CHAPTER XII
LISTER OFFERS SATISFACTION
Desmond's informant had, as it happened, been quite warranted inmentioning that Lister's proceedings had aroused the interest of theEnglish colony in Las Palmas. He provided those who belonged to itwith something to talk about as they lounged on the hotel verandas,which was a cause for gratification, since a good many of them had nomore profitable occupation. That dusty city has, like others in thesouth, distractions to offer the idler with liberal views, though acertain proportion of them are of distinctly doubtful character. Thereare also in it gentlemen of easy morality who are willing to act ascicerone to the stranger with means, that is, provided he possesses agenerous disposition. Spaniards of the old regime call them the _SinVerguenza_, "men without shame," and there are one or two coarselyforceful Anglo-Saxon terms that might be aptly applied to them. It is,unfortunately, a fact that there are Englishmen among them.
Lister, who was young, and had never imposed much restraint uponhimself, profited by the opportunities they provided him. He had thecommand of more money than was, perhaps, desirable, and for severalweeks the pace he made was hot. He was naturally preyed upon andvictimized, though, after all, the latter happened less frequentlythan those who watched his proceedings supposed. The lad was carelessand generous, but there was a certain shrewdness in him as well as avein of cold British stubbornness which made him a trifle difficult tohandle when once his dislike was aroused. Indeed, one or two of hisacquaintances fancied he had not gone so very deep in the mire, afterall. How much Mrs. Ratcliffe knew about his doings did not appear. Onedesires to be charitable, and since Major Chillingham had gone back toEngland, it is possible, though far from likely, that she had notheard of them at all. In any case, she took him up, and was graciousto him in a motherly fashion, and there was suddenly a change in him.
Lister henceforward spent his evenings at the hotel, generally nearthe piano when Ada Ratcliffe sang. He also planned excursions for herand her mother to little palm-shrouded villages among the volcanichills, and, since there was nobody who understood exactly how MissRatcliffe stood with regard to the man who had gone to Africa, theonlookers chuckled, and said that the girl's mother was a cleverwoman. She said that Lister was a very likable young man, who had nomother of his own, which was always a misfortune, and that it wasalmost a duty to look after him.
It was, in any case, one she discharged efficiently, and for a timehis former companions had very little of Lister's company. Several ofthem were also sorry he had, apparently, as the result of theirpersistent efforts to undermine her authority, flung off therestraints Mrs. Ratcliffe had gradually imposed on him when at last hespent a night with them again.
They had reasonable cause for dissatisfaction when they sat in acertain _caffee_ which stood near the cathedral. The latter fact has asignificance for those acquainted with Spanish cities, but, after all,the Church is needed most where sinners abound. The _caffee_ had wideunglazed windows, and clear moonlight streamed down into the hot,unsavory street, which under that pure radiance looked for oncecuriously clean and white. Tall limewashed walls rose above it, and,for the flat roofs lay beneath their crests, cut against the strip ofvelvety indigo, while a little cool breeze swept between them with awelcome freshness. There was no gleam of light behind any of the greenlattices that broke their flat monotony and, save for the deep rumbleof the surf, the city was very still. Once a measured tramp of feetrang across the flat roofs and indicated that two of the armed_civiles_ were patroling a neighboring _calle_ where the principalshops stand, but their business would not take them near the _caffee_.It is, in fact, not often that authority obtrudes itself unadvisedlyinto certain parts of most Spanish towns.
The moonlight also streamed into the _caffee_ where a big lamp inwhich the oil was running low burned dimly. The table beneath it wasstained with cheap red wine, and a good many bottles stood upon itamong a litter of Spanish cards. Four men sat about it, and two morelounged upon the settee which ran along the discolored wall. The placewas filled with tobacco smoke and the sickly odor of anisado, whichwas, however, no great disadvantage, since the natural reek of aSpanish Alsatia is more unpleasant still. The men had been there fouror five hours when Lister flung down a card and noisily pushed backhis chair. His face was a trifle flushed, and his hands were not quitesteady, but his half-closed eyes were, as one or two of the othersnoticed, almost unpleasantly calm. There was a pile of silver at hisside on the table, for he had, as the red-faced English skipperopposite him had once or twice observed, been favored with anastonishing run of luck. It is, however, possible that the skipper didnot go quite far enough. Lister had certainly been fortunate, but hehad also a nice judgment in such matters, and his nerve was unusuallygood. He looked round at his companions with a little dry smile.
"You should have left me alone," he said. "I didn't want to come here,but when you insisted I did it to oblige you. As you pointed out,considering what I took out of some of you on another occasion, itseemed the fair thing. Now I hope you're satisfied."
He indicated the pile of silver with a little wave of his hand, andthe others, among whom there were two Englishmen beside the skipper,waited in some astonishment, with very little sign of content in theirfaces, until he went on again.
"Well," he said, "I'm still willing to do the fair thing, though,while I don't wish to be unduly personal, that is a point which hasevidently not caused one or two of you any undue anxiety. You canexplain that, Walters, to the Spanish gentlemen, though I don'taltogether confine my remarks to them."
An Englishman straightened himself suddenly, and one of the Spaniard'seyes flashed when the man Lister turned to did his bidding. Lister,however, grinned at them.
"The question," he said, "is simply do you feel I owe you any furthersatisfaction, or have you had enough? I want you to understand thatI'm never coming here again, and if you care to double the stakes I'llplay you another round."
There was no doubt that they had had enough, and while three of themmight have taken another hand with a view to getting back the pile ofsilver by certain means they were acquainted with they refrained,perhaps because they felt that the man called Walters and the burlysteamboat skipper would in case of necessity stand by Lister. Thesilence that lasted a moment or two grew uncomfortable, but it did notseem to trouble Lister, who sat still looking at them with a littlesardonic smile.
"Well," he said, "it's evident that you don't expect anything morefrom me. Will you and Captain Wilson come with me, Walters?"
He rose when the men addressed reached out for their hats, and thenclapped his hands until a girl came in. She was very young, and lookedjaded, which was not particularly astonishing considering that shehad been keeping the party supplied with refreshment for more thanhalf the night. The smudgy patches of powder on it emphasized theweariness of her olive-tinted face, but there was for all that acertain suggestion of daintiness and freshness about her which was notwhat one would have expected in such surroundings.
Lister stood looking at her with half-closed eyes, while the otherswatched them both until he made a little abrupt gesture.
"It is not you, but your father, the patron, the man who owns thisplace, I want, but you can stop here and call him," he said in ahalf-intelligible muddle of Castilian and Portuguese.
Walters made it a little plainer, and the girl spread out her hands."The patron does not live here," she said. "My father, he is only incharge."
"Call him!" said Lister.
The man came in, and his dark eyes as well as those of all the otherswere fixed expectantly on Lister when he once more turned to the girl.
"You like waiting on and singing for these pigs?" he asked.
Walters rendered the word _puerco_, which is not a complimentary termin Spain, but the men it was applied to forgot to resent it in theirexpectancy. A flicker of color swept into the girl's face, and it wasevident that her task was not a congenial one. She was, however, aboutto retreat when Lister raised his hand in protest,
and turned to theman.
"What do you mean," he said, "by keeping a girl of that kind in aplace like this?"
Again Walters translated, and the little flicker of color grew atrifle plainer in the girl's olive-tinted cheek. One could havefancied that she had suddenly realized how others might regard heroccupation and surroundings. The man, however, spread his hands out.
"It is certainly not what one would wish for her, and she would be amodista," he said. "But what would you--when one is very poor?"
Lister caught up a double handful of the silver which still lay uponthe table and signed to the girl.
"That should make it a little easier. It's for you," he said. "If itis not enough you can let me know. You will go and learn to make hatsand dresses to-morrow. If your father makes any more objections I'llsend the little fat priest after him. You know the one I mean. He hasa cross eye and likes a good dinner as well as any man. He is a friendof mine."
The others gazed at Lister in blank astonishment when Walters madethis clear, until the Spaniard became suddenly profuse. Lister,however, disregarded him, and picking up the rest of the silver turnedtowards the door. He went out, and Walters looked at him curiouslywhen he stopped and stood still a moment, apparently reflecting, withthe moonlight on his face. The combativeness with which he hadregarded his gaming companions had faded out of it, and left it, as itusually was, heavy and inanimate. Lister was skillful at games ofchance, where his impassiveness served him well, but Walters fanciedhe was by no means likely to shine at anything else. He was a youngman of no mental capacity, and his tastes were not refined, but therewas hidden in his dull nature a germ of the rudimentary chivalry whichnow and then rouses such men as he was to deeds which astonish theirfriends. It had lain inert until the dew of a beneficent influence hadrested on it, and then there was a sudden growth that was to result inthe production of unlooked for fruit. Because of the love he bore onewoman he had become compassionate, and, perhaps, it did not mattergreatly that she was unworthy, since the gracious impulse was merelybrought him by, and not born of, the reverence he had for her. Afterall, its source was higher than that. It was, however, not to beexpected that he should realize such a fact, and he stood wrinklinghis brows as though ruminating over his proceedings, until he becameconscious that his companion was looking at him inquiringly.
"I don't know what made me do that," he said. "It's quite certain Iwouldn't have thought of it a month or two ago."
"No," said Walters, a trifle drily, "one would not have expected itfrom you. Still, you have made a few changes lately. What has come overyou?"
Lister did not answer him. "If that blamed ass of a skipper means tostop I'm not going to wait for him. He'll get a knife slipped into himsome night and it will serve him right," he said. "We'll get out ofthis place. Once we strike the big calle it will be fresher."
They strode on down the hot, stale smelling street, and Listerappeared to draw in a deep breath of relief when they turned into thebroad road that runs close by the surf-swept beach to the harbor.Though there were tall white stores and houses on its seaward side thenight breeze swept down it exhilaratingly fresh and cool, and Listerbared his hot forehead to it.
"Well," he said, "I've been down among the swine in a number ofplaces, and, though I suppose it sometimes falls out differently, I'vescratched some of the bristles off a few of them. Now I want to forgetthe tricks they've taught me. You see, I'm never going back to any ofthe--stys again. It's a thing I owe myself and somebody else."
He had certainly consumed a good deal of wine, but it was clear thathe was fully in command of his senses, and Walters endeavored to checkhis laugh as comprehension suddenly dawned upon him. Still, he was notquite successful, and his companion turned on him.
"I meant it," he said. "There'll probably be trouble between us if youattempt to work off any of your assinine witticisms."
Walters said nothing. He had seen his companion calmly insult four menwhose dollars he had pocketed, and he did not consider it advisable toexplain what he thought about Mrs. Ratcliffe and the interest she hadtaken in his friend. Still, like most of the English residents who hadmade her acquaintance, he had his views upon the subject. Lister was,at least, rich enough to make a desirable son-in-law, and if hefancied it was essential that he should reform before he offeredhimself as a candidate there was nothing to be gained by undeceivinghim.
They walked on until they left the tall white houses and little rowsof flat-topped dwellings that replaced them behind, and the dim, dustyroad stretched away before them with a filmy spray-cloud andglistening Atlantic heave on one side of it. Lister glanced at thefringe of crumbling combers with slow appreciation.
"In one way that's inspiriting," he said. "I might have sat andwatched them half the evening from the veranda of the hotel. In thatcase I'd have had a clearer head and been considerably fresherto-morrow. Still, those hogs would have me out. It's a consolation torealize that it has cost them something."
Walters stopped when they reached the hotel and glanced at hiscompanion. "Aren't you going in?" he said. "You could still get alittle sleep before it's breakfast time."
"No," said Lister simply, "I'm going for a swim. It's no doubt anassinine notion, but the smell of the sty seems to cling to me."
Walters laughed. "Is that a custom you mean to adopt invariably aftera night of this kind?"
"No," said Lister. "It won't be necessary. You see there will never beanother one."
They went on, and Walters sat down on the little mole not far awaywhile his comrade stripped off his thin attire. Then Lister stood amoment, gleaming white in the moonlight, a big, loose-limbed figure,on the head of the mole before he went down with flung-out hands andstiffened body into the cool Atlantic swell. It closed about himglittering, and he was well out in the harbor when he came up againand slid away down the blaze of radiance with left arm swinging. Thechill of the deep sea water, at least, cooled his slightly feveredskin, and, perhaps, there was something in his half pagan fancy thatit also washed a stain off him. In any case, the desire to escape fromthe most unusual sense of contamination was a wholesome one.
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