"He"ll come," she thought contentedly.
The sun broke from behind the obscuring cloud and sent a shaft of light straight down upon the clearing. It illumined with pitiless distinctness the shimmering silk of a woman"s dress, hanging on a line and waving in the first draft of the evening breeze. For a moment Polly stood transfixed. What did it mean? Was it perhaps a servant"s dress. No; he had told her that there was no woman servant.
As she sought the solution, a woman"s figure emerged from the porch of the quinta, crossed the compound, and dropped upon a bench. Even at that distance, the watcher could tell from the woman"s bearing and apparel that she was not of the servant cla.s.s. She seemed to be gazing out over the mountains; there was something dreary and forlorn in her att.i.tude.
What, then, did she do in the beetle man"s house?
Below the rock the shrubbery weaved and thrashed, and the person who could best answer that question burst into view at a full lope.
"What is it?" he panted. "Was it you who fired?"
She stared at him mutely. The revolver hung in her hand. In a moment he was beside her.
"Has anything happened?" he began again, then turned his head to follow the direction of her regard. He saw the figure in the compound.
"Good G.o.d in heaven!" he groaned.
He caught the revolver from her hand and fired three slow shots. The woman turned. s.n.a.t.c.hing off his hat, he signalled violently with it.
The woman rose and, as it seemed to Polly Brewster, moved in humble submissiveness back to the shelter.
White consternation was stamped on the Unspeakable Perk"s face as he handed the revolver to its owner.
"Do you need me?" he asked quickly. "If not, I must go back at once."
"I do not need you," said the girl, in level tones. "You lied to me."
His expression changed. She read in it the desperation of guilt.
"I can explain," he said hurriedly, "but not now. There isn"t time. Wait here. I"ll be back. I"ll be back the instant I can get away."
As he spoke, he was halfway down the rock, headed for the lower trail.
The bushes closed behind him.
Painfully Polly Brewster made her way down the treacherous footing of the cliff path to her place on the rock. From her bag she drew one of her cards, wrote slowly and carefully a few words, found a dry stick, set it between two rocks, and pinned her message to it. Then she ran, as helpless humans run from the scourge of their own hearts.
Half an hour later the hermit, sweat-covered and breathless, returned to the rock. For a moment he gazed about, bewildered by the silence. The white card caught his eye. He read its angular scrawl.
"I wish never to see you again. Never! Never! Never!"
A sulphur-yellow inquisitor, of a more insinuating manner than the former partic.i.p.ant in their conversation, who had been examining the message on his own account, flew to the top of the cliff.
"Qu"est-ce qu"elle dit? Qu"est-ce qu"elle dit?" he demanded.
For the first time in his adult life the beetle man threw a stone at a bird.
VIII
LOS YANKIS
Luncheon on the day following the kiskadee bird"s narrow squeak for his life was a dreary affair for Mr. Fitzhugh Carroll. Business had called Mr. Brewster away. This deprivation the Southerner would have borne with equanimity. But Miss Brewster had also absented herself, which was rather too much for the devoted, but apprehensive, lover. Thus, ample time was given him to consider how ill his suit was prospering. The longer he stayed, the less he saw of Miss Polly. That she was kinder and more gentle, less given to teasing him than of yore, was poor compensation. He was shrewd enough to draw no good augury from that.
Something had altered her, and he was divided between suspicion of the last week"s mail, the arrival of which had been about contemporaneous with her change of spirit, and some local cause. Was a letter from Smith, the millionaire, or Bobby, the friend of her childhood, responsible? Or was the cause nearer at hand?
For one preposterous moment he thought of the Unspeakable Perk. A quick visualization of that gnomish, froggish face was enough to dispel the suspicion. At least the petted and rather fastidious Miss Brewster"s fancy would be captured only by a gentleman, not by any such homunculus as the mountain dweller. Her interest, perhaps; the man possessed the bizarre attraction of the freakish. But anything else was absurd. And the knight was inclined to attaint his lady for a certain cruelty in the matter; she was being something less than fair to the Unspeakable Perk.
The searchlight of his surmise ranged farther. Raimonda! The young Caracunan was handsome, distinguished, manly, with a romantic charm that the American did not underestimate. He, at least, was a gentleman, and the a.s.siduity of his attentions to the Northern beauty had become the joke of the clubs--except when Raimonda was present. By the same token, half of the gilded youth of the capital, and most of the young diplomats, were the sworn slaves of the girl. It was a confused field, indeed. Well, thank Heaven, she would soon be out of it! Word had come down from her that she was busy packing her things. Carroll wandered about the hotel, waiting for the news that would explain this preparation.
It came, at mid-afternoon, in the person of Miss Polly herself. Why packing trunks, with the aid of an experienced maid, should, even in a hot climate, produce heavy circles under the eyes, a droop at the mouth corners, and a complete submersion of vivacity, is a problem which Carroil then and there gave up. He had too much tact to question or comment.
"Oh, I"m so tired!" she said, giving him her hand. "Have you much packing to do, Fitzhugh?"
"No one has given me any notice to get ready, Miss Polly."
"How very neglectful of me! We may leave at any time."
"Yes; you may. But my ship doesn"t seem to be coming in very fast."
The double entente was unintentional, but the girl winced.
"Aren"t you coming with us on the yacht?"
"Am I?" His handsome face lighted hopefully.
"Of course. Dad expects you to. What kind of people should we be to leave any friend behind, with matters as they are?"
"Ah, yes." The hope pa.s.sed out of his face. "Dictates of humanity, and that sort of thing. I think, if you and Mr. Brewster--"
"Please don"t be silly, Fitz," she pleaded. "You know it would make me most unhappy to leave you."
Rarely did the scion of Southern blood and breeding lose the self-control and reserve on which he prided himself, but he had been hara.s.sed by events to an unwonted strain of temper.
"Is it making you unhappy to leave any one else here?" he blurted out.
The challenge stirred the girl"s spirit.
"No, indeed! I wouldn"t care if I never saw any of them again. I"m tired of it all. I want to go home," she said, like a pathetic child.
"Oh, Miss Polly," he began, taking a step toward her, "if you"d only let me--"
She put up one little sunburned hand.
"Please, Fitz! I--I don"t feel up to it to-day."
Humbly he subsided.