Part 23 (2/2)
”The property will be the same as yours when you marry her,” said he
I had never suspected that this was co, and was amazed to hear it
”Will you tell me, Santos,” said I, ”that Demetria sent you to say this toher I can deliver her from this robber and save her property?”
”There is, of course, no other way,” said he ”If it could be done by other ht and explained everything to you? Consider, senor, all this large property will be yours If you do not like this depart for you to buy an _estancia_ elsewhere, or to do whatever you wish And I ask you this, senor, could any man marry a better woman?”
”No,” said I; ”but, Santos, I cannot h, that I had told her next to nothing abouthomeless about the country, she had naturally takenthat I had conceived an affection for her, had been driven in her despair to make this proposal Poor Demetria, was there to be no deliverance for her after all!
”Friend,” said Santos, dropping the ceremonious senor in his anxiety to serve his s
There is no woman like her If you do not love her now you will love her when you know her better; no goodaffection for her You saw her last evening in a green silk dress, also wearing a tortoise-shell coant, senor? Did she not then appear to your eyes a woman suitable for a wife? You have been everywhere, and have seen many women, and perhaps in some distant place you have met one more beautiful than my mistress But consider the life she has led! Grief hasher face with purple under the eyes Can laughter and song coe all; she would be a flower ast women”
Poor old sireat injustice; his love for his mistress had inspired him with an eloquence that went to my heart And poor De fears to er!
And, after all, it was not unwomanly; for in all countries where they are not abject slaves it is pere Even in England it is so, where society is like a huge Clapha like trucks and carriages on cast-iron, conventional rails, which they can only leave at the risk of a destructive collision And a proposal of the kind was never ht of men in her dreary seclusion, haunted by na with a large property on a penniless adventurer
Nor had she done this before she had learnt to lovewas returned She had waited, too, till the very lasther offer when she had despaired of its co fro; the ancient, splendid attire which she had worn to win favour in ht; the shy, wistful expression of her eyes, the hesitation she could not overcome When I had recovered froreatest respect and co that I had not told her all ht have been spared the sharief she would now be coh es of the proposed alliance until I stopped him
”Say no more,” I said; ”for I swear to you, Santos, that were it possible I would gladly take Dereatly do I admire and esteem her But I amfrom my bosom the miniature which I alore round my neck, I handed it to him
He stared at me in silent astonishment for a few azed adly at it I pondered over what I had heard I could not now think of leaving this poor woman, who had offered herself with all her inheritance to me, without soiven er, and the appeal she had justa proof of her trust and affection, would have gone to the heart of the most cold-blooded man in existence, to make hith Santos handed back the h ”Such a face as thatreat deal ht of an easy plan to help your mistress When you have reported this conversation, tell her to reht I said I would be a brother to her, and I shall keep my promise You three cannot think of any better scheme to save Demetria than this one you have told me, but it is after all a very poor scheer to her My plan is a siht, after the moon has set, to meetwith a horse for her, and will take her away to some safe place of concealment where Don Hilario will never find her When she is once out of his power it will be tih to think of soe matters See that she does not fail to meet me, and let her take a few clothes and some money, if she has any; also her jewels, for it would not be safe to leave thehted with h less romantic, than the one hatched by those three simple-minded conspirators With heart full of hope, he was about to leave et a horse and side-saddle for Dona Demetria?”
”Leave it all to me,” I said; then we separated, he to return to histo know the result of our conversation, I to get through the next fifteen hours in the best way I could
CHAPTER XXVI
After leaving Santos I rode on to a belt of wood about two h it, surveyed the country lying beyond
The only habitation near it was a shepherd's lonely _rancho_, standing on an open plain of yellow grass, over which a scattered flock of sheep and a few horses were grazing I determined to remain in the wood till near noon, then proceed to the _rancho_ to get breakfast, and cohbourhood After unsaddlinghirass and herbage about the roots, I lit a cigar and s in the shade Presently I had sopies, as they are called in the vernacular, or Guira cuckoos; a graceful, loquacious bird reseer tail and a bold, red beak These ill-mannered birds skulked about in the branches overnotes, varied occasionally with shrill whistlings and groans, that I could scarcely even hearall the other birds within hearing distance to the spot to take part in the demonstration It was unreasonable of the cuckoos, to say the least of it, for it was now long past their breeding season, so that parental solicitude could not be pleaded as an excuse for their churlish behaviour The others--tanagers, finches, tyrant-birds; red, white, blue, grey, yellow, andabout for a while, screa, they very sensibly fleay, no doubt thinking their friends the cuckoos were reat deal too much fuss My soletowards entle briskly about on some very important business It came to within three yards of my feet, then stopped, and see atentleh the trees, but presently returned for a second inspection; and after that it kept co, whereupon it scuttled away in great alarhtened the aht-hearted htest provocation Yet that verypoor Demetria's appeal had deeply stirred my heart, and I was now embarked on a most Quixotic and perhaps perilous adventure! Possibly the very fact of that adventure being beforeeffect on my mind, and made it impossible fora couple of hours in the pleasant shade, the blue save notice of the approaching breakfast hour; so, saddlingcalls, meant to inform all their feathered friends that they had at last succeeded intheir haunt too hot for me
At the _rancho_ I was received by a so, intensely black hair and moustache, and ore in place of a hat a purple cotton handkerchief tied about his head He did not seeraciously to alight if I thought proper I followed him into the kitchen, where his little brown-skinned as preparing breakfast, and I fancied, after seeing her, that her prettiness was the cause of his inhospitable ularly pretty, with a seductive, soft brown skin, ripe, pouting lips of a rich purple-red, and when she laughed, which happened very frequently, her teeth glistened like pearls Her crisp, black hair hung down unbound and disordered, for she looked like a very careless little beauty; but when she saw me enter, she blushed and tossed her tresses away fro from her ears to assure herself that they were safe, or possibly to attract , dark eyes shot atlittle wives--char, that is, when they are the wives of other people--who are not satisfied with a husband's admiration
I had timed my arrival well, for the roast laolden brown colour, and sending out athe repast which followed I a a few innocent lies, and began by saying that I was on my return to Rocha from Montevideo
The shepherd reht road
I answered that I knew it; then proceeded to say that I had , which in the end had led ht road I had only been married a few days, I continued, and at this declaration ipsy suddenly seemed to lose all interest in me