Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-09


| you again, my Juan" His eyes had affec
| ton in them: there was no doubt apou
| that; but I felt vaguely suspicious OF him
| / remembered how we had parted on boar !,
! the Thames. 1--WE can talk here" he add
| ed; cit is very pleasant. You shall see m.
| uncle, that great man, the star OF Cubal
| law, and my cousin Seraphina, your kins
| folk. They love you;EI have spoken well
you" He smiled gayly, and went on: Ihl
is not place BETTING his greatness, NO
my cousins, nor. indeed, my own" III
| smiled again. But I shall be very sool
dead, and to me It matters little" HI
frowned little and then laughed "Bu
You should have seen the faces Of YOU
officers when my uncle refused to go tt
their governors palace; there was II
have been fiesta reception: Is 1t MOI
the word? 1t will cause great scandal.
He smiled with good deal of fine
malice and looked as II he expected me tt
be- pleased. I said that I did not quite
understand what had offended his uncle.
"Oh, 1t was because there was no priest,
Carlos answered, when those poor devils
were hung. They were canaille. Yes, bu
one gives that much even to such. And my
uncle was there in his official capacity as
tressed: we were all. You heard my uncle
himself had advised their being surren-
dered to your English. And when there
was no priest he repented very bitterly
Why, after all, 1t was an infamy.
He began to ask for news from home
from my home. told him that Veronica
had a baby, and he sighed.
"She married the excellent Rooksby?' he
into silence again. There was no woman
in your land like her. She might have
And to marry that-that excellent person
age, my good cousin. 1t is tragedy"
ut was very good match" l answered
He sighed again. my uncle is asleep in
there, now" he said, after pause, point
ing at the inner door, I'VE must not wake
him; he is a very old man. You do nj
mind talking to me? You will walt to see
them? Dona Seraphina is here, too"
You have not married your cousins?
asked
I wanted very much to see the young
girl who had looked at me for moment
and certainly should have been distressed
If Carlos had said she was married.
He answered, What would you have?
and shrugged his shoulders gently. A smile
came into his face. she Is very cry, wil n,h,
Perhaps she has seen too many men like
me-"
He told me that, when he reached Cuba
after parting with me on the Thames, his
uncle, "in spite of certain influences" had
received him quite naturally as his heir
and the future head of the family. But
Seraphina, whom by the laws OF conven-
fence he ought to have married, had calmly
refused him.
'I did not impress her; she is romantic
She wanted q very bold man, Cid, some
thing that it is not easy to have.
some sort of challenge in his eyes
"She could have met no one better than
you," I said.
He waved his hand a little. oh, for
that he said deprecatingly. BESIDES,
1 am dying. 1 have never been well since
I went into your cold sea, over there, after
we left your sister. You remember now
coughed on board that miserable snip.
1 did remember it very well.
He went to the inner door, looked In, ana
then came back to me.
.'Seraphina needs a guide-a controller
someone strong and gentle, and kind and
brave Ny uncle will never ask her to
marry against her wish; he is too old and
has too little will. And for any man VINO
would marry her-except one-there Wouiu
be great dangers, for her and Tor MIN. II
would need a cool man, and brave man,
and a good one, too. to hazard, perhaps
even life for her sake. She Will be very
rich. All our lands, all our towns, all our
gold" There was a suggestion of fabulous
ness in his dreamy voice: They shall never
be mine" he added. "Vaya. =,
''There is man called O'Brien in here.
he said He does us the honor to pretend
to my cousins hand. He's a very danger
come to Rio Medic, my uncle's town, with,
out making a friend Of the Senior y Br1en.
He went once more to the inner door, ana
after a moments whispering with someone
within, returned to me.
'"This man rebelled against your govern
ment and, in the Ever Faithful Island
that is a passport He has climbed very
high; he is a judge of the marine court
at Havana. That is why he is here to-
day, attending my uncle in this affair OF
delivering up the pirates. My uncle loves
him very much. Brien was at first my
uncle's clerk, and my uncle made him q
juez, and he is also the intendant of my
uncle's estate, and he has a great influence
in my uncle's town of Rio Medic. l tell
you, if you come to visit US, it will be well
to be on good terms with the Senior Juez
OBrien. My uncle is very old man, and
If die before him. this o. Brien, 1 think
will end by marrying my cousin, because my
poor uncle is very much in his hands
There are other pretenders, but they have
little chance, because it is so very danger
Que to come to my uncles town of Rio
Medic, on account of this mans intrigues
and of his power with the populace"
I looked at Carlos intently. The name
Of the town had seemed to be familiar to
me. Now l suddenly remembered that II
was where Nicolas ell Demonio, the pirate
who was so famous as to be almost myth
ical. had beaten off Admiral Rowfey's
boats.
He threw the door open. 1 followed him
into the room, where the vision of the an
cient don and the charming apparition OF
the young girl had retreated only a few
moments before.