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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1904)
THE ILLUSTRATED IlEE. April JO, 1904. . much to be exultant over. We hail not really captured the ilrates; they had been handed over to the admiral by the Havana authorities aa an International courtesy, I suppose; or else because they were pirates of no neoount and short Iji funds, or because the admiral had been making a fuss in front of the Morro. It u even asserted by thi ant I -admiral facthm that the seven wcrca't pirates at all, but merely Cuban mauvais sujets, hawkers of derogatory coplas, and known Iree-thlnkern. A haad caught at my arm and someone began to speak to me. It was eld Kumns, who was telling me that he hud a special kind of Manchester Roods at his store.. He was drawing me gently along all the time, and 1 Imd not any Idea of resisting. He had hi-en behind in the crowd, he siiid, be side I lie carriage of the romnrifmloner and the Judge of the marine eoirrt sent by the Havana authorities to deliver the pirates. It wa after that, that In Ruraon's dusky store, I had my first sight of Seruphtna and of her father, and then come my meet ing with Carlos. I could hardly tiellrve my eyes when 1 saw him come out with extended hand. It was ar. extraordinary Sensatkin, Hint of talking to Carlos uguin. He seamed to have worn badly. His fare had hwt its moist tdiHim, its hardly dis tinguisfhable subcutaneous flush. It had grown very, very pale. lark blue circles took a any from the blackness and sparkle of his eyes. And he roughed, and roughed. He put his arm affectionately round my Shoulders and said. "How splendid to see you a train. my Juan.' His eyes had affec tion in them, there was no doubt about that, but 1 felt vaguely auspicious of him. 1 remembered how we had parted on tniard the Thames. "We csn talk here." he added; "It is very pics, int. You shall see mv uncle, that great man, the star of Cuban law, and t tousin Seraphim, your kinsfolk. Thoy love you; I have spoken well of yni." He smiled gnyly, and went on, "This is not a pla.ee hedtting his great ness, nor my cnusiii's, nor, indeed, my own." He smiled again. "Hut I shall bo Very soon dead, and to me it matters lit tle." lie frowned a Utile, and then laughed. "Hut you should have seen the faces of your oflloern when my uncle re fused to go to their governor's palace; there was to have been a 'fiesta,' a 're ception;' Is it not the word? It will cause a great scandal." He smiled with a good deal of fine malice, and looked as if he expected me to be pleased. 1 said that I did not quite under stand what had offended his uncle. "Oh. It was because there was no priest." Carlos answered, "when those poor devils were hung. They were canaille. Yes; but one gives that much even to such. And my uncle was there in his official capacity as a a plenipotentiary. He was Very much distressed; we were all. Y'ou heard, my uncle himself had ndvisod their being surrendered to your English. And when there was no priest he repented very bitterly. Why. after all, it was an In famy." He began to ask for news from home from my home. 1 told h'm that Veronica had a baby, and ho sighed. "She married the excellent Rooksby?" be usked. "Ah, what u. waste." Ho re lapsed into silence again. "There was no woman in your land like her. She might have And to marry that that excellent personage, my good cousin. It's a tragedy." "It was u very good mutch." 1 answered. He sighed again. "My unule Is uslcep in there, now," he said, uftcr n pause, point ing at the inner door. "We must not wake 1dm; he is a very old man. Tou do not mind talking to ine? You will wait to see them? Donna Seruphlna is here too." "You huve not married your coubIii?" I asked. I wanted very much to see the young girl who had looked at me for a moment, and 1 certainly should huve been distressed if Carlos had said she was married. He answered, "What would you have?" and shrugged his shoulders gently. A smile came into his face. "She is very willful. I did not please her, I do not know why. Per haps she has ween too many men like me." He told me that, when he reached Cuba, after iiarting with me on the Thames, his uncle, "in spite of certain Influences," hiul rocetved him quite naturally as his heir, and the future head of the fumlly. Hut Beraphlnu, whom by the laws of miwriil ence he ought to have married, hud calmly refused him. "I did not impress her; ahe is romantic She wanted a very bold man, a Old, some thing that it is not -easy to have." He paused again, and looked at me with some sort of challenge in his eyes. "Bho could have met no one better than you," I said. He waved his hand a little. "Oh, for that " he said deprecatlngly. "Hesides, 1 am dying. 1 have never been well since I went into your cold sea, ever there, after we left your sister. You remomlier how I cougbed on board that miserable ship." I did rememlKT It very well. He went to the inner -door, looked in, and then eamc buck to mc. "Serapl.lra needs a guide a controller someone strong and gentle, and kind and brave. My uncle will nevr ask her to marry against her wish; he Is too old und has too little will. And for any man who Would marry her except one there would be great dangers, for her and for him. It would need a cool man, and a brave man, and a good una, tou, to buxard, perhaps even life, for her sake. She win to very rich. All ur lands, all our towns, all our gold." Thwrs was a suggestion of fabulousness in his dreamy voice. "They shall never lie mine," he added. "Vaya." "There is a mas called O'Hrien In here," be said. "He does us the honor to pretend to my cousin's hand. He's a very dangw fu man. I should not advise anyone to come to Rio M-erlin. my wncle'e town, with out making a friend ef the Senor O'Krlmi." He Went once more to the inner floor, and, after a moment's whispering with someone within, returned to mc. "This man retiellod against your govern ment and. In the Kver Falttrful inland, that is a passpnrt. He has climbed very high; he Is a judge of the marine court at Havana. That is why lie is here today, at tending my uncle in this affair cf deliver Ing tip the pirates. My uncle loves tihn very much. O'Hrien was at first my uncle's clerk and my uncle also mad hlrn a jucs, and he Is also the inlendant of my uncle's estates, and he has a great Influence in my uncle's town of Klo Medio. 1 tell you. if you come to visit us. It will r as well to lie on good terms with the Scnnr Jnes O'Hrien. My uncle Is a very old man, and if I die before him. 1his O'Hrtem, I think, will end by mnrrying my cousin, iKvcatiac my poor uncle Is very much in his hands. There are other pretenders, but the1)' have little chance, because It is so very danger ous to come 1o my uncle's town -of Rio Wcdio. on account nf this msn's Intrigues and of his power with the populace." 1 looked lit Carlos Intently. The name of the town had seemed to be familiar to me. Now I suddenly remembered that It was where Nicolas el Jk-ninulo. the pirate who was so faiAous as to be almost myth leal, had beaten off Admiral Rowley's boats. He threw the door open. T followed him Into the room, where the vision of the ancient' ilon and the charming apparition of the young girl had retreated only a few minutes before. CJIA1TKK HI. The room was lolly and coldly dim; there were groat liars in front of the begiiined windows, lienealh a window the llap of uri open trhp door half hid a large green damp stulu; a deep recess in the wall yawned like u cavern, und had two or three tubs in the right corner; a man with a blond head, slightly bald us If he had been ton sured, wus rocking gently in one of the new chairs. Opposite him, with his nged face toward us, sat the old don asleep'in the high chair. His delicate white hands lay along Ihe arms, one of them holding n gold vin aigrette; his black, silvcr-headi d cane was between his silk-stockinged legs. The dia mond buckles of hin shoes shot out little vivid ruys, even in that gloomy place. The young girl was sitting with her hands to her temples and her elbows on the long table, minutely examining the motionless ncss of n baby lizard, a tiny thing with golden eyes, whom fear seemed to huve turned into stone. We entered quietly, and after a moment she looked tip candidly Into my eyes and placed her linger on her lips, motioning her head toward her father. She placed her hand in mine and whispered very clearly: "He welcome, my English cousin," ami then dropped her eyes again to the lixurd. She knew all about me from Carios. The man, of whom 1 hud seen only the top of ills head, turned his chair suddenly and glinted at me with little bin eyes. He was rather small und round, with very firm llesh, and very white, plump bunds He was dressed In the black clothes nf a Spanish judge. On his round face there wus always a smile like that which hangs around the Jaws of a pike only more humorous. He bowed a little exaggeratedly to me and said: "Ah. ye are that famous Mr. Kemp." I said thut I tmnglned him the more famous Senor .Inez O'Hrien. "It's little use saying ye arren't famous," he said. His voice had the faint, infinitely sweet twang of certain lriahry; a thing as delicate and intangible as the scene of lime flowers. "Our noble frlend"--he indicated Carlos with a little flutter of one white hand "has told me what make of a dare devil gallant ye are; breaking the skulls of half the Itow street runners for the sake of a friend In distress. Well, 1 honor ye for it; I've done an much myself." He added. "In the old days," and signed. "You mean in the '." 1 said, a little Insolently. O'Hrlen's eyes twinkled. To lilm. even though he was now a judge in fJuha, ft was an episode of heroism of youth of romance. In fact. So that, probably, he did not resent my mention of it. "Now, I'll make you a fair offer," O'T-trien sold suddenly, after an intent study of the Insolent glunce that 1 gave him. 1 disliked him liecause I knew noth ing about the sort of man he was. And be gave me the impression that, If per haps he were not absolutely the lietter man, he could still make a ford of me, or at loast make m look like n fool. "I'm told you are a Sopnr.U ionlst," he said. "And there are warrants out against you here for assaulting the admiral. We can work together, and there's nothing low In what 1 have In my mind for you." It was the ttrst I had heard definitely of warrants against ine in Jamaica. That, no doubt, he bad heard from Kamon, who knew everything. In all this little sar donic man said to me. It seemed the (inly thing worth attention. It stuck In my mind while, in psrminstvr tunes, and wbh airy fluency, lie discoursed of the protlis that could tie made, nowadays. In arming privateers under the Mexlcuu flag. lie told me 1 needn't lie surprised at th ir being fitted out iu a Siuinivh colony. "There's more than one aspect to dls loyaTty like this," said bo dispassionately. Siwiln resented our recognition of their rebellious colonies. And with the same foul persuaKivemens, relieved by humorous smiles, be explained thut the loyal Span iards or the Kver Fall h fill Island thought there was no sin In doing barm to the English, even under the Mexican flag, hose legal existence they did not iceog ntse. "Mind ye, it's sn organised thing, 1 have something to nay Hi rt. It hurts Air. Canning's government at home, the curse of Cromwell on him and them. They will lie dropping some of their own colonics fltrently. And as you hit n Sopathtto al-t, small blame to you, and 1 urn an h i h inan. we shan't cry our eyes cut over It. Come, Mr. Kemp, 'tis ull fur Ihe good of the cause . . . And there's nothing low. You are a gentlrmun, and 1 wouldn't pro pose anything thut was. The very lest people in Havana are Interested In the mutter. Our schooners lie In Ru Medio, but I can't lie there all the lime myself." Surprise deprived me of s eh. I gin need nt Carlos. He wus watching us Inscrutably. The young girl touched the lizard gently, list It wus too frightened to move, trillion Willi shrewd glances, rocked his chair. "Now, 1 offer you a good berth, a snug berth. And 'tis a pretty spot." He got a sort of languorous honey into his voice and drawled out. "Thetin. Sotiortta's." Ho took an air of business-like candor. "You ran help us and we you, we could do with out you better than you without us. Our undertaking there's big names in It, just us in the free trading you know so well, don't be saying you don't is worked from Havana. What we need is a lusn we can trust. We had one Nichols. Y'ou remem ber the mute of the ship you caiiic over in. He was Nicola el Detuonio; he won't ho any longer 1 can't tell you why, it'H too long a story." 1 laughed outright. "You're quite nils taken In your man," 1 said. "You are. really." He shook his head gently, and brushed an Invisible speck from bis plump black knees. "Y'ou must go somewhere," ho said. "Why not go with us?" I said suddenly and recklessly: "I am not a traitor to my oJountry." Theu 1 realized with sudden concern that I hud probably awakened the ol.l lion, lie stirred uneasily in Ills chair and lifted one liund. "The moment I go out from here I'll de nounce you," I said very low; "I swear 1 will. You're here; you can't get away; you'll swing." O'Hrien started. Ills eyes blazed it me. Then he frowiwd. "I've Is-en misled," he muttered, with a dark glance at Curios. And recovering his jocular serenity, "Ye mean It?" he usked; "Its not Hiltlsh ho roies?" The old Don stirred again and sighed. The young girl glided swiftly to his side. "Senor O'Hrien," she said, "you have so Irritated my English cousin that he has awakened my father." O'Brien grinned gently, " 'TIs ever the way," he suld sardonically. "The F.ngliali fools do the hurm and the Irish fool gola the kicking." He rose to his feet, quite collected, a spick-aud-spun Utile man. "I suppose I've said too much. Well, well! J"ou are going to denounce the senior Judge of the marine court of Havana us a plrali . I wonder who will believe you?" He went behind tho old don's chair with the gliding motion of a Spanish lawyer, and slipped down the open trap latch near the window. It wus the disappearance of a shadow. I heard some guttural muttering come up through the hatch, u rustling, then silence. If he was afraid of me at ull he currb-d It off very well. 1 uiiloglr.ed to the young girl for having awakened her father. Her color wan veiy high, and her eyes apurk)d. If she had not lieen so very beautiful I should luive gone uwuy at once, fihe said angrily: "He Is odious to me, the Senor Juez. Too long my father bus suffered his iiiKoleuee." She was very small, but ahe hud an extra ordinary dignity ( command. "I could see, senor, that he was nnnnylng you. Why should you consider such a creature?" Her head dropped. "Hut my father Is very ohl." I turned upon Curios, who stood all black In the light of the window. "Why did you make me meet hlin? He may be a Judge of your marine cnurt. but he's nothing but a scoundrelly bog trotter." Carlo said a little haughtily, "You must not denounce him. Y'ou should not leave this place if I fuurad you would try thim to taliig dishonor on this gray bead snd involve this young girl in a public scnndul." His manner became soft. "For (be honor of the house you shall say nothing. And you shall come with us. I nml you." ' There wus something deep there. Soins thiug deep; something .dangerous; mouic In trigue, that 1 could hvt conceive ev. n the hist notion of. Hut that Curios wan led anxiously to make use of me for some pur pose was clear. 1 was mystified to the point of forgetting Imw heavily 1 was iiuii promised even In Jamaica, though It was worth remembering, because nt thut time un Indict incut for rebellion -under the black act-was no joking matter. i might le sent home under arrest; and even theu there was my uffalr with the runners. "It Is coming to pay a visit." he was say ing persuasively, "while your affair lure blows over, my .lnan -and-and - making my lust hours easy, perhaps." 1 looked at him; le was worn to a shadow -a shadow with dark, willful ojft, "I don't understand you," I faltered. Tho old man stirred, opened Ids lids, and put a gold vircilgrelle to bis nostrils. "Of course 1 shall not denounce O H ion," I said. "I. too, respect Ihe honor of your bouse." "Yon are even better than 1 thought you. And if 1 entreat you. for the love of your mother of your sister? Join, it Is not for myself, It Is " The young gill was pouring some drops from a green phial Into a silver goblet; she pawed close t us, and bandid it In her lather, who bid leant a little for ward In his chair. Kvcry movement of hi rs affected me with an intimate Joy; It was as If 1 hail been waiting to- see Just that carriage of the nci k. just that proud glance from the ees, .lost that diiuip of eyelashes upon the cheeks, for years and yours. "No, 1 sluill hold my tongue, and (hat's enough." 1 said. At that moment the old Hon sat up and cleared his throat. Carlos sprung to wards him with un Infinite grace of lender obsequiousness, lie mentioned my name and the relationship, then rehearsed the Innumerable titles of his uncle, ending "and patron -of the Hlshoprie of liuar del Klo." 1 stood sllflly In front of the old man. He bowed his head nt Intervals, holding the silver cup carefully whilst his chair rm-ked a III lie. When Curios' mellow voice had finished the rehearsing of the sonorous styles, 1 mumbled something about "t ranscendenl honor." Ho stopped me with a little, deferen tially peremptory gesluie of one bund, ami began to siieak, smiling with a contraction of the lips and a trembling of the head. Ills voice wis very low, and quavered slightly, hut every syllable was enunciated with the sumo beauty of clearness that there was in his features, In his hands, in his undent gestures. "The honor is to me," lie ftald, "and the pleusure. I behold my kinsman, who, with great heroism, 1 am told, rescued my dearly loved nephew from great dan gers; It Is un honor to me to bo able to give hhn thanks. My beloved nnd la mented sister contracted a union with un Knglish hidalgo, through whose house your own very honoruble family is allied to my own; it Is a pleasure to mo to meet lifter mauy years with one who bus Heun the places where her later lire was passed." " grew dark. The old don fell asleep again. Save for the gleam of the silver buckle of bis hat, ho had disappcand into the gloom of the place. remembered my engagement to dine with Williams on board the l.lon, nnd 1 moved to withdruw. There did not seem to be any chance of my talking to the young girl. Khr wns once more loaning nonchalantly over Ihe lixurd, und her hair drooped right across h.-i face like clusters of grHpes. Cj.rlos came con cernedly toward me an i look, d it the door. "Hut you must not go yet. ' in- said a little suavely; "I have many things to say. Tell me " His manner heightened my unnslneas to a feur. The expression of his eyrs changed und they became lixed over my shoulder, while on his lips the worda, "Y'ou must come, you must come," trembled, hardly audible. I could only Hhnke my head. At once he stepped back us If resigning. He wus giving me up--and it oecurred to me that if Ihe (lunger of his sedu.-tl.in was over there remulmil the danger of uiTest Just outside the door. Home one behind me suld pore mpt orlly, "it is time." und there wns a dickering diminution of the light. I hud a faint In stantaneous view of ttic old don dosing, with his head bock of the tall windows, cut up into squares by fhe bluck burs. Something huirily course run harshly down my face; 1 grew blind; my mouth, n:y eyes, my uoetrils were tilled with dust; i.-y hruuth abut in upon ine became a flood o' warm nir. J hud no time to rctdst. 1 kickbd my legs convulsively; my elbows were drawn tight against my Mid. Some ne grunted under my weight; then 1 was car rieddown, along, up, down again; my fret wore knocking along a wall, und the tup of my head rubU'd occasionally against what must have been the roof of a low s ' passage, issuing from under the buck room of Kamon'u store. Finally. I wus rtTopiied iinn something that felt like a heap of wood shavings. My surprise, rage and horror hnd been so grent that, nftrr the first stifled cry. ) hnd made no sound. I beard the footsteps of several men going away. (To be Continued.)