“Se?or, I bring you news of the se?orita and your son. If the God of the Christians2, whom the benefactress worshiped, aids me, they will both be restored to you.”
Don Christobal, though seething3 within, forced himself to the same calm as the Indian.
“Why have you and yours committed this crime?” he questioned, crossing his arms.
“Why did you and yours commit the crime of not watching over them? Had you not been warned? Huascar, for your sake, twice betrayed his brethren, his god, and his country. He remembered that the mother of the se?orita once befriended a naked child in Callao. That is why he has sworn to save her daughter from the terrible honor of entering the Enchanted4 Realms of the Sun.”
Don Christobal half held out his hand, but the Indian did not take it, smiling badly.
“Gracias, se?or.”
“And my son, Huascar?”
“Your son is in no danger. Huascar watches over him.”
“You say you watch over them! But to-morrow I may have neither son nor daughter.”
“Neither son nor daughter will you have if you do not obey Huascar.” The man’s tone had become somber5 and menacing. “But if you obey, I swear by the head of Atahualpa, who awaits your daughter should I betray her, I swear by my eternal soul, that the se?orita will be saved!”
“What must we do?”
“Nothing. You must abstain6 from all action. Do not pursue the Red Ponchos7 and put them on their guard. I will do everything if you and yours promise not to come near that house again. They know you, and when you appear, the mammaconas form the black chain round the Bride of the Sun. If a stranger appeared, they would offer her up to Atahualpa dead, rather than see her escape. Be warned, and do not leave this inn. If you promise me that, I swear that I will bring your son here, unharmed, at midnight. For your daughter, you must wait.”
Don Christobal took down a little crucifix from a nail over the Red, and came toward Huas-car.
“The se?ora brought you up in our holy faith,” he said. “Swear upon this that you will do as you say.”
Huascar held out his hand and took the oath.
“I have sworn,” he said proudly, “but for me, your word is enough.”
“You have it,” replied Don Christobal. “We await you here at midnight. Gentlemen,” he added, as Huascar’s steps rang on the staircase without, “I have given my word, and you must help me keep it. I believe in Huascar.”
“So do I,” added Natividad.
Dick was silent. He had been watching the Indian, and was unconvinced.
“What do you think, Dick?”
“I don’t like it Perhaps I am mistaken, though. I feel that Huascar hates me, and I do not love him particularly. We are not in a position to judge one another. Midnight will show.”
Natividad, going to the window, had opened it, and was leaning out into the street.
“I tell you I have seen that face somewhere before,” he reiterated8.
“So have I,” added the Marquis, going to the window as well.
Dick joined them, and watched the skeletonlike old man across the street He was tracking Huascar, like a little boy playing at brigands9, childishly taking ineffective cover behind carts, pedestrians10 and trees. The Indian had noticed him, and turned once or twice; then continued on his way openly, quite unconcerned.
Suddenly, the Marquis, pensively11 leaning against the window, straightened himself with an exclamation12.
“That is Orellana! The father of Maria-Cristina de Orellana!”
Natividad started.
“You are right. That’s who it is.... I remember him well now.”
They remained as if stunned13 by this apparition14 from the terrible past; this ghost come to remind them that he too had had a beautiful daughter; that she had vanished ten years before, during the Interaymi, and that he would never see her again. The Marquis, crushed by a flood of old memories, sat inert15 in an armchair, deaf to Natividad’s reassuring16 words, and refused to touch a mouthful of the meal prepared for them.
Dick, at the Marquis’ exclamation, had dashed down into the street, caught up with the mysterious old man at the corner of the square, and put a hand on his shoulder. The stranger turned, looking at the young man fixedly17.
“What do you desire, se?or?” he asked in a toneless voice.
“I want to know why you are following that man.” Dick pointed18 to Huascar, just disappearing at another corner.
“Do you not know, then? The great day of the Interaymi is near. I am following that man because he commands the Red Ponchos, who are taking my daughter to the Cuzco. She is the Bride of the Sun, you know. But this time I shall not let her die! I shall save her, and we will return together to Lima, where her fiancée is waiting. Adios se?or!”
He stalked away on his long legs, leaning on the crook19.
“Mad!” said Dick aloud. Then he clenched20 his fists as if to hold his own reason. This inaction would drive him insane! To think that in the very heart of a supposedly civilized21 city there was nothing to do but to wait And wait for what? Huascar’s good pleasure; his good pleasure to keep his word or break it Could he force that house alone? He could at all events try, and fight his way to Maria-Teresa’s feet, even if he was killed the minute afterwards.
He stopped, and pulled himself together.
What good purpose would that serve? No, he must wait; wait until midnight, when Huascar would return. That was the only thing to do; ruse22 for ruse, and the golden voice of money to talk to those Indians. But midnight was a long way off. Ten times the young man paced round the square, wondering and raging. Surely there were behind all these beflagged and festooned windows a legion of Christian1 men who would rise like a hurricane if they knew the abominable23 truth!
Dick’s thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a dancing, singing, howling mob at the end of the neighboring calle. This, then, was the populace which he would have raised against Garcia, and which obeyed Garcia, while the Dictator, like Pilate, washed his hands of it. The mob approached, to the thunder of drums and bugles24, while flaming torches and swaying paper lanterns lit up the scene, for night had now fallen. Overhead fluttered banners adorned25 with crosses and strange symbols perhaps two thousand years old. Christians, this crowd? Perhaps!
Not a man of the upper classes was to be seen, not even a high-caste Indian. Here were only the dregs of the city; a mass of howling maniacs26, whirling and whooping27 round a huge bonfire which had flared28 up in the center of the square, their wild yells punctuated29 by salvas of cohetes (crackers). On one side of the square they were singing hymns30; on the other they were drinking, smoking, swearing. One group of natives swept into a church, still dancing; another entered the theater and became religiously silent, awaiting the arrival of Garcia, for whom a gala was being given.
Dick, arms crossed and brows knit, glared at the passing groups. There was nothing to be done with such brutes31 as these! Then he took a sudden resolution. To the four winds with Huascar and his promises! He would go to that little adobe32 house! Feeling to see if his revolver was safe in his pocket, he turned, only to be confronted by Huascar.
“Se?or, where go you?”
He put a hand on the engineer’s arm, restraining him. Dick roughly shouldered the man away.
“You know where I am going.”
Again the Indian intervened.
“Return to the inn, se?or,” he advised calmly. “I will be there in two hours’ time with the little lord. But if you make another step I cannot answer for the safety of your betrothed33.” Huascar’s voice had changed as he said “your betrothed.” Dick, looking up quickly, saw nothing but hatred34 in the Indian’s eyes. Maria-Teresa is lost, he thought despairingly. Then a flash of light seemed to illumine the abyss into which he felt himself rolling with her.
“Huascar,” he said abruptly35, “if you save Don Christobal’s daughter...”
He stopped a moment, for his heart was beating as if it would burst. In those few seconds of silence, which seemed an eternity36, the barbaric picture of that scene became imprinted37 on his brain for all time—this dark archway under which they had instinctively38 drawn39, the somber and deserted40 street before them, the intermittent41 uproar42 from the plaza43 mayor, and, in the adjacent streets, the banging of cohetes thrown by mischievous44 boys under the feet of all that passed. Just opposite, at a window on the first floor, half-a-dozen globules of colored fire flickered45 in the darkness; a family of royal Arequipenos had been illuminating46 in honor of Garcia before going to see the torchlight procession, or to the gala at the Municipal Theater.
Dick waited until an Indian, loaded down with horse-cloths, had passed and vanished; perhaps, sub-consciously, he was awaiting the miracle which would render unnecessary what he was about to say. The Indian waited, motionless as a statue.
“If you save her, I swear to you by my God that she shall never be my wife.”
Huascar did not answer at once. He was evidently taken by surprise.
“I shall save her,” he said at last. “Return to the inn, se?or. I shall be there at midnight.” He turned and walked toward the river without another look at Dick, who made his way back to the plaza mayor, his ears buzzing, convinced that he had delivered Maria-Teresa.
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1
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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ponchos
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| n.斗篷( poncho的名词复数 ) | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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pensively
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| adv.沉思地，焦虑地 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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bugles
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| 妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠 | |
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25
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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maniacs
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| n.疯子（maniac的复数形式） | |
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whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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28
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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29
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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30
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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36
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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37
imprinted
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| v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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40
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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41
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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42
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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43
plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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44
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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45
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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