Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-04
CHAPTER TX.

known II before. he eHlefSeu pdCh oo' "a
the black depths. with lvid, swollen fea-
lures, and foam about his mouth, to spiut-
ter:
Their corpses, you say. Ha! Our
corpses," and retreated again, where
could only hear incoherent mutters.
Seraphina clutched my arm. "Juan-to-
gether-no separation"
had known it, even as spoke of selling
our lives dearly. They could only be sur
rendered. Surrendered miserably to these
wretches or to the everlasting darkness in
which Castro muttered his despair. I need
ed not to hear this ominous and sinister
sound-nor yet Seraphinas cry. She I'M
derstood. too. They would never come
down unless TO look upon us when we were
dead. / need not have gone to the en-
trance of the cave to understand all the
horror of our fate. The Lugarenos had al
ready 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. exclt-
ed 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 lnglez,
the spy who came from Jamaica to see
whom he could get for a hanging without
priest was down there. too. So that was
IT. OBrien knew how to stir their hate.
! should get short shrift. He was
fend, the IngleZ; look how many of us he
has killed.! they Cried and Manuel
would have loved to cut my flesh. in small
pieces. off my bones-only. alas! l was
now beyond his vengeance, he feared. How
ever, somebody was left.
He must have thrown himself fiat, with
his head over the brink. for his yell of
Castro exploded and rolled heavily be-
tween the rocks.
Castro! Castro! Castror he shouted
twenty times. Till he set the whole ravine
IN uproar He waited. and when the
clamor fad quoted down among the bushes
below, called out softly. do you hear me,
Castro. my victim? Thou art my victim,
Castro"
Castro had crept into the passage after
me. He pushed his head beyond my Shout
II defy thee. MANUEL he screamed
hubbub arose. Hes there! He Is
therei"
Bravo, Castro" Manuel shouted from
above II love thee because thou art my
victim. / shall sing song for thee Come
up. Hey! Castro! Castro! 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 The men told
off to guard the cornicc walked to and fro
near the edge, and the confused murmur of
voices hung subdued in the air of
the cleft, like a modulated tremor. Castro.
moaning gently, stumbled back into the
cave.
Seraphina had remained sitting on the
stone seat The twilight rested on her
knees. on her face. on the heap OF cold
ashes az her feet But Castro, who had
stood stockstill, with a hand to his fore
head turned to me excitedly:
1.-The poems. por Dios" Had ever
thought of the poems belonging to the
estancia?
Well that was a hope. did not know
exactly how matters stood between them
and the Lugarenos. There was no love
hut M
actual collision took place, they would be
sure to visit the camp above In no very
friendly spirit; chance might offer to
make our position 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 ghouls
sitting above our grave. How our pres
ence could be made known 1 was not
sure Perhaps simply by shouting with
all our might from the mouth of the cave.
We could offer reward, 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 hacienda, and En-
rico had 200 slaves at his back. One of us
must always remain at the mouth of the
cave. listening to what went on above.
There would be the trampling of horses
hoofs-quarreling, no dOubt-anyway,
much talk-new voices-something to In
form us. Only, how soon would they
come? They were not likely to be riding
where there were no cattle. Had Cas-
tro seen any signs of a herd on the up
lands near by?
His face fell. He had not There were
many savannas within the belt of for
ests. and the herds might be miles away,
stampeded inland by the storm. Sitting
down suddenly If overcome, he avert
ed 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 Serapina. How long could she
liver. The thought scared my heart
like hot iron. / wrung my hands
stealthily.
"Ha! my blade~ muttered Castro. MY
sting. .... Old scorpion, They did not
take my sting away. .only-bah"
He, a man. had not risen to the forth
tude of venomous creature. He was de-
feated. He groaned profoundly. Life was
too much. 1t chung to one. A scorpion
an insect-within ring of flames, would
lift Its sting and stab venom into it's own
head. And he-Castro-a mana man,
por Dios-had less firmness than a creep
Ing thing. Why-why did he not stab
this dishonored old heart?
"Senorita," he cried. agonizingly ct
swear l did shout to them to fire-so--
into my breast-and then. 49,"
Seraphina leaned over him pityingIy
Enough. Castro. One lives because of
hope. And grieve not. Thy death would
have done no good"
Her face had a splendid pallor the radi-
ana whiteness and majesty of marble; it
beautiful; and her hair unrolling it's dark
fluctuations, as IL tinged deep with the
funereal -gloor1 of the background, covered
her magnihcently right down to her ell
bows
At night. from the hot ravine full of
shadows. came the cool. fretting of the
stream. The big blaze they kept up above
cracked distinctly. throwing a fiery. rest
less stain on the face of the rock in front
OF the cave, high up under the darkness
ana the stars of the sky-and a pair of
teet would appear stamping, the shadow
or pair of ankles and feet, fantastic enor-
nous. tramping slowly, resembling two
cofins leaping to a slow measure I see
them In my dreams now. sometimes. They
disappeared.
Next day there was silence up there per-
feet, profound. No prowl of feet disturbed
Them the sun blazed between the rocks
and even the hum of insects could be heard
II seemed impossible not to believe that
they had all died by miracle or else
had been driven away by silent panic
Rut two or more were always on the
watch. directly above. with their heads
over the edge; and suddenly they would be-
gin to talk together in drowsy tones
They discussed the flask, which had been
picked up. Was the cup made of silver?