The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-05
Copyright. 1904, by Mcclure. Phillips

CHAPTER TX.
, TOR it meant that. Imprisoned!
II Castro's derisive shrek meant
that And / had known it be-
fore. He emerged back out of the
black depths, with livid, swollen fea-
lures, and foam about his mouth, to
splutter:
Their corpses. you say. i"
Ha! Our corpses," and retreated again,
where l could only hear incoherent
mutters.
Seraphina clutched my arm. Juan
together-no separation"
had known it, even as 1 spoke of
selling our lives dearly They could
only be surrendered. Surrendered mis-
erably to these wretches, or to the
everlasting darkness in which Castro
muttered his despair. needed not to
hear this ominous and sinister sound
not yet Seraphina's cry. She under
stood, too. They would never come
down unless to look upon us when we
were dead. l need not have gone to the
entrance Of the cave to understand all
the horror of our fate. The Lugarenos
had already lighted a fire. Very near
the brink, too.
1t was burning some thirty feet
above my head; and the sheer wall on
the other side caught up and sent
across into my face the cracking of
dry branches, the loud, excited talking,
the arguments, the oaths, the laughter;
now and then a very shrek of Joy.
Manuel was giving orders. Some ad-
Vanced the opinion that the cursed
In2l6Z. the nn To-
to see whom he could get for a hang
ing without priest, was down there,
too So that was It'll O'Brfen knew
how to stir their hate. l should get
Short shrift. HE was a f1end, the Ing
Iez; look how many of us he has kill
ed" they cried; and Manuel would
nave loved to cut my flesh, In small
pieces, off my bones-only, alas! I was
now beyond his vengeance, he feared.
However, somebody was left
lie must have thrown himself fiat,
with his head over the brink, for his
yel of "Castro!" exploded, and rolled
heavily between the rocks.
Castro! Castro! CastroI" he
shouted twenty times, till he set the
whole raYine in an uproar. He waited
ana when the clamor had quieted down
amongst the bushes below, called out
S91uy' 10 you hear me, Castro, my
YlctlmE Thou art my victim, Castro
castro had crept into the passage
a1ter eJlede pushed his head beyond
my shoulder. O--0
defy thee, Manuel" he screamed.
there!" 80 - -
Bravo, Castro" Manuel shouted
from above. Il love thee because thou
art my victim. 1 shall sing a song for
In6G. Come
fro! &Come up No? Then
the dead to their grave, and the living
TO their feast"
!. Sometimes a little earth, detached
from the layer Of soil covering the
rock, would fall streaming from above.
4he men told off to guard the cornice
walked TO and fro near the edge and
the confused murmur of voices hung
subdued in the air Of the cleft. like 3
modulated tremor. Castro moaning
gently stumbled back into the cave.
-Seraphtna had remained sitting on
the stone seat. The twilight rested on
her knees, on her face on the heap of
cold ashes at her feet But Castro
who had stood stock still, with q hand
TO his forehead, turned to me excited
ly:
"The poems. por Diosl" Had I ever
thought of the poems belonging to the
estancia?
L
know exactly how matters stood be-
tween them and the Lugarenos. There
was no love lost. A fight was likely:
but, even If no actual collision took
place, they would be sure to visit the
camp above in no very friendly spirit:
chance might offer to make our po-
ElIlon known to these men, who had no
reason to hate either me or Castro
and would not be afraid Of thwarting
the miserable band Of ghouIs sitting
above our grave. How our presence
could be made known l was not sure
perhaps simply by shouting with all
our might from the mouth of the cave
I'VE could offer rewardS-say who we
were, summon them for the service of
their own senorita. But probably they
had never heard of her. No matter
The news would soon reach the ha-
cienda, and Enrico had two hundred
slaves at his back. One of us must al
ways remain at the mouth of the cave
listening to what went on above. There
would be the trampling of horses
hoofs-quarreltng, no doubt-anyway,
much talk-neW VOiceS-Something to
inform US. Only, how soon would they
come? They were not likely to be rid
Ing where there were no cattle. Had
Castro seen any signs Of a herd on the
uplands near by?
His face fell. He had not. There
were many savannas within the belt of
forests, and the herds might be miles
away, stampeded inland by the storm
Sitting down suddenly, as If overcome
he averted his eyes and began to
scratch the rock between his legs with
the point of his blade
We were all silent. How long could
we wait? How long could people live?
I looked at Seraphina. How
long could she live? The
thought scared my heart like hot
iron. I wrung my hands stealthily.
"Hai my bladei" muttered Castro,
'My sting. Old scorpioni
They did not take my sting away.
OnIy-bah!"
He, a man, had not risen to the
fortitude of venomous creature. He
was defeated. He groaned profound
ly. Life was too much. 1t clung to
one. A scorpion-an insect-Within q
ring of flames, would lift it's sting and
stab N<Som into it's own head And
he-Castro, a mana man, por Dios
had less f1rmness than a creeping
thing. Why-why, did he not stab
this dishonored old heart?
"Senorita," he cried agonizingly, 'T
swear l did shout to them to fire-so
Into my breast-and then.
Seraphina leaned over him pity
ingly.
"Enough, Castro. One lives be-
cause of hope. And grieve not. Thy
death would have done no good"
Her face had a splendid pallor. the
radiant whiteness and majesty of.
marble: it had never before apDeared