Les fils de la tortue. English

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  THE GREEN ROOM.

  After wrapping himself carefully in his cloak, Leon pensively wentalong the streets leading to Crevel's inn. Diego's last wordsincessantly reverted to his mind, and he asked himself why the Indianhad recommended him so eagerly to proceed to the posada. Anotherpeculiarity, also, kept his mind on the rack; he had seen Diego takefrom the hands of the people waiting for him a large parcel which hadall the appearance of a human body. He had also fancied that he hearda dull and plaintive groan from this bundle. "What could it be?" Leonasked himself in vain.

  At length he reached the Calle San Agostino. The door of Crevel's innwas ajar, and a bright light illumined the interior. Leon went in.Crevel, seated at his bar, was talking in a low voice with Wilhelm,who, with his arms leaning on the chimney, was probably telling himsome improper anecdotes, for the two men were laughing most heartily.The unforeseen arrival of the captain alone arrested the flow of theirhilarity, and they exchanged a meaning glance which did not escape Leon.

  "Still up!" the latter said.

  "We were waiting for you, captain," Crevel answered.

  "Thanks; but I would advise you to extinguish your lights, for peoplemight be surprised at seeing them so late."

  "That is quite true," said the landlord.

  "Give me the key of the green room," Leon continued. "I need rest, andI will throw myself on the bed for an hour."

  Crevel and Wilhelm looked at each other again, and winked in a mostpeculiar way.

  "Did you hear me?" Leon resumed.

  "Oh, perfectly, captain," the landlord replied. "You can go up, the keyis in the door."

  "Very good; in that case give me a light."

  "You do not require it, for there is one in the room."

  "Ah! now I see that you really did expect me."

  "Eh, eh, I am not the only one."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I? Nothing, captain. Go up and you will see."

  "See what?"

  "I beg your pardon, captain, I forgot that it did not concern me, andthat--"

  "Come, Master Crevel, will you have finished soon or not? Of whom andof what are you speaking? Make haste and explain yourself."

  "Why of the little Senorita up there--by the gods!"

  "A woman in my room! Tell me, Wilhelm, do you know what Crevel istalking about?"

  "Well, captain, you must know that--well--since--"

  "Ah! I really believe that it would have been wiser to go upstairs andlook for myself, you scoundrels."

  And he prepared to ascend the stairs.

  "Ah!" he said turning round and addressing Wilhelm; "do not stir fromhere without my orders, my boy, for I may want you."

  "That is sufficient, captain."

  Leon went out of the room, and, as he did so, heard the landlord, whowas fastening his door, say to the German--

  "The captain is a lucky fellow."

  "That comes of being good-looking, Senor Crevel," the other replied.

  More and more puzzled, the captain continued to ascend, and soon stoodbefore the door of the green room. Crevel had told the truth, the keywas in it, and a light could be seen gleaming through the cracks.The greatest silence, however, prevailed inside. After a moment'shesitation, the young man turned the key and entered, but at the firststep he took he stopped and uttered a cry of surprise.

  A young lady, seated in a chair, and dressed in the white garb of thenovices of the Purisima Concepcion, was sobbing and hiding her face inher hands. At the captain's cry, the girl started and quickly raisedher head--it was Maria de Soto-Mayor.

  Leon dared not believe his eyes. Maria in the green room! How did shehappen to be here in the middle of the night? What could have happened?By what concourse of extraordinary events could she expect his coming?Wild with delight at this sudden apparition, the captain fell on hisknees, murmuring--

  "Oh, nina! bless you for being here."

  And he tried to seize her hand and press it to his burning lips. Marialeaped out of the chair in which she was seated, and flashed at him aglance of supreme disdain.

  "Whence, sir," she said, "do you derive the audacity to presentyourself thus to me?"

  "Senorita!" Leon said, surprised and discountenanced by Maria's hurriedmovement.

  "Leave the room, sir," she continued, "and spare me at least the shameof listening to your remarks."

  "Good Heaven!" Leon exclaimed, who began to suspect some infamousmachination; "what have I done that you should treat me in this way?"

  "You ask me what you have done? in truth, I do not know whether I amdreaming? would you learn it from me, then, and pretend not to know?"

  "Oh, Maria! I am ignorant of the meaning of this: but on my mother'ssoul, I swear that a thought of insulting you never crossed my mind."

  "In that case, sir, how do you explain your unworthy conduct?"

  "I do not know to what you are alluding."

  "Your presence here, sir, is a sufficient proof that you expected tofind me here, even if you thought proper to deny your share in theabominable scandal which you have caused. Ah, Leon! could I supposethat you would offer me this outrage by publicly dishonouring me?"

  "Oh!" Leon exclaimed, "there is some infernal mystery in all this.Maria, once again I swear to you that your every word is an enigma, andI ask you how it comes that I find you in this inn room when I believedyou at the Convent of the Conception?"

  Maria felt her convictions shaken by the accent of truth with whichthese words were imprinted: still, being unable to believe in thesmuggler's innocence--so long as it seemed to her impossible that anyother than he should have dreamed of tearing her from the convent--sheresumed, though in certainly a milder tone--

  "Listen, Leon. Up to this day I believed you a man full of honour andloyalty. Now the action which you have committed is infamous; but tellme that it was suggested to you by some wicked creatures. Tell me thatyou have obeyed an evil inspiration, and though I could not forgiveyou, for you have ruined me, I would try to forget and pray Heaven toefface your image from my heart. For mercy's sake let us leave this denas quickly as possible, and do not prolong a captivity which covers mewith infamy."

  "Do you want to drive me mad? Good Heaven! what can have happenedduring the hour since I left prison?"

  "Prison!"

  "Yes, senorita, the day before yesterday, after the visit which I paidyou in the general's company, I was arrested and taken to the Calabozo,whence I was released scarce an hour ago."

  "Can that be true?"

  "Yes, on my honour."

  "But, in that case, on whose authority did the man act who entered theconvent at the head of his bandits and carried me off by main force?"

  "Oh, Heavens!" said Leon, "that man! Oh, I understand it all now. Tellme, Maria, did you recognise his features?"

  "Stay--yes, yes, it was certainly he."

  "Who?"

  "Your friend, who accompanied us on the journey to Valdivia."

  "Diego!" Leon exclaimed.

  "Yes, Diego."

  "Oh, woe upon him, then!"

  And seizing the bell rope he rang violently. In about a quarter of anhour, Crevel thrust a startled face through the half-open door.

  "Do you want anything, captain?"

  "Yes; send up Wilhelm at once."

  The banian disappeared. Leon, suffering from a furious agitation,walked up and down the room displaying all the signs of a passion onthe point of exploding. His face was pale; his muscles were contracted,and his eyes flashed fire. Wilhelm came in. At the sight of him Mariagave a start of terror, but Leon reassured her.

  "Fear nothing, senorita; you are under my protection."

  The German understood that he had committed some folly.

  "Wilhelm," Leon said to him, fixing on him a scrutinizing glance,"listen carefully to what I am going to say to you, and answer me."

  "Very good, captain."

  "Where did you go the day before yesterday, after my arrest?"

  "To R
io Claro, to find the lieutenant."

  "What did he say to you?"

  "He told me that he wished to deliver you, and gave me the meeting forlast night at ten o'clock."

  "He came here? What next?"

  "Next, captain," the German said, twisting his hat between his fingers."Well, it was--"

  "Speak the truth; I insist on it."

  "Well, the whole band was assembled."

  "And what did you do?"

  "Lieutenant Diego told us that you loved a novice in the convent of thePurisima Concepcion, that he had sworn to make her yours, and we mustcarry her off."

  "And then?"

  "Then he led us thither, and by his orders we carried off the senoraand brought her here to Crevel's, while Diego went off with anothergirl."

  "Another, do you say?"

  "Oh, Heaven!" Maria exclaimed.

  "But who was it? Will you answer?" Leon commanded him, with a roughshake.

  "On my word, captain, it was Dona Inez, the sister of Dona Maria."

  "Malediction!" Leon said, furiously.

  "Oh, my sister!--my poor sister!"

  "The infamous fellow!" the young man continued; "what frightfultreachery! Henceforth all ties are broken between us. This, then, wasthe vengeance he coveted!"

  Then, addressing the German, who was looking at him anxiously, he said--

  "Wilhelm, there is not a moment to lose; assemble our men, and let themall be here within an hour."

  "All right, captain."

  And the German dashed down the stairs at a tremendous pace. Leon thenturned to Maria, who was sobbing.

  "Courage, Senora. I cannot take you back to the convent, where youwould no longer be in safety; but will you join your father atSantiago?"

  "Do not abandon me, Leon, I implore you," she answered. "You alone canprotect me. Oh, my poor sister!"

  "If I cannot save her, I will avenge her in an exemplary manner."

  The maiden no longer heard him. Absorbed in her grief, she dreamed ofthe fatality which had weighed on her ever since the day when her eyesfirst met Leon, and derived from them the love which was destined tochange the calm life which she led at the convent into such terribletrials. Still, on seeing near her Leon--whose eagerness in lavishingattentions on her was incessant--she gave him a look of ineffablesweetness, while asking his forgiveness for having suspected him ofcomplicity in the outrage of which she had been the victim.

  "Maria," Leon said in reply, as he covered her hand with kisses, "doyou not know that I would joyfully sacrifice my life at a sign fromyou?"

  "Forgive me, Leon, for I should die if your love ceased to be as nobleand pure as your heart."

  "My love, Maria, is submissive to your wishes; it is the most ferventworship--the purifying flame."

  "Leon, my sister is perhaps at this time abandoned defencelessly tothe insults of her cowardly ravisher."

  "Let me first restore you to your father, and then I will do all in mypower to save your sister."

  "What do I not owe you for so much devotion?"

  "Have you not told me that you loved me?"

  "Yes, Leon, I love you, and am proud of it."

  "Oh, thanks!--thanks, Maria! God will bless our love, and I soon hopeto tell your father of it. May he but approve of it."

  "Does he not owe to you the life of his children? Oh, when I tell himhow I love you, and how generous your conduct has been, be assured thathe, too, will love you."

  While the two young people were indulging in dreams of happiness andthe future, Wilhelm was executing the captain's orders, and Crevel'sposada was again filled by the members of the band. An hour had notelapsed when he came to tell Leon that everything was ready fordeparture.

  "In that case," Leon said to him, "all you have to do is to select thebest horse you can find in the landlord's corral, and get it ready forsenorita Maria."

  "All right, captain," Wilhelm answered, who knew no phrase betterfitted to display his obedience than the one which he habitually used.

  "All along the road to Santiago you and Joaquin will keep constantlyby her side, and watch her carefully so that no accident may happen toher. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, captain."

  "In that case make haste, and here is something to hasten yourmovements," Leon continued, taking from his pocket some onzas andhanding them to the German.

  "Thanks, captain. You can come down with the nina whenever you like,for we shall be ready in a moment."

  Very shortly after, in truth, Wilhelm was standing before the inn door,holding two horses--one for Leon, the other for Maria. When left alonewith the latter, the captain took from under his cloak a large blackmanta, which he threw over the young lady's shoulders, and pulled thehood over her face.

  "Now," he said to her, "let us go."

  "I follow you," Maria answered.

  Leaning on the young man's arm, she cautiously descended the stairs,and found herself in the midst of the smugglers who had invaded theconvent. But, knowing that she was in perfect safety by Leon's side,she manifested neither surprise nor fear. Assisted by him, she mountedher horse, seized the reins, and placed herself resolutely in the firstrank between Wilhelm and Joaquin.

  The captain, after giving a final glance at his band, to assure himselfthat everything was in order, leapt upon the back of his mustang, andgave the order to start. The smugglers then proceeded at a sharp trotacross the Almendral in order to reach the Santiago road.