The Coast of Adventure

by Harold Bindloss

  CHAPTER XXIII

  THE INTERCEPTED NOTE

  When she was able to think calmly, Evelyn found herself confronted byfamiliar troubles. She was not a prisoner and yet she could not runaway, because she had no money and could not understand the barbarousCastilian spoken among the hills. Moreover, she could not appeal, evenby signs, for help, for it was generally believed that she had elopedwith Gomez. His friends would, no doubt, send her back to him. Hisenemies would treat her with rude contempt. Sooner than be forced tomarry him, she would steal away and starve; but she had a convictionthat things would not come to the worst. It would suit Gomez best tobreak down her resistance by moral pressure.

  She was young, but not altogether inexperienced, and during the pastweek her mental powers had suddenly developed; besides, she wassupported by a deep-rooted national pride. It was a privilege to be anAmerican, or, as her countrymen sometimes expressed it, to be white. Thesentiment might not be quite free from prejudice, but it was founded ontruth and carried an obligation. One must respect one's birthright andnever submit to be trampled on by a foreigner.

  It was, however, obvious that she must seek outside help, and in herneed she thought of Grahame. He would come if she sent for him, and sheknew now that he would be welcome if he came as her lover. He was awhite man; it was an unspeakable relief to dwell upon his fine, athleticsymmetry and his strong, brown face with its stamp of semi-asceticrestraint, after the tainted grossness of her persecutor. She hadthought of him often, and had indeed found it hard not to do so oftener,but the turning-point had come and, flinging aside ambition, she openedher heart to the love that had been waiting. This was not because shewas in danger, although danger had hastened the crisis.

  For a time she forgot Gomez, and listened vacantly to the patter of feetin the hot streets while she sat quietly in a corner of the shaded room,lost in alluring dreams. Then she roused herself, and going to herapartment wrote a short message, stating that she needed help. She couldnot find an envelope and dare not ask for one, so she folded the noteand wrote across it the address Grahame had given her. Then she stolefrom the house.

  No one interfered with her as she went up a street that led to theoutskirts of the town, where she was less likely to be watched. Theunsealed note could not be posted, because it would no doubt be given toGomez, but she might find somebody who would arrange for its conveyanceby hand. It would be better if the person were a revolutionary, but sheimagined that the President's enemies would not make themselvesconspicuous. Some risk must be taken, but, after all, very few peoplecould read English.

  After a time she met a peon and showed him the note. He seemed surprisedto see the Spanish name on the back, and at first vigorously shook hishead, but when Evelyn held out two or three coins he began to ponder,and presently made a sign of understanding and took the note. Evelynfelt reckless as he moved away, for she had given him all her money andhad no resource left.

  Returning by a different way, she entered the house. Gomez did not seemto be about, but the building was large and she seldom saw him exceptwhen he paid her a formal visit. The man was a ruffian, but it was hermoney he wanted, and he would act discreetly. His boast had thrown somelight upon his treacherous schemes: he meant to make himself President,if he could compel her father to provide the necessary funds.

  The peon carrying the note set out on foot for the next village, wherehe had a friend who sometimes went to the coast. The friend, however,was not at home, and Evelyn's messenger, being tired and in possessionof more money than usual, entered a little wine-shop and orderedrefreshment. The _cana_ was strong and after drinking more than was goodfor him he forgot his caution when one of the villagers asked what hadbrought him there. To satisfy the fellow's curiosity, he produced thenote, and the loungers in the wine-shop grew interested, for the man towhom it was addressed was known as an enemy of the Government.

  One tried to take it from the peon, another interfered, and as bothpolitical parties were represented, a tumult broke out. It was stoppedby the arrival of two rural guards, the note was seized, and one of theguards set off for Rio Frio at dawn the next morning.

  Gomez started when he was given the note, for Evelyn had made anunexpected move; but he saw the importance of what it implied andlighted a cigarette while he thought the matter out. He had suspectedthe _Enchantress_ for some time and knew that Grahame was her owner.Since the _yanqui_ was in communication with a dangerous revolutionist,he must be engaged in smuggling arms, and if he had landed many, therebels would be ready to fight. For all that, Gomez was puzzled. Grahamewas a friend of the senorita Cliffe's--perhaps even her lover--and hewas helping the rebels, while her father had spent a good deal of moneyto support the President. This suggested that Cliffe might be playing acrooked game, and bore out some suspicions Gomez had entertained. ThePresident must be informed at once; but in the meantime Gomez saw howthe note could be made use of.

  After some thought, he summoned a confidential clerk who had learnedEnglish in the United States, and gave him the note.

  "It seems that the senorita does not like Rio Frio and means to leaveus," he remarked.

  The clerk discreetly contented himself with a sign of agreement.

  "Well," Gomez resumed, "I think we will let her message go."

  "Would that be wise?" the other ventured. "We do not know when and whichway the Englishman will come, and he may be joined by some ofSarmiento's followers."

  Gomez smiled.

  "The senorita Cliffe is artless and has made a mistake. Her note coversonly half the paper and leaves room for something to be addedunderneath."

  "Ah!" The clerk was a skillful penman and had once or twice successfullyimitated the signatures of hostile politicians.

  "You understand!" said Gomez. "The writing must not look different andyou must use the same kind of pencil. Now give me some paper."

  He smoked a cigarette before he began to write, for the space at thefoot of Evelyn's note was limited. Grahame probably knew the girl'shand, but would be deceived by a clever imitation of it in the form of apostscript under her signature. The note was dated at Rio Frio and leftit to be understood that Evelyn expected him there, but the postscriptdirected him to land on the beach near Valverde, where a guide wouldlook out for him for several nights.

  "There are two words we had better alter; the Americans do not often usethem," said the clerk cautiously, and Gomez agreed to the change.

  "You will have it sent off and make arrangements for the Englishman tobe met," he added with a smile. "And now I must start for Villa Paz totell the President."

  Half an hour later he mounted in the _patio_, and Evelyn, hearing theclatter of hoofs, looked out through the half-opened lattice and watchedhim ride away. As he had an armed escort and a spare mule, she imaginedhe meant to make a long journey, and Grahame might arrive before hereturned.

  Soon after the party had gone, the senora Garcia came in and stoodlooking at the girl as if she had something to say. Her air of sullendislike was less marked than usual, and Evelyn, remembering the soundshe had heard during her interview with Gomez, suspected that she hadlistened at the door. Now the woman looked anxious and embarrassed, andwhile she hesitated Evelyn studied her. The senora must have possessedunusual beauty and was handsome yet, although she was getting stout andlosing her freshness, as women of Spanish blood do at an early age inhot climates. Her skin had been spoiled by cosmetics and her face wasclumsily touched with paint and powder. Evelyn felt a half contemptuouspity; there was something pathetic in her crude attempts to preserve hervanishing charm.

  The senora made signs which Evelyn supposed to mean that Gomez had goneaway, and then she took out some silver and paper currency. Putting itinto the girl's hand, she pointed to the door.

  Evelyn started, for the hint was plain; the senora was anxious to getrid of her rival. Evelyn grasped at the chance to go. The money could berepaid; it might be some time before Grahame arrived, and the womancould be trusted to convey a note to him, because she
could not give itto Gomez without betraying her complicity in the girl's escape.

  For a time they struggled to grasp each other's meaning, but at last thesenora Garcia showed she understood that she was to deliver a note to anEnglishman who would come in search of the girl. Evelyn was to find apeon who lived outside the town and would put her on the way to VillaPaz. It would, no doubt, prove a difficult journey, but she wasdetermined to make it.

  She was soon ready, and walked carelessly across the plaza as if she hadno object. The townspeople knew her, and she met with no troublesomecuriosity. After a time, she entered a shady street, where she stoppedonce or twice to look into a shop. Leaving it at the other end, she cameout into a hot, stony waste, dotted with tall aloes and clumps ofcactus, and presently reached a dilapidated adobe hut.

  As she stood, hesitating, before it a man came out to meet her and shefelt her heart beat fast, for she was now confronted by her firstdanger. The fellow might rob her or perhaps take her back. His whiteclothes were threadbare, but they were clean, and on the whole she likedhis look; and the sight of a woman peeping through the door was somehowreassuring.

  It was not easy to make him understand what she wanted, but he lookedthoughtful when she repeated a word the senora Garcia had taught her.Then he went in, apparently to consult the woman, and, returning,signified that he would do what she wished. She must, however, go onalone to a village some distance off; on the way he would overtake herwith a mule. Evelyn thought it curious that he had not asked for money,but as he seemed anxious that she should not delay she set off. So far,her escape had proved easier than she had imagined.

  The sun was at its highest, and it was very hot; the road was a roughtrack where loose stones lay among the heavy dust. Where water ran downthe hillside in artificial channels, there were palms and belts offoliage; elsewhere outcropping rock and stones flung up a dazzlingbrightness. In the background, rugged peaks rose against a sky ofintense blue, and far off on the opposite hand a misty gleam indicatedthe sea.

  Evelyn soon began to get tired, and she found her thin shoes badlysuited to the roughness of the ground. The dust that rose about hergathered on her skin; she got hot and thirsty; but the water she triedto drink was slimy and she toiled on. It seemed wiser to press forwardwhile she could, for there was nobody at work in the scattered fields.Her eyes ached with the glare and her feet were sore, but the peon didnot come, and when she looked back the road wound along the hillside,white and empty. Here and there tall trees filled the hollows among therocks, but the country seemed deserted and she could not see a houseanywhere.

  At last, when the sun was low and the shadows were long and cool, shesaw a cluster of small white patches shining amid a belt of green ahead,and supposed this was the _aldea_ the peon had meant. Limping onwearily, she came within half a mile of it, and then, finding a placewhere she was hidden by a clump of cactus, she sat down to watch theroad. She might run some risk of being robbed or stopped if she enteredthe village alone, for it was obvious that a well-dressed foreignertraveling on foot could not hope to escape notice, and the hill peasantswould probably not understand her few words of Castilian.

  The shadows lengthened until they covered the hillside, and the air gotcool, but her guide did not come, and Evelyn began to wonder what haddelayed him. He had seemed willing to assist in her escape, and shesuspected that he must sympathize with the revolutionaries; but, if so,it was strange that the senora Garcia should have known the passwordwhich had apparently decided him. She had, however, been told that thesepeople were fond of intrigue, and that a general plot was oftenaccompanied by minor conspiracies, so to speak, one inside the other.The senora Garcia had perhaps some object of her own to serve; but thisdid not matter--it was more important that the peon did not arrive.

  It began to get dark. The dew soaked Evelyn's thin dress, and she felthungry and achingly tired. Then a light or two twinkled among the treesand some one began to sing to a guitar. The lights and the music, withtheir suggestions of home and rest after the day's toil, troubled thegirl. She was alone and apparently deserted, with enemies behind her andthe way ahead unknown. For a few minutes her courage failed and she wasin danger of breaking down; then, with a determined effort, sherecovered her calm and roused herself to listen.

  The music had grown plainer, and she recognized an air she had heardwhen she sat with Grahame in the _patio_ of the International. Thecontrast was too great, and brought her poignant memories. She was nolonger a person of consequence, indulged in every wish, but a homelessfugitive. Then she thought of Grahame, who had translated the song theywere singing, for the plaintive refrain of _Las Aves Marinas_ carriedclearly through the cooling air. Had the wild sea-hawk got her message,and was he already coming to her rescue? But even this was not of firstconsequence. What about the peon? Had he betrayed her?

  Everything was silent upon the hillside, but a faint breeze was gettingup and sighed among the stones. There was a splash of water in thedistance, but no sound came from the road. It ran back, a dim whitestreak, into the deepening gloom, and then faded out of sight upon theshoulder of a hill. There was no movement on it as far as the girl couldsee.

  She waited what seemed an interminable time, and then a faint drummingcaught her attention, and grew into a welcome beat of hoofs. Some onewas coming along the road. She watched eagerly, straining her eyes tocatch a glimpse of the rider. At last an object emerged from the shadow,and as it drew nearer she could see that it was a man riding a mule.

  With her nerves at high tension and her heart beating fast, Evelyn lefther hiding place in the cacti and stepped out into the middle of theroad. The man must see her now, and she had involved herself in freshdifficulties if he were not the peon she expected.

  He came on fast; he had caught sight of her and was urging his mule.When he pulled up beside her and dropped from the animal, mutteringexclamations in an unknown tongue, Evelyn staggered. It was an Indianfrom the hills.