Part 19 (2/2)

”But wait! That is not all. After we had taken the town and destroyed what Rebel officers we found--”

”You mean--your prisoners?”

”Si. But there were only a few, and doubtless some of them would have died from their wounds. Well then, after that General Longorio called his old friend--that capitan--out before his troops and with his own hand he shot him. Then every fifth man among those who had refused to charge he ordered executed. It effected much good, I a.s.sure you.”

For a moment Alaire and her companion rode in silence, but the teniente was not content with this praise of his leader.

”And yet General Longorio has another side to his character,” he continued. ”He can be as mild as the shyest senorita, and he possesses the most beautiful sentiments. Women are mad over him. But he is hard to please--strangely so. Truly, the lady who captivates his fancy may count herself fortunate.” The old soldier turned in his saddle and, with a grace surprising in one of his rough appearance, removed his hat and swept Alaire a bow the unmistakable meaning of which caused her to start and to stammer something unintelligible.

Alaire was angry at the fellow's presumption, and vexed with herself for showing that she understood his insinuation. She spurred her horse into a gallop, leaving him to follow as he could.

It was absurd to take the man's word seriously; indeed, he probably believed he had paid her a compliment. Alaire a.s.sured herself that Longorio's attentions were inspired merely by a temporary extravagance of admiration, characteristic of his nationality. Doubtless he had forgotten all about her by this time. That, too, was characteristic of Latin men. Nevertheless, the possibility that she had perhaps stirred him more deeply than she believed was disturbing--one might easily learn to fear Longorio. As a suitor he would be quite as embarra.s.sing, quite as--dangerous as an enemy, if all reports were true.

Alaire tried to banish such ideas, but even in her own room she was not permitted entirely to forget, for Dolores echoed the teniente's sentiments.

In marked contrast to Jose Sanchez's high and confident spirits was the housekeeper's conviction of dire calamity. In the presence of these armed strangers she saw nothing but a menace, and considered herself and her mistress no more nor less than prisoners destined for a fate as horrible as that of the two beautiful sisters of whom she never tired of speaking. Longorio was a blood-thirsty beast, and he was saving them as prey for his first leisure moment--that was Dolores's belief.

Abandoning all hope of ever seeing Las Palmas again, she gave herself up to thoughts of G.o.d and melancholy praises of her husband's virtues.

In spite of all this, however, Alaire welcomed the change in her daily life. Everything about La Feria was restfully un-American, from the house itself, with its bare walls and floors, its brilliantly flowering patio, and its primitive kitchen arrangements, to the black-shawled, barefooted Indian women and their naked children rolling in the dust.

Even the timberless mountains that rose sheer from the westward plain into a tumbling purple-shadowed rampart were Mexican. La Feria was several miles from the railroad; therefore it could not have been more foreign had it lain in the very heart of Mexico rather than near the northern boundary.

In such surroundings, and in spite of faint misgivings, it was not strange that, after a few days, Alaire's unhappiness a.s.sumed a vaguely impersonal quality and that her life, for the moment, seemed not to be her own. Even the thought of her husband, Ed Austin, became indistinct and unreal. Then all too soon she realized that the purpose of her visit was accomplished and that she had no excuse for remaining longer.

She was now armed with sufficient facts to make a definite demand upon the Federal government.

The lieutenant took charge of the return journey to the railroad, and the two women rode to the jingling accompaniment of metal trappings.

When at last they were safely aboard the north-bound train, Alaire mildly teased Dolores about her recent timidity. But Dolores was not to be betrayed into premature rejoicing.

”Anything may happen at a moment's notice,” she declared. ”Something tells me that I am to meet a shocking fate. I can hear those ruffianly soldiers quarreling over me--it is what comes from good looks.” Dolores mechanically smoothed the wrinkles from her dress and adjusted her hair. ”Mark you! I shall kill myself first. I have made up my mind to that. But it is a great pity we were not born ugly.”

Alaire could not forbear a smile, for she who thus resigned herself to the penalties of beauty had never been well favored, and age had destroyed what meager attractions she may have once possessed.

Dolores went on after a time. ”My Benito will not long remain unmarried. He is like all men. More than once I have suspected him of making eyes at young women, and any girl in the country would marry him just for my fine silver coffee-pot and those spoons. There is my splendid silk mantilla, with fringe half as long as your arm, too. Oh, I have treasures enough!” She shook her head mournfully. ”It is a mistake for a wife to lay up pretty things, since they are merely temptations to other women.”

Alaire tried to reason her out of this mood. ”Why should any one molest us? Who could wish us harm?” she asked.

”Ha! Did you see that general? He was like a drunken man in your presence; it was as if he had laid eyes upon the s.h.i.+ning Madonna. I could hear his heart beating.”

”Nonsense! In the first place, I am an old married woman.”

Dolores sniffed. ”Vaya! Old, indeed! What does he care for a husband?

He only cares that you have long, bright hair, redder than rust, and eyes like blue flowers, and a skin like milk. An angel could not be so beautiful.”

”Ah, Dolores, you flatterer! Seriously, though, don't you realize that we are Americans, and people of position? An injury to us would bring terrible consequences upon General Longorio's head. That is why he sent his soldiers with us.”

”All the same,” Dolores maintained stubbornly, ”I wish I had brought that shawl and that silver coffee-pot with me.”

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