The Blood of the Conquerors

by Harvey Fergusson

  CHAPTER XVI

  About two weeks after the Don's funeral, Ramon received a summons which hehad been vaguely expecting. He was asked by Mr. MacDougall's secretaryover the telephone to call, whenever it would be convenient, at Mr.MacDougall's office.

  He knew just what this meant. MacDougall would try to make with him anarrangement somewhat similar to the one he had had with the Don. Ramonknew that he did not want such an arrangement on any terms. He feltconfident that not one could swindle him, but at the same time he was halfafraid of the Scotchman; he felt instinctively that MacDougall was a manfor him to avoid. And besides, he intended to use his lands in his ownway. He would sell part of them to the railroad, which was projected to bebuilt through them, if he could get a good price; but the hunger forowning land, for dominating a part of the earth, was as much a part of himas his right hand. He wanted no modern business partnership. He wanted tobe _"__el patron,__"_ as so many Delcasars had been before him.

  Here was a temptation to be dramatic, to hurl a picturesque defiance atthe gringo. Ramon might have yielded to it a few months before. Sundrybrave speeches flashed through his mind, as it was. But he resolutely putthem aside. There was too much at stake {~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} his love. He determined to callon MacDougall promptly and to be polite.

  MacDougall was a heavy, bald man of Scotch descent, and very true to type.He had come to town from the East about fifteen years before with his wifeand his two tall, raw-boned children--a boy and a girl. The family had beenvery poor. They had lived in a small _adobe_ house on the _mesa_. For tenyears Mrs. MacDougall had done all of her own housework, including thewashing; the two children had gone to school in clothes that seemed alwaystoo small for them; and MacDougall had laboured obscurely day and night ina small dark office. During these ten years the MacDougalls had beencompletely overlooked by local society, and if they felt any resentmentthey did not show it.

  Meantime MacDougall had been systematically and laboriously laying thefoundations of a fortune. His passion was for land. He loaned money onland, chiefly to Mexicans, and he took mortgages on land in return fordefending his Mexican clients, largely on criminal charges. Some of theland he farmed, and some he rented, but much of it lay idle, and the taxeshe had to pay kept his family poor long after it might have beencomfortable. But his lands rose steadily in value; he began selling,discreetly; and the MacDougalls came magnificently into their own.MacDougall was now one of the wealthiest men in the State. In five yearshis way of living had undergone a great change. He owned a large brickhouse in the highlands and had several servants. The boy had gone toHarvard, and the girl to Vassar. Neither of them was so gawky now, andboth of them were much sought socially during their vacations at home.MacDougall himself had undergone a marked change for a man past fifty. Hehad become a stylish dresser and looked younger. He drove to work in alarge car with a chauffeur. In the early morning he went riding on the_mesa_, mounted on a big Kentucky fox-trotter, clad in English ridingclothes, jouncing solemnly up and down on his flat saddle, and followed bya couple of carefully-laundered white poodles. On these expeditions he wasa source of great edification and some amusement to the natives.

  In the town he was a man of weight and influence, but the country Mexicanshated him. Once when he was looking over some lands recently acquired bythe foreclosure of mortgages, a bullet had whistled close to his ear, andanother had punctured the hood of his car. He now hired a man to do his"outside work."

  Thus both MacDougall and his children had thrived and developed on theirwealth. Mrs. MacDougall, perhaps, had been the sacrifice. She remained atall, thin, pale, tired-looking woman with large hands that were a recordof toil. She laboured at her new social duties and "pleasures" in exactlythe same spirit that she had formerly laboured at the wash tub.

  MacDougall's offices now occupied all of the ground floor of a large newbuilding which he had built. Like everything else of his authorship thisbuilding represented a determined effort to lend the town an air ofEastern elegance. It was finished in an imitation of white marble and theoffices had large plate glass windows which bore in gilt letters thelegend: "MacDougall Land and Cattle Company, Inc." Within, half a dozengirls in glass cages could be seen working at typewriters and addingmachines, while a cashier occupied a little office of his own with a largesafe at his back, a little brass grating in front of him, and a revolvervisible not far from his right hand.

  The creator of this magnificence sat behind a glasstop desk at the far endof a large and sunny office with a bare and slippery floor. Many a Mexicanbeggar for mercy, with a mortgage on his home, had walked across thisforbidding expanse of polished hardwood toward the big man with themerciless eye, as fearfully as ever a _peon_, sentenced to forty lashesand salt in his wounds, approached the seat of his owner to plead for awhole skin. Truly, the weak can but change masters.

  This morning MacDougall was all affability. As he stood up behind hisdesk, clad in a light grey suit, large and ruddy, radiant of health andprosperity, he was impressive, almost splendid. Only the eyes, small andcloseset, revealed the worried and calculating spirit of the man.

  "Mr. Delcasar," he said when they had shaken hands and sat down, "I amglad to welcome you to this office, and I hope to see you here many timesmore. I will not waste time, for we are both busy men. I asked you to comehere because I want to suggest a sort of informal partnership between us,such as I had with your late uncle, one of my best friends. I believe myplan will be for the best interests of both of us.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} I suppose you knowabout what the arrangement was between the Don and myself?"

  "No; not in detail," Ramon confessed. He felt MacDougall's power at once.Facing the man was a different matter from planning an interview with himwhen alone. But he retained sense enough to let MacDougall do the talking.

  "Have a cigar," the great man continued, full of sweetness, pushing alarge and fragrant box of perfectos across the desk. "I will outline thesituation to you briefly, as I see it." Nothing could have seemed morefrank and friendly than his manner.

  "As you doubtless know," he went on, "your estate includes a large area ofmountain and _mesa_ land--a little more than nine thousand acres Ibelieve--north and west of the San Antonio River in Arriba County. I ownnearly as much land on the east side of the river. The valley itself isowned by a number of natives in small farming tracts.

  "I believe your estate also includes a few small parcels of land in thevalley, but not enough, you understand, to be of much value by itself.Your uncle also owned a few tracts in the valley east of the river whichhe transferred to me, for a consideration, because they abutted upon myholdings.

  "Now the valley, as I scarcely need tell you, is the key to the situation.In the first place, if the country is to be properly developed as sheepand cattle range, the valley will furnish the farming land upon which hayfor winter use can be raised, and it also furnishes some good winterrange. Moreover, it is now an open secret that the Denver and Rio GrandeRailroad proposes building a branch line through that country and into theSan Juan Valley. No surveys have been made, but it is certain that theroad must follow the San Antonio to the top of the divide. There is noother way through. I became aware of this project some time ago through myeastern connections, and told your uncle about it. He and I joined forcesfor the purpose of gaining control of the San Antonio Valley, and of therailroad right-of-way.

  "The proposition is a singularly attractive one. Not only could theright-of-way be sold for a very large sum, but we would afterward own asplendid bit of cattle range, with farming land in the valley, and with arailroad running through the centre of it. There is nothing less than afortune to be made in the San Antonio Valley, Mr. Delcasar.

  "And the lands in the valley can be acquired. Some of the small ownerswill sell outright. Furthermore, they are all frequently in need of money,especially during dry years when the crops are not good. By advancingloans judiciously, and taking land as security, title can often beacquired.{~HORIZONTAL ELLI
PSIS~} I daresay you are not wholly unfamiliar with the method.

  "This work, Mr. Delcasar, requires large capital, which I can command. Italso requires certain things which you have in an unusual degree. You areof Spanish descent, you speak the language fluently. You have politicaland family prestige among the natives. All of this will be of greatservice in persuading the natives to sell, and in getting the necessaryinformation about land titles, which, as you know, requires much researchin old Spanish Church records and much interviewing of the nativesthemselves.

  "In the actual making of purchases, my name need not appear. In fact, Ithink it is very desirable that it should not appear. But understand thatI will furnish absolutely all of the capital for the enterprise. I amoffering you, Mr. Delcasar, an opportunity to make a fortune withoutinvesting a cent, and I feel that I can count upon your acceptance."

  At the close of this discourse, Ramon felt like a surf-bather who has beenoverwhelmed by a great and sudden wave and comes up gasping for breath andstruggling for a foothold. Never had he heard anything so brilliantlyplausible, for never before had he come into contact with a good mind infull action. Yet he regained his balance in a moment. He was accustomed toact by intuition, not by logic, and his intuition was all againstaccepting MacDougall's offer. He was not deceived by the Scotchman's showof friendship and beneficence; he himself had an aptitude for pretence,and he understood it better than he would have understood sincerity. Heknew that whether he formed this partnership or not, there was sure to bea struggle between him and MacDougall for the dominance of the San AntonioValley. And his instinct was to stand free and fight; not to come togrips, MacDougall was a stronger man than he. The one advantage which hehad--his influence over the natives--he must keep in his own hands, and notlet his adversary turn it against him.

  He took his cigar out of his mouth, looked at it a moment, and cleared histhroat.

  "Mr. MacDougall," he said slowly, "this offer makes me proud. That youshould have so much confidence in me as to wish to make me your partner ismost gratifying. I am sorry that I must refuse. I have other plans.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~}"

  MacDougall nodded, interrupting. This was evidently a contingency he hadcalculated.

  "I'm sorry, Mr. Delcasar. I had hoped to be permanently associated withyou in this venture. But I think I understand. You are young. Perhapsmarriage, a home are your immediate objects, and you need cash at once,rather than a somewhat distant prospect of greater wealth. In that case Ithink I can meet your wishes. I am prepared to make you a good offer forall of your holdings in the valley, and those immediately adjoining it.The exact amount I cannot state at this moment, but I feel sure we couldagree as to price."

  Ramon was taken aback by the promptness of the counter, confused, forcedto think. Money was a thing he wanted badly. He had little cash. IfMacDougall would give him fifty thousand, he could go with Julia anywhere.He would be free. But again the inward prompting, sure and imperative,said no. He wanted the girl above all things. But he wanted land, too. Hiswas the large and confident greed of youth. And he could have the girlwithout making this concession. MacDougall wanted to take the best of hisland and push him out of the game as a weakling, a negligible. He wouldn'tsubmit. He would fight, and in his own way. What he wanted now was to endthe interview, to get away from this battering, formidable opponent. Herose.

  "I will think it over, Mr. MacDougall," he said. "And meantime, if youwill send me an offer in writing, I will appreciate it."

  Some of the affability faded from MacDougall's face as he too rose, andthe worried look in his little grey eyes intensified, as though he sensedthe fact that this was an evasion. None-the-less he said good-byecordially and promised to write the letter.

  Ramon went back to his office, his mind stimulated, working intensely.Never before had he thought so clearly and purposefully. He got out an oldgovernment map of Arriba County, and with the aid of the deeds in the safewhich contained all his uncle's important papers, he managed to mark offhis holdings. The whole situation became as clear to him as a checkergame. He owned a bit of land in the valley which ran all the way acrossit, and far out upon the _mesa_ in a long narrow strip. That was the wayland holdings were always divided under the Spanish law--into strips a fewhundred feet wide, and sometimes as much as fourteen miles long. Thisstrip would in all probability be vital to the proposed right-of-way. Itexplained MacDougall's eagerness to take him as a partner or else to buyhim out. By holding it, he would hold the key to the situation.

  In order really to dominate the country and to make his property grow invalue he would have to own more of the valley. And he could not get moneyenough to buy except very slowly. But he could use his influence with thenatives to prevent MacDougall from buying. MacDougall was a gringo. TheMexicans hated him. He had been shot at. Ramon could "preach the raceissue," as the politicians put it.

  The important thing was to strengthen and assert his influence as aMexican and a Delcasar. He must go to Arriba County, open the old ranchhouse he owned there, go among the people. He must gain a real ascendency.He knew how to do it. It was his birthright. He was full of fight andambition, confident, elated. The way was clear before him. Tomorrow hewould go to Julia.