CHAPTER VI.

ON THE BORDERS OF PARADISE.

While Owen had doubtless encountered many rude shocks during his adventurous life he never had such a staggering blow dealt him as when this beauty from the Antilles so peremptorily ordered him to approach no nearer.

Unconsciously he obeyed, and yet seemed amazed at himself for not crushing her form in his embrace as he had done in times gone by when the whole realm of earth had been centered in her beloved presence.

Had she then ceased to love him--true, he had been cruel in his judgment, but since on his part time had effected no apparent cure, could it be possible that she despised where once she adored?

He searched for an answer, nor did he have to look long.

Under his troubled gaze burning blushes swept over her face and neck--she trembled with the intensity of her emotions, her breath came in quick, spasmodic gasps, and she looked like a beautiful fluttering bird facing its fate.

Love still reigned in her heart where he had once been king.

Then why this strange action--while yet loving did she mean to sacrifice this man who to her had been a god, however gross his material may have appeared to other eyes?

Was resentment, the desire to avenge her wrongs paramount to love?

While the ways of womankind were not wholly a sealed book to Owen, he had always frankly confessed himself unable to understand them. Yes, he had even drilled himself into the habit of being surprised at nothing the sex might do, either noble or otherwise--they were full of the unexpected to him.

"You say stand back--see, I obey you. Tell me to go, and I leave your presence forever. And yet I am wretchedly sorry and would do all in my power to wipe out the past, to make you believe in me as once you did. Is there any such way--shall I have a chance, Georgia?"

He knew the power of his voice over her--he could see her bosom heave with the intensity of her feelings.

Still she did not yield--this daughter of the Antilles was made of sterner stuff than to be swept along by every passing breeze like the fallen leaves of autumn.

"Perhaps," she replied, slowly.

"You would impose conditions--well, it is only right and fair. Let them be what they will I am ready to undertake them. The harder the better, since by that means I can prove the strength of my love, the bitterness with which I regard my conduct of the past."

"I said perhaps. Have you forgotten what I declared last night?" and her eyes dropped in confusion.

"You warned me--you saved me from a complication that was intended to injure me with my employers, with those whose respect I held dear. You risked much to warn me, and it was the thought of this that renewed my courage, my hope."

"It was something else--something of a more personal nature."

Then her meaning flashed upon him.

"You refer to Cousin Cleo--ah! what you said cannot be true--her regard for me is warm and cousinly, as mine is for her, but that is all."

"And if it were true--if she did love you--devotedly with all her heart and soul, Senor Roderic?"

"It would make no difference. I should deplore such an unfortunate occurrence deeply, on her account, for she is a noble woman in a million. But it would be utterly impossible for me to love another as I have you, Georgia."

And he believed what he said, showing that he was sincere, at any rate.

His words made her eyes glisten with delight, for who does not yearn to hear such phrases falling from the lips of an adored one.

"You solemnly swear that is true?" she asked, willing to believe, yet filled with womanly doubts.

"By everything sacred, by the memory of that happy past which my wretched jealousy slaughtered, by the grave of my revered mother I swear that I love and have loved no woman on earth but one, and she is before me."

"Then you shall hear the condition upon which you may wipe out the past--upon which I shall again believe in you with all my heart and soul, and forget the cruel wrong you did me."

"Name it, for Heaven's sake, Georgia. You shall see that I am in deadly earnest--that I abhor myself for the miserable way in which I fled from happiness and you. Yes, though it take me to the ends of the world, I shall go, proud to convince you that as once before I am above all others your _preux chevalier_. What would you have me do--all I ask is that it may not be to the prejudice of my beloved country for which I have sworn to stand to the death against all her foreign foes."

"Find Leon for me!"

It was a marvelously strange request and quite enough to stagger the man of whom the imperious demand was made.

"Find Leon"--the lover must set out on a quest for another man--who was Leon, what relation did he bear the belle of San Juan, and where had he become lost since he needed a voyage of discovery made in his behalf--Jason, starting with his bold Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece might not have had half the trouble that would come of looking for a lost man in the world wilderness of to-day, since traveling facilities were limited in those times, whereas one may now readily fling thousands of leagues behind him in a fortnight.

"Find Leon--for me!"

Evidently Leon was of considerable importance to the speaker--her voice seemed to dwell upon the sound with much tenderness.

But Roderic did not appear to be amazed on account of the name--it was something else that gave him cause for astonishment.

"Senorita, I declared my readiness to go to the ends of the earth to serve you, but now you ask me to seek the shades beyond, the world of spirits. How then could I claim the reward even if success attended my endeavor?"

"No, no, not that--you do not understand--it is Leon, my brother you are to find," breathlessly.

"Exactly, and as he is dead it would necessitate my becoming a disembodied spirit--"

"Ah! yes, but he is not dead."

"Pardon, you told me so many times, and I mourned with you on account of your loss."

"It was all a terrible mistake."

"And Leon is not dead?"

"At least he was alive three months ago. Oh! you do not know, you cannot understand the great joy with which I but recently learned how we had all been deceived."

Her face glowed with enthusiasm.

Every atom of his old mad idolatry seemed resurrected, and Roderic was almost ready to bend down in order to kiss the hem of her garment, he felt so abased on account of the wrong his hasty action had brought upon her.

"Where am I to search?" he asked, eagerly, as though ready to start on the jump.

"He is in Porto Rico."

"Good. That is where I am going to-morrow."

"And whither we also expect to bring up as soon as steam can take us."

"Tell me what you know of him, this brother who was dead, yet lives. How shall I know him?"

"Ah! you would recognize him, Senor Roderic, did you but meet on the ocean as castaways, or in the midst of the Great Sahara."

"Then he looks like you?"

"They have always said it."

"That is enough--I shall remember always."

"And you undertake the mission?" eagerly.

His eyes met her glowing orbs.

"You have yourself named the condition, Georgia. If I find this brother you will forgive me the cruel past--you promise to love me again?"

"Ah, senor, I have never been able to crush that love from my heart--it is as strong there to-day as when we pledged our lives to happiness. Stay, do not misunderstand me," as he made a movement toward her, "until you have done something to atone for your desertion, Senor Roderic, we may not resume those relations."

"And should fate baffle my search--should Leon be actually dead, do I lose all, sweetheart--will you throw my love away like an old glove?"

"I could not, for your love is life to me. I have hoped through these gloomy years, hoped you might learn how cruel, how unjust you had been, and return to me. If you search with all your heart, that will answer my demands."

"How eagerly I shall try let Heaven be my witness. During the long and dreary months since last I saw you, dear girl, I have lived ages. Many times rebellion arose within my heart, fermented by the love that lingered there, and could only be put down with an iron hand. Now I shall hope to make such poor amends as lie in my power for the wretched mistakes of that dreadful past. But tell what you know of Leon--why has he been dead to you so long, and what reason have you to believe he still lives and is in Porto Rico?"

"You think it strange--it is right to look at it in that way. I myself sometimes doubt whether I am awake, it all seems so marvelous, so startling.

"Leon was my only brother--I have told you before how we once loved each other, and even described how he was drawn to join the brave Cubans under Gomez when they rebelled against the mother country.

"In one of the first fights that occurred Leon was taken prisoner, and carried to Havana where he was secretly confined in Morro Castle.

"Suddenly we heard that he had been taken out under the castle walls with seven other wretched patriots and shot to death.

"That was about the time I met you, senor, and my aching heart found solace in your devoted love. Then came the period of our happiness and the shock of your desertion.

"Days, months, yes years have since passed. Then, as though the dark clouds would roll away together, I again saw your blessed face, and at the same time heard a wonderful story that Leon was alive--that he had been saved by the daughter of the officer in command of Morro Castle, who had fallen in love with his handsome face."

"That is not so wonderful, senorita, since you tell me he resembles _you_."

"Ah! flatterer; but you shall hear all, though the time is not appropriate. Strange things happen in Havana--in all Spanish speaking countries--romance has a home there, and plays a part you colder Anglo-Saxons hardly understand."

"You forget I have lived there myself--that I speak Spanish, and by direct association discovered the good qualities of these people who are almost enigmas to the common run of Americans. I believe in giving the devil his due. Yes, you cannot surprise me very much. I too have seen many remarkable dramas played under the crimson and gold banner of Spain."

"This daughter of the governor saved Leon. She bribed the prison doctor who pronounced my brother dead while in reality he only lay in a stupor caused by a subtle drug.

"He was carried from the prison in a coffin and buried just as the sun went down.

"Then darkness came as the grave diggers turned back to the fort.

"Hardly were they out of sight than from a chaparral where she had remained hidden sprang the governor's daughter, may the saints protect her as an angel of mercy.

"At her side was a faithful negro, and while the fire-flies spangled the darkness around, this man flung back the newly set earth.

"When Leon had been snatched from the rude pine box intended for his coffin this was again buried in the ground.

"They carried the boy to the negro's cabin and there he was tenderly nursed through a long and weary sickness.

"There he lay while I mourned as only a loving, stricken sister could; for we believed the published account of his death before the guns of the avenging Spanish executioners.

"It was six months before he was well, and during that time he had become so mixed up in the great game of independence that he dared not let me know even of his existence--besides, he feared lest a breath of suspicion should be cast upon the girl who had risked all this for his sake, and whom he loved with heart and soul.

"Thus time passed on and under another name he fought with Gomez and Garcia--wherever the flag of Cuba waved in battle he was there, ready to lead the charge and die if need be for the cause in which he had enlisted.

"When your troops were first put ashore near Santiago and attacked by the Spaniards, it was Leon, now a captain in the Cuban army, who saved them from annihilation.

"The time had apparently come when he felt at liberty to send me a message, and this he did through one of the Americans. It is too long a story to tell how he accomplished it, nor does it matter.

"He also sent word, believing me to be still in Porto Rico, still in dear old San Juan, that he expected to be there sometime in the latter part of July or early in August and I must keep on the lookout for him.

"Between us, Senor Roderic, we must find Leon! If he comes to me I shall count it the same as though you had won your case, since the desire to do this service for me is there."

"Ah! you are forgiving--you are an angel, dearest girl. No matter, I shall never excuse myself for my unfounded suspicions."

"You no longer believe in them?"

"I have not this long time back. Reason was fast driving me to again visit San Juan and discover how deeply I had wronged you."

"Would you have done that?"

"I swear that such a thought, amounting almost to a resolution, was in my mind, when I learned fortune was again sending me to San Juan."

She showed the pleasure that was rioting in her heart--the reconciliation seemed drawing very near.

"And you leave--to-morrow, senor?"

"Yes, the sooner I get away from Dublin the better for all purposes. I have discovered that the mission of those who sought aid here has been balked. Just now the sentiment of the Irish toward England seems softened, and it looks as though by means of kindness and justice, the wrongs of the past may be washed out. We who love the best interests of this green isle hope for great things."

"You go to New York, that great city of which you so often spoke, but which I have never yet seen?"

"No, direct to Porto Rico."

"Indeed. I did not know there were any regular vessels going to Spanish ports in the West Indies."

"This is a special trip."

"Ah! I begin to see. We too, leave to-morrow. Can it be possible you have taken passage on the same boat, the Sterling Castle, a fleet blockade runner?"

Eagerness was written on her lovely face.

Roderic could almost wish he had been lucky enough to have done so, believing that it must have proven a happy voyage for them.

He failed to take into account the elements that would naturally be in charge of such a vessel, and the strong probability that his form must grace a yard arm as an American spy, ere the voyage had been half completed.

"I am sorry to say that opportunity is denied me. My cousin owns a steam yacht, which she has loaded with stores and medicines to be taken to Porto Rico, which island she believes has been quite forgotten by Miss Barton and her Red Cross movement. I shall be a passenger on board, and be secretly put ashore to fulfill my work."

A sudden change came over the girl's face--there was a drop of fifty degrees in temperature. A smiling summer sky had been blotted out by a rude wintry blizzard--the smile gave way to a look of pain, almost a frown. These passion flowers of the south know little of the art that consists in concealing the emotions--honest love or hate flashes quickly upon the countenance, for they brook no rivals.

"Your cousin--Miss Fairfax of Virginia, the daughter of a fortune, who is ready to cast all she owns at your feet--and you are to sail with her--you will be in her company ten days, two weeks perhaps. Santa Maria! then you will forget me, forget everything but her blue eyes that look like the Porto Rico skies at sunset."

It was almost a piteous wail to which she gave vent, and Roderic, his heart touched, realizing that the chance for which he yearned had come, sprang forward and threw an arm around the girl.

She had repulsed him before, but with a fierce jealousy raging in her heart she was no longer capable of such heroics.

So she yielded herself a willing captive to his embraces--her heart had ever been true, why should she not enjoy a fleeting spell of bliss?

Looking down into her confused face upon which his kisses were yet warm, he said, with a quiet assurance that did much to convince her:

"Sweetheart, I have known Cleo all my life. I love her as a sister, for she is a noble woman; but I never have given and never could give her an iota of the idolatrous passion that has filled my heart for you. You have believed me before--trust me now. I live only in the hope of wiping out my shameful action of the past, and of winning you for my own. Are you satisfied?"

"But she cares for you, Roderic; your fair cousin!"

"You declare so--I can hardly believe it."

"But I know it--she would make a far better wife for you than might a poor daughter of Porto Rico," weakly, almost piteously.

"I am the judge of that, and I would snatch you to my heart against all the world."

"She has great wealth," watching him yearningly.

"I love only _you_, my darling."

"She is cultivated, refined, as you say a noble woman, while I am poor, with only my face and a worshiping heart to bring you."

"But I adore _you_--life without you would be a dreary waste," he steadfastly declared.

His simple argument convinced even the little skeptic.

"Then God's will be done--I am yours again when you have fulfilled your penance, Senor Roderic."

Just as he was about to ratify the treaty with a lover's kiss there was a tremendous bellow, as if some mad bull had broken loose from confinement, and into the half darkened apartment came the tall figure of General Porfidio, her guardian.