CHAPTER XIX
CONDEMNED UNHEARD
A full moon hung over the white city, and the drowsy murmur of the surfbroke fitfully through the music of the artillery band when Austin satlistlessly on a bench in the plaza of Santa Cruz. It was about eighto'clock in the evening, and the plaza was crowded, as usual at thathour. Peon and officer, merchant and clerk, paced slowly up and down,enjoying the cool of the evening with their wives and daughters, or satin clusters outside the lighted cafA(C)s. The band was an excellent one,the crowd gravely good-humoured, and picturesquely attired, for whitelinen, pale-tinted draperies, sombre cloth, and green uniform formedpatches of kaleidoscopic colouring as the stream of humanity flowed byunder the glaring lamplight and the soft radiance of the moon.
Austin had sat there often before he went to Africa, listening to themusic and watching the spectacle; but neither had any charm for him thatnight. The laughter sounded hollow, the waltz the band was playing hadlost its swing, and the streams of light from the cafA(C)s hurt his eyesand irritated him. The deep murmur of the sea alone was faintlysoothing, and remembering how often he had thought of that cool plaza,with its lights and music, in the steamy blackness of the swamps, hewondered vaguely what had happened to him. The zest and sparkle seemedto have gone out of life, and he did not attribute it to the fact thatthe melancholia of the swamp belt was still upon him.
He crossed the plaza, and sitting outside one of the cafA(C)s he hadfrequented, asked for wine. It was brought him, chilled with snow fromthe great peak's summit, but the greeting of the man who kept the cafA(C)seemed for once devoid of cordiality, and the wine sour and thin. Still,the Spaniard stood a minute or two by his chair, and, as it happened,Jacinta passed just then with a dark-faced Spanish officer. He wore anexceedingly tight-fitting uniform, but he had a figure that carried itwell, and an unmistakable air of distinction. Jacinta was also smilingat him, though she turned, and seemed to indicate somebody in thevicinity with a little gesture. As she did so her eyes rested for amoment upon Austin, who became for the first time unpleasantly consciousof his haggard face and hard, scarred hands. There was, he realised,nothing in the least distinguished about him. Then it was with a faintsense of dismay he saw that Jacinta did not mean to recognise him, forshe laughed as she turned to her companion, and he heard the soft rustleof her light draperies as they went on again.
"That is the Colonel Sarramento?" he said, as carelessly as he could,though there was a faint flush in his hollow face.
"It is," said his companion. "Colonel in the military service, though hehas held other offices in Cuba. A man of ability, seA+-or, and now it issaid that he will marry the English merchant's daughter. Why not? TheSeA+-orita Brown is more Spanish than English, and she is certainly rich."
"I don't know of any reason," said Austin listlessly, and the man turnedaway. He had no wish to waste his time upon an Englishman whoapparently did not appreciate his conversation.
Austin sat still a little while, indignation struggling with hislanguor, for he was almost certain that Jacinta had seen him. He hadnever flattered himself that she would regard him as anything more thana friend who was occasionally useful, but he thought she might, atleast, have expressed her appreciation of his latest efforts, and he wasalso a trifle puzzled. Jacinta, as a rule, would stop and speak to anyof the barefooted peons she was acquainted with, and he had never knownher to slight an acquaintance without a reason. It seemed only due toher to make quite sure she had intentionally passed him withoutrecognition.
He rose and strolled round the plaza until he met her again face to facewhere a stream of garish light fell upon them both. She allowed her eyesto rest upon him steadily, but it was the look she would have bestowedon a stranger, and in another moment she had turned to the officer ather side. Then a bevy of laughing tourists passed between and separatedthem.
After that Austin strolled round the plaza several times in a far fromamiable temper. He was stirred at last, and easy-going as he usuallywas, there was in him a certain vein of combativeness which had beenshaken into activity in Africa. It was, he admitted, certainly Jacinta'sprivilege to ignore him; but there were occasions on whichconventionalities might be disregarded, and he determined that sheshould, at least, make him acquainted with her purpose in doing so. Hedid not mean to question it, but to hear it was, he felt, no more thanhis due.
It was some time before he came upon her again, talking to a Spanishlady, who, seeing him approaching with a suggestion of resolution in hisattitude, had sufficient sense to withdraw a pace or two and sign toanother companion. Jacinta apparently recognised that he was not to beput off this time, for she indicated the vacant chairs not far away witha little wave of her fan, and when he drew one out for her sat down andlooked at him.
"You are persistent," she said. "I am not sure that it was altogethercommendable taste."
Austin laughed a trifle bitterly, for the pessimistic dejection thefever leaves does not, as a rule, tend to amiability, and its victim,while willing to admit that there is nothing worth worrying over, is aptto make a very human display of temper on very small provocation.
"One should not expect too much from a steamboat sobrecargo," he said."It is scarcely fair to compare him--for example--with a distinguishedSpanish officer."
"I do not think you are improving matters," said Jacinta.
"Well," said Austin drily, "I have, you see, just come from a land wherelife is rather a grim affair, and one has no time to study its littleamenities. I am, in fact, quite willing to admit that I have left myusual suavity behind me. Still, I don't think that should count. Youcontrived to impress me with the fact that you preferred something morevigorously brusque before I went out."
Jacinta met his gaze directly with a little ominous sparkle in her eyesand straightening brows. She had laid down her fan, and there was a colddisdain in her face the man could not understand. It was unfortunate hedid not know how Pancho Brown had worded his message, for it containedno intimation that he was going back to Africa.
"It's a pity you didn't stay there," she said.
Austin started a little. He did not see what she could mean, and thespeech appeared a trifle inhuman.
"It would please me to think you haven't any clear notion what thoseswamps are like," he said. "One is, unfortunately, apt to stay therealtogether."
"Which is a contingency you naturally wished to avoid? I congratulatedyou upon your prudence once before. Still, you, at least, seemed quiteacquainted with the characteristics of the fever belt of Western Africawhen you went out. Your friends the mailboats' officers must have toldyou. That being so, why did you go?"
"A persistent dropping will, it is said, in time wear away considerablyharder material than I am composed of. Words are also, one could fancy,even more efficacious than water in that respect."
A trace of colour crept into Jacinta's face, and her brows grewstraighter. The lines of her slight form became more rigid, and she wasdistinctly imperious in her anger.
"Oh, I understand!" she said. "Well, I admit that I was the cause ofyour going, and now you have come to reproach me for sending you. Well,I will try to bear it, and if I do show any anger it will not be at whatyou say, but at the fact that one who I to some extent believed inshould consider himself warranted in saying anything at all. No doubt,you will not recognise the distinction, but in the meanwhile you haven'tquite answered my question. You were a free agent, after all, and Icould use no compulsion. Why did you go?"
Austin's temper had grown no better during the interview, which wasunfortunate for him, because an angry man is usually at a disadvantagein the presence of a woman whose indignation with him is largelytempered by a chilling disdain.
"That," he said, reflectively, "is a point upon which I cannot be quitecertain, though the whole thing was, naturally, in most respects a pieceof egregious folly. Still, your good opinion had its value to me,especially as it was very evident that I could never expect anythingmore. A little brutal candour is, I think, admissibl
e now and then."
The colour had faded out of Jacinta's face, but the sparkle was a trifleplainer in her eyes. "So you recognised that! Under the circumstances,it was wise of you, though how far you were warranted in telling me is aquestion we needn't go into now. It is a pity you ever went at all."
"In one sense I almost think it is," said Austin, gazing at herbewilderedly. "Still, there is a good deal I can't understand. I am inthe dark, you see."
"Then I suppose I must try to make it clear to you. I am an essentiallypractical person, and any ardour you possess has hitherto been qualifiedby a very commendable discretion; but we are not very old, after all,and there is, fortunately, something in most of us which is occasionallystronger than the petty prudence we guide ourselves by. Now and then, asyou gracefully suggest, it leads us into folly, which we have, perhaps,really no great reason to be sorry for. Well, for a little while youshook off the practical and apparently aspired after the ideal. You wentout to Africa because you fancied it would please me, and it did. Onemay admit that a thing of that kind appeals to a woman's vanity. Still,of course, one could scarcely expect you to adhere to such a purpose. Wehave grown too wise to indulge in unprofitable sentimentality, and ourknights errant do not come back upon their shields. They are practicalgentlemen, who appreciate the comfort of a whole skin."
"I'm afraid you're confusing historical periods, and the times havecertainly changed. They now use an empty gun case in Western Africa, Ibelieve, and if they can't get that, any old blanket or piece of canvasthat happens to be available."
"It should be a comfort to know that you need never anticipate anythingso unpleasant."
This time the colour suffused Austin's pallid face. It was clear thatshe was taunting him with cowardice in leaving Jefferson, and hercontempt appeared so wholly unreasonable that he would make no attemptto vindicate himself. It did not appear likely to be successful in anycase, and the pessimistic bitterness the fever leaves was still uponhim.
"Well," he said quietly, "I had looked for a slightly differentreception; but it presumably isn't dignified to complain, especiallywhen it's evident it wouldn't do any good, while I scarcely think thereis anything to be gained by extending our conversation. You see, I am,naturally, aware that my character is a somewhat indifferent onealready. You will, no doubt, excuse me?"
Jacinta made him a little inclination over her lifted fan.
"If you will tell the SeA+-ora Anasona yonder that I am waiting, I shouldbe much obliged," she said.
It was five minutes later when Austin was admitted to the cable officeas a favour, and handed a despatch from a Las Palmas banking agency.
"Your draft will be honoured to the extent of AL200," it ran.
He smiled grimly as he thrust it into his pocket, and, wandering roundthe plaza again, came upon Muriel Gascoyne and Mrs. Hatherly sitting intwo of the chairs laid out in front of a hotel. He felt tempted to slipby, but remembered that he had a duty to Jefferson. Mrs. Hatherly shookhands with him, and though he fancied there was a restraint in hercordiality, Muriel turned to him impulsively.
"Tell me everything," she said. "The letter has not arrived."
"There is a good deal of it," said Austin, with a smile.
"Then don't waste time."
Austin roused himself with an effort. Her tense interest and hersimplicity, which, it seemed to him, had in it so much that wasadmirable, appealed to him, and he determined that she, at least, shouldknow what Jefferson had done for her. The artistic temperament had alsoits influence on him, and he made her and her companion see the steamingswamps and feel the stress and strain of effort in the stifling hold,while it was his pleasure that Jefferson should stalk, a lean, dominantfigure, through all the varied scenes. He felt, when he concluded, thathe had drawn those sombre pictures well, and it would be Jefferson'sfault if he did not henceforward pose before the girl's fancy as aknightly hero of romance. There were, naturally, difficulties to beovercome, for he recognised that she must be forced to comprehend thatchivalric purposes must, nowadays, be wrought out by most prosaic means,and that the clash of the encounter occasionally leaves its mark upon aman. Still, he saw that he had succeeded when the simple pride shonethrough the moisture that gathered in the girl's big blue eyes, and hewas moved to sympathy when she rose with a little gasp.
"I must tell Jacinta. I don't feel quite able to thank you, Mr. Austin;but you will understand," she said.
She left them, and Mrs. Hatherly turned and looked at Austin verygraciously.
"So you are going back?" she said.
"Of course," said Austin. "There is a Spanish boat to Las Palmasto-morrow, and nothing to keep me now I have got the money. I don't mindadmitting that the asking for it was harder than anything I did inAfrica."
The little lady nodded, with a very kindly light in her eyes. "Yes," shesaid, "I can understand that, but in one sense I am not exactly pleased.Why didn't you come to me?"
"It sounds very ungracious, madam, but I am already in your debt, andone is naturally shy about asking favours of that kind from women. Ialmost think there are special reasons why it should be so in my case."
"That, presumably, means somebody has used you badly? Still, it reallyisn't wise to generalise too freely, and you were once good enough topromise that you would consider me as a friend of yours."
"I could scarcely have fancied you were particularly friendly a littlewhile ago."
The little lady smiled again. "I offer you my sincere apologies, Mr.Austin. And now a question. Did you tell Jacinta what you have told us?"
"I certainly did not. To be candid, I hadn't the slightestencouragement. Miss Brown made it quite clear to me that she hadn't atrace of interest in any of my doings. In fact, she was kind enough tosuggest it was rather a pity I escaped the fever, and hadn't come backupon my shield."
"For which she will probably be distinctly annoyed with herself by andby. I presume you must catch the Spanish steamer, Mr. Austin?"
"Of course. After all, I shall be glad to get back. People are not sovery exacting in Africa, you see."
Mrs. Hatherly nodded, though there was a twinkle in her eyes. "Well,"she said, "we will talk of something else in the meanwhile. I am alonejust now, and you cannot decently leave me."
They discussed a good many things, and it seemed to Austin that hiscompanion meant to keep him there, and was anxious to gain time. Still,he could see no reason for it, and failed to understand her remark aboutJacinta, and he sat still with an effort until Muriel came back again.She appeared a trifle vexed about something.
"I don't know what has happened to Jacinta, but she wasn't in the leastsympathetic," she said. "She wouldn't even listen when I wanted to talkabout Harry and the _Cumbria_."
"Where is she now?" asked Mrs. Hatherly.
"With the SeA+-ora Anasona. They are going back to Laguna directly, thoughshe had, as you know, practically promised to stay with us to-night. TheseA+-ora, it seems, wants to drive her across to her finca at Orotavato-morrow. It is very provoking."
Mrs. Hatherly changed the subject, and it was a minute or two later whenshe turned to Austin again.
"I suppose it is really necessary that you should cross to Las Palmasto-morrow," she said casually. "Couldn't you get there in the_Estremedura_ before the West-coast boat sailed?"
"There are several things I have to do which can't well be arrangedhere."
"You would insist on getting them all done, even if you knew it wouldcost you something?"
"I really think I should. You see, Jefferson and the others arepractically depending on me, and I daren't omit anything I want,whatever trouble it might cause me, although, as a matter of fact, Idon't anticipate any, and it will be rather a relief to get away."
"Ah!" said Mrs. Hatherly. "Well, I suppose that is only what one wouldexpect from you. Muriel, will you tell Jacinta that she has not shown methe lace she mentioned, and as I think I'll get the woman at Laguna tomake me some, I want to see it before she goes away. I shall have tokeep you
another few minutes, Mr. Austin."
Muriel disappeared into the crowd, and it was a little time before shecame back again.
"Jacinta has just driven off with the seA+-ora," she said. "I can't quiteunderstand why she didn't come to say good-bye."
Austin smiled drily. "I think I could guess her reason."
Mrs. Hatherly rose and held out her hand. "If you can come and see usto-morrow, please do so," she said. "If not, you will remember now thatwhatever happens I am one of your friends."
"I shall be glad to do so, madam," and Austin made her a littleinclination. "Good friends are scarce, and there are apparently not manypeople who believe in me."