gave some prescience of the clamor that would come if +all their bridled tongues should really become loose again, for, now, +they only spoke in whispers dreading discovery of what they were about +to do by some of those against whose orders they were doing it. + +"I wonder what the Governor would say if he could know the thing that +we're about to do," a beardless youth began, as he edged a little nearer +to his mother's side, "I wonder what would happen to us, now, if he +discovered our intention." + +The mother only put her finger on her lips and shook her head at him, +but, later on, when they had gone a little further on their journey, she +whispered to him: + +"I hope the Governor will never know who did what we're about to do, at +least, for, if he should discover which of us accomplished the purpose +that all the villagers are interested in, we would suffer for our +temerity in doing this ... I almost wish we had not joined this mob, my +boy ... I almost wish, at least, that I had left you home to mind the +house while I will be away from it," and, then, she ended, sadly, "God +knows if we shall ever be allowed to see our home again." + +There was one who walked among that little company, that evening, who +was not as the rest in very many ways, and, yet, her lot was cast in +with the rest for she had lived in that small village since her infancy, +and, so, it seemed to her and them as well, that she was one of them +and, so, must be among them even then, when they were casting in their +lots, at Father Felix' instigation, with the ones who so violently +opposed the reigning powers that they were held, then, and had been so +held, for many weary months, as _incommunicado_ in the village jail or +prison in the wide and beautiful and picturesque great prado in the very +centre of the town. + +The girl who, in very many ways, was different from all the rest was +walking in the very centre of the little crowd and, as the others +jostled against her, her great blue eyes stared almost vacantly, as it +seemed, around her like a startled fawn's when something unknown +ventures near to its retreat within its native forest. + +She drew her slender figure up to its full height, and she was taller +than the rest of those who walked beside her, when someone whispered to +her: + +"What think you of all this, Estrella? Is it to your taste to be a part +of those who, in their puny strength, contend against the strong? Do you +think that you'll enjoy the future that we are advancing to? What do you +think will happen to us when we reach the prado, anyway? Do you think +the Governor has found out what we are going to do and if he does what +action will he take? I'm more than half afraid myself ... I don't deny +that I'm afraid ... how do you feel about it all?" + +"I don't believe I know just how I _do_ feel, Tessa," said the taller +girl, "I think that I'm afraid, too ... I know my knees are trembling a +very little, so I must be scared the same as you say you are. Let us +keep as close together as we can, so, if anything happens to one it will +be sure to happen to us both ... it seems to me ..." she ended, +dreamily, "that even death itself could not be much worse than the +things that we've endured just lately, here." + +And then the two young creatures shuddered at the very thought of death +and huddled just as close together as they could and marched along among +the rest as quietly as if they had not been afraid of anything at all. + +At last they reached the prado and Father Felix paused and held his +crucifix even a little higher than he had done all along and waited for +the little company to assemble directly in front of him, when he +stretched his arms out wide in silent blessing on their undertaking, and +proceeded toward the little prison that stood at one end of the prado +facing the great public square where games were held when _fiestas_ were +in order. + +But it was for no festal undertaking that they had gathered there, that +evening; silent preparations were making as they halted ... battering +rams were being raised and carried forward by the men and tears and +flowers seemed to be the offering of the women in the crowd to the ones +they hoped to liberate from the dark, forbidding precincts of the +edifice before them. + +Father Felix motioned those who held the battering rams to hold them in +their hands in readiness for instant action at a word from him ... then +he called aloud to him who kept the keys to bring them forth and give +them to him, or he would be, in case that his request should be +refused, compelled, in spite of his strong desire to avoid all violence +if possible, to use force in effecting the object for which the +multitude surrounding him, outside, had gathered there. + +He waited, patiently, for several minutes, but, as he received no answer +to his demand, he called again: + +"Bring forth the keys at once!" he cried raising his voice so that it +carried far beyond the limits of the building that stood there before +him, "bring them forth unless you wish to force me to use violence for I +am determined to liberate the prisoners you hold within, and, if you do +not bring to me the keys so that I may open the strong doors with them, +why, then, I'll be obliged to break down the barriers that are between +the ones you hold within that prison and the freedom that is their +natural right. Once more do I command you ..." he cried in a stentorian +voice, using the quality of voice that he employed when he intoned with +due solemnity, the holy mass, "bring forth to me the keys that I may +liberate my children that you hold without the right to hold them, or, +if you refuse to do my bidding, then may the consequences of what will +follow that refusal be upon your own head...." + +As, still there was no answer from the dark and gloomy precincts of the +edifice before him, he prepared to carry out the threats that he had +made. + +First, he commanded those who held the battering rams in readiness to +advance until they were the proper distance from the doors for the use +of their rude weapons, then he told the others to await his word but to +be in readiness, each one, to follow where he led, then, holding high +his crucifix and calling most devoutly, on the name of God, he came as +near to those who were about to use the battering rams as he could do +and not impede their movements, then he cried: + +"Advance and give no quarter! Do your duty as I have instructed you to +the full extent of it! Follow me, my little children, God is good and He +will care for us in this our desperate undertaking." + +As the heavy detonation of the strokes of those who held the battering +rams rang through the building, cries were heard as if of those who were +in agony and many shuddered at the sound for well they thought they knew +its cause ... it seemed to them that they would be too late ... that +those they sought to rescue were even at that moment being foully +murdered in their cells because they were about to save them from the +fate that they had been condemned to undergo. + +The fair Estrella clung to her dark little friend and whispered to her: + +"Tessa, it is more terrible than we imagined it would be ... what shall +we do? How can we bear to go yet nearer to the horror that the prison +hides from us? Tessa ... little Friend ..." she ended, "I'm awfully +afraid ... are you?" + +"I'm almost scared to death myself, Estrella," Tessa whispered back, "I +know I'll die of fright alone if this keeps on much longer ... hear that +scream! It's very terrible!" + +But, then, all sounds were hushed, for prison doors that had been locked +as tight as any prison doors could be had yielded to the heavy blows +that had been rained upon them and, as they opened, they could plainly +see, in the dim light that fell within that prison's entrance, that they +had been, indeed, too late for him who lay at his full length across the +entrance to the prison, for his body had been twisted in its fall so +that his head that had been almost severed from it lay askew as if its +eyes, that stared as wildly and as full of earthly horror as dead eyes +could, had been trying to discover something strange about the figure +that, but only lately, was as full of life and vigor as was any figure +standing there without that prison door. + +Estrella gazed at that still figure ... then she screamed in almost more +than human agony and darted forward till she crouched beside it as it +lay there at the entrance to the prison ... straightening the handsome +head, she lifted it until it rested in her lap, and, then, she softly +smoothed the dark and clustering curls that hung above the broad, full +brow, and looked within the great brown eyes that stared at her, or so +it seemed, as if the owner of them had been walking in his sleep, and +then she pressed her virgin lips upon the full, be-whiskered mouth of +him whose head she held within her lap. + +She fainted, then, and fell across the body of the man who lay across +the entrance to that prison, and Father Felix lifted her and laid the +senseless, almost severed head upon the floor again, and supported her +until he left her with her little friend, outside, among the crowd. + +And then the village Priest came back and led the men who held the +battering rams within the prison to the cells of those they wished to +liberate and commanded them to break down those doors as they had broken +down the other ones, but, here, he found his way was barred, for, just +as soon as blows began to fall upon the doors of those narrow cells +those within those cells began to call to them and caution them that, if +the doors were broken down, they'd find the prison-guards behind them +with their loaded guns and the prisoners told their friends that those +loaded guns were pointed at their breasts and would be fired at them +just as soon as their cell-doors gave way. + +When Father Felix heard this ultimatum he thought that all his efforts +had been useless and his deep-laid plans of no avail until he heard a +voice behind him softly whisper ... a voice that he had never heard +before: + +"Be not weary in well-doing. The cell-doors will open and the prisoners +come forth alive if you but use the proper means to bring about that +end. Call out to those you wish to succor, now, and tell them to be of +good cheer for deliverance is at hand." + +The soft voice drifted away into silence, then, but the village Priest +obeyed its mandates and reassured the ones within those narrow cells and +gave them courage to withstand the threats of instant death that faced +them there. + +And, then, he turned to those who waited his commands and told them +that help was very near ... that, waiting there within the corridors of +that small prison were those who'd come from far to bring to them +assistance ... the kind of help that loaded guns would not affect. Then, +he told them of the punishment that would await the ones who disobeyed +the orders he was just about to give ... a punishment that would not +only last through earthly life but would go on into eternity ... a +punishment that would not only blast the earthly tenements but would +condemn the souls of those who chose to act in opposition to his orders +to everlasting torment. + +And, then, he turned to those who, breathlessly, were waiting for the +orders he was just about to give, and said to them: + +"When I have counted up to three, prepare to break the doors down ... +when I have counted up to six, if so be they remain unopened, go on and +break them in!" he stopped a moment, then, to ascertain whether his +followers fully understood the instructions he was giving to them ... +seeing all of them alert, he continued, "to you who are within, I make +this unalterable statement. Choose between a longer lease of earthly +life and instant death! Choose between forgiveness for your past sins or +everlasting punishment! Open these doors from within or we will break +them down and those whose human bodies we will find, lying stark and +cold in earthly death, will not be those of our dear friends who are +your prisoners, for there are those within those cells of whose presence +you are unaware but who are potent in the cause of right and truth and +justice. I will now proceed to count ... one ... two ... three ..." at +that, he heard a key thrust rapidly within a lock, but, as it was +unturned, he went on counting, "four ..." he heard another key inserted +in a lock, "five ..." he waited just a second longer, then, than he had +done before, hoping that the keys would turn before the final number had +to come, but, as they did not do that, he opened his mouth to pronounce +the fatal word and was about to utter it, when, suddenly, all the +cell-doors opened and the prison-guards within had fallen on their knees +in superstitious terror of what they did not know, and, so, instead of +uttering the fatal number, good Father Felix said, "Thank God!" and +raised his crucifix and pronounced a blessing on them all, both +prisoners and those who'd guarded them. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +When Father Felix ceased to be engaged in silent prayer he lowered the +crucifix he held in his right hand and placed it in the bosom of the +robe he wore and welcomed those who came from out that gloomy +prison-cell with praises and with prayers upon their trembling lips; he +took their hands in his and held them for a moment as they passed in +slow procession, for they were very weak from fasting and from long +confinement, on their way out into the open light of day. + +The first of all who passed from out those gloomy cells was he who'd +called to Father Felix to stay the hands of those who sought to liberate +the prisoners ... he was taller than the rest of those who crowded out +into the corridor and they seemed to follow him as if he were their +natural leader. + +He only paused a moment when he reached the side of the Priest and +hurried on as if he sought someone whom he hoped to find among the +motley multitude who surged around the broken doors that led into the +prado where most of the women were assembled waiting for the more +desperate action of the men who'd gone inside the prison. + +The liberated prisoner, although he, too, was weak and worn as all of +his companions were, yet rushed with rapid strides from side to side of +the excited mob whose clamor, now released, quite filled the prado with +vociferous shouts of joy, until he seemed to find the object of his +hasty search, for, when he came to where Estrella lay supported by her +little friend upon a hastily constructed bed of straw and grass, he +stooped above her anxiously and leaned to look within her face, but, +when her wide and terror-stricken eyes looked into his, he turned away +as if he had not found the one he was in search of after all. + +Estrella raised herself upon one elbow and rested on the ready shoulder +of her little friend while she gazed after his retreating form with an +eagerness not unmixed with sudden fear; it seemed as if the girl were +fascinated by him, and, yet, dreaded his approach, for she did not even +speak to him although she knew that he had been one of those whom they +had come to liberate and had looked forward to greeting him when he +should be released. + +But the horror that had been thrust upon her at the very entrance of +that dark and gloomy prison had quite unnerved her and had made her +shrink from any contact with the prisoners who, now, came trooping out +and mingled with the crowd by which they were soon, as it seemed, +absorbed. + +Then, suddenly, a trumpet blast rang through the wide and spacious +prado and a company of mounted cavalry, with naked swords uplifted, rode +madly in among the crowd and scattered it as chaff is scattered by a +furious wind ... cries of agony were heard as some were trampled by the +horses, tortured by the cruel spurs which their infuriated riders were +driving into their tender skins, and many men and women fell into +disordered heaps of human misery in wildly scrambling toward a place of +temporary safety. + +The soldiers gave no quarter to the fleeing masses of the people but +kept driving all of them who stood upon their feet at all toward the +open streets of the little village that led out of the prado, ordering +them to cease from disturbing the peace and calling upon them in the +name of the young King, Alfonso XIII, to disperse at once and to return +to their homes in the village without delay. + +The most of those within the prado had been driven out before the +commanding officer of the soldiers noticed that the prison doors were +open, even then, at first he did not perceive just what the crowd had +been collected for, or he might have given other orders than he had. + +When he beheld the broken doors he marvelled greatly, for this was an +unlooked-for and unprecedented method of liberating political prisoners +in San Domingo and the commanding officer did not know just what action +to take in the matter but felt that he must wait for further orders +from his superiors in command before taking any drastic steps to quell +the evident uprising of public opinion. + +Father Felix had seen the soldiers as they dashed into the prado and he +hastened outside the prison intending to meet them and hold some +colloquy with their leader, but, when he had reached the centre of the +prado the soldiers were driving the crowd out at the farther end of the +enclosure, so that, instead of meeting the leader of the soldiery he +came upon his own people as they lay in disordered heaps or staggered to +their feet. + +Observing Estrella and Tessa crouched back against a wall as far away +from the soldiers as they could manage to put themselves, he approached +them and asked them what they knew about this new phase of the +tumultuous doings of the day. + +The two girls greeted him joyfully for they had had their fill of horror +and welcomed the Priest who represented to them the sanctity of the +church: + +"Father Felix," cried the little Tessa, "tell us what we are to do next +and where we are to go and what we are to do when we get there, for we +are dreadfully upset and poor Estrella has had a terrible shock and is +still weakened from her fainting fit, while I am just as I have been +right along ... scared half to death." + +The good Priest stopped beside the girls long enough to tell them to +quietly go to their own homes and stay indoors until morning, then he +passed on to the other groups, and, where he could do so, assisted them +to leave the prado, preparatory to seeking their own places of abode +where he advised them all to remain if possible without molestation from +the authorities. + +When Father Felix had reached the little cluster of people surrounding +the liberated prisoner whom we have mentioned before, he came to a halt, +and, beckoning the young man referred to to follow him, he passed on out +of ear-shot of the rest and said to him: + +"I wish that you would explain to me how it happens that Estrella is in +need of help and you, although free, are not by her side. How does it +happen, Manuello, that your half-sister has only her little friend, +Tessa, to lean upon, while your strong arms are without a burden?" + +The young fellow hung his head as if ashamed, for a moment, before he +answered Father Felix, and seemed to ponder deeply over his reply to the +good Priest's intimate question: + +"I can tell you about that in a very few words, Father," he at length +summoned courage to say, "I have only within the past few most +delightful moments been freed from a loathesome dungeon and have been +receiving the felicitations of some of my friends on my fortunate +escape. I did not realize that Estrella needed my services ... if so, +of course I will at once offer them to her." + +Bowing low before Father Felix, he put his right hand to his head as if +to doff its covering, but, finding it bare except for his thick mop of +dishevelled brown hair, he smiled, instead, and, suiting his actions to +his words, approached the two girls who still remained where Father +Felix had left them as if afraid to move: + +"Allow me!" he cried, gayly, extending one strong arm to each of the +maidens, "Accept my escort to whatever place you desire to go!" + +Estrella seemed to take no notice of the offered arm, but Tessa eagerly +laid hold of the proffered protection and snuggled her small person +against the tall figure of the young fellow who turned to her companion +as if to discover the cause of her apparent coolness. + +"Why so silent, fair Lady?" he inquired, "Have you no congratulations to +offer me upon my recent harrowing experience and subsequent and most +fortunate escape?" + +Estrella did not answer him at first, but gazed intently into his eager +face as if to read there the inner motives that prompted his +lightly-spoken words. + +After she had looked into his face for a few seconds of earnest +scrutiny, she said to him: + +"Manuello, why did you not speak to me when we first met after your +liberation from the prison? Why have you spent the time since then among +the others instead of looking after my interests? Have you ceased to +care for me during your incarceration? What have I done to deserve such +treatment from you? Have I not treated you as a sister should? In what +way have I offended you, Manuello?" + +As she uttered these words her fair face flushed with the tide of deep +emotion that swept over it and her blue eyes grew dark and full of +feeling. She placed one of her hands on his arm, lightly, but held +herself aloof from contact with his person. + +He recognized this attitude of hers by standing a little more erectly +and holding the arm on which her hand had been laid, stiffly extended a +little from his body: + +"How suddenly affectionate you have become, my soft and yielding sister! +It seems to me that I remember how earnestly you plead with me to cease +embracing you whenever opportunity was afforded to me, before I went to +prison for my sins.... I think you are the girl who used to say to me +'please, Manuello, don't hold my hand so tightly! You are too rough!' I +do not wish to be considered rough by any woman, and, so, I am more +cautious in approaching your sacred person, now that I have had time to +reflect upon your many words." + +"How can you speak so to her, Manuello," exclaimed the dark-skinned +Tessa, "now that you are free once more? Poor Estrella has had a most +terrible experience, here, tonight ... you ought to comfort instead of +scolding her." + +The tender-hearted little girl looked up at the big man reproachfully +and reached around his back to pat Estrella's shoulder, but he only +stalked along between the two girls, sullenly and almost silently. + +At length, they reached the little cottage where Estrella and her family +lived and Tessa ran along a little further to her own home while +Manuello and his half-sister entered their own dwelling. + +It happened that they were alone, at first, as the other members of the +little family had not yet returned from the prado, and, in that interval +of time, considerable was said and done by both of them. + +"Manuello," said the girl, putting one hand on each of his broad +shoulders, "have you no pity for me, now that Victorio is dead? You must +have seen his poor, mangled body lying there at the entrance of the +prison, Manuello ... can you tell how he came to die just as he and all +the rest were about to be released from prison?" + +Her tear-stained face was very near to his and his own lips began to +tremble before he mustered courage to answer her: + +"Of course, I'm sorry for you, Estrella," he began haltingly and slow, +"of course I pity you as well as any other woman whose lover's newly +dead. As to how he happened to be killed ... why, I guess you will +never know just what did happen in that prison when those battering rams +began to rock it by their impact ... I am certain that I cannot give you +much explanation as I, myself, was one of those who suffered, although +you do not seem concerned as to that in any way." + +"You escaped alive, Manuello, and poor Victorio did not for his poor +head was almost severed from his body ..." said Estrella, weeping +violently, with deep-drawn sobs of agony, "I lifted him and tried to +hold his head upon my lap ... oh, Manuello," she continued, clinging to +him involuntarily, "it was very terrible!" + +Her sufferings seemed to move him for he put his arms about her +shoulders and drew her head forward until it rested on his broad and +palpitating breast: + +"Poor little girl!" he murmured, softly, stroking her fair hair, "Poor +little Estrella! I _am_ sorry for you ... I _do_ pity you, though why +you chose Victorio for your lover was always beyond my comprehension." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +When Father Felix left the prado he went directly to the church where he +officiated, and, thence, into the small refectory behind it; here, he +removed the flowing vestments he had worn when engaged in the enterprise +which we have described in a previous chapter of this book, and assumed +a more conventional and handy garb for he had work to do that would +require all the strength of his arms and all the muscles of his broad +back; he had set himself a task that was never meant for priestly hands +to do, and, in the doing of it, he would need all the strength that +years of careful living and an inherited and bounding health had +bestowed upon him. + +He, at once, began preparations for the work he had to do, and, to begin +with, he adjusted the heavy cross which he always wore about his neck so +that it would hang exactly in front of him and not over-balance his body +by being on one side or the other; this cross had been a relic much +prized by him of an old Priest with whom he had studied and whose +sainted memory he revered almost as much as that of the saints whom he +had been taught to worship along with the Virgin Mary and The Babe of +Bethlehem; then, he put on next to his skin a hair-cloth shirt so +constructed as not to scratch and yet to be very warm; over this he +placed a heavy riding-coat which had been given to him by one of those +who attended the services he conducted in the church; these garments, +together with heavy breeches and warm, woolen stockings worn under heavy +boots, completed, with the addition of a broad-brimmed hat, a disguise +that would deceive almost any person who was acquainted with his +ordinary appearance. + +Having clothed himself to his own satisfaction, he took a heavy stick he +had handy in his strong right hand and proceeded to leave the vicinity +where he was accustomed, at all hours, to be found, and, stealthily and +quietly, exercising all the precaution of which he was capable, he +proceeded up the street that ran behind the little church with as much +of haste as was consistent with the object of his journey. + +When he had gone about two blocks from the church he turned sharply to +his left and proceeded about as far again up the street that led away +from the village, then, turning again to his left, he walked briskly for +another block or two, when he came to a sharp turn and paused as if in +doubt as to just which turn to take, when, suddenly, as if from the +ground at his feet, he heard a low voice addressing him in no uncertain +language: + +"Turn toward the right side of this street," whispered the voice, "take +the right-hand side of this street and then turn again toward the left +when you have gone for two more blocks toward the right. You will find +the object of your search has been in waiting for you for some hours and +is now growing impatient ... so make all possible haste, good Father +Felix ... make all possible haste for she is sore pressed with fatigue +and fear." + +When the voice had ceased speaking to him, Father Felix followed the +direction it gave him, implicitly, and found, indeed, as it had assured +him, the object of the night-journey he had just made, waiting for him +with great impatience, coupled with much fear and dread of consequences; +he hastened to reassure her as soon as he reached her side by saying +softly to her: + +"Be of good cheer, dear Madam. The work that you commissioned me to do +has been well done and all of the prisoners excepting one are now at +liberty. Unfortunately, one of our friends lost his life just before the +wide doors of the prison were burst open ... no one seems to know how +this came about, but we found his dead body across the very entrance as +if, indeed, he had been about to join our ranks outside when death +overtook and stopped him." + +"Which of the prisoners was killed?" asked the woman who had been +waiting there for his coming, eagerly and apprehensively. + +"I do not suppose that you were acquainted with the young fellow ..." +answered the good Father Felix, soothingly, "he was called Victorio +Colenzo ... he was the lover of a girl I know very well and she was with +the crowd, who followed me; she dashed into the entrance of the prison +and held his head, which had been almost severed from its body, in her +lap until she fainted and became mercifully unconscious of her horrible +surroundings ... the poor girl was almost crazed with agony and regret, +for she had flouted him to some extent because of his revolutionary +sentiments...." + +He had gotten that far in his narrative little thinking of the intense +interest it had for the woman listening to it, until he happened to look +earnestly at her when he saw, in an instant, that it held for her great +personal appeal; he stopped at that knowledge and waited for her to +explain the situation if so be she wished to do so; at length, between +low-drawn sobs, she said, falteringly: + +"You say Victorio Colenzo was the lover of some light girl you know? +Indeed, you are much mistaken. Instead of being any girl's lover, he +belonged solely to me. He was my own dearly beloved husband, Father +Felix. I had not yet told you of our marriage for I wanted you to think +of me only in my own personal right, but I am the widow of the man whose +shameful and horrible death you have just been describing to me ... I am +the weeping widow of Victorio Colenzo, Father Felix, and, if it be in my +power, his death shall be avenged in blood!" + +As she ceased speaking she put her hands before her face and gave way, +utterly, to her great sorrow, for she had but spoken the solemn truth +although no one of her many acquaintances suspected that she was a +married woman at all. + +Father Felix was dumbfounded by the intelligence the young woman had +just given to him and pitied her from the very bottom of his tender +heart and he blamed his blundering tongue for giving to her such a shock +as he had just been the cause of; at the same time he could not blame +himself as much as he might have done had he not known of the marriage +contract of Estrella and this same man of whom he had been speaking; he +hastened to place this young girl in the right light before his +companion by saying: + +"My dear Madam, as to the girl of whom I was just speaking, she is in +every sense of the word a good girl and innocent of any wrong intention; +if there is a sinner in this matter it was he who is now not to be +condemned by any human being, for he has gone before his Maker Who will +mete out to him whatever is his just dessert. I am deeply grieved that I +should have caused you this deep grief at this time, but, as the +circumstances are, you would have been obliged to know it very soon in +any case." + +The young woman who had been waiting for the Priest to come to her to +make his report as to how he had done the work that she had set for him +to do, was beautiful as any dream of womanhood could ever be. + +Her great gray eyes, that shone like stars upon a misty night, were +lifted to his face and questioned him as to the truth of his last +statement while they plainly showed the almost holy faith she had in all +he did: + +"Dear Father Felix," she said, finally, stifling as best she could the +sobs that shook her slender figure, "dear Father Felix, I know you speak +the truth, and, yet, it does not seem to me that he could have ever been +a hypocrite such as a man would have to be to be what you infer he was. +He was my darling husband ... if he, also, was the lover of a trusting +girl, then he sinned most grievously ... it breaks my heart," she ended, +clasping her soft, white hands together spasmodically, "it breaks my +heart to think he could be such a villain as you say he was. Dear Father +Felix," she began again, for hope will sometimes come upon the very +heels of wild despair, "dear Father Felix, are you sure that this man +who is newly dead can be the Victorio Colenzo that I know ... the man +who is ... I hope he is ... my own dear husband? The one I mean was a +prisoner with the others you have liberated ... it was for his sake +alone that I arranged to have you do the work you've done ... might it +not be that you have been mistaken in the man? Might there not have +even been two men bearing the same name within that prison?" + +Eagerly and hopefully, she questioned the good Priest. He sadly shook +his head and said to her: + +"The young man whose body lay within the entrance to the prison when we +had battered down the door, was tall and very dark ... his hair was like +a raven's wing for blackness ... his eyes were like the falcon's in +their keenness ... he was a handsome fellow in every possible way and +the girl, Estrella, of whom I spoke, fairly worshipped him although her +own family flouted her for doing so, as he only came to see her at long +intervals and seemed ashamed to be seen with her ... seldom ever went +out anywhere with her, but they were plighted lovers ... that I know ... +they came to me together, one evening, in the church, and I blessed +their future union, believing him to be an honest man and knowing her to +be a gentle, true and loving girl." + +"I fear he was my husband, Father Felix.... I fear the very one I hoped +to liberate has lost his life and lost his honor, too. Father Felix, +tell me how to bear this great and hopeless sorrow! _Is_ there any way +to bear a sorrow such as this one is? _Can_ I shut my Husband's memory +from my heart because I can no longer have respect for him? _Is_ there +any way," she wailed, pleadingly, "_is_ there any way to bear a sorrow +such as this one is? _Tell_ me, good Father, _tell_ me, is there any +way of escape for me who am as innocent as is this young girl of whom +you have just spoken? Is there some way in which I can assist her, +Father Felix? Perhaps it is my duty, under these circumstances, to hunt +her up and try to help her, who is, also, as it were, a widow of my +darling Husband. Must I do this, Father? Would it be my duty, as the +wife of Victorio Colenzo, to look this girl up and try to help her bear +her sorrow on account of his death?" + +The good Priest looked at her in deep amazement, but he answered her as +calmly as he could command his voice to speak: + +"No, my Daughter, no ... that would be going beyond reason as to duty. +It might be right for you to send her something if she were in need of +monetary assistance.... I do not think she is, however, I do not think +Estrella is in need of anything to live upon ... they had not been +married, you understand ... she was not his wife as you were ... only +just he'd promised he would marry her, sometime. No, you owe her nothing +more than womanly sympathy in her bereavement and you do not need to see +her at all, for that matter. It would give you unnecessary pain, it +seems to me. As for her, if we can, we will let her remain in ignorance +of the character of him she loved ... she would the sooner repair the +injury, it seems to me, if she could still respect his memory. It must +be doubly hard for you, my Daughter, to lose him and respect for him at +the same time ... yet, it would have been a terrible knowledge for you +to have gained ... that he had misled this innocent girl ... even during +his life. A man has little thought of the women who love him when he +plays fast and loose with more than one of them at a time, anyway. I +wish I knew what words to say to you to make you strong to bear this +misery, dear Daughter ... you must bear it all alone, I know that +much ... only God in His great Mercy, can assist you in this matter ... +only He can tell you what to do or how to endure your agony of spirit, +for only He can understand your heart. I am but a feeble instrument in +God's Own Hands, my dear, afflicted Daughter.... I am but a very feeble +instrument.... I wish I knew the way to help you bear this thing. I wish +that I could say the fitting word to turn your mind to other thoughts, +for only in the mind can fitting help be found ... only the spiritual +side of your strong nature can uphold you now." + +He'd kept on talking to her hoping to alleviate her pain in some +degree ... hoping that her fits of violent and heart-breaking weeping +would grow farther and farther apart until they would cease altogether +so that, being calmer, she could better face this heavy burden that was +hers, and hers alone, to bear. Seeing no cessation of her sobs and moans +of agony of spirit, he began to speak of other matters, hoping to +distract her mind and turn her thoughts to other things, thereby giving +her an opportunity to face the sorrow that had come upon her so suddenly +with more strength than she would have if she continued to dwell on it +alone. So he bethought him of the soldiery and of their coming riding +into the prado and he began to tell her of this phase of the adventure +he had on her account, mainly. She listened calmly to this narrative and +even asked some questions, haltingly, but, just as soon as that account +was ended, she began again to ask concerning poor Victorio: + +"Where have they taken his remains, good Father? Where can I find my +darling Husband's body? How can I bear to have to see his face which has +always to my knowledge been so full of life and youth and perfect health +lying stark and still with no expression in his glorious dark eyes that +always looked so lovingly at me? Father Felix, even now, it seems to me +that there must be some mistake about my Husband's being the same man +who was the lover of this girl you know about.... I think that I will +see her ... there ... beside my darling Husband's body and decide the +matter for myself instead of listening to the tales that have been told +to me. That is how I think I will proceed," she ended, then, quite +calmly, as it seemed, for secretly she then began to hope that it was +not her husband, after all, "That is how I will proceed about this +terrible calamity, Father Felix. I will see this girl beside the body +of the man she says has been her lover ... he may not be my darling +Husband, after all." + +And so their conference ended, he giving her explicit directions as to +where Victorio's body had been placed, and she thanking him for carrying +out her wishes even though, as it seemed then, the very thing she had +him do the work for had failed her utterly. + +Father Felix went back, then, to the refectory, with this complicated +matter bearing hard upon his heart. He pitied both the suffering women +very much and wished to help them both if so be he could find the proper +way to do the task in. + +He pondered deeply on the various situations he'd surprised in carrying +out the project of the woman he had met, that night; she had not told +him of her plans in their entirety, and, so, it seemed, the very plans +she doted on the most had very far miscarried and the work, so far as +she had been concerned, had not only been as futile as any work could +ever be, but, also, it had brought to her a new and horrible calamity +besides the failure of her plans and loss of him she evidently deeply +loved as tender women love but only once in all their human lives, +perhaps, for Victorio Colenzo had been a man to claim the love of tender +women ... he was very tall and very handsome, too; his deep, dark eyes +were very full of loving expression and his strong arms, folded close +about a tender woman's yielding form, would lift her spirit up and make +her almost wild with joy and gladness. + +And, as it looked now, those strong arms had been folded, not only round +his own wife's tender form, but, also, about, at least, one other +woman's, too. Good Father Felix reflected on the fraility of man and +pondered deeply on the tenderness of women, but he did not, even then, +reach the very root of the whole matter, for he, being what he was, +would not be very likely ever to know the heights and depths, as well, +of human love, for he had always been a religious devotee in spite of +his great strength of limb ... he'd only used his bodily powers to +forward the work to which his whole life was devoted utterly, and, so, +good Father Felix could not fully understand a man such as Victorio +Colenzo must have been to leave the record that he'd left behind him +when he died, there, in the entrance to that dark and gloomy prison, +just as he had been about to come again, a free man, into the glorious +light of day. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Father Felix had prepared the widow of Victorio Colenzo for the sight +she would behold when she went to the rude dwelling where they had laid +the form of the prisoner whose dead body had been found lying in the +entrance to the prison on the day the people battered down the doors and +set at liberty several political prisoners confined therein, but no one +could, really, prepare a woman for the vision presented to her eyes when +she entered the cottage that had been turned into a temporary morgue, +for more than one of those engaged in the deadly strife with the +soldiery in the prado after the deliverance of the prisoners had given +up his earthly life, either at the time of the attack or afterwards from +wounds inflicted either intentionally or inadvertently by those who had +been sent to the prado to quell an uprising of the Cuban populace. + +As the woman we have before described entered the rude shelter where the +dead bodies of several of the residents of the little village lay, she +was surprised and grieved by the number of the dead and, also, by the +many mourners who crowded among the slabs on which the bodies lay, for +there was little of orderly array there, everything being of the rudest +and most primitive pattern as the reigning government did not wish to +dignify those who had opposed it even after death had taken from their +limbs the power to oppose anything in the world of men and women. + +The woman, who was of a higher class than most of those assembled there, +was treated with marked deference as became her superior position both +as to wealth and education, for the widow of Victorio Colenzo occupied a +proud place in her own right, having been, for a long time, the occupant +of a large and beautiful residence that commanded a wide view of the +harbor of Havana and was situated on an elevation above the little +village of San Domingo; this home had been hers long before she had ever +met the handsome peon whom she had acknowledged as her husband to Father +Felix after having learned of his death. + +It was through her own instigation that the man had taken the position +which had, subsequently, placed him among the prisoners for offenses +against the reigning government who had been liberated under her direct +orders and with her pronounced sanction, although she had not actually +taken part in the work which she had directed. + +This woman was of another type entirely as compared with the others in +that small dwelling and walked among them almost haughtily in spite of +her eagerness in the search after evidence that would convince her that +she had not been utterly mistaken in the man she had secretly married, +believing him to represent the finest and highest example of patriotic +courage and devotion that she had met during the whole of her long +residence in the Island of Cuba. + +She had come to the Island, in her first youth, as the daughter of the +American Consul who represented the United States in the council +chambers where were gathered those who discussed affairs of state with +the ruling Spanish powers; her father had purchased the beautiful site +on which he had built the home that was still hers, although both of her +parents had died, there in Cuba, within the past few years; the girl had +been left practically without living relatives, and, so, loving her +Island home, she had remained there in spite of the solicitations of +many American friends who had visited her in Cuba and urged her to +return to the United States with them; she was of a reticent and +retiring disposition, loving a good book more than almost anything else +in the world, and being surrounded by a splendid library, her time was +fully and pleasantly occupied, as she had trustworthy retainers who +followed her mandates because they loved to fulfill them and pitied her +loneliness while they almost worshiped her superior manners and style of +speech as well as of living; Father Felix, alone, understood her mental +attainments and was greatly bewildered when she told him that she had +married Victorio Colenzo as he considered her far removed from the peons +who were the regular inhabitants of the Island and among whom he labored +as a missionary rather than as an equal, although his deep humility of +manner always led them to believe that he was on their own level of +intelligence, while the aloofness of this one woman set her apart from +all of her neighbors and made her seem to them like a being from another +and a higher world. + +As she walked among the slabs on which the dead bodies had been laid, +that morning, for she had come down from her home early, having slept, +during the past night, only the few hours preceding her meeting with +Father Felix, as she hoped to have her doubts set at rest and to be +assured that the man she had secretly united to herself by marriage was +still worthy of her respect and love which she had given to him without +further knowledge of his character than what he chose to exhibit to her +in their infrequent meetings prior to his declaration of undying worship +and deep and overpowering love for herself as well as of patriotic zeal +which latter emotion she fully sympathized with, as she regarded it as +similar in many ways to her own feeling for her much-beloved land which +was all the more powerful because of her isolation from others of her +own nation, she representing, to herself at least, the whole of the +entire broad expanse of the United States; it was this sympathy with +the ardent patriotism of Victorio Colenzo that had led to her present +plight for, believing him to possess the strong feelings for his native +land which he had professed to her to have, she had urged his +participation in the plot which, on its discovery by the Spanish +authorities, had plunged him, with others, into the prison from which, +through her own earnest efforts, they had just been liberated, or, at +least, a part of them. + +Now, she reached the side of the farthest slab in that small room, and +noticed, at once, crouching down beside it, a fair-haired girl who +seemed, beyond all doubt, the one bereft by the condition of the body +lying there, so straight and still, beneath the rude pall that had been +thrown over it so that even its face was hidden from sight. She softly +touched the mourner on the shoulder nearest to her and whispered: + +"My poor Girl, for whom do you mourn? Is it the body of your brother +lying here, or, yet," she went on, hesitatingly, for a horrible +suspicion began to thrust its ugly head before her vision, "can he who +lies here so quietly have been, maybe, your husband? You are young but I +know well that the girls, here, marry very young...." + +She ended haltingly, for the girl had raised her lovely face, +tear-stained and drawn by sorrow, and looked up into the face that bent +so near to her own: + +"He was my plighted husband, Lady; he _would_ have been my husband had +death not intervened to take him from me! I _love_ him so ..." she +suddenly screamed in agony, "I _love_ him so ... Victorio! Why have you +left me all alone in a cruel world to be a widow before I was a wife? +Victorio...." + +And, then, she rose, as one who had that right, and turned the pall back +from the countenance of him who lay there on that senseless slab. + +The other woman did not scream, as poor Estrella had ... she did not +even move, indeed, but stood as if she had been carved from marble, for +her face was almost just as pale as death itself ... the pulsing blood +receded from her cheeks and from her trembling lips ... she stood so +tall and still that the poor girl became conscious of her in spite of +her own grief and wondered if she, also, sought to find some one she +loved among the dead; with that thought in her mind, she stepped back +from the corpse she had been leaning over, and said to her who stood +there silently as if her interest in the affairs of life had, suddenly, +ceased: + +"I beg your pardon for my selfishness. Are you, too, one of those who +lost some loved one yesterday? Do you seek, here, in this sad place, the +body of one whom you've loved as I have loved the man who lies here ... +dead ... before me?" + +The older girl was silent, for she could not talk to poor Estrella as +she wished to do ... as she had meant to do in case her worst fears had +to be realized; she did not wish to add a single hair's weight to the +sorrow that the poor girl felt for him who had been false to both of +those trusting women who stood there beside his corpse; she did not wish +to harm the innocent girl, for she could see how true and loving she had +been by gazing, only for a moment, in her wide, blue eyes, and, yet, it +was her right and, perhaps, it was also her duty, to the man who had +been her earthly husband, to claim his body and to bury it as would +become the husband of a woman such as she had, always, been; but, as +he'd always begged her to keep secret their marriage which had taken +place in Havana instead of having Father Felix marry them at his +request, for political reasons, he had told her, with the thought that +she, being an American, might complicate his position with the Spanish +government, as he had occupied a place of trust under the Governor, +until the proper time would come to expose his actual feelings for his +native land. + +And, so, she had to think of this side of the complicated problem +presented to her by her strange position while she stood there with that +weeping, loving, sympathetic, untaught girl clinging to her hand and +questioning her. At length, having collected a little of her usual +unselfish consideration for the people living on the Island, she turned +to poor Estrella and said to her, softly, and, yet, without +condescension in her manner: + +"Yes, my poor Girl, I, also, seek someone I love among the newly +dead.... I, also, wish to find the man I loved as you have loved the man +who lies here on this slab.... I, also...." + +Then, her courage failed her utterly and she fainted dead away, even as +poor Estrella, herself, had, when she had first beheld the body of the +man who had made love to both of them. + +The fair-haired girl bent over the older woman and lifted her in her +strong arms and carried her into the outer air and found the carriage +where it waited for its mistress and placed her in the care of those who +served her; then, for the first time, she realized who the lady was +who'd found her there beside her dead, as she supposed, for Victorio had +no family in San Domingo, having only come there recently, and having +held himself as somewhat superior to the most of his own countrymen whom +he met, so poor Estrella claimed his body as having been his sweetheart, +since he had, as she believed, no wife in all the world, for he had +often told her he had never found a woman he could love before he met +her. + +Now, she helped to chafe the hands of her who lay there in that costly +carriage with her brown hair making a soft frame for her pale face which +lay upon the lap of one who loved her with the kind of love an ignorant, +older woman gives to one she much admires and who is far superior to her +in every possible way; this woman smoothed the fluffy hair back from +the high white brow, now, and spoke to her as if she were her baby +instead of one whom she looked up to and respected: + +"There ... there! My Pretty! Open your sweet eyes and look at your own +loving Mage!" she said, as the long, brown lashes that fringed the +delicate white lids still brushed the rounded cheeks that were almost as +white as the smooth brow. "Look up at me and let me see your shining +eyes, again!" + +"Her heart is beating, now, more regularly," said Estrella, for her hand +had sought the other's bosom to see if she still lived at all. "She +breathes more easily, too. I think she will recover very soon ... poor +Lady! She sympathized with me in my great sorrow so deeply that she +fainted. How sweet and dear she is!" she added, softly, as a shudder +shook the form before her. "How very sweet and dear she is. You _must_ +love her very much indeed.... I never happened to see her before today, +but I know who she is, now, and how very kind she has been to so many of +our people." + +"I wish the color would creep back into her cheeks ..." moaned Mage. +"Her cheeks are almost always rosy as the dawn ... it seems so strange +to see them white ... she don't look natural to me this way ... you +should see her when she thinks her husband's coming to the house ... +_then_ her cheeks are like a flame of light ... her eyes are just as +bright as stars at midnight ... there! They've opening, now ... my +Pretty ... my own pretty Dear ... Mage is here ... I'm right here by you +Dearie ... there! I'm afraid she's fainted away, again. She seemed to +look at you, Estrella, stand farther back so, when she opens her eyes +next time, she'll see just me ... she knows old Mage loves her +always ... she knows her own old Mage would take good care of her no +matter what would come.... Dearie ... I am right here ... old Mage is +close beside you...." + +At that, the woman lying there within her faithful arms, stirred softly, +and, once again, her glorious gray eyes opened, and she looked at poor +old Mage whose face was all distraught with many wrinkles and with deep +anxiety for her. Then she raised herself to a sitting posture and put +her hands before her eyes as if to hide some horrible spectre from her +sight, and, then, she looked at poor Estrella standing there not knowing +what to do, for Mage would not allow her, even now, to come a single +step nearer to her mistress, and then she spoke: + +"My poor Girl," she said, "My poor Girl, I too, sought to find the man I +loved, but his body is not here. I pity you with all my heart and wish +that I could help you bear your sorrow. Come to me and I will try to +help you ... come this evening, just at sunset, to my house. I think you +know which one it is.... Mage, you tell her where to come." + +For she had reached the limit of her endurance, for the moment, and old +Mage, seeing her evident distress, hurriedly told Estrella where to come +to find her mistress, and gave the orders to the coachman to drive home +at once. + +And, then, Estrella went again into the habitation of the dead and the +other woman, with her heart like lead within her breast, went back to +her own place and left the body of the man she'd called her husband for +a few short months lying there upon that senseless slab with the weeping +girl beside it. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +When the evening shadows were falling over the almost palatial home of +Ruth Wakefield, the young girl whom she had begged to come to her +climbed the rugged height upon which the former United States Consul had +erected his residence hoping to occupy it long after his term of office +should expire as he had found the climate very beneficial to the health +of his entire family, as it seemed, and desired to have a fitting place +of abode during the childhood of his only and much-loved child, who, +now, a sorrowing widow and a humiliated wife, was sitting idly waiting +to receive poor Estrella, not knowing, certainly, just what she would do +or say when she had to really face the situation into which she had been +forced by untoward circumstances. + +As Estrella reached the rear door, to which she had gone by an almost +unerring instinct, feeling strange and unnatural among the rich +surroundings, old Mage appeared to welcome her, as she had been directed +by her mistress to do; the old woman was greatly in doubt as to the +condition of affairs in the home she loved to be a part of and had +longed to get hold of the peon girl alone. + +There was something about Ruth Wakefield that commanded the respect of +even the lowest among those who knew her ... her natural refinement had +been accentuated by her seclusion from the outer world and by her almost +constant thought of higher and better matters than the gross and humdrum +affairs of the daily life by which she was surrounded. Yet, she always +entered into practical affairs with vigor and entire understanding, so +that, while she was counted as a dreamer of dreams beyond the earth, yet +she was acknowledged to be eminently practical and able to attend to her +own business affairs with no danger of being over-reached by those with +whom she dealt as to monetary matters, as her natural acumen in such +matters had been sharpened by various experiences of a more or less +unpleasant character, such as the loss of certain sums of money through +trusting to the honor of some of those with whom she had had sympathy in +their need, for she had discovered that, when it comes to money, people +are very apt to forget their obligations entirely, only attending to +that part of life when in need themselves and not considering the fact +that, unless one gets what is one's due, at least to some extent, one +cannot, on the other hand, meet one's own obligations, so that the +lonely girl had learned some hard lessons by practical knowledge of +human nature gained in the only school where such knowledge can be +gained ... experience. + +But old Mage was of a far different type of womankind ... true as steel +to her beloved young lady as she always called her in her thoughts, +although she often found verbal fault with her to her fair and tender +face ... fond of gossip and garrulous to an almost alarming extent yet +she could keep a secret as inviolate as even Ruth Wakefield herself. + +At this moment, her great desire was to worm out of poor Estrella +whatever it was that had made her own young lady faint that morning ... +she was not worried about the poor girl's loss of him she had called her +lover except in so far as it affected her own people as she was fond of +distinguishing them, for old Mage, although uneducated and almost +unaware of her own nationality as her mother had died at her birth and +her father had immediately deserted her, yet prided herself on being far +superior to the natives among whom she dwelt, for she had come to Cuba +with the Wakefield family, having been employed by them as nurse for the +small Ruth and having stuck tightly to her charge from that time on. + +So that, when she faced the poor, ignorant, as she secretly considered +Estrella, girl, it was with an air of superiority as belonging to a +higher race than she, for it is a fact that uneducated persons feel any +elevation above their fellows much more strongly than those who have had +more insight into the humble attainments of even the wisest of human +beings, for those who have been permitted to climb the heights of +thought have had a glimpse of the vastness and unattainable grandeur of +which even the highest human intellect must only be a spectator ... an +humble and admiring witness of the matchless beauty and majestic +splendor that dwell beyond and yet beyond the vision of the keenest +human imagination. + +But old Mage seldom allowed herself even to wonder about what she could +not understand, being content with the plane of existence upon which she +found herself and finding amusement and profit as well in attending to +the various small duties of her daily life as she performed those duties +through love and pride. Having seated the girl who was almost +overpowered, already, by the unknown glamour of wealthy surroundings, +she proceeded to follow out her own ideas and to attempt to satisfy her +own curiosity before apprising Ruth of the arrival of her invited guest. + +She began by commiserating the girl upon her recent loss, little +dreaming that, in this way, she would find out far more than had been +her own desire, for old Mage, while she had never liked the young man +who, for the past few months, had been an almost daily visitor at the +home she dearly loved, yet had tried to think that her young lady had +chosen wisely, even if unconventionally, when she had married him, as it +was very hard for her ever to really question any object upon which +Ruth had set her heart, it having been one of the criticisms of the +parents of the little girl that old Mage had always indulged her +slightest whim and always satisfied at least her own conscience by +finding some good reason for the indulgence; in the present instance, +she had often said to herself: + +"My poor child is alone so much with her own thoughts and what she gets +out of all those big books," for what anyone could find in the way of +company in a book which required so much labor, in her own case, to +decipher at all was a mystery to her, "and she needs company ... a woman +needs a man around to make love to her and this fellow is good at that +what with his guitar and his mandolin and his fine voice, not to speak +of his wonderful dark eyes and his curly black hair and his strong, +powerful figure ... it is too bad that he is only a native Cuban instead +of an American ... that is too bad ... but..." she would end, brightly, +"he can be naturalized if we ever go back to the States." + +So, now, when she turned to Estrella with the conventional question as +to the identity of her lover on her ready tongue, she little dreamed of +the consequences: + +"My poor girl," she began, "you were to have been married, they tell me, +to the man who was found dead at the entrance to the prison, last +night.... I wonder if I happened to know him ... what was his name?" + +She had asked the question idly, wishing only to engage the girl in +conversation to find out whatever she could. + +"My lover was a wonderful man ..." declared Estrella; "he was not a +common man at all ... he was superior to all the men I know or ever have +known ... he was the handsomest as well as the most intelligent man +among the whole people of this Island, I think.... I know I never saw +anyone either so handsome or so smart as was my dear Victorio.... I +don't suppose you would ever have met him for he was not a servant and +yet he was a Cuban ... he was a wonderful man and I was to have been his +wife and he was most foully murdered there in that hateful prison." + +And the poor bereft creature began to moan and sob and wring her hands +in agony of spirit. + +This was not at all what Mage desired to do ... to get the girl all +wrought up before her young lady even saw her, so she tried to comfort +and calm her by speaking rather sharply to her as she knew hysteria can +only be overcome by the application of fierce remedies, or, at least, +that is what she had been taught, so, in order to cauterize the wound +her words seemed to have made, she said: + +"You say your lover was a superior man ... was he, then, a leader among +the political prisoners who were liberated?" + +"Indeed he was ..." proudly answered the bereaved girl. "Victorio +Colenzo was a leader where-ever he went ... why ..." + +But even her pride in her dead lover did not hide from her the effect +his name had had on poor old Mage for she had crumpled down in her chair +as if she had received a stroke of some kind and seemed as if paralyzed, +for her poor old mouth fell open, revealing its entire innocence of +teeth; she gasped for breath for a moment and then demanded: + +"Say that name again! What kind of looking man was he?" + +Hastening to comply with the demand made on her, the girl proceeded, +proudly: + +"His name was Victorio Colenzo and he was the handsomest man in the +whole of Cuba, I believe ... his eyes were very dark and expressive and +his hair was the very most beautiful curly hair that ever grew on any +human head ... he was tall and strong and handsome in every way and, +yet," she ended dreamily, "and, yet, he never loved a woman in his life +before he found me." + +Old Mage had other words upon her lips than those which she said after +having hauled herself up sharply, remembering how unprotected her dear +young lady was and wishing, above all else, even her own almost +insatiable curiosity, to shield her from any harm: + +"It must be a great comfort to you to know that, now that he is dead and +gone," she said to the girl, though what she added in her own mind may +as well not be recorded here, for, with all the fierceness of the +far-famed tiger with her young, old Mage, in her own primitive mind, was +wishing several distinct kinds of punishment would fall, in its +immediate future, upon the soul of the man who had brought sorrow to her +dear, innocent lamb. As far as the girl was concerned she felt that she +had had more than her just deserts already and wished to relieve her +young lady of any further torture regarding the mixed matter, for old +Mage, though an ignorant woman in many ways, had lived a great many +observant years among human men and women, and, now, that her experience +might serve to protect Ruth in this hard crisis of her young womanhood, +she threw herself and all her previous knowledge of the world right into +the breach. She reflected only for a few moments after having made the +diplomatic speech referred to above, before she decided on a course of +immediate action. + +To begin with, she decided to clear the decks, as it were, of the +obstruction of the girl's presence in the home of the wronged wife; she +went about this with precision and dispatch, for, once she had settled +on any certain course, old Mage was like a mild whirlwind, scattering +everything before her: + +"Well," she began, eyeing the girl suspiciously, wondering whether she +had any inkling of the exact situation, "I suppose you have folks to +live with and are not in need of anything much?" + +"I am alone in this wide world," declared Estrella, "for I am but a +foster child among the people who have brought me up ... my parents I +know nothing of but believe that I am not of Cuban blood.... I +think ..." she hesitated, "I think ... I am ... an American, the same as +the sweet young lady who lives here with you." + +The last few words almost undid old Mage's stern resolve, but she kept +her one idea of saving her young lady from further annoyance in view and +answered this appeal: + +"It don't make much difference in this world _who_ you are but it does +matter _what_ you are ... now, I take it, you are a good girl and will +marry some good man when you have recovered from this loss ... you are +too young to feel this as deeply as you might ... I hope so, anyway ..." +she temporized, seeing the look of despair that settled on Estrella's +really beautiful and innocent features, "and my young lady wanted me to +help you if you needed any help for she feels so sorry that your lover +happened to be killed just as he was about to get free ... she wanted me +to tell you ..." but at that point in her benevolent intention she was +interrupted by the appearance of the mistress of the place, and ended, +rather lamely, "she wanted me to tell you to come to her as soon as you +got here." + +"Why, Mage," said Ruth in her usual sweet, low voice, "you had not told +me that Estrella had come ... have you been waiting for me very long?" +she kindly asked the girl. + +"No, Madam," said Estrella feeling the immense difference in their +positions in spite of the evident indisposition and tender youth of the +other woman, "I have only rested for a few moments after my climb to the +top of the hill. It was very kind," she added, "of you to ask me to come +and the cool air of the evening has refreshed my head for it has been +aching terribly, all day." + +"Can't you find some sort of refreshments for her, Mage?" asked Ruth, +feeling sorry for the other's plight. "Maybe a good cup of tea would +give you added strength to bear your great sorrow ... we women," she +said while her sweet, low voice trembled, "we women are but weak and yet +often the very heaviest of sorrows is laid upon us.... I do not know the +reason for this ... I do not understand ... but I believe that we are +all but a part of a very great plan which is beyond our comprehension +while we are here in this finite world, and I hope ..." she had the look +of one of God's good angels on her face as she said it, "and I hope to +know more about this great plan when I have passed beyond this world +and all its many disappointments. You have had a terrific blow, my poor +Girl," she went on, kindly. "You alone must bear this grief but God has +sent other human beings into this human life so that we may help each +other, if only by our mutual sympathy, when we must meet what it seems +almost impossible for us to bear alone ... so," she ended, "so, maybe I +have been sent to try to give you courage to go on in life when your +future must look dreadfully black to you." + +"It surely does look black ..." moaned poor Estrella, "Victorio was all +I had to lean upon in this wide world for I don't belong to the people +where I live and Manuello persists in making love to me and I can't bear +to have him touch me after having known the love of a man who never even +looked at any other woman but me, and who was," her pride in her dead +lover again taking the ascendency in her emotions, "the handsomest and +smartest man who ever came to Cuba." + +"The low-lived pup!" said old Mage, who had just come in with the +tea-tray in her hands and heard the last few words, but she made this +remark to herself alone and would have ground her teeth in making it had +it not happened that she had mislaid those triumphs of the dentist's +art, for old Mage was the proud possessor of two entire sets of teeth, +although she seldom could lay her hands on them as she invariably +removed them from her mouth each time she wished to eat anything, having +grown so accustomed to gumming her food that the teeth were dreadfully +in her way. + +She set the tea-tray with its array of cups and saucers down and added +several little concoctions of her own making to the little feast before +she began, thinking to change the subject: + +"Dear Miss Ruth, I wish you could have seen little Tid-i-wats a few +minutes ago; she was out in the big yard and I wanted her to come back +in her own place so as to be safe and so instead of going to pick her up +as you know very well she won't allow anyone to do except yourself, I +just got one of her saucers and a silver spoon and pounded on the edge +of the saucer with the spoon, and here she came fairly bounding along +the driveway; she galloped, Miss Ruth, just like a little colt out in +one of our own big pastures, back home." + +"The dear little Dadditts!" exclaimed her young lady, using a pet name +of her own making. "How cute she must have looked ... she is so little," +she explained to Estrella, "she is so very small and so very cute ... I +have had her with me, now, for ... how long is it, Mage?" for she knew +the old woman enjoyed being asked for information, "since we came from +America the last time?" + +"Let me see ..." answered Mage, deliberating, "it must be anyway twelve +years and Tid-i-wats was not a young cat, even then, for she had raised +one family of kittens at least ... she must be thirteen or more years +old, my Dear," she said to the young girl, hoping to attract her +attention to herself and so leave Ruth free from her immediate scrutiny, +"just think of that! You must come with me, when you have had your tea, +and see the cute little yard we have for her and then you must look over +the grounds with me. Miss Ruth is not feeling very well, today, although +she has such a healthy-looking, rosy face, and, so, I'll entertain you +while you're here; Miss Ruth is a great reader and her eyes are not very +strong ... sometimes the sun hurts them awfully." + +And Ruth let here have her way, that time, as she found that she could +scarcely endure the calm, blue, staring eyes of the girl and listen to +her innocent gabble concerning her own husband; so she called old Mage +into another room and cautioned her to be very kind to poor Estrella and +gave her quite a sum of money to hand to her, thinking, in this manner +to defray the funeral expenses of the man whom she had believed to be +the very soul of honor fired with an almost holy patriotism. + +Old Mage received her directions quietly enough and used her own good +judgment as to carrying them all out; her main idea was to relieve her +mistress and this she did by assuring her that she would look after the +girl and would ask her to come to see them again when she had in some +measure recovered from her sorrow. + +What she was saying to her own self we will not record but she relieved +her own feelings, while attempting to help Estrella who was as innocent +as her own young lady was, as she could see, for old Mage was seldom +mistaken in her estimate of women, although men, as she expressed it, +quite often "pulled the wool over her eyes." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +As the young girl descended the hill to the little village she reflected +upon the splendor of the home she had just quitted and wondered if such +wealth as was displayed there could take the place of the companionship +of a loved and loving human being; she remembered the very sad +expression of the great gray eyes into which she had peered for a few +fleeting moments and she marveled at the memory, for, as it seemed to +the inexperience of Estrella, Ruth Wakefield should have been as happy +as a queen indeed for she had the proud position, almost, of Royalty +among the peons to whose constant society she, herself, had had to be +accustomed from her earliest recollection of society at all. + +In spite of her own great sorrow on account of the sudden death of +Victorio Colenzo she felt comforted, somehow, by the memory of the vital +nearness of the woman who was so much her superior, as it seemed to her, +in every possible way; she could not know that in Ruth Wakefield's +gentle bosom there throbbed a deeper and more lasting agony than any +that she, herself, had ever experienced ... she only saw her own +position among those who had little sympathy for her, as all the girls +she knew well, except little Tessa, envied her as having been the +sweetheart of a man they all admired, and the young men, feeling that +she was superior, in many ways, to the girls of their own type, were +jealous of the handsome Colenzo who had won so easily what they had +failed to even attract. + +Chief among these latter was Manuello who called himself her +half-brother, half in derision and half in rough sport, for well he knew +that no similar blood flowed through their veins as Estrella had been +taken care of by his own mother simply from motives of pity for a +deserted and helpless orphan; this loving and unselfish mother had +passed away some time before the opening of this tale and Estrella had +taken full charge of the household affairs of the family among whom she +had grown up, as being the eldest of the girls, having always been of a +domestic turn of mind and wishing to repay the kindness of those who had +cared for her when she was unable to do so. + +As she walked along she remembered several little duties for her to +perform yet that night, although she felt that she wished to devote her +entire attention to the funeral arrangements that she had made for poor +Victorio whose mangled remains still lay at the improvised morgue in the +village. + +Reflecting on these arrangements, she remembered the money that old Mage +had given to her which was yet clutched in the hand that had received +it; hearing a slight noise in the path ahead of her, she hastily thrust +the money into the bosom of her gown and advanced, cautiously, for there +was much unrest all over the Island of Cuba at this time and no one was +really safe, either at home or abroad, as the Governor-General had +issued positive orders to arrest without question all those who were, in +any manner, detrimental to the ruling powers. + +Estrella was aware, in a dim and uncertain way, of existing conditions, +and, having been a participant in the recent uprising, she was afraid +that she might be detained by the government, in which case, how she +could attend to the sorrowful duty of the morrow was a problem too big +for her to solve on the spur of the moment; with the thought of this +danger in her mind, she stepped carefully to one side of the narrow +path, hoping that whoever or whatever had made the noise she had heard +would pass on up the hill without observing her; she was standing as +still as possible, fairly holding her breath and involuntarily clutching +at the bundle of money in her dress, when she became conscious of the +approach of someone or something from behind her and jumped, like a +startled fawn, back into the path and down the hill at top speed; she +knew that she was followed but did not stop until she had reached the +door of the little cottage where she made her home; as she pushed madly +at the door it yielded to her touch too quickly to have been moved by +herself alone, and, hurridly entering, she found herself face to face +with Manuello who pulled her hastily inside and barred the simple door, +saying testily: + +"Why did you startle me so? Had I not known your step, I would have kept +you out until you had told me who you were ... don't you know that we, +who have made ourselves conspicuous in the recent uprising, are being +closely watched by the authorities and are liable to arrest at any +moment? Why do you expose us in this manner by staying out after +nightfall and perhaps bringing the soldiers who are stationed in the +block-houses upon us? Is it not enough that you are marked as being the +sweetheart of our dead leader? Must you even stray about the +country-side after dark?" + +"Manuello ..." panted the poor girl, "I was so frightened ... someone +was in the path and I jumped to one side and then someone came behind me +and I ran! I did not mean to do wrong ... I went to see the lady at the +mansion on the hill ... she asked me to come for she pitied me because +of Victorio's death.... I am sorry if I did wrong by going, Manuello ... +I hope you will forgive me ..." she ended, pleadingly, leaning against +the door with one hand over her fluttering heart and looking up into his +angry eyes. + +His countenance softened in a moment as he gazed upon her delicate +beauty, and stretching out his arms he said to her: + +"Rest, little Sister, here, here upon my breast. All the others are +asleep and you and I are alone. I would not scold you for the world, but +we must all be as cautious as we can for we are living in very dangerous +times." + +Estrella evaded his offered embrace and hastened into her own little +room after bidding him a short goodnight; she wondered, vaguely, what it +was that had startled her in the path, but, in spite of everything, her +healthy youth soon asserted itself and she was lost to her little world +upon the earth with all its many disappointments and unknown turnings. + +The day upon which Estrella made her visit to the mansion on the hill, +as the residence of Ruth Wakefield was popularly known in the village of +San Domingo, was a memorable one in the history of the Spanish-American +war for it happened to be the fifteenth day of February in the year of +our Lord and Master 1898. + +Upon that fateful day secret preparations had been made by the agents of +some of those who were then in power over the people of Cuba ... secret +mines had been laid and large quantities of explosives had been placed +in Havana Harbor with a set purpose in view; many of those who had been +incarcerated in political prisons had been kept in total ignorance of +the movements of Spanish troops in Cuba but most of the inhabitants of +the Island had known that, for some time, some definite object with +reference to our own United States was being considered by those who +directed the Spanish soldiery. + +Among those who had been apprised of what had been going on during the +confinement of those who had been liberated the night before in San +Domingo was Manuello; during the absence of Estrella from their home, +that evening, this redoubtable warrior had been hobnobbing with the +Spanish soldiers in the block-house nearest to the village and had +discovered something of the plot to blow up a United States battleship +in Havana Harbor; as it was known that the _Maine_, an armored cruiser +of the second-class, had been lying in the harbor for some weeks, the +young fellow was especially nervous, and, hearing Estrella's flying feet +approaching their dwelling, he dreaded some new horror. + +The little village of San Domingo was wrapped in the first sound slumber +of the night. Good Father Felix had been dreaming, for some hours, of +the heavenly home he hoped, sometime, to reach; old Mage had long ago +forgotten all about her defense of her dear young lady, that day, and +Estrella was far away from every human care. + +But Ruth Wakefield was one of those who never sleep right through the +dark hours of any night; from her earliest recollection, she had been +wide awake, with a clarified vision of the affairs of daily life as well +as of those that were quite beyond the world of men and women who were +yet embodied, about the hour of two A.M., and, when she had some +especially knotty problem to solve, she seldom slept for more than an +hour or so at a time, but would waken to a consciousness of the facts of +her human existence with a shock that would almost always cause her to +jump as if struck a blow, which, indeed, was the exact state of affairs, +only the blow was a mental one. + +On this one night, having lost the most of the sleep she should have had +upon the previous one, her bodily strength was almost entirely exhausted +so that she sunk into a deep and dreamless sleep during the first part +of the evening and woke, with a start, about nine P.M. + +Rising from her bed, as was her custom upon awakening in the night, she +approached one of the large windows of her own room facing Havana +Harbor; she could see the lights from the various vessels lying at +anchor and imagined that she could make out those of the _Maine_, which, +as it represented her own native land to her, was, naturally, of deep +interest to her; she fell to imagining how it would seem to return to +the United States on that great ship lying so peacefully and appearing +to be so stanch and strong in the harbor below her window ... she +wondered if it might not be better for her, now that she no longer had +the keen interest in Cuba that she had only recently had, to go back to +her own country and so possibly forget the dark eyes and lying lips of +the man to whom she had given her virginity only to find it flouted and +treated with disdain; for, try as she would to vindicate Victorio +Colenzo, she was too just and reasonable to deny to herself that he had +acted the part of a sneaking villain both to her and to poor, trusting +Estrella, who had not had to see her dream of him lying in fragments at +her feet, but who still believed that he had spoken the truth to her +when he had told her that she was the only woman he had ever loved; she +was too young to know that this statement is a regular trite and tried +prevarication, common to almost all male lovers. + +But Ruth, at present, was laboring under no delusions with regard to the +man she had married, although his dead body was still unburied and she +had not so much as said a prayer over his remains ... she knew beyond +all shadow of doubt that he had been untrue to both of the women he had +professed to love in San Domingo, and her mind was much distraught as +she sat at her window and, gazed down upon Havana Harbor upon that +memorable evening of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and +ninety-eight. + +She had been watching a little boat plying back and forth between the +wharf and the battleship which she had picked out among the other black +hulks in the harbor as being the _Maine_, and was speculating, idly, +what it could be about, as it seemed busily engaged in something of +importance, when, all at once, a mighty detonation shook the entire +harbor and the adjacent shore, making even her own stout residence +tremble, and, where the majestic battleship had, only just a moment +before, been a thing of beauty and power, there was nothing but a wild +mass of flying débris and a raging furnace of belching, flaming fire. + +Ruth Wakefield realized, even as the terrific explosion occurred, that +here was a turning point in the affairs of state and that, in all +probability, her own country would, after this, become involved in the +war that had been raging in Cuba, then, for about three years; it was +with mingled feelings of dismay and dread that she surveyed the activity +that very soon became apparent both in the harbor and in the city of +Havana; she could see the lights of the rescuing boats as they circled +about the scene of the wreck and even hear the groans and supplications +of some of the severely wounded survivors, for the night was clear and +the light wind carried the sounds from the harbor up to her window so +that her very acute hearing told her that this was no casual accident, +but, in all probability, a carefully planned holocaust in which her own +much-loved native land would, inevitably be involved. + +Manuello was one of the first to rush out upon the streets of the little +village after the terrific noise of the explosion had rolled away; he +passed hastily from cottage to cottage asking the inmates if they were +aware of the cause of it, for, being a little below the level of Havana +Harbor, the inhabitants of San Domingo could not command a view of it. + +As no one seemed able to give him any explanation of the disturbing +detonation, he even dared to approach one of the block houses held by +the Spanish soldiery; here, he found everything in confusion and +excitement ... men were hastily arming themselves so as to be in +readiness for whatever orders might come from their superiors, and +Manuello found no one among them who seemed much better informed than +he, himself, was; he imagined that what he had heard had been the result +of the consummation of the plans upon which he had stumbled earlier in +the evening and started to climb to the top of the hill upon which Ruth +Wakefield's residence was located in order to gain a view of Havana +Harbor. + +Manuello had almost reached the very top of the hill before he realized +that he had come out into the night without a weapon of any kind, and, +no sooner had he made this disconcerting discovery than he became aware +of some sort of movement directly in his rear; wishing to avoid whatever +it might be, he hastily concealed himself and waited for the approach of +his unseen companion in the darkness; the steps he had heard came along +the path hastily, yet steadily, and the owner of them soon appeared; as +he passed Manuello, the young fellow made out that the new-comer was +none other than the village Priest who, as it seemed likely, was bent +upon the same errand as the hidden peon; Father Felix kept on, sturdily, +climbing the grade to the mansion on the hill; having reached the house +he at once disappeared inside it and Manuello was again alone upon the +hillside. + +Gaining a point of vantage, Manuello looked down upon Havana Harbor, +and, at once, decided upon the course that he must pursue to cover +himself from danger of suspicion as to the possibility of his having +participated in the terrible calamity that had befallen the United +States battleship, for Manuello knew the exact location of the different +ships then anchored in Havana Harbor as he had in his possession a map +of it upon which he had drawn certain black crosses which indicated the +positions of different vessels, also certain ingenious little flourishes +told him the nationality of the various ships, so that he felt as sure +as if he were right upon the scene that the battleship _Maine_ had been +blown up in Havana Harbor, that fateful evening, and he knew that there +would be a searching investigation made as to what had caused the +explosion, so that Manuello had this little problem to consider as well +as the one concerning the sudden and mysterious death of Victorio +Colenzo just as he was about to be liberated from the prison at San +Domingo; for Manuello knew far more concerning that casualty than he +had imparted to Estrella when she had so diligently inquired of him +about it. + +Father Felix found Ruth Wakefield and her little, frightened household +fully awake as well as fully aware of the nature of the episode that had +startled him to such an extent that he had climbed the hill to ascertain +the safety of the inhabitants of the mansion on the hill, for the good +Priest pitied the mistress of the mansion far more than he did the poor +girl in the cottage, knowing that added refinement often makes more +poignant a sorrow that would inevitably be hard for any human heart to +bear. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +All over the little village of San Domingo, on the morning of February +sixteenth, 1898, the news spread like wild-fire that the United States +battleship, _Maine_, had been blown up in Havana Harbor. + +Manuello, having secreted his map in what he considered to be a safe +place, and having remained quietly inside his own domicile during the +balance of the night preceding the general acceptance of the the salient +facts concerned in the great disaster, ventured forth at daylight, +hoping to discover the condition of the public mind with regard to it. + +The first place he visited was one of the block-houses where he had +hob-nobbed with the soldiers before the news of the explosion had +reached them; here he found closely shut mouths and stern countenances +meeting him on every side, as he was known to be engaged in stirring up +strife and dissatisfaction among the peons of whom, to some extent, now +that Victorio Colenzo was dead, he was an acknowledged leader; the +soldiers, knowing nothing of what action would be taken by their own +government, much less of how far the resentment of the powerful nation +involved in the disaster would carry them, thought that discretion was, +by all means, the better part of valor, in this instance, and, +accordingly, had no private conversation with Manuello at all, being +careful to have several of their number within ear-shot of every word he +uttered; he, realizing the situation, after some few moments, went +quietly away, glad, indeed, to escape so easily from among the armed +hosts of Spain, for his own native country had been under the heel of +Spanish oppressors for more than three years, at this time. + +From the block-house, the young fellow proceeded to the dwelling of +little Tessa for he had a sort of mild affection for her, knowing how +profoundly she admired him and being flattered by her preference, while +his own heart was set on Estrella, to win whom he had, indeed, committed +a most terrible crime, for it had been his hand that had almost severed +the handsome head of Victorio Colenzo from his strong and agile body, he +having taken advantage of the confusion in the prison at the time of the +liberation of the political offenders to vent his own jealous spite upon +the natural leader of them all, little dreaming that he had cut off in +his prime the husband of the lady of the mansion on the hill, but only +congratulating himself on having removed from his own path a dangerous +rival in the affections, not only of Estrella, but also of all of those +with whom he, Manuello, hoped to advance his own interests; for Victorio +Colenzo was a man to be feared by all those who opposed him as Manuello +knew very well; now that his dead body was lying there in the little +improvised morgue, it seemed to the young Cuban that his great influence +would soon die away, and, so far as Estrella was concerned, he felt +pretty sure of her as she was so near to him and would, naturally, lean +upon him in trouble. + +So that, he felt quite complacent as to the recent turns in his affairs, +when he entered the rude home of little Tessa; he found that small, dark +young woman standing quietly beside a window watching his approach; she +turned to him, when another member of the family had admitted him, +eagerly and expectantly: + +"What do you think, Manuello?" she inquired. "What will be the result of +last night's terrible disaster? Shall we, now, have the Americans to +fight as well as the Spanish? Will the great United States hold us +responsible for this crime? I wondered, right away, what you would think +about it all and am so glad you have come over early. Is dear Estrella +as well as we could expect under her distressing circumstances? Will the +body of her lover be buried, today? Will this new trouble make any +difference with the burial of the bodies in the morgue? Tell me +everything you know, Manuello. Don't pay any attention to my +questions ... just go ahead and tell me!" + +She had come near to him as she kept asking questions, and was now +beside him and had grasped the collar of his short jacket, for Manuello +was something of a dude among his associates and was very particular as +to his appearance, being proud of his straight, strong figure and broad +shoulders which towered above many of the heads of his companions, so +that little Tessa had to stretch her small, dark hands well above her +smooth, black head in order to cling as closely as she desired to him. + +The young fellow looked down into the eager face lifted toward his own +and hesitated a little while before he answered her; diplomacy had +become so much a part of his acquired habit that, even when it was +unnecessary, as in the present instance, for Tessa trusted him +implicitly, he still employed it: + +"To begin with," he said, as if issuing a decree from a judgment-seat, +"I do not think that the blowing up of the battleship, last night, will +make our case in Cuba much harder than it already is ... in fact, it +might be that the American government would resent the loss of their +property and the murder of their sailors sufficiently to induce them to +assist us in our struggle for independence from the tyranny of Spain." +He looked about him anxiously, as he made this last statement, for he +knew that agents of the government might be in hiding almost anywhere. +"As to the burial of Victorio Colenzo," he pronounced the name with some +braggadocio, "and the rest, this disaster should make no difference as +to that, for when human beings die they have to be buried somehow, no +matter what happens." It was with secret satisfaction that he explained +this last matter, for, so far as he was concerned, the sooner the body +of his victim was under the ground the better he, himself, would feel, +"and as to Estrella, as soon as she recovers from the loss of her +handsome lover, I think she will listen to reason again and be the same +nice girl she was before she ever met this stranger who came among us +like a whirlwind and who has left us as suddenly as he appeared among +us. Now, little Tessa," he ended, "I think that I have answered all of +your questions ... suppose you answer some of mine ... for example," and +he bent his bold eyes on her little face, "why are you growing to be so +beautiful? Whom do you love more than anything else in the world? When +will you be a married woman? Do you like me as well as you did when we +were little children? Do you think that Estrella will ever marry me, now +that she has lost her new lover? Are you my little friend in this matter +and will you assist my cause with Estrella?" seeing a look of +consternation spread over her countenance, he ended his category with, +"Who is _your_ lover, little Tessa? I know you must have one for you +have grown to be very fair and winsome since we were shut up in that +hateful prison." + +"Manuello," said the girl, "I don't believe that I will ever marry.... +I have no lover and I am not beautiful. Estrella does not love you, now, +but she may learn to do so. I wish her to be very happy and if being +your wife would make her so, and I see no reason why a girl could not be +happy as your wife, Manuello, then I will do what I can to further your +cause with her. I know she is in deep sorrow, today, and I intend to do +all that I can to help her. Of course you know what arrangements have +already been made. Father Felix will take charge of the ceremonies, I +understand. I will accompany poor Estrella to the burial place. You may +tell her that I will soon be with her." + +The simplicity and truth of the young and innocent girl affected even +the hardened heart of the murderer and the evident adoration with which +she regarded him also had its effect upon him, so that Manuello +trembled, inwardly, in spite of all his hardihood and determination to +force his passionate love upon Estrella, as he intended only to use poor +little Tessa's admiration for him to influence the older and fairer +woman; the very fact that Estrella was, very evidently, not of his own +race had a powerful attraction for his untutored imagination and, in +secret, he often dwelt upon her difference from all the other women of +his acquaintance, while he assumed toward herself an air of superiority, +hoping thereby to attract her to himself as being above all of the +others of their acquaintance; now that his successful rival was out of +his way the young fellow looked forward to an early conquest of the +heart and hand of Estrella, and, now that the Americans had become +involved in the Cuban war, he hoped for the defeat of the Spaniards as +he never had before. Therefore, he could well afford to be a little +condescending to the young girl who still clung to his hands as if to +her only hope of happiness and looked up adoringly into his smiling +eyes. + +Stooping toward her a little, he suddenly raised her in his strong arms +and lifted her small, eager face to a level with his own; her lips were +very near to his and were trembling for that very reason, so he stilled +them by holding them for a passionate moment against his virile mouth. + +Tessa yielded to his embrace without thinking of its import for Manuello +was a strong and healthy man, full of the electrical attraction that +goes with those of his build, and, like many uneducated human beings, +the animal side of his nature was more fully developed than any other +part of it so that almost any healthy young woman appealed to him in +some degree and Tessa's evident affection for himself added to her power +in this respect. + +The two young beings were placed in the situation in which we have +described them for only a very short space of earthly time, but it was +sufficient to build up a barrier around Manuello that separated him from +all the rest of the young men known to the simple-minded girl with whom +he was only playing at making love, for all of that sacred emotion of +which he was capable had been laid at the feet of the girl who had +scoffed at his advances, for some years. + +When he had set her, gently, upon her small feet again, Manuello +addressed the small maiden in an almost wheedling tone, for he thought +that he could, now, better control her feelings than before the episode +of the past few moments: + +"You _do_ like me as much as before I was put away in prison, don't you, +little Tessa? Estrella's aloofness from me on account of her crazy +notions about Victorio Colenzo has not affected you with regard to me, +has it? I can depend upon you as upon a faithful little friend, I +believe I can, anyway ... how about that, little Girl?" + +He bent his black eyes upon her as he asked the question, and, with his +picturesque costume, dark face, up-tilted _mustachio_, as black as his +heavy, curling hair, and his strong and agile figure, in many ways, he +was as handsome as anyone upon whom Tessa's eyes had ever rested, for, +to her simple mind, Victorio had been too much inclined toward +intellectual pursuits to really appeal very strongly to her untutored +mind and she had never been able to understand why Estrella preferred +him to Manuello; now, she answered the latter in no uncertain language: + +"Of _course_ you can depend on my friendship ... of _course_ I would +always do anything I could to help you ... even ..." her voice shook +over the words, "even with the woman whom you love and prefer to all the +other women whom you know ... Estrella," she said this firmly as if to +convince even herself of the truth of the statement. "Estrella _is_ +superior to the rest of us girls around here ... she is of another race +of people, I believe ... a superior race, I guess ... anyway," she ended +naïvely, "I love her and do not blame _you_, Manuello, for doing the +same thing." + +It took a good deal of courage and loyalty combined for the girl to make +the remarks we have just recorded here with her small mouth yet tingling +from the kisses, for Manuello had not been chary of their number while +he had the opportunity to bestow them, of the man whom she almost +worshiped as earthly women adore merely human men, but she had waded +through the above sentences, bravely, and felt better after having +passed through what was an ordeal for her to undergo. + +Manuello scarcely knew how to meet this plain exposition of the matter +under consideration and quickly changed the subject of conversation, not +wishing to go too far, all at once, with Tessa, as that might complicate +his relations with Estrella, and, yet, feeling the need of some stanch +friend, in case he should have need of one, for he realized, dimly, that +he might easily be in danger, at any time, for various good reasons, +for he had been implicated in many of the plots of the revolutionists as +well as having secrets of his own to cover up; he was naturally cautious +as far as his own safety was concerned and did not wish to involve +himself any farther than seemed best for his own interests with Tessa, +and, yet, he desired to have her assistance ready at hand in case he +should have need of anything so feeble. + +He had now fixed her previous regard for him upon a vital memory, +so that she would not soon forget the few moments she had passed +encircled by his arms, and this was all he cared to do in that line, +at present.... Later on, in case Estrella still remained obdurate ... +why ... that would be a far different matter; he had now arranged for +himself a secret harbor in the simple heart of this uneducated girl, so +that, if pursued too closely by cruel storms, out on the open sea, he +could retire to it at will. + +As for Tessa, after she had made her declaration of love for Estrella, +she felt that she had performed her full duty in that matter, and went +about her preparations for the affairs of that day, with an even lighter +heart than before Manuello's short visit, for, after all, she had +discovered that she was not at least repulsive to the man she had +secretly loved for almost as long as she could remember anything, for +they had grown up in San Domingo together and he had always been +identified with her daily life; the beauty of her personal dream +regarding the tall Cuban had been her motive in assisting in the +liberation of the prisoners, mentioned in the beginning of this +narrative, as she had small sympathy with Estrella's adoration of +Victorio Colenzo, although she was willing to have her intimate +girl-friend feel exactly as she had felt and pitied her with all her +loving heart, now that she had lost, in such a terrible manner, the man +she loved and who, as they both had believed, loved her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +When Manuello left the dwelling of the little woman of whose affection +he was certain he hastened home to find out what attitude the woman he +loved would take toward the new conditions in Cuba, as well as to +ascertain what preparations she was making for the burial of the man +whose earthly life he had, himself, taken, although she was far from +imagining anything of the kind concerning either her dead lover or her +so-called half-brother. + +He found Estrella much perturbed as was to have been expected under the +circumstances for he knew that she had been deeply enamored of the +handsome stranger whose dead body was now being prepared for interment +by the village undertaker to whom Estrella had given the money presented +to her by old Mage, so that the man's body was being taken care of +through the charity of his wife which had been bestowed upon his +sweetheart neither of whom had been known to him at all a few months +before. + +As the hour for the funeral exercises drew near, a handsome carriage +drew up in front of the humble door where Estrella made her home; from +within it emerged no less a person than old Mage herself who had been +sent by Ruth Wakefield to escort the sorrowing girl to and from the rude +graveyard where the body of her own husband would be placed, that day; +she had told good Father Felix what to do as to the simple services but +had decided to absent herself from them, not being sure as to how much +endurance she would have and being determined not to add to the grief of +the innocent girl who had been deceived by the man whose name she had +assumed but never been known by in her own family, even, as, at his +especial request, she had kept the marriage hidden from all of her +acquaintances except the few members of her own little household who +were devoted to her and her interests and went about among the villagers +very little, as what business they had was transacted in Havana instead +of San Domingo. + +Estrella was pleased and flattered by this attention from the lady of +the mansion on the hill and entered the carriage to find Father Felix +already there, for the carriage had been sent to the refectory before it +came to her own home; she remembered the message little Tessa had sent +to her so she asked old Mage to go to her dwelling for her, which was +done, and completed the sad little group that rode directly behind the +rude wagon which took the place of a hearse and which carried the body +of Victorio Colenzo to its last earthly resting-place. + +The grief of the young girl was very pitiful and, as they turned away +from the narrow grave, old Mage felt moved to try to comfort her a +little by distracting her attention from her sorrow; seeing Manuello +lurking in the background as the funeral party were about to leave the +cemetery, she said to Estrella: + +"Will your brother ride home with us? I remember his face for he has +brought fruit to our door and he told me, once, that you were his +half-sister." + +The poor girl stifled her sobs long enough to listen to the old woman's +remark but made no other answer to it than to shake her head; little +Tessa turned her face in the direction indicated by old Mage and saw +Manuello with a look of diabolical triumph mingled with fear and hatred +on his dark face so that, in spite of her love for him, his expression +frightened her and made even her turn away from the sight of the great +change in his countenance from what she had seen resting there only that +morning. + +Ruth Wakefield had spend the hour devoted to the funeral exercises of +her own husband very quietly and in entire solitude; she was accustomed +to the latter condition and there was no one among her acquaintances in +whom she cared to confide except the good Priest who had done what he +could to console and sustain her spirit through this trial that had been +forced upon her by untoward circumstances and her own faith in humanity; +she watched her own carriage descend the hill and pass into the little +village ... she saw the small funeral procession as it wended its way +along the palm-lined street ... she watched it enter the gate of the +little cemetery and even saw poor Estrella as she alighted from the +vehicle and leaned upon the arm of her small friend as she approached +the open grave that was to contain the mortal remains of the man who had +been, if only for a short space of time, her own husband ... and yet she +did not faint ... she did not cry out ... she had had her fight with her +own nature and she had won out after a hard struggle; all that was left +of the love she had entertained for the handsome Cuban who had entered +into her life so disastrously, was an open wound which time alone could +ever heal. + +When old Mage returned to the mansion on the hill she sought out her +young lady and would have, in her usual garrulous manner, reported +everything that she had noticed during her absence had she received +encouragement to do so; on the contrary, she found Ruth, apparently, +deeply interested in a large volume which she had placed on a table +before her chair; she rested her head on her hands, from time to time, +and only looked up to welcome her old nurse, then resumed the perusal of +the page she happened to have open at the time of her entrance into the +library. + +Ruth Wakefield had always found her chief delight among her many good +books; she browsed among them for mental sustenance and for spiritual +solace and found rich pasturage; it had been said of her, while she was +yet a small child, that, in case it ever became necessary to perform a +surgical operation upon any part of her delicate body, an anæsthetic +would not be essential, as all that she would need would be to have +someone read aloud to her from some fine piece of literature. + +So, in the terrible affliction that had so recently befallen her, it was +as natural for her to go to her books for comfort as it would have been +for another woman to go to some understanding friend, for that was what +Ruth Wakefield found among her books ... understanding and safe friends +who would never betray her secrets or her confidence in them ... who +would never deceive and torture her and who represented to her the +finest and best impulses in human nature as well as those higher +sentiments to which she always clung and which, now, in this crisis of +her life, carried her safely over what might have crazed a mind less +well poised than hers. + +The morning after the funeral exercises of Victorio Colenzo, Father +Felix ascended the hill upon which Ruth Wakefield's home was located and +sought her out, for the good Priest was much perturbed because of her +present condition and went to see her with the intention of advising her +to leave Cuba, at least for a time, as the situation with regard to her +own country was almost certain to become acute, after the disaster of a +few nights previous, and it seemed to him to be imprudent for a young +woman to remain alone with only retainers about her among the wild +people among whom he labored; for Father Felix knew far more of the +nature of these people than many others possibly could and he realized +that the wealth surrounding the Wakefield residence was in itself a +menace to the fair owner of it; although he, himself, intended to remain +among his parishioners under all circumstances, it did not seem to be a +wise procedure for an unprotected woman to do so. + +He had studied the situation over from many view-points and had settled +on the best course, according to his judgment and knowledge of the +situation, for her to pursue, and he, now, laid this course before her +with the benevolent intention of assisting her to follow it in every way +within his limited power: + +"My dear Miss Ruth," he began, hesitatingly, for he was not sure of just +what effect either her husband's violent death or the recent explosion +in the harbor would have on her sensitive nature, "I wish that you would +consider your own situation very carefully; you are now alone here +except for those who are under your employ, and the people of the +surrounding country are in a high state of excitement. At almost any +moment, now, your own native land, to which you are devoted, may declare +itself to be in a state of war with Spain, following the blowing up of +the battleship; in that case, your situation, here, would be even more +precarious than it is at present and it is far from being secure, even +now; what I had thought of proposing to you is that you, at once, gather +together what you consider to be the most precious of your worldly +possession, here, and place them in some storage building in Havana, +leaving the house, here, with as few valuables as possible inside of it, +then, with probably your old nurse as a companion and charge, return at +once to your own country, anyway, until the war-cloud that is now +hanging over Cuba has been lifted; it looks to me," he ended, "as if +that would not be for some years yet ... of course America is a powerful +country and if she takes this matter up in earnest, it may be that it +will come to an end more quickly than I fear it may." + +He waited, quietly, then, for Ruth to think over his remarks; she had +regarded him earnestly while he had been speaking, and, now, sat with +her hands folded in her lap for a few minutes before she spoke: + +"Father Felix," she began, at length, "Father Felix, I appreciate the +reasons that prompted you to come to me and advise me as you have just +been doing; I understand that you consider me unfit to cope with the +present situation under my circumstances and I wish to inform you that I +do not intend to run away from my duty any more than you do. I take it +for granted, Father, that you expect to remain with your people no +matter what may come to them? I believe that the more need they may +have of you, the more anxious you will be to serve them. Now I," she +continued, earnestly and unwaveringly, "I have not done my full duty, up +to now, among these people to whom you have devoted all of your +energies; I feel that I owe my fellow-beings more than I have given to +them in many ways, for I have been very much of a recluse, as you know, +loving my books and enjoying my home and the natural beauties I have +delighted in all around me; it may be, that, in the crisis that seems +imminent, I may find some good work that will wholly absorb my +energies ... it may be ..." she said, while a high resolve settled over +her sensitive features, "it may be, good Father Felix, that I may be +permitted to do almost as much good in our little world as you, +yourself, are doing and have already done. Would you bar me from the +proud privilege of sharing your labor and of receiving some measure of +the rich reward which is awaiting you?" + +Father Felix gazed upon her as if upon a being already translated beyond +the common things of earth, and, realizing the firmness of her evident +resolve, he extended his hands toward her in blessing. As she bowed her +head to receive it there was a rapt look upon her face such as the holy +angels who welcome the souls of the newly dead must have upon their +features ... the inner consciousness of Ruth Wakefield shone through her +earthly lineaments and transfigured them so that they were even more +fair than they had been before. + +"My Daughter," said the good Priest, "forgive me for proposing what I +did; I did not fully understand you; from this time on, I hope that we +may find much good work that we can do in common, for I would be proud +and glad to be engaged with you upon our Father's business. Let us +consult with each other in our plans for the betterment of the poor +people among whom our lot in life has been cast. I was going to speak to +you about the girl, Estrella," he went on, watching her face while he +talked; "she is in need of different surroundings than she has at +present, for she is not of the race of those with whom she has been +staying; the young man who calls her his half-sister knows very well +that she has none of his blood in her veins, and he is almost constantly +tormenting her with offers of his heart and hand, when the poor girl is +really a mourner for the man whom she believed, as you did, to be worthy +of a good woman's love. The girl is strong and willing and capable +beyond the common run of the people among whom she has spent her life +thus far. I believe she would fully appreciate kindness and would repay +it in every way in her power. What I have just thought of is, perhaps, +impossible for you to do, at present, but it may be that, in the future, +you may consider it. If you could bring yourself to have her in your +home she would be safe from harm and might be a very great help to you +if you carry on the work that is now in your mind to do. For," he rose +to his feet and walked rapidly from one end of the room to the other, +"if America declares war on Spain with a view to the independence of +Cuba, there will be much heroic work for you and me to do, my dear +Daughter ... there will be much work for us two to perform." + +Ruth Wakefield also rose ... it seemed to her that the situation +demanded that she meet it on her feet.... + +"Father Felix," she said calmly and softly, "Father Felix, have Estrella +brought to me, today; let us begin our good work at once. There is +nothing that my beloved country can demand of me that I would not be +glad to give to its sacred cause. I believe that I can do more for my +native land, here, in Cuba, at the present time, than if I should return +to it, now. It may be that an American, with some degree of wealth and +intelligence, can be of service, here, at this critical juncture in her +country's history." + +"Our native land could not have a better representative, my Daughter. As +you know, I, also, am an American and I am proud, indeed, to claim you +as a fellow-countryman. From now on we will more fully understand each +other and I shall be glad to consult with you about many important +matters. I will proceed at once to carry out your instructions with +regard to the young girl of whom we have been speaking, for I feel that +her case is one of peculiar importance, since I fully believe that she, +also, is an American, although I have been unable, up to this time, to +trace her parentage beyond the fact that a man, presumably her father, +left her in the care of the woman who brought her up as one of her own +children, in the little village below here. The poor girl has had a +sorry life so far and really deserves better treatment than she has +received, or so it seems to me from my finite stand-point. I do not +presume to question the wisdom or justice of God, but, often, I am +puzzled when I see the innocent suffer and the guilty escape punishment +here in this world; I always trust in our heavenly Father implicitly, +and, yet, at times, I am sorely put to it to furnish reasons for certain +people having been placed in certain environments. I believe that all +this will be explained to us in good time, but many things are hard to +understand while we remain finite beings with only the intelligence that +has been bestowed upon humanity to reason with. Conscience," he went on +almost as if talking to himself, "conscience is our infallible guide and +was given to us so that we would never be without direction in whatever +circumstances we may be placed. Now, in this instance ... I honestly +thought that I was doing right to come here this morning and advise you +as I did, and, yet, God, in His great Wisdom, guided you, at once, into +the only path that you were ever meant to walk in ... the path that +will lead you on to the peace that passeth human understanding." + +After a little rather desultory conversation, with which he hoped to +lighten the outlook of the lonely woman, the good Priest wended his +solitary way down the hill and back to the scene of most of his labors +among the ignorant people whom he hoped to help toward a better +enlightenment, and, as he walked slowly down the path leading to the +village, he turned and looked back at the mansion on the hill, crossed +himself, and murmured: + +"Of such is the kingdom of heaven." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +When Estrella reached the mansion on the hill she found its mistress +quietly awaiting her outside the dwelling; she welcomed the young girl +with out-stretched hands, saying: + +"Father Felix has done well, indeed, to send you to me so quickly, +Estrella. I want you to feel perfectly at home, here. Old Mage will take +you to your own room and tell you what little duties you may assume if +you wish to do so. When you have arranged these little domestic matters, +come to me in the library and we will talk over some plans I have in +which I think you will be interested when you have somewhat recovered +from your recent loss. I know, from my own experience, that there is but +one way to carry sorrow through one's daily life and that is to be busy. +If one has enough physical energy and nervous strength, one can +accomplish a great deal of good in the world in spite of personal +sorrow. You are young and have not had an easy life so far ... it may be +that I can assist you so that, from now on, you and I may be able to +help each other in doing good work among those who are weaker than we +are." + +Old Mage was only too willing to take charge of the girl, for, while she +did not really like the idea of having her in the family, yet, she was +aware that Ruth needed companionship and she enjoyed having a goodly +number of people around her as her life consisted, mainly, of what each +day brought into it, for old Mage, while she was a good woman and a +faithful friend, was not a thinker and made few plans for the future. + +She led Estrella to the room that Ruth had arranged to have her occupy, +and, having explained certain little matters to her concerning the daily +round of life in the house, she began to question her as to what she had +learned regarding the explosion in Havana Harbor and what she thought as +to the probability of the United States declaring war on Spain on +account of it. + +The girl had little information to give to the old woman for she had +been too much absorbed by her own recent grief to even think of any of +the consequences that might follow the accident ... it seemed to her +that if the whole United States navy were blown up, it would make small +difference to her now that she had lost Victorio for he had represented +to her everything that meant happiness for her in the future; she had +yet to learn many things that would, eventually, bring to her the kind +of happiness that is lasting and to be depended upon when all that is +transitory and ephemeral has passed beyond knowledge and memory. + +At length, old Mage wearied of quizzing Estrella and left her to her own +thoughts which were confused and uncertain; she did not understand why +the lady of the mansion had condescended to ask her to come to her for +Father Felix had left her in doubt as to any reason, only telling her +that Miss Ruth desired her to come to her, at least for a time, to act +as a sort of companion as she was alone a great deal; he did not explain +to her that there might be work for her to do in the near future, +leaving that part to Ruth, very wisely. + +Father Felix led his little flock into fresh pastures when he felt that +they were ready for such a change but he reflected deeply before doing +this and hoped, in the case of the girl under consideration, that +companionship with one as unselfish and intrinsically good and noble as +Ruth Wakefield would do more for her character than any counsel he could +give to her; the good Priest was well aware that the handsome, young, +dashing Cuban had fascinated both the women and he felt sure that, had +he lived long enough in the same world with them, he would have broken +both their hearts, for it was his nature, evidently, to gather flowers +wherever he found them and throw them away to wither and die; Father +Felix was a normal human being as well as a spiritual leader and he +recognized facts with regard to human nature as he found them, not being +deceived by appearances as a less intellectual person would have been, +or as a man possessed of weaker masculine traits than those that had +been bestowed upon him. + +There was one among his parishioners of whose case he was doubtful ... +he was very anxious concerning Manuello for he knew that the young man +had some sort of guilty secret that he had confessed to no one and this +was one reason influencing him in his endeavor to extricate the innocent +Estrella from her immediate surroundings; he knew that, in the troubled +condition of the country, Manuello would be almost certain, with his +wild and untutored nature, to get into some sort of tangle with +authorities and supposed that the trouble he was well aware of as being +on the young fellow's conscience had something to do with existing +Spanish laws; he, himself, in breaking down the doors of the prison in +order to liberate this man among the rest of the prisoners, had been +guilty of violating a strict mandate and knew that he was liable to +arrest at any time, but, now that America might come into the struggle +on her own account, instead of simply through sympathy with the wrongs +of the people of Cuba, he realized that his own case had taken on a new +color, for, as he had told Ruth Wakefield, Father Felix was a native +American and loved his own country devotedly, although he had been +acting as a missionary in Cuba for some years of his active life in the +priesthood; he was dwelling on the state of mind of Manuello, sitting +quietly in his own place in the refectory, the evening after the events +related in the preceding chapter, when he heard a hasty knock at his +door and immediately opened it to admit the subject of his thoughts. + +The young man entered as if upon a desperate errand and sat down in the +first chair he found without waiting for the invitation of the Priest, a +proceeding that, alone, showed the condition of his mind: + +"Good Father," he began without introduction, "where is Estrella? She +has not been home for some hours and none of the family seem to know +much about her; all they told me was that I was to come to you for +information ... and here I am." + +The Priest looked into his eager face and pitied while he condemned him, +for he could see that he greatly mourned the absence of the girl whom he +had decided in his own heart to have for his own. + +"Manuello," said Father Felix, at length, having regarded him with a +sympathetic smile, "you must accept the situation as calmly as you can. +I have to tell you that Estrella has found another home than yours and +will, from this on, be under good care and will, I hope, find happiness +later on in her career ... she is a good girl and deserves to be happy," +he concluded, benevolently. + +"Do you mean," demanded Manuello, "that I am not to see her any more? +That I am to be shut out from her life? I want to know," he rose to his +feet, "I demand to know what you have done with her? Have you placed her +in some convent?" + +His voice had risen as he added question to question and he faced the +Priest with a fierce expression on his dark and lowering features. His +attitude had no effect on Father Felix who was without bodily fear and +knew that, in the present instance, at least, he stood upon safe ground, +having, as he well knew, removed the girl from danger from the very +being who, now, glared at him: + +"My Son," he said, "my Son, compose yourself. I will brook no +demonstration of vile anger from you. Estrella has been put beyond your +power. I do not know," he went on, coolly, "just what it is that is upon +your conscience at present, but I do know there is something that will +not bear a close investigation by the authorities, and I advise you to +have a care how you conduct yourself in the future. Cuba will have need +of your strong arm and I hope that you will use it in her service." + +Cowed by the sternness of the tone of voice in which he had been +addressed as well as by his own guilty knowledge, Manuello, silently, +and without thanks or regrets of any kind, left the refectory, slamming +the door after him ... an indignity that few would dare to place upon +their record; giving vent, inwardly, to the curses he did not dare to +utter, he retraced his steps to his own home, intending to get what +information he could from the other members of his family as to how +Estrella went away; reaching his domicile, he, at once, began to ply his +father, who had returned from his daily toil, with various inquiries, +but found him not only uncommunicative but, apparently, also uninformed +as to what had taken place during his absence; all that the other +members of the family knew was that Father Felix had come hurriedly to +the house and had a short conversation with Estrella when she had packed +a few personal effects, of which, indeed, the poor girl had but few, and +left the place, telling them she would see them again from time to time +and leaving kind farewells for both himself and his father. + +Then he remembered how intimate Estrella had always been with Tessa and +decided his best course would be to go to her little friend, being well +aware that any information she might have she would gladly give to him; +he was hurrying along, intent upon this new hope of relief from his +anxiety regarding the woman he imagined himself to be deeply in love +with, when, all at once, he became aware that someone was following his +footsteps, guardedly and yet with determination; immediately upon this +knowledge, there stalked into the foreground of his consciousness the +fear of discovery of his recent crime; the intimation of the Priest that +he had suspected it had stirred within him the instinct of +self-protection and he hastened his progress along the familiar and +narrow street, hoping to out-distance his pursuer, whoever he might +happen to be. + +It seemed to him that he was succeeding in this last effort and he was +congratulating himself upon his own celerity, when a hand was laid +rather heavily upon his shoulder and a loud and insistent voice declared +him to be the prisoner of the owner of it. + +Instantly, Manuello became a beast of prey, cornered in its lair, and +furious with all the animal instincts of self-preservation. He squirmed +away from the heavy hand and whirled around to face his would-be captor +and looked directly into the muzzle of a very capable gun held in steady +hands that seemed well accustomed to its use. + +"Up wid ye'er fists, ye dirty spalpeen ye!" commanded the man behind the +gun, using his own rich native brogue in the excitement of the moment. +"Hould 'em right there ..." he went on, as Manuello, instinctively, +though sullenly, obeyed him, "til I snap these putty bracelets on ye'er +wrists!" fumbling in his pocket with one hand while he held the gun in +the other, steadying it against his shoulder, for he had come prepared, +knowing his prospective prisoner to be a desperate character. "There, +now!" having completed his search and placed a handcuff on one of +Manuello's wrists. "Up wid that one and over to its mate!" + +But his prisoner was indeed a desperate man and did not intend to yield +to arrest as easily as it had appeared, at first; raising the manacled +wrist, he brought the steel bracelets down on the red head of the +Irishman, felling him to the ground; then it was but the work of a +moment to secure the loaded gun, and, after that, the tables were +completely turned for Manuello immediately became the master of the +situation; looking hastily about him to be sure that he was unobserved, +he was about to complete the utter defeat of the man who had given him +such a terrific fright by beating his brains out with the clubbed gun, +when he heard his own name spoken in a soft, low, scared voice; turning, +he beheld little Tessa standing behind him. + +"Oh, Manuello," she cried, breathing pantingly, "what has happened here? +Are you hurt? There is blood on your wrist ... and ..." here she stopped +in consternation, "what else have you here?" for the Irishman had done, +at least, a part of his work well, having locked the handcuff which the +young man had almost forgotten he was wearing, "Take the hateful thing +off, dear Manuello ... do take it off ... I don't like to see it on your +wrist." + +"Easier said than done, my dear little Girl!" declared the victim, +smilingly. "But we can fix that somehow; in the meantime, we will let +this fellow lay where he has fallen. Someone of his tribe will, likely, +be along, soon, and they can take care of each other. Come along, Tessa, +we will see what we can do with this piece of jewelry ... it is rather +unwieldy ... I don't like the look of it." + +The home of the young girl was not far distant and thither they +repaired; after repeated efforts to file through or break the manacles, +Tessa bethought herself of one possible method of releasing Manuello and +acted upon her idea at once; running out upon the street she approached +the place where the soldier had fallen, for he wore the uniform of the +Spanish army, intending to feel in all of his pockets for a key that +would unlock the handcuffs. + +As she drew near to the spot she heard low voices and crept along in the +shadow of the shrubbery that lined the narrow street until she was +within ear-shot; then she realized that two more soldiers had joined +their fallen comrade whom they had resuscitated, so that he was relating +to them something of the circumstances that had led to his present +plight: + +"Ye see, b'ys," he was saying, "I wanted to arrist the spalpeen +myself becase I think he is not only a revolutionist, but, also, a +mhurderer ... a fella we arristed yesterday tould me that he thinks +_this_ wan killed the leader of thim all ... seems he was jealous of +him ... they both wanted the same ghirl...." + +Tessa, realizing that her errand was useless, turned to go back +silently, but the words she had heard had burned themselves into her +brain, and when she was again beside Manuello he seemed far different +to her than he had before; she found him almost crazy from fear of +discovery as he had failed in all of his efforts to free himself from +the device that had been placed upon his wrist. + +"Did you get the key?" he demanded, almost fiercely. "Where is it? This +cursed thing is almost killing me!" + +Frightened at his expression and regretting her inability to help him, +the girl began to cry, lifting her apron to her eyes to wipe away her +tears; as she did so, the young man said to her, angrily: + +"Well ... _stand_ there and cry while I am suffering ... you'll do a lot +of good that way ... hustle out and see if you can't find some tool to +get this thing off of me ... go to the village blacksmith and tell him +some lie or other ... ask him how you can get an iron off your little +sister's leg ... do something ... someone will come in and find me this +way!" + +"Even if they did, Manuello ... you are not under arrest ... the man +don't know where you are, now; but I'll go and try to find some way to +help you ... of course I will ..." said the generous-hearted girl, "I am +_so_ sorry for you, and, now, that Estrella is gone...." + +She hurried out, then, leaving the young fellow in no pleasant mood, for +he had much to reflect upon and a pair of heavy handcuffs hanging to one +wrist is not conducive to a man's happiness. + +Tessa soon returned and had to report that her efforts in his behalf +were, again, unsuccessful, for the blacksmith had only said: + +"Bring the child to me and I will do what I can for her." + +Manuello was, now, almost in despair and he was wise enough to know that +cursing, while it might relieve his feelings to some extent, would not +really help the situation, so he pulled his sleeve down as far as he +could over the manacled wrist and proceeded to find out what he could +concerning Estrella. + +Tessa would have felt much freer than she did had she not remembered the +words of the soldiers concerning the crime of which they suspected the +young man, and only told him that Estrella had come running to her, that +morning, and had told her that she was going away for a while but that +she would see her again, soon. + +Manuello had to content himself with this, hoping to find out more from +Tessa within a day or so, and went away, divided between a desire to +revenge himself upon the man who had tried to arrest him and +self-congratulation upon his escape, but most of all he pondered how to +get the hateful handcuffs from his wrist, for, besides being painful and +unwieldly, he knew that they would attract attention to him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Manuello was almost desperate regarding the manacles still clamped +firmly on his wrist; it left his right hand free and he could use the +fingers of the left hand, so he bound the wrist, placing the second +handcuff above the one that was locked and laying it as close to the +wrist as possible; he left his hand free as he could and simply told his +family that he had cut the arm when engaged in practicing with the +machete in the use of which weapon the Cuban insurgents were especially +accomplished; this explanation of his supposed wound was sufficient and +no one had any idea of the actual facts except Tessa and she was both +too loyal to the young man and too frightened because of the reported +crime he had committed to do anything but keep his secret inviolate; he +depended upon her acknowledged affection for him and had no doubt that +she would defend him if occasion required such a proceeding; his chief +anxiety, at present, was to find out the where-abouts of Estrella, for +he was of a fiery and passionate nature and the disappearance of the +girl but added to his desire for her. + +On the morning after the accident he had sustained he started out with +the determination to discover where Estrella had gone, for, as she had +said that she would soon see his own family as well as little Tessa, he +reasoned that she could not have gone very far away; so he began his +search by climbing to the top of the hill behind the village, intending +to try to locate her hiding-place by the simple method of checking off +in his own mind impossible localities for concealment and then deciding +which of the probable ones to investigate; having reached the point of +vantage he wished, he began by cutting out the refectory ... then his +own home ... then Tessa's dwelling-place ... then numerous small houses +where he knew it would be practically impossible for another human being +to be entertained in. + +Just as he had reached this point in his revery, his attention was +attracted to the mansion on the hill, and he began to observe, closely, +the movements of every one who came to or went from the house; he did +not really suspect that Estrella was there, but his mind wandered idly +over the residences within his view and lighted upon the mansion on the +hill as something different from the other dwellings he could see. + +As he watched the gateway of Ruth Wakefield's residence, he noticed, +emerging from it, old Mage whom he remembered as being there, in what he +considered to be the capacity of an upper servant; he looked at the old +woman because she happened to be in his line of vision and not because +he had any curiosity concerning her movements; but the nature of the +errand upon which she seemed to be bound not only surprised, but amused, +him, for she carried in her hand a large basket of choice cut flowers, +and, from time to time, as she walked along, she stooped to gather dried +leaves that had fallen in the pathway with which she seemed trying to +conceal the contents of her basket; she seemed satisfied, at last, and +ceased to gather leaves, while she quickened her pace to a sort of slow +amble which gait she maintained until she had passed beyond Manuello's +view; he wondered, idly, why she covered the flowers, and was about to +move to a point which commanded a more perfect view of the pathway, when +his attention was again attracted to the gateway of the Wakefield +residence. + +This time, it was quite a different person who appeared between the high +stone pillars ... a tall woman, evidently young and active, plainly but +serviceably dressed, stood, for a moment, shading her eyes with her hand +from the glaring sunlight, peering down the pathway along which old Mage +had just been walking; she remained in this position but a very short +time, however, for she was, soon, joined by another woman who seemed as +much interested as she had been in watching the pathway; as the two +young creatures stood there, side by side, Manuello could not but remark +upon the similarity of their forms and general appearance ... both were +evidently strong and agile ... both seemed possessed of bounding health +and youthful vigor; it seemed to him that one of the women looked more +sturdy than the other one did, but, as she was wearing a wide and +drooping hat, such as many of the natives of the Island were accustomed +to wear, he could not see her face; as she approached the woman who had +first appeared in the gateway, there was something in her manner that +seemed familiar to the young fellow, and, as she put one hand, gently, +on the other's shoulder, he, again, seemed to recognize something +familiar in the movement; then she spoke, and, although he was too far +away to hear her words, he knew the tones of her voice, and realized +that his search for Estrella was ended. + +As this knowledge was fully impressed upon him he cast about in his mind +as to what method of procedure to take to bring about his desired end +which was to see and talk with the girl, himself, as soon as possible; +first, he thought to approach the house as a fruit-peddler, but put that +thought aside as unlikely to attain his object ... then, he decided to +spy around the place until he located Estrella's own room, intending to +bring his guitar and sing under her window some native love-songs, +hoping to impress upon her his undying affection and imagining that, now +that Victorio was out of the way, his cause would be more likely to +succeed than before. + +He had started out to carry this intention into practice, leaving his +original position among the heavy timber that skirted the hill, and +going more into the open than before in order to more closely approach +the house, when he became aware of another presence in the wooded +section that he had just left; he could not make out just what this +presence was ... his ideas concerning it were hazy and uncertain, but he +felt sure that he was not alone and, now that he had left the timber, it +seemed to him that the unknown presence was following close behind him; +he turned sharply around but discovered nothing behind him and kept on +in the direction he had been proceeding in, although his nerves were +keyed up and ready to jump at the slightest sound; suddenly, directly in +front of him, he heard a voice saying: + +"Do not approach any nearer to her. If you insist upon doing so you must +take the consequences which are freighted with bitter pain for you." + +It seemed to Manuello that this voice was within himself and came from +his own thoughts and, yet, it seemed, also, to be in the pathway ahead +of him, separated from him and yet a part of him; he hesitated, as above +everything else, the natives of Cuba are superstitious and Manuello was +no exception to this rule; his own criminal record, naturally, made him +timid; besides, Estrella's evidently favored position as a member of the +household of Ruth Wakefield elevated the girl in his estimation, for +everyone in that neighborhood had great respect, amounting almost to +veneration, for the inmates of the mansion on the hill. + +The young man stopped in his progress toward the house and turned his +attention, for an anxious moment, to his manacled wrist, which gave him +a great deal of uneasiness and some suffering as well; as he held this +wrist with his free right hand, he had his back toward the path that led +down into the village, and was unaware of the nearness of Father Felix +until the good Priest touched him on the elbow; wheeling round, +instantly, he faced the only man he was not afraid to meet among his +neighbors; for, although the Priest had told him he knew that he +possessed a guilty secret, yet he, also was aware of Father Felix' usual +kindness and protection exercised over his people, so that it was with a +feeling of relief that he discovered who the new-comer was. + +"My Son," said the Priest, "you are abroad early ... what news have you +heard in the village, this morning?" + +Manuello looked at him searchingly as if to discover why he asked him +this question, wondering if he had heard of his own encounter of the +evening before, but failing to gain any knowledge of the secret thoughts +of the Priest, he said at random: + +"Everything is about as usual, I guess ... nothing startling seems to +have happened during the night." + +"I heard," began Father Felix, "I heard that a soldier had been struck +down by some marauder shortly after the time of your leaving my society, +last night, and I thought you might have happened to be in the vicinity +of the crime. By-the-way," he went on, solicitously, "what has happened +to your left wrist?" + +"Oh ... that!" said Manuello, carelessly. "That is simply a love token +from the machete of a friend of mine while we were sparring for +practice; as you said, last night, Cuba may have need of us fighting-men +soon, and we wish to be ready to take our proper place when the time for +action comes." + +"Well, be careful of your weapons, my Son ... save your steel for your +enemies and those of your native land." + +Speaking in this manner, the good Priest pursued his journey up the hill +and disappeared within the gateway where Manuello had, only very +recently, seen Estrella standing with the mistress of the mansion; he +decided, under the existing circumstances, to retrace his steps toward +the village, contenting himself with the thought that he now knew where +Estrella was; he thought that he might as well impart this information +to little Tessa, and, also, he wanted to find out whether she had heard +anything more about his encounter with the soldier on the street, also +if she had thought of any way whereby he might be freed from the +manacles which became more and more distressing and uncomfortable. + +With this thought in his mind, he was approaching Tessa's home when he +was intercepted by the very individual he meant to inquire about. + +"What the divil!" exclaimed the Irishman. "Sky-larking by daylight +_this_ toime, me foine high-way-mon?" + +Manuello had drawn back, prepared to again bring the hated handcuffs +down upon the poll of the man before him, if he offered any indignities, +when he was surprised to notice a wheedling tone in the voice of his +opponent of the evening before. + +"Indade, mon," began the soldier, "I am in need of those putty bracelets +I gave ye, last night; a prisint like them is not bestowed ivry day, I +tell yees. The only thanks ye give me was a crack on me head wid em +which took away but little of me sinse as I had but little in the +beginning.... I might have known betther than to have tackled a foine, +up-standin' fella like yees, single-handed. Yer a foine figure of a mon, +me Frind, and I'd like mighty well to serve be the side of ye ... how +would it _do_, now, fer ye to enlist in the arrmy and give me back me +bracelets if I spake a good worrd fer ye wid me Captain?" + +Manuello looked at him in surprise, but, seeing a chance to get rid of +the hateful manacles, decided to agree to the proposition of the other, +at least for the time being. + +"All right," he acquiesced, "go ahead and take these cursed thing off +me, first, and then tell me where you want me to go." + +The wary Irishman watched the face of the Cuban, doubtfully, but, as he +really wished to be able to account for the handcuffs, he took the key +from his pocket and stepped a little closer to the young fellow in order +to use it, being careful to keep a firm hold on his gun the while; just +as he was about to unlock the manacles, he heard a slight noise behind +him and looked out of the tail of his eye to be horrified by the near +proximity of one of his superior officers; instantly, he changed his +attitude toward Manuello, dropped the key, and pointed his Mauser rifle +straight at the heart of his prisoner. + +"Ye will ... will yees?" he cried out. "Oi'll see about that, ye +Spalpeen! Shtand shtill unless ye want a bullet in yer gullet! Now, +Sir," he said politely to the officer, "ef ye'll be ahfter clicking the +other bracelet on his right wrist whilst I kape him covered, Oi'll be +much obleeged to ye. He's a nasty customer, Sir," he explained, kindly, +"and Oi've been havin' a rough toime wid 'em." + +The Spanish officer stepped gingerly up to the prisoner, seized hold of +the manacled wrist and reached for the other uplifted hand; but +Manuello had had enough of their society and proceeded to rid himself +of it by striking at the officer with his left wrist while he made a +grab at the rifle of the Irishman with his right hand; the young Cuban +was wiry and his muscles were like taut steel; the officer went down +like an ox before the slaughterer but the Irishman discharged his gun +regardless of the aim which had been destroyed by the action of the +living target; the result was disastrous to all parties for Manuello +felt a sharp, stinging pain in one of his legs, but, in spite of this, +he clubbed the rifle and brought it down over the skull of the Spanish +soldier, limping away, again a conqueror, but sorely wounded, for the +bullet had passed clear through the injured limb, tearing through the +flesh and bone as is the manner of the long and slender Mauser missile. + +In this emergency, the young fellow, knowing that he would be hunted +after the last encounter, not only because of the crime of which he had +tacitly been accused by the soldier but because he had struck down a +Spanish officer, and realizing that, with the manacles still locked upon +his wrist, he was a marked man, bethought him of a deserted hut far back +among the palms that grew all over the Island in tropical profusion; if +he could but reach this hut, he thought, and first apprise Tessa of his +new mishap, he might hide there while he recovered from his wound which +was beginning to give him great pain as it recovered from its first +numbness. + +Walking as erectly as he could under the circumstances and keeping his +left wrist well covered by the wide cuff of his jacket-sleeve, he was +proceeding along the familiar street, when he met the girl he was in +search of, strolling placidly along, little dreaming of the imminent +peril in which he had just been placed, for the discharge of the Mauser +rifle had been almost as silent as smokeless; telling her in a few +hurried sentences of his great need and describing to her the location +of the ruined hut he had in mind, Manuello retired from the scene. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Tessa was very much distressed as to the condition of Manuello and, +feeling that he depended upon her alone, cast about in her mind as to +how she could assist him; to begin with, she was anxious about the heavy +handcuffs hanging to his poor wrist, as she put it in her gentle +thoughts of the man whom she suspected of being a murderer; if, however, +the charge against him were true, she felt that the crime was committed +in the heat of a jealous passion, and being what she was, herself, she +excused it for that reason, for a Cuban girl is apt to love as madly +and as unreasonably as any man ... to her, Manuello was almost a +demi-god ... it had been a hard trial for the little woman to give him +up to Estrella, even, and, now that he was in dire need and the girl of +his first choice had deliberately deserted him, it seemed to her as if +she had the right to let her own wild love guide her in all that she did +with regard to him. + +She was slowly retracing her steps to her own home with the intention of +getting some supplies and managing to evade the vigilance of the rest of +her family sufficiently to carry them to the man she loved ... her eyes +were directed to the path along which she walked, idly, yet, all at +once, those dark eyes lighted up with sudden joy and she hastily swooped +down, like a fluffy little bird upon a morsel of food, and took into her +hand a small and intricate-patterned key; she hoped that this was the +key that would unlock the hated manacles from Manuello's wrist and, +regarding this as a good omen, she concealed the little deliverer in her +bosom, tying it in the corner of the kerchief that was crossed upon her +breast. + +When Tessa had secured what necessities she found available on the spur +of the moment, she at once concealed them as far as possible and +prepared to ascend the side of the hill toward the ruined hut where +Manuello had directed her to come; her heart was fluttering wildly for +this was her first secret mission, as she had always had someone near +her during her short life on earth: she wound her way among the cactus +plants that covered the ground in almost all directions, with an +unerring instinct that was of more value to her than any education could +have been for the moment, for one unaccustomed to the wild cacti in Cuba +might, easily, become bewildered, as it is necessary to walk almost in +circles among the thick clumps of prickly foliage. + +Tessa was young, but the women of Cuba, like those of most tropical +countries, mature early in life, and she already had the strong maternal +instinct that is a part of normal womanhood; this instinct now directed +her to watch over Manuello as if he were, indeed, her child, instead of +the man to whom she had given the first wild love of her fiery nature; +for women are made that way ... no matter what their own body may demand +of them, it is as natural for them to put all personal feeling aside and +allow a higher, more unselfish love to rule them entirely, as it is for +a man to, first gratify his own desires, and, then, if so be he can +without inconvenience to himself in any way, minister to the wants of +the woman in the case, all well and good, but if, on the contrary, to +care for the woman would, in any way, cause him to exercise self-control +and self-sacrifice, why, of course, he seeks another woman as soon as he +can well rid himself of the one who has flouted him; I am now speaking +of the general run of men ... there are exceptions to this rule, of +course, just as there are exceptions to the rule just stated regarding +women ... not all women are as little Tessa was, but most of them are +and it is indeed fortunate for the world of men and women that this is +as it is ... wonderful beyond the ways of human beings is the love of a +pure woman ... wonderful and worthy of the highest respect and devotion +of any man is the almost angelic love that women often bestow on most +unworthy objects. + +It was so in this case, for, while the girl was winding among the cacti +that hindered her advance up the hill, the man was lying in a miserable +heap in the corner of the deserted hut, cursing not only his own hard +luck, but even the girl on whom he depended for sustenance and care; +with maledictions on his tongue and the heavy manacles on his wrist, and +with the increasing pain and torment of his undressed wound, the poor +fellow was far from appearing much as had the gay peasant who had +congratulated himself on having escaped from prison, and, at the same +time, having rid himself of his rival in the affections of Estrella, +who, now, seemed lost to him. + +When the girl reached the ruined hut she found the object of her loving +care under the circumstances described above, and it took all of her +courage to face the situation alone and unaided by surgical skill for +they both realized that discovery would be almost certain to be fatal to +the man who now lay groaning and cursing by turns, even while his +ministering angel in human form knelt at his side and unlocked the +handcuffs from his wrist, for, luckily, she had happened upon the very +means of deliverance from the manacles for which they had both longed; +then Tessa gathered dead palm branches with which she fashioned a rude +bed for the sufferer, after which she raised his head upon a small +pillow which she had thoughtfully brought with her, for she was a sturdy +little peasant and could act as a beast of burden without harm to +herself; having fixed him up as comfortably as she could, under the hard +circumstances, she insisted upon his eating and drinking some of the +refreshments she had carried up the hill for him; she had used what +skill she had in bathing and binding the wounded leg, and, as the bullet +had gone clear through, there was little else to do so far as that was +concerned; then they began to consult as to what method of procedure +would be best for them to take; in this, of course, Manuello thought +only of himself, as was natural to a man of his type, while little +Tessa, as was also natural to one of her trusting and loving +disposition, also thought only of his comfort and safety. + +"I must come to you each day until the wound heals, my dear Friend," +said the earnest little woman. "I must bring you what you will need and +I must be very careful not to be detected in doing this. I wish ..." she +ended, earnestly, "I wish that dear Estrella could come and see you for +it would do you more good than anything that I can do for you." + +"You are a darling little girl, Tessa," said her turbulent patient. "You +ought to satisfy any reasonable man; Estrella don't care anything at all +about me, and I am beginning to think that I can get along without her +as long as I can have you." + +The adoring look in his dark eyes as he said these words was like manna +in the wilderness to little Tessa, for she could not help being pleased +to think that, after all, maybe Manuello would fix his affections upon +her small person, since Estrella had so often flouted him and shown him +plainly by her great preference for Victorio that she did not love him; +the name she had just used in her thoughts brought up the hateful +suspicion aroused in her by the remarks of the Irishman who had seemed, +at first glance, to be a Spaniard, but who, as soon as he opened his +mouth to speak, proved his nationality beyond the shadow of a doubt. + +But the loving girl put her thought aside almost at once ... she did not +wish to believe the suspicion to be true and she did not intend to +believe it--until she had to, if such a sad time could ever come to her; +just at present all the strength of her being was concentrated upon the +desire to aid Manuello in whatever manner she could. + +To further this desire, she arranged a signal whereby he might know that +she was coming up the hill and concealed, as well as she could the +approach to the hiding-place as well as the hut itself, by throwing, in +apparent disorder, as if blown by a strong wind, such branches and twigs +as she could find by a hurried search. + +She did not stay any longer than she thought was necessary for the +comfort of her patient for she was determined to continue her care of +him if possible and realized that a prolonged absence from her own home +might bring suspicion upon them both; as she was leaving, she looked +pitifully weak and small to cope with such a complicated situation +alone; even Manuello realized, for a moment, the devotion of the girl, +and called her over to his side to say a word or two at parting. + +"Dear little Tessa," he began, "this is going to be a hard task that you +have undertaken. I wonder if I am worth all this trouble. Perhaps you +would just better turn me over to the soldiers and let them work their +will on me; it may be that I will never be able to reward you for all +your care; of course, it may, on the other hand, be possible for me to +offer you help and comfort when you, yourself, may be in need of it. Now +that you have freed me from those shackles, I begin to feel my old +strength and courage coming back, and if I ever am again as I was before +this last mishap, I will surely reward you somehow for all this +sacrifice that you are making for me." + +This speech, coming from a man in the condition of Manuello, appealed to +the little woman so forcibly that she knelt beside his rude couch and +laid both her small, dark hands on his brow as she looked deeply into +his eyes; this position, being very favorable to the impulse that came +over the man as he lay there, made it easy for him to draw her head, +with its great mass of black hair, down upon his shoulder; as her cheek +was laid against his own, Manuello held her small face closely with both +his hands while he kissed first her trembling lips, then each of her +eye-lids, for she had closed her eyes in a sort of blind ecstasy, then +her low forehead, then the top of her small head and, finally, her +quivering chin. + +The impulse that prompted him to give these welcome caresses lasted only +a moment for the pain in his leg was beginning to be very insistent and +a groan of agony took the place of the loving words that had been upon +his eager tongue during the moment when he forgot his wound, but the +effect of those few wild moments of unbridled passion went with the +little woman down the hill and covered her small body with a delicious +glow that took away much of the terror and apprehension with which she +viewed the situation in which she found herself. + +Ruth Wakefield found Estrella to be much more of a companion than she +had thought she would, and found that, in the innocence and naturally +responsive disposition of the girl, she could almost forget the tie that +had brought them together; had the girl suspected the truth as to +Victorio's relations with the mistress of the mansion on the hill, the +situation might have been strained or even acute, but, as it was, Ruth +only pitied, while she almost envied, the sorrow of the sweetheart of +her own husband. + +On the morning when Manuello had discovered the where-abouts of +Estrella, the two women had been watching for Father Felix, intending to +consult with him concerning something that they both wished to do and +yet were not sure of the wisdom of; when he came, they both waited, +anxiously, for his first words, for they depended upon them for +enlightenment regarding a question in which they were both much +interested. + +"Miss Ruth and Estrella," he began, addressing both women, "I have great +news for you but we must be cautious in discussing what I have to impart +to you; if, through our carelessness, the information I am about to give +you, should miscarry, it might mean almost as great a disaster as the +recent explosion in Havana Harbor. We must be sure that we are not +overheard. I think we would better repair to the library, Miss Ruth, if +that would meet with your approval. I think we would be more secure from +eaves-droppers inside the house than here. I just met Manuello, my +Dear," he said speaking to Estrella, "as I came up the path. I do not +like to have him lurking around your dwelling-place. I am sure that he +is in some sort of hiding from the authorities and I dread to have him +near you, for he has an evil look in his eyes, lately. Be very careful, +my Daughter, as you go about the place or into the village ... it might +even be well for you to remain away from your former home for some time +to come. I can carry any news of you that will be necessary for them to +know or do any little errands that you may think should be done. +By-the-way," he ended, turning his attention, once more, to Ruth, "I met +your old nurse hurrying along down toward the village as if in great +haste; as she does not often walk down the hill I noticed the +circumstances." + +"Old Mage!" exclaimed Ruth. "Why, I did not know that she had gone out. +Do you know anything of this, Estrella? Did she tell you that she had +work to do in the village? Was there something that had to be secured +for the larder, at once, that would not brook delay? Dear me, I hope she +will not over-tire herself. She is not very strong any more and I try to +have her, always, take very good care of herself. As you may know, good +Father," she went on, "old Mage is almost the only living human friend +on whom I can rely and her fealty to me is beyond question. If I should +find old Mage untrue to me," she declared, "I would not expect the sun +to rise the following morning. I must look into this, and, if you will +excuse me for a few moments, I will do so at once." + +"Now, my Daughter," said the Priest when Estrella and he were left +alone, "I wish to say to you, privately, that you must, from this time +on, avoid meeting Manuello in any way, both for yourself and also for +the well-being of your good friend, Miss Ruth; the fellow is +evil-minded, lately, and I believe would not stop at robbery or even, +though I greatly regret to think so, _murder_," he uttered the dreadful +word softly but emphatically, "if he believed that he would benefit by +either crime and I must urge you not to allow him to come here to see +you under any possible circumstances. As I said before, I can do what +must be done as between your former family and yourself." + +Estrella gladly acquiesced in this good judgment of Father Felix and +agreed to do all in her power to avoid meeting Manuello which she had no +desire, personally, to do, as she dreaded his protestations of love as +much as she would have dreaded his anger for any other reason in the +common affairs of daily life. + +In a short time, Ruth returned, explaining that old Mage had, indeed, +gone down to the village, though for what purpose she had been unable, +so far, to discover: they, then, repaired to the library and carefully +closed all doors and windows before Father Felix began to tell them what +they were so anxious to hear. + +"My dear Friends," he began, "the information that I have to impart to +you is of a very delicate as well as secret nature and must be so +regarded by both of you. Estrella, to you, especially, I wish to say +that you must not, under any circumstances, breathe a single word of +what I will say to you for it is of vital importance to the native land, +as I believe, of all three of us. For I have reason to think that you, +as well as Miss Ruth and myself, are an American. I know that all of +your sympathies are with our native land, at least, and, in trusting you +with this information, I am, in a measure, making you one of us in deed +and in truth, whether you are so by reason of your birth or not. Before +I go any further, I want your assurance of what I believe to be true." + +He waited a moment for the girl to speak, then, seeing her evident +embarrassment, he added, kindly: + +"You need have no fear of either of us, Estrella. If you have friends in +this wide world, you are with two of them at this moment." + +At these earnest words, the expression of the girl's face changed +somewhat and she replied to the implied interrogatory of the Priest: + +"I, also, believe that I am an American, although I do not know anything +of my own parentage beyond what my foster parents have told me. I do not +even know," she blushed while she made the statement, "whether my father +and mother had been married before my birth.... I have no means of +finding out anything more of myself than that I am an honest girl and +that I am deeply grateful to both you and Miss Ruth for your great +kindness to me in my great sorrow. As far as my fealty to America is +concerned," she ended, proudly, "I am as true to that great country as +anyone who knows himself to be a citizen of it. I would, gladly, lay my +feeble life upon the altar of what I believe to be my native land ... +the United States of America." + +She pronounced the words with reverence and bowed her head as if in +prayer, so that Father Felix no longer hesitated, but proceeded, at +once: + +"At this moment, an American squadron is in Asiatic waters, ready to +move, at the moment its Commander receives the cablegram from the +President of our own country, against the Spaniard, almost on his own +territory. By this move it is hoped to so cripple him that we, here, in +Cuba, may, with the help of our soldiers and sailors, conquer and drive +from the Island those who have so long usurped the places of great power +among us." + +When the good Priest had pronounced these fateful words, he found his +two auditors sitting erect, as if at attention, with hands folded in +their laps, and eyes fixed upon his face in breathless eagerness. Ruth +was the first to break the silence. + +"I pray the good God," she said, softly and reverently, "I pray God to +strengthen the hands of those who are to do this great, good work! I +trust that those who will be engaged in battle may be prepared to meet +their Maker with clean hearts, if with bloody hands. War," she cried, +suddenly, losing her attitude of prayer in the violence of her emotions, +"war is a terrible calamity but it seems that, only through war can a +nation be purged of such foul crimes as have been committed right here +in Cuba." + +Estrella watched her with flashing eyes and sympathetic expression and +the good Priest crossed himself and clenched his fists at the same +time, for, had occasion required such action at his hands, it was +evident that Father Felix could have changed from the spiritual guide to +the fiery enthusiast willing to take his place among the fighting men +who would defend what he believed to be a sacred cause. + +"Now, Father Felix," demanded the practical side of Ruth Wakefield, +"what action can we take in this matter to help the good cause? Is there +not some preparation that we can make to welcome our soldiers to Cuba, +for, of course," she lifted her head, proudly, "our boys will win +whatever conflict they may become engaged in ... it is only a question +as to how many of them may be injured or even killed in the terrible +encounter. Every man in America," said this American woman, "is a +soldier if he is needed in that capacity, for every American, man, woman +or child, is a _patriot_ ... devoted to the sacred traditions and +splendid example of those who followed _George Washington_ to victory +over those who had oppressed and insulted them." + +"My Daughters," said Father Felix, rising, "I must leave you for the +present. I will find out what we may do to assist our countrymen and +will come again to let you know the result of my search for further +information. All we can do, now, is to hold the information I have just +given to you inviolate and prepare ourselves, spiritually, to meet +whatever emergency may arise. My Daughters," he ended, stretching out +his hands in blessing over their bowed heads, "we shall have work to do +and we will do it with our might. May God, in His great Mercy, guide us +into the path in which He intended us to walk." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +On the day of Manuello's search for the girl he had so madly and +hopelessly loved, old Mage made a surreptitious visit to the little +cemetery in San Domingo where she had seen the body of Victorio Colenzo +laid away in its final resting-place; she went among the new-made +graves, of which there were a goodly number for so small a graveyard, +until she found the one she sought: she stopped, then, took the dried +leaves from the top of her large basket, removed a beautiful bunch of +roses, tied, carefully, with a broad blue ribbon, and laid them, softly, +upon the top of the mound of fresh earth; after having done this, she +took a small object wrapped in tissue paper, from the very bottom of the +basket, dug a small hole under the roses and buried it, covering it +carefully, packing the ground over it, at first, and, then putting loose +earth over the top of the miniature grave, so as to conceal its +existence as much as possible, she again laid the roses carelessly over +the spot. + +Having performed this little ceremony, old Mage looked down at her +handiwork and said, apparently addressing herself, as no other human +being was in sight at the time: + +"There! _Now_ I hope that she will forget all about him ... she will +think that she has mislaid the ring ... I had a hard time to get hold of +it. I hope that it will never come to life again any more than him ... +let them both lay there together. You lying pup, you!" she cried, +shaking her trembling old fist at the grave. "You _lay_ there and don't +you ever try to come near my dear young Lady again! The _idea_ of an +ignorant thing like you ever daring to come near her, anyway. I wouldn't +be so darned mad at you," she ended, "for you were a mighty good-looking +fellow and any woman might have been proud of your appearance, once she +could overlook your dark skin, but you even fooled _me_, doggone you! +You _lay_ there, now, and never do you dare to try to fool any more +women ... three of us is enough in _this_ neighborhood, anyway." + +She drew a long sigh of relief after this speech and hurried out of the +cemetery with her empty basket; she had slipped away when she thought no +one was observing her and intended to tell Ruth after her return what +she had done with the exception of any reference to the ring which, as +the reader may have guessed, was the wedding ring that Ruth had, up to +this time, kept always on her left hand or in her jewel-case on her +little dressing-table before which she always sat when she combed and +brushed her long and beautifully luxuriant brown hair; she had taken +the ring off the night before, little dreaming that she was touching it +for the last time, and sadly laid it among her jewels, thinking of the +bright face and laughing dark eyes that had looked so handsome to her +when he had put that little ring upon her finger, whispering of his +undying love and of the fact that she and she alone was, and had been +since his first meeting with her, the entire mistress of his hither-to +untouched heart; she had even shed a few tears over the little ring, +then, and old Mage, silently witnessing this fact, determined that she +should never again have that opportunity; so, after Ruth was sweetly +sleeping, the old woman slipped into her room and removed the object of +her scorn; she lay awake almost all of that night, planning how to +secrete or do away with the visible bond that had united her dear young +Lady to an unworthy mate; at length, toward daylight, it seemed to old +Mage as if someone had whispered to her what to do with the ring so that +poetic justice would be done to the first youthful passion of Ruth +Wakefield's innocent life; acting upon this suggestion, for so it seemed +to her, feeling sure that she had solved the problem so nearly affecting +the life of the one she loved best in all her world, she carried out the +plan she instantly formed, and, while she was a very weary old woman, +from lack of sleep and unusual exercise, when she again reached her +much-loved home, she had within her spirit a sense of satisfaction that +was beyond anything she had felt since Ruth had married the man whose +grave she had, that morning, visited; she felt, in some sense, to blame +for the marriage, as she had not strenuously opposed it, and found +herself much in the position she used to occupy when Ruth had been a +little tot and she had allowed her to do some small thing of which she +knew her parents would not approve. + +Now, she felt relieved because, as it seemed to her, she had sort of +evened up matters, and, after informing Ruth that she had gone to the +grave and put the roses there, she never intended to speak of Victorio +Colenzo again, and, as far as possible, she intended to rid Ruth of his +memory; with this thought in mind, she picked up many little memontos of +him which she found lying about the place ... a guitar here and a ribbon +there ... a photograph, perhaps, showing the dashing young Cuban in +military dress, which much became him, or mounted on a fine horse which +he, for the moment, had secured the use of ... even in one picture he +appeared standing, proudly, behind Ruth as if protecting her; all of +these and anything else that old Mage could find that would inevitably +remind Ruth of the man she had married, she destroyed ruthlessly and +with inward glee; her object in all this was, really, to protect her +dear young Lady, and, yet, at the same time, she had as nearly a +fiendish delight as it was possible for her ever to entertain, in, as +she naïvely put it to herself, "getting even" with the handsome fellow +who had "pulled the wool over" her own eyes as well as the brighter and +stronger ones of her young Lady. + +Ruth Wakefield was never enlightened as to this little by-play, but she +reaped the benefits of it in many ways, for it is true that visible +reminders are necessary to a great many people, and, even the strongest +minds are affected by the sudden sight of something reminding them of +some object formerly dear to them; it will give almost anyone a start to +come, unexpectedly, upon a picture or almost any tangible token of +someone once dear, no matter what may have happened to take away that +quality; lovers, by preserving evidence, like withered flowers, +pictures, songs and poems, often lay up for themselves future agony of +spirit ... the objects that are so dear to them may turn about and rend +their inmost souls; full many times, it were better had the love-tokens +been destroyed in some such way as old Mage did away with the visible +memories attached to the objects which her eager hands closed upon; this +secret employment, necessarily long drawn out, as she did not wish to be +discovered in her labor of love, took up a good deal of the extra time +she found herself in possession of on account of the presence of +Estrella in the home, for the girl took up many household duties, gladly +and naturally, knowing that in work she could, to some extent, forget +her own sorrow, and wishing to lighten the labors of old Mage who was +always kind to her. + +After the information imparted to Ruth by Father Felix, regarding +national affairs, she was very thoughtful and very busy, for there were +very many ways in which she could make preparations to begin the duties +which she expected to take up as soon as occasion would require them of +her; she studied into trained nursing and found a sort of school in +Havana to which she took Estrella and where they both learned many +essential things pertaining to the calling which they were both trying +to fit themselves for; in many ways they were both better prepared for +the work of caring for the sick and wounded than many women would ever +become, no matter how much they would be trained, for they were both +earnest and helpful, tender-hearted and serious; in all wars, there are +women who seek the familiar association with men which the calling of a +nurse entails, with no better object than just the proximity to +masculine humanity involved, but there are, also, such women as Ruth +Wakefield who had no thought in the matter except to help where help of +her should anywhere be needed ... to succor those who were not to blame +for the accidents that had befallen them ... who were, indeed, entitled +to the tenderest consideration on account of the very accidents which +had laid them on the clean, white cots that are stretched along the +wards and in the private rooms of the great, shadowy hospitals where +tender women bend above the beds of pain and minister to those who lie +there, suffering and weak, both in body and spirit. + +On one of these numerous visits to Havana, Ruth met a man who was an old +friend of her father's who was much interested in her lonely life and +who came out to her home to consult with her regarding the prospects of +her being surrounded by the din and pomp of actual warfare; at first, as +he viewed the situation she was placed in, he felt as Father Felix had +as to her staying in Cuba, in her immediate future, but listened to her +patriotic resolve with high enthusiasm, as he was intensely patriotic +himself and loved to think that she was every inch an American although +her life had, almost all of it, been spent away from her native land. + +Just as this man was leaving her home, one day, for he had been making +frequent visits there, he turned to look at her as she stood between the +pillar-like gate-posts at the entrance to the drive that led to her +residence; the picture she made, standing there in the glow of the +setting sun, lingered in his memory long after he had ceased to see her +as he saw her, then; Ruth was very fond of flowers and often wore a rose +tucked in among the coils of her beautiful, shining hair; that evening, +her selection among her flowers for this use had been a bunch of English +violets; the deep blue of the dainty blossoms accentuated the clear +gray color of her star-like eyes ... her healthy skin reflected the +sunset after-glow which was beginning to appear in the western sky; her +small mouth, with its cute corners, puckered up as if, she used to say +when a child, it had been too large to begin with and had been shirred +at the corners to make it the desired size, registered each change of +her inner feelings; her dress was elegant, yet simple, and her poise was +splendid; there are few earthly women who have sufficient poise of +manner and of nervous strength; most of them become excited and +distraught under slight stress of circumstances, but Ruth Wakefield was +an exception to this very general rule; there were very few things that +could shake her from her serenity of purpose and intention; one of these +things was being a witness to any injustice ... an indignity put upon a +weaker creature by a stronger one, whether the creature be gifted with +the power to express its feelings in human speech or not; those who knew +her best, were well aware of her strong regard for the rights of +so-called "dumb animals" ... her loving sympathy went out to every old +or poorly cared for horse she saw; she had been heard to say that she +would dearly love to have a good pasture, with waving grasses and +running water and sheltering trees where she could gather together all +the illy-used horses in the world and then just watch them enjoy their +surroundings; the smaller creatures, also, were her friends ... little +Tid-i-wats, to whom we have already been introduced, was a feline of +very uncertain temper and most impulsive and nerve-racking little +habits, yet to Ruth she could always go and be sure of a loving +reception no matter to what lengths she had gone, for Tid-i-wats was far +from being a perfect little cat; she very often reverted to her original +type and did things that no cat with a civilized ancestry would have +even thought could _be_ done; but she knew that Ruth would only say: + +"She is not feeling very well, today; she is beginning to show her years +a little; I noticed a white hair only today, on her little neck; she is +my own old baby-cat, anyway, and I will always take as good care of her +as I possibly can." + +She would watch Ruth, calmly, while she straightened out whatever she, +her own self, had made it necessary to straighten, and, then, when the +young woman would, finally, sit down, no matter where Tid-i-wats +happened to be located at the time, she would very soon land on Ruth's +lap with no fear of a scolding even; she took advantage of the gentle +disposition of her care-taker, same as so many humans did. + +Ruth's father's friend looked long and earnestly at the tall, straight, +slender figure standing there at the entrance to her almost palatial +home and the picture remained in his memory during the balance of his +earthly life. + +While Ruth Wakefield and Estrella were preparing themselves to assist +their fellow-countrymen in case they should be needed, events were +shaping themselves so that it seemed likely that Cuba would be the stage +for the setting of as heroic a play as the world had ever witnessed: +Commodore Dewey had bottled up the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay and +Naval-Constructor Richmond P. Hobson had executed his daring and +unheard-of feat although the gallant _Merrimac_ was sunk in Santiago +harbor. + +Soon after the formal declaration of war on April 25, 1898, President +McKinley sent forth a call for volunteers to enter the United States +army and navy. Instantly, almost, the ranks were more than filled with +active, alert, capable men, anxious, each one of them, to do his full +share of the work that lay before his beloved land. + +It was while active preparations for a war carried on in the interests +of humanity were progressing rapidly that Theodore Roosevelt became +prominent as representing the highest type of American manhood; he threw +himself, bodily, into the breach in the interests of his country; there +was no personal sacrifice which he was unwilling to make ... no task too +hard for him to attempt. He became, at once, an acknowledged and adored +leader of the young Americans who crowded around him, loving him like a +brother, and, at the same time, revering his quick judgment and his +dauntless courage. + +There is no figure in American history more heroic or more admired than +that of Theodore Roosevelt, mounted on a noble horse, in the uniform of +a United States Volunteer and wearing a wide campaign hat. + +Ruth Wakefield was kept well informed as to what was being done by her +own people, mainly through the kindness of Father Felix who seldom +missed an evening's visit with her and her almost constant companion, +Estrella; the two girls, for they were no more than that in spite of +what they had passed through, had become the best of understanding +friends; the younger girl seldom spoke of her dead lover and Ruth found +that the memory of her husband had been forced into the background of +her thoughts by the march of passing events. + +One evening, Father Felix climbed the narrow pathway to the mansion on +the hill and found Ruth alone as Estrella, who was her almost constant +companion, now, had gone to the village on one of her infrequent visits +to her little friend, Tessa. + +The good Priest was glad to find Ruth alone as he had news of great +importance for her ... news that would lead to great developments in the +near future; after being assured of their entire privacy, he said: + +"We will have work to do, my dear Daughter, before many more months have +passed by. The American people have endured the sight of the injustice +and oppression exercised by the Spanish authorities toward the helpless +Cubans for a long time, now, and are becoming more and more determined +to break the Spanish rule. You and I must be prepared to assist and +succor our own dear boys when they begin to smite the enemy of right and +justice, hip and thigh. My course in this work has been made plain +before me.... I have applied for the position of Chaplain in the United +States service and I trust that they will allow me to accompany my +little flock right into the midst of every battle in which they will be +engaged. It seems to me that your path in this matter, my Daughter, is, +also, plain ... you can turn this charming home into a hospital to which +the sorely wounded or those who have fallen ill from any cause may be +brought and where they may receive the tender care which they will +deserve from every loyal heart and hand. I am certain that you will find +work for Estrella as well as for every member of your family, here, in +this connection, also you will be ably assisted by many who will flock +to your standard when they understand what you are doing. I, myself, +will always assist you in every way in my power and I may be able to +spare you some uncertainty and, possibly, also, some unpleasantness. My +Daughter," he ended, "there will be work for us to do that will require +all our strength and courage.... May God, in His great Wisdom, guide and +help us." + +Ruth clasped her hands and bowed her head as Father Felix prayed for +God's blessing on whatever enterprise they should be called upon to +undertake in the great cause in which they were both enlisted. + +After the good Priest had disappeared down the narrow path that led to +the little village of San Domingo, she sat, for a long time, in deep +revery, reflecting on the peace and prosperity that then covered the +tropical Island upon which she had lived for so many years and trying to +imagine what changes were likely to come in the wake of the probable +conflict of two great nations, for Ruth realized that America was +meeting a foe worthy of her steel in Spain whose far-famed Armada had +been made the subject of song and story; she had no doubt of the final +outcome ... whatever America attempted, that she would accomplish ... +but how many splendid American men would have to lie upon the bloody +battle-fields that would spring up all around her was yet an unsolved +problem; and that, she thought, proudly and devotedly, would be her +work ... to find those splendid American heroes, and to do for them as +much as if each one of them had been her own blood brother ... to succor +the wounded and bury the dead. + +This line of thought led her, inevitably, to the grave already lying +under the moonlight so near to her home, and, upon a sudden and almost +irresistable impulse, she snatched a wrap from the rack in the hall and +started down toward the little cemetery, thinking to bid an eternal +farewell to the grave of the man who had been, if only for a few short +months, her husband. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Ruth descended the hill with firm, sure steps for she was strong in body +as well as in spirit; she had reached the gate of the little cemetery +before the impulse that had prompted her action had had time to lose any +of its power, but, as she opened the gate and realized the lateness of +the hour, her natural caution led her to pause for a second and take in +her surroundings; she at once became conscious of the sound of a low, +sobbing voice saying: + +"Dear God, I came here all alone hoping that You would forgive him for +the crime that he committed if I came to you in secret beside the grave +of him whose life he took ... the sin is lying heavily upon his soul and +I wish to lift it from him by sacrificing my own peace of mind so that +it may be bestowed upon him, for he suffers grievously from his wound, +dear God, he suffers very grievously.... I pray that You will put the +sorrow for his crime upon me instead of him so that I may help him, for +he is greatly in need of more help than I can give him, being but a +simple-minded, feeble, little peasant and unfit to carry this heavy +load." + +The supplication ended in a rush of sobs that shook the inner +consciousness of her who listened to them, for Ruth was tender-hearted +above all her other instincts; she advanced into the little cemetery, +then, with far different feelings than the ones that brought her there. + +The sounds that she had heard came from the same direction she had meant +to take to reach the grave of Victorio Colenzo, so she proceeded along +the little path that she had followed, in secret, more than once before, +for, with Estrella in her home, she could not visit the last +resting-place of the body of the man whom she had loved as very young +and innocent women will, often, love a creature all unworthy of such +affection, except surreptitiously; so that it was easy for her to wind +among the simple little head-stones until she came to the grave she +sought. + +The form her eyes could just discern beside the tomb was small and +slight and cowering down as if, indeed, in earnest supplication; Ruth +advanced until she was standing very near the silent woman and, not +wishing to startle and confuse her by a sudden word, she very gently +touched her bowed head; instantly, the girl sprang up in wild alarm, for +it had taken all her courage to come there at all; Ruth reassured her as +quickly as she could by saying, softly: + +"Do not fear, whoever you may be; I am but another woman like yourself +and I wish to help you no matter what it is that is so troubling you; we +women should assist each other in this world, for women, as it seems to +me, were put into the world to suffer, mainly, so we ought to try to +help each other. Tell me what there is that I can do to help you, now." + +Tessa, for the reader has, no doubt, guessed that it was she, began to +sob wildly and clung to the other woman who had come to her so +strangely; she could not speak, at first, for crying, and, then, she +could not speak for fear of injuring the man she loved, and, so, she did +not speak at all, but ran away without one word of explanation, thinking +in that way she might avoid discovery. + +But the incident had shaken Ruth so that the memory of the man whose +body lay within that narrow grave grew dim and far away; she knew that +he had been unworthy of her love and must have scouted it in secret many +times, for, if he had not done so, how could he have made such love to +poor Estrella as he had while she, his lawful wife, yet lived upon the +earth? Ruth Wakefield had often said that truth was truth no matter +where it fell ... she'd even said that she would blame herself when +blame was hers to bear, and, so, she could not shield the memory of the +newly dead too far, and, so, she turned away from that low grave and +never went there again, and, as she slowly climbed the hill that led her +to her own loved home, Estrella overtook her in the path and, hand in +hand with her who had been wronged as she, herself, had been, she left +the memory of the handsome, gay deceiver lying there within the narrow +grave that hid his fast decaying body from the world of living men and +women; from that time, she did not suffer, in thinking of him, as she +had before; there are turning points in every road no matter where it +leads to, and this was a turn for Ruth in that sad road where she had +strayed, but only for a short and most unhappy, if, at moments, wildly +joyous, time. + +When Tessa left the grave of Victorio Colenzo, she fled in haste and +fright; she did not go at once to her own home for she feared that she +might be followed; she had become a fugitive as truly as Manuello was, +for, now, she was to him as if she were, indeed, his wife, attending to +all wants of his that she could satisfy, and, secretly and silently, +becoming but the shadow of the gay and pretty girl that she had been +before; her friends, who saw her often, noted this sad change, but did +not know its cause. + +Father Felix watched the girl at times and pitied her, for he had +learned that she had been devoted to the handsome peasant whom he also +was assured was guilty of some crime and, since his disappearance, he +had figured out some things that made him almost certain what the crime +had been, for the good Priest was much alone and thought more deeply +about many things than those who have not followed psychic lines of +reasoning. + +One morning, Father Felix went, again, to visit Ruth, and found Estrella +with her, and he asked the girl about her little friend who had been +dear to her from early little girlhood; Estrella told him that she had +not seen her for some time, as, when she'd gone to visit her, she had +been gone, and Tessa had not come to see her as she'd asked her to, for +she had left word for her where to come to find her, knowing she could +trust her, for she'd always been a true and faithful friend to her. + +The good Priest pondered for a moment, then he said: + +"I wish that you would go, at once, to see your little friend; I think +that she is at her home at present, and I wish that you would try to +discover what it is that is troubling her, for she is most unhappy over +something and I wish that you would help her if you can for she is in +need of understanding help at this time more than at any time during my +acquaintance with her. Go, my Daughter, find your little friend and try +to assist her if you can." + +Estrella, having secured the permission of Ruth, followed the advice of +the good Priest and departed on her errand of love and kindness. + +When Father Felix had been assured of their privacy, he turned to his +companion and said: + +"I have information of importance to give you, my Daughter. We are +drawing nearer and nearer to the goal we seek. Our compatriots are +growing weary of blockading Havana and other harbors near to us and will +very soon advance into the interior of Cuba. When that time comes there +will be great suffering all around us and I think that it will be best +for you and me to form a sort of secret society with passwords, which, +while simple in themselves, will convey to us a secret meaning. You and +I must act as one in this matter.... I am sure of your fealty and you +can rely upon mine but how many others there are near to us upon whose +loyalty we can depend I do not know. Estrella is discreet and thoughtful +for an uneducated and untrained girl, but she would have no idea of what +course to pursue under complicated or difficult circumstances, so that +it may be necessary to keep many events secret from her. There are many +spies already in Cuba and there are those among us who would be willing +to exchange the lives and property of their best friends for personal +emolument. I know one young fellow who has, as I believe, already sold +his birthright of truth and honor for a mess of pottage and there are +others of his ilk. I rely on you alone in all this village of San +Domingo ... you, alone, are strong and capable ... you, alone, are +thoroughly American and devoted to your native land. I rely on you, my +Daughter, and you may rely on me. Let us now arrange a secret pact +between us so that, should we be separated, we may be sure of any word +that each may send the other. If I send to you a message adding to the +body of it the word _pax_ alone, then I will mean to signify that all is +well with me and that I do not know of any secret danger threatening +you, but if to the word _pax_ I add _vobiscum_, then you are to be made +aware that danger threatens you, while I may, yet, be safe from it, but +if I say _Pax vobiscus_ then I'll mean that we are both in danger of a +similar nature; if I send these latter words, you are to use all means +of safety at your command to seclude yourself from outside notice just +as much as possible and to try to find me if you can do so without +exposure to yourself; but if I say just _pax_ then I mean what the word +implies, and you may go to and from your home with freedom. I will come +to see you just as often as I can and I will arrange to have the +officers of our own army and navy visit you and then you will use your +own good judgment combined with what knowledge they will give to you as +to how you will proceed, knowing that my spirit will be with you even if +my body cannot be ... even if I should be separated from this perishable +body, my Daughter, I think that God would let me come to you to help +you.... He would know our need and it is my belief He would supply it. +Let us pray to Him for guidance, now, before I leave you for the night. +Father in heaven, protect and guide our footsteps while we stay upon +this mundane sphere of spiritual action. Help us do what we were meant +to do and teach us how to walk in unknown paths which we are, now, about +to enter on. May what is just and right be conquerors in conflicts that +will, very soon, be carried on about us. May the souls of those about to +leave this world be prepared for the great change from this world to +another one, and may we, who are Thy humble servants, do the things that +will be pleasing in Thy sight. Bless us, now, and guide us unto Thee. +Amen." + +When Estrella reached the home of little Tessa, she found her friend +about to go somewhere but where she would not say ... she seemed so much +distraught about it that Estrella did not ask the second time where she +was going; she could see that she had made some preparations for the +journey, for she had a small bag filled with eatables and a jug of +home-made vintage in her hands; Estrella plainly saw how distressed she +was and how wan and weary, too, and, so, she only stayed a very short +time; but, when she went away, she only went just far enough to be where +Tessa could not see her ... then she watched her little friend, but only +with the kindest thoughts of her, and saw her take an unused, winding +path a little ways, then hasten on without a path at all, so far as she +could see; she wound among the cacti, fearlessly, as if upon a very +important errand, and as if she feared that she would be too late to do +the errand she was bent upon; Estrella watched her for a time, and, +then, still with the kindest thoughts of Tessa, followed after her, but +far enough behind her so she could not see her ... she would stoop +behind a friendly bit of brush whenever little Tessa turned around and +gazed about her like a startled little bird about to seek its hidden +nest; so, unobserved, Estrella followed after her, and came, at length, +to that small clearing where the ruined hut had stood for many years; +Estrella knew about it, having found it at the same time Manuello had, +indeed, for they two used to roam the hills together when they were but +little children ... sometimes Tessa went with them, but, oftener, they +were alone; and, so, Estrella peered within the ruined hut and saw its +occupant as he lay there in bitter pain and wan and weary, too, like +little Tessa was; she saw the other girl creep past the tumble-down old +door that she had set up at the entrance to the hut to shield its inmate +from the winds, and, also, to try to keep the fact that he was there at +all unknown; she saw the little tender-hearted woman kneel beside the +rude couch on which her restless patient lay and kiss the lips that only +moaned her name in anguish and despair; she saw her smooth the black and +silky hair back from the brow of Manuello, and, then, she heard the +following conversation. + +"Tell me, little Tessa," said her patient, eagerly, "are you sure you +were not seen when you came here, today? I greatly fear that you will +yet divulge, in some way, my hiding-place. I could not move a step to +save myself, no matter who came here to find me. It is terrible to be +like this. I'd rather die than stay here like this for another day.... I +wish you'd find a gun, somewhere, and bring it to me the next time you +come and let me end the lives of both of us. You are like a little +skeleton, yourself.... I wonder what's the matter with you ... are you +ill or is it only just the weariness and fright that makes you look so? +If you should fail me, I would surely die ... a wounded rat that cannot +even run to save itself. Tessa, tell me," he cried out, peevishly, "are +you sick? You look so pale today it seems to me you are about to faint +away ... and what would I do, then?" + +"I don't believe that I am sick," she said, cheerfully. "I'm sure I +don't know why I'm pale.... It is very warm today, for one thing ... I +hurried up the hill ... Estrella came...." + +At that name, her patient roused again: + +"Estrella! Are you sure she did not follow you? She could gloat about +me, now, if she were minded to ... what did you bring for me to eat, +today?" he ended, changing the subject, abruptly. "I'm almost starved to +death; I wish you'd come a little earlier, tomorrow." + +"I will try, dear Manuello, I will try," said little Tessa, gravely. "I +always try to come as soon as I can come when I'm alone and can evade +the children." + +Manuello tossed a while in silence, then he asked again: + +"Are you sure Estrella did not follow you? Look outside and see if there +is not someone near the hut. I'm afraid ... I'm dreadfully afraid, +somehow, today. I've lain right here, now, all these weeks, and have +not been so frightened as I am, somehow, today. Look outside and see!" + +And, then, Estrella crept away for she could do no good by staying, and +she did not wish to harm either one of her old friends on whose distress +she looked. + +Estrella went back to the mansion on the hill, a sadder, it is true, and +yet also a wiser woman for she'd seen poor little Tessa's secret burden +and Manuello's sorry plight. + +She went to Father Felix, the next day, to advise with him about what +she had seen; he cautioned her not to mention it to anyone she knew, +which advice she followed, strictly; it enlightened him to some extent +and he pitied little Tessa more than ever, for he knew the sort of man +her patient was ... he knew that he was selfish to the very core of him +and had no gratitude for anyone who'd helped him; so he pitied little +Tessa and began, in many little unknown ways, to help her bear the +burden she'd assumed. + +To begin with, when she came to the confessional, as almost everyone who +lived in San Domingo did, he only asked her questions such as she could +answer easily ... he did not touch on murder or on lies or on anything +that might lead on to surprising her sad secret; he knew her for a +simple-minded, loving, tender little girl and he pitied her and did not +try to wring from her her secret, knowing that, in all human +probability, she would go, some day, to the ruined hut and find no +Manuello there to either curse or bless her: in fact, he looked upon +this as the most likely of anything that could occur and, when he saw +poor little Tessa fading with anxiety and dread, he went, one day, to +see the patient in the deserted hut, and, after that, there was no +patient there, for Manuello limped away, as he could stand, at last, and +hid from even little Tessa for he thought she had betrayed him, after +all, and, so, he cursed her with the balance of his rotten luck. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +June 10, 1898, was a memorable day for Cuba, for, on that date, the +glorious flag of our own much-beloved country was unfurled over Cuban +soil, upheld and supported by United States troops, for the first time. + +Father Felix had kept himself well informed as to military matters, and +had often consulted with Ruth Wakefield concerning what would actually +be needed by our armies when they were finally in the field; in +pursuance of the purpose to which they had both devoted their lives and +fortunes, these two had established a temporary hospital not far from +the city of Santiago, as the good Priest had been informed that one of +the next moves of our forces would be in that vicinity; so that, when +our starry banner first floated in the breeze at Camp McCalla, Ruth +stood beside the new-fledged army Chaplain, and watched, through +tear-dimmed eyes, the emblem of our liberty and freedom as it was +proudly raised. + +That night passed quietly, but, for five successive days and nights +thereafter, a bitter battle raged in which our blue-clad boys met and +finally defeated the Spanish hordes that tried to drive them back or +leave their lifeless bodies lying there beneath the blistering sun. + +When Ruth had sailed from Havana she had brought her little household +with her and established them in temporary quarters near the hospital, +and, soon, she saw the little white cots filled with sick or wounded +Americans and Cuban scouts. + +Volunteer nurses were immediately in demand as, in many ways, our forces +were unprepared to meet the enemy; there are no soldiers in the world as +brave ... as fine ... as capable ... as are our own United States +Volunteers ... both men and women, and, so, Ruth Wakefield and Estrella, +anxious to put into practice what they had learned to do, donned the +clean white uniforms they had become accustomed to in the training they +had taken in Havana for this very purpose, and, very soon, to the eye of +a novice, there were two more trained nurses ministering to the many +wants of the boys who lay there on those narrow cots, weak and suffering +but triumphant in spite of their pain, for the cause of right had won in +the first real conflict upon Cuban soil between the Spaniards and the +Americans assisted by Cuban insurgents, who, mainly, acted as spies and +scouts, a work to which they were adapted by nature and long practice in +a country infested by those whose only object in ruling it had been to +gain what they could, in resources and amusement, from the natives, +with no thought either for their comfort or advancement along the lines +of civilized living. + +Among the Cuban scouts who had been wounded on that first day of actual +combat was one who happened to fall under the care of Estrella for he +had been carried in right after her entry into the work of the hospital; +this man had been slightly wounded as he was about to give valuable +information to one of our own officers, and, perhaps for that reason and +because he had shown himself to be particularly useful, he had received +even more than the usual attention on the battle-field, for his wound +had been dressed more carefully than is customary when first aid is +given in the midst of the fray, so that the attending surgeon had +declared his condition such that all he needed was tender care, which +was why his case had been assigned to a volunteer nurse. + +Estrella gravely assumed the duty allotted to her, with some misgivings +as to her own ability, it is true, but with a strong resolve to do the +best she could; as she bent over her patient, she noticed, first, his +almost deathly pallor, then a jagged scar that stretched across his +cheek and had been lately healed ... the edges of it were yet red and +angry looking; the girl bent over him pityingly, and, then, she started +back for she had recognized, even in the dim light that pervaded the +temporary hospital, the features of Manuello; remembering what she had +seen in the ruined hut, she shrank from contact with her old admirer, +but, with that memory came the knowledge that he had been wounded while +in the performance of a service of benefit to her beloved country, and +she did not falter in carrying out the instructions of the surgeon in +charge with regard to her patient, thinking that, perhaps, before he had +recognized her, she might be transferred to some other part of the +hospital. + +Ruth took her place among the ministering nurses with confidence and +courage, for she was one who immediately altogether forgot almost her +own identity when asked to help another human being, and, while her +sympathy with suffering was remarkable, so that she actually suffered +pain herself when witnessing it in others, yet she had always been able +to do whatever was required of her in an emergency regardless of any +bodily ailment that might be troubling her at the time; now, as she saw +all around her strong men laid low by violence, her spirit rose to the +occasion and she was, for the time, at least, the very personification +of patriotic zeal and her love for her country rose to heights almost +undreamed of even by herself; she moved among the little cots freely, +lending a hand here and whispering a word of encouragement there; the +nurses recognized in her a master spirit, at once, and the surgeons +looked into her steady eyes, and, instantly, allowed her privileges +seldom granted to anyone outside of their own profession; her very +presence seemed to give the sufferers courage to bear their pain, for +the light that shone from her clear, gray eyes was above the things of a +merely earthly existence and lifted them out of their bodies, to some +extent, making them impervious to what would have otherwise been +excruciating anguish; surgeons, at that time, did not recognize the +mental attitude of their patients, to any great extent, and they +marveled at the influence of the mistress of the mansion on the hill, +attributing it, in part, to the evident superiority of the young woman +to those with whom she had been associated in Cuba. + +In passing among the little cots, Ruth, at length, came to the one +beside which Estrella was standing, anxiously looking into her patient's +flushed face, for, with returning strength, Manuello's fever had risen; +Ruth put one hand on the girl's shoulder and drew her away from the cot +for a moment while she whispered to her: + +"Do not weary yourself too much, my Dear, for we must keep our strength +so as to be able to help others ... you seem distressed ... do you know +your patient, personally?" + +Estrella was only too glad to tell her kind and understanding friend +just the situation in which she found herself, so that, when the young +Cuban opened his large, dark eyes and looked about him in astonishment, +it was upon Ruth's face he gazed instead of on Estrella's whom the +former had sent into another part of the work of caring for the +wounded. + +"Where am I?" moaned Manuello. "What has happened to me, now?" + +"You have been sorely wounded in the service of your country, my brave +fellow ... you are now in a hospital where you will receive every +possible care and attention," answered Ruth in a low, yet clear tone of +voice. "You are in the hands of those who appreciate what you have done +and greatly desire to assist in your recovery." + +Having assured himself that he was among friends, he began to make +inquiries as to the nature of his wound, wondering how long it would be +necessary for him to remain as he was then, but Ruth only told him that +he must not talk and must use every precaution he could to prevent +increase of the fever that was now high enough to demand the use of the +handy little thermometer that Ruth, in common with the other amateur +nurses with whom she had studied, had learned how to operate; she +promptly thrust this little fever-gauge into his mouth and told him to +keep it there quietly until she took it away; gazing at her as if she +were a creature from another world, Manuello lay there quiescent and +tractable, all his wild nature being centred upon his desire to again be +the free, strong being he had but recently been. + +Old Mage peered into the room where the cots of the wounded soldiers and +sailors had been placed and caught a glimpse of her dear young lady as +she stood by the bedside of Manuello; he had just opened his eyes, and, +as he lay there with his black curls touching the white pillow, he +reminded the old woman very much of another handsome, dark young fellow +whom she believed to be lying in his narrow grave in the little +cemetery ... the narrow grave in which she had buried the wedding-ring +that had brought so much sorrow to the one whom she loved best in all +the world: as the old woman looked at the dark face on the pillow she +noticed the angry scar that disfigured it and thought that it might have +changed the face she remembered as without a blemish so that she would +have difficulty in recognizing it; her mind began to travel along the +line of thought suggested by this possibility and she determined to rid +Ruth of the necessity of attending to her former husband, at least, if +her most dire suspicions should prove to be well founded; she at once +remembered that she, herself, had not seen the corpse of the man +interred as Victorio Colenzo and she knew very well how earthly death +will change the appearance of a human being's body ... then she thought +of what had been told to her as to how the man had died ... altogether +it seemed to her very possible that the man she had seen in the little +cemetery on the day of the funeral she had attended with Estrella might +have been some one closely resembling Manuello, so that, perhaps, +Estrella's foster brother had been buried in the supposed grave of +Victorio Colenzo, who, wishing to be free from both entangling alliances +he had made in San Domingo, had allowed the name under which he had +entered into them to be placed upon the simple head-stone that marked +the grave of another man. + +As soon as old Mage had arrived at the conclusion above described, she +acted on it at once by slipping stealthily up to Ruth and whispering to +her: + +"Come away, my Pretty; you are needed; there is someone outside who +wishes to speak to you at once. I will take your place." + +Ruth, thinking the summons important, yielded her place for a moment, +intending to return within a very few moments, but no sooner had old +Mage assumed charge of the patient than she began to devise ways and +means by which she hoped to prolong the stay of her dear young lady, for +it seemed to her to be too much for her to bear ... to care for her +recreant husband under all the trying circumstances. + +The first thing that the new nurse did would have been severely +criticized by the head surgeon had his attention not been fully occupied +in another part of the large room; to begin with, instead of smoothing +back the dark hair from the man's forehead as it would seem to one +observing her from the rear she was doing, she very deliberately pulled +the handful of curls she was clutching, hoping to make him open his eyes +so that she could continue her scrutiny of him in order to be as certain +as possible of his suspected identity; this ruse succeeded, for +Manuello's large, dark brown eyes flew open and were fixed in horror on +the face bending over him; it was quite a different countenance than the +one he had last seen beside him, for old Mage never had been a beauty +and the loss of her teeth had not added to her appearance while the +ferocity of her glance was accentuated by the multitude of criss-cross +wrinkles which surrounded the light blue eyes out of which she was +glaring at him; the words she hissed in his ear added to the confusion +under which the helpless man was laboring: + +"I thought that you were dead and buried out of sight ... you hateful, +low-lived pup! How dare you be brought into her place, now? If I did +just right, I do believe I'd choke the life out of you while you can't +fight back! The girl's here, too ... you must be a devil in human form! +You ought to be burning in hell!" + +The object that had led old Mage to make this attack upon the wounded +man was about to be accomplished, for, with a wild scream, he vaulted +over the foot of the little cot and bounded through the open doorway as +if he were pursued by demons; his temporary nurse did not try to prevent +his exit which was what she had longed to bring about, although the +manner of his going startled even her, as she had no idea of the effect +that her hasty words would have upon the guilty spirit of the man whose +crimes, it seemed to him, had found him out; the new wound he had that +day received, was not of a nature to impede his progress for a short +distance, and he almost instantly disappeared from among the nurses and +surgeons; his wild expression so impressed all whom he met before he +reached the outskirts of the hospital grounds that he was again a +fugitive, hunted, this time, by both friends and enemies. + +As Ruth was about to return to her patient, for she could find no +immediate need of her presence elsewhere, she met an excited nurse who +told her of having seen an excessively active young man flying out into +the open, clad only in hospital garb. + +Ruth was hurrying to report the circumstances to the head surgeon and to +arrange to have searching parties sent out to bring back her pseudo +patient, when, passing the cot where old Mage was still stationed, she +noted that it was empty; stopping to inquire the reason for this change, +her old nurse hurriedly related the facts concerning the exodus of the +young man, while she secretly rejoiced at the success of her strategem, +for so she chose to denominate the method she had taken of protecting +her dear young lady from the nearness of the man she had married through +mistaken confidence. + +Estrella, having been sent to consult with her friend concerning some +matter connected with the welfare of the temporary hospital, came along, +just then, and was told what had happened. + +"Why," she exclaimed, "where has poor Manuello gone? He is not fit to be +outside alone. I am afraid I was a coward to leave him when he needed +care. Poor little Tessa would have stayed right with him no matter what +he said or did. I have not seen her," she mused, "for a long time, +now ... not since a number of days before we came away from home.... I +wonder where she is." + +Could Estrella have seen her little friend at that moment, she would +have lost all pity for Manuello and added to that she already had for +poor Tessa, for she was then suffering from the last encounter she had +had with the man who had just fled out into the night; although the +little peasant would have been proud to have been made the wife of the +man whom she madly loved, yet she resisted the idea of being merely his +mistress for Father Felix had forcibly impressed upon the minds of the +girls of his flock the virtue of chastity; the consequence of this +resistance had been a blow received by herself which had rendered her +helpless for the time being, as it had made it impossible for her to +walk for any distance, and a slash across one of Manuello's dusky cheeks +which she had made with a knife she had happened to have in her hand at +the time of his attack. + +The heart-sick girl was lying on the rude bed she had made for the man +who had left her without aid, in the deserted hut into which Estrella +had once peered, while her friend, so far away from her, was bemoaning +the fate of her ungrateful former lover. + +She had carried some food and water into the hovel upon the day of her +last struggle with Manuello and she could creep about the inside of the +small building, so that, being hardy and healthy, she had, at that time, +subsisted upon the supplies she had on hand, for several days; she was +just beginning to crawl carefully out into the surrounding brush where +she was glad to find plenty of ripe cactus-fruit and other wild edibles; +she was very lonely and frightened but she took her condition as a +punishment for the sins she had committed since she had tried to assist +Manuello in spite of the fact that she had known him to be a criminal; +she told her beads, over and over, using the small rosary which she had +always worn about her neck, and, as she kissed the crucifix attached to +the beads, she often prayed for the man who was the direct cause of her +pitiable condition, for she believed it to be her plain duty to forgive, +even though she could not forget, him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +When Manuello escaped from the temporary hospital near Camp McCalla, he +directed his eager steps toward the place of his nativity, because, as +it seemed to him, he would be safer there than he had recently been; it +seemed to him that if he could reach the deserted hut where he had been +in concealment before, he could rest and recover while he made plans for +his future, for he had decided that it would be dangerous for him to +follow the American army any longer, at least for a time. + +In devious ways and through the use of means known only to such as he, +he managed to reach a point midway between Santiago and Havana in a much +shorter time than would have seemed possible to one unversed in the ways +of the wilderness; here he encountered, suddenly and unexpectedly, the +good Priest whom he had known from childhood, who, also, seemed hurrying +in the direction of Havana. + +The young man kept away from the habitation of men as much as possible +after that, and, footsore and weary, but happy in the thought that he +had reached his goal, he arrived, at length, just at sunset, in the +outskirts of the village of San Domingo; from there he followed the +winding path up which little Tessa had so often toiled in his service, +he thought of her but did not regret the blow he had given her; in fact, +his anger still burned at white heat whenever he remembered how she had +disfigured his features, forgetting altogether what she had done for +him, because she had not done everything that he had asked her to do. + +At length, he reached the vicinity of the deserted hut and stole up to +reconnoitre before entering the ruined habitation; he crept up to one of +the small windows and peered within; the sight that met his vision +startled him to such an extent that he forgot, for the moment, his +habitual caution and remained at the window although he had discovered +that the hut was occupied; the room he looked into was dimly lit by the +rays of the setting sun which penetrated the dense growth of tropical +verdure and found their way into the small western aperture that +answered the purpose of a look-out toward the village; Tessa was lying, +looking very wan and care-worn, upon the rude bed she had arranged for +the man who was then staring at her ... in her thin hand was a crucifix +which Father Felix had just given to her ... the good Priest was +kneeling upon the rough floor beside the couch and the tears were +rolling down his cheeks, for the sight before him would have moved far +less tender hearts than his; the girl began to speak in a low voice and +Manuello strained his power of hearing to catch the faint words which +fell from her pale and trembling lips. + +"Good Father," she began, speaking as if at confession, "I beseech you +to have mercy upon your sinful daughter; I have done grievous wrong +during my short life and I beg you to intercede with the God of truth +and justice before whose judgment seat I will soon appear. I ask you to +pray for me, Father Felix, for I am in need of your prayers. I have been +a wicked girl in some ways, though not in all, for I have resisted a +very strong desire which was a part of my sinful nature and which I +believe I have, now, through suffering, gained the victory over." + +The girl ceased speaking from sheer weakness, then, and the Priest took +the crucifix from her shaking hand and attached it to the cord at his +waist, then he lifted his clasped hands in earnest and humble +supplication: + +"Father Who art in heaven," he prayed, "listen to us who are in Thy +gracious Hands, both here and hereafter. Help me to guide this suffering +soul aright and help her to walk where she was meant to walk, whether +she regains her health and returns to the life she has had, formerly, or +whether she passes out of this narrow existence and goes into eternity +before another morning dawns. Look down, dear Father, in mercy on us who +are Thy humble servants. Amen." + +"Father Felix," began the sick girl, "I must confess to you something +that has lain heavily upon my conscience for many weeks. I am rejoiced +that you have found me for I will die easier to know that you have the +secrets that I have been keeping in my heart, being unable to come to +the refectory and tell you what I must, now, impart to you. A heinous +crime was committed in San Domingo some months ago, as I believe by one +whom you and I both know; I have withheld my suspicions from the +authorities and, in so doing, I feel that I have done wrong, Father. I +wish to tell you all I know, now, and let you do what you think best ... +it will relieve my heart of a very heavy load to tell this to you. +Manuello...." + +Before her lips could utter the next word, the door of the hut which had +been leaning over the opening designed for it as it had long been +guiltless of hinges, was violently thrust aside and the subject of the +remarks Tessa was about to make, rudely entered and advanced to the side +of the couch upon which the girl was lying; the livid scar upon his dark +face combined with the pallor that had followed the fever he had been +having, the freshly bandaged wound, the limp that had followed the rough +dressing of the bullet-punctured leg of the man, combined with the +fierce determination that characterized each one of his movements, +altogether made a most unpleasant appearance. + +Father Felix quietly rose and stepped between the sufferer on the couch +and the young Cuban who regarded the Priest with no respect in the +expression of his countenance, but rather with contempt and lack of +personal fear; he attempted to shove him aside so that he might again +look down on the trembling occupant of the rude bed, but found that +Father Felix was standing firmly on a sturdy pair of legs which had had +good exercise in tramping about the hills and valleys in pursuit of his +chosen profession of saving the souls of those who needed his +ministrations; Manuello glared at him and snarled out: + +"Out of my way with your sing-song prayers and your dangling cross! I am +a desperate man and do not mean to allow even a Priest to balk either my +escape or my vengeance! Stand aside and let me stop that mouth forever!" + +He again tried to shove the Priest aside, when Father Felix hastily +threw off his robe so that it might not impede his movements and closed +with the young fellow, grappling with him with arms left bare from the +shoulder upon which the biceps muscles stood out in great knots that +came and went and rippled underneath the skin; Manuello was surprised at +this onslaught for the good Priest's fighting prowess had never, so far, +been tested in just this way; but familiarity with certain turns and +twists told in the young villain's favor in spite of the freshness and +vigor of Father Felix' attack; the poor girl on the floor was unable to +interfere and watched the two combatants with horrified eyes as they +struggled all over the rude room, sometimes one and sometimes the other +seeming about to conquer; neither one of the contestants had a weapon as +Manuello had come away from the hospital clad only as the other patients +were; in his wild flight he had snatched an outer garment from among the +many lying in a heap outside the door through which he had fled, but, +with this exception, he wore only what had been put upon him by the +surgeons. + +Like two Titans, the two human beings struggled for supremacy, the one +being actuated only by a desire to serve the right, and the other +seeming to have been given almost satanic power as he felt that his own +life and future freedom depended upon adding two more to his victims, +for the Priest had already heard enough to make him find out more and +Tessa had been about to confess all she knew to him, so, above +everything on earth, the furious Cuban wished to slay the Priest and the +poor girl whose only fault had been her yielding to his selfishness. + +Twice, Manuello's fingers almost closed about the good Priest's throat, +and twice did Father Felix lift the other man bodily from the floor and +dash him down in a huddled heap in one corner of the room, but neither +had quite conquered when an unexpected interference ended the conflict +very suddenly. + +Manuello had crowded Father Felix over toward the tumble-down door of +the hut and was about to push him through the opening, or, at least, +attempt to do so, when, all at once the young fellow felt his fingers +lose their strength and his arms fell away from the body of the +Priest ... he was conscious of a strange, tingling sensation all through +his shaken nerves; had he been familiar with the action of powerful +electric currents, he would have described it as a heavy shock of +electricity but, although he could not have altogether explained his +sensations, their effect was instantaneous and resulted in the release +of Father Felix while his assailant dropped prone upon the floor of the +hut and groveled at his feet in abject terror, for he thought the end of +his life had come and, in that thought, the murderer became the penitent +and, with the fear of death before his mind, he began to mumble broken +bits of half-forgotten prayers and to beg for forgiveness for his sins +which he knew to be many and grievous. + +As the changed attitude of his foe became evident to the good Priest he +hurried over to the side of the sick girl with assurances of his desire +to assist her in every possible way and, with the changed conditions +surrounding him, he again put on the robe of his holy office, and, with +it, seemed again to be the sedate and quiet leader of the flock he +strove to lead into green pastures and beside pleasant waters. + +Having ministered to Tessa, for the moment, he turned his attention to +his late antagonist: + +"My Son," he said, "you are wounded and spent with the loss of blood; +your mind, perhaps, has been turned by your misfortunes so that you did +not realize either your words or your actions. I hope that, from this +time on, you will fix your mind on better things than thoughts of +vengeance or of murder. To begin with, I have a favor to ask of you. +Will you help me remove Tessa, here, from this place to her home? She is +in need of tender care." + +"I will do what you tell me to," meekly answered the recent antagonist +of the Priest. "I see that I was wrong in imagining you to be my enemy. +I think that this last wound has made me crazy for the time, as you have +just said. From this time on I will try to be as I have been before ... +glad to be guided by your higher wisdom. I humbly ask your pardon for +what I have done here, tonight." + +Manuello bowed his head for his spirit had been broken by the strange +happening which we have described, and, at once, his hope began to rise +again, that, after all, Father Felix would do him no real harm, for he +seemed, again, the kind and loving prelate whom the man had known from +his youth up. + +When some simple preparations had been made, the two men lifted Tessa +from the rude couch to the stretcher they had improvised, and, in turn, +lifted it, with its light burden, to their shoulders, when, from time to +time, they found an open space in the dense underbrush that hid the +ruined hut from ordinary observation; thus they descended the hill that +led to the village of San Domingo; having reached the door of the home +of the girl, in the gathering darkness, they laid the stretcher down and +Manuello disappeared as Father Felix knocked for admittance. + +To say the young fellow was glad to be released from what seemed to him +to be the custody of the Priest would be to put his feelings lightly, +for, having cleared the ruined hut, he quickly returned to it and, lying +on the simple bed Tessa had so lately occupied, he went to sleep, +apparently, as sweetly as a new-born infant would. + +Old Mage wondered, a little, at Estrella's remark concerning Manuello, +after he had disappeared; but she finally set her mind at rest by +deciding that, whichever of the dashing Cubans she had ousted from +Ruth's help, she had done good work, for, as she said to herself, from +her view-point it was "good riddance to bad rubbage." + +The head surgeon made a note of the occurrence and went on about his +work, for one man more or less, in time of war, cannot be reckoned as in +civil life. + +Ruth Wakefield had no doubt at all as to the identity of her former +patient; when a pure girl has given herself to be the wife of any man +she does not, soon, forget his personality, and Ruth knew very well the +man she'd cared for had not been the one she'd called her husband ... +that his body lay within its narrow grave she felt assured but what lay +buried over him old Mage, alone, yet knew; she'd chuckled, many times, +as to that burial, and it was hard for her to keep her secret as she +longed for the approval that she felt she merited in this small matter, +but the thought that Ruth might differ with her as to what she'd done +had always, so far, sealed her lips. + +"There is a time in the affairs of men that, taken at its flood, leads +on to fortune," has been said by one who, justly, has been called a +master in the art of putting words together; William Shakespeare did not +know the actors in this story, but he knew the minds of men as few have +known them since his time. + +Manuello did not know that such a writer as this master of the English +language had ever existed, yet he acted on the thought in the above +quotation, when, the morning after the events related in this chapter, +he again departed from the ruined hut and disappeared, effectually, +within the fastnesses that only such as he could know about; every inch, +or so it seemed, of territory surrounding Havana was familiar to the +Cuban scouts and Manuello had grown up among the cacti and the palms and +desolation that followed in the wake of Spanish oppression and +injustice. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +July 1, 1898, at sunset, the fair folds of our own stars and stripes +were gently floating over San Juan hill. + +On that day some of the most heroic deeds in American history had been +performed by those who represent the highest types of American virility. + +Roosevelt's Rough Riders had, that day, advanced behind their intrepid +leader, into the very jaws of death and very many of them never came +again into the pleasant walks of life they'd known before that fateful +day ... very many of them lay scattered over the different heights that +led on to the very top of San Juan hill, inert and helpless human +tenements that had once held the proud and willing spirits of the men +who followed Roosevelt with love and daring. + +Some of them were picked up and carried to temporary hospitals that had +sprung up near the scene of active warfare; in one of these shelters for +the wounded Ruth Wakefield stood, that evening, bending low above a +little cot on which was stretched a manly form ... the form of one who'd +ridden with the rest of those who followed him they called, in +brotherly affection, "Teddy," and who was beside him when his horse was +shot from under him. + +"Nurse," he whispered, through the bandages that bound his head, "Nurse, +it would have done you good to hear him say 'Forward! Charge the hill!' +It would have heartened you could you have seen him, when he was +unhorsed, grab a rifle and fire it as he went on up, on foot." + +"You must not talk," said Ruth. "You must rest quietly, now. We won the +hill," she added, proudly. "We won the hill and I'm as proud as anyone +could ever be of Roosevelt and of you all who followed after him. I +sometimes wish," she ended, "I sometimes wish that I had been a man to +go into the battles instead of only caring for the wounded ... yet I'm +thankful to be of some assistance to the ones who need the help that I +can give to them." + +"You should have seen," began the man again, "you should have seen our +Teddy charge that hill! They do not make a man like that except about +once in a century or so ... they do not make such men as that in every +age.... I tell you he's a holy terror when it comes to fighting, Nurse! +He mowed them down ... he made them crawl and creep.... I always knew he +could do more on horseback than any man that ever lived but I never +knew, until today, what he could do on foot." + +"Our Teddy is a wonder.... I agree with you in everything you say of +him, but, now," once more she was the nurse in charge, "you must be +very still ... that is," she ended, with a happy little turn of thought, +"if you ever want to go where Teddy is, again." + +That was enough to silence him and he lay very still and fixed his eyes +upon her face, and, finally, he slept, and rested from his labors for a +time; but what he'd said stayed in Ruth's inner consciousness and the +heart that throbbed within her beat more proudly after that, because she +was, as was the man his comrades praised, an American; to her that +title was enough to fill with pride a human heart ... to be a true +American ... a citizen of the United States of America ... it seemed to +her meant more than any royal appellation ever could; no crown adorned +with priceless jewels could replace that name to her; at one time in her +life, this question had been asked of her: + +"What would you do if you must choose between all that you love on earth +and fealty to some other than your native land, and this one country +that you call your own?" + +"What would I do?" she answered. "I would not renounce my fealty to my +native land.... I would keep God and my conscience and my country ... no +one could take them from me ... all the rest I'd leave behind and cleave +to them." + +Ruth Wakefield meant this statement and she proved it later on beyond +all shadow of a doubt. + +When her first patient slept, Ruth went to stand beside another cot for +she was always privileged to go wherever she might choose; her help in +many ways, including financial aid, had made this hospital possible and +she went at will among the other nurses who looked up to her as women +will to one who is a natural leader of the ones with whom she +associates. + +She came, at length, to a cot that was apart from all the rest because +its occupant had needed to be isolated for good reasons; he was violent, +at times, the nurses said ... when his fever rose he soon became +delirious and they had hard work keeping him under any sort of control; +he was a native scout, they told her ... he had done good work that day +upon the side of right, and, so, Ruth went to care for him, for it was +just as natural for her to take heavy work as it was natural for the +rest to let her do it. + +Soon after she had taken charge of him, he stirred uneasily and mumbled +in his restless sleep ... he spoke a name she'd hoped to never hear +again ... the name of him whom she had loved enough to marry.... + +"Victorio Colenzo," moaned the man, "Victorio Colenzo is dead and I ... +I am his murderer ... it was my hand that took his life.... I am a +murderer, good Father Felix.... I am the murderer of the man I hated, +for he took the girl I loved from me.... I killed him with my own +machete and he is dead.... I am the murderer of Victorio Colenzo ... +shrive my soul, good Father Felix, for I am about to go before my +Maker." + +The moaning ceased then, and Ruth bent over him to see if he still +lived, for she could see his very lips were livid and his eyes seemed +set and glazed as if with death's own dews; she put her hand upon his +head and looked into his face with earnest pity in her tender eyes, for +she was very pitiful and even lenient when faults of anyone except +herself were to be considered. + +"The poor fellow is delirious," she thought. "He does not know what he +is saying. Odd that he should use that name. Poor fellow ... he will not +last long, I fear. I wonder if Father Felix could come to him." + +With that thought, she turned to go to try to find the Priest, for he +almost always could be found where there was suffering and need of him, +but Manuello (for the reader has discovered who her patient was) +snatched at her hand as she was just about to go away and said to her: + +"Please intercede for me, good Angel ... tell them I have never had a +chance in all my life ... tell them ... intercede...." and, then, his +weak voice died away in moans, again, "Tessa, please," he said, "don't +look at me that way!" + +Again Ruth leaned above his bed, for in his eyes there was a look that +seldom comes except when death is near. She felt a gentle hand upon her +arm and knew that Estrella stood beside her ... she had come to seek +advice from her superior. + +So they stood ... the widow and the sweetheart, and the murderer of the +man they both had loved, as virgins love, lay there before them. + +Suddenly, he roused himself, as with a last and desperate effort, from +the lethargy of death itself ... he looked upon them standing there +beside his bed ... the woman he had loved as wild and rough and lawless +men will always love a woman and the one who seemed to him as if she +were an angel straight from paradise ... he imagined he had passed from +life as he had known that word, and was beyond all earthly help; and, +so, he did not call for human help but cried aloud on God to save his +deathless soul. It was horrible to hear his human lips cry out to God as +they were crying then, and Ruth regretted that Estrella stood so near to +him whom she had called her foster-brother, for she'd whispered +Manuello's name at once, so she sent her to find Father Felix if she +could and to bring him there to help this suffering soul. + +After the girl had gone away, Ruth stood alone beside the cot and looked +with great commiseration on the almost senseless clay before her ... on +the staring eyes and sullen, dark-skinned pallor of the heavily scarred +face ... on the lips that once wore careless smiles but, now, were +drawn and pale ... on the broad shoulders and powerful muscled arms. As +she gazed at him it seemed to her a very pitiful condition under which +he labored; she wondered why it had to be as it was with this strong, +untutored man; she wondered why he had to lay his strong, young body on +the altar of his passions and see it consumed as it had been by hate and +treachery; and, then, she remembered the service upon which he had just +been bent ... and her heart yearned over him for that alone; she leaned +above his face and searched it for a sign of returning strength but +found none there; his eyes stared into hers, it seemed, and then they +sought the moving shadows on the canvas overhead. + +Ruth raised her head from gazing into Manuello's eyes and seemed to see, +above the cot on which he lay, another and a different form yet like to +that she saw inert before her; it was as if a glorified replica of the +man were floating over him; in many ways it was exactly like the +Manuello lying there upon that little cot, and, yet, the form was more +ethereal ... more delicate ... more beautiful than he could ever be and +live upon the earthly plane where he had found so many things to lead +him down and seldom found a single thing to lead him higher, or, at +least, found anything that he could fully understand, for, although +Father Felix tried to show him how to go to climb to better thoughts, he +had not seen the steps at all but blundered on along the path he found +himself upon. + +As Ruth began to realize the change that she had seen take place, a rosy +flush crept over her fair face, she clasped her hands and bowed her head +in silent prayer: + +"Father in heaven," she thought, "look down in mercy on this soul about +to come before You for Your judgment. Have pity on his faults for they +were very many ... have mercy on him, for his sins were very heavy in +his human life. He did not know the way to go, dear Father ... he could +not see the steps at all. Have pity on him for he will have need of pity +such as only You can give to him. Amen." + +And when she lifted up her face again, good Father Felix stood beside +her, crucifix in hand. His head was also bowed in silent prayer for he +had witnessed many earthly deaths and knew, at once, that Manuello, as +he had been known in human life, had passed beyond all human judgment +and gone on to his reward or punishment in another world where +everything that he had done upon the earth would be accounted for by him +and him alone; the good Priest knew, however, that God is good as well +as just and he remembered Manuello's ignorance and superstition, too, +and hoped that, after he'd been purged of earthly sins by deep +repentance, he would come into the light that is God's Smile and shines +for all who seek it honestly, no matter what their sins on earth have +been, but only after long and terrible remorse for harm that they have +done while in the body that God gave them to use and not abuse. + +The road that leads into the light that is God's Smile is often hedged +about by thorns and bitter herbs instead of delicate and fragrant +flowers; sometimes poisonous reptiles lurk along the way and strive to +strike their fangs within the heart of him who toils there; sometimes, +human passions guide a strong man into devious and sinful acts as +Manuello had been guided, more than once; he'd yielded to them just +because he had not learned the way to handle them and they had mastered +him and made of him their slave instead of being what he ordered them to +be; he'd thrown the remnant of his human life into the balance in the +cause he really loved ... the cause of freedom for his native land. + +And Ruth and Father Felix thought of him as of a patriot only as they +stood beside the cot on which his lifeless body lay; they covered up his +face as gently as if they had not known of any sin committed by the +hands now lying still and cold and helpless ... they closed his staring +eyes as softly as they would have closed the eyes of any human being who +will read these words had he or she been left for them to care for when +the soul had left its earthly tenement; disembodied Spirits often linger +near to such as these who stood beside that cot, for they know that +they are like to them in very many ways, though yet abiding in a human +frame ... they know that such as Ruth and Father Felix feel the same, +sweet, almost holy joy that comes to those who meet and make welcome the +ones who leave the earth-plane, newly dead; though death, I trust, is +only just the change that frees a soul from earthly burdens and releases +it from earthly darkness, so that it may climb, when it is purged of +earthly sins, into the light that is the Smile of God and shines for all +who seek it earnestly. + +I do not think that there can be an everlasting hell except for those +who wish to dwell in darkness. I do not think there can be perpetual +punishment except for those who do not wish to climb beyond it. Ruth and +Father Felix felt that this was so, although the good Priest tried to +think far otherwise, and, yet, deep down within his inner consciousness, +he felt that God, although He is so just, yet pities those who err and +welcomes all who wish to put their sins behind them in the path they +find themselves upon, no matter whether they may find that path upon the +earthly plane or on a higher one. They turned away from that white cot +with almost God-like pity in their inmost hearts for him who lay there, +or for him who had just left his body lying there upon that little cot. + +Ruth sought Estrella so that she might not, again, behold the face of +him, who, for the love of her, had done a fearful crime; she wished to +save the girl for she had been as innocent of wrong as she, herself, had +been; both had been led away by human passion, it is true, but led +within the bounds of human law, and, so, according to that human law, +neither one was culpable ... the man, alone, had sinned, and whether it +had been because he had been stronger, every way, than were the women in +the case, we cannot judge. 'Tis God alone must judge us all, and may He +guide us all, at last, into the light that is His holy Smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +When Ruth had left the cot where Manuello died, she, first, found +Estrella and told her what had happened after she had gone, and, then, +as she had liberty to go where she desired, she started out, just as the +dusk was falling, to drive along an unknown road, which as she thought +must lead away from the battle-field; she felt secure for armed men of +her own race and nation were patrolling all the roads surrounding the +hospital; the freshness of the coming night appealed to her and, under +its enticing influence, she went much farther than she meant to do; her +horses often shied at little heaps that seemed to take on most fantastic +shapes with the increasing darkness. + +She knew full well of what these little heaps had been made up, and, +yet, surrounded as she was by horror, she did not feel afraid, for she +was lifted up by patriotic fervor and a great desire to help where help +of her was needed as were so many of the Red Cross nurses whom she met; +splendid women volunteered their services as nurses during the progress +of the Spanish-American war, and wore, with pride and reverence, the +brilliant cross that indicated what the calling they had chosen was; +Ruth Wakefield served her country with her might and wore her uniform as +proudly and conscientiously as any General could; she drove along that +lonely, unknown road as quietly and fearlessly as if her horses trotted +over the finest boulevard in some populous city of her own United States +and firmly held within her strong and steady hands the lines that guided +the high-lifed team she had secured for her own use since coming to take +charge of the hospital which she had endowed with her own funds. + +Suddenly and without warning, her team was startled by a man who rose to +his full height and stood erect and tall beside the road as if he'd +risen from the heaps of dead that lay beside the way; the horses soon +became unmanageable and overturned the vehicle, so that Ruth suddenly +found herself thrown against a slight embankment lining the road, while +her frightened team turned back toward the hospital; her first thought +was of them, but, remembering that, only a few miles back, she had +passed one of the patrols, she hoped the team would be secured and taken +into safety; then, shudderingly, she realized that she was all alone in +a strange and hostile neighborhood, and, acting on a sudden impulse, she +hastily climbed over the embankment as she thought she heard a noise +approaching on the road; she turned and started back but kept herself +concealed as much as possible behind the friendly embankment. + +As she proceeded she began to feel a sort of faintness, almost amounting +to nausea, creeping over her and dreaded the long walk to the hospital, +but decided to go on until she saw an armed man dressed in the uniform +of the United States army; she wondered, at first, why she felt faint +and almost sick, and, then, she realized that the offensive odors that +assailed her sensitive olfactory nerves were those that rise when +material bodies have been deprived of the higher life that gave them +animation ... that the horrors of a bloody battle-field surrounded her, +and, as she advanced slowly and with dreadful anticipation ... as she +even stumbled over more than one unconscious form, that, only a few +short hours before, had been as full of bounding life as she was then, +she thought of what the suffering must be of those who lay among the +dead, perhaps for weary, pain-filled hours, alive yet helpless; the +thought was a terrific one for any tender-hearted woman to entertain, +and Ruth had always been particularly thoughtful of the comfort of +anyone who happened to be near to her, and, so, she soon became enthused +with the idea that she might search among the heaps of dead and find, +maybe, someone who lived and might, if he were rescued, yet be happy in +the world she lived in, and, so, she softly called to see if anyone +could hear her voice and guide her to the object of her search: + +"Are any here who are in need of earthly help?" she asked. "If any here +can hear my voice, pray answer me and tell me where to come to find +you." + +She waited for an answer but none came, at first; and then it seemed to +her as if she heard a far-off whisper far away ... she listened +breathlessly ... it came again and, then, she followed it until she +found the one from whom the whisper came. + +He lay among a heap of bodies tossed about as if they had found death +together; one whose body lay across his own, Ruth lifted, though she +shuddered while she did it, for the stark, stiff form was that of one +who'd, only lately, been as full of life as she was then; she laid it +softly down and sought the one whose whisper she had heard; her hand +crept up, along a rough and blood-soaked uniform, until it found a face +and found it warm with sentient life; she was electrified by joy at +finding one who lived among the dead, and hastened, then, to separate +him from the other bodies lying all around him; it was as if they'd +followed after him ... as if he'd been a leader of the rest ... for he +was well in front of all of them and yet they were so near that, when +they fell, they fell together, all around the one whose life she sought +to save. + +She was intent on saving life and did not shrink although her gentle +hand found many bloody wounds in searching for the one from which his +life-blood flowed full fast; she found the place, at last ... a deep +flesh-wound that touched an artery in his right arm ... she had a silken +scarf about her throat, and, wrapping this about the arm above the +wound, she made a tourniquet by using a small surgical instrument which +she always carried for that purpose in the pocket of her nurse's apron +which she still wore; this stopped the flow of blood at once, and, as +the brachial artery was untouched, the man gained strength enough to +whisper: + +"Tender Heart ... I'm going to name you right away. Tender Heart, how +did you happen here ... at night ... alone?" + +"I think I came to find you," answered Ruth. "I thought my horses ran +away and dumped me on the ground, but, now, I think I came here just to +find you and to bind that poor arm. Now I'll go to bring assistance to +you just as soon as I can do so." + +"Tender Heart," he whispered, for his voice was growing fainter, "if I +should not be here when you come again, good-bye.... God bless and keep +you safe from harm." + +She knew the meaning of the words and almost flew along, although she +often stumbled as she went among the bodies lying there upon the +blood-soaked ground; she reached the hospital at last ... the time +seemed long to her ... and, there, in front of it, stood her two +frightened horses, looking all around as if in search of her; she +soothed them with her reassuring voice, and then she found a vehicle +adapted to the use she wished to put it to, and two assistants from the +hospital staff; thus equipped, she took the lines again and drove along +the road again but with a different object than the one she'd had +before; turning off the road, she found the object of her search and the +assistants lifted him upon the stretcher they had brought and, very +soon, the man lay, white and spent with loss of blood, but conscious, in +a little cot, and Ruth, forgetting her own needs, stood there beside it. + +"Tender Heart," said her new patient, after he had been refreshed and +bandaged thoroughly, "Tender Heart, I'm very grateful to you. Let me +introduce myself to you ... your name, you see, I know. I am one of the +five men who answered Roosevelt when he asked for volunteers to follow +him to gain the very top of all the ridges that cropped up about San +Juan hill." He smiled, "I think you know me, now, as I know you. We're +both Americans.... I know that, too ... we both love Teddy.... I could +see your eyes flash at the mention of his name. He is a man among men. I +wish you could have heard him when he said 'I did not think you would +refuse to follow where I would lead.' I stood beside his horse as he +said those sad words ... the others followed, then. They followed Teddy +up that hill ... they took it, too. We won the day. The Spaniards fled +before us. You know me, now," he ended, whimsically, "just as well as I +know you." + +"Yes," said Ruth, "I know you, now, and you know me ... we're both +Americans and both of us love Teddy and are proud of him and what he did +this day. And, now, you'd better go to sleep and rest up for we still +have work to do ... the Spaniard is not conquered, yet. They'll need us +both and so we must do all we can to keep our strength. I'm going, now. +Good-bye until tomorrow." + +"Goodnight, Tender Heart," he said. "Goodnight." + +Ruth went, then, to the little cottage where she found old Mage and +Tid-i-wats awaiting her; Estrella stayed on duty in the hospital where +she had learned to do her work with neatness and dispatch. + +Ruth always told old Mage the happenings of the day as they were seated +at their evening meal; her old nurse loved to listen to her animated +account of every little thing that she remembered that she'd seen or +heard about; she had an unusual memory of small details and a most +graphic power of description; these she employed to interest and amuse +her old nurse who had been alone with little Tid-i-wats, almost all day; +in recounting recent events she passed as lightly as possible over the +occurrences of the battle-field where she had found and rescued one who +had been left as dead among the lifeless bodies of the slain; she did +not wish to shock old Mage too much and, somehow, she did not wish to +speak of him she'd rescued ... somehow, she feared that her auditor, who +was always eager for romantic episodes would, maybe, choose to enter +into rhapsodies concerning the possibilities of her own future if she +talked too much about the handsome stranger, for remembering how he'd +looked resting, as she'd seen him last, upon the little cot, his +dark-blue eyes regarding her with whimsical tenacity, she freely +acknowledged to herself that he was handsome and distinguished in +appearance; so she changed the subject when old Mage began to question +her too closely about him, and, in the changing of the subject, the rosy +flush that was so much a part of her expression, crept over her fair +face and lighted up her deep gray eyes until her countenance was +glorified, as if her inner consciousness shone through her delicate and +expressive features; old Mage observed this blush and speculated on its +cause and wondered whether Ruth had found another man more worthy of +affection than the one she hoped she had almost forgotten. + +When Ruth returned, the next day, to the hospital, she went among the +little cots until she came to that one where he lay ... the man she'd +helped to rescue from a slow and very painful death; she found him lying +wide awake and very thoughtful: + +"Tender Heart," he said, "Tender Heart, you've come to me, again; I've +longed for you and now you're here beside me." + +She rested one of her soft hands upon the cot and his hand searched for +hers and found it; then their fingers intertwined and clung together for +a moment only, but the memory of that hand-clasp lingered with them +forever after; it was as if their very souls had intermingled in that +clasping of their hands ... it was as if their spirits swung, together, +out ... far out ... beyond the things of earth ... and, then, still +farther out and on and up into eternal peace and lasting joy and +gladness ... it was as if they had been translated into disembodied +spirits while they still remained on earth ... as if a higher and a +holier love than any earthly love can ever be had sought them out and +found them there within that shadowy hospital ... it was as if they had +gone on into the astral world and left their human bodies where they +seemed to be themselves ... as if they had been separated from the +material surroundings that seemed to be about them. + +Ruth blushed until the rosy flush crept up to her brown hair that seemed +to frame her face, and looked at the soft fingers that his hand had held +and then she smoothed his pillow with them as she said: + +"I'm very glad to find that you are better than you were last night. I +surely hope that you'll recover very rapidly. I'm told that men like +you will soon again be needed. It is reported that another battle will +be fought not very far from here." + +"I surely hope," he said and said it very earnestly, "I surely hope that +I'll be able to take my part in whatever engagement is entered into by +our troops, and if, perchance, I should be left again upon a +battle-field, I trust that you will come and find me, Tender Heart, I +trust that you will find me and, if it pleases you, I hope you'll keep +me, Tender Heart." + +She blushed again at that and simply said: + +"Now you must go to sleep and rest and gain what strength you can, for +men like you," she ended, archly, "for men like you are almost always +needed very badly." + +Ruth Wakefield was no flirt and never had been one; she was quickwitted +and she had a wide command of language, and she smiled as she went on +upon her rounds among the little cots when she remembered that neither +of them really knew the other's name; she liked the name he'd given to +her ... she liked the way he said it ... she liked the fine expression +of his speaking countenance ... she liked his eyes ... she liked his +manly way of meeting whatever came to him with courage and with cheerful +readiness to serve the country they both loved ... her heart went out to +him in very many ways, and, then, she looked again at those soft fingers +that his hand had held ... she seemed to feel again the subtle, +unexplainable, electric thrill that crept through all her being at his +touch ... that seemed to answer to the look within his eyes ... the +accent on his tongue, and, then, she blushed again and went about her +work within that shadowy hospital where many strong men lay in bitter +pain with renewed courage and with a new and hither-to unknown +tenderness. + +She stood, at length, beside a cot whereon lay one whose face was hidden +while surgeons dressed a gaping wound he had received upon his head; +Ruth stopped and gave her scissors that she always carried in the pocket +of her apron to the one who needed them for use in cutting away the dark +hair that grew along the edges of the wound; it clung in tiny ringlets +and was black as night and very soft and thick.... Ruth could not help +remembering, that her hands had often strayed among such soft and dark +and clinging ringlets, but she shuddered as she thought of them and of +Estrella who had deemed herself to be the only woman Victorio Colenzo +had ever loved, and, then, she wondered if all men were like to that one +she had married thinking him to be as he professed to be ... judging him +to be as truthful as she was ... she wondered if the man she had just +left would be like that under similar circumstances ... he was ready in +his hints at tenderness ... was he, too, perhaps, a gay deceiver? + +While her thoughts were rambling on in this way, her eyes were idly +looking at the man who lay upon his face and writhed under the stitches +that the surgeons took to close the gaping wound upon his head; he +turned his face an instant toward her and she recognized him as a +Spanish officer she'd seen in San Domingo under most distressing +circumstances; she had gone, as she had often done before, to minister +to the needs of those who were among the poorer classes in the village, +one day, and found before a hovel a most richly caparisoned horse held +by an orderly; inside, there knelt upon the floor a young and pretty +peasant girl; she was imploring this same officer who lay upon that +little cot not to make her go with him to be his helpless slave; Ruth +rescued her and told the man to go his way in no uncertain language; +now, he lay there dressed as if he were an American soldier; she +recognized him perfectly for his face had often haunted her, it was so +sinister and devilish. + +She sought out Father Felix, then, and told him what she had discovered, +and he took what steps were necessary in the matter, for he who'd named +Ruth Tender Heart had named her very well indeed; it seemed to her she +could not bear to turn this Spanish spy over to the proper authorities, +and, yet, she knew it was her duty to do that very thing, so the good +Priest helped her to do her duty as he'd promised her he would, and, +after that, there was a wall at sunrise and a platoon of armed men, and, +then, that Spanish spy soon disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +We intimated when we first began this tale that Father Felix was a man +to be admired, not only for his strong religious zeal, but for his great +virility and patriotic fervor. + +Never had he shown these qualities more fully than during the naval +battle of Santiago which engagement took place shortly after the events +narrated in the last chapter; there was work to do on land as well as on +the water at that crucial time; more than 18,000 helpless persons ... +men, women and children ... marched out of the beleagued city seeking +safety in the open country surrounding it; among these were many wealthy +women of the higher class whose delicate silken garments were bedraggled +and torn by the hardships of the journey which it was necessary to make +on foot over muddy roads and through barbed wires which had been +stretched irregularly all around Santiago and its vicinity by the +Spanish soldiery for the purpose of turning back the invading Americans +who were advancing upon them. + +Among these women there was one who reached the hospital over which Ruth +Wakefield presided; she was bespattered and weary and sick at heart, +but there was a light in her dark eyes and a steadiness in her firm hand +that appealed to Ruth at once and made her single this one woman from +among all who came to her that day for help; as soon as she had changed +her apparel and washed the grime of travel from her person, she asked to +be allowed to assist the others who were at work among the little cots +that were now filled with suffering humanity; she took her place so +quietly that it seemed to those among whom she moved that she had almost +always been right there and would always continue to be there; Estrella +liked her from the first of their acquaintance and the older woman found +the girl so pleasing that whenever she could do so, she gave her hand a +little squeeze or patted her upon her shoulder to make her know that +they two were congenial and going on, together, toward the same loved +goal; this silent association became at once a bond between these two +who, in their nurse's uniforms, looked enough alike to be twin +sisters ... they had the same dark eyes and sensitive and drooping +lips ... they had the same fair skins, although Estrella had been tanned +by more outside exposure than the other had ... they moved in the same +way and both were tall and straight and lithe and quick; Ruth noticed +them together and at once began to wonder why they looked so much +alike ... then she thought of what Estrella'd told her as to what she +knew of her own family, and, immediately, Ruth began to speculate and +piece together little circumstances and then she soon began to hope that +poor Estrella, maybe, might, in this way, find her own people; so she +asked some kindly questions of the woman who had come to them that day, +and she found that she had had a little sister, long ago ... a little +sister who had disappeared and whom they'd mourned as dead for many +years; Ruth told her all she knew about the girl ... all except her +intimate association with the man whom, she, herself, had married; she +did not feel that she could speak of him to this dark stranger ... +anyway, it would not matter, now, and if Estrella wished to speak about +it later on, then she could do so; they called the girl, then, and found +she had a little dainty cross of gold that she had always worn about her +neck.... Manuello's mother had preserved it for her while she was an +infant thinking it might prove the child's identity, so that the ones +who'd cared for her might be profited thereby, and, since she knew about +it, she, herself, had held it sacred as the only link that bound her to +her unknown family ... and so it proved, indeed, the link that proved +her as the sister of the lady who had come to them that day from the +beleaguered city of Santiago. + +Estrella's blood, it seemed, was Spanish ... she had descended from the +ones who knew the roses of Castile ... she'd always seemed far +different from the peasants among whom she'd lived until she met Ruth +Wakefield who recognized in her a higher strain ... a higher nature ... +than she found in any of the peasants whom she met in San Domingo; old +Mage, even, looked upon Estrella differently than on the other servants +whom she always treated with great condescension, for she felt herself +above the most of them as she was always nearer to her dear young lady +than any of them were; Ruth trusted her with Tid-i-wats, for one thing, +which separated her from all the rest, for Tid-i-wats, was most abrupt +in very many ways, and, sometimes, even went so far as to just sink her +long, sharp claws right through whatever garments anybody wore, so that +they found and often even penetrated the skin beneath the garments; she +would do this deed in such a loving way that many who were sadly +scratched by her would try to smile and take this punishment as if it +were but joy and gladness ... old Mage squirmed sometimes, 'tis true, +beneath this discipline that Tid-i-wats gave very freely, but she never +put her down or turned against her,--only saying: + +"Tid-i-wats! Good land! Your blessed little claws are very sharp +indeed," and, then, she'd often turn to Ruth and add, "I tell you +Tid-i-wats is just as young and spry as she ever was ... no one would +ever think how old she is if he could feel her claws." + +When Estrella found that she was not alone, but had a family, and a +loving, wealthy sister, old Mage was very glad indeed ... she'd found +the girl a little in her way for many reasons; Ruth deferred to her a +little, pitying her so much, and old Mage knew that if Ruth pitied +anybody very much she might, in time, begin to love the person whom she +put her tender pity on, and, then, to the old nurse, Estrella always +brought up the memory of the man who had deceived her ... made her think +him to be far better than he'd ever been ... and, so, altogether, +Estrella's good fortune pleased old Mage in very many pleasant ways. + +To say that Ruth was glad to have Estrella find her people was to put +the case too lightly altogether; she was far too unselfish not to +rejoice in her good fortune even though her going might mean great human +loneliness for her: she had in her own inner consciousness a kind of +spiritual and lasting strength on which she always leaned when outside +companionship failed her in any way ... she never was alone although she +often seemed to be so ... in fact, Ruth Wakefield often found herself to +be alone among a crowd of human beings ... it seemed to her their many +diverse thoughts disturbed the peace of mind she always longed to +have ... her pity was so great ... her sympathy so broad ... and sorrows +and sore trials are so common to the entire race of men and women ... +that she seldom found much joy among the people whom she met; she gave +most liberally to all she came in contact with ... she gave +encouragement and comfort and sympathy and help ... but seldom did she +find a human being who could give her anything at all for any length of +time, at least: + +"They come and they go," she often sadly said. "It seems to me that +there is nothing steadfast in this world except the God on whom I always +lean when all else fails me.... I wish I _could_ find something strong +enough to tie my faith to ... I _wish_ I could ... it would be wonderful +to know that I could always find good, solid ground beneath my human +feet ... it would be wonderful to feel that nothing mattered between +another human being and myself ... to feel that nothing, good or bad, +could ever really change our feelings toward each other ... but I'd have +to know for sure that it was so ..." she'd add, "I'd have to know for +sure, I'd have to try it out somehow ... so many things have slipped +away from me ... so very many things ... I'd have to know for sure, +somehow, before I'd dare to trust too much." + +While these personal matters were taking the attention of some of those +within the shadowy hospital, Father Felix was undergoing an altogether +different experience. + +The good Priest had, more than once, covered the entire eight miles of +entrenchments around Santiago on foot and with a heavy pack containing +supplies on his broad back; during the time that elapsed between the +naval battle of Santiago and the surrender of the city on Sunday, July +17, 1898, he had marched with his little flock of soldiers over many +stony trails and through many miry passes, and, while the engagement +itself was in progress, he had performed many heroic deeds and, more +than once, he had fervently thanked God for his sturdy strength of arm +and limb because he was thereby enabled to give material as well as +spiritual aid to those who came within the reach of his hands; had +anyone been watching a certain shady spot near Santiago on July 3, 1898, +he might have witnessed a peculiar scene. + +A rather short thick-set man, dressed as an army Chaplain and wearing a +crucifix attached to a strong chain around his neck, was bending over +one who lay there in the shade; he seemed to be examining the man to see +if life remained in his body, and, yet, he always held the crucifix +before the face of him who lay there as if he wished him to behold it, +in case his earthly eyes should evermore see anything; he tried in every +way he could to gain some recognition of his holy office from the man +over whose earthly tenement he was then bending, but, as he did not +succeed in this, he gently laid the crucifix upon the apparently +pulseless breast, and went his way to find, perhaps, another one to whom +he might administer the final consolation of the church whose dogmas he +believed in. + +The man he'd left behind him stirred uneasily, and, as he writhed and +twisted there, the crucifix slid off his breast and fell upon the +ground; it lay where it had fallen until Father Felix came again and +brought with him another sufferer; he looked upon the breast of his +first charge and did not see his crucifix ... it lay beneath the body of +the one he'd left it with; he gently said: + +"I left my crucifix with you, my Friend ... I thought it might be a +consolation to you if you came to life again at all. I do not see the +crucifix ... could anyone have taken it during my absence, I wonder?" + +"I'm sure I don't know anything about your crucifix, good Sir," the man +replied in a weak voice. "I have other things to fix my mind on than +anything like that. For one thing, I am wounded and I need a surgeon +more than I do Priests or crosses." + +"I'll supply that need as far as I am able," Father Felix said. "I know +I am an amateur and yet I have set broken limbs and tied up arteries and +sewed up wounds full many times because there was no one better near +enough to do it. Where are you hurt, my Friend?" + +"I am not hurt at all, you blundering old fool, you ..." the man began. +"I'm dead and buried ... killed completely ... that is all ... and I +don't want any old woman's work. Go get a surgeon for me ... quick! I'm +losing lots of blood ... I need a surgeon, I tell you ... go get me +one!" + +Father Felix did not say a word in answer to this tirade for he had +heard full many such remarks since he had been at work among the +soldiers, and, so, he bound the wounds of the second sufferer he'd +brought before he stopped the flow of blood from his first charge, for, +well he knew the loss of some good red blood might make it easier for +him to help the man ... he was too full of life and anger ... too full +of unrepented viciousness ... for the good Priest to help him very much, +and, so, he let him lay there in the shade and curse and fume and rage +until he worked his evil temper off a little; then he gently said to +him: + +"Now, if you think that I can help you any, I will do all I can for you, +Friend, but if you'd rather lie there on the ground and take the name of +God in vain, why, I must let you do so. There is no one within hail +except myself, who knows a thing about surgery, unless this man, here, +does; I do not know about that part but he is wounded, too, so that I +guess I am your only hope here on the earth at present. May I see your +hurt and maybe bind it up and make your suffering less than it is, now?" + +Sheepishly, the man looked up at him, and moved a little so the crucifix +became exposed; Father Felix quickly picked it up and put the chain +around his neck again, and then he added to the things that he had said +before: + +"I'm sure I'm very glad I found my crucifix ... it is of value to me for +it has been the means of consolation to a great many sufferers from this +sad war; it seems to help so many to behold the sufferings of One Who +gave His precious life to save the lost and suffering souls who wander +on the earth. He loved you, Sir, and, in His Name, I love you, too, and +wish to help you, though you flout my work in your behalf. I am an +amateur, but I can bind the only wound I see about you, Sir. Shall I do +it, Sir, or not? I'd like to do the work the very best I could, but, if +you say me nay, I'll leave it as it is." + +The man grinned like a bashful boy, but he bowed his head in assent and +Father Felix went to work and bound his wound and left him lying there +beside the other sufferer and went to find another man to help; his +stocky legs and muscular arms came in quite handily, that time, for, +when he came back to the shady spot, he bore one on his shoulder who +looked and seemed as if already dead and gone beyond the things of earth +but Father Felix laid him gently down and knelt beside him while he +gently laid his recovered crucifix upon his almost pulseless breast; the +first man watched the operation silently, and, then, he moved a little +farther from the deepest of the shade and said: + +"Better bring him over here. It's better in the shade. I'll make a +little more room here beside me and maybe I can help some in the +dressing of his wounds." + +"I thank you, Sir," the Priest replied. "I surely thank you kindly, but +this man has gone, I fear, beyond our earthly aid; and, yet, I could not +bear to leave him lying out there in the sun; the heat is terrible out +there and flies and insects gather round and many lying out there suffer +from their stings. I'll leave my crucifix, here, on his breast, and, if +he moves or speaks, will you please tell him I will be right back?" + +And then good Father Felix made another solemn trip to that sad +battle-field and brought another man into the shade; and he whom he had +brought there, just before, lay silently ... the silent crucifix upon +his breast. The priest leaned down to listen for his breathing, then, +and raised his head with joy depicted on his countenance. + +"He lives!" he cried aloud. "This poor fellow is alive! Perhaps it may +be possible for us to bring him into consciousness again. Now, Sir," he +addressed the man he had first brought into the friendly shade, "maybe +you can help me. Take one of his hands between your own and rub it just +as hard as you can rub it, Sir; that's right ... now, take the other one +and do the same with it. Your strong vitality will maybe help his +weakness, Sir. We two together may be instruments in God's Hands to +bring him back to earthly life again." + +He put some drops of cordial on his tongue and chafed his limbs and +turned him over many times until he saw some signs of returning +consciousness and then he raised him up and rested his head upon his +helper's breast and held the crucifix before his face so he would see it +if his eyes would open; and his helper held the hands of him who seemed +about to die and gazed with eagerness into his countenance. + +The good Priest saw this look upon his helper's face and joyed to see it +there instead of the malevolent expression that had rested on his rather +handsome features only a short time before. + +At length, the sufferer resting on the other's breast opened his wide +eyes and gazed upon the crucifix and motioned that it be brought nearer +to his dying lips; he kissed it, then, devoutly, and his deathless +spirit passed to Him Who gave it life at first. + +Father Felix gently laid his body down upon the ground and placed the +crucifix upon his cold, still breast, and, then, he said to him who +watched it all in silence: + +"You see, Sir, some are happier to have the crucifix to kiss before they +go to meet their Maker; I did not know that you felt as you said you did +about it. I beg your pardon, Sir ... I humbly beg your pardon." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +On July 17, 1898, United States troops marched into and took possession +of the city of Santiago, thereby completing the assurance of +independence to Cuba. + +On that auspicious day Ruth Wakefield closed her temporary hospital and +turned over to its new owner the little cottage which she had built to +shelter her small family during her stay near Santiago; with tears of +joy as well as sorrow, she had said good-bye to Estrella and her +new-found relatives who were about to return to the home of the latter; +Father Felix had decided to return to his little flock at San Domingo as +he felt that his work with the army was finished, so that, in his +company and with old Mage and Tid-i-wats safely ensconced near to her, +she sailed upon the first steamer going toward Havana after there was no +longer need of her help among the American soldiers. + +It was with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow that she left the scene +of her recent activities ... she was carrying with her many sad memories +of heroism and of suffering borne with patriotic patience ... her heart +was heavy when she reflected upon the horrors she had witnessed, but +her spirit was loyal to the sacred cause for which so many splendid +lives had been sacrificed ... she could see, with prophetic vision, a +happy and prosperous race of people taking the place of the down-trodden +and pitiful company of cowering peasants with which she had been all too +familiar ... it seemed to her that she could see the smiling faces of +many happy children crowding along the narrow streets of the small +villages of Cuba ... it seemed to her that she could almost hear old men +relating the long-past horrors that had been common under the iron heel +of the Spanish oppressor ... relating these remembered facts to those +who shook their heads, half doubtingly, as they listened to them. + +Ruth herself, was looking forward with bright anticipation to her return +to her own beloved home ... dear to her, not only because of its +intrinsic attractiveness, but also because of the precious memories it +held of her parents whom she constantly mourned for and kept alive +within her loving heart; for so it is, as I believe, that those who are +beyond the earth yet live among us who are yet in human form; I think +that those who are made welcome in the hearts of men and women continue, +often, their stay within the circle of humanity; so long as mortals +remember and long for them, so long will they care to wander among the +hills and mountains and along the pleasant valleys and by the oceans +and the rivers of the earth; if they should be forgotten by all +humanity, it does not seem to me that they would often wish to look upon +the moonlight or the sunlight of our world; if nowhere in our world +their spirits could find a resting-place, it seems to me they would not +care to stray among mortal men and women. + +Freed souls, as I believe, are not compelled to associate with those who +are uncongenial to them; they do not have to yield their finest taste +and dearest wishes, as so many mortals do, to what is far beneath +them ... far beneath their inner consciousness of right and wrong. They +do not, as I hope, just because they made some sad mistake, go on +suffering for dreary years, as many women have, because they saw no way +of sure release except through death itself. + +It is a pitiful but well-established fact that many wives and mothers +have borne long years of martyrdom because, in their first youth, they +made unfortunate matrimonial alliances. + +There are so very many ways to put on binding-chains in human life; +there are so many changes common to most mortals, steadfastness and +truth are such rare qualities, that I sometimes wonder how men and women +manage even as well as they do. + +Sometimes, we criticize our fellow-men and fellow-women pretty harshly, +but, then, perhaps, we only see one side, and if we could look down from +some great height, perhaps we, then, would marvel that they do as well +as they do, now, with human life. + +There have been those who honestly expected that, when they would leave +their earthly tenements, they would go to sleep, when they had gone +across the unknown river that they knew as death's cold stream, and, +maybe, sleep a thousand years or so; they must have dreaded that last, +long sleep, especially if they, as might have happened, had never been +very sound or very quiet sleepers ... if they had always seemed to be on +guard and wakened at the slightest unfamiliar sound ... the thought that +they would just lie silently within the narrow grave they must have +known it was intended they should be put in must have been a most +unpleasant one; they must have edged around it all they could and seldom +mentioned it to anyone around them, and, yet, that horrid thought ... +that last, long sleep ... must have, often, been present in their waking +thoughts, and must have, even, sometimes, haunted them in their dreams. + +But I believe that we go right on living when we leave the earth-plane; +I believe that most of us will be wide awake and conscious from the very +start of that larger life that we will, then, begin to live. I hope that +we will find that we do not have to sleep at all unless we choose to do +so. + +Ruth Wakefield kept the memories of her parents in her heart and so she +always had them with her where she went, and, now, that she was going +back where they and she had spent so very many happy years together, it +was natural that she should think of them even more than common; a +feeling of deep sadness stole across her mind whenever she reflected on +her parents and their home, somehow; she could not account for this at +all ... she could not satisfy herself that she had any real reason for +this feeling of sadness ... but it would creep over her in spite of her +efforts to banish it from her mind; old Mage felt this and tried to +cheer her dear young lady up ... little Tid-i-wats felt it and rubbed +against her lovingly and purred her little happy song of comfort and +content ... and, yet, Ruth Wakefield dreaded, while she longed for, her +own home, and, as the vessel they were on drew near to Havana, this +feeling of unaccountable sadness deepened with the girl ... she drew her +breath in sharply and a deep and heart-felt sigh broke from her lips as +they reached the landing-place and left the wild and treacherous waters +far behind them. + +Father Felix wondered if this evident sadness and dread were due, in +part, to the experiences through which they had both passed, and also, +the thought of the man whom Ruth had married surreptitiously would often +cross the mind of the good Priest, for he knew well she often must +remember him and his dashing, dark and manly beauty; old Mage almost +cursed him in her fierce old heart when she noticed that Ruth was sad +although she'd always been so glad to come back home. + +"It's that fellow's fault!" she grumbled to herself. "It's all his +fault ... I hope he's good and dead by this time! I'm sure I'd help to +make him so, most willingly! What did he want to come into her young +life and almost ruin it for? The low-lived pup!" + +They started out, as dusk was falling, the day they reached Havana, to +go to San Domingo, and, then, home; Father Felix went with them as far +as his refectory, and there he bade them a cheerful good-bye and said +he'd come up, soon, and see them in their home again. + +Ruth, somehow, feared to say good-bye to the good Priest and kept his +hand in hers much longer than was her wont with any man ... he was a +bulwark for anyone who clung to him for strength ... his was a nature +strong and good and clean and kind.... Ruth felt this more than usually, +that evening, and dreaded to go on without him; he noticed this strange +mood in her and said with cheery acquiescence: + +"Perhaps I'd better go on up the hill with you, my Daughter. I can as +well as not. No one awaits me except my little choir-boys and they have +managed a long time without me. If you will wait a moment while I look +about a bit, I'll just go on up with you and see you nicely settled in +your own old place and then I'll come back here and settle down +myself." + +Suiting his actions to his words, the good Priest looked around and +climbed the hill with Ruth and her small retinue; the path seemed so +familiar with the shadows falling all around it, that she laughed and +said to Father Felix: + +"I am a coward, after all ... afraid of friendly wind-mills like Don +Quixote ... having had to do so much with Spaniards may have made me +like them in some degree at least.... I wonder if Cervantes was afraid, +himself, of things that no one ought to be afraid of! I wonder if Sancho +Panza was afraid, too ... was Rozinante...." + +And, then, she stopped, for they had reached what had been, once, the +outer gate of her palatial residence; there was no gate there ... there +was no residence ... there was no life there ... it was the tomb of hope +and home for her; the dwelling had been razed completely ... in its +stead were only smouldering ruins ... all her precious memories ... her +visible and tangible reminders of her parents ... had been swept +away ... she had paid an awful price for helping those who needed help +from her. + +Father Felix stood beside her with his hand upon her shoulder ... he +could not say a word of consolation or of any sort of help ... he was +dumbfounded by it all; old Mage sunk down upon the ground and wept, and +Tid-i-wats came close to Ruth and rubbed against her garments; stooping, +then, she picked her little pet up and held her closely clasped within +her sheltering arms; then she went to her old nurse and said to her: + +"Do not despair, my dear old Friend. God will provide for us, some way. +This is a dreadful thing, but we must make the very best of it that we +can possibly. I will try to think of some way whereby we may be +sheltered for this one night that is before us and then I hope to find +some way to rebuild a portion of the residence we used to have here on +this blessed spot. Let's bear this, dear old Friend. Let's think we gave +our home to save this country for the people who inhabit it and may +their homes be just as full of peace and comfort and joy and gladness as +this one that is gone has been for all who came beneath its friendly +roof." + +The Father Felix stood beside her and said: + +"My Daughter, come with me; I'll house you all for this one night at +least; I'll find a way tomorrow, somehow, for you, so that you may go on +in the path that you were meant to walk in. My Daughter, let us pray for +guidance in this unexpected sorrow. Let us pray." + +They knelt there underneath the friendly stars and the good Priest +prayed, earnestly: + +"Dear, kind and loving Father," then he said, "look down upon us as we +kneel before Thee, here; direct us with Thy holy Wisdom, for we falter +and are cast down with the burden of this day. Direct the feet of her +who has been sorely stricken, here, tonight; direct her feet so that she +may go on upon the path that Thou hast pointed out to her. Help her to +go on with courage and devotion to the cause for which she has made this +great and almost overpowering sacrifice. Help her to show in all her +acts, henceforth, the same sweet resignation to Thy Will that she has +shown so far. And help me, Father, help Thy humble servant who is but +feeble and who often fails in doing all he should for Thee and for Thy +children, help Thy humble and most unworthy servant to stand as if he +were a pillar, so that she may lean upon him if her courage falters, or +if she should stumble or grow weak in walking in the path that she was +meant by Thee to walk upon. Look down in mercy on Thy servants as we +kneel before Thee here. Amen." + +Tid-i-wats endured this, patiently, until he went beyond the common run +of prayers for him when they had been together, then she squirmed and +twisted in Ruth's arms, and, finally, escaped her altogether; then old +Mage corraled her and the two of them had quite a little conversation on +the side: + +"You naughty little thing! You must behave yourself and be a nice little +lady. Can't you see what's happened to us without making us a lot of +trouble, too?" + +And Tid-i-wats said, plainly: + +"I'll do just as I please, you mean old thing you! Don't you _dare_ to +hold me when I want to get away! I'll show you what my claws will do to +you, old Mage! You let me go this minute!" + +Then she used some language only known to cats and those who know the +devious ways of little petted cats. + +Then Ruth turned to her and whispered: + +"Little Dadditts! Little Tid-i-wats! Be a nice lady, now ... be a very +nice little lady, now. Dadditts ... little bit of Dadditts...." + +Then she held her close and tried to comfort her and gain some comfort +for herself, but her tears would come to think how happy they had always +or most always been in that fine home which seemed so much a part of +life to Ruth that, now that it was gone from her, life seemed a sordid +and a sorry thing. + +But she went with Father Felix, quietly, to the refectory and there they +all found comfort and refreshment, for the good Priest always had +prepared himself to entertain some unexpected guests, and, with +returning security and peace, his parishioners had brought some supplies +to welcome him on his return; so they fared quite well considering what +had met them when they reached the place where Ruth had thought to find +rest from her arduous toil; instead, she had to meet renewed unrest and +many problems to be solved in her near future. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +When Ruth Wakefield awoke the next morning after her arrival in the +village of San Domingo, she became conscious of her surroundings with a +sudden start; at first, she scarcely realized just where she was, for +her long trip on the boat following her strenuous and nerve-wracking +labor of the past few weeks, had left her very weary in mind as well as +in body, so that her sleep had been profound and restful; she looked +about her wonderingly and did not recognize anything near to her except +little Tid-i-wats who was cuddled up in a little soft round ball right +beside her pillow; then, from the adjoining room, she began to hear old +Mage, who was, evidently, making her customary strenuous efforts to +continue her slumbers. + +Gradually, Ruth remembered the desolation to which she had returned, +and, hastily dressing, she left the refectory intending to go at once to +the spot where her much-loved home had been, and ascertain, under the +light of day, the extent of her loss, also, she wished to make some +plans, while she could do so quietly and unobserved, as to the future of +her little family, who, as it seemed, was now without a roof to shelter +them. + +She slowly and cautiously ascended the hill; the pathway was almost +obliterated by the growth of the wild things that had been allowed to +run riot over it and she followed it more by instinct than anything +else; as she gained the point from which the proud edifice she had so +loved used to become visible to anyone approaching it, the fact that no +buildings of any kind were in sight pressed upon her inner +consciousness, and it was only with great effort that she proceeded at +all; somehow, she had hoped, she now found, that the hasty survey they +had made the night before might have been overdrawn in some respects and +the corroboration of her worst fears was hard for her to bear; but she +had become accustomed, from long endurance, to meet whatever came with +calmness and courage; so she straightened her slim, tall figure to its +full height, and advanced with the air of a soldier marching forth to +meet the foe. + +She had passed the spot where the entrance gates had been; the pillars +on either side of the entrance were almost entirely demolished and there +was nothing to be seen of the gates themselves; all along the driveway +débris was piled in disordered heaps; evidently, no one had been here, +or so it seemed at a first glance, anyway, for some time; vegetation had +even partially covered a part of the ruins of the dwelling itself; with +repeated gasps of horror, she ran from what had been the front entrance +to her home to first one side and then the other; finally, she sat down, +disconsolately, like Niobe, amid the ruins of her former happiness; she +knew that she was where her library had been; here she had found her +most satisfying, lasting happiness, surrounded as she had been by the +books she had loved; she could see the half-burned remains of many of +her favorites lying all around her; thinking to save some portion of one +of these, she picked it up, fondly, and laid it in her lap, while she +bent over it searching for some word of comfort or some sustaining +sentence; it seemed to her that some of the authors she had so dearly +loved and almost reverenced, would surely come to her aid in this dire +calamity ... it almost seemed to her as if one or more of them would +actually speak to her in such a way as to impress her mind with their +fine thoughts. + +Suddenly, she became conscious of the nearness of some human being; +looking up, surprised and even alarmed, she beheld the man whose life +she had been instrumental in saving after the battle of San Juan Hill. + +"Tender Heart," he said, softly, "Tender Heart, what have we here? Why +are you so sad? You came to me in grievous trouble and I, it seems, have +found you under similar circumstances. Tender Heart," he pleaded, +"Tender Heart, let me help you as you helped me if I can do so." + +She turned and looked into his eyes ... she rose to her feet and took +one hesitating step toward him ... she stretched out both her hands, +and, somehow, then, she felt his strong arms fold themselves around her +yielding form ... she felt his heart beat very near to hers ... she felt +his lips against her hair ... and, then, she turned her face from his +broad shoulder where it had found a resting-place, and, as her lips met +his, it seemed to her that, after all, she had come home; a feeling of +deep security and sweet peace crept over her: + +"Tender Heart," he murmured very near to her small, shell-like ear, for +she had, once more, put her head against his shoulder, "Tender Heart, +you do not know my name.... I am, to you, but one of those five men who +volunteered, at once, to follow Teddy up San Juan Hill.... I am, to you, +but only him you rescued from almost certain death upon that bloody +battle-field. Are you sure you are not making a mistake, sweet, trusting +Tender Heart, to grant me this great privilege, knowing as little of me +as you do?" + +He waited for her answer, for some time, but, then, he waited willingly +indeed, for her soft nearness was enough to make him very happy; when +her answer came she spoke in such low tones he had to listen very +closely ... he had to put his arms about her a little closer than they +had been yet ... he had to lift her from the ground and bring her soft, +red mouth upon a level with his head, indeed ... and then, he heard her +say: + +"I know you just as well as you know me. We do not know each other's +names ... we do not need to know them ... now ... I only know I love +you, Dear ... and, now, I know that you love me." + +And, then, he set her feet upon the ground again and looked down into +her clear, gray eyes, and found within their shining depths the very +things he wanted most to know; and she looked up and saw a man who was a +man indeed ... a man on whom she knew that she could lean ... a man whom +she would love to walk beside ... a man of whom she could be always +proud. + +Standing there, they gazed into each other's eyes and read their future +in them ... read the happiness that they might know together on the +earth, and, then, they saw beyond the chance and change that seem to to +govern earthly things, and saw themselves together in some higher, +better sphere. They plainly saw, there, in each other's eyes, the +promise of another, more etherial world, where they might spend long +ages of eternal joy and gladness in each other's company. + +Father Felix found them so, for he had followed Ruth to see if he could +help her meet the problems that confronted her; the good Priest +hesitated for only a moment before he said: + +"My Daughter, I trust that you have found true happiness. Sir, I do not +know you very well, but I can give you most profound assurance that you +have found a jewel among women; if she has any faults I have not found +them, yet, and I have spent full many happy hours in her society; my +work is to find faults, if so be I can trace them out; I am a hunter, +and a most successful one, of human frailties, and, when I give you my +most profound assurance that I have not found a fault in this one woman, +the statement is worthy of respect. + +"Your coming at this time is most propitious, for I was almost at my +wit's end as to how to help her bear the direful calamity that has just +come upon her. She has not remembered half she's lost, and, now that she +has found you, Sir, I trust that she will nevermore remember much of it, +but that she will go on, with you beside her, leaving far behind her in +her earthly path sad memories of happy days that nevermore can come to +her." + +The man, then, gave to Father Felix his right hand and kept his left arm +round Ruth's slender waist: + +"I do not doubt your word," he answered the good Priest. "I feel that +every single word of what you've said is strictly true, and, yet, I have +some fault to find with this young lady, here; she came away and did +not leave a message behind for me, and I have had a weary, most +disheartening time since she departed. I came to San Domingo, I traced +her that far, easily, and, then, I found a little girl named Tessa +something, who said she knew the very place to find her in ... she said +she knew she'd go where, once, the mansion on the hill had stood ... +and, so, I came straight here, and, so, I've found her. Tender Heart," +he asked, "have you told the good Priest how we met?" + +Then Ruth blushed her pretty, fleeting, characteristic little blush, and +said: + +"Father Felix knows me even better than I know myself, for he has told +me many times what I would do before I did it. Father Felix knows me +better, even, that _you_ do," then she turned to Father Felix, laughing +like a happy little child, and added, "He don't even know my name and I +have no idea what _his_ is; he calls me Tender Heart because I am so +easily misled by tenderness and I call him ... why, I have never called +him anything at all." + +"Yes, you have!" he interrupted, eagerly. "You called me 'Dear' just +now ... so she is Tender Heart and I am Dear and that's enough, I think, +don't you?" + +The good Priest smiled upon them almost condescendingly, for he was far +above such little human twists and turns, or so he seemed to be at +least, and so he was in very truth, for he had had his romance ... he +had seen the grave close over the bright curls of one he dearly loved +who loved him just as dearly as he did her; it was after that that he +had taken up the work he did so well; he left his human happiness behind +him in that narrow grave and looked beyond it to a higher, better kind +of happiness; Ruth knew a little of this romantic sorrow for the good +Priest had imparted it to her, and, so, her tender eyes filled up with +sudden tears and her low, sweet voice trembled into even softer cadences +than usual as she said: + +"Dear Father Felix, you are more to me than any loving brother that a +woman ever had ... you are the only one who ever understood my human +sorrow and I think that you will fully understand my human happiness. I +wish with all my heart that you could be as happy as we are," her fair +face flushed again, "for you deserve far more of happiness than I do ... +as for him," she added, archly, "as for him ... do not be too sure of +perfect human happiness for him.... I am but a mere child in very many +ways.... I have so very much to learn.... I'm sure I'll always do the +very best I can, but whether that will be the very best that could be +done, of course I do not know." + +"I'll risk it, anyway, and I will risk it gladly, joyfully," the man +averred. "I'd go again upon that bloody battle-field if you'd be sure +to find me, Tender Heart," he ended, "if only in that way we two were +meant to meet." + +When Ruth went back to the refectory she found old Mage and Tid-i-wats +as lively as two crickets and as cheery as could be ... she introduced +the man whose life she'd saved, or so it seemed, to them, and each of +them acknowledged the introduction in her own peculiar way; old Mage +stared at the man and sized him up most shrewdly, and, then, she gave +her verdict very plainly by her manner of addressing him: + +"I'm glad to see you, Sir," she said. "I'm surely very glad to see you +for I've often heard my dear young lady speak of you; I hope you'll stay +around here near to us for we will have another home to build and +Tid-i-wats and I are not much help to her.... I'm growing to be an old +woman, now, and Tid-i-wats is so peculiar that she never is much help to +anyone." + +And, then, the little cat came close to him and smelled his hands and +rubbed against his legs, and, finally, when he sat down, she jumped up +in his lap and settled down and twisted round and licked herself and +washed her face and made herself entirely at home; and then she looked +up at old Mage and Ruth and whispered to them that she liked him very +well indeed, and, so, he was adopted into that small family. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +An author who has been considered by very many people to be a most +successful writer, one whose words have set before very many eyes vivid +pictures of individual characteristics and national events as well, +whose Indians are known all over the world, and whose historical novels +will be eagerly perused as long as there are American eyes to read the +pages of any book at all, used to make a sort of summary of the +principal events in the lives of his very interesting characters: it +always seemed to me that there was something very wholesome and +satisfying in the way he finished up his books, and, so, I'd like to +relate just a little more about the people I have tried to picture in +this little book of mine. + +Ruth Wakefield found her earthly mate when she found him whose life she +helped to save upon the battle-field at night, and spent full many happy +years in his society; they built a modern home upon the site of the +mansion on the hill and did much good among the peasants living near to +them; the man became the author of very many books, and Ruth assisted +him in very many ways. + +Old Mage and little Tid-i-wats lived out the span of earthly life +allotted to each one of them, beneath the tender eye and ready hand of +her who loved them both, and, when the time that had been set for them +to leave this world behind them, came, Ruth Wakefield staid beside them +to the very last, and ministered to them as no one else would ever do. + +The man she'd found had named her well when he said "Tender Heart!" to +her, that night upon the battle-field. + +Her heart was very tender, always, except with reference to herself; she +often did upbraid herself and never gave herself much credit; she often +mourned, in secret, over her few brief memories of the wild, impulsive, +almost insane, so-called love of him she'd married in her untried youth; +she often said: + +"Poor Boy! Poor, lost and misled Boy! I ought to have treated him far +differently than I did; his earthly path crossed mine for some good +reason, I presume; and I did not do all the things I might have done, +when I was near enough to help him, for him ... yet ..." she always +ended, "I did the very best I could do for him, it seemed to me, at the +time I had the opportunity, and I always meant and prayed to do just +right. I went wrong, somehow ... or he had gone too far along a certain +road before I ever met him for me to turn him back ... anyway, I pity +him with all my heart and hope that he is happy where he's gone.... I +hope he's found the very place he belongs in.... I know I always think +of him with tender pity and no resentment, although, according to the +standards of the world, he did me grievous wrong. Poor lost and misled +Boy! He often looked so sad and desperate ... I wish I had done better +by him while I had the chance." + +Her tender heart was uppermost in almost all she did except when she was +doing for herself, and, then, she'd say: + +"My tastes are very simple ... I do not need very much of this world's +goods ... it takes so very little happiness to make me almost wild with +joy.... I've had to look on sorrow often, and, when I come to Joy, I +bask in it as if it were God's holy sunshine." + +But, if it should be that old Mage or Tid-i-wats or anyone of all of +those who were dependent on her, from time to time, for she, somehow +always seemed to accumulate those who needed her help round her, why, +then it was quite different to Tender Heart ... then, she'd say and say +with vigor: + +"Of _course_ I can arrange to have it that way! Why, certainly, if that +would bring happiness, I'll fix it right away." + +And sure enough she would arrange it, no matter what it meant for her of +loneliness or labor ... no matter if she had to go along a lonely road +that had been full of peace and happiness for her before the one who +left her lonely had come into her daily life and made it hard for her, +in that way, while the days were going by, yet made a grievous change +again, in going; she set her teeth and did the things she had to do to +make the other person happy, or to do the things he said would make him +happy, then she turned her face toward her own life, cheerfully, +although her hours were often very sad and lonely. + +But this was all before she met the man whose life she'd helped to save +upon that battle-field ... all before she'd lost her cherished home and +built another one. From that time on unto the end of earthly life for +her, she found sweet satisfaction and content, for she had found a +steadfast love to lean upon, a strong and true and virile human being, +whose tastes were similar to hers, who loved his native land, America, +with all his heart, as she did, too. + +It heartens all humanity to meet a happy pair who are congenial. + +It gives all other human beings courage to go on upon the path that has +been set for them to go upon, to know that there is happiness if only +they could find the way to reach it. + +Estrella soon forgot the handsome lover over whom she mourned so +bitterly; the memory of him soon became a wild, sweet dream, and had she +met him as he was in San Domingo, after she had found her proper place +in life, it is probable that she would have turned away from him; life's +contrasts have so much to do with early love that it is often difficult +to know what love is really like; Estrella, when she was an unknown +waif, was differently placed than she was later on. Victorio Colenzo +would not have seemed the same to her that he did when she was but an +unknown, simple girl; education made a change in her ... her sister +looked to that. She grew to be a splendid woman, in very many ways, and +married one who was her peer. + +Poor little Tessa seems the most forlorn of all the characters in this +book. She tried so hard and failed so utterly in almost all she ever +did. But Father Felix watched her tenderly, and helped her on, and, +finally, one day, he married her to one who loved her truly in his own +rude way, to one who was a sturdy peasant like herself, who had no +romance in him, but who was true to her, and kind, as kindness goes +among his sort of people; he provided for her and their children; she +had many more necessities and even luxuries than most of those who were +associated with her. She, sometimes, dreamed of Manuello; she never knew +how his life ended. + +Ruth Wakefield looked her up, from time to time, but did not tell her +very much about the Spanish-American war or those who entered into it; +she knew she could not really understand much more than would the +helpless baby at her ample breast, for Tessa did not stay the slim, +small person that she was at first; she grew to be as wide, almost, as +she was tall, and seemed to be quite happy as she was. She always limped +a little from the blow that Manuello gave to her; the deep, sad scar he +left upon her gentle heart could not be seen, and it, somehow, grew over +as her flesh and family increased. + +Estrella always remembered her and sent her many costly and curious +things which were her constant delight. She loved to display these +mementoes of her girlhood's friend; her children, and her heavy husband, +too, were, always proud of them. + +It seems to me that, when such souls as animated little Tessa's form +leave this world behind them for all time, it must be that they find +some soft, warm places, where they can sit at ease and watch dear little +children play, and, maybe, join them in their play, and dream of happy +hours, and forget all the trials of their lives upon the earth. + +The course of human life will, sometimes, like a placid river, flow +along for many years without a single change that is any more disturbing +than a little, gentle ripple or an easy turn; then, all at once, like +the water, that has been so clear and still, when it has reached the +rapids and becomes a raging, turbid torrent, so human life may, +suddenly, be stirred to its very depths; something may transpire that +will call for the most sublime courage and the most strenuous endeavor, +combined with the most harrowing self-sacrifice. + +Like a stroke of lightning out of a calm summer sky, more than one great +event in our national history has thrust itself upon our startled +consciousness. At these times, leaders have appeared who have taken +their places at the head of affairs as naturally and as calmly as if +they had been, always, guiding those who followed after them, although, +perhaps, before the time that they were needed, they were, +comparatively, unknown. And so, it seems to me, it will be always. There +is a Plan, an infinite, a just, a universal Plan, to which all things, +mundane or otherwise, must, in the end, conform. To keep ourselves +informed as to the part that we were meant to take in this great Plan, +it seems to me, should be our constant study and our constant strong +desire. + +The light of truth and understanding, that is God's Smile, looks up into +our faces from the heart of every flower, whether bathed in moonlight, +or shining underneath the sun; the simplest soul or the grandest +intellect, alike, may bask beneath this light and feel its healing +power. + +I love, above all else, the God of truth and right and justice, Who +rules all worlds and watches over everything that lives and moves and +has its being in His whole universe. + +It seems to me that there is implanted, although it may be completely +covered up, at times, in the nature of every human being, a reverence +and a most affectionate regard, that rests upon implicit faith, for Him +Who gave to us, at the very beginning of of our human lives, an +infallible guide ... conscience, or inner consciousness of right and +wrong ... which, if always heeded, will show us where to go and what to +do, no matter what vicissitudes, disappointments or sorrows we may meet. + +And, next to God, it seems to me, it is both natural and right to love +the land of one's nativity. + +I know I hold in my regard, above all personal advantages, above all +temporal happiness or praise, America ... the great United States ... +_that one fair land whose single boast has always been that it was +free_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An American, by Belle W. 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Gue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An American + +Author: Belle W. Gue + +Release Date: July 10, 2011 [EBook #36679] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AMERICAN *** + + + + +Produced by Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia, Charlene Taylor, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>AN AMERICAN</h1> + +<h2>BY BELLE WILLEY GUE</h2> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + +<h3>BOSTON<br /> +RICHARD G. BADGER</h3> + +<h3>THE GORHAM PRESS</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1921, by Belle Willey Gue</span></h3> + +<h3>All Rights Reserved</h3> + +<h3>Made in the United States of America</h3> + +<h3>The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>TO THE MEMORY OF HIM WHOM WE ALL DELIGHT<br /> +TO HONOR AS FIRST IN PEACE ... FIRST IN<br /> +WAR ... AND FIRST IN THE HEARTS<br /> +OF HIS COUNTRYMEN ...<br /> +GEORGE WASHINGTON</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</a><br /> +<a href="#PLOT">PLOT</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>AN AMERICAN</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>There are many characteristics that are essential to true Americanism; +among these, none is more prominent than an inborn desire, not only to +obtain personal liberty, but, also, to see justice done to others.</p> + +<p>We, as Americans, say, with loving pride, that we are citizens of that +<i>one fair land whose single boast has always been that it was free</i>.</p> + +<p>Oppression of the weak and ignorant, by those who are wiser and stronger +than they, has, always, aroused in us pronounced, and, often, openly +expressed, indignation. More than once, have we, as a nation, arrayed +ourselves upon the side of the down-trodden and pitiful, and, in every +such instance, we have greatly increased and enhanced the well-being of +those whose cause we have espoused.</p> + +<p>We have never gone out of our way to look for trouble, being more +inclined to attend to our own affairs than to oversee those of our +neighbors, and, yet, when, repeatedly, gross acts of injustice and +cruelty have been forced under our observation, we have, at times, been +aroused to a state of what we have honestly believed to be righteous +indignation, and, in these circumstances, we have conducted ourselves +in accordance with our ability and the fervor of our convictions.</p> + +<p>Prior to the evening of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and +ninety-eight, our relations with the government of Spain were amicable; +while we, as a people, sympathized, to some extent, with the uprisings +of native Cubans, yet, those who were at the head of our national +affairs did not, in any instance, uphold or palliate the unlawful acts +of the insurrectionists; but, during the hours of darkness of that +never-to-be-forgotten night, a dastardly and totally inexcusable deed, +in spite of the recent renewal of our friendly intercourse with the +Spanish government, made of that nation a foe to be contended against +with all the might that was in us.</p> + +<p>While our only object, in the beginning of the Spanish-American war, was +to teach the Spaniard the lesson he had so richly deserved to learn, at +the same time, as the results of autocratic misrule were brought, more +and more closely, under our direct observation, we took much honest +pride in the reflection that we were not only resenting, as became free +and enlightened men and women, an injury to our own well-beloved +country, but that we were, at the same time, giving to a people, whose +necks were raw and bleeding from the yoke of a tyrannical exercise of +absolute power, an opportunity to throw off that yoke, and become, in +due time, a self-governed and a self-respecting and an independent +nation.</p> + +<p>Our short and fiery encounter with Spain demonstrated, as many years of +unbroken peace and prosperity had not done and never could do, the +invincibility of American arms, and the unexampled superiority of +American daring, devotion, inventive genius and self-adjusting prowess; +it was supposed that we had a very inadequate naval equipment, and that +our standing army was very small, besides being poorly trained; in spite +of this widely spread supposition, our troops won many brilliant +victories upon the sea as well as on the land.</p> + +<p>The same spirit that saved the day for freedom and the right at Bunker +Hill and Bennington animated the descendants of those gallant and +intrepid warriors, who, soon after the heroic birth of our Republic, +defended the cause they deemed to be a sacred one with all that they +held dear, when they, too, went to meet the carefully trained and richly +caparisoned phalanxes of those who bowed their heads and bent their +suppliant knees unto an earthly king.</p> + +<p>An American volunteer is as nearly unconquerable as any merely human +being can ever really be; his whole being is entirely devoted to the +principle for the vindication of which he is about to enter into bodily +combat; he is not hampered or bound down by anything that does not meet +with the approval of his own conscience; physically, mentally, and +morally, he is the equal of any enemy against whom he may be pitted; +above him there floats a flag that has never been defeated, behind him +are glorious deeds of valor that are well worthy of emulation, and +before him are the hopes and aspirations of those who, with their feet +firmly planted upon solid ground, practical, energetic and capable, yet, +always, move among their fellows, seeing visions, dreaming dreams.</p> + +<p>Shortly before the beginning of the Spanish-American war, there were +some, across the water, who dared to complacently imagine that the +glowing spark of patriotism, implanted in the breast of every true +American at the time of his birth, had lost its kindling power; those +who were depending upon this erroneous idea must have had their +complacency somewhat rudely shaken when it became known, all over the +world, that, within ten days after President McKinley issued a call for +one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteers, seven hundred and fifty +thousand eager patriots answered to that call, offering their energies +and, if needs be, their lives, to the service of the land they loved and +honored.</p> + +<p>After thirty-three years of peace, the fighting men of America buckled +on their armor, bade a tearful farewell to their homes and families, +and, determined, enthusiastic and buoyant, went, blithely, forward to +meet, and conquer, a foreign foe; there was not one among these who did +not realize and consider the seriousness of the enterprise he had +started out upon, yet neither was there one who did not add, in every +way within his power, to the light-hearted joyousness, and gentle, +childish humor, with which our fearless and devoted "boys" undertook to +secure the freedom and general well-being of the Island people, as well +as to resent the insult that had been offered to our own country.</p> + +<p>The central figure of the Spanish-American war, from its hasty inception +until its brilliant and triumphant close, was that of a gallant +gentleman, mounted on a high-lifed horse ... as sternly devoted to +principle and duty as any Puritan had ever been, as full of the bounding +joy of life as any boy who followed him, leader, comrade, friend and +brother, fearless, resourceful, primitive, refined, highly educated, yet +as simple-hearted as an innocent child, bold, yet cautious and careful, +unselfish, yet richly endowed with worldly wisdom, respected almost to +the height of reverence, yet looked upon as a cheery, helpful companion, +by those with whom he was most closely associated ... THEODORE +ROOSEVELT ... a typical American, using that word in its widest and +loftiest sense.</p> + +<p>After the close of our struggle with Spain, we discovered that we had +not only given, but, also, derived, many benefits as the results of that +short, but decisive, conflict; we had acquired considerable territory +over which to extend the advantages to be gained from our educational +and commercial institutions; we had come into such close contact with +the people of these, and adjacent, territories that we were enabled to +understand their needs and their desires, more fully than we could, +otherwise, have done; we had presented to the powers ruling the Old +World an object lesson as to the people of the United States of America +being, at any and all times, and under every possible circumstance, +fully able to take care of themselves, as well as all that, +intrinsically, belongs to them; we had set before the mighty nations of +Europe an example of the proper attitude of the strong toward the weak; +we had bound together, in a common, just and righteous cause, all +factions, all clans, all religions, and all parties, in short, we had +bound together the entire population of our well-beloved country, and in +such a way that the bonds were indissoluble, unbreakable, and permanent.</p> + +<p>While we are, above all things, a peaceful and a law-abiding people, yet +we not only can, but always will, defend our altars and our homes +against any harm that may be threatened to them; while we do not seek an +encounter with any government other than our own, yet at the same time, +we are not afraid to meet any nation on the face of the earth, in open +combat, giving our enemy the privilege of selecting his own weapons and +following out his own ideas as to legitimate warfare.</p> + +<p>The blood of the sturdy and militant Anglo-Saxon, flowing, now, in +Yankee veins, is richer and more life-supporting than it was before the +Mayflower landed her precious freight of human strength and more than +human aspiration upon Plymouth Rock.</p> + +<p>All the fond hopes and all the high ambitions, all the daring and all +the deep devotion, all the practical achievements and all the airy +dreams, of their revered forefathers, are, now, alive and potent, +although, it may be, hidden, in the breasts of all my fellow-countrymen.</p> + +<p>If all the titles that have ever been bestowed by human beings upon each +other ... all the names that indicate the possession of wealth or fame +or place or power upon the earth ... should be displayed before my eyes, +and I be asked to select but one among them all to be the one by which I +would be known, I would without a moment's hesitation, choose AN +AMERICAN.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PLOT" id="PLOT"></a>PLOT</h2> + + +<p>Ruth Wakefield, as the daughter of the United States Consul to Cuba, has +lived in a beautiful home which her father prepared for his family on a +height above Havana harbor since early childhood. Having lost both her +natural protectors ... her parents ... through earthly death, she has +been much alone with trusty servants, as she has found little +companionship among the natives of Cuba. However, she has found a highly +respected friend in Father Felix, Priest of the village of San Domingo; +to him she has confided her great anxiety concerning some prisoners +confined, ex communicado, in the village jail, at the end of the prado, +or central park of the village.</p> + +<p>"The Lady of the mansion on the hill," as she is known among the +villagers, has not, though, told the Priest her real reason for wishing +the freedom of the political prisoners. Victorio Colenzo is a handsome +but unscrupulous fellow of mixed blood, being part Spanish and part +Cuban; he has found the lonely American girl and has courted her with +such dash and apparent sincerity that she has married him secretly, not +even informing Father Felix of her union with the attractive stranger. +This man is among the political prisoners and it is to free him from +bondage that Ruth Wakefield has furnished Father Felix with means with +which to overpower and overawe those who have him in charge. Ruth +Wakefield is herself deceived, for in the village is a girl, named +Estrella, whose lover Victorio Colenzo is known to be by her associates, +among whom is another of her lovers ... Manuello ... a native Cuban. +This man is also in the San Domingo bastile. Father Felix, at the head +of a procession of his followers, breaks into the jail and confronts the +keepers with a crucifix which he holds before them, commanding them to +release the prisoners; superstitious terror finally induces them to +yield to his demands; in the confusion, Manuello contrives to sever the +handsome head of Victorio Colenzo from his strong and manly body, so +that his corpse is found when the doors are finally thrown open to the +people; Estrella finds this body and weeps above it. Father Felix meets +Ruth Wakefield by appointment to report as to what he has done, and, in +this manner, she discovers the perfidy of her so-called husband. She +confesses the truth to Father Felix who sympathizes deeply with her as +he knows her to be innocent. She visits the morgue and meets Estrella +whom she befriends and, eventually, adds to her household. She has among +her servants, a unique character, named Mage, who has been her nurse in +babyhood and who is always faithful to her in her own strange way; this +old woman, throughout the entire twenty-one chapters of this story, +continues to perform unexpected and startling deeds.</p> + +<p>Old Mage accompanies her dear young lady when she goes to San Juan and +is stationed not far from the battle-field of San Juan Hill. Here, as +elsewhere, she continues to exhibit her own individual characteristics +as her central and almost sole idea is to protect and assist Ruth +Wakefield, whom, although she regards her with unlimited respect and is +entirely devoted to her interests, she still thinks of as the small +child she loved before they landed upon the Island of Cuba; realizing +how different she is from those around her, only increases the worship +of her faithful attendant, who, on the other hand, does not hesitate to +use language that will express what she wishes those whom she is +addressing to fully understand.</p> + +<p>Manuello has a primitive, passionate, unbridled and selfish nature; he +is wildly in love with Estrella and because she has selected another +lover he has committed murder; with this man out of his way, he hopes to +succeed with Estrella and goes to her intimate friend, Tessa, to find +out how she actually feels about the death of her lover, Victorio +Colenzo; Tessa secretly adores Manuello; she is, also, a native Cuban, +but her nature is more sluggish than that of Manuello and she has a +dog-like affection for Estrella, who has become separated from her own +family as a child and is a member of the household of Manuello, being +known as his half-sister among the villagers; the handsome peon makes +love to little Tessa but she is loyal to Estrella and does what she can +to contribute to her happiness, although, when Manuello becomes a +fugitive and has been wounded, she ministers to him in a deserted cabin +up among the hills where it is almost entirely hidden in a jungle of +weeds and rank vegetation. This cabin is the scene of many pitiful +endeavors on the part of little Tessa who resists the desires of +Manuello to make her his mistress although she dearly and devotedly +loves him. Here, at one time, she is secretly followed by Estrella who +is led to suspect some secret by Tessa's actions; Estrella informs +Father Felix of the situation. Tessa, in one of her struggles with +Manuello, has wounded him in one cheek with a knife which she happened +to have in her hand. Father Felix visits the hut and Manuello, after +severely wounding poor little Tessa, so that she is unable to leave the +place, disappears, but turns up again, after the battle of Camp McCalla +in a temporary hospital where Ruth Wakefield and Estrella are acting as +nurses. Old Mage takes a hand in this affair and so frightens Manuello +that he escapes from the hospital although he is wearing many bandages, +and, painfully, but determinedly, reaches the deserted hut where he +hopes to hide until he has recovered from his wounds. As he approaches +the hut he realizes that someone is within it and looks through a small +window, seeing Tessa lying on the rude bed she originally prepared for +him, and, beside her, kneeling on the floor, Father Felix who has found +the weak and suffering girl and is engaged in prayer; Manuello breaks +into the cabin and attempts to thrust the Priest aside so that he may +wreak his vengeance on the helpless woman. Father Felix, however, proves +to be a worthy antagonist and does not hesitate to use his strength in +the defense of the innocent, even though it becomes necessary for him to +seriously injure the young man who is like a wild beast foiled of its +prey. This struggle in the deserted hut, with the wounded girl looking +on, continues for some time, but the younger man is finally overpowered, +and, seeing himself to be at the mercy of his antagonist, becomes the +penitent sinner and confesses to the Priest who labors with him lovingly +and ministers to his spiritual condition. The two men then improvise a +stretcher and place Tessa upon it, after which they carry the girl to +the door of her own home in the village. Here, the Priest dismisses +Manuello and tells him to go in peace. The young man then limps back to +the deserted hut and remains there unmolested for some time when he +disappears again from the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>The Americanism of Ruth Wakefield is pronounced. Father Felix is +equally devoted to their common country. These two often confer as to +possible complications connected with international affairs; at one of +these consultations, Estrella happens to be present and declares that +she believes that she, also, is an American and that she wishes to serve +under the same flag as that to which the other two have so often +pronounced themselves to be devoted. She offers to assist Ruth in every +way she can should there be an occasion that would demand their help.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield is awake in her own room and looking down upon Havana +harbor on the night of February 15th, 1898 and sees the blowing up of +the Maine with her own eyes; Father Felix also sees this and hurries up +the hill to talk matters over with Ruth; they form plans as to what they +can do for their own country and in the service of the down-trodden +people of Cuba whose sufferings under Spanish tyranny they have so often +witnessed. Ruth opens her home and offers it as a refuge to all those +who wish to escape from Spanish oppression.</p> + +<p>Father Felix keeps Ruth well informed as to military matters and, when, +on June 10th, 1898, our stars and stripes are waving, for the first +time, over Cuban soil, Ruth Wakefield is standing beside Father Felix, +who has become an army chaplain, at the window of a temporary hospital +which her wealth has made possible. This hospital is situated near +Santiago and many American soldiers as well as many Cuban scouts are +cared for within its shadowy rooms.</p> + +<p>After the battle of San Juan Hill on July 1st 1898, Ruth Wakefield is +one among many volunteer nurses who went to the assistance of a +righteous cause. She stands beside a little cot and meets a man who +speaks to her of "Teddy" and of the grand and glorious work that he had +done that day; with this bond between them, they soon become friends.</p> + +<p>Ruth, as one who has authority, moves from cot to cot and, so, comes to +stand beside the murderer of her husband or him whom she had called so, +for Manuello evened up some of his wickedness by serving nobly in the +battle of San Juan Hill and died in consequence of that day's dreadful +harvest of human forms. Estrella, too, and Father Felix, come to stand +beside his cot, but Ruth is all alone when his soul leaves the clay that +it has been inhabiting for awhile, and, so, she realizes as never +before, that the man she knew as husband was beneath her in every way +and in that terrible and heart-rending moment, she begins to learn the +way to forget the first wild love of her young womanhood and find the +steps that lead to saner, quieter and happier hours and days and years.</p> + +<p>Ruth is given privileges that are not accorded to many near a bloody +battle-field, and, when she leaves the hospital for the night on July +1st, 1898, she drives her team along a lonely road, hoping to leave +behind her, not only the scenes she has just been among, but, also, the +thoughts that those scenes have awakened in her mind. She thinks she is +going directly away from the recent battle-field. Her team is startled +by the sudden rising of a man near the road and runs away, throwing her +out upon the ground; she climbs over a low embankment beside the road +and finds herself among the dead; she is almost stupefied by this +knowledge, but, soon, her instincts for helping those who are in trouble +rise above her fears and she cries aloud and calls ... asking if any +there are in need of help that she can give to them. A faint voice +answers her and she seeks it out and finds an officer who has been +stricken down at the head of his squad of men; they are all lying in a +disordered heap and Ruth is obliged to lift one dead body off of the man +who seems to be alive. Having found him, she proceeds, from her +knowledge as a nurse, to aid him ... finds a wound from which his +life-blood is flowing fast and forms a tourniquet with a silken scarf +she happens to be wearing. He revives enough to whisper to her, naming +her, on the instant "Tender Heart" by which title he afterwards +addresses her.</p> + +<p>Having rendered all the aid she can, she speeds away, without fear, now, +as she has an object in her flight, until she secures help when she +returns and removes the one whom she has found among the dead to the +hospital, where, after a long period of suffering and faithful nursing, +he recovers sufficiently to accompany her when she returns to her home. +Here he proves himself to be worthy of her love which is bestowed upon +him with the approval of Father Felix and even of old Mage. Ruth's home +has been destroyed by fire and her entire estate has suffered much from +vandalism and from enemies of Cuba and of her own country as well, but +she still has plenty with which to rebuild her home and to assist many +in the village of San Domingo who require aid and comfort from those who +are stronger than they are.</p> + +<p>Among other patients in her temporary hospital near Santiago, Ruth +discovers one who is a Spanish spy, for she remembers meeting him when +he was a Spanish officer under most distressing circumstances, when it +had been his great desire to do a grievous wrong to a young, ignorant +girl whom Ruth rescued from his vile clutches. Ruth hesitates to report +this case to the authorities as she is well aware of the fate meted out +to spies, and she compromises by telling the facts to Father Felix, who, +while he is very tender of the innocent, is just and stern where +hypocrites and liars are concerned. The good Priest soon disposes of the +Spanish spy.</p> + +<p>Father Felix distinguishes himself in many ways during the hostilities +between the opposing forces in the Spanish-American war and does much +good, for he does not hesitate to do anything that he finds to do +regardless of whether it is in the line of his profession or not. He has +many experiences as thrilling as the one in the deserted hut with +Manuello. He throws himself into many a breach ... wins many a +hard-fought battle, and, through it all maintains not only his religious +attitude toward all mankind, but manifests a gracious and uplifting love +for all who dwell upon the earth, and, at the end of his activities, +resumes the humble station he occupied at first, for, as he believes, he +can do more good right there in the little village of San Domingo than +in a wider and more elevated station.</p> + +<p>Many refugees leave Santiago during, and directly after, the naval +battle of Santiago; among these are very many wealthy women who are +forced to leave their splendid homes and flee, in silken garments, with +the riff-raff of the city.</p> + +<p>Some among these wealthy women sought to help in temporary hospitals, +and one of them, at least, came to that which Ruth Wakefield had +endowed; this woman was noticeable in many ways, being of superior +intelligence as well as birth and breeding; she, soon, became proficient +as a nurse, and when Ruth sees her standing close beside Estrella in the +hospital, she suddenly recognizes a subtle resemblance between the two +young women and calls their attention to the fact. And, so, it develops +that Estrella finds her own blood-kin ... her own loving sister ... +there in that shadowy hospital, for it is proven beyond a shadow of a +doubt by a little trinket that the girl has always worn about her +neck ... a little cross of golden memories, through which, and through +the girl herself, her lineage is traced, so that she remains with her +own kin, and does not return to the little village where she suffered so +much sorrow.</p> + +<p>Tessa, with the stolidity of the Cuban peasant, seems to entirely +recover both from her wounded leg and her wounded heart, for she marries +a sturdy workman who supplies the earthly wants of Tessa and her +numerous progeny. If she ever remembers the romantic days through which +she has passed, her appearance belies the fact, for she becomes, +apparently, contented with her lot in life.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>AN AMERICAN</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>About the beginning of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, there +had been aroused in the hearts of the people of the United States a +strong feeling of pity and compassion toward the inhabitants of the +Island of Cuba who were under the ironshod heel of Spain and who had +made many appeals for help to our own government in one way and in +another.</p> + +<p>The time was ripe for a revolution among the dark-skinned populace of +the large cities of the Island Empire and many confusing circumstances +combined to add to the confusion of sentiments entertained toward the +government by those who suffered from its rulings.</p> + +<p>Many indignities had been heaped upon the Cubans by those who claimed to +represent the young King Alfonso XIII, who, in his far-away palace in +old Madrid was as unconscious of what was done in his name, very many +times, as he would have disapproved of it had he known it.</p> + +<p>The young King and his mother, the Queen <i>regent</i>, tried, in every way +within their power, to adjust matters amicably between their rebellious +subjects and those whom they had sent across the sea to govern them, but +they found this a very difficult matter indeed, and between the fiery +tempers of the natives and the over-bearing arrogance of the officers +who represented them, the poor crowned heads of sunny Spain certainly +had a pretty hard time of it.</p> + +<p>The Queen mother was naturally a gentle and a very highly educated and +studious woman, while the boy King was as far from being the typical +idea of a reigning tyrant as a handsome, well-trained young fellow could +well be.</p> + +<p>But those who represented these two crowned heads were of quite another +pattern as to character and disposition and many were the cruelties +charged to the account of certain ones among their number due to the +opportunities afforded them of gratifying their lowest impulses and +following along the paths that led, for the time being, into what seemed +to them to be very pleasant pastures and beside very still waters, +which, as is well known, often, besides being still, run deep.</p> + +<p>One evening, just as dusk was falling over the little town of San +Domingo, there appeared, passing along one of the quiet, shadowy narrow +streets, a rather strange procession ... well in advance of the rest of +the motley company appeared a village Priest bearing in his hand a +crucifix which he held before him as if to fend off something evil ... +he was dressed, as is the custom of the Catholic Priests of Cuba, in the +flowing vestments of his office and the long cord that was knotted round +his ample waist had a huge cross dangling from the end of it which +struck against his well-formed legs as he strode along with head held +high as if he saw beyond the things of earth and gazed upon some +beatific vision which upheld him and lifted him above his immediate +environment.</p> + +<p>Indeed, there was one who walked beside him though he, himself, was +unaware of it, except subconsciously, for Father Felix, as this Priest +was known, was wandering among strange thoughts as he passed along that +almost silent little street, that one sad evening.</p> + +<p>He had been, for many peaceful years, the Priest who had officiated at +almost all the public meetings of the village, but, never in his life +devoted, as it was to the consideration of holy, high and spiritual +matters, had he been called upon to conduct so weird a service as he +was, then, about to do.</p> + +<p>He wondered, as he marched along, whether he was doing just exactly +right in leading these, his simple-minded followers, into what it seemed +to them they must do, that night ... he wondered whether, even now, he +would not better turn to those who followed after him and call to them +to halt and to consider well before they took another single step that +might, each one of them, be an irrevocable and a much-to-be-regretted +step, for it might lead to what they could not know of ways that might, +as well as not, prove very winding and even thorn-strewn ways for those +who followed along them. And Father Felix knew that he, alone of all +that little company, was gifted with the power to reason out a fair and +just conclusion from the premises presented to them all; he knew that he +alone had enough of education to even understand the meaning of the +words that had been spoken to them all ... he knew that those who came +along that little street behind him had trusted to him most implicitly, +for many years, in matters that required thought, and, although they had +been the ones to beg him to take the step that they were then about to +take, he knew that, even then, right at the last, had he been minded to, +he might, yet, turn their minds away from what they seemed to be so set +upon.</p> + +<p>He knew that, if he wished to do so, he could make them see the matter +under their consideration in quite another light from what they saw it +in at that time ... he knew that he could bend their wills to make them +match with his own will for he had done this very many times before ... +he was a natural leader, and being well equipped for leadership, he +took that place as if it were his natural right ... and so it seemed to +be.</p> + +<p>Any stranger, glancing along the line of human beings that followed +Father Felix and his upheld crucifix, would have noticed many weak and +vacillating faces ... many weak and vacillating wills as evidenced by +the expressions on those weak and vacillating faces ... many wills that +could be bent by anyone who had a strong and capable and domineering +mind, and Father Felix had a mind like that ... a natural leader's most +commanding mind ... he was a man to win respect wherever he might go ... +a man to dominate the wills of those about him ... a man to lead the +crowd ... a man to guide the minds of those he met, and, after having +occupied the one place in the village that commanded the respect of all, +for long, of course they looked to him for guidance and followed where +he led as little children follow after the one full-grown human being in +their midst.</p> + +<p>But, as they marched along, full many whispers ran along that motley +little company and gave some prescience of the clamor that would come if +all their bridled tongues should really become loose again, for, now, +they only spoke in whispers dreading discovery of what they were about +to do by some of those against whose orders they were doing it.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what the Governor would say if he could know the thing that +we're about to do," a beardless youth began, as he edged a little nearer +to his mother's side, "I wonder what would happen to us, now, if he +discovered our intention."</p> + +<p>The mother only put her finger on her lips and shook her head at him, +but, later on, when they had gone a little further on their journey, she +whispered to him:</p> + +<p>"I hope the Governor will never know who did what we're about to do, at +least, for, if he should discover which of us accomplished the purpose +that all the villagers are interested in, we would suffer for our +temerity in doing this ... I almost wish we had not joined this mob, my +boy ... I almost wish, at least, that I had left you home to mind the +house while I will be away from it," and, then, she ended, sadly, "God +knows if we shall ever be allowed to see our home again."</p> + +<p>There was one who walked among that little company, that evening, who +was not as the rest in very many ways, and, yet, her lot was cast in +with the rest for she had lived in that small village since her infancy, +and, so, it seemed to her and them as well, that she was one of them +and, so, must be among them even then, when they were casting in their +lots, at Father Felix' instigation, with the ones who so violently +opposed the reigning powers that they were held, then, and had been so +held, for many weary months, as <i>incommunicado</i> in the village jail or +prison in the wide and beautiful and picturesque great prado in the very +centre of the town.</p> + +<p>The girl who, in very many ways, was different from all the rest was +walking in the very centre of the little crowd and, as the others +jostled against her, her great blue eyes stared almost vacantly, as it +seemed, around her like a startled fawn's when something unknown +ventures near to its retreat within its native forest.</p> + +<p>She drew her slender figure up to its full height, and she was taller +than the rest of those who walked beside her, when someone whispered to +her:</p> + +<p>"What think you of all this, Estrella? Is it to your taste to be a part +of those who, in their puny strength, contend against the strong? Do you +think that you'll enjoy the future that we are advancing to? What do you +think will happen to us when we reach the prado, anyway? Do you think +the Governor has found out what we are going to do and if he does what +action will he take? I'm more than half afraid myself ... I don't deny +that I'm afraid ... how do you feel about it all?"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I know just how I <i>do</i> feel, Tessa," said the taller +girl, "I think that I'm afraid, too ... I know my knees are trembling a +very little, so I must be scared the same as you say you are. Let us +keep as close together as we can, so, if anything happens to one it will +be sure to happen to us both ... it seems to me ..." she ended, +dreamily, "that even death itself could not be much worse than the +things that we've endured just lately, here."</p> + +<p>And then the two young creatures shuddered at the very thought of death +and huddled just as close together as they could and marched along among +the rest as quietly as if they had not been afraid of anything at all.</p> + +<p>At last they reached the prado and Father Felix paused and held his +crucifix even a little higher than he had done all along and waited for +the little company to assemble directly in front of him, when he +stretched his arms out wide in silent blessing on their undertaking, and +proceeded toward the little prison that stood at one end of the prado +facing the great public square where games were held when <i>fiestas</i> were +in order.</p> + +<p>But it was for no festal undertaking that they had gathered there, that +evening; silent preparations were making as they halted ... battering +rams were being raised and carried forward by the men and tears and +flowers seemed to be the offering of the women in the crowd to the ones +they hoped to liberate from the dark, forbidding precincts of the +edifice before them.</p> + +<p>Father Felix motioned those who held the battering rams to hold them in +their hands in readiness for instant action at a word from him ... then +he called aloud to him who kept the keys to bring them forth and give +them to him, or he would be, in case that his request should be +refused, compelled, in spite of his strong desire to avoid all violence +if possible, to use force in effecting the object for which the +multitude surrounding him, outside, had gathered there.</p> + +<p>He waited, patiently, for several minutes, but, as he received no answer +to his demand, he called again:</p> + +<p>"Bring forth the keys at once!" he cried raising his voice so that it +carried far beyond the limits of the building that stood there before +him, "bring them forth unless you wish to force me to use violence for I +am determined to liberate the prisoners you hold within, and, if you do +not bring to me the keys so that I may open the strong doors with them, +why, then, I'll be obliged to break down the barriers that are between +the ones you hold within that prison and the freedom that is their +natural right. Once more do I command you ..." he cried in a stentorian +voice, using the quality of voice that he employed when he intoned with +due solemnity, the holy mass, "bring forth to me the keys that I may +liberate my children that you hold without the right to hold them, or, +if you refuse to do my bidding, then may the consequences of what will +follow that refusal be upon your own head...."</p> + +<p>As, still there was no answer from the dark and gloomy precincts of the +edifice before him, he prepared to carry out the threats that he had +made.</p> + +<p>First, he commanded those who held the battering rams in readiness to +advance until they were the proper distance from the doors for the use +of their rude weapons, then he told the others to await his word but to +be in readiness, each one, to follow where he led, then, holding high +his crucifix and calling most devoutly, on the name of God, he came as +near to those who were about to use the battering rams as he could do +and not impede their movements, then he cried:</p> + +<p>"Advance and give no quarter! Do your duty as I have instructed you to +the full extent of it! Follow me, my little children, God is good and He +will care for us in this our desperate undertaking."</p> + +<p>As the heavy detonation of the strokes of those who held the battering +rams rang through the building, cries were heard as if of those who were +in agony and many shuddered at the sound for well they thought they knew +its cause ... it seemed to them that they would be too late ... that +those they sought to rescue were even at that moment being foully +murdered in their cells because they were about to save them from the +fate that they had been condemned to undergo.</p> + +<p>The fair Estrella clung to her dark little friend and whispered to her:</p> + +<p>"Tessa, it is more terrible than we imagined it would be ... what shall +we do? How can we bear to go yet nearer to the horror that the prison +hides from us? Tessa ... little Friend ..." she ended, "I'm awfully +afraid ... are you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm almost scared to death myself, Estrella," Tessa whispered back, "I +know I'll die of fright alone if this keeps on much longer ... hear that +scream! It's very terrible!"</p> + +<p>But, then, all sounds were hushed, for prison doors that had been locked +as tight as any prison doors could be had yielded to the heavy blows +that had been rained upon them and, as they opened, they could plainly +see, in the dim light that fell within that prison's entrance, that they +had been, indeed, too late for him who lay at his full length across the +entrance to the prison, for his body had been twisted in its fall so +that his head that had been almost severed from it lay askew as if its +eyes, that stared as wildly and as full of earthly horror as dead eyes +could, had been trying to discover something strange about the figure +that, but only lately, was as full of life and vigor as was any figure +standing there without that prison door.</p> + +<p>Estrella gazed at that still figure ... then she screamed in almost more +than human agony and darted forward till she crouched beside it as it +lay there at the entrance to the prison ... straightening the handsome +head, she lifted it until it rested in her lap, and, then, she softly +smoothed the dark and clustering curls that hung above the broad, full +brow, and looked within the great brown eyes that stared at her, or so +it seemed, as if the owner of them had been walking in his sleep, and +then she pressed her virgin lips upon the full, be-whiskered mouth of +him whose head she held within her lap.</p> + +<p>She fainted, then, and fell across the body of the man who lay across +the entrance to that prison, and Father Felix lifted her and laid the +senseless, almost severed head upon the floor again, and supported her +until he left her with her little friend, outside, among the crowd.</p> + +<p>And then the village Priest came back and led the men who held the +battering rams within the prison to the cells of those they wished to +liberate and commanded them to break down those doors as they had broken +down the other ones, but, here, he found his way was barred, for, just +as soon as blows began to fall upon the doors of those narrow cells +those within those cells began to call to them and caution them that, if +the doors were broken down, they'd find the prison-guards behind them +with their loaded guns and the prisoners told their friends that those +loaded guns were pointed at their breasts and would be fired at them +just as soon as their cell-doors gave way.</p> + +<p>When Father Felix heard this ultimatum he thought that all his efforts +had been useless and his deep-laid plans of no avail until he heard a +voice behind him softly whisper ... a voice that he had never heard +before:</p> + +<p>"Be not weary in well-doing. The cell-doors will open and the prisoners +come forth alive if you but use the proper means to bring about that +end. Call out to those you wish to succor, now, and tell them to be of +good cheer for deliverance is at hand."</p> + +<p>The soft voice drifted away into silence, then, but the village Priest +obeyed its mandates and reassured the ones within those narrow cells and +gave them courage to withstand the threats of instant death that faced +them there.</p> + +<p>And, then, he turned to those who waited his commands and told them +that help was very near ... that, waiting there within the corridors of +that small prison were those who'd come from far to bring to them +assistance ... the kind of help that loaded guns would not affect. Then, +he told them of the punishment that would await the ones who disobeyed +the orders he was just about to give ... a punishment that would not +only last through earthly life but would go on into eternity ... a +punishment that would not only blast the earthly tenements but would +condemn the souls of those who chose to act in opposition to his orders +to everlasting torment.</p> + +<p>And, then, he turned to those who, breathlessly, were waiting for the +orders he was just about to give, and said to them:</p> + +<p>"When I have counted up to three, prepare to break the doors down ... +when I have counted up to six, if so be they remain unopened, go on and +break them in!" he stopped a moment, then, to ascertain whether his +followers fully understood the instructions he was giving to them ... +seeing all of them alert, he continued, "to you who are within, I make +this unalterable statement. Choose between a longer lease of earthly +life and instant death! Choose between forgiveness for your past sins or +everlasting punishment! Open these doors from within or we will break +them down and those whose human bodies we will find, lying stark and +cold in earthly death, will not be those of our dear friends who are +your prisoners, for there are those within those cells of whose presence +you are unaware but who are potent in the cause of right and truth and +justice. I will now proceed to count ... one ... two ... three ..." at +that, he heard a key thrust rapidly within a lock, but, as it was +unturned, he went on counting, "four ..." he heard another key inserted +in a lock, "five ..." he waited just a second longer, then, than he had +done before, hoping that the keys would turn before the final number had +to come, but, as they did not do that, he opened his mouth to pronounce +the fatal word and was about to utter it, when, suddenly, all the +cell-doors opened and the prison-guards within had fallen on their knees +in superstitious terror of what they did not know, and, so, instead of +uttering the fatal number, good Father Felix said, "Thank God!" and +raised his crucifix and pronounced a blessing on them all, both +prisoners and those who'd guarded them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>When Father Felix ceased to be engaged in silent prayer he lowered the +crucifix he held in his right hand and placed it in the bosom of the +robe he wore and welcomed those who came from out that gloomy +prison-cell with praises and with prayers upon their trembling lips; he +took their hands in his and held them for a moment as they passed in +slow procession, for they were very weak from fasting and from long +confinement, on their way out into the open light of day.</p> + +<p>The first of all who passed from out those gloomy cells was he who'd +called to Father Felix to stay the hands of those who sought to liberate +the prisoners ... he was taller than the rest of those who crowded out +into the corridor and they seemed to follow him as if he were their +natural leader.</p> + +<p>He only paused a moment when he reached the side of the Priest and +hurried on as if he sought someone whom he hoped to find among the +motley multitude who surged around the broken doors that led into the +prado where most of the women were assembled waiting for the more +desperate action of the men who'd gone inside the prison.</p> + +<p>The liberated prisoner, although he, too, was weak and worn as all of +his companions were, yet rushed with rapid strides from side to side of +the excited mob whose clamor, now released, quite filled the prado with +vociferous shouts of joy, until he seemed to find the object of his +hasty search, for, when he came to where Estrella lay supported by her +little friend upon a hastily constructed bed of straw and grass, he +stooped above her anxiously and leaned to look within her face, but, +when her wide and terror-stricken eyes looked into his, he turned away +as if he had not found the one he was in search of after all.</p> + +<p>Estrella raised herself upon one elbow and rested on the ready shoulder +of her little friend while she gazed after his retreating form with an +eagerness not unmixed with sudden fear; it seemed as if the girl were +fascinated by him, and, yet, dreaded his approach, for she did not even +speak to him although she knew that he had been one of those whom they +had come to liberate and had looked forward to greeting him when he +should be released.</p> + +<p>But the horror that had been thrust upon her at the very entrance of +that dark and gloomy prison had quite unnerved her and had made her +shrink from any contact with the prisoners who, now, came trooping out +and mingled with the crowd by which they were soon, as it seemed, +absorbed.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, a trumpet blast rang through the wide and spacious +prado and a company of mounted cavalry, with naked swords uplifted, rode +madly in among the crowd and scattered it as chaff is scattered by a +furious wind ... cries of agony were heard as some were trampled by the +horses, tortured by the cruel spurs which their infuriated riders were +driving into their tender skins, and many men and women fell into +disordered heaps of human misery in wildly scrambling toward a place of +temporary safety.</p> + +<p>The soldiers gave no quarter to the fleeing masses of the people but +kept driving all of them who stood upon their feet at all toward the +open streets of the little village that led out of the prado, ordering +them to cease from disturbing the peace and calling upon them in the +name of the young King, Alfonso XIII, to disperse at once and to return +to their homes in the village without delay.</p> + +<p>The most of those within the prado had been driven out before the +commanding officer of the soldiers noticed that the prison doors were +open, even then, at first he did not perceive just what the crowd had +been collected for, or he might have given other orders than he had.</p> + +<p>When he beheld the broken doors he marvelled greatly, for this was an +unlooked-for and unprecedented method of liberating political prisoners +in San Domingo and the commanding officer did not know just what action +to take in the matter but felt that he must wait for further orders +from his superiors in command before taking any drastic steps to quell +the evident uprising of public opinion.</p> + +<p>Father Felix had seen the soldiers as they dashed into the prado and he +hastened outside the prison intending to meet them and hold some +colloquy with their leader, but, when he had reached the centre of the +prado the soldiers were driving the crowd out at the farther end of the +enclosure, so that, instead of meeting the leader of the soldiery he +came upon his own people as they lay in disordered heaps or staggered to +their feet.</p> + +<p>Observing Estrella and Tessa crouched back against a wall as far away +from the soldiers as they could manage to put themselves, he approached +them and asked them what they knew about this new phase of the +tumultuous doings of the day.</p> + +<p>The two girls greeted him joyfully for they had had their fill of horror +and welcomed the Priest who represented to them the sanctity of the +church:</p> + +<p>"Father Felix," cried the little Tessa, "tell us what we are to do next +and where we are to go and what we are to do when we get there, for we +are dreadfully upset and poor Estrella has had a terrible shock and is +still weakened from her fainting fit, while I am just as I have been +right along ... scared half to death."</p> + +<p>The good Priest stopped beside the girls long enough to tell them to +quietly go to their own homes and stay indoors until morning, then he +passed on to the other groups, and, where he could do so, assisted them +to leave the prado, preparatory to seeking their own places of abode +where he advised them all to remain if possible without molestation from +the authorities.</p> + +<p>When Father Felix had reached the little cluster of people surrounding +the liberated prisoner whom we have mentioned before, he came to a halt, +and, beckoning the young man referred to to follow him, he passed on out +of ear-shot of the rest and said to him:</p> + +<p>"I wish that you would explain to me how it happens that Estrella is in +need of help and you, although free, are not by her side. How does it +happen, Manuello, that your half-sister has only her little friend, +Tessa, to lean upon, while your strong arms are without a burden?"</p> + +<p>The young fellow hung his head as if ashamed, for a moment, before he +answered Father Felix, and seemed to ponder deeply over his reply to the +good Priest's intimate question:</p> + +<p>"I can tell you about that in a very few words, Father," he at length +summoned courage to say, "I have only within the past few most +delightful moments been freed from a loathesome dungeon and have been +receiving the felicitations of some of my friends on my fortunate +escape. I did not realize that Estrella needed my services ... if so, +of course I will at once offer them to her."</p> + +<p>Bowing low before Father Felix, he put his right hand to his head as if +to doff its covering, but, finding it bare except for his thick mop of +dishevelled brown hair, he smiled, instead, and, suiting his actions to +his words, approached the two girls who still remained where Father +Felix had left them as if afraid to move:</p> + +<p>"Allow me!" he cried, gayly, extending one strong arm to each of the +maidens, "Accept my escort to whatever place you desire to go!"</p> + +<p>Estrella seemed to take no notice of the offered arm, but Tessa eagerly +laid hold of the proffered protection and snuggled her small person +against the tall figure of the young fellow who turned to her companion +as if to discover the cause of her apparent coolness.</p> + +<p>"Why so silent, fair Lady?" he inquired, "Have you no congratulations to +offer me upon my recent harrowing experience and subsequent and most +fortunate escape?"</p> + +<p>Estrella did not answer him at first, but gazed intently into his eager +face as if to read there the inner motives that prompted his +lightly-spoken words.</p> + +<p>After she had looked into his face for a few seconds of earnest +scrutiny, she said to him:</p> + +<p>"Manuello, why did you not speak to me when we first met after your +liberation from the prison? Why have you spent the time since then among +the others instead of looking after my interests? Have you ceased to +care for me during your incarceration? What have I done to deserve such +treatment from you? Have I not treated you as a sister should? In what +way have I offended you, Manuello?"</p> + +<p>As she uttered these words her fair face flushed with the tide of deep +emotion that swept over it and her blue eyes grew dark and full of +feeling. She placed one of her hands on his arm, lightly, but held +herself aloof from contact with his person.</p> + +<p>He recognized this attitude of hers by standing a little more erectly +and holding the arm on which her hand had been laid, stiffly extended a +little from his body:</p> + +<p>"How suddenly affectionate you have become, my soft and yielding sister! +It seems to me that I remember how earnestly you plead with me to cease +embracing you whenever opportunity was afforded to me, before I went to +prison for my sins.... I think you are the girl who used to say to me +'please, Manuello, don't hold my hand so tightly! You are too rough!' I +do not wish to be considered rough by any woman, and, so, I am more +cautious in approaching your sacred person, now that I have had time to +reflect upon your many words."</p> + +<p>"How can you speak so to her, Manuello," exclaimed the dark-skinned +Tessa, "now that you are free once more? Poor Estrella has had a most +terrible experience, here, tonight ... you ought to comfort instead of +scolding her."</p> + +<p>The tender-hearted little girl looked up at the big man reproachfully +and reached around his back to pat Estrella's shoulder, but he only +stalked along between the two girls, sullenly and almost silently.</p> + +<p>At length, they reached the little cottage where Estrella and her family +lived and Tessa ran along a little further to her own home while +Manuello and his half-sister entered their own dwelling.</p> + +<p>It happened that they were alone, at first, as the other members of the +little family had not yet returned from the prado, and, in that interval +of time, considerable was said and done by both of them.</p> + +<p>"Manuello," said the girl, putting one hand on each of his broad +shoulders, "have you no pity for me, now that Victorio is dead? You must +have seen his poor, mangled body lying there at the entrance of the +prison, Manuello ... can you tell how he came to die just as he and all +the rest were about to be released from prison?"</p> + +<p>Her tear-stained face was very near to his and his own lips began to +tremble before he mustered courage to answer her:</p> + +<p>"Of course, I'm sorry for you, Estrella," he began haltingly and slow, +"of course I pity you as well as any other woman whose lover's newly +dead. As to how he happened to be killed ... why, I guess you will +never know just what did happen in that prison when those battering rams +began to rock it by their impact ... I am certain that I cannot give you +much explanation as I, myself, was one of those who suffered, although +you do not seem concerned as to that in any way."</p> + +<p>"You escaped alive, Manuello, and poor Victorio did not for his poor +head was almost severed from his body ..." said Estrella, weeping +violently, with deep-drawn sobs of agony, "I lifted him and tried to +hold his head upon my lap ... oh, Manuello," she continued, clinging to +him involuntarily, "it was very terrible!"</p> + +<p>Her sufferings seemed to move him for he put his arms about her +shoulders and drew her head forward until it rested on his broad and +palpitating breast:</p> + +<p>"Poor little girl!" he murmured, softly, stroking her fair hair, "Poor +little Estrella! I <i>am</i> sorry for you ... I <i>do</i> pity you, though why +you chose Victorio for your lover was always beyond my comprehension."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>When Father Felix left the prado he went directly to the church where he +officiated, and, thence, into the small refectory behind it; here, he +removed the flowing vestments he had worn when engaged in the enterprise +which we have described in a previous chapter of this book, and assumed +a more conventional and handy garb for he had work to do that would +require all the strength of his arms and all the muscles of his broad +back; he had set himself a task that was never meant for priestly hands +to do, and, in the doing of it, he would need all the strength that +years of careful living and an inherited and bounding health had +bestowed upon him.</p> + +<p>He, at once, began preparations for the work he had to do, and, to begin +with, he adjusted the heavy cross which he always wore about his neck so +that it would hang exactly in front of him and not over-balance his body +by being on one side or the other; this cross had been a relic much +prized by him of an old Priest with whom he had studied and whose +sainted memory he revered almost as much as that of the saints whom he +had been taught to worship along with the Virgin Mary and The Babe of +Bethlehem; then, he put on next to his skin a hair-cloth shirt so +constructed as not to scratch and yet to be very warm; over this he +placed a heavy riding-coat which had been given to him by one of those +who attended the services he conducted in the church; these garments, +together with heavy breeches and warm, woolen stockings worn under heavy +boots, completed, with the addition of a broad-brimmed hat, a disguise +that would deceive almost any person who was acquainted with his +ordinary appearance.</p> + +<p>Having clothed himself to his own satisfaction, he took a heavy stick he +had handy in his strong right hand and proceeded to leave the vicinity +where he was accustomed, at all hours, to be found, and, stealthily and +quietly, exercising all the precaution of which he was capable, he +proceeded up the street that ran behind the little church with as much +of haste as was consistent with the object of his journey.</p> + +<p>When he had gone about two blocks from the church he turned sharply to +his left and proceeded about as far again up the street that led away +from the village, then, turning again to his left, he walked briskly for +another block or two, when he came to a sharp turn and paused as if in +doubt as to just which turn to take, when, suddenly, as if from the +ground at his feet, he heard a low voice addressing him in no uncertain +language:</p> + +<p>"Turn toward the right side of this street," whispered the voice, "take +the right-hand side of this street and then turn again toward the left +when you have gone for two more blocks toward the right. You will find +the object of your search has been in waiting for you for some hours and +is now growing impatient ... so make all possible haste, good Father +Felix ... make all possible haste for she is sore pressed with fatigue +and fear."</p> + +<p>When the voice had ceased speaking to him, Father Felix followed the +direction it gave him, implicitly, and found, indeed, as it had assured +him, the object of the night-journey he had just made, waiting for him +with great impatience, coupled with much fear and dread of consequences; +he hastened to reassure her as soon as he reached her side by saying +softly to her:</p> + +<p>"Be of good cheer, dear Madam. The work that you commissioned me to do +has been well done and all of the prisoners excepting one are now at +liberty. Unfortunately, one of our friends lost his life just before the +wide doors of the prison were burst open ... no one seems to know how +this came about, but we found his dead body across the very entrance as +if, indeed, he had been about to join our ranks outside when death +overtook and stopped him."</p> + +<p>"Which of the prisoners was killed?" asked the woman who had been +waiting there for his coming, eagerly and apprehensively.</p> + +<p>"I do not suppose that you were acquainted with the young fellow ..." +answered the good Father Felix, soothingly, "he was called Victorio +Colenzo ... he was the lover of a girl I know very well and she was with +the crowd, who followed me; she dashed into the entrance of the prison +and held his head, which had been almost severed from its body, in her +lap until she fainted and became mercifully unconscious of her horrible +surroundings ... the poor girl was almost crazed with agony and regret, +for she had flouted him to some extent because of his revolutionary +sentiments...."</p> + +<p>He had gotten that far in his narrative little thinking of the intense +interest it had for the woman listening to it, until he happened to look +earnestly at her when he saw, in an instant, that it held for her great +personal appeal; he stopped at that knowledge and waited for her to +explain the situation if so be she wished to do so; at length, between +low-drawn sobs, she said, falteringly:</p> + +<p>"You say Victorio Colenzo was the lover of some light girl you know? +Indeed, you are much mistaken. Instead of being any girl's lover, he +belonged solely to me. He was my own dearly beloved husband, Father +Felix. I had not yet told you of our marriage for I wanted you to think +of me only in my own personal right, but I am the widow of the man whose +shameful and horrible death you have just been describing to me ... I am +the weeping widow of Victorio Colenzo, Father Felix, and, if it be in my +power, his death shall be avenged in blood!"</p> + +<p>As she ceased speaking she put her hands before her face and gave way, +utterly, to her great sorrow, for she had but spoken the solemn truth +although no one of her many acquaintances suspected that she was a +married woman at all.</p> + +<p>Father Felix was dumbfounded by the intelligence the young woman had +just given to him and pitied her from the very bottom of his tender +heart and he blamed his blundering tongue for giving to her such a shock +as he had just been the cause of; at the same time he could not blame +himself as much as he might have done had he not known of the marriage +contract of Estrella and this same man of whom he had been speaking; he +hastened to place this young girl in the right light before his +companion by saying:</p> + +<p>"My dear Madam, as to the girl of whom I was just speaking, she is in +every sense of the word a good girl and innocent of any wrong intention; +if there is a sinner in this matter it was he who is now not to be +condemned by any human being, for he has gone before his Maker Who will +mete out to him whatever is his just dessert. I am deeply grieved that I +should have caused you this deep grief at this time, but, as the +circumstances are, you would have been obliged to know it very soon in +any case."</p> + +<p>The young woman who had been waiting for the Priest to come to her to +make his report as to how he had done the work that she had set for him +to do, was beautiful as any dream of womanhood could ever be.</p> + +<p>Her great gray eyes, that shone like stars upon a misty night, were +lifted to his face and questioned him as to the truth of his last +statement while they plainly showed the almost holy faith she had in all +he did:</p> + +<p>"Dear Father Felix," she said, finally, stifling as best she could the +sobs that shook her slender figure, "dear Father Felix, I know you speak +the truth, and, yet, it does not seem to me that he could have ever been +a hypocrite such as a man would have to be to be what you infer he was. +He was my darling husband ... if he, also, was the lover of a trusting +girl, then he sinned most grievously ... it breaks my heart," she ended, +clasping her soft, white hands together spasmodically, "it breaks my +heart to think he could be such a villain as you say he was. Dear Father +Felix," she began again, for hope will sometimes come upon the very +heels of wild despair, "dear Father Felix, are you sure that this man +who is newly dead can be the Victorio Colenzo that I know ... the man +who is ... I hope he is ... my own dear husband? The one I mean was a +prisoner with the others you have liberated ... it was for his sake +alone that I arranged to have you do the work you've done ... might it +not be that you have been mistaken in the man? Might there not have +even been two men bearing the same name within that prison?"</p> + +<p>Eagerly and hopefully, she questioned the good Priest. He sadly shook +his head and said to her:</p> + +<p>"The young man whose body lay within the entrance to the prison when we +had battered down the door, was tall and very dark ... his hair was like +a raven's wing for blackness ... his eyes were like the falcon's in +their keenness ... he was a handsome fellow in every possible way and +the girl, Estrella, of whom I spoke, fairly worshipped him although her +own family flouted her for doing so, as he only came to see her at long +intervals and seemed ashamed to be seen with her ... seldom ever went +out anywhere with her, but they were plighted lovers ... that I know ... +they came to me together, one evening, in the church, and I blessed +their future union, believing him to be an honest man and knowing her to +be a gentle, true and loving girl."</p> + +<p>"I fear he was my husband, Father Felix.... I fear the very one I hoped +to liberate has lost his life and lost his honor, too. Father Felix, +tell me how to bear this great and hopeless sorrow! <i>Is</i> there any way +to bear a sorrow such as this one is? <i>Can</i> I shut my Husband's memory +from my heart because I can no longer have respect for him? <i>Is</i> there +any way," she wailed, pleadingly, "<i>is</i> there any way to bear a sorrow +such as this one is? <i>Tell</i> me, good Father, <i>tell</i> me, is there any +way of escape for me who am as innocent as is this young girl of whom +you have just spoken? Is there some way in which I can assist her, +Father Felix? Perhaps it is my duty, under these circumstances, to hunt +her up and try to help her, who is, also, as it were, a widow of my +darling Husband. Must I do this, Father? Would it be my duty, as the +wife of Victorio Colenzo, to look this girl up and try to help her bear +her sorrow on account of his death?"</p> + +<p>The good Priest looked at her in deep amazement, but he answered her as +calmly as he could command his voice to speak:</p> + +<p>"No, my Daughter, no ... that would be going beyond reason as to duty. +It might be right for you to send her something if she were in need of +monetary assistance.... I do not think she is, however, I do not think +Estrella is in need of anything to live upon ... they had not been +married, you understand ... she was not his wife as you were ... only +just he'd promised he would marry her, sometime. No, you owe her nothing +more than womanly sympathy in her bereavement and you do not need to see +her at all, for that matter. It would give you unnecessary pain, it +seems to me. As for her, if we can, we will let her remain in ignorance +of the character of him she loved ... she would the sooner repair the +injury, it seems to me, if she could still respect his memory. It must +be doubly hard for you, my Daughter, to lose him and respect for him at +the same time ... yet, it would have been a terrible knowledge for you +to have gained ... that he had misled this innocent girl ... even during +his life. A man has little thought of the women who love him when he +plays fast and loose with more than one of them at a time, anyway. I +wish I knew what words to say to you to make you strong to bear this +misery, dear Daughter ... you must bear it all alone, I know that +much ... only God in His great Mercy, can assist you in this matter ... +only He can tell you what to do or how to endure your agony of spirit, +for only He can understand your heart. I am but a feeble instrument in +God's Own Hands, my dear, afflicted Daughter.... I am but a very feeble +instrument.... I wish I knew the way to help you bear this thing. I wish +that I could say the fitting word to turn your mind to other thoughts, +for only in the mind can fitting help be found ... only the spiritual +side of your strong nature can uphold you now."</p> + +<p>He'd kept on talking to her hoping to alleviate her pain in some +degree ... hoping that her fits of violent and heart-breaking weeping +would grow farther and farther apart until they would cease altogether +so that, being calmer, she could better face this heavy burden that was +hers, and hers alone, to bear. Seeing no cessation of her sobs and moans +of agony of spirit, he began to speak of other matters, hoping to +distract her mind and turn her thoughts to other things, thereby giving +her an opportunity to face the sorrow that had come upon her so suddenly +with more strength than she would have if she continued to dwell on it +alone. So he bethought him of the soldiery and of their coming riding +into the prado and he began to tell her of this phase of the adventure +he had on her account, mainly. She listened calmly to this narrative and +even asked some questions, haltingly, but, just as soon as that account +was ended, she began again to ask concerning poor Victorio:</p> + +<p>"Where have they taken his remains, good Father? Where can I find my +darling Husband's body? How can I bear to have to see his face which has +always to my knowledge been so full of life and youth and perfect health +lying stark and still with no expression in his glorious dark eyes that +always looked so lovingly at me? Father Felix, even now, it seems to me +that there must be some mistake about my Husband's being the same man +who was the lover of this girl you know about.... I think that I will +see her ... there ... beside my darling Husband's body and decide the +matter for myself instead of listening to the tales that have been told +to me. That is how I think I will proceed," she ended, then, quite +calmly, as it seemed, for secretly she then began to hope that it was +not her husband, after all, "That is how I will proceed about this +terrible calamity, Father Felix. I will see this girl beside the body +of the man she says has been her lover ... he may not be my darling +Husband, after all."</p> + +<p>And so their conference ended, he giving her explicit directions as to +where Victorio's body had been placed, and she thanking him for carrying +out her wishes even though, as it seemed then, the very thing she had +him do the work for had failed her utterly.</p> + +<p>Father Felix went back, then, to the refectory, with this complicated +matter bearing hard upon his heart. He pitied both the suffering women +very much and wished to help them both if so be he could find the proper +way to do the task in.</p> + +<p>He pondered deeply on the various situations he'd surprised in carrying +out the project of the woman he had met, that night; she had not told +him of her plans in their entirety, and, so, it seemed, the very plans +she doted on the most had very far miscarried and the work, so far as +she had been concerned, had not only been as futile as any work could +ever be, but, also, it had brought to her a new and horrible calamity +besides the failure of her plans and loss of him she evidently deeply +loved as tender women love but only once in all their human lives, +perhaps, for Victorio Colenzo had been a man to claim the love of tender +women ... he was very tall and very handsome, too; his deep, dark eyes +were very full of loving expression and his strong arms, folded close +about a tender woman's yielding form, would lift her spirit up and make +her almost wild with joy and gladness.</p> + +<p>And, as it looked now, those strong arms had been folded, not only round +his own wife's tender form, but, also, about, at least, one other +woman's, too. Good Father Felix reflected on the fraility of man and +pondered deeply on the tenderness of women, but he did not, even then, +reach the very root of the whole matter, for he, being what he was, +would not be very likely ever to know the heights and depths, as well, +of human love, for he had always been a religious devotee in spite of +his great strength of limb ... he'd only used his bodily powers to +forward the work to which his whole life was devoted utterly, and, so, +good Father Felix could not fully understand a man such as Victorio +Colenzo must have been to leave the record that he'd left behind him +when he died, there, in the entrance to that dark and gloomy prison, +just as he had been about to come again, a free man, into the glorious +light of day.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>Father Felix had prepared the widow of Victorio Colenzo for the sight +she would behold when she went to the rude dwelling where they had laid +the form of the prisoner whose dead body had been found lying in the +entrance to the prison on the day the people battered down the doors and +set at liberty several political prisoners confined therein, but no one +could, really, prepare a woman for the vision presented to her eyes when +she entered the cottage that had been turned into a temporary morgue, +for more than one of those engaged in the deadly strife with the +soldiery in the prado after the deliverance of the prisoners had given +up his earthly life, either at the time of the attack or afterwards from +wounds inflicted either intentionally or inadvertently by those who had +been sent to the prado to quell an uprising of the Cuban populace.</p> + +<p>As the woman we have before described entered the rude shelter where the +dead bodies of several of the residents of the little village lay, she +was surprised and grieved by the number of the dead and, also, by the +many mourners who crowded among the slabs on which the bodies lay, for +there was little of orderly array there, everything being of the rudest +and most primitive pattern as the reigning government did not wish to +dignify those who had opposed it even after death had taken from their +limbs the power to oppose anything in the world of men and women.</p> + +<p>The woman, who was of a higher class than most of those assembled there, +was treated with marked deference as became her superior position both +as to wealth and education, for the widow of Victorio Colenzo occupied a +proud place in her own right, having been, for a long time, the occupant +of a large and beautiful residence that commanded a wide view of the +harbor of Havana and was situated on an elevation above the little +village of San Domingo; this home had been hers long before she had ever +met the handsome peon whom she had acknowledged as her husband to Father +Felix after having learned of his death.</p> + +<p>It was through her own instigation that the man had taken the position +which had, subsequently, placed him among the prisoners for offenses +against the reigning government who had been liberated under her direct +orders and with her pronounced sanction, although she had not actually +taken part in the work which she had directed.</p> + +<p>This woman was of another type entirely as compared with the others in +that small dwelling and walked among them almost haughtily in spite of +her eagerness in the search after evidence that would convince her that +she had not been utterly mistaken in the man she had secretly married, +believing him to represent the finest and highest example of patriotic +courage and devotion that she had met during the whole of her long +residence in the Island of Cuba.</p> + +<p>She had come to the Island, in her first youth, as the daughter of the +American Consul who represented the United States in the council +chambers where were gathered those who discussed affairs of state with +the ruling Spanish powers; her father had purchased the beautiful site +on which he had built the home that was still hers, although both of her +parents had died, there in Cuba, within the past few years; the girl had +been left practically without living relatives, and, so, loving her +Island home, she had remained there in spite of the solicitations of +many American friends who had visited her in Cuba and urged her to +return to the United States with them; she was of a reticent and +retiring disposition, loving a good book more than almost anything else +in the world, and being surrounded by a splendid library, her time was +fully and pleasantly occupied, as she had trustworthy retainers who +followed her mandates because they loved to fulfill them and pitied her +loneliness while they almost worshiped her superior manners and style of +speech as well as of living; Father Felix, alone, understood her mental +attainments and was greatly bewildered when she told him that she had +married Victorio Colenzo as he considered her far removed from the peons +who were the regular inhabitants of the Island and among whom he labored +as a missionary rather than as an equal, although his deep humility of +manner always led them to believe that he was on their own level of +intelligence, while the aloofness of this one woman set her apart from +all of her neighbors and made her seem to them like a being from another +and a higher world.</p> + +<p>As she walked among the slabs on which the dead bodies had been laid, +that morning, for she had come down from her home early, having slept, +during the past night, only the few hours preceding her meeting with +Father Felix, as she hoped to have her doubts set at rest and to be +assured that the man she had secretly united to herself by marriage was +still worthy of her respect and love which she had given to him without +further knowledge of his character than what he chose to exhibit to her +in their infrequent meetings prior to his declaration of undying worship +and deep and overpowering love for herself as well as of patriotic zeal +which latter emotion she fully sympathized with, as she regarded it as +similar in many ways to her own feeling for her much-beloved land which +was all the more powerful because of her isolation from others of her +own nation, she representing, to herself at least, the whole of the +entire broad expanse of the United States; it was this sympathy with +the ardent patriotism of Victorio Colenzo that had led to her present +plight for, believing him to possess the strong feelings for his native +land which he had professed to her to have, she had urged his +participation in the plot which, on its discovery by the Spanish +authorities, had plunged him, with others, into the prison from which, +through her own earnest efforts, they had just been liberated, or, at +least, a part of them.</p> + +<p>Now, she reached the side of the farthest slab in that small room, and +noticed, at once, crouching down beside it, a fair-haired girl who +seemed, beyond all doubt, the one bereft by the condition of the body +lying there, so straight and still, beneath the rude pall that had been +thrown over it so that even its face was hidden from sight. She softly +touched the mourner on the shoulder nearest to her and whispered:</p> + +<p>"My poor Girl, for whom do you mourn? Is it the body of your brother +lying here, or, yet," she went on, hesitatingly, for a horrible +suspicion began to thrust its ugly head before her vision, "can he who +lies here so quietly have been, maybe, your husband? You are young but I +know well that the girls, here, marry very young...."</p> + +<p>She ended haltingly, for the girl had raised her lovely face, +tear-stained and drawn by sorrow, and looked up into the face that bent +so near to her own:</p> + +<p>"He was my plighted husband, Lady; he <i>would</i> have been my husband had +death not intervened to take him from me! I <i>love</i> him so ..." she +suddenly screamed in agony, "I <i>love</i> him so ... Victorio! Why have you +left me all alone in a cruel world to be a widow before I was a wife? +Victorio...."</p> + +<p>And, then, she rose, as one who had that right, and turned the pall back +from the countenance of him who lay there on that senseless slab.</p> + +<p>The other woman did not scream, as poor Estrella had ... she did not +even move, indeed, but stood as if she had been carved from marble, for +her face was almost just as pale as death itself ... the pulsing blood +receded from her cheeks and from her trembling lips ... she stood so +tall and still that the poor girl became conscious of her in spite of +her own grief and wondered if she, also, sought to find some one she +loved among the dead; with that thought in her mind, she stepped back +from the corpse she had been leaning over, and said to her who stood +there silently as if her interest in the affairs of life had, suddenly, +ceased:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon for my selfishness. Are you, too, one of those who +lost some loved one yesterday? Do you seek, here, in this sad place, the +body of one whom you've loved as I have loved the man who lies here ... +dead ... before me?"</p> + +<p>The older girl was silent, for she could not talk to poor Estrella as +she wished to do ... as she had meant to do in case her worst fears had +to be realized; she did not wish to add a single hair's weight to the +sorrow that the poor girl felt for him who had been false to both of +those trusting women who stood there beside his corpse; she did not wish +to harm the innocent girl, for she could see how true and loving she had +been by gazing, only for a moment, in her wide, blue eyes, and, yet, it +was her right and, perhaps, it was also her duty, to the man who had +been her earthly husband, to claim his body and to bury it as would +become the husband of a woman such as she had, always, been; but, as +he'd always begged her to keep secret their marriage which had taken +place in Havana instead of having Father Felix marry them at his +request, for political reasons, he had told her, with the thought that +she, being an American, might complicate his position with the Spanish +government, as he had occupied a place of trust under the Governor, +until the proper time would come to expose his actual feelings for his +native land.</p> + +<p>And, so, she had to think of this side of the complicated problem +presented to her by her strange position while she stood there with that +weeping, loving, sympathetic, untaught girl clinging to her hand and +questioning her. At length, having collected a little of her usual +unselfish consideration for the people living on the Island, she turned +to poor Estrella and said to her, softly, and, yet, without +condescension in her manner:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my poor Girl, I, also, seek someone I love among the newly +dead.... I, also, wish to find the man I loved as you have loved the man +who lies here on this slab.... I, also...."</p> + +<p>Then, her courage failed her utterly and she fainted dead away, even as +poor Estrella, herself, had, when she had first beheld the body of the +man who had made love to both of them.</p> + +<p>The fair-haired girl bent over the older woman and lifted her in her +strong arms and carried her into the outer air and found the carriage +where it waited for its mistress and placed her in the care of those who +served her; then, for the first time, she realized who the lady was +who'd found her there beside her dead, as she supposed, for Victorio had +no family in San Domingo, having only come there recently, and having +held himself as somewhat superior to the most of his own countrymen whom +he met, so poor Estrella claimed his body as having been his sweetheart, +since he had, as she believed, no wife in all the world, for he had +often told her he had never found a woman he could love before he met +her.</p> + +<p>Now, she helped to chafe the hands of her who lay there in that costly +carriage with her brown hair making a soft frame for her pale face which +lay upon the lap of one who loved her with the kind of love an ignorant, +older woman gives to one she much admires and who is far superior to her +in every possible way; this woman smoothed the fluffy hair back from +the high white brow, now, and spoke to her as if she were her baby +instead of one whom she looked up to and respected:</p> + +<p>"There ... there! My Pretty! Open your sweet eyes and look at your own +loving Mage!" she said, as the long, brown lashes that fringed the +delicate white lids still brushed the rounded cheeks that were almost as +white as the smooth brow. "Look up at me and let me see your shining +eyes, again!"</p> + +<p>"Her heart is beating, now, more regularly," said Estrella, for her hand +had sought the other's bosom to see if she still lived at all. "She +breathes more easily, too. I think she will recover very soon ... poor +Lady! She sympathized with me in my great sorrow so deeply that she +fainted. How sweet and dear she is!" she added, softly, as a shudder +shook the form before her. "How very sweet and dear she is. You <i>must</i> +love her very much indeed.... I never happened to see her before today, +but I know who she is, now, and how very kind she has been to so many of +our people."</p> + +<p>"I wish the color would creep back into her cheeks ..." moaned Mage. +"Her cheeks are almost always rosy as the dawn ... it seems so strange +to see them white ... she don't look natural to me this way ... you +should see her when she thinks her husband's coming to the house ... +<i>then</i> her cheeks are like a flame of light ... her eyes are just as +bright as stars at midnight ... there! They've opening, now ... my +Pretty ... my own pretty Dear ... Mage is here ... I'm right here by you +Dearie ... there! I'm afraid she's fainted away, again. She seemed to +look at you, Estrella, stand farther back so, when she opens her eyes +next time, she'll see just me ... she knows old Mage loves her +always ... she knows her own old Mage would take good care of her no +matter what would come.... Dearie ... I am right here ... old Mage is +close beside you...."</p> + +<p>At that, the woman lying there within her faithful arms, stirred softly, +and, once again, her glorious gray eyes opened, and she looked at poor +old Mage whose face was all distraught with many wrinkles and with deep +anxiety for her. Then she raised herself to a sitting posture and put +her hands before her eyes as if to hide some horrible spectre from her +sight, and, then, she looked at poor Estrella standing there not knowing +what to do, for Mage would not allow her, even now, to come a single +step nearer to her mistress, and then she spoke:</p> + +<p>"My poor Girl," she said, "My poor Girl, I too, sought to find the man I +loved, but his body is not here. I pity you with all my heart and wish +that I could help you bear your sorrow. Come to me and I will try to +help you ... come this evening, just at sunset, to my house. I think you +know which one it is.... Mage, you tell her where to come."</p> + +<p>For she had reached the limit of her endurance, for the moment, and old +Mage, seeing her evident distress, hurriedly told Estrella where to come +to find her mistress, and gave the orders to the coachman to drive home +at once.</p> + +<p>And, then, Estrella went again into the habitation of the dead and the +other woman, with her heart like lead within her breast, went back to +her own place and left the body of the man she'd called her husband for +a few short months lying there upon that senseless slab with the weeping +girl beside it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>When the evening shadows were falling over the almost palatial home of +Ruth Wakefield, the young girl whom she had begged to come to her +climbed the rugged height upon which the former United States Consul had +erected his residence hoping to occupy it long after his term of office +should expire as he had found the climate very beneficial to the health +of his entire family, as it seemed, and desired to have a fitting place +of abode during the childhood of his only and much-loved child, who, +now, a sorrowing widow and a humiliated wife, was sitting idly waiting +to receive poor Estrella, not knowing, certainly, just what she would do +or say when she had to really face the situation into which she had been +forced by untoward circumstances.</p> + +<p>As Estrella reached the rear door, to which she had gone by an almost +unerring instinct, feeling strange and unnatural among the rich +surroundings, old Mage appeared to welcome her, as she had been directed +by her mistress to do; the old woman was greatly in doubt as to the +condition of affairs in the home she loved to be a part of and had +longed to get hold of the peon girl alone.</p> + +<p>There was something about Ruth Wakefield that commanded the respect of +even the lowest among those who knew her ... her natural refinement had +been accentuated by her seclusion from the outer world and by her almost +constant thought of higher and better matters than the gross and humdrum +affairs of the daily life by which she was surrounded. Yet, she always +entered into practical affairs with vigor and entire understanding, so +that, while she was counted as a dreamer of dreams beyond the earth, yet +she was acknowledged to be eminently practical and able to attend to her +own business affairs with no danger of being over-reached by those with +whom she dealt as to monetary matters, as her natural acumen in such +matters had been sharpened by various experiences of a more or less +unpleasant character, such as the loss of certain sums of money through +trusting to the honor of some of those with whom she had had sympathy in +their need, for she had discovered that, when it comes to money, people +are very apt to forget their obligations entirely, only attending to +that part of life when in need themselves and not considering the fact +that, unless one gets what is one's due, at least to some extent, one +cannot, on the other hand, meet one's own obligations, so that the +lonely girl had learned some hard lessons by practical knowledge of +human nature gained in the only school where such knowledge can be +gained ... experience.</p> + +<p>But old Mage was of a far different type of womankind ... true as steel +to her beloved young lady as she always called her in her thoughts, +although she often found verbal fault with her to her fair and tender +face ... fond of gossip and garrulous to an almost alarming extent yet +she could keep a secret as inviolate as even Ruth Wakefield herself.</p> + +<p>At this moment, her great desire was to worm out of poor Estrella +whatever it was that had made her own young lady faint that morning ... +she was not worried about the poor girl's loss of him she had called her +lover except in so far as it affected her own people as she was fond of +distinguishing them, for old Mage, although uneducated and almost +unaware of her own nationality as her mother had died at her birth and +her father had immediately deserted her, yet prided herself on being far +superior to the natives among whom she dwelt, for she had come to Cuba +with the Wakefield family, having been employed by them as nurse for the +small Ruth and having stuck tightly to her charge from that time on.</p> + +<p>So that, when she faced the poor, ignorant, as she secretly considered +Estrella, girl, it was with an air of superiority as belonging to a +higher race than she, for it is a fact that uneducated persons feel any +elevation above their fellows much more strongly than those who have had +more insight into the humble attainments of even the wisest of human +beings, for those who have been permitted to climb the heights of +thought have had a glimpse of the vastness and unattainable grandeur of +which even the highest human intellect must only be a spectator ... an +humble and admiring witness of the matchless beauty and majestic +splendor that dwell beyond and yet beyond the vision of the keenest +human imagination.</p> + +<p>But old Mage seldom allowed herself even to wonder about what she could +not understand, being content with the plane of existence upon which she +found herself and finding amusement and profit as well in attending to +the various small duties of her daily life as she performed those duties +through love and pride. Having seated the girl who was almost +overpowered, already, by the unknown glamour of wealthy surroundings, +she proceeded to follow out her own ideas and to attempt to satisfy her +own curiosity before apprising Ruth of the arrival of her invited guest.</p> + +<p>She began by commiserating the girl upon her recent loss, little +dreaming that, in this way, she would find out far more than had been +her own desire, for old Mage, while she had never liked the young man +who, for the past few months, had been an almost daily visitor at the +home she dearly loved, yet had tried to think that her young lady had +chosen wisely, even if unconventionally, when she had married him, as it +was very hard for her ever to really question any object upon which +Ruth had set her heart, it having been one of the criticisms of the +parents of the little girl that old Mage had always indulged her +slightest whim and always satisfied at least her own conscience by +finding some good reason for the indulgence; in the present instance, +she had often said to herself:</p> + +<p>"My poor child is alone so much with her own thoughts and what she gets +out of all those big books," for what anyone could find in the way of +company in a book which required so much labor, in her own case, to +decipher at all was a mystery to her, "and she needs company ... a woman +needs a man around to make love to her and this fellow is good at that +what with his guitar and his mandolin and his fine voice, not to speak +of his wonderful dark eyes and his curly black hair and his strong, +powerful figure ... it is too bad that he is only a native Cuban instead +of an American ... that is too bad ... but..." she would end, brightly, +"he can be naturalized if we ever go back to the States."</p> + +<p>So, now, when she turned to Estrella with the conventional question as +to the identity of her lover on her ready tongue, she little dreamed of +the consequences:</p> + +<p>"My poor girl," she began, "you were to have been married, they tell me, +to the man who was found dead at the entrance to the prison, last +night.... I wonder if I happened to know him ... what was his name?"</p> + +<p>She had asked the question idly, wishing only to engage the girl in +conversation to find out whatever she could.</p> + +<p>"My lover was a wonderful man ..." declared Estrella; "he was not a +common man at all ... he was superior to all the men I know or ever have +known ... he was the handsomest as well as the most intelligent man +among the whole people of this Island, I think.... I know I never saw +anyone either so handsome or so smart as was my dear Victorio.... I +don't suppose you would ever have met him for he was not a servant and +yet he was a Cuban ... he was a wonderful man and I was to have been his +wife and he was most foully murdered there in that hateful prison."</p> + +<p>And the poor bereft creature began to moan and sob and wring her hands +in agony of spirit.</p> + +<p>This was not at all what Mage desired to do ... to get the girl all +wrought up before her young lady even saw her, so she tried to comfort +and calm her by speaking rather sharply to her as she knew hysteria can +only be overcome by the application of fierce remedies, or, at least, +that is what she had been taught, so, in order to cauterize the wound +her words seemed to have made, she said:</p> + +<p>"You say your lover was a superior man ... was he, then, a leader among +the political prisoners who were liberated?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed he was ..." proudly answered the bereaved girl. "Victorio +Colenzo was a leader where-ever he went ... why ..."</p> + +<p>But even her pride in her dead lover did not hide from her the effect +his name had had on poor old Mage for she had crumpled down in her chair +as if she had received a stroke of some kind and seemed as if paralyzed, +for her poor old mouth fell open, revealing its entire innocence of +teeth; she gasped for breath for a moment and then demanded:</p> + +<p>"Say that name again! What kind of looking man was he?"</p> + +<p>Hastening to comply with the demand made on her, the girl proceeded, +proudly:</p> + +<p>"His name was Victorio Colenzo and he was the handsomest man in the +whole of Cuba, I believe ... his eyes were very dark and expressive and +his hair was the very most beautiful curly hair that ever grew on any +human head ... he was tall and strong and handsome in every way and, +yet," she ended dreamily, "and, yet, he never loved a woman in his life +before he found me."</p> + +<p>Old Mage had other words upon her lips than those which she said after +having hauled herself up sharply, remembering how unprotected her dear +young lady was and wishing, above all else, even her own almost +insatiable curiosity, to shield her from any harm:</p> + +<p>"It must be a great comfort to you to know that, now that he is dead and +gone," she said to the girl, though what she added in her own mind may +as well not be recorded here, for, with all the fierceness of the +far-famed tiger with her young, old Mage, in her own primitive mind, was +wishing several distinct kinds of punishment would fall, in its +immediate future, upon the soul of the man who had brought sorrow to her +dear, innocent lamb. As far as the girl was concerned she felt that she +had had more than her just deserts already and wished to relieve her +young lady of any further torture regarding the mixed matter, for old +Mage, though an ignorant woman in many ways, had lived a great many +observant years among human men and women, and, now, that her experience +might serve to protect Ruth in this hard crisis of her young womanhood, +she threw herself and all her previous knowledge of the world right into +the breach. She reflected only for a few moments after having made the +diplomatic speech referred to above, before she decided on a course of +immediate action.</p> + +<p>To begin with, she decided to clear the decks, as it were, of the +obstruction of the girl's presence in the home of the wronged wife; she +went about this with precision and dispatch, for, once she had settled +on any certain course, old Mage was like a mild whirlwind, scattering +everything before her:</p> + +<p>"Well," she began, eyeing the girl suspiciously, wondering whether she +had any inkling of the exact situation, "I suppose you have folks to +live with and are not in need of anything much?"</p> + +<p>"I am alone in this wide world," declared Estrella, "for I am but a +foster child among the people who have brought me up ... my parents I +know nothing of but believe that I am not of Cuban blood.... I +think ..." she hesitated, "I think ... I am ... an American, the same as +the sweet young lady who lives here with you."</p> + +<p>The last few words almost undid old Mage's stern resolve, but she kept +her one idea of saving her young lady from further annoyance in view and +answered this appeal:</p> + +<p>"It don't make much difference in this world <i>who</i> you are but it does +matter <i>what</i> you are ... now, I take it, you are a good girl and will +marry some good man when you have recovered from this loss ... you are +too young to feel this as deeply as you might ... I hope so, anyway ..." +she temporized, seeing the look of despair that settled on Estrella's +really beautiful and innocent features, "and my young lady wanted me to +help you if you needed any help for she feels so sorry that your lover +happened to be killed just as he was about to get free ... she wanted me +to tell you ..." but at that point in her benevolent intention she was +interrupted by the appearance of the mistress of the place, and ended, +rather lamely, "she wanted me to tell you to come to her as soon as you +got here."</p> + +<p>"Why, Mage," said Ruth in her usual sweet, low voice, "you had not told +me that Estrella had come ... have you been waiting for me very long?" +she kindly asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"No, Madam," said Estrella feeling the immense difference in their +positions in spite of the evident indisposition and tender youth of the +other woman, "I have only rested for a few moments after my climb to the +top of the hill. It was very kind," she added, "of you to ask me to come +and the cool air of the evening has refreshed my head for it has been +aching terribly, all day."</p> + +<p>"Can't you find some sort of refreshments for her, Mage?" asked Ruth, +feeling sorry for the other's plight. "Maybe a good cup of tea would +give you added strength to bear your great sorrow ... we women," she +said while her sweet, low voice trembled, "we women are but weak and yet +often the very heaviest of sorrows is laid upon us.... I do not know the +reason for this ... I do not understand ... but I believe that we are +all but a part of a very great plan which is beyond our comprehension +while we are here in this finite world, and I hope ..." she had the look +of one of God's good angels on her face as she said it, "and I hope to +know more about this great plan when I have passed beyond this world +and all its many disappointments. You have had a terrific blow, my poor +Girl," she went on, kindly. "You alone must bear this grief but God has +sent other human beings into this human life so that we may help each +other, if only by our mutual sympathy, when we must meet what it seems +almost impossible for us to bear alone ... so," she ended, "so, maybe I +have been sent to try to give you courage to go on in life when your +future must look dreadfully black to you."</p> + +<p>"It surely does look black ..." moaned poor Estrella, "Victorio was all +I had to lean upon in this wide world for I don't belong to the people +where I live and Manuello persists in making love to me and I can't bear +to have him touch me after having known the love of a man who never even +looked at any other woman but me, and who was," her pride in her dead +lover again taking the ascendency in her emotions, "the handsomest and +smartest man who ever came to Cuba."</p> + +<p>"The low-lived pup!" said old Mage, who had just come in with the +tea-tray in her hands and heard the last few words, but she made this +remark to herself alone and would have ground her teeth in making it had +it not happened that she had mislaid those triumphs of the dentist's +art, for old Mage was the proud possessor of two entire sets of teeth, +although she seldom could lay her hands on them as she invariably +removed them from her mouth each time she wished to eat anything, having +grown so accustomed to gumming her food that the teeth were dreadfully +in her way.</p> + +<p>She set the tea-tray with its array of cups and saucers down and added +several little concoctions of her own making to the little feast before +she began, thinking to change the subject:</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Ruth, I wish you could have seen little Tid-i-wats a few +minutes ago; she was out in the big yard and I wanted her to come back +in her own place so as to be safe and so instead of going to pick her up +as you know very well she won't allow anyone to do except yourself, I +just got one of her saucers and a silver spoon and pounded on the edge +of the saucer with the spoon, and here she came fairly bounding along +the driveway; she galloped, Miss Ruth, just like a little colt out in +one of our own big pastures, back home."</p> + +<p>"The dear little Dadditts!" exclaimed her young lady, using a pet name +of her own making. "How cute she must have looked ... she is so little," +she explained to Estrella, "she is so very small and so very cute ... I +have had her with me, now, for ... how long is it, Mage?" for she knew +the old woman enjoyed being asked for information, "since we came from +America the last time?"</p> + +<p>"Let me see ..." answered Mage, deliberating, "it must be anyway twelve +years and Tid-i-wats was not a young cat, even then, for she had raised +one family of kittens at least ... she must be thirteen or more years +old, my Dear," she said to the young girl, hoping to attract her +attention to herself and so leave Ruth free from her immediate scrutiny, +"just think of that! You must come with me, when you have had your tea, +and see the cute little yard we have for her and then you must look over +the grounds with me. Miss Ruth is not feeling very well, today, although +she has such a healthy-looking, rosy face, and, so, I'll entertain you +while you're here; Miss Ruth is a great reader and her eyes are not very +strong ... sometimes the sun hurts them awfully."</p> + +<p>And Ruth let here have her way, that time, as she found that she could +scarcely endure the calm, blue, staring eyes of the girl and listen to +her innocent gabble concerning her own husband; so she called old Mage +into another room and cautioned her to be very kind to poor Estrella and +gave her quite a sum of money to hand to her, thinking, in this manner +to defray the funeral expenses of the man whom she had believed to be +the very soul of honor fired with an almost holy patriotism.</p> + +<p>Old Mage received her directions quietly enough and used her own good +judgment as to carrying them all out; her main idea was to relieve her +mistress and this she did by assuring her that she would look after the +girl and would ask her to come to see them again when she had in some +measure recovered from her sorrow.</p> + +<p>What she was saying to her own self we will not record but she relieved +her own feelings, while attempting to help Estrella who was as innocent +as her own young lady was, as she could see, for old Mage was seldom +mistaken in her estimate of women, although men, as she expressed it, +quite often "pulled the wool over her eyes."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>As the young girl descended the hill to the little village she reflected +upon the splendor of the home she had just quitted and wondered if such +wealth as was displayed there could take the place of the companionship +of a loved and loving human being; she remembered the very sad +expression of the great gray eyes into which she had peered for a few +fleeting moments and she marveled at the memory, for, as it seemed to +the inexperience of Estrella, Ruth Wakefield should have been as happy +as a queen indeed for she had the proud position, almost, of Royalty +among the peons to whose constant society she, herself, had had to be +accustomed from her earliest recollection of society at all.</p> + +<p>In spite of her own great sorrow on account of the sudden death of +Victorio Colenzo she felt comforted, somehow, by the memory of the vital +nearness of the woman who was so much her superior, as it seemed to her, +in every possible way; she could not know that in Ruth Wakefield's +gentle bosom there throbbed a deeper and more lasting agony than any +that she, herself, had ever experienced ... she only saw her own +position among those who had little sympathy for her, as all the girls +she knew well, except little Tessa, envied her as having been the +sweetheart of a man they all admired, and the young men, feeling that +she was superior, in many ways, to the girls of their own type, were +jealous of the handsome Colenzo who had won so easily what they had +failed to even attract.</p> + +<p>Chief among these latter was Manuello who called himself her +half-brother, half in derision and half in rough sport, for well he knew +that no similar blood flowed through their veins as Estrella had been +taken care of by his own mother simply from motives of pity for a +deserted and helpless orphan; this loving and unselfish mother had +passed away some time before the opening of this tale and Estrella had +taken full charge of the household affairs of the family among whom she +had grown up, as being the eldest of the girls, having always been of a +domestic turn of mind and wishing to repay the kindness of those who had +cared for her when she was unable to do so.</p> + +<p>As she walked along she remembered several little duties for her to +perform yet that night, although she felt that she wished to devote her +entire attention to the funeral arrangements that she had made for poor +Victorio whose mangled remains still lay at the improvised morgue in the +village.</p> + +<p>Reflecting on these arrangements, she remembered the money that old Mage +had given to her which was yet clutched in the hand that had received +it; hearing a slight noise in the path ahead of her, she hastily thrust +the money into the bosom of her gown and advanced, cautiously, for there +was much unrest all over the Island of Cuba at this time and no one was +really safe, either at home or abroad, as the Governor-General had +issued positive orders to arrest without question all those who were, in +any manner, detrimental to the ruling powers.</p> + +<p>Estrella was aware, in a dim and uncertain way, of existing conditions, +and, having been a participant in the recent uprising, she was afraid +that she might be detained by the government, in which case, how she +could attend to the sorrowful duty of the morrow was a problem too big +for her to solve on the spur of the moment; with the thought of this +danger in her mind, she stepped carefully to one side of the narrow +path, hoping that whoever or whatever had made the noise she had heard +would pass on up the hill without observing her; she was standing as +still as possible, fairly holding her breath and involuntarily clutching +at the bundle of money in her dress, when she became conscious of the +approach of someone or something from behind her and jumped, like a +startled fawn, back into the path and down the hill at top speed; she +knew that she was followed but did not stop until she had reached the +door of the little cottage where she made her home; as she pushed madly +at the door it yielded to her touch too quickly to have been moved by +herself alone, and, hurridly entering, she found herself face to face +with Manuello who pulled her hastily inside and barred the simple door, +saying testily:</p> + +<p>"Why did you startle me so? Had I not known your step, I would have kept +you out until you had told me who you were ... don't you know that we, +who have made ourselves conspicuous in the recent uprising, are being +closely watched by the authorities and are liable to arrest at any +moment? Why do you expose us in this manner by staying out after +nightfall and perhaps bringing the soldiers who are stationed in the +block-houses upon us? Is it not enough that you are marked as being the +sweetheart of our dead leader? Must you even stray about the +country-side after dark?"</p> + +<p>"Manuello ..." panted the poor girl, "I was so frightened ... someone +was in the path and I jumped to one side and then someone came behind me +and I ran! I did not mean to do wrong ... I went to see the lady at the +mansion on the hill ... she asked me to come for she pitied me because +of Victorio's death.... I am sorry if I did wrong by going, Manuello ... +I hope you will forgive me ..." she ended, pleadingly, leaning against +the door with one hand over her fluttering heart and looking up into his +angry eyes.</p> + +<p>His countenance softened in a moment as he gazed upon her delicate +beauty, and stretching out his arms he said to her:</p> + +<p>"Rest, little Sister, here, here upon my breast. All the others are +asleep and you and I are alone. I would not scold you for the world, but +we must all be as cautious as we can for we are living in very dangerous +times."</p> + +<p>Estrella evaded his offered embrace and hastened into her own little +room after bidding him a short goodnight; she wondered, vaguely, what it +was that had startled her in the path, but, in spite of everything, her +healthy youth soon asserted itself and she was lost to her little world +upon the earth with all its many disappointments and unknown turnings.</p> + +<p>The day upon which Estrella made her visit to the mansion on the hill, +as the residence of Ruth Wakefield was popularly known in the village of +San Domingo, was a memorable one in the history of the Spanish-American +war for it happened to be the fifteenth day of February in the year of +our Lord and Master 1898.</p> + +<p>Upon that fateful day secret preparations had been made by the agents of +some of those who were then in power over the people of Cuba ... secret +mines had been laid and large quantities of explosives had been placed +in Havana Harbor with a set purpose in view; many of those who had been +incarcerated in political prisons had been kept in total ignorance of +the movements of Spanish troops in Cuba but most of the inhabitants of +the Island had known that, for some time, some definite object with +reference to our own United States was being considered by those who +directed the Spanish soldiery.</p> + +<p>Among those who had been apprised of what had been going on during the +confinement of those who had been liberated the night before in San +Domingo was Manuello; during the absence of Estrella from their home, +that evening, this redoubtable warrior had been hobnobbing with the +Spanish soldiers in the block-house nearest to the village and had +discovered something of the plot to blow up a United States battleship +in Havana Harbor; as it was known that the <i>Maine</i>, an armored cruiser +of the second-class, had been lying in the harbor for some weeks, the +young fellow was especially nervous, and, hearing Estrella's flying feet +approaching their dwelling, he dreaded some new horror.</p> + +<p>The little village of San Domingo was wrapped in the first sound slumber +of the night. Good Father Felix had been dreaming, for some hours, of +the heavenly home he hoped, sometime, to reach; old Mage had long ago +forgotten all about her defense of her dear young lady, that day, and +Estrella was far away from every human care.</p> + +<p>But Ruth Wakefield was one of those who never sleep right through the +dark hours of any night; from her earliest recollection, she had been +wide awake, with a clarified vision of the affairs of daily life as well +as of those that were quite beyond the world of men and women who were +yet embodied, about the hour of two A.M., and, when she had some +especially knotty problem to solve, she seldom slept for more than an +hour or so at a time, but would waken to a consciousness of the facts of +her human existence with a shock that would almost always cause her to +jump as if struck a blow, which, indeed, was the exact state of affairs, +only the blow was a mental one.</p> + +<p>On this one night, having lost the most of the sleep she should have had +upon the previous one, her bodily strength was almost entirely exhausted +so that she sunk into a deep and dreamless sleep during the first part +of the evening and woke, with a start, about nine P.M.</p> + +<p>Rising from her bed, as was her custom upon awakening in the night, she +approached one of the large windows of her own room facing Havana +Harbor; she could see the lights from the various vessels lying at +anchor and imagined that she could make out those of the <i>Maine</i>, which, +as it represented her own native land to her, was, naturally, of deep +interest to her; she fell to imagining how it would seem to return to +the United States on that great ship lying so peacefully and appearing +to be so stanch and strong in the harbor below her window ... she +wondered if it might not be better for her, now that she no longer had +the keen interest in Cuba that she had only recently had, to go back to +her own country and so possibly forget the dark eyes and lying lips of +the man to whom she had given her virginity only to find it flouted and +treated with disdain; for, try as she would to vindicate Victorio +Colenzo, she was too just and reasonable to deny to herself that he had +acted the part of a sneaking villain both to her and to poor, trusting +Estrella, who had not had to see her dream of him lying in fragments at +her feet, but who still believed that he had spoken the truth to her +when he had told her that she was the only woman he had ever loved; she +was too young to know that this statement is a regular trite and tried +prevarication, common to almost all male lovers.</p> + +<p>But Ruth, at present, was laboring under no delusions with regard to the +man she had married, although his dead body was still unburied and she +had not so much as said a prayer over his remains ... she knew beyond +all shadow of doubt that he had been untrue to both of the women he had +professed to love in San Domingo, and her mind was much distraught as +she sat at her window and, gazed down upon Havana Harbor upon that +memorable evening of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and +ninety-eight.</p> + +<p>She had been watching a little boat plying back and forth between the +wharf and the battleship which she had picked out among the other black +hulks in the harbor as being the <i>Maine</i>, and was speculating, idly, +what it could be about, as it seemed busily engaged in something of +importance, when, all at once, a mighty detonation shook the entire +harbor and the adjacent shore, making even her own stout residence +tremble, and, where the majestic battleship had, only just a moment +before, been a thing of beauty and power, there was nothing but a wild +mass of flying débris and a raging furnace of belching, flaming fire.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield realized, even as the terrific explosion occurred, that +here was a turning point in the affairs of state and that, in all +probability, her own country would, after this, become involved in the +war that had been raging in Cuba, then, for about three years; it was +with mingled feelings of dismay and dread that she surveyed the activity +that very soon became apparent both in the harbor and in the city of +Havana; she could see the lights of the rescuing boats as they circled +about the scene of the wreck and even hear the groans and supplications +of some of the severely wounded survivors, for the night was clear and +the light wind carried the sounds from the harbor up to her window so +that her very acute hearing told her that this was no casual accident, +but, in all probability, a carefully planned holocaust in which her own +much-loved native land would, inevitably be involved.</p> + +<p>Manuello was one of the first to rush out upon the streets of the little +village after the terrific noise of the explosion had rolled away; he +passed hastily from cottage to cottage asking the inmates if they were +aware of the cause of it, for, being a little below the level of Havana +Harbor, the inhabitants of San Domingo could not command a view of it.</p> + +<p>As no one seemed able to give him any explanation of the disturbing +detonation, he even dared to approach one of the block houses held by +the Spanish soldiery; here, he found everything in confusion and +excitement ... men were hastily arming themselves so as to be in +readiness for whatever orders might come from their superiors, and +Manuello found no one among them who seemed much better informed than +he, himself, was; he imagined that what he had heard had been the result +of the consummation of the plans upon which he had stumbled earlier in +the evening and started to climb to the top of the hill upon which Ruth +Wakefield's residence was located in order to gain a view of Havana +Harbor.</p> + +<p>Manuello had almost reached the very top of the hill before he realized +that he had come out into the night without a weapon of any kind, and, +no sooner had he made this disconcerting discovery than he became aware +of some sort of movement directly in his rear; wishing to avoid whatever +it might be, he hastily concealed himself and waited for the approach of +his unseen companion in the darkness; the steps he had heard came along +the path hastily, yet steadily, and the owner of them soon appeared; as +he passed Manuello, the young fellow made out that the new-comer was +none other than the village Priest who, as it seemed likely, was bent +upon the same errand as the hidden peon; Father Felix kept on, sturdily, +climbing the grade to the mansion on the hill; having reached the house +he at once disappeared inside it and Manuello was again alone upon the +hillside.</p> + +<p>Gaining a point of vantage, Manuello looked down upon Havana Harbor, +and, at once, decided upon the course that he must pursue to cover +himself from danger of suspicion as to the possibility of his having +participated in the terrible calamity that had befallen the United +States battleship, for Manuello knew the exact location of the different +ships then anchored in Havana Harbor as he had in his possession a map +of it upon which he had drawn certain black crosses which indicated the +positions of different vessels, also certain ingenious little flourishes +told him the nationality of the various ships, so that he felt as sure +as if he were right upon the scene that the battleship <i>Maine</i> had been +blown up in Havana Harbor, that fateful evening, and he knew that there +would be a searching investigation made as to what had caused the +explosion, so that Manuello had this little problem to consider as well +as the one concerning the sudden and mysterious death of Victorio +Colenzo just as he was about to be liberated from the prison at San +Domingo; for Manuello knew far more concerning that casualty than he +had imparted to Estrella when she had so diligently inquired of him +about it.</p> + +<p>Father Felix found Ruth Wakefield and her little, frightened household +fully awake as well as fully aware of the nature of the episode that had +startled him to such an extent that he had climbed the hill to ascertain +the safety of the inhabitants of the mansion on the hill, for the good +Priest pitied the mistress of the mansion far more than he did the poor +girl in the cottage, knowing that added refinement often makes more +poignant a sorrow that would inevitably be hard for any human heart to +bear.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>All over the little village of San Domingo, on the morning of February +sixteenth, 1898, the news spread like wild-fire that the United States +battleship, <i>Maine</i>, had been blown up in Havana Harbor.</p> + +<p>Manuello, having secreted his map in what he considered to be a safe +place, and having remained quietly inside his own domicile during the +balance of the night preceding the general acceptance of the the salient +facts concerned in the great disaster, ventured forth at daylight, +hoping to discover the condition of the public mind with regard to it.</p> + +<p>The first place he visited was one of the block-houses where he had +hob-nobbed with the soldiers before the news of the explosion had +reached them; here he found closely shut mouths and stern countenances +meeting him on every side, as he was known to be engaged in stirring up +strife and dissatisfaction among the peons of whom, to some extent, now +that Victorio Colenzo was dead, he was an acknowledged leader; the +soldiers, knowing nothing of what action would be taken by their own +government, much less of how far the resentment of the powerful nation +involved in the disaster would carry them, thought that discretion was, +by all means, the better part of valor, in this instance, and, +accordingly, had no private conversation with Manuello at all, being +careful to have several of their number within ear-shot of every word he +uttered; he, realizing the situation, after some few moments, went +quietly away, glad, indeed, to escape so easily from among the armed +hosts of Spain, for his own native country had been under the heel of +Spanish oppressors for more than three years, at this time.</p> + +<p>From the block-house, the young fellow proceeded to the dwelling of +little Tessa for he had a sort of mild affection for her, knowing how +profoundly she admired him and being flattered by her preference, while +his own heart was set on Estrella, to win whom he had, indeed, committed +a most terrible crime, for it had been his hand that had almost severed +the handsome head of Victorio Colenzo from his strong and agile body, he +having taken advantage of the confusion in the prison at the time of the +liberation of the political offenders to vent his own jealous spite upon +the natural leader of them all, little dreaming that he had cut off in +his prime the husband of the lady of the mansion on the hill, but only +congratulating himself on having removed from his own path a dangerous +rival in the affections, not only of Estrella, but also of all of those +with whom he, Manuello, hoped to advance his own interests; for Victorio +Colenzo was a man to be feared by all those who opposed him as Manuello +knew very well; now that his dead body was lying there in the little +improvised morgue, it seemed to the young Cuban that his great influence +would soon die away, and, so far as Estrella was concerned, he felt +pretty sure of her as she was so near to him and would, naturally, lean +upon him in trouble.</p> + +<p>So that, he felt quite complacent as to the recent turns in his affairs, +when he entered the rude home of little Tessa; he found that small, dark +young woman standing quietly beside a window watching his approach; she +turned to him, when another member of the family had admitted him, +eagerly and expectantly:</p> + +<p>"What do you think, Manuello?" she inquired. "What will be the result of +last night's terrible disaster? Shall we, now, have the Americans to +fight as well as the Spanish? Will the great United States hold us +responsible for this crime? I wondered, right away, what you would think +about it all and am so glad you have come over early. Is dear Estrella +as well as we could expect under her distressing circumstances? Will the +body of her lover be buried, today? Will this new trouble make any +difference with the burial of the bodies in the morgue? Tell me +everything you know, Manuello. Don't pay any attention to my +questions ... just go ahead and tell me!"</p> + +<p>She had come near to him as she kept asking questions, and was now +beside him and had grasped the collar of his short jacket, for Manuello +was something of a dude among his associates and was very particular as +to his appearance, being proud of his straight, strong figure and broad +shoulders which towered above many of the heads of his companions, so +that little Tessa had to stretch her small, dark hands well above her +smooth, black head in order to cling as closely as she desired to him.</p> + +<p>The young fellow looked down into the eager face lifted toward his own +and hesitated a little while before he answered her; diplomacy had +become so much a part of his acquired habit that, even when it was +unnecessary, as in the present instance, for Tessa trusted him +implicitly, he still employed it:</p> + +<p>"To begin with," he said, as if issuing a decree from a judgment-seat, +"I do not think that the blowing up of the battleship, last night, will +make our case in Cuba much harder than it already is ... in fact, it +might be that the American government would resent the loss of their +property and the murder of their sailors sufficiently to induce them to +assist us in our struggle for independence from the tyranny of Spain." +He looked about him anxiously, as he made this last statement, for he +knew that agents of the government might be in hiding almost anywhere. +"As to the burial of Victorio Colenzo," he pronounced the name with some +braggadocio, "and the rest, this disaster should make no difference as +to that, for when human beings die they have to be buried somehow, no +matter what happens." It was with secret satisfaction that he explained +this last matter, for, so far as he was concerned, the sooner the body +of his victim was under the ground the better he, himself, would feel, +"and as to Estrella, as soon as she recovers from the loss of her +handsome lover, I think she will listen to reason again and be the same +nice girl she was before she ever met this stranger who came among us +like a whirlwind and who has left us as suddenly as he appeared among +us. Now, little Tessa," he ended, "I think that I have answered all of +your questions ... suppose you answer some of mine ... for example," and +he bent his bold eyes on her little face, "why are you growing to be so +beautiful? Whom do you love more than anything else in the world? When +will you be a married woman? Do you like me as well as you did when we +were little children? Do you think that Estrella will ever marry me, now +that she has lost her new lover? Are you my little friend in this matter +and will you assist my cause with Estrella?" seeing a look of +consternation spread over her countenance, he ended his category with, +"Who is <i>your</i> lover, little Tessa? I know you must have one for you +have grown to be very fair and winsome since we were shut up in that +hateful prison."</p> + +<p>"Manuello," said the girl, "I don't believe that I will ever marry.... +I have no lover and I am not beautiful. Estrella does not love you, now, +but she may learn to do so. I wish her to be very happy and if being +your wife would make her so, and I see no reason why a girl could not be +happy as your wife, Manuello, then I will do what I can to further your +cause with her. I know she is in deep sorrow, today, and I intend to do +all that I can to help her. Of course you know what arrangements have +already been made. Father Felix will take charge of the ceremonies, I +understand. I will accompany poor Estrella to the burial place. You may +tell her that I will soon be with her."</p> + +<p>The simplicity and truth of the young and innocent girl affected even +the hardened heart of the murderer and the evident adoration with which +she regarded him also had its effect upon him, so that Manuello +trembled, inwardly, in spite of all his hardihood and determination to +force his passionate love upon Estrella, as he intended only to use poor +little Tessa's admiration for him to influence the older and fairer +woman; the very fact that Estrella was, very evidently, not of his own +race had a powerful attraction for his untutored imagination and, in +secret, he often dwelt upon her difference from all the other women of +his acquaintance, while he assumed toward herself an air of superiority, +hoping thereby to attract her to himself as being above all of the +others of their acquaintance; now that his successful rival was out of +his way the young fellow looked forward to an early conquest of the +heart and hand of Estrella, and, now that the Americans had become +involved in the Cuban war, he hoped for the defeat of the Spaniards as +he never had before. Therefore, he could well afford to be a little +condescending to the young girl who still clung to his hands as if to +her only hope of happiness and looked up adoringly into his smiling +eyes.</p> + +<p>Stooping toward her a little, he suddenly raised her in his strong arms +and lifted her small, eager face to a level with his own; her lips were +very near to his and were trembling for that very reason, so he stilled +them by holding them for a passionate moment against his virile mouth.</p> + +<p>Tessa yielded to his embrace without thinking of its import for Manuello +was a strong and healthy man, full of the electrical attraction that +goes with those of his build, and, like many uneducated human beings, +the animal side of his nature was more fully developed than any other +part of it so that almost any healthy young woman appealed to him in +some degree and Tessa's evident affection for himself added to her power +in this respect.</p> + +<p>The two young beings were placed in the situation in which we have +described them for only a very short space of earthly time, but it was +sufficient to build up a barrier around Manuello that separated him from +all the rest of the young men known to the simple-minded girl with whom +he was only playing at making love, for all of that sacred emotion of +which he was capable had been laid at the feet of the girl who had +scoffed at his advances, for some years.</p> + +<p>When he had set her, gently, upon her small feet again, Manuello +addressed the small maiden in an almost wheedling tone, for he thought +that he could, now, better control her feelings than before the episode +of the past few moments:</p> + +<p>"You <i>do</i> like me as much as before I was put away in prison, don't you, +little Tessa? Estrella's aloofness from me on account of her crazy +notions about Victorio Colenzo has not affected you with regard to me, +has it? I can depend upon you as upon a faithful little friend, I +believe I can, anyway ... how about that, little Girl?"</p> + +<p>He bent his black eyes upon her as he asked the question, and, with his +picturesque costume, dark face, up-tilted <i>mustachio</i>, as black as his +heavy, curling hair, and his strong and agile figure, in many ways, he +was as handsome as anyone upon whom Tessa's eyes had ever rested, for, +to her simple mind, Victorio had been too much inclined toward +intellectual pursuits to really appeal very strongly to her untutored +mind and she had never been able to understand why Estrella preferred +him to Manuello; now, she answered the latter in no uncertain language:</p> + +<p>"Of <i>course</i> you can depend on my friendship ... of <i>course</i> I would +always do anything I could to help you ... even ..." her voice shook +over the words, "even with the woman whom you love and prefer to all the +other women whom you know ... Estrella," she said this firmly as if to +convince even herself of the truth of the statement. "Estrella <i>is</i> +superior to the rest of us girls around here ... she is of another race +of people, I believe ... a superior race, I guess ... anyway," she ended +naïvely, "I love her and do not blame <i>you</i>, Manuello, for doing the +same thing."</p> + +<p>It took a good deal of courage and loyalty combined for the girl to make +the remarks we have just recorded here with her small mouth yet tingling +from the kisses, for Manuello had not been chary of their number while +he had the opportunity to bestow them, of the man whom she almost +worshiped as earthly women adore merely human men, but she had waded +through the above sentences, bravely, and felt better after having +passed through what was an ordeal for her to undergo.</p> + +<p>Manuello scarcely knew how to meet this plain exposition of the matter +under consideration and quickly changed the subject of conversation, not +wishing to go too far, all at once, with Tessa, as that might complicate +his relations with Estrella, and, yet, feeling the need of some stanch +friend, in case he should have need of one, for he realized, dimly, that +he might easily be in danger, at any time, for various good reasons, +for he had been implicated in many of the plots of the revolutionists as +well as having secrets of his own to cover up; he was naturally cautious +as far as his own safety was concerned and did not wish to involve +himself any farther than seemed best for his own interests with Tessa, +and, yet, he desired to have her assistance ready at hand in case he +should have need of anything so feeble.</p> + +<p>He had now fixed her previous regard for him upon a vital memory, +so that she would not soon forget the few moments she had passed +encircled by his arms, and this was all he cared to do in that line, +at present.... Later on, in case Estrella still remained obdurate ... +why ... that would be a far different matter; he had now arranged for +himself a secret harbor in the simple heart of this uneducated girl, so +that, if pursued too closely by cruel storms, out on the open sea, he +could retire to it at will.</p> + +<p>As for Tessa, after she had made her declaration of love for Estrella, +she felt that she had performed her full duty in that matter, and went +about her preparations for the affairs of that day, with an even lighter +heart than before Manuello's short visit, for, after all, she had +discovered that she was not at least repulsive to the man she had +secretly loved for almost as long as she could remember anything, for +they had grown up in San Domingo together and he had always been +identified with her daily life; the beauty of her personal dream +regarding the tall Cuban had been her motive in assisting in the +liberation of the prisoners, mentioned in the beginning of this +narrative, as she had small sympathy with Estrella's adoration of +Victorio Colenzo, although she was willing to have her intimate +girl-friend feel exactly as she had felt and pitied her with all her +loving heart, now that she had lost, in such a terrible manner, the man +she loved and who, as they both had believed, loved her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + + +<p>When Manuello left the dwelling of the little woman of whose affection +he was certain he hastened home to find out what attitude the woman he +loved would take toward the new conditions in Cuba, as well as to +ascertain what preparations she was making for the burial of the man +whose earthly life he had, himself, taken, although she was far from +imagining anything of the kind concerning either her dead lover or her +so-called half-brother.</p> + +<p>He found Estrella much perturbed as was to have been expected under the +circumstances for he knew that she had been deeply enamored of the +handsome stranger whose dead body was now being prepared for interment +by the village undertaker to whom Estrella had given the money presented +to her by old Mage, so that the man's body was being taken care of +through the charity of his wife which had been bestowed upon his +sweetheart neither of whom had been known to him at all a few months +before.</p> + +<p>As the hour for the funeral exercises drew near, a handsome carriage +drew up in front of the humble door where Estrella made her home; from +within it emerged no less a person than old Mage herself who had been +sent by Ruth Wakefield to escort the sorrowing girl to and from the rude +graveyard where the body of her own husband would be placed, that day; +she had told good Father Felix what to do as to the simple services but +had decided to absent herself from them, not being sure as to how much +endurance she would have and being determined not to add to the grief of +the innocent girl who had been deceived by the man whose name she had +assumed but never been known by in her own family, even, as, at his +especial request, she had kept the marriage hidden from all of her +acquaintances except the few members of her own little household who +were devoted to her and her interests and went about among the villagers +very little, as what business they had was transacted in Havana instead +of San Domingo.</p> + +<p>Estrella was pleased and flattered by this attention from the lady of +the mansion on the hill and entered the carriage to find Father Felix +already there, for the carriage had been sent to the refectory before it +came to her own home; she remembered the message little Tessa had sent +to her so she asked old Mage to go to her dwelling for her, which was +done, and completed the sad little group that rode directly behind the +rude wagon which took the place of a hearse and which carried the body +of Victorio Colenzo to its last earthly resting-place.</p> + +<p>The grief of the young girl was very pitiful and, as they turned away +from the narrow grave, old Mage felt moved to try to comfort her a +little by distracting her attention from her sorrow; seeing Manuello +lurking in the background as the funeral party were about to leave the +cemetery, she said to Estrella:</p> + +<p>"Will your brother ride home with us? I remember his face for he has +brought fruit to our door and he told me, once, that you were his +half-sister."</p> + +<p>The poor girl stifled her sobs long enough to listen to the old woman's +remark but made no other answer to it than to shake her head; little +Tessa turned her face in the direction indicated by old Mage and saw +Manuello with a look of diabolical triumph mingled with fear and hatred +on his dark face so that, in spite of her love for him, his expression +frightened her and made even her turn away from the sight of the great +change in his countenance from what she had seen resting there only that +morning.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield had spend the hour devoted to the funeral exercises of +her own husband very quietly and in entire solitude; she was accustomed +to the latter condition and there was no one among her acquaintances in +whom she cared to confide except the good Priest who had done what he +could to console and sustain her spirit through this trial that had been +forced upon her by untoward circumstances and her own faith in humanity; +she watched her own carriage descend the hill and pass into the little +village ... she saw the small funeral procession as it wended its way +along the palm-lined street ... she watched it enter the gate of the +little cemetery and even saw poor Estrella as she alighted from the +vehicle and leaned upon the arm of her small friend as she approached +the open grave that was to contain the mortal remains of the man who had +been, if only for a short space of time, her own husband ... and yet she +did not faint ... she did not cry out ... she had had her fight with her +own nature and she had won out after a hard struggle; all that was left +of the love she had entertained for the handsome Cuban who had entered +into her life so disastrously, was an open wound which time alone could +ever heal.</p> + +<p>When old Mage returned to the mansion on the hill she sought out her +young lady and would have, in her usual garrulous manner, reported +everything that she had noticed during her absence had she received +encouragement to do so; on the contrary, she found Ruth, apparently, +deeply interested in a large volume which she had placed on a table +before her chair; she rested her head on her hands, from time to time, +and only looked up to welcome her old nurse, then resumed the perusal of +the page she happened to have open at the time of her entrance into the +library.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield had always found her chief delight among her many good +books; she browsed among them for mental sustenance and for spiritual +solace and found rich pasturage; it had been said of her, while she was +yet a small child, that, in case it ever became necessary to perform a +surgical operation upon any part of her delicate body, an anæsthetic +would not be essential, as all that she would need would be to have +someone read aloud to her from some fine piece of literature.</p> + +<p>So, in the terrible affliction that had so recently befallen her, it was +as natural for her to go to her books for comfort as it would have been +for another woman to go to some understanding friend, for that was what +Ruth Wakefield found among her books ... understanding and safe friends +who would never betray her secrets or her confidence in them ... who +would never deceive and torture her and who represented to her the +finest and best impulses in human nature as well as those higher +sentiments to which she always clung and which, now, in this crisis of +her life, carried her safely over what might have crazed a mind less +well poised than hers.</p> + +<p>The morning after the funeral exercises of Victorio Colenzo, Father +Felix ascended the hill upon which Ruth Wakefield's home was located and +sought her out, for the good Priest was much perturbed because of her +present condition and went to see her with the intention of advising her +to leave Cuba, at least for a time, as the situation with regard to her +own country was almost certain to become acute, after the disaster of a +few nights previous, and it seemed to him to be imprudent for a young +woman to remain alone with only retainers about her among the wild +people among whom he labored; for Father Felix knew far more of the +nature of these people than many others possibly could and he realized +that the wealth surrounding the Wakefield residence was in itself a +menace to the fair owner of it; although he, himself, intended to remain +among his parishioners under all circumstances, it did not seem to be a +wise procedure for an unprotected woman to do so.</p> + +<p>He had studied the situation over from many view-points and had settled +on the best course, according to his judgment and knowledge of the +situation, for her to pursue, and he, now, laid this course before her +with the benevolent intention of assisting her to follow it in every way +within his limited power:</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss Ruth," he began, hesitatingly, for he was not sure of just +what effect either her husband's violent death or the recent explosion +in the harbor would have on her sensitive nature, "I wish that you would +consider your own situation very carefully; you are now alone here +except for those who are under your employ, and the people of the +surrounding country are in a high state of excitement. At almost any +moment, now, your own native land, to which you are devoted, may declare +itself to be in a state of war with Spain, following the blowing up of +the battleship; in that case, your situation, here, would be even more +precarious than it is at present and it is far from being secure, even +now; what I had thought of proposing to you is that you, at once, gather +together what you consider to be the most precious of your worldly +possession, here, and place them in some storage building in Havana, +leaving the house, here, with as few valuables as possible inside of it, +then, with probably your old nurse as a companion and charge, return at +once to your own country, anyway, until the war-cloud that is now +hanging over Cuba has been lifted; it looks to me," he ended, "as if +that would not be for some years yet ... of course America is a powerful +country and if she takes this matter up in earnest, it may be that it +will come to an end more quickly than I fear it may."</p> + +<p>He waited, quietly, then, for Ruth to think over his remarks; she had +regarded him earnestly while he had been speaking, and, now, sat with +her hands folded in her lap for a few minutes before she spoke:</p> + +<p>"Father Felix," she began, at length, "Father Felix, I appreciate the +reasons that prompted you to come to me and advise me as you have just +been doing; I understand that you consider me unfit to cope with the +present situation under my circumstances and I wish to inform you that I +do not intend to run away from my duty any more than you do. I take it +for granted, Father, that you expect to remain with your people no +matter what may come to them? I believe that the more need they may +have of you, the more anxious you will be to serve them. Now I," she +continued, earnestly and unwaveringly, "I have not done my full duty, up +to now, among these people to whom you have devoted all of your +energies; I feel that I owe my fellow-beings more than I have given to +them in many ways, for I have been very much of a recluse, as you know, +loving my books and enjoying my home and the natural beauties I have +delighted in all around me; it may be, that, in the crisis that seems +imminent, I may find some good work that will wholly absorb my +energies ... it may be ..." she said, while a high resolve settled over +her sensitive features, "it may be, good Father Felix, that I may be +permitted to do almost as much good in our little world as you, +yourself, are doing and have already done. Would you bar me from the +proud privilege of sharing your labor and of receiving some measure of +the rich reward which is awaiting you?"</p> + +<p>Father Felix gazed upon her as if upon a being already translated beyond +the common things of earth, and, realizing the firmness of her evident +resolve, he extended his hands toward her in blessing. As she bowed her +head to receive it there was a rapt look upon her face such as the holy +angels who welcome the souls of the newly dead must have upon their +features ... the inner consciousness of Ruth Wakefield shone through her +earthly lineaments and transfigured them so that they were even more +fair than they had been before.</p> + +<p>"My Daughter," said the good Priest, "forgive me for proposing what I +did; I did not fully understand you; from this time on, I hope that we +may find much good work that we can do in common, for I would be proud +and glad to be engaged with you upon our Father's business. Let us +consult with each other in our plans for the betterment of the poor +people among whom our lot in life has been cast. I was going to speak to +you about the girl, Estrella," he went on, watching her face while he +talked; "she is in need of different surroundings than she has at +present, for she is not of the race of those with whom she has been +staying; the young man who calls her his half-sister knows very well +that she has none of his blood in her veins, and he is almost constantly +tormenting her with offers of his heart and hand, when the poor girl is +really a mourner for the man whom she believed, as you did, to be worthy +of a good woman's love. The girl is strong and willing and capable +beyond the common run of the people among whom she has spent her life +thus far. I believe she would fully appreciate kindness and would repay +it in every way in her power. What I have just thought of is, perhaps, +impossible for you to do, at present, but it may be that, in the future, +you may consider it. If you could bring yourself to have her in your +home she would be safe from harm and might be a very great help to you +if you carry on the work that is now in your mind to do. For," he rose +to his feet and walked rapidly from one end of the room to the other, +"if America declares war on Spain with a view to the independence of +Cuba, there will be much heroic work for you and me to do, my dear +Daughter ... there will be much work for us two to perform."</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield also rose ... it seemed to her that the situation +demanded that she meet it on her feet....</p> + +<p>"Father Felix," she said calmly and softly, "Father Felix, have Estrella +brought to me, today; let us begin our good work at once. There is +nothing that my beloved country can demand of me that I would not be +glad to give to its sacred cause. I believe that I can do more for my +native land, here, in Cuba, at the present time, than if I should return +to it, now. It may be that an American, with some degree of wealth and +intelligence, can be of service, here, at this critical juncture in her +country's history."</p> + +<p>"Our native land could not have a better representative, my Daughter. As +you know, I, also, am an American and I am proud, indeed, to claim you +as a fellow-countryman. From now on we will more fully understand each +other and I shall be glad to consult with you about many important +matters. I will proceed at once to carry out your instructions with +regard to the young girl of whom we have been speaking, for I feel that +her case is one of peculiar importance, since I fully believe that she, +also, is an American, although I have been unable, up to this time, to +trace her parentage beyond the fact that a man, presumably her father, +left her in the care of the woman who brought her up as one of her own +children, in the little village below here. The poor girl has had a +sorry life so far and really deserves better treatment than she has +received, or so it seems to me from my finite stand-point. I do not +presume to question the wisdom or justice of God, but, often, I am +puzzled when I see the innocent suffer and the guilty escape punishment +here in this world; I always trust in our heavenly Father implicitly, +and, yet, at times, I am sorely put to it to furnish reasons for certain +people having been placed in certain environments. I believe that all +this will be explained to us in good time, but many things are hard to +understand while we remain finite beings with only the intelligence that +has been bestowed upon humanity to reason with. Conscience," he went on +almost as if talking to himself, "conscience is our infallible guide and +was given to us so that we would never be without direction in whatever +circumstances we may be placed. Now, in this instance ... I honestly +thought that I was doing right to come here this morning and advise you +as I did, and, yet, God, in His great Wisdom, guided you, at once, into +the only path that you were ever meant to walk in ... the path that +will lead you on to the peace that passeth human understanding."</p> + +<p>After a little rather desultory conversation, with which he hoped to +lighten the outlook of the lonely woman, the good Priest wended his +solitary way down the hill and back to the scene of most of his labors +among the ignorant people whom he hoped to help toward a better +enlightenment, and, as he walked slowly down the path leading to the +village, he turned and looked back at the mansion on the hill, crossed +himself, and murmured:</p> + +<p>"Of such is the kingdom of heaven."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + + +<p>When Estrella reached the mansion on the hill she found its mistress +quietly awaiting her outside the dwelling; she welcomed the young girl +with out-stretched hands, saying:</p> + +<p>"Father Felix has done well, indeed, to send you to me so quickly, +Estrella. I want you to feel perfectly at home, here. Old Mage will take +you to your own room and tell you what little duties you may assume if +you wish to do so. When you have arranged these little domestic matters, +come to me in the library and we will talk over some plans I have in +which I think you will be interested when you have somewhat recovered +from your recent loss. I know, from my own experience, that there is but +one way to carry sorrow through one's daily life and that is to be busy. +If one has enough physical energy and nervous strength, one can +accomplish a great deal of good in the world in spite of personal +sorrow. You are young and have not had an easy life so far ... it may be +that I can assist you so that, from now on, you and I may be able to +help each other in doing good work among those who are weaker than we +are."</p> + +<p>Old Mage was only too willing to take charge of the girl, for, while she +did not really like the idea of having her in the family, yet, she was +aware that Ruth needed companionship and she enjoyed having a goodly +number of people around her as her life consisted, mainly, of what each +day brought into it, for old Mage, while she was a good woman and a +faithful friend, was not a thinker and made few plans for the future.</p> + +<p>She led Estrella to the room that Ruth had arranged to have her occupy, +and, having explained certain little matters to her concerning the daily +round of life in the house, she began to question her as to what she had +learned regarding the explosion in Havana Harbor and what she thought as +to the probability of the United States declaring war on Spain on +account of it.</p> + +<p>The girl had little information to give to the old woman for she had +been too much absorbed by her own recent grief to even think of any of +the consequences that might follow the accident ... it seemed to her +that if the whole United States navy were blown up, it would make small +difference to her now that she had lost Victorio for he had represented +to her everything that meant happiness for her in the future; she had +yet to learn many things that would, eventually, bring to her the kind +of happiness that is lasting and to be depended upon when all that is +transitory and ephemeral has passed beyond knowledge and memory.</p> + +<p>At length, old Mage wearied of quizzing Estrella and left her to her own +thoughts which were confused and uncertain; she did not understand why +the lady of the mansion had condescended to ask her to come to her for +Father Felix had left her in doubt as to any reason, only telling her +that Miss Ruth desired her to come to her, at least for a time, to act +as a sort of companion as she was alone a great deal; he did not explain +to her that there might be work for her to do in the near future, +leaving that part to Ruth, very wisely.</p> + +<p>Father Felix led his little flock into fresh pastures when he felt that +they were ready for such a change but he reflected deeply before doing +this and hoped, in the case of the girl under consideration, that +companionship with one as unselfish and intrinsically good and noble as +Ruth Wakefield would do more for her character than any counsel he could +give to her; the good Priest was well aware that the handsome, young, +dashing Cuban had fascinated both the women and he felt sure that, had +he lived long enough in the same world with them, he would have broken +both their hearts, for it was his nature, evidently, to gather flowers +wherever he found them and throw them away to wither and die; Father +Felix was a normal human being as well as a spiritual leader and he +recognized facts with regard to human nature as he found them, not being +deceived by appearances as a less intellectual person would have been, +or as a man possessed of weaker masculine traits than those that had +been bestowed upon him.</p> + +<p>There was one among his parishioners of whose case he was doubtful ... +he was very anxious concerning Manuello for he knew that the young man +had some sort of guilty secret that he had confessed to no one and this +was one reason influencing him in his endeavor to extricate the innocent +Estrella from her immediate surroundings; he knew that, in the troubled +condition of the country, Manuello would be almost certain, with his +wild and untutored nature, to get into some sort of tangle with +authorities and supposed that the trouble he was well aware of as being +on the young fellow's conscience had something to do with existing +Spanish laws; he, himself, in breaking down the doors of the prison in +order to liberate this man among the rest of the prisoners, had been +guilty of violating a strict mandate and knew that he was liable to +arrest at any time, but, now that America might come into the struggle +on her own account, instead of simply through sympathy with the wrongs +of the people of Cuba, he realized that his own case had taken on a new +color, for, as he had told Ruth Wakefield, Father Felix was a native +American and loved his own country devotedly, although he had been +acting as a missionary in Cuba for some years of his active life in the +priesthood; he was dwelling on the state of mind of Manuello, sitting +quietly in his own place in the refectory, the evening after the events +related in the preceding chapter, when he heard a hasty knock at his +door and immediately opened it to admit the subject of his thoughts.</p> + +<p>The young man entered as if upon a desperate errand and sat down in the +first chair he found without waiting for the invitation of the Priest, a +proceeding that, alone, showed the condition of his mind:</p> + +<p>"Good Father," he began without introduction, "where is Estrella? She +has not been home for some hours and none of the family seem to know +much about her; all they told me was that I was to come to you for +information ... and here I am."</p> + +<p>The Priest looked into his eager face and pitied while he condemned him, +for he could see that he greatly mourned the absence of the girl whom he +had decided in his own heart to have for his own.</p> + +<p>"Manuello," said Father Felix, at length, having regarded him with a +sympathetic smile, "you must accept the situation as calmly as you can. +I have to tell you that Estrella has found another home than yours and +will, from this on, be under good care and will, I hope, find happiness +later on in her career ... she is a good girl and deserves to be happy," +he concluded, benevolently.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean," demanded Manuello, "that I am not to see her any more? +That I am to be shut out from her life? I want to know," he rose to his +feet, "I demand to know what you have done with her? Have you placed her +in some convent?"</p> + +<p>His voice had risen as he added question to question and he faced the +Priest with a fierce expression on his dark and lowering features. His +attitude had no effect on Father Felix who was without bodily fear and +knew that, in the present instance, at least, he stood upon safe ground, +having, as he well knew, removed the girl from danger from the very +being who, now, glared at him:</p> + +<p>"My Son," he said, "my Son, compose yourself. I will brook no +demonstration of vile anger from you. Estrella has been put beyond your +power. I do not know," he went on, coolly, "just what it is that is upon +your conscience at present, but I do know there is something that will +not bear a close investigation by the authorities, and I advise you to +have a care how you conduct yourself in the future. Cuba will have need +of your strong arm and I hope that you will use it in her service."</p> + +<p>Cowed by the sternness of the tone of voice in which he had been +addressed as well as by his own guilty knowledge, Manuello, silently, +and without thanks or regrets of any kind, left the refectory, slamming +the door after him ... an indignity that few would dare to place upon +their record; giving vent, inwardly, to the curses he did not dare to +utter, he retraced his steps to his own home, intending to get what +information he could from the other members of his family as to how +Estrella went away; reaching his domicile, he, at once, began to ply his +father, who had returned from his daily toil, with various inquiries, +but found him not only uncommunicative but, apparently, also uninformed +as to what had taken place during his absence; all that the other +members of the family knew was that Father Felix had come hurriedly to +the house and had a short conversation with Estrella when she had packed +a few personal effects, of which, indeed, the poor girl had but few, and +left the place, telling them she would see them again from time to time +and leaving kind farewells for both himself and his father.</p> + +<p>Then he remembered how intimate Estrella had always been with Tessa and +decided his best course would be to go to her little friend, being well +aware that any information she might have she would gladly give to him; +he was hurrying along, intent upon this new hope of relief from his +anxiety regarding the woman he imagined himself to be deeply in love +with, when, all at once, he became aware that someone was following his +footsteps, guardedly and yet with determination; immediately upon this +knowledge, there stalked into the foreground of his consciousness the +fear of discovery of his recent crime; the intimation of the Priest that +he had suspected it had stirred within him the instinct of +self-protection and he hastened his progress along the familiar and +narrow street, hoping to out-distance his pursuer, whoever he might +happen to be.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him that he was succeeding in this last effort and he was +congratulating himself upon his own celerity, when a hand was laid +rather heavily upon his shoulder and a loud and insistent voice declared +him to be the prisoner of the owner of it.</p> + +<p>Instantly, Manuello became a beast of prey, cornered in its lair, and +furious with all the animal instincts of self-preservation. He squirmed +away from the heavy hand and whirled around to face his would-be captor +and looked directly into the muzzle of a very capable gun held in steady +hands that seemed well accustomed to its use.</p> + +<p>"Up wid ye'er fists, ye dirty spalpeen ye!" commanded the man behind the +gun, using his own rich native brogue in the excitement of the moment. +"Hould 'em right there ..." he went on, as Manuello, instinctively, +though sullenly, obeyed him, "til I snap these putty bracelets on ye'er +wrists!" fumbling in his pocket with one hand while he held the gun in +the other, steadying it against his shoulder, for he had come prepared, +knowing his prospective prisoner to be a desperate character. "There, +now!" having completed his search and placed a handcuff on one of +Manuello's wrists. "Up wid that one and over to its mate!"</p> + +<p>But his prisoner was indeed a desperate man and did not intend to yield +to arrest as easily as it had appeared, at first; raising the manacled +wrist, he brought the steel bracelets down on the red head of the +Irishman, felling him to the ground; then it was but the work of a +moment to secure the loaded gun, and, after that, the tables were +completely turned for Manuello immediately became the master of the +situation; looking hastily about him to be sure that he was unobserved, +he was about to complete the utter defeat of the man who had given him +such a terrific fright by beating his brains out with the clubbed gun, +when he heard his own name spoken in a soft, low, scared voice; turning, +he beheld little Tessa standing behind him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Manuello," she cried, breathing pantingly, "what has happened here? +Are you hurt? There is blood on your wrist ... and ..." here she stopped +in consternation, "what else have you here?" for the Irishman had done, +at least, a part of his work well, having locked the handcuff which the +young man had almost forgotten he was wearing, "Take the hateful thing +off, dear Manuello ... do take it off ... I don't like to see it on your +wrist."</p> + +<p>"Easier said than done, my dear little Girl!" declared the victim, +smilingly. "But we can fix that somehow; in the meantime, we will let +this fellow lay where he has fallen. Someone of his tribe will, likely, +be along, soon, and they can take care of each other. Come along, Tessa, +we will see what we can do with this piece of jewelry ... it is rather +unwieldy ... I don't like the look of it."</p> + +<p>The home of the young girl was not far distant and thither they +repaired; after repeated efforts to file through or break the manacles, +Tessa bethought herself of one possible method of releasing Manuello and +acted upon her idea at once; running out upon the street she approached +the place where the soldier had fallen, for he wore the uniform of the +Spanish army, intending to feel in all of his pockets for a key that +would unlock the handcuffs.</p> + +<p>As she drew near to the spot she heard low voices and crept along in the +shadow of the shrubbery that lined the narrow street until she was +within ear-shot; then she realized that two more soldiers had joined +their fallen comrade whom they had resuscitated, so that he was relating +to them something of the circumstances that had led to his present +plight:</p> + +<p>"Ye see, b'ys," he was saying, "I wanted to arrist the spalpeen +myself becase I think he is not only a revolutionist, but, also, a +mhurderer ... a fella we arristed yesterday tould me that he thinks +<i>this</i> wan killed the leader of thim all ... seems he was jealous of +him ... they both wanted the same ghirl...."</p> + +<p>Tessa, realizing that her errand was useless, turned to go back +silently, but the words she had heard had burned themselves into her +brain, and when she was again beside Manuello he seemed far different +to her than he had before; she found him almost crazy from fear of +discovery as he had failed in all of his efforts to free himself from +the device that had been placed upon his wrist.</p> + +<p>"Did you get the key?" he demanded, almost fiercely. "Where is it? This +cursed thing is almost killing me!"</p> + +<p>Frightened at his expression and regretting her inability to help him, +the girl began to cry, lifting her apron to her eyes to wipe away her +tears; as she did so, the young man said to her, angrily:</p> + +<p>"Well ... <i>stand</i> there and cry while I am suffering ... you'll do a lot +of good that way ... hustle out and see if you can't find some tool to +get this thing off of me ... go to the village blacksmith and tell him +some lie or other ... ask him how you can get an iron off your little +sister's leg ... do something ... someone will come in and find me this +way!"</p> + +<p>"Even if they did, Manuello ... you are not under arrest ... the man +don't know where you are, now; but I'll go and try to find some way to +help you ... of course I will ..." said the generous-hearted girl, "I am +<i>so</i> sorry for you, and, now, that Estrella is gone...."</p> + +<p>She hurried out, then, leaving the young fellow in no pleasant mood, for +he had much to reflect upon and a pair of heavy handcuffs hanging to one +wrist is not conducive to a man's happiness.</p> + +<p>Tessa soon returned and had to report that her efforts in his behalf +were, again, unsuccessful, for the blacksmith had only said:</p> + +<p>"Bring the child to me and I will do what I can for her."</p> + +<p>Manuello was, now, almost in despair and he was wise enough to know that +cursing, while it might relieve his feelings to some extent, would not +really help the situation, so he pulled his sleeve down as far as he +could over the manacled wrist and proceeded to find out what he could +concerning Estrella.</p> + +<p>Tessa would have felt much freer than she did had she not remembered the +words of the soldiers concerning the crime of which they suspected the +young man, and only told him that Estrella had come running to her, that +morning, and had told her that she was going away for a while but that +she would see her again, soon.</p> + +<p>Manuello had to content himself with this, hoping to find out more from +Tessa within a day or so, and went away, divided between a desire to +revenge himself upon the man who had tried to arrest him and +self-congratulation upon his escape, but most of all he pondered how to +get the hateful handcuffs from his wrist, for, besides being painful and +unwieldly, he knew that they would attract attention to him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + + +<p>Manuello was almost desperate regarding the manacles still clamped +firmly on his wrist; it left his right hand free and he could use the +fingers of the left hand, so he bound the wrist, placing the second +handcuff above the one that was locked and laying it as close to the +wrist as possible; he left his hand free as he could and simply told his +family that he had cut the arm when engaged in practicing with the +machete in the use of which weapon the Cuban insurgents were especially +accomplished; this explanation of his supposed wound was sufficient and +no one had any idea of the actual facts except Tessa and she was both +too loyal to the young man and too frightened because of the reported +crime he had committed to do anything but keep his secret inviolate; he +depended upon her acknowledged affection for him and had no doubt that +she would defend him if occasion required such a proceeding; his chief +anxiety, at present, was to find out the where-abouts of Estrella, for +he was of a fiery and passionate nature and the disappearance of the +girl but added to his desire for her.</p> + +<p>On the morning after the accident he had sustained he started out with +the determination to discover where Estrella had gone, for, as she had +said that she would soon see his own family as well as little Tessa, he +reasoned that she could not have gone very far away; so he began his +search by climbing to the top of the hill behind the village, intending +to try to locate her hiding-place by the simple method of checking off +in his own mind impossible localities for concealment and then deciding +which of the probable ones to investigate; having reached the point of +vantage he wished, he began by cutting out the refectory ... then his +own home ... then Tessa's dwelling-place ... then numerous small houses +where he knew it would be practically impossible for another human being +to be entertained in.</p> + +<p>Just as he had reached this point in his revery, his attention was +attracted to the mansion on the hill, and he began to observe, closely, +the movements of every one who came to or went from the house; he did +not really suspect that Estrella was there, but his mind wandered idly +over the residences within his view and lighted upon the mansion on the +hill as something different from the other dwellings he could see.</p> + +<p>As he watched the gateway of Ruth Wakefield's residence, he noticed, +emerging from it, old Mage whom he remembered as being there, in what he +considered to be the capacity of an upper servant; he looked at the old +woman because she happened to be in his line of vision and not because +he had any curiosity concerning her movements; but the nature of the +errand upon which she seemed to be bound not only surprised, but amused, +him, for she carried in her hand a large basket of choice cut flowers, +and, from time to time, as she walked along, she stooped to gather dried +leaves that had fallen in the pathway with which she seemed trying to +conceal the contents of her basket; she seemed satisfied, at last, and +ceased to gather leaves, while she quickened her pace to a sort of slow +amble which gait she maintained until she had passed beyond Manuello's +view; he wondered, idly, why she covered the flowers, and was about to +move to a point which commanded a more perfect view of the pathway, when +his attention was again attracted to the gateway of the Wakefield +residence.</p> + +<p>This time, it was quite a different person who appeared between the high +stone pillars ... a tall woman, evidently young and active, plainly but +serviceably dressed, stood, for a moment, shading her eyes with her hand +from the glaring sunlight, peering down the pathway along which old Mage +had just been walking; she remained in this position but a very short +time, however, for she was, soon, joined by another woman who seemed as +much interested as she had been in watching the pathway; as the two +young creatures stood there, side by side, Manuello could not but remark +upon the similarity of their forms and general appearance ... both were +evidently strong and agile ... both seemed possessed of bounding health +and youthful vigor; it seemed to him that one of the women looked more +sturdy than the other one did, but, as she was wearing a wide and +drooping hat, such as many of the natives of the Island were accustomed +to wear, he could not see her face; as she approached the woman who had +first appeared in the gateway, there was something in her manner that +seemed familiar to the young fellow, and, as she put one hand, gently, +on the other's shoulder, he, again, seemed to recognize something +familiar in the movement; then she spoke, and, although he was too far +away to hear her words, he knew the tones of her voice, and realized +that his search for Estrella was ended.</p> + +<p>As this knowledge was fully impressed upon him he cast about in his mind +as to what method of procedure to take to bring about his desired end +which was to see and talk with the girl, himself, as soon as possible; +first, he thought to approach the house as a fruit-peddler, but put that +thought aside as unlikely to attain his object ... then, he decided to +spy around the place until he located Estrella's own room, intending to +bring his guitar and sing under her window some native love-songs, +hoping to impress upon her his undying affection and imagining that, now +that Victorio was out of the way, his cause would be more likely to +succeed than before.</p> + +<p>He had started out to carry this intention into practice, leaving his +original position among the heavy timber that skirted the hill, and +going more into the open than before in order to more closely approach +the house, when he became aware of another presence in the wooded +section that he had just left; he could not make out just what this +presence was ... his ideas concerning it were hazy and uncertain, but he +felt sure that he was not alone and, now that he had left the timber, it +seemed to him that the unknown presence was following close behind him; +he turned sharply around but discovered nothing behind him and kept on +in the direction he had been proceeding in, although his nerves were +keyed up and ready to jump at the slightest sound; suddenly, directly in +front of him, he heard a voice saying:</p> + +<p>"Do not approach any nearer to her. If you insist upon doing so you must +take the consequences which are freighted with bitter pain for you."</p> + +<p>It seemed to Manuello that this voice was within himself and came from +his own thoughts and, yet, it seemed, also, to be in the pathway ahead +of him, separated from him and yet a part of him; he hesitated, as above +everything else, the natives of Cuba are superstitious and Manuello was +no exception to this rule; his own criminal record, naturally, made him +timid; besides, Estrella's evidently favored position as a member of the +household of Ruth Wakefield elevated the girl in his estimation, for +everyone in that neighborhood had great respect, amounting almost to +veneration, for the inmates of the mansion on the hill.</p> + +<p>The young man stopped in his progress toward the house and turned his +attention, for an anxious moment, to his manacled wrist, which gave him +a great deal of uneasiness and some suffering as well; as he held this +wrist with his free right hand, he had his back toward the path that led +down into the village, and was unaware of the nearness of Father Felix +until the good Priest touched him on the elbow; wheeling round, +instantly, he faced the only man he was not afraid to meet among his +neighbors; for, although the Priest had told him he knew that he +possessed a guilty secret, yet he, also was aware of Father Felix' usual +kindness and protection exercised over his people, so that it was with a +feeling of relief that he discovered who the new-comer was.</p> + +<p>"My Son," said the Priest, "you are abroad early ... what news have you +heard in the village, this morning?"</p> + +<p>Manuello looked at him searchingly as if to discover why he asked him +this question, wondering if he had heard of his own encounter of the +evening before, but failing to gain any knowledge of the secret thoughts +of the Priest, he said at random:</p> + +<p>"Everything is about as usual, I guess ... nothing startling seems to +have happened during the night."</p> + +<p>"I heard," began Father Felix, "I heard that a soldier had been struck +down by some marauder shortly after the time of your leaving my society, +last night, and I thought you might have happened to be in the vicinity +of the crime. By-the-way," he went on, solicitously, "what has happened +to your left wrist?"</p> + +<p>"Oh ... that!" said Manuello, carelessly. "That is simply a love token +from the machete of a friend of mine while we were sparring for +practice; as you said, last night, Cuba may have need of us fighting-men +soon, and we wish to be ready to take our proper place when the time for +action comes."</p> + +<p>"Well, be careful of your weapons, my Son ... save your steel for your +enemies and those of your native land."</p> + +<p>Speaking in this manner, the good Priest pursued his journey up the hill +and disappeared within the gateway where Manuello had, only very +recently, seen Estrella standing with the mistress of the mansion; he +decided, under the existing circumstances, to retrace his steps toward +the village, contenting himself with the thought that he now knew where +Estrella was; he thought that he might as well impart this information +to little Tessa, and, also, he wanted to find out whether she had heard +anything more about his encounter with the soldier on the street, also +if she had thought of any way whereby he might be freed from the +manacles which became more and more distressing and uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>With this thought in his mind, he was approaching Tessa's home when he +was intercepted by the very individual he meant to inquire about.</p> + +<p>"What the divil!" exclaimed the Irishman. "Sky-larking by daylight +<i>this</i> toime, me foine high-way-mon?"</p> + +<p>Manuello had drawn back, prepared to again bring the hated handcuffs +down upon the poll of the man before him, if he offered any indignities, +when he was surprised to notice a wheedling tone in the voice of his +opponent of the evening before.</p> + +<p>"Indade, mon," began the soldier, "I am in need of those putty bracelets +I gave ye, last night; a prisint like them is not bestowed ivry day, I +tell yees. The only thanks ye give me was a crack on me head wid em +which took away but little of me sinse as I had but little in the +beginning.... I might have known betther than to have tackled a foine, +up-standin' fella like yees, single-handed. Yer a foine figure of a mon, +me Frind, and I'd like mighty well to serve be the side of ye ... how +would it <i>do</i>, now, fer ye to enlist in the arrmy and give me back me +bracelets if I spake a good worrd fer ye wid me Captain?"</p> + +<p>Manuello looked at him in surprise, but, seeing a chance to get rid of +the hateful manacles, decided to agree to the proposition of the other, +at least for the time being.</p> + +<p>"All right," he acquiesced, "go ahead and take these cursed thing off +me, first, and then tell me where you want me to go."</p> + +<p>The wary Irishman watched the face of the Cuban, doubtfully, but, as he +really wished to be able to account for the handcuffs, he took the key +from his pocket and stepped a little closer to the young fellow in order +to use it, being careful to keep a firm hold on his gun the while; just +as he was about to unlock the manacles, he heard a slight noise behind +him and looked out of the tail of his eye to be horrified by the near +proximity of one of his superior officers; instantly, he changed his +attitude toward Manuello, dropped the key, and pointed his Mauser rifle +straight at the heart of his prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Ye will ... will yees?" he cried out. "Oi'll see about that, ye +Spalpeen! Shtand shtill unless ye want a bullet in yer gullet! Now, +Sir," he said politely to the officer, "ef ye'll be ahfter clicking the +other bracelet on his right wrist whilst I kape him covered, Oi'll be +much obleeged to ye. He's a nasty customer, Sir," he explained, kindly, +"and Oi've been havin' a rough toime wid 'em."</p> + +<p>The Spanish officer stepped gingerly up to the prisoner, seized hold of +the manacled wrist and reached for the other uplifted hand; but +Manuello had had enough of their society and proceeded to rid himself +of it by striking at the officer with his left wrist while he made a +grab at the rifle of the Irishman with his right hand; the young Cuban +was wiry and his muscles were like taut steel; the officer went down +like an ox before the slaughterer but the Irishman discharged his gun +regardless of the aim which had been destroyed by the action of the +living target; the result was disastrous to all parties for Manuello +felt a sharp, stinging pain in one of his legs, but, in spite of this, +he clubbed the rifle and brought it down over the skull of the Spanish +soldier, limping away, again a conqueror, but sorely wounded, for the +bullet had passed clear through the injured limb, tearing through the +flesh and bone as is the manner of the long and slender Mauser missile.</p> + +<p>In this emergency, the young fellow, knowing that he would be hunted +after the last encounter, not only because of the crime of which he had +tacitly been accused by the soldier but because he had struck down a +Spanish officer, and realizing that, with the manacles still locked upon +his wrist, he was a marked man, bethought him of a deserted hut far back +among the palms that grew all over the Island in tropical profusion; if +he could but reach this hut, he thought, and first apprise Tessa of his +new mishap, he might hide there while he recovered from his wound which +was beginning to give him great pain as it recovered from its first +numbness.</p> + +<p>Walking as erectly as he could under the circumstances and keeping his +left wrist well covered by the wide cuff of his jacket-sleeve, he was +proceeding along the familiar street, when he met the girl he was in +search of, strolling placidly along, little dreaming of the imminent +peril in which he had just been placed, for the discharge of the Mauser +rifle had been almost as silent as smokeless; telling her in a few +hurried sentences of his great need and describing to her the location +of the ruined hut he had in mind, Manuello retired from the scene.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + + +<p>Tessa was very much distressed as to the condition of Manuello and, +feeling that he depended upon her alone, cast about in her mind as to +how she could assist him; to begin with, she was anxious about the heavy +handcuffs hanging to his poor wrist, as she put it in her gentle +thoughts of the man whom she suspected of being a murderer; if, however, +the charge against him were true, she felt that the crime was committed +in the heat of a jealous passion, and being what she was, herself, she +excused it for that reason, for a Cuban girl is apt to love as madly +and as unreasonably as any man ... to her, Manuello was almost a +demi-god ... it had been a hard trial for the little woman to give him +up to Estrella, even, and, now that he was in dire need and the girl of +his first choice had deliberately deserted him, it seemed to her as if +she had the right to let her own wild love guide her in all that she did +with regard to him.</p> + +<p>She was slowly retracing her steps to her own home with the intention of +getting some supplies and managing to evade the vigilance of the rest of +her family sufficiently to carry them to the man she loved ... her eyes +were directed to the path along which she walked, idly, yet, all at +once, those dark eyes lighted up with sudden joy and she hastily swooped +down, like a fluffy little bird upon a morsel of food, and took into her +hand a small and intricate-patterned key; she hoped that this was the +key that would unlock the hated manacles from Manuello's wrist and, +regarding this as a good omen, she concealed the little deliverer in her +bosom, tying it in the corner of the kerchief that was crossed upon her +breast.</p> + +<p>When Tessa had secured what necessities she found available on the spur +of the moment, she at once concealed them as far as possible and +prepared to ascend the side of the hill toward the ruined hut where +Manuello had directed her to come; her heart was fluttering wildly for +this was her first secret mission, as she had always had someone near +her during her short life on earth: she wound her way among the cactus +plants that covered the ground in almost all directions, with an +unerring instinct that was of more value to her than any education could +have been for the moment, for one unaccustomed to the wild cacti in Cuba +might, easily, become bewildered, as it is necessary to walk almost in +circles among the thick clumps of prickly foliage.</p> + +<p>Tessa was young, but the women of Cuba, like those of most tropical +countries, mature early in life, and she already had the strong maternal +instinct that is a part of normal womanhood; this instinct now directed +her to watch over Manuello as if he were, indeed, her child, instead of +the man to whom she had given the first wild love of her fiery nature; +for women are made that way ... no matter what their own body may demand +of them, it is as natural for them to put all personal feeling aside and +allow a higher, more unselfish love to rule them entirely, as it is for +a man to, first gratify his own desires, and, then, if so be he can +without inconvenience to himself in any way, minister to the wants of +the woman in the case, all well and good, but if, on the contrary, to +care for the woman would, in any way, cause him to exercise self-control +and self-sacrifice, why, of course, he seeks another woman as soon as he +can well rid himself of the one who has flouted him; I am now speaking +of the general run of men ... there are exceptions to this rule, of +course, just as there are exceptions to the rule just stated regarding +women ... not all women are as little Tessa was, but most of them are +and it is indeed fortunate for the world of men and women that this is +as it is ... wonderful beyond the ways of human beings is the love of a +pure woman ... wonderful and worthy of the highest respect and devotion +of any man is the almost angelic love that women often bestow on most +unworthy objects.</p> + +<p>It was so in this case, for, while the girl was winding among the cacti +that hindered her advance up the hill, the man was lying in a miserable +heap in the corner of the deserted hut, cursing not only his own hard +luck, but even the girl on whom he depended for sustenance and care; +with maledictions on his tongue and the heavy manacles on his wrist, and +with the increasing pain and torment of his undressed wound, the poor +fellow was far from appearing much as had the gay peasant who had +congratulated himself on having escaped from prison, and, at the same +time, having rid himself of his rival in the affections of Estrella, +who, now, seemed lost to him.</p> + +<p>When the girl reached the ruined hut she found the object of her loving +care under the circumstances described above, and it took all of her +courage to face the situation alone and unaided by surgical skill for +they both realized that discovery would be almost certain to be fatal to +the man who now lay groaning and cursing by turns, even while his +ministering angel in human form knelt at his side and unlocked the +handcuffs from his wrist, for, luckily, she had happened upon the very +means of deliverance from the manacles for which they had both longed; +then Tessa gathered dead palm branches with which she fashioned a rude +bed for the sufferer, after which she raised his head upon a small +pillow which she had thoughtfully brought with her, for she was a sturdy +little peasant and could act as a beast of burden without harm to +herself; having fixed him up as comfortably as she could, under the hard +circumstances, she insisted upon his eating and drinking some of the +refreshments she had carried up the hill for him; she had used what +skill she had in bathing and binding the wounded leg, and, as the bullet +had gone clear through, there was little else to do so far as that was +concerned; then they began to consult as to what method of procedure +would be best for them to take; in this, of course, Manuello thought +only of himself, as was natural to a man of his type, while little +Tessa, as was also natural to one of her trusting and loving +disposition, also thought only of his comfort and safety.</p> + +<p>"I must come to you each day until the wound heals, my dear Friend," +said the earnest little woman. "I must bring you what you will need and +I must be very careful not to be detected in doing this. I wish ..." she +ended, earnestly, "I wish that dear Estrella could come and see you for +it would do you more good than anything that I can do for you."</p> + +<p>"You are a darling little girl, Tessa," said her turbulent patient. "You +ought to satisfy any reasonable man; Estrella don't care anything at all +about me, and I am beginning to think that I can get along without her +as long as I can have you."</p> + +<p>The adoring look in his dark eyes as he said these words was like manna +in the wilderness to little Tessa, for she could not help being pleased +to think that, after all, maybe Manuello would fix his affections upon +her small person, since Estrella had so often flouted him and shown him +plainly by her great preference for Victorio that she did not love him; +the name she had just used in her thoughts brought up the hateful +suspicion aroused in her by the remarks of the Irishman who had seemed, +at first glance, to be a Spaniard, but who, as soon as he opened his +mouth to speak, proved his nationality beyond the shadow of a doubt.</p> + +<p>But the loving girl put her thought aside almost at once ... she did not +wish to believe the suspicion to be true and she did not intend to +believe it—until she had to, if such a sad time could ever come to her; +just at present all the strength of her being was concentrated upon the +desire to aid Manuello in whatever manner she could.</p> + +<p>To further this desire, she arranged a signal whereby he might know that +she was coming up the hill and concealed, as well as she could the +approach to the hiding-place as well as the hut itself, by throwing, in +apparent disorder, as if blown by a strong wind, such branches and twigs +as she could find by a hurried search.</p> + +<p>She did not stay any longer than she thought was necessary for the +comfort of her patient for she was determined to continue her care of +him if possible and realized that a prolonged absence from her own home +might bring suspicion upon them both; as she was leaving, she looked +pitifully weak and small to cope with such a complicated situation +alone; even Manuello realized, for a moment, the devotion of the girl, +and called her over to his side to say a word or two at parting.</p> + +<p>"Dear little Tessa," he began, "this is going to be a hard task that you +have undertaken. I wonder if I am worth all this trouble. Perhaps you +would just better turn me over to the soldiers and let them work their +will on me; it may be that I will never be able to reward you for all +your care; of course, it may, on the other hand, be possible for me to +offer you help and comfort when you, yourself, may be in need of it. Now +that you have freed me from those shackles, I begin to feel my old +strength and courage coming back, and if I ever am again as I was before +this last mishap, I will surely reward you somehow for all this +sacrifice that you are making for me."</p> + +<p>This speech, coming from a man in the condition of Manuello, appealed to +the little woman so forcibly that she knelt beside his rude couch and +laid both her small, dark hands on his brow as she looked deeply into +his eyes; this position, being very favorable to the impulse that came +over the man as he lay there, made it easy for him to draw her head, +with its great mass of black hair, down upon his shoulder; as her cheek +was laid against his own, Manuello held her small face closely with both +his hands while he kissed first her trembling lips, then each of her +eye-lids, for she had closed her eyes in a sort of blind ecstasy, then +her low forehead, then the top of her small head and, finally, her +quivering chin.</p> + +<p>The impulse that prompted him to give these welcome caresses lasted only +a moment for the pain in his leg was beginning to be very insistent and +a groan of agony took the place of the loving words that had been upon +his eager tongue during the moment when he forgot his wound, but the +effect of those few wild moments of unbridled passion went with the +little woman down the hill and covered her small body with a delicious +glow that took away much of the terror and apprehension with which she +viewed the situation in which she found herself.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield found Estrella to be much more of a companion than she +had thought she would, and found that, in the innocence and naturally +responsive disposition of the girl, she could almost forget the tie that +had brought them together; had the girl suspected the truth as to +Victorio's relations with the mistress of the mansion on the hill, the +situation might have been strained or even acute, but, as it was, Ruth +only pitied, while she almost envied, the sorrow of the sweetheart of +her own husband.</p> + +<p>On the morning when Manuello had discovered the where-abouts of +Estrella, the two women had been watching for Father Felix, intending to +consult with him concerning something that they both wished to do and +yet were not sure of the wisdom of; when he came, they both waited, +anxiously, for his first words, for they depended upon them for +enlightenment regarding a question in which they were both much +interested.</p> + +<p>"Miss Ruth and Estrella," he began, addressing both women, "I have great +news for you but we must be cautious in discussing what I have to impart +to you; if, through our carelessness, the information I am about to give +you, should miscarry, it might mean almost as great a disaster as the +recent explosion in Havana Harbor. We must be sure that we are not +overheard. I think we would better repair to the library, Miss Ruth, if +that would meet with your approval. I think we would be more secure from +eaves-droppers inside the house than here. I just met Manuello, my +Dear," he said speaking to Estrella, "as I came up the path. I do not +like to have him lurking around your dwelling-place. I am sure that he +is in some sort of hiding from the authorities and I dread to have him +near you, for he has an evil look in his eyes, lately. Be very careful, +my Daughter, as you go about the place or into the village ... it might +even be well for you to remain away from your former home for some time +to come. I can carry any news of you that will be necessary for them to +know or do any little errands that you may think should be done. +By-the-way," he ended, turning his attention, once more, to Ruth, "I met +your old nurse hurrying along down toward the village as if in great +haste; as she does not often walk down the hill I noticed the +circumstances."</p> + +<p>"Old Mage!" exclaimed Ruth. "Why, I did not know that she had gone out. +Do you know anything of this, Estrella? Did she tell you that she had +work to do in the village? Was there something that had to be secured +for the larder, at once, that would not brook delay? Dear me, I hope she +will not over-tire herself. She is not very strong any more and I try to +have her, always, take very good care of herself. As you may know, good +Father," she went on, "old Mage is almost the only living human friend +on whom I can rely and her fealty to me is beyond question. If I should +find old Mage untrue to me," she declared, "I would not expect the sun +to rise the following morning. I must look into this, and, if you will +excuse me for a few moments, I will do so at once."</p> + +<p>"Now, my Daughter," said the Priest when Estrella and he were left +alone, "I wish to say to you, privately, that you must, from this time +on, avoid meeting Manuello in any way, both for yourself and also for +the well-being of your good friend, Miss Ruth; the fellow is +evil-minded, lately, and I believe would not stop at robbery or even, +though I greatly regret to think so, <i>murder</i>," he uttered the dreadful +word softly but emphatically, "if he believed that he would benefit by +either crime and I must urge you not to allow him to come here to see +you under any possible circumstances. As I said before, I can do what +must be done as between your former family and yourself."</p> + +<p>Estrella gladly acquiesced in this good judgment of Father Felix and +agreed to do all in her power to avoid meeting Manuello which she had no +desire, personally, to do, as she dreaded his protestations of love as +much as she would have dreaded his anger for any other reason in the +common affairs of daily life.</p> + +<p>In a short time, Ruth returned, explaining that old Mage had, indeed, +gone down to the village, though for what purpose she had been unable, +so far, to discover: they, then, repaired to the library and carefully +closed all doors and windows before Father Felix began to tell them what +they were so anxious to hear.</p> + +<p>"My dear Friends," he began, "the information that I have to impart to +you is of a very delicate as well as secret nature and must be so +regarded by both of you. Estrella, to you, especially, I wish to say +that you must not, under any circumstances, breathe a single word of +what I will say to you for it is of vital importance to the native land, +as I believe, of all three of us. For I have reason to think that you, +as well as Miss Ruth and myself, are an American. I know that all of +your sympathies are with our native land, at least, and, in trusting you +with this information, I am, in a measure, making you one of us in deed +and in truth, whether you are so by reason of your birth or not. Before +I go any further, I want your assurance of what I believe to be true."</p> + +<p>He waited a moment for the girl to speak, then, seeing her evident +embarrassment, he added, kindly:</p> + +<p>"You need have no fear of either of us, Estrella. If you have friends in +this wide world, you are with two of them at this moment."</p> + +<p>At these earnest words, the expression of the girl's face changed +somewhat and she replied to the implied interrogatory of the Priest:</p> + +<p>"I, also, believe that I am an American, although I do not know anything +of my own parentage beyond what my foster parents have told me. I do not +even know," she blushed while she made the statement, "whether my father +and mother had been married before my birth.... I have no means of +finding out anything more of myself than that I am an honest girl and +that I am deeply grateful to both you and Miss Ruth for your great +kindness to me in my great sorrow. As far as my fealty to America is +concerned," she ended, proudly, "I am as true to that great country as +anyone who knows himself to be a citizen of it. I would, gladly, lay my +feeble life upon the altar of what I believe to be my native land ... +the United States of America."</p> + +<p>She pronounced the words with reverence and bowed her head as if in +prayer, so that Father Felix no longer hesitated, but proceeded, at +once:</p> + +<p>"At this moment, an American squadron is in Asiatic waters, ready to +move, at the moment its Commander receives the cablegram from the +President of our own country, against the Spaniard, almost on his own +territory. By this move it is hoped to so cripple him that we, here, in +Cuba, may, with the help of our soldiers and sailors, conquer and drive +from the Island those who have so long usurped the places of great power +among us."</p> + +<p>When the good Priest had pronounced these fateful words, he found his +two auditors sitting erect, as if at attention, with hands folded in +their laps, and eyes fixed upon his face in breathless eagerness. Ruth +was the first to break the silence.</p> + +<p>"I pray the good God," she said, softly and reverently, "I pray God to +strengthen the hands of those who are to do this great, good work! I +trust that those who will be engaged in battle may be prepared to meet +their Maker with clean hearts, if with bloody hands. War," she cried, +suddenly, losing her attitude of prayer in the violence of her emotions, +"war is a terrible calamity but it seems that, only through war can a +nation be purged of such foul crimes as have been committed right here +in Cuba."</p> + +<p>Estrella watched her with flashing eyes and sympathetic expression and +the good Priest crossed himself and clenched his fists at the same +time, for, had occasion required such action at his hands, it was +evident that Father Felix could have changed from the spiritual guide to +the fiery enthusiast willing to take his place among the fighting men +who would defend what he believed to be a sacred cause.</p> + +<p>"Now, Father Felix," demanded the practical side of Ruth Wakefield, +"what action can we take in this matter to help the good cause? Is there +not some preparation that we can make to welcome our soldiers to Cuba, +for, of course," she lifted her head, proudly, "our boys will win +whatever conflict they may become engaged in ... it is only a question +as to how many of them may be injured or even killed in the terrible +encounter. Every man in America," said this American woman, "is a +soldier if he is needed in that capacity, for every American, man, woman +or child, is a <i>patriot</i> ... devoted to the sacred traditions and +splendid example of those who followed <i>George Washington</i> to victory +over those who had oppressed and insulted them."</p> + +<p>"My Daughters," said Father Felix, rising, "I must leave you for the +present. I will find out what we may do to assist our countrymen and +will come again to let you know the result of my search for further +information. All we can do, now, is to hold the information I have just +given to you inviolate and prepare ourselves, spiritually, to meet +whatever emergency may arise. My Daughters," he ended, stretching out +his hands in blessing over their bowed heads, "we shall have work to do +and we will do it with our might. May God, in His great Mercy, guide us +into the path in which He intended us to walk."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + + +<p>On the day of Manuello's search for the girl he had so madly and +hopelessly loved, old Mage made a surreptitious visit to the little +cemetery in San Domingo where she had seen the body of Victorio Colenzo +laid away in its final resting-place; she went among the new-made +graves, of which there were a goodly number for so small a graveyard, +until she found the one she sought: she stopped, then, took the dried +leaves from the top of her large basket, removed a beautiful bunch of +roses, tied, carefully, with a broad blue ribbon, and laid them, softly, +upon the top of the mound of fresh earth; after having done this, she +took a small object wrapped in tissue paper, from the very bottom of the +basket, dug a small hole under the roses and buried it, covering it +carefully, packing the ground over it, at first, and, then putting loose +earth over the top of the miniature grave, so as to conceal its +existence as much as possible, she again laid the roses carelessly over +the spot.</p> + +<p>Having performed this little ceremony, old Mage looked down at her +handiwork and said, apparently addressing herself, as no other human +being was in sight at the time:</p> + +<p>"There! <i>Now</i> I hope that she will forget all about him ... she will +think that she has mislaid the ring ... I had a hard time to get hold of +it. I hope that it will never come to life again any more than him ... +let them both lay there together. You lying pup, you!" she cried, +shaking her trembling old fist at the grave. "You <i>lay</i> there and don't +you ever try to come near my dear young Lady again! The <i>idea</i> of an +ignorant thing like you ever daring to come near her, anyway. I wouldn't +be so darned mad at you," she ended, "for you were a mighty good-looking +fellow and any woman might have been proud of your appearance, once she +could overlook your dark skin, but you even fooled <i>me</i>, doggone you! +You <i>lay</i> there, now, and never do you dare to try to fool any more +women ... three of us is enough in <i>this</i> neighborhood, anyway."</p> + +<p>She drew a long sigh of relief after this speech and hurried out of the +cemetery with her empty basket; she had slipped away when she thought no +one was observing her and intended to tell Ruth after her return what +she had done with the exception of any reference to the ring which, as +the reader may have guessed, was the wedding ring that Ruth had, up to +this time, kept always on her left hand or in her jewel-case on her +little dressing-table before which she always sat when she combed and +brushed her long and beautifully luxuriant brown hair; she had taken +the ring off the night before, little dreaming that she was touching it +for the last time, and sadly laid it among her jewels, thinking of the +bright face and laughing dark eyes that had looked so handsome to her +when he had put that little ring upon her finger, whispering of his +undying love and of the fact that she and she alone was, and had been +since his first meeting with her, the entire mistress of his hither-to +untouched heart; she had even shed a few tears over the little ring, +then, and old Mage, silently witnessing this fact, determined that she +should never again have that opportunity; so, after Ruth was sweetly +sleeping, the old woman slipped into her room and removed the object of +her scorn; she lay awake almost all of that night, planning how to +secrete or do away with the visible bond that had united her dear young +Lady to an unworthy mate; at length, toward daylight, it seemed to old +Mage as if someone had whispered to her what to do with the ring so that +poetic justice would be done to the first youthful passion of Ruth +Wakefield's innocent life; acting upon this suggestion, for so it seemed +to her, feeling sure that she had solved the problem so nearly affecting +the life of the one she loved best in all her world, she carried out the +plan she instantly formed, and, while she was a very weary old woman, +from lack of sleep and unusual exercise, when she again reached her +much-loved home, she had within her spirit a sense of satisfaction that +was beyond anything she had felt since Ruth had married the man whose +grave she had, that morning, visited; she felt, in some sense, to blame +for the marriage, as she had not strenuously opposed it, and found +herself much in the position she used to occupy when Ruth had been a +little tot and she had allowed her to do some small thing of which she +knew her parents would not approve.</p> + +<p>Now, she felt relieved because, as it seemed to her, she had sort of +evened up matters, and, after informing Ruth that she had gone to the +grave and put the roses there, she never intended to speak of Victorio +Colenzo again, and, as far as possible, she intended to rid Ruth of his +memory; with this thought in mind, she picked up many little memontos of +him which she found lying about the place ... a guitar here and a ribbon +there ... a photograph, perhaps, showing the dashing young Cuban in +military dress, which much became him, or mounted on a fine horse which +he, for the moment, had secured the use of ... even in one picture he +appeared standing, proudly, behind Ruth as if protecting her; all of +these and anything else that old Mage could find that would inevitably +remind Ruth of the man she had married, she destroyed ruthlessly and +with inward glee; her object in all this was, really, to protect her +dear young Lady, and, yet, at the same time, she had as nearly a +fiendish delight as it was possible for her ever to entertain, in, as +she naïvely put it to herself, "getting even" with the handsome fellow +who had "pulled the wool over" her own eyes as well as the brighter and +stronger ones of her young Lady.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield was never enlightened as to this little by-play, but she +reaped the benefits of it in many ways, for it is true that visible +reminders are necessary to a great many people, and, even the strongest +minds are affected by the sudden sight of something reminding them of +some object formerly dear to them; it will give almost anyone a start to +come, unexpectedly, upon a picture or almost any tangible token of +someone once dear, no matter what may have happened to take away that +quality; lovers, by preserving evidence, like withered flowers, +pictures, songs and poems, often lay up for themselves future agony of +spirit ... the objects that are so dear to them may turn about and rend +their inmost souls; full many times, it were better had the love-tokens +been destroyed in some such way as old Mage did away with the visible +memories attached to the objects which her eager hands closed upon; this +secret employment, necessarily long drawn out, as she did not wish to be +discovered in her labor of love, took up a good deal of the extra time +she found herself in possession of on account of the presence of +Estrella in the home, for the girl took up many household duties, gladly +and naturally, knowing that in work she could, to some extent, forget +her own sorrow, and wishing to lighten the labors of old Mage who was +always kind to her.</p> + +<p>After the information imparted to Ruth by Father Felix, regarding +national affairs, she was very thoughtful and very busy, for there were +very many ways in which she could make preparations to begin the duties +which she expected to take up as soon as occasion would require them of +her; she studied into trained nursing and found a sort of school in +Havana to which she took Estrella and where they both learned many +essential things pertaining to the calling which they were both trying +to fit themselves for; in many ways they were both better prepared for +the work of caring for the sick and wounded than many women would ever +become, no matter how much they would be trained, for they were both +earnest and helpful, tender-hearted and serious; in all wars, there are +women who seek the familiar association with men which the calling of a +nurse entails, with no better object than just the proximity to +masculine humanity involved, but there are, also, such women as Ruth +Wakefield who had no thought in the matter except to help where help of +her should anywhere be needed ... to succor those who were not to blame +for the accidents that had befallen them ... who were, indeed, entitled +to the tenderest consideration on account of the very accidents which +had laid them on the clean, white cots that are stretched along the +wards and in the private rooms of the great, shadowy hospitals where +tender women bend above the beds of pain and minister to those who lie +there, suffering and weak, both in body and spirit.</p> + +<p>On one of these numerous visits to Havana, Ruth met a man who was an old +friend of her father's who was much interested in her lonely life and +who came out to her home to consult with her regarding the prospects of +her being surrounded by the din and pomp of actual warfare; at first, as +he viewed the situation she was placed in, he felt as Father Felix had +as to her staying in Cuba, in her immediate future, but listened to her +patriotic resolve with high enthusiasm, as he was intensely patriotic +himself and loved to think that she was every inch an American although +her life had, almost all of it, been spent away from her native land.</p> + +<p>Just as this man was leaving her home, one day, for he had been making +frequent visits there, he turned to look at her as she stood between the +pillar-like gate-posts at the entrance to the drive that led to her +residence; the picture she made, standing there in the glow of the +setting sun, lingered in his memory long after he had ceased to see her +as he saw her, then; Ruth was very fond of flowers and often wore a rose +tucked in among the coils of her beautiful, shining hair; that evening, +her selection among her flowers for this use had been a bunch of English +violets; the deep blue of the dainty blossoms accentuated the clear +gray color of her star-like eyes ... her healthy skin reflected the +sunset after-glow which was beginning to appear in the western sky; her +small mouth, with its cute corners, puckered up as if, she used to say +when a child, it had been too large to begin with and had been shirred +at the corners to make it the desired size, registered each change of +her inner feelings; her dress was elegant, yet simple, and her poise was +splendid; there are few earthly women who have sufficient poise of +manner and of nervous strength; most of them become excited and +distraught under slight stress of circumstances, but Ruth Wakefield was +an exception to this very general rule; there were very few things that +could shake her from her serenity of purpose and intention; one of these +things was being a witness to any injustice ... an indignity put upon a +weaker creature by a stronger one, whether the creature be gifted with +the power to express its feelings in human speech or not; those who knew +her best, were well aware of her strong regard for the rights of +so-called "dumb animals" ... her loving sympathy went out to every old +or poorly cared for horse she saw; she had been heard to say that she +would dearly love to have a good pasture, with waving grasses and +running water and sheltering trees where she could gather together all +the illy-used horses in the world and then just watch them enjoy their +surroundings; the smaller creatures, also, were her friends ... little +Tid-i-wats, to whom we have already been introduced, was a feline of +very uncertain temper and most impulsive and nerve-racking little +habits, yet to Ruth she could always go and be sure of a loving +reception no matter to what lengths she had gone, for Tid-i-wats was far +from being a perfect little cat; she very often reverted to her original +type and did things that no cat with a civilized ancestry would have +even thought could <i>be</i> done; but she knew that Ruth would only say:</p> + +<p>"She is not feeling very well, today; she is beginning to show her years +a little; I noticed a white hair only today, on her little neck; she is +my own old baby-cat, anyway, and I will always take as good care of her +as I possibly can."</p> + +<p>She would watch Ruth, calmly, while she straightened out whatever she, +her own self, had made it necessary to straighten, and, then, when the +young woman would, finally, sit down, no matter where Tid-i-wats +happened to be located at the time, she would very soon land on Ruth's +lap with no fear of a scolding even; she took advantage of the gentle +disposition of her care-taker, same as so many humans did.</p> + +<p>Ruth's father's friend looked long and earnestly at the tall, straight, +slender figure standing there at the entrance to her almost palatial +home and the picture remained in his memory during the balance of his +earthly life.</p> + +<p>While Ruth Wakefield and Estrella were preparing themselves to assist +their fellow-countrymen in case they should be needed, events were +shaping themselves so that it seemed likely that Cuba would be the stage +for the setting of as heroic a play as the world had ever witnessed: +Commodore Dewey had bottled up the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay and +Naval-Constructor Richmond P. Hobson had executed his daring and +unheard-of feat although the gallant <i>Merrimac</i> was sunk in Santiago +harbor.</p> + +<p>Soon after the formal declaration of war on April 25, 1898, President +McKinley sent forth a call for volunteers to enter the United States +army and navy. Instantly, almost, the ranks were more than filled with +active, alert, capable men, anxious, each one of them, to do his full +share of the work that lay before his beloved land.</p> + +<p>It was while active preparations for a war carried on in the interests +of humanity were progressing rapidly that Theodore Roosevelt became +prominent as representing the highest type of American manhood; he threw +himself, bodily, into the breach in the interests of his country; there +was no personal sacrifice which he was unwilling to make ... no task too +hard for him to attempt. He became, at once, an acknowledged and adored +leader of the young Americans who crowded around him, loving him like a +brother, and, at the same time, revering his quick judgment and his +dauntless courage.</p> + +<p>There is no figure in American history more heroic or more admired than +that of Theodore Roosevelt, mounted on a noble horse, in the uniform of +a United States Volunteer and wearing a wide campaign hat.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield was kept well informed as to what was being done by her +own people, mainly through the kindness of Father Felix who seldom +missed an evening's visit with her and her almost constant companion, +Estrella; the two girls, for they were no more than that in spite of +what they had passed through, had become the best of understanding +friends; the younger girl seldom spoke of her dead lover and Ruth found +that the memory of her husband had been forced into the background of +her thoughts by the march of passing events.</p> + +<p>One evening, Father Felix climbed the narrow pathway to the mansion on +the hill and found Ruth alone as Estrella, who was her almost constant +companion, now, had gone to the village on one of her infrequent visits +to her little friend, Tessa.</p> + +<p>The good Priest was glad to find Ruth alone as he had news of great +importance for her ... news that would lead to great developments in the +near future; after being assured of their entire privacy, he said:</p> + +<p>"We will have work to do, my dear Daughter, before many more months have +passed by. The American people have endured the sight of the injustice +and oppression exercised by the Spanish authorities toward the helpless +Cubans for a long time, now, and are becoming more and more determined +to break the Spanish rule. You and I must be prepared to assist and +succor our own dear boys when they begin to smite the enemy of right and +justice, hip and thigh. My course in this work has been made plain +before me.... I have applied for the position of Chaplain in the United +States service and I trust that they will allow me to accompany my +little flock right into the midst of every battle in which they will be +engaged. It seems to me that your path in this matter, my Daughter, is, +also, plain ... you can turn this charming home into a hospital to which +the sorely wounded or those who have fallen ill from any cause may be +brought and where they may receive the tender care which they will +deserve from every loyal heart and hand. I am certain that you will find +work for Estrella as well as for every member of your family, here, in +this connection, also you will be ably assisted by many who will flock +to your standard when they understand what you are doing. I, myself, +will always assist you in every way in my power and I may be able to +spare you some uncertainty and, possibly, also, some unpleasantness. My +Daughter," he ended, "there will be work for us to do that will require +all our strength and courage.... May God, in His great Wisdom, guide and +help us."</p> + +<p>Ruth clasped her hands and bowed her head as Father Felix prayed for +God's blessing on whatever enterprise they should be called upon to +undertake in the great cause in which they were both enlisted.</p> + +<p>After the good Priest had disappeared down the narrow path that led to +the little village of San Domingo, she sat, for a long time, in deep +revery, reflecting on the peace and prosperity that then covered the +tropical Island upon which she had lived for so many years and trying to +imagine what changes were likely to come in the wake of the probable +conflict of two great nations, for Ruth realized that America was +meeting a foe worthy of her steel in Spain whose far-famed Armada had +been made the subject of song and story; she had no doubt of the final +outcome ... whatever America attempted, that she would accomplish ... +but how many splendid American men would have to lie upon the bloody +battle-fields that would spring up all around her was yet an unsolved +problem; and that, she thought, proudly and devotedly, would be her +work ... to find those splendid American heroes, and to do for them as +much as if each one of them had been her own blood brother ... to succor +the wounded and bury the dead.</p> + +<p>This line of thought led her, inevitably, to the grave already lying +under the moonlight so near to her home, and, upon a sudden and almost +irresistable impulse, she snatched a wrap from the rack in the hall and +started down toward the little cemetery, thinking to bid an eternal +farewell to the grave of the man who had been, if only for a few short +months, her husband.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + + +<p>Ruth descended the hill with firm, sure steps for she was strong in body +as well as in spirit; she had reached the gate of the little cemetery +before the impulse that had prompted her action had had time to lose any +of its power, but, as she opened the gate and realized the lateness of +the hour, her natural caution led her to pause for a second and take in +her surroundings; she at once became conscious of the sound of a low, +sobbing voice saying:</p> + +<p>"Dear God, I came here all alone hoping that You would forgive him for +the crime that he committed if I came to you in secret beside the grave +of him whose life he took ... the sin is lying heavily upon his soul and +I wish to lift it from him by sacrificing my own peace of mind so that +it may be bestowed upon him, for he suffers grievously from his wound, +dear God, he suffers very grievously.... I pray that You will put the +sorrow for his crime upon me instead of him so that I may help him, for +he is greatly in need of more help than I can give him, being but a +simple-minded, feeble, little peasant and unfit to carry this heavy +load."</p> + +<p>The supplication ended in a rush of sobs that shook the inner +consciousness of her who listened to them, for Ruth was tender-hearted +above all her other instincts; she advanced into the little cemetery, +then, with far different feelings than the ones that brought her there.</p> + +<p>The sounds that she had heard came from the same direction she had meant +to take to reach the grave of Victorio Colenzo, so she proceeded along +the little path that she had followed, in secret, more than once before, +for, with Estrella in her home, she could not visit the last +resting-place of the body of the man whom she had loved as very young +and innocent women will, often, love a creature all unworthy of such +affection, except surreptitiously; so that it was easy for her to wind +among the simple little head-stones until she came to the grave she +sought.</p> + +<p>The form her eyes could just discern beside the tomb was small and +slight and cowering down as if, indeed, in earnest supplication; Ruth +advanced until she was standing very near the silent woman and, not +wishing to startle and confuse her by a sudden word, she very gently +touched her bowed head; instantly, the girl sprang up in wild alarm, for +it had taken all her courage to come there at all; Ruth reassured her as +quickly as she could by saying, softly:</p> + +<p>"Do not fear, whoever you may be; I am but another woman like yourself +and I wish to help you no matter what it is that is so troubling you; we +women should assist each other in this world, for women, as it seems to +me, were put into the world to suffer, mainly, so we ought to try to +help each other. Tell me what there is that I can do to help you, now."</p> + +<p>Tessa, for the reader has, no doubt, guessed that it was she, began to +sob wildly and clung to the other woman who had come to her so +strangely; she could not speak, at first, for crying, and, then, she +could not speak for fear of injuring the man she loved, and, so, she did +not speak at all, but ran away without one word of explanation, thinking +in that way she might avoid discovery.</p> + +<p>But the incident had shaken Ruth so that the memory of the man whose +body lay within that narrow grave grew dim and far away; she knew that +he had been unworthy of her love and must have scouted it in secret many +times, for, if he had not done so, how could he have made such love to +poor Estrella as he had while she, his lawful wife, yet lived upon the +earth? Ruth Wakefield had often said that truth was truth no matter +where it fell ... she'd even said that she would blame herself when +blame was hers to bear, and, so, she could not shield the memory of the +newly dead too far, and, so, she turned away from that low grave and +never went there again, and, as she slowly climbed the hill that led her +to her own loved home, Estrella overtook her in the path and, hand in +hand with her who had been wronged as she, herself, had been, she left +the memory of the handsome, gay deceiver lying there within the narrow +grave that hid his fast decaying body from the world of living men and +women; from that time, she did not suffer, in thinking of him, as she +had before; there are turning points in every road no matter where it +leads to, and this was a turn for Ruth in that sad road where she had +strayed, but only for a short and most unhappy, if, at moments, wildly +joyous, time.</p> + +<p>When Tessa left the grave of Victorio Colenzo, she fled in haste and +fright; she did not go at once to her own home for she feared that she +might be followed; she had become a fugitive as truly as Manuello was, +for, now, she was to him as if she were, indeed, his wife, attending to +all wants of his that she could satisfy, and, secretly and silently, +becoming but the shadow of the gay and pretty girl that she had been +before; her friends, who saw her often, noted this sad change, but did +not know its cause.</p> + +<p>Father Felix watched the girl at times and pitied her, for he had +learned that she had been devoted to the handsome peasant whom he also +was assured was guilty of some crime and, since his disappearance, he +had figured out some things that made him almost certain what the crime +had been, for the good Priest was much alone and thought more deeply +about many things than those who have not followed psychic lines of +reasoning.</p> + +<p>One morning, Father Felix went, again, to visit Ruth, and found Estrella +with her, and he asked the girl about her little friend who had been +dear to her from early little girlhood; Estrella told him that she had +not seen her for some time, as, when she'd gone to visit her, she had +been gone, and Tessa had not come to see her as she'd asked her to, for +she had left word for her where to come to find her, knowing she could +trust her, for she'd always been a true and faithful friend to her.</p> + +<p>The good Priest pondered for a moment, then he said:</p> + +<p>"I wish that you would go, at once, to see your little friend; I think +that she is at her home at present, and I wish that you would try to +discover what it is that is troubling her, for she is most unhappy over +something and I wish that you would help her if you can for she is in +need of understanding help at this time more than at any time during my +acquaintance with her. Go, my Daughter, find your little friend and try +to assist her if you can."</p> + +<p>Estrella, having secured the permission of Ruth, followed the advice of +the good Priest and departed on her errand of love and kindness.</p> + +<p>When Father Felix had been assured of their privacy, he turned to his +companion and said:</p> + +<p>"I have information of importance to give you, my Daughter. We are +drawing nearer and nearer to the goal we seek. Our compatriots are +growing weary of blockading Havana and other harbors near to us and will +very soon advance into the interior of Cuba. When that time comes there +will be great suffering all around us and I think that it will be best +for you and me to form a sort of secret society with passwords, which, +while simple in themselves, will convey to us a secret meaning. You and +I must act as one in this matter.... I am sure of your fealty and you +can rely upon mine but how many others there are near to us upon whose +loyalty we can depend I do not know. Estrella is discreet and thoughtful +for an uneducated and untrained girl, but she would have no idea of what +course to pursue under complicated or difficult circumstances, so that +it may be necessary to keep many events secret from her. There are many +spies already in Cuba and there are those among us who would be willing +to exchange the lives and property of their best friends for personal +emolument. I know one young fellow who has, as I believe, already sold +his birthright of truth and honor for a mess of pottage and there are +others of his ilk. I rely on you alone in all this village of San +Domingo ... you, alone, are strong and capable ... you, alone, are +thoroughly American and devoted to your native land. I rely on you, my +Daughter, and you may rely on me. Let us now arrange a secret pact +between us so that, should we be separated, we may be sure of any word +that each may send the other. If I send to you a message adding to the +body of it the word <i>pax</i> alone, then I will mean to signify that all is +well with me and that I do not know of any secret danger threatening +you, but if to the word <i>pax</i> I add <i>vobiscum</i>, then you are to be made +aware that danger threatens you, while I may, yet, be safe from it, but +if I say <i>Pax vobiscus</i> then I'll mean that we are both in danger of a +similar nature; if I send these latter words, you are to use all means +of safety at your command to seclude yourself from outside notice just +as much as possible and to try to find me if you can do so without +exposure to yourself; but if I say just <i>pax</i> then I mean what the word +implies, and you may go to and from your home with freedom. I will come +to see you just as often as I can and I will arrange to have the +officers of our own army and navy visit you and then you will use your +own good judgment combined with what knowledge they will give to you as +to how you will proceed, knowing that my spirit will be with you even if +my body cannot be ... even if I should be separated from this perishable +body, my Daughter, I think that God would let me come to you to help +you.... He would know our need and it is my belief He would supply it. +Let us pray to Him for guidance, now, before I leave you for the night. +Father in heaven, protect and guide our footsteps while we stay upon +this mundane sphere of spiritual action. Help us do what we were meant +to do and teach us how to walk in unknown paths which we are, now, about +to enter on. May what is just and right be conquerors in conflicts that +will, very soon, be carried on about us. May the souls of those about to +leave this world be prepared for the great change from this world to +another one, and may we, who are Thy humble servants, do the things that +will be pleasing in Thy sight. Bless us, now, and guide us unto Thee. +Amen."</p> + +<p>When Estrella reached the home of little Tessa, she found her friend +about to go somewhere but where she would not say ... she seemed so much +distraught about it that Estrella did not ask the second time where she +was going; she could see that she had made some preparations for the +journey, for she had a small bag filled with eatables and a jug of +home-made vintage in her hands; Estrella plainly saw how distressed she +was and how wan and weary, too, and, so, she only stayed a very short +time; but, when she went away, she only went just far enough to be where +Tessa could not see her ... then she watched her little friend, but only +with the kindest thoughts of her, and saw her take an unused, winding +path a little ways, then hasten on without a path at all, so far as she +could see; she wound among the cacti, fearlessly, as if upon a very +important errand, and as if she feared that she would be too late to do +the errand she was bent upon; Estrella watched her for a time, and, +then, still with the kindest thoughts of Tessa, followed after her, but +far enough behind her so she could not see her ... she would stoop +behind a friendly bit of brush whenever little Tessa turned around and +gazed about her like a startled little bird about to seek its hidden +nest; so, unobserved, Estrella followed after her, and came, at length, +to that small clearing where the ruined hut had stood for many years; +Estrella knew about it, having found it at the same time Manuello had, +indeed, for they two used to roam the hills together when they were but +little children ... sometimes Tessa went with them, but, oftener, they +were alone; and, so, Estrella peered within the ruined hut and saw its +occupant as he lay there in bitter pain and wan and weary, too, like +little Tessa was; she saw the other girl creep past the tumble-down old +door that she had set up at the entrance to the hut to shield its inmate +from the winds, and, also, to try to keep the fact that he was there at +all unknown; she saw the little tender-hearted woman kneel beside the +rude couch on which her restless patient lay and kiss the lips that only +moaned her name in anguish and despair; she saw her smooth the black and +silky hair back from the brow of Manuello, and, then, she heard the +following conversation.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, little Tessa," said her patient, eagerly, "are you sure you +were not seen when you came here, today? I greatly fear that you will +yet divulge, in some way, my hiding-place. I could not move a step to +save myself, no matter who came here to find me. It is terrible to be +like this. I'd rather die than stay here like this for another day.... I +wish you'd find a gun, somewhere, and bring it to me the next time you +come and let me end the lives of both of us. You are like a little +skeleton, yourself.... I wonder what's the matter with you ... are you +ill or is it only just the weariness and fright that makes you look so? +If you should fail me, I would surely die ... a wounded rat that cannot +even run to save itself. Tessa, tell me," he cried out, peevishly, "are +you sick? You look so pale today it seems to me you are about to faint +away ... and what would I do, then?"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe that I am sick," she said, cheerfully. "I'm sure I +don't know why I'm pale.... It is very warm today, for one thing ... I +hurried up the hill ... Estrella came...."</p> + +<p>At that name, her patient roused again:</p> + +<p>"Estrella! Are you sure she did not follow you? She could gloat about +me, now, if she were minded to ... what did you bring for me to eat, +today?" he ended, changing the subject, abruptly. "I'm almost starved to +death; I wish you'd come a little earlier, tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"I will try, dear Manuello, I will try," said little Tessa, gravely. "I +always try to come as soon as I can come when I'm alone and can evade +the children."</p> + +<p>Manuello tossed a while in silence, then he asked again:</p> + +<p>"Are you sure Estrella did not follow you? Look outside and see if there +is not someone near the hut. I'm afraid ... I'm dreadfully afraid, +somehow, today. I've lain right here, now, all these weeks, and have +not been so frightened as I am, somehow, today. Look outside and see!"</p> + +<p>And, then, Estrella crept away for she could do no good by staying, and +she did not wish to harm either one of her old friends on whose distress +she looked.</p> + +<p>Estrella went back to the mansion on the hill, a sadder, it is true, and +yet also a wiser woman for she'd seen poor little Tessa's secret burden +and Manuello's sorry plight.</p> + +<p>She went to Father Felix, the next day, to advise with him about what +she had seen; he cautioned her not to mention it to anyone she knew, +which advice she followed, strictly; it enlightened him to some extent +and he pitied little Tessa more than ever, for he knew the sort of man +her patient was ... he knew that he was selfish to the very core of him +and had no gratitude for anyone who'd helped him; so he pitied little +Tessa and began, in many little unknown ways, to help her bear the +burden she'd assumed.</p> + +<p>To begin with, when she came to the confessional, as almost everyone who +lived in San Domingo did, he only asked her questions such as she could +answer easily ... he did not touch on murder or on lies or on anything +that might lead on to surprising her sad secret; he knew her for a +simple-minded, loving, tender little girl and he pitied her and did not +try to wring from her her secret, knowing that, in all human +probability, she would go, some day, to the ruined hut and find no +Manuello there to either curse or bless her: in fact, he looked upon +this as the most likely of anything that could occur and, when he saw +poor little Tessa fading with anxiety and dread, he went, one day, to +see the patient in the deserted hut, and, after that, there was no +patient there, for Manuello limped away, as he could stand, at last, and +hid from even little Tessa for he thought she had betrayed him, after +all, and, so, he cursed her with the balance of his rotten luck.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + + +<p>June 10, 1898, was a memorable day for Cuba, for, on that date, the +glorious flag of our own much-beloved country was unfurled over Cuban +soil, upheld and supported by United States troops, for the first time.</p> + +<p>Father Felix had kept himself well informed as to military matters, and +had often consulted with Ruth Wakefield concerning what would actually +be needed by our armies when they were finally in the field; in +pursuance of the purpose to which they had both devoted their lives and +fortunes, these two had established a temporary hospital not far from +the city of Santiago, as the good Priest had been informed that one of +the next moves of our forces would be in that vicinity; so that, when +our starry banner first floated in the breeze at Camp McCalla, Ruth +stood beside the new-fledged army Chaplain, and watched, through +tear-dimmed eyes, the emblem of our liberty and freedom as it was +proudly raised.</p> + +<p>That night passed quietly, but, for five successive days and nights +thereafter, a bitter battle raged in which our blue-clad boys met and +finally defeated the Spanish hordes that tried to drive them back or +leave their lifeless bodies lying there beneath the blistering sun.</p> + +<p>When Ruth had sailed from Havana she had brought her little household +with her and established them in temporary quarters near the hospital, +and, soon, she saw the little white cots filled with sick or wounded +Americans and Cuban scouts.</p> + +<p>Volunteer nurses were immediately in demand as, in many ways, our forces +were unprepared to meet the enemy; there are no soldiers in the world as +brave ... as fine ... as capable ... as are our own United States +Volunteers ... both men and women, and, so, Ruth Wakefield and Estrella, +anxious to put into practice what they had learned to do, donned the +clean white uniforms they had become accustomed to in the training they +had taken in Havana for this very purpose, and, very soon, to the eye of +a novice, there were two more trained nurses ministering to the many +wants of the boys who lay there on those narrow cots, weak and suffering +but triumphant in spite of their pain, for the cause of right had won in +the first real conflict upon Cuban soil between the Spaniards and the +Americans assisted by Cuban insurgents, who, mainly, acted as spies and +scouts, a work to which they were adapted by nature and long practice in +a country infested by those whose only object in ruling it had been to +gain what they could, in resources and amusement, from the natives, +with no thought either for their comfort or advancement along the lines +of civilized living.</p> + +<p>Among the Cuban scouts who had been wounded on that first day of actual +combat was one who happened to fall under the care of Estrella for he +had been carried in right after her entry into the work of the hospital; +this man had been slightly wounded as he was about to give valuable +information to one of our own officers, and, perhaps for that reason and +because he had shown himself to be particularly useful, he had received +even more than the usual attention on the battle-field, for his wound +had been dressed more carefully than is customary when first aid is +given in the midst of the fray, so that the attending surgeon had +declared his condition such that all he needed was tender care, which +was why his case had been assigned to a volunteer nurse.</p> + +<p>Estrella gravely assumed the duty allotted to her, with some misgivings +as to her own ability, it is true, but with a strong resolve to do the +best she could; as she bent over her patient, she noticed, first, his +almost deathly pallor, then a jagged scar that stretched across his +cheek and had been lately healed ... the edges of it were yet red and +angry looking; the girl bent over him pityingly, and, then, she started +back for she had recognized, even in the dim light that pervaded the +temporary hospital, the features of Manuello; remembering what she had +seen in the ruined hut, she shrank from contact with her old admirer, +but, with that memory came the knowledge that he had been wounded while +in the performance of a service of benefit to her beloved country, and +she did not falter in carrying out the instructions of the surgeon in +charge with regard to her patient, thinking that, perhaps, before he had +recognized her, she might be transferred to some other part of the +hospital.</p> + +<p>Ruth took her place among the ministering nurses with confidence and +courage, for she was one who immediately altogether forgot almost her +own identity when asked to help another human being, and, while her +sympathy with suffering was remarkable, so that she actually suffered +pain herself when witnessing it in others, yet she had always been able +to do whatever was required of her in an emergency regardless of any +bodily ailment that might be troubling her at the time; now, as she saw +all around her strong men laid low by violence, her spirit rose to the +occasion and she was, for the time, at least, the very personification +of patriotic zeal and her love for her country rose to heights almost +undreamed of even by herself; she moved among the little cots freely, +lending a hand here and whispering a word of encouragement there; the +nurses recognized in her a master spirit, at once, and the surgeons +looked into her steady eyes, and, instantly, allowed her privileges +seldom granted to anyone outside of their own profession; her very +presence seemed to give the sufferers courage to bear their pain, for +the light that shone from her clear, gray eyes was above the things of a +merely earthly existence and lifted them out of their bodies, to some +extent, making them impervious to what would have otherwise been +excruciating anguish; surgeons, at that time, did not recognize the +mental attitude of their patients, to any great extent, and they +marveled at the influence of the mistress of the mansion on the hill, +attributing it, in part, to the evident superiority of the young woman +to those with whom she had been associated in Cuba.</p> + +<p>In passing among the little cots, Ruth, at length, came to the one +beside which Estrella was standing, anxiously looking into her patient's +flushed face, for, with returning strength, Manuello's fever had risen; +Ruth put one hand on the girl's shoulder and drew her away from the cot +for a moment while she whispered to her:</p> + +<p>"Do not weary yourself too much, my Dear, for we must keep our strength +so as to be able to help others ... you seem distressed ... do you know +your patient, personally?"</p> + +<p>Estrella was only too glad to tell her kind and understanding friend +just the situation in which she found herself, so that, when the young +Cuban opened his large, dark eyes and looked about him in astonishment, +it was upon Ruth's face he gazed instead of on Estrella's whom the +former had sent into another part of the work of caring for the +wounded.</p> + +<p>"Where am I?" moaned Manuello. "What has happened to me, now?"</p> + +<p>"You have been sorely wounded in the service of your country, my brave +fellow ... you are now in a hospital where you will receive every +possible care and attention," answered Ruth in a low, yet clear tone of +voice. "You are in the hands of those who appreciate what you have done +and greatly desire to assist in your recovery."</p> + +<p>Having assured himself that he was among friends, he began to make +inquiries as to the nature of his wound, wondering how long it would be +necessary for him to remain as he was then, but Ruth only told him that +he must not talk and must use every precaution he could to prevent +increase of the fever that was now high enough to demand the use of the +handy little thermometer that Ruth, in common with the other amateur +nurses with whom she had studied, had learned how to operate; she +promptly thrust this little fever-gauge into his mouth and told him to +keep it there quietly until she took it away; gazing at her as if she +were a creature from another world, Manuello lay there quiescent and +tractable, all his wild nature being centred upon his desire to again be +the free, strong being he had but recently been.</p> + +<p>Old Mage peered into the room where the cots of the wounded soldiers and +sailors had been placed and caught a glimpse of her dear young lady as +she stood by the bedside of Manuello; he had just opened his eyes, and, +as he lay there with his black curls touching the white pillow, he +reminded the old woman very much of another handsome, dark young fellow +whom she believed to be lying in his narrow grave in the little +cemetery ... the narrow grave in which she had buried the wedding-ring +that had brought so much sorrow to the one whom she loved best in all +the world: as the old woman looked at the dark face on the pillow she +noticed the angry scar that disfigured it and thought that it might have +changed the face she remembered as without a blemish so that she would +have difficulty in recognizing it; her mind began to travel along the +line of thought suggested by this possibility and she determined to rid +Ruth of the necessity of attending to her former husband, at least, if +her most dire suspicions should prove to be well founded; she at once +remembered that she, herself, had not seen the corpse of the man +interred as Victorio Colenzo and she knew very well how earthly death +will change the appearance of a human being's body ... then she thought +of what had been told to her as to how the man had died ... altogether +it seemed to her very possible that the man she had seen in the little +cemetery on the day of the funeral she had attended with Estrella might +have been some one closely resembling Manuello, so that, perhaps, +Estrella's foster brother had been buried in the supposed grave of +Victorio Colenzo, who, wishing to be free from both entangling alliances +he had made in San Domingo, had allowed the name under which he had +entered into them to be placed upon the simple head-stone that marked +the grave of another man.</p> + +<p>As soon as old Mage had arrived at the conclusion above described, she +acted on it at once by slipping stealthily up to Ruth and whispering to +her:</p> + +<p>"Come away, my Pretty; you are needed; there is someone outside who +wishes to speak to you at once. I will take your place."</p> + +<p>Ruth, thinking the summons important, yielded her place for a moment, +intending to return within a very few moments, but no sooner had old +Mage assumed charge of the patient than she began to devise ways and +means by which she hoped to prolong the stay of her dear young lady, for +it seemed to her to be too much for her to bear ... to care for her +recreant husband under all the trying circumstances.</p> + +<p>The first thing that the new nurse did would have been severely +criticized by the head surgeon had his attention not been fully occupied +in another part of the large room; to begin with, instead of smoothing +back the dark hair from the man's forehead as it would seem to one +observing her from the rear she was doing, she very deliberately pulled +the handful of curls she was clutching, hoping to make him open his eyes +so that she could continue her scrutiny of him in order to be as certain +as possible of his suspected identity; this ruse succeeded, for +Manuello's large, dark brown eyes flew open and were fixed in horror on +the face bending over him; it was quite a different countenance than the +one he had last seen beside him, for old Mage never had been a beauty +and the loss of her teeth had not added to her appearance while the +ferocity of her glance was accentuated by the multitude of criss-cross +wrinkles which surrounded the light blue eyes out of which she was +glaring at him; the words she hissed in his ear added to the confusion +under which the helpless man was laboring:</p> + +<p>"I thought that you were dead and buried out of sight ... you hateful, +low-lived pup! How dare you be brought into her place, now? If I did +just right, I do believe I'd choke the life out of you while you can't +fight back! The girl's here, too ... you must be a devil in human form! +You ought to be burning in hell!"</p> + +<p>The object that had led old Mage to make this attack upon the wounded +man was about to be accomplished, for, with a wild scream, he vaulted +over the foot of the little cot and bounded through the open doorway as +if he were pursued by demons; his temporary nurse did not try to prevent +his exit which was what she had longed to bring about, although the +manner of his going startled even her, as she had no idea of the effect +that her hasty words would have upon the guilty spirit of the man whose +crimes, it seemed to him, had found him out; the new wound he had that +day received, was not of a nature to impede his progress for a short +distance, and he almost instantly disappeared from among the nurses and +surgeons; his wild expression so impressed all whom he met before he +reached the outskirts of the hospital grounds that he was again a +fugitive, hunted, this time, by both friends and enemies.</p> + +<p>As Ruth was about to return to her patient, for she could find no +immediate need of her presence elsewhere, she met an excited nurse who +told her of having seen an excessively active young man flying out into +the open, clad only in hospital garb.</p> + +<p>Ruth was hurrying to report the circumstances to the head surgeon and to +arrange to have searching parties sent out to bring back her pseudo +patient, when, passing the cot where old Mage was still stationed, she +noted that it was empty; stopping to inquire the reason for this change, +her old nurse hurriedly related the facts concerning the exodus of the +young man, while she secretly rejoiced at the success of her strategem, +for so she chose to denominate the method she had taken of protecting +her dear young lady from the nearness of the man she had married through +mistaken confidence.</p> + +<p>Estrella, having been sent to consult with her friend concerning some +matter connected with the welfare of the temporary hospital, came along, +just then, and was told what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Why," she exclaimed, "where has poor Manuello gone? He is not fit to be +outside alone. I am afraid I was a coward to leave him when he needed +care. Poor little Tessa would have stayed right with him no matter what +he said or did. I have not seen her," she mused, "for a long time, +now ... not since a number of days before we came away from home.... I +wonder where she is."</p> + +<p>Could Estrella have seen her little friend at that moment, she would +have lost all pity for Manuello and added to that she already had for +poor Tessa, for she was then suffering from the last encounter she had +had with the man who had just fled out into the night; although the +little peasant would have been proud to have been made the wife of the +man whom she madly loved, yet she resisted the idea of being merely his +mistress for Father Felix had forcibly impressed upon the minds of the +girls of his flock the virtue of chastity; the consequence of this +resistance had been a blow received by herself which had rendered her +helpless for the time being, as it had made it impossible for her to +walk for any distance, and a slash across one of Manuello's dusky cheeks +which she had made with a knife she had happened to have in her hand at +the time of his attack.</p> + +<p>The heart-sick girl was lying on the rude bed she had made for the man +who had left her without aid, in the deserted hut into which Estrella +had once peered, while her friend, so far away from her, was bemoaning +the fate of her ungrateful former lover.</p> + +<p>She had carried some food and water into the hovel upon the day of her +last struggle with Manuello and she could creep about the inside of the +small building, so that, being hardy and healthy, she had, at that time, +subsisted upon the supplies she had on hand, for several days; she was +just beginning to crawl carefully out into the surrounding brush where +she was glad to find plenty of ripe cactus-fruit and other wild edibles; +she was very lonely and frightened but she took her condition as a +punishment for the sins she had committed since she had tried to assist +Manuello in spite of the fact that she had known him to be a criminal; +she told her beads, over and over, using the small rosary which she had +always worn about her neck, and, as she kissed the crucifix attached to +the beads, she often prayed for the man who was the direct cause of her +pitiable condition, for she believed it to be her plain duty to forgive, +even though she could not forget, him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + + +<p>When Manuello escaped from the temporary hospital near Camp McCalla, he +directed his eager steps toward the place of his nativity, because, as +it seemed to him, he would be safer there than he had recently been; it +seemed to him that if he could reach the deserted hut where he had been +in concealment before, he could rest and recover while he made plans for +his future, for he had decided that it would be dangerous for him to +follow the American army any longer, at least for a time.</p> + +<p>In devious ways and through the use of means known only to such as he, +he managed to reach a point midway between Santiago and Havana in a much +shorter time than would have seemed possible to one unversed in the ways +of the wilderness; here he encountered, suddenly and unexpectedly, the +good Priest whom he had known from childhood, who, also, seemed hurrying +in the direction of Havana.</p> + +<p>The young man kept away from the habitation of men as much as possible +after that, and, footsore and weary, but happy in the thought that he +had reached his goal, he arrived, at length, just at sunset, in the +outskirts of the village of San Domingo; from there he followed the +winding path up which little Tessa had so often toiled in his service, +he thought of her but did not regret the blow he had given her; in fact, +his anger still burned at white heat whenever he remembered how she had +disfigured his features, forgetting altogether what she had done for +him, because she had not done everything that he had asked her to do.</p> + +<p>At length, he reached the vicinity of the deserted hut and stole up to +reconnoitre before entering the ruined habitation; he crept up to one of +the small windows and peered within; the sight that met his vision +startled him to such an extent that he forgot, for the moment, his +habitual caution and remained at the window although he had discovered +that the hut was occupied; the room he looked into was dimly lit by the +rays of the setting sun which penetrated the dense growth of tropical +verdure and found their way into the small western aperture that +answered the purpose of a look-out toward the village; Tessa was lying, +looking very wan and care-worn, upon the rude bed she had arranged for +the man who was then staring at her ... in her thin hand was a crucifix +which Father Felix had just given to her ... the good Priest was +kneeling upon the rough floor beside the couch and the tears were +rolling down his cheeks, for the sight before him would have moved far +less tender hearts than his; the girl began to speak in a low voice and +Manuello strained his power of hearing to catch the faint words which +fell from her pale and trembling lips.</p> + +<p>"Good Father," she began, speaking as if at confession, "I beseech you +to have mercy upon your sinful daughter; I have done grievous wrong +during my short life and I beg you to intercede with the God of truth +and justice before whose judgment seat I will soon appear. I ask you to +pray for me, Father Felix, for I am in need of your prayers. I have been +a wicked girl in some ways, though not in all, for I have resisted a +very strong desire which was a part of my sinful nature and which I +believe I have, now, through suffering, gained the victory over."</p> + +<p>The girl ceased speaking from sheer weakness, then, and the Priest took +the crucifix from her shaking hand and attached it to the cord at his +waist, then he lifted his clasped hands in earnest and humble +supplication:</p> + +<p>"Father Who art in heaven," he prayed, "listen to us who are in Thy +gracious Hands, both here and hereafter. Help me to guide this suffering +soul aright and help her to walk where she was meant to walk, whether +she regains her health and returns to the life she has had, formerly, or +whether she passes out of this narrow existence and goes into eternity +before another morning dawns. Look down, dear Father, in mercy on us who +are Thy humble servants. Amen."</p> + +<p>"Father Felix," began the sick girl, "I must confess to you something +that has lain heavily upon my conscience for many weeks. I am rejoiced +that you have found me for I will die easier to know that you have the +secrets that I have been keeping in my heart, being unable to come to +the refectory and tell you what I must, now, impart to you. A heinous +crime was committed in San Domingo some months ago, as I believe by one +whom you and I both know; I have withheld my suspicions from the +authorities and, in so doing, I feel that I have done wrong, Father. I +wish to tell you all I know, now, and let you do what you think best ... +it will relieve my heart of a very heavy load to tell this to you. +Manuello...."</p> + +<p>Before her lips could utter the next word, the door of the hut which had +been leaning over the opening designed for it as it had long been +guiltless of hinges, was violently thrust aside and the subject of the +remarks Tessa was about to make, rudely entered and advanced to the side +of the couch upon which the girl was lying; the livid scar upon his dark +face combined with the pallor that had followed the fever he had been +having, the freshly bandaged wound, the limp that had followed the rough +dressing of the bullet-punctured leg of the man, combined with the +fierce determination that characterized each one of his movements, +altogether made a most unpleasant appearance.</p> + +<p>Father Felix quietly rose and stepped between the sufferer on the couch +and the young Cuban who regarded the Priest with no respect in the +expression of his countenance, but rather with contempt and lack of +personal fear; he attempted to shove him aside so that he might again +look down on the trembling occupant of the rude bed, but found that +Father Felix was standing firmly on a sturdy pair of legs which had had +good exercise in tramping about the hills and valleys in pursuit of his +chosen profession of saving the souls of those who needed his +ministrations; Manuello glared at him and snarled out:</p> + +<p>"Out of my way with your sing-song prayers and your dangling cross! I am +a desperate man and do not mean to allow even a Priest to balk either my +escape or my vengeance! Stand aside and let me stop that mouth forever!"</p> + +<p>He again tried to shove the Priest aside, when Father Felix hastily +threw off his robe so that it might not impede his movements and closed +with the young fellow, grappling with him with arms left bare from the +shoulder upon which the biceps muscles stood out in great knots that +came and went and rippled underneath the skin; Manuello was surprised at +this onslaught for the good Priest's fighting prowess had never, so far, +been tested in just this way; but familiarity with certain turns and +twists told in the young villain's favor in spite of the freshness and +vigor of Father Felix' attack; the poor girl on the floor was unable to +interfere and watched the two combatants with horrified eyes as they +struggled all over the rude room, sometimes one and sometimes the other +seeming about to conquer; neither one of the contestants had a weapon as +Manuello had come away from the hospital clad only as the other patients +were; in his wild flight he had snatched an outer garment from among the +many lying in a heap outside the door through which he had fled, but, +with this exception, he wore only what had been put upon him by the +surgeons.</p> + +<p>Like two Titans, the two human beings struggled for supremacy, the one +being actuated only by a desire to serve the right, and the other +seeming to have been given almost satanic power as he felt that his own +life and future freedom depended upon adding two more to his victims, +for the Priest had already heard enough to make him find out more and +Tessa had been about to confess all she knew to him, so, above +everything on earth, the furious Cuban wished to slay the Priest and the +poor girl whose only fault had been her yielding to his selfishness.</p> + +<p>Twice, Manuello's fingers almost closed about the good Priest's throat, +and twice did Father Felix lift the other man bodily from the floor and +dash him down in a huddled heap in one corner of the room, but neither +had quite conquered when an unexpected interference ended the conflict +very suddenly.</p> + +<p>Manuello had crowded Father Felix over toward the tumble-down door of +the hut and was about to push him through the opening, or, at least, +attempt to do so, when, all at once the young fellow felt his fingers +lose their strength and his arms fell away from the body of the +Priest ... he was conscious of a strange, tingling sensation all through +his shaken nerves; had he been familiar with the action of powerful +electric currents, he would have described it as a heavy shock of +electricity but, although he could not have altogether explained his +sensations, their effect was instantaneous and resulted in the release +of Father Felix while his assailant dropped prone upon the floor of the +hut and groveled at his feet in abject terror, for he thought the end of +his life had come and, in that thought, the murderer became the penitent +and, with the fear of death before his mind, he began to mumble broken +bits of half-forgotten prayers and to beg for forgiveness for his sins +which he knew to be many and grievous.</p> + +<p>As the changed attitude of his foe became evident to the good Priest he +hurried over to the side of the sick girl with assurances of his desire +to assist her in every possible way and, with the changed conditions +surrounding him, he again put on the robe of his holy office, and, with +it, seemed again to be the sedate and quiet leader of the flock he +strove to lead into green pastures and beside pleasant waters.</p> + +<p>Having ministered to Tessa, for the moment, he turned his attention to +his late antagonist:</p> + +<p>"My Son," he said, "you are wounded and spent with the loss of blood; +your mind, perhaps, has been turned by your misfortunes so that you did +not realize either your words or your actions. I hope that, from this +time on, you will fix your mind on better things than thoughts of +vengeance or of murder. To begin with, I have a favor to ask of you. +Will you help me remove Tessa, here, from this place to her home? She is +in need of tender care."</p> + +<p>"I will do what you tell me to," meekly answered the recent antagonist +of the Priest. "I see that I was wrong in imagining you to be my enemy. +I think that this last wound has made me crazy for the time, as you have +just said. From this time on I will try to be as I have been before ... +glad to be guided by your higher wisdom. I humbly ask your pardon for +what I have done here, tonight."</p> + +<p>Manuello bowed his head for his spirit had been broken by the strange +happening which we have described, and, at once, his hope began to rise +again, that, after all, Father Felix would do him no real harm, for he +seemed, again, the kind and loving prelate whom the man had known from +his youth up.</p> + +<p>When some simple preparations had been made, the two men lifted Tessa +from the rude couch to the stretcher they had improvised, and, in turn, +lifted it, with its light burden, to their shoulders, when, from time to +time, they found an open space in the dense underbrush that hid the +ruined hut from ordinary observation; thus they descended the hill that +led to the village of San Domingo; having reached the door of the home +of the girl, in the gathering darkness, they laid the stretcher down and +Manuello disappeared as Father Felix knocked for admittance.</p> + +<p>To say the young fellow was glad to be released from what seemed to him +to be the custody of the Priest would be to put his feelings lightly, +for, having cleared the ruined hut, he quickly returned to it and, lying +on the simple bed Tessa had so lately occupied, he went to sleep, +apparently, as sweetly as a new-born infant would.</p> + +<p>Old Mage wondered, a little, at Estrella's remark concerning Manuello, +after he had disappeared; but she finally set her mind at rest by +deciding that, whichever of the dashing Cubans she had ousted from +Ruth's help, she had done good work, for, as she said to herself, from +her view-point it was "good riddance to bad rubbage."</p> + +<p>The head surgeon made a note of the occurrence and went on about his +work, for one man more or less, in time of war, cannot be reckoned as in +civil life.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield had no doubt at all as to the identity of her former +patient; when a pure girl has given herself to be the wife of any man +she does not, soon, forget his personality, and Ruth knew very well the +man she'd cared for had not been the one she'd called her husband ... +that his body lay within its narrow grave she felt assured but what lay +buried over him old Mage, alone, yet knew; she'd chuckled, many times, +as to that burial, and it was hard for her to keep her secret as she +longed for the approval that she felt she merited in this small matter, +but the thought that Ruth might differ with her as to what she'd done +had always, so far, sealed her lips.</p> + +<p>"There is a time in the affairs of men that, taken at its flood, leads +on to fortune," has been said by one who, justly, has been called a +master in the art of putting words together; William Shakespeare did not +know the actors in this story, but he knew the minds of men as few have +known them since his time.</p> + +<p>Manuello did not know that such a writer as this master of the English +language had ever existed, yet he acted on the thought in the above +quotation, when, the morning after the events related in this chapter, +he again departed from the ruined hut and disappeared, effectually, +within the fastnesses that only such as he could know about; every inch, +or so it seemed, of territory surrounding Havana was familiar to the +Cuban scouts and Manuello had grown up among the cacti and the palms and +desolation that followed in the wake of Spanish oppression and +injustice.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + + +<p>July 1, 1898, at sunset, the fair folds of our own stars and stripes +were gently floating over San Juan hill.</p> + +<p>On that day some of the most heroic deeds in American history had been +performed by those who represent the highest types of American virility.</p> + +<p>Roosevelt's Rough Riders had, that day, advanced behind their intrepid +leader, into the very jaws of death and very many of them never came +again into the pleasant walks of life they'd known before that fateful +day ... very many of them lay scattered over the different heights that +led on to the very top of San Juan hill, inert and helpless human +tenements that had once held the proud and willing spirits of the men +who followed Roosevelt with love and daring.</p> + +<p>Some of them were picked up and carried to temporary hospitals that had +sprung up near the scene of active warfare; in one of these shelters for +the wounded Ruth Wakefield stood, that evening, bending low above a +little cot on which was stretched a manly form ... the form of one who'd +ridden with the rest of those who followed him they called, in +brotherly affection, "Teddy," and who was beside him when his horse was +shot from under him.</p> + +<p>"Nurse," he whispered, through the bandages that bound his head, "Nurse, +it would have done you good to hear him say 'Forward! Charge the hill!' +It would have heartened you could you have seen him, when he was +unhorsed, grab a rifle and fire it as he went on up, on foot."</p> + +<p>"You must not talk," said Ruth. "You must rest quietly, now. We won the +hill," she added, proudly. "We won the hill and I'm as proud as anyone +could ever be of Roosevelt and of you all who followed after him. I +sometimes wish," she ended, "I sometimes wish that I had been a man to +go into the battles instead of only caring for the wounded ... yet I'm +thankful to be of some assistance to the ones who need the help that I +can give to them."</p> + +<p>"You should have seen," began the man again, "you should have seen our +Teddy charge that hill! They do not make a man like that except about +once in a century or so ... they do not make such men as that in every +age.... I tell you he's a holy terror when it comes to fighting, Nurse! +He mowed them down ... he made them crawl and creep.... I always knew he +could do more on horseback than any man that ever lived but I never +knew, until today, what he could do on foot."</p> + +<p>"Our Teddy is a wonder.... I agree with you in everything you say of +him, but, now," once more she was the nurse in charge, "you must be +very still ... that is," she ended, with a happy little turn of thought, +"if you ever want to go where Teddy is, again."</p> + +<p>That was enough to silence him and he lay very still and fixed his eyes +upon her face, and, finally, he slept, and rested from his labors for a +time; but what he'd said stayed in Ruth's inner consciousness and the +heart that throbbed within her beat more proudly after that, because she +was, as was the man his comrades praised, an American; to her that +title was enough to fill with pride a human heart ... to be a true +American ... a citizen of the United States of America ... it seemed to +her meant more than any royal appellation ever could; no crown adorned +with priceless jewels could replace that name to her; at one time in her +life, this question had been asked of her:</p> + +<p>"What would you do if you must choose between all that you love on earth +and fealty to some other than your native land, and this one country +that you call your own?"</p> + +<p>"What would I do?" she answered. "I would not renounce my fealty to my +native land.... I would keep God and my conscience and my country ... no +one could take them from me ... all the rest I'd leave behind and cleave +to them."</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield meant this statement and she proved it later on beyond +all shadow of a doubt.</p> + +<p>When her first patient slept, Ruth went to stand beside another cot for +she was always privileged to go wherever she might choose; her help in +many ways, including financial aid, had made this hospital possible and +she went at will among the other nurses who looked up to her as women +will to one who is a natural leader of the ones with whom she +associates.</p> + +<p>She came, at length, to a cot that was apart from all the rest because +its occupant had needed to be isolated for good reasons; he was violent, +at times, the nurses said ... when his fever rose he soon became +delirious and they had hard work keeping him under any sort of control; +he was a native scout, they told her ... he had done good work that day +upon the side of right, and, so, Ruth went to care for him, for it was +just as natural for her to take heavy work as it was natural for the +rest to let her do it.</p> + +<p>Soon after she had taken charge of him, he stirred uneasily and mumbled +in his restless sleep ... he spoke a name she'd hoped to never hear +again ... the name of him whom she had loved enough to marry....</p> + +<p>"Victorio Colenzo," moaned the man, "Victorio Colenzo is dead and I ... +I am his murderer ... it was my hand that took his life.... I am a +murderer, good Father Felix.... I am the murderer of the man I hated, +for he took the girl I loved from me.... I killed him with my own +machete and he is dead.... I am the murderer of Victorio Colenzo ... +shrive my soul, good Father Felix, for I am about to go before my +Maker."</p> + +<p>The moaning ceased then, and Ruth bent over him to see if he still +lived, for she could see his very lips were livid and his eyes seemed +set and glazed as if with death's own dews; she put her hand upon his +head and looked into his face with earnest pity in her tender eyes, for +she was very pitiful and even lenient when faults of anyone except +herself were to be considered.</p> + +<p>"The poor fellow is delirious," she thought. "He does not know what he +is saying. Odd that he should use that name. Poor fellow ... he will not +last long, I fear. I wonder if Father Felix could come to him."</p> + +<p>With that thought, she turned to go to try to find the Priest, for he +almost always could be found where there was suffering and need of him, +but Manuello (for the reader has discovered who her patient was) +snatched at her hand as she was just about to go away and said to her:</p> + +<p>"Please intercede for me, good Angel ... tell them I have never had a +chance in all my life ... tell them ... intercede...." and, then, his +weak voice died away in moans, again, "Tessa, please," he said, "don't +look at me that way!"</p> + +<p>Again Ruth leaned above his bed, for in his eyes there was a look that +seldom comes except when death is near. She felt a gentle hand upon her +arm and knew that Estrella stood beside her ... she had come to seek +advice from her superior.</p> + +<p>So they stood ... the widow and the sweetheart, and the murderer of the +man they both had loved, as virgins love, lay there before them.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he roused himself, as with a last and desperate effort, from +the lethargy of death itself ... he looked upon them standing there +beside his bed ... the woman he had loved as wild and rough and lawless +men will always love a woman and the one who seemed to him as if she +were an angel straight from paradise ... he imagined he had passed from +life as he had known that word, and was beyond all earthly help; and, +so, he did not call for human help but cried aloud on God to save his +deathless soul. It was horrible to hear his human lips cry out to God as +they were crying then, and Ruth regretted that Estrella stood so near to +him whom she had called her foster-brother, for she'd whispered +Manuello's name at once, so she sent her to find Father Felix if she +could and to bring him there to help this suffering soul.</p> + +<p>After the girl had gone away, Ruth stood alone beside the cot and looked +with great commiseration on the almost senseless clay before her ... on +the staring eyes and sullen, dark-skinned pallor of the heavily scarred +face ... on the lips that once wore careless smiles but, now, were +drawn and pale ... on the broad shoulders and powerful muscled arms. As +she gazed at him it seemed to her a very pitiful condition under which +he labored; she wondered why it had to be as it was with this strong, +untutored man; she wondered why he had to lay his strong, young body on +the altar of his passions and see it consumed as it had been by hate and +treachery; and, then, she remembered the service upon which he had just +been bent ... and her heart yearned over him for that alone; she leaned +above his face and searched it for a sign of returning strength but +found none there; his eyes stared into hers, it seemed, and then they +sought the moving shadows on the canvas overhead.</p> + +<p>Ruth raised her head from gazing into Manuello's eyes and seemed to see, +above the cot on which he lay, another and a different form yet like to +that she saw inert before her; it was as if a glorified replica of the +man were floating over him; in many ways it was exactly like the +Manuello lying there upon that little cot, and, yet, the form was more +ethereal ... more delicate ... more beautiful than he could ever be and +live upon the earthly plane where he had found so many things to lead +him down and seldom found a single thing to lead him higher, or, at +least, found anything that he could fully understand, for, although +Father Felix tried to show him how to go to climb to better thoughts, he +had not seen the steps at all but blundered on along the path he found +himself upon.</p> + +<p>As Ruth began to realize the change that she had seen take place, a rosy +flush crept over her fair face, she clasped her hands and bowed her head +in silent prayer:</p> + +<p>"Father in heaven," she thought, "look down in mercy on this soul about +to come before You for Your judgment. Have pity on his faults for they +were very many ... have mercy on him, for his sins were very heavy in +his human life. He did not know the way to go, dear Father ... he could +not see the steps at all. Have pity on him for he will have need of pity +such as only You can give to him. Amen."</p> + +<p>And when she lifted up her face again, good Father Felix stood beside +her, crucifix in hand. His head was also bowed in silent prayer for he +had witnessed many earthly deaths and knew, at once, that Manuello, as +he had been known in human life, had passed beyond all human judgment +and gone on to his reward or punishment in another world where +everything that he had done upon the earth would be accounted for by him +and him alone; the good Priest knew, however, that God is good as well +as just and he remembered Manuello's ignorance and superstition, too, +and hoped that, after he'd been purged of earthly sins by deep +repentance, he would come into the light that is God's Smile and shines +for all who seek it honestly, no matter what their sins on earth have +been, but only after long and terrible remorse for harm that they have +done while in the body that God gave them to use and not abuse.</p> + +<p>The road that leads into the light that is God's Smile is often hedged +about by thorns and bitter herbs instead of delicate and fragrant +flowers; sometimes poisonous reptiles lurk along the way and strive to +strike their fangs within the heart of him who toils there; sometimes, +human passions guide a strong man into devious and sinful acts as +Manuello had been guided, more than once; he'd yielded to them just +because he had not learned the way to handle them and they had mastered +him and made of him their slave instead of being what he ordered them to +be; he'd thrown the remnant of his human life into the balance in the +cause he really loved ... the cause of freedom for his native land.</p> + +<p>And Ruth and Father Felix thought of him as of a patriot only as they +stood beside the cot on which his lifeless body lay; they covered up his +face as gently as if they had not known of any sin committed by the +hands now lying still and cold and helpless ... they closed his staring +eyes as softly as they would have closed the eyes of any human being who +will read these words had he or she been left for them to care for when +the soul had left its earthly tenement; disembodied Spirits often linger +near to such as these who stood beside that cot, for they know that +they are like to them in very many ways, though yet abiding in a human +frame ... they know that such as Ruth and Father Felix feel the same, +sweet, almost holy joy that comes to those who meet and make welcome the +ones who leave the earth-plane, newly dead; though death, I trust, is +only just the change that frees a soul from earthly burdens and releases +it from earthly darkness, so that it may climb, when it is purged of +earthly sins, into the light that is the Smile of God and shines for all +who seek it earnestly.</p> + +<p>I do not think that there can be an everlasting hell except for those +who wish to dwell in darkness. I do not think there can be perpetual +punishment except for those who do not wish to climb beyond it. Ruth and +Father Felix felt that this was so, although the good Priest tried to +think far otherwise, and, yet, deep down within his inner consciousness, +he felt that God, although He is so just, yet pities those who err and +welcomes all who wish to put their sins behind them in the path they +find themselves upon, no matter whether they may find that path upon the +earthly plane or on a higher one. They turned away from that white cot +with almost God-like pity in their inmost hearts for him who lay there, +or for him who had just left his body lying there upon that little cot.</p> + +<p>Ruth sought Estrella so that she might not, again, behold the face of +him, who, for the love of her, had done a fearful crime; she wished to +save the girl for she had been as innocent of wrong as she, herself, had +been; both had been led away by human passion, it is true, but led +within the bounds of human law, and, so, according to that human law, +neither one was culpable ... the man, alone, had sinned, and whether it +had been because he had been stronger, every way, than were the women in +the case, we cannot judge. 'Tis God alone must judge us all, and may He +guide us all, at last, into the light that is His holy Smile.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + + +<p>When Ruth had left the cot where Manuello died, she, first, found +Estrella and told her what had happened after she had gone, and, then, +as she had liberty to go where she desired, she started out, just as the +dusk was falling, to drive along an unknown road, which as she thought +must lead away from the battle-field; she felt secure for armed men of +her own race and nation were patrolling all the roads surrounding the +hospital; the freshness of the coming night appealed to her and, under +its enticing influence, she went much farther than she meant to do; her +horses often shied at little heaps that seemed to take on most fantastic +shapes with the increasing darkness.</p> + +<p>She knew full well of what these little heaps had been made up, and, +yet, surrounded as she was by horror, she did not feel afraid, for she +was lifted up by patriotic fervor and a great desire to help where help +of her was needed as were so many of the Red Cross nurses whom she met; +splendid women volunteered their services as nurses during the progress +of the Spanish-American war, and wore, with pride and reverence, the +brilliant cross that indicated what the calling they had chosen was; +Ruth Wakefield served her country with her might and wore her uniform as +proudly and conscientiously as any General could; she drove along that +lonely, unknown road as quietly and fearlessly as if her horses trotted +over the finest boulevard in some populous city of her own United States +and firmly held within her strong and steady hands the lines that guided +the high-lifed team she had secured for her own use since coming to take +charge of the hospital which she had endowed with her own funds.</p> + +<p>Suddenly and without warning, her team was startled by a man who rose to +his full height and stood erect and tall beside the road as if he'd +risen from the heaps of dead that lay beside the way; the horses soon +became unmanageable and overturned the vehicle, so that Ruth suddenly +found herself thrown against a slight embankment lining the road, while +her frightened team turned back toward the hospital; her first thought +was of them, but, remembering that, only a few miles back, she had +passed one of the patrols, she hoped the team would be secured and taken +into safety; then, shudderingly, she realized that she was all alone in +a strange and hostile neighborhood, and, acting on a sudden impulse, she +hastily climbed over the embankment as she thought she heard a noise +approaching on the road; she turned and started back but kept herself +concealed as much as possible behind the friendly embankment.</p> + +<p>As she proceeded she began to feel a sort of faintness, almost amounting +to nausea, creeping over her and dreaded the long walk to the hospital, +but decided to go on until she saw an armed man dressed in the uniform +of the United States army; she wondered, at first, why she felt faint +and almost sick, and, then, she realized that the offensive odors that +assailed her sensitive olfactory nerves were those that rise when +material bodies have been deprived of the higher life that gave them +animation ... that the horrors of a bloody battle-field surrounded her, +and, as she advanced slowly and with dreadful anticipation ... as she +even stumbled over more than one unconscious form, that, only a few +short hours before, had been as full of bounding life as she was then, +she thought of what the suffering must be of those who lay among the +dead, perhaps for weary, pain-filled hours, alive yet helpless; the +thought was a terrific one for any tender-hearted woman to entertain, +and Ruth had always been particularly thoughtful of the comfort of +anyone who happened to be near to her, and, so, she soon became enthused +with the idea that she might search among the heaps of dead and find, +maybe, someone who lived and might, if he were rescued, yet be happy in +the world she lived in, and, so, she softly called to see if anyone +could hear her voice and guide her to the object of her search:</p> + +<p>"Are any here who are in need of earthly help?" she asked. "If any here +can hear my voice, pray answer me and tell me where to come to find +you."</p> + +<p>She waited for an answer but none came, at first; and then it seemed to +her as if she heard a far-off whisper far away ... she listened +breathlessly ... it came again and, then, she followed it until she +found the one from whom the whisper came.</p> + +<p>He lay among a heap of bodies tossed about as if they had found death +together; one whose body lay across his own, Ruth lifted, though she +shuddered while she did it, for the stark, stiff form was that of one +who'd, only lately, been as full of life as she was then; she laid it +softly down and sought the one whose whisper she had heard; her hand +crept up, along a rough and blood-soaked uniform, until it found a face +and found it warm with sentient life; she was electrified by joy at +finding one who lived among the dead, and hastened, then, to separate +him from the other bodies lying all around him; it was as if they'd +followed after him ... as if he'd been a leader of the rest ... for he +was well in front of all of them and yet they were so near that, when +they fell, they fell together, all around the one whose life she sought +to save.</p> + +<p>She was intent on saving life and did not shrink although her gentle +hand found many bloody wounds in searching for the one from which his +life-blood flowed full fast; she found the place, at last ... a deep +flesh-wound that touched an artery in his right arm ... she had a silken +scarf about her throat, and, wrapping this about the arm above the +wound, she made a tourniquet by using a small surgical instrument which +she always carried for that purpose in the pocket of her nurse's apron +which she still wore; this stopped the flow of blood at once, and, as +the brachial artery was untouched, the man gained strength enough to +whisper:</p> + +<p>"Tender Heart ... I'm going to name you right away. Tender Heart, how +did you happen here ... at night ... alone?"</p> + +<p>"I think I came to find you," answered Ruth. "I thought my horses ran +away and dumped me on the ground, but, now, I think I came here just to +find you and to bind that poor arm. Now I'll go to bring assistance to +you just as soon as I can do so."</p> + +<p>"Tender Heart," he whispered, for his voice was growing fainter, "if I +should not be here when you come again, good-bye.... God bless and keep +you safe from harm."</p> + +<p>She knew the meaning of the words and almost flew along, although she +often stumbled as she went among the bodies lying there upon the +blood-soaked ground; she reached the hospital at last ... the time +seemed long to her ... and, there, in front of it, stood her two +frightened horses, looking all around as if in search of her; she +soothed them with her reassuring voice, and then she found a vehicle +adapted to the use she wished to put it to, and two assistants from the +hospital staff; thus equipped, she took the lines again and drove along +the road again but with a different object than the one she'd had +before; turning off the road, she found the object of her search and the +assistants lifted him upon the stretcher they had brought and, very +soon, the man lay, white and spent with loss of blood, but conscious, in +a little cot, and Ruth, forgetting her own needs, stood there beside it.</p> + +<p>"Tender Heart," said her new patient, after he had been refreshed and +bandaged thoroughly, "Tender Heart, I'm very grateful to you. Let me +introduce myself to you ... your name, you see, I know. I am one of the +five men who answered Roosevelt when he asked for volunteers to follow +him to gain the very top of all the ridges that cropped up about San +Juan hill." He smiled, "I think you know me, now, as I know you. We're +both Americans.... I know that, too ... we both love Teddy.... I could +see your eyes flash at the mention of his name. He is a man among men. I +wish you could have heard him when he said 'I did not think you would +refuse to follow where I would lead.' I stood beside his horse as he +said those sad words ... the others followed, then. They followed Teddy +up that hill ... they took it, too. We won the day. The Spaniards fled +before us. You know me, now," he ended, whimsically, "just as well as I +know you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ruth, "I know you, now, and you know me ... we're both +Americans and both of us love Teddy and are proud of him and what he did +this day. And, now, you'd better go to sleep and rest up for we still +have work to do ... the Spaniard is not conquered, yet. They'll need us +both and so we must do all we can to keep our strength. I'm going, now. +Good-bye until tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"Goodnight, Tender Heart," he said. "Goodnight."</p> + +<p>Ruth went, then, to the little cottage where she found old Mage and +Tid-i-wats awaiting her; Estrella stayed on duty in the hospital where +she had learned to do her work with neatness and dispatch.</p> + +<p>Ruth always told old Mage the happenings of the day as they were seated +at their evening meal; her old nurse loved to listen to her animated +account of every little thing that she remembered that she'd seen or +heard about; she had an unusual memory of small details and a most +graphic power of description; these she employed to interest and amuse +her old nurse who had been alone with little Tid-i-wats, almost all day; +in recounting recent events she passed as lightly as possible over the +occurrences of the battle-field where she had found and rescued one who +had been left as dead among the lifeless bodies of the slain; she did +not wish to shock old Mage too much and, somehow, she did not wish to +speak of him she'd rescued ... somehow, she feared that her auditor, who +was always eager for romantic episodes would, maybe, choose to enter +into rhapsodies concerning the possibilities of her own future if she +talked too much about the handsome stranger, for remembering how he'd +looked resting, as she'd seen him last, upon the little cot, his +dark-blue eyes regarding her with whimsical tenacity, she freely +acknowledged to herself that he was handsome and distinguished in +appearance; so she changed the subject when old Mage began to question +her too closely about him, and, in the changing of the subject, the rosy +flush that was so much a part of her expression, crept over her fair +face and lighted up her deep gray eyes until her countenance was +glorified, as if her inner consciousness shone through her delicate and +expressive features; old Mage observed this blush and speculated on its +cause and wondered whether Ruth had found another man more worthy of +affection than the one she hoped she had almost forgotten.</p> + +<p>When Ruth returned, the next day, to the hospital, she went among the +little cots until she came to that one where he lay ... the man she'd +helped to rescue from a slow and very painful death; she found him lying +wide awake and very thoughtful:</p> + +<p>"Tender Heart," he said, "Tender Heart, you've come to me, again; I've +longed for you and now you're here beside me."</p> + +<p>She rested one of her soft hands upon the cot and his hand searched for +hers and found it; then their fingers intertwined and clung together for +a moment only, but the memory of that hand-clasp lingered with them +forever after; it was as if their very souls had intermingled in that +clasping of their hands ... it was as if their spirits swung, together, +out ... far out ... beyond the things of earth ... and, then, still +farther out and on and up into eternal peace and lasting joy and +gladness ... it was as if they had been translated into disembodied +spirits while they still remained on earth ... as if a higher and a +holier love than any earthly love can ever be had sought them out and +found them there within that shadowy hospital ... it was as if they had +gone on into the astral world and left their human bodies where they +seemed to be themselves ... as if they had been separated from the +material surroundings that seemed to be about them.</p> + +<p>Ruth blushed until the rosy flush crept up to her brown hair that seemed +to frame her face, and looked at the soft fingers that his hand had held +and then she smoothed his pillow with them as she said:</p> + +<p>"I'm very glad to find that you are better than you were last night. I +surely hope that you'll recover very rapidly. I'm told that men like +you will soon again be needed. It is reported that another battle will +be fought not very far from here."</p> + +<p>"I surely hope," he said and said it very earnestly, "I surely hope that +I'll be able to take my part in whatever engagement is entered into by +our troops, and if, perchance, I should be left again upon a +battle-field, I trust that you will come and find me, Tender Heart, I +trust that you will find me and, if it pleases you, I hope you'll keep +me, Tender Heart."</p> + +<p>She blushed again at that and simply said:</p> + +<p>"Now you must go to sleep and rest and gain what strength you can, for +men like you," she ended, archly, "for men like you are almost always +needed very badly."</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield was no flirt and never had been one; she was quickwitted +and she had a wide command of language, and she smiled as she went on +upon her rounds among the little cots when she remembered that neither +of them really knew the other's name; she liked the name he'd given to +her ... she liked the way he said it ... she liked the fine expression +of his speaking countenance ... she liked his eyes ... she liked his +manly way of meeting whatever came to him with courage and with cheerful +readiness to serve the country they both loved ... her heart went out to +him in very many ways, and, then, she looked again at those soft fingers +that his hand had held ... she seemed to feel again the subtle, +unexplainable, electric thrill that crept through all her being at his +touch ... that seemed to answer to the look within his eyes ... the +accent on his tongue, and, then, she blushed again and went about her +work within that shadowy hospital where many strong men lay in bitter +pain with renewed courage and with a new and hither-to unknown +tenderness.</p> + +<p>She stood, at length, beside a cot whereon lay one whose face was hidden +while surgeons dressed a gaping wound he had received upon his head; +Ruth stopped and gave her scissors that she always carried in the pocket +of her apron to the one who needed them for use in cutting away the dark +hair that grew along the edges of the wound; it clung in tiny ringlets +and was black as night and very soft and thick.... Ruth could not help +remembering, that her hands had often strayed among such soft and dark +and clinging ringlets, but she shuddered as she thought of them and of +Estrella who had deemed herself to be the only woman Victorio Colenzo +had ever loved, and, then, she wondered if all men were like to that one +she had married thinking him to be as he professed to be ... judging him +to be as truthful as she was ... she wondered if the man she had just +left would be like that under similar circumstances ... he was ready in +his hints at tenderness ... was he, too, perhaps, a gay deceiver?</p> + +<p>While her thoughts were rambling on in this way, her eyes were idly +looking at the man who lay upon his face and writhed under the stitches +that the surgeons took to close the gaping wound upon his head; he +turned his face an instant toward her and she recognized him as a +Spanish officer she'd seen in San Domingo under most distressing +circumstances; she had gone, as she had often done before, to minister +to the needs of those who were among the poorer classes in the village, +one day, and found before a hovel a most richly caparisoned horse held +by an orderly; inside, there knelt upon the floor a young and pretty +peasant girl; she was imploring this same officer who lay upon that +little cot not to make her go with him to be his helpless slave; Ruth +rescued her and told the man to go his way in no uncertain language; +now, he lay there dressed as if he were an American soldier; she +recognized him perfectly for his face had often haunted her, it was so +sinister and devilish.</p> + +<p>She sought out Father Felix, then, and told him what she had discovered, +and he took what steps were necessary in the matter, for he who'd named +Ruth Tender Heart had named her very well indeed; it seemed to her she +could not bear to turn this Spanish spy over to the proper authorities, +and, yet, she knew it was her duty to do that very thing, so the good +Priest helped her to do her duty as he'd promised her he would, and, +after that, there was a wall at sunrise and a platoon of armed men, and, +then, that Spanish spy soon disappeared.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + + +<p>We intimated when we first began this tale that Father Felix was a man +to be admired, not only for his strong religious zeal, but for his great +virility and patriotic fervor.</p> + +<p>Never had he shown these qualities more fully than during the naval +battle of Santiago which engagement took place shortly after the events +narrated in the last chapter; there was work to do on land as well as on +the water at that crucial time; more than 18,000 helpless persons ... +men, women and children ... marched out of the beleagued city seeking +safety in the open country surrounding it; among these were many wealthy +women of the higher class whose delicate silken garments were bedraggled +and torn by the hardships of the journey which it was necessary to make +on foot over muddy roads and through barbed wires which had been +stretched irregularly all around Santiago and its vicinity by the +Spanish soldiery for the purpose of turning back the invading Americans +who were advancing upon them.</p> + +<p>Among these women there was one who reached the hospital over which Ruth +Wakefield presided; she was bespattered and weary and sick at heart, +but there was a light in her dark eyes and a steadiness in her firm hand +that appealed to Ruth at once and made her single this one woman from +among all who came to her that day for help; as soon as she had changed +her apparel and washed the grime of travel from her person, she asked to +be allowed to assist the others who were at work among the little cots +that were now filled with suffering humanity; she took her place so +quietly that it seemed to those among whom she moved that she had almost +always been right there and would always continue to be there; Estrella +liked her from the first of their acquaintance and the older woman found +the girl so pleasing that whenever she could do so, she gave her hand a +little squeeze or patted her upon her shoulder to make her know that +they two were congenial and going on, together, toward the same loved +goal; this silent association became at once a bond between these two +who, in their nurse's uniforms, looked enough alike to be twin +sisters ... they had the same dark eyes and sensitive and drooping +lips ... they had the same fair skins, although Estrella had been tanned +by more outside exposure than the other had ... they moved in the same +way and both were tall and straight and lithe and quick; Ruth noticed +them together and at once began to wonder why they looked so much +alike ... then she thought of what Estrella'd told her as to what she +knew of her own family, and, immediately, Ruth began to speculate and +piece together little circumstances and then she soon began to hope that +poor Estrella, maybe, might, in this way, find her own people; so she +asked some kindly questions of the woman who had come to them that day, +and she found that she had had a little sister, long ago ... a little +sister who had disappeared and whom they'd mourned as dead for many +years; Ruth told her all she knew about the girl ... all except her +intimate association with the man whom, she, herself, had married; she +did not feel that she could speak of him to this dark stranger ... +anyway, it would not matter, now, and if Estrella wished to speak about +it later on, then she could do so; they called the girl, then, and found +she had a little dainty cross of gold that she had always worn about her +neck.... Manuello's mother had preserved it for her while she was an +infant thinking it might prove the child's identity, so that the ones +who'd cared for her might be profited thereby, and, since she knew about +it, she, herself, had held it sacred as the only link that bound her to +her unknown family ... and so it proved, indeed, the link that proved +her as the sister of the lady who had come to them that day from the +beleaguered city of Santiago.</p> + +<p>Estrella's blood, it seemed, was Spanish ... she had descended from the +ones who knew the roses of Castile ... she'd always seemed far +different from the peasants among whom she'd lived until she met Ruth +Wakefield who recognized in her a higher strain ... a higher nature ... +than she found in any of the peasants whom she met in San Domingo; old +Mage, even, looked upon Estrella differently than on the other servants +whom she always treated with great condescension, for she felt herself +above the most of them as she was always nearer to her dear young lady +than any of them were; Ruth trusted her with Tid-i-wats, for one thing, +which separated her from all the rest, for Tid-i-wats, was most abrupt +in very many ways, and, sometimes, even went so far as to just sink her +long, sharp claws right through whatever garments anybody wore, so that +they found and often even penetrated the skin beneath the garments; she +would do this deed in such a loving way that many who were sadly +scratched by her would try to smile and take this punishment as if it +were but joy and gladness ... old Mage squirmed sometimes, 'tis true, +beneath this discipline that Tid-i-wats gave very freely, but she never +put her down or turned against her,—only saying:</p> + +<p>"Tid-i-wats! Good land! Your blessed little claws are very sharp +indeed," and, then, she'd often turn to Ruth and add, "I tell you +Tid-i-wats is just as young and spry as she ever was ... no one would +ever think how old she is if he could feel her claws."</p> + +<p>When Estrella found that she was not alone, but had a family, and a +loving, wealthy sister, old Mage was very glad indeed ... she'd found +the girl a little in her way for many reasons; Ruth deferred to her a +little, pitying her so much, and old Mage knew that if Ruth pitied +anybody very much she might, in time, begin to love the person whom she +put her tender pity on, and, then, to the old nurse, Estrella always +brought up the memory of the man who had deceived her ... made her think +him to be far better than he'd ever been ... and, so, altogether, +Estrella's good fortune pleased old Mage in very many pleasant ways.</p> + +<p>To say that Ruth was glad to have Estrella find her people was to put +the case too lightly altogether; she was far too unselfish not to +rejoice in her good fortune even though her going might mean great human +loneliness for her: she had in her own inner consciousness a kind of +spiritual and lasting strength on which she always leaned when outside +companionship failed her in any way ... she never was alone although she +often seemed to be so ... in fact, Ruth Wakefield often found herself to +be alone among a crowd of human beings ... it seemed to her their many +diverse thoughts disturbed the peace of mind she always longed to +have ... her pity was so great ... her sympathy so broad ... and sorrows +and sore trials are so common to the entire race of men and women ... +that she seldom found much joy among the people whom she met; she gave +most liberally to all she came in contact with ... she gave +encouragement and comfort and sympathy and help ... but seldom did she +find a human being who could give her anything at all for any length of +time, at least:</p> + +<p>"They come and they go," she often sadly said. "It seems to me that +there is nothing steadfast in this world except the God on whom I always +lean when all else fails me.... I wish I <i>could</i> find something strong +enough to tie my faith to ... I <i>wish</i> I could ... it would be wonderful +to know that I could always find good, solid ground beneath my human +feet ... it would be wonderful to feel that nothing mattered between +another human being and myself ... to feel that nothing, good or bad, +could ever really change our feelings toward each other ... but I'd have +to know for sure that it was so ..." she'd add, "I'd have to know for +sure, I'd have to try it out somehow ... so many things have slipped +away from me ... so very many things ... I'd have to know for sure, +somehow, before I'd dare to trust too much."</p> + +<p>While these personal matters were taking the attention of some of those +within the shadowy hospital, Father Felix was undergoing an altogether +different experience.</p> + +<p>The good Priest had, more than once, covered the entire eight miles of +entrenchments around Santiago on foot and with a heavy pack containing +supplies on his broad back; during the time that elapsed between the +naval battle of Santiago and the surrender of the city on Sunday, July +17, 1898, he had marched with his little flock of soldiers over many +stony trails and through many miry passes, and, while the engagement +itself was in progress, he had performed many heroic deeds and, more +than once, he had fervently thanked God for his sturdy strength of arm +and limb because he was thereby enabled to give material as well as +spiritual aid to those who came within the reach of his hands; had +anyone been watching a certain shady spot near Santiago on July 3, 1898, +he might have witnessed a peculiar scene.</p> + +<p>A rather short thick-set man, dressed as an army Chaplain and wearing a +crucifix attached to a strong chain around his neck, was bending over +one who lay there in the shade; he seemed to be examining the man to see +if life remained in his body, and, yet, he always held the crucifix +before the face of him who lay there as if he wished him to behold it, +in case his earthly eyes should evermore see anything; he tried in every +way he could to gain some recognition of his holy office from the man +over whose earthly tenement he was then bending, but, as he did not +succeed in this, he gently laid the crucifix upon the apparently +pulseless breast, and went his way to find, perhaps, another one to whom +he might administer the final consolation of the church whose dogmas he +believed in.</p> + +<p>The man he'd left behind him stirred uneasily, and, as he writhed and +twisted there, the crucifix slid off his breast and fell upon the +ground; it lay where it had fallen until Father Felix came again and +brought with him another sufferer; he looked upon the breast of his +first charge and did not see his crucifix ... it lay beneath the body of +the one he'd left it with; he gently said:</p> + +<p>"I left my crucifix with you, my Friend ... I thought it might be a +consolation to you if you came to life again at all. I do not see the +crucifix ... could anyone have taken it during my absence, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I don't know anything about your crucifix, good Sir," the man +replied in a weak voice. "I have other things to fix my mind on than +anything like that. For one thing, I am wounded and I need a surgeon +more than I do Priests or crosses."</p> + +<p>"I'll supply that need as far as I am able," Father Felix said. "I know +I am an amateur and yet I have set broken limbs and tied up arteries and +sewed up wounds full many times because there was no one better near +enough to do it. Where are you hurt, my Friend?"</p> + +<p>"I am not hurt at all, you blundering old fool, you ..." the man began. +"I'm dead and buried ... killed completely ... that is all ... and I +don't want any old woman's work. Go get a surgeon for me ... quick! I'm +losing lots of blood ... I need a surgeon, I tell you ... go get me +one!"</p> + +<p>Father Felix did not say a word in answer to this tirade for he had +heard full many such remarks since he had been at work among the +soldiers, and, so, he bound the wounds of the second sufferer he'd +brought before he stopped the flow of blood from his first charge, for, +well he knew the loss of some good red blood might make it easier for +him to help the man ... he was too full of life and anger ... too full +of unrepented viciousness ... for the good Priest to help him very much, +and, so, he let him lay there in the shade and curse and fume and rage +until he worked his evil temper off a little; then he gently said to +him:</p> + +<p>"Now, if you think that I can help you any, I will do all I can for you, +Friend, but if you'd rather lie there on the ground and take the name of +God in vain, why, I must let you do so. There is no one within hail +except myself, who knows a thing about surgery, unless this man, here, +does; I do not know about that part but he is wounded, too, so that I +guess I am your only hope here on the earth at present. May I see your +hurt and maybe bind it up and make your suffering less than it is, now?"</p> + +<p>Sheepishly, the man looked up at him, and moved a little so the crucifix +became exposed; Father Felix quickly picked it up and put the chain +around his neck again, and then he added to the things that he had said +before:</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I'm very glad I found my crucifix ... it is of value to me for +it has been the means of consolation to a great many sufferers from this +sad war; it seems to help so many to behold the sufferings of One Who +gave His precious life to save the lost and suffering souls who wander +on the earth. He loved you, Sir, and, in His Name, I love you, too, and +wish to help you, though you flout my work in your behalf. I am an +amateur, but I can bind the only wound I see about you, Sir. Shall I do +it, Sir, or not? I'd like to do the work the very best I could, but, if +you say me nay, I'll leave it as it is."</p> + +<p>The man grinned like a bashful boy, but he bowed his head in assent and +Father Felix went to work and bound his wound and left him lying there +beside the other sufferer and went to find another man to help; his +stocky legs and muscular arms came in quite handily, that time, for, +when he came back to the shady spot, he bore one on his shoulder who +looked and seemed as if already dead and gone beyond the things of earth +but Father Felix laid him gently down and knelt beside him while he +gently laid his recovered crucifix upon his almost pulseless breast; the +first man watched the operation silently, and, then, he moved a little +farther from the deepest of the shade and said:</p> + +<p>"Better bring him over here. It's better in the shade. I'll make a +little more room here beside me and maybe I can help some in the +dressing of his wounds."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, Sir," the Priest replied. "I surely thank you kindly, but +this man has gone, I fear, beyond our earthly aid; and, yet, I could not +bear to leave him lying out there in the sun; the heat is terrible out +there and flies and insects gather round and many lying out there suffer +from their stings. I'll leave my crucifix, here, on his breast, and, if +he moves or speaks, will you please tell him I will be right back?"</p> + +<p>And then good Father Felix made another solemn trip to that sad +battle-field and brought another man into the shade; and he whom he had +brought there, just before, lay silently ... the silent crucifix upon +his breast. The priest leaned down to listen for his breathing, then, +and raised his head with joy depicted on his countenance.</p> + +<p>"He lives!" he cried aloud. "This poor fellow is alive! Perhaps it may +be possible for us to bring him into consciousness again. Now, Sir," he +addressed the man he had first brought into the friendly shade, "maybe +you can help me. Take one of his hands between your own and rub it just +as hard as you can rub it, Sir; that's right ... now, take the other one +and do the same with it. Your strong vitality will maybe help his +weakness, Sir. We two together may be instruments in God's Hands to +bring him back to earthly life again."</p> + +<p>He put some drops of cordial on his tongue and chafed his limbs and +turned him over many times until he saw some signs of returning +consciousness and then he raised him up and rested his head upon his +helper's breast and held the crucifix before his face so he would see it +if his eyes would open; and his helper held the hands of him who seemed +about to die and gazed with eagerness into his countenance.</p> + +<p>The good Priest saw this look upon his helper's face and joyed to see it +there instead of the malevolent expression that had rested on his rather +handsome features only a short time before.</p> + +<p>At length, the sufferer resting on the other's breast opened his wide +eyes and gazed upon the crucifix and motioned that it be brought nearer +to his dying lips; he kissed it, then, devoutly, and his deathless +spirit passed to Him Who gave it life at first.</p> + +<p>Father Felix gently laid his body down upon the ground and placed the +crucifix upon his cold, still breast, and, then, he said to him who +watched it all in silence:</p> + +<p>"You see, Sir, some are happier to have the crucifix to kiss before they +go to meet their Maker; I did not know that you felt as you said you did +about it. I beg your pardon, Sir ... I humbly beg your pardon."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + + +<p>On July 17, 1898, United States troops marched into and took possession +of the city of Santiago, thereby completing the assurance of +independence to Cuba.</p> + +<p>On that auspicious day Ruth Wakefield closed her temporary hospital and +turned over to its new owner the little cottage which she had built to +shelter her small family during her stay near Santiago; with tears of +joy as well as sorrow, she had said good-bye to Estrella and her +new-found relatives who were about to return to the home of the latter; +Father Felix had decided to return to his little flock at San Domingo as +he felt that his work with the army was finished, so that, in his +company and with old Mage and Tid-i-wats safely ensconced near to her, +she sailed upon the first steamer going toward Havana after there was no +longer need of her help among the American soldiers.</p> + +<p>It was with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow that she left the scene +of her recent activities ... she was carrying with her many sad memories +of heroism and of suffering borne with patriotic patience ... her heart +was heavy when she reflected upon the horrors she had witnessed, but +her spirit was loyal to the sacred cause for which so many splendid +lives had been sacrificed ... she could see, with prophetic vision, a +happy and prosperous race of people taking the place of the down-trodden +and pitiful company of cowering peasants with which she had been all too +familiar ... it seemed to her that she could see the smiling faces of +many happy children crowding along the narrow streets of the small +villages of Cuba ... it seemed to her that she could almost hear old men +relating the long-past horrors that had been common under the iron heel +of the Spanish oppressor ... relating these remembered facts to those +who shook their heads, half doubtingly, as they listened to them.</p> + +<p>Ruth herself, was looking forward with bright anticipation to her return +to her own beloved home ... dear to her, not only because of its +intrinsic attractiveness, but also because of the precious memories it +held of her parents whom she constantly mourned for and kept alive +within her loving heart; for so it is, as I believe, that those who are +beyond the earth yet live among us who are yet in human form; I think +that those who are made welcome in the hearts of men and women continue, +often, their stay within the circle of humanity; so long as mortals +remember and long for them, so long will they care to wander among the +hills and mountains and along the pleasant valleys and by the oceans +and the rivers of the earth; if they should be forgotten by all +humanity, it does not seem to me that they would often wish to look upon +the moonlight or the sunlight of our world; if nowhere in our world +their spirits could find a resting-place, it seems to me they would not +care to stray among mortal men and women.</p> + +<p>Freed souls, as I believe, are not compelled to associate with those who +are uncongenial to them; they do not have to yield their finest taste +and dearest wishes, as so many mortals do, to what is far beneath +them ... far beneath their inner consciousness of right and wrong. They +do not, as I hope, just because they made some sad mistake, go on +suffering for dreary years, as many women have, because they saw no way +of sure release except through death itself.</p> + +<p>It is a pitiful but well-established fact that many wives and mothers +have borne long years of martyrdom because, in their first youth, they +made unfortunate matrimonial alliances.</p> + +<p>There are so very many ways to put on binding-chains in human life; +there are so many changes common to most mortals, steadfastness and +truth are such rare qualities, that I sometimes wonder how men and women +manage even as well as they do.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, we criticize our fellow-men and fellow-women pretty harshly, +but, then, perhaps, we only see one side, and if we could look down from +some great height, perhaps we, then, would marvel that they do as well +as they do, now, with human life.</p> + +<p>There have been those who honestly expected that, when they would leave +their earthly tenements, they would go to sleep, when they had gone +across the unknown river that they knew as death's cold stream, and, +maybe, sleep a thousand years or so; they must have dreaded that last, +long sleep, especially if they, as might have happened, had never been +very sound or very quiet sleepers ... if they had always seemed to be on +guard and wakened at the slightest unfamiliar sound ... the thought that +they would just lie silently within the narrow grave they must have +known it was intended they should be put in must have been a most +unpleasant one; they must have edged around it all they could and seldom +mentioned it to anyone around them, and, yet, that horrid thought ... +that last, long sleep ... must have, often, been present in their waking +thoughts, and must have, even, sometimes, haunted them in their dreams.</p> + +<p>But I believe that we go right on living when we leave the earth-plane; +I believe that most of us will be wide awake and conscious from the very +start of that larger life that we will, then, begin to live. I hope that +we will find that we do not have to sleep at all unless we choose to do +so.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield kept the memories of her parents in her heart and so she +always had them with her where she went, and, now, that she was going +back where they and she had spent so very many happy years together, it +was natural that she should think of them even more than common; a +feeling of deep sadness stole across her mind whenever she reflected on +her parents and their home, somehow; she could not account for this at +all ... she could not satisfy herself that she had any real reason for +this feeling of sadness ... but it would creep over her in spite of her +efforts to banish it from her mind; old Mage felt this and tried to +cheer her dear young lady up ... little Tid-i-wats felt it and rubbed +against her lovingly and purred her little happy song of comfort and +content ... and, yet, Ruth Wakefield dreaded, while she longed for, her +own home, and, as the vessel they were on drew near to Havana, this +feeling of unaccountable sadness deepened with the girl ... she drew her +breath in sharply and a deep and heart-felt sigh broke from her lips as +they reached the landing-place and left the wild and treacherous waters +far behind them.</p> + +<p>Father Felix wondered if this evident sadness and dread were due, in +part, to the experiences through which they had both passed, and also, +the thought of the man whom Ruth had married surreptitiously would often +cross the mind of the good Priest, for he knew well she often must +remember him and his dashing, dark and manly beauty; old Mage almost +cursed him in her fierce old heart when she noticed that Ruth was sad +although she'd always been so glad to come back home.</p> + +<p>"It's that fellow's fault!" she grumbled to herself. "It's all his +fault ... I hope he's good and dead by this time! I'm sure I'd help to +make him so, most willingly! What did he want to come into her young +life and almost ruin it for? The low-lived pup!"</p> + +<p>They started out, as dusk was falling, the day they reached Havana, to +go to San Domingo, and, then, home; Father Felix went with them as far +as his refectory, and there he bade them a cheerful good-bye and said +he'd come up, soon, and see them in their home again.</p> + +<p>Ruth, somehow, feared to say good-bye to the good Priest and kept his +hand in hers much longer than was her wont with any man ... he was a +bulwark for anyone who clung to him for strength ... his was a nature +strong and good and clean and kind.... Ruth felt this more than usually, +that evening, and dreaded to go on without him; he noticed this strange +mood in her and said with cheery acquiescence:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I'd better go on up the hill with you, my Daughter. I can as +well as not. No one awaits me except my little choir-boys and they have +managed a long time without me. If you will wait a moment while I look +about a bit, I'll just go on up with you and see you nicely settled in +your own old place and then I'll come back here and settle down +myself."</p> + +<p>Suiting his actions to his words, the good Priest looked around and +climbed the hill with Ruth and her small retinue; the path seemed so +familiar with the shadows falling all around it, that she laughed and +said to Father Felix:</p> + +<p>"I am a coward, after all ... afraid of friendly wind-mills like Don +Quixote ... having had to do so much with Spaniards may have made me +like them in some degree at least.... I wonder if Cervantes was afraid, +himself, of things that no one ought to be afraid of! I wonder if Sancho +Panza was afraid, too ... was Rozinante...."</p> + +<p>And, then, she stopped, for they had reached what had been, once, the +outer gate of her palatial residence; there was no gate there ... there +was no residence ... there was no life there ... it was the tomb of hope +and home for her; the dwelling had been razed completely ... in its +stead were only smouldering ruins ... all her precious memories ... her +visible and tangible reminders of her parents ... had been swept +away ... she had paid an awful price for helping those who needed help +from her.</p> + +<p>Father Felix stood beside her with his hand upon her shoulder ... he +could not say a word of consolation or of any sort of help ... he was +dumbfounded by it all; old Mage sunk down upon the ground and wept, and +Tid-i-wats came close to Ruth and rubbed against her garments; stooping, +then, she picked her little pet up and held her closely clasped within +her sheltering arms; then she went to her old nurse and said to her:</p> + +<p>"Do not despair, my dear old Friend. God will provide for us, some way. +This is a dreadful thing, but we must make the very best of it that we +can possibly. I will try to think of some way whereby we may be +sheltered for this one night that is before us and then I hope to find +some way to rebuild a portion of the residence we used to have here on +this blessed spot. Let's bear this, dear old Friend. Let's think we gave +our home to save this country for the people who inhabit it and may +their homes be just as full of peace and comfort and joy and gladness as +this one that is gone has been for all who came beneath its friendly +roof."</p> + +<p>The Father Felix stood beside her and said:</p> + +<p>"My Daughter, come with me; I'll house you all for this one night at +least; I'll find a way tomorrow, somehow, for you, so that you may go on +in the path that you were meant to walk in. My Daughter, let us pray for +guidance in this unexpected sorrow. Let us pray."</p> + +<p>They knelt there underneath the friendly stars and the good Priest +prayed, earnestly:</p> + +<p>"Dear, kind and loving Father," then he said, "look down upon us as we +kneel before Thee, here; direct us with Thy holy Wisdom, for we falter +and are cast down with the burden of this day. Direct the feet of her +who has been sorely stricken, here, tonight; direct her feet so that she +may go on upon the path that Thou hast pointed out to her. Help her to +go on with courage and devotion to the cause for which she has made this +great and almost overpowering sacrifice. Help her to show in all her +acts, henceforth, the same sweet resignation to Thy Will that she has +shown so far. And help me, Father, help Thy humble servant who is but +feeble and who often fails in doing all he should for Thee and for Thy +children, help Thy humble and most unworthy servant to stand as if he +were a pillar, so that she may lean upon him if her courage falters, or +if she should stumble or grow weak in walking in the path that she was +meant by Thee to walk upon. Look down in mercy on Thy servants as we +kneel before Thee here. Amen."</p> + +<p>Tid-i-wats endured this, patiently, until he went beyond the common run +of prayers for him when they had been together, then she squirmed and +twisted in Ruth's arms, and, finally, escaped her altogether; then old +Mage corraled her and the two of them had quite a little conversation on +the side:</p> + +<p>"You naughty little thing! You must behave yourself and be a nice little +lady. Can't you see what's happened to us without making us a lot of +trouble, too?"</p> + +<p>And Tid-i-wats said, plainly:</p> + +<p>"I'll do just as I please, you mean old thing you! Don't you <i>dare</i> to +hold me when I want to get away! I'll show you what my claws will do to +you, old Mage! You let me go this minute!"</p> + +<p>Then she used some language only known to cats and those who know the +devious ways of little petted cats.</p> + +<p>Then Ruth turned to her and whispered:</p> + +<p>"Little Dadditts! Little Tid-i-wats! Be a nice lady, now ... be a very +nice little lady, now. Dadditts ... little bit of Dadditts...."</p> + +<p>Then she held her close and tried to comfort her and gain some comfort +for herself, but her tears would come to think how happy they had always +or most always been in that fine home which seemed so much a part of +life to Ruth that, now that it was gone from her, life seemed a sordid +and a sorry thing.</p> + +<p>But she went with Father Felix, quietly, to the refectory and there they +all found comfort and refreshment, for the good Priest always had +prepared himself to entertain some unexpected guests, and, with +returning security and peace, his parishioners had brought some supplies +to welcome him on his return; so they fared quite well considering what +had met them when they reached the place where Ruth had thought to find +rest from her arduous toil; instead, she had to meet renewed unrest and +many problems to be solved in her near future.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + + +<p>When Ruth Wakefield awoke the next morning after her arrival in the +village of San Domingo, she became conscious of her surroundings with a +sudden start; at first, she scarcely realized just where she was, for +her long trip on the boat following her strenuous and nerve-wracking +labor of the past few weeks, had left her very weary in mind as well as +in body, so that her sleep had been profound and restful; she looked +about her wonderingly and did not recognize anything near to her except +little Tid-i-wats who was cuddled up in a little soft round ball right +beside her pillow; then, from the adjoining room, she began to hear old +Mage, who was, evidently, making her customary strenuous efforts to +continue her slumbers.</p> + +<p>Gradually, Ruth remembered the desolation to which she had returned, +and, hastily dressing, she left the refectory intending to go at once to +the spot where her much-loved home had been, and ascertain, under the +light of day, the extent of her loss, also, she wished to make some +plans, while she could do so quietly and unobserved, as to the future of +her little family, who, as it seemed, was now without a roof to shelter +them.</p> + +<p>She slowly and cautiously ascended the hill; the pathway was almost +obliterated by the growth of the wild things that had been allowed to +run riot over it and she followed it more by instinct than anything +else; as she gained the point from which the proud edifice she had so +loved used to become visible to anyone approaching it, the fact that no +buildings of any kind were in sight pressed upon her inner +consciousness, and it was only with great effort that she proceeded at +all; somehow, she had hoped, she now found, that the hasty survey they +had made the night before might have been overdrawn in some respects and +the corroboration of her worst fears was hard for her to bear; but she +had become accustomed, from long endurance, to meet whatever came with +calmness and courage; so she straightened her slim, tall figure to its +full height, and advanced with the air of a soldier marching forth to +meet the foe.</p> + +<p>She had passed the spot where the entrance gates had been; the pillars +on either side of the entrance were almost entirely demolished and there +was nothing to be seen of the gates themselves; all along the driveway +débris was piled in disordered heaps; evidently, no one had been here, +or so it seemed at a first glance, anyway, for some time; vegetation had +even partially covered a part of the ruins of the dwelling itself; with +repeated gasps of horror, she ran from what had been the front entrance +to her home to first one side and then the other; finally, she sat down, +disconsolately, like Niobe, amid the ruins of her former happiness; she +knew that she was where her library had been; here she had found her +most satisfying, lasting happiness, surrounded as she had been by the +books she had loved; she could see the half-burned remains of many of +her favorites lying all around her; thinking to save some portion of one +of these, she picked it up, fondly, and laid it in her lap, while she +bent over it searching for some word of comfort or some sustaining +sentence; it seemed to her that some of the authors she had so dearly +loved and almost reverenced, would surely come to her aid in this dire +calamity ... it almost seemed to her as if one or more of them would +actually speak to her in such a way as to impress her mind with their +fine thoughts.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, she became conscious of the nearness of some human being; +looking up, surprised and even alarmed, she beheld the man whose life +she had been instrumental in saving after the battle of San Juan Hill.</p> + +<p>"Tender Heart," he said, softly, "Tender Heart, what have we here? Why +are you so sad? You came to me in grievous trouble and I, it seems, have +found you under similar circumstances. Tender Heart," he pleaded, +"Tender Heart, let me help you as you helped me if I can do so."</p> + +<p>She turned and looked into his eyes ... she rose to her feet and took +one hesitating step toward him ... she stretched out both her hands, +and, somehow, then, she felt his strong arms fold themselves around her +yielding form ... she felt his heart beat very near to hers ... she felt +his lips against her hair ... and, then, she turned her face from his +broad shoulder where it had found a resting-place, and, as her lips met +his, it seemed to her that, after all, she had come home; a feeling of +deep security and sweet peace crept over her:</p> + +<p>"Tender Heart," he murmured very near to her small, shell-like ear, for +she had, once more, put her head against his shoulder, "Tender Heart, +you do not know my name.... I am, to you, but one of those five men who +volunteered, at once, to follow Teddy up San Juan Hill.... I am, to you, +but only him you rescued from almost certain death upon that bloody +battle-field. Are you sure you are not making a mistake, sweet, trusting +Tender Heart, to grant me this great privilege, knowing as little of me +as you do?"</p> + +<p>He waited for her answer, for some time, but, then, he waited willingly +indeed, for her soft nearness was enough to make him very happy; when +her answer came she spoke in such low tones he had to listen very +closely ... he had to put his arms about her a little closer than they +had been yet ... he had to lift her from the ground and bring her soft, +red mouth upon a level with his head, indeed ... and then, he heard her +say:</p> + +<p>"I know you just as well as you know me. We do not know each other's +names ... we do not need to know them ... now ... I only know I love +you, Dear ... and, now, I know that you love me."</p> + +<p>And, then, he set her feet upon the ground again and looked down into +her clear, gray eyes, and found within their shining depths the very +things he wanted most to know; and she looked up and saw a man who was a +man indeed ... a man on whom she knew that she could lean ... a man whom +she would love to walk beside ... a man of whom she could be always +proud.</p> + +<p>Standing there, they gazed into each other's eyes and read their future +in them ... read the happiness that they might know together on the +earth, and, then, they saw beyond the chance and change that seem to to +govern earthly things, and saw themselves together in some higher, +better sphere. They plainly saw, there, in each other's eyes, the +promise of another, more etherial world, where they might spend long +ages of eternal joy and gladness in each other's company.</p> + +<p>Father Felix found them so, for he had followed Ruth to see if he could +help her meet the problems that confronted her; the good Priest +hesitated for only a moment before he said:</p> + +<p>"My Daughter, I trust that you have found true happiness. Sir, I do not +know you very well, but I can give you most profound assurance that you +have found a jewel among women; if she has any faults I have not found +them, yet, and I have spent full many happy hours in her society; my +work is to find faults, if so be I can trace them out; I am a hunter, +and a most successful one, of human frailties, and, when I give you my +most profound assurance that I have not found a fault in this one woman, +the statement is worthy of respect.</p> + +<p>"Your coming at this time is most propitious, for I was almost at my +wit's end as to how to help her bear the direful calamity that has just +come upon her. She has not remembered half she's lost, and, now that she +has found you, Sir, I trust that she will nevermore remember much of it, +but that she will go on, with you beside her, leaving far behind her in +her earthly path sad memories of happy days that nevermore can come to +her."</p> + +<p>The man, then, gave to Father Felix his right hand and kept his left arm +round Ruth's slender waist:</p> + +<p>"I do not doubt your word," he answered the good Priest. "I feel that +every single word of what you've said is strictly true, and, yet, I have +some fault to find with this young lady, here; she came away and did +not leave a message behind for me, and I have had a weary, most +disheartening time since she departed. I came to San Domingo, I traced +her that far, easily, and, then, I found a little girl named Tessa +something, who said she knew the very place to find her in ... she said +she knew she'd go where, once, the mansion on the hill had stood ... +and, so, I came straight here, and, so, I've found her. Tender Heart," +he asked, "have you told the good Priest how we met?"</p> + +<p>Then Ruth blushed her pretty, fleeting, characteristic little blush, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Father Felix knows me even better than I know myself, for he has told +me many times what I would do before I did it. Father Felix knows me +better, even, that <i>you</i> do," then she turned to Father Felix, laughing +like a happy little child, and added, "He don't even know my name and I +have no idea what <i>his</i> is; he calls me Tender Heart because I am so +easily misled by tenderness and I call him ... why, I have never called +him anything at all."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have!" he interrupted, eagerly. "You called me 'Dear' just +now ... so she is Tender Heart and I am Dear and that's enough, I think, +don't you?"</p> + +<p>The good Priest smiled upon them almost condescendingly, for he was far +above such little human twists and turns, or so he seemed to be at +least, and so he was in very truth, for he had had his romance ... he +had seen the grave close over the bright curls of one he dearly loved +who loved him just as dearly as he did her; it was after that that he +had taken up the work he did so well; he left his human happiness behind +him in that narrow grave and looked beyond it to a higher, better kind +of happiness; Ruth knew a little of this romantic sorrow for the good +Priest had imparted it to her, and, so, her tender eyes filled up with +sudden tears and her low, sweet voice trembled into even softer cadences +than usual as she said:</p> + +<p>"Dear Father Felix, you are more to me than any loving brother that a +woman ever had ... you are the only one who ever understood my human +sorrow and I think that you will fully understand my human happiness. I +wish with all my heart that you could be as happy as we are," her fair +face flushed again, "for you deserve far more of happiness than I do ... +as for him," she added, archly, "as for him ... do not be too sure of +perfect human happiness for him.... I am but a mere child in very many +ways.... I have so very much to learn.... I'm sure I'll always do the +very best I can, but whether that will be the very best that could be +done, of course I do not know."</p> + +<p>"I'll risk it, anyway, and I will risk it gladly, joyfully," the man +averred. "I'd go again upon that bloody battle-field if you'd be sure +to find me, Tender Heart," he ended, "if only in that way we two were +meant to meet."</p> + +<p>When Ruth went back to the refectory she found old Mage and Tid-i-wats +as lively as two crickets and as cheery as could be ... she introduced +the man whose life she'd saved, or so it seemed, to them, and each of +them acknowledged the introduction in her own peculiar way; old Mage +stared at the man and sized him up most shrewdly, and, then, she gave +her verdict very plainly by her manner of addressing him:</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to see you, Sir," she said. "I'm surely very glad to see you +for I've often heard my dear young lady speak of you; I hope you'll stay +around here near to us for we will have another home to build and +Tid-i-wats and I are not much help to her.... I'm growing to be an old +woman, now, and Tid-i-wats is so peculiar that she never is much help to +anyone."</p> + +<p>And, then, the little cat came close to him and smelled his hands and +rubbed against his legs, and, finally, when he sat down, she jumped up +in his lap and settled down and twisted round and licked herself and +washed her face and made herself entirely at home; and then she looked +up at old Mage and Ruth and whispered to them that she liked him very +well indeed, and, so, he was adopted into that small family.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + + +<p>An author who has been considered by very many people to be a most +successful writer, one whose words have set before very many eyes vivid +pictures of individual characteristics and national events as well, +whose Indians are known all over the world, and whose historical novels +will be eagerly perused as long as there are American eyes to read the +pages of any book at all, used to make a sort of summary of the +principal events in the lives of his very interesting characters: it +always seemed to me that there was something very wholesome and +satisfying in the way he finished up his books, and, so, I'd like to +relate just a little more about the people I have tried to picture in +this little book of mine.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield found her earthly mate when she found him whose life she +helped to save upon the battle-field at night, and spent full many happy +years in his society; they built a modern home upon the site of the +mansion on the hill and did much good among the peasants living near to +them; the man became the author of very many books, and Ruth assisted +him in very many ways.</p> + +<p>Old Mage and little Tid-i-wats lived out the span of earthly life +allotted to each one of them, beneath the tender eye and ready hand of +her who loved them both, and, when the time that had been set for them +to leave this world behind them, came, Ruth Wakefield staid beside them +to the very last, and ministered to them as no one else would ever do.</p> + +<p>The man she'd found had named her well when he said "Tender Heart!" to +her, that night upon the battle-field.</p> + +<p>Her heart was very tender, always, except with reference to herself; she +often did upbraid herself and never gave herself much credit; she often +mourned, in secret, over her few brief memories of the wild, impulsive, +almost insane, so-called love of him she'd married in her untried youth; +she often said:</p> + +<p>"Poor Boy! Poor, lost and misled Boy! I ought to have treated him far +differently than I did; his earthly path crossed mine for some good +reason, I presume; and I did not do all the things I might have done, +when I was near enough to help him, for him ... yet ..." she always +ended, "I did the very best I could do for him, it seemed to me, at the +time I had the opportunity, and I always meant and prayed to do just +right. I went wrong, somehow ... or he had gone too far along a certain +road before I ever met him for me to turn him back ... anyway, I pity +him with all my heart and hope that he is happy where he's gone.... I +hope he's found the very place he belongs in.... I know I always think +of him with tender pity and no resentment, although, according to the +standards of the world, he did me grievous wrong. Poor lost and misled +Boy! He often looked so sad and desperate ... I wish I had done better +by him while I had the chance."</p> + +<p>Her tender heart was uppermost in almost all she did except when she was +doing for herself, and, then, she'd say:</p> + +<p>"My tastes are very simple ... I do not need very much of this world's +goods ... it takes so very little happiness to make me almost wild with +joy.... I've had to look on sorrow often, and, when I come to Joy, I +bask in it as if it were God's holy sunshine."</p> + +<p>But, if it should be that old Mage or Tid-i-wats or anyone of all of +those who were dependent on her, from time to time, for she, somehow +always seemed to accumulate those who needed her help round her, why, +then it was quite different to Tender Heart ... then, she'd say and say +with vigor:</p> + +<p>"Of <i>course</i> I can arrange to have it that way! Why, certainly, if that +would bring happiness, I'll fix it right away."</p> + +<p>And sure enough she would arrange it, no matter what it meant for her of +loneliness or labor ... no matter if she had to go along a lonely road +that had been full of peace and happiness for her before the one who +left her lonely had come into her daily life and made it hard for her, +in that way, while the days were going by, yet made a grievous change +again, in going; she set her teeth and did the things she had to do to +make the other person happy, or to do the things he said would make him +happy, then she turned her face toward her own life, cheerfully, +although her hours were often very sad and lonely.</p> + +<p>But this was all before she met the man whose life she'd helped to save +upon that battle-field ... all before she'd lost her cherished home and +built another one. From that time on unto the end of earthly life for +her, she found sweet satisfaction and content, for she had found a +steadfast love to lean upon, a strong and true and virile human being, +whose tastes were similar to hers, who loved his native land, America, +with all his heart, as she did, too.</p> + +<p>It heartens all humanity to meet a happy pair who are congenial.</p> + +<p>It gives all other human beings courage to go on upon the path that has +been set for them to go upon, to know that there is happiness if only +they could find the way to reach it.</p> + +<p>Estrella soon forgot the handsome lover over whom she mourned so +bitterly; the memory of him soon became a wild, sweet dream, and had she +met him as he was in San Domingo, after she had found her proper place +in life, it is probable that she would have turned away from him; life's +contrasts have so much to do with early love that it is often difficult +to know what love is really like; Estrella, when she was an unknown +waif, was differently placed than she was later on. Victorio Colenzo +would not have seemed the same to her that he did when she was but an +unknown, simple girl; education made a change in her ... her sister +looked to that. She grew to be a splendid woman, in very many ways, and +married one who was her peer.</p> + +<p>Poor little Tessa seems the most forlorn of all the characters in this +book. She tried so hard and failed so utterly in almost all she ever +did. But Father Felix watched her tenderly, and helped her on, and, +finally, one day, he married her to one who loved her truly in his own +rude way, to one who was a sturdy peasant like herself, who had no +romance in him, but who was true to her, and kind, as kindness goes +among his sort of people; he provided for her and their children; she +had many more necessities and even luxuries than most of those who were +associated with her. She, sometimes, dreamed of Manuello; she never knew +how his life ended.</p> + +<p>Ruth Wakefield looked her up, from time to time, but did not tell her +very much about the Spanish-American war or those who entered into it; +she knew she could not really understand much more than would the +helpless baby at her ample breast, for Tessa did not stay the slim, +small person that she was at first; she grew to be as wide, almost, as +she was tall, and seemed to be quite happy as she was. She always limped +a little from the blow that Manuello gave to her; the deep, sad scar he +left upon her gentle heart could not be seen, and it, somehow, grew over +as her flesh and family increased.</p> + +<p>Estrella always remembered her and sent her many costly and curious +things which were her constant delight. She loved to display these +mementoes of her girlhood's friend; her children, and her heavy husband, +too, were, always proud of them.</p> + +<p>It seems to me that, when such souls as animated little Tessa's form +leave this world behind them for all time, it must be that they find +some soft, warm places, where they can sit at ease and watch dear little +children play, and, maybe, join them in their play, and dream of happy +hours, and forget all the trials of their lives upon the earth.</p> + +<p>The course of human life will, sometimes, like a placid river, flow +along for many years without a single change that is any more disturbing +than a little, gentle ripple or an easy turn; then, all at once, like +the water, that has been so clear and still, when it has reached the +rapids and becomes a raging, turbid torrent, so human life may, +suddenly, be stirred to its very depths; something may transpire that +will call for the most sublime courage and the most strenuous endeavor, +combined with the most harrowing self-sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Like a stroke of lightning out of a calm summer sky, more than one great +event in our national history has thrust itself upon our startled +consciousness. At these times, leaders have appeared who have taken +their places at the head of affairs as naturally and as calmly as if +they had been, always, guiding those who followed after them, although, +perhaps, before the time that they were needed, they were, +comparatively, unknown. And so, it seems to me, it will be always. There +is a Plan, an infinite, a just, a universal Plan, to which all things, +mundane or otherwise, must, in the end, conform. To keep ourselves +informed as to the part that we were meant to take in this great Plan, +it seems to me, should be our constant study and our constant strong +desire.</p> + +<p>The light of truth and understanding, that is God's Smile, looks up into +our faces from the heart of every flower, whether bathed in moonlight, +or shining underneath the sun; the simplest soul or the grandest +intellect, alike, may bask beneath this light and feel its healing +power.</p> + +<p>I love, above all else, the God of truth and right and justice, Who +rules all worlds and watches over everything that lives and moves and +has its being in His whole universe.</p> + +<p>It seems to me that there is implanted, although it may be completely +covered up, at times, in the nature of every human being, a reverence +and a most affectionate regard, that rests upon implicit faith, for Him +Who gave to us, at the very beginning of of our human lives, an +infallible guide ... conscience, or inner consciousness of right and +wrong ... which, if always heeded, will show us where to go and what to +do, no matter what vicissitudes, disappointments or sorrows we may meet.</p> + +<p>And, next to God, it seems to me, it is both natural and right to love +the land of one's nativity.</p> + +<p>I know I hold in my regard, above all personal advantages, above all +temporal happiness or praise, America ... the great United States ... +<i>that one fair land whose single boast has always been that it was +free</i>.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An American, by Belle W. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An American + +Author: Belle W. Gue + +Release Date: July 10, 2011 [EBook #36679] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AMERICAN *** + + + + +Produced by Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia, Charlene Taylor, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + + AN AMERICAN + + BY BELLE WILLEY GUE + + + BOSTON + RICHARD G. BADGER + + THE GORHAM PRESS + + COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY BELLE WILLEY GUE + + All Rights Reserved + + Made in the United States of America + + The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. + + + TO THE MEMORY OF HIM WHOM WE ALL DELIGHT + TO HONOR AS FIRST IN PEACE ... FIRST IN + WAR ... AND FIRST IN THE HEARTS + OF HIS COUNTRYMEN ... + GEORGE WASHINGTON + + + + +AN AMERICAN + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +There are many characteristics that are essential to true Americanism; +among these, none is more prominent than an inborn desire, not only to +obtain personal liberty, but, also, to see justice done to others. + +We, as Americans, say, with loving pride, that we are citizens of that +_one fair land whose single boast has always been that it was free_. + +Oppression of the weak and ignorant, by those who are wiser and stronger +than they, has, always, aroused in us pronounced, and, often, openly +expressed, indignation. More than once, have we, as a nation, arrayed +ourselves upon the side of the down-trodden and pitiful, and, in every +such instance, we have greatly increased and enhanced the well-being of +those whose cause we have espoused. + +We have never gone out of our way to look for trouble, being more +inclined to attend to our own affairs than to oversee those of our +neighbors, and, yet, when, repeatedly, gross acts of injustice and +cruelty have been forced under our observation, we have, at times, been +aroused to a state of what we have honestly believed to be righteous +indignation, and, in these circumstances, we have conducted ourselves +in accordance with our ability and the fervor of our convictions. + +Prior to the evening of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and +ninety-eight, our relations with the government of Spain were amicable; +while we, as a people, sympathized, to some extent, with the uprisings +of native Cubans, yet, those who were at the head of our national +affairs did not, in any instance, uphold or palliate the unlawful acts +of the insurrectionists; but, during the hours of darkness of that +never-to-be-forgotten night, a dastardly and totally inexcusable deed, +in spite of the recent renewal of our friendly intercourse with the +Spanish government, made of that nation a foe to be contended against +with all the might that was in us. + +While our only object, in the beginning of the Spanish-American war, was +to teach the Spaniard the lesson he had so richly deserved to learn, at +the same time, as the results of autocratic misrule were brought, more +and more closely, under our direct observation, we took much honest +pride in the reflection that we were not only resenting, as became free +and enlightened men and women, an injury to our own well-beloved +country, but that we were, at the same time, giving to a people, whose +necks were raw and bleeding from the yoke of a tyrannical exercise of +absolute power, an opportunity to throw off that yoke, and become, in +due time, a self-governed and a self-respecting and an independent +nation. + +Our short and fiery encounter with Spain demonstrated, as many years of +unbroken peace and prosperity had not done and never could do, the +invincibility of American arms, and the unexampled superiority of +American daring, devotion, inventive genius and self-adjusting prowess; +it was supposed that we had a very inadequate naval equipment, and that +our standing army was very small, besides being poorly trained; in spite +of this widely spread supposition, our troops won many brilliant +victories upon the sea as well as on the land. + +The same spirit that saved the day for freedom and the right at Bunker +Hill and Bennington animated the descendants of those gallant and +intrepid warriors, who, soon after the heroic birth of our Republic, +defended the cause they deemed to be a sacred one with all that they +held dear, when they, too, went to meet the carefully trained and richly +caparisoned phalanxes of those who bowed their heads and bent their +suppliant knees unto an earthly king. + +An American volunteer is as nearly unconquerable as any merely human +being can ever really be; his whole being is entirely devoted to the +principle for the vindication of which he is about to enter into bodily +combat; he is not hampered or bound down by anything that does not meet +with the approval of his own conscience; physically, mentally, and +morally, he is the equal of any enemy against whom he may be pitted; +above him there floats a flag that has never been defeated, behind him +are glorious deeds of valor that are well worthy of emulation, and +before him are the hopes and aspirations of those who, with their feet +firmly planted upon solid ground, practical, energetic and capable, yet, +always, move among their fellows, seeing visions, dreaming dreams. + +Shortly before the beginning of the Spanish-American war, there were +some, across the water, who dared to complacently imagine that the +glowing spark of patriotism, implanted in the breast of every true +American at the time of his birth, had lost its kindling power; those +who were depending upon this erroneous idea must have had their +complacency somewhat rudely shaken when it became known, all over the +world, that, within ten days after President McKinley issued a call for +one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteers, seven hundred and fifty +thousand eager patriots answered to that call, offering their energies +and, if needs be, their lives, to the service of the land they loved and +honored. + +After thirty-three years of peace, the fighting men of America buckled +on their armor, bade a tearful farewell to their homes and families, +and, determined, enthusiastic and buoyant, went, blithely, forward to +meet, and conquer, a foreign foe; there was not one among these who did +not realize and consider the seriousness of the enterprise he had +started out upon, yet neither was there one who did not add, in every +way within his power, to the light-hearted joyousness, and gentle, +childish humor, with which our fearless and devoted "boys" undertook to +secure the freedom and general well-being of the Island people, as well +as to resent the insult that had been offered to our own country. + +The central figure of the Spanish-American war, from its hasty inception +until its brilliant and triumphant close, was that of a gallant +gentleman, mounted on a high-lifed horse ... as sternly devoted to +principle and duty as any Puritan had ever been, as full of the bounding +joy of life as any boy who followed him, leader, comrade, friend and +brother, fearless, resourceful, primitive, refined, highly educated, yet +as simple-hearted as an innocent child, bold, yet cautious and careful, +unselfish, yet richly endowed with worldly wisdom, respected almost to +the height of reverence, yet looked upon as a cheery, helpful companion, +by those with whom he was most closely associated ... THEODORE +ROOSEVELT ... a typical American, using that word in its widest and +loftiest sense. + +After the close of our struggle with Spain, we discovered that we had +not only given, but, also, derived, many benefits as the results of that +short, but decisive, conflict; we had acquired considerable territory +over which to extend the advantages to be gained from our educational +and commercial institutions; we had come into such close contact with +the people of these, and adjacent, territories that we were enabled to +understand their needs and their desires, more fully than we could, +otherwise, have done; we had presented to the powers ruling the Old +World an object lesson as to the people of the United States of America +being, at any and all times, and under every possible circumstance, +fully able to take care of themselves, as well as all that, +intrinsically, belongs to them; we had set before the mighty nations of +Europe an example of the proper attitude of the strong toward the weak; +we had bound together, in a common, just and righteous cause, all +factions, all clans, all religions, and all parties, in short, we had +bound together the entire population of our well-beloved country, and in +such a way that the bonds were indissoluble, unbreakable, and permanent. + +While we are, above all things, a peaceful and a law-abiding people, yet +we not only can, but always will, defend our altars and our homes +against any harm that may be threatened to them; while we do not seek an +encounter with any government other than our own, yet at the same time, +we are not afraid to meet any nation on the face of the earth, in open +combat, giving our enemy the privilege of selecting his own weapons and +following out his own ideas as to legitimate warfare. + +The blood of the sturdy and militant Anglo-Saxon, flowing, now, in +Yankee veins, is richer and more life-supporting than it was before the +Mayflower landed her precious freight of human strength and more than +human aspiration upon Plymouth Rock. + +All the fond hopes and all the high ambitions, all the daring and all +the deep devotion, all the practical achievements and all the airy +dreams, of their revered forefathers, are, now, alive and potent, +although, it may be, hidden, in the breasts of all my fellow-countrymen. + +If all the titles that have ever been bestowed by human beings upon each +other ... all the names that indicate the possession of wealth or fame +or place or power upon the earth ... should be displayed before my eyes, +and I be asked to select but one among them all to be the one by which I +would be known, I would without a moment's hesitation, choose AN +AMERICAN. + + + + +PLOT + + +Ruth Wakefield, as the daughter of the United States Consul to Cuba, has +lived in a beautiful home which her father prepared for his family on a +height above Havana harbor since early childhood. Having lost both her +natural protectors ... her parents ... through earthly death, she has +been much alone with trusty servants, as she has found little +companionship among the natives of Cuba. However, she has found a highly +respected friend in Father Felix, Priest of the village of San Domingo; +to him she has confided her great anxiety concerning some prisoners +confined, ex communicado, in the village jail, at the end of the prado, +or central park of the village. + +"The Lady of the mansion on the hill," as she is known among the +villagers, has not, though, told the Priest her real reason for wishing +the freedom of the political prisoners. Victorio Colenzo is a handsome +but unscrupulous fellow of mixed blood, being part Spanish and part +Cuban; he has found the lonely American girl and has courted her with +such dash and apparent sincerity that she has married him secretly, not +even informing Father Felix of her union with the attractive stranger. +This man is among the political prisoners and it is to free him from +bondage that Ruth Wakefield has furnished Father Felix with means with +which to overpower and overawe those who have him in charge. Ruth +Wakefield is herself deceived, for in the village is a girl, named +Estrella, whose lover Victorio Colenzo is known to be by her associates, +among whom is another of her lovers ... Manuello ... a native Cuban. +This man is also in the San Domingo bastile. Father Felix, at the head +of a procession of his followers, breaks into the jail and confronts the +keepers with a crucifix which he holds before them, commanding them to +release the prisoners; superstitious terror finally induces them to +yield to his demands; in the confusion, Manuello contrives to sever the +handsome head of Victorio Colenzo from his strong and manly body, so +that his corpse is found when the doors are finally thrown open to the +people; Estrella finds this body and weeps above it. Father Felix meets +Ruth Wakefield by appointment to report as to what he has done, and, in +this manner, she discovers the perfidy of her so-called husband. She +confesses the truth to Father Felix who sympathizes deeply with her as +he knows her to be innocent. She visits the morgue and meets Estrella +whom she befriends and, eventually, adds to her household. She has among +her servants, a unique character, named Mage, who has been her nurse in +babyhood and who is always faithful to her in her own strange way; this +old woman, throughout the entire twenty-one chapters of this story, +continues to perform unexpected and startling deeds. + +Old Mage accompanies her dear young lady when she goes to San Juan and +is stationed not far from the battle-field of San Juan Hill. Here, as +elsewhere, she continues to exhibit her own individual characteristics +as her central and almost sole idea is to protect and assist Ruth +Wakefield, whom, although she regards her with unlimited respect and is +entirely devoted to her interests, she still thinks of as the small +child she loved before they landed upon the Island of Cuba; realizing +how different she is from those around her, only increases the worship +of her faithful attendant, who, on the other hand, does not hesitate to +use language that will express what she wishes those whom she is +addressing to fully understand. + +Manuello has a primitive, passionate, unbridled and selfish nature; he +is wildly in love with Estrella and because she has selected another +lover he has committed murder; with this man out of his way, he hopes to +succeed with Estrella and goes to her intimate friend, Tessa, to find +out how she actually feels about the death of her lover, Victorio +Colenzo; Tessa secretly adores Manuello; she is, also, a native Cuban, +but her nature is more sluggish than that of Manuello and she has a +dog-like affection for Estrella, who has become separated from her own +family as a child and is a member of the household of Manuello, being +known as his half-sister among the villagers; the handsome peon makes +love to little Tessa but she is loyal to Estrella and does what she can +to contribute to her happiness, although, when Manuello becomes a +fugitive and has been wounded, she ministers to him in a deserted cabin +up among the hills where it is almost entirely hidden in a jungle of +weeds and rank vegetation. This cabin is the scene of many pitiful +endeavors on the part of little Tessa who resists the desires of +Manuello to make her his mistress although she dearly and devotedly +loves him. Here, at one time, she is secretly followed by Estrella who +is led to suspect some secret by Tessa's actions; Estrella informs +Father Felix of the situation. Tessa, in one of her struggles with +Manuello, has wounded him in one cheek with a knife which she happened +to have in her hand. Father Felix visits the hut and Manuello, after +severely wounding poor little Tessa, so that she is unable to leave the +place, disappears, but turns up again, after the battle of Camp McCalla +in a temporary hospital where Ruth Wakefield and Estrella are acting as +nurses. Old Mage takes a hand in this affair and so frightens Manuello +that he escapes from the hospital although he is wearing many bandages, +and, painfully, but determinedly, reaches the deserted hut where he +hopes to hide until he has recovered from his wounds. As he approaches +the hut he realizes that someone is within it and looks through a small +window, seeing Tessa lying on the rude bed she originally prepared for +him, and, beside her, kneeling on the floor, Father Felix who has found +the weak and suffering girl and is engaged in prayer; Manuello breaks +into the cabin and attempts to thrust the Priest aside so that he may +wreak his vengeance on the helpless woman. Father Felix, however, proves +to be a worthy antagonist and does not hesitate to use his strength in +the defense of the innocent, even though it becomes necessary for him to +seriously injure the young man who is like a wild beast foiled of its +prey. This struggle in the deserted hut, with the wounded girl looking +on, continues for some time, but the younger man is finally overpowered, +and, seeing himself to be at the mercy of his antagonist, becomes the +penitent sinner and confesses to the Priest who labors with him lovingly +and ministers to his spiritual condition. The two men then improvise a +stretcher and place Tessa upon it, after which they carry the girl to +the door of her own home in the village. Here, the Priest dismisses +Manuello and tells him to go in peace. The young man then limps back to +the deserted hut and remains there unmolested for some time when he +disappears again from the neighborhood. + +The Americanism of Ruth Wakefield is pronounced. Father Felix is +equally devoted to their common country. These two often confer as to +possible complications connected with international affairs; at one of +these consultations, Estrella happens to be present and declares that +she believes that she, also, is an American and that she wishes to serve +under the same flag as that to which the other two have so often +pronounced themselves to be devoted. She offers to assist Ruth in every +way she can should there be an occasion that would demand their help. + +Ruth Wakefield is awake in her own room and looking down upon Havana +harbor on the night of February 15th, 1898 and sees the blowing up of +the Maine with her own eyes; Father Felix also sees this and hurries up +the hill to talk matters over with Ruth; they form plans as to what they +can do for their own country and in the service of the down-trodden +people of Cuba whose sufferings under Spanish tyranny they have so often +witnessed. Ruth opens her home and offers it as a refuge to all those +who wish to escape from Spanish oppression. + +Father Felix keeps Ruth well informed as to military matters and, when, +on June 10th, 1898, our stars and stripes are waving, for the first +time, over Cuban soil, Ruth Wakefield is standing beside Father Felix, +who has become an army chaplain, at the window of a temporary hospital +which her wealth has made possible. This hospital is situated near +Santiago and many American soldiers as well as many Cuban scouts are +cared for within its shadowy rooms. + +After the battle of San Juan Hill on July 1st 1898, Ruth Wakefield is +one among many volunteer nurses who went to the assistance of a +righteous cause. She stands beside a little cot and meets a man who +speaks to her of "Teddy" and of the grand and glorious work that he had +done that day; with this bond between them, they soon become friends. + +Ruth, as one who has authority, moves from cot to cot and, so, comes to +stand beside the murderer of her husband or him whom she had called so, +for Manuello evened up some of his wickedness by serving nobly in the +battle of San Juan Hill and died in consequence of that day's dreadful +harvest of human forms. Estrella, too, and Father Felix, come to stand +beside his cot, but Ruth is all alone when his soul leaves the clay that +it has been inhabiting for awhile, and, so, she realizes as never +before, that the man she knew as husband was beneath her in every way +and in that terrible and heart-rending moment, she begins to learn the +way to forget the first wild love of her young womanhood and find the +steps that lead to saner, quieter and happier hours and days and years. + +Ruth is given privileges that are not accorded to many near a bloody +battle-field, and, when she leaves the hospital for the night on July +1st, 1898, she drives her team along a lonely road, hoping to leave +behind her, not only the scenes she has just been among, but, also, the +thoughts that those scenes have awakened in her mind. She thinks she is +going directly away from the recent battle-field. Her team is startled +by the sudden rising of a man near the road and runs away, throwing her +out upon the ground; she climbs over a low embankment beside the road +and finds herself among the dead; she is almost stupefied by this +knowledge, but, soon, her instincts for helping those who are in trouble +rise above her fears and she cries aloud and calls ... asking if any +there are in need of help that she can give to them. A faint voice +answers her and she seeks it out and finds an officer who has been +stricken down at the head of his squad of men; they are all lying in a +disordered heap and Ruth is obliged to lift one dead body off of the man +who seems to be alive. Having found him, she proceeds, from her +knowledge as a nurse, to aid him ... finds a wound from which his +life-blood is flowing fast and forms a tourniquet with a silken scarf +she happens to be wearing. He revives enough to whisper to her, naming +her, on the instant "Tender Heart" by which title he afterwards +addresses her. + +Having rendered all the aid she can, she speeds away, without fear, now, +as she has an object in her flight, until she secures help when she +returns and removes the one whom she has found among the dead to the +hospital, where, after a long period of suffering and faithful nursing, +he recovers sufficiently to accompany her when she returns to her home. +Here he proves himself to be worthy of her love which is bestowed upon +him with the approval of Father Felix and even of old Mage. Ruth's home +has been destroyed by fire and her entire estate has suffered much from +vandalism and from enemies of Cuba and of her own country as well, but +she still has plenty with which to rebuild her home and to assist many +in the village of San Domingo who require aid and comfort from those who +are stronger than they are. + +Among other patients in her temporary hospital near Santiago, Ruth +discovers one who is a Spanish spy, for she remembers meeting him when +he was a Spanish officer under most distressing circumstances, when it +had been his great desire to do a grievous wrong to a young, ignorant +girl whom Ruth rescued from his vile clutches. Ruth hesitates to report +this case to the authorities as she is well aware of the fate meted out +to spies, and she compromises by telling the facts to Father Felix, who, +while he is very tender of the innocent, is just and stern where +hypocrites and liars are concerned. The good Priest soon disposes of the +Spanish spy. + +Father Felix distinguishes himself in many ways during the hostilities +between the opposing forces in the Spanish-American war and does much +good, for he does not hesitate to do anything that he finds to do +regardless of whether it is in the line of his profession or not. He has +many experiences as thrilling as the one in the deserted hut with +Manuello. He throws himself into many a breach ... wins many a +hard-fought battle, and, through it all maintains not only his religious +attitude toward all mankind, but manifests a gracious and uplifting love +for all who dwell upon the earth, and, at the end of his activities, +resumes the humble station he occupied at first, for, as he believes, he +can do more good right there in the little village of San Domingo than +in a wider and more elevated station. + +Many refugees leave Santiago during, and directly after, the naval +battle of Santiago; among these are very many wealthy women who are +forced to leave their splendid homes and flee, in silken garments, with +the riff-raff of the city. + +Some among these wealthy women sought to help in temporary hospitals, +and one of them, at least, came to that which Ruth Wakefield had +endowed; this woman was noticeable in many ways, being of superior +intelligence as well as birth and breeding; she, soon, became proficient +as a nurse, and when Ruth sees her standing close beside Estrella in the +hospital, she suddenly recognizes a subtle resemblance between the two +young women and calls their attention to the fact. And, so, it develops +that Estrella finds her own blood-kin ... her own loving sister ... +there in that shadowy hospital, for it is proven beyond a shadow of a +doubt by a little trinket that the girl has always worn about her +neck ... a little cross of golden memories, through which, and through +the girl herself, her lineage is traced, so that she remains with her +own kin, and does not return to the little village where she suffered so +much sorrow. + +Tessa, with the stolidity of the Cuban peasant, seems to entirely +recover both from her wounded leg and her wounded heart, for she marries +a sturdy workman who supplies the earthly wants of Tessa and her +numerous progeny. If she ever remembers the romantic days through which +she has passed, her appearance belies the fact, for she becomes, +apparently, contented with her lot in life. + + + + +AN AMERICAN + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +About the beginning of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, there +had been aroused in the hearts of the people of the United States a +strong feeling of pity and compassion toward the inhabitants of the +Island of Cuba who were under the ironshod heel of Spain and who had +made many appeals for help to our own government in one way and in +another. + +The time was ripe for a revolution among the dark-skinned populace of +the large cities of the Island Empire and many confusing circumstances +combined to add to the confusion of sentiments entertained toward the +government by those who suffered from its rulings. + +Many indignities had been heaped upon the Cubans by those who claimed to +represent the young King Alfonso XIII, who, in his far-away palace in +old Madrid was as unconscious of what was done in his name, very many +times, as he would have disapproved of it had he known it. + +The young King and his mother, the Queen _regent_, tried, in every way +within their power, to adjust matters amicably between their rebellious +subjects and those whom they had sent across the sea to govern them, but +they found this a very difficult matter indeed, and between the fiery +tempers of the natives and the over-bearing arrogance of the officers +who represented them, the poor crowned heads of sunny Spain certainly +had a pretty hard time of it. + +The Queen mother was naturally a gentle and a very highly educated and +studious woman, while the boy King was as far from being the typical +idea of a reigning tyrant as a handsome, well-trained young fellow could +well be. + +But those who represented these two crowned heads were of quite another +pattern as to character and disposition and many were the cruelties +charged to the account of certain ones among their number due to the +opportunities afforded them of gratifying their lowest impulses and +following along the paths that led, for the time being, into what seemed +to them to be very pleasant pastures and beside very still waters, +which, as is well known, often, besides being still, run deep. + +One evening, just as dusk was falling over the little town of San +Domingo, there appeared, passing along one of the quiet, shadowy narrow +streets, a rather strange procession ... well in advance of the rest of +the motley company appeared a village Priest bearing in his hand a +crucifix which he held before him as if to fend off something evil ... +he was dressed, as is the custom of the Catholic Priests of Cuba, in the +flowing vestments of his office and the long cord that was knotted round +his ample waist had a huge cross dangling from the end of it which +struck against his well-formed legs as he strode along with head held +high as if he saw beyond the things of earth and gazed upon some +beatific vision which upheld him and lifted him above his immediate +environment. + +Indeed, there was one who walked beside him though he, himself, was +unaware of it, except subconsciously, for Father Felix, as this Priest +was known, was wandering among strange thoughts as he passed along that +almost silent little street, that one sad evening. + +He had been, for many peaceful years, the Priest who had officiated at +almost all the public meetings of the village, but, never in his life +devoted, as it was to the consideration of holy, high and spiritual +matters, had he been called upon to conduct so weird a service as he +was, then, about to do. + +He wondered, as he marched along, whether he was doing just exactly +right in leading these, his simple-minded followers, into what it seemed +to them they must do, that night ... he wondered whether, even now, he +would not better turn to those who followed after him and call to them +to halt and to consider well before they took another single step that +might, each one of them, be an irrevocable and a much-to-be-regretted +step, for it might lead to what they could not know of ways that might, +as well as not, prove very winding and even thorn-strewn ways for those +who followed along them. And Father Felix knew that he, alone of all +that little company, was gifted with the power to reason out a fair and +just conclusion from the premises presented to them all; he knew that he +alone had enough of education to even understand the meaning of the +words that had been spoken to them all ... he knew that those who came +along that little street behind him had trusted to him most implicitly, +for many years, in matters that required thought, and, although they had +been the ones to beg him to take the step that they were then about to +take, he knew that, even then, right at the last, had he been minded to, +he might, yet, turn their minds away from what they seemed to be so set +upon. + +He knew that, if he wished to do so, he could make them see the matter +under their consideration in quite another light from what they saw it +in at that time ... he knew that he could bend their wills to make them +match with his own will for he had done this very many times before ... +he was a natural leader, and being well equipped for leadership, he +took that place as if it were his natural right ... and so it seemed to +be. + +Any stranger, glancing along the line of human beings that followed +Father Felix and his upheld crucifix, would have noticed many weak and +vacillating faces ... many weak and vacillating wills as evidenced by +the expressions on those weak and vacillating faces ... many wills that +could be bent by anyone who had a strong and capable and domineering +mind, and Father Felix had a mind like that ... a natural leader's most +commanding mind ... he was a man to win respect wherever he might go ... +a man to dominate the wills of those about him ... a man to lead the +crowd ... a man to guide the minds of those he met, and, after having +occupied the one place in the village that commanded the respect of all, +for long, of course they looked to him for guidance and followed where +he led as little children follow after the one full-grown human being in +their midst. + +But, as they marched along, full many whispers ran along that motley +little company and gave some prescience of the clamor that would come if +all their bridled tongues should really become loose again, for, now, +they only spoke in whispers dreading discovery of what they were about +to do by some of those against whose orders they were doing it. + +"I wonder what the Governor would say if he could know the thing that +we're about to do," a beardless youth began, as he edged a little nearer +to his mother's side, "I wonder what would happen to us, now, if he +discovered our intention." + +The mother only put her finger on her lips and shook her head at him, +but, later on, when they had gone a little further on their journey, she +whispered to him: + +"I hope the Governor will never know who did what we're about to do, at +least, for, if he should discover which of us accomplished the purpose +that all the villagers are interested in, we would suffer for our +temerity in doing this ... I almost wish we had not joined this mob, my +boy ... I almost wish, at least, that I had left you home to mind the +house while I will be away from it," and, then, she ended, sadly, "God +knows if we shall ever be allowed to see our home again." + +There was one who walked among that little company, that evening, who +was not as the rest in very many ways, and, yet, her lot was cast in +with the rest for she had lived in that small village since her infancy, +and, so, it seemed to her and them as well, that she was one of them +and, so, must be among them even then, when they were casting in their +lots, at Father Felix' instigation, with the ones who so violently +opposed the reigning powers that they were held, then, and had been so +held, for many weary months, as _incommunicado_ in the village jail or +prison in the wide and beautiful and picturesque great prado in the very +centre of the town. + +The girl who, in very many ways, was different from all the rest was +walking in the very centre of the little crowd and, as the others +jostled against her, her great blue eyes stared almost vacantly, as it +seemed, around her like a startled fawn's when something unknown +ventures near to its retreat within its native forest. + +She drew her slender figure up to its full height, and she was taller +than the rest of those who walked beside her, when someone whispered to +her: + +"What think you of all this, Estrella? Is it to your taste to be a part +of those who, in their puny strength, contend against the strong? Do you +think that you'll enjoy the future that we are advancing to? What do you +think will happen to us when we reach the prado, anyway? Do you think +the Governor has found out what we are going to do and if he does what +action will he take? I'm more than half afraid myself ... I don't deny +that I'm afraid ... how do you feel about it all?" + +"I don't believe I know just how I _do_ feel, Tessa," said the taller +girl, "I think that I'm afraid, too ... I know my knees are trembling a +very little, so I must be scared the same as you say you are. Let us +keep as close together as we can, so, if anything happens to one it will +be sure to happen to us both ... it seems to me ..." she ended, +dreamily, "that even death itself could not be much worse than the +things that we've endured just lately, here." + +And then the two young creatures shuddered at the very thought of death +and huddled just as close together as they could and marched along among +the rest as quietly as if they had not been afraid of anything at all. + +At last they reached the prado and Father Felix paused and held his +crucifix even a little higher than he had done all along and waited for +the little company to assemble directly in front of him, when he +stretched his arms out wide in silent blessing on their undertaking, and +proceeded toward the little prison that stood at one end of the prado +facing the great public square where games were held when _fiestas_ were +in order. + +But it was for no festal undertaking that they had gathered there, that +evening; silent preparations were making as they halted ... battering +rams were being raised and carried forward by the men and tears and +flowers seemed to be the offering of the women in the crowd to the ones +they hoped to liberate from the dark, forbidding precincts of the +edifice before them. + +Father Felix motioned those who held the battering rams to hold them in +their hands in readiness for instant action at a word from him ... then +he called aloud to him who kept the keys to bring them forth and give +them to him, or he would be, in case that his request should be +refused, compelled, in spite of his strong desire to avoid all violence +if possible, to use force in effecting the object for which the +multitude surrounding him, outside, had gathered there. + +He waited, patiently, for several minutes, but, as he received no answer +to his demand, he called again: + +"Bring forth the keys at once!" he cried raising his voice so that it +carried far beyond the limits of the building that stood there before +him, "bring them forth unless you wish to force me to use violence for I +am determined to liberate the prisoners you hold within, and, if you do +not bring to me the keys so that I may open the strong doors with them, +why, then, I'll be obliged to break down the barriers that are between +the ones you hold within that prison and the freedom that is their +natural right. Once more do I command you ..." he cried in a stentorian +voice, using the quality of voice that he employed when he intoned with +due solemnity, the holy mass, "bring forth to me the keys that I may +liberate my children that you hold without the right to hold them, or, +if you refuse to do my bidding, then may the consequences of what will +follow that refusal be upon your own head...." + +As, still there was no answer from the dark and gloomy precincts of the +edifice before him, he prepared to carry out the threats that he had +made. + +First, he commanded those who held the battering rams in readiness to +advance until they were the proper distance from the doors for the use +of their rude weapons, then he told the others to await his word but to +be in readiness, each one, to follow where he led, then, holding high +his crucifix and calling most devoutly, on the name of God, he came as +near to those who were about to use the battering rams as he could do +and not impede their movements, then he cried: + +"Advance and give no quarter! Do your duty as I have instructed you to +the full extent of it! Follow me, my little children, God is good and He +will care for us in this our desperate undertaking." + +As the heavy detonation of the strokes of those who held the battering +rams rang through the building, cries were heard as if of those who were +in agony and many shuddered at the sound for well they thought they knew +its cause ... it seemed to them that they would be too late ... that +those they sought to rescue were even at that moment being foully +murdered in their cells because they were about to save them from the +fate that they had been condemned to undergo. + +The fair Estrella clung to her dark little friend and whispered to her: + +"Tessa, it is more terrible than we imagined it would be ... what shall +we do? How can we bear to go yet nearer to the horror that the prison +hides from us? Tessa ... little Friend ..." she ended, "I'm awfully +afraid ... are you?" + +"I'm almost scared to death myself, Estrella," Tessa whispered back, "I +know I'll die of fright alone if this keeps on much longer ... hear that +scream! It's very terrible!" + +But, then, all sounds were hushed, for prison doors that had been locked +as tight as any prison doors could be had yielded to the heavy blows +that had been rained upon them and, as they opened, they could plainly +see, in the dim light that fell within that prison's entrance, that they +had been, indeed, too late for him who lay at his full length across the +entrance to the prison, for his body had been twisted in its fall so +that his head that had been almost severed from it lay askew as if its +eyes, that stared as wildly and as full of earthly horror as dead eyes +could, had been trying to discover something strange about the figure +that, but only lately, was as full of life and vigor as was any figure +standing there without that prison door. + +Estrella gazed at that still figure ... then she screamed in almost more +than human agony and darted forward till she crouched beside it as it +lay there at the entrance to the prison ... straightening the handsome +head, she lifted it until it rested in her lap, and, then, she softly +smoothed the dark and clustering curls that hung above the broad, full +brow, and looked within the great brown eyes that stared at her, or so +it seemed, as if the owner of them had been walking in his sleep, and +then she pressed her virgin lips upon the full, be-whiskered mouth of +him whose head she held within her lap. + +She fainted, then, and fell across the body of the man who lay across +the entrance to that prison, and Father Felix lifted her and laid the +senseless, almost severed head upon the floor again, and supported her +until he left her with her little friend, outside, among the crowd. + +And then the village Priest came back and led the men who held the +battering rams within the prison to the cells of those they wished to +liberate and commanded them to break down those doors as they had broken +down the other ones, but, here, he found his way was barred, for, just +as soon as blows began to fall upon the doors of those narrow cells +those within those cells began to call to them and caution them that, if +the doors were broken down, they'd find the prison-guards behind them +with their loaded guns and the prisoners told their friends that those +loaded guns were pointed at their breasts and would be fired at them +just as soon as their cell-doors gave way. + +When Father Felix heard this ultimatum he thought that all his efforts +had been useless and his deep-laid plans of no avail until he heard a +voice behind him softly whisper ... a voice that he had never heard +before: + +"Be not weary in well-doing. The cell-doors will open and the prisoners +come forth alive if you but use the proper means to bring about that +end. Call out to those you wish to succor, now, and tell them to be of +good cheer for deliverance is at hand." + +The soft voice drifted away into silence, then, but the village Priest +obeyed its mandates and reassured the ones within those narrow cells and +gave them courage to withstand the threats of instant death that faced +them there. + +And, then, he turned to those who waited his commands and told them +that help was very near ... that, waiting there within the corridors of +that small prison were those who'd come from far to bring to them +assistance ... the kind of help that loaded guns would not affect. Then, +he told them of the punishment that would await the ones who disobeyed +the orders he was just about to give ... a punishment that would not +only last through earthly life but would go on into eternity ... a +punishment that would not only blast the earthly tenements but would +condemn the souls of those who chose to act in opposition to his orders +to everlasting torment. + +And, then, he turned to those who, breathlessly, were waiting for the +orders he was just about to give, and said to them: + +"When I have counted up to three, prepare to break the doors down ... +when I have counted up to six, if so be they remain unopened, go on and +break them in!" he stopped a moment, then, to ascertain whether his +followers fully understood the instructions he was giving to them ... +seeing all of them alert, he continued, "to you who are within, I make +this unalterable statement. Choose between a longer lease of earthly +life and instant death! Choose between forgiveness for your past sins or +everlasting punishment! Open these doors from within or we will break +them down and those whose human bodies we will find, lying stark and +cold in earthly death, will not be those of our dear friends who are +your prisoners, for there are those within those cells of whose presence +you are unaware but who are potent in the cause of right and truth and +justice. I will now proceed to count ... one ... two ... three ..." at +that, he heard a key thrust rapidly within a lock, but, as it was +unturned, he went on counting, "four ..." he heard another key inserted +in a lock, "five ..." he waited just a second longer, then, than he had +done before, hoping that the keys would turn before the final number had +to come, but, as they did not do that, he opened his mouth to pronounce +the fatal word and was about to utter it, when, suddenly, all the +cell-doors opened and the prison-guards within had fallen on their knees +in superstitious terror of what they did not know, and, so, instead of +uttering the fatal number, good Father Felix said, "Thank God!" and +raised his crucifix and pronounced a blessing on them all, both +prisoners and those who'd guarded them. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +When Father Felix ceased to be engaged in silent prayer he lowered the +crucifix he held in his right hand and placed it in the bosom of the +robe he wore and welcomed those who came from out that gloomy +prison-cell with praises and with prayers upon their trembling lips; he +took their hands in his and held them for a moment as they passed in +slow procession, for they were very weak from fasting and from long +confinement, on their way out into the open light of day. + +The first of all who passed from out those gloomy cells was he who'd +called to Father Felix to stay the hands of those who sought to liberate +the prisoners ... he was taller than the rest of those who crowded out +into the corridor and they seemed to follow him as if he were their +natural leader. + +He only paused a moment when he reached the side of the Priest and +hurried on as if he sought someone whom he hoped to find among the +motley multitude who surged around the broken doors that led into the +prado where most of the women were assembled waiting for the more +desperate action of the men who'd gone inside the prison. + +The liberated prisoner, although he, too, was weak and worn as all of +his companions were, yet rushed with rapid strides from side to side of +the excited mob whose clamor, now released, quite filled the prado with +vociferous shouts of joy, until he seemed to find the object of his +hasty search, for, when he came to where Estrella lay supported by her +little friend upon a hastily constructed bed of straw and grass, he +stooped above her anxiously and leaned to look within her face, but, +when her wide and terror-stricken eyes looked into his, he turned away +as if he had not found the one he was in search of after all. + +Estrella raised herself upon one elbow and rested on the ready shoulder +of her little friend while she gazed after his retreating form with an +eagerness not unmixed with sudden fear; it seemed as if the girl were +fascinated by him, and, yet, dreaded his approach, for she did not even +speak to him although she knew that he had been one of those whom they +had come to liberate and had looked forward to greeting him when he +should be released. + +But the horror that had been thrust upon her at the very entrance of +that dark and gloomy prison had quite unnerved her and had made her +shrink from any contact with the prisoners who, now, came trooping out +and mingled with the crowd by which they were soon, as it seemed, +absorbed. + +Then, suddenly, a trumpet blast rang through the wide and spacious +prado and a company of mounted cavalry, with naked swords uplifted, rode +madly in among the crowd and scattered it as chaff is scattered by a +furious wind ... cries of agony were heard as some were trampled by the +horses, tortured by the cruel spurs which their infuriated riders were +driving into their tender skins, and many men and women fell into +disordered heaps of human misery in wildly scrambling toward a place of +temporary safety. + +The soldiers gave no quarter to the fleeing masses of the people but +kept driving all of them who stood upon their feet at all toward the +open streets of the little village that led out of the prado, ordering +them to cease from disturbing the peace and calling upon them in the +name of the young King, Alfonso XIII, to disperse at once and to return +to their homes in the village without delay. + +The most of those within the prado had been driven out before the +commanding officer of the soldiers noticed that the prison doors were +open, even then, at first he did not perceive just what the crowd had +been collected for, or he might have given other orders than he had. + +When he beheld the broken doors he marvelled greatly, for this was an +unlooked-for and unprecedented method of liberating political prisoners +in San Domingo and the commanding officer did not know just what action +to take in the matter but felt that he must wait for further orders +from his superiors in command before taking any drastic steps to quell +the evident uprising of public opinion. + +Father Felix had seen the soldiers as they dashed into the prado and he +hastened outside the prison intending to meet them and hold some +colloquy with their leader, but, when he had reached the centre of the +prado the soldiers were driving the crowd out at the farther end of the +enclosure, so that, instead of meeting the leader of the soldiery he +came upon his own people as they lay in disordered heaps or staggered to +their feet. + +Observing Estrella and Tessa crouched back against a wall as far away +from the soldiers as they could manage to put themselves, he approached +them and asked them what they knew about this new phase of the +tumultuous doings of the day. + +The two girls greeted him joyfully for they had had their fill of horror +and welcomed the Priest who represented to them the sanctity of the +church: + +"Father Felix," cried the little Tessa, "tell us what we are to do next +and where we are to go and what we are to do when we get there, for we +are dreadfully upset and poor Estrella has had a terrible shock and is +still weakened from her fainting fit, while I am just as I have been +right along ... scared half to death." + +The good Priest stopped beside the girls long enough to tell them to +quietly go to their own homes and stay indoors until morning, then he +passed on to the other groups, and, where he could do so, assisted them +to leave the prado, preparatory to seeking their own places of abode +where he advised them all to remain if possible without molestation from +the authorities. + +When Father Felix had reached the little cluster of people surrounding +the liberated prisoner whom we have mentioned before, he came to a halt, +and, beckoning the young man referred to to follow him, he passed on out +of ear-shot of the rest and said to him: + +"I wish that you would explain to me how it happens that Estrella is in +need of help and you, although free, are not by her side. How does it +happen, Manuello, that your half-sister has only her little friend, +Tessa, to lean upon, while your strong arms are without a burden?" + +The young fellow hung his head as if ashamed, for a moment, before he +answered Father Felix, and seemed to ponder deeply over his reply to the +good Priest's intimate question: + +"I can tell you about that in a very few words, Father," he at length +summoned courage to say, "I have only within the past few most +delightful moments been freed from a loathesome dungeon and have been +receiving the felicitations of some of my friends on my fortunate +escape. I did not realize that Estrella needed my services ... if so, +of course I will at once offer them to her." + +Bowing low before Father Felix, he put his right hand to his head as if +to doff its covering, but, finding it bare except for his thick mop of +dishevelled brown hair, he smiled, instead, and, suiting his actions to +his words, approached the two girls who still remained where Father +Felix had left them as if afraid to move: + +"Allow me!" he cried, gayly, extending one strong arm to each of the +maidens, "Accept my escort to whatever place you desire to go!" + +Estrella seemed to take no notice of the offered arm, but Tessa eagerly +laid hold of the proffered protection and snuggled her small person +against the tall figure of the young fellow who turned to her companion +as if to discover the cause of her apparent coolness. + +"Why so silent, fair Lady?" he inquired, "Have you no congratulations to +offer me upon my recent harrowing experience and subsequent and most +fortunate escape?" + +Estrella did not answer him at first, but gazed intently into his eager +face as if to read there the inner motives that prompted his +lightly-spoken words. + +After she had looked into his face for a few seconds of earnest +scrutiny, she said to him: + +"Manuello, why did you not speak to me when we first met after your +liberation from the prison? Why have you spent the time since then among +the others instead of looking after my interests? Have you ceased to +care for me during your incarceration? What have I done to deserve such +treatment from you? Have I not treated you as a sister should? In what +way have I offended you, Manuello?" + +As she uttered these words her fair face flushed with the tide of deep +emotion that swept over it and her blue eyes grew dark and full of +feeling. She placed one of her hands on his arm, lightly, but held +herself aloof from contact with his person. + +He recognized this attitude of hers by standing a little more erectly +and holding the arm on which her hand had been laid, stiffly extended a +little from his body: + +"How suddenly affectionate you have become, my soft and yielding sister! +It seems to me that I remember how earnestly you plead with me to cease +embracing you whenever opportunity was afforded to me, before I went to +prison for my sins.... I think you are the girl who used to say to me +'please, Manuello, don't hold my hand so tightly! You are too rough!' I +do not wish to be considered rough by any woman, and, so, I am more +cautious in approaching your sacred person, now that I have had time to +reflect upon your many words." + +"How can you speak so to her, Manuello," exclaimed the dark-skinned +Tessa, "now that you are free once more? Poor Estrella has had a most +terrible experience, here, tonight ... you ought to comfort instead of +scolding her." + +The tender-hearted little girl looked up at the big man reproachfully +and reached around his back to pat Estrella's shoulder, but he only +stalked along between the two girls, sullenly and almost silently. + +At length, they reached the little cottage where Estrella and her family +lived and Tessa ran along a little further to her own home while +Manuello and his half-sister entered their own dwelling. + +It happened that they were alone, at first, as the other members of the +little family had not yet returned from the prado, and, in that interval +of time, considerable was said and done by both of them. + +"Manuello," said the girl, putting one hand on each of his broad +shoulders, "have you no pity for me, now that Victorio is dead? You must +have seen his poor, mangled body lying there at the entrance of the +prison, Manuello ... can you tell how he came to die just as he and all +the rest were about to be released from prison?" + +Her tear-stained face was very near to his and his own lips began to +tremble before he mustered courage to answer her: + +"Of course, I'm sorry for you, Estrella," he began haltingly and slow, +"of course I pity you as well as any other woman whose lover's newly +dead. As to how he happened to be killed ... why, I guess you will +never know just what did happen in that prison when those battering rams +began to rock it by their impact ... I am certain that I cannot give you +much explanation as I, myself, was one of those who suffered, although +you do not seem concerned as to that in any way." + +"You escaped alive, Manuello, and poor Victorio did not for his poor +head was almost severed from his body ..." said Estrella, weeping +violently, with deep-drawn sobs of agony, "I lifted him and tried to +hold his head upon my lap ... oh, Manuello," she continued, clinging to +him involuntarily, "it was very terrible!" + +Her sufferings seemed to move him for he put his arms about her +shoulders and drew her head forward until it rested on his broad and +palpitating breast: + +"Poor little girl!" he murmured, softly, stroking her fair hair, "Poor +little Estrella! I _am_ sorry for you ... I _do_ pity you, though why +you chose Victorio for your lover was always beyond my comprehension." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +When Father Felix left the prado he went directly to the church where he +officiated, and, thence, into the small refectory behind it; here, he +removed the flowing vestments he had worn when engaged in the enterprise +which we have described in a previous chapter of this book, and assumed +a more conventional and handy garb for he had work to do that would +require all the strength of his arms and all the muscles of his broad +back; he had set himself a task that was never meant for priestly hands +to do, and, in the doing of it, he would need all the strength that +years of careful living and an inherited and bounding health had +bestowed upon him. + +He, at once, began preparations for the work he had to do, and, to begin +with, he adjusted the heavy cross which he always wore about his neck so +that it would hang exactly in front of him and not over-balance his body +by being on one side or the other; this cross had been a relic much +prized by him of an old Priest with whom he had studied and whose +sainted memory he revered almost as much as that of the saints whom he +had been taught to worship along with the Virgin Mary and The Babe of +Bethlehem; then, he put on next to his skin a hair-cloth shirt so +constructed as not to scratch and yet to be very warm; over this he +placed a heavy riding-coat which had been given to him by one of those +who attended the services he conducted in the church; these garments, +together with heavy breeches and warm, woolen stockings worn under heavy +boots, completed, with the addition of a broad-brimmed hat, a disguise +that would deceive almost any person who was acquainted with his +ordinary appearance. + +Having clothed himself to his own satisfaction, he took a heavy stick he +had handy in his strong right hand and proceeded to leave the vicinity +where he was accustomed, at all hours, to be found, and, stealthily and +quietly, exercising all the precaution of which he was capable, he +proceeded up the street that ran behind the little church with as much +of haste as was consistent with the object of his journey. + +When he had gone about two blocks from the church he turned sharply to +his left and proceeded about as far again up the street that led away +from the village, then, turning again to his left, he walked briskly for +another block or two, when he came to a sharp turn and paused as if in +doubt as to just which turn to take, when, suddenly, as if from the +ground at his feet, he heard a low voice addressing him in no uncertain +language: + +"Turn toward the right side of this street," whispered the voice, "take +the right-hand side of this street and then turn again toward the left +when you have gone for two more blocks toward the right. You will find +the object of your search has been in waiting for you for some hours and +is now growing impatient ... so make all possible haste, good Father +Felix ... make all possible haste for she is sore pressed with fatigue +and fear." + +When the voice had ceased speaking to him, Father Felix followed the +direction it gave him, implicitly, and found, indeed, as it had assured +him, the object of the night-journey he had just made, waiting for him +with great impatience, coupled with much fear and dread of consequences; +he hastened to reassure her as soon as he reached her side by saying +softly to her: + +"Be of good cheer, dear Madam. The work that you commissioned me to do +has been well done and all of the prisoners excepting one are now at +liberty. Unfortunately, one of our friends lost his life just before the +wide doors of the prison were burst open ... no one seems to know how +this came about, but we found his dead body across the very entrance as +if, indeed, he had been about to join our ranks outside when death +overtook and stopped him." + +"Which of the prisoners was killed?" asked the woman who had been +waiting there for his coming, eagerly and apprehensively. + +"I do not suppose that you were acquainted with the young fellow ..." +answered the good Father Felix, soothingly, "he was called Victorio +Colenzo ... he was the lover of a girl I know very well and she was with +the crowd, who followed me; she dashed into the entrance of the prison +and held his head, which had been almost severed from its body, in her +lap until she fainted and became mercifully unconscious of her horrible +surroundings ... the poor girl was almost crazed with agony and regret, +for she had flouted him to some extent because of his revolutionary +sentiments...." + +He had gotten that far in his narrative little thinking of the intense +interest it had for the woman listening to it, until he happened to look +earnestly at her when he saw, in an instant, that it held for her great +personal appeal; he stopped at that knowledge and waited for her to +explain the situation if so be she wished to do so; at length, between +low-drawn sobs, she said, falteringly: + +"You say Victorio Colenzo was the lover of some light girl you know? +Indeed, you are much mistaken. Instead of being any girl's lover, he +belonged solely to me. He was my own dearly beloved husband, Father +Felix. I had not yet told you of our marriage for I wanted you to think +of me only in my own personal right, but I am the widow of the man whose +shameful and horrible death you have just been describing to me ... I am +the weeping widow of Victorio Colenzo, Father Felix, and, if it be in my +power, his death shall be avenged in blood!" + +As she ceased speaking she put her hands before her face and gave way, +utterly, to her great sorrow, for she had but spoken the solemn truth +although no one of her many acquaintances suspected that she was a +married woman at all. + +Father Felix was dumbfounded by the intelligence the young woman had +just given to him and pitied her from the very bottom of his tender +heart and he blamed his blundering tongue for giving to her such a shock +as he had just been the cause of; at the same time he could not blame +himself as much as he might have done had he not known of the marriage +contract of Estrella and this same man of whom he had been speaking; he +hastened to place this young girl in the right light before his +companion by saying: + +"My dear Madam, as to the girl of whom I was just speaking, she is in +every sense of the word a good girl and innocent of any wrong intention; +if there is a sinner in this matter it was he who is now not to be +condemned by any human being, for he has gone before his Maker Who will +mete out to him whatever is his just dessert. I am deeply grieved that I +should have caused you this deep grief at this time, but, as the +circumstances are, you would have been obliged to know it very soon in +any case." + +The young woman who had been waiting for the Priest to come to her to +make his report as to how he had done the work that she had set for him +to do, was beautiful as any dream of womanhood could ever be. + +Her great gray eyes, that shone like stars upon a misty night, were +lifted to his face and questioned him as to the truth of his last +statement while they plainly showed the almost holy faith she had in all +he did: + +"Dear Father Felix," she said, finally, stifling as best she could the +sobs that shook her slender figure, "dear Father Felix, I know you speak +the truth, and, yet, it does not seem to me that he could have ever been +a hypocrite such as a man would have to be to be what you infer he was. +He was my darling husband ... if he, also, was the lover of a trusting +girl, then he sinned most grievously ... it breaks my heart," she ended, +clasping her soft, white hands together spasmodically, "it breaks my +heart to think he could be such a villain as you say he was. Dear Father +Felix," she began again, for hope will sometimes come upon the very +heels of wild despair, "dear Father Felix, are you sure that this man +who is newly dead can be the Victorio Colenzo that I know ... the man +who is ... I hope he is ... my own dear husband? The one I mean was a +prisoner with the others you have liberated ... it was for his sake +alone that I arranged to have you do the work you've done ... might it +not be that you have been mistaken in the man? Might there not have +even been two men bearing the same name within that prison?" + +Eagerly and hopefully, she questioned the good Priest. He sadly shook +his head and said to her: + +"The young man whose body lay within the entrance to the prison when we +had battered down the door, was tall and very dark ... his hair was like +a raven's wing for blackness ... his eyes were like the falcon's in +their keenness ... he was a handsome fellow in every possible way and +the girl, Estrella, of whom I spoke, fairly worshipped him although her +own family flouted her for doing so, as he only came to see her at long +intervals and seemed ashamed to be seen with her ... seldom ever went +out anywhere with her, but they were plighted lovers ... that I know ... +they came to me together, one evening, in the church, and I blessed +their future union, believing him to be an honest man and knowing her to +be a gentle, true and loving girl." + +"I fear he was my husband, Father Felix.... I fear the very one I hoped +to liberate has lost his life and lost his honor, too. Father Felix, +tell me how to bear this great and hopeless sorrow! _Is_ there any way +to bear a sorrow such as this one is? _Can_ I shut my Husband's memory +from my heart because I can no longer have respect for him? _Is_ there +any way," she wailed, pleadingly, "_is_ there any way to bear a sorrow +such as this one is? _Tell_ me, good Father, _tell_ me, is there any +way of escape for me who am as innocent as is this young girl of whom +you have just spoken? Is there some way in which I can assist her, +Father Felix? Perhaps it is my duty, under these circumstances, to hunt +her up and try to help her, who is, also, as it were, a widow of my +darling Husband. Must I do this, Father? Would it be my duty, as the +wife of Victorio Colenzo, to look this girl up and try to help her bear +her sorrow on account of his death?" + +The good Priest looked at her in deep amazement, but he answered her as +calmly as he could command his voice to speak: + +"No, my Daughter, no ... that would be going beyond reason as to duty. +It might be right for you to send her something if she were in need of +monetary assistance.... I do not think she is, however, I do not think +Estrella is in need of anything to live upon ... they had not been +married, you understand ... she was not his wife as you were ... only +just he'd promised he would marry her, sometime. No, you owe her nothing +more than womanly sympathy in her bereavement and you do not need to see +her at all, for that matter. It would give you unnecessary pain, it +seems to me. As for her, if we can, we will let her remain in ignorance +of the character of him she loved ... she would the sooner repair the +injury, it seems to me, if she could still respect his memory. It must +be doubly hard for you, my Daughter, to lose him and respect for him at +the same time ... yet, it would have been a terrible knowledge for you +to have gained ... that he had misled this innocent girl ... even during +his life. A man has little thought of the women who love him when he +plays fast and loose with more than one of them at a time, anyway. I +wish I knew what words to say to you to make you strong to bear this +misery, dear Daughter ... you must bear it all alone, I know that +much ... only God in His great Mercy, can assist you in this matter ... +only He can tell you what to do or how to endure your agony of spirit, +for only He can understand your heart. I am but a feeble instrument in +God's Own Hands, my dear, afflicted Daughter.... I am but a very feeble +instrument.... I wish I knew the way to help you bear this thing. I wish +that I could say the fitting word to turn your mind to other thoughts, +for only in the mind can fitting help be found ... only the spiritual +side of your strong nature can uphold you now." + +He'd kept on talking to her hoping to alleviate her pain in some +degree ... hoping that her fits of violent and heart-breaking weeping +would grow farther and farther apart until they would cease altogether +so that, being calmer, she could better face this heavy burden that was +hers, and hers alone, to bear. Seeing no cessation of her sobs and moans +of agony of spirit, he began to speak of other matters, hoping to +distract her mind and turn her thoughts to other things, thereby giving +her an opportunity to face the sorrow that had come upon her so suddenly +with more strength than she would have if she continued to dwell on it +alone. So he bethought him of the soldiery and of their coming riding +into the prado and he began to tell her of this phase of the adventure +he had on her account, mainly. She listened calmly to this narrative and +even asked some questions, haltingly, but, just as soon as that account +was ended, she began again to ask concerning poor Victorio: + +"Where have they taken his remains, good Father? Where can I find my +darling Husband's body? How can I bear to have to see his face which has +always to my knowledge been so full of life and youth and perfect health +lying stark and still with no expression in his glorious dark eyes that +always looked so lovingly at me? Father Felix, even now, it seems to me +that there must be some mistake about my Husband's being the same man +who was the lover of this girl you know about.... I think that I will +see her ... there ... beside my darling Husband's body and decide the +matter for myself instead of listening to the tales that have been told +to me. That is how I think I will proceed," she ended, then, quite +calmly, as it seemed, for secretly she then began to hope that it was +not her husband, after all, "That is how I will proceed about this +terrible calamity, Father Felix. I will see this girl beside the body +of the man she says has been her lover ... he may not be my darling +Husband, after all." + +And so their conference ended, he giving her explicit directions as to +where Victorio's body had been placed, and she thanking him for carrying +out her wishes even though, as it seemed then, the very thing she had +him do the work for had failed her utterly. + +Father Felix went back, then, to the refectory, with this complicated +matter bearing hard upon his heart. He pitied both the suffering women +very much and wished to help them both if so be he could find the proper +way to do the task in. + +He pondered deeply on the various situations he'd surprised in carrying +out the project of the woman he had met, that night; she had not told +him of her plans in their entirety, and, so, it seemed, the very plans +she doted on the most had very far miscarried and the work, so far as +she had been concerned, had not only been as futile as any work could +ever be, but, also, it had brought to her a new and horrible calamity +besides the failure of her plans and loss of him she evidently deeply +loved as tender women love but only once in all their human lives, +perhaps, for Victorio Colenzo had been a man to claim the love of tender +women ... he was very tall and very handsome, too; his deep, dark eyes +were very full of loving expression and his strong arms, folded close +about a tender woman's yielding form, would lift her spirit up and make +her almost wild with joy and gladness. + +And, as it looked now, those strong arms had been folded, not only round +his own wife's tender form, but, also, about, at least, one other +woman's, too. Good Father Felix reflected on the fraility of man and +pondered deeply on the tenderness of women, but he did not, even then, +reach the very root of the whole matter, for he, being what he was, +would not be very likely ever to know the heights and depths, as well, +of human love, for he had always been a religious devotee in spite of +his great strength of limb ... he'd only used his bodily powers to +forward the work to which his whole life was devoted utterly, and, so, +good Father Felix could not fully understand a man such as Victorio +Colenzo must have been to leave the record that he'd left behind him +when he died, there, in the entrance to that dark and gloomy prison, +just as he had been about to come again, a free man, into the glorious +light of day. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Father Felix had prepared the widow of Victorio Colenzo for the sight +she would behold when she went to the rude dwelling where they had laid +the form of the prisoner whose dead body had been found lying in the +entrance to the prison on the day the people battered down the doors and +set at liberty several political prisoners confined therein, but no one +could, really, prepare a woman for the vision presented to her eyes when +she entered the cottage that had been turned into a temporary morgue, +for more than one of those engaged in the deadly strife with the +soldiery in the prado after the deliverance of the prisoners had given +up his earthly life, either at the time of the attack or afterwards from +wounds inflicted either intentionally or inadvertently by those who had +been sent to the prado to quell an uprising of the Cuban populace. + +As the woman we have before described entered the rude shelter where the +dead bodies of several of the residents of the little village lay, she +was surprised and grieved by the number of the dead and, also, by the +many mourners who crowded among the slabs on which the bodies lay, for +there was little of orderly array there, everything being of the rudest +and most primitive pattern as the reigning government did not wish to +dignify those who had opposed it even after death had taken from their +limbs the power to oppose anything in the world of men and women. + +The woman, who was of a higher class than most of those assembled there, +was treated with marked deference as became her superior position both +as to wealth and education, for the widow of Victorio Colenzo occupied a +proud place in her own right, having been, for a long time, the occupant +of a large and beautiful residence that commanded a wide view of the +harbor of Havana and was situated on an elevation above the little +village of San Domingo; this home had been hers long before she had ever +met the handsome peon whom she had acknowledged as her husband to Father +Felix after having learned of his death. + +It was through her own instigation that the man had taken the position +which had, subsequently, placed him among the prisoners for offenses +against the reigning government who had been liberated under her direct +orders and with her pronounced sanction, although she had not actually +taken part in the work which she had directed. + +This woman was of another type entirely as compared with the others in +that small dwelling and walked among them almost haughtily in spite of +her eagerness in the search after evidence that would convince her that +she had not been utterly mistaken in the man she had secretly married, +believing him to represent the finest and highest example of patriotic +courage and devotion that she had met during the whole of her long +residence in the Island of Cuba. + +She had come to the Island, in her first youth, as the daughter of the +American Consul who represented the United States in the council +chambers where were gathered those who discussed affairs of state with +the ruling Spanish powers; her father had purchased the beautiful site +on which he had built the home that was still hers, although both of her +parents had died, there in Cuba, within the past few years; the girl had +been left practically without living relatives, and, so, loving her +Island home, she had remained there in spite of the solicitations of +many American friends who had visited her in Cuba and urged her to +return to the United States with them; she was of a reticent and +retiring disposition, loving a good book more than almost anything else +in the world, and being surrounded by a splendid library, her time was +fully and pleasantly occupied, as she had trustworthy retainers who +followed her mandates because they loved to fulfill them and pitied her +loneliness while they almost worshiped her superior manners and style of +speech as well as of living; Father Felix, alone, understood her mental +attainments and was greatly bewildered when she told him that she had +married Victorio Colenzo as he considered her far removed from the peons +who were the regular inhabitants of the Island and among whom he labored +as a missionary rather than as an equal, although his deep humility of +manner always led them to believe that he was on their own level of +intelligence, while the aloofness of this one woman set her apart from +all of her neighbors and made her seem to them like a being from another +and a higher world. + +As she walked among the slabs on which the dead bodies had been laid, +that morning, for she had come down from her home early, having slept, +during the past night, only the few hours preceding her meeting with +Father Felix, as she hoped to have her doubts set at rest and to be +assured that the man she had secretly united to herself by marriage was +still worthy of her respect and love which she had given to him without +further knowledge of his character than what he chose to exhibit to her +in their infrequent meetings prior to his declaration of undying worship +and deep and overpowering love for herself as well as of patriotic zeal +which latter emotion she fully sympathized with, as she regarded it as +similar in many ways to her own feeling for her much-beloved land which +was all the more powerful because of her isolation from others of her +own nation, she representing, to herself at least, the whole of the +entire broad expanse of the United States; it was this sympathy with +the ardent patriotism of Victorio Colenzo that had led to her present +plight for, believing him to possess the strong feelings for his native +land which he had professed to her to have, she had urged his +participation in the plot which, on its discovery by the Spanish +authorities, had plunged him, with others, into the prison from which, +through her own earnest efforts, they had just been liberated, or, at +least, a part of them. + +Now, she reached the side of the farthest slab in that small room, and +noticed, at once, crouching down beside it, a fair-haired girl who +seemed, beyond all doubt, the one bereft by the condition of the body +lying there, so straight and still, beneath the rude pall that had been +thrown over it so that even its face was hidden from sight. She softly +touched the mourner on the shoulder nearest to her and whispered: + +"My poor Girl, for whom do you mourn? Is it the body of your brother +lying here, or, yet," she went on, hesitatingly, for a horrible +suspicion began to thrust its ugly head before her vision, "can he who +lies here so quietly have been, maybe, your husband? You are young but I +know well that the girls, here, marry very young...." + +She ended haltingly, for the girl had raised her lovely face, +tear-stained and drawn by sorrow, and looked up into the face that bent +so near to her own: + +"He was my plighted husband, Lady; he _would_ have been my husband had +death not intervened to take him from me! I _love_ him so ..." she +suddenly screamed in agony, "I _love_ him so ... Victorio! Why have you +left me all alone in a cruel world to be a widow before I was a wife? +Victorio...." + +And, then, she rose, as one who had that right, and turned the pall back +from the countenance of him who lay there on that senseless slab. + +The other woman did not scream, as poor Estrella had ... she did not +even move, indeed, but stood as if she had been carved from marble, for +her face was almost just as pale as death itself ... the pulsing blood +receded from her cheeks and from her trembling lips ... she stood so +tall and still that the poor girl became conscious of her in spite of +her own grief and wondered if she, also, sought to find some one she +loved among the dead; with that thought in her mind, she stepped back +from the corpse she had been leaning over, and said to her who stood +there silently as if her interest in the affairs of life had, suddenly, +ceased: + +"I beg your pardon for my selfishness. Are you, too, one of those who +lost some loved one yesterday? Do you seek, here, in this sad place, the +body of one whom you've loved as I have loved the man who lies here ... +dead ... before me?" + +The older girl was silent, for she could not talk to poor Estrella as +she wished to do ... as she had meant to do in case her worst fears had +to be realized; she did not wish to add a single hair's weight to the +sorrow that the poor girl felt for him who had been false to both of +those trusting women who stood there beside his corpse; she did not wish +to harm the innocent girl, for she could see how true and loving she had +been by gazing, only for a moment, in her wide, blue eyes, and, yet, it +was her right and, perhaps, it was also her duty, to the man who had +been her earthly husband, to claim his body and to bury it as would +become the husband of a woman such as she had, always, been; but, as +he'd always begged her to keep secret their marriage which had taken +place in Havana instead of having Father Felix marry them at his +request, for political reasons, he had told her, with the thought that +she, being an American, might complicate his position with the Spanish +government, as he had occupied a place of trust under the Governor, +until the proper time would come to expose his actual feelings for his +native land. + +And, so, she had to think of this side of the complicated problem +presented to her by her strange position while she stood there with that +weeping, loving, sympathetic, untaught girl clinging to her hand and +questioning her. At length, having collected a little of her usual +unselfish consideration for the people living on the Island, she turned +to poor Estrella and said to her, softly, and, yet, without +condescension in her manner: + +"Yes, my poor Girl, I, also, seek someone I love among the newly +dead.... I, also, wish to find the man I loved as you have loved the man +who lies here on this slab.... I, also...." + +Then, her courage failed her utterly and she fainted dead away, even as +poor Estrella, herself, had, when she had first beheld the body of the +man who had made love to both of them. + +The fair-haired girl bent over the older woman and lifted her in her +strong arms and carried her into the outer air and found the carriage +where it waited for its mistress and placed her in the care of those who +served her; then, for the first time, she realized who the lady was +who'd found her there beside her dead, as she supposed, for Victorio had +no family in San Domingo, having only come there recently, and having +held himself as somewhat superior to the most of his own countrymen whom +he met, so poor Estrella claimed his body as having been his sweetheart, +since he had, as she believed, no wife in all the world, for he had +often told her he had never found a woman he could love before he met +her. + +Now, she helped to chafe the hands of her who lay there in that costly +carriage with her brown hair making a soft frame for her pale face which +lay upon the lap of one who loved her with the kind of love an ignorant, +older woman gives to one she much admires and who is far superior to her +in every possible way; this woman smoothed the fluffy hair back from +the high white brow, now, and spoke to her as if she were her baby +instead of one whom she looked up to and respected: + +"There ... there! My Pretty! Open your sweet eyes and look at your own +loving Mage!" she said, as the long, brown lashes that fringed the +delicate white lids still brushed the rounded cheeks that were almost as +white as the smooth brow. "Look up at me and let me see your shining +eyes, again!" + +"Her heart is beating, now, more regularly," said Estrella, for her hand +had sought the other's bosom to see if she still lived at all. "She +breathes more easily, too. I think she will recover very soon ... poor +Lady! She sympathized with me in my great sorrow so deeply that she +fainted. How sweet and dear she is!" she added, softly, as a shudder +shook the form before her. "How very sweet and dear she is. You _must_ +love her very much indeed.... I never happened to see her before today, +but I know who she is, now, and how very kind she has been to so many of +our people." + +"I wish the color would creep back into her cheeks ..." moaned Mage. +"Her cheeks are almost always rosy as the dawn ... it seems so strange +to see them white ... she don't look natural to me this way ... you +should see her when she thinks her husband's coming to the house ... +_then_ her cheeks are like a flame of light ... her eyes are just as +bright as stars at midnight ... there! They've opening, now ... my +Pretty ... my own pretty Dear ... Mage is here ... I'm right here by you +Dearie ... there! I'm afraid she's fainted away, again. She seemed to +look at you, Estrella, stand farther back so, when she opens her eyes +next time, she'll see just me ... she knows old Mage loves her +always ... she knows her own old Mage would take good care of her no +matter what would come.... Dearie ... I am right here ... old Mage is +close beside you...." + +At that, the woman lying there within her faithful arms, stirred softly, +and, once again, her glorious gray eyes opened, and she looked at poor +old Mage whose face was all distraught with many wrinkles and with deep +anxiety for her. Then she raised herself to a sitting posture and put +her hands before her eyes as if to hide some horrible spectre from her +sight, and, then, she looked at poor Estrella standing there not knowing +what to do, for Mage would not allow her, even now, to come a single +step nearer to her mistress, and then she spoke: + +"My poor Girl," she said, "My poor Girl, I too, sought to find the man I +loved, but his body is not here. I pity you with all my heart and wish +that I could help you bear your sorrow. Come to me and I will try to +help you ... come this evening, just at sunset, to my house. I think you +know which one it is.... Mage, you tell her where to come." + +For she had reached the limit of her endurance, for the moment, and old +Mage, seeing her evident distress, hurriedly told Estrella where to come +to find her mistress, and gave the orders to the coachman to drive home +at once. + +And, then, Estrella went again into the habitation of the dead and the +other woman, with her heart like lead within her breast, went back to +her own place and left the body of the man she'd called her husband for +a few short months lying there upon that senseless slab with the weeping +girl beside it. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +When the evening shadows were falling over the almost palatial home of +Ruth Wakefield, the young girl whom she had begged to come to her +climbed the rugged height upon which the former United States Consul had +erected his residence hoping to occupy it long after his term of office +should expire as he had found the climate very beneficial to the health +of his entire family, as it seemed, and desired to have a fitting place +of abode during the childhood of his only and much-loved child, who, +now, a sorrowing widow and a humiliated wife, was sitting idly waiting +to receive poor Estrella, not knowing, certainly, just what she would do +or say when she had to really face the situation into which she had been +forced by untoward circumstances. + +As Estrella reached the rear door, to which she had gone by an almost +unerring instinct, feeling strange and unnatural among the rich +surroundings, old Mage appeared to welcome her, as she had been directed +by her mistress to do; the old woman was greatly in doubt as to the +condition of affairs in the home she loved to be a part of and had +longed to get hold of the peon girl alone. + +There was something about Ruth Wakefield that commanded the respect of +even the lowest among those who knew her ... her natural refinement had +been accentuated by her seclusion from the outer world and by her almost +constant thought of higher and better matters than the gross and humdrum +affairs of the daily life by which she was surrounded. Yet, she always +entered into practical affairs with vigor and entire understanding, so +that, while she was counted as a dreamer of dreams beyond the earth, yet +she was acknowledged to be eminently practical and able to attend to her +own business affairs with no danger of being over-reached by those with +whom she dealt as to monetary matters, as her natural acumen in such +matters had been sharpened by various experiences of a more or less +unpleasant character, such as the loss of certain sums of money through +trusting to the honor of some of those with whom she had had sympathy in +their need, for she had discovered that, when it comes to money, people +are very apt to forget their obligations entirely, only attending to +that part of life when in need themselves and not considering the fact +that, unless one gets what is one's due, at least to some extent, one +cannot, on the other hand, meet one's own obligations, so that the +lonely girl had learned some hard lessons by practical knowledge of +human nature gained in the only school where such knowledge can be +gained ... experience. + +But old Mage was of a far different type of womankind ... true as steel +to her beloved young lady as she always called her in her thoughts, +although she often found verbal fault with her to her fair and tender +face ... fond of gossip and garrulous to an almost alarming extent yet +she could keep a secret as inviolate as even Ruth Wakefield herself. + +At this moment, her great desire was to worm out of poor Estrella +whatever it was that had made her own young lady faint that morning ... +she was not worried about the poor girl's loss of him she had called her +lover except in so far as it affected her own people as she was fond of +distinguishing them, for old Mage, although uneducated and almost +unaware of her own nationality as her mother had died at her birth and +her father had immediately deserted her, yet prided herself on being far +superior to the natives among whom she dwelt, for she had come to Cuba +with the Wakefield family, having been employed by them as nurse for the +small Ruth and having stuck tightly to her charge from that time on. + +So that, when she faced the poor, ignorant, as she secretly considered +Estrella, girl, it was with an air of superiority as belonging to a +higher race than she, for it is a fact that uneducated persons feel any +elevation above their fellows much more strongly than those who have had +more insight into the humble attainments of even the wisest of human +beings, for those who have been permitted to climb the heights of +thought have had a glimpse of the vastness and unattainable grandeur of +which even the highest human intellect must only be a spectator ... an +humble and admiring witness of the matchless beauty and majestic +splendor that dwell beyond and yet beyond the vision of the keenest +human imagination. + +But old Mage seldom allowed herself even to wonder about what she could +not understand, being content with the plane of existence upon which she +found herself and finding amusement and profit as well in attending to +the various small duties of her daily life as she performed those duties +through love and pride. Having seated the girl who was almost +overpowered, already, by the unknown glamour of wealthy surroundings, +she proceeded to follow out her own ideas and to attempt to satisfy her +own curiosity before apprising Ruth of the arrival of her invited guest. + +She began by commiserating the girl upon her recent loss, little +dreaming that, in this way, she would find out far more than had been +her own desire, for old Mage, while she had never liked the young man +who, for the past few months, had been an almost daily visitor at the +home she dearly loved, yet had tried to think that her young lady had +chosen wisely, even if unconventionally, when she had married him, as it +was very hard for her ever to really question any object upon which +Ruth had set her heart, it having been one of the criticisms of the +parents of the little girl that old Mage had always indulged her +slightest whim and always satisfied at least her own conscience by +finding some good reason for the indulgence; in the present instance, +she had often said to herself: + +"My poor child is alone so much with her own thoughts and what she gets +out of all those big books," for what anyone could find in the way of +company in a book which required so much labor, in her own case, to +decipher at all was a mystery to her, "and she needs company ... a woman +needs a man around to make love to her and this fellow is good at that +what with his guitar and his mandolin and his fine voice, not to speak +of his wonderful dark eyes and his curly black hair and his strong, +powerful figure ... it is too bad that he is only a native Cuban instead +of an American ... that is too bad ... but..." she would end, brightly, +"he can be naturalized if we ever go back to the States." + +So, now, when she turned to Estrella with the conventional question as +to the identity of her lover on her ready tongue, she little dreamed of +the consequences: + +"My poor girl," she began, "you were to have been married, they tell me, +to the man who was found dead at the entrance to the prison, last +night.... I wonder if I happened to know him ... what was his name?" + +She had asked the question idly, wishing only to engage the girl in +conversation to find out whatever she could. + +"My lover was a wonderful man ..." declared Estrella; "he was not a +common man at all ... he was superior to all the men I know or ever have +known ... he was the handsomest as well as the most intelligent man +among the whole people of this Island, I think.... I know I never saw +anyone either so handsome or so smart as was my dear Victorio.... I +don't suppose you would ever have met him for he was not a servant and +yet he was a Cuban ... he was a wonderful man and I was to have been his +wife and he was most foully murdered there in that hateful prison." + +And the poor bereft creature began to moan and sob and wring her hands +in agony of spirit. + +This was not at all what Mage desired to do ... to get the girl all +wrought up before her young lady even saw her, so she tried to comfort +and calm her by speaking rather sharply to her as she knew hysteria can +only be overcome by the application of fierce remedies, or, at least, +that is what she had been taught, so, in order to cauterize the wound +her words seemed to have made, she said: + +"You say your lover was a superior man ... was he, then, a leader among +the political prisoners who were liberated?" + +"Indeed he was ..." proudly answered the bereaved girl. "Victorio +Colenzo was a leader where-ever he went ... why ..." + +But even her pride in her dead lover did not hide from her the effect +his name had had on poor old Mage for she had crumpled down in her chair +as if she had received a stroke of some kind and seemed as if paralyzed, +for her poor old mouth fell open, revealing its entire innocence of +teeth; she gasped for breath for a moment and then demanded: + +"Say that name again! What kind of looking man was he?" + +Hastening to comply with the demand made on her, the girl proceeded, +proudly: + +"His name was Victorio Colenzo and he was the handsomest man in the +whole of Cuba, I believe ... his eyes were very dark and expressive and +his hair was the very most beautiful curly hair that ever grew on any +human head ... he was tall and strong and handsome in every way and, +yet," she ended dreamily, "and, yet, he never loved a woman in his life +before he found me." + +Old Mage had other words upon her lips than those which she said after +having hauled herself up sharply, remembering how unprotected her dear +young lady was and wishing, above all else, even her own almost +insatiable curiosity, to shield her from any harm: + +"It must be a great comfort to you to know that, now that he is dead and +gone," she said to the girl, though what she added in her own mind may +as well not be recorded here, for, with all the fierceness of the +far-famed tiger with her young, old Mage, in her own primitive mind, was +wishing several distinct kinds of punishment would fall, in its +immediate future, upon the soul of the man who had brought sorrow to her +dear, innocent lamb. As far as the girl was concerned she felt that she +had had more than her just deserts already and wished to relieve her +young lady of any further torture regarding the mixed matter, for old +Mage, though an ignorant woman in many ways, had lived a great many +observant years among human men and women, and, now, that her experience +might serve to protect Ruth in this hard crisis of her young womanhood, +she threw herself and all her previous knowledge of the world right into +the breach. She reflected only for a few moments after having made the +diplomatic speech referred to above, before she decided on a course of +immediate action. + +To begin with, she decided to clear the decks, as it were, of the +obstruction of the girl's presence in the home of the wronged wife; she +went about this with precision and dispatch, for, once she had settled +on any certain course, old Mage was like a mild whirlwind, scattering +everything before her: + +"Well," she began, eyeing the girl suspiciously, wondering whether she +had any inkling of the exact situation, "I suppose you have folks to +live with and are not in need of anything much?" + +"I am alone in this wide world," declared Estrella, "for I am but a +foster child among the people who have brought me up ... my parents I +know nothing of but believe that I am not of Cuban blood.... I +think ..." she hesitated, "I think ... I am ... an American, the same as +the sweet young lady who lives here with you." + +The last few words almost undid old Mage's stern resolve, but she kept +her one idea of saving her young lady from further annoyance in view and +answered this appeal: + +"It don't make much difference in this world _who_ you are but it does +matter _what_ you are ... now, I take it, you are a good girl and will +marry some good man when you have recovered from this loss ... you are +too young to feel this as deeply as you might ... I hope so, anyway ..." +she temporized, seeing the look of despair that settled on Estrella's +really beautiful and innocent features, "and my young lady wanted me to +help you if you needed any help for she feels so sorry that your lover +happened to be killed just as he was about to get free ... she wanted me +to tell you ..." but at that point in her benevolent intention she was +interrupted by the appearance of the mistress of the place, and ended, +rather lamely, "she wanted me to tell you to come to her as soon as you +got here." + +"Why, Mage," said Ruth in her usual sweet, low voice, "you had not told +me that Estrella had come ... have you been waiting for me very long?" +she kindly asked the girl. + +"No, Madam," said Estrella feeling the immense difference in their +positions in spite of the evident indisposition and tender youth of the +other woman, "I have only rested for a few moments after my climb to the +top of the hill. It was very kind," she added, "of you to ask me to come +and the cool air of the evening has refreshed my head for it has been +aching terribly, all day." + +"Can't you find some sort of refreshments for her, Mage?" asked Ruth, +feeling sorry for the other's plight. "Maybe a good cup of tea would +give you added strength to bear your great sorrow ... we women," she +said while her sweet, low voice trembled, "we women are but weak and yet +often the very heaviest of sorrows is laid upon us.... I do not know the +reason for this ... I do not understand ... but I believe that we are +all but a part of a very great plan which is beyond our comprehension +while we are here in this finite world, and I hope ..." she had the look +of one of God's good angels on her face as she said it, "and I hope to +know more about this great plan when I have passed beyond this world +and all its many disappointments. You have had a terrific blow, my poor +Girl," she went on, kindly. "You alone must bear this grief but God has +sent other human beings into this human life so that we may help each +other, if only by our mutual sympathy, when we must meet what it seems +almost impossible for us to bear alone ... so," she ended, "so, maybe I +have been sent to try to give you courage to go on in life when your +future must look dreadfully black to you." + +"It surely does look black ..." moaned poor Estrella, "Victorio was all +I had to lean upon in this wide world for I don't belong to the people +where I live and Manuello persists in making love to me and I can't bear +to have him touch me after having known the love of a man who never even +looked at any other woman but me, and who was," her pride in her dead +lover again taking the ascendency in her emotions, "the handsomest and +smartest man who ever came to Cuba." + +"The low-lived pup!" said old Mage, who had just come in with the +tea-tray in her hands and heard the last few words, but she made this +remark to herself alone and would have ground her teeth in making it had +it not happened that she had mislaid those triumphs of the dentist's +art, for old Mage was the proud possessor of two entire sets of teeth, +although she seldom could lay her hands on them as she invariably +removed them from her mouth each time she wished to eat anything, having +grown so accustomed to gumming her food that the teeth were dreadfully +in her way. + +She set the tea-tray with its array of cups and saucers down and added +several little concoctions of her own making to the little feast before +she began, thinking to change the subject: + +"Dear Miss Ruth, I wish you could have seen little Tid-i-wats a few +minutes ago; she was out in the big yard and I wanted her to come back +in her own place so as to be safe and so instead of going to pick her up +as you know very well she won't allow anyone to do except yourself, I +just got one of her saucers and a silver spoon and pounded on the edge +of the saucer with the spoon, and here she came fairly bounding along +the driveway; she galloped, Miss Ruth, just like a little colt out in +one of our own big pastures, back home." + +"The dear little Dadditts!" exclaimed her young lady, using a pet name +of her own making. "How cute she must have looked ... she is so little," +she explained to Estrella, "she is so very small and so very cute ... I +have had her with me, now, for ... how long is it, Mage?" for she knew +the old woman enjoyed being asked for information, "since we came from +America the last time?" + +"Let me see ..." answered Mage, deliberating, "it must be anyway twelve +years and Tid-i-wats was not a young cat, even then, for she had raised +one family of kittens at least ... she must be thirteen or more years +old, my Dear," she said to the young girl, hoping to attract her +attention to herself and so leave Ruth free from her immediate scrutiny, +"just think of that! You must come with me, when you have had your tea, +and see the cute little yard we have for her and then you must look over +the grounds with me. Miss Ruth is not feeling very well, today, although +she has such a healthy-looking, rosy face, and, so, I'll entertain you +while you're here; Miss Ruth is a great reader and her eyes are not very +strong ... sometimes the sun hurts them awfully." + +And Ruth let here have her way, that time, as she found that she could +scarcely endure the calm, blue, staring eyes of the girl and listen to +her innocent gabble concerning her own husband; so she called old Mage +into another room and cautioned her to be very kind to poor Estrella and +gave her quite a sum of money to hand to her, thinking, in this manner +to defray the funeral expenses of the man whom she had believed to be +the very soul of honor fired with an almost holy patriotism. + +Old Mage received her directions quietly enough and used her own good +judgment as to carrying them all out; her main idea was to relieve her +mistress and this she did by assuring her that she would look after the +girl and would ask her to come to see them again when she had in some +measure recovered from her sorrow. + +What she was saying to her own self we will not record but she relieved +her own feelings, while attempting to help Estrella who was as innocent +as her own young lady was, as she could see, for old Mage was seldom +mistaken in her estimate of women, although men, as she expressed it, +quite often "pulled the wool over her eyes." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +As the young girl descended the hill to the little village she reflected +upon the splendor of the home she had just quitted and wondered if such +wealth as was displayed there could take the place of the companionship +of a loved and loving human being; she remembered the very sad +expression of the great gray eyes into which she had peered for a few +fleeting moments and she marveled at the memory, for, as it seemed to +the inexperience of Estrella, Ruth Wakefield should have been as happy +as a queen indeed for she had the proud position, almost, of Royalty +among the peons to whose constant society she, herself, had had to be +accustomed from her earliest recollection of society at all. + +In spite of her own great sorrow on account of the sudden death of +Victorio Colenzo she felt comforted, somehow, by the memory of the vital +nearness of the woman who was so much her superior, as it seemed to her, +in every possible way; she could not know that in Ruth Wakefield's +gentle bosom there throbbed a deeper and more lasting agony than any +that she, herself, had ever experienced ... she only saw her own +position among those who had little sympathy for her, as all the girls +she knew well, except little Tessa, envied her as having been the +sweetheart of a man they all admired, and the young men, feeling that +she was superior, in many ways, to the girls of their own type, were +jealous of the handsome Colenzo who had won so easily what they had +failed to even attract. + +Chief among these latter was Manuello who called himself her +half-brother, half in derision and half in rough sport, for well he knew +that no similar blood flowed through their veins as Estrella had been +taken care of by his own mother simply from motives of pity for a +deserted and helpless orphan; this loving and unselfish mother had +passed away some time before the opening of this tale and Estrella had +taken full charge of the household affairs of the family among whom she +had grown up, as being the eldest of the girls, having always been of a +domestic turn of mind and wishing to repay the kindness of those who had +cared for her when she was unable to do so. + +As she walked along she remembered several little duties for her to +perform yet that night, although she felt that she wished to devote her +entire attention to the funeral arrangements that she had made for poor +Victorio whose mangled remains still lay at the improvised morgue in the +village. + +Reflecting on these arrangements, she remembered the money that old Mage +had given to her which was yet clutched in the hand that had received +it; hearing a slight noise in the path ahead of her, she hastily thrust +the money into the bosom of her gown and advanced, cautiously, for there +was much unrest all over the Island of Cuba at this time and no one was +really safe, either at home or abroad, as the Governor-General had +issued positive orders to arrest without question all those who were, in +any manner, detrimental to the ruling powers. + +Estrella was aware, in a dim and uncertain way, of existing conditions, +and, having been a participant in the recent uprising, she was afraid +that she might be detained by the government, in which case, how she +could attend to the sorrowful duty of the morrow was a problem too big +for her to solve on the spur of the moment; with the thought of this +danger in her mind, she stepped carefully to one side of the narrow +path, hoping that whoever or whatever had made the noise she had heard +would pass on up the hill without observing her; she was standing as +still as possible, fairly holding her breath and involuntarily clutching +at the bundle of money in her dress, when she became conscious of the +approach of someone or something from behind her and jumped, like a +startled fawn, back into the path and down the hill at top speed; she +knew that she was followed but did not stop until she had reached the +door of the little cottage where she made her home; as she pushed madly +at the door it yielded to her touch too quickly to have been moved by +herself alone, and, hurridly entering, she found herself face to face +with Manuello who pulled her hastily inside and barred the simple door, +saying testily: + +"Why did you startle me so? Had I not known your step, I would have kept +you out until you had told me who you were ... don't you know that we, +who have made ourselves conspicuous in the recent uprising, are being +closely watched by the authorities and are liable to arrest at any +moment? Why do you expose us in this manner by staying out after +nightfall and perhaps bringing the soldiers who are stationed in the +block-houses upon us? Is it not enough that you are marked as being the +sweetheart of our dead leader? Must you even stray about the +country-side after dark?" + +"Manuello ..." panted the poor girl, "I was so frightened ... someone +was in the path and I jumped to one side and then someone came behind me +and I ran! I did not mean to do wrong ... I went to see the lady at the +mansion on the hill ... she asked me to come for she pitied me because +of Victorio's death.... I am sorry if I did wrong by going, Manuello ... +I hope you will forgive me ..." she ended, pleadingly, leaning against +the door with one hand over her fluttering heart and looking up into his +angry eyes. + +His countenance softened in a moment as he gazed upon her delicate +beauty, and stretching out his arms he said to her: + +"Rest, little Sister, here, here upon my breast. All the others are +asleep and you and I are alone. I would not scold you for the world, but +we must all be as cautious as we can for we are living in very dangerous +times." + +Estrella evaded his offered embrace and hastened into her own little +room after bidding him a short goodnight; she wondered, vaguely, what it +was that had startled her in the path, but, in spite of everything, her +healthy youth soon asserted itself and she was lost to her little world +upon the earth with all its many disappointments and unknown turnings. + +The day upon which Estrella made her visit to the mansion on the hill, +as the residence of Ruth Wakefield was popularly known in the village of +San Domingo, was a memorable one in the history of the Spanish-American +war for it happened to be the fifteenth day of February in the year of +our Lord and Master 1898. + +Upon that fateful day secret preparations had been made by the agents of +some of those who were then in power over the people of Cuba ... secret +mines had been laid and large quantities of explosives had been placed +in Havana Harbor with a set purpose in view; many of those who had been +incarcerated in political prisons had been kept in total ignorance of +the movements of Spanish troops in Cuba but most of the inhabitants of +the Island had known that, for some time, some definite object with +reference to our own United States was being considered by those who +directed the Spanish soldiery. + +Among those who had been apprised of what had been going on during the +confinement of those who had been liberated the night before in San +Domingo was Manuello; during the absence of Estrella from their home, +that evening, this redoubtable warrior had been hobnobbing with the +Spanish soldiers in the block-house nearest to the village and had +discovered something of the plot to blow up a United States battleship +in Havana Harbor; as it was known that the _Maine_, an armored cruiser +of the second-class, had been lying in the harbor for some weeks, the +young fellow was especially nervous, and, hearing Estrella's flying feet +approaching their dwelling, he dreaded some new horror. + +The little village of San Domingo was wrapped in the first sound slumber +of the night. Good Father Felix had been dreaming, for some hours, of +the heavenly home he hoped, sometime, to reach; old Mage had long ago +forgotten all about her defense of her dear young lady, that day, and +Estrella was far away from every human care. + +But Ruth Wakefield was one of those who never sleep right through the +dark hours of any night; from her earliest recollection, she had been +wide awake, with a clarified vision of the affairs of daily life as well +as of those that were quite beyond the world of men and women who were +yet embodied, about the hour of two A.M., and, when she had some +especially knotty problem to solve, she seldom slept for more than an +hour or so at a time, but would waken to a consciousness of the facts of +her human existence with a shock that would almost always cause her to +jump as if struck a blow, which, indeed, was the exact state of affairs, +only the blow was a mental one. + +On this one night, having lost the most of the sleep she should have had +upon the previous one, her bodily strength was almost entirely exhausted +so that she sunk into a deep and dreamless sleep during the first part +of the evening and woke, with a start, about nine P.M. + +Rising from her bed, as was her custom upon awakening in the night, she +approached one of the large windows of her own room facing Havana +Harbor; she could see the lights from the various vessels lying at +anchor and imagined that she could make out those of the _Maine_, which, +as it represented her own native land to her, was, naturally, of deep +interest to her; she fell to imagining how it would seem to return to +the United States on that great ship lying so peacefully and appearing +to be so stanch and strong in the harbor below her window ... she +wondered if it might not be better for her, now that she no longer had +the keen interest in Cuba that she had only recently had, to go back to +her own country and so possibly forget the dark eyes and lying lips of +the man to whom she had given her virginity only to find it flouted and +treated with disdain; for, try as she would to vindicate Victorio +Colenzo, she was too just and reasonable to deny to herself that he had +acted the part of a sneaking villain both to her and to poor, trusting +Estrella, who had not had to see her dream of him lying in fragments at +her feet, but who still believed that he had spoken the truth to her +when he had told her that she was the only woman he had ever loved; she +was too young to know that this statement is a regular trite and tried +prevarication, common to almost all male lovers. + +But Ruth, at present, was laboring under no delusions with regard to the +man she had married, although his dead body was still unburied and she +had not so much as said a prayer over his remains ... she knew beyond +all shadow of doubt that he had been untrue to both of the women he had +professed to love in San Domingo, and her mind was much distraught as +she sat at her window and, gazed down upon Havana Harbor upon that +memorable evening of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and +ninety-eight. + +She had been watching a little boat plying back and forth between the +wharf and the battleship which she had picked out among the other black +hulks in the harbor as being the _Maine_, and was speculating, idly, +what it could be about, as it seemed busily engaged in something of +importance, when, all at once, a mighty detonation shook the entire +harbor and the adjacent shore, making even her own stout residence +tremble, and, where the majestic battleship had, only just a moment +before, been a thing of beauty and power, there was nothing but a wild +mass of flying debris and a raging furnace of belching, flaming fire. + +Ruth Wakefield realized, even as the terrific explosion occurred, that +here was a turning point in the affairs of state and that, in all +probability, her own country would, after this, become involved in the +war that had been raging in Cuba, then, for about three years; it was +with mingled feelings of dismay and dread that she surveyed the activity +that very soon became apparent both in the harbor and in the city of +Havana; she could see the lights of the rescuing boats as they circled +about the scene of the wreck and even hear the groans and supplications +of some of the severely wounded survivors, for the night was clear and +the light wind carried the sounds from the harbor up to her window so +that her very acute hearing told her that this was no casual accident, +but, in all probability, a carefully planned holocaust in which her own +much-loved native land would, inevitably be involved. + +Manuello was one of the first to rush out upon the streets of the little +village after the terrific noise of the explosion had rolled away; he +passed hastily from cottage to cottage asking the inmates if they were +aware of the cause of it, for, being a little below the level of Havana +Harbor, the inhabitants of San Domingo could not command a view of it. + +As no one seemed able to give him any explanation of the disturbing +detonation, he even dared to approach one of the block houses held by +the Spanish soldiery; here, he found everything in confusion and +excitement ... men were hastily arming themselves so as to be in +readiness for whatever orders might come from their superiors, and +Manuello found no one among them who seemed much better informed than +he, himself, was; he imagined that what he had heard had been the result +of the consummation of the plans upon which he had stumbled earlier in +the evening and started to climb to the top of the hill upon which Ruth +Wakefield's residence was located in order to gain a view of Havana +Harbor. + +Manuello had almost reached the very top of the hill before he realized +that he had come out into the night without a weapon of any kind, and, +no sooner had he made this disconcerting discovery than he became aware +of some sort of movement directly in his rear; wishing to avoid whatever +it might be, he hastily concealed himself and waited for the approach of +his unseen companion in the darkness; the steps he had heard came along +the path hastily, yet steadily, and the owner of them soon appeared; as +he passed Manuello, the young fellow made out that the new-comer was +none other than the village Priest who, as it seemed likely, was bent +upon the same errand as the hidden peon; Father Felix kept on, sturdily, +climbing the grade to the mansion on the hill; having reached the house +he at once disappeared inside it and Manuello was again alone upon the +hillside. + +Gaining a point of vantage, Manuello looked down upon Havana Harbor, +and, at once, decided upon the course that he must pursue to cover +himself from danger of suspicion as to the possibility of his having +participated in the terrible calamity that had befallen the United +States battleship, for Manuello knew the exact location of the different +ships then anchored in Havana Harbor as he had in his possession a map +of it upon which he had drawn certain black crosses which indicated the +positions of different vessels, also certain ingenious little flourishes +told him the nationality of the various ships, so that he felt as sure +as if he were right upon the scene that the battleship _Maine_ had been +blown up in Havana Harbor, that fateful evening, and he knew that there +would be a searching investigation made as to what had caused the +explosion, so that Manuello had this little problem to consider as well +as the one concerning the sudden and mysterious death of Victorio +Colenzo just as he was about to be liberated from the prison at San +Domingo; for Manuello knew far more concerning that casualty than he +had imparted to Estrella when she had so diligently inquired of him +about it. + +Father Felix found Ruth Wakefield and her little, frightened household +fully awake as well as fully aware of the nature of the episode that had +startled him to such an extent that he had climbed the hill to ascertain +the safety of the inhabitants of the mansion on the hill, for the good +Priest pitied the mistress of the mansion far more than he did the poor +girl in the cottage, knowing that added refinement often makes more +poignant a sorrow that would inevitably be hard for any human heart to +bear. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +All over the little village of San Domingo, on the morning of February +sixteenth, 1898, the news spread like wild-fire that the United States +battleship, _Maine_, had been blown up in Havana Harbor. + +Manuello, having secreted his map in what he considered to be a safe +place, and having remained quietly inside his own domicile during the +balance of the night preceding the general acceptance of the the salient +facts concerned in the great disaster, ventured forth at daylight, +hoping to discover the condition of the public mind with regard to it. + +The first place he visited was one of the block-houses where he had +hob-nobbed with the soldiers before the news of the explosion had +reached them; here he found closely shut mouths and stern countenances +meeting him on every side, as he was known to be engaged in stirring up +strife and dissatisfaction among the peons of whom, to some extent, now +that Victorio Colenzo was dead, he was an acknowledged leader; the +soldiers, knowing nothing of what action would be taken by their own +government, much less of how far the resentment of the powerful nation +involved in the disaster would carry them, thought that discretion was, +by all means, the better part of valor, in this instance, and, +accordingly, had no private conversation with Manuello at all, being +careful to have several of their number within ear-shot of every word he +uttered; he, realizing the situation, after some few moments, went +quietly away, glad, indeed, to escape so easily from among the armed +hosts of Spain, for his own native country had been under the heel of +Spanish oppressors for more than three years, at this time. + +From the block-house, the young fellow proceeded to the dwelling of +little Tessa for he had a sort of mild affection for her, knowing how +profoundly she admired him and being flattered by her preference, while +his own heart was set on Estrella, to win whom he had, indeed, committed +a most terrible crime, for it had been his hand that had almost severed +the handsome head of Victorio Colenzo from his strong and agile body, he +having taken advantage of the confusion in the prison at the time of the +liberation of the political offenders to vent his own jealous spite upon +the natural leader of them all, little dreaming that he had cut off in +his prime the husband of the lady of the mansion on the hill, but only +congratulating himself on having removed from his own path a dangerous +rival in the affections, not only of Estrella, but also of all of those +with whom he, Manuello, hoped to advance his own interests; for Victorio +Colenzo was a man to be feared by all those who opposed him as Manuello +knew very well; now that his dead body was lying there in the little +improvised morgue, it seemed to the young Cuban that his great influence +would soon die away, and, so far as Estrella was concerned, he felt +pretty sure of her as she was so near to him and would, naturally, lean +upon him in trouble. + +So that, he felt quite complacent as to the recent turns in his affairs, +when he entered the rude home of little Tessa; he found that small, dark +young woman standing quietly beside a window watching his approach; she +turned to him, when another member of the family had admitted him, +eagerly and expectantly: + +"What do you think, Manuello?" she inquired. "What will be the result of +last night's terrible disaster? Shall we, now, have the Americans to +fight as well as the Spanish? Will the great United States hold us +responsible for this crime? I wondered, right away, what you would think +about it all and am so glad you have come over early. Is dear Estrella +as well as we could expect under her distressing circumstances? Will the +body of her lover be buried, today? Will this new trouble make any +difference with the burial of the bodies in the morgue? Tell me +everything you know, Manuello. Don't pay any attention to my +questions ... just go ahead and tell me!" + +She had come near to him as she kept asking questions, and was now +beside him and had grasped the collar of his short jacket, for Manuello +was something of a dude among his associates and was very particular as +to his appearance, being proud of his straight, strong figure and broad +shoulders which towered above many of the heads of his companions, so +that little Tessa had to stretch her small, dark hands well above her +smooth, black head in order to cling as closely as she desired to him. + +The young fellow looked down into the eager face lifted toward his own +and hesitated a little while before he answered her; diplomacy had +become so much a part of his acquired habit that, even when it was +unnecessary, as in the present instance, for Tessa trusted him +implicitly, he still employed it: + +"To begin with," he said, as if issuing a decree from a judgment-seat, +"I do not think that the blowing up of the battleship, last night, will +make our case in Cuba much harder than it already is ... in fact, it +might be that the American government would resent the loss of their +property and the murder of their sailors sufficiently to induce them to +assist us in our struggle for independence from the tyranny of Spain." +He looked about him anxiously, as he made this last statement, for he +knew that agents of the government might be in hiding almost anywhere. +"As to the burial of Victorio Colenzo," he pronounced the name with some +braggadocio, "and the rest, this disaster should make no difference as +to that, for when human beings die they have to be buried somehow, no +matter what happens." It was with secret satisfaction that he explained +this last matter, for, so far as he was concerned, the sooner the body +of his victim was under the ground the better he, himself, would feel, +"and as to Estrella, as soon as she recovers from the loss of her +handsome lover, I think she will listen to reason again and be the same +nice girl she was before she ever met this stranger who came among us +like a whirlwind and who has left us as suddenly as he appeared among +us. Now, little Tessa," he ended, "I think that I have answered all of +your questions ... suppose you answer some of mine ... for example," and +he bent his bold eyes on her little face, "why are you growing to be so +beautiful? Whom do you love more than anything else in the world? When +will you be a married woman? Do you like me as well as you did when we +were little children? Do you think that Estrella will ever marry me, now +that she has lost her new lover? Are you my little friend in this matter +and will you assist my cause with Estrella?" seeing a look of +consternation spread over her countenance, he ended his category with, +"Who is _your_ lover, little Tessa? I know you must have one for you +have grown to be very fair and winsome since we were shut up in that +hateful prison." + +"Manuello," said the girl, "I don't believe that I will ever marry.... +I have no lover and I am not beautiful. Estrella does not love you, now, +but she may learn to do so. I wish her to be very happy and if being +your wife would make her so, and I see no reason why a girl could not be +happy as your wife, Manuello, then I will do what I can to further your +cause with her. I know she is in deep sorrow, today, and I intend to do +all that I can to help her. Of course you know what arrangements have +already been made. Father Felix will take charge of the ceremonies, I +understand. I will accompany poor Estrella to the burial place. You may +tell her that I will soon be with her." + +The simplicity and truth of the young and innocent girl affected even +the hardened heart of the murderer and the evident adoration with which +she regarded him also had its effect upon him, so that Manuello +trembled, inwardly, in spite of all his hardihood and determination to +force his passionate love upon Estrella, as he intended only to use poor +little Tessa's admiration for him to influence the older and fairer +woman; the very fact that Estrella was, very evidently, not of his own +race had a powerful attraction for his untutored imagination and, in +secret, he often dwelt upon her difference from all the other women of +his acquaintance, while he assumed toward herself an air of superiority, +hoping thereby to attract her to himself as being above all of the +others of their acquaintance; now that his successful rival was out of +his way the young fellow looked forward to an early conquest of the +heart and hand of Estrella, and, now that the Americans had become +involved in the Cuban war, he hoped for the defeat of the Spaniards as +he never had before. Therefore, he could well afford to be a little +condescending to the young girl who still clung to his hands as if to +her only hope of happiness and looked up adoringly into his smiling +eyes. + +Stooping toward her a little, he suddenly raised her in his strong arms +and lifted her small, eager face to a level with his own; her lips were +very near to his and were trembling for that very reason, so he stilled +them by holding them for a passionate moment against his virile mouth. + +Tessa yielded to his embrace without thinking of its import for Manuello +was a strong and healthy man, full of the electrical attraction that +goes with those of his build, and, like many uneducated human beings, +the animal side of his nature was more fully developed than any other +part of it so that almost any healthy young woman appealed to him in +some degree and Tessa's evident affection for himself added to her power +in this respect. + +The two young beings were placed in the situation in which we have +described them for only a very short space of earthly time, but it was +sufficient to build up a barrier around Manuello that separated him from +all the rest of the young men known to the simple-minded girl with whom +he was only playing at making love, for all of that sacred emotion of +which he was capable had been laid at the feet of the girl who had +scoffed at his advances, for some years. + +When he had set her, gently, upon her small feet again, Manuello +addressed the small maiden in an almost wheedling tone, for he thought +that he could, now, better control her feelings than before the episode +of the past few moments: + +"You _do_ like me as much as before I was put away in prison, don't you, +little Tessa? Estrella's aloofness from me on account of her crazy +notions about Victorio Colenzo has not affected you with regard to me, +has it? I can depend upon you as upon a faithful little friend, I +believe I can, anyway ... how about that, little Girl?" + +He bent his black eyes upon her as he asked the question, and, with his +picturesque costume, dark face, up-tilted _mustachio_, as black as his +heavy, curling hair, and his strong and agile figure, in many ways, he +was as handsome as anyone upon whom Tessa's eyes had ever rested, for, +to her simple mind, Victorio had been too much inclined toward +intellectual pursuits to really appeal very strongly to her untutored +mind and she had never been able to understand why Estrella preferred +him to Manuello; now, she answered the latter in no uncertain language: + +"Of _course_ you can depend on my friendship ... of _course_ I would +always do anything I could to help you ... even ..." her voice shook +over the words, "even with the woman whom you love and prefer to all the +other women whom you know ... Estrella," she said this firmly as if to +convince even herself of the truth of the statement. "Estrella _is_ +superior to the rest of us girls around here ... she is of another race +of people, I believe ... a superior race, I guess ... anyway," she ended +naively, "I love her and do not blame _you_, Manuello, for doing the +same thing." + +It took a good deal of courage and loyalty combined for the girl to make +the remarks we have just recorded here with her small mouth yet tingling +from the kisses, for Manuello had not been chary of their number while +he had the opportunity to bestow them, of the man whom she almost +worshiped as earthly women adore merely human men, but she had waded +through the above sentences, bravely, and felt better after having +passed through what was an ordeal for her to undergo. + +Manuello scarcely knew how to meet this plain exposition of the matter +under consideration and quickly changed the subject of conversation, not +wishing to go too far, all at once, with Tessa, as that might complicate +his relations with Estrella, and, yet, feeling the need of some stanch +friend, in case he should have need of one, for he realized, dimly, that +he might easily be in danger, at any time, for various good reasons, +for he had been implicated in many of the plots of the revolutionists as +well as having secrets of his own to cover up; he was naturally cautious +as far as his own safety was concerned and did not wish to involve +himself any farther than seemed best for his own interests with Tessa, +and, yet, he desired to have her assistance ready at hand in case he +should have need of anything so feeble. + +He had now fixed her previous regard for him upon a vital memory, +so that she would not soon forget the few moments she had passed +encircled by his arms, and this was all he cared to do in that line, +at present.... Later on, in case Estrella still remained obdurate ... +why ... that would be a far different matter; he had now arranged for +himself a secret harbor in the simple heart of this uneducated girl, so +that, if pursued too closely by cruel storms, out on the open sea, he +could retire to it at will. + +As for Tessa, after she had made her declaration of love for Estrella, +she felt that she had performed her full duty in that matter, and went +about her preparations for the affairs of that day, with an even lighter +heart than before Manuello's short visit, for, after all, she had +discovered that she was not at least repulsive to the man she had +secretly loved for almost as long as she could remember anything, for +they had grown up in San Domingo together and he had always been +identified with her daily life; the beauty of her personal dream +regarding the tall Cuban had been her motive in assisting in the +liberation of the prisoners, mentioned in the beginning of this +narrative, as she had small sympathy with Estrella's adoration of +Victorio Colenzo, although she was willing to have her intimate +girl-friend feel exactly as she had felt and pitied her with all her +loving heart, now that she had lost, in such a terrible manner, the man +she loved and who, as they both had believed, loved her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +When Manuello left the dwelling of the little woman of whose affection +he was certain he hastened home to find out what attitude the woman he +loved would take toward the new conditions in Cuba, as well as to +ascertain what preparations she was making for the burial of the man +whose earthly life he had, himself, taken, although she was far from +imagining anything of the kind concerning either her dead lover or her +so-called half-brother. + +He found Estrella much perturbed as was to have been expected under the +circumstances for he knew that she had been deeply enamored of the +handsome stranger whose dead body was now being prepared for interment +by the village undertaker to whom Estrella had given the money presented +to her by old Mage, so that the man's body was being taken care of +through the charity of his wife which had been bestowed upon his +sweetheart neither of whom had been known to him at all a few months +before. + +As the hour for the funeral exercises drew near, a handsome carriage +drew up in front of the humble door where Estrella made her home; from +within it emerged no less a person than old Mage herself who had been +sent by Ruth Wakefield to escort the sorrowing girl to and from the rude +graveyard where the body of her own husband would be placed, that day; +she had told good Father Felix what to do as to the simple services but +had decided to absent herself from them, not being sure as to how much +endurance she would have and being determined not to add to the grief of +the innocent girl who had been deceived by the man whose name she had +assumed but never been known by in her own family, even, as, at his +especial request, she had kept the marriage hidden from all of her +acquaintances except the few members of her own little household who +were devoted to her and her interests and went about among the villagers +very little, as what business they had was transacted in Havana instead +of San Domingo. + +Estrella was pleased and flattered by this attention from the lady of +the mansion on the hill and entered the carriage to find Father Felix +already there, for the carriage had been sent to the refectory before it +came to her own home; she remembered the message little Tessa had sent +to her so she asked old Mage to go to her dwelling for her, which was +done, and completed the sad little group that rode directly behind the +rude wagon which took the place of a hearse and which carried the body +of Victorio Colenzo to its last earthly resting-place. + +The grief of the young girl was very pitiful and, as they turned away +from the narrow grave, old Mage felt moved to try to comfort her a +little by distracting her attention from her sorrow; seeing Manuello +lurking in the background as the funeral party were about to leave the +cemetery, she said to Estrella: + +"Will your brother ride home with us? I remember his face for he has +brought fruit to our door and he told me, once, that you were his +half-sister." + +The poor girl stifled her sobs long enough to listen to the old woman's +remark but made no other answer to it than to shake her head; little +Tessa turned her face in the direction indicated by old Mage and saw +Manuello with a look of diabolical triumph mingled with fear and hatred +on his dark face so that, in spite of her love for him, his expression +frightened her and made even her turn away from the sight of the great +change in his countenance from what she had seen resting there only that +morning. + +Ruth Wakefield had spend the hour devoted to the funeral exercises of +her own husband very quietly and in entire solitude; she was accustomed +to the latter condition and there was no one among her acquaintances in +whom she cared to confide except the good Priest who had done what he +could to console and sustain her spirit through this trial that had been +forced upon her by untoward circumstances and her own faith in humanity; +she watched her own carriage descend the hill and pass into the little +village ... she saw the small funeral procession as it wended its way +along the palm-lined street ... she watched it enter the gate of the +little cemetery and even saw poor Estrella as she alighted from the +vehicle and leaned upon the arm of her small friend as she approached +the open grave that was to contain the mortal remains of the man who had +been, if only for a short space of time, her own husband ... and yet she +did not faint ... she did not cry out ... she had had her fight with her +own nature and she had won out after a hard struggle; all that was left +of the love she had entertained for the handsome Cuban who had entered +into her life so disastrously, was an open wound which time alone could +ever heal. + +When old Mage returned to the mansion on the hill she sought out her +young lady and would have, in her usual garrulous manner, reported +everything that she had noticed during her absence had she received +encouragement to do so; on the contrary, she found Ruth, apparently, +deeply interested in a large volume which she had placed on a table +before her chair; she rested her head on her hands, from time to time, +and only looked up to welcome her old nurse, then resumed the perusal of +the page she happened to have open at the time of her entrance into the +library. + +Ruth Wakefield had always found her chief delight among her many good +books; she browsed among them for mental sustenance and for spiritual +solace and found rich pasturage; it had been said of her, while she was +yet a small child, that, in case it ever became necessary to perform a +surgical operation upon any part of her delicate body, an anaesthetic +would not be essential, as all that she would need would be to have +someone read aloud to her from some fine piece of literature. + +So, in the terrible affliction that had so recently befallen her, it was +as natural for her to go to her books for comfort as it would have been +for another woman to go to some understanding friend, for that was what +Ruth Wakefield found among her books ... understanding and safe friends +who would never betray her secrets or her confidence in them ... who +would never deceive and torture her and who represented to her the +finest and best impulses in human nature as well as those higher +sentiments to which she always clung and which, now, in this crisis of +her life, carried her safely over what might have crazed a mind less +well poised than hers. + +The morning after the funeral exercises of Victorio Colenzo, Father +Felix ascended the hill upon which Ruth Wakefield's home was located and +sought her out, for the good Priest was much perturbed because of her +present condition and went to see her with the intention of advising her +to leave Cuba, at least for a time, as the situation with regard to her +own country was almost certain to become acute, after the disaster of a +few nights previous, and it seemed to him to be imprudent for a young +woman to remain alone with only retainers about her among the wild +people among whom he labored; for Father Felix knew far more of the +nature of these people than many others possibly could and he realized +that the wealth surrounding the Wakefield residence was in itself a +menace to the fair owner of it; although he, himself, intended to remain +among his parishioners under all circumstances, it did not seem to be a +wise procedure for an unprotected woman to do so. + +He had studied the situation over from many view-points and had settled +on the best course, according to his judgment and knowledge of the +situation, for her to pursue, and he, now, laid this course before her +with the benevolent intention of assisting her to follow it in every way +within his limited power: + +"My dear Miss Ruth," he began, hesitatingly, for he was not sure of just +what effect either her husband's violent death or the recent explosion +in the harbor would have on her sensitive nature, "I wish that you would +consider your own situation very carefully; you are now alone here +except for those who are under your employ, and the people of the +surrounding country are in a high state of excitement. At almost any +moment, now, your own native land, to which you are devoted, may declare +itself to be in a state of war with Spain, following the blowing up of +the battleship; in that case, your situation, here, would be even more +precarious than it is at present and it is far from being secure, even +now; what I had thought of proposing to you is that you, at once, gather +together what you consider to be the most precious of your worldly +possession, here, and place them in some storage building in Havana, +leaving the house, here, with as few valuables as possible inside of it, +then, with probably your old nurse as a companion and charge, return at +once to your own country, anyway, until the war-cloud that is now +hanging over Cuba has been lifted; it looks to me," he ended, "as if +that would not be for some years yet ... of course America is a powerful +country and if she takes this matter up in earnest, it may be that it +will come to an end more quickly than I fear it may." + +He waited, quietly, then, for Ruth to think over his remarks; she had +regarded him earnestly while he had been speaking, and, now, sat with +her hands folded in her lap for a few minutes before she spoke: + +"Father Felix," she began, at length, "Father Felix, I appreciate the +reasons that prompted you to come to me and advise me as you have just +been doing; I understand that you consider me unfit to cope with the +present situation under my circumstances and I wish to inform you that I +do not intend to run away from my duty any more than you do. I take it +for granted, Father, that you expect to remain with your people no +matter what may come to them? I believe that the more need they may +have of you, the more anxious you will be to serve them. Now I," she +continued, earnestly and unwaveringly, "I have not done my full duty, up +to now, among these people to whom you have devoted all of your +energies; I feel that I owe my fellow-beings more than I have given to +them in many ways, for I have been very much of a recluse, as you know, +loving my books and enjoying my home and the natural beauties I have +delighted in all around me; it may be, that, in the crisis that seems +imminent, I may find some good work that will wholly absorb my +energies ... it may be ..." she said, while a high resolve settled over +her sensitive features, "it may be, good Father Felix, that I may be +permitted to do almost as much good in our little world as you, +yourself, are doing and have already done. Would you bar me from the +proud privilege of sharing your labor and of receiving some measure of +the rich reward which is awaiting you?" + +Father Felix gazed upon her as if upon a being already translated beyond +the common things of earth, and, realizing the firmness of her evident +resolve, he extended his hands toward her in blessing. As she bowed her +head to receive it there was a rapt look upon her face such as the holy +angels who welcome the souls of the newly dead must have upon their +features ... the inner consciousness of Ruth Wakefield shone through her +earthly lineaments and transfigured them so that they were even more +fair than they had been before. + +"My Daughter," said the good Priest, "forgive me for proposing what I +did; I did not fully understand you; from this time on, I hope that we +may find much good work that we can do in common, for I would be proud +and glad to be engaged with you upon our Father's business. Let us +consult with each other in our plans for the betterment of the poor +people among whom our lot in life has been cast. I was going to speak to +you about the girl, Estrella," he went on, watching her face while he +talked; "she is in need of different surroundings than she has at +present, for she is not of the race of those with whom she has been +staying; the young man who calls her his half-sister knows very well +that she has none of his blood in her veins, and he is almost constantly +tormenting her with offers of his heart and hand, when the poor girl is +really a mourner for the man whom she believed, as you did, to be worthy +of a good woman's love. The girl is strong and willing and capable +beyond the common run of the people among whom she has spent her life +thus far. I believe she would fully appreciate kindness and would repay +it in every way in her power. What I have just thought of is, perhaps, +impossible for you to do, at present, but it may be that, in the future, +you may consider it. If you could bring yourself to have her in your +home she would be safe from harm and might be a very great help to you +if you carry on the work that is now in your mind to do. For," he rose +to his feet and walked rapidly from one end of the room to the other, +"if America declares war on Spain with a view to the independence of +Cuba, there will be much heroic work for you and me to do, my dear +Daughter ... there will be much work for us two to perform." + +Ruth Wakefield also rose ... it seemed to her that the situation +demanded that she meet it on her feet.... + +"Father Felix," she said calmly and softly, "Father Felix, have Estrella +brought to me, today; let us begin our good work at once. There is +nothing that my beloved country can demand of me that I would not be +glad to give to its sacred cause. I believe that I can do more for my +native land, here, in Cuba, at the present time, than if I should return +to it, now. It may be that an American, with some degree of wealth and +intelligence, can be of service, here, at this critical juncture in her +country's history." + +"Our native land could not have a better representative, my Daughter. As +you know, I, also, am an American and I am proud, indeed, to claim you +as a fellow-countryman. From now on we will more fully understand each +other and I shall be glad to consult with you about many important +matters. I will proceed at once to carry out your instructions with +regard to the young girl of whom we have been speaking, for I feel that +her case is one of peculiar importance, since I fully believe that she, +also, is an American, although I have been unable, up to this time, to +trace her parentage beyond the fact that a man, presumably her father, +left her in the care of the woman who brought her up as one of her own +children, in the little village below here. The poor girl has had a +sorry life so far and really deserves better treatment than she has +received, or so it seems to me from my finite stand-point. I do not +presume to question the wisdom or justice of God, but, often, I am +puzzled when I see the innocent suffer and the guilty escape punishment +here in this world; I always trust in our heavenly Father implicitly, +and, yet, at times, I am sorely put to it to furnish reasons for certain +people having been placed in certain environments. I believe that all +this will be explained to us in good time, but many things are hard to +understand while we remain finite beings with only the intelligence that +has been bestowed upon humanity to reason with. Conscience," he went on +almost as if talking to himself, "conscience is our infallible guide and +was given to us so that we would never be without direction in whatever +circumstances we may be placed. Now, in this instance ... I honestly +thought that I was doing right to come here this morning and advise you +as I did, and, yet, God, in His great Wisdom, guided you, at once, into +the only path that you were ever meant to walk in ... the path that +will lead you on to the peace that passeth human understanding." + +After a little rather desultory conversation, with which he hoped to +lighten the outlook of the lonely woman, the good Priest wended his +solitary way down the hill and back to the scene of most of his labors +among the ignorant people whom he hoped to help toward a better +enlightenment, and, as he walked slowly down the path leading to the +village, he turned and looked back at the mansion on the hill, crossed +himself, and murmured: + +"Of such is the kingdom of heaven." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +When Estrella reached the mansion on the hill she found its mistress +quietly awaiting her outside the dwelling; she welcomed the young girl +with out-stretched hands, saying: + +"Father Felix has done well, indeed, to send you to me so quickly, +Estrella. I want you to feel perfectly at home, here. Old Mage will take +you to your own room and tell you what little duties you may assume if +you wish to do so. When you have arranged these little domestic matters, +come to me in the library and we will talk over some plans I have in +which I think you will be interested when you have somewhat recovered +from your recent loss. I know, from my own experience, that there is but +one way to carry sorrow through one's daily life and that is to be busy. +If one has enough physical energy and nervous strength, one can +accomplish a great deal of good in the world in spite of personal +sorrow. You are young and have not had an easy life so far ... it may be +that I can assist you so that, from now on, you and I may be able to +help each other in doing good work among those who are weaker than we +are." + +Old Mage was only too willing to take charge of the girl, for, while she +did not really like the idea of having her in the family, yet, she was +aware that Ruth needed companionship and she enjoyed having a goodly +number of people around her as her life consisted, mainly, of what each +day brought into it, for old Mage, while she was a good woman and a +faithful friend, was not a thinker and made few plans for the future. + +She led Estrella to the room that Ruth had arranged to have her occupy, +and, having explained certain little matters to her concerning the daily +round of life in the house, she began to question her as to what she had +learned regarding the explosion in Havana Harbor and what she thought as +to the probability of the United States declaring war on Spain on +account of it. + +The girl had little information to give to the old woman for she had +been too much absorbed by her own recent grief to even think of any of +the consequences that might follow the accident ... it seemed to her +that if the whole United States navy were blown up, it would make small +difference to her now that she had lost Victorio for he had represented +to her everything that meant happiness for her in the future; she had +yet to learn many things that would, eventually, bring to her the kind +of happiness that is lasting and to be depended upon when all that is +transitory and ephemeral has passed beyond knowledge and memory. + +At length, old Mage wearied of quizzing Estrella and left her to her own +thoughts which were confused and uncertain; she did not understand why +the lady of the mansion had condescended to ask her to come to her for +Father Felix had left her in doubt as to any reason, only telling her +that Miss Ruth desired her to come to her, at least for a time, to act +as a sort of companion as she was alone a great deal; he did not explain +to her that there might be work for her to do in the near future, +leaving that part to Ruth, very wisely. + +Father Felix led his little flock into fresh pastures when he felt that +they were ready for such a change but he reflected deeply before doing +this and hoped, in the case of the girl under consideration, that +companionship with one as unselfish and intrinsically good and noble as +Ruth Wakefield would do more for her character than any counsel he could +give to her; the good Priest was well aware that the handsome, young, +dashing Cuban had fascinated both the women and he felt sure that, had +he lived long enough in the same world with them, he would have broken +both their hearts, for it was his nature, evidently, to gather flowers +wherever he found them and throw them away to wither and die; Father +Felix was a normal human being as well as a spiritual leader and he +recognized facts with regard to human nature as he found them, not being +deceived by appearances as a less intellectual person would have been, +or as a man possessed of weaker masculine traits than those that had +been bestowed upon him. + +There was one among his parishioners of whose case he was doubtful ... +he was very anxious concerning Manuello for he knew that the young man +had some sort of guilty secret that he had confessed to no one and this +was one reason influencing him in his endeavor to extricate the innocent +Estrella from her immediate surroundings; he knew that, in the troubled +condition of the country, Manuello would be almost certain, with his +wild and untutored nature, to get into some sort of tangle with +authorities and supposed that the trouble he was well aware of as being +on the young fellow's conscience had something to do with existing +Spanish laws; he, himself, in breaking down the doors of the prison in +order to liberate this man among the rest of the prisoners, had been +guilty of violating a strict mandate and knew that he was liable to +arrest at any time, but, now that America might come into the struggle +on her own account, instead of simply through sympathy with the wrongs +of the people of Cuba, he realized that his own case had taken on a new +color, for, as he had told Ruth Wakefield, Father Felix was a native +American and loved his own country devotedly, although he had been +acting as a missionary in Cuba for some years of his active life in the +priesthood; he was dwelling on the state of mind of Manuello, sitting +quietly in his own place in the refectory, the evening after the events +related in the preceding chapter, when he heard a hasty knock at his +door and immediately opened it to admit the subject of his thoughts. + +The young man entered as if upon a desperate errand and sat down in the +first chair he found without waiting for the invitation of the Priest, a +proceeding that, alone, showed the condition of his mind: + +"Good Father," he began without introduction, "where is Estrella? She +has not been home for some hours and none of the family seem to know +much about her; all they told me was that I was to come to you for +information ... and here I am." + +The Priest looked into his eager face and pitied while he condemned him, +for he could see that he greatly mourned the absence of the girl whom he +had decided in his own heart to have for his own. + +"Manuello," said Father Felix, at length, having regarded him with a +sympathetic smile, "you must accept the situation as calmly as you can. +I have to tell you that Estrella has found another home than yours and +will, from this on, be under good care and will, I hope, find happiness +later on in her career ... she is a good girl and deserves to be happy," +he concluded, benevolently. + +"Do you mean," demanded Manuello, "that I am not to see her any more? +That I am to be shut out from her life? I want to know," he rose to his +feet, "I demand to know what you have done with her? Have you placed her +in some convent?" + +His voice had risen as he added question to question and he faced the +Priest with a fierce expression on his dark and lowering features. His +attitude had no effect on Father Felix who was without bodily fear and +knew that, in the present instance, at least, he stood upon safe ground, +having, as he well knew, removed the girl from danger from the very +being who, now, glared at him: + +"My Son," he said, "my Son, compose yourself. I will brook no +demonstration of vile anger from you. Estrella has been put beyond your +power. I do not know," he went on, coolly, "just what it is that is upon +your conscience at present, but I do know there is something that will +not bear a close investigation by the authorities, and I advise you to +have a care how you conduct yourself in the future. Cuba will have need +of your strong arm and I hope that you will use it in her service." + +Cowed by the sternness of the tone of voice in which he had been +addressed as well as by his own guilty knowledge, Manuello, silently, +and without thanks or regrets of any kind, left the refectory, slamming +the door after him ... an indignity that few would dare to place upon +their record; giving vent, inwardly, to the curses he did not dare to +utter, he retraced his steps to his own home, intending to get what +information he could from the other members of his family as to how +Estrella went away; reaching his domicile, he, at once, began to ply his +father, who had returned from his daily toil, with various inquiries, +but found him not only uncommunicative but, apparently, also uninformed +as to what had taken place during his absence; all that the other +members of the family knew was that Father Felix had come hurriedly to +the house and had a short conversation with Estrella when she had packed +a few personal effects, of which, indeed, the poor girl had but few, and +left the place, telling them she would see them again from time to time +and leaving kind farewells for both himself and his father. + +Then he remembered how intimate Estrella had always been with Tessa and +decided his best course would be to go to her little friend, being well +aware that any information she might have she would gladly give to him; +he was hurrying along, intent upon this new hope of relief from his +anxiety regarding the woman he imagined himself to be deeply in love +with, when, all at once, he became aware that someone was following his +footsteps, guardedly and yet with determination; immediately upon this +knowledge, there stalked into the foreground of his consciousness the +fear of discovery of his recent crime; the intimation of the Priest that +he had suspected it had stirred within him the instinct of +self-protection and he hastened his progress along the familiar and +narrow street, hoping to out-distance his pursuer, whoever he might +happen to be. + +It seemed to him that he was succeeding in this last effort and he was +congratulating himself upon his own celerity, when a hand was laid +rather heavily upon his shoulder and a loud and insistent voice declared +him to be the prisoner of the owner of it. + +Instantly, Manuello became a beast of prey, cornered in its lair, and +furious with all the animal instincts of self-preservation. He squirmed +away from the heavy hand and whirled around to face his would-be captor +and looked directly into the muzzle of a very capable gun held in steady +hands that seemed well accustomed to its use. + +"Up wid ye'er fists, ye dirty spalpeen ye!" commanded the man behind the +gun, using his own rich native brogue in the excitement of the moment. +"Hould 'em right there ..." he went on, as Manuello, instinctively, +though sullenly, obeyed him, "til I snap these putty bracelets on ye'er +wrists!" fumbling in his pocket with one hand while he held the gun in +the other, steadying it against his shoulder, for he had come prepared, +knowing his prospective prisoner to be a desperate character. "There, +now!" having completed his search and placed a handcuff on one of +Manuello's wrists. "Up wid that one and over to its mate!" + +But his prisoner was indeed a desperate man and did not intend to yield +to arrest as easily as it had appeared, at first; raising the manacled +wrist, he brought the steel bracelets down on the red head of the +Irishman, felling him to the ground; then it was but the work of a +moment to secure the loaded gun, and, after that, the tables were +completely turned for Manuello immediately became the master of the +situation; looking hastily about him to be sure that he was unobserved, +he was about to complete the utter defeat of the man who had given him +such a terrific fright by beating his brains out with the clubbed gun, +when he heard his own name spoken in a soft, low, scared voice; turning, +he beheld little Tessa standing behind him. + +"Oh, Manuello," she cried, breathing pantingly, "what has happened here? +Are you hurt? There is blood on your wrist ... and ..." here she stopped +in consternation, "what else have you here?" for the Irishman had done, +at least, a part of his work well, having locked the handcuff which the +young man had almost forgotten he was wearing, "Take the hateful thing +off, dear Manuello ... do take it off ... I don't like to see it on your +wrist." + +"Easier said than done, my dear little Girl!" declared the victim, +smilingly. "But we can fix that somehow; in the meantime, we will let +this fellow lay where he has fallen. Someone of his tribe will, likely, +be along, soon, and they can take care of each other. Come along, Tessa, +we will see what we can do with this piece of jewelry ... it is rather +unwieldy ... I don't like the look of it." + +The home of the young girl was not far distant and thither they +repaired; after repeated efforts to file through or break the manacles, +Tessa bethought herself of one possible method of releasing Manuello and +acted upon her idea at once; running out upon the street she approached +the place where the soldier had fallen, for he wore the uniform of the +Spanish army, intending to feel in all of his pockets for a key that +would unlock the handcuffs. + +As she drew near to the spot she heard low voices and crept along in the +shadow of the shrubbery that lined the narrow street until she was +within ear-shot; then she realized that two more soldiers had joined +their fallen comrade whom they had resuscitated, so that he was relating +to them something of the circumstances that had led to his present +plight: + +"Ye see, b'ys," he was saying, "I wanted to arrist the spalpeen +myself becase I think he is not only a revolutionist, but, also, a +mhurderer ... a fella we arristed yesterday tould me that he thinks +_this_ wan killed the leader of thim all ... seems he was jealous of +him ... they both wanted the same ghirl...." + +Tessa, realizing that her errand was useless, turned to go back +silently, but the words she had heard had burned themselves into her +brain, and when she was again beside Manuello he seemed far different +to her than he had before; she found him almost crazy from fear of +discovery as he had failed in all of his efforts to free himself from +the device that had been placed upon his wrist. + +"Did you get the key?" he demanded, almost fiercely. "Where is it? This +cursed thing is almost killing me!" + +Frightened at his expression and regretting her inability to help him, +the girl began to cry, lifting her apron to her eyes to wipe away her +tears; as she did so, the young man said to her, angrily: + +"Well ... _stand_ there and cry while I am suffering ... you'll do a lot +of good that way ... hustle out and see if you can't find some tool to +get this thing off of me ... go to the village blacksmith and tell him +some lie or other ... ask him how you can get an iron off your little +sister's leg ... do something ... someone will come in and find me this +way!" + +"Even if they did, Manuello ... you are not under arrest ... the man +don't know where you are, now; but I'll go and try to find some way to +help you ... of course I will ..." said the generous-hearted girl, "I am +_so_ sorry for you, and, now, that Estrella is gone...." + +She hurried out, then, leaving the young fellow in no pleasant mood, for +he had much to reflect upon and a pair of heavy handcuffs hanging to one +wrist is not conducive to a man's happiness. + +Tessa soon returned and had to report that her efforts in his behalf +were, again, unsuccessful, for the blacksmith had only said: + +"Bring the child to me and I will do what I can for her." + +Manuello was, now, almost in despair and he was wise enough to know that +cursing, while it might relieve his feelings to some extent, would not +really help the situation, so he pulled his sleeve down as far as he +could over the manacled wrist and proceeded to find out what he could +concerning Estrella. + +Tessa would have felt much freer than she did had she not remembered the +words of the soldiers concerning the crime of which they suspected the +young man, and only told him that Estrella had come running to her, that +morning, and had told her that she was going away for a while but that +she would see her again, soon. + +Manuello had to content himself with this, hoping to find out more from +Tessa within a day or so, and went away, divided between a desire to +revenge himself upon the man who had tried to arrest him and +self-congratulation upon his escape, but most of all he pondered how to +get the hateful handcuffs from his wrist, for, besides being painful and +unwieldly, he knew that they would attract attention to him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Manuello was almost desperate regarding the manacles still clamped +firmly on his wrist; it left his right hand free and he could use the +fingers of the left hand, so he bound the wrist, placing the second +handcuff above the one that was locked and laying it as close to the +wrist as possible; he left his hand free as he could and simply told his +family that he had cut the arm when engaged in practicing with the +machete in the use of which weapon the Cuban insurgents were especially +accomplished; this explanation of his supposed wound was sufficient and +no one had any idea of the actual facts except Tessa and she was both +too loyal to the young man and too frightened because of the reported +crime he had committed to do anything but keep his secret inviolate; he +depended upon her acknowledged affection for him and had no doubt that +she would defend him if occasion required such a proceeding; his chief +anxiety, at present, was to find out the where-abouts of Estrella, for +he was of a fiery and passionate nature and the disappearance of the +girl but added to his desire for her. + +On the morning after the accident he had sustained he started out with +the determination to discover where Estrella had gone, for, as she had +said that she would soon see his own family as well as little Tessa, he +reasoned that she could not have gone very far away; so he began his +search by climbing to the top of the hill behind the village, intending +to try to locate her hiding-place by the simple method of checking off +in his own mind impossible localities for concealment and then deciding +which of the probable ones to investigate; having reached the point of +vantage he wished, he began by cutting out the refectory ... then his +own home ... then Tessa's dwelling-place ... then numerous small houses +where he knew it would be practically impossible for another human being +to be entertained in. + +Just as he had reached this point in his revery, his attention was +attracted to the mansion on the hill, and he began to observe, closely, +the movements of every one who came to or went from the house; he did +not really suspect that Estrella was there, but his mind wandered idly +over the residences within his view and lighted upon the mansion on the +hill as something different from the other dwellings he could see. + +As he watched the gateway of Ruth Wakefield's residence, he noticed, +emerging from it, old Mage whom he remembered as being there, in what he +considered to be the capacity of an upper servant; he looked at the old +woman because she happened to be in his line of vision and not because +he had any curiosity concerning her movements; but the nature of the +errand upon which she seemed to be bound not only surprised, but amused, +him, for she carried in her hand a large basket of choice cut flowers, +and, from time to time, as she walked along, she stooped to gather dried +leaves that had fallen in the pathway with which she seemed trying to +conceal the contents of her basket; she seemed satisfied, at last, and +ceased to gather leaves, while she quickened her pace to a sort of slow +amble which gait she maintained until she had passed beyond Manuello's +view; he wondered, idly, why she covered the flowers, and was about to +move to a point which commanded a more perfect view of the pathway, when +his attention was again attracted to the gateway of the Wakefield +residence. + +This time, it was quite a different person who appeared between the high +stone pillars ... a tall woman, evidently young and active, plainly but +serviceably dressed, stood, for a moment, shading her eyes with her hand +from the glaring sunlight, peering down the pathway along which old Mage +had just been walking; she remained in this position but a very short +time, however, for she was, soon, joined by another woman who seemed as +much interested as she had been in watching the pathway; as the two +young creatures stood there, side by side, Manuello could not but remark +upon the similarity of their forms and general appearance ... both were +evidently strong and agile ... both seemed possessed of bounding health +and youthful vigor; it seemed to him that one of the women looked more +sturdy than the other one did, but, as she was wearing a wide and +drooping hat, such as many of the natives of the Island were accustomed +to wear, he could not see her face; as she approached the woman who had +first appeared in the gateway, there was something in her manner that +seemed familiar to the young fellow, and, as she put one hand, gently, +on the other's shoulder, he, again, seemed to recognize something +familiar in the movement; then she spoke, and, although he was too far +away to hear her words, he knew the tones of her voice, and realized +that his search for Estrella was ended. + +As this knowledge was fully impressed upon him he cast about in his mind +as to what method of procedure to take to bring about his desired end +which was to see and talk with the girl, himself, as soon as possible; +first, he thought to approach the house as a fruit-peddler, but put that +thought aside as unlikely to attain his object ... then, he decided to +spy around the place until he located Estrella's own room, intending to +bring his guitar and sing under her window some native love-songs, +hoping to impress upon her his undying affection and imagining that, now +that Victorio was out of the way, his cause would be more likely to +succeed than before. + +He had started out to carry this intention into practice, leaving his +original position among the heavy timber that skirted the hill, and +going more into the open than before in order to more closely approach +the house, when he became aware of another presence in the wooded +section that he had just left; he could not make out just what this +presence was ... his ideas concerning it were hazy and uncertain, but he +felt sure that he was not alone and, now that he had left the timber, it +seemed to him that the unknown presence was following close behind him; +he turned sharply around but discovered nothing behind him and kept on +in the direction he had been proceeding in, although his nerves were +keyed up and ready to jump at the slightest sound; suddenly, directly in +front of him, he heard a voice saying: + +"Do not approach any nearer to her. If you insist upon doing so you must +take the consequences which are freighted with bitter pain for you." + +It seemed to Manuello that this voice was within himself and came from +his own thoughts and, yet, it seemed, also, to be in the pathway ahead +of him, separated from him and yet a part of him; he hesitated, as above +everything else, the natives of Cuba are superstitious and Manuello was +no exception to this rule; his own criminal record, naturally, made him +timid; besides, Estrella's evidently favored position as a member of the +household of Ruth Wakefield elevated the girl in his estimation, for +everyone in that neighborhood had great respect, amounting almost to +veneration, for the inmates of the mansion on the hill. + +The young man stopped in his progress toward the house and turned his +attention, for an anxious moment, to his manacled wrist, which gave him +a great deal of uneasiness and some suffering as well; as he held this +wrist with his free right hand, he had his back toward the path that led +down into the village, and was unaware of the nearness of Father Felix +until the good Priest touched him on the elbow; wheeling round, +instantly, he faced the only man he was not afraid to meet among his +neighbors; for, although the Priest had told him he knew that he +possessed a guilty secret, yet he, also was aware of Father Felix' usual +kindness and protection exercised over his people, so that it was with a +feeling of relief that he discovered who the new-comer was. + +"My Son," said the Priest, "you are abroad early ... what news have you +heard in the village, this morning?" + +Manuello looked at him searchingly as if to discover why he asked him +this question, wondering if he had heard of his own encounter of the +evening before, but failing to gain any knowledge of the secret thoughts +of the Priest, he said at random: + +"Everything is about as usual, I guess ... nothing startling seems to +have happened during the night." + +"I heard," began Father Felix, "I heard that a soldier had been struck +down by some marauder shortly after the time of your leaving my society, +last night, and I thought you might have happened to be in the vicinity +of the crime. By-the-way," he went on, solicitously, "what has happened +to your left wrist?" + +"Oh ... that!" said Manuello, carelessly. "That is simply a love token +from the machete of a friend of mine while we were sparring for +practice; as you said, last night, Cuba may have need of us fighting-men +soon, and we wish to be ready to take our proper place when the time for +action comes." + +"Well, be careful of your weapons, my Son ... save your steel for your +enemies and those of your native land." + +Speaking in this manner, the good Priest pursued his journey up the hill +and disappeared within the gateway where Manuello had, only very +recently, seen Estrella standing with the mistress of the mansion; he +decided, under the existing circumstances, to retrace his steps toward +the village, contenting himself with the thought that he now knew where +Estrella was; he thought that he might as well impart this information +to little Tessa, and, also, he wanted to find out whether she had heard +anything more about his encounter with the soldier on the street, also +if she had thought of any way whereby he might be freed from the +manacles which became more and more distressing and uncomfortable. + +With this thought in his mind, he was approaching Tessa's home when he +was intercepted by the very individual he meant to inquire about. + +"What the divil!" exclaimed the Irishman. "Sky-larking by daylight +_this_ toime, me foine high-way-mon?" + +Manuello had drawn back, prepared to again bring the hated handcuffs +down upon the poll of the man before him, if he offered any indignities, +when he was surprised to notice a wheedling tone in the voice of his +opponent of the evening before. + +"Indade, mon," began the soldier, "I am in need of those putty bracelets +I gave ye, last night; a prisint like them is not bestowed ivry day, I +tell yees. The only thanks ye give me was a crack on me head wid em +which took away but little of me sinse as I had but little in the +beginning.... I might have known betther than to have tackled a foine, +up-standin' fella like yees, single-handed. Yer a foine figure of a mon, +me Frind, and I'd like mighty well to serve be the side of ye ... how +would it _do_, now, fer ye to enlist in the arrmy and give me back me +bracelets if I spake a good worrd fer ye wid me Captain?" + +Manuello looked at him in surprise, but, seeing a chance to get rid of +the hateful manacles, decided to agree to the proposition of the other, +at least for the time being. + +"All right," he acquiesced, "go ahead and take these cursed thing off +me, first, and then tell me where you want me to go." + +The wary Irishman watched the face of the Cuban, doubtfully, but, as he +really wished to be able to account for the handcuffs, he took the key +from his pocket and stepped a little closer to the young fellow in order +to use it, being careful to keep a firm hold on his gun the while; just +as he was about to unlock the manacles, he heard a slight noise behind +him and looked out of the tail of his eye to be horrified by the near +proximity of one of his superior officers; instantly, he changed his +attitude toward Manuello, dropped the key, and pointed his Mauser rifle +straight at the heart of his prisoner. + +"Ye will ... will yees?" he cried out. "Oi'll see about that, ye +Spalpeen! Shtand shtill unless ye want a bullet in yer gullet! Now, +Sir," he said politely to the officer, "ef ye'll be ahfter clicking the +other bracelet on his right wrist whilst I kape him covered, Oi'll be +much obleeged to ye. He's a nasty customer, Sir," he explained, kindly, +"and Oi've been havin' a rough toime wid 'em." + +The Spanish officer stepped gingerly up to the prisoner, seized hold of +the manacled wrist and reached for the other uplifted hand; but +Manuello had had enough of their society and proceeded to rid himself +of it by striking at the officer with his left wrist while he made a +grab at the rifle of the Irishman with his right hand; the young Cuban +was wiry and his muscles were like taut steel; the officer went down +like an ox before the slaughterer but the Irishman discharged his gun +regardless of the aim which had been destroyed by the action of the +living target; the result was disastrous to all parties for Manuello +felt a sharp, stinging pain in one of his legs, but, in spite of this, +he clubbed the rifle and brought it down over the skull of the Spanish +soldier, limping away, again a conqueror, but sorely wounded, for the +bullet had passed clear through the injured limb, tearing through the +flesh and bone as is the manner of the long and slender Mauser missile. + +In this emergency, the young fellow, knowing that he would be hunted +after the last encounter, not only because of the crime of which he had +tacitly been accused by the soldier but because he had struck down a +Spanish officer, and realizing that, with the manacles still locked upon +his wrist, he was a marked man, bethought him of a deserted hut far back +among the palms that grew all over the Island in tropical profusion; if +he could but reach this hut, he thought, and first apprise Tessa of his +new mishap, he might hide there while he recovered from his wound which +was beginning to give him great pain as it recovered from its first +numbness. + +Walking as erectly as he could under the circumstances and keeping his +left wrist well covered by the wide cuff of his jacket-sleeve, he was +proceeding along the familiar street, when he met the girl he was in +search of, strolling placidly along, little dreaming of the imminent +peril in which he had just been placed, for the discharge of the Mauser +rifle had been almost as silent as smokeless; telling her in a few +hurried sentences of his great need and describing to her the location +of the ruined hut he had in mind, Manuello retired from the scene. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Tessa was very much distressed as to the condition of Manuello and, +feeling that he depended upon her alone, cast about in her mind as to +how she could assist him; to begin with, she was anxious about the heavy +handcuffs hanging to his poor wrist, as she put it in her gentle +thoughts of the man whom she suspected of being a murderer; if, however, +the charge against him were true, she felt that the crime was committed +in the heat of a jealous passion, and being what she was, herself, she +excused it for that reason, for a Cuban girl is apt to love as madly +and as unreasonably as any man ... to her, Manuello was almost a +demi-god ... it had been a hard trial for the little woman to give him +up to Estrella, even, and, now that he was in dire need and the girl of +his first choice had deliberately deserted him, it seemed to her as if +she had the right to let her own wild love guide her in all that she did +with regard to him. + +She was slowly retracing her steps to her own home with the intention of +getting some supplies and managing to evade the vigilance of the rest of +her family sufficiently to carry them to the man she loved ... her eyes +were directed to the path along which she walked, idly, yet, all at +once, those dark eyes lighted up with sudden joy and she hastily swooped +down, like a fluffy little bird upon a morsel of food, and took into her +hand a small and intricate-patterned key; she hoped that this was the +key that would unlock the hated manacles from Manuello's wrist and, +regarding this as a good omen, she concealed the little deliverer in her +bosom, tying it in the corner of the kerchief that was crossed upon her +breast. + +When Tessa had secured what necessities she found available on the spur +of the moment, she at once concealed them as far as possible and +prepared to ascend the side of the hill toward the ruined hut where +Manuello had directed her to come; her heart was fluttering wildly for +this was her first secret mission, as she had always had someone near +her during her short life on earth: she wound her way among the cactus +plants that covered the ground in almost all directions, with an +unerring instinct that was of more value to her than any education could +have been for the moment, for one unaccustomed to the wild cacti in Cuba +might, easily, become bewildered, as it is necessary to walk almost in +circles among the thick clumps of prickly foliage. + +Tessa was young, but the women of Cuba, like those of most tropical +countries, mature early in life, and she already had the strong maternal +instinct that is a part of normal womanhood; this instinct now directed +her to watch over Manuello as if he were, indeed, her child, instead of +the man to whom she had given the first wild love of her fiery nature; +for women are made that way ... no matter what their own body may demand +of them, it is as natural for them to put all personal feeling aside and +allow a higher, more unselfish love to rule them entirely, as it is for +a man to, first gratify his own desires, and, then, if so be he can +without inconvenience to himself in any way, minister to the wants of +the woman in the case, all well and good, but if, on the contrary, to +care for the woman would, in any way, cause him to exercise self-control +and self-sacrifice, why, of course, he seeks another woman as soon as he +can well rid himself of the one who has flouted him; I am now speaking +of the general run of men ... there are exceptions to this rule, of +course, just as there are exceptions to the rule just stated regarding +women ... not all women are as little Tessa was, but most of them are +and it is indeed fortunate for the world of men and women that this is +as it is ... wonderful beyond the ways of human beings is the love of a +pure woman ... wonderful and worthy of the highest respect and devotion +of any man is the almost angelic love that women often bestow on most +unworthy objects. + +It was so in this case, for, while the girl was winding among the cacti +that hindered her advance up the hill, the man was lying in a miserable +heap in the corner of the deserted hut, cursing not only his own hard +luck, but even the girl on whom he depended for sustenance and care; +with maledictions on his tongue and the heavy manacles on his wrist, and +with the increasing pain and torment of his undressed wound, the poor +fellow was far from appearing much as had the gay peasant who had +congratulated himself on having escaped from prison, and, at the same +time, having rid himself of his rival in the affections of Estrella, +who, now, seemed lost to him. + +When the girl reached the ruined hut she found the object of her loving +care under the circumstances described above, and it took all of her +courage to face the situation alone and unaided by surgical skill for +they both realized that discovery would be almost certain to be fatal to +the man who now lay groaning and cursing by turns, even while his +ministering angel in human form knelt at his side and unlocked the +handcuffs from his wrist, for, luckily, she had happened upon the very +means of deliverance from the manacles for which they had both longed; +then Tessa gathered dead palm branches with which she fashioned a rude +bed for the sufferer, after which she raised his head upon a small +pillow which she had thoughtfully brought with her, for she was a sturdy +little peasant and could act as a beast of burden without harm to +herself; having fixed him up as comfortably as she could, under the hard +circumstances, she insisted upon his eating and drinking some of the +refreshments she had carried up the hill for him; she had used what +skill she had in bathing and binding the wounded leg, and, as the bullet +had gone clear through, there was little else to do so far as that was +concerned; then they began to consult as to what method of procedure +would be best for them to take; in this, of course, Manuello thought +only of himself, as was natural to a man of his type, while little +Tessa, as was also natural to one of her trusting and loving +disposition, also thought only of his comfort and safety. + +"I must come to you each day until the wound heals, my dear Friend," +said the earnest little woman. "I must bring you what you will need and +I must be very careful not to be detected in doing this. I wish ..." she +ended, earnestly, "I wish that dear Estrella could come and see you for +it would do you more good than anything that I can do for you." + +"You are a darling little girl, Tessa," said her turbulent patient. "You +ought to satisfy any reasonable man; Estrella don't care anything at all +about me, and I am beginning to think that I can get along without her +as long as I can have you." + +The adoring look in his dark eyes as he said these words was like manna +in the wilderness to little Tessa, for she could not help being pleased +to think that, after all, maybe Manuello would fix his affections upon +her small person, since Estrella had so often flouted him and shown him +plainly by her great preference for Victorio that she did not love him; +the name she had just used in her thoughts brought up the hateful +suspicion aroused in her by the remarks of the Irishman who had seemed, +at first glance, to be a Spaniard, but who, as soon as he opened his +mouth to speak, proved his nationality beyond the shadow of a doubt. + +But the loving girl put her thought aside almost at once ... she did not +wish to believe the suspicion to be true and she did not intend to +believe it--until she had to, if such a sad time could ever come to her; +just at present all the strength of her being was concentrated upon the +desire to aid Manuello in whatever manner she could. + +To further this desire, she arranged a signal whereby he might know that +she was coming up the hill and concealed, as well as she could the +approach to the hiding-place as well as the hut itself, by throwing, in +apparent disorder, as if blown by a strong wind, such branches and twigs +as she could find by a hurried search. + +She did not stay any longer than she thought was necessary for the +comfort of her patient for she was determined to continue her care of +him if possible and realized that a prolonged absence from her own home +might bring suspicion upon them both; as she was leaving, she looked +pitifully weak and small to cope with such a complicated situation +alone; even Manuello realized, for a moment, the devotion of the girl, +and called her over to his side to say a word or two at parting. + +"Dear little Tessa," he began, "this is going to be a hard task that you +have undertaken. I wonder if I am worth all this trouble. Perhaps you +would just better turn me over to the soldiers and let them work their +will on me; it may be that I will never be able to reward you for all +your care; of course, it may, on the other hand, be possible for me to +offer you help and comfort when you, yourself, may be in need of it. Now +that you have freed me from those shackles, I begin to feel my old +strength and courage coming back, and if I ever am again as I was before +this last mishap, I will surely reward you somehow for all this +sacrifice that you are making for me." + +This speech, coming from a man in the condition of Manuello, appealed to +the little woman so forcibly that she knelt beside his rude couch and +laid both her small, dark hands on his brow as she looked deeply into +his eyes; this position, being very favorable to the impulse that came +over the man as he lay there, made it easy for him to draw her head, +with its great mass of black hair, down upon his shoulder; as her cheek +was laid against his own, Manuello held her small face closely with both +his hands while he kissed first her trembling lips, then each of her +eye-lids, for she had closed her eyes in a sort of blind ecstasy, then +her low forehead, then the top of her small head and, finally, her +quivering chin. + +The impulse that prompted him to give these welcome caresses lasted only +a moment for the pain in his leg was beginning to be very insistent and +a groan of agony took the place of the loving words that had been upon +his eager tongue during the moment when he forgot his wound, but the +effect of those few wild moments of unbridled passion went with the +little woman down the hill and covered her small body with a delicious +glow that took away much of the terror and apprehension with which she +viewed the situation in which she found herself. + +Ruth Wakefield found Estrella to be much more of a companion than she +had thought she would, and found that, in the innocence and naturally +responsive disposition of the girl, she could almost forget the tie that +had brought them together; had the girl suspected the truth as to +Victorio's relations with the mistress of the mansion on the hill, the +situation might have been strained or even acute, but, as it was, Ruth +only pitied, while she almost envied, the sorrow of the sweetheart of +her own husband. + +On the morning when Manuello had discovered the where-abouts of +Estrella, the two women had been watching for Father Felix, intending to +consult with him concerning something that they both wished to do and +yet were not sure of the wisdom of; when he came, they both waited, +anxiously, for his first words, for they depended upon them for +enlightenment regarding a question in which they were both much +interested. + +"Miss Ruth and Estrella," he began, addressing both women, "I have great +news for you but we must be cautious in discussing what I have to impart +to you; if, through our carelessness, the information I am about to give +you, should miscarry, it might mean almost as great a disaster as the +recent explosion in Havana Harbor. We must be sure that we are not +overheard. I think we would better repair to the library, Miss Ruth, if +that would meet with your approval. I think we would be more secure from +eaves-droppers inside the house than here. I just met Manuello, my +Dear," he said speaking to Estrella, "as I came up the path. I do not +like to have him lurking around your dwelling-place. I am sure that he +is in some sort of hiding from the authorities and I dread to have him +near you, for he has an evil look in his eyes, lately. Be very careful, +my Daughter, as you go about the place or into the village ... it might +even be well for you to remain away from your former home for some time +to come. I can carry any news of you that will be necessary for them to +know or do any little errands that you may think should be done. +By-the-way," he ended, turning his attention, once more, to Ruth, "I met +your old nurse hurrying along down toward the village as if in great +haste; as she does not often walk down the hill I noticed the +circumstances." + +"Old Mage!" exclaimed Ruth. "Why, I did not know that she had gone out. +Do you know anything of this, Estrella? Did she tell you that she had +work to do in the village? Was there something that had to be secured +for the larder, at once, that would not brook delay? Dear me, I hope she +will not over-tire herself. She is not very strong any more and I try to +have her, always, take very good care of herself. As you may know, good +Father," she went on, "old Mage is almost the only living human friend +on whom I can rely and her fealty to me is beyond question. If I should +find old Mage untrue to me," she declared, "I would not expect the sun +to rise the following morning. I must look into this, and, if you will +excuse me for a few moments, I will do so at once." + +"Now, my Daughter," said the Priest when Estrella and he were left +alone, "I wish to say to you, privately, that you must, from this time +on, avoid meeting Manuello in any way, both for yourself and also for +the well-being of your good friend, Miss Ruth; the fellow is +evil-minded, lately, and I believe would not stop at robbery or even, +though I greatly regret to think so, _murder_," he uttered the dreadful +word softly but emphatically, "if he believed that he would benefit by +either crime and I must urge you not to allow him to come here to see +you under any possible circumstances. As I said before, I can do what +must be done as between your former family and yourself." + +Estrella gladly acquiesced in this good judgment of Father Felix and +agreed to do all in her power to avoid meeting Manuello which she had no +desire, personally, to do, as she dreaded his protestations of love as +much as she would have dreaded his anger for any other reason in the +common affairs of daily life. + +In a short time, Ruth returned, explaining that old Mage had, indeed, +gone down to the village, though for what purpose she had been unable, +so far, to discover: they, then, repaired to the library and carefully +closed all doors and windows before Father Felix began to tell them what +they were so anxious to hear. + +"My dear Friends," he began, "the information that I have to impart to +you is of a very delicate as well as secret nature and must be so +regarded by both of you. Estrella, to you, especially, I wish to say +that you must not, under any circumstances, breathe a single word of +what I will say to you for it is of vital importance to the native land, +as I believe, of all three of us. For I have reason to think that you, +as well as Miss Ruth and myself, are an American. I know that all of +your sympathies are with our native land, at least, and, in trusting you +with this information, I am, in a measure, making you one of us in deed +and in truth, whether you are so by reason of your birth or not. Before +I go any further, I want your assurance of what I believe to be true." + +He waited a moment for the girl to speak, then, seeing her evident +embarrassment, he added, kindly: + +"You need have no fear of either of us, Estrella. If you have friends in +this wide world, you are with two of them at this moment." + +At these earnest words, the expression of the girl's face changed +somewhat and she replied to the implied interrogatory of the Priest: + +"I, also, believe that I am an American, although I do not know anything +of my own parentage beyond what my foster parents have told me. I do not +even know," she blushed while she made the statement, "whether my father +and mother had been married before my birth.... I have no means of +finding out anything more of myself than that I am an honest girl and +that I am deeply grateful to both you and Miss Ruth for your great +kindness to me in my great sorrow. As far as my fealty to America is +concerned," she ended, proudly, "I am as true to that great country as +anyone who knows himself to be a citizen of it. I would, gladly, lay my +feeble life upon the altar of what I believe to be my native land ... +the United States of America." + +She pronounced the words with reverence and bowed her head as if in +prayer, so that Father Felix no longer hesitated, but proceeded, at +once: + +"At this moment, an American squadron is in Asiatic waters, ready to +move, at the moment its Commander receives the cablegram from the +President of our own country, against the Spaniard, almost on his own +territory. By this move it is hoped to so cripple him that we, here, in +Cuba, may, with the help of our soldiers and sailors, conquer and drive +from the Island those who have so long usurped the places of great power +among us." + +When the good Priest had pronounced these fateful words, he found his +two auditors sitting erect, as if at attention, with hands folded in +their laps, and eyes fixed upon his face in breathless eagerness. Ruth +was the first to break the silence. + +"I pray the good God," she said, softly and reverently, "I pray God to +strengthen the hands of those who are to do this great, good work! I +trust that those who will be engaged in battle may be prepared to meet +their Maker with clean hearts, if with bloody hands. War," she cried, +suddenly, losing her attitude of prayer in the violence of her emotions, +"war is a terrible calamity but it seems that, only through war can a +nation be purged of such foul crimes as have been committed right here +in Cuba." + +Estrella watched her with flashing eyes and sympathetic expression and +the good Priest crossed himself and clenched his fists at the same +time, for, had occasion required such action at his hands, it was +evident that Father Felix could have changed from the spiritual guide to +the fiery enthusiast willing to take his place among the fighting men +who would defend what he believed to be a sacred cause. + +"Now, Father Felix," demanded the practical side of Ruth Wakefield, +"what action can we take in this matter to help the good cause? Is there +not some preparation that we can make to welcome our soldiers to Cuba, +for, of course," she lifted her head, proudly, "our boys will win +whatever conflict they may become engaged in ... it is only a question +as to how many of them may be injured or even killed in the terrible +encounter. Every man in America," said this American woman, "is a +soldier if he is needed in that capacity, for every American, man, woman +or child, is a _patriot_ ... devoted to the sacred traditions and +splendid example of those who followed _George Washington_ to victory +over those who had oppressed and insulted them." + +"My Daughters," said Father Felix, rising, "I must leave you for the +present. I will find out what we may do to assist our countrymen and +will come again to let you know the result of my search for further +information. All we can do, now, is to hold the information I have just +given to you inviolate and prepare ourselves, spiritually, to meet +whatever emergency may arise. My Daughters," he ended, stretching out +his hands in blessing over their bowed heads, "we shall have work to do +and we will do it with our might. May God, in His great Mercy, guide us +into the path in which He intended us to walk." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +On the day of Manuello's search for the girl he had so madly and +hopelessly loved, old Mage made a surreptitious visit to the little +cemetery in San Domingo where she had seen the body of Victorio Colenzo +laid away in its final resting-place; she went among the new-made +graves, of which there were a goodly number for so small a graveyard, +until she found the one she sought: she stopped, then, took the dried +leaves from the top of her large basket, removed a beautiful bunch of +roses, tied, carefully, with a broad blue ribbon, and laid them, softly, +upon the top of the mound of fresh earth; after having done this, she +took a small object wrapped in tissue paper, from the very bottom of the +basket, dug a small hole under the roses and buried it, covering it +carefully, packing the ground over it, at first, and, then putting loose +earth over the top of the miniature grave, so as to conceal its +existence as much as possible, she again laid the roses carelessly over +the spot. + +Having performed this little ceremony, old Mage looked down at her +handiwork and said, apparently addressing herself, as no other human +being was in sight at the time: + +"There! _Now_ I hope that she will forget all about him ... she will +think that she has mislaid the ring ... I had a hard time to get hold of +it. I hope that it will never come to life again any more than him ... +let them both lay there together. You lying pup, you!" she cried, +shaking her trembling old fist at the grave. "You _lay_ there and don't +you ever try to come near my dear young Lady again! The _idea_ of an +ignorant thing like you ever daring to come near her, anyway. I wouldn't +be so darned mad at you," she ended, "for you were a mighty good-looking +fellow and any woman might have been proud of your appearance, once she +could overlook your dark skin, but you even fooled _me_, doggone you! +You _lay_ there, now, and never do you dare to try to fool any more +women ... three of us is enough in _this_ neighborhood, anyway." + +She drew a long sigh of relief after this speech and hurried out of the +cemetery with her empty basket; she had slipped away when she thought no +one was observing her and intended to tell Ruth after her return what +she had done with the exception of any reference to the ring which, as +the reader may have guessed, was the wedding ring that Ruth had, up to +this time, kept always on her left hand or in her jewel-case on her +little dressing-table before which she always sat when she combed and +brushed her long and beautifully luxuriant brown hair; she had taken +the ring off the night before, little dreaming that she was touching it +for the last time, and sadly laid it among her jewels, thinking of the +bright face and laughing dark eyes that had looked so handsome to her +when he had put that little ring upon her finger, whispering of his +undying love and of the fact that she and she alone was, and had been +since his first meeting with her, the entire mistress of his hither-to +untouched heart; she had even shed a few tears over the little ring, +then, and old Mage, silently witnessing this fact, determined that she +should never again have that opportunity; so, after Ruth was sweetly +sleeping, the old woman slipped into her room and removed the object of +her scorn; she lay awake almost all of that night, planning how to +secrete or do away with the visible bond that had united her dear young +Lady to an unworthy mate; at length, toward daylight, it seemed to old +Mage as if someone had whispered to her what to do with the ring so that +poetic justice would be done to the first youthful passion of Ruth +Wakefield's innocent life; acting upon this suggestion, for so it seemed +to her, feeling sure that she had solved the problem so nearly affecting +the life of the one she loved best in all her world, she carried out the +plan she instantly formed, and, while she was a very weary old woman, +from lack of sleep and unusual exercise, when she again reached her +much-loved home, she had within her spirit a sense of satisfaction that +was beyond anything she had felt since Ruth had married the man whose +grave she had, that morning, visited; she felt, in some sense, to blame +for the marriage, as she had not strenuously opposed it, and found +herself much in the position she used to occupy when Ruth had been a +little tot and she had allowed her to do some small thing of which she +knew her parents would not approve. + +Now, she felt relieved because, as it seemed to her, she had sort of +evened up matters, and, after informing Ruth that she had gone to the +grave and put the roses there, she never intended to speak of Victorio +Colenzo again, and, as far as possible, she intended to rid Ruth of his +memory; with this thought in mind, she picked up many little memontos of +him which she found lying about the place ... a guitar here and a ribbon +there ... a photograph, perhaps, showing the dashing young Cuban in +military dress, which much became him, or mounted on a fine horse which +he, for the moment, had secured the use of ... even in one picture he +appeared standing, proudly, behind Ruth as if protecting her; all of +these and anything else that old Mage could find that would inevitably +remind Ruth of the man she had married, she destroyed ruthlessly and +with inward glee; her object in all this was, really, to protect her +dear young Lady, and, yet, at the same time, she had as nearly a +fiendish delight as it was possible for her ever to entertain, in, as +she naively put it to herself, "getting even" with the handsome fellow +who had "pulled the wool over" her own eyes as well as the brighter and +stronger ones of her young Lady. + +Ruth Wakefield was never enlightened as to this little by-play, but she +reaped the benefits of it in many ways, for it is true that visible +reminders are necessary to a great many people, and, even the strongest +minds are affected by the sudden sight of something reminding them of +some object formerly dear to them; it will give almost anyone a start to +come, unexpectedly, upon a picture or almost any tangible token of +someone once dear, no matter what may have happened to take away that +quality; lovers, by preserving evidence, like withered flowers, +pictures, songs and poems, often lay up for themselves future agony of +spirit ... the objects that are so dear to them may turn about and rend +their inmost souls; full many times, it were better had the love-tokens +been destroyed in some such way as old Mage did away with the visible +memories attached to the objects which her eager hands closed upon; this +secret employment, necessarily long drawn out, as she did not wish to be +discovered in her labor of love, took up a good deal of the extra time +she found herself in possession of on account of the presence of +Estrella in the home, for the girl took up many household duties, gladly +and naturally, knowing that in work she could, to some extent, forget +her own sorrow, and wishing to lighten the labors of old Mage who was +always kind to her. + +After the information imparted to Ruth by Father Felix, regarding +national affairs, she was very thoughtful and very busy, for there were +very many ways in which she could make preparations to begin the duties +which she expected to take up as soon as occasion would require them of +her; she studied into trained nursing and found a sort of school in +Havana to which she took Estrella and where they both learned many +essential things pertaining to the calling which they were both trying +to fit themselves for; in many ways they were both better prepared for +the work of caring for the sick and wounded than many women would ever +become, no matter how much they would be trained, for they were both +earnest and helpful, tender-hearted and serious; in all wars, there are +women who seek the familiar association with men which the calling of a +nurse entails, with no better object than just the proximity to +masculine humanity involved, but there are, also, such women as Ruth +Wakefield who had no thought in the matter except to help where help of +her should anywhere be needed ... to succor those who were not to blame +for the accidents that had befallen them ... who were, indeed, entitled +to the tenderest consideration on account of the very accidents which +had laid them on the clean, white cots that are stretched along the +wards and in the private rooms of the great, shadowy hospitals where +tender women bend above the beds of pain and minister to those who lie +there, suffering and weak, both in body and spirit. + +On one of these numerous visits to Havana, Ruth met a man who was an old +friend of her father's who was much interested in her lonely life and +who came out to her home to consult with her regarding the prospects of +her being surrounded by the din and pomp of actual warfare; at first, as +he viewed the situation she was placed in, he felt as Father Felix had +as to her staying in Cuba, in her immediate future, but listened to her +patriotic resolve with high enthusiasm, as he was intensely patriotic +himself and loved to think that she was every inch an American although +her life had, almost all of it, been spent away from her native land. + +Just as this man was leaving her home, one day, for he had been making +frequent visits there, he turned to look at her as she stood between the +pillar-like gate-posts at the entrance to the drive that led to her +residence; the picture she made, standing there in the glow of the +setting sun, lingered in his memory long after he had ceased to see her +as he saw her, then; Ruth was very fond of flowers and often wore a rose +tucked in among the coils of her beautiful, shining hair; that evening, +her selection among her flowers for this use had been a bunch of English +violets; the deep blue of the dainty blossoms accentuated the clear +gray color of her star-like eyes ... her healthy skin reflected the +sunset after-glow which was beginning to appear in the western sky; her +small mouth, with its cute corners, puckered up as if, she used to say +when a child, it had been too large to begin with and had been shirred +at the corners to make it the desired size, registered each change of +her inner feelings; her dress was elegant, yet simple, and her poise was +splendid; there are few earthly women who have sufficient poise of +manner and of nervous strength; most of them become excited and +distraught under slight stress of circumstances, but Ruth Wakefield was +an exception to this very general rule; there were very few things that +could shake her from her serenity of purpose and intention; one of these +things was being a witness to any injustice ... an indignity put upon a +weaker creature by a stronger one, whether the creature be gifted with +the power to express its feelings in human speech or not; those who knew +her best, were well aware of her strong regard for the rights of +so-called "dumb animals" ... her loving sympathy went out to every old +or poorly cared for horse she saw; she had been heard to say that she +would dearly love to have a good pasture, with waving grasses and +running water and sheltering trees where she could gather together all +the illy-used horses in the world and then just watch them enjoy their +surroundings; the smaller creatures, also, were her friends ... little +Tid-i-wats, to whom we have already been introduced, was a feline of +very uncertain temper and most impulsive and nerve-racking little +habits, yet to Ruth she could always go and be sure of a loving +reception no matter to what lengths she had gone, for Tid-i-wats was far +from being a perfect little cat; she very often reverted to her original +type and did things that no cat with a civilized ancestry would have +even thought could _be_ done; but she knew that Ruth would only say: + +"She is not feeling very well, today; she is beginning to show her years +a little; I noticed a white hair only today, on her little neck; she is +my own old baby-cat, anyway, and I will always take as good care of her +as I possibly can." + +She would watch Ruth, calmly, while she straightened out whatever she, +her own self, had made it necessary to straighten, and, then, when the +young woman would, finally, sit down, no matter where Tid-i-wats +happened to be located at the time, she would very soon land on Ruth's +lap with no fear of a scolding even; she took advantage of the gentle +disposition of her care-taker, same as so many humans did. + +Ruth's father's friend looked long and earnestly at the tall, straight, +slender figure standing there at the entrance to her almost palatial +home and the picture remained in his memory during the balance of his +earthly life. + +While Ruth Wakefield and Estrella were preparing themselves to assist +their fellow-countrymen in case they should be needed, events were +shaping themselves so that it seemed likely that Cuba would be the stage +for the setting of as heroic a play as the world had ever witnessed: +Commodore Dewey had bottled up the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay and +Naval-Constructor Richmond P. Hobson had executed his daring and +unheard-of feat although the gallant _Merrimac_ was sunk in Santiago +harbor. + +Soon after the formal declaration of war on April 25, 1898, President +McKinley sent forth a call for volunteers to enter the United States +army and navy. Instantly, almost, the ranks were more than filled with +active, alert, capable men, anxious, each one of them, to do his full +share of the work that lay before his beloved land. + +It was while active preparations for a war carried on in the interests +of humanity were progressing rapidly that Theodore Roosevelt became +prominent as representing the highest type of American manhood; he threw +himself, bodily, into the breach in the interests of his country; there +was no personal sacrifice which he was unwilling to make ... no task too +hard for him to attempt. He became, at once, an acknowledged and adored +leader of the young Americans who crowded around him, loving him like a +brother, and, at the same time, revering his quick judgment and his +dauntless courage. + +There is no figure in American history more heroic or more admired than +that of Theodore Roosevelt, mounted on a noble horse, in the uniform of +a United States Volunteer and wearing a wide campaign hat. + +Ruth Wakefield was kept well informed as to what was being done by her +own people, mainly through the kindness of Father Felix who seldom +missed an evening's visit with her and her almost constant companion, +Estrella; the two girls, for they were no more than that in spite of +what they had passed through, had become the best of understanding +friends; the younger girl seldom spoke of her dead lover and Ruth found +that the memory of her husband had been forced into the background of +her thoughts by the march of passing events. + +One evening, Father Felix climbed the narrow pathway to the mansion on +the hill and found Ruth alone as Estrella, who was her almost constant +companion, now, had gone to the village on one of her infrequent visits +to her little friend, Tessa. + +The good Priest was glad to find Ruth alone as he had news of great +importance for her ... news that would lead to great developments in the +near future; after being assured of their entire privacy, he said: + +"We will have work to do, my dear Daughter, before many more months have +passed by. The American people have endured the sight of the injustice +and oppression exercised by the Spanish authorities toward the helpless +Cubans for a long time, now, and are becoming more and more determined +to break the Spanish rule. You and I must be prepared to assist and +succor our own dear boys when they begin to smite the enemy of right and +justice, hip and thigh. My course in this work has been made plain +before me.... I have applied for the position of Chaplain in the United +States service and I trust that they will allow me to accompany my +little flock right into the midst of every battle in which they will be +engaged. It seems to me that your path in this matter, my Daughter, is, +also, plain ... you can turn this charming home into a hospital to which +the sorely wounded or those who have fallen ill from any cause may be +brought and where they may receive the tender care which they will +deserve from every loyal heart and hand. I am certain that you will find +work for Estrella as well as for every member of your family, here, in +this connection, also you will be ably assisted by many who will flock +to your standard when they understand what you are doing. I, myself, +will always assist you in every way in my power and I may be able to +spare you some uncertainty and, possibly, also, some unpleasantness. My +Daughter," he ended, "there will be work for us to do that will require +all our strength and courage.... May God, in His great Wisdom, guide and +help us." + +Ruth clasped her hands and bowed her head as Father Felix prayed for +God's blessing on whatever enterprise they should be called upon to +undertake in the great cause in which they were both enlisted. + +After the good Priest had disappeared down the narrow path that led to +the little village of San Domingo, she sat, for a long time, in deep +revery, reflecting on the peace and prosperity that then covered the +tropical Island upon which she had lived for so many years and trying to +imagine what changes were likely to come in the wake of the probable +conflict of two great nations, for Ruth realized that America was +meeting a foe worthy of her steel in Spain whose far-famed Armada had +been made the subject of song and story; she had no doubt of the final +outcome ... whatever America attempted, that she would accomplish ... +but how many splendid American men would have to lie upon the bloody +battle-fields that would spring up all around her was yet an unsolved +problem; and that, she thought, proudly and devotedly, would be her +work ... to find those splendid American heroes, and to do for them as +much as if each one of them had been her own blood brother ... to succor +the wounded and bury the dead. + +This line of thought led her, inevitably, to the grave already lying +under the moonlight so near to her home, and, upon a sudden and almost +irresistable impulse, she snatched a wrap from the rack in the hall and +started down toward the little cemetery, thinking to bid an eternal +farewell to the grave of the man who had been, if only for a few short +months, her husband. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Ruth descended the hill with firm, sure steps for she was strong in body +as well as in spirit; she had reached the gate of the little cemetery +before the impulse that had prompted her action had had time to lose any +of its power, but, as she opened the gate and realized the lateness of +the hour, her natural caution led her to pause for a second and take in +her surroundings; she at once became conscious of the sound of a low, +sobbing voice saying: + +"Dear God, I came here all alone hoping that You would forgive him for +the crime that he committed if I came to you in secret beside the grave +of him whose life he took ... the sin is lying heavily upon his soul and +I wish to lift it from him by sacrificing my own peace of mind so that +it may be bestowed upon him, for he suffers grievously from his wound, +dear God, he suffers very grievously.... I pray that You will put the +sorrow for his crime upon me instead of him so that I may help him, for +he is greatly in need of more help than I can give him, being but a +simple-minded, feeble, little peasant and unfit to carry this heavy +load." + +The supplication ended in a rush of sobs that shook the inner +consciousness of her who listened to them, for Ruth was tender-hearted +above all her other instincts; she advanced into the little cemetery, +then, with far different feelings than the ones that brought her there. + +The sounds that she had heard came from the same direction she had meant +to take to reach the grave of Victorio Colenzo, so she proceeded along +the little path that she had followed, in secret, more than once before, +for, with Estrella in her home, she could not visit the last +resting-place of the body of the man whom she had loved as very young +and innocent women will, often, love a creature all unworthy of such +affection, except surreptitiously; so that it was easy for her to wind +among the simple little head-stones until she came to the grave she +sought. + +The form her eyes could just discern beside the tomb was small and +slight and cowering down as if, indeed, in earnest supplication; Ruth +advanced until she was standing very near the silent woman and, not +wishing to startle and confuse her by a sudden word, she very gently +touched her bowed head; instantly, the girl sprang up in wild alarm, for +it had taken all her courage to come there at all; Ruth reassured her as +quickly as she could by saying, softly: + +"Do not fear, whoever you may be; I am but another woman like yourself +and I wish to help you no matter what it is that is so troubling you; we +women should assist each other in this world, for women, as it seems to +me, were put into the world to suffer, mainly, so we ought to try to +help each other. Tell me what there is that I can do to help you, now." + +Tessa, for the reader has, no doubt, guessed that it was she, began to +sob wildly and clung to the other woman who had come to her so +strangely; she could not speak, at first, for crying, and, then, she +could not speak for fear of injuring the man she loved, and, so, she did +not speak at all, but ran away without one word of explanation, thinking +in that way she might avoid discovery. + +But the incident had shaken Ruth so that the memory of the man whose +body lay within that narrow grave grew dim and far away; she knew that +he had been unworthy of her love and must have scouted it in secret many +times, for, if he had not done so, how could he have made such love to +poor Estrella as he had while she, his lawful wife, yet lived upon the +earth? Ruth Wakefield had often said that truth was truth no matter +where it fell ... she'd even said that she would blame herself when +blame was hers to bear, and, so, she could not shield the memory of the +newly dead too far, and, so, she turned away from that low grave and +never went there again, and, as she slowly climbed the hill that led her +to her own loved home, Estrella overtook her in the path and, hand in +hand with her who had been wronged as she, herself, had been, she left +the memory of the handsome, gay deceiver lying there within the narrow +grave that hid his fast decaying body from the world of living men and +women; from that time, she did not suffer, in thinking of him, as she +had before; there are turning points in every road no matter where it +leads to, and this was a turn for Ruth in that sad road where she had +strayed, but only for a short and most unhappy, if, at moments, wildly +joyous, time. + +When Tessa left the grave of Victorio Colenzo, she fled in haste and +fright; she did not go at once to her own home for she feared that she +might be followed; she had become a fugitive as truly as Manuello was, +for, now, she was to him as if she were, indeed, his wife, attending to +all wants of his that she could satisfy, and, secretly and silently, +becoming but the shadow of the gay and pretty girl that she had been +before; her friends, who saw her often, noted this sad change, but did +not know its cause. + +Father Felix watched the girl at times and pitied her, for he had +learned that she had been devoted to the handsome peasant whom he also +was assured was guilty of some crime and, since his disappearance, he +had figured out some things that made him almost certain what the crime +had been, for the good Priest was much alone and thought more deeply +about many things than those who have not followed psychic lines of +reasoning. + +One morning, Father Felix went, again, to visit Ruth, and found Estrella +with her, and he asked the girl about her little friend who had been +dear to her from early little girlhood; Estrella told him that she had +not seen her for some time, as, when she'd gone to visit her, she had +been gone, and Tessa had not come to see her as she'd asked her to, for +she had left word for her where to come to find her, knowing she could +trust her, for she'd always been a true and faithful friend to her. + +The good Priest pondered for a moment, then he said: + +"I wish that you would go, at once, to see your little friend; I think +that she is at her home at present, and I wish that you would try to +discover what it is that is troubling her, for she is most unhappy over +something and I wish that you would help her if you can for she is in +need of understanding help at this time more than at any time during my +acquaintance with her. Go, my Daughter, find your little friend and try +to assist her if you can." + +Estrella, having secured the permission of Ruth, followed the advice of +the good Priest and departed on her errand of love and kindness. + +When Father Felix had been assured of their privacy, he turned to his +companion and said: + +"I have information of importance to give you, my Daughter. We are +drawing nearer and nearer to the goal we seek. Our compatriots are +growing weary of blockading Havana and other harbors near to us and will +very soon advance into the interior of Cuba. When that time comes there +will be great suffering all around us and I think that it will be best +for you and me to form a sort of secret society with passwords, which, +while simple in themselves, will convey to us a secret meaning. You and +I must act as one in this matter.... I am sure of your fealty and you +can rely upon mine but how many others there are near to us upon whose +loyalty we can depend I do not know. Estrella is discreet and thoughtful +for an uneducated and untrained girl, but she would have no idea of what +course to pursue under complicated or difficult circumstances, so that +it may be necessary to keep many events secret from her. There are many +spies already in Cuba and there are those among us who would be willing +to exchange the lives and property of their best friends for personal +emolument. I know one young fellow who has, as I believe, already sold +his birthright of truth and honor for a mess of pottage and there are +others of his ilk. I rely on you alone in all this village of San +Domingo ... you, alone, are strong and capable ... you, alone, are +thoroughly American and devoted to your native land. I rely on you, my +Daughter, and you may rely on me. Let us now arrange a secret pact +between us so that, should we be separated, we may be sure of any word +that each may send the other. If I send to you a message adding to the +body of it the word _pax_ alone, then I will mean to signify that all is +well with me and that I do not know of any secret danger threatening +you, but if to the word _pax_ I add _vobiscum_, then you are to be made +aware that danger threatens you, while I may, yet, be safe from it, but +if I say _Pax vobiscus_ then I'll mean that we are both in danger of a +similar nature; if I send these latter words, you are to use all means +of safety at your command to seclude yourself from outside notice just +as much as possible and to try to find me if you can do so without +exposure to yourself; but if I say just _pax_ then I mean what the word +implies, and you may go to and from your home with freedom. I will come +to see you just as often as I can and I will arrange to have the +officers of our own army and navy visit you and then you will use your +own good judgment combined with what knowledge they will give to you as +to how you will proceed, knowing that my spirit will be with you even if +my body cannot be ... even if I should be separated from this perishable +body, my Daughter, I think that God would let me come to you to help +you.... He would know our need and it is my belief He would supply it. +Let us pray to Him for guidance, now, before I leave you for the night. +Father in heaven, protect and guide our footsteps while we stay upon +this mundane sphere of spiritual action. Help us do what we were meant +to do and teach us how to walk in unknown paths which we are, now, about +to enter on. May what is just and right be conquerors in conflicts that +will, very soon, be carried on about us. May the souls of those about to +leave this world be prepared for the great change from this world to +another one, and may we, who are Thy humble servants, do the things that +will be pleasing in Thy sight. Bless us, now, and guide us unto Thee. +Amen." + +When Estrella reached the home of little Tessa, she found her friend +about to go somewhere but where she would not say ... she seemed so much +distraught about it that Estrella did not ask the second time where she +was going; she could see that she had made some preparations for the +journey, for she had a small bag filled with eatables and a jug of +home-made vintage in her hands; Estrella plainly saw how distressed she +was and how wan and weary, too, and, so, she only stayed a very short +time; but, when she went away, she only went just far enough to be where +Tessa could not see her ... then she watched her little friend, but only +with the kindest thoughts of her, and saw her take an unused, winding +path a little ways, then hasten on without a path at all, so far as she +could see; she wound among the cacti, fearlessly, as if upon a very +important errand, and as if she feared that she would be too late to do +the errand she was bent upon; Estrella watched her for a time, and, +then, still with the kindest thoughts of Tessa, followed after her, but +far enough behind her so she could not see her ... she would stoop +behind a friendly bit of brush whenever little Tessa turned around and +gazed about her like a startled little bird about to seek its hidden +nest; so, unobserved, Estrella followed after her, and came, at length, +to that small clearing where the ruined hut had stood for many years; +Estrella knew about it, having found it at the same time Manuello had, +indeed, for they two used to roam the hills together when they were but +little children ... sometimes Tessa went with them, but, oftener, they +were alone; and, so, Estrella peered within the ruined hut and saw its +occupant as he lay there in bitter pain and wan and weary, too, like +little Tessa was; she saw the other girl creep past the tumble-down old +door that she had set up at the entrance to the hut to shield its inmate +from the winds, and, also, to try to keep the fact that he was there at +all unknown; she saw the little tender-hearted woman kneel beside the +rude couch on which her restless patient lay and kiss the lips that only +moaned her name in anguish and despair; she saw her smooth the black and +silky hair back from the brow of Manuello, and, then, she heard the +following conversation. + +"Tell me, little Tessa," said her patient, eagerly, "are you sure you +were not seen when you came here, today? I greatly fear that you will +yet divulge, in some way, my hiding-place. I could not move a step to +save myself, no matter who came here to find me. It is terrible to be +like this. I'd rather die than stay here like this for another day.... I +wish you'd find a gun, somewhere, and bring it to me the next time you +come and let me end the lives of both of us. You are like a little +skeleton, yourself.... I wonder what's the matter with you ... are you +ill or is it only just the weariness and fright that makes you look so? +If you should fail me, I would surely die ... a wounded rat that cannot +even run to save itself. Tessa, tell me," he cried out, peevishly, "are +you sick? You look so pale today it seems to me you are about to faint +away ... and what would I do, then?" + +"I don't believe that I am sick," she said, cheerfully. "I'm sure I +don't know why I'm pale.... It is very warm today, for one thing ... I +hurried up the hill ... Estrella came...." + +At that name, her patient roused again: + +"Estrella! Are you sure she did not follow you? She could gloat about +me, now, if she were minded to ... what did you bring for me to eat, +today?" he ended, changing the subject, abruptly. "I'm almost starved to +death; I wish you'd come a little earlier, tomorrow." + +"I will try, dear Manuello, I will try," said little Tessa, gravely. "I +always try to come as soon as I can come when I'm alone and can evade +the children." + +Manuello tossed a while in silence, then he asked again: + +"Are you sure Estrella did not follow you? Look outside and see if there +is not someone near the hut. I'm afraid ... I'm dreadfully afraid, +somehow, today. I've lain right here, now, all these weeks, and have +not been so frightened as I am, somehow, today. Look outside and see!" + +And, then, Estrella crept away for she could do no good by staying, and +she did not wish to harm either one of her old friends on whose distress +she looked. + +Estrella went back to the mansion on the hill, a sadder, it is true, and +yet also a wiser woman for she'd seen poor little Tessa's secret burden +and Manuello's sorry plight. + +She went to Father Felix, the next day, to advise with him about what +she had seen; he cautioned her not to mention it to anyone she knew, +which advice she followed, strictly; it enlightened him to some extent +and he pitied little Tessa more than ever, for he knew the sort of man +her patient was ... he knew that he was selfish to the very core of him +and had no gratitude for anyone who'd helped him; so he pitied little +Tessa and began, in many little unknown ways, to help her bear the +burden she'd assumed. + +To begin with, when she came to the confessional, as almost everyone who +lived in San Domingo did, he only asked her questions such as she could +answer easily ... he did not touch on murder or on lies or on anything +that might lead on to surprising her sad secret; he knew her for a +simple-minded, loving, tender little girl and he pitied her and did not +try to wring from her her secret, knowing that, in all human +probability, she would go, some day, to the ruined hut and find no +Manuello there to either curse or bless her: in fact, he looked upon +this as the most likely of anything that could occur and, when he saw +poor little Tessa fading with anxiety and dread, he went, one day, to +see the patient in the deserted hut, and, after that, there was no +patient there, for Manuello limped away, as he could stand, at last, and +hid from even little Tessa for he thought she had betrayed him, after +all, and, so, he cursed her with the balance of his rotten luck. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +June 10, 1898, was a memorable day for Cuba, for, on that date, the +glorious flag of our own much-beloved country was unfurled over Cuban +soil, upheld and supported by United States troops, for the first time. + +Father Felix had kept himself well informed as to military matters, and +had often consulted with Ruth Wakefield concerning what would actually +be needed by our armies when they were finally in the field; in +pursuance of the purpose to which they had both devoted their lives and +fortunes, these two had established a temporary hospital not far from +the city of Santiago, as the good Priest had been informed that one of +the next moves of our forces would be in that vicinity; so that, when +our starry banner first floated in the breeze at Camp McCalla, Ruth +stood beside the new-fledged army Chaplain, and watched, through +tear-dimmed eyes, the emblem of our liberty and freedom as it was +proudly raised. + +That night passed quietly, but, for five successive days and nights +thereafter, a bitter battle raged in which our blue-clad boys met and +finally defeated the Spanish hordes that tried to drive them back or +leave their lifeless bodies lying there beneath the blistering sun. + +When Ruth had sailed from Havana she had brought her little household +with her and established them in temporary quarters near the hospital, +and, soon, she saw the little white cots filled with sick or wounded +Americans and Cuban scouts. + +Volunteer nurses were immediately in demand as, in many ways, our forces +were unprepared to meet the enemy; there are no soldiers in the world as +brave ... as fine ... as capable ... as are our own United States +Volunteers ... both men and women, and, so, Ruth Wakefield and Estrella, +anxious to put into practice what they had learned to do, donned the +clean white uniforms they had become accustomed to in the training they +had taken in Havana for this very purpose, and, very soon, to the eye of +a novice, there were two more trained nurses ministering to the many +wants of the boys who lay there on those narrow cots, weak and suffering +but triumphant in spite of their pain, for the cause of right had won in +the first real conflict upon Cuban soil between the Spaniards and the +Americans assisted by Cuban insurgents, who, mainly, acted as spies and +scouts, a work to which they were adapted by nature and long practice in +a country infested by those whose only object in ruling it had been to +gain what they could, in resources and amusement, from the natives, +with no thought either for their comfort or advancement along the lines +of civilized living. + +Among the Cuban scouts who had been wounded on that first day of actual +combat was one who happened to fall under the care of Estrella for he +had been carried in right after her entry into the work of the hospital; +this man had been slightly wounded as he was about to give valuable +information to one of our own officers, and, perhaps for that reason and +because he had shown himself to be particularly useful, he had received +even more than the usual attention on the battle-field, for his wound +had been dressed more carefully than is customary when first aid is +given in the midst of the fray, so that the attending surgeon had +declared his condition such that all he needed was tender care, which +was why his case had been assigned to a volunteer nurse. + +Estrella gravely assumed the duty allotted to her, with some misgivings +as to her own ability, it is true, but with a strong resolve to do the +best she could; as she bent over her patient, she noticed, first, his +almost deathly pallor, then a jagged scar that stretched across his +cheek and had been lately healed ... the edges of it were yet red and +angry looking; the girl bent over him pityingly, and, then, she started +back for she had recognized, even in the dim light that pervaded the +temporary hospital, the features of Manuello; remembering what she had +seen in the ruined hut, she shrank from contact with her old admirer, +but, with that memory came the knowledge that he had been wounded while +in the performance of a service of benefit to her beloved country, and +she did not falter in carrying out the instructions of the surgeon in +charge with regard to her patient, thinking that, perhaps, before he had +recognized her, she might be transferred to some other part of the +hospital. + +Ruth took her place among the ministering nurses with confidence and +courage, for she was one who immediately altogether forgot almost her +own identity when asked to help another human being, and, while her +sympathy with suffering was remarkable, so that she actually suffered +pain herself when witnessing it in others, yet she had always been able +to do whatever was required of her in an emergency regardless of any +bodily ailment that might be troubling her at the time; now, as she saw +all around her strong men laid low by violence, her spirit rose to the +occasion and she was, for the time, at least, the very personification +of patriotic zeal and her love for her country rose to heights almost +undreamed of even by herself; she moved among the little cots freely, +lending a hand here and whispering a word of encouragement there; the +nurses recognized in her a master spirit, at once, and the surgeons +looked into her steady eyes, and, instantly, allowed her privileges +seldom granted to anyone outside of their own profession; her very +presence seemed to give the sufferers courage to bear their pain, for +the light that shone from her clear, gray eyes was above the things of a +merely earthly existence and lifted them out of their bodies, to some +extent, making them impervious to what would have otherwise been +excruciating anguish; surgeons, at that time, did not recognize the +mental attitude of their patients, to any great extent, and they +marveled at the influence of the mistress of the mansion on the hill, +attributing it, in part, to the evident superiority of the young woman +to those with whom she had been associated in Cuba. + +In passing among the little cots, Ruth, at length, came to the one +beside which Estrella was standing, anxiously looking into her patient's +flushed face, for, with returning strength, Manuello's fever had risen; +Ruth put one hand on the girl's shoulder and drew her away from the cot +for a moment while she whispered to her: + +"Do not weary yourself too much, my Dear, for we must keep our strength +so as to be able to help others ... you seem distressed ... do you know +your patient, personally?" + +Estrella was only too glad to tell her kind and understanding friend +just the situation in which she found herself, so that, when the young +Cuban opened his large, dark eyes and looked about him in astonishment, +it was upon Ruth's face he gazed instead of on Estrella's whom the +former had sent into another part of the work of caring for the +wounded. + +"Where am I?" moaned Manuello. "What has happened to me, now?" + +"You have been sorely wounded in the service of your country, my brave +fellow ... you are now in a hospital where you will receive every +possible care and attention," answered Ruth in a low, yet clear tone of +voice. "You are in the hands of those who appreciate what you have done +and greatly desire to assist in your recovery." + +Having assured himself that he was among friends, he began to make +inquiries as to the nature of his wound, wondering how long it would be +necessary for him to remain as he was then, but Ruth only told him that +he must not talk and must use every precaution he could to prevent +increase of the fever that was now high enough to demand the use of the +handy little thermometer that Ruth, in common with the other amateur +nurses with whom she had studied, had learned how to operate; she +promptly thrust this little fever-gauge into his mouth and told him to +keep it there quietly until she took it away; gazing at her as if she +were a creature from another world, Manuello lay there quiescent and +tractable, all his wild nature being centred upon his desire to again be +the free, strong being he had but recently been. + +Old Mage peered into the room where the cots of the wounded soldiers and +sailors had been placed and caught a glimpse of her dear young lady as +she stood by the bedside of Manuello; he had just opened his eyes, and, +as he lay there with his black curls touching the white pillow, he +reminded the old woman very much of another handsome, dark young fellow +whom she believed to be lying in his narrow grave in the little +cemetery ... the narrow grave in which she had buried the wedding-ring +that had brought so much sorrow to the one whom she loved best in all +the world: as the old woman looked at the dark face on the pillow she +noticed the angry scar that disfigured it and thought that it might have +changed the face she remembered as without a blemish so that she would +have difficulty in recognizing it; her mind began to travel along the +line of thought suggested by this possibility and she determined to rid +Ruth of the necessity of attending to her former husband, at least, if +her most dire suspicions should prove to be well founded; she at once +remembered that she, herself, had not seen the corpse of the man +interred as Victorio Colenzo and she knew very well how earthly death +will change the appearance of a human being's body ... then she thought +of what had been told to her as to how the man had died ... altogether +it seemed to her very possible that the man she had seen in the little +cemetery on the day of the funeral she had attended with Estrella might +have been some one closely resembling Manuello, so that, perhaps, +Estrella's foster brother had been buried in the supposed grave of +Victorio Colenzo, who, wishing to be free from both entangling alliances +he had made in San Domingo, had allowed the name under which he had +entered into them to be placed upon the simple head-stone that marked +the grave of another man. + +As soon as old Mage had arrived at the conclusion above described, she +acted on it at once by slipping stealthily up to Ruth and whispering to +her: + +"Come away, my Pretty; you are needed; there is someone outside who +wishes to speak to you at once. I will take your place." + +Ruth, thinking the summons important, yielded her place for a moment, +intending to return within a very few moments, but no sooner had old +Mage assumed charge of the patient than she began to devise ways and +means by which she hoped to prolong the stay of her dear young lady, for +it seemed to her to be too much for her to bear ... to care for her +recreant husband under all the trying circumstances. + +The first thing that the new nurse did would have been severely +criticized by the head surgeon had his attention not been fully occupied +in another part of the large room; to begin with, instead of smoothing +back the dark hair from the man's forehead as it would seem to one +observing her from the rear she was doing, she very deliberately pulled +the handful of curls she was clutching, hoping to make him open his eyes +so that she could continue her scrutiny of him in order to be as certain +as possible of his suspected identity; this ruse succeeded, for +Manuello's large, dark brown eyes flew open and were fixed in horror on +the face bending over him; it was quite a different countenance than the +one he had last seen beside him, for old Mage never had been a beauty +and the loss of her teeth had not added to her appearance while the +ferocity of her glance was accentuated by the multitude of criss-cross +wrinkles which surrounded the light blue eyes out of which she was +glaring at him; the words she hissed in his ear added to the confusion +under which the helpless man was laboring: + +"I thought that you were dead and buried out of sight ... you hateful, +low-lived pup! How dare you be brought into her place, now? If I did +just right, I do believe I'd choke the life out of you while you can't +fight back! The girl's here, too ... you must be a devil in human form! +You ought to be burning in hell!" + +The object that had led old Mage to make this attack upon the wounded +man was about to be accomplished, for, with a wild scream, he vaulted +over the foot of the little cot and bounded through the open doorway as +if he were pursued by demons; his temporary nurse did not try to prevent +his exit which was what she had longed to bring about, although the +manner of his going startled even her, as she had no idea of the effect +that her hasty words would have upon the guilty spirit of the man whose +crimes, it seemed to him, had found him out; the new wound he had that +day received, was not of a nature to impede his progress for a short +distance, and he almost instantly disappeared from among the nurses and +surgeons; his wild expression so impressed all whom he met before he +reached the outskirts of the hospital grounds that he was again a +fugitive, hunted, this time, by both friends and enemies. + +As Ruth was about to return to her patient, for she could find no +immediate need of her presence elsewhere, she met an excited nurse who +told her of having seen an excessively active young man flying out into +the open, clad only in hospital garb. + +Ruth was hurrying to report the circumstances to the head surgeon and to +arrange to have searching parties sent out to bring back her pseudo +patient, when, passing the cot where old Mage was still stationed, she +noted that it was empty; stopping to inquire the reason for this change, +her old nurse hurriedly related the facts concerning the exodus of the +young man, while she secretly rejoiced at the success of her strategem, +for so she chose to denominate the method she had taken of protecting +her dear young lady from the nearness of the man she had married through +mistaken confidence. + +Estrella, having been sent to consult with her friend concerning some +matter connected with the welfare of the temporary hospital, came along, +just then, and was told what had happened. + +"Why," she exclaimed, "where has poor Manuello gone? He is not fit to be +outside alone. I am afraid I was a coward to leave him when he needed +care. Poor little Tessa would have stayed right with him no matter what +he said or did. I have not seen her," she mused, "for a long time, +now ... not since a number of days before we came away from home.... I +wonder where she is." + +Could Estrella have seen her little friend at that moment, she would +have lost all pity for Manuello and added to that she already had for +poor Tessa, for she was then suffering from the last encounter she had +had with the man who had just fled out into the night; although the +little peasant would have been proud to have been made the wife of the +man whom she madly loved, yet she resisted the idea of being merely his +mistress for Father Felix had forcibly impressed upon the minds of the +girls of his flock the virtue of chastity; the consequence of this +resistance had been a blow received by herself which had rendered her +helpless for the time being, as it had made it impossible for her to +walk for any distance, and a slash across one of Manuello's dusky cheeks +which she had made with a knife she had happened to have in her hand at +the time of his attack. + +The heart-sick girl was lying on the rude bed she had made for the man +who had left her without aid, in the deserted hut into which Estrella +had once peered, while her friend, so far away from her, was bemoaning +the fate of her ungrateful former lover. + +She had carried some food and water into the hovel upon the day of her +last struggle with Manuello and she could creep about the inside of the +small building, so that, being hardy and healthy, she had, at that time, +subsisted upon the supplies she had on hand, for several days; she was +just beginning to crawl carefully out into the surrounding brush where +she was glad to find plenty of ripe cactus-fruit and other wild edibles; +she was very lonely and frightened but she took her condition as a +punishment for the sins she had committed since she had tried to assist +Manuello in spite of the fact that she had known him to be a criminal; +she told her beads, over and over, using the small rosary which she had +always worn about her neck, and, as she kissed the crucifix attached to +the beads, she often prayed for the man who was the direct cause of her +pitiable condition, for she believed it to be her plain duty to forgive, +even though she could not forget, him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +When Manuello escaped from the temporary hospital near Camp McCalla, he +directed his eager steps toward the place of his nativity, because, as +it seemed to him, he would be safer there than he had recently been; it +seemed to him that if he could reach the deserted hut where he had been +in concealment before, he could rest and recover while he made plans for +his future, for he had decided that it would be dangerous for him to +follow the American army any longer, at least for a time. + +In devious ways and through the use of means known only to such as he, +he managed to reach a point midway between Santiago and Havana in a much +shorter time than would have seemed possible to one unversed in the ways +of the wilderness; here he encountered, suddenly and unexpectedly, the +good Priest whom he had known from childhood, who, also, seemed hurrying +in the direction of Havana. + +The young man kept away from the habitation of men as much as possible +after that, and, footsore and weary, but happy in the thought that he +had reached his goal, he arrived, at length, just at sunset, in the +outskirts of the village of San Domingo; from there he followed the +winding path up which little Tessa had so often toiled in his service, +he thought of her but did not regret the blow he had given her; in fact, +his anger still burned at white heat whenever he remembered how she had +disfigured his features, forgetting altogether what she had done for +him, because she had not done everything that he had asked her to do. + +At length, he reached the vicinity of the deserted hut and stole up to +reconnoitre before entering the ruined habitation; he crept up to one of +the small windows and peered within; the sight that met his vision +startled him to such an extent that he forgot, for the moment, his +habitual caution and remained at the window although he had discovered +that the hut was occupied; the room he looked into was dimly lit by the +rays of the setting sun which penetrated the dense growth of tropical +verdure and found their way into the small western aperture that +answered the purpose of a look-out toward the village; Tessa was lying, +looking very wan and care-worn, upon the rude bed she had arranged for +the man who was then staring at her ... in her thin hand was a crucifix +which Father Felix had just given to her ... the good Priest was +kneeling upon the rough floor beside the couch and the tears were +rolling down his cheeks, for the sight before him would have moved far +less tender hearts than his; the girl began to speak in a low voice and +Manuello strained his power of hearing to catch the faint words which +fell from her pale and trembling lips. + +"Good Father," she began, speaking as if at confession, "I beseech you +to have mercy upon your sinful daughter; I have done grievous wrong +during my short life and I beg you to intercede with the God of truth +and justice before whose judgment seat I will soon appear. I ask you to +pray for me, Father Felix, for I am in need of your prayers. I have been +a wicked girl in some ways, though not in all, for I have resisted a +very strong desire which was a part of my sinful nature and which I +believe I have, now, through suffering, gained the victory over." + +The girl ceased speaking from sheer weakness, then, and the Priest took +the crucifix from her shaking hand and attached it to the cord at his +waist, then he lifted his clasped hands in earnest and humble +supplication: + +"Father Who art in heaven," he prayed, "listen to us who are in Thy +gracious Hands, both here and hereafter. Help me to guide this suffering +soul aright and help her to walk where she was meant to walk, whether +she regains her health and returns to the life she has had, formerly, or +whether she passes out of this narrow existence and goes into eternity +before another morning dawns. Look down, dear Father, in mercy on us who +are Thy humble servants. Amen." + +"Father Felix," began the sick girl, "I must confess to you something +that has lain heavily upon my conscience for many weeks. I am rejoiced +that you have found me for I will die easier to know that you have the +secrets that I have been keeping in my heart, being unable to come to +the refectory and tell you what I must, now, impart to you. A heinous +crime was committed in San Domingo some months ago, as I believe by one +whom you and I both know; I have withheld my suspicions from the +authorities and, in so doing, I feel that I have done wrong, Father. I +wish to tell you all I know, now, and let you do what you think best ... +it will relieve my heart of a very heavy load to tell this to you. +Manuello...." + +Before her lips could utter the next word, the door of the hut which had +been leaning over the opening designed for it as it had long been +guiltless of hinges, was violently thrust aside and the subject of the +remarks Tessa was about to make, rudely entered and advanced to the side +of the couch upon which the girl was lying; the livid scar upon his dark +face combined with the pallor that had followed the fever he had been +having, the freshly bandaged wound, the limp that had followed the rough +dressing of the bullet-punctured leg of the man, combined with the +fierce determination that characterized each one of his movements, +altogether made a most unpleasant appearance. + +Father Felix quietly rose and stepped between the sufferer on the couch +and the young Cuban who regarded the Priest with no respect in the +expression of his countenance, but rather with contempt and lack of +personal fear; he attempted to shove him aside so that he might again +look down on the trembling occupant of the rude bed, but found that +Father Felix was standing firmly on a sturdy pair of legs which had had +good exercise in tramping about the hills and valleys in pursuit of his +chosen profession of saving the souls of those who needed his +ministrations; Manuello glared at him and snarled out: + +"Out of my way with your sing-song prayers and your dangling cross! I am +a desperate man and do not mean to allow even a Priest to balk either my +escape or my vengeance! Stand aside and let me stop that mouth forever!" + +He again tried to shove the Priest aside, when Father Felix hastily +threw off his robe so that it might not impede his movements and closed +with the young fellow, grappling with him with arms left bare from the +shoulder upon which the biceps muscles stood out in great knots that +came and went and rippled underneath the skin; Manuello was surprised at +this onslaught for the good Priest's fighting prowess had never, so far, +been tested in just this way; but familiarity with certain turns and +twists told in the young villain's favor in spite of the freshness and +vigor of Father Felix' attack; the poor girl on the floor was unable to +interfere and watched the two combatants with horrified eyes as they +struggled all over the rude room, sometimes one and sometimes the other +seeming about to conquer; neither one of the contestants had a weapon as +Manuello had come away from the hospital clad only as the other patients +were; in his wild flight he had snatched an outer garment from among the +many lying in a heap outside the door through which he had fled, but, +with this exception, he wore only what had been put upon him by the +surgeons. + +Like two Titans, the two human beings struggled for supremacy, the one +being actuated only by a desire to serve the right, and the other +seeming to have been given almost satanic power as he felt that his own +life and future freedom depended upon adding two more to his victims, +for the Priest had already heard enough to make him find out more and +Tessa had been about to confess all she knew to him, so, above +everything on earth, the furious Cuban wished to slay the Priest and the +poor girl whose only fault had been her yielding to his selfishness. + +Twice, Manuello's fingers almost closed about the good Priest's throat, +and twice did Father Felix lift the other man bodily from the floor and +dash him down in a huddled heap in one corner of the room, but neither +had quite conquered when an unexpected interference ended the conflict +very suddenly. + +Manuello had crowded Father Felix over toward the tumble-down door of +the hut and was about to push him through the opening, or, at least, +attempt to do so, when, all at once the young fellow felt his fingers +lose their strength and his arms fell away from the body of the +Priest ... he was conscious of a strange, tingling sensation all through +his shaken nerves; had he been familiar with the action of powerful +electric currents, he would have described it as a heavy shock of +electricity but, although he could not have altogether explained his +sensations, their effect was instantaneous and resulted in the release +of Father Felix while his assailant dropped prone upon the floor of the +hut and groveled at his feet in abject terror, for he thought the end of +his life had come and, in that thought, the murderer became the penitent +and, with the fear of death before his mind, he began to mumble broken +bits of half-forgotten prayers and to beg for forgiveness for his sins +which he knew to be many and grievous. + +As the changed attitude of his foe became evident to the good Priest he +hurried over to the side of the sick girl with assurances of his desire +to assist her in every possible way and, with the changed conditions +surrounding him, he again put on the robe of his holy office, and, with +it, seemed again to be the sedate and quiet leader of the flock he +strove to lead into green pastures and beside pleasant waters. + +Having ministered to Tessa, for the moment, he turned his attention to +his late antagonist: + +"My Son," he said, "you are wounded and spent with the loss of blood; +your mind, perhaps, has been turned by your misfortunes so that you did +not realize either your words or your actions. I hope that, from this +time on, you will fix your mind on better things than thoughts of +vengeance or of murder. To begin with, I have a favor to ask of you. +Will you help me remove Tessa, here, from this place to her home? She is +in need of tender care." + +"I will do what you tell me to," meekly answered the recent antagonist +of the Priest. "I see that I was wrong in imagining you to be my enemy. +I think that this last wound has made me crazy for the time, as you have +just said. From this time on I will try to be as I have been before ... +glad to be guided by your higher wisdom. I humbly ask your pardon for +what I have done here, tonight." + +Manuello bowed his head for his spirit had been broken by the strange +happening which we have described, and, at once, his hope began to rise +again, that, after all, Father Felix would do him no real harm, for he +seemed, again, the kind and loving prelate whom the man had known from +his youth up. + +When some simple preparations had been made, the two men lifted Tessa +from the rude couch to the stretcher they had improvised, and, in turn, +lifted it, with its light burden, to their shoulders, when, from time to +time, they found an open space in the dense underbrush that hid the +ruined hut from ordinary observation; thus they descended the hill that +led to the village of San Domingo; having reached the door of the home +of the girl, in the gathering darkness, they laid the stretcher down and +Manuello disappeared as Father Felix knocked for admittance. + +To say the young fellow was glad to be released from what seemed to him +to be the custody of the Priest would be to put his feelings lightly, +for, having cleared the ruined hut, he quickly returned to it and, lying +on the simple bed Tessa had so lately occupied, he went to sleep, +apparently, as sweetly as a new-born infant would. + +Old Mage wondered, a little, at Estrella's remark concerning Manuello, +after he had disappeared; but she finally set her mind at rest by +deciding that, whichever of the dashing Cubans she had ousted from +Ruth's help, she had done good work, for, as she said to herself, from +her view-point it was "good riddance to bad rubbage." + +The head surgeon made a note of the occurrence and went on about his +work, for one man more or less, in time of war, cannot be reckoned as in +civil life. + +Ruth Wakefield had no doubt at all as to the identity of her former +patient; when a pure girl has given herself to be the wife of any man +she does not, soon, forget his personality, and Ruth knew very well the +man she'd cared for had not been the one she'd called her husband ... +that his body lay within its narrow grave she felt assured but what lay +buried over him old Mage, alone, yet knew; she'd chuckled, many times, +as to that burial, and it was hard for her to keep her secret as she +longed for the approval that she felt she merited in this small matter, +but the thought that Ruth might differ with her as to what she'd done +had always, so far, sealed her lips. + +"There is a time in the affairs of men that, taken at its flood, leads +on to fortune," has been said by one who, justly, has been called a +master in the art of putting words together; William Shakespeare did not +know the actors in this story, but he knew the minds of men as few have +known them since his time. + +Manuello did not know that such a writer as this master of the English +language had ever existed, yet he acted on the thought in the above +quotation, when, the morning after the events related in this chapter, +he again departed from the ruined hut and disappeared, effectually, +within the fastnesses that only such as he could know about; every inch, +or so it seemed, of territory surrounding Havana was familiar to the +Cuban scouts and Manuello had grown up among the cacti and the palms and +desolation that followed in the wake of Spanish oppression and +injustice. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +July 1, 1898, at sunset, the fair folds of our own stars and stripes +were gently floating over San Juan hill. + +On that day some of the most heroic deeds in American history had been +performed by those who represent the highest types of American virility. + +Roosevelt's Rough Riders had, that day, advanced behind their intrepid +leader, into the very jaws of death and very many of them never came +again into the pleasant walks of life they'd known before that fateful +day ... very many of them lay scattered over the different heights that +led on to the very top of San Juan hill, inert and helpless human +tenements that had once held the proud and willing spirits of the men +who followed Roosevelt with love and daring. + +Some of them were picked up and carried to temporary hospitals that had +sprung up near the scene of active warfare; in one of these shelters for +the wounded Ruth Wakefield stood, that evening, bending low above a +little cot on which was stretched a manly form ... the form of one who'd +ridden with the rest of those who followed him they called, in +brotherly affection, "Teddy," and who was beside him when his horse was +shot from under him. + +"Nurse," he whispered, through the bandages that bound his head, "Nurse, +it would have done you good to hear him say 'Forward! Charge the hill!' +It would have heartened you could you have seen him, when he was +unhorsed, grab a rifle and fire it as he went on up, on foot." + +"You must not talk," said Ruth. "You must rest quietly, now. We won the +hill," she added, proudly. "We won the hill and I'm as proud as anyone +could ever be of Roosevelt and of you all who followed after him. I +sometimes wish," she ended, "I sometimes wish that I had been a man to +go into the battles instead of only caring for the wounded ... yet I'm +thankful to be of some assistance to the ones who need the help that I +can give to them." + +"You should have seen," began the man again, "you should have seen our +Teddy charge that hill! They do not make a man like that except about +once in a century or so ... they do not make such men as that in every +age.... I tell you he's a holy terror when it comes to fighting, Nurse! +He mowed them down ... he made them crawl and creep.... I always knew he +could do more on horseback than any man that ever lived but I never +knew, until today, what he could do on foot." + +"Our Teddy is a wonder.... I agree with you in everything you say of +him, but, now," once more she was the nurse in charge, "you must be +very still ... that is," she ended, with a happy little turn of thought, +"if you ever want to go where Teddy is, again." + +That was enough to silence him and he lay very still and fixed his eyes +upon her face, and, finally, he slept, and rested from his labors for a +time; but what he'd said stayed in Ruth's inner consciousness and the +heart that throbbed within her beat more proudly after that, because she +was, as was the man his comrades praised, an American; to her that +title was enough to fill with pride a human heart ... to be a true +American ... a citizen of the United States of America ... it seemed to +her meant more than any royal appellation ever could; no crown adorned +with priceless jewels could replace that name to her; at one time in her +life, this question had been asked of her: + +"What would you do if you must choose between all that you love on earth +and fealty to some other than your native land, and this one country +that you call your own?" + +"What would I do?" she answered. "I would not renounce my fealty to my +native land.... I would keep God and my conscience and my country ... no +one could take them from me ... all the rest I'd leave behind and cleave +to them." + +Ruth Wakefield meant this statement and she proved it later on beyond +all shadow of a doubt. + +When her first patient slept, Ruth went to stand beside another cot for +she was always privileged to go wherever she might choose; her help in +many ways, including financial aid, had made this hospital possible and +she went at will among the other nurses who looked up to her as women +will to one who is a natural leader of the ones with whom she +associates. + +She came, at length, to a cot that was apart from all the rest because +its occupant had needed to be isolated for good reasons; he was violent, +at times, the nurses said ... when his fever rose he soon became +delirious and they had hard work keeping him under any sort of control; +he was a native scout, they told her ... he had done good work that day +upon the side of right, and, so, Ruth went to care for him, for it was +just as natural for her to take heavy work as it was natural for the +rest to let her do it. + +Soon after she had taken charge of him, he stirred uneasily and mumbled +in his restless sleep ... he spoke a name she'd hoped to never hear +again ... the name of him whom she had loved enough to marry.... + +"Victorio Colenzo," moaned the man, "Victorio Colenzo is dead and I ... +I am his murderer ... it was my hand that took his life.... I am a +murderer, good Father Felix.... I am the murderer of the man I hated, +for he took the girl I loved from me.... I killed him with my own +machete and he is dead.... I am the murderer of Victorio Colenzo ... +shrive my soul, good Father Felix, for I am about to go before my +Maker." + +The moaning ceased then, and Ruth bent over him to see if he still +lived, for she could see his very lips were livid and his eyes seemed +set and glazed as if with death's own dews; she put her hand upon his +head and looked into his face with earnest pity in her tender eyes, for +she was very pitiful and even lenient when faults of anyone except +herself were to be considered. + +"The poor fellow is delirious," she thought. "He does not know what he +is saying. Odd that he should use that name. Poor fellow ... he will not +last long, I fear. I wonder if Father Felix could come to him." + +With that thought, she turned to go to try to find the Priest, for he +almost always could be found where there was suffering and need of him, +but Manuello (for the reader has discovered who her patient was) +snatched at her hand as she was just about to go away and said to her: + +"Please intercede for me, good Angel ... tell them I have never had a +chance in all my life ... tell them ... intercede...." and, then, his +weak voice died away in moans, again, "Tessa, please," he said, "don't +look at me that way!" + +Again Ruth leaned above his bed, for in his eyes there was a look that +seldom comes except when death is near. She felt a gentle hand upon her +arm and knew that Estrella stood beside her ... she had come to seek +advice from her superior. + +So they stood ... the widow and the sweetheart, and the murderer of the +man they both had loved, as virgins love, lay there before them. + +Suddenly, he roused himself, as with a last and desperate effort, from +the lethargy of death itself ... he looked upon them standing there +beside his bed ... the woman he had loved as wild and rough and lawless +men will always love a woman and the one who seemed to him as if she +were an angel straight from paradise ... he imagined he had passed from +life as he had known that word, and was beyond all earthly help; and, +so, he did not call for human help but cried aloud on God to save his +deathless soul. It was horrible to hear his human lips cry out to God as +they were crying then, and Ruth regretted that Estrella stood so near to +him whom she had called her foster-brother, for she'd whispered +Manuello's name at once, so she sent her to find Father Felix if she +could and to bring him there to help this suffering soul. + +After the girl had gone away, Ruth stood alone beside the cot and looked +with great commiseration on the almost senseless clay before her ... on +the staring eyes and sullen, dark-skinned pallor of the heavily scarred +face ... on the lips that once wore careless smiles but, now, were +drawn and pale ... on the broad shoulders and powerful muscled arms. As +she gazed at him it seemed to her a very pitiful condition under which +he labored; she wondered why it had to be as it was with this strong, +untutored man; she wondered why he had to lay his strong, young body on +the altar of his passions and see it consumed as it had been by hate and +treachery; and, then, she remembered the service upon which he had just +been bent ... and her heart yearned over him for that alone; she leaned +above his face and searched it for a sign of returning strength but +found none there; his eyes stared into hers, it seemed, and then they +sought the moving shadows on the canvas overhead. + +Ruth raised her head from gazing into Manuello's eyes and seemed to see, +above the cot on which he lay, another and a different form yet like to +that she saw inert before her; it was as if a glorified replica of the +man were floating over him; in many ways it was exactly like the +Manuello lying there upon that little cot, and, yet, the form was more +ethereal ... more delicate ... more beautiful than he could ever be and +live upon the earthly plane where he had found so many things to lead +him down and seldom found a single thing to lead him higher, or, at +least, found anything that he could fully understand, for, although +Father Felix tried to show him how to go to climb to better thoughts, he +had not seen the steps at all but blundered on along the path he found +himself upon. + +As Ruth began to realize the change that she had seen take place, a rosy +flush crept over her fair face, she clasped her hands and bowed her head +in silent prayer: + +"Father in heaven," she thought, "look down in mercy on this soul about +to come before You for Your judgment. Have pity on his faults for they +were very many ... have mercy on him, for his sins were very heavy in +his human life. He did not know the way to go, dear Father ... he could +not see the steps at all. Have pity on him for he will have need of pity +such as only You can give to him. Amen." + +And when she lifted up her face again, good Father Felix stood beside +her, crucifix in hand. His head was also bowed in silent prayer for he +had witnessed many earthly deaths and knew, at once, that Manuello, as +he had been known in human life, had passed beyond all human judgment +and gone on to his reward or punishment in another world where +everything that he had done upon the earth would be accounted for by him +and him alone; the good Priest knew, however, that God is good as well +as just and he remembered Manuello's ignorance and superstition, too, +and hoped that, after he'd been purged of earthly sins by deep +repentance, he would come into the light that is God's Smile and shines +for all who seek it honestly, no matter what their sins on earth have +been, but only after long and terrible remorse for harm that they have +done while in the body that God gave them to use and not abuse. + +The road that leads into the light that is God's Smile is often hedged +about by thorns and bitter herbs instead of delicate and fragrant +flowers; sometimes poisonous reptiles lurk along the way and strive to +strike their fangs within the heart of him who toils there; sometimes, +human passions guide a strong man into devious and sinful acts as +Manuello had been guided, more than once; he'd yielded to them just +because he had not learned the way to handle them and they had mastered +him and made of him their slave instead of being what he ordered them to +be; he'd thrown the remnant of his human life into the balance in the +cause he really loved ... the cause of freedom for his native land. + +And Ruth and Father Felix thought of him as of a patriot only as they +stood beside the cot on which his lifeless body lay; they covered up his +face as gently as if they had not known of any sin committed by the +hands now lying still and cold and helpless ... they closed his staring +eyes as softly as they would have closed the eyes of any human being who +will read these words had he or she been left for them to care for when +the soul had left its earthly tenement; disembodied Spirits often linger +near to such as these who stood beside that cot, for they know that +they are like to them in very many ways, though yet abiding in a human +frame ... they know that such as Ruth and Father Felix feel the same, +sweet, almost holy joy that comes to those who meet and make welcome the +ones who leave the earth-plane, newly dead; though death, I trust, is +only just the change that frees a soul from earthly burdens and releases +it from earthly darkness, so that it may climb, when it is purged of +earthly sins, into the light that is the Smile of God and shines for all +who seek it earnestly. + +I do not think that there can be an everlasting hell except for those +who wish to dwell in darkness. I do not think there can be perpetual +punishment except for those who do not wish to climb beyond it. Ruth and +Father Felix felt that this was so, although the good Priest tried to +think far otherwise, and, yet, deep down within his inner consciousness, +he felt that God, although He is so just, yet pities those who err and +welcomes all who wish to put their sins behind them in the path they +find themselves upon, no matter whether they may find that path upon the +earthly plane or on a higher one. They turned away from that white cot +with almost God-like pity in their inmost hearts for him who lay there, +or for him who had just left his body lying there upon that little cot. + +Ruth sought Estrella so that she might not, again, behold the face of +him, who, for the love of her, had done a fearful crime; she wished to +save the girl for she had been as innocent of wrong as she, herself, had +been; both had been led away by human passion, it is true, but led +within the bounds of human law, and, so, according to that human law, +neither one was culpable ... the man, alone, had sinned, and whether it +had been because he had been stronger, every way, than were the women in +the case, we cannot judge. 'Tis God alone must judge us all, and may He +guide us all, at last, into the light that is His holy Smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +When Ruth had left the cot where Manuello died, she, first, found +Estrella and told her what had happened after she had gone, and, then, +as she had liberty to go where she desired, she started out, just as the +dusk was falling, to drive along an unknown road, which as she thought +must lead away from the battle-field; she felt secure for armed men of +her own race and nation were patrolling all the roads surrounding the +hospital; the freshness of the coming night appealed to her and, under +its enticing influence, she went much farther than she meant to do; her +horses often shied at little heaps that seemed to take on most fantastic +shapes with the increasing darkness. + +She knew full well of what these little heaps had been made up, and, +yet, surrounded as she was by horror, she did not feel afraid, for she +was lifted up by patriotic fervor and a great desire to help where help +of her was needed as were so many of the Red Cross nurses whom she met; +splendid women volunteered their services as nurses during the progress +of the Spanish-American war, and wore, with pride and reverence, the +brilliant cross that indicated what the calling they had chosen was; +Ruth Wakefield served her country with her might and wore her uniform as +proudly and conscientiously as any General could; she drove along that +lonely, unknown road as quietly and fearlessly as if her horses trotted +over the finest boulevard in some populous city of her own United States +and firmly held within her strong and steady hands the lines that guided +the high-lifed team she had secured for her own use since coming to take +charge of the hospital which she had endowed with her own funds. + +Suddenly and without warning, her team was startled by a man who rose to +his full height and stood erect and tall beside the road as if he'd +risen from the heaps of dead that lay beside the way; the horses soon +became unmanageable and overturned the vehicle, so that Ruth suddenly +found herself thrown against a slight embankment lining the road, while +her frightened team turned back toward the hospital; her first thought +was of them, but, remembering that, only a few miles back, she had +passed one of the patrols, she hoped the team would be secured and taken +into safety; then, shudderingly, she realized that she was all alone in +a strange and hostile neighborhood, and, acting on a sudden impulse, she +hastily climbed over the embankment as she thought she heard a noise +approaching on the road; she turned and started back but kept herself +concealed as much as possible behind the friendly embankment. + +As she proceeded she began to feel a sort of faintness, almost amounting +to nausea, creeping over her and dreaded the long walk to the hospital, +but decided to go on until she saw an armed man dressed in the uniform +of the United States army; she wondered, at first, why she felt faint +and almost sick, and, then, she realized that the offensive odors that +assailed her sensitive olfactory nerves were those that rise when +material bodies have been deprived of the higher life that gave them +animation ... that the horrors of a bloody battle-field surrounded her, +and, as she advanced slowly and with dreadful anticipation ... as she +even stumbled over more than one unconscious form, that, only a few +short hours before, had been as full of bounding life as she was then, +she thought of what the suffering must be of those who lay among the +dead, perhaps for weary, pain-filled hours, alive yet helpless; the +thought was a terrific one for any tender-hearted woman to entertain, +and Ruth had always been particularly thoughtful of the comfort of +anyone who happened to be near to her, and, so, she soon became enthused +with the idea that she might search among the heaps of dead and find, +maybe, someone who lived and might, if he were rescued, yet be happy in +the world she lived in, and, so, she softly called to see if anyone +could hear her voice and guide her to the object of her search: + +"Are any here who are in need of earthly help?" she asked. "If any here +can hear my voice, pray answer me and tell me where to come to find +you." + +She waited for an answer but none came, at first; and then it seemed to +her as if she heard a far-off whisper far away ... she listened +breathlessly ... it came again and, then, she followed it until she +found the one from whom the whisper came. + +He lay among a heap of bodies tossed about as if they had found death +together; one whose body lay across his own, Ruth lifted, though she +shuddered while she did it, for the stark, stiff form was that of one +who'd, only lately, been as full of life as she was then; she laid it +softly down and sought the one whose whisper she had heard; her hand +crept up, along a rough and blood-soaked uniform, until it found a face +and found it warm with sentient life; she was electrified by joy at +finding one who lived among the dead, and hastened, then, to separate +him from the other bodies lying all around him; it was as if they'd +followed after him ... as if he'd been a leader of the rest ... for he +was well in front of all of them and yet they were so near that, when +they fell, they fell together, all around the one whose life she sought +to save. + +She was intent on saving life and did not shrink although her gentle +hand found many bloody wounds in searching for the one from which his +life-blood flowed full fast; she found the place, at last ... a deep +flesh-wound that touched an artery in his right arm ... she had a silken +scarf about her throat, and, wrapping this about the arm above the +wound, she made a tourniquet by using a small surgical instrument which +she always carried for that purpose in the pocket of her nurse's apron +which she still wore; this stopped the flow of blood at once, and, as +the brachial artery was untouched, the man gained strength enough to +whisper: + +"Tender Heart ... I'm going to name you right away. Tender Heart, how +did you happen here ... at night ... alone?" + +"I think I came to find you," answered Ruth. "I thought my horses ran +away and dumped me on the ground, but, now, I think I came here just to +find you and to bind that poor arm. Now I'll go to bring assistance to +you just as soon as I can do so." + +"Tender Heart," he whispered, for his voice was growing fainter, "if I +should not be here when you come again, good-bye.... God bless and keep +you safe from harm." + +She knew the meaning of the words and almost flew along, although she +often stumbled as she went among the bodies lying there upon the +blood-soaked ground; she reached the hospital at last ... the time +seemed long to her ... and, there, in front of it, stood her two +frightened horses, looking all around as if in search of her; she +soothed them with her reassuring voice, and then she found a vehicle +adapted to the use she wished to put it to, and two assistants from the +hospital staff; thus equipped, she took the lines again and drove along +the road again but with a different object than the one she'd had +before; turning off the road, she found the object of her search and the +assistants lifted him upon the stretcher they had brought and, very +soon, the man lay, white and spent with loss of blood, but conscious, in +a little cot, and Ruth, forgetting her own needs, stood there beside it. + +"Tender Heart," said her new patient, after he had been refreshed and +bandaged thoroughly, "Tender Heart, I'm very grateful to you. Let me +introduce myself to you ... your name, you see, I know. I am one of the +five men who answered Roosevelt when he asked for volunteers to follow +him to gain the very top of all the ridges that cropped up about San +Juan hill." He smiled, "I think you know me, now, as I know you. We're +both Americans.... I know that, too ... we both love Teddy.... I could +see your eyes flash at the mention of his name. He is a man among men. I +wish you could have heard him when he said 'I did not think you would +refuse to follow where I would lead.' I stood beside his horse as he +said those sad words ... the others followed, then. They followed Teddy +up that hill ... they took it, too. We won the day. The Spaniards fled +before us. You know me, now," he ended, whimsically, "just as well as I +know you." + +"Yes," said Ruth, "I know you, now, and you know me ... we're both +Americans and both of us love Teddy and are proud of him and what he did +this day. And, now, you'd better go to sleep and rest up for we still +have work to do ... the Spaniard is not conquered, yet. They'll need us +both and so we must do all we can to keep our strength. I'm going, now. +Good-bye until tomorrow." + +"Goodnight, Tender Heart," he said. "Goodnight." + +Ruth went, then, to the little cottage where she found old Mage and +Tid-i-wats awaiting her; Estrella stayed on duty in the hospital where +she had learned to do her work with neatness and dispatch. + +Ruth always told old Mage the happenings of the day as they were seated +at their evening meal; her old nurse loved to listen to her animated +account of every little thing that she remembered that she'd seen or +heard about; she had an unusual memory of small details and a most +graphic power of description; these she employed to interest and amuse +her old nurse who had been alone with little Tid-i-wats, almost all day; +in recounting recent events she passed as lightly as possible over the +occurrences of the battle-field where she had found and rescued one who +had been left as dead among the lifeless bodies of the slain; she did +not wish to shock old Mage too much and, somehow, she did not wish to +speak of him she'd rescued ... somehow, she feared that her auditor, who +was always eager for romantic episodes would, maybe, choose to enter +into rhapsodies concerning the possibilities of her own future if she +talked too much about the handsome stranger, for remembering how he'd +looked resting, as she'd seen him last, upon the little cot, his +dark-blue eyes regarding her with whimsical tenacity, she freely +acknowledged to herself that he was handsome and distinguished in +appearance; so she changed the subject when old Mage began to question +her too closely about him, and, in the changing of the subject, the rosy +flush that was so much a part of her expression, crept over her fair +face and lighted up her deep gray eyes until her countenance was +glorified, as if her inner consciousness shone through her delicate and +expressive features; old Mage observed this blush and speculated on its +cause and wondered whether Ruth had found another man more worthy of +affection than the one she hoped she had almost forgotten. + +When Ruth returned, the next day, to the hospital, she went among the +little cots until she came to that one where he lay ... the man she'd +helped to rescue from a slow and very painful death; she found him lying +wide awake and very thoughtful: + +"Tender Heart," he said, "Tender Heart, you've come to me, again; I've +longed for you and now you're here beside me." + +She rested one of her soft hands upon the cot and his hand searched for +hers and found it; then their fingers intertwined and clung together for +a moment only, but the memory of that hand-clasp lingered with them +forever after; it was as if their very souls had intermingled in that +clasping of their hands ... it was as if their spirits swung, together, +out ... far out ... beyond the things of earth ... and, then, still +farther out and on and up into eternal peace and lasting joy and +gladness ... it was as if they had been translated into disembodied +spirits while they still remained on earth ... as if a higher and a +holier love than any earthly love can ever be had sought them out and +found them there within that shadowy hospital ... it was as if they had +gone on into the astral world and left their human bodies where they +seemed to be themselves ... as if they had been separated from the +material surroundings that seemed to be about them. + +Ruth blushed until the rosy flush crept up to her brown hair that seemed +to frame her face, and looked at the soft fingers that his hand had held +and then she smoothed his pillow with them as she said: + +"I'm very glad to find that you are better than you were last night. I +surely hope that you'll recover very rapidly. I'm told that men like +you will soon again be needed. It is reported that another battle will +be fought not very far from here." + +"I surely hope," he said and said it very earnestly, "I surely hope that +I'll be able to take my part in whatever engagement is entered into by +our troops, and if, perchance, I should be left again upon a +battle-field, I trust that you will come and find me, Tender Heart, I +trust that you will find me and, if it pleases you, I hope you'll keep +me, Tender Heart." + +She blushed again at that and simply said: + +"Now you must go to sleep and rest and gain what strength you can, for +men like you," she ended, archly, "for men like you are almost always +needed very badly." + +Ruth Wakefield was no flirt and never had been one; she was quickwitted +and she had a wide command of language, and she smiled as she went on +upon her rounds among the little cots when she remembered that neither +of them really knew the other's name; she liked the name he'd given to +her ... she liked the way he said it ... she liked the fine expression +of his speaking countenance ... she liked his eyes ... she liked his +manly way of meeting whatever came to him with courage and with cheerful +readiness to serve the country they both loved ... her heart went out to +him in very many ways, and, then, she looked again at those soft fingers +that his hand had held ... she seemed to feel again the subtle, +unexplainable, electric thrill that crept through all her being at his +touch ... that seemed to answer to the look within his eyes ... the +accent on his tongue, and, then, she blushed again and went about her +work within that shadowy hospital where many strong men lay in bitter +pain with renewed courage and with a new and hither-to unknown +tenderness. + +She stood, at length, beside a cot whereon lay one whose face was hidden +while surgeons dressed a gaping wound he had received upon his head; +Ruth stopped and gave her scissors that she always carried in the pocket +of her apron to the one who needed them for use in cutting away the dark +hair that grew along the edges of the wound; it clung in tiny ringlets +and was black as night and very soft and thick.... Ruth could not help +remembering, that her hands had often strayed among such soft and dark +and clinging ringlets, but she shuddered as she thought of them and of +Estrella who had deemed herself to be the only woman Victorio Colenzo +had ever loved, and, then, she wondered if all men were like to that one +she had married thinking him to be as he professed to be ... judging him +to be as truthful as she was ... she wondered if the man she had just +left would be like that under similar circumstances ... he was ready in +his hints at tenderness ... was he, too, perhaps, a gay deceiver? + +While her thoughts were rambling on in this way, her eyes were idly +looking at the man who lay upon his face and writhed under the stitches +that the surgeons took to close the gaping wound upon his head; he +turned his face an instant toward her and she recognized him as a +Spanish officer she'd seen in San Domingo under most distressing +circumstances; she had gone, as she had often done before, to minister +to the needs of those who were among the poorer classes in the village, +one day, and found before a hovel a most richly caparisoned horse held +by an orderly; inside, there knelt upon the floor a young and pretty +peasant girl; she was imploring this same officer who lay upon that +little cot not to make her go with him to be his helpless slave; Ruth +rescued her and told the man to go his way in no uncertain language; +now, he lay there dressed as if he were an American soldier; she +recognized him perfectly for his face had often haunted her, it was so +sinister and devilish. + +She sought out Father Felix, then, and told him what she had discovered, +and he took what steps were necessary in the matter, for he who'd named +Ruth Tender Heart had named her very well indeed; it seemed to her she +could not bear to turn this Spanish spy over to the proper authorities, +and, yet, she knew it was her duty to do that very thing, so the good +Priest helped her to do her duty as he'd promised her he would, and, +after that, there was a wall at sunrise and a platoon of armed men, and, +then, that Spanish spy soon disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +We intimated when we first began this tale that Father Felix was a man +to be admired, not only for his strong religious zeal, but for his great +virility and patriotic fervor. + +Never had he shown these qualities more fully than during the naval +battle of Santiago which engagement took place shortly after the events +narrated in the last chapter; there was work to do on land as well as on +the water at that crucial time; more than 18,000 helpless persons ... +men, women and children ... marched out of the beleagued city seeking +safety in the open country surrounding it; among these were many wealthy +women of the higher class whose delicate silken garments were bedraggled +and torn by the hardships of the journey which it was necessary to make +on foot over muddy roads and through barbed wires which had been +stretched irregularly all around Santiago and its vicinity by the +Spanish soldiery for the purpose of turning back the invading Americans +who were advancing upon them. + +Among these women there was one who reached the hospital over which Ruth +Wakefield presided; she was bespattered and weary and sick at heart, +but there was a light in her dark eyes and a steadiness in her firm hand +that appealed to Ruth at once and made her single this one woman from +among all who came to her that day for help; as soon as she had changed +her apparel and washed the grime of travel from her person, she asked to +be allowed to assist the others who were at work among the little cots +that were now filled with suffering humanity; she took her place so +quietly that it seemed to those among whom she moved that she had almost +always been right there and would always continue to be there; Estrella +liked her from the first of their acquaintance and the older woman found +the girl so pleasing that whenever she could do so, she gave her hand a +little squeeze or patted her upon her shoulder to make her know that +they two were congenial and going on, together, toward the same loved +goal; this silent association became at once a bond between these two +who, in their nurse's uniforms, looked enough alike to be twin +sisters ... they had the same dark eyes and sensitive and drooping +lips ... they had the same fair skins, although Estrella had been tanned +by more outside exposure than the other had ... they moved in the same +way and both were tall and straight and lithe and quick; Ruth noticed +them together and at once began to wonder why they looked so much +alike ... then she thought of what Estrella'd told her as to what she +knew of her own family, and, immediately, Ruth began to speculate and +piece together little circumstances and then she soon began to hope that +poor Estrella, maybe, might, in this way, find her own people; so she +asked some kindly questions of the woman who had come to them that day, +and she found that she had had a little sister, long ago ... a little +sister who had disappeared and whom they'd mourned as dead for many +years; Ruth told her all she knew about the girl ... all except her +intimate association with the man whom, she, herself, had married; she +did not feel that she could speak of him to this dark stranger ... +anyway, it would not matter, now, and if Estrella wished to speak about +it later on, then she could do so; they called the girl, then, and found +she had a little dainty cross of gold that she had always worn about her +neck.... Manuello's mother had preserved it for her while she was an +infant thinking it might prove the child's identity, so that the ones +who'd cared for her might be profited thereby, and, since she knew about +it, she, herself, had held it sacred as the only link that bound her to +her unknown family ... and so it proved, indeed, the link that proved +her as the sister of the lady who had come to them that day from the +beleaguered city of Santiago. + +Estrella's blood, it seemed, was Spanish ... she had descended from the +ones who knew the roses of Castile ... she'd always seemed far +different from the peasants among whom she'd lived until she met Ruth +Wakefield who recognized in her a higher strain ... a higher nature ... +than she found in any of the peasants whom she met in San Domingo; old +Mage, even, looked upon Estrella differently than on the other servants +whom she always treated with great condescension, for she felt herself +above the most of them as she was always nearer to her dear young lady +than any of them were; Ruth trusted her with Tid-i-wats, for one thing, +which separated her from all the rest, for Tid-i-wats, was most abrupt +in very many ways, and, sometimes, even went so far as to just sink her +long, sharp claws right through whatever garments anybody wore, so that +they found and often even penetrated the skin beneath the garments; she +would do this deed in such a loving way that many who were sadly +scratched by her would try to smile and take this punishment as if it +were but joy and gladness ... old Mage squirmed sometimes, 'tis true, +beneath this discipline that Tid-i-wats gave very freely, but she never +put her down or turned against her,--only saying: + +"Tid-i-wats! Good land! Your blessed little claws are very sharp +indeed," and, then, she'd often turn to Ruth and add, "I tell you +Tid-i-wats is just as young and spry as she ever was ... no one would +ever think how old she is if he could feel her claws." + +When Estrella found that she was not alone, but had a family, and a +loving, wealthy sister, old Mage was very glad indeed ... she'd found +the girl a little in her way for many reasons; Ruth deferred to her a +little, pitying her so much, and old Mage knew that if Ruth pitied +anybody very much she might, in time, begin to love the person whom she +put her tender pity on, and, then, to the old nurse, Estrella always +brought up the memory of the man who had deceived her ... made her think +him to be far better than he'd ever been ... and, so, altogether, +Estrella's good fortune pleased old Mage in very many pleasant ways. + +To say that Ruth was glad to have Estrella find her people was to put +the case too lightly altogether; she was far too unselfish not to +rejoice in her good fortune even though her going might mean great human +loneliness for her: she had in her own inner consciousness a kind of +spiritual and lasting strength on which she always leaned when outside +companionship failed her in any way ... she never was alone although she +often seemed to be so ... in fact, Ruth Wakefield often found herself to +be alone among a crowd of human beings ... it seemed to her their many +diverse thoughts disturbed the peace of mind she always longed to +have ... her pity was so great ... her sympathy so broad ... and sorrows +and sore trials are so common to the entire race of men and women ... +that she seldom found much joy among the people whom she met; she gave +most liberally to all she came in contact with ... she gave +encouragement and comfort and sympathy and help ... but seldom did she +find a human being who could give her anything at all for any length of +time, at least: + +"They come and they go," she often sadly said. "It seems to me that +there is nothing steadfast in this world except the God on whom I always +lean when all else fails me.... I wish I _could_ find something strong +enough to tie my faith to ... I _wish_ I could ... it would be wonderful +to know that I could always find good, solid ground beneath my human +feet ... it would be wonderful to feel that nothing mattered between +another human being and myself ... to feel that nothing, good or bad, +could ever really change our feelings toward each other ... but I'd have +to know for sure that it was so ..." she'd add, "I'd have to know for +sure, I'd have to try it out somehow ... so many things have slipped +away from me ... so very many things ... I'd have to know for sure, +somehow, before I'd dare to trust too much." + +While these personal matters were taking the attention of some of those +within the shadowy hospital, Father Felix was undergoing an altogether +different experience. + +The good Priest had, more than once, covered the entire eight miles of +entrenchments around Santiago on foot and with a heavy pack containing +supplies on his broad back; during the time that elapsed between the +naval battle of Santiago and the surrender of the city on Sunday, July +17, 1898, he had marched with his little flock of soldiers over many +stony trails and through many miry passes, and, while the engagement +itself was in progress, he had performed many heroic deeds and, more +than once, he had fervently thanked God for his sturdy strength of arm +and limb because he was thereby enabled to give material as well as +spiritual aid to those who came within the reach of his hands; had +anyone been watching a certain shady spot near Santiago on July 3, 1898, +he might have witnessed a peculiar scene. + +A rather short thick-set man, dressed as an army Chaplain and wearing a +crucifix attached to a strong chain around his neck, was bending over +one who lay there in the shade; he seemed to be examining the man to see +if life remained in his body, and, yet, he always held the crucifix +before the face of him who lay there as if he wished him to behold it, +in case his earthly eyes should evermore see anything; he tried in every +way he could to gain some recognition of his holy office from the man +over whose earthly tenement he was then bending, but, as he did not +succeed in this, he gently laid the crucifix upon the apparently +pulseless breast, and went his way to find, perhaps, another one to whom +he might administer the final consolation of the church whose dogmas he +believed in. + +The man he'd left behind him stirred uneasily, and, as he writhed and +twisted there, the crucifix slid off his breast and fell upon the +ground; it lay where it had fallen until Father Felix came again and +brought with him another sufferer; he looked upon the breast of his +first charge and did not see his crucifix ... it lay beneath the body of +the one he'd left it with; he gently said: + +"I left my crucifix with you, my Friend ... I thought it might be a +consolation to you if you came to life again at all. I do not see the +crucifix ... could anyone have taken it during my absence, I wonder?" + +"I'm sure I don't know anything about your crucifix, good Sir," the man +replied in a weak voice. "I have other things to fix my mind on than +anything like that. For one thing, I am wounded and I need a surgeon +more than I do Priests or crosses." + +"I'll supply that need as far as I am able," Father Felix said. "I know +I am an amateur and yet I have set broken limbs and tied up arteries and +sewed up wounds full many times because there was no one better near +enough to do it. Where are you hurt, my Friend?" + +"I am not hurt at all, you blundering old fool, you ..." the man began. +"I'm dead and buried ... killed completely ... that is all ... and I +don't want any old woman's work. Go get a surgeon for me ... quick! I'm +losing lots of blood ... I need a surgeon, I tell you ... go get me +one!" + +Father Felix did not say a word in answer to this tirade for he had +heard full many such remarks since he had been at work among the +soldiers, and, so, he bound the wounds of the second sufferer he'd +brought before he stopped the flow of blood from his first charge, for, +well he knew the loss of some good red blood might make it easier for +him to help the man ... he was too full of life and anger ... too full +of unrepented viciousness ... for the good Priest to help him very much, +and, so, he let him lay there in the shade and curse and fume and rage +until he worked his evil temper off a little; then he gently said to +him: + +"Now, if you think that I can help you any, I will do all I can for you, +Friend, but if you'd rather lie there on the ground and take the name of +God in vain, why, I must let you do so. There is no one within hail +except myself, who knows a thing about surgery, unless this man, here, +does; I do not know about that part but he is wounded, too, so that I +guess I am your only hope here on the earth at present. May I see your +hurt and maybe bind it up and make your suffering less than it is, now?" + +Sheepishly, the man looked up at him, and moved a little so the crucifix +became exposed; Father Felix quickly picked it up and put the chain +around his neck again, and then he added to the things that he had said +before: + +"I'm sure I'm very glad I found my crucifix ... it is of value to me for +it has been the means of consolation to a great many sufferers from this +sad war; it seems to help so many to behold the sufferings of One Who +gave His precious life to save the lost and suffering souls who wander +on the earth. He loved you, Sir, and, in His Name, I love you, too, and +wish to help you, though you flout my work in your behalf. I am an +amateur, but I can bind the only wound I see about you, Sir. Shall I do +it, Sir, or not? I'd like to do the work the very best I could, but, if +you say me nay, I'll leave it as it is." + +The man grinned like a bashful boy, but he bowed his head in assent and +Father Felix went to work and bound his wound and left him lying there +beside the other sufferer and went to find another man to help; his +stocky legs and muscular arms came in quite handily, that time, for, +when he came back to the shady spot, he bore one on his shoulder who +looked and seemed as if already dead and gone beyond the things of earth +but Father Felix laid him gently down and knelt beside him while he +gently laid his recovered crucifix upon his almost pulseless breast; the +first man watched the operation silently, and, then, he moved a little +farther from the deepest of the shade and said: + +"Better bring him over here. It's better in the shade. I'll make a +little more room here beside me and maybe I can help some in the +dressing of his wounds." + +"I thank you, Sir," the Priest replied. "I surely thank you kindly, but +this man has gone, I fear, beyond our earthly aid; and, yet, I could not +bear to leave him lying out there in the sun; the heat is terrible out +there and flies and insects gather round and many lying out there suffer +from their stings. I'll leave my crucifix, here, on his breast, and, if +he moves or speaks, will you please tell him I will be right back?" + +And then good Father Felix made another solemn trip to that sad +battle-field and brought another man into the shade; and he whom he had +brought there, just before, lay silently ... the silent crucifix upon +his breast. The priest leaned down to listen for his breathing, then, +and raised his head with joy depicted on his countenance. + +"He lives!" he cried aloud. "This poor fellow is alive! Perhaps it may +be possible for us to bring him into consciousness again. Now, Sir," he +addressed the man he had first brought into the friendly shade, "maybe +you can help me. Take one of his hands between your own and rub it just +as hard as you can rub it, Sir; that's right ... now, take the other one +and do the same with it. Your strong vitality will maybe help his +weakness, Sir. We two together may be instruments in God's Hands to +bring him back to earthly life again." + +He put some drops of cordial on his tongue and chafed his limbs and +turned him over many times until he saw some signs of returning +consciousness and then he raised him up and rested his head upon his +helper's breast and held the crucifix before his face so he would see it +if his eyes would open; and his helper held the hands of him who seemed +about to die and gazed with eagerness into his countenance. + +The good Priest saw this look upon his helper's face and joyed to see it +there instead of the malevolent expression that had rested on his rather +handsome features only a short time before. + +At length, the sufferer resting on the other's breast opened his wide +eyes and gazed upon the crucifix and motioned that it be brought nearer +to his dying lips; he kissed it, then, devoutly, and his deathless +spirit passed to Him Who gave it life at first. + +Father Felix gently laid his body down upon the ground and placed the +crucifix upon his cold, still breast, and, then, he said to him who +watched it all in silence: + +"You see, Sir, some are happier to have the crucifix to kiss before they +go to meet their Maker; I did not know that you felt as you said you did +about it. I beg your pardon, Sir ... I humbly beg your pardon." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +On July 17, 1898, United States troops marched into and took possession +of the city of Santiago, thereby completing the assurance of +independence to Cuba. + +On that auspicious day Ruth Wakefield closed her temporary hospital and +turned over to its new owner the little cottage which she had built to +shelter her small family during her stay near Santiago; with tears of +joy as well as sorrow, she had said good-bye to Estrella and her +new-found relatives who were about to return to the home of the latter; +Father Felix had decided to return to his little flock at San Domingo as +he felt that his work with the army was finished, so that, in his +company and with old Mage and Tid-i-wats safely ensconced near to her, +she sailed upon the first steamer going toward Havana after there was no +longer need of her help among the American soldiers. + +It was with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow that she left the scene +of her recent activities ... she was carrying with her many sad memories +of heroism and of suffering borne with patriotic patience ... her heart +was heavy when she reflected upon the horrors she had witnessed, but +her spirit was loyal to the sacred cause for which so many splendid +lives had been sacrificed ... she could see, with prophetic vision, a +happy and prosperous race of people taking the place of the down-trodden +and pitiful company of cowering peasants with which she had been all too +familiar ... it seemed to her that she could see the smiling faces of +many happy children crowding along the narrow streets of the small +villages of Cuba ... it seemed to her that she could almost hear old men +relating the long-past horrors that had been common under the iron heel +of the Spanish oppressor ... relating these remembered facts to those +who shook their heads, half doubtingly, as they listened to them. + +Ruth herself, was looking forward with bright anticipation to her return +to her own beloved home ... dear to her, not only because of its +intrinsic attractiveness, but also because of the precious memories it +held of her parents whom she constantly mourned for and kept alive +within her loving heart; for so it is, as I believe, that those who are +beyond the earth yet live among us who are yet in human form; I think +that those who are made welcome in the hearts of men and women continue, +often, their stay within the circle of humanity; so long as mortals +remember and long for them, so long will they care to wander among the +hills and mountains and along the pleasant valleys and by the oceans +and the rivers of the earth; if they should be forgotten by all +humanity, it does not seem to me that they would often wish to look upon +the moonlight or the sunlight of our world; if nowhere in our world +their spirits could find a resting-place, it seems to me they would not +care to stray among mortal men and women. + +Freed souls, as I believe, are not compelled to associate with those who +are uncongenial to them; they do not have to yield their finest taste +and dearest wishes, as so many mortals do, to what is far beneath +them ... far beneath their inner consciousness of right and wrong. They +do not, as I hope, just because they made some sad mistake, go on +suffering for dreary years, as many women have, because they saw no way +of sure release except through death itself. + +It is a pitiful but well-established fact that many wives and mothers +have borne long years of martyrdom because, in their first youth, they +made unfortunate matrimonial alliances. + +There are so very many ways to put on binding-chains in human life; +there are so many changes common to most mortals, steadfastness and +truth are such rare qualities, that I sometimes wonder how men and women +manage even as well as they do. + +Sometimes, we criticize our fellow-men and fellow-women pretty harshly, +but, then, perhaps, we only see one side, and if we could look down from +some great height, perhaps we, then, would marvel that they do as well +as they do, now, with human life. + +There have been those who honestly expected that, when they would leave +their earthly tenements, they would go to sleep, when they had gone +across the unknown river that they knew as death's cold stream, and, +maybe, sleep a thousand years or so; they must have dreaded that last, +long sleep, especially if they, as might have happened, had never been +very sound or very quiet sleepers ... if they had always seemed to be on +guard and wakened at the slightest unfamiliar sound ... the thought that +they would just lie silently within the narrow grave they must have +known it was intended they should be put in must have been a most +unpleasant one; they must have edged around it all they could and seldom +mentioned it to anyone around them, and, yet, that horrid thought ... +that last, long sleep ... must have, often, been present in their waking +thoughts, and must have, even, sometimes, haunted them in their dreams. + +But I believe that we go right on living when we leave the earth-plane; +I believe that most of us will be wide awake and conscious from the very +start of that larger life that we will, then, begin to live. I hope that +we will find that we do not have to sleep at all unless we choose to do +so. + +Ruth Wakefield kept the memories of her parents in her heart and so she +always had them with her where she went, and, now, that she was going +back where they and she had spent so very many happy years together, it +was natural that she should think of them even more than common; a +feeling of deep sadness stole across her mind whenever she reflected on +her parents and their home, somehow; she could not account for this at +all ... she could not satisfy herself that she had any real reason for +this feeling of sadness ... but it would creep over her in spite of her +efforts to banish it from her mind; old Mage felt this and tried to +cheer her dear young lady up ... little Tid-i-wats felt it and rubbed +against her lovingly and purred her little happy song of comfort and +content ... and, yet, Ruth Wakefield dreaded, while she longed for, her +own home, and, as the vessel they were on drew near to Havana, this +feeling of unaccountable sadness deepened with the girl ... she drew her +breath in sharply and a deep and heart-felt sigh broke from her lips as +they reached the landing-place and left the wild and treacherous waters +far behind them. + +Father Felix wondered if this evident sadness and dread were due, in +part, to the experiences through which they had both passed, and also, +the thought of the man whom Ruth had married surreptitiously would often +cross the mind of the good Priest, for he knew well she often must +remember him and his dashing, dark and manly beauty; old Mage almost +cursed him in her fierce old heart when she noticed that Ruth was sad +although she'd always been so glad to come back home. + +"It's that fellow's fault!" she grumbled to herself. "It's all his +fault ... I hope he's good and dead by this time! I'm sure I'd help to +make him so, most willingly! What did he want to come into her young +life and almost ruin it for? The low-lived pup!" + +They started out, as dusk was falling, the day they reached Havana, to +go to San Domingo, and, then, home; Father Felix went with them as far +as his refectory, and there he bade them a cheerful good-bye and said +he'd come up, soon, and see them in their home again. + +Ruth, somehow, feared to say good-bye to the good Priest and kept his +hand in hers much longer than was her wont with any man ... he was a +bulwark for anyone who clung to him for strength ... his was a nature +strong and good and clean and kind.... Ruth felt this more than usually, +that evening, and dreaded to go on without him; he noticed this strange +mood in her and said with cheery acquiescence: + +"Perhaps I'd better go on up the hill with you, my Daughter. I can as +well as not. No one awaits me except my little choir-boys and they have +managed a long time without me. If you will wait a moment while I look +about a bit, I'll just go on up with you and see you nicely settled in +your own old place and then I'll come back here and settle down +myself." + +Suiting his actions to his words, the good Priest looked around and +climbed the hill with Ruth and her small retinue; the path seemed so +familiar with the shadows falling all around it, that she laughed and +said to Father Felix: + +"I am a coward, after all ... afraid of friendly wind-mills like Don +Quixote ... having had to do so much with Spaniards may have made me +like them in some degree at least.... I wonder if Cervantes was afraid, +himself, of things that no one ought to be afraid of! I wonder if Sancho +Panza was afraid, too ... was Rozinante...." + +And, then, she stopped, for they had reached what had been, once, the +outer gate of her palatial residence; there was no gate there ... there +was no residence ... there was no life there ... it was the tomb of hope +and home for her; the dwelling had been razed completely ... in its +stead were only smouldering ruins ... all her precious memories ... her +visible and tangible reminders of her parents ... had been swept +away ... she had paid an awful price for helping those who needed help +from her. + +Father Felix stood beside her with his hand upon her shoulder ... he +could not say a word of consolation or of any sort of help ... he was +dumbfounded by it all; old Mage sunk down upon the ground and wept, and +Tid-i-wats came close to Ruth and rubbed against her garments; stooping, +then, she picked her little pet up and held her closely clasped within +her sheltering arms; then she went to her old nurse and said to her: + +"Do not despair, my dear old Friend. God will provide for us, some way. +This is a dreadful thing, but we must make the very best of it that we +can possibly. I will try to think of some way whereby we may be +sheltered for this one night that is before us and then I hope to find +some way to rebuild a portion of the residence we used to have here on +this blessed spot. Let's bear this, dear old Friend. Let's think we gave +our home to save this country for the people who inhabit it and may +their homes be just as full of peace and comfort and joy and gladness as +this one that is gone has been for all who came beneath its friendly +roof." + +The Father Felix stood beside her and said: + +"My Daughter, come with me; I'll house you all for this one night at +least; I'll find a way tomorrow, somehow, for you, so that you may go on +in the path that you were meant to walk in. My Daughter, let us pray for +guidance in this unexpected sorrow. Let us pray." + +They knelt there underneath the friendly stars and the good Priest +prayed, earnestly: + +"Dear, kind and loving Father," then he said, "look down upon us as we +kneel before Thee, here; direct us with Thy holy Wisdom, for we falter +and are cast down with the burden of this day. Direct the feet of her +who has been sorely stricken, here, tonight; direct her feet so that she +may go on upon the path that Thou hast pointed out to her. Help her to +go on with courage and devotion to the cause for which she has made this +great and almost overpowering sacrifice. Help her to show in all her +acts, henceforth, the same sweet resignation to Thy Will that she has +shown so far. And help me, Father, help Thy humble servant who is but +feeble and who often fails in doing all he should for Thee and for Thy +children, help Thy humble and most unworthy servant to stand as if he +were a pillar, so that she may lean upon him if her courage falters, or +if she should stumble or grow weak in walking in the path that she was +meant by Thee to walk upon. Look down in mercy on Thy servants as we +kneel before Thee here. Amen." + +Tid-i-wats endured this, patiently, until he went beyond the common run +of prayers for him when they had been together, then she squirmed and +twisted in Ruth's arms, and, finally, escaped her altogether; then old +Mage corraled her and the two of them had quite a little conversation on +the side: + +"You naughty little thing! You must behave yourself and be a nice little +lady. Can't you see what's happened to us without making us a lot of +trouble, too?" + +And Tid-i-wats said, plainly: + +"I'll do just as I please, you mean old thing you! Don't you _dare_ to +hold me when I want to get away! I'll show you what my claws will do to +you, old Mage! You let me go this minute!" + +Then she used some language only known to cats and those who know the +devious ways of little petted cats. + +Then Ruth turned to her and whispered: + +"Little Dadditts! Little Tid-i-wats! Be a nice lady, now ... be a very +nice little lady, now. Dadditts ... little bit of Dadditts...." + +Then she held her close and tried to comfort her and gain some comfort +for herself, but her tears would come to think how happy they had always +or most always been in that fine home which seemed so much a part of +life to Ruth that, now that it was gone from her, life seemed a sordid +and a sorry thing. + +But she went with Father Felix, quietly, to the refectory and there they +all found comfort and refreshment, for the good Priest always had +prepared himself to entertain some unexpected guests, and, with +returning security and peace, his parishioners had brought some supplies +to welcome him on his return; so they fared quite well considering what +had met them when they reached the place where Ruth had thought to find +rest from her arduous toil; instead, she had to meet renewed unrest and +many problems to be solved in her near future. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +When Ruth Wakefield awoke the next morning after her arrival in the +village of San Domingo, she became conscious of her surroundings with a +sudden start; at first, she scarcely realized just where she was, for +her long trip on the boat following her strenuous and nerve-wracking +labor of the past few weeks, had left her very weary in mind as well as +in body, so that her sleep had been profound and restful; she looked +about her wonderingly and did not recognize anything near to her except +little Tid-i-wats who was cuddled up in a little soft round ball right +beside her pillow; then, from the adjoining room, she began to hear old +Mage, who was, evidently, making her customary strenuous efforts to +continue her slumbers. + +Gradually, Ruth remembered the desolation to which she had returned, +and, hastily dressing, she left the refectory intending to go at once to +the spot where her much-loved home had been, and ascertain, under the +light of day, the extent of her loss, also, she wished to make some +plans, while she could do so quietly and unobserved, as to the future of +her little family, who, as it seemed, was now without a roof to shelter +them. + +She slowly and cautiously ascended the hill; the pathway was almost +obliterated by the growth of the wild things that had been allowed to +run riot over it and she followed it more by instinct than anything +else; as she gained the point from which the proud edifice she had so +loved used to become visible to anyone approaching it, the fact that no +buildings of any kind were in sight pressed upon her inner +consciousness, and it was only with great effort that she proceeded at +all; somehow, she had hoped, she now found, that the hasty survey they +had made the night before might have been overdrawn in some respects and +the corroboration of her worst fears was hard for her to bear; but she +had become accustomed, from long endurance, to meet whatever came with +calmness and courage; so she straightened her slim, tall figure to its +full height, and advanced with the air of a soldier marching forth to +meet the foe. + +She had passed the spot where the entrance gates had been; the pillars +on either side of the entrance were almost entirely demolished and there +was nothing to be seen of the gates themselves; all along the driveway +debris was piled in disordered heaps; evidently, no one had been here, +or so it seemed at a first glance, anyway, for some time; vegetation had +even partially covered a part of the ruins of the dwelling itself; with +repeated gasps of horror, she ran from what had been the front entrance +to her home to first one side and then the other; finally, she sat down, +disconsolately, like Niobe, amid the ruins of her former happiness; she +knew that she was where her library had been; here she had found her +most satisfying, lasting happiness, surrounded as she had been by the +books she had loved; she could see the half-burned remains of many of +her favorites lying all around her; thinking to save some portion of one +of these, she picked it up, fondly, and laid it in her lap, while she +bent over it searching for some word of comfort or some sustaining +sentence; it seemed to her that some of the authors she had so dearly +loved and almost reverenced, would surely come to her aid in this dire +calamity ... it almost seemed to her as if one or more of them would +actually speak to her in such a way as to impress her mind with their +fine thoughts. + +Suddenly, she became conscious of the nearness of some human being; +looking up, surprised and even alarmed, she beheld the man whose life +she had been instrumental in saving after the battle of San Juan Hill. + +"Tender Heart," he said, softly, "Tender Heart, what have we here? Why +are you so sad? You came to me in grievous trouble and I, it seems, have +found you under similar circumstances. Tender Heart," he pleaded, +"Tender Heart, let me help you as you helped me if I can do so." + +She turned and looked into his eyes ... she rose to her feet and took +one hesitating step toward him ... she stretched out both her hands, +and, somehow, then, she felt his strong arms fold themselves around her +yielding form ... she felt his heart beat very near to hers ... she felt +his lips against her hair ... and, then, she turned her face from his +broad shoulder where it had found a resting-place, and, as her lips met +his, it seemed to her that, after all, she had come home; a feeling of +deep security and sweet peace crept over her: + +"Tender Heart," he murmured very near to her small, shell-like ear, for +she had, once more, put her head against his shoulder, "Tender Heart, +you do not know my name.... I am, to you, but one of those five men who +volunteered, at once, to follow Teddy up San Juan Hill.... I am, to you, +but only him you rescued from almost certain death upon that bloody +battle-field. Are you sure you are not making a mistake, sweet, trusting +Tender Heart, to grant me this great privilege, knowing as little of me +as you do?" + +He waited for her answer, for some time, but, then, he waited willingly +indeed, for her soft nearness was enough to make him very happy; when +her answer came she spoke in such low tones he had to listen very +closely ... he had to put his arms about her a little closer than they +had been yet ... he had to lift her from the ground and bring her soft, +red mouth upon a level with his head, indeed ... and then, he heard her +say: + +"I know you just as well as you know me. We do not know each other's +names ... we do not need to know them ... now ... I only know I love +you, Dear ... and, now, I know that you love me." + +And, then, he set her feet upon the ground again and looked down into +her clear, gray eyes, and found within their shining depths the very +things he wanted most to know; and she looked up and saw a man who was a +man indeed ... a man on whom she knew that she could lean ... a man whom +she would love to walk beside ... a man of whom she could be always +proud. + +Standing there, they gazed into each other's eyes and read their future +in them ... read the happiness that they might know together on the +earth, and, then, they saw beyond the chance and change that seem to to +govern earthly things, and saw themselves together in some higher, +better sphere. They plainly saw, there, in each other's eyes, the +promise of another, more etherial world, where they might spend long +ages of eternal joy and gladness in each other's company. + +Father Felix found them so, for he had followed Ruth to see if he could +help her meet the problems that confronted her; the good Priest +hesitated for only a moment before he said: + +"My Daughter, I trust that you have found true happiness. Sir, I do not +know you very well, but I can give you most profound assurance that you +have found a jewel among women; if she has any faults I have not found +them, yet, and I have spent full many happy hours in her society; my +work is to find faults, if so be I can trace them out; I am a hunter, +and a most successful one, of human frailties, and, when I give you my +most profound assurance that I have not found a fault in this one woman, +the statement is worthy of respect. + +"Your coming at this time is most propitious, for I was almost at my +wit's end as to how to help her bear the direful calamity that has just +come upon her. She has not remembered half she's lost, and, now that she +has found you, Sir, I trust that she will nevermore remember much of it, +but that she will go on, with you beside her, leaving far behind her in +her earthly path sad memories of happy days that nevermore can come to +her." + +The man, then, gave to Father Felix his right hand and kept his left arm +round Ruth's slender waist: + +"I do not doubt your word," he answered the good Priest. "I feel that +every single word of what you've said is strictly true, and, yet, I have +some fault to find with this young lady, here; she came away and did +not leave a message behind for me, and I have had a weary, most +disheartening time since she departed. I came to San Domingo, I traced +her that far, easily, and, then, I found a little girl named Tessa +something, who said she knew the very place to find her in ... she said +she knew she'd go where, once, the mansion on the hill had stood ... +and, so, I came straight here, and, so, I've found her. Tender Heart," +he asked, "have you told the good Priest how we met?" + +Then Ruth blushed her pretty, fleeting, characteristic little blush, and +said: + +"Father Felix knows me even better than I know myself, for he has told +me many times what I would do before I did it. Father Felix knows me +better, even, that _you_ do," then she turned to Father Felix, laughing +like a happy little child, and added, "He don't even know my name and I +have no idea what _his_ is; he calls me Tender Heart because I am so +easily misled by tenderness and I call him ... why, I have never called +him anything at all." + +"Yes, you have!" he interrupted, eagerly. "You called me 'Dear' just +now ... so she is Tender Heart and I am Dear and that's enough, I think, +don't you?" + +The good Priest smiled upon them almost condescendingly, for he was far +above such little human twists and turns, or so he seemed to be at +least, and so he was in very truth, for he had had his romance ... he +had seen the grave close over the bright curls of one he dearly loved +who loved him just as dearly as he did her; it was after that that he +had taken up the work he did so well; he left his human happiness behind +him in that narrow grave and looked beyond it to a higher, better kind +of happiness; Ruth knew a little of this romantic sorrow for the good +Priest had imparted it to her, and, so, her tender eyes filled up with +sudden tears and her low, sweet voice trembled into even softer cadences +than usual as she said: + +"Dear Father Felix, you are more to me than any loving brother that a +woman ever had ... you are the only one who ever understood my human +sorrow and I think that you will fully understand my human happiness. I +wish with all my heart that you could be as happy as we are," her fair +face flushed again, "for you deserve far more of happiness than I do ... +as for him," she added, archly, "as for him ... do not be too sure of +perfect human happiness for him.... I am but a mere child in very many +ways.... I have so very much to learn.... I'm sure I'll always do the +very best I can, but whether that will be the very best that could be +done, of course I do not know." + +"I'll risk it, anyway, and I will risk it gladly, joyfully," the man +averred. "I'd go again upon that bloody battle-field if you'd be sure +to find me, Tender Heart," he ended, "if only in that way we two were +meant to meet." + +When Ruth went back to the refectory she found old Mage and Tid-i-wats +as lively as two crickets and as cheery as could be ... she introduced +the man whose life she'd saved, or so it seemed, to them, and each of +them acknowledged the introduction in her own peculiar way; old Mage +stared at the man and sized him up most shrewdly, and, then, she gave +her verdict very plainly by her manner of addressing him: + +"I'm glad to see you, Sir," she said. "I'm surely very glad to see you +for I've often heard my dear young lady speak of you; I hope you'll stay +around here near to us for we will have another home to build and +Tid-i-wats and I are not much help to her.... I'm growing to be an old +woman, now, and Tid-i-wats is so peculiar that she never is much help to +anyone." + +And, then, the little cat came close to him and smelled his hands and +rubbed against his legs, and, finally, when he sat down, she jumped up +in his lap and settled down and twisted round and licked herself and +washed her face and made herself entirely at home; and then she looked +up at old Mage and Ruth and whispered to them that she liked him very +well indeed, and, so, he was adopted into that small family. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +An author who has been considered by very many people to be a most +successful writer, one whose words have set before very many eyes vivid +pictures of individual characteristics and national events as well, +whose Indians are known all over the world, and whose historical novels +will be eagerly perused as long as there are American eyes to read the +pages of any book at all, used to make a sort of summary of the +principal events in the lives of his very interesting characters: it +always seemed to me that there was something very wholesome and +satisfying in the way he finished up his books, and, so, I'd like to +relate just a little more about the people I have tried to picture in +this little book of mine. + +Ruth Wakefield found her earthly mate when she found him whose life she +helped to save upon the battle-field at night, and spent full many happy +years in his society; they built a modern home upon the site of the +mansion on the hill and did much good among the peasants living near to +them; the man became the author of very many books, and Ruth assisted +him in very many ways. + +Old Mage and little Tid-i-wats lived out the span of earthly life +allotted to each one of them, beneath the tender eye and ready hand of +her who loved them both, and, when the time that had been set for them +to leave this world behind them, came, Ruth Wakefield staid beside them +to the very last, and ministered to them as no one else would ever do. + +The man she'd found had named her well when he said "Tender Heart!" to +her, that night upon the battle-field. + +Her heart was very tender, always, except with reference to herself; she +often did upbraid herself and never gave herself much credit; she often +mourned, in secret, over her few brief memories of the wild, impulsive, +almost insane, so-called love of him she'd married in her untried youth; +she often said: + +"Poor Boy! Poor, lost and misled Boy! I ought to have treated him far +differently than I did; his earthly path crossed mine for some good +reason, I presume; and I did not do all the things I might have done, +when I was near enough to help him, for him ... yet ..." she always +ended, "I did the very best I could do for him, it seemed to me, at the +time I had the opportunity, and I always meant and prayed to do just +right. I went wrong, somehow ... or he had gone too far along a certain +road before I ever met him for me to turn him back ... anyway, I pity +him with all my heart and hope that he is happy where he's gone.... I +hope he's found the very place he belongs in.... I know I always think +of him with tender pity and no resentment, although, according to the +standards of the world, he did me grievous wrong. Poor lost and misled +Boy! He often looked so sad and desperate ... I wish I had done better +by him while I had the chance." + +Her tender heart was uppermost in almost all she did except when she was +doing for herself, and, then, she'd say: + +"My tastes are very simple ... I do not need very much of this world's +goods ... it takes so very little happiness to make me almost wild with +joy.... I've had to look on sorrow often, and, when I come to Joy, I +bask in it as if it were God's holy sunshine." + +But, if it should be that old Mage or Tid-i-wats or anyone of all of +those who were dependent on her, from time to time, for she, somehow +always seemed to accumulate those who needed her help round her, why, +then it was quite different to Tender Heart ... then, she'd say and say +with vigor: + +"Of _course_ I can arrange to have it that way! Why, certainly, if that +would bring happiness, I'll fix it right away." + +And sure enough she would arrange it, no matter what it meant for her of +loneliness or labor ... no matter if she had to go along a lonely road +that had been full of peace and happiness for her before the one who +left her lonely had come into her daily life and made it hard for her, +in that way, while the days were going by, yet made a grievous change +again, in going; she set her teeth and did the things she had to do to +make the other person happy, or to do the things he said would make him +happy, then she turned her face toward her own life, cheerfully, +although her hours were often very sad and lonely. + +But this was all before she met the man whose life she'd helped to save +upon that battle-field ... all before she'd lost her cherished home and +built another one. From that time on unto the end of earthly life for +her, she found sweet satisfaction and content, for she had found a +steadfast love to lean upon, a strong and true and virile human being, +whose tastes were similar to hers, who loved his native land, America, +with all his heart, as she did, too. + +It heartens all humanity to meet a happy pair who are congenial. + +It gives all other human beings courage to go on upon the path that has +been set for them to go upon, to know that there is happiness if only +they could find the way to reach it. + +Estrella soon forgot the handsome lover over whom she mourned so +bitterly; the memory of him soon became a wild, sweet dream, and had she +met him as he was in San Domingo, after she had found her proper place +in life, it is probable that she would have turned away from him; life's +contrasts have so much to do with early love that it is often difficult +to know what love is really like; Estrella, when she was an unknown +waif, was differently placed than she was later on. Victorio Colenzo +would not have seemed the same to her that he did when she was but an +unknown, simple girl; education made a change in her ... her sister +looked to that. She grew to be a splendid woman, in very many ways, and +married one who was her peer. + +Poor little Tessa seems the most forlorn of all the characters in this +book. She tried so hard and failed so utterly in almost all she ever +did. But Father Felix watched her tenderly, and helped her on, and, +finally, one day, he married her to one who loved her truly in his own +rude way, to one who was a sturdy peasant like herself, who had no +romance in him, but who was true to her, and kind, as kindness goes +among his sort of people; he provided for her and their children; she +had many more necessities and even luxuries than most of those who were +associated with her. She, sometimes, dreamed of Manuello; she never knew +how his life ended. + +Ruth Wakefield looked her up, from time to time, but did not tell her +very much about the Spanish-American war or those who entered into it; +she knew she could not really understand much more than would the +helpless baby at her ample breast, for Tessa did not stay the slim, +small person that she was at first; she grew to be as wide, almost, as +she was tall, and seemed to be quite happy as she was. She always limped +a little from the blow that Manuello gave to her; the deep, sad scar he +left upon her gentle heart could not be seen, and it, somehow, grew over +as her flesh and family increased. + +Estrella always remembered her and sent her many costly and curious +things which were her constant delight. She loved to display these +mementoes of her girlhood's friend; her children, and her heavy husband, +too, were, always proud of them. + +It seems to me that, when such souls as animated little Tessa's form +leave this world behind them for all time, it must be that they find +some soft, warm places, where they can sit at ease and watch dear little +children play, and, maybe, join them in their play, and dream of happy +hours, and forget all the trials of their lives upon the earth. + +The course of human life will, sometimes, like a placid river, flow +along for many years without a single change that is any more disturbing +than a little, gentle ripple or an easy turn; then, all at once, like +the water, that has been so clear and still, when it has reached the +rapids and becomes a raging, turbid torrent, so human life may, +suddenly, be stirred to its very depths; something may transpire that +will call for the most sublime courage and the most strenuous endeavor, +combined with the most harrowing self-sacrifice. + +Like a stroke of lightning out of a calm summer sky, more than one great +event in our national history has thrust itself upon our startled +consciousness. At these times, leaders have appeared who have taken +their places at the head of affairs as naturally and as calmly as if +they had been, always, guiding those who followed after them, although, +perhaps, before the time that they were needed, they were, +comparatively, unknown. And so, it seems to me, it will be always. There +is a Plan, an infinite, a just, a universal Plan, to which all things, +mundane or otherwise, must, in the end, conform. To keep ourselves +informed as to the part that we were meant to take in this great Plan, +it seems to me, should be our constant study and our constant strong +desire. + +The light of truth and understanding, that is God's Smile, looks up into +our faces from the heart of every flower, whether bathed in moonlight, +or shining underneath the sun; the simplest soul or the grandest +intellect, alike, may bask beneath this light and feel its healing +power. + +I love, above all else, the God of truth and right and justice, Who +rules all worlds and watches over everything that lives and moves and +has its being in His whole universe. + +It seems to me that there is implanted, although it may be completely +covered up, at times, in the nature of every human being, a reverence +and a most affectionate regard, that rests upon implicit faith, for Him +Who gave to us, at the very beginning of of our human lives, an +infallible guide ... conscience, or inner consciousness of right and +wrong ... which, if always heeded, will show us where to go and what to +do, no matter what vicissitudes, disappointments or sorrows we may meet. + +And, next to God, it seems to me, it is both natural and right to love +the land of one's nativity. + +I know I hold in my regard, above all personal advantages, above all +temporal happiness or praise, America ... the great United States ... +_that one fair land whose single boast has always been that it was +free_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An American, by Belle W. 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