Up the Forked River, Edward Sylvester Ellis [best free ebook reader for pc .TXT] 📗

showing no effects of the tooth of time, except in the gray faded color, for paint had never touched them. They were powerful enough to defy a battering ram, fitted with enormous locks and heavy bars that could be slipped into the massive iron receptacles.

"Had that old buccaneer been given notice of the attack by his men," said Miss Starland, when the building had been inspected from top to bottom, "he might have shut himself in one of these rooms and bade them do their worst."

"Perhaps he did," suggested General Yozarro.

"And yet the legend says he fell."

"Starvation and thirst are enemies to whom the bravest must surrender."

"It looks, General, as if you had been rejuvenating this fine old Castle."

"I have done so to a certain extent in honor of your coming. Besides I thought my niece would find a stay here pleasant during the oppressive weather and I prepared it partly for her. You observe how much cooler it is here than in the capital."


CHAPTER XIII.

All had observed this fact which was natural. The elevation of the structure, which was open to every breeze that fluttered through the mountains, made it one of the most comfortable places in that part of the world. Another thing had been noted by the young women. Two armed sentinels were pacing outside, and two more came forward from the lower apartments and saluted the General and his party. They relieved one another at regular intervals, and three of them had their wives domiciled on the second floor. These were slatterns, not wholly lacking in a certain comeliness, and eyed the visitors with shy curiosity. The latter spoke to them in Spanish, to which they smiled and replied in soft, awed monosyllables, and respectfully watched the movements of the young women.

General Yozarro descended the lower stairs, leaving his young friends on the second floor, where they lingered a few minutes to admire the view from the windows. The broad, wooded plain, stretching to the verge of vision, the town nestling in the lowlands a few miles away, the sweep of the river, and the cloudless blue sky formed a picture that would always linger in the memory of all whose privilege it was to look upon them.

The two turned to descend the steps, when the Senorita missed one of her gloves. Hurriedly glancing about her, she said:

"I must have dropped it in the story above; I'll run up and search, while you may find it below or on the outside."

She darted off like a bird, and Miss Starland moved down the sloping steps which gave back not the slightest sound. The female servants had preceded her, so that for a brief time she was alone. She reached the lower floor, and was passing through the opening leading out doors, when she heard some one speaking in a low, but excited voice. She paused and discovered that he was swearing frightfully, the passion of the speaker being the more fearful because of the repression of the tones. With a shock which cannot be described, she recognized the voice as General Yozarro's, and, more shameful than all, he was addressing one of the women.

In her distress, and determined not to hear the words, Miss Starland softly ran up the steps and was looking through the rooms again for the missing glove, when her friend, with a glowing smile, came down holding it up in her hand. Both laughed over the insignificant incident, and Miss Starland took care as they descended that her own merriment continued. General Yozarro, thus warned, finished his imprecations, and met them with his usual smiles and graciousness. In his snowy suit, sombrero in hand, he was the acme of cool politeness and courtesy. Had not Miss Starland identified his voice unmistakably, she could not have believed what her ears had told her.

That one revelation, however, did its work. She was resolved to leave Atlamalco on the first opportunity and never to set foot within the Republic again. She had come to look upon this man with a mortal horror, for, under the mask of chivalry, he carried the blackest of hearts.

The return ride was trying to the last degree. General Yozarro seemed to have forgotten his promise to his niece, and tortured her friend with attentions which filled her with resentment. When he assisted her to dismount, he pressed her hand for an instant until the rings on her fingers dented the flesh and almost caused her to cry out with pain. He uttered endearing expressions in a voice so low that no ears except those for which they were intended heard them, and they gave no heed. Her friend seemed to see nothing of all this, though she must have been aware of it.

The irrepressible lover, more hopelessly enmeshed than ever, insisted upon their visitor sitting with him and his niece on the piazza in the moonlight, but in desperation, she pleaded a headache--when she had never suffered therefrom--and kept her room.

"And Jack never dreams of anything of this kind," was her thought; "he is only a few miles away, and I shall insist that I be taken to him on the morrow."

Having made her resolution, she carried it out. At the table, which was set in the large back room of General Yozarro's city house, and provided with the choicest fruits and every delicacy that the fertile republic could furnish, she made known her wish. She longed to see her brother on an important matter, and begged that she might be taken to him with the least possible delay. The others expressed their regret, and the General offered to send for her relative.

"The one who goes to take the message can as well take me along," said she, determined to force the point.

"Do you expect to remain with him long?" inquired the General.

"I know of nothing to prevent our coming back quite soon."

"Your wish is my command; I shall be very busy today on important matters. Suppose we take the ride to Zalapata on my gunboat this evening?"

"That will be delightful!" exclaimed the niece, and though it was not the exact arrangement her friend wished, she could offer no objection and it was so agreed.

Thus it came to pass that the _General Yozarro_ steamed past Major Jack Starland and Captain Guzman, while the two sat smoking in front of the native's hut on the northern shore of the Rio Rubio, without either party suspecting how near they were to each other.

The long day gave General Yozarro abundant time to perfect his schemes which were carried out with precision and a faultless nicety of detail.

Two miles beyond the hut, while the young women were partaking of refreshments in the Captain's room, which had been specially fitted for their reception, he came to them in great agitation.

"I have just discovered that General Bambos has obtained a boat somewhere and is descending the river with the undoubted purpose of attacking Atlamalco."

"Let us hasten back ahead of him," said his startled niece, who like her friend was in dismay over the tidings.

"It will never do to flee before him; he must be kept from reaching our capital; a battle with him is a necessity."

"With us on board?"

"I do not see how it can be helped--but hold! I will land you here and send you to _Castillo Descanso_, where you will be beyond all harm. Ah! that is it! That is it!"


CHAPTER XIV.

The tug rounded to and approached the shore so close that by running out the gangplank, the young women were readily assisted to land. They were nervously eager, for there was no saying when the hostile craft would appear and open fire, since its crew and leader must be unaware of the presence of the noncombatants.

General Yozarro could not have been more thoughtful. He was profuse in his regrets because it was necessary to subject them to this inconvenience, and he assured both over and over again that everything would be done for their comfort.

"You know the Castle is prepared for your stay, which I hope will be brief; I shall see that nothing is neglected and you will hear from me tomorrow."

The three were standing for a minute or two on the bank, having but little luggage to take with them, since, when they left Atlamalco nothing like this had been dreamed of by the two.

"But, General," said the Senorita, "it is a mile to the Castle; how are we to reach there alone and at night?"

Before he answered, two men came silently out of the gloomy wood. They were in the uniform of soldiers, and one of them, saluting, said:

"General, we have the horses saddled and waiting."

"That is fortunate; I will assist you to mount."

This time he did not press the hand of Miss Starland, when with his slight help, she vaulted into the saddle, nor did he sigh or give expression to anything sentimental. The time was too critical for anything like that. He waved them farewell, hurried aboard over the plank, which was quickly drawn in, and the screw of the tugboat began churning the muddy water, as she circled slowly about and headed up stream.

The young women, being mounted, looked apprehensively out over the moonlit stream, expecting and dreading the coming of the other boat which was to fire the opening gun of another senseless and vicious conflict between the peppery republics. The situation, however, was too dangerous for them to wait more than a few minutes, and one of the soldiers, doffing his sombrero, spoke with the utmost deference:

"I will lead the way and your horse will follow. My comrade will walk at the rear; be assured there is no danger."

Each man carried a musket and the one who had spoken turned inland. The horse of the American followed, the gait of all being the ordinary walk. The Senorita was only a few steps behind her, while the second soldier silently stalked at the rear. The American noticed that they were following a clearly marked path or trail, which soon began descending, then climbed upward, and wound around and between rocks, the gloom in some places being so deep that she caught only shadowy glimpses of the guide in front, as he plodded onward like one familiar with his course. At times there were openings where the light was like that at mid-day. She might well have trembled had not her animal been sure-footed, for they had penetrated no more than a few hundred yards, when the little procession began threading along the face of a mass of rocks, where the path was so narrow that she felt the swish of her skirts against the mountain wall, and on her right it sloped downward perpendicularly, until what seemed a bottomless pit was hidden in a pool of gloom. A misstep by any member of the party would have sent him or her to instant destruction. But the animals and men moved confidently, though the pace was slow. Evidently, with the exception of the women, all were familiar, not only with this method of traveling, but with this particular route.

As soon as our friends had become accustomed to the work, the thoughts of both reverted to the river, and they listened with shrinking foreboding for the sound of the guns that would mark the opening of the fight between the two craft. General Yozarro had declared that he would not permit the boat of his enemy to