Part 15 (1/2)
”Speak, Richard!” she exclaimed ”Your silence at this moment is an insult to me”
”For God's sake, have mercy on me, Dolores,” I said ”I am not free--I have a wife”
For so my hand froain, for shaer She rose and stood up before me, her face very white
”You have a wife--a hose existence you concealed from me till this moment!” she said ”Now you ask forfrom you! Married, and you have dared to take me in your arms, to excuse yourself afterwards with the plea of passion! Passion--do you knohat it reat or generous eain had you been capable of shaediveness, and ad beforebut conterace to the cause you have espoused!”
I had sat utterly crushed and huht to her face, for I felt that ht this tempest upon me! But there is a limit to patience, even in the most suber blazed out all thethe whole interview Her words fro me writhe with the pain they inflicted; but that last taunt stung lishrace to the Blanco cause, which I had joined, in spite of ment, purely out of my romantic devotion to this very woman! I too was now upon my feet, and there face to face we stood for soth I found my speech
”This,” I cried, ”from the woman as ready yesterday to shed her heart's blood to win one strong ar, allied myself with abhorred robbers and cut-throats, only to learn that her one desire is everything to her, her divine, beautiful country nothing I wish that a ht have put this sword you speak of to one good use before breaking it and flinging it fro it is! Would to God the earth would open and s up this land for ever, though I sank down into hell with it for the detestable cri part in its pirate wars!”
She stood perfectly still, gazing atinto her face; then when I paused for her to speak, expecting only a fresh outburst of scorn and bitterness, a strange, sorrowful s close to me, she placed her hand on th of passion you are capable of! Forgive iven you Ah, ere made for each other, and it can never, never be”
She dropped her head dejectedly on er vanished atthose sad words; love only reled with profoundest compassion and re her with , pressed ainst it
”Do you love ive the cruel, bitter words I have just spoken? Oh, I was s to you, and shall repent it all ! How cruelly have I wounded you with iveIs there any word you can speak, any deed you can do, and I not forgive it? Does your wife love you like that--can you love her as you love me? How cruel destiny is to us! Ah, my beloved country, I was ready to shed ht for you, but I did not dream that this would be the sacrifice required of o--we cannot sleep now, Richard Sit down here with ether with ain”
And so, sitting there hand in hand, aited for the dawn, speaking many sad and tender words to one another; and at last, e parted, I held her once , as she did, that our separation would be an eternal one
CHAPTER XVIII
About the stirring events of the succeeding days I have little to relate, and no reader who has suffered thethose days I mixed with a crowd of adventurers, returned exiles, cri; the daylight hours were passed in cavalry exercises or in long expeditions about the country, while every evening beside the cah to fill a volue of Dolores was ever beforenine or ten days, passed beforeonly a very confused irieved for the sorrow I had occasioned her, but mourned also that my own heart had so terribly betrayed irl I had persuaded to fly fro affection, had ceased to be what she had been, so great was this new inconvenient passion The General had offered , but, as I had no knowledge of , as a special favour, that I ht be employed constantly on the expeditions he sent out over the surrounding country to beat up recruits, seize arms, cattle, and horses, and to depose the little local authorities in the villages, putting creatures of his own in their places This request had been granted, so that enerally in the saddle
One evening I was in the ca into the fla cards or sipping _ the salute
Then I saw the General standing near gazing fixedly atto the men to resume their cards, he sat down by my side
”What is the matter with you?” he said ”I have noticed that you are like a different person since you joined us Do you regret that step?”
”No,” I answered, and then was silent, not knohat ly at me Doubtless soone to the Casa Blanca with me, and it was scarcely likely that his keen eyes had failed to notice the cold reception Dolores gave me on that occasion He did not, however, touch on that th, ”what can I do for you?”
I laughed ”What can you do except to take me to Montevideo?” I replied
”Why do you say that?” he returned quickly
”We are not merely friends noere before I joined you,” I said
”You are my General; I am simply one of your men”
”The friendshi+p remains just the same, Richard Let n, since you have now suddenly turned the current of the conversation in that direction?”
There was a slight sting in the concluding words, but I had, perhaps, deserved it ”Since you bid me speak,” I said, ”I, for one, feel veryIt seems to me that before you are in a position to strike, the enthusiaset anything like a decent arether, and the few men you have are badly armed and undisciplined Is it not plain that a march to Montevideo in these circued to retire into the reuerilla war?”
”No,” he returned; ”there is to be no guerilla war The Colorados made the Orientals sick of it, when that arch-traitor and chief of cut-throats, General Rivera, desolated the Banda for ten years We must ride on to Montevideo soon As for the character of my force, that is afriend If I could import a well-equipped and disciplined ar, I should do so The Oriental far-ather his wild mares from the plain to tread out his wheat, and I, in likeonly a few scattered _ranchos_ to draw my soldiers from, must be satisfied to do what I can with the done at once--a fight, for instance, in which we ht possibly be the losers?”